Politically POMP

If I ever ran for office, my platform wouldn’t start with slogans. It would start with Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s Second Bill of Rights, economic rights as the backbone of real freedom, and three modern rights he couldn’t see coming in 1944: digital privacy, climate security, and a real digital democracy. In this episode of Politically POMP, I walk through:– Why I tried to see what it would take...

America is turning 250. On paper, that should be a once‑in‑a‑lifetime civic milestone, a chance to look honestly at 250 years of American history, reckon with what we’ve done, and decide what comes next. Instead, a narcissistic president has turned the semiquincentennial into a MAGA mega‑party with a UFC cage on the White House lawn and a branded state fair on the National Mall. In this episode, I...

Corporate Democrats don’t get a free pass just because Trump exists. In this video, I talk about why, as a democratic socialist, I’m frustrated with the corporate wing of the Democratic Party—even though I still vote blue most of the time. I break down:How both parties quietly protect the same economic status quoThe way Dem leadership and big PACs work to box out DSA and progressive candidatesWhy...

In this video, I break down new allegations that FBI Director Kash Patel used more than $1 million in taxpayer-funded “bonuses” as a personal slush fund for a small circle of loyal agents. I walk through what Rep. Jamie Raskin is claiming, how the alleged payments were structured, and why this matters for anyone worried about an FBI that runs on loyalty instead of law. Then I zoom out to ask the b...

In today’s POMP episode, I walk through: – What the JCPOA actually did – What Trump’s new Iran memorandum is setting up – How we went from “worst deal ever” to “historic” without changing the basic trade: nuclear limits in exchange for money and sanctions relief 🔗Substack https://www.politicallypomp.com/ 🔗 Facebook https://www.facebook.com/politically.pomp

On paper, Freedom 250 is supposed to be a birthday party for the United States. On the ground, it’s starting to look a lot more like a Trump birthday party dressed up as a national celebration. And the more you look at the details, the smaller the circle of people this version of “freedom” is really for. Watch, share with your “yell at the news” friend, and if you want more of this kind of breakdo...

If you’ve been feeling that gap between what we were taught in civics and how D.C. actually behaves, this is me walking through it in plain language—what Congress is supposed to do, what it’s actually doing, and how the Epstein transparency mess fits into that bigger pattern. I’m 100% reader‑ and viewer‑funded on purpose, so I don’t have to clear this with a party, donor, or network before I hit “...

What happens when the Jeffrey Epstein files don’t just name billionaires and ex‑prime ministers… but your current president? In this episode, I break down new reporting about how Donald Trump’s team used the White House Situation Room, not for war or national security, but as a PR bunker to manage the fallout from the Epstein files, where his own name appears. We’ll talk about: What the latest rep...

For the last year and a half I’ve tried to explain, calmly, why Christian nationalism and creeping fascism scare me. Today’s Coffee Time is what happens when I stop sanding the edges off. If your faith is about protecting the vulnerable, I hope you’ll sit with this.

So far this week, Trump attacked the Pope and posted AI “Jesus” fan art of himself, Pam Bondi ducked a subpoena on the Epstein files, and two members of Congress resigned over sexual misconduct, while Trump’s own name floods those same files. This Breakdown connects the dots on what that says about rot at the top. Follow Patty's Substack for more https://www.politicallypomp.com/

First, Trump’s spiritual adviser stood at the White House Easter podium and likened his life to Jesus—“no one has paid the price like you… you were betrayed and falsely accused… because He rose, you rose up.” Then came a primetime Iran address where he bragged about “winning big” and threatened to bomb every power plant in Iran, taking the country “back to the Stone Ages” if they don’t give him th...

A quick same‑day reaction to the Supreme Court arguments on Trump’s attempt to narrow birthright citizenship. I walk through what birthright citizenship is, what Trump’s order would do, how Native history is being pulled into this, and why this fight is about more than “immigration paperwork.” It’s about who gets to redefine who counts as American. Full Substack breakdown coming soon.

In this Brief, I answer a question I’ve been getting a lot lately: “Why can’t we just fire Congress when they refuse to do their jobs?” We walk through: Why there’s no “you’re fired” button for Congress Why elections are a weak accountability tool in a gerrymandered, low‑turnout system What I actually mean by digital democracy How we could move toward directly voting on bills in plain language: 🔗...

In this episode of The Brief, I break down three new democracy reports that say the quiet part out loud: under Trump 2.0, American democracy is being dismantled at remarkable speed and pushed toward autocracy. We cover: What the new V‑Dem, Freedom House, and Bright Line Watch reports actually find about U.S. democracy in 2025–26 How fast the U.S. has slid down the global democracy rankings, and wh...

Our system was built to be slow, but what happens when “slow” turns into “stalling” while a deeply unpopular president keeps testing the limits? In this Brief, I talk about: Why checks and balances were designed as brakes How Congress is failing to use its power Why protests like the No Kings march are a democratic pressure valve, not a tantrum New here? I’m Patty, your politics explainer over at...

In 1980, the United States owed under $1 trillion. Today we’re approaching $40 trillion, and according to the Congressional Budget Office, we’ve added $1 trillion in just the last five months, about $50 billion a week in new borrowing. In this episode of The Brief, we break down how it happened in three major waves: 1️⃣ 1980s–90s: tax cuts, Cold War spending, and sky‑high interest rates. 2️⃣ 2000s...

In this episode of Politically POMP, I break down the SAVE Act – the new “election integrity” bill that sounds harmless, but would make it much harder for millions of  eligible  Americans to even get on the voter rolls. We walk through: What the SAVE Act actually does (proof of citizenship + new paperwork hurdles) Why non‑citizen voting is already illegal – and extremely rare How this bill hits wo...

The Senate is getting ready to confirm Senator Markwayne Mullin as Donald Trump’s new pick to run the Department of Homeland Security. This isn’t just one Republican replacing another; it’s about who gets the keys to one of the most powerful domestic security machines in the country, right when the U.S. is at war with Iran and tensions are rising at home. In this Brief, I break down who Mullin is...

Americans in parts of the Middle East are reporting difficulty leaving the region as tensions with Iran escalate and flights begin shutting down. In this episode of The Brief , Patty from Politically POMP breaks down: • What’s happening with Americans currently abroad • Reports about evacuation assistance calls • How U.S. evacuations normally work • Why people are frustrated • The larger question...

Episode 1: “Christian War” Claims & Constitutional Guardrails In this first episode of The Brief , Patty examines circulating claims that military commanders have described the war in Iran as a “Christian war.”

In the last episode, I talked about how democracies don’t usually collapse all at once. They erode. They thin. They’re reframed. Today I want to slow down and define something that gets used a lot, especially right now, but is rarely explained. The phrase “constitutional crisis.” Link to my Substack here . Link to my YouTube here .

In this first episode, I step back from the news cycle to look at historical patterns of democratic erosion. This isn’t a breaking-news podcast; it’s a slower reflection on how institutions weaken, how elections lose their constraining power, and why so many people are feeling unsettled right now. History offers a framework for noticing these moments before they harden into precedent. Link to the...