They’ve gutted institutions, flaunted the law, and made cruelty a rallying cry—but history is full of those who fought back and won. The time to act is now: show up, speak out, and hold the line.
The clips on the news of outraged citizens at town meetings making sure that their elected officials knew of and understood their extreme displeasure have been very encouraging.
I agree Peter and Betsy. Never give up. “Hope” is the thing with feathers - That perches in the soul - And sings the tune without the words - And never stops - at all."
I am dismayed by the awful things Trump is doing but never surprised. The one thing I can say in his favor is that I don't see that he has ever hidden his real intentions. During the 2016 campaigns it seemed clear enough to me that he had no interest the rule of law. It was only because of patriotic Americans like Mark Miley, still in positions of authority, that he was not able to become a military dictator in his first term.
Since then it has primarily been the Republicans in Congress who have enabled his assent to a military dictator every step of the way. Those intentions could not have been more explicit than in his exchange the other day with Governor Janet Mills of Maine when he said, "We are the federal law". In other words, the law - as written in the Constitution - is no longer relevant unless it matches his wishes. The only possible opportunity I see now to prevent that statement from becoming our reality is if either the federal courts - including the Supreme Court - or the voters in the upcoming special elections for Congress put a stop to it. We will know which way it will go before long.
That was obviously a lie, and I'm not denying that he has consistently produced a prodigious stream of lies. While he did say that about Project 2025, he was also advocating aspects of P2025 right along. I think that the stream of ridiculous lies and contradictions make it easy for his supporters to brush off worrisome things he says with, "Oh, he didn't really mean that!" This has left us on our own to decide what he really does and doesn't mean. We are now finding out for sure.
I actually did that from election day until January 1st. I found myself making up Haiku for just about every daily activity. It does get my mind off of other "hideous" things...
This clip here is disturbing though. 3 men in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho are assaulting a woman who is disagreeing in a town hall meeting. One of them comes up with Cable ties. This is disturbing. Apparently someone called the sheriff though and they came and deescalated the situation. Still... this is assault. It was allowed by all of the people there except for some women trying to help her.
Notice the men assaulting and shackling the woman are uniformly dressed in black with no identifying insignia. The third man shows up as they are forcing the woman to the floor, using their bodies to immobilize her. The third man has zip ties. Who goes to a community meeting with zip ties? At least the sheriff “deescalates” the situation. I would like to see videos of that, as well. Why don’t we see that?
Those three men should be charged with assault and unlawful confinement. That woman should also get a good lawyer and file a civil suit for assault. She should also sue whoever was responsible for holding the meeting. They should have intervened. Who was the man babbling into the microphone, standing by and not intervening while the well-organized assault took place? I suspect the enforcers were members of a local militia.
Remember the last time we say white men who brought zip ties to a gathering?
January 6, 2021 at the national capital. Did anyone check outside to see if those seemingly self-appointed enforcer men also brought a gallows?
AND the Proud Boys showing up at Rally's...for orders to start violence....
I want a laser focus on the Republican Senators who are standing in the way of OUR Free and civil America...and the impeachment of trump.....they are just as culpable and it should be .... if they are afraid of their Red base..they now need to be just as afraid (always with peace !!) of the Blue base....as loudly and consistently and overtly and well every dang day in their faces as this is in ours. They should NOT just eat their corn flakes and drink lattes and show up to "work???" that they keep the flood waters of trump open to drown us all...... no no no no no Their America is NOT OUR AMERICA..it is RUSSIA
While I totally agree with objections to this outrageous behavior, I do NOT understand why anyone is still suggesting impeachment (again) of Trump.
First while it MIGHT be possible to peel off enough GOP House critters to pass an impeachment resolution, we couldn't convict him in the Senate in 2021 (the second time) when the Democrats controlled the Senate. It requires 2/3 vote of the Senate to convict on impeachment and that would need 67 votes. I don't think this Senate which is once again controlled by the GOP could get 67 votes to pardon the Thanksgiving turkey, let alone oust a sitting President of their own party.
Second, what happens then? JD Vance? Good lord that is going from the frying pan into the fire. So impeach Vance too? And then Mike Johnson?
Unlike the British, our system doesn't call for new elections or anything like that. It puts "almost all the Presidents men" into the lines of succession.
So calling for impeachment is at best a hollow symbolic gesture and even if successful just moves another one of Trump's cogs into power.
Hate to say it again but that is just wasting time.
4 repub House members have to wake up and leave the GOP. 10 GOP Senators need to wake up and leave the GOP. Only Congress can impeach and convict. If the House leadership is in Hakeems hands, Vance can be impeached, too. then, voila-- Hakeem is pres and declares trump, vance, Homan, Patel, Gabard, kennedy. Bondi and vought enemies of the State and holds them in solitary. Yeah, what a dream...
Thank you...I have been saying the same thing ever since I saw the suggestion a few weeks ago. What is it that people don't understand about the impeachment process???
The object isn't to win. It's to educate the public. Free advertising. In every case, the opposing party won the following election.
Can impeach Vance, too.
We have a window of opportunity. Here's the response I got grom my right wing senator re Tump and Ukraine. Pass it on.
Dear Mr. Solomon,
Thank you for contacting me regarding the war in Ukraine. I appreciate the opportunity to respond.
Russia is a cancerous, evil regime that threatens our national security by attempting to control as much of Europe and Eurasia as it can. It also supports the regimes in Iran, Communist China, Cuba, and Venezuela. All of them continually seek to harm the United States and force us into a position of dependence upon them for our livelihood. Vladimir Putin’s unjustifiable and unlawful invasion of Ukraine is just one more example of this fact. I believe that the United States must continue to stand strongly with Ukraine and provide the lethal military aid it needs to win this war. Putin’s murderous attacks are a threat to our national security and the security of our democratic allies.
While we must continue to support democracy in Ukraine, I will not allow Russia’s unjust invasion to deprioritize or slow progress on solving urgent domestic issues such as securing the border, fighting inflation and rebuilding our national defense. Congress can continue to act and solve these issues, which we owe to the American people.
As Florida’s U.S. Senator, and a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, I will continue fighting for allies around the world, while also ensuring we take care of our families here at home. I am proud to represent every citizen in Florida and I appreciate the time you took to provide your position on this matter. Should you have any additional questions or comments, please feel free to contact me.
Jon, as usual, you and TL Mills are spot-on. I have a friend in a care facility, whose memory and judgement are badly impaired, except for her passionate interest in liberal politics. Recently, I voiced my hope that Trump would either have a catastrophic physical consequence from his McDonald's diet or perhaps . . . well, you can guess the rest. My friend reminded me that the result of any removal of Trump from the arena would automatically put JD in control, so she suggested that perhaps they could incapacitate each other in a violent fistfight, taking both of them out. Then she realized that would result Mike Johnson in the oval office. What a conundrum!
You mean a Coconspirator "under color of law" initiated multiple crimes?
A Prosecutor must present ALL evidence to a Grand Jury ASAP or if the corruption runs deep, the victim should file a federal civil rights action. Fight Back.
No man came to her defense. This is so disturbing. It makes my blood boil. Next, Americans will start disappearing when they speak out, just like in Russia. PEOPLE WAKE UP!
“Look at this little girl over here, everyone. Look at her,” Bejarana said.
“We’ve got to be a little aggressive with some of these folks here,” Bejarana said. “Your voice is meaningless right now. ... I can talk over all of you.”
This makes my blood boil. It's already happening in our communities and people don't care until they are the ones being held in zip ties. We are too individualistic for our own goods. I would never want anyone in my community have 3 men hold them down or have an elected official encourage people to use zip ties against them because I disagree with what they are saying. The elected officials aren't even listening to their constituents because they are in too deep and know that we are so divided it doesn't matter what they do if their district is safe. If we had a proper DOJ they'd file an investigation into what happened here.
They know exactly who those security people are and where to find them. These “I don’t know anything” answers just implicate them and make them a part of it. Hold them accountable right up to the person who is holding the meeting and stood silently by. Their “disruptions” were acceptable on 1/6 as long as no one on the other side protests. Then the protesters need to be put down.
Hired militia to go in a SCARE anyone who speaks .... we are getting closer to Russia 2.0 every day .... BUT there is 350 million of us and WAY WAY WAY fewer of them. And there is ALWAYS way way way more good than bad. They will fight dirty but we have the NUMBERS TO CHANGE ALL THIS
You are ignoring the fact that almost half the country supports Trump or doesn't care about this kind of nonsense.
I do NOT think your last statement is "correct". We do NOT have the "numbers" to change this, at least not right now. You are drinking "kool-aid" if you really believe that. It would take the support of 2/3 of the Senate to oust Trump. Where do you think we would find those votes when 1/2 the Senate is supporting cabinet nominees like RFKjr and Ka$h Patel.
We might have the numbers in a year or so, after the hurt that is going to be inflicted on the country by Trump and his minions sets in, but if you look at it dispassionate, we are still a long way from that point.
Focus on the 2026 election and stop wasting energy on trying to change the present situation when there is really no legal way to do that until the next election cycle.
If you ignore the people who break the laws and keep saying wait until the next election more laws will be broken and there will be no next election. Sitting back and taking it is exactly how we got here. Pussies like Vance, Mike Johnson, Trump and Musk are nothing but big bullies who only get worse when left to continue.
We don't know if we have the numbers because 93 mil eligible voters did not vote, and we do not know if this is what they stayed home for or went to work jobs that would dock them if they did not go to work, or numerous other reasons than I just don't care, or my life won't be effected. I have talked to some of the latter. However, I am going to change the mind of at least one of them.
Jon the "Early Voting" in the state of Virginia for VA's "first election" starts around June 6, 2025. The Primary is in the 3rd week of June. The VA state election is in November 2025.
The state of Virginia literally has thousands of Federal workers & their families who have been hurt badly. Why wait to 2026?
Reorganize every VA precinct, knock on every door 3 times, listen & learn --- preaching and/or didactic commands should not be tolerated by anyone who wants to "win friends & influence Voters".
I've been told by two nazi magats that I am not allowed to speak. Both are gone from my life and one was my brother, one was another woman..this is what they believe, women are not entitled to an opinion if it's not what they think!
Leo misrepresented what our young neighbor had done. And falsely asserted that his family had been targeted. When in fact, as they were driving through town to a peaceful protest outside Leo's estate, the young man and his mother saw Leo and as they drove by shouted out the car window. The mother, a midwife and inn keeper much beloved and admired was not arrested. The young man successfully settled his well documented case against the police. Leo was not sued.
Later, despite the police and DA determining that a chalk messaging project was protected by the Constitution and compliant with the law: rogue police (one all in black, no badge but armed and refusing to identify himself) and town officials presumably also influenced by Leo repeatedly confronted and threatened an elderly woman activist; the town manager supported by the town council threatened her with arrest and fines, directed town staff to follow her around and wash off the chalk messages, and started a smear campaign in the local press dog-whistling vigilantism; a town councilor called for a gag order to stop her from participating in 3 minute town council public comments because she asked by what authority the town manager was conducting this campaign and how much it was costing; the local papers refused to challenge or correct the lies of the town manager; and self-identified supporters of Leo verbally assaulted her - with one grabbing her phone and another trying to roll her SUV into her - hung wanted posters with her photo on the village green, and attacked her on social media. Fortunately local activists and local independent press supported her. And the police leadership stood firm in their defense of the law and her civil rights.
Horrifying. One woman against a half dozen cowards. NO ONE comes to intercede. The panel of speakers doesn’t even pause — just keeps droning on, while a US citizen - white, female, sitting in her seat, acting with zero violence or intimidation, just employing her First Amendment voice at a public event — is dragged, literally kicking and screaming, from her seat and flung into the aisle where her attackers wait with zip ties. ZIP TIES!
People more concerned with their selfie feeds than the civil rights of a human; or of this utter, depraved decimation of democracy. Every single person in that room enabled the vigilantes to prevail — perhaps briefly — but for long enough.
The point is to intimidate, coerce and silence: not a black guy, not an immigrant, nor Asian nor Jew.
And now the local press is calling them a private “Security detail” — based on zero facts, zero identification of the perpetrators of blatant assault. “Someone” claims they were hired - but no one knows by whom, what security company, nothing. Just blatant, flat-out lying. And even the local press is too intimidated to question a single thing. I want this woman’s face on a tee-shirt I can purchase. Because we’re all that woman now.
And this — the vigilante group that assaulted peaceable attendees at a legislative town hall are branding the woman as the “disrupter” and a “credible threat” to a legislator — because of course, a 90-pound red-headed female sitting in a chair in a room of hundreds of people is a clear threat to a guy who is off hiding in the wings somewhere while his thugs wander around committing assault and battery.
Linda: Thank you for posting this. It is striking how most people are just sitting on their hands and uninvolved with this injustice. I suppose it happened this way in Germany back in the 1930s. Scary.
I think so too. In Germany people were in an economic depression and desperate and they wanted to have food, shelter, and did not question anything else. The US is so well off, it is surprising that so many well off people would vote for this. It is just scary.
I went to school with Peter Fritsche and his 3 siblings. We were of a group at our school who had German parents so we were connected like that. He lived down the block from me. But, both his parents and my. mom lived through it as did my relatives. I also went to school with Hans Massaquoi's sons.
In any case, there were Germans who did not embrace Hitler, but were in a big system where protesting was one thing you could do, but if you had a wife and 4 children, you just avoided complicity as much as you could, without really plotting to murder Hitler as some did. I know stories. When I was younger several Black Germans were publishing books about their experiences. Many were sterilized under the Nazis. That is why I am concerned that that could happen here.
There were a lot of mistakes made that I hope Germany has learned from. The polls here in Germany closed and my daughter made it to vote in time. I went and voted today. Here is a piece I wrote on it.
Now we will wait until we know what fraction of each party got seats, and then there will be coalition building with the party who got the most seats, and others who are willing to partner with them, and then, they decide who gets which positions and then the chancellor has to be voted on by the Bundestag, the German Parliament.
Phil, that is true. I am assuming also that the people on the Substacks I am subscribed to are mostly not working class, but I could be wrong. What do you think?
OMG! If this video is real, this is terrifying! These MAGA, Oath Keeper, Proud Boy types are a very real threat to our society. I’m disturbed that more people did not come to her defense.
Thank you Linda Weide. Idaho criminal law Chapter 9 covers both "assault" and separately "battery". In IDAHO, that's Chapter 9, Assault & Battery, Title 18, Sections 909, 910, 911 & 912
How are we All doing on criminal law these days regardless of the state or federal laws violated? Regardless of subsequent "deescalation" what matters is the intent of the Perps at the exact moment of the the criminal act(s).
Juries in Coeur d'Alene & juries anywhere have common sense & know which way the wind blows. 15 years for assault & 20 for battery.
That’s assault and kidnapping attempt and …civil right violation. Freedom to Assemble. Freedom of speech. If the state and federal fail to press charges… then yes, these will escalate. Quite an ugly Swastika ‘merica we got tight now.
There are other videos of this event. Many people have phones and are recording. The audience appears to be mixed with people who support those who are calling out and others who are upset by it. A man was escorted out in this video.
A new dance craze is sweeping the nation called, The Goose-Step, Two-step March. This invigorating new exercise is easy to learn! First, link arms on the dance floor. As you move backward in line, turn your head to the right and lift your left leg straight up as high as it will go. Then step forward as you turn your head to the left and lift your right leg straight up in the air.
It's very similar to square dancing or line dancing. Soon the dance floor will be filled with goose-steppers. Forward, backward, round and round. If you step out of line, you are tagged, the caller detains you, interrogates you, strip searches you, and sends you off to detainment camps for disloyalty.
This new dance craze is not to be confused with serious charges of criminal activity. By the time the youngins reach the age of reason, they will be quick to form into lines upon request for impromptu Goose-Step, Two-Step Marches and other forms of family entertainment.
You might have heard the news that the head of the Proud Boys, Enrique Tarrio, had been arrested again for clumping a protester near the Capitol building, but not before goose-stepping behind some Capitol police officers who he and his brethren had assaulted on 6 January, accusing them of being cowards - https://x.com/IvanRaiklin/status/1893404715091632561
EVIL and mentally ill (sick) do people exist... which is why we need the Law to work and not be compromised and brave police and loyal military...trump has changed it ALL to Russia 2.0 here now....without the Judicial AND the Republican senators....to get him out..If the Senators do not step up...it has to be a fight ..... or submit and 10 - 15 years living like Russia... here and likely. ..just a poor - it is ALOT
You are absolutely right, Shauna. Vulnerable people are being put in harm's way by these reckless decisions. Bird flu is rapidly becoming endemic in dairy herds in the US. This is a greater risk to humans because cattle have similar respiratory systems to us and so the virus is likely to mutate more quickly. A CDC study found that two dairy workers might have infected their pet cats. The report disappeared from the CDC website. Meanwhile, a measles epidemic in Texas and New Mexico has sickened over 100 people. So what has your new health secretary been doing while all this has been going on? Well, he's recommending that people drink unpasteurized milk and he's also announced that he's going to convene a panel to re-examine the Covid pandemic and look at what he called 'other taboo subjects' i.e. do parasitic worms in one's brain improve grades? You're all in a shitload of trouble.
Don’t ya just love that muffled vanity, it’s the foot in their mouth sound…I will not hate them…just want the Justice ( including the WV senator ) done /in jail, there’s plenty of room at Guantanamo I hear…just sayin’
In a long and productive life, nobody has ever managed to make me take part in organised physical exercise. Actually, if I tried what you describe, the sudden rupturing of my spinal cord would interrupt the fluidity of the marching line while they raked my lifeless form out of the way.
My GQP congressman is nowhere to be found. His office even closed down on Friday when we arrived to picket. On one of my phone calls during the week I actually talked to a aide that told me he has no plans at this time to hold a town hall.
I can see a time when practical application of this bravado delusion fails miserably and Americans die while a delusional president felon cheats again at golf, a drunken delusional defense secretary continues to be drunk with that fantasy delusion and the military establishment is laughed at because the delusion is the drug for these less than deserving sycophants.
Court cases aside by the time things get settled, if they ever do due to the ‘delay, deny, delay’ tactic, the failure will be so profound we will be forced to worship the russian or chinese overlords that are amazed at how unprepared and idiotic our resistance to their tactics was just pushed aside so easily. This is a tv show, a bad twilight zone episode, with absolutely zero basis in reality. The world laughs at how stupid we have become and how easy it was to overcome this collection of fools disguised as a ‘superpower’ at one time long ago. We will then become slaves to whoever happens to pass through as other nations use this country as a dumping ground for the worst that humanity can produce.
At least the Romans fought back, we on the other hand will comply quite easily to “whats in it for me” attitude our less than deserving ‘leader$’ will counter with.
Betsy, I live not far from Roswell, Georgia, which is a reliably red part of the Metro area. While I doubt that many of the attendees voicing their concerns were Republicans, it was reported that many who appeared to be Republicans appeared sympathetic with the liberals' ire. The meeting, televised widely nation-wide, should be a signal of hope for all of us who see the current train wreck and the dire consequences already visible. We need more demonstrations and widespread examples of our anger and resistance, and the Supreme Court needs to understand that their support of an ignorant tyrant won't be tolerated.
Betsy Smith, I totally agree! It was really heartwarming to hear how folks at the town hall in Glenpool, which is one of the most staunchly conservative suburbs of Tulsa, jump on Kevin Hern, forcing him to respond with some really vapid defense of the PINO and his puppet master.
Do you expect our military to "speak out and hold the line" when it comes to refusing orders that violate the Constitution? I'm not sure that they will, when the commanding officers have all been replaced by Trump loyalists.
It will depend on how loyal individual soldiers and units are to the Constitution and the rule of law. And in the future captured soldiers may soon regret a rejection of Geneva. It is not just about protecting others, but ourselves.
Below the level of full colonel, the military is populated almost entirely by rabid Trumpsters. That’s why 99% of TVs on military bases are blaring the Fox channel 99% of the time. From full colonel up, the level of massive ignorance and willingness to ignore the Constitution takes a giant step down (that is, in the direction of less ignorance and more loyalty to the Constitution… edited for clarity), but that still leaves plenty of officers who are willing to ignore the Constitution, and those are the ones being elevated to command positions. The really bad ones are especially easy to find in the Air Force, which is dominated by evangelical, white, Christian nationalists. The Air Force brass at every level runs off anyone who doesn’t conform to the Christian nationalist creed.
I was aware of the prevalence of Christian Nationalism in the Air Force and other service branches due to Mikey Weinstein’s work with the Military Religious Freedom Foundation. Mikey and his family are Jewish and his son, who graduated from the Air Force Academy, was constantly pestered to convert to evangelical Christianity by fellow cadets and even some superiors. There are commanding officers in the different branches who illegally use the command structure to proselytize and demand their subordinates participate in evangelical activities.
That is not by chance. It happened during the tea party craze, according to an ex-vet who came to see me after he served in Afghanistan. When I go to businesses that have Fox on tv. It’s not because I want it, but the owners do. The propaganda is top down, always…
Colonels and generals are, in the average, many cuts above lieutenant colonels and below in loyalty to the Constitution, competence, and intelligence. That’s where the chaff gets cut. Usually. Doesn’t keep all louts out of the top ranks, though, by any means.
I thought Biden stopped the practice of having Fox blaring on all the bases. I’ll look it up on snopes…I looked it up on snopes and that is false. According to Snopes the RNC has a medley of news sources .
Heather has correctly defined in the historical context this reactionary trend; mixing the myth of cowboy imagery to rugged individualism. But what is very difficult or impossible to understand is our own implication in this divergence or split. All movements keep pushing until a reaction occurs. In China, Tianamin Square was a great example. The government was near to compromising with what was originally student leaders the galvanized the people. But they kept pushing the government until the government rebelled and rebelled they did in a massive way.
In our society, we have passed necessary and meaningful laws to right past wrongs. Then we engaged in what is now known as diversity. With one exception; diversity without inclusion of the dominant culture; white working class. Oh but they are now called the privileged class. Oy. And until we come to the realization that this was a mistake, we will kept society convulsed and confused. And we will simply be a divided nation in perpetuity.
Well, this is my opinion. I am not a partisan. I’m a centrist. We think differently from hard core democrats. I issue a clarion call to unite and move to the center. But I know, that’s a pipe dream. We prefer to feel self righteous and continue fighting. There is a lot of hatred of each other in our society. Pushed in no small measure by cell devices that keep us socially isolated and susceptible to manipulation. But until we come together, I envision self-defeats going forward. But in spite of all this chaos the MAGAs may very well push until they lose. It’s that ole push until you lose syndrome.
And what does 'move to the center' mean? Whenever I hear it I'm worry that it means abandoning the LGBTQ community since that riles up the right so much? I'm sure that's not what you mean, but I never know what 'moving to the center' means in the details. Can you enlighten me as to what that means to you?
Who is self-righteous? As MLK said somewhere. Passing laws will not make a man love me, but it might keep him from killing me. A worthy goal, maybe. Sorry, but you negated your own point with this last hurrah…. For this reader, anyway.
"...I know that if we are to come to the glad day of true integration, true brotherhood, that men will have to rise to the majestic heights of being obedient to the unenforceable, not doing it because the law says it but because it is natural and right. I recognize that.
But after saying that, it is necessary to go on to say that there is another side. It may be true that morality cannot be legislated, but behavior can be regulated. It may be true that the law can't change the heart, but it can restrain the heartless. It may be true that the law can't make a man love me, but it can restrain him from lynching me, and I think that's pretty important also..."
The speech was apparently a few days after the first convictions of the Mississippians who killed Chaney, Goodman, and Schwerner, not for murder yet, but conspiracy.
Wikipedia provided most important details, Including how a mafia captain Gregory Scarpa was recruited to help generate a tip passed on to Maynard King who was the Mr.X credited with revealing the location (after 8 other bodies were found). I recall a description of the other lynch mob types in the county wanting the searching stopped before they found many more bodies.
Back to MLK's speech, and a bit more on the prevalence of hidden murders.
"...Take a state like Mississippi. Over the last four years, more than 83 Negroes and white civil rights workers have been killed, brutally murdered, and not a single person has been convicted for these dastardly crimes. Some were convicted for the first time a few days ago in the murder of the three civil rights workers who were killed in Mississippi in '64. But they were not convicted on the basis of murder. They were convicted on the basis of the federal law which is based on a conspiracy charge and with the maximum of ten years. Nobody in the state of Mississippi has been convicted for all of these murders which have taken place. Over the last three years more than 62 Negro churches have been burned to the ground in the state of Mississippi. Nothing has happened about it. It seems that they have a new motto in Mississippi now--not "Attend the church of your choice," but "Burn the church of your choice." And, oh, how tragic this is. These glowering, terrible expressions of violence precipitated and perpetrated against Negroes remind us that we still have a long, long way to go..."
I went a little long as my way to contribute a tiny bit more to Black History Month, no matter whether the current administration wants to honor it or not.
Thanks for the post, fellow Mainah. How about Governor Mills?!!! Send your e-mail address to me (gideonse@midmaine.com), and I'll send you my take on MLK, Jr speaking in Brunswick in 1964.
I feel the most down I have felt since 2015 when he rode down his tacky elevator. It feels inevitable that he is going to beat Hitler who dismantled his government legally in 53 days. Whatever will become of us.
I'd like to know how, exactly, we could include the 'dominant culture', in a way they would find acceptable. Dei initiatives were to prevent the 'dominant culture' from being chosen for jobs/positions over poc/women who were at least as qualified. Not to give preference to those 'others'. But many see it that way; especially, it seems, republicans. Current administration is making their view clear on this point; firing poc, lgbtq, and women in admin positions, because dei.
How close are we to making all who aren't staunchly, vocally, supporters of the republican party - the enemy?
You call yourself a centrist, but you make statements that sound rightwing. Here are your words: “Then we engaged in what is now known as diversity. With one exception; diversity without inclusion of the dominant culture; white working class. Oh but they are now called the privileged class. Oy. And until we come to the realization that this was a mistake, we will kept society convulsed and confused. And we will simply be a divided nation in perpetuity. “
Bill has been meandering lately but much of his writing reveals on whose side ‘today’s Bill’ would have stood on the Edmund Pettus Bridge, regardless of his claims of activism in the past. Perhaps his age is showing.
I've been in various diversity initiatives and white men and white women are always there Bill. I understand that not all of them are that way, but for example I've seen people get upset at Women in Stem events. At the end of the day, we had one candidate run on making life more equitable for all Americans, and the other who ran on making it better for just one group. America chose to give into fear and prejudice. Most Americans are centrists by nature anyone, and while I hope that they will push until they lose, I'm not counting on it. They don't feel shame or a see failure as an opportunity to do better. It seems like a zero sum game at this point. But maybe you are right. To blame all of this on DEI though seems like a scapegoat and simple answer to a more complex issue.
Bill I partially agree with you. I think DEI was well-intentioned and if you think about it, what it really is looking for is the acceptance of people not just like "us." It is meant that we provide opportunity for all, not just rich or white. So, instead of creating initials and clubbing people over the head--educate! but do not lecture. Same goes for LGBTQ which may, perhaps for many to get a grip on. They don't understand and they fear for those close to them and the way of life that they knew--but even then there were LGBQ among us--I am old enough to recall the first known trans--Christine Jorgensen. So against, educate by allowing integrated social groups. When those antis meet someone on neutral ground, without attached labels, they usually accept people for what they are. And for goodness sake, if someone writes a good read book or makes and engaging work of art, there is no need to make a headline of their sexual orientation. We never headline "Heterosexual, sleeps with the opposite sex." So why do we do it with the "others" among us?
I think you just defined what my center is. But “they” think they need to throw it in our faces every damn day 24/7. So I’ll use an example of my openness. Personal stories. It’s the best teacher.
When I was a street hippie, there were all kinds of kids amongst us. One was a lesbian and she called herself “Mother Mary.” She was funny. She frequently called herself a diesel dyke. Mother Mary used to regale us that that she could kick any man’s ass. I liked hanging with Mother Mary. She was my security against the guys that harassed us. I wonder what ever happened to Mother Mary. If she was homeless today, I would take her into my home.
Steve, currently 1 out of 4 17-24 year olds meet the qualifications to enter the military. Do you think that by putting theocrats and Trump loyalists in charge of the military is going to lure these kids to the recruiting stations.
Do you think putting "Hitler's generals" in charge of the military is going to help lure in people of color and woman?
And all of the military that will re-up in the next 4 years, are they going to want to?
My sister-in-law barely finished high school in the early 1980's and they recruited her into military intelligence. Trump and the Republicans are going to have to bring back the draft to get the white kids they think they want to join the military.
Heather's right -- this is going to be a fucking disaster.
It makes you wonder how many recruiters are people of color. I would think it would be harder to recruit only qualified white boys in the underprivileged areas. Maybe these are the leases they plan on canceling.
You bring up an interesting thought: If there *were* to be a military draft under this administration, I wonder if people of color and other minorities would be exempted -- you know, given the evils of DEI and all. Trump and Hegseth would only want the most capable and qualified white men, right?
I'm being flippant, of course. We all know damn well people of color and minorities would be at the front of the line...literally and figuratively.
Yes, they've flouted the law, and cruelty is the point of all their machinations. We will be called to do more than speak out. I hope they have also roused the sleeping giant that is the American citizenry, and that we can stop them without bloodshed. My fear is that the chance of that happening grows smaller every passing day.
A significant majority of the white American citizenry is fully on board with Trump, so your fears are well founded. The sleeping giant is a Trumpster. By all means, speak out. At least! But don’t expect to stop this juggernaut. They are very well organized (by the Project 2025 people, I presume).
30% percent of eligible voters made to the polls, and what we don’t know is how many were prevented from voting by laws designed to suppress voting and voter turnout from groups Republicans don’t want to vote. I’m not convinced voting machines were hacked, but I am convinced that Republicans were very successful at voter suppression.
(You may need to listen a few times, Pause & look at the charts. It is shocking information).
Dr. Elizabeth Clarkson has her doctorate in statistics. She strongly believes the data from the 2024 election points to a high probability of election rigging. To prove this, she would need access to the physical ballots. She would agree to copies, but she would like to see those copies being made as she has grown very suspicious.
I don't know how to feel when I read copium like this. If people couldn't do the low effort actions to make it to the polls like half of my family members in a swing state, it doesn't matter that only 30% voted for Trump. Countries have been lost by much smaller margins. If people didn't show up to vote, I have no faith they'll find courage to resist later, not unless they don't have food, water or general creature comforts.
How about refusing to participate in effective public health measures, a common behavior in rethug ranks? They’re extremely bad citizens in many fronts.
White voters supported Trump by a 15 point majority. That’s significant in my book. Might change a few points on a revote, but even if it changed in the direction of decency, a ten-point margin is still a significant one. Among white working class voters it was way worse. More like a forty-point majority for Felon47, and among white voters who believe that Noah actually put those animals on a boat, it was a sixty-point majority. We know who to blame, and the only hope is a slim one: do way better than they do in get-out-the-vote in the next election. There has been a tremendous amount of damage aleady and will be a lot more, but we cannot stop them until the election.
Yup, they will use the military or some other group to hurt citizens and then maybe a small percentage of Republicans will finally not vote for MAGA. At this point though they've shown me that as long as they are hurting the right people or not personally affected, they'll convince themselves of anything. I don't think they'll come to save us. We have to keep pressure on them via the judicial branch and take back the house in 2026.
Correct. Kent State was cheered by the white working class (and, I presume, even more so by white evangelicals, although I wasn’t tracking them at the time, and that was before Rex Reed sewed them up in a package for the party of indecency).
Protestors need to start wearing their own body cams in such an event because the MAGA propaganda machine will spin up quickly and claim that the protestors incited violence, necessitating a forceful response to put down the violent rebellion. The revolution must be televised.
Body cams and full body armor. The cams won’t help much. Rethugs have no incentive to obey the courts. Congress is not going to remove Felon47 from office, no matter what he does.
propaganda - ideas, facts, or allegations spread deliberately to further one's cause or to damage an opposing cause.
It's time to start a propaganda war against Trump and ALL Republicans. A few vocal Democrat governors are starting to fight back. Progress Radio is anti-Trump, anti MAGA, anti white Christian Nationalist 24/7. If you're reading this, as much anxiety as each one of you has, you are still engaged. Many of you attend churches and volunteer your time. Preach the anti-Trump gospel. Most churches and synagogues are not full of WCN's, but even if there is one, call them out.
And the DNC needs to launch ads on YouTube, FaceBook, AOL, TikTok, BlueSky and even X. Advertise on MLB and NBA games. Flood the "free" literature racks at the Big Box stores with anti-Trump pamphlets BLAMING Trump for high inflation, high grocery prices, high gas prices, high unemployment, being Putin's puppet, being a Fascist, etc.
This is what Trump has done since 2015 while everyone plays nice. It's past time for being nice. Biden said there are 2000 billionaires in the US. Where are the ones that can pitch in a million or so dollars each like Harlan Crowe or Elon Musk. We're fighting Trump/Musk with nickels and dimes. We need 50 George Soros's and Mark Cubans.
The Lincoln Project's goal was to influence 2-3% of the vote in the swing states. It worked in 2020. It can work again.
Gary, I agree with your strategy, with one tweak. The messaging should not be ads. It should be "opinions," not too well produced. The spokespeople should be ordinary-looking people who could be your neighbors. Right-wing propaganda works because it appears to come from "real people," not celebrities or paid professionals.
If Lincoln Project wants to be effective, they'll need to "go guerrilla" and produce "reality" videos without their logo. The people whose minds need to be changed won't watch branded videos.
Maybe the town hall videos, like the ones described above, will make an impact...maybe. I will participate in the No Buy Day Feb. 28th and the future protests as much as I can.
Richard, the cowards in Congress are not going to change their minds. They are too afraid or compromised. They must be turned out of Congress by an electorate whose minds have been changed.
It is hard to compete with Twitter and the hate spewed there. The people who elected the felon as President only watch Fox. Yet they will be the first to scream that those of us who are “radical leftists” only watch msnbc, etc. now that is funny! whoever heard of a president governing via his own personal social media app in the middle of the night?
Impeachment is our only answer. He has ignored so many laws, is in Contempt of judicial orders to restore funding, he threatens all his perceived enemies, he has co-opted the judicial branch with his cronies, he is eliminating high ranking military based on gender and color, destroying the entire federal workforce and hasn’t produced one iota of evidence of fraud waste or abuse. Not one. He lies every time he speaks. He is the greatest of everything in all recorded history. He has sided with Russia. He has destroyed 80 years of alliances. He is stupid and power hungry. He wants to be a king. His peons will govern while he plays golf. IMPEACHMENT is the only answer. I hate the man and the people who are standing by and letting all this happen to our country. When I watched all those town meetings with angry constituents and their representative would stand up there still trying to say “he’s done good things , or he has accomplished a lot already” I knew we were lost because they are Lost. I am so ready to check out. I’ve done My postcards, made my calls, sent
My Emails…over and over and over again. I am so Ready to
Check out. When the sense makers are in the minority, it seems so hopeless.
Do you realize, Peter, that you speak here in only cliché?
Worse, the fact that such language gets you the most "likes" -- from Heather's readers! -- testifies to how Americans got so impotent as to allow fascism's takeover.
I wouldn't be too harsh in judging - it's the thing we humans do, don't we, before we organise we need since time and memorial "slogans" (old norse word if I remember right) and they are basically chliches. I don't think it means necessarily that Americans won't be able to build a resistance.
The Trump recession is coming. The farmers and ranchers are getting fucked by Trump and they mostly vote Republican. Remind them in church about Trump not giving a damn about any of them. He is doing this for himself and the oligarchs. This is how Putin did it. He made several people very very rich and beholden to him. They pay for all of Putin's propaganda because they owe him.
In our case Trump owes Musk. He must hate to play second fiddle to Musk. We need to glorify Musk to Trump and tell Trump that Musk is doing all of the things that Trump isn't smart enough to do.
TCF is glad elon is doing the dirty work. bullies have others do it for them. Notice how weary he looked, sitting at the resolute desk, watching X smear his boogers on it? All he wants to do is play golf while others do the damage. He still gets the thrill of the pain of those impacted. The “tingle.”
That's the other thing we need to hit MAGAs with -- Trump's golf outings. Last I heard, he's already cost us $10.7 million for his golf. And his rally's now cost us much more per event.
With all due respect, I don't think getting mad at individual farmers is going to do anything but make them defensive and watch more Fox. I have learned that the die-hard Trumper has an answer for everything. The last straw for me was Jan 6. For them it was "FBI plants."
I do go to church with farmers. Good people. They are not all MAGA. I don't know, and don't care, which ones are political, and which are not. They are often Republican and do not always know how things have changed with that party. Propaganda works, until it doesn't. They all have known me for a long time and respect me. I have written publicly in the local newspaper. They know, or will know, how I think. It may change some of their ideas. Meanwhile, as always, I will call my representatives.
Ditto on the recession. If President Musk were doing all this firing at a time when private sector hiring was strong, it might be nothing more than a blip in the economy. But private sector hiring isn't as strong as it was not too long ago...in fact, you're starting to see private companies announcing more and more cuts of their own. Throw all these unemployed government workers into this environment, and you all but force a recession. Funny thing is, the predictions over the past 2+ years of a constantly looming recession that didn't happen have started to abate. And that, I fear, is when it will come and smack us all upside the head.
I foresee that Tramp will turn on Musk and say It was all his fault and pass the blame for the disfunction and its consequences, as is the way with cowards and kings.
Animal farm is more a critique of proletarian revolution Bj5, I see your point though.... with this bunch of animals.
But dytopian comparisons.......... Orwell’s vision centers on a brutal, authoritarian state that enforces compliance through surveillance, fear, and violence, Huxley’s dystopia is much more about distraction, pleasure, and passive submission. Here’s how the current situation aligns more with Huxley’s predictions:
1. The Role of Pleasure and Distraction
Huxley feared that people wouldn’t need to be forced into submission—they would willingly walk into it, addicted to comfort and entertainment. Social media, mass entertainment, and hyper-consumerism serve as modern equivalents of soma, the pleasure-drug in Brave New World. Instead of an iron fist, we get a flood of addictive, numbing distractions that make people disengaged from political realities.
Orwell imagined an authoritarian state that forbids information (censorship), whereas Huxley imagined one that floods people with triviality, making real issues irrelevant. The algorithm-driven, dopamine-fueled cycles of outrage, memes, and influencer drama make it difficult for the public to focus on systemic power shifts.
2. Voluntary Submission to Control
Rather than a state-imposed doctrine (as in Nineteen Eighty-Four), modern social media conditioning works by subtly shaping beliefs through endless reinforcement loops. The more time people spend in digital environments, the more their behaviors and opinions are influenced—not by outright force, but by engineered narratives that reward conformity and discourage critical thought.
In Brave New World, people aren’t rebelling because they don’t feel the need to. They are conditioned from birth to love their servitude. The same applies today: many people don’t resist encroaching authoritarianism because they don’t recognize it happening amidst the endless flood of entertainment, consumerism, and personalized reality bubbles.
3. The Death of Critical Thinking
Huxley predicted a world where books and deep thinking wouldn’t need to be burned (as in Fahrenheit 451); they would simply become obsolete. In today’s digital world, long-form argumentation and nuanced debate are drowned out by bite-sized, emotionally charged content that prioritizes engagement over truth.
Orwell feared a world where the government would ban books. Huxley feared a world where people would no longer care about reading. TikTok, viral tweets, and algorithmic feeds reduce engagement with complex ideas, just as Brave New World’s society discourages deep intellectual inquiry.
4. The Gamification of Compliance
Huxley’s dystopia relied on pleasure-driven obedience, and today, social media platforms gamify compliance through likes, shares, and validation. People willingly conform to dominant narratives, not because they are forced, but because dissent means social ostracization.
Orwell’s world relied on fear-based control (the Thought Police). Huxley’s world relied on social conditioning and engineered pleasure. Today, those who question dominant ideologies are “canceled,” ridiculed, or ignored, creating self-policing mechanisms where compliance is rewarded, and deviation is punished—not by the state, but by one’s own peers.
5. The Illusion of Choice and Freedom
Unlike Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four, where oppression is explicit, Huxley’s world allows people to think they are free while they remain trapped in an invisible system of control. People can buy whatever they want, consume endless entertainment, and voice their opinions online—yet, these freedoms are curated within a carefully managed ecosystem where power structures remain untouched.
The illusion of democracy continues, but the mechanisms of real power shift into the hands of unelected tech monopolies, AI-driven information control, and an ultra-wealthy elite that remains beyond accountability.
Final Thought
Orwell feared a world of pain and oppression. Huxley feared a world of pleasure and distraction. While there are certainly Orwellian elements in today’s surveillance state, the greater threat seems to be the Huxleyan one: a society sedated by entertainment, manipulated by invisible algorithms, and too distracted to notice its freedoms eroding.
Thanks for summarizing Brave New World. I admit I haven’t read it. You’re points about we’re in it now with our lack of critical thinking (I’ve been saying this for years) and the points about pleasures and distractions are spot on. That’s why Trump is talking about buying Greenland, Canada as the 51st state, and Gulf of America; they’re all distractions.
I don’t think I’ll read Brave New World now. We’re living it and we’re trying to get out.
Reading is the best defense against intolerance. Public and school libraries are under attack nationwide. Support them by speaking up when they get defunded and the workers are fired, like has happened here in Montgomery County Texas.
Phil, we’re all angry, but we don’t need to turn on each other. Shall I ask you where your spin on humanities is? Honestly, I’ll be impressed when you apologize to Peter.
Well--- we are being ruled by men with severely limited intellectual capacity and absolutely no moral core. They have little or no knowledge of their own civilization, therefore, will not know how to maintain it. They are cultural philistines. Of course, don't say that to their face, they probably don't know what a philistine is .... since their language consists merely of dialects and a limited vocabulary. The human consquences of their policies will never figure into their conversations.
You hit the nail on the head. (Gee, a cliche) but old friends in discussions have accused me of ‘using big words’ or ‘I gotta love the way you communicate’ in a derisive tone. These guys didn’t make it past high school and have had no curiosity since.
I've loved our Democratic Republic, though I've had many reservations concerning policies from the states I've occupied, or the Federal Government. We all have opinions that are unique and quite personal. Our Congress is populated by many different professional backgrounds. I would like to hazard a guess that by far the most representative professional background is "lawyer." Lawyers always have different political prejudices just like we all do, though they may tend to be more conservative. I'm certainly not defending any of this administration's willful anti-human, anti-democratic behavior. I fear for our Nations' Reputation do you.
And how are we going to fight back! I do mot see one leader, except maybe Elizabeth Warren. I see a congress that had to know. It is just a matter of time when sites like these are monitored, maybe banned.
Follow AOC. I may not always agree with her, but she is fighting to protect her constituents and will not be silenced. Give a shout out to the governor of Maine who defended the rule of law and due process to the President’s face. I know there are many more examples and that is my hope.
I don't know the answer to that. I suppose we should prepare for that, certainly. I just do not know. We need to bear up under the weight and hold steady. Strive for solidarity of purpose. If and where we can, then agitate. Confront. there are ways to stay together thru this. Si! se pueda!
Sandra, this topic came up on this forum a couple days ago, and a few commenters compiled a pretty good list of Democratic leaders who are speaking out. Several more than Warren. Adam Schiff and Jamie Raskin come to mind, and AOC, as Sarah has mentioned. The leaders are there, but if you're depending on Corporate Media to hear from them, you won't. All corporate media are owned or led by white, male oligarchs who value their wealth more than public trust.
What was once dubbed "alternative media" is actually become mainstream. Meidas Touch, founded by the Meiselas brothers is becoming a media force to be reckoned with, as is Brian Tyler Cohen, who has recently scoring some important interviews with leading Democrats.
Not only is Trump vis-a-vis Musk torturing US citizens he is spreading it to Ukraine and Europe. Any democracy is fair game. China is also going after Australia seeing that the US is no longer an ally.
Yes, Linda - the Chinese warships are causing us some concern. I wouldn't like to be in our Prime Minister's shoes. He's basically a good and honest person. We've got federal elections coming up, and the hawks are sharpening their talons.
The war ships are concerning. Pushing the boundaries. That is what I thought about the Australian PM. My daughter rents a place from a family where the Mom is from New Zealand. She just went there yesterday with their youngest child. I am sure both of your countries are not feeling good about this. I cannot help but wonder if this is China taking advantage that the US just fired so many military heads for the worst reasons for any country that wants to be safe and secure.
I copied a portion of HCR's letter and am placing it in a letter to my Texas U.S. Senators (Cruz and Cornyn) and my Congressman (Pfluger.) Will it make any difference? I don't know, but I couldn't have said it better:
National Security Leaders for America, a bipartisan organization of people who served in senior leadership positions in all six military branches, elected federal and state offices, and various government departments and agencies, strongly condemned the firings, and urged “policymakers, elected officials, and the American public to reject efforts to politicize our military.”
Observers point out how the purging of an independent, rules-based military in favor of a military loyal to a single leader is a crystal clear step toward authoritarianism. They note that Trump expressed frustration with military leaders during his first term when they resisted illegal orders, saying, as then-chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley did, that in America “[w]e don’t take an oath to a king, or a queen, or to a tyrant or dictator, and we don’t take an oath to a wannabe dictator…. We don’t take an oath to an individual. We take an oath to the Constitution, and we take an oath to the idea that is America, and we’re willing to die to protect it.”
Robert Hagan and Bill on Dworkin Live this morning did an excellent talk ,how ..making it perfectly clear for the few waking up …what the steps are to a successful authoritarian takeover.
Wake up people!
We need 5..10 would be divine darling ..Republicans Senators to stand their ground for our constitution and our country. Yup that means going.against.Felon34.
Who would you think might ‘muster up’/do it?
I nominate Marco Rubio..he has the class and charisma to lead the GOP back to representing..because like the song said …if not? 🎶YOUR ALL GONNA DIE! 🎶
Rubio and who else …has got a spine ?
Sometimes all it takes is one..psst layin’ bets Adam and Liz would join with ‘their following’ …which ain’t so shabby btw!
That’s assault and kidnapping attempt and …civil rights violations. Freedom to Assemble. Freedom of speech. If the state and federal fail to press charges… then yes, these will escalate. Quite an ugly Swastika ‘merica we got tight now.
And who will be this century’s Teddy Roosevelt? Who will ride in and save us from what we’ve become as a nation? This is, by far, the most frightening letter of Heather’s I’ve read in the last five years.
Active means criticize Trump in your churches, on social media, to your friends and family. I know it's not easy. Our town is having elections in the next couple of weeks. I intend to go to the meetings and blast Trump for screwing us over by withholding education funds and other monies.
My local congressman hasn't held a town hall in years. I don't know how this guy keeps getting reelected. But best believe I keep calling and sending emails. Be vocal about what these people are doing, I've noticed some of them have "checked out" mentally from the actions of the current administration so they have plausible deniability.
Some of them are scared shitless to get in front of a crowd, which is bizarre but true. My Congresscritter has NEVER held a town hall. But, you can request an appointment with your Congressperson. Years ago, I met with Doug Bereuter (R-NE). I was concerned because he wanted to block 128 bit encryption software from being sold in the US because it took too long to break it. He was on the House Intelligence Committee that oversees the NSA and others.
We talked for an hour about all sorts of topics and he was very informative. My point to him was that if I wanted to purchase 128 bit encryption I could order it from dozens of other countries. I'm not sure how he voted, because most of their sessions are secret but it was great to get to know the person as well as my representative.
Susan Collins meets with constituents every week in DC and I could probably get an appointment with her or Angus King one on one if I had a reason.
UU’s should disperse this morning to other congregations and speak up as an example of the freedoms we all hold dear. The reactions we get will be telling…
Yes…going to local meetings, speaking out, and keeping a focused message is an effective tactic.
The admin. strategy is like painful scattershot with Project 2025 as a blueprint for focus, but one person with a magnifying glass type of focus, a passionate topic with Sun-like heat, can catch the dry tinder attention of furious people, starting a wild fire of resistance.
Also undermining the new order whenever you get a chance to, even if it's just lying to them, and being willing to protect the more marginalized folks.
Yes, call and write to your senators and representatives, even when it feels like shouting into the void or banging your head against a brick wall. I call and write mine daily, and although it often feels futile, I persist. My senators are John Fetterman and Dave McCormick. My representative is Mike Kelly. Quite the trio.
Support Indivisible by joining a local chapter. Support Public Citizen. Support the brave historians and journalists writing here. Take to the streets as Alexandra Sokoloff says. Rise up and say enough. It's up to us now. It always has been.
The most salient thing that Sen. Murphy said in this important interview is that a preponderance of Republicans have actually bought in to the idea that Democracy is an outmoded form of government, that the idea we grew up with of a “melting pot” of Americans is actually an abomination against racial purity and the supremacy of the Oligarchs. That a homogeneous, white, male, well-armed coterie of strongmen must dominate the rest.
The new twist on this old saw is how utterly the rest of us are expendable, even a drag on the uber-supremacy at the top. The armed forces that will wipe us out are the AI bots now embedded in every single bit of data we consume. While old school oligarchs arose on the backs of subordinated (but necessary) populations harvesting natural resources such as oil, minerals and metals, the US Oligarchs fly on a tech-bro magic carpet of fake videos, fake news and all-disrupting discourse that populate our screens.
I read on, Gwen, in Jonathan Schell's "The Unconquerable World."
And, of course, there's no cowboy in a white hat who rides in and saves anybody. When Schell gets to Ghandi, it's for the lesson from the latter that a people must save themselves. That is, they must know the truth about themselves -- the social force ("satyagraha "among them such as they have it.
This means seeing each other and all our weaknesses, limitations, deficits, liabilities, and needs. Constructive remedies can come only with the seeing of them, which in America's case means seeing each other through the eyes of our best who've seen the hardest truths. It means quoting, referencing artists who currently do not exist at all in any schools or media.
The dems are still blowing it. Where is the person they are going to nominate to run in 4 years? Why are the dems still playing nice with few exceptions?
I read another substack essay by a friend that reminded me of an experience I had years ago. My husband and I with another couple went sea kayaking at the Mingan Archipelago NP. It’s located on the north shore of Quebec, home to beautiful monoliths, whales, seals, colonies of birds including puffins, and arctic- alpine plants! We were out for 5 days paddling. On the second day despite taking a safety course, we ran into terrifying conditions. Quarter of the way to the next island, the tide turned against us and the wind created waves that were relentlessly breaking over our bow. At one point we were running on pure adrenaline. When my husband said he didn’t think he could keep paddling, I yelled at him that we couldn’t stop- we didn’t have a choice- just keep going! 8 hours later we made it to shore.
So in these times, no matter how much despair we feel, we can’t stop fighting for our democracy. Keep paddling- we’ll make it to the other side and save democracy.
Linda, we need to whine and complain about Trump making a mess of the economy especially. This is what got him elected and his is doing NOTHING to make it better.
This is what he did to the Biden administration for 4 years. Let's throw it back in his face. Mark Cuban and Bill Gates kinda sorta stand up to Trump. We need several someone's like the Koch's who are willing to bankroll our propaganda.
NOONE in my extended family has stepped foot in a Walmart except in a dire emergency since they are the only business open before 7am and after 9 pm within 40 miles except convenience stores. We won't shop ANYWHERE except Maine owned businesses for the next four years if we can help it. And nowhere on 2/28.
It sure is. When - not if - Putin invades Europe, Trump will send US soldiers to fight alongside the Russians against Europeans. Democracy will be rooted out before the end of 2025, and Putin and Musk can claim their prize: absolute control over the entire western world.
I really, really hope I am wrong, too :( But it seems democracies take centuries to build up, and are destroyed in two months. Trump and Musk are right on Hitler's schedule...
Who are the NAZI Trump generals going to get to fight? Why would any person of color or a woman enlist right now. And where are the recruiting centers -- mostly in the inner city where underprivileged people of color can get to them. And many of the recruiters are black or brown. Why would they re-up? How many states will send their national guard units to Europe knowing that many of their troops will desert rather than fight with the Rooskies and the Chinese. Hogsbreath is a joke and he is making us all less safe.
Not only Hogsbreath... I think it's incredible that the Convicted Orange Felon can simply, unilaterally, fire each and every general and install a yes-man-puppet. That is definitely a bug in the system.
Where are our Congressional Republican protectors of the Constitution and democracy? They are cowards. This is the scariest of news dumps. With Trump taking over the military and justice, there will be no justice. The courts may stop some of these actions, but they have no teeth, no military, no power beyond words. Welcome to the United States of Russia. We need our leaders, both Democrat and Republican to step out and hold the line, to dethrone the wannabe king and dictator. We are all sick, all scared and must stop this destruction of our precious, beautiful country.
Musk burst inside the US Treasury and demanded access to their systems -- and he got it. We need to get groups of people to "sit-in" at the Congresscritters offices and the Senators. Protesting outside the buildings is good, but we need to flood their offices. And especially their DC offices while they are in session.
“Musk burst inside the US Treasury and demanded access to their systems -- and he got it.” Those last four words explain why I have so little hope. Individual cowards at the Treasury allowed them access, instead of locking Musk out. Those individuals have doomed our democracy through their cowardice and complicity.
I feel like I would have refused. Those systems are all protected by passwords. I have never felt any job was worth giving up my principles. My hope is those people that handed it over because they are MAGA lose their jobs and feel the pain they have wrought.
Those that show up are getting a deserved earful from their justifiably angry constituents. The problem for us is it won’t be just the voters who supported Trump who will get their faces eaten.
The Military is made up of people, not robots. Some will follow tRump, but many won’t. Lots of senseless chaos, but tRump is farrrrrr from being “in charge of the Military”
People respond to leadership. They’re not seeing leadership so they won’t follow. They may “comply”, but the results are not the same as with willing followers.
So, as usual, we expect the military to be braver than we are. We expect them to step up, in their far more dangerous position, while we sit safely at home. Typical. So American.
There's an insightful piece in the February 10 New Yorker by Dexter Filkins about the difficulty of filling military ranks. Potential recruits are struggling with issues of poor education, poor physical health and discipline and the related consequences. He points out that this has been a growing problem since we eliminated the draft. I'm wondering if there is a plan to recruit Proud Boys and similar groups who enthusiastically attacked the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2020.
Actually Emily, I have to apologize for not being more descriptive but consider please that I wrote those lines between sleeping a little bit and sleeping again a little bit at about 3 am eastern time. The " jobs" they protect are just figurative, as when you see the Russian or Chinese legislators rising their hands in approval of whatever the leader says. Most importantly, for them, are all the perks coming with that " job"
Marsha, I assume your question is rhetorical. There are no Congressional Republican protectors of anything, save their jobs and Donald's fragile ego. The handful of Republicans who value the Constitution and democracy were voted out of office by poorly educated rabble whose opinions on any given subject can be contained on a bumper sticker.
That poorly educated rabble is fed a constant diet of lies, while education had been deprived funding with the push of homeschooling, religious and fake charter schools, and stating that universities are centers of woke, all which has dumbed down what learning they have been able to access. I blame the billionaire owned media--not only right wing outlets but craven "mainstream" media for bending the knee--and social media which won't moderate content, and our own thirst for quick easy news. More young people get their "news" from social media than from reliable sources. Real journalists are being starved and demeaned, losing and leaving jobs. Without education and a reliable press, we end up with people who cannot think and buy into the kinds of which caused them to vote for this disastrous turn in our government.
I question how much reliable, unbiased media there has been for many years. When I was a child, news was not expected to make a profit. It was seen as a public service. As such, people like Walter Cronkite delivered fact-based reporting. Now, news is highly profitable and is ‘entertainment’. People find facts boring. They often are boring. So? When did we get so shallow that we needed constant entertainment? We are a society of titty-babies requiring constant feeding. Our attention is the most valuable contribution we can make to any channel or website, and you can tell by ratings what we like. Joe Rogan was the highest rated independent media until this week, when Meidas Touch took the top. It required a literal coup in progress to get people to prefer news. Sad state of affairs.
I'll be interested to see if some of T****'s initiatives like the end of birth right citizenship make it to the Supreme Court whether the "originalists" hold any kind of line on the Constitution. Also worry whether there will be retirements of some of those members. Congress seems to be completely out of the loop. The budget battle should be interesting, too.
krushchev said "We will crush you". Let us continue to prove him wrong. When the going gets tough, the tough get going. We must look at our efforts like a part time job. Daily time spent reviewing and acting on all the good ideas nestled within these Comments. Thank you all, and thank God for HCR. I just read a description of God and divinity as TRUTH. Follow the light of truth all.
Depends on your definition. 1-3 years. However Germany had a different Constitution. Also, Germans supported the Nazi far more than tRump is now. German was in deep economic trouble due to WWI reparations and overspending by the Nazi. They started hostilities for economic reasons as much as ideology.
The Courts and Industry did not oppose the Nazi. That was the final institutional failure.
I want to believe, I *have* to believe, that there will soon be a tipping point and the Republicans will actually put country over what’s left of their party and join the resistance with the growing number of Americans who do not support trump. I have to keep telling myself this or I’ll go insane. But, if sacking military leadership in its entirety doesn’t do it, I may run out of hope.
Sadly, I thought we'd have reached this point about 6 years ago. Not any longer. I do not understand what has become of our Republican congresscritters.
My father censored mail in the war - torture was still an ongoing problem among our troops in the 40s in the Philippines campaign against the Japanese. His experience disabused me forever that there was a black and white in WWII. The stories he had of what our soldiers did were Medieval, and I would never repeat them here, but if you can ever find me I'll share them with you over a stiff drink.
Needless to say my father hated guys like that - and he hated the photos and the occasional "trophies" to which he was subjected.
My husband’s father was a Seabee in WWII and he created a photo album of the photos he’d taken in the South Pacific. Most were of the sailors enjoying the islands they’d landed on, the equipment they brought, the beers they drank, all very benign except for the photo of a group of sailors surrounding the decapitated head of a Japanese soldier. I will not note the racial slur that captioned the photo. The album was one of his prized possessions, and his time in Navy the most monumental of his life. Sadly, he never seemed to grow past that experience, even after raising a family and having grandchildren.
EDIT
I don’t mean to be judgmental about my FIL. He was a kind, sweet man. The war left an indelible mark on him, both positively as he felt he was truly helping to make the world safe, and negatively in that he couldn’t leave it behind. The quiet young man from The Bronx traveled further from home than he ever imagined, and witnessed things he could not forget. He and his fellow service members left the military with few, if any, coping mechanisms to re-enter civilian life after the trauma they experienced. It had to be an overwhelming pride and an overwhelming burden to carry that for the rest of your life.
My father was also a Seabee in the South Pacific. My parents had owned a glove manufacturing business before the war, so while in the South Pacific, because of his work experience, he supervised the making of silk parachutes and other things involving cloth. Something happened in either the Philippines or the Solomon Islands that haunted him, but I don't know what it was. My dad would sometimes get really quiet and sit in his chair and be a million miles away. My college roommate's father fought in the Battle of the Bulge and he was still having screaming nightmares 30 years later.
War is mass murder. I understand why we had to fight the Axis, but war is still hell. I meet a relative of my first girlfriend who had been a promising student and athlete before going to war. He came back profoundly strange. She did not know what had happened to him.
Which is exactly why we have so many homeless veterans. We send them in to kill people and when they come home we do nothing to deal with what they’ve been through. I served in the Air Force ages ago but I would stop anyone I know from serving now.
J L, war is indeed mass murder, couched as "justifiable homicide" in the context of battle.
I'm a bit too young for Vietnam, but I have friends who had older siblings who were. I have a friend and fellow tuba player who was in combat during the Gulf War/Desert Storm. He is disabled from his PTSD, and a lack of coping skills. I have friends who lost their kids in the GWOT, some in combat, and some from PTSD.
One of the things I learned as a negotiator (in the late 2000's we were hit with a flood of calls regarding GWOT Veterans) and there was some hastily designed training to deal with them in that trauma driven emergency context. One thing that our trainer (Army guy who managed both Regular and Reserve components of combat vets) told us was that unlike Vietnam, where thousands of people served one tour, we were seeing hundreds of people who served 3-6 tours. The result of that is some severe trauma in a smaller number of people.
We now have three generations of Veterans (and probably a 4th) who have served in combat since 1960 in wars that were undeclared and politically motivated.
My Dad fought in the Battle of the Bulge as well. There’s a story that his group got stuck behind enemy lines. Luckily, they survived although my dad suffered a bayonet wound on his chest.
Years later, after training as a neurologist, I began to realize that he was still suffering from posttraumatic stress disorder. Many of our World War II vets have the same never recognized condition.
Heather‘s posts continue to be a much neededGodsend for us mortals. I excerpted this one for my Mastodon feed.
Three kids on my block went to Viet Nam. Two died. Third came home and would only sleep in the family tree fort, eat his dinner there and not go inside a building.
It's not your husband's father fault Margaret it's just human nature, it's in our DNA, we are still primitive people in disguise and we need the strong laws that keep us under control. The same laws our coward president is sweeping under the rug.
That is an amazing book, Gregg. One of the best I've read on WWII. My Uncle Chuck had it and gave it to me. He'd lived in the Philippines in the late '60's and was something of a Pacific Theater buff.
I believe you cannot blame soldiers for hating a vicious enemy in hindsight. War is a kill or be killed business and soldiers— the good side and the bad side— are asked by the leaders to kill.
Right. But the West, with UK in the lead, took science and ran with it. Maybe because at the same time we were working with the individual rights ideas that led to our Revolution. Maybe because we had Capitalism. These are not my ideas. They come from Yuval Noah Harari.
Yes, I:be read a bit from him too, it just seems to me, the technological development was always mainly driven by the development of ever more horrific and deadly weapons, which in the US has ended making the military-industrial complex the driver for the economy - so ultimately it is our superiority in applying organised violence - we're really good in that. And bizarrely with all that might and superiority in the battlefield, the US hasn't won a single war since WWII. Doesn't that make you wonder if the incomprehensible amounts that are spend on "defence" could be better and much more useful for society spend? For example providing for all Americans mental health support so they are not seeing every foreigner as a threat and don't need to be so scared all the time?
Thank you. I love the story of your father. I think of my father, the best person I have ever known, of his infantry experience in WWll and his decency.
It's important for me to know what your father learned. Tough at first, but not for long. It makes sense. The most important thing for me to believe is that most people are decent, not sadistic. Thus, we will eventually win, even if, as MLK said, we don't live to see the win. We must keep going. Call your representatives.
Stalin's purge of the Red Army officer corps was the reason Hitler got all the way to Moscow by mid October 1941, where he was stopped by "General Winter" and the Siberian units of the Red Army, led by the one officer he hadn't purged, Marshal Zhukov. Making an army loyal to the leader is a weak army. Doing that to the Wehrmacht was why we could beat them in World War II.
Are there really any young people that will want to enlist in "Trump's" military? He's made it clear that promotion is no longer merit based and is for whites only. And I'm not sure how many are down with dying in Canada, Greenland or Gaza for the billionaires' portfolios.
There are always those sociopaths that join the military or law enforcement for the sake of cruelty. Abu Ghraib, the Mai Lai massacre, police brutality in our own country and civil rights marchers being beat down or killed by police are just some examples.
But the United States is a signatory to the Geneva Conventions whether these bozos, Donold, Hegsweth and the fascist cabal, want to acknowledge it or not. We still have a Constitution that we must abide by and which recognizes international law. There is also a Uniform Code of Military Justice that pertains to legal orders and regulations. Military service members swear an oath to support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic.
I will never forget, probably 30 years ago, I worked with a very well respected doctor who I frequently went to for advice. As one of his kids got near college age, I asked if he would pursue medicine. He told me no, his son wanted to go into the military where "he can legally kill people". I was struck speechless.
They will be conscripted, herded, taken. No longer will it be a volunteer army with opportunities for all. Volunteers will be J-6 lookalikes, ready to storm whatever their leader tells them to attack.
I know a family (white and educated) that loves his military bull Schitt. Young people have been brain washed since toddlerhood. Boggles my mind, but I watched it play out in real time.
You probably can't imagine that there's a large population of young white men, mostly rural, who love aimlessly roaming the countryside in their loud, lifted pickups, drinking beer and shooting their rifles at roadsigns, mailboxes, or pretty-much anything that could be construed as a target.
Check in with your local animal rescue volunteer group to learn about the horrors these hooligans will visit upon unsupervised dogs.
These boys don't consider what they'll do with their lives 15 minutes from now or the consequences of their actions. The idea of getting paid to go somewhere and shoot people who ain't white would have a strong appeal to them.
True. But Trump is not preparing our army to fight another nation. This is the guy who surrendered to the Taliban. He is preparing the army to fight its own citizens.
That is true. Stalin, after the horrendous losses of '41 - '42 reinstated some of the generals he purged. With the arrival of Zhukov to lead the defense of Moscow, Stalin did slowly come to take his general's advice and consent to their plans and some strategy. Hitler on the other hand, refused to take the German High Command's advice and strategic planning as he viewed it as a threat. Over extended supply lines eventually caught up with the German army in Russia and the pincer movement encirclement tactics were turned on the Wehrmacht at Stalingrad with the capitulation of the 6th Army under Von Paulus.
Since the Cold War Era - thanks to organizations such as SAC, NORAD, DARPA and the development of weapons far beyond the capabilities of our enemies - America has been said to have The Greatest Military In The World. But what makes our military great is that Every Member of the Armed Forces Swears An Oath to Defend The Constitution.
We are now going to learn if this "greatest in the world" claim is real or a fable told around a camp fire. When Trump issues orders that violate the Constitution, I pray that our Military tells him to go fuck himself. Sadly, I do not think my prayers will be answered. Soldiers are trained NOT to resist orders of a commanding officer. And Trump is now insuring that all top commanders are loyal to him not the Constitution. God help us all.
What kind of a commanding officer fires generals because of their race or sex. And gives them 3 hours to vacate their home? I hope donthecon gets the same treatment. He is insane and belongs in a padded cell. Nixon listened to the republicans on the judiciary committee who told him to resign or be impeached. The spineless worms of his party encouraged his birther nonsense and as HCR explained in an interview that was the first accepted magat delusion.
It’s over. A fascist oligarchy has managed to take control of the United States in less time than it took Hitler to do the same in Germany. The only hope now is for all the fools in business, politics and law who supported this bunch of demented lunatics to act with all the power they have to put a stop to it. If they don’t the fascists will take them down and all of us with them.
Fascists now control the FBI, CIA, courts and the military - troops, spies and assassins, judges. They can pretty much do what they want. Are you ready to protest and risk your freedom or life? Only the fools in business, politics and law who supported this bunch of demented lunatics can act with all the power they have to put a stop to it.
No one is sitting waiting. There are lots and lots of lawsuits being filed. Until the next election, it’s lawsuits, expressing, outrage, and staying informed which is what we’re doing by reading Heather.
Ok, first of all, not sure if we'll have an election in 2026, second, if trump 's approval numbers keep going down ,I can assure you we are not going to have the midterm election. And we can sit comfortably while the wheels of justice turned any resolution. We experienced same situation not long ago.
He had his fat thumb on the scale of justice in that election. Remember the deceit in the Census, the postmaster who slowed the mail’s, changing election laws in red states, January 6, the revolution nobody saw even though they watched it on live tv.
I never got my PA mail in ballot and had to go to the courthouse to vote. Stand in line for 2 hours. How many people less physically able than me in PA couldn’t vote because our ballots were “lost in the mail”? Also, bomb threats across PA on Election Day? What was that about? Maybe messing with the machines? Sorry, PA is not a red state. It was made to look that way.
It's because we're out of touch with ourselves, David.
Dem public figures could collect money. They could appear on stage with celebrities. But none of them could cite a single novel, memoir, biography, history, or film that bore on any of the severe problems that beset our working classes.
Americans in schools learned to like being blind this way -- learned it's better to be packaged in the abstracted ways the standardized testers reduced all, ruled all in all the schools.
tRump is not in control. He’s throwing shit at the wall hoping it sticks. It won’t. He’s just showing how f’ing nuts he truly is. He does not care a lick about this country. I don’t care how rabid a MAGA fan you are, this stuff will make you scratch your head and ponder. 🤔
Is Senator Ernst comfortable with the grab of the military by the Draft Dodger in chief? Did Pete H. tell her he would fire all the JAGs? What a shame! What a failure!
She voted for the woman-and-alcohol-abusing Hegseth, Andy.
She did this to honor the rapist who sits in the White House. Her own experience with rape (like fellow apologist for the orange felon, Nancy Mace) is that first of all one must honor rapists, do what rapists want done.
She is a senator with experience and a veteran. She should have anticipated and asked the right questions and then show some spine. She didn't. Shame on her and all the others 😕
In firing C.Q. Brown, it surprised me that they just didn't call him the N word and be done with it. It seems we are very close to having the kakis replaced by brown shirts. It will be "interesting" to see if the rank and file uphold the oath to the Constitution they made.
I'd bet even Regan is rolling over in his grave.
The good news is coming from the oppositional rallies and "town halls" that are happening...my favorite sign at the one held at Senator Murkowski's office was "Be Responsible Neuter your Doge". And there is a report that all the attorneys fired from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau are formulating lawsuits against doge and musk and the administration...but all this may be too slow to save us.
What the rank and file would do it's not only "interesting" but fundamental to uphold the constitution and the rule of law. Thanks for your comment AK.
But, do they know what the Constitution and rule of law are. Many people join the military to be told what to do and not have to be responsible for their own lives. I married one of those people who never wanted to make a decision on his own. He ended up being nothing but a whiny person.
Andy Borowitz just started something new. He is collecting people whose names he can use to replace Quisling's. Most people these days don't know who Quisling was, but clearly there are many applicants today whose name could signify the person the most willing to betray their country. Today's column is both depressing and hilarious, so read it and come up with your own nominations: https://www.borowitzreport.com/p/introducing-tbrs-traitor-of-the-week
I recall those heady-days when the Trumpanzee, version 1.0, famously said, “I love our Generals.” And then made every effort to install as many as he could.
That worked until he realized that they all, one-after-the-other, refused to be loyal to HIM. And, not surprisingly, he either ditched them or they, him (or his administration).
Trumpanzee 2.0 is pulling all “safety-measures,” as they say in military submarine parlance and making every effort to install “controlled leadership” to every aspect of even the military.
Much like my last missive that expressed hope on the part of the SCOTUS, I have similar hopes for our military leadership. I anticipate that they will put honor and Country above political-decisions when it matters. And I can’t see Generals and leadership in any branch accepting or executing Orders from a deranged political figure or the titular director, a defamed Fox News host, when those orders are made that would put our Country in a bad place.
When government leadership gets out of control, it is incumbent on those who can choose to not abide… to not abide.
We’ve now seen it in the highest ranks, and I hope we continue to see it as their purges continue. At some point when all the drivers leave their seats, the buses will have no drivers. A rudderless government will force the hand of Congress and the people.
While it has never happened, perhaps we will be faced with whatever a “no confidence” vote is in America.
They’ve gutted institutions, flaunted the law, and made cruelty a rallying cry—but history is full of those who fought back and won. The time to act is now: show up, speak out, and hold the line.
The clips on the news of outraged citizens at town meetings making sure that their elected officials knew of and understood their extreme displeasure have been very encouraging.
I agree Peter and Betsy. Never give up. “Hope” is the thing with feathers - That perches in the soul - And sings the tune without the words - And never stops - at all."
- Emily Dickenson
Speaking of hope which is what keeps me going....I have started a website, Daily Haiku for You, https://www.dailyhaikuforyou.com
I write one uplifting haiku a day to offset the dark. It's helping me stay centered and seems to be helping people feel better for a quick respite.
Monica, Washington DC
I am dismayed by the awful things Trump is doing but never surprised. The one thing I can say in his favor is that I don't see that he has ever hidden his real intentions. During the 2016 campaigns it seemed clear enough to me that he had no interest the rule of law. It was only because of patriotic Americans like Mark Miley, still in positions of authority, that he was not able to become a military dictator in his first term.
Since then it has primarily been the Republicans in Congress who have enabled his assent to a military dictator every step of the way. Those intentions could not have been more explicit than in his exchange the other day with Governor Janet Mills of Maine when he said, "We are the federal law". In other words, the law - as written in the Constitution - is no longer relevant unless it matches his wishes. The only possible opportunity I see now to prevent that statement from becoming our reality is if either the federal courts - including the Supreme Court - or the voters in the upcoming special elections for Congress put a stop to it. We will know which way it will go before long.
Never hidden his real intentions? "I don't know anything about Project 2025".
That was obviously a lie, and I'm not denying that he has consistently produced a prodigious stream of lies. While he did say that about Project 2025, he was also advocating aspects of P2025 right along. I think that the stream of ridiculous lies and contradictions make it easy for his supporters to brush off worrisome things he says with, "Oh, he didn't really mean that!" This has left us on our own to decide what he really does and doesn't mean. We are now finding out for sure.
Just the way trump keeps calling himself "WE" is obviously stating the HE will be "king" = dictator in his puny mind...
I am Canadian and I was shocked at Trump's tone and lack of manners/decorum towards a Governor of an American state.
I actually did that from election day until January 1st. I found myself making up Haiku for just about every daily activity. It does get my mind off of other "hideous" things...
Maybe I'll start that practice again.
It does seem to help keep the focus on positive things. I started writing them on Jan 1 and hope to keep up adding one a day to my website.
Thank you, Monica! Beautiful!
Thank You Monica
And "Never give up. Never!" is what H.H. the Dalai Lama has always said.
Ount of Monte Cristo “Wait and Hope“
This clip here is disturbing though. 3 men in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho are assaulting a woman who is disagreeing in a town hall meeting. One of them comes up with Cable ties. This is disturbing. Apparently someone called the sheriff though and they came and deescalated the situation. Still... this is assault. It was allowed by all of the people there except for some women trying to help her.
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/hhJdH63d6zM
Notice the men assaulting and shackling the woman are uniformly dressed in black with no identifying insignia. The third man shows up as they are forcing the woman to the floor, using their bodies to immobilize her. The third man has zip ties. Who goes to a community meeting with zip ties? At least the sheriff “deescalates” the situation. I would like to see videos of that, as well. Why don’t we see that?
Those three men should be charged with assault and unlawful confinement. That woman should also get a good lawyer and file a civil suit for assault. She should also sue whoever was responsible for holding the meeting. They should have intervened. Who was the man babbling into the microphone, standing by and not intervening while the well-organized assault took place? I suspect the enforcers were members of a local militia.
Remember the last time we say white men who brought zip ties to a gathering?
January 6, 2021 at the national capital. Did anyone check outside to see if those seemingly self-appointed enforcer men also brought a gallows?
AND the Proud Boys showing up at Rally's...for orders to start violence....
I want a laser focus on the Republican Senators who are standing in the way of OUR Free and civil America...and the impeachment of trump.....they are just as culpable and it should be .... if they are afraid of their Red base..they now need to be just as afraid (always with peace !!) of the Blue base....as loudly and consistently and overtly and well every dang day in their faces as this is in ours. They should NOT just eat their corn flakes and drink lattes and show up to "work???" that they keep the flood waters of trump open to drown us all...... no no no no no Their America is NOT OUR AMERICA..it is RUSSIA
While I totally agree with objections to this outrageous behavior, I do NOT understand why anyone is still suggesting impeachment (again) of Trump.
First while it MIGHT be possible to peel off enough GOP House critters to pass an impeachment resolution, we couldn't convict him in the Senate in 2021 (the second time) when the Democrats controlled the Senate. It requires 2/3 vote of the Senate to convict on impeachment and that would need 67 votes. I don't think this Senate which is once again controlled by the GOP could get 67 votes to pardon the Thanksgiving turkey, let alone oust a sitting President of their own party.
Second, what happens then? JD Vance? Good lord that is going from the frying pan into the fire. So impeach Vance too? And then Mike Johnson?
Unlike the British, our system doesn't call for new elections or anything like that. It puts "almost all the Presidents men" into the lines of succession.
So calling for impeachment is at best a hollow symbolic gesture and even if successful just moves another one of Trump's cogs into power.
Hate to say it again but that is just wasting time.
4 repub House members have to wake up and leave the GOP. 10 GOP Senators need to wake up and leave the GOP. Only Congress can impeach and convict. If the House leadership is in Hakeems hands, Vance can be impeached, too. then, voila-- Hakeem is pres and declares trump, vance, Homan, Patel, Gabard, kennedy. Bondi and vought enemies of the State and holds them in solitary. Yeah, what a dream...
Thank you...I have been saying the same thing ever since I saw the suggestion a few weeks ago. What is it that people don't understand about the impeachment process???
The object isn't to win. It's to educate the public. Free advertising. In every case, the opposing party won the following election.
Can impeach Vance, too.
We have a window of opportunity. Here's the response I got grom my right wing senator re Tump and Ukraine. Pass it on.
Dear Mr. Solomon,
Thank you for contacting me regarding the war in Ukraine. I appreciate the opportunity to respond.
Russia is a cancerous, evil regime that threatens our national security by attempting to control as much of Europe and Eurasia as it can. It also supports the regimes in Iran, Communist China, Cuba, and Venezuela. All of them continually seek to harm the United States and force us into a position of dependence upon them for our livelihood. Vladimir Putin’s unjustifiable and unlawful invasion of Ukraine is just one more example of this fact. I believe that the United States must continue to stand strongly with Ukraine and provide the lethal military aid it needs to win this war. Putin’s murderous attacks are a threat to our national security and the security of our democratic allies.
While we must continue to support democracy in Ukraine, I will not allow Russia’s unjust invasion to deprioritize or slow progress on solving urgent domestic issues such as securing the border, fighting inflation and rebuilding our national defense. Congress can continue to act and solve these issues, which we owe to the American people.
As Florida’s U.S. Senator, and a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, I will continue fighting for allies around the world, while also ensuring we take care of our families here at home. I am proud to represent every citizen in Florida and I appreciate the time you took to provide your position on this matter. Should you have any additional questions or comments, please feel free to contact me.
Sincerely,
Rick Scott
United States Senator
Jon, as usual, you and TL Mills are spot-on. I have a friend in a care facility, whose memory and judgement are badly impaired, except for her passionate interest in liberal politics. Recently, I voiced my hope that Trump would either have a catastrophic physical consequence from his McDonald's diet or perhaps . . . well, you can guess the rest. My friend reminded me that the result of any removal of Trump from the arena would automatically put JD in control, so she suggested that perhaps they could incapacitate each other in a violent fistfight, taking both of them out. Then she realized that would result Mike Johnson in the oval office. What a conundrum!
You got a better idea?
Thank you for the reminder of the last people bringing ties to a “meeting.”
That woman should file a civil lawsuit against those men.
Scariest thing I have seen so far. I hear someone shouting in the background- this is our destiny. This should be replayed over and over again.
Shouting nearby can bring criminal liability such as "yeah, get her". "Excited" and/or shouts are admissible.
"WHO ARE YOU?" "Show us your badge".
See, IDAHO Criminal law Section 18-3001 False Impersonation of police specifically 18-3001 Section (3) that "does any act ...".
The Sheriff was the one who summoned the goons.
You mean a Coconspirator "under color of law" initiated multiple crimes?
A Prosecutor must present ALL evidence to a Grand Jury ASAP or if the corruption runs deep, the victim should file a federal civil rights action. Fight Back.
No man came to her defense. This is so disturbing. It makes my blood boil. Next, Americans will start disappearing when they speak out, just like in Russia. PEOPLE WAKE UP!
Like Russia 2.0 right here..bite by bite .... it is actually past the time to fight back..but now will DO !!!!!!!!!!
The police did not deescalate it. They initiated it, stood by as the unidentified men assaulted her, defended their actions, and blamed the woman.
Coeur d'Alene town hall security detail remains mystery | Coeur d'Alene Press
.https://cdapress.com/news/2025/feb/22/town-hall-security-detail-remains-mystery/.
“Look at this little girl over here, everyone. Look at her,” Bejarana said.
“We’ve got to be a little aggressive with some of these folks here,” Bejarana said. “Your voice is meaningless right now. ... I can talk over all of you.”
https://cdapress.com/news/2025/feb/22/chaos-erupts-at-kcrcc-legislative-town-hall/
This makes my blood boil. It's already happening in our communities and people don't care until they are the ones being held in zip ties. We are too individualistic for our own goods. I would never want anyone in my community have 3 men hold them down or have an elected official encourage people to use zip ties against them because I disagree with what they are saying. The elected officials aren't even listening to their constituents because they are in too deep and know that we are so divided it doesn't matter what they do if their district is safe. If we had a proper DOJ they'd file an investigation into what happened here.
They know exactly who those security people are and where to find them. These “I don’t know anything” answers just implicate them and make them a part of it. Hold them accountable right up to the person who is holding the meeting and stood silently by. Their “disruptions” were acceptable on 1/6 as long as no one on the other side protests. Then the protesters need to be put down.
Staff Writer, KAYE THORNBRUGH's photo & her text in the local "Post Falls PRESS" at 2/22/25 8:20 PM is a
criminal exhibit to prosecute 4 Perps:
+ the 2 persons committing both assault & battery.
+ the 2 black-jean guys forcing the victim down & to stay down.
Note, the easily identifiable running shoes which are direct evidence of concerted conduct supporting potential conspiracy charges.
Present the evidence to a Grand Jury & let jurors decide.
holy shit. Who are those guys -- just local vigilantes -- that's awful. These people have a real problem with women -- women who speak up.
Hired militia to go in a SCARE anyone who speaks .... we are getting closer to Russia 2.0 every day .... BUT there is 350 million of us and WAY WAY WAY fewer of them. And there is ALWAYS way way way more good than bad. They will fight dirty but we have the NUMBERS TO CHANGE ALL THIS
Resistance!
You are ignoring the fact that almost half the country supports Trump or doesn't care about this kind of nonsense.
I do NOT think your last statement is "correct". We do NOT have the "numbers" to change this, at least not right now. You are drinking "kool-aid" if you really believe that. It would take the support of 2/3 of the Senate to oust Trump. Where do you think we would find those votes when 1/2 the Senate is supporting cabinet nominees like RFKjr and Ka$h Patel.
We might have the numbers in a year or so, after the hurt that is going to be inflicted on the country by Trump and his minions sets in, but if you look at it dispassionate, we are still a long way from that point.
Focus on the 2026 election and stop wasting energy on trying to change the present situation when there is really no legal way to do that until the next election cycle.
If you ignore the people who break the laws and keep saying wait until the next election more laws will be broken and there will be no next election. Sitting back and taking it is exactly how we got here. Pussies like Vance, Mike Johnson, Trump and Musk are nothing but big bullies who only get worse when left to continue.
We don't know if we have the numbers because 93 mil eligible voters did not vote, and we do not know if this is what they stayed home for or went to work jobs that would dock them if they did not go to work, or numerous other reasons than I just don't care, or my life won't be effected. I have talked to some of the latter. However, I am going to change the mind of at least one of them.
Jon the "Early Voting" in the state of Virginia for VA's "first election" starts around June 6, 2025. The Primary is in the 3rd week of June. The VA state election is in November 2025.
The state of Virginia literally has thousands of Federal workers & their families who have been hurt badly. Why wait to 2026?
Reorganize every VA precinct, knock on every door 3 times, listen & learn --- preaching and/or didactic commands should not be tolerated by anyone who wants to "win friends & influence Voters".
Act Now.
And now tfg and friends have given closet misogynists everywhere permission to go for it. We’ll see more of this.
They sure have.
I've been told by two nazi magats that I am not allowed to speak. Both are gone from my life and one was my brother, one was another woman..this is what they believe, women are not entitled to an opinion if it's not what they think!
I know! It is awful.
She was fortunate the police deescalated the situation.
Here on Mt. Desert Island, our neighbor Leonard Leo convinced police to arrest a young man.
Audio of Leonard Leo influencing police in arrest of protester who has filed suit in federal court
https://theqsjournal.substack.com/p/breaking-news-audio-of-leonard-leo
Leo misrepresented what our young neighbor had done. And falsely asserted that his family had been targeted. When in fact, as they were driving through town to a peaceful protest outside Leo's estate, the young man and his mother saw Leo and as they drove by shouted out the car window. The mother, a midwife and inn keeper much beloved and admired was not arrested. The young man successfully settled his well documented case against the police. Leo was not sued.
Later, despite the police and DA determining that a chalk messaging project was protected by the Constitution and compliant with the law: rogue police (one all in black, no badge but armed and refusing to identify himself) and town officials presumably also influenced by Leo repeatedly confronted and threatened an elderly woman activist; the town manager supported by the town council threatened her with arrest and fines, directed town staff to follow her around and wash off the chalk messages, and started a smear campaign in the local press dog-whistling vigilantism; a town councilor called for a gag order to stop her from participating in 3 minute town council public comments because she asked by what authority the town manager was conducting this campaign and how much it was costing; the local papers refused to challenge or correct the lies of the town manager; and self-identified supporters of Leo verbally assaulted her - with one grabbing her phone and another trying to roll her SUV into her - hung wanted posters with her photo on the village green, and attacked her on social media. Fortunately local activists and local independent press supported her. And the police leadership stood firm in their defense of the law and her civil rights.
Mr. Opus Dei himself is a large part of the destruction of our court system.
Sharp analysis lin. Yo soy un abogado?
You know in CA & in a few other States you can "sit for the Bar exam" without going to law school. I don't know about Maine.
I understand Hogsbreath passed a bar once. /s
Thank you. "Hogsbreath" made me LOL.
Ha. Just a gadfly.
But this happened where I live.
Horrifying. One woman against a half dozen cowards. NO ONE comes to intercede. The panel of speakers doesn’t even pause — just keeps droning on, while a US citizen - white, female, sitting in her seat, acting with zero violence or intimidation, just employing her First Amendment voice at a public event — is dragged, literally kicking and screaming, from her seat and flung into the aisle where her attackers wait with zip ties. ZIP TIES!
People more concerned with their selfie feeds than the civil rights of a human; or of this utter, depraved decimation of democracy. Every single person in that room enabled the vigilantes to prevail — perhaps briefly — but for long enough.
The point is to intimidate, coerce and silence: not a black guy, not an immigrant, nor Asian nor Jew.
A White Female at a public town hall.
They are coming for you as well.
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/hhJdH63d6zM
And now the local press is calling them a private “Security detail” — based on zero facts, zero identification of the perpetrators of blatant assault. “Someone” claims they were hired - but no one knows by whom, what security company, nothing. Just blatant, flat-out lying. And even the local press is too intimidated to question a single thing. I want this woman’s face on a tee-shirt I can purchase. Because we’re all that woman now.
https://cdapress.com/news/2025/feb/22/town-hall-security-detail-remains-mystery.
And this — the vigilante group that assaulted peaceable attendees at a legislative town hall are branding the woman as the “disrupter” and a “credible threat” to a legislator — because of course, a 90-pound red-headed female sitting in a chair in a room of hundreds of people is a clear threat to a guy who is off hiding in the wings somewhere while his thugs wander around committing assault and battery.
https://www.kxly.com/news/multiple-democrats-forcibly-removed-from-kootenai-county-republican-central-committee-town-hall/article_d1193910-f184-11ef-915d-378d5a85c32b.html
Linda: Thank you for posting this. It is striking how most people are just sitting on their hands and uninvolved with this injustice. I suppose it happened this way in Germany back in the 1930s. Scary.
I think so too. In Germany people were in an economic depression and desperate and they wanted to have food, shelter, and did not question anything else. The US is so well off, it is surprising that so many well off people would vote for this. It is just scary.
Historian Peter Fritzsche: How Germans embraced Hitler.
(Hint: it was largely through anti-leftist elites hedging their bets on putting guardrails on a clownish populist.)
https://youtu.be/AXeIMjkd_-w?si=EVAdBqJStBs7Tz1k
I went to school with Peter Fritsche and his 3 siblings. We were of a group at our school who had German parents so we were connected like that. He lived down the block from me. But, both his parents and my. mom lived through it as did my relatives. I also went to school with Hans Massaquoi's sons.
https://www.amazon.com/Destined-Witness-Growing-Black-Germany/dp/0688171559
In any case, there were Germans who did not embrace Hitler, but were in a big system where protesting was one thing you could do, but if you had a wife and 4 children, you just avoided complicity as much as you could, without really plotting to murder Hitler as some did. I know stories. When I was younger several Black Germans were publishing books about their experiences. Many were sterilized under the Nazis. That is why I am concerned that that could happen here.
There were a lot of mistakes made that I hope Germany has learned from. The polls here in Germany closed and my daughter made it to vote in time. I went and voted today. Here is a piece I wrote on it.
https://lindaweide.substack.com/p/the-german-election?r=f0qfn
Now we will wait until we know what fraction of each party got seats, and then there will be coalition building with the party who got the most seats, and others who are willing to partner with them, and then, they decide who gets which positions and then the chancellor has to be voted on by the Bundestag, the German Parliament.
Please, Linda: people at the top are well off, not our working classes.
Phil, that is true. I am assuming also that the people on the Substacks I am subscribed to are mostly not working class, but I could be wrong. What do you think?
This is only the beginning...but we can fight back EASIER now....later it gets harder
I can’t hit the heart button. But thank you for bringing this to our awareness.
OMG! If this video is real, this is terrifying! These MAGA, Oath Keeper, Proud Boy types are a very real threat to our society. I’m disturbed that more people did not come to her defense.
Unbelievable. We need to know this is happening.
OMG—this is horrifying.
Why were men just sitting in their seats watching this assault? What has happened to, “If you see something, say or do something?”
You expect “men” to do something? These cowards will be handed the “Kyle Ritt-enhouse Medal” for bravery soon.
Men …… these are not men! They are undisciplined, unhappy, furious boys without any sort of semblance of growth from 8 years old to ????????
Will we be badgered by brats
and angry bullies? Not I! I grew up in Coeur d’Alene . The key words: “ grew up”!
Obviously some think guns and unregulated anger 🟰 men.
There is nothing a healthy, happy, independent woman likes more than a healthy, happy, independent man.
These healthy humans abhor unlicensed violence in the name of “cowboy mentality”!
Get a real life you retarded fools. And leave us out of your fantasy of agreeing to authoritarianism!
Yup. That is What radicalization looks like right there
Thank you Linda Weide. Idaho criminal law Chapter 9 covers both "assault" and separately "battery". In IDAHO, that's Chapter 9, Assault & Battery, Title 18, Sections 909, 910, 911 & 912
How are we All doing on criminal law these days regardless of the state or federal laws violated? Regardless of subsequent "deescalation" what matters is the intent of the Perps at the exact moment of the the criminal act(s).
Juries in Coeur d'Alene & juries anywhere have common sense & know which way the wind blows. 15 years for assault & 20 for battery.
That’s assault and kidnapping attempt and …civil right violation. Freedom to Assemble. Freedom of speech. If the state and federal fail to press charges… then yes, these will escalate. Quite an ugly Swastika ‘merica we got tight now.
People are turning against each other. Not Good!
There are other videos of this event. Many people have phones and are recording. The audience appears to be mixed with people who support those who are calling out and others who are upset by it. A man was escorted out in this video.
https://youtu.be/ea5xJeW__wY?si=o-BcEaBk7rurunN5
MK this shows more clearly how the guy at the front is talking to the audience. Thanks for sharing. I cannot believe he calls the woman a little girl.
(Ya'll know where this comes from)
Welcome to The New Snazzy Nazi States of America
(Introducing The Goose-Step, Two-Step March)
A new dance craze is sweeping the nation called, The Goose-Step, Two-step March. This invigorating new exercise is easy to learn! First, link arms on the dance floor. As you move backward in line, turn your head to the right and lift your left leg straight up as high as it will go. Then step forward as you turn your head to the left and lift your right leg straight up in the air.
It's very similar to square dancing or line dancing. Soon the dance floor will be filled with goose-steppers. Forward, backward, round and round. If you step out of line, you are tagged, the caller detains you, interrogates you, strip searches you, and sends you off to detainment camps for disloyalty.
This new dance craze is not to be confused with serious charges of criminal activity. By the time the youngins reach the age of reason, they will be quick to form into lines upon request for impromptu Goose-Step, Two-Step Marches and other forms of family entertainment.
You might have heard the news that the head of the Proud Boys, Enrique Tarrio, had been arrested again for clumping a protester near the Capitol building, but not before goose-stepping behind some Capitol police officers who he and his brethren had assaulted on 6 January, accusing them of being cowards - https://x.com/IvanRaiklin/status/1893404715091632561
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/feb/22/enrique-tarrio-capitol-police
EVIL and mentally ill (sick) do people exist... which is why we need the Law to work and not be compromised and brave police and loyal military...trump has changed it ALL to Russia 2.0 here now....without the Judicial AND the Republican senators....to get him out..If the Senators do not step up...it has to be a fight ..... or submit and 10 - 15 years living like Russia... here and likely. ..just a poor - it is ALOT
You are absolutely right, Shauna. Vulnerable people are being put in harm's way by these reckless decisions. Bird flu is rapidly becoming endemic in dairy herds in the US. This is a greater risk to humans because cattle have similar respiratory systems to us and so the virus is likely to mutate more quickly. A CDC study found that two dairy workers might have infected their pet cats. The report disappeared from the CDC website. Meanwhile, a measles epidemic in Texas and New Mexico has sickened over 100 people. So what has your new health secretary been doing while all this has been going on? Well, he's recommending that people drink unpasteurized milk and he's also announced that he's going to convene a panel to re-examine the Covid pandemic and look at what he called 'other taboo subjects' i.e. do parasitic worms in one's brain improve grades? You're all in a shitload of trouble.
Enrique leading the way ?…not passing a dying GO ( little p) but straight to JAIL ! 👏
Rise up, have your buddies back ,Americans , it’s time ….their game is over!
Show your colors ..🇺🇸💙🇺🇦🌈🇨🇦 ALL OF THEM🫶
Trump will just have to pardon him all over again.
Don’t ya just love that muffled vanity, it’s the foot in their mouth sound…I will not hate them…just want the Justice ( including the WV senator ) done /in jail, there’s plenty of room at Guantanamo I hear…just sayin’
In a long and productive life, nobody has ever managed to make me take part in organised physical exercise. Actually, if I tried what you describe, the sudden rupturing of my spinal cord would interrupt the fluidity of the marching line while they raked my lifeless form out of the way.
My GQP congressman is nowhere to be found. His office even closed down on Friday when we arrived to picket. On one of my phone calls during the week I actually talked to a aide that told me he has no plans at this time to hold a town hall.
Darrell Issa ran to the roof of his building to hide from constituents several years ago. Heaven forbid he should answer to the people he represents.
I can see a time when practical application of this bravado delusion fails miserably and Americans die while a delusional president felon cheats again at golf, a drunken delusional defense secretary continues to be drunk with that fantasy delusion and the military establishment is laughed at because the delusion is the drug for these less than deserving sycophants.
Court cases aside by the time things get settled, if they ever do due to the ‘delay, deny, delay’ tactic, the failure will be so profound we will be forced to worship the russian or chinese overlords that are amazed at how unprepared and idiotic our resistance to their tactics was just pushed aside so easily. This is a tv show, a bad twilight zone episode, with absolutely zero basis in reality. The world laughs at how stupid we have become and how easy it was to overcome this collection of fools disguised as a ‘superpower’ at one time long ago. We will then become slaves to whoever happens to pass through as other nations use this country as a dumping ground for the worst that humanity can produce.
At least the Romans fought back, we on the other hand will comply quite easily to “whats in it for me” attitude our less than deserving ‘leader$’ will counter with.
Betsy, I live not far from Roswell, Georgia, which is a reliably red part of the Metro area. While I doubt that many of the attendees voicing their concerns were Republicans, it was reported that many who appeared to be Republicans appeared sympathetic with the liberals' ire. The meeting, televised widely nation-wide, should be a signal of hope for all of us who see the current train wreck and the dire consequences already visible. We need more demonstrations and widespread examples of our anger and resistance, and the Supreme Court needs to understand that their support of an ignorant tyrant won't be tolerated.
Betsy Smith, I totally agree! It was really heartwarming to hear how folks at the town hall in Glenpool, which is one of the most staunchly conservative suburbs of Tulsa, jump on Kevin Hern, forcing him to respond with some really vapid defense of the PINO and his puppet master.
Exactly. We all have no choice now but to fight back!
Do you expect our military to "speak out and hold the line" when it comes to refusing orders that violate the Constitution? I'm not sure that they will, when the commanding officers have all been replaced by Trump loyalists.
It will depend on how loyal individual soldiers and units are to the Constitution and the rule of law. And in the future captured soldiers may soon regret a rejection of Geneva. It is not just about protecting others, but ourselves.
Below the level of full colonel, the military is populated almost entirely by rabid Trumpsters. That’s why 99% of TVs on military bases are blaring the Fox channel 99% of the time. From full colonel up, the level of massive ignorance and willingness to ignore the Constitution takes a giant step down (that is, in the direction of less ignorance and more loyalty to the Constitution… edited for clarity), but that still leaves plenty of officers who are willing to ignore the Constitution, and those are the ones being elevated to command positions. The really bad ones are especially easy to find in the Air Force, which is dominated by evangelical, white, Christian nationalists. The Air Force brass at every level runs off anyone who doesn’t conform to the Christian nationalist creed.
I was aware of the prevalence of Christian Nationalism in the Air Force and other service branches due to Mikey Weinstein’s work with the Military Religious Freedom Foundation. Mikey and his family are Jewish and his son, who graduated from the Air Force Academy, was constantly pestered to convert to evangelical Christianity by fellow cadets and even some superiors. There are commanding officers in the different branches who illegally use the command structure to proselytize and demand their subordinates participate in evangelical activities.
That is not by chance. It happened during the tea party craze, according to an ex-vet who came to see me after he served in Afghanistan. When I go to businesses that have Fox on tv. It’s not because I want it, but the owners do. The propaganda is top down, always…
I've just gone one worse. I googled "the night of the long knives".
Full Colonel is the high-water mark? That's arguably the most disheartening piece of information I've ever read in these pages.
Colonels and generals are, in the average, many cuts above lieutenant colonels and below in loyalty to the Constitution, competence, and intelligence. That’s where the chaff gets cut. Usually. Doesn’t keep all louts out of the top ranks, though, by any means.
I thought Biden stopped the practice of having Fox blaring on all the bases. I’ll look it up on snopes…I looked it up on snopes and that is false. According to Snopes the RNC has a medley of news sources .
I'd abandon Snopes.
It is good to question and investigate, but simply tuning out because a report doesn't fit your views is not the way to proceed. That's what THEY do.
I agree that the military is a potential danger if it becomes a tool for MAGA.
Heather has correctly defined in the historical context this reactionary trend; mixing the myth of cowboy imagery to rugged individualism. But what is very difficult or impossible to understand is our own implication in this divergence or split. All movements keep pushing until a reaction occurs. In China, Tianamin Square was a great example. The government was near to compromising with what was originally student leaders the galvanized the people. But they kept pushing the government until the government rebelled and rebelled they did in a massive way.
In our society, we have passed necessary and meaningful laws to right past wrongs. Then we engaged in what is now known as diversity. With one exception; diversity without inclusion of the dominant culture; white working class. Oh but they are now called the privileged class. Oy. And until we come to the realization that this was a mistake, we will kept society convulsed and confused. And we will simply be a divided nation in perpetuity.
Well, this is my opinion. I am not a partisan. I’m a centrist. We think differently from hard core democrats. I issue a clarion call to unite and move to the center. But I know, that’s a pipe dream. We prefer to feel self righteous and continue fighting. There is a lot of hatred of each other in our society. Pushed in no small measure by cell devices that keep us socially isolated and susceptible to manipulation. But until we come together, I envision self-defeats going forward. But in spite of all this chaos the MAGAs may very well push until they lose. It’s that ole push until you lose syndrome.
Hey that’s my opinion. You have yours.
And what does 'move to the center' mean? Whenever I hear it I'm worry that it means abandoning the LGBTQ community since that riles up the right so much? I'm sure that's not what you mean, but I never know what 'moving to the center' means in the details. Can you enlighten me as to what that means to you?
Who is self-righteous? As MLK said somewhere. Passing laws will not make a man love me, but it might keep him from killing me. A worthy goal, maybe. Sorry, but you negated your own point with this last hurrah…. For this reader, anyway.
One place with a version of it is in a Transcript of Dr. King's Speech found at Ohio Northern University. See https://www.onu.edu/mlk/mlk-speech-transcript
"...I know that if we are to come to the glad day of true integration, true brotherhood, that men will have to rise to the majestic heights of being obedient to the unenforceable, not doing it because the law says it but because it is natural and right. I recognize that.
But after saying that, it is necessary to go on to say that there is another side. It may be true that morality cannot be legislated, but behavior can be regulated. It may be true that the law can't change the heart, but it can restrain the heartless. It may be true that the law can't make a man love me, but it can restrain him from lynching me, and I think that's pretty important also..."
The speech was apparently a few days after the first convictions of the Mississippians who killed Chaney, Goodman, and Schwerner, not for murder yet, but conspiracy.
Wikipedia provided most important details, Including how a mafia captain Gregory Scarpa was recruited to help generate a tip passed on to Maynard King who was the Mr.X credited with revealing the location (after 8 other bodies were found). I recall a description of the other lynch mob types in the county wanting the searching stopped before they found many more bodies.
Another story published on the 60th anniversary expands some details, such as a picture of where their bodies were buried 14 feet deep in an earthen dam being built (perhaps the most well hidden bodies in the county). That story is at https://people.com/mississippi-burning-case-fbi-files-reveal-last-moments-civil-rights-workers-murdered-8665082
Back to MLK's speech, and a bit more on the prevalence of hidden murders.
"...Take a state like Mississippi. Over the last four years, more than 83 Negroes and white civil rights workers have been killed, brutally murdered, and not a single person has been convicted for these dastardly crimes. Some were convicted for the first time a few days ago in the murder of the three civil rights workers who were killed in Mississippi in '64. But they were not convicted on the basis of murder. They were convicted on the basis of the federal law which is based on a conspiracy charge and with the maximum of ten years. Nobody in the state of Mississippi has been convicted for all of these murders which have taken place. Over the last three years more than 62 Negro churches have been burned to the ground in the state of Mississippi. Nothing has happened about it. It seems that they have a new motto in Mississippi now--not "Attend the church of your choice," but "Burn the church of your choice." And, oh, how tragic this is. These glowering, terrible expressions of violence precipitated and perpetrated against Negroes remind us that we still have a long, long way to go..."
I went a little long as my way to contribute a tiny bit more to Black History Month, no matter whether the current administration wants to honor it or not.
Thanks for the post, fellow Mainah. How about Governor Mills?!!! Send your e-mail address to me (gideonse@midmaine.com), and I'll send you my take on MLK, Jr speaking in Brunswick in 1964.
Thank you.
I feel the most down I have felt since 2015 when he rode down his tacky elevator. It feels inevitable that he is going to beat Hitler who dismantled his government legally in 53 days. Whatever will become of us.
I'd like to know how, exactly, we could include the 'dominant culture', in a way they would find acceptable. Dei initiatives were to prevent the 'dominant culture' from being chosen for jobs/positions over poc/women who were at least as qualified. Not to give preference to those 'others'. But many see it that way; especially, it seems, republicans. Current administration is making their view clear on this point; firing poc, lgbtq, and women in admin positions, because dei.
How close are we to making all who aren't staunchly, vocally, supporters of the republican party - the enemy?
You call yourself a centrist, but you make statements that sound rightwing. Here are your words: “Then we engaged in what is now known as diversity. With one exception; diversity without inclusion of the dominant culture; white working class. Oh but they are now called the privileged class. Oy. And until we come to the realization that this was a mistake, we will kept society convulsed and confused. And we will simply be a divided nation in perpetuity. “
Bill has been meandering lately but much of his writing reveals on whose side ‘today’s Bill’ would have stood on the Edmund Pettus Bridge, regardless of his claims of activism in the past. Perhaps his age is showing.
Did you just like yourself, lol?
Have some peanuts with your breakfast. Good for you,
I said my peace and you have said yours.
I've been in various diversity initiatives and white men and white women are always there Bill. I understand that not all of them are that way, but for example I've seen people get upset at Women in Stem events. At the end of the day, we had one candidate run on making life more equitable for all Americans, and the other who ran on making it better for just one group. America chose to give into fear and prejudice. Most Americans are centrists by nature anyone, and while I hope that they will push until they lose, I'm not counting on it. They don't feel shame or a see failure as an opportunity to do better. It seems like a zero sum game at this point. But maybe you are right. To blame all of this on DEI though seems like a scapegoat and simple answer to a more complex issue.
Bill I partially agree with you. I think DEI was well-intentioned and if you think about it, what it really is looking for is the acceptance of people not just like "us." It is meant that we provide opportunity for all, not just rich or white. So, instead of creating initials and clubbing people over the head--educate! but do not lecture. Same goes for LGBTQ which may, perhaps for many to get a grip on. They don't understand and they fear for those close to them and the way of life that they knew--but even then there were LGBQ among us--I am old enough to recall the first known trans--Christine Jorgensen. So against, educate by allowing integrated social groups. When those antis meet someone on neutral ground, without attached labels, they usually accept people for what they are. And for goodness sake, if someone writes a good read book or makes and engaging work of art, there is no need to make a headline of their sexual orientation. We never headline "Heterosexual, sleeps with the opposite sex." So why do we do it with the "others" among us?
I think you just defined what my center is. But “they” think they need to throw it in our faces every damn day 24/7. So I’ll use an example of my openness. Personal stories. It’s the best teacher.
When I was a street hippie, there were all kinds of kids amongst us. One was a lesbian and she called herself “Mother Mary.” She was funny. She frequently called herself a diesel dyke. Mother Mary used to regale us that that she could kick any man’s ass. I liked hanging with Mother Mary. She was my security against the guys that harassed us. I wonder what ever happened to Mother Mary. If she was homeless today, I would take her into my home.
Ray of sunshine.
But we all know about Trump's disdain for captured soldiers - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UNugcPeCZZE
His bone spurs spared him that indignity.
Hopefully these fired commanding officers will now be willing to lead the resistance…..
Especially since they’ve been fed a steady diet of Fox “News” for years….
Steve, currently 1 out of 4 17-24 year olds meet the qualifications to enter the military. Do you think that by putting theocrats and Trump loyalists in charge of the military is going to lure these kids to the recruiting stations.
Do you think putting "Hitler's generals" in charge of the military is going to help lure in people of color and woman?
And all of the military that will re-up in the next 4 years, are they going to want to?
My sister-in-law barely finished high school in the early 1980's and they recruited her into military intelligence. Trump and the Republicans are going to have to bring back the draft to get the white kids they think they want to join the military.
Heather's right -- this is going to be a fucking disaster.
It makes you wonder how many recruiters are people of color. I would think it would be harder to recruit only qualified white boys in the underprivileged areas. Maybe these are the leases they plan on canceling.
Maybe like British Navy press gangs in the early 1800s.
I saw a meme on Skeets and Giggles, yesterday, that is most appropriate. "If they bring back the draft, we're all trans!."
You bring up an interesting thought: If there *were* to be a military draft under this administration, I wonder if people of color and other minorities would be exempted -- you know, given the evils of DEI and all. Trump and Hegseth would only want the most capable and qualified white men, right?
I'm being flippant, of course. We all know damn well people of color and minorities would be at the front of the line...literally and figuratively.
Not only the Constitution but the Geneva Conventions, which were violated by the Bush Administration in the early 2000s.
Yes-and I’m reminded of what Bush did and condoned.
I wonder what they have planned for this new military. Firing the JAGS, are they going to use them on US? On protesters?
I believe it prudent to assume that is indeed their intentions.
Protesters. He is just waiting to enact martial law.
That's the idea.
They have shown me they won’t - Is Governor Mills the only one with a backbone?
They won’t sadly.
Yes, they've flouted the law, and cruelty is the point of all their machinations. We will be called to do more than speak out. I hope they have also roused the sleeping giant that is the American citizenry, and that we can stop them without bloodshed. My fear is that the chance of that happening grows smaller every passing day.
A significant majority of the white American citizenry is fully on board with Trump, so your fears are well founded. The sleeping giant is a Trumpster. By all means, speak out. At least! But don’t expect to stop this juggernaut. They are very well organized (by the Project 2025 people, I presume).
30% percent of eligible voters made to the polls, and what we don’t know is how many were prevented from voting by laws designed to suppress voting and voter turnout from groups Republicans don’t want to vote. I’m not convinced voting machines were hacked, but I am convinced that Republicans were very successful at voter suppression.
I believe the election was hacked and THAT was their “secret.”
Watch "Interview With CHIEF STATISTICIAN Dr. Elizabeth Clarkson | Linking Kansas 2010s and 2024" on YouTube
https://youtu.be/WOQ-GxJyJN4?si=WoaC74L_ACBWwWjf
(You may need to listen a few times, Pause & look at the charts. It is shocking information).
Dr. Elizabeth Clarkson has her doctorate in statistics. She strongly believes the data from the 2024 election points to a high probability of election rigging. To prove this, she would need access to the physical ballots. She would agree to copies, but she would like to see those copies being made as she has grown very suspicious.
I don't know how to feel when I read copium like this. If people couldn't do the low effort actions to make it to the polls like half of my family members in a swing state, it doesn't matter that only 30% voted for Trump. Countries have been lost by much smaller margins. If people didn't show up to vote, I have no faith they'll find courage to resist later, not unless they don't have food, water or general creature comforts.
How about refusing to participate in effective public health measures, a common behavior in rethug ranks? They’re extremely bad citizens in many fronts.
Me too.
Yes. They’ve had lots of practice. Been working at it for a century and a half.
Project 2025 is the puppeteer, along with Putin.
I think you statistics are in error.
White voters supported Trump by a 15 point majority. That’s significant in my book. Might change a few points on a revote, but even if it changed in the direction of decency, a ten-point margin is still a significant one. Among white working class voters it was way worse. More like a forty-point majority for Felon47, and among white voters who believe that Noah actually put those animals on a boat, it was a sixty-point majority. We know who to blame, and the only hope is a slim one: do way better than they do in get-out-the-vote in the next election. There has been a tremendous amount of damage aleady and will be a lot more, but we cannot stop them until the election.
Did you watch the YouTubes?
I’m thinking there will be bloodshed. Nixon did it in Ohio.
Yup, they will use the military or some other group to hurt citizens and then maybe a small percentage of Republicans will finally not vote for MAGA. At this point though they've shown me that as long as they are hurting the right people or not personally affected, they'll convince themselves of anything. I don't think they'll come to save us. We have to keep pressure on them via the judicial branch and take back the house in 2026.
Correct. Kent State was cheered by the white working class (and, I presume, even more so by white evangelicals, although I wasn’t tracking them at the time, and that was before Rex Reed sewed them up in a package for the party of indecency).
Protestors need to start wearing their own body cams in such an event because the MAGA propaganda machine will spin up quickly and claim that the protestors incited violence, necessitating a forceful response to put down the violent rebellion. The revolution must be televised.
Body cams and full body armor. The cams won’t help much. Rethugs have no incentive to obey the courts. Congress is not going to remove Felon47 from office, no matter what he does.
But the judicial system is also SCOTUS which started this mess at Trumps behest.
Count on it! But it wont be their blood, it will be ours
propaganda - ideas, facts, or allegations spread deliberately to further one's cause or to damage an opposing cause.
It's time to start a propaganda war against Trump and ALL Republicans. A few vocal Democrat governors are starting to fight back. Progress Radio is anti-Trump, anti MAGA, anti white Christian Nationalist 24/7. If you're reading this, as much anxiety as each one of you has, you are still engaged. Many of you attend churches and volunteer your time. Preach the anti-Trump gospel. Most churches and synagogues are not full of WCN's, but even if there is one, call them out.
And the DNC needs to launch ads on YouTube, FaceBook, AOL, TikTok, BlueSky and even X. Advertise on MLB and NBA games. Flood the "free" literature racks at the Big Box stores with anti-Trump pamphlets BLAMING Trump for high inflation, high grocery prices, high gas prices, high unemployment, being Putin's puppet, being a Fascist, etc.
This is what Trump has done since 2015 while everyone plays nice. It's past time for being nice. Biden said there are 2000 billionaires in the US. Where are the ones that can pitch in a million or so dollars each like Harlan Crowe or Elon Musk. We're fighting Trump/Musk with nickels and dimes. We need 50 George Soros's and Mark Cubans.
The Lincoln Project's goal was to influence 2-3% of the vote in the swing states. It worked in 2020. It can work again.
Gary, I agree with your strategy, with one tweak. The messaging should not be ads. It should be "opinions," not too well produced. The spokespeople should be ordinary-looking people who could be your neighbors. Right-wing propaganda works because it appears to come from "real people," not celebrities or paid professionals.
If Lincoln Project wants to be effective, they'll need to "go guerrilla" and produce "reality" videos without their logo. The people whose minds need to be changed won't watch branded videos.
Maybe the town hall videos, like the ones described above, will make an impact...maybe. I will participate in the No Buy Day Feb. 28th and the future protests as much as I can.
Terrific points!!! They need to be ordinary white young men in these videos.
The people whose minds need to be changed are those in Congress.
Richard, the cowards in Congress are not going to change their minds. They are too afraid or compromised. They must be turned out of Congress by an electorate whose minds have been changed.
“Trump supporters can’t handle the news that the MeidasTouch Podcast now gets more downloads than the Joe Rogan podcast.”
https://open.substack.com/pub/meidastouch/p/trump-supporters-attack-meidas-with?
Someone needs to produce a simo cast fact checking & ridicule Rogan live.
Well, that is at least a whiff of good news.
It is hard to compete with Twitter and the hate spewed there. The people who elected the felon as President only watch Fox. Yet they will be the first to scream that those of us who are “radical leftists” only watch msnbc, etc. now that is funny! whoever heard of a president governing via his own personal social media app in the middle of the night?
Impeachment is our only answer. He has ignored so many laws, is in Contempt of judicial orders to restore funding, he threatens all his perceived enemies, he has co-opted the judicial branch with his cronies, he is eliminating high ranking military based on gender and color, destroying the entire federal workforce and hasn’t produced one iota of evidence of fraud waste or abuse. Not one. He lies every time he speaks. He is the greatest of everything in all recorded history. He has sided with Russia. He has destroyed 80 years of alliances. He is stupid and power hungry. He wants to be a king. His peons will govern while he plays golf. IMPEACHMENT is the only answer. I hate the man and the people who are standing by and letting all this happen to our country. When I watched all those town meetings with angry constituents and their representative would stand up there still trying to say “he’s done good things , or he has accomplished a lot already” I knew we were lost because they are Lost. I am so ready to check out. I’ve done My postcards, made my calls, sent
My Emails…over and over and over again. I am so Ready to
Check out. When the sense makers are in the minority, it seems so hopeless.
Sadly, I believe any elections going forward will be like Putin's elections.
I've been posting similar to your reply for some time now Marj, and I usually, together with Putin I include Viktor Orban's "elections" as our model.
Further, I think that the lower the approval numbers for our scumbag president, the lower the chances of having an election at all.
Be ready to “Maidan” if/when that happens.
Do you realize, Peter, that you speak here in only cliché?
Worse, the fact that such language gets you the most "likes" -- from Heather's readers! -- testifies to how Americans got so impotent as to allow fascism's takeover.
I wouldn't be too harsh in judging - it's the thing we humans do, don't we, before we organise we need since time and memorial "slogans" (old norse word if I remember right) and they are basically chliches. I don't think it means necessarily that Americans won't be able to build a resistance.
Excellent, Sabine. Cliches are such because there is some truth in them.
Yes, Phil Balla, absolutely right.
It isn't necesarily going to be alright in the end.
In fact it's very unlikely
precisely because this isn't a cowboy movie.
A dystopia for the ages.
This is much less "Nineteen Eighty Four" and more "Brave New World"
Aldous Huxley wrote a great metaphor for social media.
The Trump recession is coming. The farmers and ranchers are getting fucked by Trump and they mostly vote Republican. Remind them in church about Trump not giving a damn about any of them. He is doing this for himself and the oligarchs. This is how Putin did it. He made several people very very rich and beholden to him. They pay for all of Putin's propaganda because they owe him.
In our case Trump owes Musk. He must hate to play second fiddle to Musk. We need to glorify Musk to Trump and tell Trump that Musk is doing all of the things that Trump isn't smart enough to do.
TCF is glad elon is doing the dirty work. bullies have others do it for them. Notice how weary he looked, sitting at the resolute desk, watching X smear his boogers on it? All he wants to do is play golf while others do the damage. He still gets the thrill of the pain of those impacted. The “tingle.”
That's the other thing we need to hit MAGAs with -- Trump's golf outings. Last I heard, he's already cost us $10.7 million for his golf. And his rally's now cost us much more per event.
https://trumpgolftrack.com/
With all due respect, I don't think getting mad at individual farmers is going to do anything but make them defensive and watch more Fox. I have learned that the die-hard Trumper has an answer for everything. The last straw for me was Jan 6. For them it was "FBI plants."
I do go to church with farmers. Good people. They are not all MAGA. I don't know, and don't care, which ones are political, and which are not. They are often Republican and do not always know how things have changed with that party. Propaganda works, until it doesn't. They all have known me for a long time and respect me. I have written publicly in the local newspaper. They know, or will know, how I think. It may change some of their ideas. Meanwhile, as always, I will call my representatives.
Ditto on the recession. If President Musk were doing all this firing at a time when private sector hiring was strong, it might be nothing more than a blip in the economy. But private sector hiring isn't as strong as it was not too long ago...in fact, you're starting to see private companies announcing more and more cuts of their own. Throw all these unemployed government workers into this environment, and you all but force a recession. Funny thing is, the predictions over the past 2+ years of a constantly looming recession that didn't happen have started to abate. And that, I fear, is when it will come and smack us all upside the head.
I foresee that Tramp will turn on Musk and say It was all his fault and pass the blame for the disfunction and its consequences, as is the way with cowards and kings.
I wish I knew if social media is going to last. I feel we are screwed if it continues on like it is.
I have thought about this too. I will need to replace this with some more local organization. We won't be the only ones in resistance.
But it is Animal Farm.
Animal farm is more a critique of proletarian revolution Bj5, I see your point though.... with this bunch of animals.
But dytopian comparisons.......... Orwell’s vision centers on a brutal, authoritarian state that enforces compliance through surveillance, fear, and violence, Huxley’s dystopia is much more about distraction, pleasure, and passive submission. Here’s how the current situation aligns more with Huxley’s predictions:
1. The Role of Pleasure and Distraction
Huxley feared that people wouldn’t need to be forced into submission—they would willingly walk into it, addicted to comfort and entertainment. Social media, mass entertainment, and hyper-consumerism serve as modern equivalents of soma, the pleasure-drug in Brave New World. Instead of an iron fist, we get a flood of addictive, numbing distractions that make people disengaged from political realities.
Orwell imagined an authoritarian state that forbids information (censorship), whereas Huxley imagined one that floods people with triviality, making real issues irrelevant. The algorithm-driven, dopamine-fueled cycles of outrage, memes, and influencer drama make it difficult for the public to focus on systemic power shifts.
2. Voluntary Submission to Control
Rather than a state-imposed doctrine (as in Nineteen Eighty-Four), modern social media conditioning works by subtly shaping beliefs through endless reinforcement loops. The more time people spend in digital environments, the more their behaviors and opinions are influenced—not by outright force, but by engineered narratives that reward conformity and discourage critical thought.
In Brave New World, people aren’t rebelling because they don’t feel the need to. They are conditioned from birth to love their servitude. The same applies today: many people don’t resist encroaching authoritarianism because they don’t recognize it happening amidst the endless flood of entertainment, consumerism, and personalized reality bubbles.
3. The Death of Critical Thinking
Huxley predicted a world where books and deep thinking wouldn’t need to be burned (as in Fahrenheit 451); they would simply become obsolete. In today’s digital world, long-form argumentation and nuanced debate are drowned out by bite-sized, emotionally charged content that prioritizes engagement over truth.
Orwell feared a world where the government would ban books. Huxley feared a world where people would no longer care about reading. TikTok, viral tweets, and algorithmic feeds reduce engagement with complex ideas, just as Brave New World’s society discourages deep intellectual inquiry.
4. The Gamification of Compliance
Huxley’s dystopia relied on pleasure-driven obedience, and today, social media platforms gamify compliance through likes, shares, and validation. People willingly conform to dominant narratives, not because they are forced, but because dissent means social ostracization.
Orwell’s world relied on fear-based control (the Thought Police). Huxley’s world relied on social conditioning and engineered pleasure. Today, those who question dominant ideologies are “canceled,” ridiculed, or ignored, creating self-policing mechanisms where compliance is rewarded, and deviation is punished—not by the state, but by one’s own peers.
5. The Illusion of Choice and Freedom
Unlike Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four, where oppression is explicit, Huxley’s world allows people to think they are free while they remain trapped in an invisible system of control. People can buy whatever they want, consume endless entertainment, and voice their opinions online—yet, these freedoms are curated within a carefully managed ecosystem where power structures remain untouched.
The illusion of democracy continues, but the mechanisms of real power shift into the hands of unelected tech monopolies, AI-driven information control, and an ultra-wealthy elite that remains beyond accountability.
Final Thought
Orwell feared a world of pain and oppression. Huxley feared a world of pleasure and distraction. While there are certainly Orwellian elements in today’s surveillance state, the greater threat seems to be the Huxleyan one: a society sedated by entertainment, manipulated by invisible algorithms, and too distracted to notice its freedoms eroding.
Thanks for summarizing Brave New World. I admit I haven’t read it. You’re points about we’re in it now with our lack of critical thinking (I’ve been saying this for years) and the points about pleasures and distractions are spot on. That’s why Trump is talking about buying Greenland, Canada as the 51st state, and Gulf of America; they’re all distractions.
I don’t think I’ll read Brave New World now. We’re living it and we’re trying to get out.
Reading is the best defense against intolerance. Public and school libraries are under attack nationwide. Support them by speaking up when they get defunded and the workers are fired, like has happened here in Montgomery County Texas.
Who on earth is Peter? There are enough lines to support a parachute.
It's even more confusing when I try to follow the lines and make sense of the comments and replies at 2 am !!!!!🥴
...
Not any easier at 1 am.
Peter Pappas started this thread, Anne-Louise -- with his at the very top here.
Thanks, Phil. I've just spent half an hour climbing back up the lines and discovering the horrifying clip-tie assault story.
Phil, we’re all angry, but we don’t need to turn on each other. Shall I ask you where your spin on humanities is? Honestly, I’ll be impressed when you apologize to Peter.
When Phil looks at the specific ocean, he looks east.
Speak only in cliche, really Phil…
Strange reply. And you got one like. Did you like youself?
Honestly Bill, take it down a notch. Being a mean bully just makes everything you say worthless.
Sharon, I’ve read your remarks, too. I think you might take it down a notch, too.
Given you now defend cliché, Bill, I'm thankful I'd not waded in your book.
Well--- we are being ruled by men with severely limited intellectual capacity and absolutely no moral core. They have little or no knowledge of their own civilization, therefore, will not know how to maintain it. They are cultural philistines. Of course, don't say that to their face, they probably don't know what a philistine is .... since their language consists merely of dialects and a limited vocabulary. The human consquences of their policies will never figure into their conversations.
You hit the nail on the head. (Gee, a cliche) but old friends in discussions have accused me of ‘using big words’ or ‘I gotta love the way you communicate’ in a derisive tone. These guys didn’t make it past high school and have had no curiosity since.
I've loved our Democratic Republic, though I've had many reservations concerning policies from the states I've occupied, or the Federal Government. We all have opinions that are unique and quite personal. Our Congress is populated by many different professional backgrounds. I would like to hazard a guess that by far the most representative professional background is "lawyer." Lawyers always have different political prejudices just like we all do, though they may tend to be more conservative. I'm certainly not defending any of this administration's willful anti-human, anti-democratic behavior. I fear for our Nations' Reputation do you.
And how are we going to fight back! I do mot see one leader, except maybe Elizabeth Warren. I see a congress that had to know. It is just a matter of time when sites like these are monitored, maybe banned.
Follow AOC. I may not always agree with her, but she is fighting to protect her constituents and will not be silenced. Give a shout out to the governor of Maine who defended the rule of law and due process to the President’s face. I know there are many more examples and that is my hope.
I assume this site is surveiled as we speak.
Agreed. I wonder how long it’ll be before Substack is shut down.
I don't know the answer to that. I suppose we should prepare for that, certainly. I just do not know. We need to bear up under the weight and hold steady. Strive for solidarity of purpose. If and where we can, then agitate. Confront. there are ways to stay together thru this. Si! se pueda!
Bernie is doing a tour called Fighting Oligarchy.
https://www.youtube.com/live/Z-Mr-Lk65Ms?si=8sRJVjOdNdyipF_2
AOC is standing with NY Federal workers.
https://youtu.be/vSilE1oyQYM?si=LrYfhs9MnU39QZ7T
Jasmine Crockett is speaking up and making the rounds about DOGE and Musk.
https://youtu.be/mH_BC0pO-3s?si=smoItGAowJf-TlFK
Sandra, this topic came up on this forum a couple days ago, and a few commenters compiled a pretty good list of Democratic leaders who are speaking out. Several more than Warren. Adam Schiff and Jamie Raskin come to mind, and AOC, as Sarah has mentioned. The leaders are there, but if you're depending on Corporate Media to hear from them, you won't. All corporate media are owned or led by white, male oligarchs who value their wealth more than public trust.
What was once dubbed "alternative media" is actually become mainstream. Meidas Touch, founded by the Meiselas brothers is becoming a media force to be reckoned with, as is Brian Tyler Cohen, who has recently scoring some important interviews with leading Democrats.
I've see I've had two calls from Florida in the last couple of days. I don't know anyone in Florida.
I know somebody in Maine. She just happens to be the Governor.
Not only is Trump vis-a-vis Musk torturing US citizens he is spreading it to Ukraine and Europe. Any democracy is fair game. China is also going after Australia seeing that the US is no longer an ally.
See Olga's Russian Digest.
https://open.substack.com/pub/olgalautman/p/russian-digest-f66?r=f0qfn&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=false
Yes, Linda - the Chinese warships are causing us some concern. I wouldn't like to be in our Prime Minister's shoes. He's basically a good and honest person. We've got federal elections coming up, and the hawks are sharpening their talons.
The war ships are concerning. Pushing the boundaries. That is what I thought about the Australian PM. My daughter rents a place from a family where the Mom is from New Zealand. She just went there yesterday with their youngest child. I am sure both of your countries are not feeling good about this. I cannot help but wonder if this is China taking advantage that the US just fired so many military heads for the worst reasons for any country that wants to be safe and secure.
I copied a portion of HCR's letter and am placing it in a letter to my Texas U.S. Senators (Cruz and Cornyn) and my Congressman (Pfluger.) Will it make any difference? I don't know, but I couldn't have said it better:
National Security Leaders for America, a bipartisan organization of people who served in senior leadership positions in all six military branches, elected federal and state offices, and various government departments and agencies, strongly condemned the firings, and urged “policymakers, elected officials, and the American public to reject efforts to politicize our military.”
Observers point out how the purging of an independent, rules-based military in favor of a military loyal to a single leader is a crystal clear step toward authoritarianism. They note that Trump expressed frustration with military leaders during his first term when they resisted illegal orders, saying, as then-chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley did, that in America “[w]e don’t take an oath to a king, or a queen, or to a tyrant or dictator, and we don’t take an oath to a wannabe dictator…. We don’t take an oath to an individual. We take an oath to the Constitution, and we take an oath to the idea that is America, and we’re willing to die to protect it.”
Robert Hagan and Bill on Dworkin Live this morning did an excellent talk ,how ..making it perfectly clear for the few waking up …what the steps are to a successful authoritarian takeover.
Wake up people!
We need 5..10 would be divine darling ..Republicans Senators to stand their ground for our constitution and our country. Yup that means going.against.Felon34.
Who would you think might ‘muster up’/do it?
I nominate Marco Rubio..he has the class and charisma to lead the GOP back to representing..because like the song said …if not? 🎶YOUR ALL GONNA DIE! 🎶
Rubio and who else …has got a spine ?
Sometimes all it takes is one..psst layin’ bets Adam and Liz would join with ‘their following’ …which ain’t so shabby btw!
The DIN is now a rising opposition who waited for the law while they made their ethics obvious.. we know well now who you are and who it ain’t …
We. Will. Do. This.
It’s probably not the last battle… as known now is the constant vigilance it takes . We’re up for the job.
🗣️HERE TO TELL YA
They ruined the GOP. Adam and Liz have got good news 😉
The Choir here is too..
Eloquent pens write Facts and Follow a Constitution.
When their gloves came off early in the game , we let them show their ass-per-nations throwing allies under buss after buss.
We. Are. NATO. We. Are. Ukraine. We fly a many colored flag. …….They picked the hill…
🇺🇸💙🇺🇦🫶🇨🇦🙌🦅🌈🗽☮️✔️
That’s assault and kidnapping attempt and …civil rights violations. Freedom to Assemble. Freedom of speech. If the state and federal fail to press charges… then yes, these will escalate. Quite an ugly Swastika ‘merica we got tight now.
Bring the Senate to a halt to stop the purge.
*flouted*
Win the coming Wisconsin judge election” That Musk put in ＄1million.
Only one million? That must be the lowest donation he's ever made. Hm.
I needed to hear you say this. Thanks
And just how might that be, I ask? Or is it too late. I am open to suggestions.
And who will be this century’s Teddy Roosevelt? Who will ride in and save us from what we’ve become as a nation? This is, by far, the most frightening letter of Heather’s I’ve read in the last five years.
No one's coming. You have to get active. Each and every one of us has to be active.
They can come for me. I will take several of them down.
Active means criticize Trump in your churches, on social media, to your friends and family. I know it's not easy. Our town is having elections in the next couple of weeks. I intend to go to the meetings and blast Trump for screwing us over by withholding education funds and other monies.
My local congressman hasn't held a town hall in years. I don't know how this guy keeps getting reelected. But best believe I keep calling and sending emails. Be vocal about what these people are doing, I've noticed some of them have "checked out" mentally from the actions of the current administration so they have plausible deniability.
Some of them are scared shitless to get in front of a crowd, which is bizarre but true. My Congresscritter has NEVER held a town hall. But, you can request an appointment with your Congressperson. Years ago, I met with Doug Bereuter (R-NE). I was concerned because he wanted to block 128 bit encryption software from being sold in the US because it took too long to break it. He was on the House Intelligence Committee that oversees the NSA and others.
We talked for an hour about all sorts of topics and he was very informative. My point to him was that if I wanted to purchase 128 bit encryption I could order it from dozens of other countries. I'm not sure how he voted, because most of their sessions are secret but it was great to get to know the person as well as my representative.
Susan Collins meets with constituents every week in DC and I could probably get an appointment with her or Angus King one on one if I had a reason.
Thank you, Gary.
UU’s should disperse this morning to other congregations and speak up as an example of the freedoms we all hold dear. The reactions we get will be telling…
Yes…going to local meetings, speaking out, and keeping a focused message is an effective tactic.
The admin. strategy is like painful scattershot with Project 2025 as a blueprint for focus, but one person with a magnifying glass type of focus, a passionate topic with Sun-like heat, can catch the dry tinder attention of furious people, starting a wild fire of resistance.
Also undermining the new order whenever you get a chance to, even if it's just lying to them, and being willing to protect the more marginalized folks.
As the most active and astute opposition leaders all keep reminding us, real social protest and real social change — for civil rights, for women's franchise, etc. doesn't come from political parties. It comes from a groundswell of people. No one is riding in to save us. We have to do the work every day. Call senators and reps. Get OUT on the street for protests - there need to be thousands on the street, not hundreds. This interview with Chris Murphy is a good example of what everyone who is most aware keeps saying: https://the.ink/p/watch-dem-senator-warns-us-may-be?r=9qwgy&utm_medium=ios&fbclid=IwY2xjawImqkdleHRuA2FlbQIxMAABHZ7URjkeUwy0El9SEYjAns7VqnX4F59je_EwVDL80Cf17BENuPrNlZWaLw_aem_52EywHHpLW47Jr0lwts3KQ&triedRedirect=true
In other words, practicing democracy is not a spectator sport. Citizens have a duty to study the issues, vote and peacefully protest.
100% agreed Kathy.
Yes, call and write to your senators and representatives, even when it feels like shouting into the void or banging your head against a brick wall. I call and write mine daily, and although it often feels futile, I persist. My senators are John Fetterman and Dave McCormick. My representative is Mike Kelly. Quite the trio.
Support Indivisible by joining a local chapter. Support Public Citizen. Support the brave historians and journalists writing here. Take to the streets as Alexandra Sokoloff says. Rise up and say enough. It's up to us now. It always has been.
The most salient thing that Sen. Murphy said in this important interview is that a preponderance of Republicans have actually bought in to the idea that Democracy is an outmoded form of government, that the idea we grew up with of a “melting pot” of Americans is actually an abomination against racial purity and the supremacy of the Oligarchs. That a homogeneous, white, male, well-armed coterie of strongmen must dominate the rest.
The new twist on this old saw is how utterly the rest of us are expendable, even a drag on the uber-supremacy at the top. The armed forces that will wipe us out are the AI bots now embedded in every single bit of data we consume. While old school oligarchs arose on the backs of subordinated (but necessary) populations harvesting natural resources such as oil, minerals and metals, the US Oligarchs fly on a tech-bro magic carpet of fake videos, fake news and all-disrupting discourse that populate our screens.
All else will be silenced.
Like the lambs.
very well said!
You articulate what I've increasingly felt in my gut since the Obama administration.
Excellent!!
Agreed!
I read on, Gwen, in Jonathan Schell's "The Unconquerable World."
And, of course, there's no cowboy in a white hat who rides in and saves anybody. When Schell gets to Ghandi, it's for the lesson from the latter that a people must save themselves. That is, they must know the truth about themselves -- the social force ("satyagraha "among them such as they have it.
This means seeing each other and all our weaknesses, limitations, deficits, liabilities, and needs. Constructive remedies can come only with the seeing of them, which in America's case means seeing each other through the eyes of our best who've seen the hardest truths. It means quoting, referencing artists who currently do not exist at all in any schools or media.
I would like to heard what do you propose Phil. This is an emergency.
You can see the program I propose, Ricardo, at www.EssayingDifferences.com .
This program is for the long-term. Not for emergency rescue.
Dems blew it at every opportunity they had in the past four years. I often proposed specific things they should have done then. They did nothing.
The dems are still blowing it. Where is the person they are going to nominate to run in 4 years? Why are the dems still playing nice with few exceptions?
I read another substack essay by a friend that reminded me of an experience I had years ago. My husband and I with another couple went sea kayaking at the Mingan Archipelago NP. It’s located on the north shore of Quebec, home to beautiful monoliths, whales, seals, colonies of birds including puffins, and arctic- alpine plants! We were out for 5 days paddling. On the second day despite taking a safety course, we ran into terrifying conditions. Quarter of the way to the next island, the tide turned against us and the wind created waves that were relentlessly breaking over our bow. At one point we were running on pure adrenaline. When my husband said he didn’t think he could keep paddling, I yelled at him that we couldn’t stop- we didn’t have a choice- just keep going! 8 hours later we made it to shore.
So in these times, no matter how much despair we feel, we can’t stop fighting for our democracy. Keep paddling- we’ll make it to the other side and save democracy.
Great analogy.
No one is saving us. We must save ourselves. Resist.
Linda, we need to whine and complain about Trump making a mess of the economy especially. This is what got him elected and his is doing NOTHING to make it better.
This is what he did to the Biden administration for 4 years. Let's throw it back in his face. Mark Cuban and Bill Gates kinda sorta stand up to Trump. We need several someone's like the Koch's who are willing to bankroll our propaganda.
Do NOT buy anything from Amazon or Walmart or Target or other large retailers on Feb 28th. Buy only local small business.
Not even your small businesses! Purchase on another day instead. Plan ahead.
Yeah but it’s my birthday
I certainly hope you are not serious if you implied your birthday this year is worth more than your freedoms forever.
NOONE in my extended family has stepped foot in a Walmart except in a dire emergency since they are the only business open before 7am and after 9 pm within 40 miles except convenience stores. We won't shop ANYWHERE except Maine owned businesses for the next four years if we can help it. And nowhere on 2/28.
It sure is. When - not if - Putin invades Europe, Trump will send US soldiers to fight alongside the Russians against Europeans. Democracy will be rooted out before the end of 2025, and Putin and Musk can claim their prize: absolute control over the entire western world.
I hope you're wrong, but fear you're right.
I really, really hope I am wrong, too :( But it seems democracies take centuries to build up, and are destroyed in two months. Trump and Musk are right on Hitler's schedule...
Who are the NAZI Trump generals going to get to fight? Why would any person of color or a woman enlist right now. And where are the recruiting centers -- mostly in the inner city where underprivileged people of color can get to them. And many of the recruiters are black or brown. Why would they re-up? How many states will send their national guard units to Europe knowing that many of their troops will desert rather than fight with the Rooskies and the Chinese. Hogsbreath is a joke and he is making us all less safe.
Not only Hogsbreath... I think it's incredible that the Convicted Orange Felon can simply, unilaterally, fire each and every general and install a yes-man-puppet. That is definitely a bug in the system.
We all have to be Teddy Roosevelt!
Gwen.... you mean like in the cowboy movies?
I agree
My sentiments exactly 😞
Truth.
Where are our Congressional Republican protectors of the Constitution and democracy? They are cowards. This is the scariest of news dumps. With Trump taking over the military and justice, there will be no justice. The courts may stop some of these actions, but they have no teeth, no military, no power beyond words. Welcome to the United States of Russia. We need our leaders, both Democrat and Republican to step out and hold the line, to dethrone the wannabe king and dictator. We are all sick, all scared and must stop this destruction of our precious, beautiful country.
They are hiding from their constituents.
Musk burst inside the US Treasury and demanded access to their systems -- and he got it. We need to get groups of people to "sit-in" at the Congresscritters offices and the Senators. Protesting outside the buildings is good, but we need to flood their offices. And especially their DC offices while they are in session.
The Capitol is OUR HOUSE, not theirs.
“Musk burst inside the US Treasury and demanded access to their systems -- and he got it.” Those last four words explain why I have so little hope. Individual cowards at the Treasury allowed them access, instead of locking Musk out. Those individuals have doomed our democracy through their cowardice and complicity.
I feel like I would have refused. Those systems are all protected by passwords. I have never felt any job was worth giving up my principles. My hope is those people that handed it over because they are MAGA lose their jobs and feel the pain they have wrought.
Anyone in DC 3/6?
Those that show up are getting a deserved earful from their justifiably angry constituents. The problem for us is it won’t be just the voters who supported Trump who will get their faces eaten.
The Military is made up of people, not robots. Some will follow tRump, but many won’t. Lots of senseless chaos, but tRump is farrrrrr from being “in charge of the Military”
One can only hope you are right.
Well we’ll see, look at what filth is in charge
People respond to leadership. They’re not seeing leadership so they won’t follow. They may “comply”, but the results are not the same as with willing followers.
So, as usual, we expect the military to be braver than we are. We expect them to step up, in their far more dangerous position, while we sit safely at home. Typical. So American.
There's an insightful piece in the February 10 New Yorker by Dexter Filkins about the difficulty of filling military ranks. Potential recruits are struggling with issues of poor education, poor physical health and discipline and the related consequences. He points out that this has been a growing problem since we eliminated the draft. I'm wondering if there is a plan to recruit Proud Boys and similar groups who enthusiastically attacked the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2020.
Our women Governors are standing up, from Maine and New York - more Governers need to ne contacted and asked to stand up!
The governor of Illinois made a great speech. https://youtu.be/hS66O1C7Gp4?si=Pzt-3MLGUoXL2eU7
They are just protecting their jobs Marsha. Don't expect anything patriotic out of them.
The crazy thing is that by “protecting” their jobs, they are making their jobs obsolete.
Actually Emily, I have to apologize for not being more descriptive but consider please that I wrote those lines between sleeping a little bit and sleeping again a little bit at about 3 am eastern time. The " jobs" they protect are just figurative, as when you see the Russian or Chinese legislators rising their hands in approval of whatever the leader says. Most importantly, for them, are all the perks coming with that " job"
Thanks for making my brain work again 😜
Marsha, I assume your question is rhetorical. There are no Congressional Republican protectors of anything, save their jobs and Donald's fragile ego. The handful of Republicans who value the Constitution and democracy were voted out of office by poorly educated rabble whose opinions on any given subject can be contained on a bumper sticker.
That poorly educated rabble is fed a constant diet of lies, while education had been deprived funding with the push of homeschooling, religious and fake charter schools, and stating that universities are centers of woke, all which has dumbed down what learning they have been able to access. I blame the billionaire owned media--not only right wing outlets but craven "mainstream" media for bending the knee--and social media which won't moderate content, and our own thirst for quick easy news. More young people get their "news" from social media than from reliable sources. Real journalists are being starved and demeaned, losing and leaving jobs. Without education and a reliable press, we end up with people who cannot think and buy into the kinds of which caused them to vote for this disastrous turn in our government.
I question how much reliable, unbiased media there has been for many years. When I was a child, news was not expected to make a profit. It was seen as a public service. As such, people like Walter Cronkite delivered fact-based reporting. Now, news is highly profitable and is ‘entertainment’. People find facts boring. They often are boring. So? When did we get so shallow that we needed constant entertainment? We are a society of titty-babies requiring constant feeding. Our attention is the most valuable contribution we can make to any channel or website, and you can tell by ratings what we like. Joe Rogan was the highest rated independent media until this week, when Meidas Touch took the top. It required a literal coup in progress to get people to prefer news. Sad state of affairs.
I'll be interested to see if some of T****'s initiatives like the end of birth right citizenship make it to the Supreme Court whether the "originalists" hold any kind of line on the Constitution. Also worry whether there will be retirements of some of those members. Congress seems to be completely out of the loop. The budget battle should be interesting, too.
As I believe HCR once pointed out, they have a plan and a structure into which they can insert almost any compliant candidate.
krushchev said "We will crush you". Let us continue to prove him wrong. When the going gets tough, the tough get going. We must look at our efforts like a part time job. Daily time spent reviewing and acting on all the good ideas nestled within these Comments. Thank you all, and thank God for HCR. I just read a description of God and divinity as TRUTH. Follow the light of truth all.
What was the timeline in Germany prior to World War II? How long did it take for their congressional body to disappear?
Depends on your definition. 1-3 years. However Germany had a different Constitution. Also, Germans supported the Nazi far more than tRump is now. German was in deep economic trouble due to WWI reparations and overspending by the Nazi. They started hostilities for economic reasons as much as ideology.
The Courts and Industry did not oppose the Nazi. That was the final institutional failure.
They are in on it. That’s where they are.
When the tribunals come, Hegseth will be the first sniveling coward to cry, “I was only following orders!”
I loved your comment Margaret, but the tribunals are coming for us first unless we find a way to stop and reverse this emergency situation .
I want to believe, I *have* to believe, that there will soon be a tipping point and the Republicans will actually put country over what’s left of their party and join the resistance with the growing number of Americans who do not support trump. I have to keep telling myself this or I’ll go insane. But, if sacking military leadership in its entirety doesn’t do it, I may run out of hope.
Sadly, I thought we'd have reached this point about 6 years ago. Not any longer. I do not understand what has become of our Republican congresscritters.
Nice ending for a cowboy movie, Margaret.
If only this were one.
😢
My father censored mail in the war - torture was still an ongoing problem among our troops in the 40s in the Philippines campaign against the Japanese. His experience disabused me forever that there was a black and white in WWII. The stories he had of what our soldiers did were Medieval, and I would never repeat them here, but if you can ever find me I'll share them with you over a stiff drink.
Needless to say my father hated guys like that - and he hated the photos and the occasional "trophies" to which he was subjected.
It is one of the lesser told stories of WWII.
The difference being that when our guys got caught, they got court martialled, and 60 of them were were executed during the war.
When Hamas or Isis does it, it is a crime against humanity. When Israel and GOP administrations do it, its 'cowboy tough'.
My husband’s father was a Seabee in WWII and he created a photo album of the photos he’d taken in the South Pacific. Most were of the sailors enjoying the islands they’d landed on, the equipment they brought, the beers they drank, all very benign except for the photo of a group of sailors surrounding the decapitated head of a Japanese soldier. I will not note the racial slur that captioned the photo. The album was one of his prized possessions, and his time in Navy the most monumental of his life. Sadly, he never seemed to grow past that experience, even after raising a family and having grandchildren.
EDIT
I don’t mean to be judgmental about my FIL. He was a kind, sweet man. The war left an indelible mark on him, both positively as he felt he was truly helping to make the world safe, and negatively in that he couldn’t leave it behind. The quiet young man from The Bronx traveled further from home than he ever imagined, and witnessed things he could not forget. He and his fellow service members left the military with few, if any, coping mechanisms to re-enter civilian life after the trauma they experienced. It had to be an overwhelming pride and an overwhelming burden to carry that for the rest of your life.
My father was also a Seabee in the South Pacific. My parents had owned a glove manufacturing business before the war, so while in the South Pacific, because of his work experience, he supervised the making of silk parachutes and other things involving cloth. Something happened in either the Philippines or the Solomon Islands that haunted him, but I don't know what it was. My dad would sometimes get really quiet and sit in his chair and be a million miles away. My college roommate's father fought in the Battle of the Bulge and he was still having screaming nightmares 30 years later.
War is mass murder. I understand why we had to fight the Axis, but war is still hell. I meet a relative of my first girlfriend who had been a promising student and athlete before going to war. He came back profoundly strange. She did not know what had happened to him.
Which is exactly why we have so many homeless veterans. We send them in to kill people and when they come home we do nothing to deal with what they’ve been through. I served in the Air Force ages ago but I would stop anyone I know from serving now.
J L, war is indeed mass murder, couched as "justifiable homicide" in the context of battle.
I'm a bit too young for Vietnam, but I have friends who had older siblings who were. I have a friend and fellow tuba player who was in combat during the Gulf War/Desert Storm. He is disabled from his PTSD, and a lack of coping skills. I have friends who lost their kids in the GWOT, some in combat, and some from PTSD.
One of the things I learned as a negotiator (in the late 2000's we were hit with a flood of calls regarding GWOT Veterans) and there was some hastily designed training to deal with them in that trauma driven emergency context. One thing that our trainer (Army guy who managed both Regular and Reserve components of combat vets) told us was that unlike Vietnam, where thousands of people served one tour, we were seeing hundreds of people who served 3-6 tours. The result of that is some severe trauma in a smaller number of people.
We now have three generations of Veterans (and probably a 4th) who have served in combat since 1960 in wars that were undeclared and politically motivated.
My Dad fought in the Battle of the Bulge as well. There’s a story that his group got stuck behind enemy lines. Luckily, they survived although my dad suffered a bayonet wound on his chest.
Years later, after training as a neurologist, I began to realize that he was still suffering from posttraumatic stress disorder. Many of our World War II vets have the same never recognized condition.
Heather‘s posts continue to be a much neededGodsend for us mortals. I excerpted this one for my Mastodon feed.
https://vmst.io/@drrjv/114052014470083473
That happens when people with a grain of humanity have to deal with horror. Maybe why chump is trying to get a force like he is. No humanity, no where
💔
Three kids on my block went to Viet Nam. Two died. Third came home and would only sleep in the family tree fort, eat his dinner there and not go inside a building.
The son of a friend of mine would not go to family picnics after Vietnam, would not eat outside anymore. He eventually softened, but it took years.
It's not your husband's father fault Margaret it's just human nature, it's in our DNA, we are still primitive people in disguise and we need the strong laws that keep us under control. The same laws our coward president is sweeping under the rug.
If you want a picture of the true horror of the pacific war read With the Old Breed: At Peleliu and Okinawa by Eugene B. Sledge
That is an amazing book, Gregg. One of the best I've read on WWII. My Uncle Chuck had it and gave it to me. He'd lived in the Philippines in the late '60's and was something of a Pacific Theater buff.
It is. Ally. It is a troublesome chronicle of what front line active war will do to a young person. And wars are always fought by the young.
I believe you cannot blame soldiers for hating a vicious enemy in hindsight. War is a kill or be killed business and soldiers— the good side and the bad side— are asked by the leaders to kill.
"The West won the world not by the superiority of its ideas or values or religion ... but rather by its superiority in applying organized violence.
Westerners often forget this fact; non-Westerners never do."
SP. Huntington
Good point
Maybe. Others say the West won because of science.
Other cultures have plenty of science - we in the West are just often not aware of it.
Right. But the West, with UK in the lead, took science and ran with it. Maybe because at the same time we were working with the individual rights ideas that led to our Revolution. Maybe because we had Capitalism. These are not my ideas. They come from Yuval Noah Harari.
Yes, I:be read a bit from him too, it just seems to me, the technological development was always mainly driven by the development of ever more horrific and deadly weapons, which in the US has ended making the military-industrial complex the driver for the economy - so ultimately it is our superiority in applying organised violence - we're really good in that. And bizarrely with all that might and superiority in the battlefield, the US hasn't won a single war since WWII. Doesn't that make you wonder if the incomprehensible amounts that are spend on "defence" could be better and much more useful for society spend? For example providing for all Americans mental health support so they are not seeing every foreigner as a threat and don't need to be so scared all the time?
Mental health support, including arts in the schools? Yes!
I read somewhere that Ike had no mercy for soldiers who did such…. Don’t know if it was true…
I'd be more surprised if it weren't true. I regard Eisenhower as The Last Good Republican. There hasn't been one since.
A lot of people have wanted to canonize Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger for standing against Donald, but their voting records are atrocious.
It sounds like him. I have read some of his quotes.
Nam, too, Philoctetes.
Thank you. I love the story of your father. I think of my father, the best person I have ever known, of his infantry experience in WWll and his decency.
It's important for me to know what your father learned. Tough at first, but not for long. It makes sense. The most important thing for me to believe is that most people are decent, not sadistic. Thus, we will eventually win, even if, as MLK said, we don't live to see the win. We must keep going. Call your representatives.
Stalin's purge of the Red Army officer corps was the reason Hitler got all the way to Moscow by mid October 1941, where he was stopped by "General Winter" and the Siberian units of the Red Army, led by the one officer he hadn't purged, Marshal Zhukov. Making an army loyal to the leader is a weak army. Doing that to the Wehrmacht was why we could beat them in World War II.
Are there really any young people that will want to enlist in "Trump's" military? He's made it clear that promotion is no longer merit based and is for whites only. And I'm not sure how many are down with dying in Canada, Greenland or Gaza for the billionaires' portfolios.
Can we doubt that there will be people who will enlist for the sake of the cruelty they will be able to inflict on others?
There are always those sociopaths that join the military or law enforcement for the sake of cruelty. Abu Ghraib, the Mai Lai massacre, police brutality in our own country and civil rights marchers being beat down or killed by police are just some examples.
But the United States is a signatory to the Geneva Conventions whether these bozos, Donold, Hegsweth and the fascist cabal, want to acknowledge it or not. We still have a Constitution that we must abide by and which recognizes international law. There is also a Uniform Code of Military Justice that pertains to legal orders and regulations. Military service members swear an oath to support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic.
Thank you for this!
I will never forget, probably 30 years ago, I worked with a very well respected doctor who I frequently went to for advice. As one of his kids got near college age, I asked if he would pursue medicine. He told me no, his son wanted to go into the military where "he can legally kill people". I was struck speechless.
They will be conscripted, herded, taken. No longer will it be a volunteer army with opportunities for all. Volunteers will be J-6 lookalikes, ready to storm whatever their leader tells them to attack.
Maybe. And then the 60s return. Kids will go to the streets if the draft returns.
I know a family (white and educated) that loves his military bull Schitt. Young people have been brain washed since toddlerhood. Boggles my mind, but I watched it play out in real time.
You'll be surprised becky how many of those young people would show up provided with the right lure.
You probably can't imagine that there's a large population of young white men, mostly rural, who love aimlessly roaming the countryside in their loud, lifted pickups, drinking beer and shooting their rifles at roadsigns, mailboxes, or pretty-much anything that could be construed as a target.
Check in with your local animal rescue volunteer group to learn about the horrors these hooligans will visit upon unsupervised dogs.
These boys don't consider what they'll do with their lives 15 minutes from now or the consequences of their actions. The idea of getting paid to go somewhere and shoot people who ain't white would have a strong appeal to them.
The MAGA boys who are being told they aren’t masculine enough and need to show it by killing others and raping women.
True. But Trump is not preparing our army to fight another nation. This is the guy who surrendered to the Taliban. He is preparing the army to fight its own citizens.
So noted, 100Panthers. He is indeed preparing "his" Army to fight American citizens.
It’s also why Stalin was spectacularly unprepared for World War II when Hitler broke the Nazi-Soviet peace pact.
Thing is, TCinLA, they don't actually need so many people these days.
Whoa. True.
That is true. Stalin, after the horrendous losses of '41 - '42 reinstated some of the generals he purged. With the arrival of Zhukov to lead the defense of Moscow, Stalin did slowly come to take his general's advice and consent to their plans and some strategy. Hitler on the other hand, refused to take the German High Command's advice and strategic planning as he viewed it as a threat. Over extended supply lines eventually caught up with the German army in Russia and the pincer movement encirclement tactics were turned on the Wehrmacht at Stalingrad with the capitulation of the 6th Army under Von Paulus.
Reading today's letter makes me feel like I'm reading dystopian fiction. I wish that were really the case.
Some dystopian fiction is actually hopeful. (The Lost Cause by Cory Doctorow, for example.)
Since the Cold War Era - thanks to organizations such as SAC, NORAD, DARPA and the development of weapons far beyond the capabilities of our enemies - America has been said to have The Greatest Military In The World. But what makes our military great is that Every Member of the Armed Forces Swears An Oath to Defend The Constitution.
We are now going to learn if this "greatest in the world" claim is real or a fable told around a camp fire. When Trump issues orders that violate the Constitution, I pray that our Military tells him to go fuck himself. Sadly, I do not think my prayers will be answered. Soldiers are trained NOT to resist orders of a commanding officer. And Trump is now insuring that all top commanders are loyal to him not the Constitution. God help us all.
What kind of a commanding officer fires generals because of their race or sex. And gives them 3 hours to vacate their home? I hope donthecon gets the same treatment. He is insane and belongs in a padded cell. Nixon listened to the republicans on the judiciary committee who told him to resign or be impeached. The spineless worms of his party encouraged his birther nonsense and as HCR explained in an interview that was the first accepted magat delusion.
It’s over. A fascist oligarchy has managed to take control of the United States in less time than it took Hitler to do the same in Germany. The only hope now is for all the fools in business, politics and law who supported this bunch of demented lunatics to act with all the power they have to put a stop to it. If they don’t the fascists will take them down and all of us with them.
Nothing is over. Stop the surrendering before anything happens.
In my analysis the DoGE are a few short days from attempting to empty Fort Knox. Let’s put up a defense, military or civilian.
They will probably empty Fort Knox and fill it with crypto memes, Joanna.
Time to buy some Chinese currency methinks.
Fascists now control the FBI, CIA, courts and the military - troops, spies and assassins, judges. They can pretty much do what they want. Are you ready to protest and risk your freedom or life? Only the fools in business, politics and law who supported this bunch of demented lunatics can act with all the power they have to put a stop to it.
Would show the way please?
No time for BS, this is an emergency!!!
Was the firing illegal? Can it be challenged in court? Has any court order been ignored? Until court orders are ignored, democracy remains.
Until.........?
In any emergency you don't seat and wait, you react. It would help if you recognize the present situation as a life or death emergency.
No one is sitting waiting. There are lots and lots of lawsuits being filed. Until the next election, it’s lawsuits, expressing, outrage, and staying informed which is what we’re doing by reading Heather.
Ok, first of all, not sure if we'll have an election in 2026, second, if trump 's approval numbers keep going down ,I can assure you we are not going to have the midterm election. And we can sit comfortably while the wheels of justice turned any resolution. We experienced same situation not long ago.
Thank you!!!
And he told us ahead of time what he was going to do. And we STILL elected him!
He had his fat thumb on the scale of justice in that election. Remember the deceit in the Census, the postmaster who slowed the mail’s, changing election laws in red states, January 6, the revolution nobody saw even though they watched it on live tv.
I never got my PA mail in ballot and had to go to the courthouse to vote. Stand in line for 2 hours. How many people less physically able than me in PA couldn’t vote because our ballots were “lost in the mail”? Also, bomb threats across PA on Election Day? What was that about? Maybe messing with the machines? Sorry, PA is not a red state. It was made to look that way.
It's because we're out of touch with ourselves, David.
Dem public figures could collect money. They could appear on stage with celebrities. But none of them could cite a single novel, memoir, biography, history, or film that bore on any of the severe problems that beset our working classes.
Americans in schools learned to like being blind this way -- learned it's better to be packaged in the abstracted ways the standardized testers reduced all, ruled all in all the schools.
Ignorance is bliss.
Some did, idiots among us,
tRump is not in control. He’s throwing shit at the wall hoping it sticks. It won’t. He’s just showing how f’ing nuts he truly is. He does not care a lick about this country. I don’t care how rabid a MAGA fan you are, this stuff will make you scratch your head and ponder. 🤔
Will it? I think the joy at “owning the libs” overrides any common sense.
Until it bites them (no health insurance) or kills them (as with COVID).
This chapter in American history is like having diarrhea. It’s exhausting and there’s shit everywhere. I just can’t.
Excellent analogy Carla!
Is Senator Ernst comfortable with the grab of the military by the Draft Dodger in chief? Did Pete H. tell her he would fire all the JAGs? What a shame! What a failure!
She voted for the woman-and-alcohol-abusing Hegseth, Andy.
She did this to honor the rapist who sits in the White House. Her own experience with rape (like fellow apologist for the orange felon, Nancy Mace) is that first of all one must honor rapists, do what rapists want done.
Those two must feel an attraction for rapists.
She is a senator with experience and a veteran. She should have anticipated and asked the right questions and then show some spine. She didn't. Shame on her and all the others 😕
She never had a spine…
Well, as an abused woman she voted No on the Violence Against Women Act until,they watered it down enough for her.
Hegseth has some nerve calling anyone a DEI hire, when he is a DUI hire.
DUI hire and sex pest.
Excellent point Sherman. Maybe when the scumbag president realizes it, he'll fire Hegseth.
In firing C.Q. Brown, it surprised me that they just didn't call him the N word and be done with it. It seems we are very close to having the kakis replaced by brown shirts. It will be "interesting" to see if the rank and file uphold the oath to the Constitution they made.
I'd bet even Regan is rolling over in his grave.
The good news is coming from the oppositional rallies and "town halls" that are happening...my favorite sign at the one held at Senator Murkowski's office was "Be Responsible Neuter your Doge". And there is a report that all the attorneys fired from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau are formulating lawsuits against doge and musk and the administration...but all this may be too slow to save us.
Love that sign. I'll be passing that around. Neuter, indeed! Thanks.
Slow as the molasses flood
What the rank and file would do it's not only "interesting" but fundamental to uphold the constitution and the rule of law. Thanks for your comment AK.
But, do they know what the Constitution and rule of law are. Many people join the military to be told what to do and not have to be responsible for their own lives. I married one of those people who never wanted to make a decision on his own. He ended up being nothing but a whiny person.
Black Shirts
https://m.youtube.com/shorts/hhJdH63d6zM
What the hell!? so many questions about that, but the main one is why didn't the crowd help her?
Now THAT is a gem!
How I've missed an intellectual in the White House.
Andy Borowitz just started something new. He is collecting people whose names he can use to replace Quisling's. Most people these days don't know who Quisling was, but clearly there are many applicants today whose name could signify the person the most willing to betray their country. Today's column is both depressing and hilarious, so read it and come up with your own nominations: https://www.borowitzreport.com/p/introducing-tbrs-traitor-of-the-week
All the maga leadership is Quisling like. I only hope, all of them end up like him.
Thanks for your reference Betsy.
How far we have come.
I recall those heady-days when the Trumpanzee, version 1.0, famously said, “I love our Generals.” And then made every effort to install as many as he could.
That worked until he realized that they all, one-after-the-other, refused to be loyal to HIM. And, not surprisingly, he either ditched them or they, him (or his administration).
Trumpanzee 2.0 is pulling all “safety-measures,” as they say in military submarine parlance and making every effort to install “controlled leadership” to every aspect of even the military.
Much like my last missive that expressed hope on the part of the SCOTUS, I have similar hopes for our military leadership. I anticipate that they will put honor and Country above political-decisions when it matters. And I can’t see Generals and leadership in any branch accepting or executing Orders from a deranged political figure or the titular director, a defamed Fox News host, when those orders are made that would put our Country in a bad place.
When government leadership gets out of control, it is incumbent on those who can choose to not abide… to not abide.
We’ve now seen it in the highest ranks, and I hope we continue to see it as their purges continue. At some point when all the drivers leave their seats, the buses will have no drivers. A rudderless government will force the hand of Congress and the people.
While it has never happened, perhaps we will be faced with whatever a “no confidence” vote is in America.