Losing My Perspicacity, October 16, 2025

On Nazis, government lies, and hope in the face of it all

Author

Julie DiCaro
October 16, 2025

Good morning and Happy Thursday! Thanks for reading today.

I was on a Zoom call last night, and without going into too much information, it was about how to address the presence of ICE in Chicago and the surrounding suburbs. Aside from being very informative, there were literally hundreds of “regular” people on the call, asking important questions and making all kinds of creative suggestions. For the next few weeks, whenever I feel bad about the state of the world, I’m going to remember how many people were on that (relatively last-minute) call, and that good people across the country are turning out in droves to stand up for their neighbors. I hope that knowledge gives you some hope, too.

And here’s something else that will give you hope: In the 21st Century, no one fights fascism alone. Here’s the list of countries holding solidarity rallies with the US on #NoKingsDay.

I spent part of yesterday listening in on the hearing in Oregon/Portland v. Trump, the case brought by the State to keep the National Guard out of Portland. That case is swiftly heading for a trial on October 29, unless the Ninth Circuit, which has yet to rule in this case, comes down on the side of the Trump administration, in which case all bets are off.

The more important oral argument yesterday, though, was held at the Supreme Court, where SCOTUS is considering whether or not lawmakers can continue to use race as a factor in voter districting. Given the way the Court has ruled on other cases involving race (college admissions, profiling in immigration cases), I’m not optimistic.

The Supreme Court appeared poised on Wednesday to weaken a key provision of a landmark civil rights law by sharply limiting the ability of lawmakers to use race as a factor in drawing voting maps, which could lead to widespread redistricting efforts.

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If the justices determine that lawmakers cannot consider race when drawing districts, the consequences for the country’s political balance could be sweeping. The decision could end the practice, endorsed by the court for decades, of crafting congressional districtswith the purpose of helping minority voters elect the candidates of their choice.

This case is a continuation of the war Republicans are waging all over the country to redraw districts in a way that will allow them to hold on to the House of Representatives, as recently seen in Texas and Missouri. The argument that the six conservative justices seemed to latch onto was that, while race was an important factor in leveling the playing field in the aftermath of the Civil Rights Act, it’s no longer necessary to consider.

“This court’s cases, in a variety of contexts, have said that race-based remedies are permissible for a period of time — sometimes for a long period of time, decades in some cases — but that they should not be indefinite,  and should have an end point,” said Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh, who is expected to be a key vote.

“What exactly do you think the end point should be, or how would we know, for the intentional use of race to create districts?” Justice Kavanaugh then asked a lawyer for the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, who argued to uphold the Voting Rights Act.

That question — whether there should be a time limit on using race-based ways to address harms — was the focus of the oral argument.

You know how there’s always that one clueless white guy who suggests that racism doesn’t exist anymore? That’s Brett Kavanaugh. I love that the internet has started referring to police stops based solely on how Black or brown a person is as “Kavanaugh Stops.” He deserves it.

Finally, in what I’m calling the “legal” segment today, Trump is trying to rejigger the IRS to go after left-wing groups and their donors.

The Trump administration is planning massive changes that will allow the IRS to go after left-wing groups, according to a new report late Wednesday in the Wall Street Journal.

The change would allow the administration to stack the IRS's criminal investigation unit with Trump allies "to exert firmer control over the unit and weaken the involvement of IRS lawyers in criminal investigations," the report said, citing anonymous officials.

"A senior IRS official involved in the effort has drawn up a list of potential targets that includes major Democratic donors, some of the people said," according to the Journal. That includes billionaire Democratic donor George Soros and groups tied to him.

Given that the administration has no qualms about charging people with little to no evidence of having committed a crime, this is bad news. However, I can’t help but wonder whether the feds still have the forensic accountants necessary to unwind someone like Soros’s financial empire. They’ve likely all left or been laid off – along with most of the CDC and the Department of Education’s Special Education branch.

Today: A stark reminder that our government lies to us; Shocking dispatches in the fight for reproductive justice; The GOP completely whiffs on addressing Nazism in their ranks; and The High Note.

Let’s go.

Reminder: The US Government is full of lying liars

I took a break from live-posting court hearings today to watch a documentary that’s been on my list for a while called The Conqueror: Hollywood Fallout. You probably know part of this story, but maybe not the whole thing. Full disclosure: I found out about this from Mysteries at the Museum. Thanks, Don Wildman!

In 1953, Howard Hughes decided to make his biggest epic ever — the sweeping saga of Genghis Khan. And who else would you get to play an iconic Asian warlord and his lovely bride than John Wayne and (a redheaded) Susan Hayward? They looked like this:

To her credit (?) Hayward refused to allow the makeup department to try to make her look Asian and decided to play the whole thing as a white woman. I can’t decide if that’s a badass power move or the ultimate middle finger to Asian women? Anyway.

To the extent it’s possible to put the yellowface aside, this movie was horrible for a host of reasons, including John Wayne being drunk for much of it. But the real tragedy of this saga is that it was filmed downwind of the nuclear testing the US government was doing 70 miles or so north of Las Vegas. The set, the cast and crew, and the people living in nearby St. George, Utah, were regularly covered in radioactive dust. The dust even coated their food, leading Wayne to call it “Utah chili powder.” And when they were done filming in the Utah desert? They loaded up tons of the radioactive dirt and hauled it back to Hollywood to use on the sound stage.

Fast forward 20 years, and nearly 50 percent of the cast and crew had contracted some form of cancer. The documentary does a great job revisiting the movie, the lengths the government went to to assure people living nearby that they were in no danger, and, eventually, the effort to cover up the feds’ role in “killing John Wayne.”

This documentary is a stark reminder that the US government lies to its own people. It always has. We have to be vigilant, no matter which side is in power, and never take their word at face value.

The Conqueror: Hollywood Fallout is streaming on Prime, YouTube, and Apple.

Oof — bad news on the fight for repro justice

I’m always telling you that you should subscribe to Jessica Valenti’s newsletter, Abortion Every Day. And you should, for many reasons, not the least of which is that she alerted me to both these stories.

First, a terrifying proposed law that would end coverage for abortion under the ACA, even in blue states. Of course, we have Harrison Butker’s BFF Josh Hawley (R-MO) to thank for it.

U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley—one of the most smarmy and vile anti-abortion extremists in Congress—somehow continues to outdo himself. While the GOP drags out the government shutdown, Hawley has introduced a bill that would bar any Affordable Care Act plan from covering abortion—even those funded by pro-choice states.

Hawley’s press release doesn’t admit that, of course; he just says the legislation would close “loopholes” on abortion and gender-affirming care for minors.

As you know, the Hyde Amendment already blocks federal dollars from being used for abortion except in cases of rape, incest, or life-threatening pregnancy. But some ACA marketplace plans still offer abortion coverage because certain states use their own funding to pay for it—and 12 states even require marketplace plans to cover abortion. (KFF has a helpful map if you want to learn more.)

Hawley’s bill would end all of that. Under this legislation, any plan offered on the health exchange would be prohibited from covering abortion unless the pregnancy threatens the patient’s life or results from rape or incest.

Josh Hawley is the absolute worst. And secondly, a horrific story out of Illinois, a very blue state.

The 28-year-old—who had to go to multiple healthcare centers and hospitals before getting the care she needed—tells me that she was sure she was going to die. “I was 100% convinced,” she says. That’s in no small part because Harmonie lost her right fallopian tube in another ectopic pregnancy a few years ago. So when she was diagnosed again last week, she knew how dangerous the situation was—and how important it was to get quick treatment.

The emergency room knew, too. They rushed her to an OBGYN specialist after detecting a mass on her left tube. But the doctor turned Harmonie away, telling the young woman and her husband that she wouldn’t intervene because there was “a 1% chance” the ectopic pregnancy was viable. She even led the pair to believe it was illegal for her to end the pregnancy.

“I knew Illinois was a blue state,” Harmonie tells me. “But she kept repeating, ‘you’re not going to force me to give you an abortion.’”

It turns out, the OBGYN was affiliated with Ascension, a Catholic health care system that has already been found to have violated federal law by refusing to treat a Texas woman for an ectopic pregnancy. To be clear: In cases of an ectopic pregnancy, the pregnant person either gets an abortion or they die. That’s the treatment. Abortion is what saves the life of the mother. A reminder that abortions are health care and to give to Planned Parenthood or your local abortion fund when you can.

Republicans suck at criticizing Nazis

Yesterday, I wrote a bit about the Politico story that exposed the Young Republicans’ group chat, which was full of praise for Hitler, rape fantasies, and all the racial and ethnic slurs you can imagine. Most of those involved were reportedly over the age of 25, and some were working in local, state, or federal government positions.

Today, the GOP tried to respond:

JD Vance dismisses Young Republicans who in a group chat said "I love Hitler" and joked about slavery and rape as "a bunch of kids" who "told stupid jokes" and adds that "most of the stupid things I did when I was a teenager and young adult, they're not on the internet."

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com)2025-10-15T17:10:47.699Z

JD Vance managed to say just about everything except “That was wrong” about the chat. I joked about a lot of things when I was a teen — raping women and praising Nazis was not among them.

Then there was this guy, who works for Congressman Dave Taylor (R-OH), who was caught with the casual swastika on his bulletin board.

It’s so weird that it’s the same party that keeps getting caught with Nazi leanings over and over again. “Don’t call us Nazis! Tone down your rhetoric!” Whatever.

The High Note

Each Day, I do my best to leave you with a smile on your face, a song in your heart, and the will to fight another day.

Please enjoy John Oliver roasting Bari Weiss.

Hey, survive and advance out there today, kids. Don’t let the bastards get you down.

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