Fourth & Democracy | Misogyny & the WNBA, Nick Fuentes Makes His Way to the Mainstream & Violence Against Protesters

Welcome to another edition of Fourth & Democracy.

We’re now on day fourteen of the government shutdown, and there’s no end in sight. The lights are off in Washington while the bills pile up at home, and somehow, the money we don’t have keeps getting shipped overseas — to bail out Argentina, to fund tariffs that are wreaking havoc on trade with China, to patch up the holes the Trump regime keeps blowing in the global economy.

The market is swinging around like Pete Hegseth at a DMV strip club, the cost of living is only climbing, and wages aren’t moving because companies have stopped hiring, stopped growth, and stopped believing in the future.

Out in the streets, people are done waiting. Workers, students, veterans, nurses—ordinary people who have had enough of being told that patriotism means silence. Trump’s government is answering them in the only way it knows how: with arrests, brutality, fear, and surveillance. The same machine that promised to end wars, bring down prices, and “make America great again,” is manufacturing chaos to justify its own power.

And somewhere, lost in the chaos, we’re all waiting for the pardon of Ghislaine Maxwell. The final move to keep the Epstein files buried and the powerful untouchable. It’s no longer corruption; it’s a protection racket disguised as governance. The shutdown isn’t just political theater — it’s punishment. Prices climb, hospitals prepare to close, people lose care, heat, and hope, while the money moves offshore for deals in Gaza and the truth stays locked away.

Every day this drags on, life gets harder because we’re being ruled by a madman who mistakes destruction for control — and we are all being held hostage, with the ransom set at civil liberties.

1st & 10: WNBA Negotiations Elicit Online Hate

When WNBA players demand a more equitable share of league revenue, the internet’s usual suspects (weak men) rush in to tell them to “Shut up and be grateful,” or just take whatever deal is given to them. The misogyny is blatant: players being told to temper their demands, to be nice, to stay in their lane. But the numbers tell a different story. Nobel laureate Claudia Goldin — now advising the Women’s National Basketball Player’s Association — argues that, given the growth trajectory, women should be receiving roughly 1/3 to 1/4 of what NBA players command in revenue sharing; instead, many WNBA players today receive the economic equivalent of just 1/80th.

Meanwhile, the WNBA’s financial picture is shifting. The league locked in a $2.2 billion, 11-year media rights deal, viewership and fandom are exploding, and attendance records are falling. Franchise valuations reflect that: the Golden State Valkyries debuted at $500 million, and the Las Vegas Aces now sit in the $290 to $310 million range. The Aces didn’t just coin-flip that status — they just swept the Mercury in the Finals yet again, proving that dominance matches the rising demand.

Even staff compensation has caught up before the players: Becky Hammon’s salary broke the seven-figure barrier as head coach, signaling that elite women’s basketball talent draws real value, and gets paid accordingly. So if those in power really believed in fair shares, the math is already there. The market says “yes” — the trolls say “be grateful.”

Who are you gonna bet on?

2nd & Long: The Mainstreaming of Nick Fuentes

Something cracked in the right-wing ecosystem when Charlie Kirk was killed. Nick Fuentes — long at war with Kirk, calling him a gatekeeper who softened MAGA’s edge — suddenly found himself in the limelight, cast as a successor to a movement in flux. In the weeks after Kirk’s death, Fuentes’ visibility exploded: his following on X jumped by roughly 175,000, while Rumble added another 100,000 subscribers. It wasn’t just numbers — his livestream “eulogies” of Kirk drew millions, turning what might have been a fringe spectacle into a coronation. Fuentes has repositioned himself not as a provocateur, but as the voice of disaffected youth on the right—those who feel betrayed by conservative institutions and by silence on our complicity with Israel.

The rise coincides with a slow implosion of the brosphere. Joe Rogan has edged away from Trump, calling his deportation measures “horrific” and pivoting toward a broader distrust of government power. Theo Von publicly objected to his likeness appearing in a DHS ad, insisting he never signed off on Kristi Noem’s latest propaganda. Those cracks mean something: the old masculine brand of “owning the libs” is losing oxygen and coming off as pure cruelty — too much for even a nativist like Fuentes.

His clips now surface constantly on Instagram Reels and TikTok feeds — framed as political commentary. He benefits from growing public anger at Israel’s genocide in Gaza, presenting himself as a truth-teller willing to say what others won’t. But the danger is that in rejecting one form of state violence, people slip into another form of hatred. Beneath his pseudo-intellectual tone, Fuentes remains violently antisemitic, racially coded, misogynistic, and unrepentant. He still drops the n-word, toys with racial conspiracies, and wraps fascism in irony.

So yes — the brosphere is shifting, but not necessarily toward empathy or progress. It’s drifting toward the loudest edge that still feels “relatable.” Fuentes isn’t moderation; he’s a mutation of what was. A new radical anchor pushing hate into the algorithmic mainstream which now includes personalities like Ana Kasparian evoking the mannerisms of antisemitic memes on episodes of The Young Turks — packaged as curiosity and sold as courage.

3rd & Short: Curtis Yarvin’s Anxiety

Chicago has become the laboratory for the Trump regime’s state violence. During ICE’s Operation Midway Blitz, federal agents tackled and detained credentialed reporters — throwing a female journalist to the ground and hauling her into an unmarked van while the “arrest” was filmed. The outrage forced a legal response: on October 9, U.S. District Judge Mary Rowland issued a temporary restraining order barring DHS and ICE from detaining, threatening, or using force against journalists absent clear probable cause. The 30-day order cites violations of both the First and Fourth Amendments, a judicial reminder that even in chaos, the Constitution still applies.

Those scenes of brutality are not isolated — they’re Trump’s new template. Raids without warrants. Workplace sweeps. Entire city blocks are treated like occupied zones. Civil rights lawyers say the Chicago tactics breach long-standing consent decrees and the lawsuits are already stacking up. The regime’s answer to dissent has become suppression, not policy.

Abroad, billions continue to flow into conflict zones and bailouts; at home, hospitals prepare to close and social programs are hollowed out while our president is baited with flattery. In his ever-delusional chase for a Nobel Peace Prize, Trump let himself be goaded into betraying the American people once again. The award’s latest recipient, Maria Corina Machado — a vocal Trump supporter — dedicated the award to him, a shameless bid to flatter his ego and lure the U.S. into toppling the Maduro regime. Her goal was transparent: to turn Venezuela’s turmoil into a stage play where Trump plays the liberator and she takes the throne.

And now, the basement dwelling philosopher-king of illiberalism himself, Curtis Yarvin, admits he’s frightened — writing on his Substack recently that he may flee the country if Democrats regain power, fearing retribution. For someone who built a career arguing that democracy should die, it’s an admission that justice might still live.

Because the truth is, impunity has an expiration date. You can silence a reporter, drag them off in an unmarked van, or crush protesters—but you can’t outrun discovery, subpoenas, or history. As Illinois 9th Congressional District candidate Kat Abughazaleh put it after seeing the footage, “Kristi Noem belongs in The Hague.” These people know the illegality of what they are doing. The anxieties of their philosopher, Yarvin, prove that. They are going to double down on the cruelty in an attempt to prevent their fears from becoming reality, but as a source recently told me: “Vengeance will be ours.”

Fourth & Democracy: Your Voice In Action (October 18)

House Speaker Mike Johnson has already begun smearing next week’s No Kings Protest and putting its attendees in danger by painting them as “hate-America demonstrations” and “pro-Hamas mobs.” It’s the oldest authoritarian trick in the book — painting ordinary citizens as traitors to justify violence against them. And in a country where mass shootings and political intimidation are part of daily life, the rhetoric is just gasoline on an open flame.

But here’s the truth: October 18 isn’t chaos. It’s clarity. It’s a peaceful national protest against ICE raids that brutalize families, journalists being thrown to the ground in Chicago, civil rights violations, hospitals closing, and working people being priced out of existence while billionaires launder accountability offshore. This movement isn’t left or right — it’s everyone who’s being crushed under the same boot.

If you’re working-class, if you’re watching your insurance double, your groceries spike, your rent skyrocket — this fight is yours. The regime in power is draining you to protect themselves — shielding the Epstein files, protecting their offshore accounts, and insulating their power from the only thing they fear: you. They need division to survive. They need you angry at the wrong people while they cash in on your pain.

Don’t take the vengeful bait. The numbers are on our side. Political scientists like Erica Chenoweth have shown that when just 3.5 percent of the population participates in sustained, nonviolent protest, no regime in history has ever survived it. In the United States, that’s roughly 12 million people. At a sustained rate, that amount would shake the foundations of this government.

October 18 is how we start. Show up. Bring two friends who’ve never marched. Bring an American flag, your phone, your courage, your peace. Stay nonviolent. Film everything. Make it undeniable.

This is a fight we’re in together. The moment working-class conservatives realize that it isn’t the immigrant family next door — the one paying taxes and showing up to work every day — but the billionaire paying their kid twelve dollars an hour with no benefits while they still live in the basement, that’s when the tide turns. When they stand beside us, not against us, the people who keep this country alive might finally take it back.

No Kings. October 18.

What To Watch

Protect & Serve with Michael Fanone & Maya May

Right now, as Americans struggle to make sense of the senseless police crackdowns happening across the country, there’s no one better to break down what’s really going on than former Capitol Police officer and January 6th survivor Michael Fanone.

Together with Maya May, he hosts Protect & Serve — Lincoln Square’s newest show on policing and law enforcement in America, where firsthand experience meets fearless conversation about power, accountability, and the future of public safety.

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First Draft with Susan J. Demas

Lincoln Square’s executive editor, Susan J. Demas, brings you First Draft — a weekly show featuring in-depth conversations with some of the most notable journalists and media figures. Whether she’s unpacking John Roberts’ Supreme Court with author Lisa Graves or breaking down the week’s headlines with MSNBC’s Antonia Hylton, First Draft delivers hard-hitting interviews and timely, unfiltered discussions from the front lines of American journalism.

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Behind the Numbers with Rick & Andrew Wilson

The Lincoln Project’s Rick Wilson, and his son Andrew Wilson go live every Friday morning to break down the latest polling, data, and political narratives shaping the week. Andrew’s sharp insights as a pollster, paired with Rick’s trademark wit and experience, make for smart, candid, and often hilarious father-and-son conversations. It’s a dynamic you don’t want to miss — the data you need, delivered with the authenticity you crave.

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Post-game Press Conference

Trump is hurting you. Yes, you.

Maybe you stumbled across this newsletter for the first time. Good. It was meant for you.

You might have the money right now to withstand the weaponization of your vote in 2024 — but the pain is coming. You’re starting to notice it already. That twenty dollars you give your son for lunch doesn’t last two days anymore — just one. He’s struggling to find work and might have to join the military — anything to get out of your basement before those new healthcare premiums hit.

Because here’s the truth: Trump is hurting you. Business is drying up — you feel it. Date nights with your wife are fewer and further between. Those Costco steaks that used to mark a good week? They’re just out of reach now after you already traded Prime for Choice.

Now imagine what the people below you are dealing with. They were already a step down, just looking for a way up. Those families can’t afford ground beef anymore. They have to choose between their kids eating lunch at school or paying the utilities. Their roofs leak because groceries cost too much to fix them. Next year, they won’t have healthcare — and they’ll still show up to work, at the businesses you rely on, sick and scared, because they have no other choice. Those people are not your enemy. They should be the recipients of your empathy and compassion.

Soon, you’ll start to complain that things “aren’t the same anymore.” You’ll realize it was never about immigrants or your neighbors. It was about protecting a class you were never a part of. I’m telling you this because I care about you. The people at Lincoln Square care about you.

Because just like the rest of us, you are an American. But what we need you to realize is so are all your neighbors. You know who isn’t an American? Elon Musk. Rupert Murdoch. Sergey Brin. The billionaires who manipulate our economy and our elections to protect their pockets — they’re the ones flattering a man who only serves himself, not you.

So take a chance. Show up to the No Kings protest on October 18. Learn something. Stand with your fellow Americans. Fight for a better way of life.

You might surprise yourself.

Stay loud. Stay grounded. Stay up.