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The nation’s cartoonists on the week in politics
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The nation’s cartoonists on the week in politics
Donate This Holiday Season: The World’s Poorest People Need Your Help
在与中国竞争的世界之巅,美国正给自己“挖坑”
在与中国竞争的世界之巅,美国正给自己“挖坑”

The nation’s cartoonists on the week in politics
Army Secretary Dan Driscoll on transforming the armed forces
Dan Driscoll made history earlier this year when, at 38, he was sworn in as the youngest Army secretary in U.S. history.
And he just made news again this week when he became the highest-level Trump administration official to visit Kyiv for the White House’s secret peace talks in effort to end Russia’s war on Ukraine. Driscoll joined high-level talks with Ukrainian officials, including President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, as news broke about a potential peace deal on the horizon.
“When you are creating defensive and offensive solutions, you have to think even 10 years out when the war really gets to its most catastrophic moment, ‘What are the very basic tools of warfare that can't be impacted by the enemy,” Driscoll said.
In this week’s episode of The Conversation, Driscoll sits down with POLITICO’s Dasha Burns to delve into the future of warfare, his plans for reinvigorating the Army’s technology and the innovation spurred by conflict.
“I think the best guess is if the United States entered a conflict with a peer in a couple of years, it would be a hybrid war where nearly every human being on the battlefield would be empowered and enabled with a digital tool,” Driscoll said. “I think we believe every infantryman in the United States Army will carry a drone with them into battle.”
CNN "NewsNight" host Abby Phillip also joined Dasha to chat about her new book, “A Dream Deferred: Jesse Jackson and the Fight for Black Political Power,” Jackson’s influence on today’s political landscape and Phillip’s approach to her own roundtable show.

America Is Setting a Trap for Itself
The nation’s cartoonists on the week in politics
Seth Moulton on the Epstein emails, Venezuela and the shutdown
Rep. Seth Moulton (D–Mass.) is not one to shy away from criticism of his own party. He made waves in the past when he insisted that the Democrats’ approach to dialogue on transgender issues was stifling. Moulton has also been vocal about the need for generational change in an aging Washington.
This time, the Massachusetts congressman is speaking out about the deal that ended the longest government shutdown in history and how Senate Democrats missed an opportunity to extend the Affordable Care Act subsidies.
“If Republicans were somehow gaining advantage here, if the polling was shifting in their favor, if they had done well in the elections last week, then I might say, ’Okay, I get it. It doesn't seem like this strategy is working, so let's give up,’” Moulton said. “But Schumer has just snatched defeat from the jaws of victory.”
Moulton is a veteran who served four tours in Iraq as a Marine Corps infantry officer. He’s also challenging Massachusetts Sen. Ed Markey for his seat in the 2026 midterms — a feat that former Rep. Joe Kennedy III attempted and lost in 2020.
“Senator Markey is a good guy,” says Moulton. “He served the country for half a century. I mean, he's been in office longer than I've been alive. He and I agree on many of the issues. He says the right things, he has great press releases, but how much has he actually gotten done?”
In this week’s episode of The Conversation, Moulton talks with POLITICO’s Dasha Burns about how he believes Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer is failing his party, why age needs to be a major consideration for lawmakers and how Senate Democrats could have done more to guarantee access to affordable health care.
Plus, POLITICO’s Senior Congressional Editor Mike DeBonis joins Dasha to discuss how the shutdown finally came to an end, which party ended up better off afterwards and how this event may shape Congress in the year to come.
CORRECTION: An earlier version of this report misstated when former Rep. Joe Kennedy III has run against Sen. Ed Markey. It was in 2020. This report also previously misstated former Rep. Joe Kennedy III's title. He is a former congressman.
The nation’s cartoonists on the week in politics
The nation’s cartoonists on the week in politics
The nation’s cartoonists on the week in politics
Why Sen. Rand Paul feels like GOP ‘whipping boy’
Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) is known for being a firebrand when it comes to his conservative, small-government principles. He’s also known for being a longtime supporter of President Donald Trump, despite taking issue with some of the president’s policies.
But Paul takes issue with being what he says is the only Republican willing to stand up to Trump and his latest moves which, according to Senator Paul, fly in the face of GOP principles and campaign promises.
Most recently, he was concerned over his Republican colleagues’ hesitation to confront Trump about his now-former nominee to lead Office of the Special Counsel, Paul Ingrassia. Ingrassia withdrew from the Senate confirmation process earlier this week after POLITICO’s reporting on texts that showed him making racist and antisemitic remarks.
“I hear a lot of flack from Republicans and they want me to do it. They say, ‘Oh, well, you're not afraid of the president. You go tell him his nominee can't make it,’” says Paul, who chairs the Senate Homeland Security Committee. “I'm just tired of always being the whipping boy.”
In this week’s episode of The Conversation, Paul joins POLITICO’s Dasha Burns — just hours after he was snubbed from a presidential luncheon — to talk about this GOP fear of confronting Trump, support for House colleague Rep. Thomas Massie, the administration's latest foreign policy moves, the Epstein files and a “farmageddon” that may be on the horizon.
“If I'm given the choice of President Trump versus Harris or versus Biden, without question, I choose President Trump over and over again,” says Paul. But that doesn't mean I'm going to sit back and just say, ‘Oh, I'm leaving all my beliefs on the doorstep. I'm no longer going to be for free trade. I'm no longer going to be for balanced budgets. I'm no longer going to be opposed to killing people without trials, without naming them, without evidence.’ No, I have to remain who I am.”
Later in the show, Dasha speaks to epidemiologist and public health professor Katelyn Jetelina, the founder of the Substack “Your Local Epidemiologist." They discuss what it’s like being a health communicator in the time of MAHA and why she thinks public health is nearing "system collapse."
If you want more of The Conversation, check out the interviews with Senator Paul and Dr. Jetelina on YouTube and the full episode wherever you get your podcasts.

The nation’s cartoonists on the week in politics
The nation’s cartoonists on the week in politics
Oregon AG to Trump: There’s no rebellion here
Dan Rayfield is Oregon’s attorney general — and the latest state-level politician to be thrust into the national spotlight by a legal clash with the Trump administration. In this instance, it’s over the federal government ordering troops into Portland, where protests against Immigration and Customs Enforcement have been deemed rebellion by the president.
I would invite anybody to come to Oregon and I think it's pretty clear that there isn't an invasion going on in Oregon,” Rayfield says. “Sometimes I'll joke the only rebellion going on right now is when I tried to feed my son a vegetable.”
The AG explained that his opposition to Trump’s proposed deployment is because, in his view, the president’s stated reasons for doing so aren’t based on the facts — or in the best interest of the people of Oregon.“If you want to deploy the military, if you want to federalize the National Guard, I'm okay with that if you have the right facts for it.,” Rayfield says. “We should give any president some deference, but when you have zero facts to base it on, that's when you've got to draw the line.”
In this week’s episode of The Conversation, Rayfield talks with POLITICO’s Dasha Burns about how he’s trying to defend states rights by fending off the Trump administration’s attempted National Guard incursion in Portland, the reality of what’s happening in the city, freedom of speech and how progressive policies have drawn outside attention to the state in recent years.
Plus, blogger and activist Vani Hari — better known as “The Food Babe” — joins the show to talk about her influence on HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and how she hopes to help the MAHA agenda become reality.
Check out the interview with Dan Rayfield on YouTube and the full episode wherever you get your podcasts.

The nation’s cartoonists on the week in politics
The nation’s cartoonists on the week in politics
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Politico | Politics
- James Talarico on immigration, his faith, and how Democrats are getting it wrong
James Talarico on immigration, his faith, and how Democrats are getting it wrong
James Talarico is a Texas state representative who’s recently announced his candidacy for U.S. Senate. He’s a Democrat, but not afraid to criticize some aspects of his party.
“National Democrats have talked about defending democracy or protecting institutions,” he said. “But, this democracy of ours doesn't work for a lot of people in this country. It doesn't work for a lot of people in Texas…. This is a deeply broken political system. And I'm not interested in defending it.”
Talarico joined POLITICO’s Dasha Burns this week for an episode of The Conversation, in a wide-ranging conversation about his candidacy, his faith and what Democrats can learn from Beyoncé.
Talarico caught national attention when he flipped a state House district outside Austin in 2018, and has grown in prominence on social media, where he boasts millions of followers on TikTok and Instagram. The former school teacher who’s studying to be a pastor is joining a crowded race to try to turn a Senate seat blue in Texas.
His faith has been one of the central aspects of his campaign. “My faith is why I went into public service. My granddad was a Baptist preacher in South Texas [and he] told me that Jesus gave us these two commandments to love God and love neighbor, which means that your faith is inherently public, right?,” he said. “That means that your faith should impact how you treat people out in the world. And really politics is just another word for how we treat our neighbors at the most fundamental level.”
When it comes to immigration, a Texas issue in the national spotlight, Talarico offered a metaphor to explain his approach. “People have a desire for a sane immigration system, a secure border that can ensure public safety and can ensure that the people coming here are coming to contribute to our communities and not threaten our communities,” he said. “We should treat our southern border like our front porch. We should have a giant welcome mat out front, and we should have the lock on the door.”
The full episode of The Conversation is available this weekend on YouTube and wherever you get your podcasts.

