No question about that. Americans speaking out counts MORE than ever. Everybody knows how the Fascists rammed through their Big Beautiful Bill to rape the American people and that they are the ones forcing this Government shutdown by being totally absent to even discuss the situation. That being said anybody who remotely protects and defends this regime is compilcit in the destruction of Democracy , the Constitution and the Rule of Law. Under Donald Trump and his band of Fascist Authorians there is no We the people . What happened in the Stock Market today was calculated to accomplish one thing and only one thing. retaliation. they are scared, getting more so every day, therefore tighten the screws so the American people know who controls the economy. Those that defend this Regime are just plain ignorante. Every day it is more OBVIOUS that a government by the people and for the people no longer exists in America. Bring everyone you know on Saturday the 18th with all your signs, We The American People have No Kings and No Dictators! STOP sending Our Military to Police our Cities! Stop Censoring Americas right to Free Speech. Release the TAPES! BRING ON NO KINGS DAY!! WE WANT OUR COUNTRY BACK!!! If there was ever a time to show up and speak out it is NOW.
More than ever perhaps, but certainly less than ever.
No administration, no Congress, no courts, and no part of the American government has ever been more complicit in its own demise than the current administration, and now we literally have a handful of talking heads overthrowing the military with a private police force for the first time since the last gilded age and the Pinkerton Agency.
And yet there are still people who somehow believe that their vote will somehow count for something. Maybe, but no more than the average Russians.
“No more than the average Russian” is EXACTLY as Trump/Putin planned it. That’s why we must get this REGIME out before November 2026! We will not get to vote them out as the criminal takeover continues. Anyone watching the Congressional Oversight Committee recognizes that. Pam Bondi, like PuppyShooter Kristi Noem, is another Eva Braun.
Agreed, Jon. I made the connection only in the “woman as slave to bad man” theme, thinking the rest of the of the connection could be made by anyone who is watching the two current female horrors.
Which is why I once favored a military coup to ironically save the country from the mayhem that is currently engulfing the nation. I called it the lesser of two evils. The good generals now who have retired or been fired, would have prevented Trump and demanded a new election. I understand this was folly to suggest it. Let us never forget that it was Biden who screwed us by running a 2nd time. He wanted to be president for the 250th anniversary. So selfish of a rapidly declining elder. If he had allowed an open convention and a good candidate nominated by the party, we wouldn’t be where we are today. And that’s the truth, Ruth.
except that there was an excellent candidate, smart and experienced, that millions of Americans would not bother to vote for - they just stayed home - because she was a woman of color.
"Let us never forget that it was Biden who screwed us" - Disagree. What screwed us is that so many people decided that the only person who had ever beaten trump in a general election, could not beat trump in a general election.
What elected Trump and the GOP regime was all those who voted for Trump - and all those who did not vote for Harris.
Biden should have kept his word to be a one term 'bridge president'. Had he stuck to that, then Democrats could have developed a deep bench of primary contenders. Also, without the distraction of political calculations Biden could have worked to his executive team building strengths. He might even have enforced the Leahy Laws and paused delivery of offensive weapons to the Netanyahu regime, while still delivering defensive aid. This might have focussed Netanyahu et al on getting the hostages back, instead of slaughtering Palestinians.
You say this as if the meltdown on the nationally televised debate never occurred! Before the debate I was a resigned Biden supporter. After the debate I tore off my car’s Biden sticker and wondered if the Democrats had any sensibility. I admire Harris and voted for her, but the Democratic Party had blown its chances too far!
They were so frightened that Trump couldn't be beaten that it became a self-fulfilling prophecy. Laura, Elon, and now it appears, Charlie, saw to the rest.
I’m really tired of the Biden-bashing. That is totally off base. Back in May Dr. Richardson said this:
“In Biden’s four years, the U.S. … added 16 million jobs, unemployment was at its lowest rate in 50 years, real wages for the bottom 80% of Americans were increasing, and inflation levels had come down almost to the Federal Reserve’s target from their highs during the post-shutdown shocks.”
What is happening now cannot rightfully be laid at his feet. It is not the fault of the American people, either. It’s the fascist oligarch billionaires:
And the liar in the Gold-studded Room continues with his time-proven method - projection: "Worst president ever." That can be understood as "actually best president ever, so I'll repeat the lie until they believe it."
there's zero proof that Dem victory was a given if Biden stepped away earlier. that said, I agree 100pct that Biden's foolish pride and his not being the bridge, and that delay, certainly prevented the Dems from having time to go thru the formal candidate process. I think Harris would not have been the nominee, but we'll never know.
Joseph, it’s just frustrating. I pinpoint t the few times we screwed up major. To wit; Joe Biden tossing the accuser of Clarence Thomas underthd bus when Thomas declared “This is nothing but a high tech lynching mob. That was an ingenious advice given Thomas. No white man wanted that on his record. Later 2000 election when Ralph Nader ran on the Green Party and took 90,000 votes in Florida. ‘Nough said. Under Obama when he urged with a launch at the White House for Ruth Bader Ginsburg to retire. Any of these might have historically change the direction of America. I do t know what is in store. I will continue the fight.
Just like Trumpers — ‘every trick in the book’ — except unlike them, every LEGAL & ethical ones. Americans ARE rising to the occasion in many different ways — the movement will ‘take on a life of its own’ and take a more definite form over time.
Importantly, the courts remain largely on side with ‘the facts’ and legal/moral reality. And politicians & people are getting over their initial shock and finding creative & bold ways to engage.
Clayton, your vote still counts but you have to make it. Only 62% of eligible voters did in the prez election. DJT lost the popular vote by 2 million and only got elected by the outdated elwectoral college. Don't you think that another 38% of Americans voting might have made a difference.
I think it might make a difference, if DHS, ICE, the FBI, and the military allows it to. I think its far, far more likely that any or all of those organizations will do everything they have to in order to disrupt the vote, on the orders of Cheetoh Caligula.
"Although the exact dynamics will depend on many factors, she has shown it takes around 3.5% of the population actively participating in the protests to ensure serious political change."
How about offering alternative policies? Resist alone offers no fix to anything. Continue to only resist and we will have President Vance. Please continue to resist.
Make an effort and get out with your neighbors on Saturday, the eighteenth, with a generous and joyful attitude. Breath the air of freedom. Hold your sign.
Remember that were you really an average Russian, your protest might well be met with serious financial, if not physical, consequences and loss of freedom.
Buy and read a copy of Dr Tim Snyder's book, On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century. It's probably on sale at your local bookseller's for less than $20.
Lou, I share your sense of urgency and your call for people to show up and speak out. This feels like a moment to rise together, not just in protest but in awareness, to remember our shared responsibility to one another and to the planet we all call home. When people come together with conscience and compassion, real transformation becomes possible. That is the kind of strength I am holding hope for now.
"When people come together with conscience and compassion, real transformation becomes possible."
With the united determination to achieve that transformation. Which is exactly what right wing extremists did to take over the GOP and remake it - the government and society - in their ChristoFascist image.
They united at the ballot box and became the reliable base.
Something the Left has refused to do. Although from Bernie Sanders, Sheldon Whitehouse, and Jamie Raskin to AOC, Maxwell Frost, and Zohran Mamdani, there is an intergenerational effort to reform the Democratic party and return it to its progressive 20th C roots.
One of María Corina Machado's most significant achievements is that she united the fragmented and fractious opposition to the dictatorship. It is why she said the people earned the Nobel Peace Prize. We The People.
This comments section represents the inability of the American opposition to unite. From those who blame Biden and want a military coup to those who want each of us to cower in fear of the Republican regime rather than join together in protest. Fortunately there is a rising opposition around the nation. We will see what happens on Oct 18.
Thank you, lin. Every day I land here, for at least a few minutes after the uplift from HCR, hoping against hope that the rampant pique perennially here will have dispersed, dyspepsia leaked away, replaced by rational (i.e., non knee-jerk) discourse. Not today again, I guess. So it's off, once more,, for greener pastures to graze elsewhere, See ya!.
The 18th is right around the corner, Bring good humor, share your power, show your resolve, eschew your sour.
Hi. I am writing from Maine. One of the most depressing headlines I saw this morning is that Janet Mills plans to get into the Senate race. I've voted for Mills and admired her smart opposition to LePage and Trump. But as someone who retired early (from a coveted and prestigious job) in order to pass the opportunity to the next generation, I am appalled at the thought of a race between Mills and Collins. We need generational change. We need younger people engaged in politics. Under Schumer, Democratic leadership is doing everything it can to suppress the next generation of Democratic candidates - this will also suppress potential Democratic voters.
Collins has to be so beatable, with her “concern” every time she opens her yap. Anyone that is honest, with vigor should be able to send her packing. A younger person that has the possibility of serving more than one term is infinitely more desirable than someone from my generation.
Right-wingers in Congress have had the attitude of my way or the highway for several iterations of Congress when they have the majority, long before trump and MAGA came along. I think that the Democrats have done a good job informing the public about the imminent ACA premium hikes, and the right-wing Congress knows that in the next two weeks, the insurance companies will be sending out information on the new rates. They are freaking out about that and are now framing pro-democracy demonstrations and demonstrators as terrorists in hopes that when the government cracks down, their base will think that it is justified. I wish that the Democrats would communicate more often that the Medicaid cuts are timed to begin after the midterm elections and that hospitals are closing now in rural America because of the big betrayal bill. It is hard to believe that any rational adult can be out of the loop politically with the devastation wrought by trump and his minions in the last nine months. It is inconceivable that trump has over 40% approval rating in his overall job performance. WTF?
Unfortunately, it is not at all inconceivable. We live in a bubble of well informed, frustrated, hair pulling, horrified citizens watching a slow motion train wreck.
The 40% of the populace who approve of Trump are FOXified, brain dead, racists who’ve lost (or never had) the ability to think critically, are unable (or unwilling) to see the direction this country is moving in, have no understanding of history, and equate bullying with strength.
Even though evidence based studies have repeatedly demonstrated prayer has no effect on outcomes, I’ve turned to religion. I pray Trump croaks like a frog.
I like what the"kids" are doing in places, adding humor, such as dancing, wearing costumes, putting donut on fishing poles for the police. Could adding an element of joy and fun piss off the ugly hearted MAGA folks?
It also gets media attention (well, some) and is proof that the country is not in an insurrection. Brilliant. I’ll be bringing my tambourine to the No Kings!
And that's exactly what they have done in Chicago, LA and Portland.
The shutdown is added fuel to the fire of the protests. Open enrollments are just around the corner and millions of people have already seen the impact of the expiration of the ACA credits on their 2026 premiums.
The protests are just as much against the oligarchs as they are against the MAGAs. If we only made them pay workers $15 an hour and raised their tax rates just 5% we would come very close to balancing the budget.
Trump has ALWAYS looked to the market indexes as a barometer of how the economy is doing. Of course, this is just as moronic as his erratic tariffs but it's actually good news the market is tanking for most of us.
Speaking of tariffs, a great deal of discourse has been devoted to tariffs being taxes on U.S. consumers, forcing us to pay more for imported goods. This is true.
What I have not seen or heard in the public discussion is how tariffs embolden domestic suppliers to arbitrarily raise their prices because offshore competition has been hobbled by Trump and his tariffs.
Yesterday, I went to my local Big Box home improvement store to purchase supplies for a project I'm working on and visited the lumber section. I walked past the rack where 4-foot by 8-foot sheets of plywood were stacked and nearly passed out when I read the price ticket for three-quarter-inch birch-faced panels used by cabinet makers. The posted price was $86.89 for a single sheet of plywood! The last time I priced this plywood was a couple years ago. It was $37 and change.
I happen to know this plywood was produced at a plant located about 100 miles from my home from lumber harvested within my state. The only explanation for this outrageous price hike is that the supplier raised the price because they could. If questioned, they can point to a "shortage" caused by Trump's tariffs. But what it really is, is price gouging. And with a neutered Federal Trade Commission, no one is going to stop them.
We spoke to our local lumberyard about tariffs affecting their prices and they told us they didn’t carry any imported wood. But as you say, that won’t keep their suppliers from raising prices.
Indeed GJ Loft, not only ACA insurance rates are skyrocketing, everyones health insurance rates are going to increase.
This whole Fascist endeavor is for the benefit of the Oligarchs, that is why they funded this coup. The economy is staying afloat on the enthusiasm of AI, and the Oligarchs control AI. It boggles the mind that right-wingers have decimated our science and technological investments in education in service of Oligarch owned third party AI.
Elon Musks and Peter Thiel's AI are being applied throughout the government now and they now have all of the personal information that the government has on all citizens. What could possibly go wrong?
I glanced at an interview the other day on Peter Thiel and BOY is HE nutz!! I’m a Christian believer but whatever it is that he believes that way is really weird, erratic & out-to-lunch.
To think that the most hare-brained amongst us are leading the world is *disquieting, but predicted in the Good Book. Hang on!
Trump is manipulating the market with his tariffs. The insiders sold everything before the big China announcement and when it drops enough they’ll buy back and he’ll TACO and they’ll have profited again.
For some, staying at home is the protest. For some leaving the country is the protest, but without mail-in voting? For some committing an artistic suicide is protesting. For some hoping or praying is protesting. For some conversations (with fear of being under surveillance); let me count the ways... but peaceful protest —and some way of protecting journalists—and our own elected officials is CRUCIAL—as is Peaceful Protests. Do not tire; but bullies will tire—and begin to normalize forceful shutting down of such protests... remember the arrests during the Vietnam era? The arrests today will be different with "Homeland Security" managed as it is. They are counting on that we will tire. I hope there are Americans (who aren't pacifists like me); I am fortunate; I will just die... but I morn for the children, etc.
Yes, because peaceful protest has been so effective in the past when there wasn't also violent protest to lend tenor to the weight of compromise. For Ghandi there was the Chauri Chaura, For MLK there was Malcolm X and the Black Panthers.
They were effective and crediting it to violence isn’t totally true. However, in the current regime the violence is all coming from them and when people see that they will start to fear if they will be next. There will be no more sitting in their comfy chairs and cheering on the cruelty. It will be more and more difficult for the MAGA Christians to pretend they are in the right. MLK didn’t have one rally or one speech and quit. He kept going and getting more people on his side.
Nope. This woman will be a senior in a few weeks and I will show up peacefully and loudly and continually for MY, OUR democracy. I was never in the military but I know why other family members have served and it's NOT this.
Peaceful protest or a beautiful thing. Do you actually think that's what's happening around the country? Here's what's happening around the country violent protest in LA and Portland are emblematic of exactly what's happening.
And here's what the left is saying specifically right now
Dear Mr. Trump, if you stop trying to enforce the law, we will stop protesting
And all he's doing is cleaning up the scum and sewage that Biden left all over this country when he lead in 8 million illegals without vetting and without vaccinations, which are sacrosanct to you
Yeah, Loren, nothing but puke! His rage below about 42 (now, apparently 43) people who can’t/won’t/refuse to/haven’t explained to Poor Rick about how Trump’s policies have affected them personally is a bald-faced lie. I have the receipts because I have -SEVERAL TIMES - explained to him my anti-Trump policies positions and how they affect not only my life, but also my entire family, but his reading comprehension skills as well as his memory retention skills are, apparently, worse than his voice-texting, proofreading, and truth telling abilities. I feel bad for P Rick. His life must be so sad that he expends so much time and energy on his Rage Parade.
You have no reason to hate Donald Trump unless you can give them to me so I will ask you and you could be loser number 42 give me a list of six Donald Trump policies or laws that have affected your life negatively currently and specifically if not, you're dead to me and right now all you are is a delusional hater so if you want to straighten that out, please have it if not think about the fact that you have no reason to hate Donald Trump other than what's in your head or with other people tell you, which is even worse
First of all, I need to know if you’re an American citizen before I respond.
But just like the rest of the ignorant fools here who keeps seeming to forget a very critical and important word they use, but I’ll remind you just in case you forgot please recognize the difference between the word, immigrant and the word illegal immigrant. It seems that the left have problems defining these two CRITICAL differentiations .
You’re describing “violent leftist mobs,” but the data doesn’t support your narrative. According to multiple studies, including one from the *Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project*, **over 93% of protests in the U.S. were peaceful**—the few that turned violent were often escalated by counter-protesters or aggressive policing tactics. Facts matter more than cable news soundbites.
And let’s be accurate: **federal immigration processing under Biden includes biometric screening, criminal database checks, and medical protocols**. If you’re claiming “8 million illegals entered without vetting or vaccination,” you’re repeating a talking point that has been publicly debunked by CBP, DHS, and independent oversight reports. Enforcement and deportations also **increased under Biden compared to the last two years of Trump**, which undercuts your premise entirely.
As for “cleaning up scum and sewage” — using dehumanizing language about human beings is not patriotism; it’s a hallmark of authoritarian rhetoric. Every time someone talks about “scum” and “sewage,” they accidentally reveal they’re not defending America — they’re advocating a worldview where human rights depend on political alignment.
If you want to talk about law and order, start by holding accountable those who attempted to overturn a democratic election and assaulted police officers on January 6. That was not a protest. It was a violent insurrection documented on camera and confirmed by over 1,400 criminal convictions in federal court. What did your dear leader do when he illegitimately regained power? He pardoned these domestic terrorists and now has had his immoral, corrupt and incompetent ass-lickers hire them to act as his "gestapo."
Andy NGO. And on the same reporter who videoed every possible incident he could while he was actually reporting as a journalist on the protest here’s one of the things he said.
I would show them the video from June 2019 when people working in an organized manner beat me with their faces covered, having weapons and escaped," Ngo said. "Nobody was ever arrested for that. If that's not convincing enough, I would tell them to watch the shooting video of the assassination of Aaron Danielson in Portland in 2020, a Trump supporter who was killed by somebody who actually left behind a manifesto. If you don't believe the video, you can read his manifesto. He describes himself, I am 100% Antifa."
Chew on this for a while : New data on migrant ‘gotaways’ shows a big increase during Biden administration.
From 2010 to 2020, when former presidents Barack Obama and Donald Trump held office, around 1.4 million gotaways entered the country. But from 2020 to 2023, there have been 1.6 million gotaways. The lowest point for gotaways was fiscal year 2011 at 86,226, and the highest was 2023 at 670,674. In one year almost 3/4 of 1 million got aways. Oooopps
But so much for your biometric readings and medical inspections. These are people they didn’t even know or ever check, and by the way, every single one of them went through anything other than a registered legal checkpoint. And there were not enough agents to Vet, test, read biometricly and test I 8 million illegals. Which would amount 5500 biometric readings every day seven days a week for four years. However, they didn’t come in fluidly ..
What is also infeed incredibly laughable as you suggested and you could even be right that 93% of all the protests were peaceful.
What happened with the other 7% just curious
Once again, and I hate repeating myself, but here’s the deal. First of all Google all the issues having to do with the Portland riots having to do with who are the instigators check out as I said Andy NGO who is on the record with video footage of exactly what happened during his nine years of evaluating and witnessing the protests… the head of the police sergeant in charge of handling the protest said he needed help. They were understaffed and he asked Trump to actually intervene. Now, why would that be if it was peaceful? Go look at the video read them and weep or just tell your lying eyes you’re not seeing what’s really happening.
And you know why because there were peaceful protest the only human being that actually got hurt or shot was a civilian who won $5 million from the federal government for being shot and while she was unarmed, wait till you see the tour guides that were actually escorting people into the buildings by capital police. And again wait till you see Nancy Pelosi's role and the interview with her daughter and her Van when she said she was responsible for not putting police guarding the capital she said it in her own words to her daughter
You think this was a criminal these were for these were 1400 criminals. What do you call the sea summer of love protest for one dead black man when they couldn't even wait for a jury or a judge or a verdict and the verdict was guilty and if they would've waited, they could've saved this country 1000 wounded police and $2 billion and damage burning down cities taking over city blocks 105 cities were i volved in thise protests
I gave you an answer to this earlier. If you want to see all the violence in Portland just google it. There's probably 50 links that will describe it. and you might want to as I suggested to someone else look up a journalist name, Andy NGO who followed the Portland protest for the last nine years he gives a pretty good representation of what happened besides him being himself beaten up and thrown on the ground and all kinds of food throw flung in his face, etc. But that's nothing again. It goes back to the same policy. Here's your policy, dear Mr. Trump if you don't stop trying to deport illegals, we will keep protesting. In other words, if you keep enforcing the law, we will protest.
And now I know who you are you're a delusional zealot who doesn't know the difference between truth and fiction. What you've been led to believe which is a total freaking joke and hysterical is you think that 1000 unarmed citizens were thinking about overthrowing the government of the United States?
What they were doing was simply protesting and unusually ridiculous outcome of an election and I'll describe it really quickly Joe Biden, who has no legislative wins in his entire 40 years in Congress got 13 million more votes than Obama that God and if you don't see that as a regular then there's really something wrong with you
It was simply a protest and when you find out more about what the protest actually exposed was that there was 230 FBI agents in the audience that did nothing that didn't call for back up that all they did was watch and they weren't even told they were there. They were told that there were three assigned to the D issue at the Not one of them made any phone calls or tried to get back up and there were 23 other agents who were there unassigned what the hell were they doing there and now we find out there was an additional 200 oops what were they doing there
And the worst thing was when you find out what Nancy Pelosi's role in this whole thing was, you're also gonna be disappointed beyond belief
That's zero for five I may not have time to do six right now, but I'll get to it
Let me say this again to you the scum and sewage is the result of the illegal immigrants, not the human beings themselves. There have been at least $35-$40 billion of money paid to legal immigrants for housing food medical attention when there are for example a quarter of 1 million homeless people on the streets of California who we give nothing to. So WTFU. In this particular case.
They brought in crimes they brought in drugs they brought in disease. They were unvaccinated and all they did was try to assimilate in society and take away jobs from ready. LEGAL IMMIGRANTS
You were one of the most gullible people here and I wouldn't have imagined that why if they're all the people were biometric screen where their 600 missing children? And here is the best one and you're gonna love it, and this was done in a public form on C-SPAN. They were interviewing a lady about all these separated children that came in "" unaccompanied get that through your head, unaccompanied children. There are 300,000 missing now each time a child was put into custody of a local resident. They were given a phone number to call if there were any problems with their foster family and themselves in case of any emergencies they could call this number and discuss the issue there were 60,000 calls made to the number and guess how many times they were answer ZERO
ON NATIONAL TV AND I GUESS YOU MISSED IT SO DON'T TELL ME ABOUT THE BIOMETRIC SCREENING AND TELL ME HOW MANY PEOPLE WERE TESTED FOR COVID. TELL ME HOW MANY PEOPLE WERE TESTED FOR ANY DISEASE WHATSOEVER.
What you don't understand and you don't really even comprehend is it almost every single thing that the left is complaining about now is the fault of Joe Biden leading in between eight and 11 illegal immigrants into this country. Otherwise there would be no ice protest. Otherwise there would be no National guard in cities and let me tell you why just as an Income group commits the most crime not to mention that a number of these people that came in were criminals in their own country already there was almost 11,000 of them identified by the Trump administration, criminals violent criminals in their own country.
And who are the people that buy income commit the most crime?
The lowest income bracket, and every one of these people that came into this country came in in that regard, which means they had the potential and they proved that time and time again to commit crimes or have been committing crimes, including bringing in drugs, including trafficking, women and children, including murder, including rape, etc. So that that's three out of three that you've lost.
First you are lying to yourself as the media is lying to you…and has been for 8 years or more.
I could go on forever, but let’s start here there’s a journalist by the name of Andy NGO WHO HAS BEEN FOLLOWING THE PORTLAND VIOLENCE SPECIFICALLY FOR NINE YEARS.
Please google him and read and there’s one indication, but let me give you another reason why you’re being overly and completely gullible
Do you remember the riots of the summer of love? Do you remember why it happened? Do you remember the damaged? Are you aware of the damage it caused? Are you aware of the number of policemen that were injured and the number of deaths it caused ?
I AM GOING TO PRINT THIS IN CAP SO THAT YOU CAN BETTER DIGEST IT.
THE LEFT’S CURRENT STANCE IS THIS: MR. TRUMP IF YOU STOP TRYING TO ENFORCE THE LAW, WE WILL STOP PROTESTING
And now I’ve just read the rest of your post and you obviously got sucked in like a liberal lemming just like many of the people here
January 6 was nothing, even vaguely assimilating an insurrection
What you’ve been what you’ve been told is that 1000 or so unarmed people were going to overthrow the government of the United States.
Lmfao.
Joe Biden’s administration aloud in between eight and 11 million illegal and unvaccinated individuals who are criminals proven criminals here and in their own country and Trump is trying to rid ourselves of those individuals
And anyone trying to stop them is on the wrong side of the law, wrong side of law-enforcement and the wrong side of injustice.
You’ve been duped I was lying down because I’m engulfed in hopelessness.
Protest is essential. What IS necessary, to not play into the hands of these authoritarians, is preparation. The rally organizers need a plan to self-police: ABSOLUTELY no violence, no destructiveness, and, may I suggest, no display of anger other than in the eloquent signs. The marches should be sober, solemn, and (this may be controversial) silent. Every protestor should have a sign in one hand and his/ her camera-phone in the other.
Start the recordings early, do panoramic sweeps of the area and the group to demonstrate its peacefulness, and narrate on the audiovisual the time and place of the recording, and the identity and address of the speaker. Coordinate with other protestors to get multiple coverage of everything, particularly any interaction with government agents or Trump supporters. Do not modify these recordings in any way. Perhaps arrange beforehand to Share the recordings with the organizers, so they will be available for any court proceedings.
My husband and I have been to each of the protests in our area in South Carolina and one on a very rainy day in Virginia, and will stand with our fellow Americans on October 18th.
We have beloved family and friends, some who have been captured by the "dark side" : we don't argue, it won't help, but we stand for them as well.
Don, there will be agent provocateurs at the protests and they will be the ones causing damage/inciting anger. I well remember “Umbrella Man” and the Boogaloo Boys after George Floyd’s death. We need to watch for this, video them and make sure they are called out. You can bet Herr Miller has plans for this.
Marge, they are already in Portland causing problems. People organizing the protests are already warning about these ploys. Of the Gnome invited a few wing nuts to be on the roof of the ICE building in Portland where they saw essentially nothing as the Portland police had the area blocked off. Then that heinous woman lied through her teeth about Portland and the pols she met.
I have in the past spoke to those about dealing with provocateurs; Unique I.D.’s such as henna tattoos. Others may have better thoughts; I’m open for that as it is a real risk.
Every No Kings protest I've attended has had 'yellow vest' Peace Keepers trained in conflict deescalation. Protestors have been advised to report aggressive counter protesters or provocateurs to the Peace Keepers. The protest organizers have coordinated with local police - who also do not want conflict or violence to mar the protest.
I disagree. Showing up in numbers is what scares them. This regime doesn't need a "trigger". They've already got their lies ready to spew. Silence is what they want. Don't give it to them. I will participate in two rallies on October 18.
And had you been there for the Civil Rights protests and those against the Vietnam war as I was, would you have said the same?
Trump and Miller and Vought will do what they intend no matter what we do. They already are. And yes, they are hoping for violence along the protest line so that they can justify using the military against the rest of us. But they will find ways of justifying that violence even if they are not provoked. They already have.
I would hate to see violence erupt along the protest lines as much as anyone. I was there in the 60’s as both college student and soldier. I watched sometimes in real time what happened at Kent State, at Montgomery, at Little Rock, and all the other places. Sometimes I was a part of it. Hundreds of Americans, many of them little more than children, were arrested, fire-hosed, attacked by dogs, beaten, and some were murdered. But we cannot stand by and allow Trump and his myrmidons to intimidate us into standing by and allowing them their game. And as hard as it is to say, it was often the violence of the governmental crackdowns at both local and state levels that finally awoke ’the silent majority’ to the dangers of support/complicity.
I understand what you are worried about, but our experience as a nation is clear; doing nothing against those who would abandon the nature and purpose of our founding for their own selfish purposes is not an option. It never has been.
I hear what you're saying but I think this admin will simply take it as our backing down and aquiescing. I do wish a different kind of protest could also b accomplish such as boycotting, not paying federal taxes, not working, etc. Wouldn't it be great if national guard members started resigning?
The NG are going where they are told to go, they are no different than us, they are our mechanics, our plumbers, our lawyers. Just because they are ordered to be there, doesn’t mean they want to be. ICE is a whole different matter, it needs to melt.
My only interaction with National Guard was years ago. We were in a rental on the coast of NC. There was a knock at the door, and it was 2 kids, one black and one white, in camo. They were coming to warn us of an approaching hurricane. They were so polite and somewhat awkward and so young.
In the story I heard about the waving National Guard, the people were not waving back.
Tens of Millions of Peaceful Protesters in the streets is exactly what our country needs right now! Is there a chance of violence…Yes, but it won’t be our side starting it! The Fascists in the White House need to see that “We the People” are strong, and that we can and will flood the streets with our righteous anger at what they are trying to do!
Dear NK, I am sorry. You are woefully wrong in this assumption. In the 60s we protested with MLKjr for Civil Rights. Senator John Lewis almost lost his life peacefully marching and this lead to the Civil Rights Act, we marched in cities all over America against the Vietnam war and eventually our brave soldiers came home (after about 50,000 of them had been killed or wounded), we marched for women’s right to choose what they wanted for their bodies (which this administration is dismantling), we marched for voting rights, etc. There are many other examples.
IF we give into fear and do not stand up to the evil, we are nothing more than sheep being led to slaughter. Someday, when our grandchildren ask me what I did and what I stood for in these dangerous times, I WILL NOT tell them that I did nothing.
I used to periodically protest wars with Women in Black. We neither yelled or moved much, just held our signs in the busiest intersection of the city, solemnly standing our ground— our message was strong and clear.
Someone in another sub stack said the military base in Idaho supposedly for Qatar was an opportunity for their military to train in Idaho and not really a base for themselves. I can’t seem to find anyone reporting it just that way. The fact that the other Arab countries excluded Qatar because of their support for terrorist tells you everything you need to know about how stupid it is to let them in to our militarybases.
Kari found the correct info on Facebook of all things. That’s an interesting posting. Along the lines of what I understood. Way back in the early 90s I had met a woman who was going to the University of Virginia and who was dating a guy who was a general in the Saudi Air Force. Way before 9/11 of course. But he was training in Dallas, so this is kind of the same thing except Qatar is a pariah even among the Arab states. But they gave Trump a plane!
Thanks, that’s the gist of what the other person said that I had read. Just another bumbling nincompoop comment from another comically, if not so serious, bad person in Trump‘s cabinet
When I was in basic training at Lackland in 1977 they were training Iranians. As women we were told to keep our eyes averted and stay clear of them at all times. Seems like a terrible thing to tell future American soldiers. We were being taught to cower and hide.
Thank you for reporting this. Obviously yet another oppressively misogynistic example of "the secret fundamentalism at the heart of American power." (Jeff Sharlet, "The Family"; Harper: 2008).
Pam, Idaho is full of domestic terrorists and has been for a long time. I am not sure they would welcome a bunch of Arabs however....not the right skin color and religion for starters.
We’re already showing up on the 18th. Now let’s get everyone else! If 90% of Icelandic women could shut down a country in 1975, surely we can get 10% to defend our democracy. Millions fought—and died—for this. A little cold and rain? We can handle that. Stand up. Show up and defend our democracy!
Lou, very well stated. I will reinforce your message: Join us at No Kings 2.0 on October 18th. Help us send a message to the Prez and our prostrate Congress. Do your JOB! Honor your oath of office! Support and defend the Constitution! If we can get enough people out to support us next Saturday, we can have Trump shaking in his boots and Congress standing up for the first time.
Lou.., relax, the Quataries will be establishing air bases across our country to protect us. Their money will just flow right in. We'll build motels and towns around the base. Jobs, jobs, jobs. No churches tho..., prayer rugs, thank you.
Lololol. You obviously don't pay attention to your own consulting firm who said here are the list of words not to use and the top of the list was fascist because there aren't none in the United States other than the group called antifa and you might wanna wake up and realize that stop embarrassing yourself here.
You're the one who's embarrassing yourself. Everything you've written is lies, but you wouldn't know that, would you? Join us in the real world sometime.
Psychology of political extremists shows that their minds become locked and they lack the ability to reason once crossing that invisible line from reason into the illogic. I’ve seen this with those I know. They exist in that world which is shared by others living in the same world. And everything outside that bubble is false. My admonishment is to watch ourselves that we don’t slip into a similar world on the left side. I’ve observed this occur as well. And my experience is that they react the same as a MAGA mind and anything you say that they disagree with is wrong.
I will be at the local courthouse on Oct. 18th where our small town rally is to be. My grandchildren, 8 and 11, want to go too because they think the president is a bully and wants to be a king.
Should I take them with me to the planned peaceful rally?
Depends where you live. I have been taking my daughter to rallies since she was 18 months, but I was not worried for our safety. Now in Chicago there are monsters roaming the streets savaging innocent people. Still, I think there will be massive numbers of people out and there is strength in numbers.
Just remember the purpose of fairy tales is not to teach children that there are monsters in the world. Its to teach them that monsters can be defeated.
In South Carolina, our protests have been very peaceful with lots of older persons, as my husband and I, as well as many in wheel chairs. There have also been lots of college age persons and even families with younger children!
There was no meanness only making our message of our desire for a free country for all, known.
As we stood, or sat, persons rode by, some with honks from their car in agreement, some with "the finger" in opposition.
Isn't America great!?
We will be standing again for freedom FOR ALL on October 18th.
Emily, I am glad that Kristi is not attacking people in your state like she is in mine. It will be interesting to see whether they will ever bother Red states. I wish you the best on October 18! In Solidarity✌🏽
Marlene, I am getting treatment and it is making me feel better. Everyone around me has been stepping in to do what needs to be done so we are ready for Saturday here in Bremen. Thank you for asking. In Solidarity!✌🏽
Mary, I will be at a No Kings rally in Bremen, Germany and thus with you and everyone around the world in spirit. I was in Chicago in June for the huge No Kings rally then. Bremen's will be a smaller, intimate event, but I am glad we will be out in solidarity, probably hours before you get started. ✌🏽
Recommend you carry a copy of Judge Sara Ellis' follow up "Court Guidelines" to her very recent TRO that Orders new rules for any encounters with law enforcement agents.
Agents already have binding "constructive" notice of her 2 Orders but, actual notice to "local courthouse" personnel may be effective to help Judge Ellis enforce constitutional law.
Judge Ellis' Order have worked to protect Journalists. See, NBC News Chicago summary of the Orders published on 10/9 at 4:33 pm.
I made a color copy of my U.S. Passport for "No Kings Day".
I don't know this as a fact, but I bet a number of them are government contractors, not federal employees, like the Defense Base Act companies I dealt with when I worked at DOL. In effect we have mercenary armies.
Google: Two notable companies founded or run by former federal immigration officials are US Advisors and XFed Global. Additionally, former top officials have taken senior positions with major ICE contractors, such as CoreCivic and The GEO Group.
Executives: Led by former Department of Homeland Security officials, including CEO Brian DeMore and Chief Talent Officer David Marin.
Background: Both DeMore and Marin were named defendants in a 2019 lawsuit by a former ICE officer. The lawsuit alleged they took part in a scheme to falsify evidence against her after she reported workplace harassment.
ICE contracts: In 2025, US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) signed a $73 million, no-bid contract with US Advisors to help with deportation processes, specifically managing the "non-detained docket" of undocumented immigrants.
Executives: Founded in 2016 by former officials from the Department of Homeland Security, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and Customs and Border Protection. CEO Calderas is a former border agent and ICE official.
Business model: The company promotes its "insider perspective" on Department of Homeland Security procurement, marketing itself to clients seeking federal contracts.
Connection to Tom Homan: A firm associated with Calderas allegedly offered former acting ICE director Tom Homan a cash-for-contracts scheme, which was investigated as part of an FBI sting. Homan was running his own consulting firm, SE&M Solutions, at the time to help contractors win border-related contracts.
Other examples of the "revolving door"
It is also common for former ICE officials to take high-level positions with established companies that are major ICE contractors.
The GEO Group: In 2025, Daniel A. Bible, ICE's top official for detaining immigrants, left the agency to take a senior job with The GEO Group, a private prison company and a top ICE contractor. The company has hired other senior ICE officials in the past.
CoreCivic: Other former ICE officials have also joined CoreCivic, another large private prison contractor.
WOW, Daniel! This is excellent info! Here I thought that Erik Prince, along with Homan, was the evildoer behind these thugs. Boy, was I wrong! It’s a whole syndicate!!
Thank you, endlessly, for this unsurprising information. For those of us watching Chicago daily, it’s priceless and needs no backing up. When a felon president surrounded by unscrupulous cabinet members declares war on US, we need all the truths we can get.
I have no doubt that all you have share is true. My question is of the govt (Trump) has hired mercenaries to arrest protesters (and do illegal sweeps of Latino people) then why on earth is the military not protecting citizens of the US? I know the Commander in Chief- Trump will sit back and act as third party to what is happening and do nothing but the Military is sworn to protect citizens.
I would be very careful with kids. As stated above have them carry ids and maybe physicians contact info. Leave immediately if things get tense and have an escape plan.
I would most assuredly (not) take those children because of the (very high) probability the Regime's stormtroopers -- whether part of the thoroughly Christonazified and therefore criminally oath-breaking military; the Christonazi sturmabteilung called ICE; the state and local law cops we've known since Black Lives Matter to be Christonazi criminals; or simply the everyday ecogenocide-minded MAGATs themselves -- will attempt to enact their Führer's will by murdering as many demonstrators as they can -- triumphantly sadistic in the sure knowledge they will be pardoned no matter what atrocities they commit.
And yes I absolutely believe things are this bad. Why? Three reasons: Firstly, as I have said before, because -- acknowledge it or not -- We the People are the targets of a religious war, one that already threatens to become as hatefully murderous as the Albigensian Crusade; secondly, because the MAGATs' ever-more-obvious intent is to utterly destroy the federal union, thus to enable its easy replacement with a zero-tolerance Christonazi theocratic slave state; thirdly, because I and nearly everyone I know are now having utterly unprecedented apocalyptic nightmares almost every night, which -- since I'm fully aware of the proven accuracy of Jungian dream theory -- I must accept as valid warnings of looming horrors that remain inconceivable to our conscious minds.
On rereading your very descriptive piece, I confess to a bit of a (pre coffee) chuckle. A committed Orthodox Christian said to me that now Putin is head of the Orthodox Church. At first floored, then processing his assertion, I began to laugh. Imagine a KGB operative as head of any church. It’s turning Christianity on its head as the MAGAs are.
The same risks were there for the courageous civil rights activiststs in the 1960's. When the nightly news showed the brutality against peaceful protesters, the nation began to wake up.
The same risks were not -- say again (not) -- there for Civil Rights demonstrators in the 1960s. (For individual activists, yes, e.g. Medgar Evers, Viola Liuzzo, Schwerner, Chaney and Goodman, involvement could be fatal. It damn near was for me on three separate occasions.) But the worst demonstrators would face was brutality. Now, today, we have der neu Führer -- granted the omnipotence of absolute legal immunity by the eternally Christonazified Supreme Court for whatever atrocities he commits -- repeatedly threatening to order his criminally oath-breaking military to gun down protestors.
And I do not doubt the threat because the (only) rational reason for ordering the Marines to accompany the National Guard in California was to enforce a shoot-to-kill order; that is, to gun down any Guard personnel who refuse an order to fire on demonstrators.
My biggest concern is not that the Regime will murder demonstrators; it is that the murders will trigger a premature rebellion that -- like the Russian Rebellion of 1905 (which was triggered by the original Bloody Sunday, the massacre that killed or severely wounded about a thousand peaceful demonstrators at the Winter Palace on 22 January [9 Jan. Old Style] 1905) -- will fizzle due to lack of organization, preparation, training and overseas assistance from the British Commonwealth, Germany, France and other former allies possibly including South Korea.
How could the civil rights activists be sure that they were not in danger of being killed? Your points about the corrupt right-wing Justices on SCOTUS are on the money, and while we can't be sure that the military will refuse orders to fire on American citizens, I believe that if an incident like the Vietnam era Kent State murders by the National Guard will bring the whole country down on MAGA and end it for good.
so please remind us of the evidence that this will not happen, that Trump aka Miller (Trump being demented and incoherent) and the thugs of ICE spurred on by Noem ('we will treat US citizens the way we are treating Venezuelans', i.e. murder without discussion), are not going to do what people here are afraid of.
At the very least we should be organizing a general strike.
That said, to denounce my concerns as "doom posting" is to assert your opposition to Sun Tzu's first rule for victory: know the enemy.
And the paralytic commonality of that very opposition -- though it is understandable because so few present-day Americans have ever been in do-or-die conflicts with Absolute Evil -- is why, at present, we are losing this war.
The last No Kings protests were extremely peaceful and there were thousands at ours in Carlsbad, California. Do you really think the administration is coordinated enough to have thousands of troops at every protest? They might make a show of force in D.C. but that will be so well covered by the media they will be careful about starting a violent clash. Any violence will be from the MAGA agitators just as it was with George Floyd.
Sharon, Indivisible has told us from the beginning that if any violence occurs, we are all to drop to the ground, lay down and pull our signs down also. That way, the perpetrators will be the only ones standing.
Barbara, I will march in spite of the real or imagined risks. They don't have room in jails for all of us. And not enough pepper bullets. I will not kneel.
I have not suggested to my brown skinned nephews in Chicago and their roommate to go to these protests. It would be pure folly. Instead, I march for them, and you do too. They have not been raised to see racism, so they are too trusting of the rightness of the world even as my 23-year-old nephew has grown politically weary just from the last election.
That's a good question. I would ere or the side of yes. They are old enough and they need to see "This is What Democracy Looks Like". Be peaceful and leave if you need to.
I have debated this question myself regarding my granddaughter. She lives an hour away and has a job, so logistics have mostly hindered her joining me. But I certainly understand your hesitation. It would be a wonderful civics lesson for them but it’s a tough call.
If the crowds are large enough and all over the country, the scenario you’re presenting won’t come to be. It would be like “whack a mole” for them. I also believe many of the admin folks live in a bubble that tells them they are more popular than they are. Seeing large crowds of protesters all over the country also sends a positive signal to those who are too afraid to speak up.
Unless you are talking about a national "Stay at Home" strike, where everyone, except people in emergency services stays at home, staying at home will produce nothing and only encourage them.
If Vought and Miller persist in firing government employees when they Know it is illegal and it is clearly stated by the demented orange criminal that it is being done to punish Democrats, then it will be time for a stay at home ,buy nothing strike. Right now it is time to be in the streets letting these Trumpnazis know that we are a majority and we are not going to let them turn our country into a theocratic wasteland.
How long are we safe at home? Our country belongs to each of us. I will not stand down!
My children and grandchildren need a future in which they can make their own decisions regarding our leadership within our government: local, statewide as well as our President.
The leadership within our nation...everywhere...affects our global family. We must stand for freedom with our votes. We must make our will for peace known by standing up in public and expressing PEACEFULLY our opinion.
Democratic, non-violent protest is the alternative to armed insurrection. To abandon the former in fear makes the latter eventually necessary. Staying at home so as to placate neo-fascists is both shortsighted and a guarantee of much worse.
The Administration is terrified of crowds. They will not be organized enough to send in troops to every protest. They are so inept we would already know where they’re planning on sending them. If we cower, they have already won. If we cower, their supporters believe the fascists are successful.
For those who can't physically show up at a rally, the organizers have plenty of tasks to be done in preparation and behind the scenes: partner networking, location permits, safety planning (marshals, first aid prep, law enforcement liaison, water stations, de-escalation training...), outreach (flyers, talks, social media, media alert ahead, spokespersons' talking points, press releases after...), banners and flags, table set up, megaphones and maybe sound equipment, program (music, speakers, chants, dancing, bubbles, etc.), onboarding to vote and to join your organization to stay engaged...phew! And last, but not least, drive by and honk for democracy!
You people don't know when to stop embarrassing yourself. Let me put it to your bluntly once again if you have a country that has a king you're not allowed to do a no King's protest or they'll chop your head off or arrest you and throw you in this in a cave or a sell somewhere for the rest of your life.
But you had a one day what most same people see as a laughathon when you did your protestant that lasted one day and it quickly forgotten because it accomplished nothing
So if you had a protest and you called it a no King's protest I guess you don't have a king because otherwise you would not have been able to do the protest why don't you WTFU?
I can write you in a heartbeat, but this is not about punctuation, spelling dangling, participle, or ending sentence sentences with preposition. This is not my college thesis nor my dissertation.
This is context over form. Get that through your head.
I don't know if you read at all, but everybody here is in need of a binky because everybody here is frustrated, scared angry, and they don't even have a solitary factual clue as to why. It's almost hysterical a bunch of liberal lunatic activist lemmings. Communicating with each other to make yourself feel better when the world is leaving you behind and America is becoming phenomenal again, growing every single day, and everybody that voted for him is walking around with a smile on their face optimism in their future and thanking God they live in America versus those like you idiots who hate it here.
I don’t think it’s intentional. I really think, he has no idea , what he and his fellow Regime supporters have unleashed. He truly believes in masked , unidentifiable, armed forces arresting and harassing brown people, and the press.
I’m not sure, but I think, regime supporters, in the beginning at least, were butt- hurt, when they were belittled by people less stupid.
So, Rick, why don't you just stay home and watch it on TV along with DonOLD. I don't think they will gun a crowd of 300,000 down. Silence is compliance. Should we call you Silent Rick (he would)
OK, you've been elected and selected as the the 43rd person I've asked to tell me how Donald Trump's policies have affected your life negatively currently and specifically and you will be the 43rd person not to have an answer and the list is growing quickly because everybody is hating for no reason some ethereal TDS blood running through all your bodies and you don't even know why
So congratulations number 43
It's been nice knowing you because I know I won't hear back from you just like all the rest. We have no freaking clue why they hate. It's just absolutely disgusting delusion and I hope they start opening those TDS rehab centers really soon so you can get get back to enjoy living your life.
So many grammatical errors and misspellings leave me to wonder about your mental acumen. As for the one day march that everyone forgot- you remembered it. Lol!
Joyce you probably should learn to understand sarcasm I could give a shit about spelling or punctuation or a dangling participle or capital letters this is not my thesis. This is not my dissertation and life should be about context over form. You must be in another planet if you think anything differently here I could run circles around you with vocabulary and English grammar.
And unfortunately, you are lost and have TDS running faithfully through your veins
It was a joke for Christ sakes unbelievable. Too many professors here. I think they know anything, but all they know is theory not actual practice and not actual life nor reality. Trump is kicking ass for America and making it great again. Have a nice day.
Here’s one- Trump Tariffs - because who pays the tariffs? We do, because the retailer raises prices to cover the cost of the higher priced goods because the fees get added to the cost
Chicago on Wednesday. Her new book: We The People. A history of the constitution. There were a few what will happen questions. No one knows, but she said it is up to us:
We already know that Trump has no intention of relinquishing power peacefully. At the Believers' Summit on July 27, 2024, a gathering hosted by Charlie Kirk's group, Turning Point Action, Trump told the assembled gathering: "Christians, get out and vote, just this time. You won't have to do it anymore. Four more years, it'll be fixed, it'll be fine, you won't have to vote anymore my beautiful Christians." (Wall Street Journal News, You Tube July 27, 2024.)
Those persons who cannot recognize the truth or fact of something are afflicted with denialism. I always think back to Jack Nicholson in "A Few Good Men," when he replied to To Cruise: "You can't handle the truth." You know what? Though Trump has made it clear that he intends that there be no more elections, they can't accept the fact that Trump is telling us that he will be a dictator. I suppose along with denialism one can throw in a dash of cognitive dissonance.
The October 18th gathering is an opportunity to demonstrate one of our individual freedoms, the freedom of assembly and celebrate our unity in patriotism to our Democratic Republic. It is also an opportunity to serve as a clear example of peaceful protest which is in juxtaposition to the terrorism being wrought by ICE agents in the streets of our country under the veneer of law enforcement.
Illinois Governor Pritzker today called ICE “jack-booted thugs.”
In Chicago, also today, as Heather also notes, a federal judge itemized all the weapons of war the ICE goons are henceforth forbidden from using.
Heather also cited the brutality the ICE thugs just keep escalating. So many so sick. So vengeful. But it’s the list of military tools to maim and kill which is most scary for the lethality and massive doses of firepower by which criminal Donald viciously attacks the blue city America he so venomously hates, loathes, despises.
And yet, his choruses of sycophant Republicans repeat his mantra that it’s all Dems (and independents) who – all now all terrorists, all working for that well-know organization called Antifa – all now organize to “hate America.”
Many local police, Lady, have feelings toward their home communities.
ICE does not. ICE is just put-together here-&-there roving bands of armed sociopaths. Probably none has any family they're at all personally close to, or any friends. At best for these till now they've all most likely been but loners, with tribal affiliation by hate groups such as Oath Keepers, Proud Boys, and Three Percenters.
Donald likewise has never in his life had friends. No humor ever in his life. His "family" just revolved around the arm candy he routinely picked up and discarded. Life was making money, cheating people. His best pal for many years was the ineffable Jeffrey Epstein, who was best for the deep criminality by which they could and did laugh at, scorn the world, and Donald score big on the underage morsels Jeffrey trafficked to him.
America affiliate international rogues produced Donald. That would be bad, except at the same time it produced U.S. tens of millions exulting in the criminality, the transactional emptiness, deep misogyny, racism, and bitter cynicism and anger at decency and civil society Donald now attacks with so many ICE sufficiently demented to serve his angry, foul agenda.
Phil, our “communities” are bifurcated into those divides. I’m afraid that more cops love their Charlie Kirk community more than the other parts of their community.
Our last Sheriff’s newsletter that came out had 3 different (Christian) faith events announced. I find that troubling.
Ally, I've observed that police department vehicles in most Arkansas locales bear a decal reading "In God We Trust" on the trunk lids, which is troubling.
In previous decades, this could be dismissed as an innocuous sentiment found on our currency that gave some people a warm fuzzy.
In this era, I read that phrase as a loyalty oath, not to the Christian deity, but to a political/lifestyle faction. It implies that our law enforcement operates FOR straight, white Christian nationalists and AGAINST all others.
I know Jesus personally. He has a lot of patience BUT one way or another and in HIS time, “payday will come”.
Also, when we are sorry for our mistakes or condemnations that are untruths, He handles those areas as well.
Sooner or later and as we realize our stupidity, cruel mistakes, etc., He responds. Misusing Christianity is never good. God’s response seems slow to us but He knows us best and just how to alert us to our errors.
If we ask for forgiveness, He is ready to forgive. As Christians, we should never forget who sacrificed for us…to save our lives, not only here but for eternity.
What does it say to those who are not Christian that the department is emphasizing Christianity in was that exclude specific populations?
One of the churches being featured is openly hostile to the LGBTQ + community. I will never set foot there, which means I’ll never go to a department event held there.
Yeah but, it's all the damage done to people before payday comes that's the problem. In this case, there will be more permanent injuries and likely deaths.
Yes, and Jesus reflected his Father’s wishes & feelings towards us perfectly, didn’t he? Forgiveness but accountability also … and no room for the ‘great pretenders’!
Romans 14:11 For it is written: “‘As surely as I live,’ says God, ‘to me every knee will bend, and every tongue will make open acknowledgment to God.’” 12 So, then, each of us will render an account for himself to God. 🕊️🌿
Though I gave you a 'like," I must also point out a necessary correction: many local police have (positive) feelings toward their (white/Christian) communities.
Actually, m'lady, the point I was making unclearly is that most state and local cops -- at least 59 percent of the 60 percent who are white males -- are Christonazis and eager supporters of MAGAT atrocities. My years in journalism -- especially my three decades in the working press -- repeatedly confirmed that most cops, regardless of race, are nazis at heart. The exceptions are rare, not the least because nazified conformity is enforced by the threat of fatal accidents or lethal abandonment during deadly encounters. The following three links will help clarify the issue:
Thus the race of the officer who valiantly stopped the ICE atrocity would almost certainly be significant. (This is the first account of humanitarian conduct by a cop I've seen in this context, this versus innumerable reports of state and local cops collaborating with ICE or encouraging nazi violence as they did in Charlottesville, Va. (where a nazi murdered Heather Heyer), or as the NYPD did on 8 May 1970 when a mob of white construction men and office workers attacked an anti-Vietnam-War protest with sledge hammers, pipe wrenches, baseball bats and golf clubs and sent at least 50 protestors to Manhattan hospitals.)
There are many who are out there. They eschew the label of “hero “ and embrace their duty to protect and serve us and enforce the law and preserve justice
Why is this not being done more often? When an agent breaks the law in executing their supposed “ duties” that individual should be arrested and treated as any other law breaker would be.
Yes and no. Surely every person in this nation has a responsibility to uphold the law, but isn't that even more true of those who are specifically paid and entrusted to uphold it?
Police and many government officials have “qualified immunity,” which protects them from liability from civil lawsuits for what they do in the course of their job unless their actions are clearly unconstitutional or illegal. The idea is to protect them from being sued for nonsense every five minutes, but the reality is that it too often shields them from accountability.
Earlier this year, the Supreme Court, in its infinite wisdom (🙄) bestowed similar protections on the presidency which reinforces the megalomaniac’s belief that anything he does is legal.
Warning, the langue in this video is very vulgar, extremely NSFW, but here the Broadview (IL) and Illinois State Police tell an activist, a U.S. military veteran, to stay on the sidewalk while he points out to them that ICE agents have obscured their license plates.
Exactly, Sally, many ICE agents are not government employees and even if they are still have to obey the rules. A country of laws not lawlessness. ICE agents are not above local law no matter what DJT or Homan says.
Any ICE agent is a government employee, a civil servant, ostensibly bound by an oath to the Constitution and obligated to obey the law. It is certainly true that many are violating those oaths and obligations and should be held accountable.
To me, abuse of entrusted power, "corruption" is an especially serious crime. I think we got into this crisis, at least in part, by too much tolerance for it, especially if committed in a way we favor.
And I favor the label of "Civil Servant". Those who serve our public needs are worthy of our gratitude and respect and those who accept the duty yet significantly prioritize their own interests on the job, over the common good, are worthy of our condemnation.
Because the vast majority of state and local cops are Christonazis. (Don't have time to research the figure tonight as I've other obligations, but my recollection is about 96 or 97 percent of all these cops are MAGATs.)
JL, I’d go with a more nuanced breakdown: 80% “traditional”Christian, 15% ChristoFascist, and the other 5% a mixed bag of faith/non-traditional faith, non-theist, and Atheist .
My basis for this comes from my cohort of (now almost completely retired) cops that are on Facebook (at least those that have not yet unfriended and blocked me; the count is up to 10 now).
I would like to hear more organized rebuttal from those who identify as Christian who know very well that Trump is not "The Second Coming" except as seen by Yeats. The character and focus of Trump compared with Martin Luther King is more stark than night and day.
Because the vast majority of state and local progressives are Maoist. (Don't have time to research the all reliable internet tonight as I have other obligations, but my recollection is about 96 or 97 percent of all these progressives are Maoists.)
Good to read that we're not engaged in tropes as the opposition is...
“it’s not many people, they’re protesters, I won’t make a mess.”
What is in the heart and mind of a person who thinks like this?! These ICE agents have been weaponized against citizens, and they left their humanity on the floor of the training facilities. The worst of the worst are gladly signing up for the bonus and the power it gives them over others. Bullies, just like their president. They see repeated incidents where he gets away with it, so why shouldn't they?
We will have to rely on the caring and brave law enforcement personnel like these to hold the line while courts hand down decisions about what kind of abuse ICE agents can inflict on We the People and journalists. The big question is, will they ignore the courts? And are there any consequences if they don't?
Proud Boys, Oathkeepers and other sociopathic Neonazis with violent fantasies of power, civil war, and killing off the “unworthy” - that’s what ICE is. They support the Orange Goblin Baby King because they want to be a narcissistic, sociopathic, money-and-pussy-grabbing, nature-hating asshole just like him.
There is a reason that law enforcement agencies have always welcomed people on the Sociopathic spectrum to be officers, the city, state, or nation lose income if the officer has even a modicom of empathy.
It is easy for a fired, disgraced officer to get another job in law enforcement in a different community.
This sounds like some of the cops I used to work with back in the mid 1970’s through 1980’s. Who embraced the idea of protect and serve. These cops and others must get our support.
When Agent Orange uses the word "America", he means "DJT". He copies Louis XIV who claimed "L'etat, c'est moi" -- I am the state/country. Note that Louis XIV is no longer alive, his heirs were murdered, and France, the state/country, is going strong.
YES! I have seen how that state works. We should all live with such organization and medical care. Somehow I doubt the French Revolution will ever be repeated in France.
Meet the new boss, same as the old boss; except that we were gifted with an imperfect but enduring, up to now, attempt to establish rule of law, not of men.'
Due process and unalienable rights, and equal protection, and over all, those ideals have resulted in an arc of increased inclusion. We are now face with an organized attempt to overthrow that effort, that must be resisted.
In an act of cosmic injustice, the Nobel Committee once again failed to recognize Donald J. Trump’s tireless efforts to bring peace to his favorite dictator, himself. Instead, the committee awarded Venezuela’s María Corina Machado, who apparently did something boring like “defend democracy” instead of posting angry videos about how unfair life is.
White House spokesman Steven Cheung bravely denounced the decision, saying the Nobel Committee “places politics over peace,” which is rich coming from a team that treats democracy like a takeout order, cancel if it takes too long. Meanwhile, Putin declared the committee had “lost credibility,” prompting Trump to thank him for his continued service as emotional support autocrat.
Back home, Trump’s agents celebrated “law and order” by tackling a journalist for the crime of holding a camera. Congress is closed indefinitely, apparently replaced by a government livestream featuring Kristi Noem explaining that Democrats broke America. And when he wasn’t threatening China with tariffs, Trump was congratulating himself for not being indicted today.
So yes, the Nobel Committee missed its chance. True peace is when your enemies are silenced, your friends are billionaires, and your country is too exhausted to care. Maybe next year he will win the Nobel for Performance Art.
Correct. That the ICE was on the roof and did the shot at the head of the clergyman is particularly appalling. How many of those “bounty hunters” are pardoned January Sixers. Would like to know.
It's a place. It's an idea. But above all, it's its people. The whole of it's people, with universal rights and universal responsibilities. After all, right are only rights to the degree we respect them for one another, that to secure these rights, we establish rules, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. A corrupt Supreme Court once argued the a black person "had no rights which the white man was bound to respect" in a decision that now lives in infamy, yet lingers. The wise know that tyranny respect only it's own self-centered ends and will gleefully destroy whatever it finds inconvenient, including the lives of posterity.
"Where be these enemies?—Capulet, Montague,
See what a scourge is laid upon your hate,
That heaven finds means to kill your joys with love,
Marjorie Taylor Greene doesn't seem too happy about the insurance thing. There was another southern republican politician (Louisiana maybe) who was complaining about how people couldn't afford groceries. mmm wonder why since we were promised that prices were coming down. Obviously, trump doesn't know the difference between up and down.
Interesting that they accuse Americans who oppose their "administration" as being pro-Hamas when *THEY* are the ones who just allowed Qatar to create an air force installation inside the US in Idaho! Qatar is literally ruled by sharia law (male guardianship laws for women for example) and they are literally one of the biggest funders of Hamas. But they gave Trump a plane so it's okay...
The Hamas thing is just a slur at this point. It's meant to silence and shame anyone who supports the Palestinian People as they endure a brutal genocide at the hands of the Israelis. Keep in mind, Netanyahu funded and uplifted Hamas. The Israelis literally gave them suitcases full of money. These are facts. Google it.
We need to reject any acceptance of Trump's rhetoric. Don't argue about Hamas, or who gets called Hamas, point out that the U.S. is funding YET ANOTHER GENOCIDE.
Right Dana, anti-yahoo is not anti-Jewish or pro-Hamas.
I noticed an omission in DonOLDs ceasefire/peace plan for Palestine. No mention was made of opening the borders for food and medicine to go in and rebuilding Palestine.
Give us an exact reference in re “suitcases full of money”, “funded and uplifted Hamas”, “literally gave them suitcases full of money”. Sure, you can “find lots of things” on Google, that doesn’t mean all of them are true…
This has been reported in a number of places. Amy Goodman and Democraxcy Now have reported about Netanyahu’s support for Hamas, as a preventative to a unifying Palestinian leadership. John Oliver also, just a couple weeks ago.
Netanyahu is "the fox in the hen house". He is wickedly manipulative and always has been. When "a ball is thrown" he side tracks the receiver.
The Palestinians are great human beings. Netanyahu wants their land. He tries to organize them in a certain location which he describes as safe and the BOMBS THEM. How many times do we need to see this????
Netanyahu wants all of Gaza so he and Trump can build a golf course/resort.
It is that inhuman...it is that cruel....it is that heartless and selfish!
You can be biased, the perspective you come at things, and have reliable facts and evidence in your presentation. My point was that the evidence exists that Netanyahu actively supported Hamas to prevent a unifying Palestinian entity. Maybe you agree with his actions and understand his motivations or maybe you don’t. Regardless of whether it’s Democracy Now or a right -leaning outlet, the facts remain. Bias does NOT have to mean “alternative facts” are made up. That’s something different, lying, false flags, propaganda, marketing, etc. People may dislike Amy Goodman for her bias, perspectives, and the topics she chooses to emphasize, but I have never heard her challenged on facts.
Except when she promoted the trope that NATO was to blame for the Russian invasion of Ukraine?
I'm sure she's a well intentioned good person, but keep in mind she's a commentator not a journalist, just as FOX News claims t be "entertainment".
We should be as wary of left wing commentators as we are of right wing commentators. Amy and her funders have an agenda, she may have a good heart but it's best not to fall in love with podcasters, be they Amy or Joe Rogan.
… During the 1970s, Israel began providing support to Ahmed Yassin, a Palestinian Muslim Brotherhood leader who controlled a network of Islamic schools, mosques, and clubs, 🔻in order to weaken the secular nationalist Palestine Liberation Organization. Wikipedia
The Jerusalem Post : Netanyahu: Money to Hamas part of strategy to 🔻keep Palestinians divided 🔻
“Now that we are supervising, we know it’s going to humanitarian causes,” the source said, paraphrasing Netanyahu.”
It was supposed to create a split in the Palestinian Freedom Movement which it did. Of course it was going to buy weapons. No one would not have known that. Stop making excuses for a genocidal settler colony. You're pulling a Pete Hegseth.
TRUTH: "We need to reject any acceptance of Trump's rhetoric. Don't argue about "Hamas", or who gets call "Hamas", POINT OUT THAT THE U.S. : each one of us who pays taxes, ARE FUNDING YET ANOTHER GENOCIDE!!!!!
Mathew, Thank you for the enlightenment! I do think we often "sleepwalk" through the fact that we as American citizens are being used (by military/government appointees ...using our taxes) to destroy innocent human beings.
If we do not stop our wrongs, US Government Officials, will be at OUR door or the doors of OUR CHILDREN!!!!....actually this is already happening.....persons in this country whether they have achieved citizenship as legal Americans or NOT should be treated with decency.
My daughter-in-law and my grandchildren live in Mexico near my daughter-in-law's family. The children were born in the US and lived here with my son and daughter-in-law for several years before his death. Are they safe if they come for a visit???
Remember this is performance to incite violence so they can overturn the law and pretend that Trump needs to send the military in.
Americans are not Russians, they are not Hungarians, although some may come from those countries, but that is not the history people have of how they expect their government to act. Hope word is getting to the people.
Here's hoping! It is right and proper to point out it is *their* side who is actually supporting Hamas by supporting Qatar (because they bribed Trump with a plane). Trump only cares about himself. He doesn't give a crap about our country.
Apparently the Qatar thing is less disturbing than it seemed from Hegseth's sloppily worded announcement of it. I gather that the US in providing a facility on an established US base for the purpose of training Qatari pilots to fly the jets the Regime is selling to them. Whether or not that is appropriate is another question, but the first reporting of it I encountered sounded way more troubling. and of course, in this regime, I would be a mistake to automatically discount anything that sounds too wacko.
I don't know what to believe. The only guy who said it was 'no big deal' is Kegsbreath's (sorry, not sorry) aide. Other's militaries have pilots train here all the time but in their own facilities? If they build *their* facility with *their* planes flown by *their* pilots on an existing military base in the contiguous US, how is this not a danger? They literally fund Hamas and have sharia law (I am not a fan as it is just like the Christian Nationalism that the Trump team wants to establish here)! Will the US vet EVERY. SINGLE. PERSON. who comes onto that military base or will it be up to Qatar? Do you have a reputable expert that said it was 'no big deal'?
Where did I say no big deal? I first read reported that Hegseth announced that Qatar would be building a foreign military base on US soil, so not so big a deal as that, but still alarming. Hegseth himself is alarming as a wholly terrible choice for the function he fills.
None of this makes me feel any better. I agree with Loomer here which is never a comfortable position for me! I do not trust any foreign military facility on US soil but especially not one from a country who has a form of sharia law, has rampant human rights violations against its own people (especially women and LGBTQ+) and who funds terrorist organizations like Hamas. Not even getting into the corruption! They bought that military installation by giving to Trump! https://www.tiktok.com/@erinburnettoutfront/video/7560000502306573581?_r=1&_t=ZT-90TKTsU0jjJ
The United States has given more harbor to terrorists than Qatar ever did, and most of the terrorists we have given refuge to are wanted in their home countries for crimes at least as bad.
You might want to refresh your familiarity of history, especially history of the 70s and 80s, particularly the parts where we trained, supplied, and equipped the Mujahadeen, who extensively used and trained suicide bombers. Its also noteworthy that the US Congress authorized and used multiple waivers to continue funding Somali militias who made extensive use of child solders.
You have to bury yourself under a pretty damn large rock to not know or understand that the US has funded generations of atrocities in the past 50 years or so, most often (but certainly not exclusively) at the hands of Republican administrations.
Dana, a plane which will cost $400 million to rebuild to become AF-1 and will supposedly (???) become DonOLDs property when he leaves office. Talk about government waste, fraud and abuse.
My mind still isn't at ease at all and questions remain. Who is in charge of security in these buildings? Are the buildings under control of Qatar or the US? Do they just sleep there or do they have private areas where US personnel are not allowed to go? Who vets the people who train there? The US or Qatar? Do other countries have facilities built JUST FOR THEM as seems to be the case here? The article says that other bases "host" trainees from other countries. That is very different than a country having its own 'facilities, planes and pilots' inside the US. It is the difference between someone coming to stay in your house for a while versus you letting them build their own house on your property. WHY are we selling planes and training pilots for a country that has such vile human rights violations, follows sharia law and funds terrorist groups? "But generally speaking, it is when the president determines that doing so will boost the security of the U.S. or promote peace around the world." Because they gave him a plane and treated him like royalty when he visited and continue to appeal to his ego? How is this in the best interests of the USA and NOT just Donald Trump and his crooked family? I would love for Heather or some other trusted source to dig deeper on this and really see if and how this is different than the agreements of other countries (that as opposed to Qatar) are long-standing allies who share out supposed values!
Trump was President in 2017, which is when the untrustworthy Administration shill said it was started and the discussions took place. Interestingly, the assessment was completed in 2022 (when Biden was in) but his Admin did not sign the deal, Trump's did 3 years later. Bondi was a Qatar lobbyist, too. This smells to high heaven of corruption, besides the very scary security concerns.
He likes them because they bribe him with money and ego-stroking. They are also very comfortable dealing in corruption, which is why Trump loves repressive totalitarian regimes in general. The Trump family has personally hauled in billions from the Saudis for example. Incidently, most of the 9/11 terrorists were Saudis.
Today, oct.10, Heather interviewed James Talarico, a young Democrat running against Republican Senator John Cornyn in conservative Texas. A recent poll puts Talarico within 3% of Cornyn.
The so called “Christian evangelicals”/right wing or “conservative Christians” are Christians in name only. Contrary to the historic teachings of the Christian religion they speak, write, and act in a way that is the exact opposite of the values of Christianity as described in the New Testament of their Bible: hatefulness, vengeful scapegoating, narcissistic self-righteousness, ruthless violence, etc.. They thus blatantly violate the key principles of Christianity such as the Ten Commandments (“Thou shalt not bear false witness [lie], covet, kill, steal, make unto thee any graven image [MAGA], or have any other gods [cult leaders] before me”, etc.). It doesn’t take a Ph.D. in religion to know what the teachings of the Christian religion are. The New Testament - the story of the life of its leader - describes them in plain text. Matthew 5-7: the Sermon on the Mount with the Beatitudes (blessed are the meek, the persecuted, the poor, the peacemakers, etc.); John 15:12: “This is my commandment, love one another as I love you.”; the parable of the Good Samaritan (Samaritans were the bitter enemies of the Jews, but when the Jewish man was attacked by robbers on the road to Galilee, it was the passing Samaritan who tended his wounds and payed for him to stay in an inn and not the passing Jewish clergy who scorned him.) etc.. And the teachings are: humility, compassion, mercy, kindness, forgiveness, empathy, not judging others, praise for the meek, the poor and the persecuted, etc.. These are the opposite of the apostolic pronouncements of the self designated “Christian” right wing. This is described in theologian and minister Russell Moore’s book, “Losing Our Religion”.
It is part of the politicizing of religion to support an authoritarian political cult. It co-opts the title and moral authority of the religion while completely turning the religion’s moral principles upside down. This is one of the facets of the play book of authoritarian dictators. For more information on this see the writings of academic scholars of authoritarianism/fascism such as: Timothy Snyder, Ruth Ben Ghiat, Steven Levitsky, Anne Applebaum, Jason Stanley, etc..
Remember that historically Jesus was executed (crucified) by an authoritarian leader because he was seen as challenging the power of the existing government and religious authorities/hierarchy. He had 12 disciples representing the twelve tribes of Israel and rode into Jerusalem on a donkey (representing humility because conquerors ride horses) at Passover (the Jewish celebration of freedom from slavery and bondage in Egypt).
The colonies demanded that the US Constitution guarantee freedom of religion (which serves to protect all religions) before they would ratify it because many of the colonists came to America to escape religious persecution in Europe.
I’m not a religious fanatic but think that most religions have as part of their teachings an ethical code that can benefit human society as social mores. This is what I think I heard Heather and James Talarico say in the interview.
Women who have escaped abusive evangelical households and churches say - "If you want to know what the Christian Nationalists want for the country, look at how they live at home." Mike 'my wife has been on her knees all week' Johnson is a prime example.
We have always had religion. Indigenous people all over the world have had and have religion. It is also what we look to for comfort and healing. It is not just to control.
That summary is exact and impressive. The major point being this administrations use of religion for political purpose to instill authoritarianism and it is frightening.
I fundamentally agree that Jesus's teachings are themes of humility and kindness, and yes, largely the polar opposite of Trump. Does the Trump regime in any way resemble the itinerant, ascetic, gentle movement that Jesus is reported to have led, or the cruelty of his state-involved tormentors? It seem that throughout most of subsequent history there seems to be an accompaniment of Christians In Name Only that preach hatred, seek excessive wealth, and afflict, even gratuitously kill and torture in the name of Jesus, and who become or ally with coercive states, along side those, such as MLK who seek genuine peace.
Yup. "Separation of Church and Hate: A Sane Person's Guide to Taking Back the Bible From Fundamentalists, Fascists, and Flock-Fleecing Frauds" by John Fugelsang.
Yes, Fred, exactly. I am reading "Separation of Church and Hate: A Sane Person's Guide to Taking Back the Bible From Fundamentalists, Fascists, and Flock-Fleecing Frauds" by John Fuglesang. He literally quotes chapter and verse of what the religious right has twisted into justification for their demonic actions. Helps that he speaks these truths with humor.
Samaritans and Jews destroyed each other's temple, and the choice of a Samaritan is consistent with Jesus's "love thy enemy" agenda. Identifying with the right club didn't count for much. Active, generic, compassion did. Classic "DEI" which is frankly a VERY hard road to follow. Insightful G K Chesterton remarked that “The Christian ideal has not been tried and found wanting. It has been found difficult; and left untried.”
I the first I heard of Desmond Tutu was a story about how, while preaching to a large crowd, he spotted some black men beating an Apartheid era policeman, the "ICE" of that era, or worse. Tutu flew from the stage and threw his body over the policeman to shield him. I think THAT is what Jesus was asking for, and I think a lot of people who claim to be followers would prefer to completely ignore that. I am not advocating Christianity or any established faith per se, but yet I admire anyone strong enough to bear that much compassion; and in that respect Tutu and the Dalai Lama (who were fast friends) seemed like siblings.
Wonder how much and how many actually believe what they're spouting ... either way their lust for the kind of powers they believe they should wield gives them no
credibility bc they are based on a false premise(s) - that their power over and with money is somehow preferable to its uses for the whole population. This in turn is based on a false reading within Christian 'thinking' that Jesus people are somehow superior by association with a guy (yes, our 'homeboy') who claims to be half g-d. Really. Jews gave up that idea way earlier after hanging out with Hellenists and their 'gods' centuries before the Romans did their things in and around Jerusalem.
Anyone doubting the belief of the MAGATS need look no further to their parents during the Civil Rights Era, and their fore-bearers supporting the American Workers party, and THEIR Fore-bearers supporting the KKK, and THEIR fore-bearers in the Confederacy.
Same play, different cast. I think the Christians were right about "the love of money", if by "love" they mean "that for with you would sacrifice all else", and recognize that money is a form of power, interchangeable in a corrupted society with political influence. The "GOP" upping of racism (to welcome racist fanatics who fled the wokened Democrat's agendas) in exchange for power might not be literally a "deal with the devil" but it surely rhymes with one.
It is curious, when you think about it, why the Southern poor were willing to die on the battlefield for a system that did them no favors, other than the intangible illusion of picayune supremacy, but big money had a large role in supporting that conceit. "Master Race" seemed to empower Hitler.
If you care about saving this country- show up on Oct 18. If you can’t physically show up, contribute to at least buy porta-pottys. They are scared but they need to be scared enough to. scurry back to their dark places. End this nightmare..
If 15 million people march in this country on October 18th, it would be a real shame if we didn't simply overthrow the government in its entirety. Fewer people than that supported the American revolution, and that's 10 times of the size of the current military.
Imagine trying to explain to those revolutionary folks that one day their anti-fascist progeny would all have tiny cameras they carry and then can immediately broadcast that view to the entire world...
Nightmare it is Sharon. Yes, please donate to the day. Each one of us have prepared for a non violent protest. It is necessary to take all ones skills in descalation ,respect and safety going forward into this day. We must emphasize this every time we ask for everyone to show up.
The first purpose of showing up is make sure they figure out ONE thing: the point must be obvious, undiluted, as simple as you can peacefully (though loudly) express it:
NOT through me. NOT with my consent. NOT on my goddamn watch (swearing optional).
There are additional points -- to bolster friends, neighbors, communities under attack (and they are many) that they are not alone. You stand with them. They will not face monsters by themselves.
But you can't let go the first, nor dilute it until it becomes meaningless. They seek your acquiescence. They want your complicity. They demand you surrender in the face of the despair they create on purpose. Tell them -- as respectfully as possible -- to fuck off, that you will have none of it. It's your country too.
Remember -- they fear us. They are not strong. We are. Winter is coming. And they are not prepared. It's their Rube Goldberg contraption swaying violently in near gale-force winds, not our republic. Act strong, for we are strong.
I hope some NO Kings signs will read "Hey Mike, I love America. It's Fascism I hate". Honestly Mike Johnson -- what a sniggering, faux-pious piece of $h*t. How I wish I could participate - but I've just had a hip replaced and am still getting back to walking, and my husband is very ill and I am his caregiver. To everyone participating - thank you !!!!!
HCR— the fact that indictments for Comey, James and soon Bolton— all come at the same time — is in and of itself a sign of vindictive prosecution and a form of threat to critics of the government.
Trump is running what is not a Department of Injustice, and he has breached the wall intended to separate DOJ from the whims of the President. He also appears to want a civil war.
Well, he *is* a Vermonter. We've always been a little bit bold. "Back in the day," we regularly alternated between D and R governors, and both governed with respect for the other side. We were among the first states to regulate environmental impacts, one of the only states to pass resolutions in every town (251) against nuclear weapons, and among the first states to legalize gay marriage (called civil unions, but in VT the legal effect was much the same). I'm a 9th generation Vermonter.
Proud of Vermont’s govenor. Family lore claims that we are the bastard grandchildren of Ethan Allen, which is my go-to excuse whenever my audacious streak rears its beautiful head.
We are in danger of psyching ourselves into a war with China, a war that we simply can not *win *conventionally. China has the same leverage against us with rare earths that we had against Japan in tin and oil in 1940. The embargo of tin and oil by the F.D. Roosevelt Admin. led directly to Pearl Harbor.
When do we own up to the reality that the American Century has been over twenty years and that the world is twenty years into the Chinese century? Our strength has not altogether left us; *we *have *our *founding *ideas. But we are now one *great ally *among many others in various agreements.
I wish more commenters (just ONE so far) had chosen to use Heather’s precious public commenting space to reflect on this. We are in danger of psyching ourselves indeed…into *multiple* stupid, pointless, no-victory-possible wars — political, economic, cultural — with *multiple* would-be protagonists, and all at the same time.
For that matter, I wish Americans as a whole, together with our mostly non-reflective media, would have used the occasion of the Nobel Peace Prize to reflect more on the world around them. Not one major media, cable outlet or newspaper covered the Nobel Committee’s justification for awarding the Peace Prize to Maria Corina Machado.
“The tools of democracy are the tools of peace” the Committee noted. Machado and those she enlisted did the dirty work of *safeguarding votes* as a tyrant did everything he could to subvert voting, falsify the results and claim the mantle of legitimacy which did not exist.
In case you missed the subtleties (had our media bothered to highlight them), the award did not solely honor those men and women who put their lives on the line for this concept, and not just in Venezuela. The Committee implicitly condemned the preening dictator Maduro, the raging murderer Putin, the tyrant Xi, as well as the thin-skinned Trump and his deranged followers who tried to stop OUR voting process in this country in 2021 — and damn near succeeded.
And the first question from a reporter — a Norwegian reporter — to that Committee testified to that, prefacing it by admitting global attention has lately been fixated “more to the north” of Venezuela, noting that Donald Trump had claimed that NOT awarding the Prize to him would be tantamount to attacking the American people. The Committee spokesman simply replied that its members deliberate in a room adorned with the portraits of every laureate in history, guided “solely” by the work and wishes of Alfred Nobel. Bullies, liars, cowards and gaslighters the world over, take note.
Ms. Machado, living in hiding somewhere inside Venezuela, believes the use of force will likely be necessary to dislodge Maduro, rightly noting that he, like the Kim crime family in North Korea, use the illicit drug trade to keep themselves in power, depriving millions not just of democracy, but health and prosperity as well.
Yet she was awarded the Prize not for her views about the future, but for her past non-violent efforts to safeguard democracy’s mechanisms — the registration, voting, counting and reporting process itself. January 6 thugs and their White House organizers, take note. Remember the unpaid House interns who risked their own safety to pick up the boxes from the House Rotunda holding the attestation of 50 Secretaries of State and the District of Columbia — together with the names and recorded votes of each of the 438 electors — carrying them to an undisclosed room, protecting them from a howling Trump mob….*This* is what democracy looks like.
In a democracy, people are supposed to debate the rationales for war openly, ahead of time, gauging threats in a common forum, justifying the immense response if and when it comes. Nothing could be further from this in Trump’s vision for America. A supine, terrified, complicit Republican Congress cannot even bring itself to disclose a dead pedophile’s private notebooks, let alone hold an open debate about a ridiculous threatened 100% tariff against China, a looming war with Venezuela, an out-of-control masked, secret police force sowing grief for tens of thousands. It cannot bring itself to condemn the antics of a pissy, demented 3-year-old idiot not even remotely interested in the process of governing, let alone skilled in doing so.
Not just on October 18, but every day — demand your right to be consulted, to openly debate violence already being deployed — against Venezuela, China, the Federal Reserve, Democrats, all conscientious public servants doing their jobs, Denmark, the EU, immigrants, healthcare and public lands.
MULTIPLE wars are being prepared and waged in your name already. Wake up, stand up, speak out, vote, protect your vote, and be prepared to endure hardship and pain in order to keep living in a republic, rather than acquiesce to tyranny.
Thank you for this post. I did see the video of the Nobel Committee spokesman but only because someone posted it. The cowardly stance of the MSM is so shameful - they do not seem to understand how powerful they could be against this dangerous regime if they only chose to be. The more money they have the weaker the backbone.
It's Come To This, thank you for going into detail about la Sra. Machado and the broader implications of awarding her that coveted peace prize. I must confess that I had not paid attention to the announcement and failed to grasp the symbolic dimension of awarding the prize to a citizen among citizens fighting, peaceably, not only for her people, but also for democracy around the world. It is my embarrassment to admit that my reaction was simplistic: relief that Trump did not get it. Kudos to the folks in Oslo for their courage. Thank you, again, for taking time to fill me and others in on the importance of this news.
Apologies for all the fuzziness and typoes in the initial wee-hour draft of my comment.
Thank you, MaryPat. 🙏🏾 My shrinking grey matter is a source of *frustration. 🙄 (¡UGG! That typo escaped two proofless readings!🤭) So, I am grateful for the patience of others like you, MaryPat. 🫱🏻🫲🏼
Hello Ned... Have You seen recent Pictures of DJT's Ankles?... They are so Swollen that they spill over DJT's Shoes... Today DJT visited Walter Reed Hospital for DJT's 2nd Annual Physical in 6-Months.... Afterwards, DJT admitted having Difficulty passing the Cognative Test... Tell Us Something That We Don't Already Know.... It is Rocktober, and Karma is a Bitch Goddess...
In the Nuremberg War Crimes Trials - the first charge in the indictment against the Nazis was conspiracy: to conspire to overthrow the parliamentary government, and then warmonger and strike fear in the hearts of its citizens to create the authority to invade other countries.
Thank you for the head's-up, Jeff. Trump may never be held to account while he is in this world. Hopefully, he will be tried post-humously so that the timeless, hopefully deathless, message of the Nuremberg trial is re-affirmed: the then new order and the now renewed order is one of democracy and the four freedoms of speech and religion as well as from want and fear.
Apologies for all the fuzziness and typoes in the initial wee-hour draft of my comment.
Most people do not agree with me in the view that all of us, as citizens, are responsible for where we find ourselves today. Yet, as guilt for the Holocaust and the massive atrocities in China fell upon all Japanese and Germans, so too does the responsibility of the U.S. becoming a rogue super-power fall upon us, not matter how much one condemns Trump and contemns Vance and their increasingly gangster régime.
Apologies for all the fuzziness and typoes in the initial wee-hour draft of my comment.
The Nobel Committee cited “[María Corina Machado’s] tireless work promoting democratic rights for the people of Venezuela and for her struggle to achieve a just and peaceful transition from dictatorship to democracy.”
While the orange fat man works toward the unjust and violent transition from democracy to dictatorship in the US.
A woman, a woman of color, beats him, and, in effect, all MAGA white men, again.
My wife and I are traveling through Italy, visiting battlefields where her father fought during World War 2. We have gone from Salerno to Monte Casino. Although not from Texas he fought with the 36th infantry, which was formed when the Texas National Guard was activated. They fought hard to destroy fascism. Then we realized the Texas National Guard is currently deployed in Chicago.
I can't believe I just read your comment. My father was also a member of the 36th Infantry Division. He was a member of Company D, 142nd. He was a light machine gunner and fought in the battles you mentioned above plus more. He served from September 1943 until June 21, 1945. Born in 1942, I was lucky he came home. My dad would be saddened to learn about what is happening in our nation today. Finally, the book, The Fighting 36th, A Pictorial History: The Texas Division in Combat sits proudly on my desk. We were not from Texas either... I was born in Ohio and now live in VT.
My dad was wounded in North Africa but returned to a unit in the Italian mountains; where he had frostbite. Commanding officer was Fred Walker. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fred_L._Walker
I was born in December, 1943, when my dad was in the mountains.
The 36th entered Rome in June, 1944. My dad wound up with the Fifth Army headquarters on a trial court under General Mark Clark.
Oh my... Major General Fred L. Walker's photograph is featured at the beginning of the book I noted above. Fighting in the cold and muddy conditions - and not changing his boots or socks for months, my dad (like others he fought with) developed trench foot. He was also wounded but we never knew about it until he was in a nursing home.
Bandy X. Lee, M.D., M.Div. <bandyxlee@substack.com> has written some important articles on Substack, such as:
“We psychiatrists knew from the start that Donald Trump was a highly mentally-disturbed, dangerous man. That is why 27 of us, including some of the most distinguished psychiatrists in America, immediately in the first year of Trump’s first presidency, joined together to publish in 2017 a book that we titled, The Dangerous Case of Donald Trump: 27 Psychiatrists and Mental Health Experts Assess a President. This unprecedented New York Times bestseller of its kind helped elevate the subject of his mental health to the number one topic of national discussion—until the American Psychiatric Association found it politically expedient to go as far as to change its ethical guidelines to curry a federal government’s favor.”
“In my last essay on this topic, I stated that it was time for me to go beyond warning of Donald Trump’s dangerousness, unfitness, and evident pathological signs—to describing what kind of pathology, which touches on diagnosis. I thus mentioned sociopathy. “Sociopathy”, or “antisocial personality disorder,” has the following characteristics:”
October 18 just grows in importance the more they howl. If "we" are "antifa", where do we have meetings? Who are our leaders? How is it that so many groups, long involved with social justice, environmental awareness, unions, cooperatives, and climate change, are doing this "No Kings Day" without having a coordinating committee, known leaders, or even a common message? It is working because "we the people" don't want an authoritarian government. Let's hit the streets like the "frogs" at protests in Portland.
We're all paid, professional protesters, you know. Funny, but I have never gotten a check yet from anyone. Hey! Can I write the cost of poster board and paint off my taxes as a business expense?
Speaker Mike Johnson has decided it is more important for him to appear on talk shows and give press conferences than to do the necessary work and use his leadership position to actually have a functioning House of Representatives. He's stonewalling, sending the House into the fourth week of another unnecessary recess and trying to pin the blame of this government shutdown on the Democrats. He's been making excuses, lying, blaming, projecting but never doing what is really needed and attending to his congressional duties, like swearing in the recently elected Democratic representative from Arizona, Adelita Grijalva, who won over 2 weeks ago.
Mr. Mikey is really ratcheting up the regime's talking points by saying “this hate-America rally they have coming up for October 18th, the Antifa crowd, the pro-Hamas crowd, and the Marxists.”“They’re all going to gather on the [Washington] Mall, we’ve got some House Democrats selling t-shirts for this event. It is an outrageous gathering for outrageous purposes.”
Mike Johnson and the Trump/MAGA cult just don't seem to understand or want to see that it's not hating America to be antifa because it means anti fascist. To love America you should be anti fascist by default because our democracy is antithetical to fascism. The Trumpian regime, MAGA Mike and complicit Republicans in Congress and the Supreme Court obviously want to make America something else, not great again (like they say or pretend to even envision), but fascist, autocratic, Project 2025 dystopian unAmerica. Who is the real hate-America crowd Mikey?
How long before they accuse us of Hating Christians when we condemn what they do?
They love getting votes from Christians (Catholics on abortion), but they do not see a need to actually perform what Christ asked Christian’s to do. They just like the name Christian.
Why are ICE agents not being arrested when they break the law in carrying out their supposed duties? They should be treated as anyone else who is accused of a crime, booked, mug shot( so much for those masks), hearing, bail…. Perhaps that would be a sobering experience for these bullies….
Show up October 18. Be counted. Numbers speak.
No question about that. Americans speaking out counts MORE than ever. Everybody knows how the Fascists rammed through their Big Beautiful Bill to rape the American people and that they are the ones forcing this Government shutdown by being totally absent to even discuss the situation. That being said anybody who remotely protects and defends this regime is compilcit in the destruction of Democracy , the Constitution and the Rule of Law. Under Donald Trump and his band of Fascist Authorians there is no We the people . What happened in the Stock Market today was calculated to accomplish one thing and only one thing. retaliation. they are scared, getting more so every day, therefore tighten the screws so the American people know who controls the economy. Those that defend this Regime are just plain ignorante. Every day it is more OBVIOUS that a government by the people and for the people no longer exists in America. Bring everyone you know on Saturday the 18th with all your signs, We The American People have No Kings and No Dictators! STOP sending Our Military to Police our Cities! Stop Censoring Americas right to Free Speech. Release the TAPES! BRING ON NO KINGS DAY!! WE WANT OUR COUNTRY BACK!!! If there was ever a time to show up and speak out it is NOW.
More than ever perhaps, but certainly less than ever.
No administration, no Congress, no courts, and no part of the American government has ever been more complicit in its own demise than the current administration, and now we literally have a handful of talking heads overthrowing the military with a private police force for the first time since the last gilded age and the Pinkerton Agency.
And yet there are still people who somehow believe that their vote will somehow count for something. Maybe, but no more than the average Russians.
“No more than the average Russian” is EXACTLY as Trump/Putin planned it. That’s why we must get this REGIME out before November 2026! We will not get to vote them out as the criminal takeover continues. Anyone watching the Congressional Oversight Committee recognizes that. Pam Bondi, like PuppyShooter Kristi Noem, is another Eva Braun.
Blondie and Noem are much, much worse then Eva Braun. And they should remember how she ended up.
Agreed, Jon. I made the connection only in the “woman as slave to bad man” theme, thinking the rest of the of the connection could be made by anyone who is watching the two current female horrors.
Virginia, I consider Bondi and the Gnome and anyone like them to be an insult to womankind. Truly strong women do not behave this way.
Which is why I once favored a military coup to ironically save the country from the mayhem that is currently engulfing the nation. I called it the lesser of two evils. The good generals now who have retired or been fired, would have prevented Trump and demanded a new election. I understand this was folly to suggest it. Let us never forget that it was Biden who screwed us by running a 2nd time. He wanted to be president for the 250th anniversary. So selfish of a rapidly declining elder. If he had allowed an open convention and a good candidate nominated by the party, we wouldn’t be where we are today. And that’s the truth, Ruth.
except that there was an excellent candidate, smart and experienced, that millions of Americans would not bother to vote for - they just stayed home - because she was a woman of color.
Exactly, said that myself
You are sooo correct! Kamala was ( is) the BEST . We would be quietly living our lives now.
Not necessarily. There was no nominating process. Get with it and stop blaming racism every where you look. Who did we elect in 2008? Cheeses.
"Let us never forget that it was Biden who screwed us" - Disagree. What screwed us is that so many people decided that the only person who had ever beaten trump in a general election, could not beat trump in a general election.
What elected Trump and the GOP regime was all those who voted for Trump - and all those who did not vote for Harris.
Biden should have kept his word to be a one term 'bridge president'. Had he stuck to that, then Democrats could have developed a deep bench of primary contenders. Also, without the distraction of political calculations Biden could have worked to his executive team building strengths. He might even have enforced the Leahy Laws and paused delivery of offensive weapons to the Netanyahu regime, while still delivering defensive aid. This might have focussed Netanyahu et al on getting the hostages back, instead of slaughtering Palestinians.
You say this as if the meltdown on the nationally televised debate never occurred! Before the debate I was a resigned Biden supporter. After the debate I tore off my car’s Biden sticker and wondered if the Democrats had any sensibility. I admire Harris and voted for her, but the Democratic Party had blown its chances too far!
They were so frightened that Trump couldn't be beaten that it became a self-fulfilling prophecy. Laura, Elon, and now it appears, Charlie, saw to the rest.
I’m really tired of the Biden-bashing. That is totally off base. Back in May Dr. Richardson said this:
“In Biden’s four years, the U.S. … added 16 million jobs, unemployment was at its lowest rate in 50 years, real wages for the bottom 80% of Americans were increasing, and inflation levels had come down almost to the Federal Reserve’s target from their highs during the post-shutdown shocks.”
What is happening now cannot rightfully be laid at his feet. It is not the fault of the American people, either. It’s the fascist oligarch billionaires:
https://open.substack.com/pub/thiswillhold/p/she-won-they-didnt-just-change-the?r=2lgce&utm_medium=ios
We need to wake up.
Thank you, Aslo. And really, we have FAR more important fish to fry at the moment — this Biden bashing/ rehashing accomplishes nothing.
And the liar in the Gold-studded Room continues with his time-proven method - projection: "Worst president ever." That can be understood as "actually best president ever, so I'll repeat the lie until they believe it."
I don’t care what he did. In the end, he was and is a loser.If you don’t like my summations don’t read them.
there's zero proof that Dem victory was a given if Biden stepped away earlier. that said, I agree 100pct that Biden's foolish pride and his not being the bridge, and that delay, certainly prevented the Dems from having time to go thru the formal candidate process. I think Harris would not have been the nominee, but we'll never know.
Joseph, it’s just frustrating. I pinpoint t the few times we screwed up major. To wit; Joe Biden tossing the accuser of Clarence Thomas underthd bus when Thomas declared “This is nothing but a high tech lynching mob. That was an ingenious advice given Thomas. No white man wanted that on his record. Later 2000 election when Ralph Nader ran on the Green Party and took 90,000 votes in Florida. ‘Nough said. Under Obama when he urged with a launch at the White House for Ruth Bader Ginsburg to retire. Any of these might have historically change the direction of America. I do t know what is in store. I will continue the fight.
Read This Will Hold if you want to know what really happened.
https://open.substack.com/pub/thiswillhold/p/she-won-they-didnt-just-change-the?r=2lgce&utm_medium=ios
I disagree but I’m in the minority who think Biden would have won by simply being White and Male. We will never know
"we must get this REGIME out before November 2026! " Absolutely right. It's a must if we want our country back. Question is How?
Just like Trumpers — ‘every trick in the book’ — except unlike them, every LEGAL & ethical ones. Americans ARE rising to the occasion in many different ways — the movement will ‘take on a life of its own’ and take a more definite form over time.
Importantly, the courts remain largely on side with ‘the facts’ and legal/moral reality. And politicians & people are getting over their initial shock and finding creative & bold ways to engage.
Clayton, your vote still counts but you have to make it. Only 62% of eligible voters did in the prez election. DJT lost the popular vote by 2 million and only got elected by the outdated elwectoral college. Don't you think that another 38% of Americans voting might have made a difference.
I think it might make a difference, if DHS, ICE, the FBI, and the military allows it to. I think its far, far more likely that any or all of those organizations will do everything they have to in order to disrupt the vote, on the orders of Cheetoh Caligula.
This sounds like surrendering in advance. No winning movement, battle, scientific discovery or sports team succeeded on the "well maybe" platform.
Read Erica Chenoweth's work on the 3/5 movements.
Surrendering in advance is exactly part of this administration's intent.
"Although the exact dynamics will depend on many factors, she has shown it takes around 3.5% of the population actively participating in the protests to ensure serious political change."
https://bbc.com/future/article/20190513-it-only-takes-35-of-people-to-change-the-world
Hey, Barbara, I just did a quick bit of research about Erica Chenoweth’s nonviolent movements. Thanks for the info! Here’s a podcast link:
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/why-protest-works-the-3-5-rule-with-erica-chenoweth/id1564530722?i=1000716270481
Which will keep Nosferstu Mc Goebbels in power
🤣🤣🤣🤣😂
“Cheetah Caligula” is too perfect! Thank you.
RESIST, it matters.
How about offering alternative policies? Resist alone offers no fix to anything. Continue to only resist and we will have President Vance. Please continue to resist.
Ohm-as they say.
Clayton:
Make an effort and get out with your neighbors on Saturday, the eighteenth, with a generous and joyful attitude. Breath the air of freedom. Hold your sign.
Remember that were you really an average Russian, your protest might well be met with serious financial, if not physical, consequences and loss of freedom.
Buy and read a copy of Dr Tim Snyder's book, On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century. It's probably on sale at your local bookseller's for less than $20.
\Vince S
Gosh this reads like a bot. Lots of non-sensical sentences complete with buzz words all strung together. Hilarious.
Lou, I share your sense of urgency and your call for people to show up and speak out. This feels like a moment to rise together, not just in protest but in awareness, to remember our shared responsibility to one another and to the planet we all call home. When people come together with conscience and compassion, real transformation becomes possible. That is the kind of strength I am holding hope for now.
"When people come together with conscience and compassion, real transformation becomes possible."
With the united determination to achieve that transformation. Which is exactly what right wing extremists did to take over the GOP and remake it - the government and society - in their ChristoFascist image.
They united at the ballot box and became the reliable base.
Something the Left has refused to do. Although from Bernie Sanders, Sheldon Whitehouse, and Jamie Raskin to AOC, Maxwell Frost, and Zohran Mamdani, there is an intergenerational effort to reform the Democratic party and return it to its progressive 20th C roots.
One of María Corina Machado's most significant achievements is that she united the fragmented and fractious opposition to the dictatorship. It is why she said the people earned the Nobel Peace Prize. We The People.
This comments section represents the inability of the American opposition to unite. From those who blame Biden and want a military coup to those who want each of us to cower in fear of the Republican regime rather than join together in protest. Fortunately there is a rising opposition around the nation. We will see what happens on Oct 18.
Thank you, lin. Every day I land here, for at least a few minutes after the uplift from HCR, hoping against hope that the rampant pique perennially here will have dispersed, dyspepsia leaked away, replaced by rational (i.e., non knee-jerk) discourse. Not today again, I guess. So it's off, once more,, for greener pastures to graze elsewhere, See ya!.
The 18th is right around the corner, Bring good humor, share your power, show your resolve, eschew your sour.
Hi. I am writing from Maine. One of the most depressing headlines I saw this morning is that Janet Mills plans to get into the Senate race. I've voted for Mills and admired her smart opposition to LePage and Trump. But as someone who retired early (from a coveted and prestigious job) in order to pass the opportunity to the next generation, I am appalled at the thought of a race between Mills and Collins. We need generational change. We need younger people engaged in politics. Under Schumer, Democratic leadership is doing everything it can to suppress the next generation of Democratic candidates - this will also suppress potential Democratic voters.
Collins has to be so beatable, with her “concern” every time she opens her yap. Anyone that is honest, with vigor should be able to send her packing. A younger person that has the possibility of serving more than one term is infinitely more desirable than someone from my generation.
The old guard is terrified of real change.
Right-wingers in Congress have had the attitude of my way or the highway for several iterations of Congress when they have the majority, long before trump and MAGA came along. I think that the Democrats have done a good job informing the public about the imminent ACA premium hikes, and the right-wing Congress knows that in the next two weeks, the insurance companies will be sending out information on the new rates. They are freaking out about that and are now framing pro-democracy demonstrations and demonstrators as terrorists in hopes that when the government cracks down, their base will think that it is justified. I wish that the Democrats would communicate more often that the Medicaid cuts are timed to begin after the midterm elections and that hospitals are closing now in rural America because of the big betrayal bill. It is hard to believe that any rational adult can be out of the loop politically with the devastation wrought by trump and his minions in the last nine months. It is inconceivable that trump has over 40% approval rating in his overall job performance. WTF?
Unfortunately, it is not at all inconceivable. We live in a bubble of well informed, frustrated, hair pulling, horrified citizens watching a slow motion train wreck.
The 40% of the populace who approve of Trump are FOXified, brain dead, racists who’ve lost (or never had) the ability to think critically, are unable (or unwilling) to see the direction this country is moving in, have no understanding of history, and equate bullying with strength.
Even though evidence based studies have repeatedly demonstrated prayer has no effect on outcomes, I’ve turned to religion. I pray Trump croaks like a frog.
Like the dude in Princess Bride, maybe I don't know what inconceivable means.
We DO want our country back, but protesting is doing what Admin wants us to do.
They need an excuse to call military in. It doesn't even have to be true about an insurrection.
They are way beyond reality.
PLEASE STOP the PROTEST.
It will just play into what Admin wants.
If there is NO PROTEST AT THIS TIME then Admin can not use it as a trigger to send MILITARY.
Pass this along.
I want US back too, but allowing POTUS to do what he wants isn't way to get there.
SAVE what is left of democracy, and STAY HOME.
🗽🇺🇲🇺🇦
I strongly disagree -- the important thing is to keep the protest peaceful. Staying home is giving up.
I like what the"kids" are doing in places, adding humor, such as dancing, wearing costumes, putting donut on fishing poles for the police. Could adding an element of joy and fun piss off the ugly hearted MAGA folks?
It also gets media attention (well, some) and is proof that the country is not in an insurrection. Brilliant. I’ll be bringing my tambourine to the No Kings!
Levity is a killer-tactic..., make fun of them, but try not to incur rubber bullet injuries. Justice is going to be served.
I love when there's music at the protests. It makes me feel like dancing especially to the protest songs of the 60's.
"They've got the guns, but we've got the numbers."
Jim Morrison.
Exactly. Musical instruments, dancing and loads of people taking part protesting, in a positive way. It was exciting and it worked!
ABSOLUTELY!!!!
And that's exactly what they have done in Chicago, LA and Portland.
The shutdown is added fuel to the fire of the protests. Open enrollments are just around the corner and millions of people have already seen the impact of the expiration of the ACA credits on their 2026 premiums.
The protests are just as much against the oligarchs as they are against the MAGAs. If we only made them pay workers $15 an hour and raised their tax rates just 5% we would come very close to balancing the budget.
Trump has ALWAYS looked to the market indexes as a barometer of how the economy is doing. Of course, this is just as moronic as his erratic tariffs but it's actually good news the market is tanking for most of us.
What do you expect from a fucking moron, not my words but Rex Tillersons
I have repeated Rex's words on several occasions about DonOld.
Speaking of tariffs, a great deal of discourse has been devoted to tariffs being taxes on U.S. consumers, forcing us to pay more for imported goods. This is true.
What I have not seen or heard in the public discussion is how tariffs embolden domestic suppliers to arbitrarily raise their prices because offshore competition has been hobbled by Trump and his tariffs.
Yesterday, I went to my local Big Box home improvement store to purchase supplies for a project I'm working on and visited the lumber section. I walked past the rack where 4-foot by 8-foot sheets of plywood were stacked and nearly passed out when I read the price ticket for three-quarter-inch birch-faced panels used by cabinet makers. The posted price was $86.89 for a single sheet of plywood! The last time I priced this plywood was a couple years ago. It was $37 and change.
I happen to know this plywood was produced at a plant located about 100 miles from my home from lumber harvested within my state. The only explanation for this outrageous price hike is that the supplier raised the price because they could. If questioned, they can point to a "shortage" caused by Trump's tariffs. But what it really is, is price gouging. And with a neutered Federal Trade Commission, no one is going to stop them.
Dale, you should not be surprised. Large entities use every crisis or excuse to raise prices. Yes, call it what it is: price gouging.
We spoke to our local lumberyard about tariffs affecting their prices and they told us they didn’t carry any imported wood. But as you say, that won’t keep their suppliers from raising prices.
Huge tariffs on lumber from BC (Canada).
Indeed GJ Loft, not only ACA insurance rates are skyrocketing, everyones health insurance rates are going to increase.
This whole Fascist endeavor is for the benefit of the Oligarchs, that is why they funded this coup. The economy is staying afloat on the enthusiasm of AI, and the Oligarchs control AI. It boggles the mind that right-wingers have decimated our science and technological investments in education in service of Oligarch owned third party AI.
Elon Musks and Peter Thiel's AI are being applied throughout the government now and they now have all of the personal information that the government has on all citizens. What could possibly go wrong?
I glanced at an interview the other day on Peter Thiel and BOY is HE nutz!! I’m a Christian believer but whatever it is that he believes that way is really weird, erratic & out-to-lunch.
To think that the most hare-brained amongst us are leading the world is *disquieting, but predicted in the Good Book. Hang on!
Trump is manipulating the market with his tariffs. The insiders sold everything before the big China announcement and when it drops enough they’ll buy back and he’ll TACO and they’ll have profited again.
I agree.Staying home is saying” I give up”. Or “I don’t care how you treat me and other citizens”.I will never give up or give in.
Did we stay home when the German's bombed Pearl Harbor?
Is that a John Belushi line? lol
I totally think it was from Animal House, right?
Who?
For some, staying at home is the protest. For some leaving the country is the protest, but without mail-in voting? For some committing an artistic suicide is protesting. For some hoping or praying is protesting. For some conversations (with fear of being under surveillance); let me count the ways... but peaceful protest —and some way of protecting journalists—and our own elected officials is CRUCIAL—as is Peaceful Protests. Do not tire; but bullies will tire—and begin to normalize forceful shutting down of such protests... remember the arrests during the Vietnam era? The arrests today will be different with "Homeland Security" managed as it is. They are counting on that we will tire. I hope there are Americans (who aren't pacifists like me); I am fortunate; I will just die... but I morn for the children, etc.
Wrong. We must stand up and be counted. We just need to remain peaceful and not be provoked.
Yes, because peaceful protest has been so effective in the past when there wasn't also violent protest to lend tenor to the weight of compromise. For Ghandi there was the Chauri Chaura, For MLK there was Malcolm X and the Black Panthers.
That is why it is a good idea for protesters to document who ever provokes violence, law enforcement, military, or fellow protesters.
We need to be able to provide evidence of who is trying to sabotage our peaceful demonstration.
They were effective and crediting it to violence isn’t totally true. However, in the current regime the violence is all coming from them and when people see that they will start to fear if they will be next. There will be no more sitting in their comfy chairs and cheering on the cruelty. It will be more and more difficult for the MAGA Christians to pretend they are in the right. MLK didn’t have one rally or one speech and quit. He kept going and getting more people on his side.
And do not forget the Deacons for Defense.
Nope. This woman will be a senior in a few weeks and I will show up peacefully and loudly and continually for MY, OUR democracy. I was never in the military but I know why other family members have served and it's NOT this.
Whose side are you really on…we are always peaceful. We must protest though a national strike and buying nothing but the essentials would be better.
The essential would be support your president and your country and stop fighting
Peaceful protest or a beautiful thing. Do you actually think that's what's happening around the country? Here's what's happening around the country violent protest in LA and Portland are emblematic of exactly what's happening.
And here's what the left is saying specifically right now
Dear Mr. Trump, if you stop trying to enforce the law, we will stop protesting
And all he's doing is cleaning up the scum and sewage that Biden left all over this country when he lead in 8 million illegals without vetting and without vaccinations, which are sacrosanct to you
BS troll.
Ricky the Regurge, regurgitating on himself again.
Yeah, Loren, nothing but puke! His rage below about 42 (now, apparently 43) people who can’t/won’t/refuse to/haven’t explained to Poor Rick about how Trump’s policies have affected them personally is a bald-faced lie. I have the receipts because I have -SEVERAL TIMES - explained to him my anti-Trump policies positions and how they affect not only my life, but also my entire family, but his reading comprehension skills as well as his memory retention skills are, apparently, worse than his voice-texting, proofreading, and truth telling abilities. I feel bad for P Rick. His life must be so sad that he expends so much time and energy on his Rage Parade.
Said Loren the denier.
You have no reason to hate Donald Trump unless you can give them to me so I will ask you and you could be loser number 42 give me a list of six Donald Trump policies or laws that have affected your life negatively currently and specifically if not, you're dead to me and right now all you are is a delusional hater so if you want to straighten that out, please have it if not think about the fact that you have no reason to hate Donald Trump other than what's in your head or with other people tell you, which is even worse
So are you equating immigrants with scum and sewage?
don't feed the troll...
First of all, I need to know if you’re an American citizen before I respond.
But just like the rest of the ignorant fools here who keeps seeming to forget a very critical and important word they use, but I’ll remind you just in case you forgot please recognize the difference between the word, immigrant and the word illegal immigrant. It seems that the left have problems defining these two CRITICAL differentiations .
You’re describing “violent leftist mobs,” but the data doesn’t support your narrative. According to multiple studies, including one from the *Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project*, **over 93% of protests in the U.S. were peaceful**—the few that turned violent were often escalated by counter-protesters or aggressive policing tactics. Facts matter more than cable news soundbites.
And let’s be accurate: **federal immigration processing under Biden includes biometric screening, criminal database checks, and medical protocols**. If you’re claiming “8 million illegals entered without vetting or vaccination,” you’re repeating a talking point that has been publicly debunked by CBP, DHS, and independent oversight reports. Enforcement and deportations also **increased under Biden compared to the last two years of Trump**, which undercuts your premise entirely.
As for “cleaning up scum and sewage” — using dehumanizing language about human beings is not patriotism; it’s a hallmark of authoritarian rhetoric. Every time someone talks about “scum” and “sewage,” they accidentally reveal they’re not defending America — they’re advocating a worldview where human rights depend on political alignment.
If you want to talk about law and order, start by holding accountable those who attempted to overturn a democratic election and assaulted police officers on January 6. That was not a protest. It was a violent insurrection documented on camera and confirmed by over 1,400 criminal convictions in federal court. What did your dear leader do when he illegitimately regained power? He pardoned these domestic terrorists and now has had his immoral, corrupt and incompetent ass-lickers hire them to act as his "gestapo."
Andy NGO. And on the same reporter who videoed every possible incident he could while he was actually reporting as a journalist on the protest here’s one of the things he said.
I would show them the video from June 2019 when people working in an organized manner beat me with their faces covered, having weapons and escaped," Ngo said. "Nobody was ever arrested for that. If that's not convincing enough, I would tell them to watch the shooting video of the assassination of Aaron Danielson in Portland in 2020, a Trump supporter who was killed by somebody who actually left behind a manifesto. If you don't believe the video, you can read his manifesto. He describes himself, I am 100% Antifa."
And once again, you’re naïveté is beyond belief.
https://homeland.house.gov/2024/10/24/startling-stats-factsheet-fiscal-year-2024-ends-with-nearly-3-million-inadmissible-encounters-10-8-million-total-encounters-since-fy2021/
Chew on this for a while : New data on migrant ‘gotaways’ shows a big increase during Biden administration.
From 2010 to 2020, when former presidents Barack Obama and Donald Trump held office, around 1.4 million gotaways entered the country. But from 2020 to 2023, there have been 1.6 million gotaways. The lowest point for gotaways was fiscal year 2011 at 86,226, and the highest was 2023 at 670,674. In one year almost 3/4 of 1 million got aways. Oooopps
But so much for your biometric readings and medical inspections. These are people they didn’t even know or ever check, and by the way, every single one of them went through anything other than a registered legal checkpoint. And there were not enough agents to Vet, test, read biometricly and test I 8 million illegals. Which would amount 5500 biometric readings every day seven days a week for four years. However, they didn’t come in fluidly ..
What is also infeed incredibly laughable as you suggested and you could even be right that 93% of all the protests were peaceful.
What happened with the other 7% just curious
Once again, and I hate repeating myself, but here’s the deal. First of all Google all the issues having to do with the Portland riots having to do with who are the instigators check out as I said Andy NGO who is on the record with video footage of exactly what happened during his nine years of evaluating and witnessing the protests… the head of the police sergeant in charge of handling the protest said he needed help. They were understaffed and he asked Trump to actually intervene. Now, why would that be if it was peaceful? Go look at the video read them and weep or just tell your lying eyes you’re not seeing what’s really happening.
And you know why because there were peaceful protest the only human being that actually got hurt or shot was a civilian who won $5 million from the federal government for being shot and while she was unarmed, wait till you see the tour guides that were actually escorting people into the buildings by capital police. And again wait till you see Nancy Pelosi's role and the interview with her daughter and her Van when she said she was responsible for not putting police guarding the capital she said it in her own words to her daughter
You think this was a criminal these were for these were 1400 criminals. What do you call the sea summer of love protest for one dead black man when they couldn't even wait for a jury or a judge or a verdict and the verdict was guilty and if they would've waited, they could've saved this country 1000 wounded police and $2 billion and damage burning down cities taking over city blocks 105 cities were i volved in thise protests
I gave you an answer to this earlier. If you want to see all the violence in Portland just google it. There's probably 50 links that will describe it. and you might want to as I suggested to someone else look up a journalist name, Andy NGO who followed the Portland protest for the last nine years he gives a pretty good representation of what happened besides him being himself beaten up and thrown on the ground and all kinds of food throw flung in his face, etc. But that's nothing again. It goes back to the same policy. Here's your policy, dear Mr. Trump if you don't stop trying to deport illegals, we will keep protesting. In other words, if you keep enforcing the law, we will protest.
And lastly, you haven't give me any issues on how these policies have affected you personally. And I'll continue later.
And now I know who you are you're a delusional zealot who doesn't know the difference between truth and fiction. What you've been led to believe which is a total freaking joke and hysterical is you think that 1000 unarmed citizens were thinking about overthrowing the government of the United States?
What they were doing was simply protesting and unusually ridiculous outcome of an election and I'll describe it really quickly Joe Biden, who has no legislative wins in his entire 40 years in Congress got 13 million more votes than Obama that God and if you don't see that as a regular then there's really something wrong with you
It was simply a protest and when you find out more about what the protest actually exposed was that there was 230 FBI agents in the audience that did nothing that didn't call for back up that all they did was watch and they weren't even told they were there. They were told that there were three assigned to the D issue at the Not one of them made any phone calls or tried to get back up and there were 23 other agents who were there unassigned what the hell were they doing there and now we find out there was an additional 200 oops what were they doing there
And the worst thing was when you find out what Nancy Pelosi's role in this whole thing was, you're also gonna be disappointed beyond belief
That's zero for five I may not have time to do six right now, but I'll get to it
Let me say this again to you the scum and sewage is the result of the illegal immigrants, not the human beings themselves. There have been at least $35-$40 billion of money paid to legal immigrants for housing food medical attention when there are for example a quarter of 1 million homeless people on the streets of California who we give nothing to. So WTFU. In this particular case.
They brought in crimes they brought in drugs they brought in disease. They were unvaccinated and all they did was try to assimilate in society and take away jobs from ready. LEGAL IMMIGRANTS
SO YOU'RE ZERO FOR FOUR NOW
You were one of the most gullible people here and I wouldn't have imagined that why if they're all the people were biometric screen where their 600 missing children? And here is the best one and you're gonna love it, and this was done in a public form on C-SPAN. They were interviewing a lady about all these separated children that came in "" unaccompanied get that through your head, unaccompanied children. There are 300,000 missing now each time a child was put into custody of a local resident. They were given a phone number to call if there were any problems with their foster family and themselves in case of any emergencies they could call this number and discuss the issue there were 60,000 calls made to the number and guess how many times they were answer ZERO
ON NATIONAL TV AND I GUESS YOU MISSED IT SO DON'T TELL ME ABOUT THE BIOMETRIC SCREENING AND TELL ME HOW MANY PEOPLE WERE TESTED FOR COVID. TELL ME HOW MANY PEOPLE WERE TESTED FOR ANY DISEASE WHATSOEVER.
What you don't understand and you don't really even comprehend is it almost every single thing that the left is complaining about now is the fault of Joe Biden leading in between eight and 11 illegal immigrants into this country. Otherwise there would be no ice protest. Otherwise there would be no National guard in cities and let me tell you why just as an Income group commits the most crime not to mention that a number of these people that came in were criminals in their own country already there was almost 11,000 of them identified by the Trump administration, criminals violent criminals in their own country.
And who are the people that buy income commit the most crime?
The lowest income bracket, and every one of these people that came into this country came in in that regard, which means they had the potential and they proved that time and time again to commit crimes or have been committing crimes, including bringing in drugs, including trafficking, women and children, including murder, including rape, etc. So that that's three out of three that you've lost.
First you are lying to yourself as the media is lying to you…and has been for 8 years or more.
I could go on forever, but let’s start here there’s a journalist by the name of Andy NGO WHO HAS BEEN FOLLOWING THE PORTLAND VIOLENCE SPECIFICALLY FOR NINE YEARS.
Please google him and read and there’s one indication, but let me give you another reason why you’re being overly and completely gullible
Do you remember the riots of the summer of love? Do you remember why it happened? Do you remember the damaged? Are you aware of the damage it caused? Are you aware of the number of policemen that were injured and the number of deaths it caused ?
I AM GOING TO PRINT THIS IN CAP SO THAT YOU CAN BETTER DIGEST IT.
THE LEFT’S CURRENT STANCE IS THIS: MR. TRUMP IF YOU STOP TRYING TO ENFORCE THE LAW, WE WILL STOP PROTESTING
And now I’ve just read the rest of your post and you obviously got sucked in like a liberal lemming just like many of the people here
January 6 was nothing, even vaguely assimilating an insurrection
What you’ve been what you’ve been told is that 1000 or so unarmed people were going to overthrow the government of the United States.
Lmfao.
Joe Biden’s administration aloud in between eight and 11 million illegal and unvaccinated individuals who are criminals proven criminals here and in their own country and Trump is trying to rid ourselves of those individuals
And anyone trying to stop them is on the wrong side of the law, wrong side of law-enforcement and the wrong side of injustice.
You’ve been duped I was lying down because I’m engulfed in hopelessness.
Portland is a war zone, Rick?
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/ilnWcfdRMXQ
Disagree 1000%. Not protesting signals submission.
Are you advocating violence? That is not okay. Our protests are making a difference. Otherwise they would not be attacking them in advance.
Protest is essential. What IS necessary, to not play into the hands of these authoritarians, is preparation. The rally organizers need a plan to self-police: ABSOLUTELY no violence, no destructiveness, and, may I suggest, no display of anger other than in the eloquent signs. The marches should be sober, solemn, and (this may be controversial) silent. Every protestor should have a sign in one hand and his/ her camera-phone in the other.
Start the recordings early, do panoramic sweeps of the area and the group to demonstrate its peacefulness, and narrate on the audiovisual the time and place of the recording, and the identity and address of the speaker. Coordinate with other protestors to get multiple coverage of everything, particularly any interaction with government agents or Trump supporters. Do not modify these recordings in any way. Perhaps arrange beforehand to Share the recordings with the organizers, so they will be available for any court proceedings.
Don Klememcic,
My husband and I have been to each of the protests in our area in South Carolina and one on a very rainy day in Virginia, and will stand with our fellow Americans on October 18th.
We have beloved family and friends, some who have been captured by the "dark side" : we don't argue, it won't help, but we stand for them as well.
Don, there will be agent provocateurs at the protests and they will be the ones causing damage/inciting anger. I well remember “Umbrella Man” and the Boogaloo Boys after George Floyd’s death. We need to watch for this, video them and make sure they are called out. You can bet Herr Miller has plans for this.
Marge, they are already in Portland causing problems. People organizing the protests are already warning about these ploys. Of the Gnome invited a few wing nuts to be on the roof of the ICE building in Portland where they saw essentially nothing as the Portland police had the area blocked off. Then that heinous woman lied through her teeth about Portland and the pols she met.
I have in the past spoke to those about dealing with provocateurs; Unique I.D.’s such as henna tattoos. Others may have better thoughts; I’m open for that as it is a real risk.
Every No Kings protest I've attended has had 'yellow vest' Peace Keepers trained in conflict deescalation. Protestors have been advised to report aggressive counter protesters or provocateurs to the Peace Keepers. The protest organizers have coordinated with local police - who also do not want conflict or violence to mar the protest.
Read Indivisible. They are pros at this.
I disagree. Showing up in numbers is what scares them. This regime doesn't need a "trigger". They've already got their lies ready to spew. Silence is what they want. Don't give it to them. I will participate in two rallies on October 18.
And had you been there for the Civil Rights protests and those against the Vietnam war as I was, would you have said the same?
Trump and Miller and Vought will do what they intend no matter what we do. They already are. And yes, they are hoping for violence along the protest line so that they can justify using the military against the rest of us. But they will find ways of justifying that violence even if they are not provoked. They already have.
I would hate to see violence erupt along the protest lines as much as anyone. I was there in the 60’s as both college student and soldier. I watched sometimes in real time what happened at Kent State, at Montgomery, at Little Rock, and all the other places. Sometimes I was a part of it. Hundreds of Americans, many of them little more than children, were arrested, fire-hosed, attacked by dogs, beaten, and some were murdered. But we cannot stand by and allow Trump and his myrmidons to intimidate us into standing by and allowing them their game. And as hard as it is to say, it was often the violence of the governmental crackdowns at both local and state levels that finally awoke ’the silent majority’ to the dangers of support/complicity.
I understand what you are worried about, but our experience as a nation is clear; doing nothing against those who would abandon the nature and purpose of our founding for their own selfish purposes is not an option. It never has been.
“Giving Up is Unforgivable” by Joyce Vance, comes to mind here.
Got the audio book on order.
Bravo, James. I was there, too. And I'm doing it again on October 18th.
I hear what you're saying but I think this admin will simply take it as our backing down and aquiescing. I do wish a different kind of protest could also b accomplish such as boycotting, not paying federal taxes, not working, etc. Wouldn't it be great if national guard members started resigning?
I like hearing that some of the national guard members wave at people.
Someone waving at me while carrying weapons that would kill me and are not wanted in my town does zero for me.
The NG are going where they are told to go, they are no different than us, they are our mechanics, our plumbers, our lawyers. Just because they are ordered to be there, doesn’t mean they want to be. ICE is a whole different matter, it needs to melt.
I get that.
My only interaction with National Guard was years ago. We were in a rental on the coast of NC. There was a knock at the door, and it was 2 kids, one black and one white, in camo. They were coming to warn us of an approaching hurricane. They were so polite and somewhat awkward and so young.
In the story I heard about the waving National Guard, the people were not waving back.
Tens of Millions of Peaceful Protesters in the streets is exactly what our country needs right now! Is there a chance of violence…Yes, but it won’t be our side starting it! The Fascists in the White House need to see that “We the People” are strong, and that we can and will flood the streets with our righteous anger at what they are trying to do!
Go away “no protest” trolls.
You can’t fool us
Proud and peaceful on October 18th.
Dear NK, I am sorry. You are woefully wrong in this assumption. In the 60s we protested with MLKjr for Civil Rights. Senator John Lewis almost lost his life peacefully marching and this lead to the Civil Rights Act, we marched in cities all over America against the Vietnam war and eventually our brave soldiers came home (after about 50,000 of them had been killed or wounded), we marched for women’s right to choose what they wanted for their bodies (which this administration is dismantling), we marched for voting rights, etc. There are many other examples.
IF we give into fear and do not stand up to the evil, we are nothing more than sheep being led to slaughter. Someday, when our grandchildren ask me what I did and what I stood for in these dangerous times, I WILL NOT tell them that I did nothing.
PEACEFUL PROTESTS.
I used to periodically protest wars with Women in Black. We neither yelled or moved much, just held our signs in the busiest intersection of the city, solemnly standing our ground— our message was strong and clear.
Someone in another sub stack said the military base in Idaho supposedly for Qatar was an opportunity for their military to train in Idaho and not really a base for themselves. I can’t seem to find anyone reporting it just that way. The fact that the other Arab countries excluded Qatar because of their support for terrorist tells you everything you need to know about how stupid it is to let them in to our militarybases.
Kari found the correct info on Facebook of all things. That’s an interesting posting. Along the lines of what I understood. Way back in the early 90s I had met a woman who was going to the University of Virginia and who was dating a guy who was a general in the Saudi Air Force. Way before 9/11 of course. But he was training in Dallas, so this is kind of the same thing except Qatar is a pariah even among the Arab states. But they gave Trump a plane!
Here’s what I found, Pam:
https://www.facebook.com/share/v/1STCCqNQKg/?mibextid=wwXIfr
Thanks, that’s the gist of what the other person said that I had read. Just another bumbling nincompoop comment from another comically, if not so serious, bad person in Trump‘s cabinet
When I was in basic training at Lackland in 1977 they were training Iranians. As women we were told to keep our eyes averted and stay clear of them at all times. Seems like a terrible thing to tell future American soldiers. We were being taught to cower and hide.
Thank you for reporting this. Obviously yet another oppressively misogynistic example of "the secret fundamentalism at the heart of American power." (Jeff Sharlet, "The Family"; Harper: 2008).
Pam, Idaho is full of domestic terrorists and has been for a long time. I am not sure they would welcome a bunch of Arabs however....not the right skin color and religion for starters.
https://www.thedailybeast.com/pentagon-pete-announces-qatari-air-force-base-inside-the-us/?
Try this from The Daily Beast.
https://apnews.com/article/idaho-qatar-us-air-force-base-fc1506584e7833dbde3e16fe8613b6b4
No. Troll?
We’re already showing up on the 18th. Now let’s get everyone else! If 90% of Icelandic women could shut down a country in 1975, surely we can get 10% to defend our democracy. Millions fought—and died—for this. A little cold and rain? We can handle that. Stand up. Show up and defend our democracy!
Lou, very well stated. I will reinforce your message: Join us at No Kings 2.0 on October 18th. Help us send a message to the Prez and our prostrate Congress. Do your JOB! Honor your oath of office! Support and defend the Constitution! If we can get enough people out to support us next Saturday, we can have Trump shaking in his boots and Congress standing up for the first time.
I agree whole heartedly with you. I will be there.
Lou.., relax, the Quataries will be establishing air bases across our country to protect us. Their money will just flow right in. We'll build motels and towns around the base. Jobs, jobs, jobs. No churches tho..., prayer rugs, thank you.
Lololol. You obviously don't pay attention to your own consulting firm who said here are the list of words not to use and the top of the list was fascist because there aren't none in the United States other than the group called antifa and you might wanna wake up and realize that stop embarrassing yourself here.
You're the one who's embarrassing yourself. Everything you've written is lies, but you wouldn't know that, would you? Join us in the real world sometime.
Psychology of political extremists shows that their minds become locked and they lack the ability to reason once crossing that invisible line from reason into the illogic. I’ve seen this with those I know. They exist in that world which is shared by others living in the same world. And everything outside that bubble is false. My admonishment is to watch ourselves that we don’t slip into a similar world on the left side. I’ve observed this occur as well. And my experience is that they react the same as a MAGA mind and anything you say that they disagree with is wrong.
BS troll.
I will be at the local courthouse on Oct. 18th where our small town rally is to be. My grandchildren, 8 and 11, want to go too because they think the president is a bully and wants to be a king.
Should I take them with me to the planned peaceful rally?
Depends where you live. I have been taking my daughter to rallies since she was 18 months, but I was not worried for our safety. Now in Chicago there are monsters roaming the streets savaging innocent people. Still, I think there will be massive numbers of people out and there is strength in numbers.
Just remember the purpose of fairy tales is not to teach children that there are monsters in the world. Its to teach them that monsters can be defeated.
smart comment Clayton
👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼💜💜
Linda Weide,
In South Carolina, our protests have been very peaceful with lots of older persons, as my husband and I, as well as many in wheel chairs. There have also been lots of college age persons and even families with younger children!
There was no meanness only making our message of our desire for a free country for all, known.
As we stood, or sat, persons rode by, some with honks from their car in agreement, some with "the finger" in opposition.
Isn't America great!?
We will be standing again for freedom FOR ALL on October 18th.
Emily, I am glad that Kristi is not attacking people in your state like she is in mine. It will be interesting to see whether they will ever bother Red states. I wish you the best on October 18! In Solidarity✌🏽
Linda, are you feeling better?
Marlene, I am getting treatment and it is making me feel better. Everyone around me has been stepping in to do what needs to be done so we are ready for Saturday here in Bremen. Thank you for asking. In Solidarity!✌🏽
I’ll be in Chicago, my hometown! 💪
Mary, I will be at a No Kings rally in Bremen, Germany and thus with you and everyone around the world in spirit. I was in Chicago in June for the huge No Kings rally then. Bremen's will be a smaller, intimate event, but I am glad we will be out in solidarity, probably hours before you get started. ✌🏽
Recommend you carry a copy of Judge Sara Ellis' follow up "Court Guidelines" to her very recent TRO that Orders new rules for any encounters with law enforcement agents.
Agents already have binding "constructive" notice of her 2 Orders but, actual notice to "local courthouse" personnel may be effective to help Judge Ellis enforce constitutional law.
Judge Ellis' Order have worked to protect Journalists. See, NBC News Chicago summary of the Orders published on 10/9 at 4:33 pm.
I made a color copy of my U.S. Passport for "No Kings Day".
I don't know this as a fact, but I bet a number of them are government contractors, not federal employees, like the Defense Base Act companies I dealt with when I worked at DOL. In effect we have mercenary armies.
https://www.ice.gov/join
Google: Two notable companies founded or run by former federal immigration officials are US Advisors and XFed Global. Additionally, former top officials have taken senior positions with major ICE contractors, such as CoreCivic and The GEO Group.
US Advisors. https://ustrata.com/who-we-are/
Executives: Led by former Department of Homeland Security officials, including CEO Brian DeMore and Chief Talent Officer David Marin.
Background: Both DeMore and Marin were named defendants in a 2019 lawsuit by a former ICE officer. The lawsuit alleged they took part in a scheme to falsify evidence against her after she reported workplace harassment.
ICE contracts: In 2025, US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) signed a $73 million, no-bid contract with US Advisors to help with deportation processes, specifically managing the "non-detained docket" of undocumented immigrants.
XFed Global. https://xfedglobal.com/our-leadership-executives/
Executives: Founded in 2016 by former officials from the Department of Homeland Security, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and Customs and Border Protection. CEO Calderas is a former border agent and ICE official.
Business model: The company promotes its "insider perspective" on Department of Homeland Security procurement, marketing itself to clients seeking federal contracts.
Connection to Tom Homan: A firm associated with Calderas allegedly offered former acting ICE director Tom Homan a cash-for-contracts scheme, which was investigated as part of an FBI sting. Homan was running his own consulting firm, SE&M Solutions, at the time to help contractors win border-related contracts.
Other examples of the "revolving door"
It is also common for former ICE officials to take high-level positions with established companies that are major ICE contractors.
The GEO Group: In 2025, Daniel A. Bible, ICE's top official for detaining immigrants, left the agency to take a senior job with The GEO Group, a private prison company and a top ICE contractor. The company has hired other senior ICE officials in the past.
CoreCivic: Other former ICE officials have also joined CoreCivic, another large private prison contractor.
Thank you for this information and it's sources, Daniel!
WOW, Daniel! This is excellent info! Here I thought that Erik Prince, along with Homan, was the evildoer behind these thugs. Boy, was I wrong! It’s a whole syndicate!!
Thank you, endlessly, for this unsurprising information. For those of us watching Chicago daily, it’s priceless and needs no backing up. When a felon president surrounded by unscrupulous cabinet members declares war on US, we need all the truths we can get.
I have no doubt that all you have share is true. My question is of the govt (Trump) has hired mercenaries to arrest protesters (and do illegal sweeps of Latino people) then why on earth is the military not protecting citizens of the US? I know the Commander in Chief- Trump will sit back and act as third party to what is happening and do nothing but the Military is sworn to protect citizens.
If you do, then have several plans ready in case X y or Z happens.
Show them some ICE videos, write cell phone numbers & names on their arms …
Yess, thiss iss America, land of the free, home of …
I would be very careful with kids. As stated above have them carry ids and maybe physicians contact info. Leave immediately if things get tense and have an escape plan.
Here is the story of the Children's Crusade in the 1960s.
https://nmaahc.si.edu/explore/stories/childrens-crusade
Oh quit it.
I would most assuredly (not) take those children because of the (very high) probability the Regime's stormtroopers -- whether part of the thoroughly Christonazified and therefore criminally oath-breaking military; the Christonazi sturmabteilung called ICE; the state and local law cops we've known since Black Lives Matter to be Christonazi criminals; or simply the everyday ecogenocide-minded MAGATs themselves -- will attempt to enact their Führer's will by murdering as many demonstrators as they can -- triumphantly sadistic in the sure knowledge they will be pardoned no matter what atrocities they commit.
And yes I absolutely believe things are this bad. Why? Three reasons: Firstly, as I have said before, because -- acknowledge it or not -- We the People are the targets of a religious war, one that already threatens to become as hatefully murderous as the Albigensian Crusade; secondly, because the MAGATs' ever-more-obvious intent is to utterly destroy the federal union, thus to enable its easy replacement with a zero-tolerance Christonazi theocratic slave state; thirdly, because I and nearly everyone I know are now having utterly unprecedented apocalyptic nightmares almost every night, which -- since I'm fully aware of the proven accuracy of Jungian dream theory -- I must accept as valid warnings of looming horrors that remain inconceivable to our conscious minds.
On rereading your very descriptive piece, I confess to a bit of a (pre coffee) chuckle. A committed Orthodox Christian said to me that now Putin is head of the Orthodox Church. At first floored, then processing his assertion, I began to laugh. Imagine a KGB operative as head of any church. It’s turning Christianity on its head as the MAGAs are.
Time for crazy costumes for all!
The same risks were there for the courageous civil rights activiststs in the 1960's. When the nightly news showed the brutality against peaceful protesters, the nation began to wake up.
The same risks were not -- say again (not) -- there for Civil Rights demonstrators in the 1960s. (For individual activists, yes, e.g. Medgar Evers, Viola Liuzzo, Schwerner, Chaney and Goodman, involvement could be fatal. It damn near was for me on three separate occasions.) But the worst demonstrators would face was brutality. Now, today, we have der neu Führer -- granted the omnipotence of absolute legal immunity by the eternally Christonazified Supreme Court for whatever atrocities he commits -- repeatedly threatening to order his criminally oath-breaking military to gun down protestors.
And I do not doubt the threat because the (only) rational reason for ordering the Marines to accompany the National Guard in California was to enforce a shoot-to-kill order; that is, to gun down any Guard personnel who refuse an order to fire on demonstrators.
My biggest concern is not that the Regime will murder demonstrators; it is that the murders will trigger a premature rebellion that -- like the Russian Rebellion of 1905 (which was triggered by the original Bloody Sunday, the massacre that killed or severely wounded about a thousand peaceful demonstrators at the Winter Palace on 22 January [9 Jan. Old Style] 1905) -- will fizzle due to lack of organization, preparation, training and overseas assistance from the British Commonwealth, Germany, France and other former allies possibly including South Korea.
How could the civil rights activists be sure that they were not in danger of being killed? Your points about the corrupt right-wing Justices on SCOTUS are on the money, and while we can't be sure that the military will refuse orders to fire on American citizens, I believe that if an incident like the Vietnam era Kent State murders by the National Guard will bring the whole country down on MAGA and end it for good.
You may be right, but we don’t come from czars, we are showing that in spite of DT and his surrounding sycophants.
Yes. This was the Children's Crusade.
https://nmaahc.si.edu/explore/stories/childrens-crusade
Please stop. Please stop predicting the worst. This is called doom posting.
so please remind us of the evidence that this will not happen, that Trump aka Miller (Trump being demented and incoherent) and the thugs of ICE spurred on by Noem ('we will treat US citizens the way we are treating Venezuelans', i.e. murder without discussion), are not going to do what people here are afraid of.
Then don't go. Why are you so intent on discouraging this protest?
I am not "intent on discouraging this protest" -- I merely stating why I believe it is wrong -- possibly fatally wrong -- to bring children to it.
Nevertheless I do regard protest as ineffective against the magnitude of Evil that besets us. My reasoning is expressed here: https://ia801501.us.archive.org/19/items/last-article-harry-turtledove/Last%20Article%20Harry%20Turtledove.pdf
At the very least we should be organizing a general strike.
That said, to denounce my concerns as "doom posting" is to assert your opposition to Sun Tzu's first rule for victory: know the enemy.
And the paralytic commonality of that very opposition -- though it is understandable because so few present-day Americans have ever been in do-or-die conflicts with Absolute Evil -- is why, at present, we are losing this war.
The last No Kings protests were extremely peaceful and there were thousands at ours in Carlsbad, California. Do you really think the administration is coordinated enough to have thousands of troops at every protest? They might make a show of force in D.C. but that will be so well covered by the media they will be careful about starting a violent clash. Any violence will be from the MAGA agitators just as it was with George Floyd.
Sharon, Indivisible has told us from the beginning that if any violence occurs, we are all to drop to the ground, lay down and pull our signs down also. That way, the perpetrators will be the only ones standing.
Barbara, I will march in spite of the real or imagined risks. They don't have room in jails for all of us. And not enough pepper bullets. I will not kneel.
I have not suggested to my brown skinned nephews in Chicago and their roommate to go to these protests. It would be pure folly. Instead, I march for them, and you do too. They have not been raised to see racism, so they are too trusting of the rightness of the world even as my 23-year-old nephew has grown politically weary just from the last election.
That's a good question. I would ere or the side of yes. They are old enough and they need to see "This is What Democracy Looks Like". Be peaceful and leave if you need to.
At the last rally a family with two small children stood next to us. The children had made their own protest signs.
Yes.
Depends on the city you’re in.
I have debated this question myself regarding my granddaughter. She lives an hour away and has a job, so logistics have mostly hindered her joining me. But I certainly understand your hesitation. It would be a wonderful civics lesson for them but it’s a tough call.
ABSOLUTELY NOT. YOU SHOULDN'T GO EITHER.
ADMIN IS LOOKING FOR CROWDS. Even small ones to call in troops.
Everybody wants to protest, but they need to STAY HOME until Admin won't see it as an insurrection.
Things have changed. Admin is looking to call in the military.
Wish they would call the protest off until it is safe.
Admin (and everyone else) KNOWS how we feel. Now is the time to WAIT, and not give Admin an excuse.
ONCE troops are there they may not leave.
It IS unconstitutional, but ADMIN is IGNORING THAT.
Stay safe.
Stay home .
Protesting is not working.
My father and grandfather didn't stay home when they were needed to fight fascism. Trump and his father most certainly did.
Which side do you want to be on?
If the crowds are large enough and all over the country, the scenario you’re presenting won’t come to be. It would be like “whack a mole” for them. I also believe many of the admin folks live in a bubble that tells them they are more popular than they are. Seeing large crowds of protesters all over the country also sends a positive signal to those who are too afraid to speak up.
Use common sense, but do NOT give in to fascism.
Preobeying is not an option.
Unless you are talking about a national "Stay at Home" strike, where everyone, except people in emergency services stays at home, staying at home will produce nothing and only encourage them.
If Vought and Miller persist in firing government employees when they Know it is illegal and it is clearly stated by the demented orange criminal that it is being done to punish Democrats, then it will be time for a stay at home ,buy nothing strike. Right now it is time to be in the streets letting these Trumpnazis know that we are a majority and we are not going to let them turn our country into a theocratic wasteland.
trump and his maga cult regime ARE BULLIES!
NEVER EVER BACK DOWN TO A BULLY or they will continue to chase you FOREVER!
Protest to Republican members of Congress. Many of them privately say Trump is nuts.
"‘Epstein bomb’ about to drop, 100 GOP members to ‘jail break’ from Trump, Swalwell says." https://www.kron4.com/news/politics/epstein-bomb-about-to-drop-100-gop-members-to-jail-break-from-trump-swalwell-says/
NK,
How long are we safe at home? Our country belongs to each of us. I will not stand down!
My children and grandchildren need a future in which they can make their own decisions regarding our leadership within our government: local, statewide as well as our President.
The leadership within our nation...everywhere...affects our global family. We must stand for freedom with our votes. We must make our will for peace known by standing up in public and expressing PEACEFULLY our opinion.
Democratic, non-violent protest is the alternative to armed insurrection. To abandon the former in fear makes the latter eventually necessary. Staying at home so as to placate neo-fascists is both shortsighted and a guarantee of much worse.
This person is trolling the comments. What is really going on is that the Administration is afraid of the October 18 NO KINGS PROTESTS.
Trolls like this will become more common as the date gets closer.
traitor - don't listen to this troll...
The Administration is terrified of crowds. They will not be organized enough to send in troops to every protest. They are so inept we would already know where they’re planning on sending them. If we cower, they have already won. If we cower, their supporters believe the fascists are successful.
If you are suggesting a General Strike as an alternative, that's a case that could be made - though it could be made as an additional action, too.
Something tells me that you are a Trumpernazi. We WILL protest peacefully. We WILL overcome the anti democratic anti American reich wing.
NK = Troll. Block him!
Find a No Kings event near you:
https://www.mobilize.us/?q=no%20kings
For those who can't physically show up at a rally, the organizers have plenty of tasks to be done in preparation and behind the scenes: partner networking, location permits, safety planning (marshals, first aid prep, law enforcement liaison, water stations, de-escalation training...), outreach (flyers, talks, social media, media alert ahead, spokespersons' talking points, press releases after...), banners and flags, table set up, megaphones and maybe sound equipment, program (music, speakers, chants, dancing, bubbles, etc.), onboarding to vote and to join your organization to stay engaged...phew! And last, but not least, drive by and honk for democracy!
You people don't know when to stop embarrassing yourself. Let me put it to your bluntly once again if you have a country that has a king you're not allowed to do a no King's protest or they'll chop your head off or arrest you and throw you in this in a cave or a sell somewhere for the rest of your life.
But you had a one day what most same people see as a laughathon when you did your protestant that lasted one day and it quickly forgotten because it accomplished nothing
So if you had a protest and you called it a no King's protest I guess you don't have a king because otherwise you would not have been able to do the protest why don't you WTFU?
BS troll.
You are a pathetic little boy. You need to go back to school and learn how to communicate in writing.
I can write you in a heartbeat, but this is not about punctuation, spelling dangling, participle, or ending sentence sentences with preposition. This is not my college thesis nor my dissertation.
This is context over form. Get that through your head.
Oh, poor baby! Find your binkie! Fool!
Boy, are you lost!!!!
I don't know if you read at all, but everybody here is in need of a binky because everybody here is frustrated, scared angry, and they don't even have a solitary factual clue as to why. It's almost hysterical a bunch of liberal lunatic activist lemmings. Communicating with each other to make yourself feel better when the world is leaving you behind and America is becoming phenomenal again, growing every single day, and everybody that voted for him is walking around with a smile on their face optimism in their future and thanking God they live in America versus those like you idiots who hate it here.
What does WTFU mean? And what were you talking about Protestants for?
And who in the world spells "cell" as "sell"? Is Rick Sender the semi-literate he appears to be, or is this an intentional put-on?
I don’t think it’s intentional. I really think, he has no idea , what he and his fellow Regime supporters have unleashed. He truly believes in masked , unidentifiable, armed forces arresting and harassing brown people, and the press.
I’m not sure, but I think, regime supporters, in the beginning at least, were butt- hurt, when they were belittled by people less stupid.
A google search says WTFU = wake the f-ck up
Ohh.. now I know something.. thanks
Remind me that I do not recall using the word protestants
It might’ve been a AutoCorrect for the protesters, but I’m not sure unless I know the context please
You wrote it.. Protestant.. It’s really difficult to put anything you write into any context, due to its incoherence.. sorry.
I’ll leave that to you.
So, Rick, why don't you just stay home and watch it on TV along with DonOLD. I don't think they will gun a crowd of 300,000 down. Silence is compliance. Should we call you Silent Rick (he would)
OK, you've been elected and selected as the the 43rd person I've asked to tell me how Donald Trump's policies have affected your life negatively currently and specifically and you will be the 43rd person not to have an answer and the list is growing quickly because everybody is hating for no reason some ethereal TDS blood running through all your bodies and you don't even know why
So congratulations number 43
It's been nice knowing you because I know I won't hear back from you just like all the rest. We have no freaking clue why they hate. It's just absolutely disgusting delusion and I hope they start opening those TDS rehab centers really soon so you can get get back to enjoy living your life.
So many grammatical errors and misspellings leave me to wonder about your mental acumen. As for the one day march that everyone forgot- you remembered it. Lol!
PS if you really wanna be helpful joyce just grade my paper and send me back the corrections lol lol lol get serious will you content content content
Grade your own paper. Learn to use grammar primaries is needed. Learn to teach yourself and quit expecting everyone to do your work.
Joyce you probably should learn to understand sarcasm I could give a shit about spelling or punctuation or a dangling participle or capital letters this is not my thesis. This is not my dissertation and life should be about context over form. You must be in another planet if you think anything differently here I could run circles around you with vocabulary and English grammar.
And unfortunately, you are lost and have TDS running faithfully through your veins
It was a joke for Christ sakes unbelievable. Too many professors here. I think they know anything, but all they know is theory not actual practice and not actual life nor reality. Trump is kicking ass for America and making it great again. Have a nice day.
Yea in laughter and pity. Ouch.
And let me know if there's anything else of IMPORTANCE you' like to discuss like my spelling. I voice text EVERYTHING. try this: CONTEXT OVER FORM.
this is not my thesis or my dissertation.
Here's what we can discuss.
You will indeed be my 47th delusional victim. Here you go:
List me five Trump policies that have NEGATIVELY affect your life currently and specifically. You cant answer but it will reveal your delusion.
But if you do desire to respond, I'll answer, but I'm pretty sure it's been nice knowing you
Here’s one- Trump Tariffs - because who pays the tariffs? We do, because the retailer raises prices to cover the cost of the higher priced goods because the fees get added to the cost
We need to do this every week.
Thank you. Heard Jill Lepore speak in
Chicago on Wednesday. Her new book: We The People. A history of the constitution. There were a few what will happen questions. No one knows, but she said it is up to us:
WE THE PEOPLE
❤🤍💙❤🤍💙❤🤍💙
Wear red/white/blue to the protest. Carry an American flag.
But whatever you do, attend a protest!
We already know that Trump has no intention of relinquishing power peacefully. At the Believers' Summit on July 27, 2024, a gathering hosted by Charlie Kirk's group, Turning Point Action, Trump told the assembled gathering: "Christians, get out and vote, just this time. You won't have to do it anymore. Four more years, it'll be fixed, it'll be fine, you won't have to vote anymore my beautiful Christians." (Wall Street Journal News, You Tube July 27, 2024.)
Those persons who cannot recognize the truth or fact of something are afflicted with denialism. I always think back to Jack Nicholson in "A Few Good Men," when he replied to To Cruise: "You can't handle the truth." You know what? Though Trump has made it clear that he intends that there be no more elections, they can't accept the fact that Trump is telling us that he will be a dictator. I suppose along with denialism one can throw in a dash of cognitive dissonance.
In three words, you know shit
St. Crispin's Day is the 25th we will celebrate a week early.
Especially since it seems to cause the otherwise seemingly mild-mannered speaker to lose it.
The October 18th gathering is an opportunity to demonstrate one of our individual freedoms, the freedom of assembly and celebrate our unity in patriotism to our Democratic Republic. It is also an opportunity to serve as a clear example of peaceful protest which is in juxtaposition to the terrorism being wrought by ICE agents in the streets of our country under the veneer of law enforcement.
The whole world is watching! The whole world is watching! The whole world is watching!
Will be there!👍
never thought of myself as a terrorist before. Sort of like it :)
Illinois Governor Pritzker today called ICE “jack-booted thugs.”
In Chicago, also today, as Heather also notes, a federal judge itemized all the weapons of war the ICE goons are henceforth forbidden from using.
Heather also cited the brutality the ICE thugs just keep escalating. So many so sick. So vengeful. But it’s the list of military tools to maim and kill which is most scary for the lethality and massive doses of firepower by which criminal Donald viciously attacks the blue city America he so venomously hates, loathes, despises.
And yet, his choruses of sycophant Republicans repeat his mantra that it’s all Dems (and independents) who – all now all terrorists, all working for that well-know organization called Antifa – all now organize to “hate America.”
There’s also video going around of a Portland police officer telling an ICE agent to back her car up.
“If you drive into the crowd I will arrest you,” he said. A second cop stood in front of the SUV.
“I’ll take care of it,” the agent answered.
The cop then repeated his warning, to which the agent responded, jokingly, “it’s not many people, they’re protesters, I won’t make a mess.”
The cop was not amused.
“Back you vehicle up now, if you drive forward you will be arrested.”
Well done to that cop! - I hope many more have that attitude!
Many local police, Lady, have feelings toward their home communities.
ICE does not. ICE is just put-together here-&-there roving bands of armed sociopaths. Probably none has any family they're at all personally close to, or any friends. At best for these till now they've all most likely been but loners, with tribal affiliation by hate groups such as Oath Keepers, Proud Boys, and Three Percenters.
Donald likewise has never in his life had friends. No humor ever in his life. His "family" just revolved around the arm candy he routinely picked up and discarded. Life was making money, cheating people. His best pal for many years was the ineffable Jeffrey Epstein, who was best for the deep criminality by which they could and did laugh at, scorn the world, and Donald score big on the underage morsels Jeffrey trafficked to him.
America affiliate international rogues produced Donald. That would be bad, except at the same time it produced U.S. tens of millions exulting in the criminality, the transactional emptiness, deep misogyny, racism, and bitter cynicism and anger at decency and civil society Donald now attacks with so many ICE sufficiently demented to serve his angry, foul agenda.
Ice is the new Gestapo, and the American FSB.
Phil, our “communities” are bifurcated into those divides. I’m afraid that more cops love their Charlie Kirk community more than the other parts of their community.
Our last Sheriff’s newsletter that came out had 3 different (Christian) faith events announced. I find that troubling.
Ally, I've observed that police department vehicles in most Arkansas locales bear a decal reading "In God We Trust" on the trunk lids, which is troubling.
In previous decades, this could be dismissed as an innocuous sentiment found on our currency that gave some people a warm fuzzy.
In this era, I read that phrase as a loyalty oath, not to the Christian deity, but to a political/lifestyle faction. It implies that our law enforcement operates FOR straight, white Christian nationalists and AGAINST all others.
Ally House,
I know Jesus personally. He has a lot of patience BUT one way or another and in HIS time, “payday will come”.
Also, when we are sorry for our mistakes or condemnations that are untruths, He handles those areas as well.
Sooner or later and as we realize our stupidity, cruel mistakes, etc., He responds. Misusing Christianity is never good. God’s response seems slow to us but He knows us best and just how to alert us to our errors.
If we ask for forgiveness, He is ready to forgive. As Christians, we should never forget who sacrificed for us…to save our lives, not only here but for eternity.
Love/forgiveness is key!
What does it say to those who are not Christian that the department is emphasizing Christianity in was that exclude specific populations?
One of the churches being featured is openly hostile to the LGBTQ + community. I will never set foot there, which means I’ll never go to a department event held there.
Yeah but, it's all the damage done to people before payday comes that's the problem. In this case, there will be more permanent injuries and likely deaths.
Yes, and Jesus reflected his Father’s wishes & feelings towards us perfectly, didn’t he? Forgiveness but accountability also … and no room for the ‘great pretenders’!
Romans 14:11 For it is written: “‘As surely as I live,’ says God, ‘to me every knee will bend, and every tongue will make open acknowledgment to God.’” 12 So, then, each of us will render an account for himself to God. 🕊️🌿
Though I gave you a 'like," I must also point out a necessary correction: many local police have (positive) feelings toward their (white/Christian) communities.
Great! It's good to know they have positive feelings about their community!
Are you sure you didn't mean "many local police have BIASED feelings toward their CHRISTIAN NATIONALIST communities."?
Actually, m'lady, the point I was making unclearly is that most state and local cops -- at least 59 percent of the 60 percent who are white males -- are Christonazis and eager supporters of MAGAT atrocities. My years in journalism -- especially my three decades in the working press -- repeatedly confirmed that most cops, regardless of race, are nazis at heart. The exceptions are rare, not the least because nazified conformity is enforced by the threat of fatal accidents or lethal abandonment during deadly encounters. The following three links will help clarify the issue:
https://www.zippia.com/police-officer-jobs/demographics/
https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/2025/06/26/voting-patterns-in-the-2024-election/
https://portside.org/2020-06-14/race-gap-americas-police-departments
Thus the race of the officer who valiantly stopped the ICE atrocity would almost certainly be significant. (This is the first account of humanitarian conduct by a cop I've seen in this context, this versus innumerable reports of state and local cops collaborating with ICE or encouraging nazi violence as they did in Charlottesville, Va. (where a nazi murdered Heather Heyer), or as the NYPD did on 8 May 1970 when a mob of white construction men and office workers attacked an anti-Vietnam-War protest with sledge hammers, pipe wrenches, baseball bats and golf clubs and sent at least 50 protestors to Manhattan hospitals.)
I'm giving you a "like," Loren, in honor of your still reading, still commenting.
There are many who are out there. They eschew the label of “hero “ and embrace their duty to protect and serve us and enforce the law and preserve justice
I think it was in Chicago that Noeme was denied use of the bathrooms in the police station. She then complained about lack of co-operation.
Why is this not being done more often? When an agent breaks the law in executing their supposed “ duties” that individual should be arrested and treated as any other law breaker would be.
Yes and no. Surely every person in this nation has a responsibility to uphold the law, but isn't that even more true of those who are specifically paid and entrusted to uphold it?
Police and many government officials have “qualified immunity,” which protects them from liability from civil lawsuits for what they do in the course of their job unless their actions are clearly unconstitutional or illegal. The idea is to protect them from being sued for nonsense every five minutes, but the reality is that it too often shields them from accountability.
Earlier this year, the Supreme Court, in its infinite wisdom (🙄) bestowed similar protections on the presidency which reinforces the megalomaniac’s belief that anything he does is legal.
Warning, the langue in this video is very vulgar, extremely NSFW, but here the Broadview (IL) and Illinois State Police tell an activist, a U.S. military veteran, to stay on the sidewalk while he points out to them that ICE agents have obscured their license plates.
https://www.instagram.com/reel/DPos5UJDvh6/?igsh=YjdmZXN2Ym5xN3Uy
Exactly, Sally, many ICE agents are not government employees and even if they are still have to obey the rules. A country of laws not lawlessness. ICE agents are not above local law no matter what DJT or Homan says.
Any ICE agent is a government employee, a civil servant, ostensibly bound by an oath to the Constitution and obligated to obey the law. It is certainly true that many are violating those oaths and obligations and should be held accountable.
To me, abuse of entrusted power, "corruption" is an especially serious crime. I think we got into this crisis, at least in part, by too much tolerance for it, especially if committed in a way we favor.
And I favor the label of "Civil Servant". Those who serve our public needs are worthy of our gratitude and respect and those who accept the duty yet significantly prioritize their own interests on the job, over the common good, are worthy of our condemnation.
Equal protection under LAW, not Trump.
Because the vast majority of state and local cops are Christonazis. (Don't have time to research the figure tonight as I've other obligations, but my recollection is about 96 or 97 percent of all these cops are MAGATs.)
JL, I’d go with a more nuanced breakdown: 80% “traditional”Christian, 15% ChristoFascist, and the other 5% a mixed bag of faith/non-traditional faith, non-theist, and Atheist .
My basis for this comes from my cohort of (now almost completely retired) cops that are on Facebook (at least those that have not yet unfriended and blocked me; the count is up to 10 now).
Based on my close to 15 years as a crime reporter, I'd absolutely agree with that breakdown.
I would like to hear more organized rebuttal from those who identify as Christian who know very well that Trump is not "The Second Coming" except as seen by Yeats. The character and focus of Trump compared with Martin Luther King is more stark than night and day.
I hear you! There are faith communities out there that are speaking in opposition; they just aren’t mega churches with hundreds of congregants.
As well as the vivid contrast, if what remains of his record serves, between Trump and his cronies and Jesus.
No surprise.
Because the vast majority of state and local progressives are Maoist. (Don't have time to research the all reliable internet tonight as I have other obligations, but my recollection is about 96 or 97 percent of all these progressives are Maoists.)
Good to read that we're not engaged in tropes as the opposition is...
And kudos to the FBI agent who refused to arrest Comey.
https://www.cnn.com/2025/10/04/politics/fbi-agent-fired-comey
Yes!
“it’s not many people, they’re protesters, I won’t make a mess.”
What is in the heart and mind of a person who thinks like this?! These ICE agents have been weaponized against citizens, and they left their humanity on the floor of the training facilities. The worst of the worst are gladly signing up for the bonus and the power it gives them over others. Bullies, just like their president. They see repeated incidents where he gets away with it, so why shouldn't they?
We will have to rely on the caring and brave law enforcement personnel like these to hold the line while courts hand down decisions about what kind of abuse ICE agents can inflict on We the People and journalists. The big question is, will they ignore the courts? And are there any consequences if they don't?
I still say we must unmask ICE and see who they are.
Are they all Americans? Are some ex-cons pardoned for this job?
Who are ICE? What is their payscale while Congress is frozen?
Who is signing their checks?
Proud Boys, Oathkeepers and other sociopathic Neonazis with violent fantasies of power, civil war, and killing off the “unworthy” - that’s what ICE is. They support the Orange Goblin Baby King because they want to be a narcissistic, sociopathic, money-and-pussy-grabbing, nature-hating asshole just like him.
Agree with you, somewhat. I don't like assuming- ASSUME makes an ASS of U and ME (English class in the 50's)
I would like to see faces and names of every paid member. What is there payscale and who is signing their checks?
That _would_ be interesting to see, definitely.
There is a reason that law enforcement agencies have always welcomed people on the Sociopathic spectrum to be officers, the city, state, or nation lose income if the officer has even a modicom of empathy.
It is easy for a fired, disgraced officer to get another job in law enforcement in a different community.
I agree, that statement is chilling, the words of someone who would just as soon put deportees in the ground as on a plane.
This sounds like some of the cops I used to work with back in the mid 1970’s through 1980’s. Who embraced the idea of protect and serve. These cops and others must get our support.
Few and far between, but often amongst my best sources! (Same era, too.)
Sorry should have included this.
https://www.instagram.com/reel/DPgmD6_Effn/?igsh=d3g0ZWR1cXJiaTR4
Thank you! Thanks to the officer as well. .
Wow!
Trump many think that the state is him, but more reasonable people think not.
When Agent Orange uses the word "America", he means "DJT". He copies Louis XIV who claimed "L'etat, c'est moi" -- I am the state/country. Note that Louis XIV is no longer alive, his heirs were murdered, and France, the state/country, is going strong.
YES! I have seen how that state works. We should all live with such organization and medical care. Somehow I doubt the French Revolution will ever be repeated in France.
… and awful state of affairs then!
Meet the new boss, same as the old boss; except that we were gifted with an imperfect but enduring, up to now, attempt to establish rule of law, not of men.'
Due process and unalienable rights, and equal protection, and over all, those ideals have resulted in an arc of increased inclusion. We are now face with an organized attempt to overthrow that effort, that must be resisted.
Trump Wins the Nobel Prize for Alternative Peace
In an act of cosmic injustice, the Nobel Committee once again failed to recognize Donald J. Trump’s tireless efforts to bring peace to his favorite dictator, himself. Instead, the committee awarded Venezuela’s María Corina Machado, who apparently did something boring like “defend democracy” instead of posting angry videos about how unfair life is.
White House spokesman Steven Cheung bravely denounced the decision, saying the Nobel Committee “places politics over peace,” which is rich coming from a team that treats democracy like a takeout order, cancel if it takes too long. Meanwhile, Putin declared the committee had “lost credibility,” prompting Trump to thank him for his continued service as emotional support autocrat.
Back home, Trump’s agents celebrated “law and order” by tackling a journalist for the crime of holding a camera. Congress is closed indefinitely, apparently replaced by a government livestream featuring Kristi Noem explaining that Democrats broke America. And when he wasn’t threatening China with tariffs, Trump was congratulating himself for not being indicted today.
So yes, the Nobel Committee missed its chance. True peace is when your enemies are silenced, your friends are billionaires, and your country is too exhausted to care. Maybe next year he will win the Nobel for Performance Art.
Or acts that live in infamy.
You never disappoint. Well put.
Non-lethal weapons can be anything but. People have died from weapons like rubber bullets.
Correct. That the ICE was on the roof and did the shot at the head of the clergyman is particularly appalling. How many of those “bounty hunters” are pardoned January Sixers. Would like to know.
Or Tasers, especially when deliberately abused.
When someone like Gov. Pritzker quotes Wayne LaPierre, you know we’re living in Bizarro-World.
all now organize to “hate America.”
So we might wonder what IS America?
It's a place. It's an idea. But above all, it's its people. The whole of it's people, with universal rights and universal responsibilities. After all, right are only rights to the degree we respect them for one another, that to secure these rights, we establish rules, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. A corrupt Supreme Court once argued the a black person "had no rights which the white man was bound to respect" in a decision that now lives in infamy, yet lingers. The wise know that tyranny respect only it's own self-centered ends and will gleefully destroy whatever it finds inconvenient, including the lives of posterity.
"Where be these enemies?—Capulet, Montague,
See what a scourge is laid upon your hate,
That heaven finds means to kill your joys with love,
And I, for winking at your discords too,
Have lost a brace of kinsmen. All are punished."
-- Romeo and Juliet
ICE are the real domestic terrorists. Nothing more than Proud Boys and Oathkeepers wearing masks.
Marjorie Taylor Greene doesn't seem too happy about the insurance thing. There was another southern republican politician (Louisiana maybe) who was complaining about how people couldn't afford groceries. mmm wonder why since we were promised that prices were coming down. Obviously, trump doesn't know the difference between up and down.
Interesting that they accuse Americans who oppose their "administration" as being pro-Hamas when *THEY* are the ones who just allowed Qatar to create an air force installation inside the US in Idaho! Qatar is literally ruled by sharia law (male guardianship laws for women for example) and they are literally one of the biggest funders of Hamas. But they gave Trump a plane so it's okay...
The Hamas thing is just a slur at this point. It's meant to silence and shame anyone who supports the Palestinian People as they endure a brutal genocide at the hands of the Israelis. Keep in mind, Netanyahu funded and uplifted Hamas. The Israelis literally gave them suitcases full of money. These are facts. Google it.
We need to reject any acceptance of Trump's rhetoric. Don't argue about Hamas, or who gets called Hamas, point out that the U.S. is funding YET ANOTHER GENOCIDE.
-Mathew
https://bettergracesandliberations.substack.com/
We disagree. Hamas is a terrorist group. They are not good people. Israel is also currently pursuing a genocide. Both these things can be true.
Right Dana, anti-yahoo is not anti-Jewish or pro-Hamas.
I noticed an omission in DonOLDs ceasefire/peace plan for Palestine. No mention was made of opening the borders for food and medicine to go in and rebuilding Palestine.
Give us an exact reference in re “suitcases full of money”, “funded and uplifted Hamas”, “literally gave them suitcases full of money”. Sure, you can “find lots of things” on Google, that doesn’t mean all of them are true…
This has been reported in a number of places. Amy Goodman and Democraxcy Now have reported about Netanyahu’s support for Hamas, as a preventative to a unifying Palestinian leadership. John Oliver also, just a couple weeks ago.
Laura Farkas,
Netanyahu is "the fox in the hen house". He is wickedly manipulative and always has been. When "a ball is thrown" he side tracks the receiver.
The Palestinians are great human beings. Netanyahu wants their land. He tries to organize them in a certain location which he describes as safe and the BOMBS THEM. How many times do we need to see this????
Netanyahu wants all of Gaza so he and Trump can build a golf course/resort.
It is that inhuman...it is that cruel....it is that heartless and selfish!
Because Amy and Democracy Now are an unbiased source of information?
She is about as objective as FOX News.
You can be biased, the perspective you come at things, and have reliable facts and evidence in your presentation. My point was that the evidence exists that Netanyahu actively supported Hamas to prevent a unifying Palestinian entity. Maybe you agree with his actions and understand his motivations or maybe you don’t. Regardless of whether it’s Democracy Now or a right -leaning outlet, the facts remain. Bias does NOT have to mean “alternative facts” are made up. That’s something different, lying, false flags, propaganda, marketing, etc. People may dislike Amy Goodman for her bias, perspectives, and the topics she chooses to emphasize, but I have never heard her challenged on facts.
Except when she promoted the trope that NATO was to blame for the Russian invasion of Ukraine?
I'm sure she's a well intentioned good person, but keep in mind she's a commentator not a journalist, just as FOX News claims t be "entertainment".
We should be as wary of left wing commentators as we are of right wing commentators. Amy and her funders have an agenda, she may have a good heart but it's best not to fall in love with podcasters, be they Amy or Joe Rogan.
Did Israel fund Hamas?
Wiki : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Israeli_support_for_Hamas
… During the 1970s, Israel began providing support to Ahmed Yassin, a Palestinian Muslim Brotherhood leader who controlled a network of Islamic schools, mosques, and clubs, 🔻in order to weaken the secular nationalist Palestine Liberation Organization. Wikipedia
The Jerusalem Post : Netanyahu: Money to Hamas part of strategy to 🔻keep Palestinians divided 🔻
“Now that we are supervising, we know it’s going to humanitarian causes,” the source said, paraphrasing Netanyahu.”
The money was supposed to help build up infrastructure, create an economy. Instead Hamas spent it on weapons.
It was supposed to create a split in the Palestinian Freedom Movement which it did. Of course it was going to buy weapons. No one would not have known that. Stop making excuses for a genocidal settler colony. You're pulling a Pete Hegseth.
https://bettergracesandliberations.substack.com/p/the-colonizer-and-his-false-medals
It's the truth. Plus they killed off or scared off virtually all of their fellow Palestinians in Gaza.
Sure. Here's the evidence.
Israel uplifted Hamas.
https://theintercept.com/2018/02/19/hamas-israel-palestine-conflict/
Suitcases of money.
https://www.timesofisrael.com/for-years-netanyahu-propped-up-hamas-now-its-blown-up-in-our-faces/
https://theweek.com/politics/why-israels-netanyahu-encouraged-suitcases-of-cash-for-hamas
https://www.businessinsider.com/israel-security-forces-escorted-suitcases-cash-hamas-qatar-report-2023-12?op=1
Mathew Foresta,
TRUTH: "We need to reject any acceptance of Trump's rhetoric. Don't argue about "Hamas", or who gets call "Hamas", POINT OUT THAT THE U.S. : each one of us who pays taxes, ARE FUNDING YET ANOTHER GENOCIDE!!!!!
Mathew, Thank you for the enlightenment! I do think we often "sleepwalk" through the fact that we as American citizens are being used (by military/government appointees ...using our taxes) to destroy innocent human beings.
If we do not stop our wrongs, US Government Officials, will be at OUR door or the doors of OUR CHILDREN!!!!....actually this is already happening.....persons in this country whether they have achieved citizenship as legal Americans or NOT should be treated with decency.
My daughter-in-law and my grandchildren live in Mexico near my daughter-in-law's family. The children were born in the US and lived here with my son and daughter-in-law for several years before his death. Are they safe if they come for a visit???
Remember this is performance to incite violence so they can overturn the law and pretend that Trump needs to send the military in.
Americans are not Russians, they are not Hungarians, although some may come from those countries, but that is not the history people have of how they expect their government to act. Hope word is getting to the people.
Here's hoping! It is right and proper to point out it is *their* side who is actually supporting Hamas by supporting Qatar (because they bribed Trump with a plane). Trump only cares about himself. He doesn't give a crap about our country.
Apparently the Qatar thing is less disturbing than it seemed from Hegseth's sloppily worded announcement of it. I gather that the US in providing a facility on an established US base for the purpose of training Qatari pilots to fly the jets the Regime is selling to them. Whether or not that is appropriate is another question, but the first reporting of it I encountered sounded way more troubling. and of course, in this regime, I would be a mistake to automatically discount anything that sounds too wacko.
I don't know what to believe. The only guy who said it was 'no big deal' is Kegsbreath's (sorry, not sorry) aide. Other's militaries have pilots train here all the time but in their own facilities? If they build *their* facility with *their* planes flown by *their* pilots on an existing military base in the contiguous US, how is this not a danger? They literally fund Hamas and have sharia law (I am not a fan as it is just like the Christian Nationalism that the Trump team wants to establish here)! Will the US vet EVERY. SINGLE. PERSON. who comes onto that military base or will it be up to Qatar? Do you have a reputable expert that said it was 'no big deal'?
https://apnews.com/article/idaho-qatar-us-air-force-base-fc1506584e7833dbde3e16fe8613b6b4
Where did I say no big deal? I first read reported that Hegseth announced that Qatar would be building a foreign military base on US soil, so not so big a deal as that, but still alarming. Hegseth himself is alarming as a wholly terrible choice for the function he fills.
https://apnews.com/article/idaho-qatar-us-air-force-base-fc1506584e7833dbde3e16fe8613b6b4
None of this makes me feel any better. I agree with Loomer here which is never a comfortable position for me! I do not trust any foreign military facility on US soil but especially not one from a country who has a form of sharia law, has rampant human rights violations against its own people (especially women and LGBTQ+) and who funds terrorist organizations like Hamas. Not even getting into the corruption! They bought that military installation by giving to Trump! https://www.tiktok.com/@erinburnettoutfront/video/7560000502306573581?_r=1&_t=ZT-90TKTsU0jjJ
It is TOTAL BULLSHIT. OTHER COUNTRIES DO NOT BUILD BASES ON US BASES.
Except of course, that they do.
https://apnews.com/article/idaho-qatar-us-air-force-base-fc1506584e7833dbde3e16fe8613b6b4
Qatar also offers refuge to a lot of Hamas’s leadership.
The United States has given more harbor to terrorists than Qatar ever did, and most of the terrorists we have given refuge to are wanted in their home countries for crimes at least as bad.
We don't give bounties to suicide bnombers.
No, but we've trained almost as many of them as the Saudis, even if people love to conveniently forget that part.
We've never trained suicide bombers, encouraged people to send their kids to die in suicide attacks to achieve paradise.
You might want to refresh your familiarity of history, especially history of the 70s and 80s, particularly the parts where we trained, supplied, and equipped the Mujahadeen, who extensively used and trained suicide bombers. Its also noteworthy that the US Congress authorized and used multiple waivers to continue funding Somali militias who made extensive use of child solders.
You have to bury yourself under a pretty damn large rock to not know or understand that the US has funded generations of atrocities in the past 50 years or so, most often (but certainly not exclusively) at the hands of Republican administrations.
Clayton B is an antagonist. I recommend ...Collapse
A Scottish phrase I often use, "Save your breath to cool your porridge" ;0
Dana, a plane which will cost $400 million to rebuild to become AF-1 and will supposedly (???) become DonOLDs property when he leaves office. Talk about government waste, fraud and abuse.
It’s not a Qatari base.
https://apnews.com/article/idaho-qatar-us-air-force-base-fc1506584e7833dbde3e16fe8613b6b4
My mind still isn't at ease at all and questions remain. Who is in charge of security in these buildings? Are the buildings under control of Qatar or the US? Do they just sleep there or do they have private areas where US personnel are not allowed to go? Who vets the people who train there? The US or Qatar? Do other countries have facilities built JUST FOR THEM as seems to be the case here? The article says that other bases "host" trainees from other countries. That is very different than a country having its own 'facilities, planes and pilots' inside the US. It is the difference between someone coming to stay in your house for a while versus you letting them build their own house on your property. WHY are we selling planes and training pilots for a country that has such vile human rights violations, follows sharia law and funds terrorist groups? "But generally speaking, it is when the president determines that doing so will boost the security of the U.S. or promote peace around the world." Because they gave him a plane and treated him like royalty when he visited and continue to appeal to his ego? How is this in the best interests of the USA and NOT just Donald Trump and his crooked family? I would love for Heather or some other trusted source to dig deeper on this and really see if and how this is different than the agreements of other countries (that as opposed to Qatar) are long-standing allies who share out supposed values!
I don’t know anything more than what’s in the article. It says that the agreement isn’t new. Predates Trump.
The US has a big base in Qatar.
I’m not crazy about Qatar but this relationship is older than Trump’s time in politics.
Trump was President in 2017, which is when the untrustworthy Administration shill said it was started and the discussions took place. Interestingly, the assessment was completed in 2022 (when Biden was in) but his Admin did not sign the deal, Trump's did 3 years later. Bondi was a Qatar lobbyist, too. This smells to high heaven of corruption, besides the very scary security concerns.
Yes, Trump seems to like those Middle Eastern oil sheikhs. Maybe because they’re rich and rather decadent? As usual $$$ talk with Trump.
He likes them because they bribe him with money and ego-stroking. They are also very comfortable dealing in corruption, which is why Trump loves repressive totalitarian regimes in general. The Trump family has personally hauled in billions from the Saudis for example. Incidently, most of the 9/11 terrorists were Saudis.
Trump himself knows that Qatar funds terrorism. I wonder why he changed his mind? https://www.tiktok.com/@erinburnettoutfront/video/7560000502306573581?_r=1&_t=ZT-90TKTsU0jjJ
I’m not going to watch that, because It’s demanding I install TikTok on my phone and I don’t want do that.
I don't have tik tok and was able to watch it just on the web. It asks interesting questions.
It won’t let me watch it without installing TikTok. I’m using an iPhone.
I can't help you with that. Perhaps you can find that video in another place if you are interested?
Dana, sources, please for that installation in Idaho?
https://apnews.com/article/idaho-qatar-us-air-force-base-fc1506584e7833dbde3e16fe8613b6b4
Today, oct.10, Heather interviewed James Talarico, a young Democrat running against Republican Senator John Cornyn in conservative Texas. A recent poll puts Talarico within 3% of Cornyn.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h8VFcBmE53A
My take on what he said:
The so called “Christian evangelicals”/right wing or “conservative Christians” are Christians in name only. Contrary to the historic teachings of the Christian religion they speak, write, and act in a way that is the exact opposite of the values of Christianity as described in the New Testament of their Bible: hatefulness, vengeful scapegoating, narcissistic self-righteousness, ruthless violence, etc.. They thus blatantly violate the key principles of Christianity such as the Ten Commandments (“Thou shalt not bear false witness [lie], covet, kill, steal, make unto thee any graven image [MAGA], or have any other gods [cult leaders] before me”, etc.). It doesn’t take a Ph.D. in religion to know what the teachings of the Christian religion are. The New Testament - the story of the life of its leader - describes them in plain text. Matthew 5-7: the Sermon on the Mount with the Beatitudes (blessed are the meek, the persecuted, the poor, the peacemakers, etc.); John 15:12: “This is my commandment, love one another as I love you.”; the parable of the Good Samaritan (Samaritans were the bitter enemies of the Jews, but when the Jewish man was attacked by robbers on the road to Galilee, it was the passing Samaritan who tended his wounds and payed for him to stay in an inn and not the passing Jewish clergy who scorned him.) etc.. And the teachings are: humility, compassion, mercy, kindness, forgiveness, empathy, not judging others, praise for the meek, the poor and the persecuted, etc.. These are the opposite of the apostolic pronouncements of the self designated “Christian” right wing. This is described in theologian and minister Russell Moore’s book, “Losing Our Religion”.
It is part of the politicizing of religion to support an authoritarian political cult. It co-opts the title and moral authority of the religion while completely turning the religion’s moral principles upside down. This is one of the facets of the play book of authoritarian dictators. For more information on this see the writings of academic scholars of authoritarianism/fascism such as: Timothy Snyder, Ruth Ben Ghiat, Steven Levitsky, Anne Applebaum, Jason Stanley, etc..
Remember that historically Jesus was executed (crucified) by an authoritarian leader because he was seen as challenging the power of the existing government and religious authorities/hierarchy. He had 12 disciples representing the twelve tribes of Israel and rode into Jerusalem on a donkey (representing humility because conquerors ride horses) at Passover (the Jewish celebration of freedom from slavery and bondage in Egypt).
The colonies demanded that the US Constitution guarantee freedom of religion (which serves to protect all religions) before they would ratify it because many of the colonists came to America to escape religious persecution in Europe.
I’m not a religious fanatic but think that most religions have as part of their teachings an ethical code that can benefit human society as social mores. This is what I think I heard Heather and James Talarico say in the interview.
Women who have escaped abusive evangelical households and churches say - "If you want to know what the Christian Nationalists want for the country, look at how they live at home." Mike 'my wife has been on her knees all week' Johnson is a prime example.
The main purpose of religion is to control people, especially women and our reproductive systems...
We have always had religion. Indigenous people all over the world have had and have religion. It is also what we look to for comfort and healing. It is not just to control.
That summary is exact and impressive. The major point being this administrations use of religion for political purpose to instill authoritarianism and it is frightening.
Like literally every other fascist and authoritarian in modern history since the fall of Rome.
Once religion is mixed with politics you have the path to authoritarianism. That is exactly why the Founders made it clear in the First Amendment.
Happened in Spain, too.
Putin snuggles with the Russian Orthodox priests quite nicely...
I fundamentally agree that Jesus's teachings are themes of humility and kindness, and yes, largely the polar opposite of Trump. Does the Trump regime in any way resemble the itinerant, ascetic, gentle movement that Jesus is reported to have led, or the cruelty of his state-involved tormentors? It seem that throughout most of subsequent history there seems to be an accompaniment of Christians In Name Only that preach hatred, seek excessive wealth, and afflict, even gratuitously kill and torture in the name of Jesus, and who become or ally with coercive states, along side those, such as MLK who seek genuine peace.
Yup. "Separation of Church and Hate: A Sane Person's Guide to Taking Back the Bible From Fundamentalists, Fascists, and Flock-Fleecing Frauds" by John Fugelsang.
Yes JL. There's a word for that. Hypocrisy
Yes, Fred, exactly. I am reading "Separation of Church and Hate: A Sane Person's Guide to Taking Back the Bible From Fundamentalists, Fascists, and Flock-Fleecing Frauds" by John Fuglesang. He literally quotes chapter and verse of what the religious right has twisted into justification for their demonic actions. Helps that he speaks these truths with humor.
Sorry, it’s Jericho not Galilee for the Good Samaritan story.
Doesn't matter! the point was that she was a foreigner.
Samaritans and Jews destroyed each other's temple, and the choice of a Samaritan is consistent with Jesus's "love thy enemy" agenda. Identifying with the right club didn't count for much. Active, generic, compassion did. Classic "DEI" which is frankly a VERY hard road to follow. Insightful G K Chesterton remarked that “The Christian ideal has not been tried and found wanting. It has been found difficult; and left untried.”
I the first I heard of Desmond Tutu was a story about how, while preaching to a large crowd, he spotted some black men beating an Apartheid era policeman, the "ICE" of that era, or worse. Tutu flew from the stage and threw his body over the policeman to shield him. I think THAT is what Jesus was asking for, and I think a lot of people who claim to be followers would prefer to completely ignore that. I am not advocating Christianity or any established faith per se, but yet I admire anyone strong enough to bear that much compassion; and in that respect Tutu and the Dalai Lama (who were fast friends) seemed like siblings.
Re bigotry among Republicans:
Wonder how much and how many actually believe what they're spouting ... either way their lust for the kind of powers they believe they should wield gives them no
credibility bc they are based on a false premise(s) - that their power over and with money is somehow preferable to its uses for the whole population. This in turn is based on a false reading within Christian 'thinking' that Jesus people are somehow superior by association with a guy (yes, our 'homeboy') who claims to be half g-d. Really. Jews gave up that idea way earlier after hanging out with Hellenists and their 'gods' centuries before the Romans did their things in and around Jerusalem.
Pays to know one's history.
Anyone doubting the belief of the MAGATS need look no further to their parents during the Civil Rights Era, and their fore-bearers supporting the American Workers party, and THEIR Fore-bearers supporting the KKK, and THEIR fore-bearers in the Confederacy.
Same people, different hats.
Same play, different cast. I think the Christians were right about "the love of money", if by "love" they mean "that for with you would sacrifice all else", and recognize that money is a form of power, interchangeable in a corrupted society with political influence. The "GOP" upping of racism (to welcome racist fanatics who fled the wokened Democrat's agendas) in exchange for power might not be literally a "deal with the devil" but it surely rhymes with one.
It is curious, when you think about it, why the Southern poor were willing to die on the battlefield for a system that did them no favors, other than the intangible illusion of picayune supremacy, but big money had a large role in supporting that conceit. "Master Race" seemed to empower Hitler.
If you care about saving this country- show up on Oct 18. If you can’t physically show up, contribute to at least buy porta-pottys. They are scared but they need to be scared enough to. scurry back to their dark places. End this nightmare..
Get at least 3.5 % of the people to show up.
If 15 million people march in this country on October 18th, it would be a real shame if we didn't simply overthrow the government in its entirety. Fewer people than that supported the American revolution, and that's 10 times of the size of the current military.
Imagine trying to explain to those revolutionary folks that one day their anti-fascist progeny would all have tiny cameras they carry and then can immediately broadcast that view to the entire world...
Nightmare it is Sharon. Yes, please donate to the day. Each one of us have prepared for a non violent protest. It is necessary to take all ones skills in descalation ,respect and safety going forward into this day. We must emphasize this every time we ask for everyone to show up.
Absolutely! Non violent and practice de-escalation!
The first purpose of showing up is make sure they figure out ONE thing: the point must be obvious, undiluted, as simple as you can peacefully (though loudly) express it:
NOT through me. NOT with my consent. NOT on my goddamn watch (swearing optional).
There are additional points -- to bolster friends, neighbors, communities under attack (and they are many) that they are not alone. You stand with them. They will not face monsters by themselves.
But you can't let go the first, nor dilute it until it becomes meaningless. They seek your acquiescence. They want your complicity. They demand you surrender in the face of the despair they create on purpose. Tell them -- as respectfully as possible -- to fuck off, that you will have none of it. It's your country too.
Remember -- they fear us. They are not strong. We are. Winter is coming. And they are not prepared. It's their Rube Goldberg contraption swaying violently in near gale-force winds, not our republic. Act strong, for we are strong.
I hope some NO Kings signs will read "Hey Mike, I love America. It's Fascism I hate". Honestly Mike Johnson -- what a sniggering, faux-pious piece of $h*t. How I wish I could participate - but I've just had a hip replaced and am still getting back to walking, and my husband is very ill and I am his caregiver. To everyone participating - thank you !!!!!
I wish you and your husband some relief and painless time together. Thanks for staying in the fight. It is much appreciated.
I’ll write your name on my sign, so you’ll “be” in Bend, OR (where my sister and I will be protesting in the midst of our “sisters getaway”.
Yes! I'll make one of 'your' signs today. I'll be carrying it in Boston. Thank you!
And in LA County
And my insurance premium is doubling and tripling under your maga cult regime!
HCR— the fact that indictments for Comey, James and soon Bolton— all come at the same time — is in and of itself a sign of vindictive prosecution and a form of threat to critics of the government.
Trump is running what is not a Department of Injustice, and he has breached the wall intended to separate DOJ from the whims of the President. He also appears to want a civil war.
Kathy, I hope you used the word "appears" in a funny way 😄
I think so. Sometimes I do sneak some snarky comments into my remarks.🤣
Definitely a funny word to be applied to the scumbag president 🤣
I think governor Pritzker should go with a team to that ICE facility in Illinois - and conduct an IN DEPTH oversight.
" In fact, it’s unconstitutional,” Scott said. “Unless, of course, there’s an insurrection, much like we saw January 6 a few years ago.”
For a Republican, that's pretty bold. And, of course, true.
Well, he *is* a Vermonter. We've always been a little bit bold. "Back in the day," we regularly alternated between D and R governors, and both governed with respect for the other side. We were among the first states to regulate environmental impacts, one of the only states to pass resolutions in every town (251) against nuclear weapons, and among the first states to legalize gay marriage (called civil unions, but in VT the legal effect was much the same). I'm a 9th generation Vermonter.
Proud of Vermont’s govenor. Family lore claims that we are the bastard grandchildren of Ethan Allen, which is my go-to excuse whenever my audacious streak rears its beautiful head.
One of my best friends is a Vermonter. I like what I see of the culture there. (Bradbury and surrounds).
We are in danger of psyching ourselves into a war with China, a war that we simply can not *win *conventionally. China has the same leverage against us with rare earths that we had against Japan in tin and oil in 1940. The embargo of tin and oil by the F.D. Roosevelt Admin. led directly to Pearl Harbor.
When do we own up to the reality that the American Century has been over twenty years and that the world is twenty years into the Chinese century? Our strength has not altogether left us; *we *have *our *founding *ideas. But we are now one *great ally *among many others in various agreements.
I wish more commenters (just ONE so far) had chosen to use Heather’s precious public commenting space to reflect on this. We are in danger of psyching ourselves indeed…into *multiple* stupid, pointless, no-victory-possible wars — political, economic, cultural — with *multiple* would-be protagonists, and all at the same time.
For that matter, I wish Americans as a whole, together with our mostly non-reflective media, would have used the occasion of the Nobel Peace Prize to reflect more on the world around them. Not one major media, cable outlet or newspaper covered the Nobel Committee’s justification for awarding the Peace Prize to Maria Corina Machado.
“The tools of democracy are the tools of peace” the Committee noted. Machado and those she enlisted did the dirty work of *safeguarding votes* as a tyrant did everything he could to subvert voting, falsify the results and claim the mantle of legitimacy which did not exist.
In case you missed the subtleties (had our media bothered to highlight them), the award did not solely honor those men and women who put their lives on the line for this concept, and not just in Venezuela. The Committee implicitly condemned the preening dictator Maduro, the raging murderer Putin, the tyrant Xi, as well as the thin-skinned Trump and his deranged followers who tried to stop OUR voting process in this country in 2021 — and damn near succeeded.
And the first question from a reporter — a Norwegian reporter — to that Committee testified to that, prefacing it by admitting global attention has lately been fixated “more to the north” of Venezuela, noting that Donald Trump had claimed that NOT awarding the Prize to him would be tantamount to attacking the American people. The Committee spokesman simply replied that its members deliberate in a room adorned with the portraits of every laureate in history, guided “solely” by the work and wishes of Alfred Nobel. Bullies, liars, cowards and gaslighters the world over, take note.
Ms. Machado, living in hiding somewhere inside Venezuela, believes the use of force will likely be necessary to dislodge Maduro, rightly noting that he, like the Kim crime family in North Korea, use the illicit drug trade to keep themselves in power, depriving millions not just of democracy, but health and prosperity as well.
Yet she was awarded the Prize not for her views about the future, but for her past non-violent efforts to safeguard democracy’s mechanisms — the registration, voting, counting and reporting process itself. January 6 thugs and their White House organizers, take note. Remember the unpaid House interns who risked their own safety to pick up the boxes from the House Rotunda holding the attestation of 50 Secretaries of State and the District of Columbia — together with the names and recorded votes of each of the 438 electors — carrying them to an undisclosed room, protecting them from a howling Trump mob….*This* is what democracy looks like.
In a democracy, people are supposed to debate the rationales for war openly, ahead of time, gauging threats in a common forum, justifying the immense response if and when it comes. Nothing could be further from this in Trump’s vision for America. A supine, terrified, complicit Republican Congress cannot even bring itself to disclose a dead pedophile’s private notebooks, let alone hold an open debate about a ridiculous threatened 100% tariff against China, a looming war with Venezuela, an out-of-control masked, secret police force sowing grief for tens of thousands. It cannot bring itself to condemn the antics of a pissy, demented 3-year-old idiot not even remotely interested in the process of governing, let alone skilled in doing so.
Not just on October 18, but every day — demand your right to be consulted, to openly debate violence already being deployed — against Venezuela, China, the Federal Reserve, Democrats, all conscientious public servants doing their jobs, Denmark, the EU, immigrants, healthcare and public lands.
MULTIPLE wars are being prepared and waged in your name already. Wake up, stand up, speak out, vote, protect your vote, and be prepared to endure hardship and pain in order to keep living in a republic, rather than acquiesce to tyranny.
Thank you for this post. I did see the video of the Nobel Committee spokesman but only because someone posted it. The cowardly stance of the MSM is so shameful - they do not seem to understand how powerful they could be against this dangerous regime if they only chose to be. The more money they have the weaker the backbone.
It's Come To This, thank you for going into detail about la Sra. Machado and the broader implications of awarding her that coveted peace prize. I must confess that I had not paid attention to the announcement and failed to grasp the symbolic dimension of awarding the prize to a citizen among citizens fighting, peaceably, not only for her people, but also for democracy around the world. It is my embarrassment to admit that my reaction was simplistic: relief that Trump did not get it. Kudos to the folks in Oslo for their courage. Thank you, again, for taking time to fill me and others in on the importance of this news.
Apologies for all the fuzziness and typoes in the initial wee-hour draft of my comment.
Ditto here. (And no apologies necessary, Ned.)
Thank you, MaryPat. 🙏🏾 My shrinking grey matter is a source of *frustration. 🙄 (¡UGG! That typo escaped two proofless readings!🤭) So, I am grateful for the patience of others like you, MaryPat. 🫱🏻🫲🏼
Hello Ned... Have You seen recent Pictures of DJT's Ankles?... They are so Swollen that they spill over DJT's Shoes... Today DJT visited Walter Reed Hospital for DJT's 2nd Annual Physical in 6-Months.... Afterwards, DJT admitted having Difficulty passing the Cognative Test... Tell Us Something That We Don't Already Know.... It is Rocktober, and Karma is a Bitch Goddess...
Love this quote, Apache. "Tell Us Something That We Don't Already Know.... It is Rocktober, and Karma is a Bitch Goddess..." Great to hear from you.
Apologies for all the fuzziness and typoes in the initial wee-hour draft of my comment.
Hello Ned... Thanks, Good To Hear From You Too...
In the Nuremberg War Crimes Trials - the first charge in the indictment against the Nazis was conspiracy: to conspire to overthrow the parliamentary government, and then warmonger and strike fear in the hearts of its citizens to create the authority to invade other countries.
Thank you for the head's-up, Jeff. Trump may never be held to account while he is in this world. Hopefully, he will be tried post-humously so that the timeless, hopefully deathless, message of the Nuremberg trial is re-affirmed: the then new order and the now renewed order is one of democracy and the four freedoms of speech and religion as well as from want and fear.
Apologies for all the fuzziness and typoes in the initial wee-hour draft of my comment.
"We"?
Most people do not agree with me in the view that all of us, as citizens, are responsible for where we find ourselves today. Yet, as guilt for the Holocaust and the massive atrocities in China fell upon all Japanese and Germans, so too does the responsibility of the U.S. becoming a rogue super-power fall upon us, not matter how much one condemns Trump and contemns Vance and their increasingly gangster régime.
Apologies for all the fuzziness and typoes in the initial wee-hour draft of my comment.
I don’t disagree. But a war with China would mean the destruction of the world.
For sure. Perhaps it would be better said: ". . . . war that no one can win . . . ."
Apologies for all the fuzziness and typoes in the initial wee-hour draft of my comment.
The Nobel Committee cited “[María Corina Machado’s] tireless work promoting democratic rights for the people of Venezuela and for her struggle to achieve a just and peaceful transition from dictatorship to democracy.”
While the orange fat man works toward the unjust and violent transition from democracy to dictatorship in the US.
A woman, a woman of color, beats him, and, in effect, all MAGA white men, again.
Wonderful.
My wife and I are traveling through Italy, visiting battlefields where her father fought during World War 2. We have gone from Salerno to Monte Casino. Although not from Texas he fought with the 36th infantry, which was formed when the Texas National Guard was activated. They fought hard to destroy fascism. Then we realized the Texas National Guard is currently deployed in Chicago.
I can't believe I just read your comment. My father was also a member of the 36th Infantry Division. He was a member of Company D, 142nd. He was a light machine gunner and fought in the battles you mentioned above plus more. He served from September 1943 until June 21, 1945. Born in 1942, I was lucky he came home. My dad would be saddened to learn about what is happening in our nation today. Finally, the book, The Fighting 36th, A Pictorial History: The Texas Division in Combat sits proudly on my desk. We were not from Texas either... I was born in Ohio and now live in VT.
My dad was wounded in North Africa but returned to a unit in the Italian mountains; where he had frostbite. Commanding officer was Fred Walker. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fred_L._Walker
I was born in December, 1943, when my dad was in the mountains.
The 36th entered Rome in June, 1944. My dad wound up with the Fifth Army headquarters on a trial court under General Mark Clark.
Oh my... Major General Fred L. Walker's photograph is featured at the beginning of the book I noted above. Fighting in the cold and muddy conditions - and not changing his boots or socks for months, my dad (like others he fought with) developed trench foot. He was also wounded but we never knew about it until he was in a nursing home.
Daniel thanks for the wikipedia link. My father fought in many of the battles mentioned.
Father in Law was in 143 company L. Worth a visit over here.
https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g194714-d2039145-Reviews-Monte_Cassino_Battlefield_Tours_By_Dr_Danila_Bracaglia-Cassino_Province_of_Frosin.html
Just accessed the site. We will follow-up. I have always wanted to visit these battlefields. Many thanks!
Bandy X. Lee, M.D., M.Div. <bandyxlee@substack.com> has written some important articles on Substack, such as:
“We psychiatrists knew from the start that Donald Trump was a highly mentally-disturbed, dangerous man. That is why 27 of us, including some of the most distinguished psychiatrists in America, immediately in the first year of Trump’s first presidency, joined together to publish in 2017 a book that we titled, The Dangerous Case of Donald Trump: 27 Psychiatrists and Mental Health Experts Assess a President. This unprecedented New York Times bestseller of its kind helped elevate the subject of his mental health to the number one topic of national discussion—until the American Psychiatric Association found it politically expedient to go as far as to change its ethical guidelines to curry a federal government’s favor.”
https://open.substack.com/pub/bandyxlee/p/the-serious-and-imminent-threat-of?r=1lmb6&utm_medium=ios
“In my last essay on this topic, I stated that it was time for me to go beyond warning of Donald Trump’s dangerousness, unfitness, and evident pathological signs—to describing what kind of pathology, which touches on diagnosis. I thus mentioned sociopathy. “Sociopathy”, or “antisocial personality disorder,” has the following characteristics:”
https://open.substack.com/pub/bandyxlee/p/the-serious-and-imminent-threat-of-533?r=1lmb6&utm_medium=ios
October 18 just grows in importance the more they howl. If "we" are "antifa", where do we have meetings? Who are our leaders? How is it that so many groups, long involved with social justice, environmental awareness, unions, cooperatives, and climate change, are doing this "No Kings Day" without having a coordinating committee, known leaders, or even a common message? It is working because "we the people" don't want an authoritarian government. Let's hit the streets like the "frogs" at protests in Portland.
We're all paid, professional protesters, you know. Funny, but I have never gotten a check yet from anyone. Hey! Can I write the cost of poster board and paint off my taxes as a business expense?
Speaker Mike Johnson has decided it is more important for him to appear on talk shows and give press conferences than to do the necessary work and use his leadership position to actually have a functioning House of Representatives. He's stonewalling, sending the House into the fourth week of another unnecessary recess and trying to pin the blame of this government shutdown on the Democrats. He's been making excuses, lying, blaming, projecting but never doing what is really needed and attending to his congressional duties, like swearing in the recently elected Democratic representative from Arizona, Adelita Grijalva, who won over 2 weeks ago.
Mr. Mikey is really ratcheting up the regime's talking points by saying “this hate-America rally they have coming up for October 18th, the Antifa crowd, the pro-Hamas crowd, and the Marxists.”“They’re all going to gather on the [Washington] Mall, we’ve got some House Democrats selling t-shirts for this event. It is an outrageous gathering for outrageous purposes.”
Mike Johnson and the Trump/MAGA cult just don't seem to understand or want to see that it's not hating America to be antifa because it means anti fascist. To love America you should be anti fascist by default because our democracy is antithetical to fascism. The Trumpian regime, MAGA Mike and complicit Republicans in Congress and the Supreme Court obviously want to make America something else, not great again (like they say or pretend to even envision), but fascist, autocratic, Project 2025 dystopian unAmerica. Who is the real hate-America crowd Mikey?
horhai, they are the “hate Americans” crowd whilst pretending to love America.
Exactly.i think they actually hate Jesus, too. All that "love one another" crap.
How long before they accuse us of Hating Christians when we condemn what they do?
They love getting votes from Christians (Catholics on abortion), but they do not see a need to actually perform what Christ asked Christian’s to do. They just like the name Christian.
They already do that. The vitriol I’ve received for expressing that I disliked Charlie Kirk’s message is stunning.
Of course we are all anti-Fascist and so we are "antifa". But it is so stupid to say that any of us are "pro-Hamas"!!
Stupidity seems to be a requirement for being part of the MAGA crowd.
Why are ICE agents not being arrested when they break the law in carrying out their supposed duties? They should be treated as anyone else who is accused of a crime, booked, mug shot( so much for those masks), hearing, bail…. Perhaps that would be a sobering experience for these bullies….
Yes! Governors have the power to enforce state law.
Look at who would have to arrest them.