As if my tortured stomach needed it, I’m yet again feeling sick from the amount of crow I’ve been eating this week. I’ve apparently triggered a whole bunch of my alleged social media buddies with the facts that I apparently missed when at the end of an otherwise BBC-centered musing on Monday I snarkily referenced the decisions that an octet of U.S. senators independently reached that broke the logjam that had shut down the government for just as long as the storm that Noah had to endure. The line that apparently broke these camel’s straw backs was thus:
And as for those of you who are screaming through their thumbs at the betrayal you’ve seen from the senators of Nevada, Pennsylvania, Illinois and New Hampshire and Maine let me ask you–perhaps they actually ARE listening to their THEIR constituents who have been forced to accept the reality they are dealing with and chose the desire to eat over the desire to fight?
Apparently, what I totally missed were the facts that POLITICO’s Katherine Tully-McManus brought to light during the same window:
There are few obvious threads connecting the group who broke the partisan impasse this time. Some of them helped broker the agreement with Republicans over the opposition of Schumer and most other Democrats, who wanted a guaranteed extension for expiring federal health insurance subsidies. Most, but not all, previously held state-level office — including four former governors. Most, but not all, come from presidential swing states. Two have announced they are retiring from the Senate after their current terms end, and two are senior members of the Senate Appropriations Committee.
None are up for reelection in 2026.
I do very much stand by my initial thought that this Gang of Eight did indeed objectively look at the current situation they are faced with and many who were grilled by intrepid journalists on Monday expressed those very views that they claim their constituents (especially the increasingly unfed ones) fed them. But that last emphasized point was one I had overlooked it most def rang true with me. And since this list doesn’t have the mug shot of Chuck Schumer on it, it stands to reason that there’s ample cause to suspect that Schumer, knowing all too well the demographic reality of the balance of the state he still wants to hold office is far different than the makeup of the four most populous boroughs of New York City, found a few sacrificial lambs to help his own cause.
NBC NEWS’ Sahil Kapur valiantly tried to capture the level of vitriol being hurled at these “traitors” by their colleagues who still desire a future:
“This is a defining moment for the party. We need new faces with bold new ideas,” Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., who is considering a presidential run, told NBC News. “The American people are tired of a failed status quo.” Khanna called on Schumer to “be replaced.” Senate Democratic candidates, including Michigan’s Mallory McMorrow, Iowa’s Zach Wahls and Maine’s Graham Platner — all of whom have expressed skepticism about or opposition to re-electing Schumer as leader — demanded a shake-up in Senate leadership.“Down here in eastern Maine, a doubling of health care premiums destroys families,” Platner said in a video posted to X. “We need to elect leaders that want to fight.
But even they couldn’t compare to the meltdown that THE DAILY SHOW’s Jon Stewart had on his token weekly stint helming the one Paramount late night franchise that isn’t as much as a lame duck as the Gang of Eight. Per USA TODAY’s Nick Brinkerhoff, that could be because Stewart’s Sunday was already off to a pretty sh-tty start even before news trickled out about them:
While ranting about the Democrats’ role in ending the government shutdown, Stewart also drew a comparison between former New York Giants head coach Brian Daboll, and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer.
“For those of you that don’t follow the New York Football Giants, because let’s say you value your time on this earth, this is a football team on three separate occasions this season, has blown games, that statistically speaking, based on their sizable leads vis-a-vis the amount of time left in the athletic contest, they had a 95% to 99% percent chance of winning,” Stewart said. “Now for those of you who believe that professional sports and politics are an inept comparative, not only did the Democrats and Giants lose in the same, I can’t (expletive) believe it manner, they sound the same doing it,” Stewart added. Here, take a look:
Just before Stewart’s show was being taped, the Giants announced that Daboll had at long least been relieved of his duties, a three and one-half year run that produced twice as many losses as wins and three times as many Ls vs. Ws. if the now apparently aberrative 2022 playoff run is excluded. One nightmare dealt with.
In raising this comparison, Stewart does bring to mind that at least the Giants have identified a young talent that’s already proven he can compete effectively in the NFL. He’s rookie quarterback Jaxxon Dart, who did produce the two wins of 2025 to date including an impressive upset of the world champion Philadelphia Eagles last month. And say what you will about Daboll–and trust me, a lot more fans than Stewart with perhaps not as loud or as far-reaching a megaphone have–but at least he had been a lot more bullish and opportunistic about finding viable future options than has Schumer. GIANTS WIRE’s John Fennelly reminded his readers exactly how true that was last month:
The New York Giants are excited about their two first-round picks from the 2025 NFL draft, linebacker Abdul Carter and quarterback Jaxson Dart. Both players are exhibiting traits of greatness early on in their careers so far…In a recent podcast interview with former Notre Dame head coach Charlie Weis, a Bill Parcells acolyte who was an assistant for the Giants and New England Patriots in his career, veteran NFL reporter Gary Myers revealed that Giants head coach Brian Daboll wanted Dart at No. 3 instead of Carter. In this year’s draft, the Giants selected Carter with their own selection at No. 3 and then traded back into the first round to grab Dart at No. 25.
So Chuckie Baby, since at least for the moment you’re still in your position of influence, where’s your equivalent of Dart or Carter?
We already know how you feel about the progressive wing’s wet dream Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. After all, she wants your actual job very, very badly. Then again, it’s questionable if she could even win reelection in her own district, let alone Erie and Monroe County. And since you actually didn’t endorse her fellow Tik Tok darling Zohran Mamdani in his successful mayoral candidacy, we suspect that you have similar misgivings about his broader viability. Let him figure out how to curry favor in Staten Island first, right, Chuckie?
Look, the countdown to the midterms has already started. The “massive progress” made last week that Stewart feverishly thinks was a Blue Tsunami that was confined to a handful of coastal elite states will now be more severely tested. And I for one would consider those senate races where lame ducks will be returning to their ponds of origin as a de facto draft board for potential candidacy in 2028. I wasn’t all that familiar with the names McMorrow, Wahls and Platner–perhaps I should be? If they can somehow win in flyover states they may very well have the chops to take on Little Marco, The Couchf-cker or, G-d forbid, the third act of the farter-in-chief–assuming, of course, an election is actually held. Anyone who can prove their mettle with a convincing statistical and emotionally appealing victory–and I’ll throw in governor’s races as well–more than deserves a chance to try and take their talents to the national stage. And it should be a truly open process where the primaries and, if necessary, the convention itself, will determine the eventual choice. After the way last year went down, a change of pace might be in order, no?
Jaxxon Dart was discovered by a series of scouts who observed his college games at Ole Miss, his post-season All-Star games and his combines and raised his stock considerably prior to last spring’s draft. If he achieved nothing else in an otherwise lost year, Daboll stood out as one who was more than impressed and stuck his neck out in support. Before your sorry ass is shown the door, Senator Schumer, maybe you should borrow a page from HIS playbook? Merely throwing darts just blindly ain’t cutting it.
Until next time…