COMMON DREAMS:
Top News | After Threats Throughout Campaign, Trump Lauds Mamdani
Trump’s Oval Office Surrender to Zohran Mamdani
Trump's alleged child rape victim "Katie Johnson" is in the Epstein Files
DID YOU SEE THIS ONE?
Today in Politics, Bulletin 254. 11/20/25
… Fox: “Trump’s job performance drew career-high disapproval among men, White voters and those without a college degree. 86% of Republicans approve, down from 92% in March. Among all voters, 41% approve of the job Trump is doing, while 58% disapprove. Only once have his ratings been lower and that was during his first term, 38-57% in Oct 2017. Two months ago, it was 46-54%.”
… “When it comes to the national economy versus personal finances, evaluations are also negative. Most say conditions are only fair/poor (76%), and only 18% think inflation is completely/mostly under control. Voters say costs have increased compared to last year for utilities (78%), healthcare (67%), housing (66%) and gasoline (54%). And 85% their grocery prices went up this year, including 60% who say costs increased ‘a lot.’”
… “Majorities of Republicans agree with majorities of Democrats and independents that costs have gone up on each of these items except gas. Trump’s job ratings on foreign policy are underwater: 43% approve, while 55% disapprove. The president receives his top marks on border security (53% approve). Nearly half approve of his handling of immigration (46%), while a new low approves on the economy (38%), (35%) on tariffs and healthcare (34%).
… (64%) are concerned about Congress and the Supreme Court (63%) not doing the checks and balances that they should and are giving too much of their constitutional authority to the president.
… JD Vance was at a Breitbart conference today urging MAGA supporters to be patient with the bad economy: “As much progress as we’ve made, it’s gonna take a little bit of time for every American to feel that economic boom which we really do believe is coming. We believe that we’re on the front end of it.”
No Fear: Brave Veterans In Congress Choose Constitution Over Tyrant, Americans Flood DC Demanding Trump’s Impeachment, and AOC Dismantles A Big Trump Lie
INCLUDES THIS & MUCH ELSE:
DC PROTESTS
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A series of “Remove The Regime” protests started in Washington, DC yesterday, and will continue this weekend. The group that organized the event wrote: “We are demanding impeachment and removal, and we are demanding it NOW.”
Kicking off at Union Station, demonstrators marched past the Senate buildings, while chanting: “Impeach, convict, remove!” and “lock him up!” Later, they broke into smaller groups to drive that message home at different Congressional offices.
I helped run the first impeachment campaign against Trump. It helped rip apart the second half of his term, and allowed the House to move faster than it can in normal investigations. This will surely become a major campaign issue in 2026.
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 three actions:
Support discharge petition to force vote on ACA tax credits: https://tinyurl.com/w23tnvxm
Help us push for an investigation into the Epstein scandal HERE: https://tinyurl.com/4pfh2p4f
Pass bill on unmasking ICE and displaying clear ID here: https://tinyurl.com/bp8cau82
MASSACHUSETTS:
WBUR TODAY: The T's traffic problem
WHAT HAPPENED TO SLOW ZONE SHORTSLEEVE? DIDN'T HE SOLVE ALL MBTA PROBLEMS? SLOW ZONE SHORTSLEEVE & THE WHITE TOOTHED GOVERNOR LEFT DISASTERS AT THE MBTA FOR GOV. MAURA HEALEY & MBTA PHIL ENG TO ADDRESS...WHICH THEY ARE SUCCESSFULLY ADDRESSING!
Too fast too furious: Anyone who rides the Orange Line has felt the dramatic improvement over the past couple of years. Slow zones have been erased from the map. Trains are going as fast as 55 mph for the first time in recorded history. And this fall, the MBTA ran 422 scheduled trips a day — up from just 282 a year and a half ago. But in a slightly ironic twist, the Orange Line has a new problem: congestion. As T officials explained at a meeting yesterday, the line is running trains so frequently and so fast that they are often encountering a bit of a logjam at each end of the line. In an interview, Deirdre Habershaw, the T's deputy chief operating officer, described the situation as "sort of an unintended consequence" of all the improvements.
- The problem: The issue began last spring and intensified in August when they started running Orange Line trains up to 55 mph north of Boston, Habershaw said. During peak hours, trains arriving at Oak Grove and Forest Hills were coming in so hot on the heels of the previous trains that neither side of the platform was free. So they had to stop and wait, often erasing the gains of all the improvements. According to Habershaw, one in every 10 trains arriving into Oak Grove saw about an eight-minute delay as a result. "Anyone who's heard that we're standing by for a schedule adjustment, that is because there isn't another location for the entering train to arrive," she said.
- The solution: While the T was able to ease the issue a little this fall via schedule tweaks, they began testing out other ideas. Enter "the dropback." Typically, when an Orange Line train reaches the end of the line, the driver has to walk to the other end of the train to drive back out in the other direction. To speed up the turnaround, the dropback adds another driver into the rotation. Now, when a train reaches its terminus, there's another driver waiting to hop on and drive it out, while the current driver gets out and "drops back" to the next train. (If you, like some MBTA board members, find it confusing, just watch this animation.)
- Now what? Habershaw said the dropbacks will be implemented at Oak Grove when the new winter schedule takes effect on Dec. 15. She estimates it will save an additional two minutes. "It seems small ... but if you think about the folks that are on that train, that means making a bus connection or not," she said. "It can be precious minutes." Habershaw said there's an added benefit of giving train drivers an informal break to stretch their legs, use the restroom or simply reset before getting back in the train cab. "Not everything that we do needs to be a big, expensive capital [project], like new trains and all that stuff," Habershaw said. "We can tweak these operational things and have some really good payoff."
- In related news: T officials said yesterday they expect the final two new Orange Line cars of its 152-car order to arrive next month, following delays due to federal reviews of the Chinese-manufactured train shells. But there's still a long way to go before we get the full 252-car fleet of new Red Line trains.
WHAT HAPPENED TO SLOW ZONE SHORTSLEEVE? DIDN'T HE SOLVE ALL MBTA PROBLEMS? SLOW ZONE SHORTSLEEVE & THE WHITE TOOTHED GOVERNOR LEFT DISASTERS AT THE MBTA FOR GOV. MAURA HEALEY & MBTA PHIL ENG TO ADDRESS...WHICH THEY ARE SUCCESSFULLY ADDRESSING!
Too fast too furious: Anyone who rides the Orange Line has felt the dramatic improvement over the past couple of years. Slow zones have been erased from the map. Trains are going as fast as 55 mph for the first time in recorded history. And this fall, the MBTA ran 422 scheduled trips a day — up from just 282 a year and a half ago. But in a slightly ironic twist, the Orange Line has a new problem: congestion. As T officials explained at a meeting yesterday, the line is running trains so frequently and so fast that they are often encountering a bit of a logjam at each end of the line. In an interview, Deirdre Habershaw, the T's deputy chief operating officer, described the situation as "sort of an unintended consequence" of all the improvements.
- The problem: The issue began last spring and intensified in August when they started running Orange Line trains up to 55 mph north of Boston, Habershaw said. During peak hours, trains arriving at Oak Grove and Forest Hills were coming in so hot on the heels of the previous trains that neither side of the platform was free. So they had to stop and wait, often erasing the gains of all the improvements. According to Habershaw, one in every 10 trains arriving into Oak Grove saw about an eight-minute delay as a result. "Anyone who's heard that we're standing by for a schedule adjustment, that is because there isn't another location for the entering train to arrive," she said.
Ask the Editor-in-Chief: 11/20/25
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