There’s a calendar on my spreadsheet so we can target our calls/letters/emails/faxes to flood offices in an organized manner.
Use/share this spreadsheet (bit.ly/Nokings) as a resource to contact members of Congress, the Cabinet and news organizations. Call. Write. Email. Protest. Unrelentingly. ❤️🩹🤍💙
Reach out (beyond your own) to as many in the Senate and House as you can. All of this is bigger than “I only represent my constituents” issues.
Add a comment to help keep this bumped ✊ New eyes seeing this means new ripples for change! 🤞
I would like to add that people should see this podcast with Zev Shalev and his guests Nick Paro and Melissa Corrigan. Melissa broke news about Hegseth's second cover up, and Substacker Nick Paro follows the Tech Fascists.
It takes two to tango and while Trump was the worst ever to be in this office. Like a monster that arose from the dark swamp, Biden’s inability to gage his faltering popularity was the perfect storm that is now being unleashed across this nation. I would give it a 50/50 chance in surviving this period. The dark side of human vengeance is being unleashed and it’s giving the Antichrist untold power to destroy. How the nation can hold out for 3 more years is confounding. By the time the midterm date rolls around, there may not be any midterms since the high court is giving the authoritarian untold power. His false emergency powers might suspend the elections as tyrants often do. The Dark Side is in Ascendance. Billkatz@substract.com
We have no choice but to act in mass and reject this Dark Side and hope for victory.
Little patience for incendiary goofiness like this. He’s not the Antichrist, but a raging, demented, incoherent, frightened liar whose power is actually crumbling about him, even as he tries to assert more of it.
Nothing is to gained by declaring the sky is falling 24/7 in an effort to turn us all into Chicken Littles. There are going to be midterms next year. What would be the point of Texas redistricting its Congressional delegation without them? Even with it, they might still end up losing seats there. It’s what often happens when amateur scoundrels believe their jerry-rigged contraptions will actually work out the way they’ve planned them to.
Thanks for the comment, ICTT. I read some comments and feel like I am staggering close to the edge, and then yours comes along to pull me back to a safe place with both feet firmly planted on the ground. I am learning to listen to my mind and/or body, depending on the circumstance, and I realize I need to take a news break. Furthermore, I can sense I am required to utilize more energy and struggling to maintain balance.
At the very least, take a break from those who prey, like ghouls, on your worst fears. They serve only their own egos, nothing else. Remember the words of FDR, spoken at a truly frightening intersection in American history — “we have nothing to fear but fear itself.” Positive action requires hope and begets it further. Despair? Not so much.
I recommend focusing on Andy Borowitz's daily dose of satire. I admit I read very few comments anymore because I don't find them illuminating or useful.
I get it. Each demented act or enabling of it easily leads to the fury and alarming despair Katz expresses. And each bit of knowing fellow feeling and suggestions of what to do, if only to write, protect, protest, etc. swings us back out of the dread. Expressing each is ok—we need to not hide them from ourselves. Staying centered without being naive and continuing to work toward better more healthy days … what we all need to focus on now.
I agree to a point. The idea I have is to keep constant pressure on the worthless group now running the republican party.
Everyone Must remember in this particular case this situation is the result of a FAILED two party system is the doings of republican party and their ilk siply because it was their turn in the barrel.
It's payback time for the system and the two party system ensure we all will suffer because of the spineless sellouts to outfits such as the Israeli government with CIA's backing.
His actions certainly have dampened the national spirit and have set neighbor against neighbor. Hope is great, but is not a strategy. FDR ‘s statement aside, he supported it with actions to make things better. I see no such actions today. His poll numbers have dropped. Whoopie!
The irony is that the republicans have brought about destruction of their party for not having been guided by their own values - or have their true values been revealed. In either case, nothing seems to be there to begin to attract this former life-long republican back to the fold.
So the incumbent (Italian) president of the Fédération internationale de football association has created a peace prize? a consolation prize invented by a sports body for the disgruntled head of a corrupt foreign government who really wanted a prize from an immensely serious international organisation which saw no evidence that he deserved it?
Simple - you know that the FIFA PP is not real. It's black plastic with gold paint but it makes you feel good to have yet another hollow award to put on display.
Kathy - We're here for you because most of us feel as you do and HCR's comment section is group therapy. By all means, take a break if you need to because only you know your limits as you say. And perhaps I should do as you suggest, but I'm not quite there or else I'm a masochist.
In between there’s MSNOW with intelligence, lawyers, judges, Congress members (such as Himes who forcefully expressed his horror at the second strike), and usually balanced realistic discussions.
Thank you for the comment. I am doing fine overall, sleep can help a great deal. I probably need to clarify, although I think most people figured it out, and that is there are some specific comments that will strike me the wrong way. Furthermore, I would say the majority of the time, these things or such comments will slide off me. Then, if I am coming off an evening or night of reading more dark and perilous articles, I can feel overwhelmed.
Kathy J, you've been subscribing for a month, so first--WELCOME to the forum! You WILL find strength and fellowship here. You will also find the occasional troll (not sure if Rick is still here) whom you can block. The majority here are reasonable, intelligent people who add value to the forum.
You will also come to see there are a few who have pet issues they will incessantly insert into the dialog. "Bill Katz" is one who likes to provoke people, as he himself admitted here a few days ago. He's found crapping on Biden to get a rise out of people, so be forewarned you will see this out of him constantly! And he also seems to have a lot of time on his hand as he generally must always have the last word. I know he's been blocked by at least some here, as for me, he occasionally has something of value so I haven't blocked him. Yet, at least.
Miselle, good advice. I see certain names and I scroll on by and refuse to engage. That being said, I enjoy the majority of posts here and learn a lot. I get book recommendations and other suggestions. Also have had some excellent conversations. Then there is my friend Ally in Eugene who i would not know if not for this blog.
Thanks for your comment. I have been a subscriber for much longer, a couple of years, maybe more as I have lost track of time! I had an annual subscription and decided to go monthly, and then at some point I think I canceled that and switched back to annual. It seems that if you cancel for another tier, it shows you as a new subscriber. I might have the specifics wrong on what I did and when, but at least I know Substack does not keep track of your total time as a subscriber! I am much better tonight and on my typical way of dealing with things, don't let certain comments aggravate me all that much. Learning to scroll on can help!
Kathy J, to follow on to your comment—maybe we only read what responsible authors like Heather have to say and not read comments, which take us to the brink?
I just learned that my Indivisible chapter has 700 GOTV postcards to parcel out. Dont know yet where they go, but it will likely be to a district where the Republican in charge is quitting. Having a vote in 2026 will be tough (imagining an ICE criminal or substitute in every precinct and robbing every drop box (if there are any) and hoping we can get ahead and have a democracy to celebrate even if late.
An interesting counter to Bill's dark forecast. It all hinges on HAVING THE VOTE. Don't forget although 40% is not a majority they are cultist and they do what their leader wants which includes threatening politicians and voters.
I am 100% convinced that trump is drugged. I don't know if the drugs were prescribed by his physician or if it's Satan Miller who is slipping something in his diet coke, but when he nods off it's not out of tiredness. Watch him closely....
JFC, Joe Biden has been gone for a year. Give it up, and leave Joe Biden out of this. All of this shit belongs to the dictator and the 77 million who voted for it. It has nothing to do with an Anti-Christ. God, this stuff drives me crazy.
I get it, but how much longer are we going to beat that dead horse? What’s done is done. We’re facing an existential threat to our democracy, and we’ve got a hell of a lot work to do. Look forward, not backward. Just let it go.
You are right but I am still having trouble supporting the Democratic Party. I do support David Hogg and Leaders We Deserve. I liked the movement before I saw the Jon Stewart interview with the Democratic Party leader. After that interview there’s no question we need new leadership.
The reason why so many people feel the need to "beat that dead horse" is because the Democratic Party is doing nothing. If the Democratic Party were doing anything productive or effective against the problems we're experiencing then so many people would be supporting the Democratic Party rather than "beating it".
Can anyone tell me what the Democratic Party's platform is about the Deportations through violence vs Deportations with compassion? What is the Party line regarding the boats? What is the Party line on any of Trump's excesses?
Bill, how many times have I reminded you that there are elections almost every day somewhere in the US. And many of them are Federal special elections.
Trump can TRY to stop elections but which states will actually stop their elections because Trump says so. (You also assume that he is alive 11 months from now.)
If Trump were to try to stop the November, 2026 elections he would have to stop the primaries first, and not only in red states but everywhere.
Do you see what Indiana is doing right now regarding the Trump redistricting efforts? Indiana is as red a state as there is and they will likely vote against gerrymandering this Thursday. Trump is making all sorts of noise and even releasing far right ads filled with lies to try to convince the Indiana Senators to vote to redistrict. And even if they cave to Trump, the Indiana Constitution makes it illegal to redistricting except right after a US Census. So even their Supreme Court will overturn it.
One of those Republican Indiana legislators has a child with Down’s, if memory serves, and has said he was taught right from wrong as a kid and knows the difference between the two. His daughter has helped him re-affirm for himself what he’s always known. Voices like his need to be amplified.
I read that man’s comment. It was spot on. When Trump gores someone’s personal ox, it matters. Likewise, I am SICK of Trump’s condescension toward female reporters, and I ask my fellow females everywhere to make him pay for his blatant misogyny.
(You also assume that he is alive 11 months from now.)
Reels, the proverbial black hole for time, are an astonishing window on the average world. My kids and grandkids send them to me and I occasionally fall prey to the hook. It is truly amazing how many people, across the cultural spectrum, post their own thoughts on how overdue his demise is. Just think of it! Just one small idea and millions of us are thinking it. We just wish the President of the United States of America would just drop ----. Amazing.
Christine, it is amazing in a way, but it shows how monstrous he is. i want it to occur in public, so we all see it and the cabal will not be able to pretend he is still here and do more awful things.
As each day passes and more people see just how evil he can be I guess it should come as no surprise that many of us wish the same thing. I don't want him to drop because he has hurt me but because he seems to relish the pain he causes innocent and vulnerable people. THAT reserves him a special place in Hell in my opinion.
My preferred scenario would be that he just seize up and drop on stage in front of thousands of witnesses. THAT would be the THUD heard 'round the world. BAM!
I’ve never bought the suggestion that Trump will somehow cancel elections.
Even tyrants like Putin hold elections, but they’re rigged.
Rigging is much more likely. We already see this with the Texas gerrymandering. Still even there he’s limited as the states control most of it. He can only act by trying to persuade red states to act.
If there is no election, I think we should insist that our Blue States hold it anyway. I agree about acting in mass. A lot of fence sitters will have to decide what they want.
Since elections are controlled at the state level and overseen by the state Secretaries of State and/or election boards I believe, how would the Fascist Trump administration stop elections in the 24 states with Democrat governors?
They would stop elections wherever they choose by sending thugs to cause disruption leading up to election day , much like January 6th, but on a larger scale, thus causing fear on the part of the electorate.
They would destroy the storage facilities where the voting machines are stored.
They would then send in the armed military to ‘return’ peace to these areas.
The voter turnout would be dismal due to fear, the voting locations would be minimal due to lack of functioning voting machines. They won’t care.
Anyone arrested for this criminal conduct would be pardoned.
Those are certainly possibilities, considering the depths we've seen of this maga leadership coalition, especially in the localities that they've infiltrated themselves over decades. We do still have common law in most localities. We also certainly have one another's backs; Congregate thusly at election times; Purposely organize as such; The more witness's the better. After all, it's only through division that they wield any real power; Plan and organize to illustrate the real strength and power of 'many' - organize and 'illustrate' - "e pluribus unum" and reveal the cowards for what they actually are. Start today. "Act as though", to stir the contagion of courage as though your life and your loves depend upon it; It actually does.
Gary, by bomb threats, ICE patrolling polling locations where significant numbers of Latinos are registered to vote, etc. -- in other words, by disruption, fear and chaos, not by edict. I believe this is the only way that he can achieve his goals. But that is 11 months out, and a lot can and will happen before then.
Well, of course he couldn't but with only blue states voting he would declare the outcome null and void. You can probably bet your bottom dollar that no matter how well the whole election works he will try to do that anyway. I wish he would just seize up in the middle of throwing a fit.
Like I was saying yesterday, the Constitution gives We, the People, the Right to Vote. Not even the current US Supreme Court will take that away from us. We, the People need to pressure our government officials to make sure the Voting is preserved and is in a Safe Environment.
It’s not just the President who “must have the power to control and…the one who has the power to remove [and] is the person that they have to fear and obey.” It’s We, the People.
Are you freaking kidding? Joe Biden is the one who gave a free pass to Clarance Thomas and tossed Anita Hill under the bus. I never forgot that nor have I ever forgiven him. He was also initially against school bussing. Joe Biden did what most politicians do; survive and if it meant allowing the worst freaken justice to be nominated because he didn’t want to be tagged part of a “high tech lynch mob” racist, don’t count me as one of his supporters ever ever ever ever. Did I say ever? You have a short memory span. I’m plagued with a long one.
I do it all. I’m in process of notifying my ct Governor to reorient our Connecticut National Guard to potentially protect our residents from jack booted thugs of government. And I have encouraged him to spread it to other at least democratic state governors. How much more do you want?
at the same time,I can’t turn a blind eye to the past.
What are your alternative policies for immigration, deportation, the economy and energy? You have none. You only want to Resist. Keep it up and we will have President Vance, Please.
I am so sick of those who focus on the faults of the Biden administration. It seems to me to be a total waste of time. You can't seriously think that "Biden’s inability to gage his faltering popularity was the perfect storm that is now being unleashed across this nation" Certainly, we should learn from history but now we are in a battle to save democracy and focusing on the finer points of Biden's mistakes is not our highest priority. We need to put our energy into moving forward rather than looking back!
Kathy, you've been here longer than I have, surely by now you've seen this is perhaps not Bill's pet peeve, but what he knows he can throw out to provoke people. Two days ago he said just that, he "likes to provoke people."
And I’m sick of folks ignoring that Noe Biden lost the country. He is at fault for losing nobody else. I sensed this would happen even when he announced early 2020 that he would pick a Black woman to run. Why? Why did t he just pick the best whether it was Black or white male or female. I know Joe abiden had in the back of his mind being president for the 250th birthday. Towards the end of his term, the guy walked like a zombie. He did well leading us out of the Great Pandemic for sure. But he ignored the big one that tanked him; the border.
I do understand the feelings around Biden's failure to read the room, but his biggest failure was anointing Harris as the future. She wasn't my first choice as VP.
She just doesn't have what it takes and her message was murky at best.
However, I blame all the long term Republican Senators who are well aware of what a normal president says and does and they voted for all of the most unqualified cabinet in the history of this country. I blame them. They own the choices that Trump threatened them with.
I blame the 77 million people that voted for Trump and the 86 million who couldn’t even be bothered to vote. That’s about 2/3 of our electorate who put us in this position.
I think a third is an underestimate, but I've heard or read that Trump would've won the non-voters. By how much I don't know, but that points to more than half of us preferred Trump.
That 'engineered' consensus is still too large for my peace of mind - assuming that I've got all the factors correct. As HRC implied, even that 'basket of deplorables' is too large - (basket of 'leadership' deplorables that is); Sheep must be sheep; Lemmings will likely always be lemmings.
The economy will convince megacorporations to unite and save democracy by making a few calls to Congress to demand Trump be impeached, convicted and removed or else. I would add then the federal cases against Trump can be reopened along with more. Vance will be told to stay out of it and be happy they let him be President -- and he would be. What I am saying is maybe it's not, "It's the economy, stupid", but when it really gets bad "It's the loss of profits, stupid!
With the blue wave next year the balance of power will shift away from the Executive branch.
And remind JD that his job is only temporary. And if tries to emulate his predecessor that the Speaker of the House becomes President when he is impeached. He can nominate a new VP but the Congress must approve.
Megacorporations are part and parcel of the maga leadership coalition Al. Do you not see that; Aren't you able to 'connect the obvious (to me) 'dots' ? I can recall 'connect the dots' coloring books of two types from my youth; Those with numbers as a guide, and those without. Humbly, I was an early graduate. Lest we repeat yet again the mistakes in our history, we must address "all" the elephants in the room friend, rather than tip toeing around them yet again. For all the folks cowering, "this all is not tfg, tfg, tfg - alone that plagues us. It is and should be always referred to as the 'maga coalition, tfg coalition, the corporatism coalition, the corporate, religiosity, unitary executive as ruler coalition, etc. But tfg's mention should "always" include leadership coalition. He alone was never very bright; a conniving unapologetic grifter for sure, and many more deplorable adjectives, including certainly the poster 'boy' for narcissist; I know this without any doubts.
I agree 100%. I was saying that loss of profits will finally get so bad the megacorporations will finally make the calls. I have been calling them global corporatist fascist for 30+ years. Now the MAGA cult is at their feet.
You are correct, Bill, that it takes two to tango, and you are incorrect in your apparent disregard for the self-evident fact that it takes one to not tango. Normally, that wouldn’t bother me, but in your case, I make an exception because you are so insistent on imposing your distorted version of reality on others.
So, help me help you. Please answer a simple question: How does one objectively distinguish between right and wrong? I’ll give you three clues:
Clue #1: “Bill Katz is right, and anyone who disagrees with Bill Katz is wrong” is wrong.
Clue #2: “James Carey is right, and anyone who disagrees with James Carey is wrong” is wrong.
Clue #3: Donald Trump thinks “Donald Trump is right, and anyone who disagrees with Donald Trump is wrong” is right.
I understand the fear you’re expressing, but I want to push back on a few points. This did not become a 50/50 coin toss because Biden misread his popularity. That framing personalizes what is fundamentally a structural crisis decades in the making. Authoritarianism did not arrive because one man faltered, it arrived because institutions were hollowed out, norms eroded, and power concentrated long before Biden ever took office. Also, language about Antichrists and cosmic dark sides risks turning political struggle into myth instead of strategy. The courts are dangerous, yes, but elections are not yet suspended, and panic can become paralyzing. Mass action matters, but it has to be grounded in reality, not apocalyptic fatalism. Fear alone is not a plan.
100 calls in one day...the office shuts down to handle it.
500 calls in one week...policy change consideration.
1000 calls...historical precedent shows this forces action.
Personal calls are 70 times more effective than anything else. Always opt for speaking to a person instead of leaving a message.
I don't remember where I learned this information, but I believe our Reps respond to the high volume, so CALL. Megan is right...we deserve better. DEMAND IT and let them know YOU VOTE!
Brilliant add-on, thank you Celeste. I’m in the UK and I can’t do much, but I hope you and your fellow Americans ‘get there’. It’s in my self-interest; when the US does well, we all do well. The Trump administration is a biblical plague on the whole world. So, good luck and I wish you success. Anthony.
Anthony, I see you've been a paid subscriber for three months. May I WELCOME you to the group here, and especially thank you for keeping a pulse on the sane Americans by joining and commenting? I appreciate you. Please spread the word over there: the American's aren't all crazy.
Hi Miselle. Just a short reply. I am grateful for the education which these substack posts provide for me, and don’t worry too much about the view of Americans; ‘what goes around, comes around’ doesn’t it?! I fall into the camp ‘we’re better together’, as you can probably guess from my comments. Yours, in regard, Anthony.
You're right Celeste. If only 5000 of us called EVERY day from now til midterms, it would scramble the phone lines and get the point across. Phone calls, even to DC take no time, you can do other stuff if on hold, like send emails to those same reps and send or call GOP reps who are wavering or have had the balls to vote against him. As little as 15 minutes a day by ALL of us would cause a blue tsunami. Don't get discouraged, phone and email at the same time.
Satire | How tariffs, videos, bailouts, and the Constitution all became optional accessories
Last Wednesday, President Donald J. Trump confidently promised transparency. Asked whether he would release the video of a September 2 strike off the coast of Venezuela, he waved it off with breezy generosity. Whatever they have, he said, they would certainly release. No problem.
Five days later, transparency was abruptly reclassified as fake news.
When a reporter dared to quote him back to himself, Trump responded with the political equivalent of sticking his fingers in his ears. “I didn’t say that. You said that.” Then, pivoting to the nearest escape hatch, he added, “This is ABC fake news,” as if the real scandal were not the strike, the deaths, or the missing video, but the insolence of memory itself.
Welcome to the second Trump presidency, where the past is negotiable, the Constitution is more of a suggestion, and saying something on camera does not technically count unless the President remembers saying it... https://essayx.substack.com/p/donnies-golden-age-of-i-didnt-say
The Constitution is hardly a suggestion to the Trump mis-administration. A suggestion might at least be followed on occasion. This group doesn't think the Constitution is worth a stinking fart.
And like magic, this spreadsheet appeared so I didn’t have to get up from my coffee and go into my office! I just called Rand Paul’s office and thanked him for his principled stand on the murders in the Caribbean. I certainly have heard nothing from my senators. (Aside: Marsha Blackburn wants to be gov next year. When she (rarely) talks to Tennesseans, it is a very carefully curated group. Yesterday she turned up on a ‘most corrupt’ members of congress list.)
If ever there was a time for protest and/or revolution, it sure as hell is now. Contact your reps in DC now. Tie up the switchboards. They don't appear to be busy right now and they are near dear leader in warm offices. When is the next big protest? We can't wait til better weather.
if Joe Biden hasn’t let in 11 million criminals we wouldn’t be having the chaos that we’re having now
And if Joe Biden hadn’t increased grocery prices by 20% had doubled gas prices and hadn’t tripled mortgage rates we wouldn’t be having this problem right now
... could be worse.. I've got Collins and King. I've never written/called so many times ever. At the beginning of the year I contacted them everyday now I'm down to once a month or once every new scandal.
King just keeps sending newsletters saying we are wrong and he knows how to govern.
Collins just ignores the entire thing. She sends newsletters about how she's helping to fix the things that wouldn't have been broken if she and Trump hadn't broken them to begin with.
They have effectively killed any belief I had in the US and the Constitution.
Hi BLB. I’m an Irish man who thought that Irish politics were rubbish. I moved to the UK and found equivalent crap, with a different accent but the same sense of entitlement to talk big but to walk away when it doesn’t suit. I’ll not tell you my impression of Washington politics … but ‘swamp’ is a good metaphor. I think that Winston Churchill is attributed with saying “democracy is the worst possible form of government, until you’ve tried all the rest”. So, we must pat ourselves on the back that we have the worst possible form of government, but better that Beijing or Moscow…🤭
That’s exactly what you’re doing spitting in the wind and I hope the wind is blowing right in your face. You’re not wasting your time. You’re describing your hate for no reason whatsoever you have no reason at all to hate none.
From the Strength in Numbers piece that HCR included in today's letter:
"Economic malaise is a serious problem for Trump. He won in 2024 because economic anxiety conditioned lots of voters to pull the lever against the incumbent. But now, he is the target of their ire. Losing economy-focused swing voters would cause a bloodbath for Republicans in the 2026 midterms."
I am letting the souring economy do its work on voters, and I call my reps, all R, to keep them uneasy about Trump. I have been telling them I want Hegseth to testify to Congress under oath. I would say the same thing to Ds, as support.
Hey Lori, if you had a king and you tried to do a no King’s protest, they cut your head off but you got away with it didn’t you at least twice everyone was alive nobody got hurt so how is that possible that you had a no Kings protest and a country that has a king? Bet you never ask yourself that ??
Thank you Megan have distributed your work in a large group of us. Over the weekend found out all those people have shared it as well to family and friends around the country… You’re doing great work.. Outstanding
TJ, EXACTLY!! Every new person who signs up for a paid subscription is growing our big tent, and we needs all hands on deck for the upcoming midterms. For some here, this subscription price is a sacrifice. I am grateful for everyone doing this. THANK YOU for doing so, and as I see you are relatively new here, WELCOME!
A few years ago, via reader comments, I attempted to pin the swastika on Donald Trump and his MAGANAZI Party. I hoped this action might help us to realize what "we the people" are up against... not only the bludgeon of a dull-minded, brutal fascist monoculture, but also "the unhampered looting by finance capitalists." It is late 2025 and, lo and behold, the Trump crime syndicate has gone "full Nazi." Project 2025, NSC 88 and Trump's National Security Strategy (NSS) are the building blocks for a justification system that will be the foundation for the exploitation the United States, the Americas from pole to pole, and the world. This is a strategy, not of a government "of the people, by the people and for the people," but of organized crime... the MAFIA.
Greg, I have also been saying in reader comments that Trump's MAGA movement reminds me of the Nazi party's rise to power mostly during this second run. Then, when I read Ruth Ben-Ghiat's book "Strongmen" I realized that he had already started doing a lot of these things during his first term. It is Trump and SCOTUS that are doing this together. Congress is stepping aside to let them so is complicit as well.
I really think there should be an anti tax movement. No taxation without representation. We are no longer getting representation from our government. Trump is not even working for those who voted for him. He is working for himself and his family to get rich and friends if they cut him the right deals. His corruption knows no bounds. We deserve better.
Republicans in Congress are fully co-conspirators, even when they fail to act. Their fingerprints are all over the corruption now rampant in the other two branches of government.
I know. However, it is the court saying that. If SCOTUS were fair Trump would be held in check. But, it seems SCOTUS members have realized they have no enforcement method against Trump, and rather than have their power shown up, they just give in to him, and especially where they support his agenda.
Yes no taxation… which was the essence of the rebellion that became a revolution. And it had nothing to do with liberty but all to do with liberty from a taxing central authority. The states have great powers. I am publishing an open letter to our CT governor to advise our National guard to be protective of our residents similar to the original state militia during the rebellion. Then a tax revolt but back it up with essentially our state armies. And I have asked him to inform other governors around the nation to do likewise. We must realize this MAGA will not magically disappear.
Bill, I’ve called my MA governor about this. No reply! Would you mind letting us see your letter? I’ll certainly use it not only here but will send it to other state’s Governors like Hotchul and Ptrizker.
I am struggling with the idea I have to once again gather all my paperwork and pay my accountant a fee to submit my 2025 taxes, then scrape together the money to pay my share. I am just eking by and the thought of sharing a cent with these crooks hurts my whole being. Not right.
It is not right. I would rather pay more to my state government which could take care of all needs just like Belgium does which has a population around the size of my state, but a smaller GDP.
Well, Bryan should we be developing a taxpayer lawsuit against the government? Which lawyers would take this on? I would participate and try to convince others who are more timid to do so too.
Just the other day Scott Galloway was saying in a podcast that he was pretty sure that if he had connection and 10 mil and his son was in prison for something really bad he could buy him a pardon from Trump. He co host was saying he would not even need a connection, just money. It would be given either to the ballroom or some other slush fund.
Linda Weide, YES 🙌! Why oh why am I laughed at by my own elected reps about that action? I’m figuring that each one is frightened. We’d need to coordinate this as a very large group across this country. Early on there seemed to be at least one organization I could join to withhold taxes….. Money talks as we all see daily with this gang including what used to be a Supreme Court now largely bought for with 3 who are smarter and not for sale.
Linda, we pay the bulk of our taxes quarterly (my retirement income takes the automatic bite, but my wife as a sole practitioner/private practice therapist pays quarterly. It is so hard to write those damn checks.
People often revenge vote so they sought revenge against Biden with the cranky loud voice who did nothing for two whole years to stem the flow of massive migration. Don’t believe me read a recent NYT story of this debacle.BillKatz@substack.com
Maybe not the Mafia as such, but much the same dynamics. Consolidation of unitary power, extortion, and violent retribution. The nemesis of a free and just society.
The unitary executive theory is bullsh#t. It is the direct opposite of what the founders intended. They debated over how much power a president should have. They got rid of one king; they certainly did not want to create a king. They would be horrified over the idea of presidential immunity, which is totally and completely made up by Trump and agreed to by the Sleazy Six on the high court. All the corruption perverting the Constitution is staggering. The founders did not expect a rubber stamp Congress.
Donald Trump is and always was a juvenile delinquent, sex offending, sadistic, rich kid. He delights and always has delighted in gaslighting anyone or any institution that tried to stop him. At the same time, his brain is so ADHD, he cannot execute any operational plan. That's why he went bankrupt 6 or 7 times and has lied and cheated his way out of his self inflicted failures.
The danger we face now is that he has crossed the line from outrageous fantasies of revenge to actual vengeful policies and behavior. And he's hired sadistic, more competent staff who share his thirst for punishing any Americans in his way.
As we continue down this road, Donald's predictable failures will be America's failures, Hopefully, enough Americans will see Trumpism more clearly in 2026 and 2028 and vote many Trumpists out of office.
When these traitorous Americans are called to account and justice returns, we should show NO mercy. Their ideology and corrupt behavior needs to be purged from American Democracy.
💩💩💩I am so sick to death about the orange baffoon running a muck over our Constitution and the Rule of Law!
He himself has no brainpower. He’s feed by the people behind project 2025. He does not and cannot speak for himself. As it is proven every time he is asked a question by a competent news reporter he cannot answer so he lashes out with insults.
His incompetence is showing daily along with his numbers. I can hardly believe that he even has a 36 approval rating. 🤬
And I got banned from FB and T for saying that the repubs under chump were using Goebbel’s propaganda to gain power, in Nov 2020. Nobody wanted to read, much less heed, the warnings.
Well said. And trump is throwing red meat to his Maga base in the form of Erasing Black History, erasing climate change policy, erasing scientific knowledge, erasing reproductive rights for women and eliminating all social justice programs. Therefore Maga will and is ignoring the corruption and outright stealing of our tax monies and all the laws that only make billionaires richer while ordinary Americans struggle.
Well, you’re one of the most effing ignorant people on here. I don’t know how old you are, but anybody that tries to compare anybody living today with Adolf Hitler and the Nazis should do the following.
Get your ass on a plane and fly to Auschwitz. Go lie down in an oven go stand in front of an open pit where they shot hundreds at a time. Go stand in a blackout gas chamber. Go visit the shoes and glasses by the hundreds of thousands of people that perished and then watch a video by Eisenhower visiting there and seeing the 75 pound adults Then go to Dachau and see how the prisoners were kept and see where they live through cold winters with no heat
No wonder the Democrats are losing their ass. They have idiots like you chiming in
We have friends that have numbers on their arms if you heard their stories, you shut the fuck up
It is your friends who are Holocaust deniers. I visited Dachau and years later another camp in Austria. I really think you should look up fascism or at least authoritarian governement.
Excuse me, Karen and rarely curse like this, but you’re out of your fn mind. And totally lost. Why don’t you look up socialism, which is where your party is right now and see how close that is to fascism try that.
I happen to be Jewish and so many people with numbers on their arms through my life. One of the reasons the Jews are suffering today is Barack Obama and Joe Biden, who supported Muslims who sent planes full of cash overnight to the Middle East and who called for support for the Palestinians. And you see how that turned out!
In fact, look up the word Nazi. National Socialist party. A.k.a. MAMDANI And all your Democrat, friends who support him. Man are you? I don’t even know the words.
After all, we’re all laughing at Donald playing goon again.
There he is at the Kennedy Center, having appointed himself gala host, having before that having appointed himself chairman of the Kennedy Center’s board of directors. So, look, he’s receiving a fake peace prize from F.I.F.A., obviously the world’s most corrupt sports organization. Laugh. Laugh. Laugh.
But meanwhile Stephen Miller, Russell Vought, and Peter Thiel are engineering the end of the U.S. federal government. Step 1: let RFK Jr. begin killing all the medically safest vaccines for children (as reported on today by Rachel Maddow).
Or, wait. Maybe Step 1 was the demolition of a key part of the White House. Or was it the campaign of missile strikes on the smallest boats in the Caribbean? Or organized ICE thugs on the streets terrorizing on the basis on race?
One thing’s for sure. Donald’s cronies in D.C. will do not one thing to help any ordinary Americans. Upping more opportunities for techie billionaires to open more AI for themselves? Letting Jared and his buds in the Saudi sovereign wealth fund take over Hollywood? But what does Putin get?
And how many players who for years played with the underage girls Donald’s other pals trafficked? How many of them – identities still carefully hidden – how many of them now get billions in crypto or whatever other grifting we can’t see yet, while we have Donald carefully acting the fool? Or is it an act?
Not comedy, Phil, the pratfall is the distraction for the pickpocket.
HCR’s receipts today: he said “no problem” releasing the Sept 2 tape, five days later “I didn’t say that”; he’s leaning on SCOTUS to bless tariffs and Treasury says they’ll route around a loss; the “unitary executive” push would let him purge the independent agencies.
Farmers get a bailout for markets his tariffs wrecked, and Congress is moving to dock Hegseth’s travel until the unedited video lands with Armed Services.
The through-line here ain’t laughter; it’s power without witnesses and the tab shows up at our grocery store. www.xplisset.com
We've got to factor in his ever more evident dementia. He's not just lying anymore. He's also blanked out, truly space cadet, on so, so much.
And worse -- the stupendous absence of adults in the R party. Paired with that, the willingness of our formerly most prestigious institutions now just morally empty, ready to pay millions for extortion in nearly every field.
And all around this, the extents of sheer conniving, the intentions of the worst foreign players to pay whatever they have to pay -- hiding their actions -- to hold shares in what had been our republic.
I went to a troll’s substack page and the delight at the destruction and venom was unreal, interspersed with cat photos and religious blather. Cult logic
Trimp has always been transactional. That his mind is melting and oozing out his mouth doesn't negate that, it accelerates it. He's guileless as his dementia worsens, providing cover for his underlings to wreak havoc on government, all to consolidate power for the broligarchy: Theil, Musk, Bezos, Ellison (and son), and the rest of the Über-rich who think they deserve to have all the money, all the power, all the waterfront property on all seven continents, and if there is anything resembling government, it should work ALL for them!
Phil, in July the Reverend Al Sharpton said on MSNBC that the Democrats need to focus on affordability. He was the first person I heard label the problem -- affordability. Now it has become the catch-phrase and even DonOld has used the word even though he has called it a hoax and it doesn't really exist.
The OBBBA made life less affordable for most of the country by messing with Medicaid, SNAP benefits, healthcare premiums and even Social Security while giving the Uber wealthy exactly what they were promised -- huge tax cuts.
Really, every policy, EO, egregious departure from accepted norms, and acts of buffoonery all serve one purpose - to maintain the grift. This administration is all about profiting from the office, and really nothing else. Follow the money, we've done it before.
Steve, your comment hasn't garnered many "likes," but it is most apt. So much has happened since the beginning of the Trump era, it is difficult for us to collectively recall the timeline.
In 2014, Donald didn't want to be president. His declaring his candidacy for president was merely a contrivance to boost his brand, no different from marketing gristly steaks or undrinkable wine or a useless university. Knowing his candidacy wasn't serious, he didn't expect to win, even in late 2016.
But the talking points his campaign staff had handed him landed successfully with a resentful TV audience that believed Mark Burnett's creation of a fake tycoon. Donald found himself propelled into the White House, which he pronounced a "dump."
Not only did Donald not believe he'd be president, he didn't want to be president. In the early days, he complained about how hard it was, and he pined for his old life of TV celebrity and chairmanship of a company that was run by others.
Then, two things happened: His criminal past began to catch up with him and he discovered the myriad ways the Office of the Presidency could be monetized. To a lesser extent, his adolescent mind enjoyed being "the Big Cheese" that world leaders were obliged to acknowledge.
Suddenly, Donald not only wanted to be president, he was desperate to cling to the office. He exploited the office to rake in millions of dollars that enabled him to repay his debts to Russian oligarchs who stepped in when U.S. banks wouldn't touch him. And the office was an ovoid firewall against the prosecutors who were coming after him for his past crimes.
Now, in his second occupation of the Oval, he has effectively disabled the justice system that would hold him accountable for his criminal past. Presumably, his Russian debts have been paid, and his expanded grift is just stuffing his coffers with billions he will not live to spend.
DonOld was motivated by the drubbing that Obama gave him at the Dinner for the press corps. Public humiliation is not something that his pathetically weak ego can take. And that it was a black man who humiliated him was simply intolerable to this racist moron. It was the final blow after years of being told to f__k off by the NY elite, and he has plotted to take revenge on anyone whom he thinks is superior to him ( and as his cousin has pointed out, that is nearly everyone. ( In his warped mind he really knows that he is a POS who is a joke and a pest to anyone who has a functioning brain)
We really need some method of testing candidates for severe emotional/psychological problems so that we do not end up with any more Nixons or Trumps. Strange that they were both Republicans....no?
The look on his face as he was about to be inaugurated the first time convinced me that he had not expected to win.
I agree with Dale about the rest, except I question whether the “Russia debts” have been paid off. Maybe the financial debts have, but he doesn’t seem free of whatever kind of debt he owes Putin. Unless the “national security strategy” introduced last week was intended to be the final payment.
Carol, since Steve's comment was about money, my response was to the financial aspects of Donald's presidency.
I agree that he is still beholden to Putin, and whatever debt that is, Donald will not get out from under it until he dies. Many have hazarded theories about what his obligation is, and they are all credible to me.
Donald is one of those few beings who has absolutely no moral compass, so any reprehensible thing is possible (and likely).
I wonder if it's an act sometimes -- orchestrated powerplays distracting from deeper shenanigans. At a meeting about Resistance Lab, I began imagining how to implement someone's idea to use public theater to expose The Disappeared. I'm guessing that almost everyone is mourning some loss. Heartcrushing and gradual, all that's been Disappeared amidst We the People. Holding the whole in a widening scope is a stretch and a daily practice. Springloaded hoods that pop up on signs carried by any and every one -- fill in the blanks.
A retired MAGA cop acquaintance early on told me he wanted to get an audience with the mafia chief presumably to help promote his memoir. Recently, he intimated that the guy “should be taken out.” Use your imagination as to what he insinuated.
When are reporters going to be prepared to show the orange man a video of what he's said in the past when they ask a question based on what he said and he denies saying it????
It would make no difference. Like Stalin, what the Leader says is the past, is the past. His adoring fans accept that manipulation and everyone else is too scared to show him up.
There has been plenty of such reporting, and a great deal of ridicule, too. Hasn’t done any good. Trump voters are just plain bad people. The world would be much better off without them. Every last one of the miserable SOBs.
I am not at all convinced that it has done no good. Trump faces more resistance now than earlier in his term on many fronts, and he is bumping into hornets nests. United we stand.
How about “not much good” then? An approval rating of 40% for a thug who’s into cruelty and retribution for minor “offenses” is abominably high. And some significant fraction of the disapproving 40% would vote for him again, anyway.
More and more I am beginning to think you're right. Just plain bad people (the definition of a "bad people" in my book are those who want to dismantle our government and put in white Christian nationalism). I don't care any longer if they also like dogs/cats, or that they appreciate music, or any of the other "civilized" things. They are rotten at the core.
Some people seem proud to be predatory. I think that's what the "robber barons" and the cosplaytriots are selling. Their definition of "freedom" is "freedom" to exploit others. "Sic semper tyrannis" was Booth's vainglorious utterance at he murder of Lincoln. MAGA "free trade" means monoplistic commerce with no rules. To whom "Free Speech" means no restraints on my lies and slander, yet persecution of your objections.
They aspire to be overlords. Rules are considered theirs to make, not to follow. I don't believe that everyone who is snared in the circular logic of their cult is beyond hope. Persuasive leaders and social movements led historical shifts of social consciousness for some serious abuses. Not "all lived happily ever after" changes, but very substantial strengthening of human rights nevertheless; and even criminals have certain human rights. I know people who escaped the cult of intimidation in which they were raised, and now deplore it. But there are also psychopaths/sociopaths that have lost or never had a capacity for compassion or conscience, that society has every right to restrain. Divide and conquer is the tyrant's oldest trick to stratify and dominate society, and solidarity and commitment to universal social justice our strongest defense.
Just playing with words. Anything to cheer myself up, since apparently my civilisation is facing extinction within a few decades, according to your government’s newest NSS document.
Rex, after having endured and overcome the effects of religious indoctrination, I have a strong set of beliefs about the human condition that are not tainted by religion.
I do not believe that there are "bad" or "good" people. When we are born, we are like empty jars. From Day One, life adds contents to our empty jars and they start to fill up with a "cocktail" of bitter, sweet, sour, savory, acidic, foul, caustic additives, and more. Once added, these "ingredients" blend with the others and cannot be removed.
Each of us receives these "mixers" in different amounts, and the blend creates the "flavor" of who we are. The good (and bad) news is that we have some – but not total – control over what is added to our jar. Some people choose the sweet and savory to offset the bitterness that life has added. Others choose the sour and bitter, thereby overwhelming whatever sweetness was given them.
Those folks who've chosen foul contents for their jars must be isolated and removed from the community because they "stink up the place." We need a political "landfill" for them.
There is a longstanding debate over nature vs nurture, and it seems the two are inextricably intertwined, but yes, I think that human character is a mix of competing impulses. Stevenson's Jekyll and Hyde is surely an oversimplification, but I think it points to realities. Abusers tend to be those who were abused themselves. We all have free will yet are products of our circumstances. and whole societies differ with respect to the frequency of violence and corrupted behaviors. Liberty, accountability, and individual and social wisdom and justice are easy to spot in extremes yet complicated in between. It helps to create an inclusive social contract with attention to universal individual rights and social responsibilities. And then agree to follow it, without end runs, and paid-for indulgences.
And while we all pursue individual happiness, mutual agreement to rein in narcissism.
I understand your frustration, but the press pool has to follow the guidelines set by the White House in order to be a reporter there. They don't just get to bring in TV's to show Trump the replay.
It's not like they don't push back on the lies. But one of Trump's oldest lies is the 'fake news' one so it makes no difference.
I think you are wrong putting the fault for this on reporters.
I was wrong to say, "When are reporters..." when I should have said, "I'd like to see reporters..." I'm not putting fault on the reporters, and I know it wouldn't make a whit of difference, even if they could, but I'd still like to see them be able to do that.
You are right about my frustration, though. I have to keep reminding myself that HE'S not normal.
SCOTUS also did not grant certiorari in a free speech case yesterday. This one worries me a lot as well. We are definitely in a deluge of flooding the zone.
The conservative majority on SCOTUS can undermine our rights by declining to hear an appeal just as well as by issuing its own ruling.
The case in point involved a group of Texas citizens who wanted 17 books banned from a public library, so they got the local government to issue an order to the library. The “objectionable” books dealt with transgender identities, race, slavery, and farting. Yes, not a typo, passing gas.
The 5th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld that the book “ban” was not a violation of free speech protections. The central argument was that anybody could access the “banned” books by buying them or borrowing them from a friend. The library collection was merely being “curated” to reflect the government’s “viewpoint.”
The Supreme Court did not issue a full written opinion; it simply denied review (certiorari) of the case, which means the justices chose not to hear the appeal and left the lower court’s decision in place.
By turning away the appeal, the Court allowed the Fifth Circuit’s decision to remain binding law in Texas, Louisiana, and Mississippi, but it did not create a nationwide Supreme Court precedent on book removals.
The Fifth Circuit had held that patrons could not use a claimed “right to receive information” under the First Amendment to challenge a public library’s choice to remove books from its collection.
The concept of the “right to receive information“ is not new, and has been established in prior court rulings. From Perplexity:
The principle originated in cases like Lamont v. Postmaster General (1965), where the Court struck down restrictions on receiving foreign mailings, affirming that the right to receive information complements the right to speak. It was solidified in Stanley v. Georgia (1969), protecting private possession of materials, with Justice Marshall stating the Constitution safeguards this right regardless of content’s social worth.
In Board of Education v. Pico (1982), the Court applied it to school libraries, noting that removing books could infringe students’ access to ideas essential for free expression.
By allowing the current 5th circuit ruling to stand, it sets precedents on protection of “government speech”.
The government speech doctrine says that the First Amendment restricts government regulation of private speech but does not limit the government’s own expression. The underlying idea is that the government has to be able to communicate its policies effectively. From Perplexity:
Under this principle, when the government acts as a speaker—such as by erecting public monuments, or one would think, removing them, or rejecting special license plate themes, or curating library collections—it may select specific viewpoints without violating free speech protections typically applied to private parties.
The appellate court treated public library collection decisions as a form of government speech, concluding that government officials have broad discretion to decide which books to include or exclude.
The 5th circuit, in its ruling, emphasized that removing a book from a public library does not prevent people from accessing it entirely, because they can still buy it, order it online, or obtain it elsewhere, and therefore the removals did not violate free speech rights. In other words, removing the books was not an outright ban, but rather an expression of the government’s viewpoint. That does not comfort me. It will not comfort the kids who are and adults who are seeking information as they come to understand their gender identities. And it sure does allow a whitewashing of history.
The most important issue to come from this case is that the right to receive information does not override officials’ viewpoint under the government speech doctrine.
The bottom line is that the 17 books at issue will remain off the Llano County library shelves unless local officials change their minds, new officials are elected with differing views, or there are superseding court rulings.
While the Fifth Circuit’s ruling applies only in the states under its jurisdiction, its reasoning could prompt more book “curation” in the region and influence other courts.
But the truly worrying concept is that the government’s right to speech based on viewpoint outweighs a person’s right to information. Think about that. Think about that really hard.
And then think about it applied to a pregnancy crisis center…
The whole free speech debate is an Orwellian Red herring. Trump’s government doesn’t value free speech, and the only government who, according to it, is allowed to regulate speech is Trump’s government. Certainly it doesn’t accord the same right to European governments that regulate hate speech, fraudulent speech (scams) and incitement to violence and suicide.
Orwellian is right. If the government's viewpoint can trump a person's right to information, then there are no constraints on what can be suppressed. The fig leaf that you can always get the information somewhere else, can keep getting smaller and smaller as the government gets more and more repressive. Just do what they are doing now, allowing oligarchs to consolidate huge media enterprises.
Civil society is not the judiciary. It’s we the citizens of countries affected by these tyrants. If the judiciary is on our side, great. If not, we must stand up for our rights.
Yes he was referring to the book but I’m sure he’d have something to say about testing too, or defunding education in particular. Also the distractions and electronic gadgets that have destroyed attention spans and can be as much of a hindrance as a benefit in modern childhood education.
Horhai, if by "electronic gadgets" you mean television, then I would like to chime in.
My parents had an ambivalent attitude towards TV, mostly for religious reasons. Whether or not their motivation was valid, they restricted my television viewing to 1.5 hours per evening, after homework was done. I was not permitted to "bank" time from one evening and add it to another. If I didn't use it, I'd lose it. I chafed under this restriction as my classmates were allowed to watch as much TV as they wanted.
I now see that my parents did me a favor.
Several generations have grown up, their minds influenced by the notion that all of life's challenges can be resolved in 30 minutes, 60 minutes or 2 hours at most. Often, those challenges can be resolved by violence, and should one employ violence to resolve a conflict, the only consequence shown is the end of the conflict. Other results, such as arrest, trial and incarceration aren't shown, or they are glamorized as the circumstance of "tough guys" who prevail in the end.
We live in a society that has neither the attention span nor the work ethic to pursue a challenge until it is resolved, even if it takes days, weeks, months or years.
Yes Dale, the television is one of those gadgets that I’m referring to, even labeled as the “boob tube” or the idiot box for its dumbing down potential, propaganda, emotive, controlling and hypnotic effects. Today it’s not just that contraption that does this, now we have smaller screens everywhere and from the moment a child is born. Teachers are having a harder time keeping their student’s attention and focused on learning while so many are distracted and not even trying to pay attention on their phones.
But the technology and these devices do have so much potential and can be very beneficial. PBS is still one of the best television stations that has existed for the entire 57 years that I’ve been alive, consistently showing educational, inspiring and compelling programs. Computers and phones have the capability to give us information whenever we want it, we all just need to make wise choices about where we get that information. Not everyone is willing to do that or too ignorant to even think critically, zombified by the programmed swill and propaganda, thinking AI will do their schoolwork when it’s actually going to take their job instead, dumbed down for generations now, so that the oligarchical collectivism of the elites can rub their obscene wealth in our faces while we squabble over scraps in serfdom.
It seems as though the US is being set up for what I've heard described as Rule By Law, rather than Rule Of Law. Under Rule By Law, laws are essentially weaponized for use against those the state considers enemies. This is what Beria meant when he said "Show me the man, and I'll find the crime".
We have a group of kleptocrats making up rules to be applied unevenly across our nation, attempting to hide behind a fig leaf of law.
"Rule by Law" is an accurate characterization of the experience documented by Ernst Fraenkel in The Dual State (1941). He called his book a "contribution to the theory of dictatorship."
You may find the book a little difficult to acquire. I got my local bookseller to arrange a print-to-order.
For the sake of argument, I have a right to free speech; the government has no obligation to provide the platform.
Taking books out of the public library is neither a banning nor a censoring. The government is not stopping anyone from publishing, which is easier today than ever.
We may not like it, and the line is not as clear as at first glance. Should the Anarchist Cookbook be available at a public library? Be careful what you ask for.
How do we deal with Trump using government free speech rights to make the Smithsonian revise all of its exhibits on slavery to reflect the viewpoint that slaves were mostly happy? Is that OK?
What happens when there is a change in party so the government viewpoint changes, say on vaccines, and the CDC vaccine advisory page is edited to match Kennedy’s views.
Is it OK that the Defense Department only allows a handpicked group of reporters that are Trump supporters access., ones that will not question its viewpoint. How is an individual person supposed to get information in that case.
I agree it is not clear cut. But the government has a lot of power to control the flow of information and it is flexing it now and pushing things to the limit. I remember back to the decisions on obscenity and community standards. But things have really swung back to an extreme if a kid’s book about farting is beyond the pale.
It is about our right to information being made subsidiary to the goverment’s right to control viewpoint in what is available in public spaces funded with tax dollars. A privately funded libary could restrict whatever it wanted. But information sources that are public should be strive for balance and avoid disinformation.
How do we deal with Trump and his revision of history is a good question.
By electing officials who have other priorities.
There a difference between something being "OK" with us and something being a violation of a constitutional right.
The revision of museum exhibits isn't a free speech issue, no one's speech is being quashed by changing the emphasis of a story. Having a different set of priorities or perspectives isn't chilling my, yours, or anyone's ability to tell a different story. We're free to visit other museums, read about or tell other stories. After all, no museum could possibly have all the exhibits necessary to display all the perspectives of any issue. We are free to visit the museums and rant about how misguided they are.
Trump has his propaganda, we have ours. That both exist is a by-product of free speech. What would we do? Mandate one side of a story cannot be told? How would that work? Who gets to decide which is the 'correct' story? Us? Them?
We need to have perspective ourselves. We're upset because he has chosen to tell a different story than the one we would tell. So be it. Our job is work toward telling our side of the story. We need to be the victors. And they will say we are the awful ones; as they do.
For instance when President Biden asked media to not publish stories about Covid the government didn't agree with, he also chilled free speech.
The problem friend is what is disinformation?
That America is an awful hell hole that has done nothing but oppress the disadvantaged, stolen native lands, promoted genocides, quelled progress by minorities, protected slavery, engaged in war mongering, created a corporate oligarchy, and deceived the people at every turn.
Or is America a shining city on a hill, a beacon of hope and opportunity for those yearning to breathe free, willing to make great sacrifices to defend human rights both at home and aboard, a work in progress led by imperfect human beings doing their best, with a Constitution that lays a foundation of hope.
The answer is neither and both at the same time. There are many among us that believe the pendulum has swung too far the wrong way.
The rub is it depends what story you have been indoctrinated to believe on which way is too far.
As Bob said, "You Are right from your side, I am right from mine".
Just as aside, a point about disinformation, although the Texas book about butts and farts was proposed to be taken out of the library, the courts held that was indeed too far and it is now in the library.
I'd like to find the exhibit that claims slaves were happy being slaves?
Can you help me here?
Or is that disinformation from someone trying to stir up trouble?
And to expound on that, this just amplifies the crucial importance of LOCAL elections!! If you vote in 'Mom's for Liberty' radicals, this is what you get. Make sure you and everyone you know understands who it is that is asking for your vote.
Withholding 25% of Hegseth's travel budget until the videos are turned over? BFD. They should withhold 100% of that budget until the videos are turned over. Duh!
“Trump’s “round table” on farm aid is really just another hour-long infomercial for his own myth-making, with agriculture as a prop and $12 billion worth of bandages slapped over wounds he helped inflict.
The core scam is simple: his tariffs and trade wars helped blow up export markets, especially for soybeans, jacked up input costs like fertilizer and equipment, and triggered years of losses and a surge in farm bankruptcies; then he shows up with a taxpayer-funded “bridge payment” and demands applause for fixing the disaster he created.
The event asks you to applaud the firefighter for the size of the hose while studiously ignoring that he was also the arsonist.”
And just pointing out that a $12b one time payout against $44b of lost crop revenue comes out to 27 cents on the dollar. Also, I'd be very interested to see how much of his "bailout" goes to large agri-business and not to the small farmer. I'm guessing quite a large chunk.
Hahahahaaaaaa.., Eric, doesn't it sound good though? I mean, to the average listener all they hear is Der Leader is "helping out the Farmers"..., and what's wrong with that.., why are we (the Democrat, etc) so 'down on Trump'..? He's doing so much good! THAT.., is why this clown got elected. Peoples memory is about two weeks long.
Before this scam Trump made sure $40 billion was sent to Argentina to prop up Milei and his blown up economy. In effect helping bailout Argentina, the soybean farmers and cattle ranchers there before American farmers were even given any thought and now this pathetic attempt at placating them.
Exactly. This is a hallmark of both Trump administrations: create a problem, solve it, be the hero. This does not work on real problems such as COVID, or the looming economic crisis brought on by tariffs, estranging our closest allies, and setting up a kleptocracy.
Excellent idea, Georgia. I will make a new protest sign (my most recent one is for Newport, OR and reads "USCG: Yes ICE: No" with smaller letters saying "RIP Rogue Brewing") that I take on my monthly coast trips for their Saturday protests.
I will be on the OR coast this holiday season, will miss that visit I always made in the past to the Rogue taproom in Newport. 😔
In any case, I fully endorse the idea of envisioning a way forward as Georgia articulates. We should have been doing this from the very beginning. Tim Snyder advocated that Democrats set up a “shadow” government that would counter the insanity and call out the criminal acts of this smash and grab regime. The good news is we can still do it. And if poll testing party pols won’t do it, we should take up the mantle and “do it our damselves.”
Enjoy your visit! It is my "go to" location for relaxation. My Mom lived in Yachats for almost 10 years after my Dad died. Right at the corner of 3rd and Ocean View.
Heather - how did the US degenerate to the point where a gangster government is ruling it? It didn’t start in January, or even ten years ago. It must have been a long time in development. When did it start and how wasn’t it stopped in the years since the signs pointed at its possibility?
Working in Iraq in March-August 2003, I thought that the US had touched the nadir of its post-Cold War trajectory. I want to reach back to that naive young woman and tell her to pay better attention. But I also want to reach back to my American friends of a quarter century ago and urge them to pay attention to what is important, and stop coddling themselves and their children (I’ll add that many Americans did pay attention…sadly, not enough, and too many allowed themselves to become distracted from the hollowing out of their Republic).
It’s encouraging there are signs that Republicans lawmakers are finally demanding (a tiny bit of) accountability from Trump and his government, but I fear this will be like Roman senators demanding accountability from Nero. The rot and corruption go too deep and the DC swamp is seething with giant Trumpist alligators.
It started in 1954 when white Americans found out that “separate but equal” was an intentionally false representation of segregated schools and that those would have to be integrated. They screamed bloody murder until they got their way, and they kept badgering until they got a Supreme Court full of white supremacists. Yet these victories are not enough for them. They won’t stop until they get an apartheid government that will make the old South Africa look fair minded.
Mmm, not sure. You might as well say it started in 1776, when independence was reserved for white colonists of property. There have been many waves and changes in US history (as Heather documents here), and this current trend, though no doubt it draws on earlier ones, seems more a development linked to globalisation (which gave us globalised oligarchs of unimaginable wealth and power) and in turn to the post-Cold War multipolar world. How those two developments affected the US republic, its institutions and the use it makes of its powers at home and abroad is what needs addressing. This globalised technofeudalist current has mixed with Christian white nationalism - an explosive combination.
Until 1954, white Americans had full control of the government. After 1954 it appeared that they might lose some of that control. White people, most of them, are full-on white supremacists. It’s down to maybe 60% of them now. It was more lime 90% in the 1950s. So white Americans are now the best they’ve ever been on this score, on the average. And tbey’re still atrocious, most of them.
It undoubtedly plays a role. But you are downplaying the role of the global oligarchs (not only American) and corporations in undermining the US Republic since the 1980s. What’s new is that these two constituencies have drawn closer together (or in the case of people like Musk, are actually the same - no surprise that he was born and brought up in Apartheid South Africa in a family that supported that system.)
Sophie, I DO say it started in 1776 (or thereabouts)! As I've often opined here, the U.S. Government was conceived by white, landed "gentlemen" who sought to protect their assets and promote their own freedom to pursue more wealth. The notion of "checks and balances" was a ruse to gain buy-in from the masses. It controlled the power of one government branch over another, but did not control the power of the aristocrats over the masses. Further, the "land of opportunity" was a sales pitch to convince the impoverished to protect the wealthy because "one day, that could be me."
The "waves of change" simply papered over the built-in issues and drove the aristocrats into the shadows, where they could plot their next moves to take back control.
It started way before 1776. White supremacism in North America started 400 years ago. Ironically, it’s probably at a historic low now, but still plenty high enough to elect open racists and grant them the power to institute a white, theocratic kakistocracy.
Yeah Rex.., and 1954 is when I was in the 4th Grade in Atlantic Highlands NJ when we changed the Pledge of Allegiance to stipulate our Nation was "Under God". Anybody remember that? I mean, up til that point, being One Nation Indivisible did it for me. Seems like we're kinda falling apart at the moment.., no? We've lost our way.
I was in the first grade in 1964, and quit reciting the words "Under God" in the pledge in 1966 after I had asked my Mom why we said it if we didn't believe it. She told me then that she (as a teacher) does not say it when reciting the pledge because she didn't believe in it.
I haven had the opportunity lately to recite the pledge, but I will no longer recite it. I will stand, respectfully, but will not utter those words. I continue to stand for the national anthem and properly remove my headgear; the only one I will sing is when our local minor league baseball team plays the Canadian team; I impressed the heck out of the people in my section by singing it as well. (not because of my fabulous <sarcasm font> singing voice) but because I knew the words.
Yes Ally, so many people my age (surprisingly) as well as younger aren't aware of the 'revision'. I attended a bunch of public grammar schools growing up and in most of them we recited the Lords prayer and the Pledge. As a kid, I was aware of "religions", but never bought into any of it. I guess I considered the schools as innocent enough not to attach any significance to it. I do, however, specifically recall the event as it aroused my mind as many things did back then (and since :)). I'm on the mailing list of an organization called "freedom from religion".(FFRF).The idea being, that freeing ourselves from religious dogma might help us to get along and make more sound decisions. Thanks for your notes, we're not alone.
It was started this time around in 1950 by the venal joe mccarthy and his creepy fascist mentor roy cohn. Unsurprisingly, cohn was also trump’s mentor.
More like Ronnie and the Marlboro Man on his horse. Take a ride out there and go find Route 66. Not much left. So much for that wholesome Christian Nation and Family Values. Today, our family values are at Wal-Mart and Costco. Hollywood? Forget about that. Movies are being rated by the number of times the "F--- word is used. Disney riding right along with all of it. Juss sayin.
I laughed so loud that I scared myself when I read, “I have settled 8 Wars in 10 months." Damn, he is head-deep in bullshit. That's because diarrhea keeps flowing from his mouth.
I've just been listening to the BBC recount how those signed "peace" agreements aren't worth the paper they were written on--the bullets keep flying and people keep fleeing and dying.
I don’t understand why you repeat the idea that Republicans want a unitary executive. That is not true. They want a unitary REPUBLICAN executive and the Supreme Court needs to understand that. Let’s imagine how Republicans would feel about a Democratic president, empowered by this unitary executive doctrine, issuing executive orders banning fossil fuels, decreeing all federal funding to states dependent on vaccine compliance and legalized abortion, universal healthcare made possible by combining tariff income with new “voluntary annual contributions” from all large corporations who don’t want to taken over by the federal government, and all the while this Democratic president reminding Americans that none of this would have been possible without the Trump-Roberts Supreme Court! How much we thank them! :)
I'm no expert, but I imagine the Roberts Supreme Court is headed for extinction as the "I alone can fix it" 47 will eventually decide he does not need them anymore.
Iidividuals may go for being insufficiently obsequious, but the instituion will stay for window dressing. and as a rock around any Democratic administration that follows unless they expand the court.
It definitely looks really dark at the moment. But he is weak in the polls on every issue. And while he may boost his preferred candidates in their primaries, he will just be giving us more ammunition in the regular elections.
But there is hope! Susie Wiles emerged from the shadows and spoke! They are really worried.
Speaking on The Mom View podcast, Wiles said that while mid-term elections were usually run on local issues without the influence of federal officials (Say What????), the GOP will put Trump "on the ballot" to encourage voter turnout.
"He’s going to have a fun next year, but we’re going to put him on the campaign trail, too," she said.
They are really worried if they are willing to take that chance. But it is least half due to try to keep him happyand distracted. I can’t wait to see him in half empty rally sites, disintegrating in front of the cameras.
Congressional power is certainly headed for extinction as the Roberts Court rules the Executive can direct taxes any way it chooses with no mechanism to be allowed to hold it in check other than the unlikely chance of removal through impeachment. And at that point, yes, the Supreme Court has given its power away as well and serves to only rubber stamp Executive decrees. Which was the Project 2025 and Heritage Foundation intention all along—as long as it was a Republican Executive.
Yes, I agree, Mitch McConnell deserves most of the credit! Can't be stated enough that we are living in his long game. He taught us all that loyalty to Party is our prime directive and that the U.S. Constitution was always an illusion for the masses. :(
Take a look at the text that HCR posted in this story. Does anyone think donnie is still able to write like this? Probably not, imho. Although it’s totally bonkers, it makes sense regarding the grammar, syntax and spelling; it has complete thoughts, crazy as they are. These are all things that he can’t do orally any more (a couple of nights ago it was, 'ping! ping! ping! ping! ping!') and I don’t think he can do it in writing either. Someone else has taken over and is using his nutso style to keep maga (including apparently SCOTUS) in line.
It is all like a North Korean diatribe, isn’t it? Perhaps the North Korean one might actually make more sense.
If reporters actually printed what he actually says and actually “writes” instead of trying to clean it all up beforehand, the spell cracking all around them would break even faster.
It is amazing that an acceptable argument for the president to have the power to fire people in independent agencies is the need to “fear and obey”. That is really low and describes the whole political environment we are in.
Alito is slapping lipstick all over that pig, claiming it’s really about restoring “power to the people.”
They’re so inconsistent it’s laughable. The judicial branch has offices and departments with their own appointed power to regulate judicial behavior. Congress itself has parliamentarians who oversee the constitutional adherence of acts before they’re enacted — so what they’re talking about with regard to the “unitary” executive is stuff and nonsense.
They may try to claim that their ruling isn’t a new precedent, that it applies only to this one case. That, too, is nonsense. You either have Marbury v. Madison, or you don’t. You don’t want a precedent set — you leave it to lower courts to figure out for themselves.
These people do not have the slightest idea what they’re talking about.
We have been expecting Republicans in Congress to break with Donald Trump since early November 2020. It hasn't happened yet, and it literally will not happen until the cost to themselves is so prohibitive it overrides the demands of their cultist voters, which literally will not happen unless and until Donald Trump is being tried by an independent tribunal for crimes against the United States and is offered leniency to name names. Until then we have to understand and work from the understanding that the Republican Party of the 21st century is just as uniformly fascist as the Nazi party of Germany 1933, and stop waiting or pretending that Republicans will "come to their senses".
They have come to their senses, they support the fascist overthrow of the United States. Its long past time for the rest of us to start acting like it and stop pretending that they aren't throwing seig heils and trying on jackboots.
We deserve better. Demand it.
There’s a calendar on my spreadsheet so we can target our calls/letters/emails/faxes to flood offices in an organized manner.
Use/share this spreadsheet (bit.ly/Nokings) as a resource to contact members of Congress, the Cabinet and news organizations. Call. Write. Email. Protest. Unrelentingly. ❤️🩹🤍💙
Reach out (beyond your own) to as many in the Senate and House as you can. All of this is bigger than “I only represent my constituents” issues.
Add a comment to help keep this bumped ✊ New eyes seeing this means new ripples for change! 🤞
Thank you Megan.
I would like to add that people should see this podcast with Zev Shalev and his guests Nick Paro and Melissa Corrigan. Melissa broke news about Hegseth's second cover up, and Substacker Nick Paro follows the Tech Fascists.
https://www.narativ.org/p/new-pentagon-ordered-evidence-destroyed?r=f0qfn&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=false
It takes two to tango and while Trump was the worst ever to be in this office. Like a monster that arose from the dark swamp, Biden’s inability to gage his faltering popularity was the perfect storm that is now being unleashed across this nation. I would give it a 50/50 chance in surviving this period. The dark side of human vengeance is being unleashed and it’s giving the Antichrist untold power to destroy. How the nation can hold out for 3 more years is confounding. By the time the midterm date rolls around, there may not be any midterms since the high court is giving the authoritarian untold power. His false emergency powers might suspend the elections as tyrants often do. The Dark Side is in Ascendance. Billkatz@substract.com
We have no choice but to act in mass and reject this Dark Side and hope for victory.
Little patience for incendiary goofiness like this. He’s not the Antichrist, but a raging, demented, incoherent, frightened liar whose power is actually crumbling about him, even as he tries to assert more of it.
Nothing is to gained by declaring the sky is falling 24/7 in an effort to turn us all into Chicken Littles. There are going to be midterms next year. What would be the point of Texas redistricting its Congressional delegation without them? Even with it, they might still end up losing seats there. It’s what often happens when amateur scoundrels believe their jerry-rigged contraptions will actually work out the way they’ve planned them to.
Thanks for the comment, ICTT. I read some comments and feel like I am staggering close to the edge, and then yours comes along to pull me back to a safe place with both feet firmly planted on the ground. I am learning to listen to my mind and/or body, depending on the circumstance, and I realize I need to take a news break. Furthermore, I can sense I am required to utilize more energy and struggling to maintain balance.
At the very least, take a break from those who prey, like ghouls, on your worst fears. They serve only their own egos, nothing else. Remember the words of FDR, spoken at a truly frightening intersection in American history — “we have nothing to fear but fear itself.” Positive action requires hope and begets it further. Despair? Not so much.
I recommend focusing on Andy Borowitz's daily dose of satire. I admit I read very few comments anymore because I don't find them illuminating or useful.
I get it. Each demented act or enabling of it easily leads to the fury and alarming despair Katz expresses. And each bit of knowing fellow feeling and suggestions of what to do, if only to write, protect, protest, etc. swings us back out of the dread. Expressing each is ok—we need to not hide them from ourselves. Staying centered without being naive and continuing to work toward better more healthy days … what we all need to focus on now.
Hope versus cynicism.
I agree to a point. The idea I have is to keep constant pressure on the worthless group now running the republican party.
Everyone Must remember in this particular case this situation is the result of a FAILED two party system is the doings of republican party and their ilk siply because it was their turn in the barrel.
It's payback time for the system and the two party system ensure we all will suffer because of the spineless sellouts to outfits such as the Israeli government with CIA's backing.
They serve clicks and followers. Ignore, block.
Yes, but the destruction the republicans have brought about is extreme and it keeps me awake at night.
His actions certainly have dampened the national spirit and have set neighbor against neighbor. Hope is great, but is not a strategy. FDR ‘s statement aside, he supported it with actions to make things better. I see no such actions today. His poll numbers have dropped. Whoopie!
The irony is that the republicans have brought about destruction of their party for not having been guided by their own values - or have their true values been revealed. In either case, nothing seems to be there to begin to attract this former life-long republican back to the fold.
The corrupt amateurs have inspired a new sign along the lines inspired by one of Linda Weide's earlier comments.
How do you win (the inaugural) FIFA Peace Prize when you don't reject a self proclaimed Secretary of War (Crimes)?
So the incumbent (Italian) president of the Fédération internationale de football association has created a peace prize? a consolation prize invented by a sports body for the disgruntled head of a corrupt foreign government who really wanted a prize from an immensely serious international organisation which saw no evidence that he deserved it?
Simple - you know that the FIFA PP is not real. It's black plastic with gold paint but it makes you feel good to have yet another hollow award to put on display.
Kathy - We're here for you because most of us feel as you do and HCR's comment section is group therapy. By all means, take a break if you need to because only you know your limits as you say. And perhaps I should do as you suggest, but I'm not quite there or else I'm a masochist.
In between there’s MSNOW with intelligence, lawyers, judges, Congress members (such as Himes who forcefully expressed his horror at the second strike), and usually balanced realistic discussions.
Thank you for the comment. I am doing fine overall, sleep can help a great deal. I probably need to clarify, although I think most people figured it out, and that is there are some specific comments that will strike me the wrong way. Furthermore, I would say the majority of the time, these things or such comments will slide off me. Then, if I am coming off an evening or night of reading more dark and perilous articles, I can feel overwhelmed.
Kathy J, you've been subscribing for a month, so first--WELCOME to the forum! You WILL find strength and fellowship here. You will also find the occasional troll (not sure if Rick is still here) whom you can block. The majority here are reasonable, intelligent people who add value to the forum.
You will also come to see there are a few who have pet issues they will incessantly insert into the dialog. "Bill Katz" is one who likes to provoke people, as he himself admitted here a few days ago. He's found crapping on Biden to get a rise out of people, so be forewarned you will see this out of him constantly! And he also seems to have a lot of time on his hand as he generally must always have the last word. I know he's been blocked by at least some here, as for me, he occasionally has something of value so I haven't blocked him. Yet, at least.
Miselle, good advice. I see certain names and I scroll on by and refuse to engage. That being said, I enjoy the majority of posts here and learn a lot. I get book recommendations and other suggestions. Also have had some excellent conversations. Then there is my friend Ally in Eugene who i would not know if not for this blog.
Thanks for your comment. I have been a subscriber for much longer, a couple of years, maybe more as I have lost track of time! I had an annual subscription and decided to go monthly, and then at some point I think I canceled that and switched back to annual. It seems that if you cancel for another tier, it shows you as a new subscriber. I might have the specifics wrong on what I did and when, but at least I know Substack does not keep track of your total time as a subscriber! I am much better tonight and on my typical way of dealing with things, don't let certain comments aggravate me all that much. Learning to scroll on can help!
Kathy J, to follow on to your comment—maybe we only read what responsible authors like Heather have to say and not read comments, which take us to the brink?
Excellent observation, MLM.
I just learned that my Indivisible chapter has 700 GOTV postcards to parcel out. Dont know yet where they go, but it will likely be to a district where the Republican in charge is quitting. Having a vote in 2026 will be tough (imagining an ICE criminal or substitute in every precinct and robbing every drop box (if there are any) and hoping we can get ahead and have a democracy to celebrate even if late.
An interesting counter to Bill's dark forecast. It all hinges on HAVING THE VOTE. Don't forget although 40% is not a majority they are cultist and they do what their leader wants which includes threatening politicians and voters.
I am 100% convinced that trump is drugged. I don't know if the drugs were prescribed by his physician or if it's Satan Miller who is slipping something in his diet coke, but when he nods off it's not out of tiredness. Watch him closely....
And what were your comments when Biden was being controlled by his Puppet Masters?
Does that mean you won’t buy my book? It will educate you and you will get a bunch of belly laughs from it. I just added 10 new stories.
JFC, Joe Biden has been gone for a year. Give it up, and leave Joe Biden out of this. All of this shit belongs to the dictator and the 77 million who voted for it. It has nothing to do with an Anti-Christ. God, this stuff drives me crazy.
Agreed, but Democratic Party has to share some blame.
I get it, but how much longer are we going to beat that dead horse? What’s done is done. We’re facing an existential threat to our democracy, and we’ve got a hell of a lot work to do. Look forward, not backward. Just let it go.
Bill himself stated a few days ago that he likes "to provoke" people. He'll keep doing it as long as he gets a rise out of people.
You are right but I am still having trouble supporting the Democratic Party. I do support David Hogg and Leaders We Deserve. I liked the movement before I saw the Jon Stewart interview with the Democratic Party leader. After that interview there’s no question we need new leadership.
The reason why so many people feel the need to "beat that dead horse" is because the Democratic Party is doing nothing. If the Democratic Party were doing anything productive or effective against the problems we're experiencing then so many people would be supporting the Democratic Party rather than "beating it".
Can anyone tell me what the Democratic Party's platform is about the Deportations through violence vs Deportations with compassion? What is the Party line regarding the boats? What is the Party line on any of Trump's excesses?
Bill, how many times have I reminded you that there are elections almost every day somewhere in the US. And many of them are Federal special elections.
Trump can TRY to stop elections but which states will actually stop their elections because Trump says so. (You also assume that he is alive 11 months from now.)
If Trump were to try to stop the November, 2026 elections he would have to stop the primaries first, and not only in red states but everywhere.
Do you see what Indiana is doing right now regarding the Trump redistricting efforts? Indiana is as red a state as there is and they will likely vote against gerrymandering this Thursday. Trump is making all sorts of noise and even releasing far right ads filled with lies to try to convince the Indiana Senators to vote to redistrict. And even if they cave to Trump, the Indiana Constitution makes it illegal to redistricting except right after a US Census. So even their Supreme Court will overturn it.
One of those Republican Indiana legislators has a child with Down’s, if memory serves, and has said he was taught right from wrong as a kid and knows the difference between the two. His daughter has helped him re-affirm for himself what he’s always known. Voices like his need to be amplified.
I read that man’s comment. It was spot on. When Trump gores someone’s personal ox, it matters. Likewise, I am SICK of Trump’s condescension toward female reporters, and I ask my fellow females everywhere to make him pay for his blatant misogyny.
(You also assume that he is alive 11 months from now.)
Reels, the proverbial black hole for time, are an astonishing window on the average world. My kids and grandkids send them to me and I occasionally fall prey to the hook. It is truly amazing how many people, across the cultural spectrum, post their own thoughts on how overdue his demise is. Just think of it! Just one small idea and millions of us are thinking it. We just wish the President of the United States of America would just drop ----. Amazing.
Christine, it is amazing in a way, but it shows how monstrous he is. i want it to occur in public, so we all see it and the cabal will not be able to pretend he is still here and do more awful things.
As each day passes and more people see just how evil he can be I guess it should come as no surprise that many of us wish the same thing. I don't want him to drop because he has hurt me but because he seems to relish the pain he causes innocent and vulnerable people. THAT reserves him a special place in Hell in my opinion.
My preferred scenario would be that he just seize up and drop on stage in front of thousands of witnesses. THAT would be the THUD heard 'round the world. BAM!
I’ve never bought the suggestion that Trump will somehow cancel elections.
Even tyrants like Putin hold elections, but they’re rigged.
Rigging is much more likely. We already see this with the Texas gerrymandering. Still even there he’s limited as the states control most of it. He can only act by trying to persuade red states to act.
Only redistricting after a census? That makes sense. Bravo Indiana.
If there is no election, I think we should insist that our Blue States hold it anyway. I agree about acting in mass. A lot of fence sitters will have to decide what they want.
Since elections are controlled at the state level and overseen by the state Secretaries of State and/or election boards I believe, how would the Fascist Trump administration stop elections in the 24 states with Democrat governors?
They would stop elections wherever they choose by sending thugs to cause disruption leading up to election day , much like January 6th, but on a larger scale, thus causing fear on the part of the electorate.
They would destroy the storage facilities where the voting machines are stored.
They would then send in the armed military to ‘return’ peace to these areas.
The voter turnout would be dismal due to fear, the voting locations would be minimal due to lack of functioning voting machines. They won’t care.
Anyone arrested for this criminal conduct would be pardoned.
Agreed, but this apparently happens in third world countries all the time and those citizens still show up.
They don't have enough personnel to disrupt the tens of thousands of polling places across the country.
Those are certainly possibilities, considering the depths we've seen of this maga leadership coalition, especially in the localities that they've infiltrated themselves over decades. We do still have common law in most localities. We also certainly have one another's backs; Congregate thusly at election times; Purposely organize as such; The more witness's the better. After all, it's only through division that they wield any real power; Plan and organize to illustrate the real strength and power of 'many' - organize and 'illustrate' - "e pluribus unum" and reveal the cowards for what they actually are. Start today. "Act as though", to stir the contagion of courage as though your life and your loves depend upon it; It actually does.
Gary, by bomb threats, ICE patrolling polling locations where significant numbers of Latinos are registered to vote, etc. -- in other words, by disruption, fear and chaos, not by edict. I believe this is the only way that he can achieve his goals. But that is 11 months out, and a lot can and will happen before then.
Well, of course he couldn't but with only blue states voting he would declare the outcome null and void. You can probably bet your bottom dollar that no matter how well the whole election works he will try to do that anyway. I wish he would just seize up in the middle of throwing a fit.
Not sure, but I suspect ICE and the military are supposed to play a role.
Like I was saying yesterday, the Constitution gives We, the People, the Right to Vote. Not even the current US Supreme Court will take that away from us. We, the People need to pressure our government officials to make sure the Voting is preserved and is in a Safe Environment.
It’s not just the President who “must have the power to control and…the one who has the power to remove [and] is the person that they have to fear and obey.” It’s We, the People.
Thank you for your attention to this matter.
We can't change the past. He can't change the past. The past has passed.
They have had a plan in the works for years. We did not. We are trying to catch up. This is a new world. People are waking up.
What will you do today to move the needle toward progress? I have a plan for my day.
Damn right they did.
Read below my plan.
Give us a break, Bill. Comments like this are so UNHELPFUL.
Let go of trashing Biden and pull yourself together - join the rest of us who are building the resistance.
Are you freaking kidding? Joe Biden is the one who gave a free pass to Clarance Thomas and tossed Anita Hill under the bus. I never forgot that nor have I ever forgiven him. He was also initially against school bussing. Joe Biden did what most politicians do; survive and if it meant allowing the worst freaken justice to be nominated because he didn’t want to be tagged part of a “high tech lynch mob” racist, don’t count me as one of his supporters ever ever ever ever. Did I say ever? You have a short memory span. I’m plagued with a long one.
Sometimes the truth you tell hurts. But IT IS TIME TO JOIN THE RESISTANCE AND MOVE FORWARD.
I do it all. I’m in process of notifying my ct Governor to reorient our Connecticut National Guard to potentially protect our residents from jack booted thugs of government. And I have encouraged him to spread it to other at least democratic state governors. How much more do you want?
at the same time,I can’t turn a blind eye to the past.
What are your alternative policies for immigration, deportation, the economy and energy? You have none. You only want to Resist. Keep it up and we will have President Vance, Please.
I am so sick of those who focus on the faults of the Biden administration. It seems to me to be a total waste of time. You can't seriously think that "Biden’s inability to gage his faltering popularity was the perfect storm that is now being unleashed across this nation" Certainly, we should learn from history but now we are in a battle to save democracy and focusing on the finer points of Biden's mistakes is not our highest priority. We need to put our energy into moving forward rather than looking back!
Kathy, you've been here longer than I have, surely by now you've seen this is perhaps not Bill's pet peeve, but what he knows he can throw out to provoke people. Two days ago he said just that, he "likes to provoke people."
I'd say either ignore him or block him.
If you block me we won’t see either of us. Your serve. My gosh.
And I’m sick of folks ignoring that Noe Biden lost the country. He is at fault for losing nobody else. I sensed this would happen even when he announced early 2020 that he would pick a Black woman to run. Why? Why did t he just pick the best whether it was Black or white male or female. I know Joe abiden had in the back of his mind being president for the 250th birthday. Towards the end of his term, the guy walked like a zombie. He did well leading us out of the Great Pandemic for sure. But he ignored the big one that tanked him; the border.
I petition Substack for a downvote button on idiotic comments like this
I do understand the feelings around Biden's failure to read the room, but his biggest failure was anointing Harris as the future. She wasn't my first choice as VP.
She just doesn't have what it takes and her message was murky at best.
However, I blame all the long term Republican Senators who are well aware of what a normal president says and does and they voted for all of the most unqualified cabinet in the history of this country. I blame them. They own the choices that Trump threatened them with.
I blame the 77 million people that voted for Trump and the 86 million who couldn’t even be bothered to vote. That’s about 2/3 of our electorate who put us in this position.
I actually believe that when all the truth comes out Ron, that it will only prove to be a third of us all that 'drank the Koolaid.'
I think a third is an underestimate, but I've heard or read that Trump would've won the non-voters. By how much I don't know, but that points to more than half of us preferred Trump.
That 'engineered' consensus is still too large for my peace of mind - assuming that I've got all the factors correct. As HRC implied, even that 'basket of deplorables' is too large - (basket of 'leadership' deplorables that is); Sheep must be sheep; Lemmings will likely always be lemmings.
The economy will convince megacorporations to unite and save democracy by making a few calls to Congress to demand Trump be impeached, convicted and removed or else. I would add then the federal cases against Trump can be reopened along with more. Vance will be told to stay out of it and be happy they let him be President -- and he would be. What I am saying is maybe it's not, "It's the economy, stupid", but when it really gets bad "It's the loss of profits, stupid!
With the blue wave next year the balance of power will shift away from the Executive branch.
And remind JD that his job is only temporary. And if tries to emulate his predecessor that the Speaker of the House becomes President when he is impeached. He can nominate a new VP but the Congress must approve.
Megacorporations are part and parcel of the maga leadership coalition Al. Do you not see that; Aren't you able to 'connect the obvious (to me) 'dots' ? I can recall 'connect the dots' coloring books of two types from my youth; Those with numbers as a guide, and those without. Humbly, I was an early graduate. Lest we repeat yet again the mistakes in our history, we must address "all" the elephants in the room friend, rather than tip toeing around them yet again. For all the folks cowering, "this all is not tfg, tfg, tfg - alone that plagues us. It is and should be always referred to as the 'maga coalition, tfg coalition, the corporatism coalition, the corporate, religiosity, unitary executive as ruler coalition, etc. But tfg's mention should "always" include leadership coalition. He alone was never very bright; a conniving unapologetic grifter for sure, and many more deplorable adjectives, including certainly the poster 'boy' for narcissist; I know this without any doubts.
I agree 100%. I was saying that loss of profits will finally get so bad the megacorporations will finally make the calls. I have been calling them global corporatist fascist for 30+ years. Now the MAGA cult is at their feet.
You are correct, Bill, that it takes two to tango, and you are incorrect in your apparent disregard for the self-evident fact that it takes one to not tango. Normally, that wouldn’t bother me, but in your case, I make an exception because you are so insistent on imposing your distorted version of reality on others.
So, help me help you. Please answer a simple question: How does one objectively distinguish between right and wrong? I’ll give you three clues:
Clue #1: “Bill Katz is right, and anyone who disagrees with Bill Katz is wrong” is wrong.
Clue #2: “James Carey is right, and anyone who disagrees with James Carey is wrong” is wrong.
Clue #3: Donald Trump thinks “Donald Trump is right, and anyone who disagrees with Donald Trump is wrong” is right.
I need a double shot of whisky. I’ll get back to ya.
Enjoy the whisky, and take as much time as you need. I definitely appreciate your intent to get back to me.
I understand the fear you’re expressing, but I want to push back on a few points. This did not become a 50/50 coin toss because Biden misread his popularity. That framing personalizes what is fundamentally a structural crisis decades in the making. Authoritarianism did not arrive because one man faltered, it arrived because institutions were hollowed out, norms eroded, and power concentrated long before Biden ever took office. Also, language about Antichrists and cosmic dark sides risks turning political struggle into myth instead of strategy. The courts are dangerous, yes, but elections are not yet suspended, and panic can become paralyzing. Mass action matters, but it has to be grounded in reality, not apocalyptic fatalism. Fear alone is not a plan.
Hey Katz, is it all Biden's fault
/ Who knew besides you?
Bill, in deed a dark forecast, but highly probable. We may have to get extreme in our protests.
Sad but true, it’ll be hard to emulate Ike’s allied force…
Would you shut up already? You sound just like trump, blame Biden.
Thank you (again) Linda 👍. Anthony.
Phone calls are most effective as follows.
10 calls in one hour...staff notices.
50 calls in one day...emergency meeting called.
100 calls in one day...the office shuts down to handle it.
500 calls in one week...policy change consideration.
1000 calls...historical precedent shows this forces action.
Personal calls are 70 times more effective than anything else. Always opt for speaking to a person instead of leaving a message.
I don't remember where I learned this information, but I believe our Reps respond to the high volume, so CALL. Megan is right...we deserve better. DEMAND IT and let them know YOU VOTE!
Brilliant add-on, thank you Celeste. I’m in the UK and I can’t do much, but I hope you and your fellow Americans ‘get there’. It’s in my self-interest; when the US does well, we all do well. The Trump administration is a biblical plague on the whole world. So, good luck and I wish you success. Anthony.
Anthony, I see you've been a paid subscriber for three months. May I WELCOME you to the group here, and especially thank you for keeping a pulse on the sane Americans by joining and commenting? I appreciate you. Please spread the word over there: the American's aren't all crazy.
Hi Miselle. Just a short reply. I am grateful for the education which these substack posts provide for me, and don’t worry too much about the view of Americans; ‘what goes around, comes around’ doesn’t it?! I fall into the camp ‘we’re better together’, as you can probably guess from my comments. Yours, in regard, Anthony.
Thank you. We're working on it! Remember that most of us want the best for everyone in the world.
you’re against Trump you’re against America and therefore you don’t want the best for everyone in the world.
thank you, Celeste.
You're right Celeste. If only 5000 of us called EVERY day from now til midterms, it would scramble the phone lines and get the point across. Phone calls, even to DC take no time, you can do other stuff if on hold, like send emails to those same reps and send or call GOP reps who are wavering or have had the balls to vote against him. As little as 15 minutes a day by ALL of us would cause a blue tsunami. Don't get discouraged, phone and email at the same time.
do you know how they’re answering the phone oh my God it’s another one of those idiots calling those hate Trump zealots
thank you as always, Megan!!
Thank You, Megan.
''Donnie's Golden Age of “I Didn’t Say That”
Satire | How tariffs, videos, bailouts, and the Constitution all became optional accessories
Last Wednesday, President Donald J. Trump confidently promised transparency. Asked whether he would release the video of a September 2 strike off the coast of Venezuela, he waved it off with breezy generosity. Whatever they have, he said, they would certainly release. No problem.
Five days later, transparency was abruptly reclassified as fake news.
When a reporter dared to quote him back to himself, Trump responded with the political equivalent of sticking his fingers in his ears. “I didn’t say that. You said that.” Then, pivoting to the nearest escape hatch, he added, “This is ABC fake news,” as if the real scandal were not the strike, the deaths, or the missing video, but the insolence of memory itself.
Welcome to the second Trump presidency, where the past is negotiable, the Constitution is more of a suggestion, and saying something on camera does not technically count unless the President remembers saying it... https://essayx.substack.com/p/donnies-golden-age-of-i-didnt-say
The Constitution is hardly a suggestion to the Trump mis-administration. A suggestion might at least be followed on occasion. This group doesn't think the Constitution is worth a stinking fart.
The Orwell book 🔹1984 (written in 1948) so prescient!
Thank you focused Megan.
And like magic, this spreadsheet appeared so I didn’t have to get up from my coffee and go into my office! I just called Rand Paul’s office and thanked him for his principled stand on the murders in the Caribbean. I certainly have heard nothing from my senators. (Aside: Marsha Blackburn wants to be gov next year. When she (rarely) talks to Tennesseans, it is a very carefully curated group. Yesterday she turned up on a ‘most corrupt’ members of congress list.)
I definitely stayed up wayyy too late somewhat waiting for her post 😅
Calling to thank people is also very important right now - thank you for doing that!
If ever there was a time for protest and/or revolution, it sure as hell is now. Contact your reps in DC now. Tie up the switchboards. They don't appear to be busy right now and they are near dear leader in warm offices. When is the next big protest? We can't wait til better weather.
if Joe Biden hasn’t let in 11 million criminals we wouldn’t be having the chaos that we’re having now
And if Joe Biden hadn’t increased grocery prices by 20% had doubled gas prices and hadn’t tripled mortgage rates we wouldn’t be having this problem right now
Most of the people here hate facts
Thank you Megan! This resource is invaluable.
I call Norman and Tim Scott several times a week. Their staff is polite but may as well be spitting in the wind.
... could be worse.. I've got Collins and King. I've never written/called so many times ever. At the beginning of the year I contacted them everyday now I'm down to once a month or once every new scandal.
King just keeps sending newsletters saying we are wrong and he knows how to govern.
Collins just ignores the entire thing. She sends newsletters about how she's helping to fix the things that wouldn't have been broken if she and Trump hadn't broken them to begin with.
They have effectively killed any belief I had in the US and the Constitution.
Checks and Balances my arse.
Hi BLB. I’m an Irish man who thought that Irish politics were rubbish. I moved to the UK and found equivalent crap, with a different accent but the same sense of entitlement to talk big but to walk away when it doesn’t suit. I’ll not tell you my impression of Washington politics … but ‘swamp’ is a good metaphor. I think that Winston Churchill is attributed with saying “democracy is the worst possible form of government, until you’ve tried all the rest”. So, we must pat ourselves on the back that we have the worst possible form of government, but better that Beijing or Moscow…🤭
‘Keep on at it’ BLB! With regards, Anthony.
Regular Washington is a swamp. trumps Washington is a sewer.
Washington is a grimy, disgusting, polluted, chemically acidic sewer.
A swamp, by comparison, would be a balmy vacation.
I have written, waited ages for a wordy reply from both, but I am not satisfied. Seems a useless effort. I want to shout at them!
Just type in all caps! :) Send a daily email and remind them that they are COWARDS.
Hi Parkin. Please, keep spitting (maybe some of it will reach its target, even just enough to get them to pay attention)! With regard, Anthony.
That’s exactly what you’re doing spitting in the wind and I hope the wind is blowing right in your face. You’re not wasting your time. You’re describing your hate for no reason whatsoever you have no reason at all to hate none.
Thank you, Megan. Always.
From the Strength in Numbers piece that HCR included in today's letter:
"Economic malaise is a serious problem for Trump. He won in 2024 because economic anxiety conditioned lots of voters to pull the lever against the incumbent. But now, he is the target of their ire. Losing economy-focused swing voters would cause a bloodbath for Republicans in the 2026 midterms."
I am letting the souring economy do its work on voters, and I call my reps, all R, to keep them uneasy about Trump. I have been telling them I want Hegseth to testify to Congress under oath. I would say the same thing to Ds, as support.
Outstanding. Thank you.
NO KINGS!
Hey Lori, if you had a king and you tried to do a no King’s protest, they cut your head off but you got away with it didn’t you at least twice everyone was alive nobody got hurt so how is that possible that you had a no Kings protest and a country that has a king? Bet you never ask yourself that ??
Great resource. Thanks so much for continuing to update the list!
Thank you Megan have distributed your work in a large group of us. Over the weekend found out all those people have shared it as well to family and friends around the country… You’re doing great work.. Outstanding
TJ, EXACTLY!! Every new person who signs up for a paid subscription is growing our big tent, and we needs all hands on deck for the upcoming midterms. For some here, this subscription price is a sacrifice. I am grateful for everyone doing this. THANK YOU for doing so, and as I see you are relatively new here, WELCOME!
Thank you as always Megan
Thank You!
A few years ago, via reader comments, I attempted to pin the swastika on Donald Trump and his MAGANAZI Party. I hoped this action might help us to realize what "we the people" are up against... not only the bludgeon of a dull-minded, brutal fascist monoculture, but also "the unhampered looting by finance capitalists." It is late 2025 and, lo and behold, the Trump crime syndicate has gone "full Nazi." Project 2025, NSC 88 and Trump's National Security Strategy (NSS) are the building blocks for a justification system that will be the foundation for the exploitation the United States, the Americas from pole to pole, and the world. This is a strategy, not of a government "of the people, by the people and for the people," but of organized crime... the MAFIA.
Greg, I have also been saying in reader comments that Trump's MAGA movement reminds me of the Nazi party's rise to power mostly during this second run. Then, when I read Ruth Ben-Ghiat's book "Strongmen" I realized that he had already started doing a lot of these things during his first term. It is Trump and SCOTUS that are doing this together. Congress is stepping aside to let them so is complicit as well.
I really think there should be an anti tax movement. No taxation without representation. We are no longer getting representation from our government. Trump is not even working for those who voted for him. He is working for himself and his family to get rich and friends if they cut him the right deals. His corruption knows no bounds. We deserve better.
Republicans in Congress are fully co-conspirators, even when they fail to act. Their fingerprints are all over the corruption now rampant in the other two branches of government.
I know. However, it is the court saying that. If SCOTUS were fair Trump would be held in check. But, it seems SCOTUS members have realized they have no enforcement method against Trump, and rather than have their power shown up, they just give in to him, and especially where they support his agenda.
We need a Congress that can impeach them.
Yes no taxation… which was the essence of the rebellion that became a revolution. And it had nothing to do with liberty but all to do with liberty from a taxing central authority. The states have great powers. I am publishing an open letter to our CT governor to advise our National guard to be protective of our residents similar to the original state militia during the rebellion. Then a tax revolt but back it up with essentially our state armies. And I have asked him to inform other governors around the nation to do likewise. We must realize this MAGA will not magically disappear.
Bill, If you share a draft of your letter I will send it to my Illinois governor.
And I’m sure Governor Abbott in Texas would take such a letter to heart.
Ok I’ll get up, lol. I also sent our governor a copy. Hold on.
Bill, I’ve called my MA governor about this. No reply! Would you mind letting us see your letter? I’ll certainly use it not only here but will send it to other state’s Governors like Hotchul and Ptrizker.
See above.
I am struggling with the idea I have to once again gather all my paperwork and pay my accountant a fee to submit my 2025 taxes, then scrape together the money to pay my share. I am just eking by and the thought of sharing a cent with these crooks hurts my whole being. Not right.
It is not right. I would rather pay more to my state government which could take care of all needs just like Belgium does which has a population around the size of my state, but a smaller GDP.
Marj. You and so many others are experiencing the same thing.
I concur Linda Weide.
There is an anti-tax movement. Costco & others have sued the trump administration for taxes unlawfully collected from retailers.
Costco is seeking money refunds for the sweeping taxes they have paid on imported goods.
IF SCOTUS strikes down the taxes, I will be focused the Court's remand Order as Costco & others will lose money even if those taxes are struck down.
No taxes without lawful representation!
Well, Bryan should we be developing a taxpayer lawsuit against the government? Which lawyers would take this on? I would participate and try to convince others who are more timid to do so too.
NORM EISEN for Plaintiffs your Honor.
Norm Eisen of the Contrarians! Okay.
Trump is working for anyone who will cut him a deal that puts money in his pocket.
Just the other day Scott Galloway was saying in a podcast that he was pretty sure that if he had connection and 10 mil and his son was in prison for something really bad he could buy him a pardon from Trump. He co host was saying he would not even need a connection, just money. It would be given either to the ballroom or some other slush fund.
Linda Weide, YES 🙌! Why oh why am I laughed at by my own elected reps about that action? I’m figuring that each one is frightened. We’d need to coordinate this as a very large group across this country. Early on there seemed to be at least one organization I could join to withhold taxes….. Money talks as we all see daily with this gang including what used to be a Supreme Court now largely bought for with 3 who are smarter and not for sale.
Linda, we pay the bulk of our taxes quarterly (my retirement income takes the automatic bite, but my wife as a sole practitioner/private practice therapist pays quarterly. It is so hard to write those damn checks.
Yes, organized crime with the big orange one as the mob boss. I still don't know why people voted for that POS.
and how can 40% of people think this criminality and raping of children is a good thing -- I don't believe any of these polls anymore
I stopped believing in polls in 2016
People often revenge vote so they sought revenge against Biden with the cranky loud voice who did nothing for two whole years to stem the flow of massive migration. Don’t believe me read a recent NYT story of this debacle.BillKatz@substack.com
MAGANAZI, another term to add to the lexicon. Thanks.
Maybe not the Mafia as such, but much the same dynamics. Consolidation of unitary power, extortion, and violent retribution. The nemesis of a free and just society.
The unitary executive theory is bullsh#t. It is the direct opposite of what the founders intended. They debated over how much power a president should have. They got rid of one king; they certainly did not want to create a king. They would be horrified over the idea of presidential immunity, which is totally and completely made up by Trump and agreed to by the Sleazy Six on the high court. All the corruption perverting the Constitution is staggering. The founders did not expect a rubber stamp Congress.
Donald Trump is and always was a juvenile delinquent, sex offending, sadistic, rich kid. He delights and always has delighted in gaslighting anyone or any institution that tried to stop him. At the same time, his brain is so ADHD, he cannot execute any operational plan. That's why he went bankrupt 6 or 7 times and has lied and cheated his way out of his self inflicted failures.
The danger we face now is that he has crossed the line from outrageous fantasies of revenge to actual vengeful policies and behavior. And he's hired sadistic, more competent staff who share his thirst for punishing any Americans in his way.
As we continue down this road, Donald's predictable failures will be America's failures, Hopefully, enough Americans will see Trumpism more clearly in 2026 and 2028 and vote many Trumpists out of office.
When these traitorous Americans are called to account and justice returns, we should show NO mercy. Their ideology and corrupt behavior needs to be purged from American Democracy.
💩💩💩I am so sick to death about the orange baffoon running a muck over our Constitution and the Rule of Law!
He himself has no brainpower. He’s feed by the people behind project 2025. He does not and cannot speak for himself. As it is proven every time he is asked a question by a competent news reporter he cannot answer so he lashes out with insults.
His incompetence is showing daily along with his numbers. I can hardly believe that he even has a 36 approval rating. 🤬
And I got banned from FB and T for saying that the repubs under chump were using Goebbel’s propaganda to gain power, in Nov 2020. Nobody wanted to read, much less heed, the warnings.
Well said. And trump is throwing red meat to his Maga base in the form of Erasing Black History, erasing climate change policy, erasing scientific knowledge, erasing reproductive rights for women and eliminating all social justice programs. Therefore Maga will and is ignoring the corruption and outright stealing of our tax monies and all the laws that only make billionaires richer while ordinary Americans struggle.
well stated.
Well, you’re one of the most effing ignorant people on here. I don’t know how old you are, but anybody that tries to compare anybody living today with Adolf Hitler and the Nazis should do the following.
Get your ass on a plane and fly to Auschwitz. Go lie down in an oven go stand in front of an open pit where they shot hundreds at a time. Go stand in a blackout gas chamber. Go visit the shoes and glasses by the hundreds of thousands of people that perished and then watch a video by Eisenhower visiting there and seeing the 75 pound adults Then go to Dachau and see how the prisoners were kept and see where they live through cold winters with no heat
No wonder the Democrats are losing their ass. They have idiots like you chiming in
We have friends that have numbers on their arms if you heard their stories, you shut the fuck up
It is your friends who are Holocaust deniers. I visited Dachau and years later another camp in Austria. I really think you should look up fascism or at least authoritarian governement.
Excuse me, Karen and rarely curse like this, but you’re out of your fn mind. And totally lost. Why don’t you look up socialism, which is where your party is right now and see how close that is to fascism try that.
I happen to be Jewish and so many people with numbers on their arms through my life. One of the reasons the Jews are suffering today is Barack Obama and Joe Biden, who supported Muslims who sent planes full of cash overnight to the Middle East and who called for support for the Palestinians. And you see how that turned out!
In fact, look up the word Nazi. National Socialist party. A.k.a. MAMDANI And all your Democrat, friends who support him. Man are you? I don’t even know the words.
Is destruction part of the comedy?
After all, we’re all laughing at Donald playing goon again.
There he is at the Kennedy Center, having appointed himself gala host, having before that having appointed himself chairman of the Kennedy Center’s board of directors. So, look, he’s receiving a fake peace prize from F.I.F.A., obviously the world’s most corrupt sports organization. Laugh. Laugh. Laugh.
But meanwhile Stephen Miller, Russell Vought, and Peter Thiel are engineering the end of the U.S. federal government. Step 1: let RFK Jr. begin killing all the medically safest vaccines for children (as reported on today by Rachel Maddow).
Or, wait. Maybe Step 1 was the demolition of a key part of the White House. Or was it the campaign of missile strikes on the smallest boats in the Caribbean? Or organized ICE thugs on the streets terrorizing on the basis on race?
One thing’s for sure. Donald’s cronies in D.C. will do not one thing to help any ordinary Americans. Upping more opportunities for techie billionaires to open more AI for themselves? Letting Jared and his buds in the Saudi sovereign wealth fund take over Hollywood? But what does Putin get?
And how many players who for years played with the underage girls Donald’s other pals trafficked? How many of them – identities still carefully hidden – how many of them now get billions in crypto or whatever other grifting we can’t see yet, while we have Donald carefully acting the fool? Or is it an act?
Not comedy, Phil, the pratfall is the distraction for the pickpocket.
HCR’s receipts today: he said “no problem” releasing the Sept 2 tape, five days later “I didn’t say that”; he’s leaning on SCOTUS to bless tariffs and Treasury says they’ll route around a loss; the “unitary executive” push would let him purge the independent agencies.
Farmers get a bailout for markets his tariffs wrecked, and Congress is moving to dock Hegseth’s travel until the unedited video lands with Armed Services.
The through-line here ain’t laughter; it’s power without witnesses and the tab shows up at our grocery store. www.xplisset.com
I'm even more perplexed, incredulous, Xplisset.
We've got to factor in his ever more evident dementia. He's not just lying anymore. He's also blanked out, truly space cadet, on so, so much.
And worse -- the stupendous absence of adults in the R party. Paired with that, the willingness of our formerly most prestigious institutions now just morally empty, ready to pay millions for extortion in nearly every field.
And all around this, the extents of sheer conniving, the intentions of the worst foreign players to pay whatever they have to pay -- hiding their actions -- to hold shares in what had been our republic.
I went to a troll’s substack page and the delight at the destruction and venom was unreal, interspersed with cat photos and religious blather. Cult logic
Trimp has always been transactional. That his mind is melting and oozing out his mouth doesn't negate that, it accelerates it. He's guileless as his dementia worsens, providing cover for his underlings to wreak havoc on government, all to consolidate power for the broligarchy: Theil, Musk, Bezos, Ellison (and son), and the rest of the Über-rich who think they deserve to have all the money, all the power, all the waterfront property on all seven continents, and if there is anything resembling government, it should work ALL for them!
Laughter can help and even be a weapon, but yes, the waves of unnecessary pain is horrifying and infuriating.
"Waves of unnecessary pain"?
I like that very apt description.
Many here, Patrick, deserve commendation for their turns of phrase.
It's the best part of following Heather -- aside from her own sobriety, decency, perspective.
Phil, in July the Reverend Al Sharpton said on MSNBC that the Democrats need to focus on affordability. He was the first person I heard label the problem -- affordability. Now it has become the catch-phrase and even DonOld has used the word even though he has called it a hoax and it doesn't really exist.
The OBBBA made life less affordable for most of the country by messing with Medicaid, SNAP benefits, healthcare premiums and even Social Security while giving the Uber wealthy exactly what they were promised -- huge tax cuts.
Comedy in the Shakespearean sense.
Really, every policy, EO, egregious departure from accepted norms, and acts of buffoonery all serve one purpose - to maintain the grift. This administration is all about profiting from the office, and really nothing else. Follow the money, we've done it before.
Steve, your comment hasn't garnered many "likes," but it is most apt. So much has happened since the beginning of the Trump era, it is difficult for us to collectively recall the timeline.
In 2014, Donald didn't want to be president. His declaring his candidacy for president was merely a contrivance to boost his brand, no different from marketing gristly steaks or undrinkable wine or a useless university. Knowing his candidacy wasn't serious, he didn't expect to win, even in late 2016.
But the talking points his campaign staff had handed him landed successfully with a resentful TV audience that believed Mark Burnett's creation of a fake tycoon. Donald found himself propelled into the White House, which he pronounced a "dump."
Not only did Donald not believe he'd be president, he didn't want to be president. In the early days, he complained about how hard it was, and he pined for his old life of TV celebrity and chairmanship of a company that was run by others.
Then, two things happened: His criminal past began to catch up with him and he discovered the myriad ways the Office of the Presidency could be monetized. To a lesser extent, his adolescent mind enjoyed being "the Big Cheese" that world leaders were obliged to acknowledge.
Suddenly, Donald not only wanted to be president, he was desperate to cling to the office. He exploited the office to rake in millions of dollars that enabled him to repay his debts to Russian oligarchs who stepped in when U.S. banks wouldn't touch him. And the office was an ovoid firewall against the prosecutors who were coming after him for his past crimes.
Now, in his second occupation of the Oval, he has effectively disabled the justice system that would hold him accountable for his criminal past. Presumably, his Russian debts have been paid, and his expanded grift is just stuffing his coffers with billions he will not live to spend.
DonOld was motivated by the drubbing that Obama gave him at the Dinner for the press corps. Public humiliation is not something that his pathetically weak ego can take. And that it was a black man who humiliated him was simply intolerable to this racist moron. It was the final blow after years of being told to f__k off by the NY elite, and he has plotted to take revenge on anyone whom he thinks is superior to him ( and as his cousin has pointed out, that is nearly everyone. ( In his warped mind he really knows that he is a POS who is a joke and a pest to anyone who has a functioning brain)
We really need some method of testing candidates for severe emotional/psychological problems so that we do not end up with any more Nixons or Trumps. Strange that they were both Republicans....no?
The look on his face as he was about to be inaugurated the first time convinced me that he had not expected to win.
I agree with Dale about the rest, except I question whether the “Russia debts” have been paid off. Maybe the financial debts have, but he doesn’t seem free of whatever kind of debt he owes Putin. Unless the “national security strategy” introduced last week was intended to be the final payment.
Carol, since Steve's comment was about money, my response was to the financial aspects of Donald's presidency.
I agree that he is still beholden to Putin, and whatever debt that is, Donald will not get out from under it until he dies. Many have hazarded theories about what his obligation is, and they are all credible to me.
Donald is one of those few beings who has absolutely no moral compass, so any reprehensible thing is possible (and likely).
And Epstein. And Epstein files. What files???? Completely submerged in the furor over Hegseth and war crimes. As they hoped.
Tragic Comedy. With emphasis on the tragic. Destruction is not part, it is the goal.
I wonder if it's an act sometimes -- orchestrated powerplays distracting from deeper shenanigans. At a meeting about Resistance Lab, I began imagining how to implement someone's idea to use public theater to expose The Disappeared. I'm guessing that almost everyone is mourning some loss. Heartcrushing and gradual, all that's been Disappeared amidst We the People. Holding the whole in a widening scope is a stretch and a daily practice. Springloaded hoods that pop up on signs carried by any and every one -- fill in the blanks.
A retired MAGA cop acquaintance early on told me he wanted to get an audience with the mafia chief presumably to help promote his memoir. Recently, he intimated that the guy “should be taken out.” Use your imagination as to what he insinuated.
When are reporters going to be prepared to show the orange man a video of what he's said in the past when they ask a question based on what he said and he denies saying it????
It would make no difference. Like Stalin, what the Leader says is the past, is the past. His adoring fans accept that manipulation and everyone else is too scared to show him up.
He just says, in the face of clear evidence to the contrary: “I didn’t say that.” And then repeats it ad infinitum.
There has been plenty of such reporting, and a great deal of ridicule, too. Hasn’t done any good. Trump voters are just plain bad people. The world would be much better off without them. Every last one of the miserable SOBs.
I am not at all convinced that it has done no good. Trump faces more resistance now than earlier in his term on many fronts, and he is bumping into hornets nests. United we stand.
No choice, may our outrage metastasize
How about “not much good” then? An approval rating of 40% for a thug who’s into cruelty and retribution for minor “offenses” is abominably high. And some significant fraction of the disapproving 40% would vote for him again, anyway.
More and more I am beginning to think you're right. Just plain bad people (the definition of a "bad people" in my book are those who want to dismantle our government and put in white Christian nationalism). I don't care any longer if they also like dogs/cats, or that they appreciate music, or any of the other "civilized" things. They are rotten at the core.
Some people seem proud to be predatory. I think that's what the "robber barons" and the cosplaytriots are selling. Their definition of "freedom" is "freedom" to exploit others. "Sic semper tyrannis" was Booth's vainglorious utterance at he murder of Lincoln. MAGA "free trade" means monoplistic commerce with no rules. To whom "Free Speech" means no restraints on my lies and slander, yet persecution of your objections.
They aspire to be overlords. Rules are considered theirs to make, not to follow. I don't believe that everyone who is snared in the circular logic of their cult is beyond hope. Persuasive leaders and social movements led historical shifts of social consciousness for some serious abuses. Not "all lived happily ever after" changes, but very substantial strengthening of human rights nevertheless; and even criminals have certain human rights. I know people who escaped the cult of intimidation in which they were raised, and now deplore it. But there are also psychopaths/sociopaths that have lost or never had a capacity for compassion or conscience, that society has every right to restrain. Divide and conquer is the tyrant's oldest trick to stratify and dominate society, and solidarity and commitment to universal social justice our strongest defense.
I think it is "never had the capacity", frankly. I met some folks professionally that were right freaking there.
Our species is it's own worst enemy.
They’re a mix of ignorant sods and miserable SOBs.
Okay. I’m not sure of the difference, but I can go with that.
Just playing with words. Anything to cheer myself up, since apparently my civilisation is facing extinction within a few decades, according to your government’s newest NSS document.
Rex, after having endured and overcome the effects of religious indoctrination, I have a strong set of beliefs about the human condition that are not tainted by religion.
I do not believe that there are "bad" or "good" people. When we are born, we are like empty jars. From Day One, life adds contents to our empty jars and they start to fill up with a "cocktail" of bitter, sweet, sour, savory, acidic, foul, caustic additives, and more. Once added, these "ingredients" blend with the others and cannot be removed.
Each of us receives these "mixers" in different amounts, and the blend creates the "flavor" of who we are. The good (and bad) news is that we have some – but not total – control over what is added to our jar. Some people choose the sweet and savory to offset the bitterness that life has added. Others choose the sour and bitter, thereby overwhelming whatever sweetness was given them.
Those folks who've chosen foul contents for their jars must be isolated and removed from the community because they "stink up the place." We need a political "landfill" for them.
There is a longstanding debate over nature vs nurture, and it seems the two are inextricably intertwined, but yes, I think that human character is a mix of competing impulses. Stevenson's Jekyll and Hyde is surely an oversimplification, but I think it points to realities. Abusers tend to be those who were abused themselves. We all have free will yet are products of our circumstances. and whole societies differ with respect to the frequency of violence and corrupted behaviors. Liberty, accountability, and individual and social wisdom and justice are easy to spot in extremes yet complicated in between. It helps to create an inclusive social contract with attention to universal individual rights and social responsibilities. And then agree to follow it, without end runs, and paid-for indulgences.
And while we all pursue individual happiness, mutual agreement to rein in narcissism.
Labdfill indeed!
I want to see that kind of comparison put forward non-stop. A regime built entirely on lies is surely vulnerable.
I understand your frustration, but the press pool has to follow the guidelines set by the White House in order to be a reporter there. They don't just get to bring in TV's to show Trump the replay.
It's not like they don't push back on the lies. But one of Trump's oldest lies is the 'fake news' one so it makes no difference.
I think you are wrong putting the fault for this on reporters.
I was wrong to say, "When are reporters..." when I should have said, "I'd like to see reporters..." I'm not putting fault on the reporters, and I know it wouldn't make a whit of difference, even if they could, but I'd still like to see them be able to do that.
You are right about my frustration, though. I have to keep reminding myself that HE'S not normal.
Thanks for your comments.
SCOTUS also did not grant certiorari in a free speech case yesterday. This one worries me a lot as well. We are definitely in a deluge of flooding the zone.
The conservative majority on SCOTUS can undermine our rights by declining to hear an appeal just as well as by issuing its own ruling.
The case in point involved a group of Texas citizens who wanted 17 books banned from a public library, so they got the local government to issue an order to the library. The “objectionable” books dealt with transgender identities, race, slavery, and farting. Yes, not a typo, passing gas.
The 5th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld that the book “ban” was not a violation of free speech protections. The central argument was that anybody could access the “banned” books by buying them or borrowing them from a friend. The library collection was merely being “curated” to reflect the government’s “viewpoint.”
The Supreme Court did not issue a full written opinion; it simply denied review (certiorari) of the case, which means the justices chose not to hear the appeal and left the lower court’s decision in place.
By turning away the appeal, the Court allowed the Fifth Circuit’s decision to remain binding law in Texas, Louisiana, and Mississippi, but it did not create a nationwide Supreme Court precedent on book removals.
The Fifth Circuit had held that patrons could not use a claimed “right to receive information” under the First Amendment to challenge a public library’s choice to remove books from its collection.
The concept of the “right to receive information“ is not new, and has been established in prior court rulings. From Perplexity:
The principle originated in cases like Lamont v. Postmaster General (1965), where the Court struck down restrictions on receiving foreign mailings, affirming that the right to receive information complements the right to speak. It was solidified in Stanley v. Georgia (1969), protecting private possession of materials, with Justice Marshall stating the Constitution safeguards this right regardless of content’s social worth.
In Board of Education v. Pico (1982), the Court applied it to school libraries, noting that removing books could infringe students’ access to ideas essential for free expression.
By allowing the current 5th circuit ruling to stand, it sets precedents on protection of “government speech”.
The government speech doctrine says that the First Amendment restricts government regulation of private speech but does not limit the government’s own expression. The underlying idea is that the government has to be able to communicate its policies effectively. From Perplexity:
Under this principle, when the government acts as a speaker—such as by erecting public monuments, or one would think, removing them, or rejecting special license plate themes, or curating library collections—it may select specific viewpoints without violating free speech protections typically applied to private parties.
The appellate court treated public library collection decisions as a form of government speech, concluding that government officials have broad discretion to decide which books to include or exclude.
The 5th circuit, in its ruling, emphasized that removing a book from a public library does not prevent people from accessing it entirely, because they can still buy it, order it online, or obtain it elsewhere, and therefore the removals did not violate free speech rights. In other words, removing the books was not an outright ban, but rather an expression of the government’s viewpoint. That does not comfort me. It will not comfort the kids who are and adults who are seeking information as they come to understand their gender identities. And it sure does allow a whitewashing of history.
The most important issue to come from this case is that the right to receive information does not override officials’ viewpoint under the government speech doctrine.
The bottom line is that the 17 books at issue will remain off the Llano County library shelves unless local officials change their minds, new officials are elected with differing views, or there are superseding court rulings.
While the Fifth Circuit’s ruling applies only in the states under its jurisdiction, its reasoning could prompt more book “curation” in the region and influence other courts.
But the truly worrying concept is that the government’s right to speech based on viewpoint outweighs a person’s right to information. Think about that. Think about that really hard.
And then think about it applied to a pregnancy crisis center…
https://apnews.com/article/supreme-court-texas-book-ban-605b45226dd6c98379fc0df706598098
The whole free speech debate is an Orwellian Red herring. Trump’s government doesn’t value free speech, and the only government who, according to it, is allowed to regulate speech is Trump’s government. Certainly it doesn’t accord the same right to European governments that regulate hate speech, fraudulent speech (scams) and incitement to violence and suicide.
Orwellian is right. If the government's viewpoint can trump a person's right to information, then there are no constraints on what can be suppressed. The fig leaf that you can always get the information somewhere else, can keep getting smaller and smaller as the government gets more and more repressive. Just do what they are doing now, allowing oligarchs to consolidate huge media enterprises.
Media and social media, yes.
And civil society must fight back much more vigorously, in a united and disciplined way ACROSS borders: because this rot affects more than the US.
Fight back? That's what our courts are designed to do..., aint it? Huh.
Civil society is not the judiciary. It’s we the citizens of countries affected by these tyrants. If the judiciary is on our side, great. If not, we must stand up for our rights.
Yup.., that's just how it works. Good shot there Georgia.
Freedom for me, subjugation for you. The essence of tyranny.
Reading this, Georgia, I couldn't help wondering if book burnings are next...
“You don't have to burn books to destroy a culture. Just get people to stop reading them.” -Ray Bradbury commenting about his book 'Fahrenheit 451'
Was he "commenting about his book," horhai, or about testing's role in killing reading?
Yes he was referring to the book but I’m sure he’d have something to say about testing too, or defunding education in particular. Also the distractions and electronic gadgets that have destroyed attention spans and can be as much of a hindrance as a benefit in modern childhood education.
Horhai, if by "electronic gadgets" you mean television, then I would like to chime in.
My parents had an ambivalent attitude towards TV, mostly for religious reasons. Whether or not their motivation was valid, they restricted my television viewing to 1.5 hours per evening, after homework was done. I was not permitted to "bank" time from one evening and add it to another. If I didn't use it, I'd lose it. I chafed under this restriction as my classmates were allowed to watch as much TV as they wanted.
I now see that my parents did me a favor.
Several generations have grown up, their minds influenced by the notion that all of life's challenges can be resolved in 30 minutes, 60 minutes or 2 hours at most. Often, those challenges can be resolved by violence, and should one employ violence to resolve a conflict, the only consequence shown is the end of the conflict. Other results, such as arrest, trial and incarceration aren't shown, or they are glamorized as the circumstance of "tough guys" who prevail in the end.
We live in a society that has neither the attention span nor the work ethic to pursue a challenge until it is resolved, even if it takes days, weeks, months or years.
Yes Dale, the television is one of those gadgets that I’m referring to, even labeled as the “boob tube” or the idiot box for its dumbing down potential, propaganda, emotive, controlling and hypnotic effects. Today it’s not just that contraption that does this, now we have smaller screens everywhere and from the moment a child is born. Teachers are having a harder time keeping their student’s attention and focused on learning while so many are distracted and not even trying to pay attention on their phones.
But the technology and these devices do have so much potential and can be very beneficial. PBS is still one of the best television stations that has existed for the entire 57 years that I’ve been alive, consistently showing educational, inspiring and compelling programs. Computers and phones have the capability to give us information whenever we want it, we all just need to make wise choices about where we get that information. Not everyone is willing to do that or too ignorant to even think critically, zombified by the programmed swill and propaganda, thinking AI will do their schoolwork when it’s actually going to take their job instead, dumbed down for generations now, so that the oligarchical collectivism of the elites can rub their obscene wealth in our faces while we squabble over scraps in serfdom.
In effect they've already been doing it.
Ferrr-crisssakes Betsy, they're already going on.
It seems as though the US is being set up for what I've heard described as Rule By Law, rather than Rule Of Law. Under Rule By Law, laws are essentially weaponized for use against those the state considers enemies. This is what Beria meant when he said "Show me the man, and I'll find the crime".
We have a group of kleptocrats making up rules to be applied unevenly across our nation, attempting to hide behind a fig leaf of law.
Steve:
"Rule by Law" is an accurate characterization of the experience documented by Ernst Fraenkel in The Dual State (1941). He called his book a "contribution to the theory of dictatorship."
You may find the book a little difficult to acquire. I got my local bookseller to arrange a print-to-order.
If you do get it and read it, share it!
\Vince S
!
I imagine that Ben Franklins spirit is having a hissy fit
For the sake of argument, I have a right to free speech; the government has no obligation to provide the platform.
Taking books out of the public library is neither a banning nor a censoring. The government is not stopping anyone from publishing, which is easier today than ever.
We may not like it, and the line is not as clear as at first glance. Should the Anarchist Cookbook be available at a public library? Be careful what you ask for.
How do we deal with Trump using government free speech rights to make the Smithsonian revise all of its exhibits on slavery to reflect the viewpoint that slaves were mostly happy? Is that OK?
What happens when there is a change in party so the government viewpoint changes, say on vaccines, and the CDC vaccine advisory page is edited to match Kennedy’s views.
Is it OK that the Defense Department only allows a handpicked group of reporters that are Trump supporters access., ones that will not question its viewpoint. How is an individual person supposed to get information in that case.
I agree it is not clear cut. But the government has a lot of power to control the flow of information and it is flexing it now and pushing things to the limit. I remember back to the decisions on obscenity and community standards. But things have really swung back to an extreme if a kid’s book about farting is beyond the pale.
It is about our right to information being made subsidiary to the goverment’s right to control viewpoint in what is available in public spaces funded with tax dollars. A privately funded libary could restrict whatever it wanted. But information sources that are public should be strive for balance and avoid disinformation.
How do we deal with Trump and his revision of history is a good question.
By electing officials who have other priorities.
There a difference between something being "OK" with us and something being a violation of a constitutional right.
The revision of museum exhibits isn't a free speech issue, no one's speech is being quashed by changing the emphasis of a story. Having a different set of priorities or perspectives isn't chilling my, yours, or anyone's ability to tell a different story. We're free to visit other museums, read about or tell other stories. After all, no museum could possibly have all the exhibits necessary to display all the perspectives of any issue. We are free to visit the museums and rant about how misguided they are.
Trump has his propaganda, we have ours. That both exist is a by-product of free speech. What would we do? Mandate one side of a story cannot be told? How would that work? Who gets to decide which is the 'correct' story? Us? Them?
We need to have perspective ourselves. We're upset because he has chosen to tell a different story than the one we would tell. So be it. Our job is work toward telling our side of the story. We need to be the victors. And they will say we are the awful ones; as they do.
For instance when President Biden asked media to not publish stories about Covid the government didn't agree with, he also chilled free speech.
The problem friend is what is disinformation?
That America is an awful hell hole that has done nothing but oppress the disadvantaged, stolen native lands, promoted genocides, quelled progress by minorities, protected slavery, engaged in war mongering, created a corporate oligarchy, and deceived the people at every turn.
Or is America a shining city on a hill, a beacon of hope and opportunity for those yearning to breathe free, willing to make great sacrifices to defend human rights both at home and aboard, a work in progress led by imperfect human beings doing their best, with a Constitution that lays a foundation of hope.
The answer is neither and both at the same time. There are many among us that believe the pendulum has swung too far the wrong way.
The rub is it depends what story you have been indoctrinated to believe on which way is too far.
As Bob said, "You Are right from your side, I am right from mine".
Just as aside, a point about disinformation, although the Texas book about butts and farts was proposed to be taken out of the library, the courts held that was indeed too far and it is now in the library.
I'd like to find the exhibit that claims slaves were happy being slaves?
Can you help me here?
Or is that disinformation from someone trying to stir up trouble?
https://nypost.com/2024/06/10/us-news/texas-court-rules-butts-and-farts-books-cannot-be-banned/
So some of what we read, even here at this most fair and balanced site is sometimes disinformation. :)
And to expound on that, this just amplifies the crucial importance of LOCAL elections!! If you vote in 'Mom's for Liberty' radicals, this is what you get. Make sure you and everyone you know understands who it is that is asking for your vote.
If only we could free ourselves from religious dogma.
If. Only.
Nice to recognize you again!
Yes, it should and I can walk right by it if I don't like it. This is freedom of speech.
You are correct, but that doesn't change the argument that the government is obligated to provide a venue or means to exercise that right. Yes/No?
Yes.
I guess I should have been more clear; does yes mean you believe the gov't has an obligation to provide a venue or means to exercise a right?
Good grief!
Withholding 25% of Hegseth's travel budget until the videos are turned over? BFD. They should withhold 100% of that budget until the videos are turned over. Duh!
And remove his access to hair gel.
Uhh.. "BFD" is right. And, "25%" haahahahaaahaaaahaaaaaahaahaaahhhhhaaa%&#$(*@%!!! GMAFB!
“Trump’s “round table” on farm aid is really just another hour-long infomercial for his own myth-making, with agriculture as a prop and $12 billion worth of bandages slapped over wounds he helped inflict.
https://open.substack.com/pub/whatdiddonaldtrumpdotoday/p/trumps-12-billion-socialist-bailout?r=kxzps&utm_medium=ios
The core scam is simple: his tariffs and trade wars helped blow up export markets, especially for soybeans, jacked up input costs like fertilizer and equipment, and triggered years of losses and a surge in farm bankruptcies; then he shows up with a taxpayer-funded “bridge payment” and demands applause for fixing the disaster he created.
The event asks you to applaud the firefighter for the size of the hose while studiously ignoring that he was also the arsonist.”
Trump’s $12 Billion Socialist Bailout of Farmers
WHAT DID DONALD TRUMP DO TODAY?
DEC 8 2025 | Substack
And just pointing out that a $12b one time payout against $44b of lost crop revenue comes out to 27 cents on the dollar. Also, I'd be very interested to see how much of his "bailout" goes to large agri-business and not to the small farmer. I'm guessing quite a large chunk.
Hahahahaaaaaa.., Eric, doesn't it sound good though? I mean, to the average listener all they hear is Der Leader is "helping out the Farmers"..., and what's wrong with that.., why are we (the Democrat, etc) so 'down on Trump'..? He's doing so much good! THAT.., is why this clown got elected. Peoples memory is about two weeks long.
I live in Virginia farm country, so I'm waiting to hear exactly that from my neighbors, Alex.
Yeh...,you know it!
Before this scam Trump made sure $40 billion was sent to Argentina to prop up Milei and his blown up economy. In effect helping bailout Argentina, the soybean farmers and cattle ranchers there before American farmers were even given any thought and now this pathetic attempt at placating them.
Meanwhile MAGA gifts to billionaires bigly balloons the Federal debt.
Exactly. This is a hallmark of both Trump administrations: create a problem, solve it, be the hero. This does not work on real problems such as COVID, or the looming economic crisis brought on by tariffs, estranging our closest allies, and setting up a kleptocracy.
If you need a break from the nightmare of Trump's America, spend some time "Re-envisioning America" and contribute your vision.
The prompt is
"I want to live in a country where..."
To keep on fighting for the next three years, we need to know what we are fighting for. The more vivid the image, the more it will sustain us.
https://georgiafisanick.substack.com/p/re-envisioning-america-personal-freedoms
The project was inspired by the "What the Heck Just Happened " video with Heather Cox Richardson and Joanne Freeman on December 6.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ApscIwDrWJI&t=498s
Great idea, let’s do it…
Excellent idea, Georgia. I will make a new protest sign (my most recent one is for Newport, OR and reads "USCG: Yes ICE: No" with smaller letters saying "RIP Rogue Brewing") that I take on my monthly coast trips for their Saturday protests.
I will be on the OR coast this holiday season, will miss that visit I always made in the past to the Rogue taproom in Newport. 😔
In any case, I fully endorse the idea of envisioning a way forward as Georgia articulates. We should have been doing this from the very beginning. Tim Snyder advocated that Democrats set up a “shadow” government that would counter the insanity and call out the criminal acts of this smash and grab regime. The good news is we can still do it. And if poll testing party pols won’t do it, we should take up the mantle and “do it our damselves.”
Enjoy your visit! It is my "go to" location for relaxation. My Mom lived in Yachats for almost 10 years after my Dad died. Right at the corner of 3rd and Ocean View.
Heather - how did the US degenerate to the point where a gangster government is ruling it? It didn’t start in January, or even ten years ago. It must have been a long time in development. When did it start and how wasn’t it stopped in the years since the signs pointed at its possibility?
Working in Iraq in March-August 2003, I thought that the US had touched the nadir of its post-Cold War trajectory. I want to reach back to that naive young woman and tell her to pay better attention. But I also want to reach back to my American friends of a quarter century ago and urge them to pay attention to what is important, and stop coddling themselves and their children (I’ll add that many Americans did pay attention…sadly, not enough, and too many allowed themselves to become distracted from the hollowing out of their Republic).
It’s encouraging there are signs that Republicans lawmakers are finally demanding (a tiny bit of) accountability from Trump and his government, but I fear this will be like Roman senators demanding accountability from Nero. The rot and corruption go too deep and the DC swamp is seething with giant Trumpist alligators.
It started in 1954 when white Americans found out that “separate but equal” was an intentionally false representation of segregated schools and that those would have to be integrated. They screamed bloody murder until they got their way, and they kept badgering until they got a Supreme Court full of white supremacists. Yet these victories are not enough for them. They won’t stop until they get an apartheid government that will make the old South Africa look fair minded.
Mmm, not sure. You might as well say it started in 1776, when independence was reserved for white colonists of property. There have been many waves and changes in US history (as Heather documents here), and this current trend, though no doubt it draws on earlier ones, seems more a development linked to globalisation (which gave us globalised oligarchs of unimaginable wealth and power) and in turn to the post-Cold War multipolar world. How those two developments affected the US republic, its institutions and the use it makes of its powers at home and abroad is what needs addressing. This globalised technofeudalist current has mixed with Christian white nationalism - an explosive combination.
Until 1954, white Americans had full control of the government. After 1954 it appeared that they might lose some of that control. White people, most of them, are full-on white supremacists. It’s down to maybe 60% of them now. It was more lime 90% in the 1950s. So white Americans are now the best they’ve ever been on this score, on the average. And tbey’re still atrocious, most of them.
It undoubtedly plays a role. But you are downplaying the role of the global oligarchs (not only American) and corporations in undermining the US Republic since the 1980s. What’s new is that these two constituencies have drawn closer together (or in the case of people like Musk, are actually the same - no surprise that he was born and brought up in Apartheid South Africa in a family that supported that system.)
They don’t get if the hook fir being duped by propaganda.
Sophie, I DO say it started in 1776 (or thereabouts)! As I've often opined here, the U.S. Government was conceived by white, landed "gentlemen" who sought to protect their assets and promote their own freedom to pursue more wealth. The notion of "checks and balances" was a ruse to gain buy-in from the masses. It controlled the power of one government branch over another, but did not control the power of the aristocrats over the masses. Further, the "land of opportunity" was a sales pitch to convince the impoverished to protect the wealthy because "one day, that could be me."
The "waves of change" simply papered over the built-in issues and drove the aristocrats into the shadows, where they could plot their next moves to take back control.
It started way before 1776. White supremacism in North America started 400 years ago. Ironically, it’s probably at a historic low now, but still plenty high enough to elect open racists and grant them the power to institute a white, theocratic kakistocracy.
In that case, I can confirm that it started in Tudor England! (I was about to add a 😉 but it’s very possible that I spoke truth in jest).
Yeah Rex.., and 1954 is when I was in the 4th Grade in Atlantic Highlands NJ when we changed the Pledge of Allegiance to stipulate our Nation was "Under God". Anybody remember that? I mean, up til that point, being One Nation Indivisible did it for me. Seems like we're kinda falling apart at the moment.., no? We've lost our way.
I was in the first grade in 1964, and quit reciting the words "Under God" in the pledge in 1966 after I had asked my Mom why we said it if we didn't believe it. She told me then that she (as a teacher) does not say it when reciting the pledge because she didn't believe in it.
I haven had the opportunity lately to recite the pledge, but I will no longer recite it. I will stand, respectfully, but will not utter those words. I continue to stand for the national anthem and properly remove my headgear; the only one I will sing is when our local minor league baseball team plays the Canadian team; I impressed the heck out of the people in my section by singing it as well. (not because of my fabulous <sarcasm font> singing voice) but because I knew the words.
Yes Ally, so many people my age (surprisingly) as well as younger aren't aware of the 'revision'. I attended a bunch of public grammar schools growing up and in most of them we recited the Lords prayer and the Pledge. As a kid, I was aware of "religions", but never bought into any of it. I guess I considered the schools as innocent enough not to attach any significance to it. I do, however, specifically recall the event as it aroused my mind as many things did back then (and since :)). I'm on the mailing list of an organization called "freedom from religion".(FFRF).The idea being, that freeing ourselves from religious dogma might help us to get along and make more sound decisions. Thanks for your notes, we're not alone.
I think you gave my my next protest sign: Freedom From Religion
Join up Ally. We need you. You can find the sign up procedure at ffrf.org.
Welp..., that'll be a conversation-starter. :))
It was started this time around in 1950 by the venal joe mccarthy and his creepy fascist mentor roy cohn. Unsurprisingly, cohn was also trump’s mentor.
https://www.britannica.com/biography/Joseph-McCarthy
https://www.britannica.com/biography/Roy-Cohn
Many dates, hypatia0761, key the last 200 years of what Heather calls the enslaving classes.
Yes. Very dark period. But white people were in total control of the government then. That was stupid behavior for a different reason.
Read Dark Money by Jane Mayer
More like Ronnie and the Marlboro Man on his horse. Take a ride out there and go find Route 66. Not much left. So much for that wholesome Christian Nation and Family Values. Today, our family values are at Wal-Mart and Costco. Hollywood? Forget about that. Movies are being rated by the number of times the "F--- word is used. Disney riding right along with all of it. Juss sayin.
Roman Senators must be the model for those today
But they were still to independent for the likes of Domitian…
I laughed so loud that I scared myself when I read, “I have settled 8 Wars in 10 months." Damn, he is head-deep in bullshit. That's because diarrhea keeps flowing from his mouth.
<sorry for the image, but that is what it is>
I've just been listening to the BBC recount how those signed "peace" agreements aren't worth the paper they were written on--the bullets keep flying and people keep fleeing and dying.
Well, one of the monikers I've read for him is "anus mouth" so it sorta fits.
I don’t understand why you repeat the idea that Republicans want a unitary executive. That is not true. They want a unitary REPUBLICAN executive and the Supreme Court needs to understand that. Let’s imagine how Republicans would feel about a Democratic president, empowered by this unitary executive doctrine, issuing executive orders banning fossil fuels, decreeing all federal funding to states dependent on vaccine compliance and legalized abortion, universal healthcare made possible by combining tariff income with new “voluntary annual contributions” from all large corporations who don’t want to taken over by the federal government, and all the while this Democratic president reminding Americans that none of this would have been possible without the Trump-Roberts Supreme Court! How much we thank them! :)
They want what Trump told them to want--not ever having to vote again..
I'm no expert, but I imagine the Roberts Supreme Court is headed for extinction as the "I alone can fix it" 47 will eventually decide he does not need them anymore.
Iidividuals may go for being insufficiently obsequious, but the instituion will stay for window dressing. and as a rock around any Democratic administration that follows unless they expand the court.
It definitely looks really dark at the moment. But he is weak in the polls on every issue. And while he may boost his preferred candidates in their primaries, he will just be giving us more ammunition in the regular elections.
But there is hope! Susie Wiles emerged from the shadows and spoke! They are really worried.
Speaking on The Mom View podcast, Wiles said that while mid-term elections were usually run on local issues without the influence of federal officials (Say What????), the GOP will put Trump "on the ballot" to encourage voter turnout.
"He’s going to have a fun next year, but we’re going to put him on the campaign trail, too," she said.
They are really worried if they are willing to take that chance. But it is least half due to try to keep him happyand distracted. I can’t wait to see him in half empty rally sites, disintegrating in front of the cameras.
https://www.newsweek.com/susie-wiles-reveals-republicans-change-strategy-midterm-elections-donald-trump-campaign-trail-11178301
They can buy his audience, have done it before. They can also orchestrate another “assassination attempt.”
Congressional power is certainly headed for extinction as the Roberts Court rules the Executive can direct taxes any way it chooses with no mechanism to be allowed to hold it in check other than the unlikely chance of removal through impeachment. And at that point, yes, the Supreme Court has given its power away as well and serves to only rubber stamp Executive decrees. Which was the Project 2025 and Heritage Foundation intention all along—as long as it was a Republican Executive.
Morning, Lynell. Excellent assessment.
Hey Ally! My Substack has been wackadoodle on my computer. Been trying to fix it. Meantime I am struggling on my phone🙀
Boy, do I understand!
Don’t forget to thank Mitch. My ex-bff justified voting for chump so that he would “fix” the SC permanently, as Mitch so ardently worked for.
Yes, I agree, Mitch McConnell deserves most of the credit! Can't be stated enough that we are living in his long game. He taught us all that loyalty to Party is our prime directive and that the U.S. Constitution was always an illusion for the masses. :(
So right you are…living in his long game.
That's great of congress, but why 25%? Why not 100%? They still seem very meek.
And anyway, this administration will just reallocate money from something else to cover it. It seems like an empty threat.
It is an empty threat. Those are the only kind members of Congress from either party make against this administration.
Check these interactive maps to see how Trump's tariffs are crushing American farmers.
How do JD Vance and Peter Thiel profit from Trump’s tariffs bankrupting American farmers? Follow the money!
https://thedemlabs.org/2025/10/04/jd-vance-peter-thiel-profit-from-trumps-tariffs-bankrupting-american-farmers/
Mapping soybean farmers crushed by Trump’s tariffs while their Argentine rivals get billions in American aid
https://thedemlabs.org/2025/09/24/mapping-soybean-farmers-crushed-by-trumps-tariffs-while-their-argentine-rivals-get-billions-in-american-aid/
American farmers bankrupted by Trump tariffs: Chinese scoop up farmlands. Mapping the scam.
https://thedemlabs.org/2025/08/13/trump-tariffs-bankrupt-american-farmers-chinese-buy-farmlands/
Take a look at the text that HCR posted in this story. Does anyone think donnie is still able to write like this? Probably not, imho. Although it’s totally bonkers, it makes sense regarding the grammar, syntax and spelling; it has complete thoughts, crazy as they are. These are all things that he can’t do orally any more (a couple of nights ago it was, 'ping! ping! ping! ping! ping!') and I don’t think he can do it in writing either. Someone else has taken over and is using his nutso style to keep maga (including apparently SCOTUS) in line.
It is all like a North Korean diatribe, isn’t it? Perhaps the North Korean one might actually make more sense.
If reporters actually printed what he actually says and actually “writes” instead of trying to clean it all up beforehand, the spell cracking all around them would break even faster.
Think you are right. Soon it will be time for the Inca priests to doll up the emperor’s corpse and parade it around.
It’s miller
It is amazing that an acceptable argument for the president to have the power to fire people in independent agencies is the need to “fear and obey”. That is really low and describes the whole political environment we are in.
Alito is slapping lipstick all over that pig, claiming it’s really about restoring “power to the people.”
They’re so inconsistent it’s laughable. The judicial branch has offices and departments with their own appointed power to regulate judicial behavior. Congress itself has parliamentarians who oversee the constitutional adherence of acts before they’re enacted — so what they’re talking about with regard to the “unitary” executive is stuff and nonsense.
They may try to claim that their ruling isn’t a new precedent, that it applies only to this one case. That, too, is nonsense. You either have Marbury v. Madison, or you don’t. You don’t want a precedent set — you leave it to lower courts to figure out for themselves.
These people do not have the slightest idea what they’re talking about.
Yes they do, it’s calculated and deliberate. obfuscation all the way
We have been expecting Republicans in Congress to break with Donald Trump since early November 2020. It hasn't happened yet, and it literally will not happen until the cost to themselves is so prohibitive it overrides the demands of their cultist voters, which literally will not happen unless and until Donald Trump is being tried by an independent tribunal for crimes against the United States and is offered leniency to name names. Until then we have to understand and work from the understanding that the Republican Party of the 21st century is just as uniformly fascist as the Nazi party of Germany 1933, and stop waiting or pretending that Republicans will "come to their senses".
They have come to their senses, they support the fascist overthrow of the United States. Its long past time for the rest of us to start acting like it and stop pretending that they aren't throwing seig heils and trying on jackboots.