From Sofia To Kyiv To DC, Resistance Against Trump Grows Stronger As Zelensky Presents A Real Peace Plan, Bulgaria…

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From Sofia To Kyiv To DC, Resistance Against Trump Grows Stronger As Zelensky Presents A Real Peace Plan, Bulgarians Topple A Corrupt Government, and Warnock Defends Healthcare

Plus, we call out a major corporate media failure

Scott Dworkin Dec 15

Thanks so much for being here. As we begin another week of Trump’s chaos, propaganda, and lies, I’m glad to deliver today’s news brief for you. We’ve got stories about brave folks fighting corruption and standing up for healthcare, as well as a real potential peace plan for Ukraine. Plus, we call out an enormous corporate media failure from last week.

Before we jump in: Here at The Dworkin Report we’ve delivered the truth for more than 520 days straight. Help us keep the streak alive, stay independent, and power our reporting and activism by becoming a paid subscriber today:

THE WORST COIN FLIP EVER

As I covered yesterday, Trump attended the annual Army-Navy football game, where he was “welcomed” outside by a large group of protesters. Well, inside the stadium wasn’t much better for him.

The image above might look like Trump was releasing a bird, or possibly doing his own rendition from “Dirty Dancing”—but nope. It’s actually how he did the ceremonial coin flip before the game.

Normally, you’re supposed to give the coin a toss so it lands right in front of you. Instead, Trump launched it behind the players, barely flipping the coin at all. Given his obvious mental decline, we couldn’t ignore how odd this was—even for Trump.

WARNOCK SLAMS GOP FAILURES

In an interview aired yesterday, Dem Sen. Raphael Warnock pummeled Republicans over their massive cuts to our healthcare programs.

When host Kristen Welker asked if he thought Congress could “reach a deal to prevent subsidies from spiking,” Warnock didn’t hold back. “You ought to ask my Republican colleagues,” he replied. “We have given them 13 opportunities this year to stop these premiums from doubling … and every single time they turned their backs on their own constituents.”

Warnock added: “We can do better than this.”

BULGARIANS FIGHT CORRUPTION

Inspiring. That is the word that keeps repeating in my head when I see what happened in Bulgaria recently. After weeks of protests against corruption and sweeping budget cuts, more than 100,000 people gathered in the capital of Sofia to demand the government’s resignation. There were also rallies held in dozens of other cities across the country.

And it worked. The Prime Minister ended up resigning, along with his entire government. If it can happen there, it can happen anywhere. Just a thought.

ZELENSKY PRESENTS REAL PEACE PLAN

As Ukrainian and US officials meet in Germany this week, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is pushing back on Trump’s so-called “peace deal”—a plan that was clearly designed by Russia.

Zelensky is presenting his own proposal, in which Ukraine would agree not to join NATO—for now—in exchange for firm security guarantees. The proposal also refuses to surrender any territory that Ukraine controls.

On Sunday, Zelensky made it clear: “The most important thing is that the plan be as fair as possible—first and foremost for Ukraine, because it was Russia that started this war.” Something that Republicans usually fail to grasp.

He added: “Above all, it must be workable. The plan truly should not be just a piece of paper, but a meaningful step toward ending the war.”

CBS GOES BEYOND SANEWASHING

Did you happen to catch the Erika Kirk town hall on CBS? I did, and I kind of wish I hadn’t. It may have been the most sanewashing I’ve ever seen on television in such a short amount of time.

I’m not going to repeat their propaganda here, but I did want to point out one bright spot. The final question came from the same man who asked Charlie Kirk his very last question. He asked Erika Kirk to condemn Trump’s violent rhetoric, and her response exposed the whole thing as just more blatant lies and hypocrisy.

Not only did she refuse to condemn the rhetoric, Kirk was seething over the question—because for one moment CBS’s pitiful attempt to sanewash her agenda backfired.

We built this platform because corporate media has failed us like this over and over again. While they try to normalize extremism, we smash through it with our daily news briefs. And our Watchdog Coalition turns outrage into action, driving more than 550,000 contacts to Congress, and taking over social media to counter maga’s bogus narratives.

We will never sanewash anything because we have no advertisers or billionaires to answer to. But that means we depend on this community to keep going strong, and right now we need all hands on deck. So if you haven’t yet, help fund our fight against the Trump regime by becoming a paid subscriber today:

Onward!

Scott

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Like this post and re-stack using the ♻️ button below to help this news break through the noise!

I have three questions for you today.

What do you think about Zelensky’s peace plan?

What did you think of the Erika Kirk “Town Hall” on CBS?

What do you make of Trump’s awkward coin toss this weekend?

Thanks for your support! Another way to help us out is by gifting subscriptions to friends and family! You can get yours by clicking the link or button below:

For all contact Congress links, or to volunteer, you can go here: https://actionnetwork.org/forms/sign-up-for-the-watchdog-coalition

Today we are focused on these four actions:

Stand with Ukraine over Russia: https://tinyurl.com/2khn59cr

Pass bill on unmasking ICE and displaying clear ID: https://tinyurl.com/bp8cau82

Demand answers about Trump’s visibly deteriorating health: https://tinyurl.com/sk9xm38v

Help us push for an investigation into Trump's Epstein coverup: https://tinyurl.com/4pfh2p4f

My interview with Rep. Swalwell: https://www.dworkinsubstack.com/p/live-with-eric-swalwell-writing-americas

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Very Important Sunday Message from Meidas Founder Ben Meiselas and MeidasTouch Network Dec 14 By Ben Meiselas It’s Sunday. As you know, this is my favorite post of the week. I get to have a coffee with our subscribers and reflect on the past week and what lies ahead. Please make sure you are subscribed to this Substack—and subscribe now if you aren’t already. I am having my usual black coffee this morning. You should have whatever drink you want. The defining thing this week has been how small and weak Trump and his bootlickers are. We covered how the fake “peace deals” Trump lied about were exposed. War rages on between Thailand and Cambodia, and Congo and Rwanda. We see Russia continuing its invasion of Ukraine, with Ukraine repelling the attacks and going on the offense with successful drone counteroffensives. We see the IDF continuing to kill Palestinians and Hamas refusing to cede any control. We saw multiple U.S. troops killed in Syria by an insider within the Syrian Transitional Government that Trump has given deference to. Then we saw Trump make social media posts claiming the school shooter at Brown University was in custody when the shooter was still on the loose, making the situation even more perilous. Then, there were the votes in the United Nations where the United States was the only nation in a 153–1 vote against a resolution ensuring the safety and security of humanitarian workers and UN personnel across the globe. Then, the United States voted in a separate vote alongside Russia and North Korea against a resolution to mitigate the effects of Russia’s Chornobyl disaster. We also saw Donald Trump’s pathetic event at a small banquet hall in a casino in Pennsylvania, which he called a rally. He called African nations “shitholes,” made bizarre noises like “bing bing bing,” said affordability is “a hoax,” and bragged about “doing the weave.” We also saw Karoline Leavitt, who Trump calls “machine gun lips,” say that the bandages on Trump’s hand and the discoloration are caused by Trump shaking a lot of hands each day. I am sure you saw Fox attacking us for calling out the ridiculous statements by Leavitt about Trump’s health. Fox clearly recognizes that Trump’s health is rapidly declining, and thus they are attacking us. Our subscriptions to this Substack have increased significantly since Fox launched its attack. Once again, you’ve shown that when Fox attacks us, we respond by growing even bigger. Thanks for subscribing! This brings me to my final observation about how weak the Trump regime media looks. Obviously, you know how pathetic Fox looks by attacking us. But this week, CBS demonstrated just how pathetic it looks as well. We all know the expression ETTD—everything Trump touches dies. Well, CBS once had one of the best reputations, but this week, with new ownership, its new CEO, Bari Weiss, and Erika Kirk gave one of the most bizarre town halls imaginable. It looked like a bad interview you might expect from a bad college TV production or a bad public-access infomercial. For all the tens of billions of dollars Trump’s oligarchs threw into CBS, they managed to mangle and destroy it instead of propping up Trump. This week showed that Trump’s reign of terror is crumbling. The Trump sycophants are failing right alongside him. Just as Trump destroyed and bankrupted most of the things around him during his life as a felon, a failed businessman, a fraud, a loser, and a sexual abuser, so too is he destroying himself and everything around him. All those who kissed the ring have now developed orange warts of shame that we can all see. We know who they are. We see them flailing and failing. Heck, even Trump’s gerrymander plan is failing in magnificent fashion. Trump and his regime continue to fail. Corporate news continues to fail. The oligarchs continue to fail. But independent media continues to thrive and grow. It is an honor that the MeidasTouch Network is leading all independent news networks. It is an honor that we are leading all corporate news and cable news, including Fox, in views and engagement. We are grateful for the trust you’ve placed in us. Together, we are only just getting started in our fight for democracy, love, empathy, and the truth. Before I finish my coffee, I want to thank all our subscribers to this Substack. If you aren’t subscribed, please make sure to subscribe now. It gives you access to our members-only features, and your subscriptions help the MeidasTouch Network grow and expand. You can also gift subscriptions to others. We are doing our best to hit our subscriber goal in 2025, so become a subscriber today. Thanks for sharing this cup of coffee with me. I am off to record a new video. Remember to subscribe now. Meidas+ is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

COMMENTS: 

This is the first time in my 65 years that I can name every cabinet member and tell you a lot about them,along with so many other corrupt government officials. I've been more informed through my Meidas Touch subscription than through any other source. Thank you,Ben,for sharing your morning coffee with us.

I agree. This terrible regime has forced us to pay attention, to learn about things we experienced vaguely from the periphery. I have learned so much from the MT! I depend on them as my major news source- trust is so important!

I feel the same at 66. WOW, never have I ever imagined our country going through this. So I fight so my kids don't have to!

Why is it the first time? You know them all because their names are in our faces all day long. It is the first time because cabinet members and appointees of previous Presidents, even some of #45's picks, took their jobs seriously, worked diligently in the background, did not need makeup artists and hair dressers or personal airplanes or a cringey and desperate obsession with "15 minutes of fame" turning into hourly, daily, weekly and months long self-promoting embarrassments and disastrous scandals.

I have said it before, Biden could have taken months long vacations in Aruba during his term and the folks in his administration would have continued the work of government seamlessly, flawlessly and quietly without the noise and fanfare while bringing us out of a pandemic crisis and building back our economy to the best in the world and too many ignorant, misinformed idiots believed the entertaining con man and his false promises to care about THEM. We are living in this hell due to egg prices in 2024 and because a despot convinced his flock that black, brown, yellow, red, blue, green, you know, any skin color other than white coming across our borders must be stopped dead. So gullible. So sad and so Trumpish and MAGA >>>>>>> Making America Grossly Abhorrent

Completely agree. We should be helping the kids understand that they need to be paying attention now or they'll be building toward the next trump. In other words, if we and our parents, etc., had been paying attention and participating we might not be in this mess. I include following business/tech activity. Then there's the number of people who DON'T VOTE. That said, I admit I never felt politics was really any of my business until I had children. On the other hand, before having children, I remember distinctly listening to the radio in 1979 in Saint Paul, MN, to a news item that 3M was going to contribute millions to the schools if their needs for the curriculum were followed. That got my attention.

Egg prices surged in 2024 primarily due to ongoing outbreaks of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI), or bird flu, which decimated millions of egg-laying hens, drastically cutting supply. This supply shock hit during peak holiday demand, with higher costs for feed, labor, and packaging also pushing prices up, despite some easing in feed costs later in the year, as restocking the lost flocks takes months. The government doesn't micro manage egg prices.

Yup I concur...I am so much more up on and educated on political people and events than I have ever been (also 65!) and Ben and the brothers are a huge factor in this. I am so grateful for Ben's thoroughness, team building skills and Chutzpah!

Let's not forget the names of Congress members outside of our own districts!

Yes, Ben, you are an outstanding journalist along with your brothers and all of your associates! No one needs to watch ABC, CBS, or NBC News because of their ridiculous news reporting! And FOX, NewsMax as well as OAN should be removed because all they do is lie about everything! MS Now is the only news station that reports the truth. All of Substack reporting needs to be in every household! Thank you again for all of your hard work and dedication to the people all over the world!

Hey BB. I started to pay attention to all those pesky cabinet members during the Nixon regime. I started paying attention to SCROTUS about the same time. I had a great Social political science teacher in middle school. He always said, keep both eyes on The Supreme court Justices, they can be very dangerous. And low and behold...Gore v.Bush Florida...

and now these scoundrels on the court. And if you know your history a lot of these people , Stone, Bannon,...were part of the Brooks Brothers riots back during "the hanging Chad crap" in Florida. They were never brought to justice for the garbage they pulled, and here we are now. Hang in there. Sometimes it's easier just to pick one crook and follow them.

I'm 69, and it's the same for me. I've decided that from now on, no matter who the President is, that will always be the case.

democracy would die without MT. not exaggerating.

Without media’s touch, we in the uk would be completely in the dark. How safe Trump would be, how empowered he’d feel if only corporate media fed their filth through the BBC. People like the meidas touch, Aaron parnas, Adam Mockler etc are true American patriots, selfless heroes.

The BBC is still doing a lot of good work too though. Don't throw away the baby with the bad water...

The BBC, CBC, DW News, TVP World, France 24. Zeteo has some great stuff. All on YT for free. It's US legacy news that's utter crap. The rest of the world isn't so stupid, lol unless Murdoch owns it.

Add to that France Culture, and the French-German TV channel Arte (much of it is also on YouTube, and Arte has many free programs on its website, which often has English subtitles and also an entirely English-speaking version; www.arte.tv).

To be honest: Zeteo is often too cynical for me. One of the main reasons that we got in the current place to start with is the fact that many progressives seem to no longer know how a democracy is supposed to work either.

A good start would be to (re)read Saul Alinsky's "Rules for Radicals", in which he reminds us of a basic fact: in a democracy, "compromise" is not a dirty word, it's a noble word. It's one of THE main things distinguishing a democracy from a dictatorship.

All too often, when Democrats behave like democrats and therefore compromise with the GOP in DC, part of the progressives (Huffington Post under Obama, and many independent media today) turn against Democrats and imagine that they "caved" or are "weak" or "corrupt" or "just don't have it in them to fight" etc.

In real life, what happens is that whenever WE THE PEOPLE don't fight to make sure that the GOP has no power in DC, then ANY pro-democracy Representative and Senator SHOULD compromise with them, because that is exactly what is needed to make a democracy work.

It's one of the things I love about MTN or for instance HCR, Paul Krugman, Rachel Maddow etc.: contrary to so many on the left, they never give in to this kind of cynical "Dem bashing".

Same thing with the major comedians: especially Jon Stewart revels in this (totally anti-democratic) Dem bashing, and the comedian who never ever indulges in it (and therefore imho offers a truly superior form of comedy) is Trevor Noah...

But this was about the media, not comedians. So all I'm trying to say is: not all independent media are "equal" either, and MTN truly stands out here as being radically pro-democracy AND understanding what that means.

In Australia we have become addicted to your podcasts. We need to poke fun at the situation to stay sane as well as be informed so I laughed pretty loud @ orange warts!!

Australia's Prime Minister needs some massaging. He just made a deal with the 🤡 for rare earth minerals. 😡

Happy Sunday Ben & everyone. I miss the days when we didn't have to worry about our own president causing harm to all of us. I never paid much attention to politics my entire life (I'm 58) until 2015, when the orange chucklefuck rode down the escalator to announce his presidential campaign. I hate trumpism for making me feel hate towards those that support him. My friend and family group has shrunk significantly after cutting off those that are maga. And I'm not sorry. I have zero tolerance for racism & white supremacy. I hope for the day that soon Democracy will be back in full swing and we don't have to worry anymore. Keep up the resistance. Stay strong. FDT.

That was my epiphany as well. I (at 66) watched that coin-operated conman riding down the escalator ...and his hate speech saying "All Mexicans were bringing their drugs and are rapists!" I was saying there was no way that any American would elect a racist conman whose university was a con, who put his name all over everything to try to make a buck-steak, vodka or a failed reality star who bankrupted his companies 6 times, NO WAY! and then the idiots after the first disaster did it a second time. UNFUCKINGBELIEVEABLE

Miss, there are naive and ignorant people in the world that I like to compare to ostriches. Can’t take the truth shouted from the mountain tops? Can’t believe ANYTHING a liberal says? Can’t acknowledge the terrible conditions in our country right now? Burying your head in the sand won’t protect anything but that denying brain of yours! People who cower and are incurious in the face of this country’s rapid downfall are only hurting themselves. MTN keeps us informed truthfully and with no punches pulled. That’s why it’s my main source of news. Those who ignore this information do so at their own peril. Good or bad, I want to be informed!

We The People 🇺🇸

Interesting that 35 % of adults in the U.S. are illiterate and he has about a 35% approval rate.

By posting TRUTH & FACTS, you have explained and enlightened other nations about MAGA,TRUMP & FASCISM....your CONDEMNATION has allowed other nations to PROTEST! 

GERMANY has a NAZI PARTY with a benign sounding name resurrecting NAZI propaganda. 

NAZI ELON MUSK (South African BIGOT & RACIST), JUST DANCE Vance (CLONE of ANTI-DEMOCRACY PETER THIEL) & others travelled to GERMANY to condemn public criticism of the NAZIS. 

It's well-funded support for NAZIS, as well as interference in Germany's election process. 

This is much like women who are reluctant to report RAPE for fear of being the FIRST ONE & publicly pilloried...no one wants to be FIRST! 

Your reporting of FACTS & TRUTH have enabled other nations to step forward & condemn TRUMP/MAGA fascism & lies. 

Without MTN support & promotion, CHARLIE ANGUS & MEIDAS CANADA might be limited in their response.

Thank you & keep it up!

~ 200 PEOPLE WENT TO DAFFY DON's PENNSYLVANIA RALLY - speculation is that they were PAID!

Delusional leader claims AFFORDABILITY IS A HOAX...HUH? 

THIS IS DEMOCRACY AT WORK! FOX NEWS = FAKE NEWS LIARS HATE IT!