However, in the south people risked their jobs and all sorts of things in order to bring about voting rights. So, it depends what it is worth to people.
My mom used to do without when she was a broke student to save to buy in bulk. If one has children one has to think of them. I have a lot of former colleagues that think that supporting your children means never sticking your neck out. I stick my neck out and I show that we can have agency. That is something I owe my child. My mom did the same thing. I learned from her.
As I learned from my father, and as he learned from our Scots, Norse and Germanic ancestors. (It is said there is no word in the parent tongues of Gaelic for "surrender.")
In context, the implication is that as there is no word, there is no concept of 'surrender' in old Gaelic, Norse, Germanic languages.
Just some examples:
"Several Old Norse phrases and words can be used for "surrender," depending on the context of the submission:Ganga á hǫnd: This is a direct phrase meaning "to surrender" or "to submit," literally translating to "to go to hand" (submitting to someone's authority).Gefast upp: Translates to "give up" or "surrender," similar to modern Scandinavian usage.Færa e-m hǫfuð sitt: A dramatic phrase meaning "to surrender to one," literally translating to "to bring one's head to someone".
Thank you; I cannot count the number of times, growing up, I heard that "no-word-for-surrender" assertion you have proven false. At least I phrased it honestly: "It is said..." As always, I appreciate the information and accept it with gratitude as valid learning -- though I know from our previous interactions it is intended not as enlightenment but as an expression of belittlement and hatred.
Loren Bliss -- (It is said there is no word in the parent tongues of Gaelic for "surrender.")
That claim is not true.
The idea that “𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑖𝑠 𝑛𝑜 𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑑 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑠𝑢𝑟𝑟𝑒𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑟 𝑖𝑛 𝐺𝑎𝑒𝑙𝑖𝑐” is a popular myth, often used for dramatic or cultural effect, but it does not hold up linguistically.
What the language actually shows
Both major Gaelic languages—Irish Gaelic and Scottish Gaelic—do have words and phrases that clearly mean “surrender,” even if they are not always a single, perfect one-word match.
For example:
In Irish (Gaeilge):
géilleadh = to surrender, yield, submit
tabhair suas = give up
In Scottish Gaelic (Gàidhlig):
gèill = surrender, submit
toirt seachad = give up / hand over
These are standard, dictionary-recognized terms.
This claim likely comes from:
Romantic nationalism — portraying Celtic cultures as never yielding
Loose translation issues — some concepts do not map neatly word-for-word across languages
Storytelling shorthand — similar myths exist about other languages (“no word for X” is a common trope)
Bottom line
Gaelic speakers absolutely can and do express the idea of surrender.
The language is not missing the concept—just like any other fully developed language, it has multiple ways to convey it.
My most profuse, deeply mortified apology for posting a comment that has engendered such damaging distraction from our attempts to muster an adequate defense against that which has destroyed our nation and is now destroying us. I am truly sorry for the unintended consequences of what I said. l will be silent for the remainder of the day.
"That [fear of losing their jobs/income] is how they keep people enslaved."
However difficult the conditions of people in the United States - they are not enslaved. To say that they are ignores our history of slavery and insults those who endured it and remain impacted by its legacy of enduring disadvantage.
lin-As the descendant of slaves, I do not use it lightly, but I am differentiating between being a slave and being enslaved. I am using the definition that means trapped in a bad situation from here.
Black people in the South risked their jobs (and lives) because they *organized* -- through the churches and otherwise. Quite a few of them trained in organizing through the Highlander Center in Tennessee, then went on to train people in their communities.
Successful strikes succeed in large part because unions and communities organize to make up for at least some of the lost income. Most USians don't have much of a cushion to sustain them if they lose their job-related income. Your example and your mom's example are great, but they're about individuals. Strikes aren't just about individuals, and national strikes require exponentially more organization than a local or even an industry-wide strike.
Organization of all kinds has been faltering in this country since the Reagan administration -- indeed, fragmenting the electorate has been a key Republican goal ever since. We're just starting to repair the damage and build the trust that solidarity requires. (Look up Bernice Johnson Reagon's great essay/speech "Coalition Politics: Turning the Century." It was given in 1981. It hasn't gone out of date.)
I am retired from a union job in the US. I was at a private school that was unionized as part of the American federation of teachers. Before that I was part of a public school system that did strike on occasion, and that improved life for everyone in the schools, mostly the teachers and children.
The people in my union did not want to strike because they did not want to lose the good will of the parents. There was more to it than that, but I won't go into it. Most were well off and liked that. I found that my values were different from many because I am more European in my outlook. We live with constant strikes where I live. Unions organize national strikes here.
Unions collect dues and those dues will go to strike pay. If you are not in a union you need to put away money to prepare for a one day strike. I understand that for many that is hard to do. I am sure that lots of women in Iceland needed the money for the day, but felt part of something greater and for that they went on strike. I think that it took them years to get to that point, and we have to work to that too.
Linda, I admire your way and most people I know give so much to their children in the way of advantage and support that it could be seen as 'cheating' on their behalf which has good outomes when measured by status and financial success -- perhaps not great outcomes for those raised that way when times are tough, like now (and likely to get much worse). Getting tougher for so many who never expected it -- advanced degrees and no jobs, often outshined by first generation people in the work force who are cummunity minded in their ways of accumulating and dispersing wealth and opportunities. Locking up wealth within small families is understandable and common, but perhaps not helpful to the common good going forward. Sticking ones neck out, having agency, these are ways of behaving that are polarizing within our country now. (I'm challenging myself increasingly, as I see things falling apart.)
Thanks Joan. Sticking my neck probably led to my job to "help me" to retire early. However, out of lemons make lemonade if you can.
So, we moved abroad, and recently I started an Indivisible Abroad group in my German city. It is quite different than being a member of Indivisible Chicago, because it is like having a job to start up and run things.
Since our No Kings rally in March, it has consisted of working on our Divestment from Big US Tech campaign, and supporting other pro democracy groups in their rallies, as well as developing our relationships with these prodemocracy groups.
I am not a techie, although my husband can be considered one, but in an academic sense. Our daughter is of her generation a natural tech explorer, but she does not live with us. I am being forced to learn a whole lot of new tech platforms so I can get off of the ones I am on. Not everything, but as much as possible. Replacing when I can. This is a challenge that I see as necessary.
What I am learning is that from now on we need tech not to be so big because economies of size are not beneficial if they support monopolization, leading to oligarchy on the part of the creators/owners. Our new motto is "Safety over Efficiency," but it would be nice to have both. Some things are better in the safer world. Signal messenger app is better than What's App. Threema and Matrix might be even better.
Hopefully we all keep on growing and doing what we can, which is very individual to who we are, to make things better. I am heartened by hearing that Putin is mostly in hiding in Bunkers, which comes from leaked intel, and some observant Russia watchers. A
Also, this clip is from Meidas News yesterday. He says, " I posted a video today of Trump this weekend walking on the tarmac towards Air Force One where he wasn’t able to walk in a straight line and was pretty wobbly on his feet. You can watch it on Twitter, Bluesky, or Threads.
… An anonymous doctor on Twitter reposted the clip with this caption: 'Ataxia. Issue with the cerebellum. Differential: stroke, degenerative, tumor, or drug adverse effects. We have physiological, behavioral, and observational evidence of chronic stimulant dependence. How this guy has not dropped dead of a cardiovascular or cerebrovascular event, given his poor lifestyle choices and risk factors, defies the odds. It’s coming.' "
Things that we know about how the world works, like that demonstration and pushing back will eventually have its moment. With some things you just need to get out of the way of the avalanche. I think and hope and avalanche is coming for the MAGA party. This ongoing war is helping that avalanche to roll in some places.
Linda, my parents too stuck their heads out for us, taught us to be independent and to stand up for what was right. My parents were behind me when I participated in my first protest in high school, that time against the Vietnam War. They and I went to DC when I was 19 to stand against the anti-union movement and Richard Nixon. We have to make it not only acceptable, but necessary for parents and children to get involved. One is not protecting their children when they do nothing to stop the national bullying, disregard of people's rights, ignoring our Constitution, letting super rich white men destroy what people have worked for, doing it with no accountability or consequences. That is not the kind of government any of us should be wanting or planning to leave for our kids. We need to make it possible for our children, and all the children of this nation (citizen and immigrant) are our children, to succeed in a free nation. We should start acting as though they are all our kids and step up on their behalf and help them to step up too.
I'm in Penny. I already boycott as much as possible. Sometimes it is hard not to be resentful others can't be more patient and boycott too. It really is all about priorities and good planning.
I agree until us vs them is dead we can't move on...
Absolutely! It's not a big sacrifice at all. And it's worrisome that people think that not shopping for a week or two is a big deal. I am responding to a comment, by the way. that's who the "they" are.
Steve Bannon’s plan to “flood the zone with shit” is working perfectly. The daily torrent of lies, big and small, coupled with an economy that punishes the indigent, the working poor, the working class, and now the lower end of the middle class, has people scrambling to survive. Sixty percent of Americans have NO investments of any kind in Wall Street—including 401(k)s—but Trump and his minions continue to tout the Dow. Overwhelming “the little people” with lies and crippling economic policies IS the plan so that the Epstein Class can gain and retain control. They believe they’re entitled to rule. We’ve seen this before.
“It is not at all easy to attain power. Once it is ours, however, we can congratulate ourselves that we have deserved it.”—Nazi Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels, 1932
Definitely with gas prices and we're still using pre-war oil. I think he'll declare martial law, suspend midterm and presidential elections and start mass deortation of anyone who complains.
The problem with the whole national strike idea is that it’s disorganized and it lacks coordinated tactics or a unified end game result. It’s supposed to bring the Regime/economy etc. “to its knees” but how? Until there is a common approach about the tactics and goals, very little will come of it.
Plus, like it or not, Kristin is right. Not everyone can afford to put their livelihood at risk, especially for something with such fuzzy goals.
I do everything I can to boycott corrupt companies. I refuse to order anything from Amazon, but so many of my friends whine, “But it’s so convenient!” Maybe it’s convenience that is killing America? It’s not convenient to research the candidates carefully in order to make informed decisions. It’s not convenient to vote. Even though I plead with my friends to vote, they say it doesn’t matter because it has no effect.
In my youth I protested vigorously against the Vietnam War. I figured out early that Ronald Reagan was a rat. The Bushes were devious liars. But the Epstein Files have exposed a bottomless pit of corruption. Do we as a nation have the moral courage to overcome this?
I participated on May 1 as well, in my case by buying nothing. Still needed to work because I am leading a very busy and intense project. Like you I too avoid Amazon (haven’t quit it completely but I always look for alternatives first and buy from them only as a last resort). Same with Meta social media platforms (and I have never been in Twitter/X ever) and that has made it harder to stay in touch with some longtime far-flung friends. I also unsubscribed from Paramount which means no more of some of my favorite shows like Star Trek Strange New Worlds. True resistance is never free, and it involves sacrifices both trivial and significant. It also involves accepting our duty as citizen/patriots to participate, to be informed and to show up at the ballot box.
I, too, avoid Amazon as much as I possibly can, using them as a last resort. I used to have Amazon here about twice a week, but as of this year, I think I ordered from them once. A part we were unable to get from any of the hardware stores.
I will, however, point out that there are elderly, disabled, house bound and far rural (or a combination of) that have no alternative. Perhaps Walmart. Not sure that is much better.
Today, I just feel overwhelmed. I can't see my way out of this mess.
Kristin, I agree. We seem to think convenience is our birthright as Americans. We have lost our traditional “waste not, want not” attitude to many things, including our use of our time.
In a college dorm bathroom, a foreign student asked why there were no plugs in the sinks. Wasn’t water precious in this country? My theory was that it would cost to have the sinks kept clean. Would the students clean up after themselves?
30 percent of those who voted voted for Trump. That doesn’t mean that a third of the country supports him. Too many do and too many simply aren’t paying attention and too many love his racism, etc.
Yet the Europeans have them - I think we sit on our couches of comfort. I blame the souless legacy news and social media (as the most common source for news and for grips).... the grip platform that neuters us. It is probably a reason many younger generations question protests and so few do not engage in them. I wonder how the Dems will respond, what their strategy will be, now that they can't stop these expenses. Will they whine or go on the offensive? Will they control the bully pulpit or go silent. I gave up on one party, I sure need to see a political Operation Overlord in the other.
That's precisely the result of half a century of GOP neoliberalism bait and switch. This IS where they wanted most people to be at by now, because they knew that that's how you install a fascist regime in the first place.
Historian Quinn Slobodian explained it quite well in his book "Crack-up Capitalism". He shows how, from the very beginning, the idea of the founders of neoliberalism (Von Hayek, and then Reagan advisor Friedman) was that capitalism and democracy are incompatible.
Since at least 2009, Peter Thiel, who bankrolls Vance's career as venture capitalist and politician, has publicly claimed the exact same thing. Needless to add that they all side with capitalism and against democracy. Why? They believe that IF you make a lot of money, that means you're superior to 99% of the population, so the 99% should not dictate what to do with "your" money. Instead, it's you who should impose your will onto those 99%, simply because you're superior.
The idea that the quality of decisions made in DC will be much higher IF the 99% "mediocre" citizens have a seat at the table too (idea lying at the heart of the very notion of democracy) is rejected by them as absurd.
Is it entirely absurd? No, as the 2024 elections have proven. People CAN massively vote AGAINST their own interests and the interests of their own country (or not vote, with the same result). So democracy is not a panacea. It requires citizens who are well-educated and well-informed, and who regularly debate with each other. Only those debates will lead to a higher collective intelligence, compared to an authoritarian regime - Aristotle already argued - because 99% of the people debating together will always lead to more intelligent conclusions and bills than when a handful of "the best" make decisions in everyone else's place.
So yes, today we're at a stage of the installation of neofascism where many (most?) people can't even afford strikes anymore. But strikes or protests aren't the only way to fight back. One of the most efficient ways IS precisely to engage in real debates among ourselves again - including those who still vote GOP or who don't vote at all. Because then, even the worst propaganda won't have any impact anymore.
Kristin, but the question becomes, can they afford to lose everything if we don't do something to stop Trumplandia and the sycophants and oligarchs who prop him up? This is a hard one that we haven't been faced with in my lifetime!
There will a point where we won't be able to afford to not participate. Unless we will just continue to go about things as normal no matter what happens and in that case, I guess we deserve what happens.
"National general strike: I can't understand why this hasn't already happened."
In some European countries - such as France - there is a 'strike culture.' It is based on an established culture of strong labor unions with the ability to build broad coalitions. These countries also have smaller populations than the United States - and extensive social safety nets.
None of these conditions exist in the United States. Nor have they. In fact, one may reasonably argue that the closest we've had to a 'people's revolution' is the so-called Reagan Revolution - in which significant numbers of working class and middle class voters were attracted to the Republican party by its 'right to work' ie anti-union platform and its promise to cut taxes by going after programs which indulged 'welfare queens' ie the social safety net.
The Trump administration and Republican Congressional majorities were put in place by antidemocratic minded voters uniting at the ballot box. There is a lesson here. That getting out the vote and uniting to elect Democrats is the most effective use of our time to maximize our power to institute policies.we want.
I agree. We are facing a monumental task in these next months. Gerrymandering is rampant and I fear trump will throw millions off the voter roles and scam this country for all its worth. I’m old and retired but will take on this task for the next generations. Can someone please explain this never ending aim to accumulate mass amounts of wealth at the expense of others? Since time began. I swear…..I will never get it.
A major, dangerous human flaw, for sure. Nothing will change unless humanity recognizes its weaknesses (and they are legion) and works to curtail them. We can clearly see that people cannot be trusted with vast wealth and so it shouldn't be allowed. But we know that won't happen. We also kill one another for no reason and no other species does that. And we hurt our young (see pedophilia). What creature does that?
lin- agree with most of this. You are absolutely right that the cultural foundation for a mass proletarian general strike is just not there in the US. Part of that because any activity like this was long ago demonized as socialism, communism, etc. and the stigma persists today. Of course, we are at the point now where anything that adds the safety net, defends the rights of workers and marginalized communities to participate in our economic/political systems is labeled the same way by the fascists. I am a progressive Democrat but I get extremely frustrated with ultra-left progressives in name only (PINOs) who caterwaul about “electoralism” and put down anyone who dares to think voting matters. At the end of the day, the ballot box really is the only way. And that means finding at least some shred of common cause with some folks you don’t love. Also, not taking your ball and going home when you lose one battle. Frankly, it’s what being an adult citizen and patriot really is all about.
The danger is not only in the Republican Party but at the intersection of antidemocratic and antiDemocratic belief and passion. Both of which eschew the foundational protocols of our democratic republic - coming to consensus through reasoned debate of empirical evidence.
The irrational habits of mind informed by right wing religious creed and left wing ideology remove reason from political process and government protocols. And as Goya illustrated, The Sleep of Reason Breeds Monsters.
Chris, do you really believe elections won’t be rigged ? It happened before and will surely be the case next time because Putin will see to it happening.
France also had the Roman Catholic culture of worker priests. It was a thing and my mother would wax on and on about it. It’s not a half bad idea and there was Fr. Robert Drinin SJ who was forced to step down from his seat. I always thought he had some decent thinking.
Pope Francis and Pope Leo both come out of the Latin American Catholic liberation theology tradition. It is one reason they are resented by American Republican racist right wing Catholic extremists (such as Leonard Leo, Steve Bannon, and many American bishops et al)
Of course, some of the best criticism of Leo, Bannon et al comes out of the progressive Catholic community. In the tradition of Dorothy Day.
"Latin American Catholic liberation theology is a 1950s-1960s theological movement interpreting the Gospel through the experience of the poor, prioritizing social justice as integral to salvation. Emerging from thinkers like Gustavo Gutiérrez, it champions a "preferential option for the poor," advocating for structural change against poverty, often utilizing grassroots Ecclesial Base Communities."
National Catholic Reporter | The Independent News Source
I know. St Oscar Romero who was a bishop with ties to the elite then had a spiritual and moral epiphany and started to speak out. Small based faith communities. Pope John Paul badly mismanaged and was mismanaged with all of this. And as the late Ambassador Robert White found out country had a not so great role all in all of this.
There were many, enough to make a difference, who believed in democracy to vote for Reagan, who proved that his ideas of democracy were, in fact, not very democratic at all. In other words, those who democratically elected Reagan, were duped, just as those who voted for Trump were duped even deeper. The phrase may sound oxymoronic, but lin's statement rings true, as opposed to Reagan's idea of democracy which in fact, was hollow.
"...antidemocratic minded voters uniting at the ballot box." -- oxymoron anyone?"
Ha!
Yes ... but.
Simple minded people did not craft the Powell Memorandum, Heritage Society, Federalist Society, and Project 2025.
And it is not simple minded to have elected Trump et al to win the Supreme Court and actually all three branches of government. Short sighted and many other things, but certainly mindful of their goal.
Because the USian population is too cravenly self-obsessed to (ever) rise up sufficiently courageous, disciplined and angry to achieve Liberation -- the result of the decades of neoliberal rat-maze conditioning begun by Jimmy the Theocrat and escalated to failed-nation morally imbecilic permanence by Ronnie the Nazi and his bipartisan successors. Here's our true sitrep: https://www.laprogressive.com/racism/red-summer This is why I argue our (only) hope is an invasion of Liberators from without, with a strong resistance movement, as in France during the Original Nazi occupation, in support.
I do not see invasion from liberators happening, unless you consider China a potential liberator. What will happen has to happen from within, and it will. I think a lot of people went out for the general strike on MayDay Strong, and it had union support. The idea has to take root. The resistance muscles are not strong in many people, and they need exercise.
Probably 99.9 percent of the time, Linda, we are in agreement, and even on those rare occasions we are not, I am always favorably impressed by your writing. But I believe I know this nation very well -- I'd lived in New York City and five states -- Florida, Virginia, Michigan, West Virginia, Tennessee -- before I was 10; attended seven schools in four of those states through my K-12 years, served in three additional states -- South Carolina, Maryland, Georgia plus Korea -- during my Regular Army years (1969-1962) and worked as a journalist in five realms --Michigan, Tennessee, New York City. plus New Jersey and Washington state. I attended college in three: Tennessee, New York City and Washington state; I also did blue-collar work in Tennessee and Washington state, the latter including a season as engineer on a 96-foot salmon seiner. And I've driven across the nation twice, and up and down the eastern seaboard, through Appalachia and the Middle West at least a dozen times. So I believe I have a solid sense of our national consciousness both from near-lifelong studies in sociology, history, archaeology and mythology -- backed by decades of on-the-ground observation, always as a social-documentary photographer and often as a reporter.
That said, I believe our (few) progressive founders and citizens were intentionally betrayed and permanently rejected by the 2024 voters; that despite the unstable popularity of Trump, the Aryan Christian majority's white-male-supremacy, misogyny and beyond-Trump fanatical theocracy make the betrayal permanent and irremediable; with neoliberalism's incurable conditioning in self-obsessed moral imbecility guaranteeing a slave-minded general population that is congenitally -- genetically, actually -- incapable of effective rebellion. (Genetically? See https://news.yale.edu/2025/03/06/violent-experiences-alter-genome-ways-persist-generations .)
I am well aware of the anti-Nazi resistance movements that arose in the Third Reich. All failed; the forces of oppression were too powerful to ever be overcome by local efforts. We the Empathetic People face the same difficulty in the failed U.S. Intentionally a close approximation of the Third-Reich, it requires external liberation for exactly the same reason its Original Nazi ancestor did. Hence the relevance of this Liberation fantasy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k4gBykQylm4 And of this fantasy as well: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EEMFymfZZ6A Knowing history as I do -- also having paid close attention (and thrice re-listened) to the King's congressional speech -- it would not surprise me overmuch were such efforts already in the making; though the British Empire is long dead, its institutional memory predates Rome and lives on. That's why it is always foolhardy to gravely threaten the Commonwealth. Eventually -- though I probably won't live long enough to see it -- I suspect there will be a shadow Liberation government take shape in London, no doubt with with branches in Paris and Berlin, perhaps even in Seoul...
" Intentionally a close approximation of the Third-Reich, it requires external liberation for exactly the same reason its Original Nazi ancestor did." Explain? Not a very self-evident observation.
Do you have any idea how much work goes into even a limited strike?? Do you realize how fragmented the U.S. public has become since the Reagan administration? We've having to organize more or less from scratch. Too many USians weren't paying attention till Trump got elected the second time.
Nothing screams “responsible governance” like requesting a billion dollars to refurbish Donald Trump’s personal White House ballroom. Forget healthcare, nutrition, or infrastructure—national security now hinges on marble floors and gold-trimmed chandeliers. Because obviously, you cannot negotiate with Iran or manage a pandemic without parquet worthy of a reality TV finale. Punchline: who knew diplomacy was so feng shui-dependent?
Meanwhile, the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” waltzes through Congress, stripping social services while showering the ultra-wealthy with tax cuts. The only beauty here is in the press release. Ordinary citizens kicked off SNAP for “fraud” or a “better economy”? Fraud is under 1 percent. Better economy? Apparently measured in diamond cufflinks and gold-plated toilet seats. Punchline: the economy is thriving—if your bank account is already thriving.
At the Border Security Expo, an advisor cheerfully announced, “You ain’t seen sh*t yet,” proving that policy can now be delivered with the subtlety of a late-night cable monologue. Punchline: profanity is the new legislative finesse.
Overseas, Project Freedom continues, endlessly rebranded to maintain buzzword patriotism, as if renaming a stalled military mission magically conjures liberty. Punchline: freedom now comes with an asterisk and a marketing budget.
In short, America’s priorities are crystal clear: gilded private spaces, performative profanity, and endless creative rebranding. Democracy thrives when your leaders obsess over sparkle, swagger, and absurdity. Punchline: the real national pastime is watching billion-dollar ballrooms while wondering why the rest of the country still exists.
My Fiddling-While-Rome-Burns and Let-Them-Eat Cake conspiracy theory:
Look at Putin's reception rooms - a la the Czars. Authoritarians want security and need public display. When we said Mar A Lago White House we meant Trump residing/presiding in Florida. Now it literally means Trump 'holding court' in the White House transformed into Mar A Lago. The entire Federal City remade in his image.
Of course, the Russian court remade itself in the image of the Sun King's French court. Will the GOP-Billion-Dollar-Ballroom-Bunker-GiveAway suffice to complete it by Jan 6 2028? Jan 20? Only our electing a Democratic majority can stop it.
Classic Trump: Lie outrageously to try to spin his own reality & hope enough suckers buy it. Iranians aren't playing. Minor correction: ballroom is not "refurbishment," but construction from scratch. He is robbing us blind and his Party of accomplices is facilitating.
Yes, Steve, the pres, the cabinet etc are completely out of control. But who is going to stop them? With maniacs like Homan and Miller in charge, they will deport and abuse anyone; citizen or not. I see ICE stepping up to live ammo against protesters soon.
I don’t think anybody realizes how much power Palantir wields once they decide to pull the plug on everything. They can and they will. We are heading down a deeply dark path.
This Substack article has a brilliant idea for “no taxation without representation.” Those of us in blue states need to talk to our state legislators and governors—write trigger laws that draw a red line. If you touch our elections, the state will direct federal taxes into escrow. We need to mobilize our state governments in blue states—Christopher Armitage has a lot of great ideas about how to do that, this is just one of them. (I also posted this on yesterdays letter so I’m sorry if I sound like a broken record to some)
I understand your passion, Steve, but who exactly is "we"? I'm very pessimistic about the nation as a whole to "come together," as the saying goes, and commit to an act such as this. The DNA of this nation is rooted in individualism and "freedom", which has only proven among so many to translate as "freedum" to the electorate. Still, it cannot be denied that the overwhelming population have their own challenges to negotiate through life. I happen to be one of them. In shutting the country down, as it is suggested, would bring massive hardship on folks such as my wife who is battling two neurological disabilities. Do I wish that this nation was healthy enough, to enact such, without precedent? Hell yes! But the country is not healthy enough: nowhere near it. If it was, we wouldn't have elected a scumbag like Trump who subsequently brought in additional scumbags to bolster his scum bagged foundation that has only made this nation additionally ill than it ever was. No, my friend, we need another plan.
I agree with you whole heartedly. It’s astonishing we forgot that money has come to control everything this country does. With holding taxes is the only power we the people have left. Let’s use it before it is too late.
May Day 2026 was slated for a National Strike. Aside from North Carolina school districts shutting down for the strike there, I heard very little about it.
PLEASE, Yes, a nation wide withholding of Federal taxes for the next tax year. People have responded to me saying “they” will put you in jail. If 80-90% withhold taxes, is there the capacity to do that?
Charming how easily congressional Republicans enable Donald’s police state.
By simple reconciliation – that is, no Dem votes needed – Republicans can now fund (for a billion taxpayer dollars) his ego-solidifying ballroom in all its gold and gilt, and his ICE and CBP private armies of murderers and warrantless breakers-down-of-doors needing to kill elections and imprison millions in U.S. concentration camps so easily funded.
Charming because in her podcast today Heather expressed the anger gnawing at her as this open lawlessness just builds, continues, worsens.
And why not? Putin can do it and does do it (in the countries he’s invaded and in Russia by the dissidents he’s murdered). Mohammed bin Salman can do it (in Saudi Arabia and other countries whose expat Saudi journalists he has murdered and cut up by hacksaws). Netanyahu can do it in the West Bank, Lebanon, Gaza, Syria, and Iran, too (thank you AIPAC ally U.S. arms). Xi can. Erdogan. Kim. Sisi. Bukele. Milei. All the best dictators and nationalist murderers.
Of course he’s got to kill U.S. elections. There’s a war on – more schools full of Iranian girls needing slaughter.
More millions of Americans needing to be taken off health care. Denied nutrition programs. Shafted by rising gas, diesel, and groceries.
Might Republican incompetence, sycophancy, cowardice, and corruption dissolve them all before their arriving police state?
Hello Phil... DJT at his Heart, is still a Failed Businessman... DJT is only Good at Fraud, and Spectacle... The GOP has ceased to be a serious governing Party, and now is a Slave to FOX News, and DJT... As Regards DJT, Pray For Divine Intervention Soon....
The GOP at all levels of government cannot govern. Project 2025 proposed giving the President power to remove government employees and replace them with Republican sympathizers who were GOP hacks loyal only to the party. It's obvious that competence doesn't matter, in fact, it's practically a requirement.
Hello Anne-Marie... Yes, Intervention... Divine Intervention is the Cleanest, Most Anti-Septic... Did You see his Oval Office Performance Today?... It's Getting Close...
This clip is from Meidas News yesterday. " I posted a video today of Trump this weekend walking on the tarmac towards Air Force One where he wasn’t able to walk in a straight line and was pretty wobbly on his feet. You can watch it on Twitter, Bluesky, or Threads.
… An anonymous doctor on Twitter reposted the clip with this caption: 'Ataxia. Issue with the cerebellum. Differential: stroke, degenerative, tumor, or drug adverse effects. We have physiological, behavioral, and observational evidence of chronic stimulant dependence. How this guy has not dropped dead of a cardiovascular or cerebrovascular event, given his poor lifestyle choices and risk factors, defies the odds. It’s coming.' "
I don't know why anyone needs to read stuff from an "anonymous doctor" when one glance at his psychotic, sundowning tweets tells you everything you need to know. Or one look at those bizarre, chameleon-like eyes, the hunched shoulders in front of the lectern, the incoherent words that never made sense to start with. The man is demented. The guardrails are off. He's also cruel. And a lifelong liar. And deeply stupid.
John Gartner, Ph.D, has a substantial amount of experience dealing with dementia patients as a psychologist, and he sees Donald ‘s gait and other leg movements as a sign Donald has frontotemporal dementia. He also sees Trump’s speech changes and use of words which to him resemble actual words but are garbled as evidence of progressive dementia. There was a YouTube video I saw where a lady from the UK’s Times Radio interviewed Dr. Gartner and he discussed these issues with her. MSM here is too chicken to do it.
Thanks Kathy. I see that his he has speech aphasia of some sort as well. Frontotemporal would interfere with his executive functioning, which is ironic considered that he is the leader of the executive branch with poor executive brain functioning. That is where critical decision making takes place. Very scary to realize. It reminds of being 9 and on a ferris wheel at a local traveling carnival, with my diesel engineer uncle. At some point he noticed that a critical pin was lose on the ferris wheel and he was terrified. He said something to me, but I remember thinking, I am a kid and I am not going to worry about this, let him worry. Now I am the adult that gets to worry realizing that the pin holding the president's brain together is very lose.
Not so much that, I think, as inured by lives in schools dedicated to testing which above all teaches "ask no questions" of anyone, anything. Only anonymous, dehumanized testers ask the Qs.
And the Qs all have, from four choices, each one correct answer. No complications, no analogies, no serendipity, no multiple layerings.
Testing doesn't teach just the cowardice we see in mainstream media. It more vastly teaches our addictions to the lies of linear causality only, the lies of grouping and categorical imagination only.
Don't know. What I do know from courses in Neuro and Abnormal psych, that Trump is not mentally healthy, and I can see some of this limitations, but the people around him regularly must see more of them and be taking advantage of him as well. Someone should be blocking his calls and keeping him off of Truth Social at night, when as Jeff Tiedrich describes it, he is Sundowning.
I've been amazed at how long bodies can stay alive while being in ill health, "propped up" is a good way of putting it. Soon he'll be dropping out of sight more, I expect.
For many years all I could abd still can think of is Rasputin. Robert Massie wrote a book on the Czar and Czarina and how because of their son’s hemophilia Rasputin became a powerful force. He also was almost unbelievably indestructible. The film Nicholas and Alexandria is worth a watch. The role of medical illness like hemophilia has an important place in that historical narrative. And the disease was also part of our AIDS/ HIV narrative with the tragic story of Ryan White.
Apache … the Divine helps those that help themselves.
The pro-democracy movement would stop harming itself if it started telling itself to stop telling lies (like Bernie Sander’s “it’s okay to be angry at capitalism”) and instead started telling truths … like it’s okay to be angry at CAPINO (capitalism in name only), CRISTINO (Christianity in name only), SCINO (science in name only), JUSTINO (justice in name only), etc.
Morality — treating others the way you would want to be treated if the shoe was on the other foot — is the founding principle of all the world’s moral traditions. Immorality — “do unto others before they do unto me” — is the mutually exclusive and collectively exhaustive alternative.
Different traditions state different founding principles, and their different contexts involve different applications, but the different words have precisely the same meaning. In capitalism, it’s Adam Smith’s “theory of moral sentiment” (1759), not Milton Friedman’s theory of immoral sentiment (1962). In Christianity, its Matthew 22:40, not MTG’s former “hate thy neighbor” tendencies. In science, its “subject assumptions to rigorous skepticism, even my own, even when (and especially when) it’s inconvenient,” and in justice it’s due process, and not Sam Alito’s “the cold-blooded KKK murderers of James Chaney, Andrew Goodman, and Michael Schwerner are here with us in spirit.”
To stop believing the Lie is to stop behaving as if the best liar wins and start setting some good examples … like behaving as if politics is a positive-sum practice whereas zero-sum is political malpractice. Then we’re working in harmony — instead of at cross purposes — with the Divine.
Apache, if by "pray for divine intervention," you mean that we enthusiastically anticipate Nature taking her course with the accelerated decline of all psychological and physiological functions in DJT until they finally cease, then I am on board. I'd add that Justice demands the involvement of significant levels of pain, to offset the great pain he has caused others.
Mumbling words to an imagined deity won't change the natural course of events.
How long did it take you to put that aide post together young lady with three names I love when you people post three names that make you sound more intelligent but then you open your mouth and prove that you’re not with a post like that. I’m sorry, Your Honor whatever he said was BS. Well Patricia do you have any fax to back that up no Your Honor that’s just what I think. Well Patricia, here’s a photo of who you might be. See if you might fit the description here. don’t know any facts just repeat what you see on MSNBC now or CNN. Full full of unsupported, insults, and accusations. Nothing but emotional thoughts. And of course, that worst case scenario call somebody a racist or other unsupported acronym.
What has he won? I see chaos and inexperienced toadies who are in their positions only because they're loyal to trump. trump himself is a narcissist who can never admit he's wrong, along with being a pathological liar. No one knows how to get out of the illegal war in Iran,especially Hegseth, who fired anyone with experience. The DOJ can't keep attorneys, probably because they believe in the law and our Constitution, and we all know the DOJ works for trump. Nobody is actually working for the people. They take from the poor to give to the wealthy. This whole regime is an abomination and that will be trump's legacy, in my opinion.
One last thing BC, every single president for forever has put toadies in their cabinet
I'm sorry I've never heard. Sorry I've never heard of a president putting enemies in their cabinet. Hmmmm Maybe Kennedy should've put Nixon in his cabinet?
And I guess you haven't followed politics too long huh?
Every single president is a narcissist, every single one.
But coupled with his narcissism, he is one of the only leaders in the last 30 years
And unlike Biden, who was a traitor to this country as well as Obama he is America first where he should be and frankly Mister if Biden's name was in front of many of the items that Trump accomplished you'd be standing and cheering
Tell me about the toadies tell me about their inexperience cause what's happening here is exactly what he promised and the more he wins the more you hate him. In fact it's so ugly that four states have now tried to stop the no tax on tips no tax on overtime from being effective in their state that's how bad it is. That's how much they're pushing back on his success. Should've voted with the winner, pal then you'd be proud Of America
What qualifications does hegseth have to run the Pentagon? What experience does ka$h Patel have running the FBI? How is it that trump's personal attorney is now running the DOJ? Why isn't anyone bitching about gas prices like they did with Biden. You seem to accept whatever demented don says. I take no stock in your comments. You're just another loyal MAGA who thinks trump hasn't completely destroyed everything that was good for America. I am on the right side of history. I know because I'm not a dumb MAGA. trump's approval is in the toilet. The majority of people aren't happy with this regime. Maybe that's why Democrats have made up ground in nearly every election since trump took office. I don't hate trump. I pity him. It must suck to be malignant narcissist carrying so much hate in his heart, knowing deep down he really is a fool. He is impulsive. He thinks the world should roll over for him. They won't. He even insults and fights with the Pope! Yup, that's normal behavior. Sorry, regardless of what you say, trump is the worst president in history. I'm also not your pal.
By the way, Biden’s gas prices lasted years not weeks. Two dollars higher for almost 2 years. Tripled mortgage rates increased grocery places by 20% two months into his term of Office and took inflation from 3% to 9% all in 2 1/2 years what an accomplishment
What qualifications did Barack Obama have before he became president? What qualifications did Henry Ford have before he created ford motors. What qualifications did Zuckerberg have before he created Facebook?
BC you are the slowest of soul You idiots are more concerned with what happened before an act they created becomes a success. Every one of you is more concerned about process than results. It’s so sickening and it’s so evident but you don’t wanna look at it yourself.
Who gives a shit what kind of qualification somebody has because all of a sudden they take a job and they do a great job
AND THAT’S ALL THAT MATTERS.
WHAT QUALIFICATIONS DID FDR HAVE BEFORE HE BECAME PRESIDENT?
ON THE OPPOSITE END OF THE SPECTRUM JOE BIDEN HAD 40 YEARS OF EXPERIENCE AND FUCK THIS COUNTRY FOR THE NEXT DECADE WITH OPEN PORTERS.
WOW, BC!! I don’t know if you saw this P Rick quote: “One last thing BC, every single president for forever has put toadies in their cabinet”
Unbelievable, huh? That must mean Poor Rick (PRick Sender) thinks Trump has toadies in his cabinet! I wonder is Toadies drink gallons of alcohol and wear “Stars & Stripes” pocket hankies that imitate military awards??
Another one of those dreamers huh? Well I'll keep dreaming pal because he hasn't taken a loss yet. Every single one of his policies is doing great for America and American citizens.
In fact, you obviously have no memory whatsoever that the most important issue to American's pre-election was the border.
75 days later he kept his promise one of another 150 that he's kept unlike any former president.
But you hate like all you moronic liberals is pre-presidential. Which is about as worthy as a Brand, demented penny of which there aren't any.
Instead of generic insults and accusations, why don't you tell me what he's lost pal? In May I posted 20 major accomplishments by Trump and there's been about 40 or 50 more since then.
But don't worry he's only got another 2 1/2 years or so and then maybe he'll be chosen as vice president by the next president elect. Uh oh
It's my pleasure. I have to visit the asylum here every once in a while to get grounded. To realize how much better we have it outside of this domain
And I love that a number of these people went out on a note King's march dressed in all kinds of ridiculous, embarrassing costume And wasted their life
Do you know why 93 Because in a country that has a king you're not allowed to have a NO KINGS protest otherwise they Slice off your head. That's how stupid you people are
BUT HERE'S THE IRONY FOR YOU TRUMP'S BEEN AN OFFICE A YEAR AND A HALF THIS TIME BERNIE SANDERS 40 YEARS CHUCK SCHUMER 52 YEARS JOE BIDEN 50 YEARS. NOW, PLEASE IDENTIFY THE KING FOR 4ME WHO GENERALLY STAYS IN POWER FOR A LONG TIME!
And I'll watch while he's lowered down to his deathbed, and I'll stand by his grave 'til I'm sure that he's dead. Don't get me wrong ... I'm not saying 8647. I'm just saying the world will be a much better place with 4786'd.
Well, Add hate and stupidity to your ignorance because that's all you have. That's quite a trio, dear James. In the meantime, I love the fact that he keeps winning and winning and winning because every time he wins You guys hate some more. And I'm enjoying watching you suffer for no reason whatsoever Everyone of Trump's policies is winning for American and the American people And you aren't American socialist or communist if you want that there's one-way flights out of here all day long. Have a nice time.
Have you ever been more sincere in worshiping your king? That vacant haunt of a man? Can y wake him up during y praise service? It’s embarrassing to read such groveling BS.
I don’t like Trump. The problem with all you idiots is you just can’t stand the name. I could give a shit about the name
if Joe Biden was putting out the policies that Trump is putting out I’d be cheering for Joe Biden. It has nothing to do with the name
OR THE PERSON. Nor The name nor the person is what affects the American citizen. The only thing that actually affects them are the policies and laws that they enact while they’re in office… and as long as the policies remain in effect
You just hate the fucking name and of course you hate beyond belief when you’re not in control and there was a great survey recently by CNN that absolutely personifies what I’ve just said above when you’re not in control, you go apeshit even if you agree with the policies you won’t admit it and you can’t stand it and as for me, I love to watch you guys lie to yourselves
I don't hate anyone, Rick. I feel sorry for people who ... like you ... refuse to constrain their own ignorance, but I reserve the pain I feel for the innocent victims of that ignorance.
YOU said I hate people. That is a lie, and the only person you're convincing is yourself, but you need to because the alterative will scare you so much you'll poop your little-boy pants.
The line it is drawn;
The curse it is cast;
The slow one now;
Will later be fast;
As the present now;
Will later be past;
The order is rapidly fadin';
And the first one now;
Will later be last.
The best time for the times to be a-changin' was six decades ago. The second best time is now.
Well, James, unfortunately for you I’ve been writing about almost everything in my life which has got Me from a popper living in a furnished Apartment my entire life until I was 20. To be one of the most successful people I could ever imagine Not only creating a billions of dollars of value to hundreds of thousands of participants but But turning 3 to 4000 people into millionaires.
Married for 56 years Travel the Earth, 119 countries and islands and all 50 states
If you ever hear from James r Carey
Make sure you are forever, wary
For partisans make Poor decisions
And forever attempting to make revisions
To the successes of the opposite side
While the let’s failed attempts the world derides
When the government is not left controlled
They then assume the ugliest of roles
And continue to cheat and lie to the end
When the laws in their favor they cannot bend
And the more their enemies win the prize
The more the violence and hate arise
It’s when they’re not in control
Impeachment and murder is then their role
For 10 years, they’ve tried to denigrate
Yet losing each battle is their proven fate
and when the war of wits is over and done
Trump’s policies and laws will again have won
and I still tell you,james you;ve never found a insult or an accusation you haven’t liked With no back up, no support no facts no evidence just hate. You may call it what you will. If that makes you feel any better
James, you poor soul. You’re you were worthless, generic imbecile. In my opinion you never say anything you just bloviate
And I can write poetry circles around you, pal I never said you hate people you just hate America and the reason you hate America is because you’re not in control and that’s the only reason.
Because of Joe Biden had done half the things that Trump has accomplished already you’d be cheering your ass off
Rick: behind the veil of social media one is free to ignore the standards of constructive dialogue. Because we don't have to look one another in the eye, which tends to mollify our language. Evidence and logic typically win arguments; confrontation does not. Your opinions tend to be a barrier to good communication and they will not alter the opinions of those who post here - nor can we alter yours. Most respondents to Heather's letters provide irrefutable, well-documented information. Even though competence may vary among us. Even though the views of those who regularly post are not always consistent with the majority, no one is stripped of his/her autonomy or rights. But generally everyone here recognizes the vital relationship between power and morality. In other words, we are all offended when our leaders use profanity and foul language to describe people and events; or when they use cartoons to depict their gleeful entry into war - that's not foreign POLICY; or when they want to destroy a nation into the stone age - innocent, men, women and children incinerated; or when they refer to good people coming from shit hole countries; or when they fabricate disrespectful characterizations of good people eating our cats and dogs; or when they defame someone's looks, weight or IQ; or when the sole basis of authority is personal wealth not the welfare of the country. This has coarsened our society immeasurably. We, here cannot alter your thoughts, feelings, grievances with further exhortations. So maybe you would like to join in evidence-based, historically relevant, intellectually rigorous debate......Cheers.
Stephanie, thank you very much because now one of the people who are contradicting or criticizing. Anything I’ve said has done so with a fact, or a spec of evidence respect of support. I’m the only one right here that when I say something, I’ll support it with links and fax and evidence.
And maybe you haven’t looked at the last six years of Trump’s presidency then that’s all they’ve done is integrate him. Are you fucking kidding me Stephanie. They denigrate his looks they denégrate his weight they denegrate his mouth. But they can’t dedicate his policies because they’re all working. They even integrate oh my God he’s gone two weeks over of six week war. Lmao.
I’ve asked 100 times Stephanie for the following
Please list me any of Trump’s policies or laws that have been enacted that have personally negatively affected your life.
Politicians are always vulnerable. If they can't take the heat...... But don't we expect more from our leaders; the public displays its displeasure in perverse ways as well, but it is not responsible for policies that protect our welfare - environment, safety, health care, education, etc. I looked through your posts, and all I saw were all caps (anger, shouting); name calling, frustration. I have suffered emotional pain, mostly for others who have suffered abuse even death under this administration. But since my husband and I were always frugal, responsible people, we have retired in very good shape. (Besides, I'm tough, physically and mentally - remember I'm the one who raced canoes over 35 miles for 12 yrs; ran marathons; competed in triathlons, biked 12 centuries and I swim laps at a local college, and post swim forced to take a really cold shower -- you can't bury me or hurt me or destroy me. Have you ever hiked up Mt. Washington in the winter???? It's cold and very windy even dangerous) That doesn't mean that I don't care for others who have been egregiously defamed or harmed by this administration - Blacks, Hispanics, Muslims, women, and Miller wanting an all white nation This can't be good for the country. Somehow, the country has decivilized politics with fearmongering (the immigrants are taking your jobs, while a report today claimed that the absence of these workers, esp. where ICE has been means less work for native born workers. Find the article.) But.... you did NOT address the points I made either with support for these behaviors by trump or with at least an admission that such behavior is not presidential, acceptable or tolerable. Yes, yes and yes -- all politicians are vulnerable, beholden to interest groups, make bad decisions, engage in crony politics - but all believed in science, expertise and professionalism. But don't take my work for this: listen to Tim Snyder, Ruth Ben Ghiat, Anne Applebaum, Fiona Hill, Preet Bahara et al... Rick - your activism is no less within the range of what we all experience depending on influences of all kinds, range of experiences, background etc. (I note that you have been quite successful and well travelled - good for you.)
Apache, I think you never left the reservation. So let me help you bring you up to speed. This failed businessman has hotels AND golf courses all over the world. How many you got? This failed businessman how’s a social network worth a couple of billion. This failed businessman is president of the United States only the second time ever in alternate terms. And let me share with you a few of Donald Trump‘s peers who have gone through bankruptcy that they’ve come out semi successful. Perhaps you’ll recognize their names of people that had enough drive and confidence and persistence to fail and keep coming back so here are the names of some of Trump’s peers. PT BARNUM, MILTON, HERSHEY, H.J. HEINZ, HENRY, FORD, AND ONE OF YOUR FAVORITE AMONGST MANY OTHERS NOT HERE ON THE LIST
WALT DISNEY, AND OF COURSE, ABRAHAM LINCOLN. WHO FAILED MANY TIMES.
Winston Churchill said his definition of success was somebody that went from fail failure to failure to failure with no loss of enthusiasm.
Did you hear the story of Kamala Harris when she visited the Apache reservation? She was trying to garner some votes, so she visited the chief of the Apaches. And she said what can I do for you, sir? What do you need here on the reservation? And the chief said we could really use some doctors. We're really shorthanded with Good drs
So Karey whips out her cell phone turns around makes a call Turns around back to the chief and says by next week you will have three new doctors And the chief said that that's great And then Kamala said what else can I do for you? He says well if we're gonna have doctors, we probably need a hospital so, the whips out her cell phone turns around makes a call, turns back to the chief and says We were building one and will be ready in three months.
And then, says what else do you need
And he smiled and looked at her and said we have absolutely no cell service here at all Have a nice day, Apache
He's a twice-impeached, convicted fraudster. Why can't you face that fact? He was twice sued for defamation because he denied sexually assaulting a woman, and he lost both times. There's another fact. He's had to file for bankruptcy six times. An analysis by the New York Times of his tax returns (which unlike other presidents he's never agreed to disclose) showed that over a period of a decade he paid little or no income tax. He's the biggest grifter of all time to occupy the office of president of the United States. He's currently suing his own IRS for $10bn.
If you think that Trump should get $1bn for a ballroom then I suggest that you and people like you should stump up the money because the majority of Americans don't want it and they certainly don't want to pay for it.
You're really slow a foot there Russell the only thing that matters as to a president's effectiveness are the policies and laws that he enact while he's president and that last until they go away.
And I can't wait for the next impeachment. It's a left-wing circus and I love it
But I am gonna love the trials that come on maybe Between Brennan and Komi and watch them squirm for the shit they pulled in the Russia hoax. Which was the reason for the first impeachment And the second impeachment was because his name was Donald Trump as well, the third impeachment And I love it because every time he wins, they've been trying for 10 years to get to him and he keeps winning and winning and winning I wish I could show you the illustration what I love about it is the hate gets more violent and angrier and more frustrated And that makes me happy because they're upside down and there love Of America
China is hosting Iran's ambassador ahead of Trump's summit on May 14-15. This is not a good sign. Xi is supplying Iran with arms and dual-use components for its drones. My bet is that Xi is going to take over as mediator from Pakistan in the negotiations to end the war and Trump is going to get rolled. If there is any truth in the reporting about Putin descending into paranoia, then Xi is going to become Trump's new dictator buddy and puppetmaster while he also gains influence over Iran by becoming its main arms supplier. Xi holds a lot of cards.
It is in Xi's best interest to keep the war going, continuing our self-inflicted reduction in military capabilities.
Xi has the economic power and an embedded near-peer high-tech base that Putin lacks. Putin is weakening politically. Carney and Macron have already done trade deals with China as they have been reducing ties to the US.
What Xi wants from the US is access to next-gen chip manufacturing technology and access to AI and a free hand in Taiwan. There is going to be some dickering between the US tech bros and Xi, who are mostly greedy to sell out to China. The tech bros want enormous amounts of cheap electric power from clean energy. China is the place to build all of those data centers, not the fossil-fueled US.
Coming out of this fiasco, Xi will position Trump back in his Western Hemisphere sphere of influence with the Donroe Doctrine where we will be isolated, while China and Carney's "middle countries" become the hegemons. Xi will be the big winner.
Does this have to be the outcome? It depends on how much more damage Trump can do in the next 2 1/2 years, and how compliant he will be to Xi's demands. The only way we can influence that is to get back control of both houses of Congress.
Above all, we have to focus on the midterms. Our vote is our last defense, no matter what obstacles Trump tries to put in the way. We have to stick with the story of the failing economy and the epic corruption. Are you better off than you were two years ago? Who is paying off Trump and what are they getting in return?
Congress and SCOTUS have failed us. Our last defense is our vote.
PS--a passing thought now that Putin is reported to be hiding in a bunker. Anyone else think that he gave Trump the idea for the evolving plans for the ballroom?
I think Trump always wants what the other guy has -- only bigger and gaudier. And since everyone already knows there will be a bunker underneath the No-ballsroom, how can he "hide"? He just wants what he wants and he wants it all.
That is a correct statement, Trump sees something someone else has and wants it also. It’s really the bunker he wants. I can’t understand why security at the Washington Hilton was more lax than one would have expected it to be with so many high officials present. Some people invited as guests to the event noted they only had to flash their tickets at entrance points where one would have expected tighter scrutiny.
lauriemcf, yours is an accurate appraisal of Donald. In fact, it's a weakness handed down to him by his parents. Fred started with a little bit of money he inherited from his father, the brothel operator and real estate dabbler. Mary Anne was a charwoman who married Fred for his little bit of money. They accumulated some wealth by leasing low-rent apartments and operating a group of laundromats. They could afford a nicer house, but it was still in blue-collar Queens, and they envied the high-rise, high-life of Manhattan's high society. Donald was supposed to get that for his parents, but no amount of money will cover the loud, crass behavior of the low-born. Fred lost his mind before he died, and Mary Anne died coveting what she couldn't have. Donald is trying to fulfill their dreams before he kicks off.
Hello Georgia… DJT is making China Great Again… I don’t think that Xi will get to close with DJT.. DJT doesn’t have enough Class… I’m speculating that the DJT/Xi Summit will result in a Hormuz exit for DJT, and more Power for China…
I think you are right that Xi disdains Trump, but he certainly would love to see America as a toothless vassal state. I think Xi will use Russia as a convenient source of natural resources if Putin is ousted. He already has deals with Canada lined up. We are going to wind up with scraps.
Add in the worst drought since the dustbowl and dwindling water resources in the west and we are going to be screwed by inflation for food, not just for healthcare, fossil fuels, and electric power. I don’t think people realize how much we are going to be subsidizing all of those power-hungry data centers.
I found it particularly “inspiring” that so many liberals felt compelled to attend the Bezos “bend the knee” tribute to the oligarchs. The good that money could have done pales against the importance of
praying to the great god Bezos. To those people who view my thoughts as too dark, please point me to an event to brighten my view. I do recognize how important it was to show obeisance to the press destroyer. But, really! Maybe I’m just too old to understand. Yes. That’s it.
To be fair, the Met Gala is actually a charitable fundraiser. It raises funds for the Met’s Costume Institute. How worthy a charity you find that is another question.
I will agree that it sure looks like a let them eat cake moment.
KR, if I'm being "fair," the gala raises funds for the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute. That is not what I would call a charity. Sure, the institute preserves a collection of high fashion items, which I acknowledge is a tiny segment of our cultural history. But if they really needed funds, they could apply for 501(c) designation from the IRS and solicit tax-exempting donations from industry-related corporations.
But that's not what the gala is about. It's about celebrities of all stripes using an event to perpetuate their celebrity in a fete of one-upmanship in decadence and excess for their own entertainment.
I have some experience with fundraising galas. They are the least cost-efficient means of fundraising. But they serve the interests of both the donors and beneficiaries by giving the donors an excuse to dress up and go out to play without feeling like self-absorbed heels.
The Met organizers have conspicuously boasted that they raised a record $42 million, but are very quiet about how much is left after all the expenses are paid.
Yeah, but it’s OK to bow with the statue of Obama, the God, huh? Who was nice enough to provide Iran with a couple billion dollars in cash to start building their nuclear arsenal. The most deceptive divisive president in recent history
Wow, more accusations and insults from the MikeSter
Congratulations for joining your faithless friends and celebrating ignorance. But your honor he's brain injured. OK Mike do you have any proof? Well look at what he says Your Honor Well, Mike he happens to be correct
I don't think if you scoured the Earth, you could find a fact
The garbled syntax & the many TOU contract violations have been reported to Substack Inc exposing the Plaform to legal action by TOU contractually defined "Readers".
And I still haven't heard the last of Tom Homan's $50K in a bag right before the elections. Though it does appear that the private detention center business is doing very well. I'm sure there are some very pleased insiders.
I imagine they think all of these people they are shafting will soon become unnecessary due to AI. And then what -- will they just let them die off? Sickening.
I think sometimes it’s what they want for most of us, no vaccines, no medication, no income, no medical care, and that sort of thing. It makes sense only to amoral people.
The problem antebellum Southern planters had with their enslaved chattel is that they had to house, feed and clothe their slaves, if only minimally. Even after all that "maintenance," they could still get sick and die, making them risky "assets."
With AI, as long as it's housed in air-conditioned warehouses, fed vast amounts of electricity and water, it will plagiarize human effort indefinitely, without asking for anything more.
But as usual, the tech bros haven't thought this through. If all the consumers of their product are dead, who will pay for their services? Other tech bros? Seems like rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic.
I honestly believe there are no more serious people out there in government. We are bung governed by social media which is a totally ridiculous thing when you think about it. Until someone stands up to Trump and his Lackeys, this will only get worse. I feel bad for the generations behind mine.
Your state government can still take the bull by the horns. They are more responsive to constituents. We become provincial each state protecting its citizens. States working together to hold the national cohesiveness. Granted red states will capitulate. The courts the states the people the law of the land. Funny how that was the plan long ago as we are putting it back together again. Let Humpty Dumpty have his great fall.
The other leader to be concerned about is India’s Modi. India which once encompassed the lands now known as Pakistan as a very ancient Histiry similar to China and the indigenous of our North and South American continent. It was colonized in part by Portugal way before Britain and that area Goa had some from what I can surmise horrid Inquisition activities. Though now at this point there some people I would not mind the pope placing under edict or excommunication. If they did it for St Hildegard a now Doctor of the Church Pope Leo could also do it to our VP and some SCOTUS members since the whole issue of separation of church and state is almost completely moot.
Phil, you fucking moron you can’t see past the end of your nose Who do you think is going to benefit by the ballroom or the security you fucking stupid motherfucking moron
Heather, why don’t you tell your gullible lemming followers here that by the time the ballroom is done Trump may even be terming out at that point and that the ballroom will remain there protecting all future presidents for the next hundred years. Instead, you take twist and turns to deceive your proletariat rabble with your one-sided version of reality… my disappointment is that you have so many remora following the mothership to never never land
Russell, even you were gonna have to admit this one Think about this for one second I don't know how long it's gonna take to build a ballroom and the underground bunker however, I'm going to assume that it will be done pretty much about the time that Trump leaves Which means that for the next hundred years every successive president OTHER THAN HIM We'll have the security and the blessing of safety Has more powerful emerging weapon weapons are unveiled.
This is what kills me about you people Anything he does doesn't matter how good or how presentant or how much it takes care of the future
If Biden were doing this and saying exactly that this would take care of all the safety for the president in the future, every liberal would be visiting Washington DC and bowing and genuflecting
Heather gave a very informative “Politics Chat” on Tuesday 5/5/26 on the history of “trickle down” economics propaganda and how it was used by Republicans to disenfranchise the U.S. middle class and move over 50 trillion (yes, trillion) dollars into the pockets of the ultra-wealthy. She also explained how “budget reconciliation” is being used to give an additional 72 billion to ICE and Customs and Border Protection for funding through 2029 without including any restrictions on wearing masks, warrantless searches/arrests, etc.. To top it off they included 1 billion dollars to fund Trump’s ballroom boondoggle with taxpayer’s money. Heather found this “bait and switch” especially annoying. This is the link to her chat: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7x94FifmV-o. Here are other topics of current interest.
WOMEN’S REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH IS IN FRONT OF THE SCOTUS AGAIN: ICYMI: On (5/4/26) Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito temporarily (one week) paused a Louisiana court ruling that patients can no longer obtain mifepristone by telemedicine or mail. The plaintiffs and defendants have one week to submit briefs arguing the case. Michael Popok, the lawyer who founded Legal AF has recorded a short podcast reviewing all the details. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-vribxjeytA. Today (5/5/26) Legal AF interviewed Julia Kaye, JD., Senior Staff Attorney with the ACLU Reproductive Freedom Project, who was the lead counsel in two lawsuits (ACOG v. FDA and Chelius v. Becerra) that led the FDA to allow patients to obtain mifepristone for abortion and miscarriage care through telehealth and pharmacy dispensing. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GziIiwj0UiE It’s a very informative interview on a vital topic.
VOTER SENTIMENT INFORMATION CRUCIAL TO THE 2026 MIDTERMS: On her podcast (5/4/26) The Best People, Nicolle Wallace, former Whitehouse Communications Director (GW Bush) and senior advisor for John McCain, anchor of MS NOW news, best selling author, etc. interviewed Sarah Longwell of the Bulwark and a prominent never Trump Republican who is nationally known for her polling and interviewing Trump voters. She has enormous insight into what the voters are feeling and motivating them. This is crucial to knowing how to defeat Trump in elections. She is author of “How to Eat an Elephant: One Voter at a Time” (The playbook for consigning MAGA-style politics to the ash heap of history). “TRUMP SHOWDOWN! Why MAGA loyalists are suddenly breaking up with him - YouTube”. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=owh-T94dZrU
Why is there so much attention being paid to court rulings and legal matters? Because the U.S. Congress has been refusing to exercise its Constitutionally designated powers to maintain control over the executive branch and it’s allowing an authoritarian President to ignore the rule of law and behave like a dictator. This leaves the courts/;the legal system and elections as the only defense the citizens have to preserve their democracy.
FURTHER CLEAR EVIDENCE THAT THE SCOTUS IS BIASED AND FEELS IT CAN MAKE ITS OWN CONSTITUTIONAL LAW: Marc Elias, prominent voting rights lawyer who won more than 60 cases against Trump lawyers who were challenging the 2020 election interviewed (5/5/26) Joyce Vance, former U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Alabama, Substack legal affairs podcaster, and author of “Giving Up Is Unforgivable: A Manual For Keeping A Democracy” on how the SCOTUS has openly demonstrated racial prejudice in its court decisions on multiple occasions. The evidence is stark and very troublesome. “Supreme Court Bends Its Redistricting Rule — at Black Voters' Expense | Joyce Vance - YouTube”. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xwBrJZ2rPFM
This gives a view into the fossil fuel industry/the Koch brothers/the Heritage Foundation/the Federalist Society’s capture of the Supreme Court.
Also see: “Without Precedent: How Chief Justice Roberts and His Accomplices Rewrote the Constitution and Dismantled Our Rights” by Lisa Graves, a lawyer (JD. degree from Cornell Law School), She previously served as the Chief Counsel for Nominations on the United States Senate Judiciary Committee under Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vermont), as Deputy Assistant Attorney General in the United States Department of Justice during the Clinton Administration, as an adjunct law professor at the George Washington University Law School, is currently the executive director of True North Research and president of the board of the Center for Media and Democracy and has testified as an expert witness before several committees in the U.S. Senate and the House of Representatives on national security. Lisa Graves is one of the nation’s foremost experts in exposing how special interests distort public policy and try to thwart the public’s interest in a thriving democracy and a healthy planet and/or her recent interview by Paul Krugman: https://paulkrugman.substack.com/p/talking-with-lisa-graves?r=1d2cea&utm_medium=ios
And Georgetown Law School Professor Steve Vladeck’s book: “The Shadow Docket: How the Supreme Court Uses Stealth Rulings to Amass Power and Undermine the Republic” 2023.
Professor Vladeck’s recent interview by Harry Litman which discusses the new NYT evidentiary findings. “Justice Roberts CHANGED EVERYTHING in LEAKED SECRET MEMOS - YouTube”. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cRvRlFcvFGc
Harry Litman is a former U.S. attorney and deputy assistant attorney general, served as law clerk to U.S. Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall, is a professor of law at UCLA and UCSD, a podcaster and legal commentator.
This is GREAT, Fred - thanks for doing all that research into the links and breaking it down. You've made it easy for us all amplify the issues, with backup, that will do the most good for our own spheres of influence. Bravo!
Thank you for your reply. The intent of my comments is just as you have stated. It is a small thing that I can do to support our democracy. Democracy depends on a well educated and informed society. Heather does such a superlative job of informing the public. Her readers expect to hear facts and a historical perspective and Heather provides this in an easily understandable story telling style. I just try to supplement this with references to expert’s opinions on topics I feel are important to the people and to our republic.
You're doing it brilliantly! I was glad to see Sarah Longwell and The Bulwark on your list - they always have such incisive information and I think it really helps to listen to the analysis of former Republicans.
Too bad the pridefully ignorant USian Moronic Majority is so huge and irremediably conditioned, its malignancy will never be overcome save by outside intervention.
Hey Freddy, baby never heard back from you with any facts. What a surprise you were so lost in rhetoric and lemming Hood. And I can’t believe she’s actually quoting the New York slime as a new source. That is the most comical thing I’ve seen all week here. It’s gonna be interesting seeing the San Francisco ization Of NEW YORK. YOU SHOULD READ THIS ALL NOW SO YOU SEE I’M SAYING IT WAY IN ADVANCE. I CANNOT WAIT UNTIL THE FIRST GOVERNMENT RUN GROCERY STORE OPENS SUBSTANTIALLY OVER BUDGET AND THAT NOBODY RUNNING. IT HAS A CLUE THAT THE MARGINS ON GROCERY STORES IS BETWEEN ONE AND 2% AND WHEN THE THEFT STARTS HAPPENING AND THEY DON’T WANT TO PUNISH THOSE WHO ARE STEALING, I GIVE IT SIX MONTHS IN THE STORE WILL CLOSE OR THEY WILL HAVE TO FUND IT FROM THE ALREADY OVER BUDGET DEFICIT
Are you like one of those Pohl string dolls, full of nothing but stuffing but if you pull the string, you talk and say the same thing ad infinitum. What a sad life you lead there Brian why don't you get behind your president and your country he's winning and we're winning everywhere we go
AndAnd I'll say it again if Joe Biden was doing the things, Trump is doing you'd be standing and cheering
‘THEY WANT YOU TIRED. THAT'S THE WHOLE FUCKING PLAN’
“A subscriber hit me up after reading Operation Epic Payday and said something that’s been rattling around my skull ever since.
She said the piece was solid. Said she got through it. But her head was pounding by the end. Not a crack at me. Just the sheer bloody weight of trying to cram 47 different Trump crimes, schemes, grifts and geopolitical dick-measuring contests between her ears at once.”
🏁this excerpt tonite from IFLA is pretty long, but it has such good vibes 😎 and excellent tips. Click on the link for the full article, and push some fist pumps to the IFLA author here, he might swear alot but he’s so funny*🏁
“And then another reader dropped the kicker. “That’s precisely the evil regime’s goal as outlined in Project 2025. Flood the news, flood the markets, flood with so much grift and horror and outrage and craziness that people just get overwhelmed and tired and fucking give up.”
“Bingo. Ten points. Pull the bell. We have a winner.
Because that’s the whole game, mates. That’s the play. That’s been the play since 2016 and it’s the play right fucking now.”
“Let me introduce you to the architect. A bloke named Steve Bannon. Yeah, that one. In 2018 he gave the whole game away in plain English, and journalist Michael Lewis put it in print for posterity:
The Democrats don’t matter. The real opposition is the media. And the way to deal with them is to flood the zone with shit.”
“Flood. The zone. With shit.
That is not me being colourful for engagement. That is the actual quote, from the actual strategist, who is currently watching his blueprint run on the world’s biggest political stage like a fascist IKEA catalogue. Project 2025 gave it the institutional skeleton. Bannon gave it the playbook. Together they built the machine that’s currently grinding the western world’s attention span into a fine grey paste.”
“And here is the bit that should genuinely scare the shit out of you.
Cynicism is the win state. Not anger. Not opposition. Not even support. Cynicism. The shrug. The “they’re all the same.” The “what’s the point.” The “I just don’t follow politics anymore mate, it does my head in.” Every one of those sentences is a coin in their fucking jukebox.”
“Because a cynical population does not vote. A cynical population does not protest. A cynical population does not ring their senator, does not turn up to the council meeting, does not boycott the company, does not share the article, does not bother. A cynical population is a managed population. And managed populations are exactly what authoritarian regimes need to keep the lights on while the cash gets shovelled into the back of an unmarked van.”
“So your exhaustion is not a personal failure.”
✌️”Here is the way out. It is not flashy and it will not trend on TikTok. But it fucking works.
Stop trying to drink the firehose. You are not meant to. Nobody is. The whole game is rigged so that anyone who tries to track everything ends up babbling and twitching in a corner. 🌏 Pick a patch. One issue. One beat. Climate. Aged care. Press freedom. Veterans. Whatever lights your fire. Master it. Become the friend who actually knows what they’re talking about on that one thing. Outsource the rest to people you trust who are mastering theirs. That is how a movement actually fucking functions. Not 300 million people half-arsing 47 issues each. A network of bastards each owning their patch.”
✔️Switch off when you need to.”
✔️ Talk to actual humans. Not algorithms.”
✔️ Vote in every single election. Not just the big shiny ones.”
✔️ Support the people doing the work. Independent journalists. Local reporters. Researchers.”
✔️ And finally. Refuse to be cynical. That is the one thing they cannot defeat. Stay angry, stay engaged, stay specific, but for the love of God do not slide into “they’re all the same” or “nothing matters.” Because the second you do, they have won, and they know it, and they are counting on it more than they are counting on any election, any law, any tank.
The flood is real. The shit is real. The exhaustion is real.
But you noticing the flood is the first crack in the dam.”
“You sharing this is the second.
You doing 1 thing on Monday that you didn’t do last Monday is the third.
That is how this ends. Not with a single hero. Not with a magic election.”
“So put the kettle on. Have a smoko. Pat the dog.
Then come back swinging.
IFLA ~ Gman”
#
THEY WANT YOU TIRED. THAT'S THE WHOLE FUCKING PLAN.
May 5 2026 | Substack
I FUCKING LOVE AUSTRALIA by Gman
✊•This Substack runs on stubbornness, caffeine, and readers who give a shit. No corporate parent, no oligarch funder, no algorithm to grease. If you want more of this, hit subscribe. Free is fine. Paid is fucking magnificent. Both keep me at the keyboard instead of out laying bricks.•✌️
You said it, "Cynicism is the win state. Not anger. Not opposition. Not even support. Cynicism. The shrug. The “they’re all the same.” The “what’s the point.” The “I just don’t follow politics anymore mate, it does my head in.” Every one of those sentences is a coin in their fucking jukebox.”
I have often been encountering that attitude lately.
I am enraged, then again, what's new? I was right with Heather during her chat earlier as she was angry, discussing all of this latest news. It is breathtaking how corrupt and in our faces they are with this crap. Nothing at all to help anyone except those that don't need it, or a demented aging fascist wanting his ballroom and whatever other nonsense he can come up with on a whim. I've had it and don't know what to do anymore. Well, I will continue to support candidates that can help and causes I believe in.
So now the actual taxpayers, not including the billionaires, have to pay for Trump’s ballroom. Since Trump claimed originally that he and his billionaire pals were going to pay for the project and it wouldn’t cost the taxpayers anything, that change now begs an answer to the question of what happened to all that money. Was there just never any money to begin with and Trump lied about all that too, or has Trump absconded with it all.
If in the future Democrats get a trifecta again, they should make it a top priority to tear down the ballroom and all the other monuments to Trump’s narcissism.
We are now clearly seeing the results of abandoning the progressive taxation for a system that encourages the accumulation of wealth at the top. I am old enough to remember that Ronald Reagan as one of his first acts when becoming governor of California was to dismantle the State Mental Health System and he followed the same program when he was elected to the White House. The Mental Health System had its flaws and many correct criticisms. However, it did support many who were unable to care adequately for themselves and could have been easily corrected. The immediate impact in California was an increase in people being incarcerated for minor offenses and an increase in the rise of the homeless. I volunteered to assist a public defenders office during that transition period and I saw first hand that more than thirty percent of the cases we saw were people that were dealing with psychological and addictive problems but the only path was jail or the streets. The question that we have been avoiding since this time is how do we put programs in place to really assist those that need help and guidance dealing with their problems. It should be noted that America has one of the largest jail populations in the world and some credible commentators have said that as much as 30% of those incarcerated have mental health issues. If everyone paid their fair share perhaps we could start to think about improving our social order.
For many years, the largest provider of mental health services in the US is the LA county jail. Reform of mental health systems has routinely gone unfunded and ignored, until someone shoots a bunch of people and those "thoughts and prayers" do nothing to improve a failing system.
I recently read 'The Anatomy of the Nuremburg Trials', Telford Taylor's account of the Nazi war crimes tribunals. Albert Speer was among the 24 major war criminal defendants charged by the International Military Tribunal at Nuremberg (1945–1946), where he was tried for his role as Hitler’s personal architect, but even more so, as his later role as the Third Reich's Minister of Armaments and War Production.
But this BBC article was very informative and captures what you wrote(& eerily similar to Trump's manic obsession with constructing grandiose buildings and monuments to remake Washington, D.C.)
"Albert Speer would never get to fulfill his most ambitious architectural project: a complete rebuilding of Berlin, which was to be renamed Germania, future capital of the world. At its heart, Speer envisaged a vast north-south avenue, culminating in a Great Hall with a dome 16 times higher than St Peter's in Rome. It's thought that the interior would have been so vast that when filled with the breath of 180,000 gathered Nazis, rainclouds may have formed in the ceiling. Instead, in 1939 Hitler started World War Two, and plunged Europe into six years of hell."
...........................
"Not much of Speer's architecture remains; his buildings designed for a thousand-year Reich were mostly destroyed by the victorious Allies even before the Nuremberg trials began. His uncompleted rally building in Nuremberg now hosts a permanent exhibition that serves as a warning from history. But while the ruins of his architecture stand as a warning, Speer himself never fully admitted the part he played in building something far darker."
The physical similarities between the giant triumphal arch Speer designed (but thankfully never got to build) and the one in Washington are painfully obvious. Trump's planned victory arch (victory over what, exactly?) disrupts a century-old dictum that nothing should obstruct the view from the Lincoln Memorial to Arlington Cemetery, formerly the site of Robert E. Lee's mansion and estate.
Whatever ends up being built there, it's going to get blown up at the first available opportunity.
And yet that theory still animates the Republican Party: Make the rich waaaaay richer and everybody else poorer, less empowered, and more depleted. And , by golly, it's working.
And keep in mind, Trump Only F*cks Up and Trump Only F*cks Us. The DOJ has lost over 1/2 of their attorneys and now the ones left are so incompetent they can't find their ass with both hands. God help us if Todd Blanche is nominated and approved by the GOP Senators to be the next AG. The administration's Southern Poverty Law Center indictment is in jeopardy because of lies told by Blanche and Patel and reiterated on Fox by them and the Prez. Hopefully the court will drop the indictment due to misrepresentations to the grand jury as well as in the indictment.
It’s like all those old Disney movies, cartoon series and Dickens stories: the fat, overentitled rich stealing from the poor. Taking the last penny off of a hungry child because “they deserve it”. Turns out all those old stories weren’t hyperbole: they are right.
Healthcare and food assistance get cut in the name of “fiscal responsibility,” while billions suddenly appear for enforcement, executive power, and hardened infrastructure.
That’s exactly it. The “ballroom” keeps getting treated like the story, but the rapid shift from “privately funded” to “security infrastructure” is what raises questions for me. Across history, power under pressure tends to harden its environment — controlled access, protected space, insulated leadership. That pattern is real, whether people want to acknowledge it or not.
Something like this should never be privately funded in the first place. That’s just a euphemism for bribery. The whole thing reeks.
We can’t afford SNAP or student loans or healthcare or any other nice things civilized societies provide to their citizens but we can afford vanity projects like ballrooms and triumphal arches? Never mind yet another pointless expensive war with dead children and no end in sight.
This is a minute-&-a-half video on criminal Donald denouncing anything for the people.
If schools, Russell, emphasized novels, memoirs, and histories on our varieties of people -- especially our fellow working-class Americans trying to live in a country dedicated to the corrupt billionaires and corporations -- we'd not be subject to criminals such as Donald edifying the rich and covering up for their mass rapes of young girls.
Some days, I don’t know whether to be more shocked and awed at the actions of the executive branch or the inaction of Congressional Republicans -who include plenty of lawyers who took an oath to uphold our laws and one of whom I’ve known personally as a good man. WWWWTTTTTFFFFFF!!!! so I only have two more things to say: Release the g0dd@mn Epstein files, and Thank you, Heather Cox Richardson, for helping all of us stay informed and aware of the daily tides in the swamp.
Just three days ago I've watched a documentary: Hitler and the Nazis: Evil on Trial. I am German/American and grew up in Germany, where they extensively taught the horrors Hitler and Germany committed. I thought I knew most of how Hitler came to power, until I saw the documentary.
Dear people, the parallels are so frightening that I am still shaken up. Granted, I always knew how Hitler came to power (hint, he also wasn't elected), how he silenced the press and any opposition and how he used propaganda as means to manipulate and sway the country into following him. What I didn't know though were how they used "fake news" to keep people in the dark. Before Hitler ever came into power, the Germans declared that they had won WWI. No one actually knew how bad they've lost until they literally fell/surrendered. Up until the end, they had claimed a total win.
Trump is literally following Hitler's playbook. His "brown shirts" were the equivalent of ICE. They'd go into the streets and synagogues, draggin rabbis, Jews, opposing party members (the liberal democratic party was the main opposition!) and beat them, imprisoned them, tortured and killed them. On Kristallnacht (Night of Broken Glass), the brown shirts went out, carrying torches!! and hunted down anyone they deemed an enemy of the state.
Having to watch the footage in 8th grade made me decide that I would NEVER silently stand by and watch racism, discrimination, hate speech, and bigotry.
I cannot stress this enough, but if we cannot find a way to remove him, his corrupt supreme court judges, senators and billionaire supporters, and cannot find replacements that will hold them accountable (Nürnberg trials), we will end up like Germany did. They are paying the price to this day.
BTW, at the Nürnberg Trials not a single one of his remaining regime plead guilty or showed remorse. There comes a time when a person is so far gone and down the path of corruption, heartlessness and hunger for power that there is nothing human left.
We need to find ways to remove them and fight for that with all we've got.
Bait and switch on government programs, the ballroom payment, the economy, and the war. Everything for billionaires and white male Christian nationalists and nothing for lower class people or people of color. A compliant Supreme Court, a do nothing Congress, a clownish administration, and a worshipful Republican Party cruise on. They say narcissists are people who can’t survive contradiction or a repudiation of their chosen reality. It’s not just the President we have to worry about. Contact your representatives and vote Blue.
Dear HCR, I watched your news report on tonite’s topic and again want to thank you for such excellent journalism- I am constantly referring friends and colleagues to your Substack & YouTube. A friend today was excited about a young man, Adam Mockler, for getting his word out on MSM, and wanted me to watch the YouTube link she sent me. I couldn’t stand the argumentative and fluffy nonsense on seeing Adam on CNN, MSNBC or other shouting matches because we are so spoiled by your political presentations on YouTube where you are smart, prepared, curious and articulate. Would you ever consider having a short guest appearance- especially our young politician’s with you? Heather, I’m only asking because our younger generation needs to witness integrity more, they are our future (and it’s a shitshow out there). Thanks for all you do ❤️
Also… “No taxation without representation!” … maybe we really should Shut The Country Down! #NationalStrike
National general strike: I can't understand why this hasn't already happened.
People can’t afford to take off work and lose their income.
That is how they keep people enslaved.
However, in the south people risked their jobs and all sorts of things in order to bring about voting rights. So, it depends what it is worth to people.
My mom used to do without when she was a broke student to save to buy in bulk. If one has children one has to think of them. I have a lot of former colleagues that think that supporting your children means never sticking your neck out. I stick my neck out and I show that we can have agency. That is something I owe my child. My mom did the same thing. I learned from her.
As I learned from my father, and as he learned from our Scots, Norse and Germanic ancestors. (It is said there is no word in the parent tongues of Gaelic for "surrender.")
In context, the implication is that as there is no word, there is no concept of 'surrender' in old Gaelic, Norse, Germanic languages.
Just some examples:
"Several Old Norse phrases and words can be used for "surrender," depending on the context of the submission:Ganga á hǫnd: This is a direct phrase meaning "to surrender" or "to submit," literally translating to "to go to hand" (submitting to someone's authority).Gefast upp: Translates to "give up" or "surrender," similar to modern Scandinavian usage.Færa e-m hǫfuð sitt: A dramatic phrase meaning "to surrender to one," literally translating to "to bring one's head to someone".
Foclóir Gaeilge–Béarla (Ó Dónaill): surrender
athchuir » Surrender.
dílsiú » Vesting; surrender, cession.
géill » Surrender to.
géilleadh » Submission, surrender; obedience, subjection; acceptance, compliance; credence.
PHRASES
comha »
Géilleadh gan chomha, tosurrender unconditionally.
fógra »
~ chun géillte, summons tosurrender.
géilleadh »
~ gan chomha, unconditionalsurrender.
stríoc »
B’éigean dóibh ~adh, they had tostrike colours, to surrender.
tabhairt »
~ suas, (i) yielding, surrender;» Surrender.
dílsiú » Vesting; surrender, cession.
géill » Surrender to.
géilleadh » Submission, surrender; obedience, subjection; acceptance, compliance; credence.
PHRASES
comha »
Géilleadh gan chomha, tosurrender unconditionally.
fógra »
~ chun géillte, summons tosurrender.
géilleadh »
~ gan chomha, unconditionalsurrender.
stríoc »
B’éigean dóibh ~adh, they had tostrike colours, to surrender.
tabhairt »
~ suas, (i) yielding, surrender;
.https://www.teanglann.ie/en/fgb/surrender.
Thank you; I cannot count the number of times, growing up, I heard that "no-word-for-surrender" assertion you have proven false. At least I phrased it honestly: "It is said..." As always, I appreciate the information and accept it with gratitude as valid learning -- though I know from our previous interactions it is intended not as enlightenment but as an expression of belittlement and hatred.
Loren Bliss -- (It is said there is no word in the parent tongues of Gaelic for "surrender.")
That claim is not true.
The idea that “𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑖𝑠 𝑛𝑜 𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑑 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑠𝑢𝑟𝑟𝑒𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑟 𝑖𝑛 𝐺𝑎𝑒𝑙𝑖𝑐” is a popular myth, often used for dramatic or cultural effect, but it does not hold up linguistically.
What the language actually shows
Both major Gaelic languages—Irish Gaelic and Scottish Gaelic—do have words and phrases that clearly mean “surrender,” even if they are not always a single, perfect one-word match.
For example:
In Irish (Gaeilge):
géilleadh = to surrender, yield, submit
tabhair suas = give up
In Scottish Gaelic (Gàidhlig):
gèill = surrender, submit
toirt seachad = give up / hand over
These are standard, dictionary-recognized terms.
This claim likely comes from:
Romantic nationalism — portraying Celtic cultures as never yielding
Loose translation issues — some concepts do not map neatly word-for-word across languages
Storytelling shorthand — similar myths exist about other languages (“no word for X” is a common trope)
Bottom line
Gaelic speakers absolutely can and do express the idea of surrender.
The language is not missing the concept—just like any other fully developed language, it has multiple ways to convey it.
My most profuse, deeply mortified apology for posting a comment that has engendered such damaging distraction from our attempts to muster an adequate defense against that which has destroyed our nation and is now destroying us. I am truly sorry for the unintended consequences of what I said. l will be silent for the remainder of the day.
🤬 Ka-sheerie! < phonetically)
"That [fear of losing their jobs/income] is how they keep people enslaved."
However difficult the conditions of people in the United States - they are not enslaved. To say that they are ignores our history of slavery and insults those who endured it and remain impacted by its legacy of enduring disadvantage.
lin-As the descendant of slaves, I do not use it lightly, but I am differentiating between being a slave and being enslaved. I am using the definition that means trapped in a bad situation from here.
https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/enslaved
And from here the definition of being used figuratively.
https://www.britannica.com/dictionary/enslave
We not only have a history of slavery but it exists today. Not only because the 13th Amendment permits it in prisons, but it exists elsewhere too.
Black people in the South risked their jobs (and lives) because they *organized* -- through the churches and otherwise. Quite a few of them trained in organizing through the Highlander Center in Tennessee, then went on to train people in their communities.
Successful strikes succeed in large part because unions and communities organize to make up for at least some of the lost income. Most USians don't have much of a cushion to sustain them if they lose their job-related income. Your example and your mom's example are great, but they're about individuals. Strikes aren't just about individuals, and national strikes require exponentially more organization than a local or even an industry-wide strike.
Organization of all kinds has been faltering in this country since the Reagan administration -- indeed, fragmenting the electorate has been a key Republican goal ever since. We're just starting to repair the damage and build the trust that solidarity requires. (Look up Bernice Johnson Reagon's great essay/speech "Coalition Politics: Turning the Century." It was given in 1981. It hasn't gone out of date.)
I am retired from a union job in the US. I was at a private school that was unionized as part of the American federation of teachers. Before that I was part of a public school system that did strike on occasion, and that improved life for everyone in the schools, mostly the teachers and children.
The people in my union did not want to strike because they did not want to lose the good will of the parents. There was more to it than that, but I won't go into it. Most were well off and liked that. I found that my values were different from many because I am more European in my outlook. We live with constant strikes where I live. Unions organize national strikes here.
Unions collect dues and those dues will go to strike pay. If you are not in a union you need to put away money to prepare for a one day strike. I understand that for many that is hard to do. I am sure that lots of women in Iceland needed the money for the day, but felt part of something greater and for that they went on strike. I think that it took them years to get to that point, and we have to work to that too.
https://youtu.be/e9OsIj32w7U?si=D8cmmnaYStBcy9Ya
Linda, I admire your way and most people I know give so much to their children in the way of advantage and support that it could be seen as 'cheating' on their behalf which has good outomes when measured by status and financial success -- perhaps not great outcomes for those raised that way when times are tough, like now (and likely to get much worse). Getting tougher for so many who never expected it -- advanced degrees and no jobs, often outshined by first generation people in the work force who are cummunity minded in their ways of accumulating and dispersing wealth and opportunities. Locking up wealth within small families is understandable and common, but perhaps not helpful to the common good going forward. Sticking ones neck out, having agency, these are ways of behaving that are polarizing within our country now. (I'm challenging myself increasingly, as I see things falling apart.)
Thanks Joan. Sticking my neck probably led to my job to "help me" to retire early. However, out of lemons make lemonade if you can.
So, we moved abroad, and recently I started an Indivisible Abroad group in my German city. It is quite different than being a member of Indivisible Chicago, because it is like having a job to start up and run things.
Since our No Kings rally in March, it has consisted of working on our Divestment from Big US Tech campaign, and supporting other pro democracy groups in their rallies, as well as developing our relationships with these prodemocracy groups.
I am not a techie, although my husband can be considered one, but in an academic sense. Our daughter is of her generation a natural tech explorer, but she does not live with us. I am being forced to learn a whole lot of new tech platforms so I can get off of the ones I am on. Not everything, but as much as possible. Replacing when I can. This is a challenge that I see as necessary.
What I am learning is that from now on we need tech not to be so big because economies of size are not beneficial if they support monopolization, leading to oligarchy on the part of the creators/owners. Our new motto is "Safety over Efficiency," but it would be nice to have both. Some things are better in the safer world. Signal messenger app is better than What's App. Threema and Matrix might be even better.
Hopefully we all keep on growing and doing what we can, which is very individual to who we are, to make things better. I am heartened by hearing that Putin is mostly in hiding in Bunkers, which comes from leaked intel, and some observant Russia watchers. A
Also, this clip is from Meidas News yesterday. He says, " I posted a video today of Trump this weekend walking on the tarmac towards Air Force One where he wasn’t able to walk in a straight line and was pretty wobbly on his feet. You can watch it on Twitter, Bluesky, or Threads.
… An anonymous doctor on Twitter reposted the clip with this caption: 'Ataxia. Issue with the cerebellum. Differential: stroke, degenerative, tumor, or drug adverse effects. We have physiological, behavioral, and observational evidence of chronic stimulant dependence. How this guy has not dropped dead of a cardiovascular or cerebrovascular event, given his poor lifestyle choices and risk factors, defies the odds. It’s coming.' "
Things that we know about how the world works, like that demonstration and pushing back will eventually have its moment. With some things you just need to get out of the way of the avalanche. I think and hope and avalanche is coming for the MAGA party. This ongoing war is helping that avalanche to roll in some places.
Linda, I always read your posts because they are so thoughtful and spot on. Thanks for enhancing sanity in this world of chaosl
Linda, my parents too stuck their heads out for us, taught us to be independent and to stand up for what was right. My parents were behind me when I participated in my first protest in high school, that time against the Vietnam War. They and I went to DC when I was 19 to stand against the anti-union movement and Richard Nixon. We have to make it not only acceptable, but necessary for parents and children to get involved. One is not protecting their children when they do nothing to stop the national bullying, disregard of people's rights, ignoring our Constitution, letting super rich white men destroy what people have worked for, doing it with no accountability or consequences. That is not the kind of government any of us should be wanting or planning to leave for our kids. We need to make it possible for our children, and all the children of this nation (citizen and immigrant) are our children, to succeed in a free nation. We should start acting as though they are all our kids and step up on their behalf and help them to step up too.
They can strike in other ways. Not necessary to take off work. Don't spend; don't buy; carpool and don't buy gas. stay off the web, etc.
Who is "they"? Are YOU willing to do this? It has to be "WE", not they.
I'm in Penny. I already boycott as much as possible. Sometimes it is hard not to be resentful others can't be more patient and boycott too. It really is all about priorities and good planning.
I agree until us vs them is dead we can't move on...
Absolutely! It's not a big sacrifice at all. And it's worrisome that people think that not shopping for a week or two is a big deal. I am responding to a comment, by the way. that's who the "they" are.
Steve Bannon’s plan to “flood the zone with shit” is working perfectly. The daily torrent of lies, big and small, coupled with an economy that punishes the indigent, the working poor, the working class, and now the lower end of the middle class, has people scrambling to survive. Sixty percent of Americans have NO investments of any kind in Wall Street—including 401(k)s—but Trump and his minions continue to tout the Dow. Overwhelming “the little people” with lies and crippling economic policies IS the plan so that the Epstein Class can gain and retain control. They believe they’re entitled to rule. We’ve seen this before.
“It is not at all easy to attain power. Once it is ours, however, we can congratulate ourselves that we have deserved it.”—Nazi Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels, 1932
Bring the guillotines.
Can they/we afford to allow this crippling budget to go forward?
No, we can't!
Definitely with gas prices and we're still using pre-war oil. I think he'll declare martial law, suspend midterm and presidential elections and start mass deortation of anyone who complains.
can we ask to what country we want to be deported to? I have a list!!!
The problem with the whole national strike idea is that it’s disorganized and it lacks coordinated tactics or a unified end game result. It’s supposed to bring the Regime/economy etc. “to its knees” but how? Until there is a common approach about the tactics and goals, very little will come of it.
Plus, like it or not, Kristin is right. Not everyone can afford to put their livelihood at risk, especially for something with such fuzzy goals.
I do everything I can to boycott corrupt companies. I refuse to order anything from Amazon, but so many of my friends whine, “But it’s so convenient!” Maybe it’s convenience that is killing America? It’s not convenient to research the candidates carefully in order to make informed decisions. It’s not convenient to vote. Even though I plead with my friends to vote, they say it doesn’t matter because it has no effect.
In my youth I protested vigorously against the Vietnam War. I figured out early that Ronald Reagan was a rat. The Bushes were devious liars. But the Epstein Files have exposed a bottomless pit of corruption. Do we as a nation have the moral courage to overcome this?
I participated on May 1 as well, in my case by buying nothing. Still needed to work because I am leading a very busy and intense project. Like you I too avoid Amazon (haven’t quit it completely but I always look for alternatives first and buy from them only as a last resort). Same with Meta social media platforms (and I have never been in Twitter/X ever) and that has made it harder to stay in touch with some longtime far-flung friends. I also unsubscribed from Paramount which means no more of some of my favorite shows like Star Trek Strange New Worlds. True resistance is never free, and it involves sacrifices both trivial and significant. It also involves accepting our duty as citizen/patriots to participate, to be informed and to show up at the ballot box.
I'm with you! Same strategy.
I, too, avoid Amazon as much as I possibly can, using them as a last resort. I used to have Amazon here about twice a week, but as of this year, I think I ordered from them once. A part we were unable to get from any of the hardware stores.
I will, however, point out that there are elderly, disabled, house bound and far rural (or a combination of) that have no alternative. Perhaps Walmart. Not sure that is much better.
Today, I just feel overwhelmed. I can't see my way out of this mess.
Kristin, I agree. We seem to think convenience is our birthright as Americans. We have lost our traditional “waste not, want not” attitude to many things, including our use of our time.
In a college dorm bathroom, a foreign student asked why there were no plugs in the sinks. Wasn’t water precious in this country? My theory was that it would cost to have the sinks kept clean. Would the students clean up after themselves?
Trump supporters (a third of the population) certainly aren’t going to strike. Another sizeable fraction are apathetic.
A general strike isn’t really feasible. In some cases, people would be putting their continuing employment at risk.
30 percent of those who voted voted for Trump. That doesn’t mean that a third of the country supports him. Too many do and too many simply aren’t paying attention and too many love his racism, etc.
need a leader like Dr. King.
Yet the Europeans have them - I think we sit on our couches of comfort. I blame the souless legacy news and social media (as the most common source for news and for grips).... the grip platform that neuters us. It is probably a reason many younger generations question protests and so few do not engage in them. I wonder how the Dems will respond, what their strategy will be, now that they can't stop these expenses. Will they whine or go on the offensive? Will they control the bully pulpit or go silent. I gave up on one party, I sure need to see a political Operation Overlord in the other.
That's precisely the result of half a century of GOP neoliberalism bait and switch. This IS where they wanted most people to be at by now, because they knew that that's how you install a fascist regime in the first place.
Historian Quinn Slobodian explained it quite well in his book "Crack-up Capitalism". He shows how, from the very beginning, the idea of the founders of neoliberalism (Von Hayek, and then Reagan advisor Friedman) was that capitalism and democracy are incompatible.
Since at least 2009, Peter Thiel, who bankrolls Vance's career as venture capitalist and politician, has publicly claimed the exact same thing. Needless to add that they all side with capitalism and against democracy. Why? They believe that IF you make a lot of money, that means you're superior to 99% of the population, so the 99% should not dictate what to do with "your" money. Instead, it's you who should impose your will onto those 99%, simply because you're superior.
The idea that the quality of decisions made in DC will be much higher IF the 99% "mediocre" citizens have a seat at the table too (idea lying at the heart of the very notion of democracy) is rejected by them as absurd.
Is it entirely absurd? No, as the 2024 elections have proven. People CAN massively vote AGAINST their own interests and the interests of their own country (or not vote, with the same result). So democracy is not a panacea. It requires citizens who are well-educated and well-informed, and who regularly debate with each other. Only those debates will lead to a higher collective intelligence, compared to an authoritarian regime - Aristotle already argued - because 99% of the people debating together will always lead to more intelligent conclusions and bills than when a handful of "the best" make decisions in everyone else's place.
So yes, today we're at a stage of the installation of neofascism where many (most?) people can't even afford strikes anymore. But strikes or protests aren't the only way to fight back. One of the most efficient ways IS precisely to engage in real debates among ourselves again - including those who still vote GOP or who don't vote at all. Because then, even the worst propaganda won't have any impact anymore.
Yes we can!!
Kristin, but the question becomes, can they afford to lose everything if we don't do something to stop Trumplandia and the sycophants and oligarchs who prop him up? This is a hard one that we haven't been faced with in my lifetime!
There will a point where we won't be able to afford to not participate. Unless we will just continue to go about things as normal no matter what happens and in that case, I guess we deserve what happens.
they are losing it already in a slow drip.... a strike might shake something up!
"National general strike: I can't understand why this hasn't already happened."
In some European countries - such as France - there is a 'strike culture.' It is based on an established culture of strong labor unions with the ability to build broad coalitions. These countries also have smaller populations than the United States - and extensive social safety nets.
None of these conditions exist in the United States. Nor have they. In fact, one may reasonably argue that the closest we've had to a 'people's revolution' is the so-called Reagan Revolution - in which significant numbers of working class and middle class voters were attracted to the Republican party by its 'right to work' ie anti-union platform and its promise to cut taxes by going after programs which indulged 'welfare queens' ie the social safety net.
The Trump administration and Republican Congressional majorities were put in place by antidemocratic minded voters uniting at the ballot box. There is a lesson here. That getting out the vote and uniting to elect Democrats is the most effective use of our time to maximize our power to institute policies.we want.
I agree. We are facing a monumental task in these next months. Gerrymandering is rampant and I fear trump will throw millions off the voter roles and scam this country for all its worth. I’m old and retired but will take on this task for the next generations. Can someone please explain this never ending aim to accumulate mass amounts of wealth at the expense of others? Since time began. I swear…..I will never get it.
A major, dangerous human flaw, for sure. Nothing will change unless humanity recognizes its weaknesses (and they are legion) and works to curtail them. We can clearly see that people cannot be trusted with vast wealth and so it shouldn't be allowed. But we know that won't happen. We also kill one another for no reason and no other species does that. And we hurt our young (see pedophilia). What creature does that?
lin- agree with most of this. You are absolutely right that the cultural foundation for a mass proletarian general strike is just not there in the US. Part of that because any activity like this was long ago demonized as socialism, communism, etc. and the stigma persists today. Of course, we are at the point now where anything that adds the safety net, defends the rights of workers and marginalized communities to participate in our economic/political systems is labeled the same way by the fascists. I am a progressive Democrat but I get extremely frustrated with ultra-left progressives in name only (PINOs) who caterwaul about “electoralism” and put down anyone who dares to think voting matters. At the end of the day, the ballot box really is the only way. And that means finding at least some shred of common cause with some folks you don’t love. Also, not taking your ball and going home when you lose one battle. Frankly, it’s what being an adult citizen and patriot really is all about.
ThankYou.
Exactly.
The danger is not only in the Republican Party but at the intersection of antidemocratic and antiDemocratic belief and passion. Both of which eschew the foundational protocols of our democratic republic - coming to consensus through reasoned debate of empirical evidence.
The irrational habits of mind informed by right wing religious creed and left wing ideology remove reason from political process and government protocols. And as Goya illustrated, The Sleep of Reason Breeds Monsters.
PINO - had not heard that before.
Chris, do you really believe elections won’t be rigged ? It happened before and will surely be the case next time because Putin will see to it happening.
France also had the Roman Catholic culture of worker priests. It was a thing and my mother would wax on and on about it. It’s not a half bad idea and there was Fr. Robert Drinin SJ who was forced to step down from his seat. I always thought he had some decent thinking.
Pope Francis and Pope Leo both come out of the Latin American Catholic liberation theology tradition. It is one reason they are resented by American Republican racist right wing Catholic extremists (such as Leonard Leo, Steve Bannon, and many American bishops et al)
Of course, some of the best criticism of Leo, Bannon et al comes out of the progressive Catholic community. In the tradition of Dorothy Day.
"Latin American Catholic liberation theology is a 1950s-1960s theological movement interpreting the Gospel through the experience of the poor, prioritizing social justice as integral to salvation. Emerging from thinkers like Gustavo Gutiérrez, it champions a "preferential option for the poor," advocating for structural change against poverty, often utilizing grassroots Ecclesial Base Communities."
National Catholic Reporter | The Independent News Source
.https://www.ncronline.org/.
lin, liberation theology was thriving in the 1980s, too, and hasn't gone away.
I know. St Oscar Romero who was a bishop with ties to the elite then had a spiritual and moral epiphany and started to speak out. Small based faith communities. Pope John Paul badly mismanaged and was mismanaged with all of this. And as the late Ambassador Robert White found out country had a not so great role all in all of this.
Yes, with a nod to lin's comment, Dorothy Day and Peter Maurin and their Catholic Worker Movement, whose newspaper is online.
"antidemocratic minded voters uniting at the ballot box." -- oxymoron anyone?
There were many, enough to make a difference, who believed in democracy to vote for Reagan, who proved that his ideas of democracy were, in fact, not very democratic at all. In other words, those who democratically elected Reagan, were duped, just as those who voted for Trump were duped even deeper. The phrase may sound oxymoronic, but lin's statement rings true, as opposed to Reagan's idea of democracy which in fact, was hollow.
"...antidemocratic minded voters uniting at the ballot box." -- oxymoron anyone?"
Ha!
Yes ... but.
Simple minded people did not craft the Powell Memorandum, Heritage Society, Federalist Society, and Project 2025.
And it is not simple minded to have elected Trump et al to win the Supreme Court and actually all three branches of government. Short sighted and many other things, but certainly mindful of their goal.
Whereas 'high minded' leftish antiDemocratic purity testers helping elect antidemocratic Republicans ...
Many of us are financially hanging on by our fingernails now!
Did you miss May 1st? Many people did, but it was a start. A general strike does not fall magically from the sky. It takes a lot of doing.
Because the USian population is too cravenly self-obsessed to (ever) rise up sufficiently courageous, disciplined and angry to achieve Liberation -- the result of the decades of neoliberal rat-maze conditioning begun by Jimmy the Theocrat and escalated to failed-nation morally imbecilic permanence by Ronnie the Nazi and his bipartisan successors. Here's our true sitrep: https://www.laprogressive.com/racism/red-summer This is why I argue our (only) hope is an invasion of Liberators from without, with a strong resistance movement, as in France during the Original Nazi occupation, in support.
I do not see invasion from liberators happening, unless you consider China a potential liberator. What will happen has to happen from within, and it will. I think a lot of people went out for the general strike on MayDay Strong, and it had union support. The idea has to take root. The resistance muscles are not strong in many people, and they need exercise.
Probably 99.9 percent of the time, Linda, we are in agreement, and even on those rare occasions we are not, I am always favorably impressed by your writing. But I believe I know this nation very well -- I'd lived in New York City and five states -- Florida, Virginia, Michigan, West Virginia, Tennessee -- before I was 10; attended seven schools in four of those states through my K-12 years, served in three additional states -- South Carolina, Maryland, Georgia plus Korea -- during my Regular Army years (1969-1962) and worked as a journalist in five realms --Michigan, Tennessee, New York City. plus New Jersey and Washington state. I attended college in three: Tennessee, New York City and Washington state; I also did blue-collar work in Tennessee and Washington state, the latter including a season as engineer on a 96-foot salmon seiner. And I've driven across the nation twice, and up and down the eastern seaboard, through Appalachia and the Middle West at least a dozen times. So I believe I have a solid sense of our national consciousness both from near-lifelong studies in sociology, history, archaeology and mythology -- backed by decades of on-the-ground observation, always as a social-documentary photographer and often as a reporter.
That said, I believe our (few) progressive founders and citizens were intentionally betrayed and permanently rejected by the 2024 voters; that despite the unstable popularity of Trump, the Aryan Christian majority's white-male-supremacy, misogyny and beyond-Trump fanatical theocracy make the betrayal permanent and irremediable; with neoliberalism's incurable conditioning in self-obsessed moral imbecility guaranteeing a slave-minded general population that is congenitally -- genetically, actually -- incapable of effective rebellion. (Genetically? See https://news.yale.edu/2025/03/06/violent-experiences-alter-genome-ways-persist-generations .)
I am well aware of the anti-Nazi resistance movements that arose in the Third Reich. All failed; the forces of oppression were too powerful to ever be overcome by local efforts. We the Empathetic People face the same difficulty in the failed U.S. Intentionally a close approximation of the Third-Reich, it requires external liberation for exactly the same reason its Original Nazi ancestor did. Hence the relevance of this Liberation fantasy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k4gBykQylm4 And of this fantasy as well: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EEMFymfZZ6A Knowing history as I do -- also having paid close attention (and thrice re-listened) to the King's congressional speech -- it would not surprise me overmuch were such efforts already in the making; though the British Empire is long dead, its institutional memory predates Rome and lives on. That's why it is always foolhardy to gravely threaten the Commonwealth. Eventually -- though I probably won't live long enough to see it -- I suspect there will be a shadow Liberation government take shape in London, no doubt with with branches in Paris and Berlin, perhaps even in Seoul...
" Intentionally a close approximation of the Third-Reich, it requires external liberation for exactly the same reason its Original Nazi ancestor did." Explain? Not a very self-evident observation.
What is the “rat-maze conditioning begun by Jimmy the Theocrat (I assume you mean Jimmy Carter, who was a Christin but hardly a theocrat)?
Do you have any idea how much work goes into even a limited strike?? Do you realize how fragmented the U.S. public has become since the Reagan administration? We've having to organize more or less from scratch. Too many USians weren't paying attention till Trump got elected the second time.
Yes, I agree.Everyone shut down everything.Full stop
https://maydaystrong.org/
''The Billion-Dollar Ballroom: America’s True Priorities''
Nothing screams “responsible governance” like requesting a billion dollars to refurbish Donald Trump’s personal White House ballroom. Forget healthcare, nutrition, or infrastructure—national security now hinges on marble floors and gold-trimmed chandeliers. Because obviously, you cannot negotiate with Iran or manage a pandemic without parquet worthy of a reality TV finale. Punchline: who knew diplomacy was so feng shui-dependent?
Meanwhile, the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” waltzes through Congress, stripping social services while showering the ultra-wealthy with tax cuts. The only beauty here is in the press release. Ordinary citizens kicked off SNAP for “fraud” or a “better economy”? Fraud is under 1 percent. Better economy? Apparently measured in diamond cufflinks and gold-plated toilet seats. Punchline: the economy is thriving—if your bank account is already thriving.
At the Border Security Expo, an advisor cheerfully announced, “You ain’t seen sh*t yet,” proving that policy can now be delivered with the subtlety of a late-night cable monologue. Punchline: profanity is the new legislative finesse.
Overseas, Project Freedom continues, endlessly rebranded to maintain buzzword patriotism, as if renaming a stalled military mission magically conjures liberty. Punchline: freedom now comes with an asterisk and a marketing budget.
In short, America’s priorities are crystal clear: gilded private spaces, performative profanity, and endless creative rebranding. Democracy thrives when your leaders obsess over sparkle, swagger, and absurdity. Punchline: the real national pastime is watching billion-dollar ballrooms while wondering why the rest of the country still exists.
My Fiddling-While-Rome-Burns and Let-Them-Eat Cake conspiracy theory:
Look at Putin's reception rooms - a la the Czars. Authoritarians want security and need public display. When we said Mar A Lago White House we meant Trump residing/presiding in Florida. Now it literally means Trump 'holding court' in the White House transformed into Mar A Lago. The entire Federal City remade in his image.
Of course, the Russian court remade itself in the image of the Sun King's French court. Will the GOP-Billion-Dollar-Ballroom-Bunker-GiveAway suffice to complete it by Jan 6 2028? Jan 20? Only our electing a Democratic majority can stop it.
Classic Trump: Lie outrageously to try to spin his own reality & hope enough suckers buy it. Iranians aren't playing. Minor correction: ballroom is not "refurbishment," but construction from scratch. He is robbing us blind and his Party of accomplices is facilitating.
Who do you suppose is going to suffer most harm if that happens?
Yes, Steve, the pres, the cabinet etc are completely out of control. But who is going to stop them? With maniacs like Homan and Miller in charge, they will deport and abuse anyone; citizen or not. I see ICE stepping up to live ammo against protesters soon.
And a SCOTUS that supports Repubs at all costs?
I don’t think anybody realizes how much power Palantir wields once they decide to pull the plug on everything. They can and they will. We are heading down a deeply dark path.
Don’t leave Putin off the list of who is in charge.
This Substack article has a brilliant idea for “no taxation without representation.” Those of us in blue states need to talk to our state legislators and governors—write trigger laws that draw a red line. If you touch our elections, the state will direct federal taxes into escrow. We need to mobilize our state governments in blue states—Christopher Armitage has a lot of great ideas about how to do that, this is just one of them. (I also posted this on yesterdays letter so I’m sorry if I sound like a broken record to some)
https://cmarmitage.substack.com/p/if-you-steal-our-elections-you-dont?r=56wm8i&utm_medium=ios
Thank you LM. I encourage you to continue posting.
“It’s the same old serpent”, one could say… As akways, it’s the rich stealing from the poor, the hungry and the needy.
Sounds like a plan...
I understand your passion, Steve, but who exactly is "we"? I'm very pessimistic about the nation as a whole to "come together," as the saying goes, and commit to an act such as this. The DNA of this nation is rooted in individualism and "freedom", which has only proven among so many to translate as "freedum" to the electorate. Still, it cannot be denied that the overwhelming population have their own challenges to negotiate through life. I happen to be one of them. In shutting the country down, as it is suggested, would bring massive hardship on folks such as my wife who is battling two neurological disabilities. Do I wish that this nation was healthy enough, to enact such, without precedent? Hell yes! But the country is not healthy enough: nowhere near it. If it was, we wouldn't have elected a scumbag like Trump who subsequently brought in additional scumbags to bolster his scum bagged foundation that has only made this nation additionally ill than it ever was. No, my friend, we need another plan.
It's amazing we haven't already.
I haven't paid my taxes yet......extension. Everyone should not pay. I wish I wish I wish.
I agree with you whole heartedly. It’s astonishing we forgot that money has come to control everything this country does. With holding taxes is the only power we the people have left. Let’s use it before it is too late.
May Day 2026 was slated for a National Strike. Aside from North Carolina school districts shutting down for the strike there, I heard very little about it.
Steve, I take you to mean withholding taxes as our most potent, get something done, protest and I agree.
PLEASE, Yes, a nation wide withholding of Federal taxes for the next tax year. People have responded to me saying “they” will put you in jail. If 80-90% withhold taxes, is there the capacity to do that?
I prefer Black Ops . There must be some retired military out there that is willing to do whatever to get rid of these traitors.
Yes. Why hasn't this happened yet. Michael Kucinich said: wake up America!
Didn't work. Tried that May 1st!!!
Charming how easily congressional Republicans enable Donald’s police state.
By simple reconciliation – that is, no Dem votes needed – Republicans can now fund (for a billion taxpayer dollars) his ego-solidifying ballroom in all its gold and gilt, and his ICE and CBP private armies of murderers and warrantless breakers-down-of-doors needing to kill elections and imprison millions in U.S. concentration camps so easily funded.
Charming because in her podcast today Heather expressed the anger gnawing at her as this open lawlessness just builds, continues, worsens.
And why not? Putin can do it and does do it (in the countries he’s invaded and in Russia by the dissidents he’s murdered). Mohammed bin Salman can do it (in Saudi Arabia and other countries whose expat Saudi journalists he has murdered and cut up by hacksaws). Netanyahu can do it in the West Bank, Lebanon, Gaza, Syria, and Iran, too (thank you AIPAC ally U.S. arms). Xi can. Erdogan. Kim. Sisi. Bukele. Milei. All the best dictators and nationalist murderers.
Of course he’s got to kill U.S. elections. There’s a war on – more schools full of Iranian girls needing slaughter.
More millions of Americans needing to be taken off health care. Denied nutrition programs. Shafted by rising gas, diesel, and groceries.
Might Republican incompetence, sycophancy, cowardice, and corruption dissolve them all before their arriving police state?
Hello Phil... DJT at his Heart, is still a Failed Businessman... DJT is only Good at Fraud, and Spectacle... The GOP has ceased to be a serious governing Party, and now is a Slave to FOX News, and DJT... As Regards DJT, Pray For Divine Intervention Soon....
The GOP at all levels of government cannot govern. Project 2025 proposed giving the President power to remove government employees and replace them with Republican sympathizers who were GOP hacks loyal only to the party. It's obvious that competence doesn't matter, in fact, it's practically a requirement.
incompetence is the requirement !
All my MAGAT sources don't want that ball room....maybe if he had also mnodernized the bowling alley......
Thank heavens that Russia is not more powerful militarily; Trump is turning us into Russia 2.
Intervention, anyway, Apache...
Hello Anne-Marie... Yes, Intervention... Divine Intervention is the Cleanest, Most Anti-Septic... Did You see his Oval Office Performance Today?... It's Getting Close...
This clip is from Meidas News yesterday. " I posted a video today of Trump this weekend walking on the tarmac towards Air Force One where he wasn’t able to walk in a straight line and was pretty wobbly on his feet. You can watch it on Twitter, Bluesky, or Threads.
… An anonymous doctor on Twitter reposted the clip with this caption: 'Ataxia. Issue with the cerebellum. Differential: stroke, degenerative, tumor, or drug adverse effects. We have physiological, behavioral, and observational evidence of chronic stimulant dependence. How this guy has not dropped dead of a cardiovascular or cerebrovascular event, given his poor lifestyle choices and risk factors, defies the odds. It’s coming.' "
I don't know why anyone needs to read stuff from an "anonymous doctor" when one glance at his psychotic, sundowning tweets tells you everything you need to know. Or one look at those bizarre, chameleon-like eyes, the hunched shoulders in front of the lectern, the incoherent words that never made sense to start with. The man is demented. The guardrails are off. He's also cruel. And a lifelong liar. And deeply stupid.
Isn't that enough?
John Gartner, Ph.D, has a substantial amount of experience dealing with dementia patients as a psychologist, and he sees Donald ‘s gait and other leg movements as a sign Donald has frontotemporal dementia. He also sees Trump’s speech changes and use of words which to him resemble actual words but are garbled as evidence of progressive dementia. There was a YouTube video I saw where a lady from the UK’s Times Radio interviewed Dr. Gartner and he discussed these issues with her. MSM here is too chicken to do it.
Thanks Kathy. I see that his he has speech aphasia of some sort as well. Frontotemporal would interfere with his executive functioning, which is ironic considered that he is the leader of the executive branch with poor executive brain functioning. That is where critical decision making takes place. Very scary to realize. It reminds of being 9 and on a ferris wheel at a local traveling carnival, with my diesel engineer uncle. At some point he noticed that a critical pin was lose on the ferris wheel and he was terrified. He said something to me, but I remember thinking, I am a kid and I am not going to worry about this, let him worry. Now I am the adult that gets to worry realizing that the pin holding the president's brain together is very lose.
"MSM here is too chicken," Kathy?
Not so much that, I think, as inured by lives in schools dedicated to testing which above all teaches "ask no questions" of anyone, anything. Only anonymous, dehumanized testers ask the Qs.
And the Qs all have, from four choices, each one correct answer. No complications, no analogies, no serendipity, no multiple layerings.
Testing doesn't teach just the cowardice we see in mainstream media. It more vastly teaches our addictions to the lies of linear causality only, the lies of grouping and categorical imagination only.
Yep — and sooner rather than later. They must have him propped on some pretty powerful IV drugs.
Hello 93... Seen the Bruised Hands, and Neck?....
Don't know. What I do know from courses in Neuro and Abnormal psych, that Trump is not mentally healthy, and I can see some of this limitations, but the people around him regularly must see more of them and be taking advantage of him as well. Someone should be blocking his calls and keeping him off of Truth Social at night, when as Jeff Tiedrich describes it, he is Sundowning.
I've been amazed at how long bodies can stay alive while being in ill health, "propped up" is a good way of putting it. Soon he'll be dropping out of sight more, I expect.
Joan, agree with your point. Then watch the likes of Miller slither into power. Ugh.
For many years all I could abd still can think of is Rasputin. Robert Massie wrote a book on the Czar and Czarina and how because of their son’s hemophilia Rasputin became a powerful force. He also was almost unbelievably indestructible. The film Nicholas and Alexandria is worth a watch. The role of medical illness like hemophilia has an important place in that historical narrative. And the disease was also part of our AIDS/ HIV narrative with the tragic story of Ryan White.
"Ask your doctor if advice from an anonymous doctor is right for you."
I laughed aloud, Apache, you are so Pragmatic. "Divine Intervention is the Cleanest, Most Anti-Septic"
Thank You Joan... You are so Kind to Me...
Even with divine intervention there are his enablers that need to be removed and there are many.
Apache … the Divine helps those that help themselves.
The pro-democracy movement would stop harming itself if it started telling itself to stop telling lies (like Bernie Sander’s “it’s okay to be angry at capitalism”) and instead started telling truths … like it’s okay to be angry at CAPINO (capitalism in name only), CRISTINO (Christianity in name only), SCINO (science in name only), JUSTINO (justice in name only), etc.
Morality — treating others the way you would want to be treated if the shoe was on the other foot — is the founding principle of all the world’s moral traditions. Immorality — “do unto others before they do unto me” — is the mutually exclusive and collectively exhaustive alternative.
Different traditions state different founding principles, and their different contexts involve different applications, but the different words have precisely the same meaning. In capitalism, it’s Adam Smith’s “theory of moral sentiment” (1759), not Milton Friedman’s theory of immoral sentiment (1962). In Christianity, its Matthew 22:40, not MTG’s former “hate thy neighbor” tendencies. In science, its “subject assumptions to rigorous skepticism, even my own, even when (and especially when) it’s inconvenient,” and in justice it’s due process, and not Sam Alito’s “the cold-blooded KKK murderers of James Chaney, Andrew Goodman, and Michael Schwerner are here with us in spirit.”
To stop believing the Lie is to stop behaving as if the best liar wins and start setting some good examples … like behaving as if politics is a positive-sum practice whereas zero-sum is political malpractice. Then we’re working in harmony — instead of at cross purposes — with the Divine.
And…I heard that The Apprentice show is being revived with Don Jr as the host.
No "DJT". He is no JFK, MLK, FDR, or LBJ. If he is to be remembered by initials let it be POS.
Apache, if by "pray for divine intervention," you mean that we enthusiastically anticipate Nature taking her course with the accelerated decline of all psychological and physiological functions in DJT until they finally cease, then I am on board. I'd add that Justice demands the involvement of significant levels of pain, to offset the great pain he has caused others.
Mumbling words to an imagined deity won't change the natural course of events.
And actually Apache you have at 180° upside down. Fox News follows winners. And the more he wins the more you hate him. And he hasn’t stopped winning.
Geeeeeeez what BS
Well.. Sender is , what clinicians refer to as , an idiot
More BS LOL
I'm still not convinced, Mike, that he's a "he."
More likely a team, all Kremlin-paid, all hooked up to A.I.
How long did it take you to put that aide post together young lady with three names I love when you people post three names that make you sound more intelligent but then you open your mouth and prove that you’re not with a post like that. I’m sorry, Your Honor whatever he said was BS. Well Patricia do you have any fax to back that up no Your Honor that’s just what I think. Well Patricia, here’s a photo of who you might be. See if you might fit the description here. don’t know any facts just repeat what you see on MSNBC now or CNN. Full full of unsupported, insults, and accusations. Nothing but emotional thoughts. And of course, that worst case scenario call somebody a racist or other unsupported acronym.
More unintelligent BS from little boy Render Sick.
Another brilliant illustration of Patricia's excellence in hot air
Patricia, you don't even have to try
You have succeeded in excessive bloviating and congratulations
What has he won? I see chaos and inexperienced toadies who are in their positions only because they're loyal to trump. trump himself is a narcissist who can never admit he's wrong, along with being a pathological liar. No one knows how to get out of the illegal war in Iran,especially Hegseth, who fired anyone with experience. The DOJ can't keep attorneys, probably because they believe in the law and our Constitution, and we all know the DOJ works for trump. Nobody is actually working for the people. They take from the poor to give to the wealthy. This whole regime is an abomination and that will be trump's legacy, in my opinion.
One last thing BC, every single president for forever has put toadies in their cabinet
I'm sorry I've never heard. Sorry I've never heard of a president putting enemies in their cabinet. Hmmmm Maybe Kennedy should've put Nixon in his cabinet?
’
And I guess you haven't followed politics too long huh?
Every single president is a narcissist, every single one.
But coupled with his narcissism, he is one of the only leaders in the last 30 years
And unlike Biden, who was a traitor to this country as well as Obama he is America first where he should be and frankly Mister if Biden's name was in front of many of the items that Trump accomplished you'd be standing and cheering
Tell me about the toadies tell me about their inexperience cause what's happening here is exactly what he promised and the more he wins the more you hate him. In fact it's so ugly that four states have now tried to stop the no tax on tips no tax on overtime from being effective in their state that's how bad it is. That's how much they're pushing back on his success. Should've voted with the winner, pal then you'd be proud Of America
What qualifications does hegseth have to run the Pentagon? What experience does ka$h Patel have running the FBI? How is it that trump's personal attorney is now running the DOJ? Why isn't anyone bitching about gas prices like they did with Biden. You seem to accept whatever demented don says. I take no stock in your comments. You're just another loyal MAGA who thinks trump hasn't completely destroyed everything that was good for America. I am on the right side of history. I know because I'm not a dumb MAGA. trump's approval is in the toilet. The majority of people aren't happy with this regime. Maybe that's why Democrats have made up ground in nearly every election since trump took office. I don't hate trump. I pity him. It must suck to be malignant narcissist carrying so much hate in his heart, knowing deep down he really is a fool. He is impulsive. He thinks the world should roll over for him. They won't. He even insults and fights with the Pope! Yup, that's normal behavior. Sorry, regardless of what you say, trump is the worst president in history. I'm also not your pal.
By the way, Biden’s gas prices lasted years not weeks. Two dollars higher for almost 2 years. Tripled mortgage rates increased grocery places by 20% two months into his term of Office and took inflation from 3% to 9% all in 2 1/2 years what an accomplishment
What qualifications did Barack Obama have before he became president? What qualifications did Henry Ford have before he created ford motors. What qualifications did Zuckerberg have before he created Facebook?
BC you are the slowest of soul You idiots are more concerned with what happened before an act they created becomes a success. Every one of you is more concerned about process than results. It’s so sickening and it’s so evident but you don’t wanna look at it yourself.
Who gives a shit what kind of qualification somebody has because all of a sudden they take a job and they do a great job
AND THAT’S ALL THAT MATTERS.
WHAT QUALIFICATIONS DID FDR HAVE BEFORE HE BECAME PRESIDENT?
ON THE OPPOSITE END OF THE SPECTRUM JOE BIDEN HAD 40 YEARS OF EXPERIENCE AND FUCK THIS COUNTRY FOR THE NEXT DECADE WITH OPEN PORTERS.
WOW, BC!! I don’t know if you saw this P Rick quote: “One last thing BC, every single president for forever has put toadies in their cabinet”
Unbelievable, huh? That must mean Poor Rick (PRick Sender) thinks Trump has toadies in his cabinet! I wonder is Toadies drink gallons of alcohol and wear “Stars & Stripes” pocket hankies that imitate military awards??
Another one of those dreamers huh? Well I'll keep dreaming pal because he hasn't taken a loss yet. Every single one of his policies is doing great for America and American citizens.
In fact, you obviously have no memory whatsoever that the most important issue to American's pre-election was the border.
75 days later he kept his promise one of another 150 that he's kept unlike any former president.
But you hate like all you moronic liberals is pre-presidential. Which is about as worthy as a Brand, demented penny of which there aren't any.
Instead of generic insults and accusations, why don't you tell me what he's lost pal? In May I posted 20 major accomplishments by Trump and there's been about 40 or 50 more since then.
But don't worry he's only got another 2 1/2 years or so and then maybe he'll be chosen as vice president by the next president elect. Uh oh
Hey rick! So glad you are here to be tonight's clown comedy relief!
It's my pleasure. I have to visit the asylum here every once in a while to get grounded. To realize how much better we have it outside of this domain
And I love that a number of these people went out on a note King's march dressed in all kinds of ridiculous, embarrassing costume And wasted their life
Do you know why 93 Because in a country that has a king you're not allowed to have a NO KINGS protest otherwise they Slice off your head. That's how stupid you people are
BUT HERE'S THE IRONY FOR YOU TRUMP'S BEEN AN OFFICE A YEAR AND A HALF THIS TIME BERNIE SANDERS 40 YEARS CHUCK SCHUMER 52 YEARS JOE BIDEN 50 YEARS. NOW, PLEASE IDENTIFY THE KING FOR 4ME WHO GENERALLY STAYS IN POWER FOR A LONG TIME!
hmmmmmmm
lmFao
And I'll watch while he's lowered down to his deathbed, and I'll stand by his grave 'til I'm sure that he's dead. Don't get me wrong ... I'm not saying 8647. I'm just saying the world will be a much better place with 4786'd.
Well, Add hate and stupidity to your ignorance because that's all you have. That's quite a trio, dear James. In the meantime, I love the fact that he keeps winning and winning and winning because every time he wins You guys hate some more. And I'm enjoying watching you suffer for no reason whatsoever Everyone of Trump's policies is winning for American and the American people And you aren't American socialist or communist if you want that there's one-way flights out of here all day long. Have a nice time.
Have you ever been more sincere in worshiping your king? That vacant haunt of a man? Can y wake him up during y praise service? It’s embarrassing to read such groveling BS.
I don’t like Trump. The problem with all you idiots is you just can’t stand the name. I could give a shit about the name
if Joe Biden was putting out the policies that Trump is putting out I’d be cheering for Joe Biden. It has nothing to do with the name
OR THE PERSON. Nor The name nor the person is what affects the American citizen. The only thing that actually affects them are the policies and laws that they enact while they’re in office… and as long as the policies remain in effect
You just hate the fucking name and of course you hate beyond belief when you’re not in control and there was a great survey recently by CNN that absolutely personifies what I’ve just said above when you’re not in control, you go apeshit even if you agree with the policies you won’t admit it and you can’t stand it and as for me, I love to watch you guys lie to yourselves
I don't hate anyone, Rick. I feel sorry for people who ... like you ... refuse to constrain their own ignorance, but I reserve the pain I feel for the innocent victims of that ignorance.
YOU said I hate people. That is a lie, and the only person you're convincing is yourself, but you need to because the alterative will scare you so much you'll poop your little-boy pants.
The line it is drawn;
The curse it is cast;
The slow one now;
Will later be fast;
As the present now;
Will later be past;
The order is rapidly fadin';
And the first one now;
Will later be last.
The best time for the times to be a-changin' was six decades ago. The second best time is now.
Well, James, unfortunately for you I’ve been writing about almost everything in my life which has got Me from a popper living in a furnished Apartment my entire life until I was 20. To be one of the most successful people I could ever imagine Not only creating a billions of dollars of value to hundreds of thousands of participants but But turning 3 to 4000 people into millionaires.
Married for 56 years Travel the Earth, 119 countries and islands and all 50 states
If you ever hear from James r Carey
Make sure you are forever, wary
For partisans make Poor decisions
And forever attempting to make revisions
To the successes of the opposite side
While the let’s failed attempts the world derides
When the government is not left controlled
They then assume the ugliest of roles
And continue to cheat and lie to the end
When the laws in their favor they cannot bend
And the more their enemies win the prize
The more the violence and hate arise
It’s when they’re not in control
Impeachment and murder is then their role
For 10 years, they’ve tried to denigrate
Yet losing each battle is their proven fate
and when the war of wits is over and done
Trump’s policies and laws will again have won
and I still tell you,james you;ve never found a insult or an accusation you haven’t liked With no back up, no support no facts no evidence just hate. You may call it what you will. If that makes you feel any better
James, you poor soul. You’re you were worthless, generic imbecile. In my opinion you never say anything you just bloviate
And I can write poetry circles around you, pal I never said you hate people you just hate America and the reason you hate America is because you’re not in control and that’s the only reason.
Because of Joe Biden had done half the things that Trump has accomplished already you’d be cheering your ass off
Rick: behind the veil of social media one is free to ignore the standards of constructive dialogue. Because we don't have to look one another in the eye, which tends to mollify our language. Evidence and logic typically win arguments; confrontation does not. Your opinions tend to be a barrier to good communication and they will not alter the opinions of those who post here - nor can we alter yours. Most respondents to Heather's letters provide irrefutable, well-documented information. Even though competence may vary among us. Even though the views of those who regularly post are not always consistent with the majority, no one is stripped of his/her autonomy or rights. But generally everyone here recognizes the vital relationship between power and morality. In other words, we are all offended when our leaders use profanity and foul language to describe people and events; or when they use cartoons to depict their gleeful entry into war - that's not foreign POLICY; or when they want to destroy a nation into the stone age - innocent, men, women and children incinerated; or when they refer to good people coming from shit hole countries; or when they fabricate disrespectful characterizations of good people eating our cats and dogs; or when they defame someone's looks, weight or IQ; or when the sole basis of authority is personal wealth not the welfare of the country. This has coarsened our society immeasurably. We, here cannot alter your thoughts, feelings, grievances with further exhortations. So maybe you would like to join in evidence-based, historically relevant, intellectually rigorous debate......Cheers.
Stephanie, thank you very much because now one of the people who are contradicting or criticizing. Anything I’ve said has done so with a fact, or a spec of evidence respect of support. I’m the only one right here that when I say something, I’ll support it with links and fax and evidence.
And maybe you haven’t looked at the last six years of Trump’s presidency then that’s all they’ve done is integrate him. Are you fucking kidding me Stephanie. They denigrate his looks they denégrate his weight they denegrate his mouth. But they can’t dedicate his policies because they’re all working. They even integrate oh my God he’s gone two weeks over of six week war. Lmao.
I’ve asked 100 times Stephanie for the following
Please list me any of Trump’s policies or laws that have been enacted that have personally negatively affected your life.
Politicians are always vulnerable. If they can't take the heat...... But don't we expect more from our leaders; the public displays its displeasure in perverse ways as well, but it is not responsible for policies that protect our welfare - environment, safety, health care, education, etc. I looked through your posts, and all I saw were all caps (anger, shouting); name calling, frustration. I have suffered emotional pain, mostly for others who have suffered abuse even death under this administration. But since my husband and I were always frugal, responsible people, we have retired in very good shape. (Besides, I'm tough, physically and mentally - remember I'm the one who raced canoes over 35 miles for 12 yrs; ran marathons; competed in triathlons, biked 12 centuries and I swim laps at a local college, and post swim forced to take a really cold shower -- you can't bury me or hurt me or destroy me. Have you ever hiked up Mt. Washington in the winter???? It's cold and very windy even dangerous) That doesn't mean that I don't care for others who have been egregiously defamed or harmed by this administration - Blacks, Hispanics, Muslims, women, and Miller wanting an all white nation This can't be good for the country. Somehow, the country has decivilized politics with fearmongering (the immigrants are taking your jobs, while a report today claimed that the absence of these workers, esp. where ICE has been means less work for native born workers. Find the article.) But.... you did NOT address the points I made either with support for these behaviors by trump or with at least an admission that such behavior is not presidential, acceptable or tolerable. Yes, yes and yes -- all politicians are vulnerable, beholden to interest groups, make bad decisions, engage in crony politics - but all believed in science, expertise and professionalism. But don't take my work for this: listen to Tim Snyder, Ruth Ben Ghiat, Anne Applebaum, Fiona Hill, Preet Bahara et al... Rick - your activism is no less within the range of what we all experience depending on influences of all kinds, range of experiences, background etc. (I note that you have been quite successful and well travelled - good for you.)
Republicans love pedophiles.
Yeah, I was epstein a pedophile was epstein a Republican. Uh oh ?
Was Bill Clinton Bill Gates was Dean Summers. Oooooops.
But by the way, I heard you like bending over when you were on Epstein Island
Apache, I think you never left the reservation. So let me help you bring you up to speed. This failed businessman has hotels AND golf courses all over the world. How many you got? This failed businessman how’s a social network worth a couple of billion. This failed businessman is president of the United States only the second time ever in alternate terms. And let me share with you a few of Donald Trump‘s peers who have gone through bankruptcy that they’ve come out semi successful. Perhaps you’ll recognize their names of people that had enough drive and confidence and persistence to fail and keep coming back so here are the names of some of Trump’s peers. PT BARNUM, MILTON, HERSHEY, H.J. HEINZ, HENRY, FORD, AND ONE OF YOUR FAVORITE AMONGST MANY OTHERS NOT HERE ON THE LIST
WALT DISNEY, AND OF COURSE, ABRAHAM LINCOLN. WHO FAILED MANY TIMES.
Winston Churchill said his definition of success was somebody that went from fail failure to failure to failure with no loss of enthusiasm.
Hello Rick... You should come over to an Apache Reservation... We'd Love To Have You For Dinner...
Did you hear the story of Kamala Harris when she visited the Apache reservation? She was trying to garner some votes, so she visited the chief of the Apaches. And she said what can I do for you, sir? What do you need here on the reservation? And the chief said we could really use some doctors. We're really shorthanded with Good drs
So Karey whips out her cell phone turns around makes a call Turns around back to the chief and says by next week you will have three new doctors And the chief said that that's great And then Kamala said what else can I do for you? He says well if we're gonna have doctors, we probably need a hospital so, the whips out her cell phone turns around makes a call, turns back to the chief and says We were building one and will be ready in three months.
And then, says what else do you need
And he smiled and looked at her and said we have absolutely no cell service here at all Have a nice day, Apache
He's a twice-impeached, convicted fraudster. Why can't you face that fact? He was twice sued for defamation because he denied sexually assaulting a woman, and he lost both times. There's another fact. He's had to file for bankruptcy six times. An analysis by the New York Times of his tax returns (which unlike other presidents he's never agreed to disclose) showed that over a period of a decade he paid little or no income tax. He's the biggest grifter of all time to occupy the office of president of the United States. He's currently suing his own IRS for $10bn.
If you think that Trump should get $1bn for a ballroom then I suggest that you and people like you should stump up the money because the majority of Americans don't want it and they certainly don't want to pay for it.
Hello Russell... Don't Forget the Epstein Files... DJT started a War to distract from them... Why?... Hmm?...
You're really slow a foot there Russell the only thing that matters as to a president's effectiveness are the policies and laws that he enact while he's president and that last until they go away.
And I can't wait for the next impeachment. It's a left-wing circus and I love it
But I am gonna love the trials that come on maybe Between Brennan and Komi and watch them squirm for the shit they pulled in the Russia hoax. Which was the reason for the first impeachment And the second impeachment was because his name was Donald Trump as well, the third impeachment And I love it because every time he wins, they've been trying for 10 years to get to him and he keeps winning and winning and winning I wish I could show you the illustration what I love about it is the hate gets more violent and angrier and more frustrated And that makes me happy because they're upside down and there love Of America
China is hosting Iran's ambassador ahead of Trump's summit on May 14-15. This is not a good sign. Xi is supplying Iran with arms and dual-use components for its drones. My bet is that Xi is going to take over as mediator from Pakistan in the negotiations to end the war and Trump is going to get rolled. If there is any truth in the reporting about Putin descending into paranoia, then Xi is going to become Trump's new dictator buddy and puppetmaster while he also gains influence over Iran by becoming its main arms supplier. Xi holds a lot of cards.
It is in Xi's best interest to keep the war going, continuing our self-inflicted reduction in military capabilities.
Xi has the economic power and an embedded near-peer high-tech base that Putin lacks. Putin is weakening politically. Carney and Macron have already done trade deals with China as they have been reducing ties to the US.
What Xi wants from the US is access to next-gen chip manufacturing technology and access to AI and a free hand in Taiwan. There is going to be some dickering between the US tech bros and Xi, who are mostly greedy to sell out to China. The tech bros want enormous amounts of cheap electric power from clean energy. China is the place to build all of those data centers, not the fossil-fueled US.
Coming out of this fiasco, Xi will position Trump back in his Western Hemisphere sphere of influence with the Donroe Doctrine where we will be isolated, while China and Carney's "middle countries" become the hegemons. Xi will be the big winner.
Does this have to be the outcome? It depends on how much more damage Trump can do in the next 2 1/2 years, and how compliant he will be to Xi's demands. The only way we can influence that is to get back control of both houses of Congress.
Above all, we have to focus on the midterms. Our vote is our last defense, no matter what obstacles Trump tries to put in the way. We have to stick with the story of the failing economy and the epic corruption. Are you better off than you were two years ago? Who is paying off Trump and what are they getting in return?
Congress and SCOTUS have failed us. Our last defense is our vote.
PS--a passing thought now that Putin is reported to be hiding in a bunker. Anyone else think that he gave Trump the idea for the evolving plans for the ballroom?
I think Trump always wants what the other guy has -- only bigger and gaudier. And since everyone already knows there will be a bunker underneath the No-ballsroom, how can he "hide"? He just wants what he wants and he wants it all.
That is a correct statement, Trump sees something someone else has and wants it also. It’s really the bunker he wants. I can’t understand why security at the Washington Hilton was more lax than one would have expected it to be with so many high officials present. Some people invited as guests to the event noted they only had to flash their tickets at entrance points where one would have expected tighter scrutiny.
lauriemcf, yours is an accurate appraisal of Donald. In fact, it's a weakness handed down to him by his parents. Fred started with a little bit of money he inherited from his father, the brothel operator and real estate dabbler. Mary Anne was a charwoman who married Fred for his little bit of money. They accumulated some wealth by leasing low-rent apartments and operating a group of laundromats. They could afford a nicer house, but it was still in blue-collar Queens, and they envied the high-rise, high-life of Manhattan's high society. Donald was supposed to get that for his parents, but no amount of money will cover the loud, crass behavior of the low-born. Fred lost his mind before he died, and Mary Anne died coveting what she couldn't have. Donald is trying to fulfill their dreams before he kicks off.
Georgia, I believe Trump works for Putin. However, I think the ballroom was Trump’s own hallucination.
I called my reps again today.
Hello Georgia… DJT is making China Great Again… I don’t think that Xi will get to close with DJT.. DJT doesn’t have enough Class… I’m speculating that the DJT/Xi Summit will result in a Hormuz exit for DJT, and more Power for China…
I think you are right that Xi disdains Trump, but he certainly would love to see America as a toothless vassal state. I think Xi will use Russia as a convenient source of natural resources if Putin is ousted. He already has deals with Canada lined up. We are going to wind up with scraps.
Add in the worst drought since the dustbowl and dwindling water resources in the west and we are going to be screwed by inflation for food, not just for healthcare, fossil fuels, and electric power. I don’t think people realize how much we are going to be subsidizing all of those power-hungry data centers.
I hope China doesn’t change the sheets between the Iran and Trump visits!
I found it particularly “inspiring” that so many liberals felt compelled to attend the Bezos “bend the knee” tribute to the oligarchs. The good that money could have done pales against the importance of
praying to the great god Bezos. To those people who view my thoughts as too dark, please point me to an event to brighten my view. I do recognize how important it was to show obeisance to the press destroyer. But, really! Maybe I’m just too old to understand. Yes. That’s it.
I was kind of shocked too, Gary. And boy, did it look tacky this year -- with the winner of tack and trash being Sanchez-Bezos herself.
To be fair, the Met Gala is actually a charitable fundraiser. It raises funds for the Met’s Costume Institute. How worthy a charity you find that is another question.
I will agree that it sure looks like a let them eat cake moment.
KR, if I'm being "fair," the gala raises funds for the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute. That is not what I would call a charity. Sure, the institute preserves a collection of high fashion items, which I acknowledge is a tiny segment of our cultural history. But if they really needed funds, they could apply for 501(c) designation from the IRS and solicit tax-exempting donations from industry-related corporations.
But that's not what the gala is about. It's about celebrities of all stripes using an event to perpetuate their celebrity in a fete of one-upmanship in decadence and excess for their own entertainment.
I have some experience with fundraising galas. They are the least cost-efficient means of fundraising. But they serve the interests of both the donors and beneficiaries by giving the donors an excuse to dress up and go out to play without feeling like self-absorbed heels.
The Met organizers have conspicuously boasted that they raised a record $42 million, but are very quiet about how much is left after all the expenses are paid.
Yeah, but it’s OK to bow with the statue of Obama, the God, huh? Who was nice enough to provide Iran with a couple billion dollars in cash to start building their nuclear arsenal. The most deceptive divisive president in recent history
There's no statue of Obama, you idiot. Guess which president has a statue?
https://metro.co.uk/2026/04/29/new-15ft-gold-statue-trump-pumping-fist-air-unveiled-golf-club-28164395/
And as well deserved based on his performance and Office.
Russell, you're gonna love this one too if there was a statue of Obama, it'd be made out of of papier-mâché with a vagina
Mr. pushover president that sat and watched Crimea crumble
How come you don’t know anything Sender? Are you brain injured? Survived a near drowning perhaps? Heavy street drugs or alcohol use?
Something..
Wow, more accusations and insults from the MikeSter
Congratulations for joining your faithless friends and celebrating ignorance. But your honor he's brain injured. OK Mike do you have any proof? Well look at what he says Your Honor Well, Mike he happens to be correct
I don't think if you scoured the Earth, you could find a fact
So.. there’s no medical reason for your obvious malady.. interesting
Let me introduce you again to Mike McMillan which as much depth to his post as toilet paper
By the way, Mike so far there’s absolutely nothing interesting about you
Every vainglorious despot need a fortified, luxurious, Bond-villain lair.
The garbled syntax & the many TOU contract violations have been reported to Substack Inc exposing the Plaform to legal action by TOU contractually defined "Readers".
Mount Weather and Camp David are insufficient for him?
Well, that would’ve been Biden and Obama and Bush didn’t do a big good job of that either.
And I still haven't heard the last of Tom Homan's $50K in a bag right before the elections. Though it does appear that the private detention center business is doing very well. I'm sure there are some very pleased insiders.
I imagine they think all of these people they are shafting will soon become unnecessary due to AI. And then what -- will they just let them die off? Sickening.
I think sometimes it’s what they want for most of us, no vaccines, no medication, no income, no medical care, and that sort of thing. It makes sense only to amoral people.
The problem antebellum Southern planters had with their enslaved chattel is that they had to house, feed and clothe their slaves, if only minimally. Even after all that "maintenance," they could still get sick and die, making them risky "assets."
With AI, as long as it's housed in air-conditioned warehouses, fed vast amounts of electricity and water, it will plagiarize human effort indefinitely, without asking for anything more.
But as usual, the tech bros haven't thought this through. If all the consumers of their product are dead, who will pay for their services? Other tech bros? Seems like rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic.
I honestly believe there are no more serious people out there in government. We are bung governed by social media which is a totally ridiculous thing when you think about it. Until someone stands up to Trump and his Lackeys, this will only get worse. I feel bad for the generations behind mine.
Your state government can still take the bull by the horns. They are more responsive to constituents. We become provincial each state protecting its citizens. States working together to hold the national cohesiveness. Granted red states will capitulate. The courts the states the people the law of the land. Funny how that was the plan long ago as we are putting it back together again. Let Humpty Dumpty have his great fall.
The other leader to be concerned about is India’s Modi. India which once encompassed the lands now known as Pakistan as a very ancient Histiry similar to China and the indigenous of our North and South American continent. It was colonized in part by Portugal way before Britain and that area Goa had some from what I can surmise horrid Inquisition activities. Though now at this point there some people I would not mind the pope placing under edict or excommunication. If they did it for St Hildegard a now Doctor of the Church Pope Leo could also do it to our VP and some SCOTUS members since the whole issue of separation of church and state is almost completely moot.
Phil, you fucking moron you can’t see past the end of your nose Who do you think is going to benefit by the ballroom or the security you fucking stupid motherfucking moron
Same as Obama exactly the same only Trump didn’t build the cages for the children. That was Obama’s doing. Oooooooops
Heather, why don’t you tell your gullible lemming followers here that by the time the ballroom is done Trump may even be terming out at that point and that the ballroom will remain there protecting all future presidents for the next hundred years. Instead, you take twist and turns to deceive your proletariat rabble with your one-sided version of reality… my disappointment is that you have so many remora following the mothership to never never land
US presidents do not as a rule spend all of their time skulking in ballrooms.
Russell, even you were gonna have to admit this one Think about this for one second I don't know how long it's gonna take to build a ballroom and the underground bunker however, I'm going to assume that it will be done pretty much about the time that Trump leaves Which means that for the next hundred years every successive president OTHER THAN HIM We'll have the security and the blessing of safety Has more powerful emerging weapon weapons are unveiled.
This is what kills me about you people Anything he does doesn't matter how good or how presentant or how much it takes care of the future
If Biden were doing this and saying exactly that this would take care of all the safety for the president in the future, every liberal would be visiting Washington DC and bowing and genuflecting
Heather gave a very informative “Politics Chat” on Tuesday 5/5/26 on the history of “trickle down” economics propaganda and how it was used by Republicans to disenfranchise the U.S. middle class and move over 50 trillion (yes, trillion) dollars into the pockets of the ultra-wealthy. She also explained how “budget reconciliation” is being used to give an additional 72 billion to ICE and Customs and Border Protection for funding through 2029 without including any restrictions on wearing masks, warrantless searches/arrests, etc.. To top it off they included 1 billion dollars to fund Trump’s ballroom boondoggle with taxpayer’s money. Heather found this “bait and switch” especially annoying. This is the link to her chat: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7x94FifmV-o. Here are other topics of current interest.
WOMEN’S REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH IS IN FRONT OF THE SCOTUS AGAIN: ICYMI: On (5/4/26) Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito temporarily (one week) paused a Louisiana court ruling that patients can no longer obtain mifepristone by telemedicine or mail. The plaintiffs and defendants have one week to submit briefs arguing the case. Michael Popok, the lawyer who founded Legal AF has recorded a short podcast reviewing all the details. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-vribxjeytA. Today (5/5/26) Legal AF interviewed Julia Kaye, JD., Senior Staff Attorney with the ACLU Reproductive Freedom Project, who was the lead counsel in two lawsuits (ACOG v. FDA and Chelius v. Becerra) that led the FDA to allow patients to obtain mifepristone for abortion and miscarriage care through telehealth and pharmacy dispensing. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GziIiwj0UiE It’s a very informative interview on a vital topic.
VOTER SENTIMENT INFORMATION CRUCIAL TO THE 2026 MIDTERMS: On her podcast (5/4/26) The Best People, Nicolle Wallace, former Whitehouse Communications Director (GW Bush) and senior advisor for John McCain, anchor of MS NOW news, best selling author, etc. interviewed Sarah Longwell of the Bulwark and a prominent never Trump Republican who is nationally known for her polling and interviewing Trump voters. She has enormous insight into what the voters are feeling and motivating them. This is crucial to knowing how to defeat Trump in elections. She is author of “How to Eat an Elephant: One Voter at a Time” (The playbook for consigning MAGA-style politics to the ash heap of history). “TRUMP SHOWDOWN! Why MAGA loyalists are suddenly breaking up with him - YouTube”. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=owh-T94dZrU
Why is there so much attention being paid to court rulings and legal matters? Because the U.S. Congress has been refusing to exercise its Constitutionally designated powers to maintain control over the executive branch and it’s allowing an authoritarian President to ignore the rule of law and behave like a dictator. This leaves the courts/;the legal system and elections as the only defense the citizens have to preserve their democracy.
FURTHER CLEAR EVIDENCE THAT THE SCOTUS IS BIASED AND FEELS IT CAN MAKE ITS OWN CONSTITUTIONAL LAW: Marc Elias, prominent voting rights lawyer who won more than 60 cases against Trump lawyers who were challenging the 2020 election interviewed (5/5/26) Joyce Vance, former U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Alabama, Substack legal affairs podcaster, and author of “Giving Up Is Unforgivable: A Manual For Keeping A Democracy” on how the SCOTUS has openly demonstrated racial prejudice in its court decisions on multiple occasions. The evidence is stark and very troublesome. “Supreme Court Bends Its Redistricting Rule — at Black Voters' Expense | Joyce Vance - YouTube”. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xwBrJZ2rPFM
This is on top of: On April 28, 2026 the NYT published an investigative article on the SCOTUS shadow docket and how it is being used. “NYTimes.com: The Inside Story of Five Days That Remade the Supreme Court”. by Jody Kantor and Adam Liptak. Secret memos obtained by The New York Times illuminate the origins of the court’s now-routine “shadow docket” rulings on presidential power. https://www.nytimes.com/2026/04/18/us/politics/supreme-court-shadow-docket.html?unlocked_article_code=1.eFA.ITYG.jfzbE-yqCmJ4&smid=em-share
There is also a NYT video interviewing the two investigative journalists who explain their findings:
“Inside the Five Days That Remade the Supreme Court - YouTube”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jWpPuWH8TQk
This gives a view into the fossil fuel industry/the Koch brothers/the Heritage Foundation/the Federalist Society’s capture of the Supreme Court.
Also see: “Without Precedent: How Chief Justice Roberts and His Accomplices Rewrote the Constitution and Dismantled Our Rights” by Lisa Graves, a lawyer (JD. degree from Cornell Law School), She previously served as the Chief Counsel for Nominations on the United States Senate Judiciary Committee under Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vermont), as Deputy Assistant Attorney General in the United States Department of Justice during the Clinton Administration, as an adjunct law professor at the George Washington University Law School, is currently the executive director of True North Research and president of the board of the Center for Media and Democracy and has testified as an expert witness before several committees in the U.S. Senate and the House of Representatives on national security. Lisa Graves is one of the nation’s foremost experts in exposing how special interests distort public policy and try to thwart the public’s interest in a thriving democracy and a healthy planet and/or her recent interview by Paul Krugman: https://paulkrugman.substack.com/p/talking-with-lisa-graves?r=1d2cea&utm_medium=ios
And Georgetown Law School Professor Steve Vladeck’s book: “The Shadow Docket: How the Supreme Court Uses Stealth Rulings to Amass Power and Undermine the Republic” 2023.
Professor Vladeck’s recent interview by Harry Litman which discusses the new NYT evidentiary findings. “Justice Roberts CHANGED EVERYTHING in LEAKED SECRET MEMOS - YouTube”. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cRvRlFcvFGc
Harry Litman is a former U.S. attorney and deputy assistant attorney general, served as law clerk to U.S. Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall, is a professor of law at UCLA and UCSD, a podcaster and legal commentator.
This is GREAT, Fred - thanks for doing all that research into the links and breaking it down. You've made it easy for us all amplify the issues, with backup, that will do the most good for our own spheres of influence. Bravo!
Thank you for your reply. The intent of my comments is just as you have stated. It is a small thing that I can do to support our democracy. Democracy depends on a well educated and informed society. Heather does such a superlative job of informing the public. Her readers expect to hear facts and a historical perspective and Heather provides this in an easily understandable story telling style. I just try to supplement this with references to expert’s opinions on topics I feel are important to the people and to our republic.
You're doing it brilliantly! I was glad to see Sarah Longwell and The Bulwark on your list - they always have such incisive information and I think it really helps to listen to the analysis of former Republicans.
Thanks so much for these links Fred, outstanding!
Yes, great Fred & easy to frame follow up litigation in full historical context.
Too bad the pridefully ignorant USian Moronic Majority is so huge and irremediably conditioned, its malignancy will never be overcome save by outside intervention.
Trump is destroying the U.S. by following the authoritarian playbook and destroying the U.S. and world economies in the process.
Thank you so much Fred for all the links!
Thanks Fred! Hi all, click the three dots below Fred’s comment to share it.
Excellent, Fred, and thank you.
Hey Freddy, baby never heard back from you with any facts. What a surprise you were so lost in rhetoric and lemming Hood. And I can’t believe she’s actually quoting the New York slime as a new source. That is the most comical thing I’ve seen all week here. It’s gonna be interesting seeing the San Francisco ization Of NEW YORK. YOU SHOULD READ THIS ALL NOW SO YOU SEE I’M SAYING IT WAY IN ADVANCE. I CANNOT WAIT UNTIL THE FIRST GOVERNMENT RUN GROCERY STORE OPENS SUBSTANTIALLY OVER BUDGET AND THAT NOBODY RUNNING. IT HAS A CLUE THAT THE MARGINS ON GROCERY STORES IS BETWEEN ONE AND 2% AND WHEN THE THEFT STARTS HAPPENING AND THEY DON’T WANT TO PUNISH THOSE WHO ARE STEALING, I GIVE IT SIX MONTHS IN THE STORE WILL CLOSE OR THEY WILL HAVE TO FUND IT FROM THE ALREADY OVER BUDGET DEFICIT
YOU LEFT YOUR CAPS LOCK ON, YOU FUCKING IDIOT.
Sue me.
Sue the Platform under their own TOU & their own binding choice of law.
Are you like one of those Pohl string dolls, full of nothing but stuffing but if you pull the string, you talk and say the same thing ad infinitum. What a sad life you lead there Brian why don't you get behind your president and your country he's winning and we're winning everywhere we go
AndAnd I'll say it again if Joe Biden was doing the things, Trump is doing you'd be standing and cheering
Read the certified complaint I filed with the AG of California Rob Bonta.
‘THEY WANT YOU TIRED. THAT'S THE WHOLE FUCKING PLAN’
“A subscriber hit me up after reading Operation Epic Payday and said something that’s been rattling around my skull ever since.
She said the piece was solid. Said she got through it. But her head was pounding by the end. Not a crack at me. Just the sheer bloody weight of trying to cram 47 different Trump crimes, schemes, grifts and geopolitical dick-measuring contests between her ears at once.”
🏁this excerpt tonite from IFLA is pretty long, but it has such good vibes 😎 and excellent tips. Click on the link for the full article, and push some fist pumps to the IFLA author here, he might swear alot but he’s so funny*🏁
https://ifloz.substack.com/p/they-want-you-tired-thats-the-whole?r=kxzps&utm_medium=ios
“And then another reader dropped the kicker. “That’s precisely the evil regime’s goal as outlined in Project 2025. Flood the news, flood the markets, flood with so much grift and horror and outrage and craziness that people just get overwhelmed and tired and fucking give up.”
“Bingo. Ten points. Pull the bell. We have a winner.
Because that’s the whole game, mates. That’s the play. That’s been the play since 2016 and it’s the play right fucking now.”
“Let me introduce you to the architect. A bloke named Steve Bannon. Yeah, that one. In 2018 he gave the whole game away in plain English, and journalist Michael Lewis put it in print for posterity:
The Democrats don’t matter. The real opposition is the media. And the way to deal with them is to flood the zone with shit.”
“Flood. The zone. With shit.
That is not me being colourful for engagement. That is the actual quote, from the actual strategist, who is currently watching his blueprint run on the world’s biggest political stage like a fascist IKEA catalogue. Project 2025 gave it the institutional skeleton. Bannon gave it the playbook. Together they built the machine that’s currently grinding the western world’s attention span into a fine grey paste.”
“And here is the bit that should genuinely scare the shit out of you.
Cynicism is the win state. Not anger. Not opposition. Not even support. Cynicism. The shrug. The “they’re all the same.” The “what’s the point.” The “I just don’t follow politics anymore mate, it does my head in.” Every one of those sentences is a coin in their fucking jukebox.”
“Because a cynical population does not vote. A cynical population does not protest. A cynical population does not ring their senator, does not turn up to the council meeting, does not boycott the company, does not share the article, does not bother. A cynical population is a managed population. And managed populations are exactly what authoritarian regimes need to keep the lights on while the cash gets shovelled into the back of an unmarked van.”
“So your exhaustion is not a personal failure.”
✌️”Here is the way out. It is not flashy and it will not trend on TikTok. But it fucking works.
Stop trying to drink the firehose. You are not meant to. Nobody is. The whole game is rigged so that anyone who tries to track everything ends up babbling and twitching in a corner. 🌏 Pick a patch. One issue. One beat. Climate. Aged care. Press freedom. Veterans. Whatever lights your fire. Master it. Become the friend who actually knows what they’re talking about on that one thing. Outsource the rest to people you trust who are mastering theirs. That is how a movement actually fucking functions. Not 300 million people half-arsing 47 issues each. A network of bastards each owning their patch.”
✔️Switch off when you need to.”
✔️ Talk to actual humans. Not algorithms.”
✔️ Vote in every single election. Not just the big shiny ones.”
✔️ Support the people doing the work. Independent journalists. Local reporters. Researchers.”
✔️ And finally. Refuse to be cynical. That is the one thing they cannot defeat. Stay angry, stay engaged, stay specific, but for the love of God do not slide into “they’re all the same” or “nothing matters.” Because the second you do, they have won, and they know it, and they are counting on it more than they are counting on any election, any law, any tank.
The flood is real. The shit is real. The exhaustion is real.
But you noticing the flood is the first crack in the dam.”
“You sharing this is the second.
You doing 1 thing on Monday that you didn’t do last Monday is the third.
That is how this ends. Not with a single hero. Not with a magic election.”
“So put the kettle on. Have a smoko. Pat the dog.
Then come back swinging.
IFLA ~ Gman”
#
THEY WANT YOU TIRED. THAT'S THE WHOLE FUCKING PLAN.
May 5 2026 | Substack
I FUCKING LOVE AUSTRALIA by Gman
✊•This Substack runs on stubbornness, caffeine, and readers who give a shit. No corporate parent, no oligarch funder, no algorithm to grease. If you want more of this, hit subscribe. Free is fine. Paid is fucking magnificent. Both keep me at the keyboard instead of out laying bricks.•✌️
###
Resistance is NOT futile.
Neither is legal action.
You said it, "Cynicism is the win state. Not anger. Not opposition. Not even support. Cynicism. The shrug. The “they’re all the same.” The “what’s the point.” The “I just don’t follow politics anymore mate, it does my head in.” Every one of those sentences is a coin in their fucking jukebox.”
I have often been encountering that attitude lately.
I am enraged, then again, what's new? I was right with Heather during her chat earlier as she was angry, discussing all of this latest news. It is breathtaking how corrupt and in our faces they are with this crap. Nothing at all to help anyone except those that don't need it, or a demented aging fascist wanting his ballroom and whatever other nonsense he can come up with on a whim. I've had it and don't know what to do anymore. Well, I will continue to support candidates that can help and causes I believe in.
Hello Kathy J... That is because DJT, and the Dark Siths have Contempt for us Little-People...
Commoners. Ewuu.
Actually the fulfillment of the hitherto semi-clandestine purpose for which this criminal enterprise was founded.
“Commoners” is an outdated term, J L. Nowadays, the new gods call us “NPCs”….
So now the actual taxpayers, not including the billionaires, have to pay for Trump’s ballroom. Since Trump claimed originally that he and his billionaire pals were going to pay for the project and it wouldn’t cost the taxpayers anything, that change now begs an answer to the question of what happened to all that money. Was there just never any money to begin with and Trump lied about all that too, or has Trump absconded with it all.
If in the future Democrats get a trifecta again, they should make it a top priority to tear down the ballroom and all the other monuments to Trump’s narcissism.
We are now clearly seeing the results of abandoning the progressive taxation for a system that encourages the accumulation of wealth at the top. I am old enough to remember that Ronald Reagan as one of his first acts when becoming governor of California was to dismantle the State Mental Health System and he followed the same program when he was elected to the White House. The Mental Health System had its flaws and many correct criticisms. However, it did support many who were unable to care adequately for themselves and could have been easily corrected. The immediate impact in California was an increase in people being incarcerated for minor offenses and an increase in the rise of the homeless. I volunteered to assist a public defenders office during that transition period and I saw first hand that more than thirty percent of the cases we saw were people that were dealing with psychological and addictive problems but the only path was jail or the streets. The question that we have been avoiding since this time is how do we put programs in place to really assist those that need help and guidance dealing with their problems. It should be noted that America has one of the largest jail populations in the world and some credible commentators have said that as much as 30% of those incarcerated have mental health issues. If everyone paid their fair share perhaps we could start to think about improving our social order.
For many years, the largest provider of mental health services in the US is the LA county jail. Reform of mental health systems has routinely gone unfunded and ignored, until someone shoots a bunch of people and those "thoughts and prayers" do nothing to improve a failing system.
Michelle Alexander’s book The New Jim Crow. It’s been a long long long time coming.
Hitler’s architect also went to Nuremberg. And everything he built was destroyed.
I recently read 'The Anatomy of the Nuremburg Trials', Telford Taylor's account of the Nazi war crimes tribunals. Albert Speer was among the 24 major war criminal defendants charged by the International Military Tribunal at Nuremberg (1945–1946), where he was tried for his role as Hitler’s personal architect, but even more so, as his later role as the Third Reich's Minister of Armaments and War Production.
But this BBC article was very informative and captures what you wrote(& eerily similar to Trump's manic obsession with constructing grandiose buildings and monuments to remake Washington, D.C.)
"Albert Speer would never get to fulfill his most ambitious architectural project: a complete rebuilding of Berlin, which was to be renamed Germania, future capital of the world. At its heart, Speer envisaged a vast north-south avenue, culminating in a Great Hall with a dome 16 times higher than St Peter's in Rome. It's thought that the interior would have been so vast that when filled with the breath of 180,000 gathered Nazis, rainclouds may have formed in the ceiling. Instead, in 1939 Hitler started World War Two, and plunged Europe into six years of hell."
...........................
"Not much of Speer's architecture remains; his buildings designed for a thousand-year Reich were mostly destroyed by the victorious Allies even before the Nuremberg trials began. His uncompleted rally building in Nuremberg now hosts a permanent exhibition that serves as a warning from history. But while the ruins of his architecture stand as a warning, Speer himself never fully admitted the part he played in building something far darker."
https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20251009-how-hitlers-architect-escaped-the-death-penalty
The physical similarities between the giant triumphal arch Speer designed (but thankfully never got to build) and the one in Washington are painfully obvious. Trump's planned victory arch (victory over what, exactly?) disrupts a century-old dictum that nothing should obstruct the view from the Lincoln Memorial to Arlington Cemetery, formerly the site of Robert E. Lee's mansion and estate.
Whatever ends up being built there, it's going to get blown up at the first available opportunity.
And yet that theory still animates the Republican Party: Make the rich waaaaay richer and everybody else poorer, less empowered, and more depleted. And , by golly, it's working.
And keep in mind, Trump Only F*cks Up and Trump Only F*cks Us. The DOJ has lost over 1/2 of their attorneys and now the ones left are so incompetent they can't find their ass with both hands. God help us if Todd Blanche is nominated and approved by the GOP Senators to be the next AG. The administration's Southern Poverty Law Center indictment is in jeopardy because of lies told by Blanche and Patel and reiterated on Fox by them and the Prez. Hopefully the court will drop the indictment due to misrepresentations to the grand jury as well as in the indictment.
It’s like all those old Disney movies, cartoon series and Dickens stories: the fat, overentitled rich stealing from the poor. Taking the last penny off of a hungry child because “they deserve it”. Turns out all those old stories weren’t hyperbole: they are right.
Though Dickens in Bleak House has one of it’s vile humans spontaneously combust!
Oooh, if only THAT would come true... We can hope, can't we?
The ballroom was never just a ballroom.
First it was supposedly donor funded.
Then it became “security.”
Now it’s taxpayer funded through reconciliation.
That pattern matters.
Healthcare and food assistance get cut in the name of “fiscal responsibility,” while billions suddenly appear for enforcement, executive power, and hardened infrastructure.
This is the ideology stripped bare.
Never just a ballroom, also a hardened bunker where a president who lost an election might anticipate refusing to vacate the premises?
That’s exactly it. The “ballroom” keeps getting treated like the story, but the rapid shift from “privately funded” to “security infrastructure” is what raises questions for me. Across history, power under pressure tends to harden its environment — controlled access, protected space, insulated leadership. That pattern is real, whether people want to acknowledge it or not.
Something like this should never be privately funded in the first place. That’s just a euphemism for bribery. The whole thing reeks.
We can’t afford SNAP or student loans or healthcare or any other nice things civilized societies provide to their citizens but we can afford vanity projects like ballrooms and triumphal arches? Never mind yet another pointless expensive war with dead children and no end in sight.
So is this.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dV5cQ9tNkm8
This is a minute-&-a-half video on criminal Donald denouncing anything for the people.
If schools, Russell, emphasized novels, memoirs, and histories on our varieties of people -- especially our fellow working-class Americans trying to live in a country dedicated to the corrupt billionaires and corporations -- we'd not be subject to criminals such as Donald edifying the rich and covering up for their mass rapes of young girls.
Horror-fying.
OMG
GOP
WTF!
Indeed.
Some days, I don’t know whether to be more shocked and awed at the actions of the executive branch or the inaction of Congressional Republicans -who include plenty of lawyers who took an oath to uphold our laws and one of whom I’ve known personally as a good man. WWWWTTTTTFFFFFF!!!! so I only have two more things to say: Release the g0dd@mn Epstein files, and Thank you, Heather Cox Richardson, for helping all of us stay informed and aware of the daily tides in the swamp.
Just three days ago I've watched a documentary: Hitler and the Nazis: Evil on Trial. I am German/American and grew up in Germany, where they extensively taught the horrors Hitler and Germany committed. I thought I knew most of how Hitler came to power, until I saw the documentary.
Dear people, the parallels are so frightening that I am still shaken up. Granted, I always knew how Hitler came to power (hint, he also wasn't elected), how he silenced the press and any opposition and how he used propaganda as means to manipulate and sway the country into following him. What I didn't know though were how they used "fake news" to keep people in the dark. Before Hitler ever came into power, the Germans declared that they had won WWI. No one actually knew how bad they've lost until they literally fell/surrendered. Up until the end, they had claimed a total win.
Trump is literally following Hitler's playbook. His "brown shirts" were the equivalent of ICE. They'd go into the streets and synagogues, draggin rabbis, Jews, opposing party members (the liberal democratic party was the main opposition!) and beat them, imprisoned them, tortured and killed them. On Kristallnacht (Night of Broken Glass), the brown shirts went out, carrying torches!! and hunted down anyone they deemed an enemy of the state.
Having to watch the footage in 8th grade made me decide that I would NEVER silently stand by and watch racism, discrimination, hate speech, and bigotry.
I cannot stress this enough, but if we cannot find a way to remove him, his corrupt supreme court judges, senators and billionaire supporters, and cannot find replacements that will hold them accountable (Nürnberg trials), we will end up like Germany did. They are paying the price to this day.
BTW, at the Nürnberg Trials not a single one of his remaining regime plead guilty or showed remorse. There comes a time when a person is so far gone and down the path of corruption, heartlessness and hunger for power that there is nothing human left.
We need to find ways to remove them and fight for that with all we've got.
Appalling. Just appalling. I hope they rot in hell.
It can't happen too soon.
Beelzebub has some devils set aside for them.
Bait and switch on government programs, the ballroom payment, the economy, and the war. Everything for billionaires and white male Christian nationalists and nothing for lower class people or people of color. A compliant Supreme Court, a do nothing Congress, a clownish administration, and a worshipful Republican Party cruise on. They say narcissists are people who can’t survive contradiction or a repudiation of their chosen reality. It’s not just the President we have to worry about. Contact your representatives and vote Blue.
Dear HCR, I watched your news report on tonite’s topic and again want to thank you for such excellent journalism- I am constantly referring friends and colleagues to your Substack & YouTube. A friend today was excited about a young man, Adam Mockler, for getting his word out on MSM, and wanted me to watch the YouTube link she sent me. I couldn’t stand the argumentative and fluffy nonsense on seeing Adam on CNN, MSNBC or other shouting matches because we are so spoiled by your political presentations on YouTube where you are smart, prepared, curious and articulate. Would you ever consider having a short guest appearance- especially our young politician’s with you? Heather, I’m only asking because our younger generation needs to witness integrity more, they are our future (and it’s a shitshow out there). Thanks for all you do ❤️