On Friday, September 5, Trump lawyer Cleta Mitchell told Southern Baptist pastor and Newsmax host Tony Perkins that Trump may try to declare that “there is a threat to the national sovereignty of the United States" in order to claim “emergency powers to protect the federal elections going forward,” overriding the Constitution’s clear designation that states alone have control over elections.
Professor Richardson, tonight’s letter named the collapse in plain excruciating detsil: courts bent, troops in cities, rights stripped under the cover of “emergency.” For many readers this feels like something new. For Black America, it’s an echo. We’ve lived through institutions that did not protect us, that in fact turned on us.
The question now is not just what’s happening but how do we heal while it’s happening. We rebuilt before. We rebuilt with rituals when the buildings failed us…music that carried screams into hymns, love that outlasted chains, spirit that kept us human when policy said we weren’t. That’s the code we still carry, and it’s a code the whole country needs now.
I wrote about this through the lens of Vesta Williams’ Sweet, Sweet Love and Barack and Michelle Obama’s marriage not as nostalgia, but as proof that rituals of love are survival strategies. It’s called How We Heal When Institutions Fail. Here’s how we healed and here’s how you can too: https://www.xplisset.com/p/how-we-heal-when-institutions-fail?r=5z1bn1
Stephen Colbert said tonight, " No matter how many cities Donald Trump invades, the Jeffrey Epstein story just won't hang itself!" There is finally some hope for the survivors. Not his signature..really??!! If that's all he has as a defense....well, the noose tightens... And the cracks in this House of Mirrors widen...
Hello Michele2.. It is also DJT's Style of Drawing... Compare this Drawing with that of DJT's Drawings of NYC Buildings, and Bridges... The Epstein Birthday Book was also generated over to 20-Years ago, and has been sequestered as part pf Jeffrey Estein's Estate... It is Genuine, and not a Plant.
Yes...He is silent tonight... Lawrence O ' Donnell had his signature on a card from awhile back... A match... These survivors deserve justice, and not fear... Thanks for the info!
Thanks Michele2....The Epstein Files are Panicking DJT which is why DJT is Silent thus far tonite... DJT may be surrounded by Sycophants in DC, Mar-a-Lago, Fox News, and his Golf Clubs, but when DJT leaves these places, DJT is jeered at, and Disrespected... Remember Scotland?... Per People that know him, DJT can't stand being laughed at... Allegedly, DJT went into Politics only as a Branding Exercise, and because he likes the Pomp & Circumstance... DJT Craves Adulation... Have You Seen Today's Picture Of DJT?.... DJT is Collapsing, and is going to Go Full On Dictator To Hold Onto Power To Avoid Any Reckoning...
Hello Michel2... In Today's Picture, DJT looks like Sh*T, particularly his Hair.... His Face is Sunken... DJT will create a Crisis... Maybe Invade Chicago, and try to incite an Armed Insurrection to impose Martial Law... I Fear like many, that the 2026 Elections will be Tampered with, or Canceled...
Signs for today to carry, along with summary statements of offenses. Just like the summary letter of offenses to King George in 1776. “Yes it is a fact concealed that “you” elected a child molester ! Even vile, hardened convicts despise child molesters; Wtf are ‘you’ to elevate such a creature ? ‘These’ should be fodder for better signs ! Creative minds could do this more concisely perhaps. Work with this; Double down NOW.
"DJT is going . . .to Go Full on Dictator." That's a fact. He has supporters, particularly the Supreme Court. Our democratic process is hanging by a thread. Is there any chance that future elections will be fair? I have read here that Trump and Musk stole the last election, but I've not seen anything to prove that.
Richard, the Supreme Six are running roughshod over the Constitution and on the shadow docket. It is disgusting as the dissenting justices have pointed out. Our cleaners are coming this am and now they are fully exposed as to how they look, the fact that they speak Spanish, and where they work. We worry about them and also our lawn service, all of whom are the same as the cleaners. And here they are doing the work that most Americans do not want to do and working very hard. We also live in a diverse neighborhood.
“He’s a popular guy (musk) and he was very effective and he knows those computers better than anybody. All those computers, those vote counting computers and we ended up winning Pennsylvania in a landslide.”
Not even the MAGAs like Vance. He is soulless, lacking in any charisma or leadership qualities. Yes he is just as amoral as Trump, but he has none of Trump's "charm".
Apache, the folks at the Bulwark produced a video commentary on Donald's speech to some evangelical group at "The Museum of the Bible," where evangelical Hobby Lobby founder, David Green, has assembled religious detritus and numerous artifacts, either stolen or of questionable provenance.
Donald looked absolutely disheveled. His bouffant hairdo looked like birds had been pulling at it to steal strands for padding their nests. His eyes were sliding unfocused from slits in puffy flesh, as observed in dementia patients.
He is unraveling. No doubt, the looming revelations of his pedophilic past are accelerating his breakdown. Hopefully, his demise will quickly follow.
Signs for today to carry, along with summary statements of offenses. Just like the summary letter of offenses to King George in 1776. “Yes it is a fact concealed that “you” elected a child molester ! Even vile, hardened convicts despise child molesters; Wtf are ‘you’ to elevate such a creature ? ‘These’ should be fodder for better signs ! Creative minds could do this more concisely perhaps. Work with this; Double down NOW.
Did you see the picture of him putting a little blue pill in his mouth at the Open the other day? Of course we all know he takes medicine but MAGA wants you to believe that he’s so strong and healthy he doesn’t need it and promptly called it AI. Coincidentally, or not, WSJ published an article about a little blue pill many women were taking for anxiety. It’s propranolol and has been used in PTSD treatment also. The timing struck me as too perfect to be a coincidence.
The recent pictures are revealing. And one close-up in particular explains the orange make-up - it hides, or hid, the large age-freckles. If I were he, I don't know how I could face that state visit - with Melania, from whom he lives separated - to the King and Queen of England. And poor King Charles - that was only engineered by the British prime minister in one of those ridiculous placatory visits when it was thought Trump might have some influence over Putin. What an unbelievable mess!
Thank You Anne-Louise... Can You imagine DJT, well maybe not, without his Makeup, Girdle, Shoulder-Pads, Hair-Dye, and Comb-Over?.... Seems that the Inner-Rot is seeping to the Outside....
Rep. Ro Khanna, D CA, was on his show last night, in person, to thank him and his staff for having the survivors lawyer on in July who had told Lawrence the Epstein estate has the bday book and will turn it over if subpoenaed. Dems acted immediately. As always Lawrence gave credit to a staff who arranged the interview.
Signs for today to carry, along with summary statements of offenses. Just like the summary letter of offenses to King George in 1776. “Yes it is a fact concealed that “you” elected a child molester ! Even vile, hardened convicts despise child molesters; Wtf are ‘you’ to elevate such a creature ? ‘These’ should be fodder for better signs ! Creative minds could do this more concisely perhaps. Work with this; Double down NOW.
Well you don’t sue the Wall Street Journal for $10 billion unless you’re absolutely terrified they’re sitting on something truly horrendous.
I suggest it’s MONEY-LAUNDERING. With a side of child trafficking and rape. Follow the money. We must.. follow the money. It must be worth MUCH more to Donald than a measly $10 billion, since he always underbids on everything.
It was never about the price of eggs or ‘the economy, stupid.’ It was about the GRAFT. With him, it’s always about the payola, and — like Watergate — the subsequent cover-up.
Ron Wyden, ranking member of Finance is one of my Senators. Last week he had a Town Hall that I went to. He definitely said banks had been complicit, by not declaring what was going on. He has been thwarted , but he is persevering. He had lost 99% of his voice, as the day before RFKJr. was being questioned. Ron Wyden is an excellent Senator. If there is somebody who has dissent, he listens and then asks if he answered their question.If they say no, he tries again, and then gives that person the last word. When you have a legislator that has integrity, you can feel the energy light up the room.
Michele2, Ron is also one of my Senators and I like them both. He has certainly been following the money and he tried to get the committee chair to administer an oath to wormbrain. Yet when he posts something on Facebook there are several laugh emojis and negative comments....having no substance of course
On a side note, one of my friends has been trying to get the COVID shot and I think she will finally be successful this week. Another one, under 65, and going abroad, wanted the shot, but could not get it. She describes herself as feeling vulnerable. Our Nextdoor neighbors just had a round of it. I am glad that the three west coast states and Hawai'i are developing a health consortium.
I, too have Ron Wyden as my senator. I love his integrity, and his intentions. Merkley is great, and I don't think Val Hoyle has quite found her stride yet (I do miss Pete DeFazio), but I believe she'll do well for us.
Signs for today to carry, along with summary statements of offenses. Just like the summary letter of offenses to King George in 1776. “Yes it is a fact concealed that “you” elected a child molester ! Even vile, hardened convicts despise child molesters; Wtf are ‘you’ to elevate such a creature ? ‘These’ should be fodder for better signs ! Creative minds could do this more concisely perhaps. Work with this; Double down NOW.
Helping him win the 2016 election by enlisting underpaid Leningrad trolls to post jillions of social media chickenshit ads about Hillary’s yoga classes and “cackling” was a side benefit. The real story has always been about his money-laundering, payola and graft.
What does putin have on trump? He has the list of every single Russian ruble that trump has ever laundered. trumps business's are private and thus do not have to answer for the source of their funds.
Signs for today to carry, along with summary statements of offenses. Just like the summary letter of offenses to King George in 1776. “Yes it is a fact concealed that “you” elected a child molester ! Even vile, hardened convicts despise child molesters; Wtf are ‘you’ to elevate such a creature ? ‘These’ should be fodder for better signs ! Creative minds could do this more concisely perhaps. Work with this; Double down NOW.
There are some (so far nebulous) reports that the Epstein money laundering and the last Presidential election are tied together. New info keeps coming out, and I am pretty sure that we find that Trump did NOT win the last election. When it hits the fan, it is going to blow this bunch of Republicans right out of their smug little lives.
He has the courage of his non-convictions. "Not my style of drawing" - when of course, it is. I've just looked at the NYC skyline one. Not the slightest doubt. Just lie, and it will go away.
Signs for today to carry, along with summary statements of offenses. Just like the summary letter of offenses to King George in 1776. “Yes it is a fact concealed that “you” elected a child molester ! Even vile, hardened convicts despise child molesters; Wtf are ‘you’ to elevate such a creature ? ‘These’ should be fodder for better signs ! Creative minds could do this more concisely perhaps. Work with this; Double down NOW.
While we justifiably consider it lying, I wonder if 47 actually believes himself because right now he’s barely hanging on emotionally. Not that I care. I heard Dr Bandy X Lee interviewed by, of all people, Andy Borowitz just recently. I wonder when 47 is going to shatter.
I am assuming 47 is Donald Trump?! He is a narcissist, but if you add dementia to the mix, coupled with revenge fantasies and Emperor/Strongman delusions - what do you have??? A dystopian nightmare??!!## I am hoping 47 will shatter sooner than later... But behind the curtain waiting to come onstage is JD Vance who is cold as ice!!!
Michele2, there are now lots of memes that do not mention death star's name, but are hopeful that he is about to shed his mortal coils. Vance is awful, but he does not have the hold on the base that death star has. The cabal certainly knows how much death star is failing and they are working to accomplish as much as they can while he is still breathing. Personally, I believe that, unless he passes in public, they will try to hide it.
Signs for today to carry, along with summary statements of offenses. Just like the summary letter of offenses to King George in 1776. “Yes it is a fact concealed that “you” elected a child molester ! Even vile, hardened convicts despise child molesters; Wtf are ‘you’ to elevate such a creature ? ‘These’ should be fodder for better signs ! Creative minds could do this more concisely perhaps. Work with this; Double down NOW.
The WSJ and most people here seem to be convinced that Trump actually drew the letter. How can we be sure that Trump wrote the other letter with the mocked up check? I wonder what the WSJ thinks about that.
Actually it was on MSNBC that info was leaked to Ro Khanna regarding a subpoena to lawyers of Epstein estate. The congressional committee did that and the lawyers turned over the Birthday book , etc..
Yes, & Rupert Murdoch-WSJ, did his homework. Survivor's Counsel of Maxwell-Epstein victims have demanded Trump drop his pending lawsuit against The WSJ. The real Trial Judge can dismiss Trump's fraud.
WSJ knows how to use 'social' media Murdoch has posted three (3) uncontested confirming the "Donald" signature:
+ A letter to George Conway signed "Donald"
+ A letter to Bill Clinton signed "Donald"
Hmmmm 👁🗨 "Donald" is toast burnt toast.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Not Unrelated:
Per The WAPO's MOLLY HENNESSY, yesterday: "It's not just Trump. Red States are cracking down on their own Blue Cities" citing the Mississippi Legislature's "expanding the reach of the Capitol Police in Jackson" Mississippi.
In fact, Judges in the Capitol of the state are NOT elected anymore like the Judges in surrounding Hinds County, MS.
Per Molly, the Judges are now "chosen by the Republican Chief [injustice] of the Mississippi Supreme Court".
Molly lays out the stark facts:
Mississippi has a substitute, parallel, injustice system with a different docket, new equipment, more space:
JD Vance: "There is a no law, there's just power".
Sen (and wanna-be governor) Marsha Blackburn & two reps have proposed sending National Guard into Memphis and Nashville. The governor agrees. TN NG has already been sent to DC.
Here in California we are celebrating the 175th Anniversary since Statehood --- since joining the Union.
Governor Gavin Newsom will give his 'State of the State' address at the Capitol in Sacramento today.
Newsom's talk is vital for non-Californians as well. There is no doubt Gavin will deliver an Update on his 6/10/25 call titled: "Democracy at the Crossroads".
ICE is changing tactics, target & tropes in the 'Midway Blitz" --- you remember the WWWII Blitz? The Brits survived then prevailed.
If you are standing on the roadside "trying to flag a ride" -----better jump on the Democracy Train now.
Indeed it is. But term-limited KC Mayor Q has suggested that he might run against the most vulnerable of the Rethuglicans whose district is being pushed into KC in this insane redistricting project. I admit: I would love to see Cleaver retire and a younger, more vigorous, and less saving-my-ass style person run for his seat. At 80 he is hardly at the top of his game.
Signs for today to carry, along with summary statements of offenses. Just like the summary letter of offenses to King George in 1776. “Yes it is a fact concealed that “you” elected a child molester ! Even vile, hardened convicts despise child molesters; Wtf are ‘you’ to elevate such a creature ? ‘These’ should be fodder for better signs ! Creative minds could do this more concisely perhaps. Work with this; Double down NOW.
GA has also been subverting judicial elections for years now. Instead, the Republican judge is urged to retire before the end of his term (occasionally her term), so the Republican Governor appoints an interim Republican judge to fill the rest of the term. Then he invokes a special law they passed to delay the election for that seat for 2 whole years. That now gives the appointed judge the power of the incumbancy. Very seldom is an incumbant judge voted out. This is how GA has manipulated an entirely Republican State Supreme Court and mostly Republican lower courts even though judicial appointments are supposed to be filled by "non-partisan" elections. They was a time recently when a judicial candidate dared express a pro-choice opinion; he was attacked by Governor Brian Kemp for NOT pretending to be non- partisan. All while current judges allowed obviously unconstitutional 6 week abortion bans and pregnant women dying of sepsis and even a brain dead women forced for months to continue incubating a fetus that will have lifelong medical bills imposed on her relatives.
I've watched this same thing play out in my California County government. Republican Supervisor/Sheriff/whomever is urged to retire before his/her term is up, Board of Supervisors appoints the replacement who then gains the advantage of the incumbent and sails to victory in the next election.
That's how our majority Democratic County has Republicans in 4 of the 5 County Board of Supervisors seats. Ratf**ked again. We all need to adopt their playbook.
Signs for today to carry, along with summary statements of offenses. Just like the summary letter of offenses to King George in 1776. “Yes it is a fact concealed that “you” elected a child molester ! Even vile, hardened convicts despise child molesters; Wtf are ‘you’ to elevate such a creature ? ‘These’ should be fodder for better signs ! Creative minds could do this more concisely perhaps. Work with this; Double down NOW.
Signs for today to carry, along with summary statements of offenses. Just like the summary letter of offenses to King George in 1776. “Yes it is a fact concealed that “you” elected a child molester ! Even vile, hardened convicts despise child molesters; Wtf are ‘you’ to elevate such a creature ? ‘These’ should be fodder for better signs ! Creative minds could do this more concisely perhaps. Work with this; Double down NOW.
I find this format very confusing as well. My comment had to do the the authenticity of Epstein's "Birthday Book". Perhaps it is a forgery, but that seems unlikely. Among other things I would expect that the WSJ would be careful in vetting the provenance of the "card" before publishing it. They cannot be surprised that Trump is suing.
Some other platforms choose to label which comment (or commenter) belongs with which. It's not rocket science. Substack is minimalist to a point of awkwardness.
Watching it on YouTube lets you vary the speed from 0.25 to 2 times the normal Speed.
When I worked at high tech Tape Recorder company that built units to record all sorts of data and telemetry from spacecraft, submarines, including lower end machines used by the FBI and Accident investigators, I found a blind man had used the FBI type variable speed recorders (that kept the speech frequencies and tone the same despite the changes in tape speed). He could listen and understand the speech at 3 times the normal speed, while I do pretty well at playing Heather's audio at the 2x max rate on YouTube.
Accident investigators typically used the much lower speeds to figure out the most difficult to understand speech and other noises from aircraft black boxes following crashes.
Robert Reich's works better for me at 0.25 speed, the slowest YouTube allows.
I recently went to an Illustration Institute event on Peaks Island where children's book illustrators/authors like Chris Van Dusen (who's Special Exhibit "Upon That Isle in Maine: The Story & Works of Chris Van Dusen" we had just visited at the Main Maritime Museum), were challenged to draw offs between two illustrators given a challenge like drawing a tipsy turtle riding a bicycle. Great fun seeing how quickly they could conjure up a drawing on the subject.
If I had to guess, I'd think Robert Reich's drawing speed in the video is sped up about 16 times normal but still shows a hidden talent of his.
Signs for today to carry, along with summary statements of offenses. Just like the summary letter of offenses to King George in 1776. “Yes it is a fact concealed that “you” elected a child molester ! Even vile, hardened convicts despise child molesters; Wtf are ‘you’ to elevate such a creature ? ‘These’ should be fodder for better signs ! Creative minds could do this more concisely perhaps. Work with this; Double down NOW.
I do have to admit he does better than me, though. Back in 2017, Kato Kaelin of all people stopped by our Freedom Fridays street corner protest (Redlands Blvd and Orange St), in Redlands, California doing a sort of man on the street interviews to be shown at a new Craft brewery promotion. With the camera on me and my poorly illustrated protest sign, said that looks like a 4th grader did the artwork. I assured him we had a 4th grader granddaughter in Maine who did much better me.
Signs for today to carry, along with summary statements of offenses. Just like the summary letter of offenses to King George in 1776. “Yes it is a fact concealed that “you” elected a child molester ! Even vile, hardened convicts despise child molesters; Wtf are ‘you’ to elevate such a creature ? ‘These’ should be fodder for better signs ! Creative minds could do this more concisely perhaps. Work with this; Double down NOW.
We need to stay loud and clear about all these attempts to subvert the upcoming midterms, special elections this year and all elections by this regime. They know full well that it is the only way they get their way. We need to speak loudly, plainly and constantly about all the ways of voter suppression is being pushed in every state. The latest of course the redrawing of maps. We must retake congress and begin the work of impeachment, (POTUS and SCOTUS) and indictments for complicity in his illegal actions for which the regime does not have immunity. Democracy is worth the fight and it must be constantly checked and improved as it has for the past 249 years. Never been perfect, but still much better than fascism. We must do what we individually can to keep this fight up for it is the masses of WE THE PEOPLE that they fear the most and have the power. Thank you HCR for both scaring us and giving us strength to use what ever power we have to fight these atrocities.
Not "at this time", Robert Gray, but this bunch is sending brown people to concentration camps "at this time". This bunch has their sights on LBGTQ people under the guise of their hypocritical "christianity", so your ethnicity or religious belief....or political leanings may be next. Wake up.
Michele2, I’m truly feelin that right there. Survivors need daylight and receipts, not just punchlines. Heather’s letter tonight mapped the power grabs and why the courts feel thin. That’s exactly why I wrote the comment and linked piece above: while accountability grinds forward, we still have to keep people human. Black America kept doing that with ritual when buildings failed us and we did it with music, community, spirit and it works because it keeps the soul from collapsing.
So yes to cases and consequences. And yes to the healing work we can do tonight.
Asking for decency from Thomas and Alito is about the same as asking the rich and powerful not to rape underage girls, or asking Donald not to side with dictators and rapists, not to turn America into his private police state (as Heather details in hers today).
It is. And it used to be something the GOP was especially fond of lording over the Dems, particularly big city Dems. I think JD Vance has successfully scuppered that.
Signs for today to carry, along with summary statements of offenses. Just like the summary letter of offenses to King George in 1776. “Yes it is a fact concealed that “you” elected a child molester ! Even vile, hardened convicts despise child molesters; Wtf are ‘you’ to elevate such a creature ? ‘These’ should be fodder for better signs ! Creative minds could do this more concisely perhaps. Work with this; Double down NOW.
Maybe when there is a chance of GETTING a recusal? I think the chances that Alito or Thomas would recuse is approaching 0. They have no fear of anything and refusing to recuse is never going to be punished. So why bother?
I never said I was a lawyer. I have told you this before so you seem to have a short-term memory issue.
I have a law degree, but after law school, I opened a software business, deciding to not bother with the bar exam. This was all back in 1977.
Sorry you have to make nasty comments, it is something I have noticed you do (at least to me) quite often without any real provocation. It doesn't show much in the way of treating people well.
Maybe I could say its NOT hard to believe YOU are a lawyer, given how you treat people. That is ONE of the reasons I chose to not practice.
Other than the obvious lie when TFG denied this even existed. Yet another attempt to cover-up his ugly relationship with his Pedo-Pal, and his own innuendoes about the nature of that relationship.
Still nothing new. Just curious: What do you really think will be exposed vis a vis Trump if every last word of every last Epstein doc is revealed un-redacted? As opposed to what you are wishing for. We know he's a congenital lier, that train has left the station.
Yes, and the whole thing would have disappeared in the next news cycle if Trump would have just laughed it off and moved on. After all, his base had no problems voting for a degenerate who bragged about sexually assaulting women by grabbing them by the pu$$y without consent.
Agreed. His first instinct seems to be to push back and / or deny. This does not serve him well. As for his base, IMHO, it's not so much they like him but they abhorred the prospect of Prez Kamala more
THIS they abhorred about "the prospect of Prez Kamala?"
Intelligence; experience; educated; first-hand knowledge of how the government actually works; former Vice President of the United States with worldwide experience; Senator; Attorney General of California; District Attorney of San Francisco; educated; professional; grace under pressure; sense of humor; and worked hard to better people's lives.
Their votes for a two-bit con man; criminal; uneducated; cruel, sorry excuse for a human being; says a lot about them. And nothing about former Vice President Kamala Harris.
For all that glowing resume, you didn't share that she didn't even make it to the first primary when she ran for Prez. You didn't share that the only reason she became VP is because Joe wanted a woman of color, sidelining several more qualified candidates. You didn't share that she blew off the only task of any import that she was assigned as VP, to make an attempt to solve the border. You didn't share that Harris made herself a laughing stock around the world for her proclivity to speak nonsense word salads when under the immense pressure of making a simple speech or interview response. You didn't share that even tho Joe screwed up royally in almost everything he did she could think of nothing she would do different. You didn't share that your two-bit con actually was prez for four years and knows a hell of a lot more about the job and world politics than Harris. Please tell me you were kidding.
Only when he LAID himself down to sleep. But he continued to LIE through his teeth even when dreaming. This lesson is taken from Trump's Big Grammatical Book of Lies and Lays- (which could be appropriately misconstrued) -published in the USSR free in exchange for any loose drones that might be LYING around...Thank you for your attention to this matter!
The cracks are so wide child trafficking victims can fall right through them.
Note who initiated this latest ‘secret conversation’:
“We have certain things in common, Jeffrey.
“Yes we do, come to think of it.”
(I hope to God somebody at The Lincoln Project and the DNC are smart enough to be mass producing the t-shirts, billboards, YouTube ads — complete with vomit emojis 🤮🤮🤮 at the bottom ‘mimicking human anatomy.’)
You don’t sue the Wall Street Journal for $10 billion unless you are terrified something truly awful is coming out. With the Rancid Button Mushroon, I suspect it’s…MONEY-LAUNDERING — with a touch of child molestation on the side. The New York Times yesterday ran a long article detailing the bizarre relationship had with JP Morgan for years.
Follow the money. The girls are are a sordid distraction to hide even filthier crimes.
I am very disappointed with Lachlan being anointed as successor to Rupert Murdoch. I wonder what the other claimants were promised if they yielded. I wonder what possessed them to yield.
Musk joined Tesla as a big bucks investor, spread lies about the CEO, and took over the company. The ex CEO sued and won an anti-defamation clause against Musk, which Musk violates regularly. The ex CEO says he can't afford to continue to battle with "the richest man in the world".
Signs for today to carry, along with summary statements of offenses. Just like the summary letter of offenses to King George in 1776. “Yes it is a fact concealed that “you” elected a child molester ! Even vile, hardened convicts despise child molesters; Wtf are ‘you’ to elevate such a creature ? ‘These’ should be fodder for better signs ! Creative minds could do this more concisely perhaps. Work with this; Double down NOW.
I am wondering if MAGAs in Congress will ignore the evidence from the Epstein Estate, and pretend that Trump did not do anything, assuming that their constituents will believe any old lie that they tell, or are going to want to distance themselves if this seems like a ship Trump is going down with.
You’re going to have one hell of a job, because the institutions are failing completely: there won’t be any (real) elections anymore in America. There’s simply no way that the Rethuglicans are ever going to cede power peacefully: they’ll rather shoot millions of citizens before ever allowing the Democrats to rule again.
Dutch Mike, I hear the fear in this. And you’re right that institutions are staggering. As a retired cop, I’ve seen systems bend and break up close. I’ve also seen people steady each other in the middle of that collapse. We’ve been here before no maybe not with tanks and tribunals, but with states that denied rights, with courts that looked the other way, with power that refused to cede peacefully. And still, people found a way through.
That’s the part I hold on to. The work ahead isn’t just about buildings and ballots. It’s about rituals that keep us human when the ground shakes. Love, community, spirit. That’s what kept Black America alive when nothing else would. And it’s what can keep all of us alive now.
We’re going to get through this. Not because the system is strong, but because we are.
This sentiment resonates so strongly with me - (as a 70+ yo white guy) I’ve always felt Black America was America’s secret sauce… the part of us that can never forget what really matters
Mark, man thank you for saying that quiet part out loud. Black America has always carried the memory of what really matters which is family, music, spirit even when the nation tried to forget. That’s the “secret sauce” you named, and it’s why we’re still here.
What you just wrote is the bridge I hope more people will just let go and walk across: recognizing that the rituals we built to survive aren’t just ours, they’re gifts to the whole country.
Another part of the secret sauce is "In the old brain, y'know, the language that was spoken before God", those ways of knowing without knowing how we know. An elder black man told me that after I sat at his drum set and could play when I never had played before. Ancestral and cellular memories, similar to how we listen to Nature.
Indeed. Very Grateful for the disciplined courage of Kamala Harris, Letitia James, Ketanji Jackson, Stacy Abrams, AOC, and SO many more rapidly rising bold and well educated leaders...
Sometimes grateful and sometimes not, for the less disciplined yet legitimate outrage of others who sometimes also seem performance-, 'likes'-, & media-focused. I expect that T and Fox often make better political mileage on a number of those contributions than they make themselves; the jury may still be out on the net effect.
My sense is that Martin, Malcolm, Mandela, and Mahatma's not-secret-but-difficult-to-replicate ingredient was a principled, very STRONG, and coherent self-discipline. And that THAT adherence to consistent principle under severe duress, was perhaps the MOST politically effective element of their minority/Black heritage. (Applies to Dalai Lama as well.)
An instant smack-down that goes viral among one's followers will never compare in durable effect with the 'Letter from Birmingham Jail' - or a conviction of DJT for rape by a jury of his peers, his conviction on corruption & fraud, an upheld stay of an illegal executive order, or his removal from power.
Eyes on the Prize. History predicts our means and ends will be consistent.
I've been saying since this horror began that now white America is going to get to feel and live like Black Americans have had to for the last couple hundred years.
Karen, you done named the quiet part out loud. For a long time in this country, repression was something that happened to those people over there. Black America carried it while the wider nation told itself “that could never happen to us.”
This thing about fascism is it doesn’t stay in one lane. It starts with targets on the margins, then grows until it’s everybody. What used to be “their problem” becomes the air we all breathe. That’s what I mean when I say fascism is just “everybodism.”
The lesson isn’t just fear. It’s recognition. If we can admit Black America has been living this reality for centuries, then we don’t have to reinvent the playbook. The survival code already exists: rituals, music, community, spirit. That’s the knowledge base this whole damn country needs NOW.
I don't think white Americans will respond to oppression with rituals. Just sayin'.
The highest judiciary is captured. What has me surprised is the deafening silence of the military. The r&f will do as it's told. But who knew that the leaders were such sleeping dogs?
I think white Americans will need rituals to stand firm. It is what is needed after a fight, loss, or whatever. You surround yourself with like-minded people and help each other to survive. We can and must learn what the Black people have shown us to do to survive.
Too many years without the draft. We opposed the draft, we got got rid of it, and now all the folks who might have been in the military and held it firm against corrosion from within are not there.
I had felt the same, and perhaps there persists a 'deep American state' in the military that is strategically biding its time. But Yeah, the military was decapitated 'legally'.
Barely got a headline - perhaps because he first threatened the press, ivory towers, and legal institutions with financial and political ruin and they believed, and 'obeyed in advance'. Big legal firms folded. Networks folded. Ivy league schools folded. Congressmen folded long ago. Some Judges capitulated, or some discovered that power was more enticing to them than principle. Some felt they had to protect their families...
Amen, Xplisset. I agree with Mark Shields: at least Black people acknowledge the importance of love, community, spirit - and rituals. "Modern" Western (and dare I say, mainly white) society has almost completely done away with all of that in favour of efficiency, productivity and reductionist-materialistic science. Look at how 'geniuses' and 'modern thinkers' like Elon Musk, Peter Thiel and Richard Dawkins embrace the mechanical world view, seeing humans as nothing more than lifeless, soulless molecular machines. "Pah, who needs these old-fashioned superstitions - we're modern now!" Empathy is a bug in the 'human code', etc etc.
But it's exactly these things that make us human. It's exactly these things that REALLY matter. Take them away, and see how inhumane society gets - the proof is all around now...
The White Wonder bread is quite a good description, Ally. The idea of reductionism is to reduce the whole to parts, and in extension, to the most important/useful part - at least, that's the thought. In reality, just one part is boring, even unhealthy, and no part exists alone in a vacuum. In that sense, reductionism is more a weird thought experiment than actually grounded in reality. But it's still the dominant way of thinking in much of "modern" western science, especially popular science.
Thank you for your strong optimism. Your words about the spirit that kept Black America alive resonate with me. When we get discouraged, we need to remember their courage.
Signs for today to carry, along with summary statements of offenses. Just like the summary letter of offenses to King George in 1776. “Yes it is a fact concealed that “you” elected a child molester ! Even vile, hardened convicts despise child molesters; Wtf are ‘you’ to elevate such a creature ? ‘These’ should be fodder for better signs ! Creative minds could do this more concisely perhaps. Work with this; Double down NOW.
I try to remind myself of all the events in history, difficult times that our ancestors nevertheless managed to survive. But it's getting really hard to be strong...
There're no way through Xplisset, at least any way that would not lead to repression by this regime that's been planting the seeds for that since day one.
Look Ricardo, I hear ya. Some regimes make “there’s no way through” feel like gravity and that’s part of the repression. As a retired cop, I’ve watched crackdowns up close. The truth is ugly: there’s a cost either way. But “no way through” just isn’ta strategy.
Our elders made it through courts that looked the other way and officers who didn’t. They ran two tracks at once. Soul first with rituals that kept people human when the ground shook. And the boring civic grind in daylight, those numbers, witnesses, records, mutual aid, defense funds, election-protection shifts, court dates on calendars, names and badge numbers written down. That mix doesn’t stop repression overnight, but it blunts it, documents it, and tends to outlast it.
Hey look I’m not selling ease. I’m saying we build what we can’t be denied: circles that meet weekly, neighbors who know each other’s kids, kitchens that stay open, a text chain when someone’s in trouble, songs that keep breath moving. We love out loud and we organize in daylight. That’s the way through. It's got a price but it's also got a future.
Im not saying there isn't any way, although we still need to find one, I'm just saying that any way would lead to repression and it would be probably bloody. Take it as warning not a call to just sit and watch. The regime will do anything abd everything to stay in power. We should act to win since we'll have just one chance.
From Dr. Richardson herself. She has said this is not true. In fact she dislikes people claiming this. There are great minds out there saying the exact opposite of what you are saying. Why don't you read up on them? Listen to Dr. Richardson's podcasts?
I believe you might feel much better about things.
"Dr. Richardson Podcast with Joyce White Vance
We don’t want to make him seem greater than he is…We should be out there talking about James Madison, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham…because those principles have lasted… Nazism didn’t work out so well. We really need to push on our values because …they were proven to work for 250 years.
Authoritarians can’t take root when people are happy. Joy really does matter.
We stopped working for Democracy which is really about agency. Democracy by definition is never fixed. It is never finished. Given the opportunity to create something new. There is extraordinary joy in creation. It is exciting to be apart of it.
This is going to be a long fight. That doesn’t mean there won’t be victories along the way.
They are from Dr. Richardson's podcast with Joyce Vance White. It is amazing to me that in the darkest times these amazing minds come to help us through. These brilliant people are so capable of parsing the seriousness of our situation with a reality-based refusal to give in.
I refuse to listen to doom stuff. I stopped all social media and getting too involved in forums like these. My mind feels a lot more focused on solutions.
Barbara, thanks for your comment. At times, I have to break away from making phone calls to Congress--even though I know how important it is--because, not joking here, it raises my blood pressure and makes me physically ill. I've always been a person who turns away from arguments, even if I can prove I am right. I get so upset by what is happening that I find myself yelling at the aide answering the phone. I end up shaky and my day is ruined. Emails are better--for those I can email. And then I feel guilty that I am not doing enough.
Signs for today to carry, along with summary statements of offenses. Just like the summary letter of offenses to King George in 1776. “Yes it is a fact concealed that “you” elected a child molester ! Even vile, hardened convicts despise child molesters; Wtf are ‘you’ to elevate such a creature ? ‘These’ should be fodder for better signs ! Creative minds could do this more concisely perhaps. Work with this; Double down NOW.
Barbara, And out of the ashes a greater nation will emerge. Trump's "Golden Age" will destroy our country and end democracy. The collapse of the economy, like the Great Depression, will set a new course for our government, like FDR's New Deal program to save the economy, Democratic leaders will undo the more than 40 years of republican policies to destroy America.
To accomplish this great task the Constitution will have to be restored to the original intent of the founding fathers.
The Supreme Court will have to be reorganized so that it no longer exists to protect the ultra wealthy. To accomplish this, laws will be passed that takes the money out of politics. It will make bribing politicians illegal again. It will outlaw suppression and gerrymandering of registered voters. An make decisions about women's health between her and her doctor, not some politician.
Taxation laws will be passed to make the ultra-wealthy pay their fair share. The money generated from this will help solve problems that have been facing society.
It would include programs to reduce homelessness, drug addiction, and poverty. Also provide money to improve education, mental health, universal healthcare, and paid tuition for nurses, doctors, teachers, and social workers. The people running the government's main goal should be to improve the quality of life for its citizens.
This is the hope for our future. trump will lead us to the abyss, but the aftermath will be a restoration of values and a new course for our nation that will truly lead us into a " Golden Age" for the American people.
Listen to Dr. Richardson's podcast with Joyce Vance White. Dr. Richardson talks about the facts of how a Democracy works. It simply doesn't include a whole scale end such as you suggest. As to the golden age? You are describing the Biden Administration exactly. Only. And only when we end the corporate, complicit media dishing out a toxic stew of lies and disinformation will people even begin to know who and what they are voting on. And only when Citizens United is overturned will we begin to have real political candidates not bought and sold.
That is the GOP plan, Dutch Mike, and without the majority of citizens don't wake up now and take to the streets, our chances to rescue our democracy are slim. The GOP is the fascist party.
Panicked? Fearful? Might be. But lesson one in the art of war is: never underestimate your enemy. You think the MAGA regime has gone low? You ain't seen nothin' yet: they will go lower - much, much lower. You have to be ready when ICE officers start harassing people at the ballot boxes. You have to be ready when they start beating people who vote for Democrats. You have to be ready when they start arresting and abducting Democratic candidates. You may protest against that, yes. But then you also have to be ready when (not if) Trump declares another 'emergency' and orders the military to shoot at these "traitors" and "rioters". That will give protests a completely different meaning.
I read your essay (gut-level poem?) earlier today and it still on my mind. You write of love that is defiant, resilient, aware and courageous. What the world (so) needs now. Thank you.
I loved it too. As a young, white, college student who followed Dr. King and John Lewis' teachings, they spoke for all. We saw our friends pulled to Vietnam and clung to music, art, and poetry for warmth.
I've been listening and learning, and one thing I do know is, without Black Americans' efforts to show the way, we'd have been "here" a long time ago. We need to hang on to what is *right*, what is *true*, and just keep at it, every day. Thank you for your mercy. I'm ashamed America let you down for so long. We must do better!
''If you need Nazis to explain your plan, you might want to rethink your plan.''
Funny thing about politicians: when they say “emergency,” what they really mean is “I want more power, and I want it now.” Donald Trump is the latest to trot out that tired line. He’s hinting he could declare some vague “threat to national sovereignty” so he can run our elections himself. That’s not patriotism. That’s a toddler grabbing the TV remote and calling it leadership.
The Constitution says states run elections. Period. No asterisk. No “unless the president feels cranky.” Yet Trump and his cheerleaders think if they yell “emergency” loud enough, the rest of us will just hand him the keys.
I’ve seen better scams from guys selling used cars with the odometer rolled back. At least they throw in free floor mats.
And the highbrow crowd justifies it with Carl Schmitt, the Nazi theorist who said law is just power. If you need Nazis to explain your plan, you might want to rethink your plan.
Real emergencies unite a country. Fake ones divide it and make us stupid. If we fall for this “emergency powers” routine, then maybe the emergency is us.
I am seriously asking people commenting to watch Dr. Richardson's Podcasts. Remember this! The Letters from an American are a historical accounting of the events in America today. Her podcasts are the other side of what is happening. It is an on the ground look at things. Here are my notes from her discussion with Joyce Vance.
Dr. Richardson Podcast with Joyce White Vance
We don’t want to make him seem greater than he is…We should be out there talking about James Madison, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham…because those principles have lasted… Nazism didn’t work out so well. We really need to push on our values because …they were proven to work for 250 years.
Authoritarians can’t take root when people are happy. Joy really does matter.
We stopped working for Democracy which is really about agency. Democracy by definition is never fixed. It is never finished. Given the opportunity to create something new. There is extraordinary joy in creation. It is exciting to be a part of it.
This is going to be a long fight. That doesn’t mean there won’t be victories along the way.
Listen, white people, including myself (and I am not proud of this), did not pay enough attention to the brutality the Black population continued to receive until…George Floyd! Why? Because we needed proof and boy, did we get it! Bless the young woman and several others who took the infamous video of the corrupt cop literally murdering Mr. Floyd. White people finally woke up because of social media.
We have always tried to stand arm-in-arm with the Black community but we never did enough. Germans turned their head when gypsies, gays, and Jews were rounded up. We know their fate. I personally know because my own grandparents were gassed and other relatives were put in ovens. I think there is a closer alliance between all races and these bastards in charge underestimated the power of WE THE PEOPLE.
Bless you for this crucial reminder. I'm white, but for years I sang in a local choir that focused on the slave songs, "spirituals." These days I sing them for solace, inspiration, and the strength to keep going.
Signs for today to carry, along with summary statements of offenses. Just like the summary letter of offenses to King George in 1776. “Yes it is a fact concealed that “you” elected a child molester ! Even vile, hardened convicts despise child molesters; Wtf are ‘you’ to elevate such a creature ? ‘These’ should be fodder for better signs ! Creative minds could do this more concisely perhaps. Work with this; Double down NOW.
I have always been astonished at how African American have not only held on to their humanity, but also excelled in self expression across a variety of fields. Of course the effects of racism, up to and including lynchings, rapes, and concerted attempts to prevent people of color to vote or otherwise claim their rights under the law. I think it's time and past time for us to expand the dialogue between them and the rest of us. Because we're all being denied our rights now, and who know but that killings, incarceration and other fascist actions are just over the horizon. More, please.
African-Americans are long lost term by the way… unless you want to call Americans, Italian Americans, Irish Americans, Chinese Americans, Japanese Americans, Jewish Americans, Irish Americans. Play live your life on the 20% for you OK?
Thank you Xplisset for your voice and powerful words. Such a necessary reminder. What you’ve written reframes survival itself as an act of love, creativity, and spirit, a wisdom born from generations who endured when the systems around them collapsed. It strikes me that these rituals of resilience are not just history but blueprints for today, ways of holding on to our humanity and building forward even in the face of cruelty. Thank you for sharing this, it feels like a lifeline and a call to remember what truly sustains us.
Xplisset, my primary form of personal expression is through graphics and text, but when I am moved, it is always through music. As I read your comment, strains of Dionne Warwick's "What the World Needs Now" came to mind. I had always heard that song as a sweet, wistful wish. But in the context of today's current events, it seems like more of an anthem of defiance and healing.
Apparently, Ms. Warwick has recently released a new video interpretation that shows the song in just that way.
Thank you, Sir, for a hopeful message in the face of despair. May we all learn from the grace in the face of oppression practiced by our African American kin.
Researchers trace “Kumbaya” (meaning “come by here”) back at least to 1926, when the first known recording was made by folklorist Robert Winslow Gordon in Georgia, featuring a Gullah man named H. Wylie singing the song in his native dialect[wikipedia +2]. Early written versions were also collected around this time, demonstrating its presence in both Gullah and broader African American communities[wikipedia +2].
Authentic Roots and Spread
The song was originally a prayerful appeal to God for comfort and support: “Someone’s praying, Lord, kumbaya,” or “Someone’s in trouble, Lord, kumbaya”[wikipedia +2]. It likely originated as part of the oral spiritual tradition of enslaved Black Americans, then spread through different Southern states, eventually making its way into folk revival repertoires and summer camp traditions in the mid-20th century.
Democracy is dying Lord, Come By Here — Oh, Lord, Come By Here. 😢
Thank you, sir, for your lighting what has become another temporary darkness. The hope of our origins (the pilgrims), the test of the Civil War and the endurance of the oppressed is a light for all of us.
Your Comment dramatizes the incredible situation we’re in — if we can abuse a large national minority like this, for so long & so badly, well, now we are doing same to the remainder, our majority — supine Legislative Branch, corrupt Judicial Branch, a Dictator in the White House — it’s a disheartening picture. We must begin at the top, I guess — Trump must go — but then we must reform the Court & the Congress & more… The structure still can be made to work, I believe, but we must use it better.
This is so disgusting. Republicans could stop this, but are cowards. If the Senate Democrats fold on funding the government, we may be doomed. With the capitulation of the Supreme Court, the ball is back in the Senate. We now know how cruel and incompetent the Trump administration really is. There are no excuses to keep it going.
Multiple sources and multiple voices (not just Heather, not only Joyce Vance) keep affirming the obvious: this regime is hanging by a thread of Damocles. Chaos lurks behind its every attempt to enforce its bizarre rules and orders. These people are not strong — they are pathetically, and obviously, weak.
So many here have convinced themselves that all is lost, like Bette Midler as Winifred Sanderson in Hocus Pocus, wailing: “we are doomed, we are DOOMED….”
Man up! Woman up! Find your “sticking place” to paraphrase Shakespeare. There is so much that must be done. There are multiple legal proceedings which must be adjudicated and money to do that doesn’t grow on trees. Protests that must happen to showcase active non-compliance (not just grumbling). Articulate voices and ascendant political stars that must be supported (not put through purity tests). Republican creeps and critters who must be shamed at town halls. Poll watchers that must be trained and engaged, churches and places of worship to enlist in the struggle…
So many tasks. So little time to do them. None of us can predict either the near or distant future. So let’s get busy and stop acting like a campy witch in drag woken up from the 16th century!
Signs for today to carry, along with summary statements of offenses. Just like the summary letter of offenses to King George in 1776. “Yes it is a fact concealed that “you” elected a child molester ! Even vile, hardened convicts despise child molesters; Wtf are ‘you’ to elevate such a creature ? ‘These’ should be fodder for better signs ! Creative minds could do this more concisely perhaps. Work with this; Double down NOW.
I don't believe that "many here have given up hope".
We are sounding the alarm and right now is the time the GOP (fascist party) is most dangerous. They are going to keep pushing the coup, and they will use violence. Trust right-wingers at your own risk.
At this point, I can only assume that Republicans don’t want to stop this. In a world with “no laws, just power,” it seems that they are assuming that they will share in the power (and wealth). Especially the ones, as Trump said at his new Rose Garden “Club”, “I don’t have to call at 4 AM”. The same with the majority of the Supreme Court, whose unexplained rulings seem to indicate that they no longer care about laws— just power.
I fear that even more than cowardice, anti-republic "Republicans" bought into "winning" is the only thing; total domination, no matter the cost. Like a deadly bout of "road rage", total disaster in the service of ego.
JL, speaking of anti- republic Republicans, who IS Laura Loomer and why does her opinion count so much with Trump and his cronies-in-crime? She seems to have a lot of influence. I know WHO she is, but WHY she is, is my question.
She serves the same purpose in this Administration as Jeffrey Epstein did for JP Morgan for YEARS. She’s a FRAUD. In his case, a money-laundering child trafficker and rapist. In hers, a mysterious go-between connecting the ultra-loony, looney-tunes crowd with the White House.
She has no credentials. She has no expertise. She has no qualifications. She has no legal standing. She serves as a Shit-Whisperer at the pleasure of His Diapered Bottom. She tells him how magnificent he is, how adored he is by his cult. How svelte. How brilliant. How charming. Then rushes to the conspiracy whackos whispering, “see? see? Donald really gets us, he really does!” She orchestrates the alternate universe of poo they all like to wallow in.
Enough to make a sane person want to projectile vomit. And Republicans go right along with it. 🤮🤮🤮
Since she seems to have no personal credentials as a strategist, but thrives as a shuttle communicator in untraceable 1-on-1 meetings, one could wonder what country’s intelligence agencies she might serve as a conduit for in the age of electronic communication. . .
The fact that she has "no personal credentials" is in line with all of Trump's administration. "Untraceable one-on-one meetings" seem to defy the "transparency" lie that Karoine and others spew.
J L, I stopped wondering why the "evangelicals " are not demanding total revelation of anything related to the Epstein /trump scandal since they "hold the high moral ground". Maybe this hypocrites had reached a conclusion and decided to be complicit. If honest, they can make a huge difference.
I have encountered religious people who seem to hold a high moral ground, have courage in their convictions, and keep an open heart. I really want to hear more from them in this crisis. Evangelicals who support Trump have lost the plot, and any moral authority.
U.S. evangelicals have developed a mythical origin story borrowed from the ancient Israelis of the Hebrew Scriptures (aka Old Testament). This myth describes evangelicals as the downtrodden persecuted minority, when in fact, they've maintained undue influence on U.S. culture and government since its inception. Every evangelical carries an unspoken burden of resentment and grievance that non-believers hate them.
Evangelicals have misread and misinterpreted the biblical book of The Revelation as a book of prophecy, which it is not. (It was a coded commentary on the Roman occupation.) Through this misinterpretation of The Revelation, evangelicals believe that their long-time persecution will be broken and they will finally rule the world with Jesus.
They are so desperate for this flipping of the script, that they have for decades read meaning into current events as portents that "The End Times" are about to unfold. Of course, these predictions always fizzle, but that doesn't stop evangelicals from continuing to find apocalyptic meanings in the daily news.
Donald's political advisors have captured evangelicals' imaginations, and in a magnificent con, he has promised them he will make their wishes come true. Evangelicals are so desperate for this power and control, they are willing to overlook Donald's depravity, comparing him to the corrupt kings of the Old Testament who, in spite of their depravity, "fulfilled God's plans."
With all the gold cross hanging on the necks of the evil MAGA women in power, it’s hard to know what to think of the ordinary people I see every day with their little gold crosses too. Am I noticing them more now or are there really more of them? Is it “code” for their fellow MAGAts??
Don't assume that about the crosses. In my daughter's evangelical church, wearing a cross is an idolitry symbol and is discouraged if not outright forbidden. When we've been in her church, to this Catholic, it doesn't feel like a church at all. No altar, no statues, no cross, no stained glass. They do have an indoor pond to baptize in though.
At this point, I can only assume that Republicans don’t want to stop this. In a world with “no laws, just power,” it seems that they are assuming that they will share in the power (and wealth). Especially the ones, as Trump said at his new Rose Garden “Club”, “I don’t have to call at 4 AM”. The same with the majority of the Supreme Court, whose unexplained rulings seem to indicate that they no longer care about laws— just power.
ALWAYS remind them daily. I keep writing mine everyday reminding them this is their problem and they could solve it just by honoring their Oath of Office.
Agreed, but the Trump administration will continue to defund any program they don’t like and Republicans will allow it. Shutting down the federal government may trigger the sort of national emergency MAGA wants in order to create the dictatorship they’ve been planning for, but it’s likely they’ll go there anyway. Democrats may have hoped the mid-term elections would save us, but it is likely we saw our last somewhat free and fair election just last November.
"If the Senate Democrats fold on funding the government, we may be doomed."
This was Ezra Klein the other day: "...the bill that passed back in March funding the government runs out at the end of this month. And so we’re facing the question again: Should Senate Democrats partner with Senate Republicans to fund this government?
Republicans could be cowards, or they could all be sexual deviants, members of a club, who really don’t see anything wrong with what has been divulged. Or, both.
The Republicans and the fat cats and the “Heritage Society” types mean to institute one party rule in this country,and they mean for it to be permanent. They do not care that half of the population never wanted any of Trump’s megalomaniacal foray into what should be a serious undertaking of representing the US and its people. Why and how the Republican Party became a collection of crackpots and chancers is a question that will take historians a generation to decipher. History will not be kind to any of these cowardly politicians.
Republicans, cowards? That is only part of it. They and the religious right are active architects of this undermining of our democracy. They actually believe that they are the superior beings who are entitled to rule those of us who are not worthy .Democracy for all is just a scheme/ scam to take from the worthy and give to us moochers. And they have God on their side
Signs for today to carry, along with summary statements of offenses. Just like the summary letter of offenses to King George in 1776. “Yes it is a fact concealed that “you” elected a child molester ! Even vile, hardened convicts despise child molesters; Wtf are ‘you’ to elevate such a creature ? ‘These’ should be fodder for better signs ! Creative minds could do this more concisely perhaps. Work with this; Double down NOW.
Signs for today to carry, along with summary statements of offenses. Just like the summary letter of offenses to King George in 1776. “Yes it is a fact concealed that “you” elected a child molester ! Even vile, hardened convicts despise child molesters; Wtf are ‘you’ to elevate such a creature ? ‘These’ should be fodder for better signs ! Creative minds could do this more concisely perhaps. Work with this; Double down NOW.
JD Vance said, "I don’t give a sh*t what you call it.” To dally just briefly for Vance's instruction: Killing citizens of another nation who are civilians without due process is not just called a war crime. It is a war crime. Vance apparently also doesn't give a shi*t that he's a war criminal for supporting this.
I can't help but wonder, IF all the MAGA dreams came to pass, would they then toss Thiel in a camp or murder him? He's gay. They can't change his sexual orientation. He is a billionaire, which FOR NOW seems to excuse him--but what stops them from taking all his money away?
When jd said,"I don't give a shit what you call it" told me that we are in a real war in this country. This is massively different than when our democracy was threatened in the past. There's only one thing going for us now and that is the size of our population and the reality that we're opening our eyes. It's going to get ugly real fast.
It should have already gotten ugly. We cannot pin all our hopes and dreams on an election 13 months away. The destruction we've seen in 9 months will only accelerate. I'm sorry but peaceful protest will not remove this illegitimate regime.
He absolutely is a fly following the feces! He is socially awkward and inept. His feet don't reach the floor, and everyone knows it. He is struggling to be accepted, but he will fail. He will never hold the command that, unfortunately, djt does.
Signs for today to carry, along with summary statements of offenses. Just like the summary letter of offenses to King George in 1776. “Yes it is a fact concealed that “you” elected a child molester ! Even vile, hardened convicts despise child molesters; Wtf are ‘you’ to elevate such a creature ? ‘These’ should be fodder for better signs ! Creative minds could do this more concisely perhaps. Work with this; Double down NOW.
Thank you for another letter where you weave so much information into a single story about the crazy times we are living in…as you stated in your discussion with Joyce Vance this evening, we’ve been here before in the last 150 years of our democracy.
My favorite take away…” Authoritarians can’t take root if people are happy “. We must find the joy!
PLEASE MAKE SURE YOU HIT THE HEART BUTTON ON THE CLIP TO "LIKE" IT!
Yes, it matters. I don't know all the mechanisms, but I've been told doing so helps promote the content in the computer algorithm.
Have you hit the LIKE button on today's letter? If not, go back and do so. Make it a habit with all the independant journalists content that you consume.
REMEMBER the impact Joe Rogan had in the last election!! Hitting like, subscribing, forwarding, posting on your social media, forwarding, commenting, and talking about all of these journalists helps get the message out: WE ARE NOT THE MINORITY.
Signs for today to carry, along with summary statements of offenses. Just like the summary letter of offenses to King George in 1776. “Yes it is a fact concealed that “you” elected a child molester ! Even vile, hardened convicts despise child molesters; Wtf are ‘you’ to elevate such a creature ? ‘These’ should be fodder for better signs ! Creative minds could do this more concisely perhaps. Work with this; Double down NOW.
I find the UnSupreme Court's decision greenlighting warrantless search and seizure to be extremely chilling. It basically gives ICE the ability to stop and disappear anyone they claim seemed to possibly be an undocumented immigrant. I can easily imagine them disappearing anyone who opposes the Trump dictatorship. Kavanaugh's comment justifying "common sense" as acceptable grounds is horrifying.
Yep, it's now open season on any non-MAGA ethnic or cultural group, anyone doing any sort of work found unacceptable for any reason, any dissident, anyone who reads the wrong book or thinks the wrong thoughts or combs his/her hair the wrong way.
How long will it be until they come for you and me? I guarantee you that if you are reading this Substack post and those of the many other outstanding thinkers and writers speaking up and calling out what's happening, you will sooner or later be targeted as a "subversive woke terrorist against the régime" <propagandistic rhetoric subject to change as fascist power grabs mutate and spread>.
If they want to come after this broken-down old biddy for speaking her mind, I probably can't stop them, but I can certainly promise to be as big a thorn in their backsides to my last breath.
I agree and I don’t believe this is paranoid of you to say. SCOTUS has enabled them to pull someone off the street with no questions asked. Well; I probably have “Progressive” written all over my face!
I read about an American who was stopped and roughed up and he finally gave them his ID to prove he’s a citizen. They let him go but kept his ID! Next time he’s stopped….with no ID , he will be taken away! Just brutal racial profiling
As a Democratic senator from Georgia, Jon Ossoff has repeatedly criticized former President Donald Trump on issues of corruption, self-enrichment, and undermining democratic institutions.
Signs for today to carry, along with summary statements of offenses. Just like the summary letter of offenses to King George in 1776. “Yes it is a fact concealed that “you” elected a child molester ! Even vile, hardened convicts despise child molesters; Wtf are ‘you’ to elevate such a creature ? ‘These’ should be fodder for better signs ! Creative minds could do this more concisely perhaps. Work with this; Double down NOW.
IMPEACH TRUMP. AGAIN. A grassroots movement is under way led by John Bonifaz, constitutional attorney and co-founder and president of Free Speech For People. He states: "if they [members of Congress] are not invoking the impeachment clause at this critical hour, frankly, they're part of the problem." Nearly a million signatures have been collected so far. To join the movement and sign the petition, visit https://www.impeachtrumpagain.org.
Hey Apache, please send over some of that stuff you are smoking LOL... I could use a real lift today!
"If a 3rd impeachment is issued by the House, it will be Successful in the Senate..."
In what strange alternate universe is this going to happen? With the GOP in the Senate holding a 53-47 majority and virtually all of them scared of their shadow, you actually expect to find 67 votes FOR removing Trump from office?
I would say ROTFLMAO except that seems so OBVIOUS :-).
This is unfortunately a non-starter. First, even IF an impeachment could actually be passed by the House (requiring a majority vote in a body that is still GOP by about 4 votes) it would require a Senate trial and there a 2/3 vote to remove from office is required. That means 67 Senators would have to support removal. The Democrats only hold 47 seats. There is NO WAY, barring Trump actually pulling out an M-16 and killing a slew of people in a school in the middle of an afternoon, that the Senate will oust him. It is a fool's errand and such actions are basically stupid. They accomplish nothing and waste a lot of time and energy and credibility. I refuse to join movements that have ZERO chance of success. Sorry, it just doesn't make any sense.
Hello Jon... DJT is rapidly Spiraling Rapidly... DJT is Feral, and Desperate... I strongly Suspect that DJT will do previously unimaginable Deeds... Those will turn the Tide in the Congress.... Remember. if it had been voting by Secret Ballot in the Senate, DJT would have Convicted per Mitt Romney... What have I been Smoking?... Just Traditional Indigenous Incenses.... They have kept Me Alive through Things That Would Have Killed Most People... Remember that the Soviet Union was invulnerable until it Shattered....
And so arose Russia, headed by Vladimir Putin. Personally I'd prefer having Gorbachev back in power in Russia. I always felt that he was a decent human being. Not something I would attach to either Putin OR Trump.
Hello Jon... I agree about Gorbachev... Mother Russia remains, it is however a shell of the Former Soviet Union that is becoming dependent on a Rising China....
Not stupid at all to publicly and visibly register our highest dissatisfaction with Trump and to demand that he be impeached. Saying nothing in this situation is tantamount to approval of his performance. Of course, if you do approve of him, you shouldn't sign the petition.
My problem with impeachment is that it has proven (TWICE) to be a useless strategy. And under the current Congressional numbers, it is even MORE useless. I do NOT object to registering our discontent with the administration, and I also think that using legal strategies to at least force the administration to defend itself is a good idea. But impeachment is a non-starter for me because it has NO chance of success at all, and it is just a waste of energy and time and probably money as well.
Oh Great One! Tell us, we beg Thee, which are the errands that are absolutely, positively, undeniably and reliably guaranteed to bear fruit!
We beseech Thee, O Prognosticator of the Near Future! What sure-fire, no-lose, guaranteed-to-win tasks art THOU engaged in, inquiring lowly minds want to know?
Resist and be disobedient whenever and wherever you can...that's what we should all be doing, even if this effort may not be practical in and of itself, in my view, Jon. Maybe that makes sense to you, my friend?
I'm all for rational resistance. I just think futile resistance is, well, futile. Impeachment is futile and so I stay far away from that tired gem. Its pretty clear that it has ZERO chance of success, so why waste time and energy? There are important ways to resist that I think are more meaningful.
Signs for today to carry, along with summary statements of offenses. Just like the summary letter of offenses to King George in 1776. “Yes it is a fact concealed that “you” elected a child molester ! Even vile, hardened convicts despise child molesters; Wtf are ‘you’ to elevate such a creature ? ‘These’ should be fodder for better signs ! Creative minds could do this more concisely perhaps. Work with this; Double down NOW.
Definitely Jon, charching against wind mills won't accomplish anything, by the contrary, it would a demonstration that we don't know what to do and can't be trusted with coming with solutions which is what we need to get. Solutions not embarrassment.
M-R, in which state do you vote (assuming you are a US citizen)?
I vote in CO (the last place I resided in the USA) and I do it online. Boulder County sends me a ballot attached to an email, I vote, sign it and send it back as an email attachment. Works great.
When there's a petition to sign, I just put the last US zip code I had.
The only thing I have stopped doing is contributing $$ to candidates and causes through Act Blue, because one day I read the fine print and discovered I could not pay by credit card unless I was physically present in the USA. I'm curious to know what law requires this.. and why.
David, I live in Indonesia and contribute through Act Blue to different legal orgs like Democracy Defenders Fund etc and ACLU. I have noticed when I try with my smart phone it doesn't go through. But with my laptop have no problem. And I pay with credit card from a US bank with a US address. I am not sure but think it was challenged at one point a while back but it seems to work. Go figure.
If you're a US citizen, you can contribute to federal election campaigns. So a US citizen living in Indonesia probably can do that. Non- US citizens can't legally contribute, I'm pretty sure.
Thanks Robert. I was replying to David who is a US citizen who says he can't contribute to a candidate with Act Blue from outside the US. He is a US citizen.
I had not heard of Carl Schmitt before reading tonight's post; will study up on his work. He sure seems like the ideological godfather of what the radical far-right (the Movement Conservatives and others of that stripe) have been all about for the last 50 years or so.
This country is in deep kim chi and sinking fast. Anyone who is not out of his/her comfort zone yet and resisting with every ounce of strength needs to be, right now. Resistance can take a million forms. Find a local grass-roots group and do everything you can. We the people need to be out on the streets constantly, every week, demonstrating that we absolutely reject what's going on, helping people understand why they need to reject it too, giving more people pathways out of their complacency and comfort zones. It's important to stay peaceful, but at the same time it's cool to be loud and angry and strident and implacable.
Oh -- and start or keep pestering the living s*** out of our elected representatives. Tell 'em to keep up the good fight, fight harder and more viciously, get off their asses and start fighting, grow some balls or ovaries as appropriate and stand up for America and their American constituents, or live in shame as morally bankrupt fascists <pick appropriate answer(s) or create your own>.
Plans are being laid for No Kings 2 on October 18. Make it a point to join in, and bring people with you. It is imperative that we stand up in massive numbers all around the country and shout "Hell no! We're not having it!"
Re Carl Schmitt, the conversation yesterday with Joyce Vance and HCR will put that in perspective. I was glad I watched their fantastic conversation--getting the history of our country's ideas that preceded Schmitt's. Very hopeful. https://youtu.be/8y6S84MbhVw?si=U12plSrkyOQfjkL2
It's quite long -- I'm only about halfway through it -- and I find Pfeiffer very hard to understand. He speaks very fast and indistinctly and doesn't seem to have much use for the last syllable or two of many words. But HCR very clearly traces how far-right extremism, as distinguished from conservatism, has existed and thrived in the USA for a very long time and led to what we have today. Its ideological core springs essentially from the Old Confederacy; its focus is not to govern by policy (the ostensible approach of US democracy) but to impose ideology and dominate through unassailable, unaccountable power.
That thesis lines up well with what Nancy MacLean writes in _Democracy in Chains_, in which she traces the anti-democratic view back to John C. Calhoun in South Carolina in about the 1840s. He was the first to realize that a truly small-d democratic United States would never tolerate oligarchic control of another race and of the economy by a small group of white people, thus democracy had to be eliminated or at least suppressed.
As it happens, I'm also reading _The Longest Con: How Grifters, Swindlers, and Frauds Hijacked American Conservatism_, by Joe Conason. It lays out the profound greed, corruption, and dishonesty that has run deep in the so-called Republican domain for generations and has so strongly affected both domestic politics and international affairs.
Well … so much for getting to sleep tonight. When the one big crappy bill got passed in July, I commented that it was just the “end of the beginning “. I applaud & support the efforts of lower courts yet I feel the efforts are in vain given the “bought & paid for” maga SCOTUS judges (calling them judges is an insult to those who still have integrity). I just hope I’m still alive when democracy is restored to the country I defended for 30 years. My niece is having her 3rd child next week and I weep for their futures.
"Remember that it is usually those that start "the revolution" that get killed first by their followers". Karma is a "Bitch"
Historical Examples
• French Revolution: Maximilien Robespierre, a leading figure in the revolution, was ultimately executed by guillotine along with many other original revolutionaries during the Reign of Terror, as the movement turned on itself.
• Russian Revolution: Many Bolshevik leaders were purged or assassinated by Stalin, including prominent early revolutionaries like Leon Trotsky.
• Spanish Revolution: Figures like Andreu Nin, who played critical roles at the revolution’s start, were later executed by factions within the revolutionary movement itself.
• Grenada Revolution: Maurice Bishop, the initial revolutionary leader, was killed in a coup by radical segments of his own coalition.
• Other Movements: There are long lists of executed revolutionaries from many countries, indicating this is a recurring pattern through history.
Causes
• Factionalism: Frequently, revolutionary groups experience internal splits, and radicalization or power struggles lead to purges or executions of original leaders by former allies.
• Loss of Support: Leaders who are seen as too moderate, too radical, or simply as obstacles to power may attract the opposition of those they helped to bring to power.
• Political Instability: Revolutionary periods often breed suspicion and paranoia, leading to violence against perceived traitors or opponents within the original movement.
Not The Universal Rule
• While common, this is not a universal rule; some revolutionaries, such as Fidel Castro, retained power for decades, and others, like Václav Havel of Czechoslovakia, Lech Walenca of Poland transitioned to stable leadership roles after revolutionary movements.
My statement reflects a significant and well-documented trend in revolutionary history: many of those who lead revolutions become victims of the same forces they set in motion, often at the hands of their own comrades or factions
When will this nightmare end? Please, friends. Let's stay united to defeat the monster. Keep doing your small acts. And do not let up on exposing the Epstein scandal. We must prevail.
46% of Americans—almost half of them—“strongly disapprove” of the job Trump is doing … LET’S SEE THAT 46% OF AMERICANS ON THE STREET PROTESTING EVERY WEEKEND. Better hurry cuz at this rate assembling in public will be verboten by SCOTUS decree.
If SCOTUS does they can go take a flying leap. I take no great pleasure in having to fight for my country like this but I will to my last breath.
We The People HAVE the power. Democracy is not dead, not even close. We simply have to stand up, be counted and show them who is in charge. Just as our fore-bearers did before us.
Dirk. The unorganized, rudderless response by Democratic leadership (See Ezra Klein’s NYT editorial and recent Ezra Klein Show podcast) leads me to conclude that “street resistance” is an inevitability. I warned years ago that the Dems were underestimating Trump and Trumpism at their own peril. All best, Dkirk.
Rape an underage girl, or many? Rape – attack – an America city, or many?
The rich and powerful hold themselves unaccountable, above us. But when they bludgeon us (by their uniformity, cliché, slogans) they are mass lying.
They can group, stereotype us, but eventually we see the lies for what they are.
All the U.S. working classes and their communities who got their tens of millions of jobs offshored? The mass lies covering for all that came by schools standardize-testing their kids by the promises that the tests and the schooling together were lifting all to the meritocracy. No. Urban and suburban elites could coast there. Not our working classes.
The wealth gap grew. In 2016 Donald stood out as if he alone understood our “deplorables.” He was still milking that as recently as the 2024 election, as if Dems were still out-to-lunch on what happened to our working classes. Dems were out of touch. Schools had dropped humanities – the arts of dealing with personal complications – and Dems went along with the alternative, testing, key to the habitual managing by our rich and powerful.
Donald still covers for the rich and powerful, still provides cover for Putin, Netanyahu, Mohammed bin Salman and the dozen next-worse despots. But by his yet covering for the rich and powerful for years raping the underage girls, even MAGA may now be seeing how much they – we’ve – been lied to.
Hello Phil... The Epstein Files are Panicking DJT... DJT may be surrounded by Sycophants in DC, Mar-a-Lago, Fox News, and his Golf Clubs, but when DJT leaves this places, DJT is jeered at, and Disrespected... Remember Scotland?... Per People that know him, DJT can't stand being laughed at... Allegedly, DJT went into Politics only as a Branding Exercise, and because he likes the Pomp & Circumstance... Have You Seen Today's Picture Of DJT.... DJT is Collapsing, and is going to Go Full On Dictator To Hold Onto Power To Avoid Any Reckoning...
So what do we do about it? No leaders have a plan. The Courts follow the law and Constitution (even judges that Trump himself appointed) and the Supreme Court just overrules them without explanation or guidance. They are going to steal the election by force. I don't see how protests help with this. I don't see how 'calling your Rep' helps with this. How will we get people to vote safely, get those votes counted reliably and get the results certified so that we can get some power back? The one group who could stop this dictatorship--the Supreme Court--are part of the coup! If a 100 judges (nominated by Reps and Dems and all over the country) who are experienced, expert at the law and have dedicated their lives to the law, keep coming up with one answer but then 6 Supreme Court justices keep saying they are just wrong without issuing explanation, the rational and logical conclusion is not that the 100 judges are corrupt!
The Supreme Court just overrules them without explanation because they have none. Not that the Constitution could be stretched to cover in any case. How can it be rule of law with the consent of the governed without transparency? Without accountability? Wen the public is not even let in on the joke? Who is working for who?
Absolutely there is “...a threat to the national sovereignty of the United States" and it's name is Donald Trump, et al. Anyway it's Vance who's Thiel's anointed. Trump's just a place holder.
Still lots of us have been saying for some time now that Trump and the R's can't afford an election, or not a fair one. If he can't gerrymander his way to victory he'll find some other way. Bet on it. It's all been planned for.
Political power flows from the barrel of a gun. Fascists don't simply give up power. They have to be removed by force. History has very, very few instances where it was achieved at the ballot box. Sure, one can have hope, but best to hope for the best while preparing for the worst.
Professor Richardson, tonight’s letter named the collapse in plain excruciating detsil: courts bent, troops in cities, rights stripped under the cover of “emergency.” For many readers this feels like something new. For Black America, it’s an echo. We’ve lived through institutions that did not protect us, that in fact turned on us.
The question now is not just what’s happening but how do we heal while it’s happening. We rebuilt before. We rebuilt with rituals when the buildings failed us…music that carried screams into hymns, love that outlasted chains, spirit that kept us human when policy said we weren’t. That’s the code we still carry, and it’s a code the whole country needs now.
I wrote about this through the lens of Vesta Williams’ Sweet, Sweet Love and Barack and Michelle Obama’s marriage not as nostalgia, but as proof that rituals of love are survival strategies. It’s called How We Heal When Institutions Fail. Here’s how we healed and here’s how you can too: https://www.xplisset.com/p/how-we-heal-when-institutions-fail?r=5z1bn1
Stephen Colbert said tonight, " No matter how many cities Donald Trump invades, the Jeffrey Epstein story just won't hang itself!" There is finally some hope for the survivors. Not his signature..really??!! If that's all he has as a defense....well, the noose tightens... And the cracks in this House of Mirrors widen...
Hello Michele2.. It is also DJT's Style of Drawing... Compare this Drawing with that of DJT's Drawings of NYC Buildings, and Bridges... The Epstein Birthday Book was also generated over to 20-Years ago, and has been sequestered as part pf Jeffrey Estein's Estate... It is Genuine, and not a Plant.
Yes...He is silent tonight... Lawrence O ' Donnell had his signature on a card from awhile back... A match... These survivors deserve justice, and not fear... Thanks for the info!
Thanks Michele2....The Epstein Files are Panicking DJT which is why DJT is Silent thus far tonite... DJT may be surrounded by Sycophants in DC, Mar-a-Lago, Fox News, and his Golf Clubs, but when DJT leaves these places, DJT is jeered at, and Disrespected... Remember Scotland?... Per People that know him, DJT can't stand being laughed at... Allegedly, DJT went into Politics only as a Branding Exercise, and because he likes the Pomp & Circumstance... DJT Craves Adulation... Have You Seen Today's Picture Of DJT?.... DJT is Collapsing, and is going to Go Full On Dictator To Hold Onto Power To Avoid Any Reckoning...
The Scottish people have my admiration! No, I didn't see the picture today... What will he do next??!!
Hello Michel2... In Today's Picture, DJT looks like Sh*T, particularly his Hair.... His Face is Sunken... DJT will create a Crisis... Maybe Invade Chicago, and try to incite an Armed Insurrection to impose Martial Law... I Fear like many, that the 2026 Elections will be Tampered with, or Canceled...
Also, maybe because he is driven by the need for revenge and hatred towards those who "outed" him as the convict and rapist he is.
Signs for today to carry, along with summary statements of offenses. Just like the summary letter of offenses to King George in 1776. “Yes it is a fact concealed that “you” elected a child molester ! Even vile, hardened convicts despise child molesters; Wtf are ‘you’ to elevate such a creature ? ‘These’ should be fodder for better signs ! Creative minds could do this more concisely perhaps. Work with this; Double down NOW.
"DJT is going . . .to Go Full on Dictator." That's a fact. He has supporters, particularly the Supreme Court. Our democratic process is hanging by a thread. Is there any chance that future elections will be fair? I have read here that Trump and Musk stole the last election, but I've not seen anything to prove that.
Richard, the Supreme Six are running roughshod over the Constitution and on the shadow docket. It is disgusting as the dissenting justices have pointed out. Our cleaners are coming this am and now they are fully exposed as to how they look, the fact that they speak Spanish, and where they work. We worry about them and also our lawn service, all of whom are the same as the cleaners. And here they are doing the work that most Americans do not want to do and working very hard. We also live in a diverse neighborhood.
“He’s a popular guy (musk) and he was very effective and he knows those computers better than anybody. All those computers, those vote counting computers and we ended up winning Pennsylvania in a landslide.”
donald trump
DC Capital One Arena
January 19, 2025
"but I've not seen anything to prove that."--Then why say this?
His presence in the White House would prove that. Musk is now busy at work in Germany. Speaking broken German.
There’s plenty of data out there!!!
Beware of Vance. He is worse.
Not even the MAGAs like Vance. He is soulless, lacking in any charisma or leadership qualities. Yes he is just as amoral as Trump, but he has none of Trump's "charm".
Apache, the folks at the Bulwark produced a video commentary on Donald's speech to some evangelical group at "The Museum of the Bible," where evangelical Hobby Lobby founder, David Green, has assembled religious detritus and numerous artifacts, either stolen or of questionable provenance.
Donald looked absolutely disheveled. His bouffant hairdo looked like birds had been pulling at it to steal strands for padding their nests. His eyes were sliding unfocused from slits in puffy flesh, as observed in dementia patients.
He is unraveling. No doubt, the looming revelations of his pedophilic past are accelerating his breakdown. Hopefully, his demise will quickly follow.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6HsPYxDiUd0
Signs for today to carry, along with summary statements of offenses. Just like the summary letter of offenses to King George in 1776. “Yes it is a fact concealed that “you” elected a child molester ! Even vile, hardened convicts despise child molesters; Wtf are ‘you’ to elevate such a creature ? ‘These’ should be fodder for better signs ! Creative minds could do this more concisely perhaps. Work with this; Double down NOW.
and the roberts court is accommodating him..... TREASONOUS!
Apache, Spot on comment.
Thank You Harvey...
Did you see the picture of him putting a little blue pill in his mouth at the Open the other day? Of course we all know he takes medicine but MAGA wants you to believe that he’s so strong and healthy he doesn’t need it and promptly called it AI. Coincidentally, or not, WSJ published an article about a little blue pill many women were taking for anxiety. It’s propranolol and has been used in PTSD treatment also. The timing struck me as too perfect to be a coincidence.
The recent pictures are revealing. And one close-up in particular explains the orange make-up - it hides, or hid, the large age-freckles. If I were he, I don't know how I could face that state visit - with Melania, from whom he lives separated - to the King and Queen of England. And poor King Charles - that was only engineered by the British prime minister in one of those ridiculous placatory visits when it was thought Trump might have some influence over Putin. What an unbelievable mess!
Thank You Anne-Louise... Can You imagine DJT, well maybe not, without his Makeup, Girdle, Shoulder-Pads, Hair-Dye, and Comb-Over?.... Seems that the Inner-Rot is seeping to the Outside....
Bless Lawrence O’Donnell in so many ways! He has consistently called out The Convict for all of his misdeeds.
Rep. Ro Khanna, D CA, was on his show last night, in person, to thank him and his staff for having the survivors lawyer on in July who had told Lawrence the Epstein estate has the bday book and will turn it over if subpoenaed. Dems acted immediately. As always Lawrence gave credit to a staff who arranged the interview.
Signs for today to carry, along with summary statements of offenses. Just like the summary letter of offenses to King George in 1776. “Yes it is a fact concealed that “you” elected a child molester ! Even vile, hardened convicts despise child molesters; Wtf are ‘you’ to elevate such a creature ? ‘These’ should be fodder for better signs ! Creative minds could do this more concisely perhaps. Work with this; Double down NOW.
Well you don’t sue the Wall Street Journal for $10 billion unless you’re absolutely terrified they’re sitting on something truly horrendous.
I suggest it’s MONEY-LAUNDERING. With a side of child trafficking and rape. Follow the money. We must.. follow the money. It must be worth MUCH more to Donald than a measly $10 billion, since he always underbids on everything.
It was never about the price of eggs or ‘the economy, stupid.’ It was about the GRAFT. With him, it’s always about the payola, and — like Watergate — the subsequent cover-up.
https://substack.com/home/post/p-171981686
Ron Wyden, ranking member of Finance is one of my Senators. Last week he had a Town Hall that I went to. He definitely said banks had been complicit, by not declaring what was going on. He has been thwarted , but he is persevering. He had lost 99% of his voice, as the day before RFKJr. was being questioned. Ron Wyden is an excellent Senator. If there is somebody who has dissent, he listens and then asks if he answered their question.If they say no, he tries again, and then gives that person the last word. When you have a legislator that has integrity, you can feel the energy light up the room.
Michele2, Ron is also one of my Senators and I like them both. He has certainly been following the money and he tried to get the committee chair to administer an oath to wormbrain. Yet when he posts something on Facebook there are several laugh emojis and negative comments....having no substance of course
On a side note, one of my friends has been trying to get the COVID shot and I think she will finally be successful this week. Another one, under 65, and going abroad, wanted the shot, but could not get it. She describes herself as feeling vulnerable. Our Nextdoor neighbors just had a round of it. I am glad that the three west coast states and Hawai'i are developing a health consortium.
I, too have Ron Wyden as my senator. I love his integrity, and his intentions. Merkley is great, and I don't think Val Hoyle has quite found her stride yet (I do miss Pete DeFazio), but I believe she'll do well for us.
Signs for today to carry, along with summary statements of offenses. Just like the summary letter of offenses to King George in 1776. “Yes it is a fact concealed that “you” elected a child molester ! Even vile, hardened convicts despise child molesters; Wtf are ‘you’ to elevate such a creature ? ‘These’ should be fodder for better signs ! Creative minds could do this more concisely perhaps. Work with this; Double down NOW.
And one can be forgiven for thinking Russia, Russia, Russia has wheels
Helping him win the 2016 election by enlisting underpaid Leningrad trolls to post jillions of social media chickenshit ads about Hillary’s yoga classes and “cackling” was a side benefit. The real story has always been about his money-laundering, payola and graft.
What does putin have on trump? He has the list of every single Russian ruble that trump has ever laundered. trumps business's are private and thus do not have to answer for the source of their funds.
Signs for today to carry, along with summary statements of offenses. Just like the summary letter of offenses to King George in 1776. “Yes it is a fact concealed that “you” elected a child molester ! Even vile, hardened convicts despise child molesters; Wtf are ‘you’ to elevate such a creature ? ‘These’ should be fodder for better signs ! Creative minds could do this more concisely perhaps. Work with this; Double down NOW.
There are some (so far nebulous) reports that the Epstein money laundering and the last Presidential election are tied together. New info keeps coming out, and I am pretty sure that we find that Trump did NOT win the last election. When it hits the fan, it is going to blow this bunch of Republicans right out of their smug little lives.
He has the courage of his non-convictions. "Not my style of drawing" - when of course, it is. I've just looked at the NYC skyline one. Not the slightest doubt. Just lie, and it will go away.
It always seemed to work before, but surely there is a limit.
Yes, one can only cry wolf so many times…
You would think.
Signs for today to carry, along with summary statements of offenses. Just like the summary letter of offenses to King George in 1776. “Yes it is a fact concealed that “you” elected a child molester ! Even vile, hardened convicts despise child molesters; Wtf are ‘you’ to elevate such a creature ? ‘These’ should be fodder for better signs ! Creative minds could do this more concisely perhaps. Work with this; Double down NOW.
While we justifiably consider it lying, I wonder if 47 actually believes himself because right now he’s barely hanging on emotionally. Not that I care. I heard Dr Bandy X Lee interviewed by, of all people, Andy Borowitz just recently. I wonder when 47 is going to shatter.
I am assuming 47 is Donald Trump?! He is a narcissist, but if you add dementia to the mix, coupled with revenge fantasies and Emperor/Strongman delusions - what do you have??? A dystopian nightmare??!!## I am hoping 47 will shatter sooner than later... But behind the curtain waiting to come onstage is JD Vance who is cold as ice!!!
Michele2, there are now lots of memes that do not mention death star's name, but are hopeful that he is about to shed his mortal coils. Vance is awful, but he does not have the hold on the base that death star has. The cabal certainly knows how much death star is failing and they are working to accomplish as much as they can while he is still breathing. Personally, I believe that, unless he passes in public, they will try to hide it.
Andy has been interviewing quite a few notable people this year, so kudos to him. The one I loved was with E Jean Carroll.
Signs for today to carry, along with summary statements of offenses. Just like the summary letter of offenses to King George in 1776. “Yes it is a fact concealed that “you” elected a child molester ! Even vile, hardened convicts despise child molesters; Wtf are ‘you’ to elevate such a creature ? ‘These’ should be fodder for better signs ! Creative minds could do this more concisely perhaps. Work with this; Double down NOW.
The WSJ and most people here seem to be convinced that Trump actually drew the letter. How can we be sure that Trump wrote the other letter with the mocked up check? I wonder what the WSJ thinks about that.
I presume the WSJ did it's homework.
Actually it was on MSNBC that info was leaked to Ro Khanna regarding a subpoena to lawyers of Epstein estate. The congressional committee did that and the lawyers turned over the Birthday book , etc..
Yes, & Rupert Murdoch-WSJ, did his homework. Survivor's Counsel of Maxwell-Epstein victims have demanded Trump drop his pending lawsuit against The WSJ. The real Trial Judge can dismiss Trump's fraud.
WSJ knows how to use 'social' media Murdoch has posted three (3) uncontested confirming the "Donald" signature:
+ A letter to George Conway signed "Donald"
+ A letter to Bill Clinton signed "Donald"
Hmmmm 👁🗨 "Donald" is toast burnt toast.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Not Unrelated:
Per The WAPO's MOLLY HENNESSY, yesterday: "It's not just Trump. Red States are cracking down on their own Blue Cities" citing the Mississippi Legislature's "expanding the reach of the Capitol Police in Jackson" Mississippi.
In fact, Judges in the Capitol of the state are NOT elected anymore like the Judges in surrounding Hinds County, MS.
Per Molly, the Judges are now "chosen by the Republican Chief [injustice] of the Mississippi Supreme Court".
Molly lays out the stark facts:
Mississippi has a substitute, parallel, injustice system with a different docket, new equipment, more space:
JD Vance: "There is a no law, there's just power".
Texas , missouri are also assaulting their blue cities.
Sen (and wanna-be governor) Marsha Blackburn & two reps have proposed sending National Guard into Memphis and Nashville. The governor agrees. TN NG has already been sent to DC.
Here in California we are celebrating the 175th Anniversary since Statehood --- since joining the Union.
Governor Gavin Newsom will give his 'State of the State' address at the Capitol in Sacramento today.
Newsom's talk is vital for non-Californians as well. There is no doubt Gavin will deliver an Update on his 6/10/25 call titled: "Democracy at the Crossroads".
ICE is changing tactics, target & tropes in the 'Midway Blitz" --- you remember the WWWII Blitz? The Brits survived then prevailed.
If you are standing on the roadside "trying to flag a ride" -----better jump on the Democracy Train now.
Indeed it is. But term-limited KC Mayor Q has suggested that he might run against the most vulnerable of the Rethuglicans whose district is being pushed into KC in this insane redistricting project. I admit: I would love to see Cleaver retire and a younger, more vigorous, and less saving-my-ass style person run for his seat. At 80 he is hardly at the top of his game.
Signs for today to carry, along with summary statements of offenses. Just like the summary letter of offenses to King George in 1776. “Yes it is a fact concealed that “you” elected a child molester ! Even vile, hardened convicts despise child molesters; Wtf are ‘you’ to elevate such a creature ? ‘These’ should be fodder for better signs ! Creative minds could do this more concisely perhaps. Work with this; Double down NOW.
GA has also been subverting judicial elections for years now. Instead, the Republican judge is urged to retire before the end of his term (occasionally her term), so the Republican Governor appoints an interim Republican judge to fill the rest of the term. Then he invokes a special law they passed to delay the election for that seat for 2 whole years. That now gives the appointed judge the power of the incumbancy. Very seldom is an incumbant judge voted out. This is how GA has manipulated an entirely Republican State Supreme Court and mostly Republican lower courts even though judicial appointments are supposed to be filled by "non-partisan" elections. They was a time recently when a judicial candidate dared express a pro-choice opinion; he was attacked by Governor Brian Kemp for NOT pretending to be non- partisan. All while current judges allowed obviously unconstitutional 6 week abortion bans and pregnant women dying of sepsis and even a brain dead women forced for months to continue incubating a fetus that will have lifelong medical bills imposed on her relatives.
I've watched this same thing play out in my California County government. Republican Supervisor/Sheriff/whomever is urged to retire before his/her term is up, Board of Supervisors appoints the replacement who then gains the advantage of the incumbent and sails to victory in the next election.
That's how our majority Democratic County has Republicans in 4 of the 5 County Board of Supervisors seats. Ratf**ked again. We all need to adopt their playbook.
Signs for today to carry, along with summary statements of offenses. Just like the summary letter of offenses to King George in 1776. “Yes it is a fact concealed that “you” elected a child molester ! Even vile, hardened convicts despise child molesters; Wtf are ‘you’ to elevate such a creature ? ‘These’ should be fodder for better signs ! Creative minds could do this more concisely perhaps. Work with this; Double down NOW.
Good detail Barbara S. 🎯
Signs for today to carry, along with summary statements of offenses. Just like the summary letter of offenses to King George in 1776. “Yes it is a fact concealed that “you” elected a child molester ! Even vile, hardened convicts despise child molesters; Wtf are ‘you’ to elevate such a creature ? ‘These’ should be fodder for better signs ! Creative minds could do this more concisely perhaps. Work with this; Double down NOW.
I think you meant to respond to Robert Gray ... I get confused with where these lines lead us.... Now I'm confused....
I find this format very confusing as well. My comment had to do the the authenticity of Epstein's "Birthday Book". Perhaps it is a forgery, but that seems unlikely. Among other things I would expect that the WSJ would be careful in vetting the provenance of the "card" before publishing it. They cannot be surprised that Trump is suing.
Some other platforms choose to label which comment (or commenter) belongs with which. It's not rocket science. Substack is minimalist to a point of awkwardness.
I very much prefer Robert Reich's style of drawing. See https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sP0pRIBRcDk&t=63s
Jim, THAT ⬆was incredible!! I wish he'd add to it for the current state of mess we're in!
I wish that could be on GIANT boards at EVERY RALLY on Oct 18th. He does put a link to a copy of it at the top of his comment section.
Jim Young Freeport - Thanks! Will have to watch it a 2nd time because it goes too fast for my brain to process! Repeat with pauses!
Watching it on YouTube lets you vary the speed from 0.25 to 2 times the normal Speed.
When I worked at high tech Tape Recorder company that built units to record all sorts of data and telemetry from spacecraft, submarines, including lower end machines used by the FBI and Accident investigators, I found a blind man had used the FBI type variable speed recorders (that kept the speech frequencies and tone the same despite the changes in tape speed). He could listen and understand the speech at 3 times the normal speed, while I do pretty well at playing Heather's audio at the 2x max rate on YouTube.
Accident investigators typically used the much lower speeds to figure out the most difficult to understand speech and other noises from aircraft black boxes following crashes.
Robert Reich's works better for me at 0.25 speed, the slowest YouTube allows.
I recently went to an Illustration Institute event on Peaks Island where children's book illustrators/authors like Chris Van Dusen (who's Special Exhibit "Upon That Isle in Maine: The Story & Works of Chris Van Dusen" we had just visited at the Main Maritime Museum), were challenged to draw offs between two illustrators given a challenge like drawing a tipsy turtle riding a bicycle. Great fun seeing how quickly they could conjure up a drawing on the subject.
If I had to guess, I'd think Robert Reich's drawing speed in the video is sped up about 16 times normal but still shows a hidden talent of his.
Signs for today to carry, along with summary statements of offenses. Just like the summary letter of offenses to King George in 1776. “Yes it is a fact concealed that “you” elected a child molester ! Even vile, hardened convicts despise child molesters; Wtf are ‘you’ to elevate such a creature ? ‘These’ should be fodder for better signs ! Creative minds could do this more concisely perhaps. Work with this; Double down NOW.
And he keeps saying he doesn't draw.....
I do have to admit he does better than me, though. Back in 2017, Kato Kaelin of all people stopped by our Freedom Fridays street corner protest (Redlands Blvd and Orange St), in Redlands, California doing a sort of man on the street interviews to be shown at a new Craft brewery promotion. With the camera on me and my poorly illustrated protest sign, said that looks like a 4th grader did the artwork. I assured him we had a 4th grader granddaughter in Maine who did much better me.
Signs for today to carry, along with summary statements of offenses. Just like the summary letter of offenses to King George in 1776. “Yes it is a fact concealed that “you” elected a child molester ! Even vile, hardened convicts despise child molesters; Wtf are ‘you’ to elevate such a creature ? ‘These’ should be fodder for better signs ! Creative minds could do this more concisely perhaps. Work with this; Double down NOW.
We need to stay loud and clear about all these attempts to subvert the upcoming midterms, special elections this year and all elections by this regime. They know full well that it is the only way they get their way. We need to speak loudly, plainly and constantly about all the ways of voter suppression is being pushed in every state. The latest of course the redrawing of maps. We must retake congress and begin the work of impeachment, (POTUS and SCOTUS) and indictments for complicity in his illegal actions for which the regime does not have immunity. Democracy is worth the fight and it must be constantly checked and improved as it has for the past 249 years. Never been perfect, but still much better than fascism. We must do what we individually can to keep this fight up for it is the masses of WE THE PEOPLE that they fear the most and have the power. Thank you HCR for both scaring us and giving us strength to use what ever power we have to fight these atrocities.
and homosexuals - people often forget that gays and gypsies were slaughtered too...
Considering Peter Thiel is gay, this whole thing is astounding. If Thiel wasn't a billionaire, he'd be crushed under their boot!
As well as the disabled. Gott mit uns.
They were sent to concentration camps and murdered. I don't see that happening in the US at this time.
Not "at this time", Robert Gray, but this bunch is sending brown people to concentration camps "at this time". This bunch has their sights on LBGTQ people under the guise of their hypocritical "christianity", so your ethnicity or religious belief....or political leanings may be next. Wake up.
Michele2, I’m truly feelin that right there. Survivors need daylight and receipts, not just punchlines. Heather’s letter tonight mapped the power grabs and why the courts feel thin. That’s exactly why I wrote the comment and linked piece above: while accountability grinds forward, we still have to keep people human. Black America kept doing that with ritual when buildings failed us and we did it with music, community, spirit and it works because it keeps the soul from collapsing.
So yes to cases and consequences. And yes to the healing work we can do tonight.
I Keep askin': when will a party ask Thomas and Alito to recuse?
It's a near-totally corrupted court, Daniel.
Asking for decency from Thomas and Alito is about the same as asking the rich and powerful not to rape underage girls, or asking Donald not to side with dictators and rapists, not to turn America into his private police state (as Heather details in hers today).
Still, I think it is useful to remind folks that decency is a thing...
It is. And it used to be something the GOP was especially fond of lording over the Dems, particularly big city Dems. I think JD Vance has successfully scuppered that.
I personally think, with the required affidavit, they might have to.
Signs for today to carry, along with summary statements of offenses. Just like the summary letter of offenses to King George in 1776. “Yes it is a fact concealed that “you” elected a child molester ! Even vile, hardened convicts despise child molesters; Wtf are ‘you’ to elevate such a creature ? ‘These’ should be fodder for better signs ! Creative minds could do this more concisely perhaps. Work with this; Double down NOW.
Maybe when there is a chance of GETTING a recusal? I think the chances that Alito or Thomas would recuse is approaching 0. They have no fear of anything and refusing to recuse is never going to be punished. So why bother?
Oh Crow, whoncha buy me a brand new RV...
It's hard to believe you're a lawyer.
I never said I was a lawyer. I have told you this before so you seem to have a short-term memory issue.
I have a law degree, but after law school, I opened a software business, deciding to not bother with the bar exam. This was all back in 1977.
Sorry you have to make nasty comments, it is something I have noticed you do (at least to me) quite often without any real provocation. It doesn't show much in the way of treating people well.
Maybe I could say its NOT hard to believe YOU are a lawyer, given how you treat people. That is ONE of the reasons I chose to not practice.
music, community, spirit
Yes.
The only thing that card proves is that Trump is a lecher and a liar. Nothing new here.
Except for his lies about it - especially claiming it did not exist, and now that it's not his drawing or signature. Lie upon lie.
Still nothing new ... or incriminating.
Other than the obvious lie when TFG denied this even existed. Yet another attempt to cover-up his ugly relationship with his Pedo-Pal, and his own innuendoes about the nature of that relationship.
Still nothing new. Just curious: What do you really think will be exposed vis a vis Trump if every last word of every last Epstein doc is revealed un-redacted? As opposed to what you are wishing for. We know he's a congenital lier, that train has left the station.
Yes, and the whole thing would have disappeared in the next news cycle if Trump would have just laughed it off and moved on. After all, his base had no problems voting for a degenerate who bragged about sexually assaulting women by grabbing them by the pu$$y without consent.
Agreed. His first instinct seems to be to push back and / or deny. This does not serve him well. As for his base, IMHO, it's not so much they like him but they abhorred the prospect of Prez Kamala more
THIS they abhorred about "the prospect of Prez Kamala?"
Intelligence; experience; educated; first-hand knowledge of how the government actually works; former Vice President of the United States with worldwide experience; Senator; Attorney General of California; District Attorney of San Francisco; educated; professional; grace under pressure; sense of humor; and worked hard to better people's lives.
Their votes for a two-bit con man; criminal; uneducated; cruel, sorry excuse for a human being; says a lot about them. And nothing about former Vice President Kamala Harris.
For all that glowing resume, you didn't share that she didn't even make it to the first primary when she ran for Prez. You didn't share that the only reason she became VP is because Joe wanted a woman of color, sidelining several more qualified candidates. You didn't share that she blew off the only task of any import that she was assigned as VP, to make an attempt to solve the border. You didn't share that Harris made herself a laughing stock around the world for her proclivity to speak nonsense word salads when under the immense pressure of making a simple speech or interview response. You didn't share that even tho Joe screwed up royally in almost everything he did she could think of nothing she would do different. You didn't share that your two-bit con actually was prez for four years and knows a hell of a lot more about the job and world politics than Harris. Please tell me you were kidding.
Summing it up , huh 👏
But would Trump ever (not) lie?
Only when he LAID himself down to sleep. But he continued to LIE through his teeth even when dreaming. This lesson is taken from Trump's Big Grammatical Book of Lies and Lays- (which could be appropriately misconstrued) -published in the USSR free in exchange for any loose drones that might be LYING around...Thank you for your attention to this matter!
The cracks are so wide child trafficking victims can fall right through them.
Note who initiated this latest ‘secret conversation’:
“We have certain things in common, Jeffrey.
“Yes we do, come to think of it.”
(I hope to God somebody at The Lincoln Project and the DNC are smart enough to be mass producing the t-shirts, billboards, YouTube ads — complete with vomit emojis 🤮🤮🤮 at the bottom ‘mimicking human anatomy.’)
You don’t sue the Wall Street Journal for $10 billion unless you are terrified something truly awful is coming out. With the Rancid Button Mushroon, I suspect it’s…MONEY-LAUNDERING — with a touch of child molestation on the side. The New York Times yesterday ran a long article detailing the bizarre relationship had with JP Morgan for years.
Follow the money. The girls are are a sordid distraction to hide even filthier crimes.
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/09/08/magazine/jeffrey-epstein-jp-morgan.html?searchResultPosition=5
I am very disappointed with Lachlan being anointed as successor to Rupert Murdoch. I wonder what the other claimants were promised if they yielded. I wonder what possessed them to yield.
Lachlan bought them out. Follow the money.
"The signature, “Donald,” mimics human anatomy."
Go ahead and say it - he used his signature to represent pubic hair - a fitting symbol of this obscene regime.
If you were a victim of trump's sexual abuse as a teen, would you fear for you life if you testified that he was your abuser?
Musk joined Tesla as a big bucks investor, spread lies about the CEO, and took over the company. The ex CEO sued and won an anti-defamation clause against Musk, which Musk violates regularly. The ex CEO says he can't afford to continue to battle with "the richest man in the world".
Defenestration seems to happen fairly often In Putin's regime.
All the women who testified about their abuse had witnessed trump.
The mirror cracked from side to side.
He doesn't know who E. Jean Carroll is.
I suggested on frequent commentor here, TCinLA's Substack "That's Another Fine Mess" that perhaps that letter could be tested for Trump's DNA?
Signs for today to carry, along with summary statements of offenses. Just like the summary letter of offenses to King George in 1776. “Yes it is a fact concealed that “you” elected a child molester ! Even vile, hardened convicts despise child molesters; Wtf are ‘you’ to elevate such a creature ? ‘These’ should be fodder for better signs ! Creative minds could do this more concisely perhaps. Work with this; Double down NOW.
I am wondering if MAGAs in Congress will ignore the evidence from the Epstein Estate, and pretend that Trump did not do anything, assuming that their constituents will believe any old lie that they tell, or are going to want to distance themselves if this seems like a ship Trump is going down with.
You’re going to have one hell of a job, because the institutions are failing completely: there won’t be any (real) elections anymore in America. There’s simply no way that the Rethuglicans are ever going to cede power peacefully: they’ll rather shoot millions of citizens before ever allowing the Democrats to rule again.
Dutch Mike, I hear the fear in this. And you’re right that institutions are staggering. As a retired cop, I’ve seen systems bend and break up close. I’ve also seen people steady each other in the middle of that collapse. We’ve been here before no maybe not with tanks and tribunals, but with states that denied rights, with courts that looked the other way, with power that refused to cede peacefully. And still, people found a way through.
That’s the part I hold on to. The work ahead isn’t just about buildings and ballots. It’s about rituals that keep us human when the ground shakes. Love, community, spirit. That’s what kept Black America alive when nothing else would. And it’s what can keep all of us alive now.
We’re going to get through this. Not because the system is strong, but because we are.
This sentiment resonates so strongly with me - (as a 70+ yo white guy) I’ve always felt Black America was America’s secret sauce… the part of us that can never forget what really matters
Mark, man thank you for saying that quiet part out loud. Black America has always carried the memory of what really matters which is family, music, spirit even when the nation tried to forget. That’s the “secret sauce” you named, and it’s why we’re still here.
What you just wrote is the bridge I hope more people will just let go and walk across: recognizing that the rituals we built to survive aren’t just ours, they’re gifts to the whole country.
And, Thank You for That ! A true voice of America. Not one for Little Boys
who like to One Up. You are right, we will find a way through!
Another part of the secret sauce is "In the old brain, y'know, the language that was spoken before God", those ways of knowing without knowing how we know. An elder black man told me that after I sat at his drum set and could play when I never had played before. Ancestral and cellular memories, similar to how we listen to Nature.
In the last few years, it seems to be black women have caused Trump the most pain.
Indeed. Very Grateful for the disciplined courage of Kamala Harris, Letitia James, Ketanji Jackson, Stacy Abrams, AOC, and SO many more rapidly rising bold and well educated leaders...
Sometimes grateful and sometimes not, for the less disciplined yet legitimate outrage of others who sometimes also seem performance-, 'likes'-, & media-focused. I expect that T and Fox often make better political mileage on a number of those contributions than they make themselves; the jury may still be out on the net effect.
My sense is that Martin, Malcolm, Mandela, and Mahatma's not-secret-but-difficult-to-replicate ingredient was a principled, very STRONG, and coherent self-discipline. And that THAT adherence to consistent principle under severe duress, was perhaps the MOST politically effective element of their minority/Black heritage. (Applies to Dalai Lama as well.)
An instant smack-down that goes viral among one's followers will never compare in durable effect with the 'Letter from Birmingham Jail' - or a conviction of DJT for rape by a jury of his peers, his conviction on corruption & fraud, an upheld stay of an illegal executive order, or his removal from power.
Eyes on the Prize. History predicts our means and ends will be consistent.
I've been saying since this horror began that now white America is going to get to feel and live like Black Americans have had to for the last couple hundred years.
Karen, you done named the quiet part out loud. For a long time in this country, repression was something that happened to those people over there. Black America carried it while the wider nation told itself “that could never happen to us.”
This thing about fascism is it doesn’t stay in one lane. It starts with targets on the margins, then grows until it’s everybody. What used to be “their problem” becomes the air we all breathe. That’s what I mean when I say fascism is just “everybodism.”
The lesson isn’t just fear. It’s recognition. If we can admit Black America has been living this reality for centuries, then we don’t have to reinvent the playbook. The survival code already exists: rituals, music, community, spirit. That’s the knowledge base this whole damn country needs NOW.
I don't think white Americans will respond to oppression with rituals. Just sayin'.
The highest judiciary is captured. What has me surprised is the deafening silence of the military. The r&f will do as it's told. But who knew that the leaders were such sleeping dogs?
No, Stan. All the "leaders" were fired by the drunken rapist Pete H.
So "such sleeping dogs" could implement rapist Donald's police state.
I think white Americans will need rituals to stand firm. It is what is needed after a fight, loss, or whatever. You surround yourself with like-minded people and help each other to survive. We can and must learn what the Black people have shown us to do to survive.
Too many years without the draft. We opposed the draft, we got got rid of it, and now all the folks who might have been in the military and held it firm against corrosion from within are not there.
I had felt the same, and perhaps there persists a 'deep American state' in the military that is strategically biding its time. But Yeah, the military was decapitated 'legally'.
Barely got a headline - perhaps because he first threatened the press, ivory towers, and legal institutions with financial and political ruin and they believed, and 'obeyed in advance'. Big legal firms folded. Networks folded. Ivy league schools folded. Congressmen folded long ago. Some Judges capitulated, or some discovered that power was more enticing to them than principle. Some felt they had to protect their families...
"Only know you love her when you let her go.
-And you let her go."
We also need to look harder at plutocracy, throughout history and the present day. The tail is wagging the dog.
YES!!!
Amen, Xplisset. I agree with Mark Shields: at least Black people acknowledge the importance of love, community, spirit - and rituals. "Modern" Western (and dare I say, mainly white) society has almost completely done away with all of that in favour of efficiency, productivity and reductionist-materialistic science. Look at how 'geniuses' and 'modern thinkers' like Elon Musk, Peter Thiel and Richard Dawkins embrace the mechanical world view, seeing humans as nothing more than lifeless, soulless molecular machines. "Pah, who needs these old-fashioned superstitions - we're modern now!" Empathy is a bug in the 'human code', etc etc.
But it's exactly these things that make us human. It's exactly these things that REALLY matter. Take them away, and see how inhumane society gets - the proof is all around now...
Right on, Dutch Mike. Its like it has all been bleached out of us, or something. Kinda like white Wonder Bread. There's' no there there.
The White Wonder bread is quite a good description, Ally. The idea of reductionism is to reduce the whole to parts, and in extension, to the most important/useful part - at least, that's the thought. In reality, just one part is boring, even unhealthy, and no part exists alone in a vacuum. In that sense, reductionism is more a weird thought experiment than actually grounded in reality. But it's still the dominant way of thinking in much of "modern" western science, especially popular science.
You have to be on the Sociopathic spectrum to be a right-winger.
Lack of empathy is a dead giveaway.
All I can say, xplisset, is amen.
Thank you for your strong optimism. Your words about the spirit that kept Black America alive resonate with me. When we get discouraged, we need to remember their courage.
Signs for today to carry, along with summary statements of offenses. Just like the summary letter of offenses to King George in 1776. “Yes it is a fact concealed that “you” elected a child molester ! Even vile, hardened convicts despise child molesters; Wtf are ‘you’ to elevate such a creature ? ‘These’ should be fodder for better signs ! Creative minds could do this more concisely perhaps. Work with this; Double down NOW.
I try to remind myself of all the events in history, difficult times that our ancestors nevertheless managed to survive. But it's getting really hard to be strong...
If it's to be democracy, it can only be as strong as we make it.
There're no way through Xplisset, at least any way that would not lead to repression by this regime that's been planting the seeds for that since day one.
Look Ricardo, I hear ya. Some regimes make “there’s no way through” feel like gravity and that’s part of the repression. As a retired cop, I’ve watched crackdowns up close. The truth is ugly: there’s a cost either way. But “no way through” just isn’ta strategy.
Our elders made it through courts that looked the other way and officers who didn’t. They ran two tracks at once. Soul first with rituals that kept people human when the ground shook. And the boring civic grind in daylight, those numbers, witnesses, records, mutual aid, defense funds, election-protection shifts, court dates on calendars, names and badge numbers written down. That mix doesn’t stop repression overnight, but it blunts it, documents it, and tends to outlast it.
Hey look I’m not selling ease. I’m saying we build what we can’t be denied: circles that meet weekly, neighbors who know each other’s kids, kitchens that stay open, a text chain when someone’s in trouble, songs that keep breath moving. We love out loud and we organize in daylight. That’s the way through. It's got a price but it's also got a future.
Believe this is essential & true. Good to hear your voice, Xplisset.
We need you here, Xplissit. One of my fellow board Blue Tennessee board members is a black woman…and she has taught me so much!
You’re words and outlook bring tears to my eyes. Thank you.
Im not saying there isn't any way, although we still need to find one, I'm just saying that any way would lead to repression and it would be probably bloody. Take it as warning not a call to just sit and watch. The regime will do anything abd everything to stay in power. We should act to win since we'll have just one chance.
From Dr. Richardson herself. She has said this is not true. In fact she dislikes people claiming this. There are great minds out there saying the exact opposite of what you are saying. Why don't you read up on them? Listen to Dr. Richardson's podcasts?
I believe you might feel much better about things.
"Dr. Richardson Podcast with Joyce White Vance
We don’t want to make him seem greater than he is…We should be out there talking about James Madison, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham…because those principles have lasted… Nazism didn’t work out so well. We really need to push on our values because …they were proven to work for 250 years.
Authoritarians can’t take root when people are happy. Joy really does matter.
We stopped working for Democracy which is really about agency. Democracy by definition is never fixed. It is never finished. Given the opportunity to create something new. There is extraordinary joy in creation. It is exciting to be apart of it.
This is going to be a long fight. That doesn’t mean there won’t be victories along the way.
Thank you for these reminders, Barbara.
They are from Dr. Richardson's podcast with Joyce Vance White. It is amazing to me that in the darkest times these amazing minds come to help us through. These brilliant people are so capable of parsing the seriousness of our situation with a reality-based refusal to give in.
I refuse to listen to doom stuff. I stopped all social media and getting too involved in forums like these. My mind feels a lot more focused on solutions.
Take Care
Barbara, thanks for your comment. At times, I have to break away from making phone calls to Congress--even though I know how important it is--because, not joking here, it raises my blood pressure and makes me physically ill. I've always been a person who turns away from arguments, even if I can prove I am right. I get so upset by what is happening that I find myself yelling at the aide answering the phone. I end up shaky and my day is ruined. Emails are better--for those I can email. And then I feel guilty that I am not doing enough.
Take care of yourself first. You are much more effective and, well, happy. Take lots of walks. A technique a reiki person taught the following to me.
Stand up. Do this while dressed.
With your right hand brush yourself off vigorously all over. Repeat with your left hand. Now shake both hands releasing all the negative energy.
Personally I would change my clothes after making those calls.
Lots of really intense stuff going on. And yes, it gets in our energy. We need to all learn how to shake it all off-literally!
Best Regards
Barbara
Miselle, every tiny baby step we each take helps to move us all forward.
Signs for today to carry, along with summary statements of offenses. Just like the summary letter of offenses to King George in 1776. “Yes it is a fact concealed that “you” elected a child molester ! Even vile, hardened convicts despise child molesters; Wtf are ‘you’ to elevate such a creature ? ‘These’ should be fodder for better signs ! Creative minds could do this more concisely perhaps. Work with this; Double down NOW.
Barbara, And out of the ashes a greater nation will emerge. Trump's "Golden Age" will destroy our country and end democracy. The collapse of the economy, like the Great Depression, will set a new course for our government, like FDR's New Deal program to save the economy, Democratic leaders will undo the more than 40 years of republican policies to destroy America.
To accomplish this great task the Constitution will have to be restored to the original intent of the founding fathers.
The Supreme Court will have to be reorganized so that it no longer exists to protect the ultra wealthy. To accomplish this, laws will be passed that takes the money out of politics. It will make bribing politicians illegal again. It will outlaw suppression and gerrymandering of registered voters. An make decisions about women's health between her and her doctor, not some politician.
Taxation laws will be passed to make the ultra-wealthy pay their fair share. The money generated from this will help solve problems that have been facing society.
It would include programs to reduce homelessness, drug addiction, and poverty. Also provide money to improve education, mental health, universal healthcare, and paid tuition for nurses, doctors, teachers, and social workers. The people running the government's main goal should be to improve the quality of life for its citizens.
This is the hope for our future. trump will lead us to the abyss, but the aftermath will be a restoration of values and a new course for our nation that will truly lead us into a " Golden Age" for the American people.
Again. This bears repeating again and again.
Listen to Dr. Richardson's podcast with Joyce Vance White. Dr. Richardson talks about the facts of how a Democracy works. It simply doesn't include a whole scale end such as you suggest. As to the golden age? You are describing the Biden Administration exactly. Only. And only when we end the corporate, complicit media dishing out a toxic stew of lies and disinformation will people even begin to know who and what they are voting on. And only when Citizens United is overturned will we begin to have real political candidates not bought and sold.
That is the GOP plan, Dutch Mike, and without the majority of citizens don't wake up now and take to the streets, our chances to rescue our democracy are slim. The GOP is the fascist party.
Yes they are - and they promised to be, too. It was all crystal clear even before the election. And people still voted for them...
This is a panicked, fearful response. They’ve positioned you perfectly. Now breathe and take in the experience and wisdom of Xplisset’s words.
Panicked? Fearful? Might be. But lesson one in the art of war is: never underestimate your enemy. You think the MAGA regime has gone low? You ain't seen nothin' yet: they will go lower - much, much lower. You have to be ready when ICE officers start harassing people at the ballot boxes. You have to be ready when they start beating people who vote for Democrats. You have to be ready when they start arresting and abducting Democratic candidates. You may protest against that, yes. But then you also have to be ready when (not if) Trump declares another 'emergency' and orders the military to shoot at these "traitors" and "rioters". That will give protests a completely different meaning.
I read your essay (gut-level poem?) earlier today and it still on my mind. You write of love that is defiant, resilient, aware and courageous. What the world (so) needs now. Thank you.
J L, thank you. That’s the balance I was trying to hold….love as defiance, love as survival. I’m grateful it landed with you.
I loved it too. As a young, white, college student who followed Dr. King and John Lewis' teachings, they spoke for all. We saw our friends pulled to Vietnam and clung to music, art, and poetry for warmth.
You are talking survival strategies. We will need them, even as we resist. Thank you.
I've been listening and learning, and one thing I do know is, without Black Americans' efforts to show the way, we'd have been "here" a long time ago. We need to hang on to what is *right*, what is *true*, and just keep at it, every day. Thank you for your mercy. I'm ashamed America let you down for so long. We must do better!
''If you need Nazis to explain your plan, you might want to rethink your plan.''
Funny thing about politicians: when they say “emergency,” what they really mean is “I want more power, and I want it now.” Donald Trump is the latest to trot out that tired line. He’s hinting he could declare some vague “threat to national sovereignty” so he can run our elections himself. That’s not patriotism. That’s a toddler grabbing the TV remote and calling it leadership.
The Constitution says states run elections. Period. No asterisk. No “unless the president feels cranky.” Yet Trump and his cheerleaders think if they yell “emergency” loud enough, the rest of us will just hand him the keys.
I’ve seen better scams from guys selling used cars with the odometer rolled back. At least they throw in free floor mats.
And the highbrow crowd justifies it with Carl Schmitt, the Nazi theorist who said law is just power. If you need Nazis to explain your plan, you might want to rethink your plan.
Real emergencies unite a country. Fake ones divide it and make us stupid. If we fall for this “emergency powers” routine, then maybe the emergency is us.
"If you need Nazis to explain your plan, you might want to rethink your plan"
That would make a great sign for the Oct 18th rally.
I am seriously asking people commenting to watch Dr. Richardson's Podcasts. Remember this! The Letters from an American are a historical accounting of the events in America today. Her podcasts are the other side of what is happening. It is an on the ground look at things. Here are my notes from her discussion with Joyce Vance.
Dr. Richardson Podcast with Joyce White Vance
We don’t want to make him seem greater than he is…We should be out there talking about James Madison, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham…because those principles have lasted… Nazism didn’t work out so well. We really need to push on our values because …they were proven to work for 250 years.
Authoritarians can’t take root when people are happy. Joy really does matter.
We stopped working for Democracy which is really about agency. Democracy by definition is never fixed. It is never finished. Given the opportunity to create something new. There is extraordinary joy in creation. It is exciting to be a part of it.
This is going to be a long fight. That doesn’t mean there won’t be victories along the way.
Yes, her calmness in the face of this all is quite valuable.
Well said. It is amazing how this country treats marginal people only to have them find a way to succeed in spite of the oppression.
Exactly. Survival turned into testimony, and that’s the code America needs now
Listen, white people, including myself (and I am not proud of this), did not pay enough attention to the brutality the Black population continued to receive until…George Floyd! Why? Because we needed proof and boy, did we get it! Bless the young woman and several others who took the infamous video of the corrupt cop literally murdering Mr. Floyd. White people finally woke up because of social media.
We have always tried to stand arm-in-arm with the Black community but we never did enough. Germans turned their head when gypsies, gays, and Jews were rounded up. We know their fate. I personally know because my own grandparents were gassed and other relatives were put in ovens. I think there is a closer alliance between all races and these bastards in charge underestimated the power of WE THE PEOPLE.
Bless you for this crucial reminder. I'm white, but for years I sang in a local choir that focused on the slave songs, "spirituals." These days I sing them for solace, inspiration, and the strength to keep going.
Signs for today to carry, along with summary statements of offenses. Just like the summary letter of offenses to King George in 1776. “Yes it is a fact concealed that “you” elected a child molester ! Even vile, hardened convicts despise child molesters; Wtf are ‘you’ to elevate such a creature ? ‘These’ should be fodder for better signs ! Creative minds could do this more concisely perhaps. Work with this; Double down NOW.
I have always been astonished at how African American have not only held on to their humanity, but also excelled in self expression across a variety of fields. Of course the effects of racism, up to and including lynchings, rapes, and concerted attempts to prevent people of color to vote or otherwise claim their rights under the law. I think it's time and past time for us to expand the dialogue between them and the rest of us. Because we're all being denied our rights now, and who know but that killings, incarceration and other fascist actions are just over the horizon. More, please.
African-Americans are long lost term by the way… unless you want to call Americans, Italian Americans, Irish Americans, Chinese Americans, Japanese Americans, Jewish Americans, Irish Americans. Play live your life on the 20% for you OK?
Live your life in the 21st-century, OK.
Thank you Xplisset for your voice and powerful words. Such a necessary reminder. What you’ve written reframes survival itself as an act of love, creativity, and spirit, a wisdom born from generations who endured when the systems around them collapsed. It strikes me that these rituals of resilience are not just history but blueprints for today, ways of holding on to our humanity and building forward even in the face of cruelty. Thank you for sharing this, it feels like a lifeline and a call to remember what truly sustains us.
Xplisset, my primary form of personal expression is through graphics and text, but when I am moved, it is always through music. As I read your comment, strains of Dionne Warwick's "What the World Needs Now" came to mind. I had always heard that song as a sweet, wistful wish. But in the context of today's current events, it seems like more of an anthem of defiance and healing.
Apparently, Ms. Warwick has recently released a new video interpretation that shows the song in just that way.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m5Chxe89O6c
Thank you, Sir, for a hopeful message in the face of despair. May we all learn from the grace in the face of oppression practiced by our African American kin.
Researchers trace “Kumbaya” (meaning “come by here”) back at least to 1926, when the first known recording was made by folklorist Robert Winslow Gordon in Georgia, featuring a Gullah man named H. Wylie singing the song in his native dialect[wikipedia +2]. Early written versions were also collected around this time, demonstrating its presence in both Gullah and broader African American communities[wikipedia +2].
Authentic Roots and Spread
The song was originally a prayerful appeal to God for comfort and support: “Someone’s praying, Lord, kumbaya,” or “Someone’s in trouble, Lord, kumbaya”[wikipedia +2]. It likely originated as part of the oral spiritual tradition of enslaved Black Americans, then spread through different Southern states, eventually making its way into folk revival repertoires and summer camp traditions in the mid-20th century.
Democracy is dying Lord, Come By Here — Oh, Lord, Come By Here. 😢
We used to sing that in our Catholic Church (I've lapsed since COVID) but we'd sing
"be with us" instead of "kumbaya"
I never contemplated WHY until now.
Yikes.
Thank you, sir, for your lighting what has become another temporary darkness. The hope of our origins (the pilgrims), the test of the Civil War and the endurance of the oppressed is a light for all of us.
Your Comment dramatizes the incredible situation we’re in — if we can abuse a large national minority like this, for so long & so badly, well, now we are doing same to the remainder, our majority — supine Legislative Branch, corrupt Judicial Branch, a Dictator in the White House — it’s a disheartening picture. We must begin at the top, I guess — Trump must go — but then we must reform the Court & the Congress & more… The structure still can be made to work, I believe, but we must use it better.
This is so disgusting. Republicans could stop this, but are cowards. If the Senate Democrats fold on funding the government, we may be doomed. With the capitulation of the Supreme Court, the ball is back in the Senate. We now know how cruel and incompetent the Trump administration really is. There are no excuses to keep it going.
Multiple sources and multiple voices (not just Heather, not only Joyce Vance) keep affirming the obvious: this regime is hanging by a thread of Damocles. Chaos lurks behind its every attempt to enforce its bizarre rules and orders. These people are not strong — they are pathetically, and obviously, weak.
So many here have convinced themselves that all is lost, like Bette Midler as Winifred Sanderson in Hocus Pocus, wailing: “we are doomed, we are DOOMED….”
Man up! Woman up! Find your “sticking place” to paraphrase Shakespeare. There is so much that must be done. There are multiple legal proceedings which must be adjudicated and money to do that doesn’t grow on trees. Protests that must happen to showcase active non-compliance (not just grumbling). Articulate voices and ascendant political stars that must be supported (not put through purity tests). Republican creeps and critters who must be shamed at town halls. Poll watchers that must be trained and engaged, churches and places of worship to enlist in the struggle…
So many tasks. So little time to do them. None of us can predict either the near or distant future. So let’s get busy and stop acting like a campy witch in drag woken up from the 16th century!
But…the Supreme Court !!! Complicit in democracy’s demise!
There’ll always be “but’s.” Act anyway…
Damn, you are right. It’s really hard to predict, especially about the future. But the hindsight is scary enough.
Signs for today to carry, along with summary statements of offenses. Just like the summary letter of offenses to King George in 1776. “Yes it is a fact concealed that “you” elected a child molester ! Even vile, hardened convicts despise child molesters; Wtf are ‘you’ to elevate such a creature ? ‘These’ should be fodder for better signs ! Creative minds could do this more concisely perhaps. Work with this; Double down NOW.
I don't believe that "many here have given up hope".
We are sounding the alarm and right now is the time the GOP (fascist party) is most dangerous. They are going to keep pushing the coup, and they will use violence. Trust right-wingers at your own risk.
Many have not. Others sound exactly like they’ve given up the ship — which is exactly the way the bastards want us to feel. Keep hope alive.
At this point, I can only assume that Republicans don’t want to stop this. In a world with “no laws, just power,” it seems that they are assuming that they will share in the power (and wealth). Especially the ones, as Trump said at his new Rose Garden “Club”, “I don’t have to call at 4 AM”. The same with the majority of the Supreme Court, whose unexplained rulings seem to indicate that they no longer care about laws— just power.
I fear that even more than cowardice, anti-republic "Republicans" bought into "winning" is the only thing; total domination, no matter the cost. Like a deadly bout of "road rage", total disaster in the service of ego.
JL, speaking of anti- republic Republicans, who IS Laura Loomer and why does her opinion count so much with Trump and his cronies-in-crime? She seems to have a lot of influence. I know WHO she is, but WHY she is, is my question.
She serves the same purpose in this Administration as Jeffrey Epstein did for JP Morgan for YEARS. She’s a FRAUD. In his case, a money-laundering child trafficker and rapist. In hers, a mysterious go-between connecting the ultra-loony, looney-tunes crowd with the White House.
She has no credentials. She has no expertise. She has no qualifications. She has no legal standing. She serves as a Shit-Whisperer at the pleasure of His Diapered Bottom. She tells him how magnificent he is, how adored he is by his cult. How svelte. How brilliant. How charming. Then rushes to the conspiracy whackos whispering, “see? see? Donald really gets us, he really does!” She orchestrates the alternate universe of poo they all like to wallow in.
Enough to make a sane person want to projectile vomit. And Republicans go right along with it. 🤮🤮🤮
Since she seems to have no personal credentials as a strategist, but thrives as a shuttle communicator in untraceable 1-on-1 meetings, one could wonder what country’s intelligence agencies she might serve as a conduit for in the age of electronic communication. . .
The fact that she has "no personal credentials" is in line with all of Trump's administration. "Untraceable one-on-one meetings" seem to defy the "transparency" lie that Karoine and others spew.
What an unbelievable mess.
J L, I stopped wondering why the "evangelicals " are not demanding total revelation of anything related to the Epstein /trump scandal since they "hold the high moral ground". Maybe this hypocrites had reached a conclusion and decided to be complicit. If honest, they can make a huge difference.
I have encountered religious people who seem to hold a high moral ground, have courage in their convictions, and keep an open heart. I really want to hear more from them in this crisis. Evangelicals who support Trump have lost the plot, and any moral authority.
If you find any with a moral high ground, it will be a miracle. Long gone
The Evangelicals have their own agenda, which is gaining power to institute a Christian nationalist theocracy.
It's white male supremacy that they want. They worship power. That's their god.
They have no interest in women other than as submissive incubators.
You know them well
Ricardo, if I'm repeating myself, so be it.
U.S. evangelicals have developed a mythical origin story borrowed from the ancient Israelis of the Hebrew Scriptures (aka Old Testament). This myth describes evangelicals as the downtrodden persecuted minority, when in fact, they've maintained undue influence on U.S. culture and government since its inception. Every evangelical carries an unspoken burden of resentment and grievance that non-believers hate them.
Evangelicals have misread and misinterpreted the biblical book of The Revelation as a book of prophecy, which it is not. (It was a coded commentary on the Roman occupation.) Through this misinterpretation of The Revelation, evangelicals believe that their long-time persecution will be broken and they will finally rule the world with Jesus.
They are so desperate for this flipping of the script, that they have for decades read meaning into current events as portents that "The End Times" are about to unfold. Of course, these predictions always fizzle, but that doesn't stop evangelicals from continuing to find apocalyptic meanings in the daily news.
Donald's political advisors have captured evangelicals' imaginations, and in a magnificent con, he has promised them he will make their wishes come true. Evangelicals are so desperate for this power and control, they are willing to overlook Donald's depravity, comparing him to the corrupt kings of the Old Testament who, in spite of their depravity, "fulfilled God's plans."
Sad comment Dale but very true.
With all the gold cross hanging on the necks of the evil MAGA women in power, it’s hard to know what to think of the ordinary people I see every day with their little gold crosses too. Am I noticing them more now or are there really more of them? Is it “code” for their fellow MAGAts??
No. A lot of the every day folks you see are Episcopalians. 😉
Don't assume that about the crosses. In my daughter's evangelical church, wearing a cross is an idolitry symbol and is discouraged if not outright forbidden. When we've been in her church, to this Catholic, it doesn't feel like a church at all. No altar, no statues, no cross, no stained glass. They do have an indoor pond to baptize in though.
Certainly hope it’s not code, Deborah, as many good women would be appalled that anyone would perceive them as MAGA-Ettes.
If honest… no more I fear. Not in my realm
Power at any cost…
At this point, I can only assume that Republicans don’t want to stop this. In a world with “no laws, just power,” it seems that they are assuming that they will share in the power (and wealth). Especially the ones, as Trump said at his new Rose Garden “Club”, “I don’t have to call at 4 AM”. The same with the majority of the Supreme Court, whose unexplained rulings seem to indicate that they no longer care about laws— just power.
You got it. They don’t care.
No assumption necessary, Terry, they prove it every day.
ALWAYS remind them daily. I keep writing mine everyday reminding them this is their problem and they could solve it just by honoring their Oath of Office.
Agreed, but the Trump administration will continue to defund any program they don’t like and Republicans will allow it. Shutting down the federal government may trigger the sort of national emergency MAGA wants in order to create the dictatorship they’ve been planning for, but it’s likely they’ll go there anyway. Democrats may have hoped the mid-term elections would save us, but it is likely we saw our last somewhat free and fair election just last November.
Retrumpians are all in on fascism and being nazis - this is what they want!
"If the Senate Democrats fold on funding the government, we may be doomed."
This was Ezra Klein the other day: "...the bill that passed back in March funding the government runs out at the end of this month. And so we’re facing the question again: Should Senate Democrats partner with Senate Republicans to fund this government?
I don’t see how they can.
Not a single argument Schumer made then is valid now. https://www.nytimes.com/2025/09/07/opinion/trump-senate-democrats-shutdown.html
Republicans could be cowards, or they could all be sexual deviants, members of a club, who really don’t see anything wrong with what has been divulged. Or, both.
The Republicans and the fat cats and the “Heritage Society” types mean to institute one party rule in this country,and they mean for it to be permanent. They do not care that half of the population never wanted any of Trump’s megalomaniacal foray into what should be a serious undertaking of representing the US and its people. Why and how the Republican Party became a collection of crackpots and chancers is a question that will take historians a generation to decipher. History will not be kind to any of these cowardly politicians.
Republicans, cowards? That is only part of it. They and the religious right are active architects of this undermining of our democracy. They actually believe that they are the superior beings who are entitled to rule those of us who are not worthy .Democracy for all is just a scheme/ scam to take from the worthy and give to us moochers. And they have God on their side
Signs for today to carry, along with summary statements of offenses. Just like the summary letter of offenses to King George in 1776. “Yes it is a fact concealed that “you” elected a child molester ! Even vile, hardened convicts despise child molesters; Wtf are ‘you’ to elevate such a creature ? ‘These’ should be fodder for better signs ! Creative minds could do this more concisely perhaps. Work with this; Double down NOW.
A big shout out to Mitch McConnell, who almost single-handedly facilitated the demise of liberal democracy in America.
Enjoy eternity in Hades!
Signs for today to carry, along with summary statements of offenses. Just like the summary letter of offenses to King George in 1776. “Yes it is a fact concealed that “you” elected a child molester ! Even vile, hardened convicts despise child molesters; Wtf are ‘you’ to elevate such a creature ? ‘These’ should be fodder for better signs ! Creative minds could do this more concisely perhaps. Work with this; Double down NOW.
JD Vance said, "I don’t give a sh*t what you call it.” To dally just briefly for Vance's instruction: Killing citizens of another nation who are civilians without due process is not just called a war crime. It is a war crime. Vance apparently also doesn't give a shi*t that he's a war criminal for supporting this.
No Constance, the next in line doesn't give a sh*t about anything. Just power and more power. This message has been approved by Peter Thiel.
I can't help but wonder, IF all the MAGA dreams came to pass, would they then toss Thiel in a camp or murder him? He's gay. They can't change his sexual orientation. He is a billionaire, which FOR NOW seems to excuse him--but what stops them from taking all his money away?
When jd said,"I don't give a shit what you call it" told me that we are in a real war in this country. This is massively different than when our democracy was threatened in the past. There's only one thing going for us now and that is the size of our population and the reality that we're opening our eyes. It's going to get ugly real fast.
It should have already gotten ugly. We cannot pin all our hopes and dreams on an election 13 months away. The destruction we've seen in 9 months will only accelerate. I'm sorry but peaceful protest will not remove this illegitimate regime.
He’s the Maybelline Asswipe insisting what you see, hear and get isn’t what you saw, heard and got.
The irony is that nobody really gives a flying flamingo what he thinks about anything. He’s just a fly following the feces.
He absolutely is a fly following the feces! He is socially awkward and inept. His feet don't reach the floor, and everyone knows it. He is struggling to be accepted, but he will fail. He will never hold the command that, unfortunately, djt does.
Can you I imagine if VP Kamala Harris had said this? Had even used language like this???
Deborah...I say this to myself daily. Just imagine...
Signs for today to carry, along with summary statements of offenses. Just like the summary letter of offenses to King George in 1776. “Yes it is a fact concealed that “you” elected a child molester ! Even vile, hardened convicts despise child molesters; Wtf are ‘you’ to elevate such a creature ? ‘These’ should be fodder for better signs ! Creative minds could do this more concisely perhaps. Work with this; Double down NOW.
Thank you for another letter where you weave so much information into a single story about the crazy times we are living in…as you stated in your discussion with Joyce Vance this evening, we’ve been here before in the last 150 years of our democracy.
My favorite take away…” Authoritarians can’t take root if people are happy “. We must find the joy!
Your conversation with Joyce is here:
https://youtu.be/8y6S84MbhVw?si=5XEpGY52xvgBQYPY
Note: there were 16k people on the call!
Another quote from Martin Luther King, Jr. that suddenly comes to mind: “a man can’t ride your back unless it’s bent first.”
Kari, for once, I managed to be on of the 16K that were on that!!
The POWER of our numbers!!
Many more will watch on video.
💥💥IMPORTANT!!💥💥
PLEASE MAKE SURE YOU HIT THE HEART BUTTON ON THE CLIP TO "LIKE" IT!
Yes, it matters. I don't know all the mechanisms, but I've been told doing so helps promote the content in the computer algorithm.
Have you hit the LIKE button on today's letter? If not, go back and do so. Make it a habit with all the independant journalists content that you consume.
REMEMBER the impact Joe Rogan had in the last election!! Hitting like, subscribing, forwarding, posting on your social media, forwarding, commenting, and talking about all of these journalists helps get the message out: WE ARE NOT THE MINORITY.
Signs for today to carry, along with summary statements of offenses. Just like the summary letter of offenses to King George in 1776. “Yes it is a fact concealed that “you” elected a child molester ! Even vile, hardened convicts despise child molesters; Wtf are ‘you’ to elevate such a creature ? ‘These’ should be fodder for better signs ! Creative minds could do this more concisely perhaps. Work with this; Double down NOW.
I find the UnSupreme Court's decision greenlighting warrantless search and seizure to be extremely chilling. It basically gives ICE the ability to stop and disappear anyone they claim seemed to possibly be an undocumented immigrant. I can easily imagine them disappearing anyone who opposes the Trump dictatorship. Kavanaugh's comment justifying "common sense" as acceptable grounds is horrifying.
Yep, it's now open season on any non-MAGA ethnic or cultural group, anyone doing any sort of work found unacceptable for any reason, any dissident, anyone who reads the wrong book or thinks the wrong thoughts or combs his/her hair the wrong way.
How long will it be until they come for you and me? I guarantee you that if you are reading this Substack post and those of the many other outstanding thinkers and writers speaking up and calling out what's happening, you will sooner or later be targeted as a "subversive woke terrorist against the régime" <propagandistic rhetoric subject to change as fascist power grabs mutate and spread>.
If they want to come after this broken-down old biddy for speaking her mind, I probably can't stop them, but I can certainly promise to be as big a thorn in their backsides to my last breath.
I agree and I don’t believe this is paranoid of you to say. SCOTUS has enabled them to pull someone off the street with no questions asked. Well; I probably have “Progressive” written all over my face!
I read about an American who was stopped and roughed up and he finally gave them his ID to prove he’s a citizen. They let him go but kept his ID! Next time he’s stopped….with no ID , he will be taken away! Just brutal racial profiling
🤬
As a Democratic senator from Georgia, Jon Ossoff has repeatedly criticized former President Donald Trump on issues of corruption, self-enrichment, and undermining democratic institutions.
https://www.instagram.com/reel/DJSyCxRADDt/?igsh=MW5xNGVsMHY2aDcwZA==
Signs for today to carry, along with summary statements of offenses. Just like the summary letter of offenses to King George in 1776. “Yes it is a fact concealed that “you” elected a child molester ! Even vile, hardened convicts despise child molesters; Wtf are ‘you’ to elevate such a creature ? ‘These’ should be fodder for better signs ! Creative minds could do this more concisely perhaps. Work with this; Double down NOW.
As have we all.
IMPEACH TRUMP. AGAIN. A grassroots movement is under way led by John Bonifaz, constitutional attorney and co-founder and president of Free Speech For People. He states: "if they [members of Congress] are not invoking the impeachment clause at this critical hour, frankly, they're part of the problem." Nearly a million signatures have been collected so far. To join the movement and sign the petition, visit https://www.impeachtrumpagain.org.
Hello Constance… If a 3rd Impeachment is issued by the House, it will be Successful in the Senate… I wonder if DJT will leave the WH voluntarily…
Hey Apache, please send over some of that stuff you are smoking LOL... I could use a real lift today!
"If a 3rd impeachment is issued by the House, it will be Successful in the Senate..."
In what strange alternate universe is this going to happen? With the GOP in the Senate holding a 53-47 majority and virtually all of them scared of their shadow, you actually expect to find 67 votes FOR removing Trump from office?
I would say ROTFLMAO except that seems so OBVIOUS :-).
This is unfortunately a non-starter. First, even IF an impeachment could actually be passed by the House (requiring a majority vote in a body that is still GOP by about 4 votes) it would require a Senate trial and there a 2/3 vote to remove from office is required. That means 67 Senators would have to support removal. The Democrats only hold 47 seats. There is NO WAY, barring Trump actually pulling out an M-16 and killing a slew of people in a school in the middle of an afternoon, that the Senate will oust him. It is a fool's errand and such actions are basically stupid. They accomplish nothing and waste a lot of time and energy and credibility. I refuse to join movements that have ZERO chance of success. Sorry, it just doesn't make any sense.
Hello Jon... DJT is rapidly Spiraling Rapidly... DJT is Feral, and Desperate... I strongly Suspect that DJT will do previously unimaginable Deeds... Those will turn the Tide in the Congress.... Remember. if it had been voting by Secret Ballot in the Senate, DJT would have Convicted per Mitt Romney... What have I been Smoking?... Just Traditional Indigenous Incenses.... They have kept Me Alive through Things That Would Have Killed Most People... Remember that the Soviet Union was invulnerable until it Shattered....
And so arose Russia, headed by Vladimir Putin. Personally I'd prefer having Gorbachev back in power in Russia. I always felt that he was a decent human being. Not something I would attach to either Putin OR Trump.
Hello Jon... I agree about Gorbachev... Mother Russia remains, it is however a shell of the Former Soviet Union that is becoming dependent on a Rising China....
Dependent, too, Apache, on Iran, India, North Korea, and MAGA U.S.
We don't really want secret ballots in the Senate. And I doubt Romney was promoting secret ballots.
Not stupid at all to publicly and visibly register our highest dissatisfaction with Trump and to demand that he be impeached. Saying nothing in this situation is tantamount to approval of his performance. Of course, if you do approve of him, you shouldn't sign the petition.
My problem with impeachment is that it has proven (TWICE) to be a useless strategy. And under the current Congressional numbers, it is even MORE useless. I do NOT object to registering our discontent with the administration, and I also think that using legal strategies to at least force the administration to defend itself is a good idea. But impeachment is a non-starter for me because it has NO chance of success at all, and it is just a waste of energy and time and probably money as well.
I have to agree with you Jon, and furthermore, this regime ends in only one way.. the way they all do. It’s time people started to understand that.
Oh Great One! Tell us, we beg Thee, which are the errands that are absolutely, positively, undeniably and reliably guaranteed to bear fruit!
We beseech Thee, O Prognosticator of the Near Future! What sure-fire, no-lose, guaranteed-to-win tasks art THOU engaged in, inquiring lowly minds want to know?
Resist and be disobedient whenever and wherever you can...that's what we should all be doing, even if this effort may not be practical in and of itself, in my view, Jon. Maybe that makes sense to you, my friend?
I'm all for rational resistance. I just think futile resistance is, well, futile. Impeachment is futile and so I stay far away from that tired gem. Its pretty clear that it has ZERO chance of success, so why waste time and energy? There are important ways to resist that I think are more meaningful.
Name them please.
Signs for today to carry, along with summary statements of offenses. Just like the summary letter of offenses to King George in 1776. “Yes it is a fact concealed that “you” elected a child molester ! Even vile, hardened convicts despise child molesters; Wtf are ‘you’ to elevate such a creature ? ‘These’ should be fodder for better signs ! Creative minds could do this more concisely perhaps. Work with this; Double down NOW.
Definitely Jon, charching against wind mills won't accomplish anything, by the contrary, it would a demonstration that we don't know what to do and can't be trusted with coming with solutions which is what we need to get. Solutions not embarrassment.
If Judge Luttig can get behind this, all the better.
done
M-R, in which state do you vote (assuming you are a US citizen)?
I vote in CO (the last place I resided in the USA) and I do it online. Boulder County sends me a ballot attached to an email, I vote, sign it and send it back as an email attachment. Works great.
When there's a petition to sign, I just put the last US zip code I had.
The only thing I have stopped doing is contributing $$ to candidates and causes through Act Blue, because one day I read the fine print and discovered I could not pay by credit card unless I was physically present in the USA. I'm curious to know what law requires this.. and why.
David, I live in Indonesia and contribute through Act Blue to different legal orgs like Democracy Defenders Fund etc and ACLU. I have noticed when I try with my smart phone it doesn't go through. But with my laptop have no problem. And I pay with credit card from a US bank with a US address. I am not sure but think it was challenged at one point a while back but it seems to work. Go figure.
If you're a US citizen, you can contribute to federal election campaigns. So a US citizen living in Indonesia probably can do that. Non- US citizens can't legally contribute, I'm pretty sure.
Thanks Robert. I was replying to David who is a US citizen who says he can't contribute to a candidate with Act Blue from outside the US. He is a US citizen.
https://www.threads.com/@atlantademocrat/post/DOVbA67idQh?xmt=AQF0DMqqrPj7Qh0HGjMCdR-Fy5VS0t2SE3-veW7bgUef6w&slof=1
👍GEORGIA: After the Trump Hyundai scandal hundreds of GOP registered voters switched to Democratic Party in 48 hours.👍
I had not heard of Carl Schmitt before reading tonight's post; will study up on his work. He sure seems like the ideological godfather of what the radical far-right (the Movement Conservatives and others of that stripe) have been all about for the last 50 years or so.
This country is in deep kim chi and sinking fast. Anyone who is not out of his/her comfort zone yet and resisting with every ounce of strength needs to be, right now. Resistance can take a million forms. Find a local grass-roots group and do everything you can. We the people need to be out on the streets constantly, every week, demonstrating that we absolutely reject what's going on, helping people understand why they need to reject it too, giving more people pathways out of their complacency and comfort zones. It's important to stay peaceful, but at the same time it's cool to be loud and angry and strident and implacable.
Oh -- and start or keep pestering the living s*** out of our elected representatives. Tell 'em to keep up the good fight, fight harder and more viciously, get off their asses and start fighting, grow some balls or ovaries as appropriate and stand up for America and their American constituents, or live in shame as morally bankrupt fascists <pick appropriate answer(s) or create your own>.
Plans are being laid for No Kings 2 on October 18. Make it a point to join in, and bring people with you. It is imperative that we stand up in massive numbers all around the country and shout "Hell no! We're not having it!"
Experts say that if more than 4% of populations are protesting, a takeover will not happen
Probably there are more than 4% "experts" in the population of this country. Let them demonstrate and see what happens Montana.
Re Carl Schmitt, the conversation yesterday with Joyce Vance and HCR will put that in perspective. I was glad I watched their fantastic conversation--getting the history of our country's ideas that preceded Schmitt's. Very hopeful. https://youtu.be/8y6S84MbhVw?si=U12plSrkyOQfjkL2
Thanks for that link. I missed the real-time broadcast of JV's and HCR's conversation and went looking for it last night but couldn't find it.
I also found HCR's interview on Dan Pfeiffer's podcast fascinating: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JSDXB8L7WNM
It's quite long -- I'm only about halfway through it -- and I find Pfeiffer very hard to understand. He speaks very fast and indistinctly and doesn't seem to have much use for the last syllable or two of many words. But HCR very clearly traces how far-right extremism, as distinguished from conservatism, has existed and thrived in the USA for a very long time and led to what we have today. Its ideological core springs essentially from the Old Confederacy; its focus is not to govern by policy (the ostensible approach of US democracy) but to impose ideology and dominate through unassailable, unaccountable power.
That thesis lines up well with what Nancy MacLean writes in _Democracy in Chains_, in which she traces the anti-democratic view back to John C. Calhoun in South Carolina in about the 1840s. He was the first to realize that a truly small-d democratic United States would never tolerate oligarchic control of another race and of the economy by a small group of white people, thus democracy had to be eliminated or at least suppressed.
As it happens, I'm also reading _The Longest Con: How Grifters, Swindlers, and Frauds Hijacked American Conservatism_, by Joe Conason. It lays out the profound greed, corruption, and dishonesty that has run deep in the so-called Republican domain for generations and has so strongly affected both domestic politics and international affairs.
Well … so much for getting to sleep tonight. When the one big crappy bill got passed in July, I commented that it was just the “end of the beginning “. I applaud & support the efforts of lower courts yet I feel the efforts are in vain given the “bought & paid for” maga SCOTUS judges (calling them judges is an insult to those who still have integrity). I just hope I’m still alive when democracy is restored to the country I defended for 30 years. My niece is having her 3rd child next week and I weep for their futures.
"Remember that it is usually those that start "the revolution" that get killed first by their followers". Karma is a "Bitch"
Historical Examples
• French Revolution: Maximilien Robespierre, a leading figure in the revolution, was ultimately executed by guillotine along with many other original revolutionaries during the Reign of Terror, as the movement turned on itself.
• Russian Revolution: Many Bolshevik leaders were purged or assassinated by Stalin, including prominent early revolutionaries like Leon Trotsky.
• Spanish Revolution: Figures like Andreu Nin, who played critical roles at the revolution’s start, were later executed by factions within the revolutionary movement itself.
• Grenada Revolution: Maurice Bishop, the initial revolutionary leader, was killed in a coup by radical segments of his own coalition.
• Other Movements: There are long lists of executed revolutionaries from many countries, indicating this is a recurring pattern through history.
Causes
• Factionalism: Frequently, revolutionary groups experience internal splits, and radicalization or power struggles lead to purges or executions of original leaders by former allies.
• Loss of Support: Leaders who are seen as too moderate, too radical, or simply as obstacles to power may attract the opposition of those they helped to bring to power.
• Political Instability: Revolutionary periods often breed suspicion and paranoia, leading to violence against perceived traitors or opponents within the original movement.
Not The Universal Rule
• While common, this is not a universal rule; some revolutionaries, such as Fidel Castro, retained power for decades, and others, like Václav Havel of Czechoslovakia, Lech Walenca of Poland transitioned to stable leadership roles after revolutionary movements.
My statement reflects a significant and well-documented trend in revolutionary history: many of those who lead revolutions become victims of the same forces they set in motion, often at the hands of their own comrades or factions
If Cosplay Trump sells an NFT of himself tarted up as a manly revolutionary, will he get his Nobel Peace Prize in pedo heaven?
When will this nightmare end? Please, friends. Let's stay united to defeat the monster. Keep doing your small acts. And do not let up on exposing the Epstein scandal. We must prevail.
46% of Americans—almost half of them—“strongly disapprove” of the job Trump is doing … LET’S SEE THAT 46% OF AMERICANS ON THE STREET PROTESTING EVERY WEEKEND. Better hurry cuz at this rate assembling in public will be verboten by SCOTUS decree.
If SCOTUS does they can go take a flying leap. I take no great pleasure in having to fight for my country like this but I will to my last breath.
We The People HAVE the power. Democracy is not dead, not even close. We simply have to stand up, be counted and show them who is in charge. Just as our fore-bearers did before us.
Get on it.
Dirk. The unorganized, rudderless response by Democratic leadership (See Ezra Klein’s NYT editorial and recent Ezra Klein Show podcast) leads me to conclude that “street resistance” is an inevitability. I warned years ago that the Dems were underestimating Trump and Trumpism at their own peril. All best, Dkirk.
Rape an underage girl, or many? Rape – attack – an America city, or many?
The rich and powerful hold themselves unaccountable, above us. But when they bludgeon us (by their uniformity, cliché, slogans) they are mass lying.
They can group, stereotype us, but eventually we see the lies for what they are.
All the U.S. working classes and their communities who got their tens of millions of jobs offshored? The mass lies covering for all that came by schools standardize-testing their kids by the promises that the tests and the schooling together were lifting all to the meritocracy. No. Urban and suburban elites could coast there. Not our working classes.
The wealth gap grew. In 2016 Donald stood out as if he alone understood our “deplorables.” He was still milking that as recently as the 2024 election, as if Dems were still out-to-lunch on what happened to our working classes. Dems were out of touch. Schools had dropped humanities – the arts of dealing with personal complications – and Dems went along with the alternative, testing, key to the habitual managing by our rich and powerful.
Donald still covers for the rich and powerful, still provides cover for Putin, Netanyahu, Mohammed bin Salman and the dozen next-worse despots. But by his yet covering for the rich and powerful for years raping the underage girls, even MAGA may now be seeing how much they – we’ve – been lied to.
Forty some years of "Reaganomics" bigly screwed the very people who think Trump walks on water.
Meaning their prejudices are more powerful than their purses, I suppose.
You got that right, Gail.
Hello Phil... The Epstein Files are Panicking DJT... DJT may be surrounded by Sycophants in DC, Mar-a-Lago, Fox News, and his Golf Clubs, but when DJT leaves this places, DJT is jeered at, and Disrespected... Remember Scotland?... Per People that know him, DJT can't stand being laughed at... Allegedly, DJT went into Politics only as a Branding Exercise, and because he likes the Pomp & Circumstance... Have You Seen Today's Picture Of DJT.... DJT is Collapsing, and is going to Go Full On Dictator To Hold Onto Power To Avoid Any Reckoning...
Yes, Apache: "is going to Go Full On Dictator To Hold Onto Power."
As Heather details fairly fully more today.
Money... simple as that .
Babylon make de rule!
So what do we do about it? No leaders have a plan. The Courts follow the law and Constitution (even judges that Trump himself appointed) and the Supreme Court just overrules them without explanation or guidance. They are going to steal the election by force. I don't see how protests help with this. I don't see how 'calling your Rep' helps with this. How will we get people to vote safely, get those votes counted reliably and get the results certified so that we can get some power back? The one group who could stop this dictatorship--the Supreme Court--are part of the coup! If a 100 judges (nominated by Reps and Dems and all over the country) who are experienced, expert at the law and have dedicated their lives to the law, keep coming up with one answer but then 6 Supreme Court justices keep saying they are just wrong without issuing explanation, the rational and logical conclusion is not that the 100 judges are corrupt!
The Supreme Court just overrules them without explanation because they have none. Not that the Constitution could be stretched to cover in any case. How can it be rule of law with the consent of the governed without transparency? Without accountability? Wen the public is not even let in on the joke? Who is working for who?
Absolutely there is “...a threat to the national sovereignty of the United States" and it's name is Donald Trump, et al. Anyway it's Vance who's Thiel's anointed. Trump's just a place holder.
Still lots of us have been saying for some time now that Trump and the R's can't afford an election, or not a fair one. If he can't gerrymander his way to victory he'll find some other way. Bet on it. It's all been planned for.
Political power flows from the barrel of a gun. Fascists don't simply give up power. They have to be removed by force. History has very, very few instances where it was achieved at the ballot box. Sure, one can have hope, but best to hope for the best while preparing for the worst.