Fourth & Democracy | Schumer Caves, NFL Mental Health Back in the Spotlight & Dear Leader Demands a Stadium

Welcome to another edition of Fourth & Democracy.

After a resounding night of Democratic victories in the 2025 elections, the celebration didn’t last long.

By Sunday night, social media was in an uproar. News broke that Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer had allowed Democrats to cave to Republicans to end the shutdown – without securing Affordable Care Act subsidies, the very thing Democrats were fighting for. The move threatened to erase whatever momentum Election Night had brought.

Voters were rightfully furious. Once again, Democrats became Charlie Brown as Lucy yanked the football away – and everyone saw it coming from a mile away. As The Lincoln Project and Lincoln Square’s Rick Wilson put it, “These people are going to pass this bill, and Trump will turn around and fuck them anyway. Unfucking believable.”

The wealth gap keeps growing as working-class Americans slip further into the abyss. But that’s not all – as the mental health of NFL players worsens, Trump is trying to strong-arm a team into naming a stadium after him. His fascist impulses are at an all-time high, punctuated by a flyover of Air Force One during Sunday’s Commanders vs. Lions game.

It’s a lot to process. But we’ve got you. With Fourth & Democracy, we’re here to bring the playbook to the public square – and break it all down for you.

1st & 45: What the F*ck, Chuck?!

Multiple flags on the play.

Unnecessary capitulation, Schumer, return team – fifteen-yard penalty from the spot of the foul.

Intentional ignorance, Schumer, return team – fifteen-yard penalty added to the previous foul.

Kicking yourself in the balls, Democrats – fifteen-yard penalty added to the previous fouls.

Unbelievable. After Election Night brought the vibes of progress to a ten-year high for Democrats, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) took a break from social media and reading notes from the Senate floor to cave to Republicans and reopen the government. Democrats had been in a battle – and, quite frankly, had shown some real fortitude in their fight to preserve Affordable Care Act subsidies for the American people.

Now? Zero guarantee of that, as news broke Sunday night of the vote to reopen the federal government following the longest shutdown in U.S. history. The measure passed 60-40 in the Senate, with Democrats Catherine Cortez Masto, Dick Durbin, John Fetterman, Maggie Hassan, Tim Kaine, Angus King, Jackie Rosen, and Jeanne Shaheen voting with Republicans to approve the bill. Republican Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky voted no.

At a time when more and more becomes unreachable for working-class Americans, the subsidies provided by the ACA helped families afford basic healthcare. Twenty million people slept better at night because of the care that law made possible. Now, Trump and his allies are certain to use this moment to push healthcare even further out of reach for those already struggling.

The cruelty is the point. Grocery prices, healthcare, paychecks in limbo, mass firings of federal employees – all while they ship billions overseas and sip cocktails and crab legs at Mar-a-Lago. It’s the ultimate slap in the face to the people who keep this country running, dealt by a ruling class that has never served anyone but themselves.

Democrats did secure a guarantee for Affordable Care Act subsidies in the Senate – a move that could be dangerous to House Republicans who will be up for reelection and whose constituents rely on those subsidies to get by. They would also be wise to seize the reopening of the government to immediately force the swearing-in of Rep. Adelita Grijalva (D-Ariz.) and move to release the Epstein files to a public that is out for blood.

The people are fed up – tired of being sold out to the other side by the very leaders elected to protect their rights, their safety, and their well-being.

2nd & Long: Does the NFL Need to Do More to Address Mental Health?

Almost every day, it seems, there’s a new arrest, death, or disturbing headline involving a current or former NFL player. After years of studies and undeniable evidence linking player suicides to chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), the league responded with settlements, lawsuits, and promises of reform. But for all the talk – what’s actually being done to protect these young men who are clearly still struggling?

What kind of mental health support exists inside locker rooms and practice facilities? Are players being checked on, or left to spiral in silence once the cameras turn away?

Former Tampa Bay Buccaneers running back Doug Martin recently died at just 36 years old after becoming unresponsive while in Oakland police custody following an apparent break-in incident. His family said he’d been battling serious mental health challenges for years – the kind of invisible pain the NFL still hasn’t figured out how to confront.

Just last week, former star wide receiver Antonio Brown – long a fixture in headlines for erratic behavior – was extradited back to the United States from the Middle East to face attempted murder charges stemming from a shooting at a boxing event promoted by streamer Adin Ross.

And now, the story repeats itself with the Dallas Cowboys. Defensive end Marshawn Kneeland, just 24 years old, died of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound after a police pursuit in Frisco, Texas following a traffic stop. Authorities say he had expressed suicidal thoughts and sent goodbye texts to family. The incident came only days after he scored his first NFL touchdown in his second season with the Cowboys.

The NFL will tell you it takes care of its own. On paper, it does: “vested” players get five years of free healthcare coverage after they retire, access to a Health Reimbursement Arrangement, and a handful of programs which pay for players diagnosed with dementia, Alzheimer’s, ALS, or Parkinson’s. The Player Care Foundation and NFL Alumni Association advertise emotional and financial support for those in need.

But behind those acronyms and glossy brochures, the reality is grim. Most players never make it to the “vested” threshold – three credited NFL seasons. The league’s nickname, “Not For Long,” exists for a reason: the average career lasts just 3.3 years. Those who do reach that threshold face mountains of paperwork, denials, and medical costs that exceed what their reimbursement plans can cover.

More and more active and former players are suffering from debilitating physical and mental injuries that leave them vulnerable to violent outbursts, self-harm, and arrests. This epidemic isn’t limited to fringe players fading into obscurity. Just last month, former quarterback Mark Sanchez was arrested on felony charges after allegedly attacking an elderly man while intoxicated.

The NFL needs to do more than issue press releases. It must take real, immediate steps to address players’ mental health – and ensure that former players are being checked on, cared for, and given the support they need to protect themselves and their loved ones.

3rd & Long: Dear Leader on Fascism: ‘Give Me More!’

The grift hall ballroom to cover up the bunker renovations, the resort-style patio that desecrated Jackie Kennedy’s Rose Garden for billionaire-politician dinners, the gold trim in the Oval, the mob-boss décor plastered across the people’s house – it never ends.

And yet, he wants a stadium.

Ahead of Sunday’s Commanders vs. Lions game, President Trump made it known he wants Washington’s upcoming $3.7 billion stadium named after him. Not as a sponsor. Not a donation. Just his name, as tribute – a living monument stamped on public ground. When asked for comment by ESPN, Karoline Leavitt gushed that it would be “a beautiful name,” and adding that it was Trump “who made the rebuilding of the new stadium possible.”

The stadium, set to be built on the old RFK site through a mix of public and private funds, once symbolized civic pride in the capital – home to crowds that belonged to the city, not one man. And yet, here we are again, watching him reach for something built for everyone and try to brand it as his own, like steaks, or vodka, or a casino.

It’s the same man who showed off a model of an Arch de Triomphe to reporters in the Oval Office – fantasizing about a monument in his image towering over Washington. The same man who has turned public service into America’s biggest grift and taxpayer-funded projects into his own crypto coin banks.

This isn’t about sports. It’s about power – a fascist strongman clinging to the illusion of immortality as his health visibly fades. In recent months, Trump has appeared pale and unsteady, falling asleep in Oval Office press gatherings amidst noticeable deterioration. It’s what every authoritarian falls into: the body weakens, the myth expands. They cope with mortality by building monuments. The bigger the insecurity, the taller the stone.

Hitler did the same – planning an entire city made of marble to outlive him. His architect, Albert Speer, designed a triumphal arch so massive that Paris’s Arc de Triomphe could fit inside it, and tested the weight of his delusion by pouring a concrete cylinder into Berlin soil. The message wasn’t subtle: when you die, the structure stays. The people become small. The ruler becomes eternal.

So when Trump demands his name on a billion-dollar stadium, it isn’t just vanity – it’s the same psychology of every insecure despot who fears irrelevance more than death. He wants the roar of the crowd every Sunday to echo his name, the skyline to carry it, and the city of monuments to bow once more before him.

4th & Democracy: To Those Who Served

It started as Armistice Day.

At the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month, the guns of World War I fell silent. The world exhaled – not in celebration, but in relief. Out of that moment came a promise: never again. Never again would the world take peace for granted. Never again would the ones who bore the weight of war be forgotten when the smoke cleared.

In 1954, America renamed it Veterans Day – a tribute not just to those who served in one war, but to every man and woman who’s ever worn the uniform. From the beaches of Normandy to the deserts of Iraq, from frozen hills in Korea to burning valleys in Afghanistan, veterans have done what too few are willing to do: put the country before themselves.

Today, we at Lincoln Square honor you. Not as symbols, but as living proof of what selflessness and integrity look like when you raised your right hand, it wasn’t for profit or fame. It was for duty, for opportunity. You swore an oath to defend a Constitution, not a man. To protect a people, not a party.

In a time when an authoritarian con man sits in the Oval and wraps himself in a flag he’s never earned, veteran service matters more than ever. Because we remind everyone what real patriotism is – the kind that bleeds, the kind that sacrifices, the kind that builds something stronger than fear.

We are the example this country needs right now. We are the moral compass in a moment when so many have lost their way. People lean on us – the ones who have carried the burden of a country, their brothers, and memories – to show the way forward.

To my fellow veterans: thank you for your service, your strength, and your sacrifice.

It is up to us to lead from the front and remind the American people of who we’re supposed to be.

Thank you.

What to Read

What to Watch

Death by Lightning – Netflix

Starring Michael Shannon and Nick Offerman, the series depicts the election and presidency of James A. Garfield, the 20th United States President, including his anti-corruption and pro-civil rights stances and how he crossed paths with Charles J. Guiteau – a deluded admirer who ended up shooting and killing him.

Plurbis – Apple TV

You’ve probably already heard about it – yes, it’s that good. Set in Albuquerque, New Mexico, the series follows author Carol Sturka, who is one of only twelve people in the world immune to the effects of “the Joining,” resulting from an extraterrestrial virus that transformed the world’s population into a peaceful and content hive mind.

Stay loud. Stay Grounded. Stay Up – And thank a veteran today.

Evan Fields is a veteran who writes the Weekly Wrap and Fourth and Democracy newsletters for Lincoln Square and the News from Underground Substack.