Every word you wrote rings true. The ugliness of the oligarchs is going to be the worst thing I’ve ever witnessed in my 70 years of life. I for one know it’s been a good life for me up until now. I will do whatever it takes to stand in the way of this political obscenity. It’s been a good life and I have nothing to lose.
Many of us elderly people (I am 73) can relate to what you say. Maybe some of us can get together and talk about what we might do before we check out. There was a group in the 80's called The Gray Panthers.
Deadmanwalking, if all of us elderly people are going to stay in this fight, we do need to talk together about what we can do. I love the Gray Panthers! Great title! I am right there with you and let me know, please, what I can do! Stay strong!
I have suspected a revolution is the only way for the last 30 years or more. Doesn't humanity ever learn anything from the past? Society can't keep moving in an unsustainable direction forever. When one person can wear a $900,000 watch while 770,000 are homeless, we are clearly going in the wrong direction, yet how many millions thought a vote for Trump was any kind of solution? It might be that when those millions didn't get what they bargained for, the seeds of revolution will start growing.
The irony is that many of the people who voted for the $800,000 watch crowd, don't have a pot to piss in, but to them it is more important to own he hated libs, their DEI,CRT, fags and trans.
Only now it has downed on me that "Jurassic Park" is an allegory and a prophesy. As long as saurian brains roam freely in the virtual world humanity is imperiled.
I never thought of that. Good catch. Yeh, movies often have a sublimal sub plot.
I'm more of a literalist. I've looked at the series as ridiculous. If one understands the effects of gravity, and don't buy Newtonian physics, they would realize that the largest lizard that can live in the present environment, and one that doesn't live most of the time in water, is the Komodo Dragon. The Brontosaurus and Tyrannosaurus Rex would suffocate under their own weight like a beached whale. But would never grow so big anyway. the gravitational field is too weak, the atmosphere too thin. They require a more vicuos atmosphere (thicker for buoyancy), but also more stressful, reqiring massive muscles and tendons to perambulate, which puts stress on bones which makes the bones more massive.
They may not have pots to piss in, but you can be darn sure that many have at least a half dozen guns, possible assault rifles, in their possession-ready to go...... A large number proved that to us during the January 6 insurrection.
All that hate! And when I say I hate Trump, it makes me no better. I can remember years ago saying "I hate violence!" and suddenly realizing that the worst bits of human nature are in me too. I didn't like that, but at least it woke me up. Too many people never realize they might be a part of the problem, and hate of any kind can never be the best response.
Peace only comes about with a lot of active participation in protest, refusal to make hate come alive ( war) and serious support for justice. It is not a passive activity.
Extinction is coming no matter what we do, but that is largely because the oligarchs are more interested in making money than in saving life on earth.
William, I'm not so sure I follow ... I have to work very hard at the peace and love attitude, which I try my best to do, and I have to say that if there is one thing I'm not, it's passive. I certainly agree with you that anger appropriately experienced and expressed is empowering, and yet I believe our actions must be balanced and ultimately guided by what is positive.
Yes. I call it righteous anger. We MUST be brave and stand against the oligarchs in whatever way possible. We surely shouldn't wish them peace and love.
Hate has its place. We should hate the actions, or the potential outcome without hating the person(s). It makes it more palatable when trying to converse or debate the person needing conversion from the lies they have been fed and now believe.
We have to develop media that is factual and can be relied upon. The sheer mass of misinformation has been probably the biggest contributor to Trump regaining the White House. BigSky, people. Let's get in there and keep it honest.
The French Revolution of 1789 degenerated into terror, and it ended with Napoleon's dictatorship. Trump and his "bonapartist" supporters are reacting against the civil rights legislation of the 1960s and the 1980s IT revolution brought about by the microchip. Ironically, that same technology enabled them to gain power. That same technology may also give us a reign of terror.
1775 was not a revolution, as there was no change of Government, the king still sat astride the throne. It wasn't a civil war either, but a secessionist movement.
Even then there was violence, especially in Virginia. The good folk of Virginia had no desire to replace English overlords with homegrown overlords. And the tidewater aristocracy, the planters, were not at all interested in secession, as there sale of tobacco to London, netted them such wealth, that they lived large and were not bothered by taxes and the monopoly of the East India Company,
They joined the revolution because they saw it as a chance to become Royalty in America.
Their London relatives considered them to be coarse country bumpkins because of their weird (Surrey) accent, and coarse ungenteel manners.
To convince the citizen of Virginia to support their endeavors they formed Committees for Public Safety,which monitored the behavior of the people and punished those that were loyalists, Punishments ranged from economic to tar and feathering and riding out of town on a rail. if not worse.
In my darker moments, I have had similar thoughts, but the reality of such a horrific recurring event would be beyond comprehension; beginning with all of the grey-haired bodies to be picked up off the street along with our dead, mutilated children and grandchildren. No one really wants this and I suspect that for all of our brave talk, none of us wants to become a martyr.
I believe that the solution to this mess must begin at the local level by supporting our state governments, military and other vital institutions so that they will come to our aid and defense if and when it is necessary. I know this sounds a bit like the first steps towards secession from the US but our safety and well-being must remain our primary concern.
Ilene, I have no choice but to face and live in reality, dark or not, escapism and wishful thinking enables the dark force.
At this point in time the only hope I can see is that Blue states secede and petition Canada and Mexico, or just secede. The Governors of Washington,California and Illinois have taken steps to help insulate against the right wing terror that we face.
There needs to be an interstate compact between all blue states, and among them is to withhold taxes and support of the federal government.
That is our only hope at the moment, We are in for a rough ride, rougher than most can imagine. With a cowed legislature, and a handpicked crony cabinet, and a religious fanatic, corrupt Supreme Court, and a federal judicial system that will cave to Trump because they are scared if not in agreement, we really don't have much choice.
Over 100 execuitve orders on Day 1, firing of almost all civil servants, unless they take a loyalty to Trump oath, a court system that will not stop but enables him.
The firing of 50,000 civil servants to be replaced by incompetent MAGAts.
.Where do you think we are headed.
The bridge is washed out, there are orange stanchions and warning signs, yet people refuse to pay attention
Hope is not your friend, it is your enemy.. People meekly boarded trains head to Auschwitz,because of hope. People stripped naked and ran into trenches at Baba Yar because of hope.
My family and I used to admire the fairness and how United States applied the Law following the Constitution. Now a days, after tRump brought out all the divisiness, racial hate and cult followers the safetiness I personally experienced living in the U.S. is no longer there. I feel that by allowing rich people (non-citizens and citizens) controlling the government and making decisions will be another third world country. Just by tRump stating that he will use the military to control the illegal immigrants gives chills and reminds me of my experiences as a child dealing with such events in my native country. The government used the military to control the people and to kill them! they will go into small towns and kill everybody! elderly, children, young men, women, pregnant women it did not matter who was there in their paths - they got killed! also poverty was another way of control! I don't know how U.S. can get rid of this pest but one thing is for sure, oligarchy has a small number and U.S. citizens who care for this country are MANY! I think that we could do harm in their pockets if we do not consume their products! But it requieres the MAYORITY OF US! Hispanics boycott Univision because it interviewed tRump and they did not the same for President Biden so we ALL DID IT and they had to let go personnel and close some stations because of audience decreased! SMALL STEPS DO WORK!
Yep Miss B, we are on a downward spiral. Look up the word entropy.
There is a parallel between Tudor England and today.including religious persecution and conformity.
Tudor England was followed by the Stuarts, and religious extremism,including real witch hunts (James I was a noted witch hunter)
and even that was not enough,there were extremists that called themselves Puritans and the Puritans had their own extremist faction that called themselves Brownists, their leader rented a boat and 32 of them boarded in the Netherlands (to which they had fled, because they were unwelcome in England because of their extremism), the boat sailed to Plymouth,England picked up another 70 less extreme puritans and set sail for the Hudson Bay, they ran out of beer, and landed in Massachusetts Bay to replenish their stores, and we know their sorry tale as "pilgrims" they called themselves Saints, but their Governor Bradford wrote in his diary that they were pilgrims, and in the mid 19th Century that diary was found in a library in England the pilgrim myth was born.
Religious extremists have been the bane of America since, there was a "great awakening" in the 19th Century when puritanical missionaries invaded Virginia preaching their b.s., and later in the early 19th Century another invasion with likes of a fanatic, Lorenzo Dow, spreading his brand of intolerance. A lot of men named sons after him.
William, I fear you are right. Yet, if you consider Hope an enemy, then we are truly lost, but if you understand that Hope works both ways than there is still a chance for us to right our sinking ship of state even if it means a blue state secession and all of the Civil War horror which that may entail.
The way is fraught with obstacles, hard work, violence, danger, the only alternative is submission, helplessness, and forlorn hope, that a miracle or a knight on shiny armor will come to our rescue.
Nope I was alluding to the French Revolution of 1789. despite popular myth, and what our history books and movies tell us, 1775 was not a revolution.
A revolution results in a change of government. King George was not an issue, and after the treaty of Paris in 1783, he was still king.
1775 was an act of secession, the 13 colonies seceded from Britain, and their first attempt at forming a government was a confederacy.
George Washington is considered the first president of the United States, serving from 1789 to 1797. However, John Hanson was the first full-term president of the United States in Congress Assembled, serving from 1781 to 1782.
And it wasn't taxation without represenation that resulted in the Boston Tea party, it was the monopoly bestowed by the King on the East India Company, a monopoly which forced Boston merchants into becoming smugglers, At that time smuggling was capital offense, the penalty was hanging, and hanging in chains at that.
The Civil War was also fought over secession, but in that case the secessionists supported the slave-owning aristocracy.
All this talk of wars and political violence is unproductive. To make real change requires engagement in political processes, backed up by public protest marches. When the media are wholly owned arms of big business, the public is ill-informed and protests become a means of making statements that would otherwise be ignored.
If you think you could muster enough popular support for a secession, why not muster that same energy to make peaceful changes, like preventing a takeover of the diverse media environment?
We already have a distorted broadcast media, along with a polluted social media, with people re-posting lies, Russian propaganda, and "Christian" memes without understanding the repercussions.
And the left has no comprehensive, coherent strategy to put up against the right-wing narrative, marching in lockstep to nonsense. Not that we should now just give up, because we lost a big election, and the jack-booted thugs are girding for battle. We didn't lose by much, and there are still a majority of the American people who agree with us on most of the big issues. The problem is, they just stayed home, and failed to send in their ballots, being frustrated with "both sides", and having no hope for a boost in their economic prospects, not realizing that prosperity is ahead, even for the poorest.
A small event in the world could have been enough to have shifted the election. For instance, if Biden's peace deal for Gaza put forward in May had gone through, it would have been as if the 1979 hostages in Iran had been released to Jimmy Carter. Millions of voters would have seen hope for the world, and come out to vote to maintain it.
This. I like Mr. Reich. But like much commentary, his diagnosis is good, but not much on prescription or treatment. No call for action. We olds can actually enrich our lives by organizing and taking action. See comments below. I am intrigued by the Gray Pathers. Going to check them out! Find an orgainzation. Also, come on over to Blue Sky if you are sick of Social Media like twitter. bsky.app. Get back to work!
I’m 75 and have deactivated Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Threads and will look to limit my exposure to Amazon. I also cancelled Starlink and will not buy a new Tesla (even tho both are , unfortunately, great products). Also I admit to being pissed at Apple’s Tim Cook for contributing to Trump’s inauguration as I write this on my iPad. These guys are selling us down the river. Damn them to hell .
What does it cost us to remain engaged, using these corporate media platforms to continue pushing for the truth? If we drop out, who will be there to counter the lies and distortions put out by the Putin bots and the Magist traitors?
Please do. The youth need elders to be involved. Most of my generation, gen x, who aren’t pubbies are just trying to make ends meet and have little time for activism. I boycott companies, but little else. Gen z is trying to affect change. But, yeah, we all need positive boomer involvement
War is part of life, and we will all die. Most of us would take a bullitt for our children. Ideas are the best of us. Our current President was elected. He can take all the money he can get away with. We have a lot money. The rich guys just want to keep on doing what they have been doing. We don't have to take money from them. We must continue to help our fellow man. IDEAS ARE STRONGER THAN MONEY. IF SOMEONE SHOOTS AT ME I WILL SHOOT BACK.
I'm willing to join, too. Over on Bluesky there is a movement to stage a 100 hour general strike starting Monday. No TV, no social media, don't watch his coronation, no non-essential spending. Deny the Orange Oaf his ratings. Pass it on if you agree.
Unfortunately, with the latest media takeover by the fascists, how will knowledge of this strike reach the needed numbers to even get noticed? I have always been a progressive liberal political activist, so much so that I've been told, "not everything is political" by dear friends.
When Hillary lost, I was so devastated that I had to cancel my college classes the following days. After this election, when I was sure Americans would not vote for a convicted felon traitor, l didn't even get dressed for a week. I used to have MSNBC on all day, but I have stopped engaging with MSM, left X, and rarely seek out real news.
I fear for all Americans, especially women and the LGBT community. When the oligarchs bought SCOTUS, our Constitution was doomed.
I now feel like the TV show Scandal was actually what we are now living.
We were on our way to doomsday when the SC ushered in the dark money with Citizens United. Biden was right in his farewell address when he said the oligarchs have taken the power. WE have to stop it again. These forces have been whittling away at our freedoms for decades.
Susie, that is how I felt when Hillary was cheated out of the White House! Could not eat or 3 days. I call her Mama ever since. Let's stay in contact, we Hillary & Kamala supporters should stick together.
I support you completely, and was devastated when Hilary lost to that meathead. I was disappointed when she was nominated over Bernie, but I felt all well-meaning people should stay in the game and support her against a right-wing racist, misogynist cheating businessman billionaire bastard.
Then we got a repeat slam when Kamala lost.
But, all is not lost as long as we continue to engage, letting our voices be heard wherever and whenever we can.
I intend to protest the inauguration, and hold up a sign that says, "Stop Climate Change"
Meidas Touch (If you're not familiar, they are on FB, substack and YouTube) is not covering the inauguration. I'm staying off Fb all together. Amazon too. I will tune my tv to MLK coverage. And I will keep Meidas Touch on YouTube all day. They have a huge following. Check them out.
Stephen - I will be celebrating MLK Day and watching the Buckeyes win (hopefully). I Will Not watch that buffoon but will be thinking about all of his people freezing in the cold. Apparently hell is freezing over.
- Go to "Hello (your name)" in the upper right corner
- In the drop down menu click on "Account"
- Scroll half-way down the page to a box that says "Manage Your Data"
- Within that box click on "Close your Amazon Account"
- Read carefully what you're about to do ;-)
Keep in mind that you can keep an Amazon account (not Prime) and simply not use it. That way you still maintain a record of all your prior orders and such and it allows you to maintain your "Freevee" account to watch their free video/tv services.
I personally use the Amazon website to search for any given product I want to purchase, take note of who the manufacturer is, and then purchase the product either via the manufacturer's website or some other website that carries said product.
Make Bezos work for you and don't give him a f-ing dime.
I refuse to watch Trump while he pretends to be sworn into supporting America. He doesn’t and he won’t.
He violates the Constitution with every plan and every pitiful appointment he makes for these misfits to run various institutions. All for the sole purpose of destroying these institutions.
I cannot look at him anywhere. He has defiled this nation and her people with his twisted plans for revenge , and Putins pleasure.
I've been a Gray Panther for 20 years and we've formulae for repeated legal wins that have attracted young politicians who have been winning and winning! Don't subscribe unless you're ready to join our Focus Group, etc.❤️❤️❤️❤️
❤️Reich❤️:"Hitler...gets...gifts...[and power causing WWII... which we fought so...]When we the people regain power, three reforms are critically necessary to begin to tame [our paranoia and replace it with FREEDOM FROM FEAR as FDR, UN.org, and 'Do one thing every day that scares you'--Ms.FDR... and anxiety science promised...]"
BUT THE SCIENCE OF ANXIETY ALSO FINDS A "HIDDEN" THREAT:
No fear due to "Up to 60% of anxious people are cured by placebo" but innocuous placebos can "mutate" into an insidious placebo... similar to when: "Moms replace baby's filthy thumb with a sterile pacifier"
...if algorithms or Trump or Murdoch or AI can convert the innocuous placebos all 60% of Americans use... to fascism...GAME OVER
Biden [on lethal misinformation by Zuck, fb, etc]:"They're killing people!"
Deadmanngwmd, as a 73/o woman growing up in America under the misogyny of Christianity, many of our cultural norms, and many of our laws, I have learned that they can take away my opportunities, my security, my rights, and my safety, but they can’t take my integrity, my joy, my ability to have empathy, or l my ability to love. I can only loose these if I give them away. I love the idea of the Gray Panthers. I would love to see it organized and join with all the other discriminated against groups (ie all of us except the oligarchy and the white supremacists). If you form a group I would like to hear about it. I am home with long covid, but still love the dream of a multiracial pluralistic democracy, and could still contribute in a small way. I have become acutely aware of the fact that the one thing that unites everyone is that we can all count on the fact that we will all die. What a waste that we don’t all do what we can to make life on this planet as good as possible for all Life.
Linda - I don't know that I can form a group, I don't move too well anymore. I can use my computer and barely take care of myself. As it turns out the original Gray Panthers group is still out there. The following is a link to it's guidelines for becoming a part of the organization. It looks as if the by-laws were written before the Internet.
Pray for Trump to pass on to the next life; Melania is on our side ; Melania is our best Hope. Trumpet 🎺 is at the point in his life where the statistics point to death from natural causes .
I'm not ready to check out, not yet anyway. I'm also 73 and ready to continue the good fight. Biden passed the torch to us last night and we must carry it forward if our democracy is to survive.
Pray for Trump to pass on to the next life; Melania is on our side ; Melania is our best Hope. Trumpet 🎺 is at the point in his life where the statistics point to death from natural causes .
I love Elizabeth Warren and Bernie, Dale, but I fear they would tell us we need younger voices to lead. Their wealth tax ideas are spot on and I am sure some of the younger politicians will pick up on their plans and start moving them forward. I want to see people like Ben Wikler, the AOC, Jasmine Crockett, Jamie Rasking, Gavin Newsome, Josh Shapiro and some others stepping up and talking LOUDLY!
Its not age but wealth that is the enemy here. Many of us will live and be healthy into our 90s. We need to stop being ageist or any "ist" . we need to focus on policies that defeat the rich and break up monopolies. We need to put more. Safety nets into place for the poor, LGBTQ people of color and other minorities.
Start locally, do what you are able to defeat the spread and slow the stupidity for the next 4 years. Build systems to fight back.
Thank you. My husband just turned 90 and I am 85. We still are active and engaged. How can you think that we don't count? Perhaps as Jimmy Carter modelled for us by staying alive until he could cast his one last vote. Even the smallest positive move.
I fear it's too late. Ignorance is much more prevalent than could have imagined. I have been an avid supporter of Chomsky's "Manufacturing Consent" which spelled out the oligarchs plan.
Unfortunately, the average IQ is 100, but that means half have IQs lower than that. And taking over local school boards was the beginning of the end of teaching critical thinking skills.
@RickSender Excessive unequally taxed, buying power wealth is the enemy. "No reward for hard work" is exactly what we have now in the good ol' US of A. People do work hard and only want to have a decent chance at raising their families, keeping a roof over their heads. The uber wealthy have quashed that. People can't afford homes or rent, are working two jobs and are in utter despair at their prospects. THIS is what deregulation and unchecked greed do. And it all started with Ronnie--who is probably your fave--and his union busting, lowering of the corporate tax rates, allowing banking and Wall Street to run amok and his bullshit "trickle down economics".
That, sir, is what got us into the mess we are now in. That Middle America is in as a whole. Just because you can't admit it doesn't make it any less true.
Hi Marie. If you tax wealth, and do nothing more, we become Vernezuela. Once you tax wealth, and spread it around, you have to tax even more wealth to keep spreading it around. Venezuela was once the richest country in Latin America. Look at it today. The wealth ran out and there they are basically living in squalor. Something like half the population has left. Where are we going to go? The answer is in the history of America. Before you favor policies that redistribute wealth, you must favor policies that create wealth. Interesting that you are going after wealth instead of income, which is of course almost tapped out for many. If you look at Calif and NY, high income taxpayers are paying about 50% of the income in income taxes, and you can add real estate taxes, sales taxes, and whatever tax to that. Add that at this point a wealth tax is unconstitutional. The income tax amendment applies expressly income. Leveraging that into taxing wealth is a real stretch.
The problem Rick is that we have seen this movie before. Unlike yourself, we gave it a one star. but sure I’m hopeful and willing to acknowledge positive things that can come from the administration. Something better than recommendations to drink bleach.
Peggy, I like all the people you named and I know Warren and Sanders will be excellent tutors. I would like to see Katie Porter with her white board back in action too. I think most of them are waiting to see just what havoc Toddler-Trump and his playground of toddlers and lapdogs have planned for all of us out of the gate before they speak up. I am then hoping they will get some, a bit crazy activities going so the media will actually have to cover them and people will see them everywhere: art installations, pop-up protests, toys of the toddlers in a playground with nothing to do but listen to their toddler daddy - bobble-head dolls would work, clever T-shirts, short-term billboards proclaiming the administrations missteps, letter-writing contests for the best letters to the Supreme Court to demand they start following a code of ethics and rule fairly on cases, write and produce songs by a lot of performers that praise the virtues of real unity not coersion, make play money with the faces of the ruling billionaires on it with honest but insulting phrases in place of "In God we trust," etc. I know others would have far better ideas, but the premise is sound. Let's not go quiet into this dark night (to paraphrase poet D. Thomas).
Of course, because you get your anti American drivel from Faux News and NewsMax and Tucker Carlson.
I hope you reap all that you have sown. You support the most UNAmerican horror ever to come to power and think it's all just hunky dory. This is what indoctrination is. This is what being in a cult is. I will pray for you to see the light and escape it. Sooner rather than later.
Liz Warren, aka Pocahontas, makes a fool of herself on a continual basis. She really put her foot in her mouth during the Hegseth confirmation hearing.
How pathetic. Is that the only way you know how to respond? Have you tried conversing or interasting intelligently without needing to demean? Good place to start making our one world a more productive and livable space.
Elizabeth Warren should have been the candidate in 2020, but the corporate media didn't like her message or gender. She was doing great at explaining to less than astute people who was pull the strings.
Indeed, the world truly is a scary place, I am thinking of the title, War of The Worlds, but the enemy is us! and Trump and his billionaire buddies, loot the country and leaving Americans holding a bag of you know what and may I add, I feel like we're witnessing in slow motion and every increasing (fires in California) natures end, people, were busy, going about our daily lives, not fully realizing the danger that lurks, as Trump, the destroyer of worlds, is going to his do his dam best to destroy the planet, just look at his cabinet for energy and EPA, nothing says more, a hell on earth scenario to climate, than those two especially.
Consider the oligarchs whose wealth exceeds or even begins to approach that of a medium sized nation equivalent to the merc's discussed in this comment:
It's a critique concerning who actually holds the power. At the time Machiavelli wrote, it was about who controls the armies. Today, it's about who can effectively buy governments.
i.e. the DOGE is roughly equivalent to a merc army.
Indeed, I consider the whole of what's left of the Republican party a bought-off mercenary force whose only loyalty is to those who pay for or assist their fund raising efforts and messaging in service to their continued office acquisition or tenure. Their loyalty is constrained by the length and depth of their "gravy train." I began worrying about the voters, as well, when GWB promised to pay voters to elect him by a big tax refund - that depleted the "rainy day" surplus Clinton had accrued and thus fueled the core debt, brought on by those idiotic wars, at the beginning of what we face today.
DOGE, is basically representative of the gilded age and hence its return and these heartless-soulless uber rich, like Musk, Bezzo's are just a symptom of the times
Maga Republicans, Trumps cronies, their loyalty is constrained by the length and depth of their "gravy train." indeed, and they will, as usual bend the knee and do what Trump wants
Enjoy Maga voters your choice and remember, you voted for this!
OMG😨The Fall of Rome and the wealthy elite, did not like their tax dollars paying to give bread or feed the people and their three prong methodologies to end democracy and consolidate their power, all that, the Republicans are using just like in the Roman times. History indeed, does repeat itself, if we let it🤔
Paying more attention to what Trump says and does would help you see. I have challenged people for years to find even one thing that he has done in his whole life that demonstrates kindness, generosity, character, empathy, honesty, fairness, or even real character. If it can stand any scrutiny, I will correct any posts I have made and mention what he has done right. He is a clear danger to our country and certainly not worth the risk he presents. Best of luck to you.
I’m with you Wes! I’ll be 70 next month and it is so hard to watch what has happened to our Country since 2015. I want to take whatever action that I can to resist. I hope that we al have the strength to make it through the next 4 sickening years.
Wes, While I share your commitment, I would be remiss were I not to note, after hours of trying to locate a list of our party’s 448 DNC delegates replete with contact information, the best I could find was a piece by Micah L. Sifry (Jan 10, 2025) published in The American Prospect (prospect.org ) despairingly titled “Opening the DNC’s Black Box.” The subtitle reads, “Why we’re publishing a previously undisclosed list of all 448 members of the Democratic National Committee.” Regrettably, “to protect individual’s privacy,” phone numbers and email addresses were removed. The article, in my view a must-read, painstaking exposes the DNC, and, by extension, stalwarts of our party’s establishment, as the antithesis of a coalition intent on serving the interests of citizens and communities.
I would note I share this observation not because I believe the challenges we face are insurmountable and pervasive, but because, in my view, they result from factors it is incumbent upon us to grasp if we’re to treat these obstacles as specific and temporary, and therefore changeable.
Peggy, I agree and simply would add that the two top contenders for DNC Chair I believe are Minnesota Democratic Chair and current DNC Vice-Chair Ken Martin and Wisconsin Democratic Chair Ben Wikler. While Wikler, who is not driven by the big-moneyed interests of billionaires, large corporations, and Wall Street and unequivocally is on the side of working people, I sense Martin, though advocating for working families, mainly would perpetuate the status quo in our national politics.
Hopefully, the enormous nationwide grassroots organizing backing Wikler will outweigh the stalwart party establishment seemingly favoring Martin.
The brainwashing continues. Go back to your world of manipulative legacy media. Even the ones that aren't Fox are only talking about Trump. Why? Because Trump sells. And that's how pathetic and money grubbing the news has gotten. The newspapers, too. It is pathetic.
70 here too - maybe this is the second coming of 'The Grey Panthers'... They wouldn't be so flagrant if they didn't think they Won. Remember that Teddy Roosevelt was able to stop the robber barrons and break up the trusts. But, Robert is right we have to stand up and speak truth to power,
I feel similar. I’m old enough to remember the WWII generation as I was growing up.
America is consuming itself because maga voters hate their fellow citizens so much they would rather destroy it all than share any of it. I was just thinking this morning the American experiment worked, but it worked too well when it started lifting “others.” It’s ironic that racism will destroy the US. Racism is the foundation of maga.
None obviously. Those who assaulted the Capitol should have been jailed, just as if it were Biden supporters doing the same act. I would feel the same way.
…you seem to want to forget the decades of police brutality and the public murder of George Floyd that spark that riot. If you were a person of color how would you have responded? You seem to have no compassion for people who are oppressed.
We are no where near where the French people were before the revolution. The Bastille had been jailing people for many years and the wealthy had ground the poor into submission - or so they believed.
It Can happen here. For years I have seen people posting that we will survive, no matter whatever the republicans and Trump are doing. The time has come (should have come much earlier ) to face the truth. We are no better than other nations that did this to their people. The phrase “it won’t happen here” should be banned. Anything can happen anywhere and if you don’t learn from history you repeat it,
First of all, my comment was tongue in cheek. Second, the Bastille was due to be demolished and only had 7 inmates on the famous 14 July. It became a symbol of the revolution and nothing more.
The one thing that they all have in common is that they don’t give two shits about the people in Southern California whose lives have been upended and or destroyed by the climate change fires! The oligarchs only care about themselves, their money and their power. I don’t know how but they have to be stopped!
You know George Carlin spoke of this oligarchy years ago, he called them the owners the real business owners. It’s a club and you and I are not in the big club. He was spot on when he said they don’t give a shit about us. I bet ya none of them will give a penny to help the poor souls with the fire
I remember George Carlin from his appearances on the Ed Sullivan Show and then the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson. We even saw him in person several times when he would come through Wisconsin. But best of all were the HBO Specials! He had changed from being 'just a comedian' to being a true social critic. The discs haven't worn out (yet) but the cardboard (from the boxed set) has come apart at the folds from opening and closing. He was the best!!
Oh they will give a paltry say $100 million or some nonsense a fraction of their billions. They will look altruistic on the surface yet if you look at the billions they dont pay in taxes you will see that them giving away a $100 million is like us throwing a dollar at a homeless person (should I buy a gumball with thia). They will fight systemic help and reparations to keep their taxes low or lower. It is as you say they do not care.
Their only motive is to look good and not pay any taxes! We could fix the Social Security "problem " by getting rid of the cap on earnings! Why should they pay less and get more while the rest of us stuggle!
The 2 Roosevelts implemented many policies & programs targeted toward helping ordinary Americans, which ended up greatly alleviating wealth & power disparity in the country.
Yes, the winners can make policy and programs to help the Ordinary Americans. We have to win massively in the midterms and 2028 to be able to make the big changes we need.
They are GOING to tank the economy so they can buy back stocks at rock bottom and become exponentially more wealthy. Watch! Get ready for breadlines. And with all their efforts to cripple the voting apparatus, we may not have a say at all (His words: you will never need to vote again!). Make America a Cash Cow!
You are correct and those who think that the Oligarchs are to going to see the light and reverse there course do not understand the Narcissism that has brought these people to the amount of wealth they have. The dispassion and uncaring and complete selfishness is the sickness. The only way they will relent is if we stop them.
Gandhi succeeded because he had enormous popular support. Trump has enormous popular support largely for the same reasons. He will betray his supporters, and we must organize for that day.
The reactions about the fires are abhorrent, ugly, indecent; but let them, because their total incivility must be shown. A "cultural moment" is Trump's election, they say. But everything, every word is more fitting than cultural.
Thanks Keith. I am wondering how many Los Angeles MAGA DT voters have lost everything in the recent fires and are now realizing that their "great MAGA American Savior" isn't about to help them just because they happen to live in a Blue state!
Unfortunately but predictably, the media has focused way too much on the rich celebs. In reality, the vast majority of the thousands of families who’ve lost their homes lost everything. They don’t have second homes to go to or a giant slush fund to get by. Please don’t make broad assumptions borne of cynicism.
My reaction was caused by a remark about the Richard: they find solutions for every problem. But I did not want to underestimate the social drama that is caused by the fires
So do we stop using facebook, instagram, whatsapp? And stop using Amazon? All of these can be done but they are super difficult and they know it. And not everyone is ever going to do that, really, and they know this too.
Yes, Jeffrey, we stop using all those. We show local. We curate our own media. We say goodbye to those platforms. Stay here with Reich, Heather Cox Richardson, Joyce Vance and other straight-shooters. Investigate Bluesky. Talk to your neighbors, connect in your community.
So I do all those things. I even own a small business where, I actually do whatever I can to get people to buy from it, not from online big national chains and things always made in China. I make everything myself, here. But I do have to get some things and some of them are simply not there unless I use Amazon for a few elements. Otherwise I cannot get them and have to charge super high prices no one will pay. Now, I can still work at this and keep going, but it takes a long time and effort to get there. If we all did this, then yeah. But how are you going to break the ease and convenience from everything and everyone? Especially if some of what they have is actually decent? For example, with many things you get free returns, free shipping. etc. The ability to pay with credit cards, gift cards, the ability to get things fast (I do not need it same day but you know what I mean). What small business or anything can offer any of that? And Whole Foods... it is pricey and we rarely go but they do have good quality. How do you unwind this? As for social media... I do not run my business solely dependent on those platforms (people do and it's not safe--after all you can get blocked out by FB for example for any number of reasons at any time) but I do use them and that's how many folks find me and see my work and I have to use these to get my wares out there. If my gig existed in the times of print ads and related, I would not be in business now. I can migrate a lot of the display and such to the web and hire a costly web person to do this with me, but still, you get exposure. I do not need to like, be in my car and just happen to say the words. "Michaels - Paint Brush" and then have ads for that chain store pop on my computer when I get home, but I do want myself known in the town groups. Social media groups (run and membered by good people) have been great for trading, free and give away, buying and selling. etc. Town groups organize fun events, help people, and more. I met many travel and ski and hobby friends from these. Do we unwind to the days of AOL forums and geeky mods? Then again, yeah, those worked. One can say things like: Do not fly, it's bad for the planet or do not eat or do this. Or do not use SM or Amazon... but what these folks NEVER do is offer a viable replacement for the things we need. Some say: You should not need those things. That's where people get mad though. You cannot tell another person what they should or should not need. Isnt that the exact problem we are fighting? (one example of these pains is any instance where a town charges you for recycling or restricts how to do it. If they REALLY want you to do it, MAKE IT EASIER AND FREE! and use our taxes for that!)
You know what, Jeffrey? You make excellent points here! Is there a way to start a website that would offer those things local people need without all the fees and sometimes overprice? Can we start a platform that speaks the absolute truth? I feel there has to be a way to counter these oligarchs but the problem is, I am not tech savvy and simply do not know how to begin! If we had a platform messaging what these substacks are messaging loudly, clearly and simply, couldn't we at least begin to counter the lies and misinformation out there? Kinda like pirate radio stations. I don't know, but I do like what you said!
there is. but it takes money time resources and dedicated people and funding. and once everything is up and running, you need incredible staying power and people get flustered and go different directions and have issues, and then if you get rich they get corrupt, and if you do not, but your idea is great, someone offers you a lot of money for it and you kinda cant say no (like amazon says hey we will buy it and you're like... um yeah, I am worn out and my mom is sick and I would like to stop working so hard) and so you sell it. And if you have morals and ethics and all that, you are good but you have no money to pay the bills and your spouse leaves you and so what about those morals and ethics? I think it is best to just: Use and abuse all these things and systems in any way we possibly can. Trump ways? Yes. We shall use those very tactics ourselves. Not on our close friends or families, but on THEM and every thing out there that supports them. We should game systems, rack up points and miles and monies and we should find ways to screw em (like repacking the bad vac cleaner in the box and shipping it back for full credit) and we should screw them as much as humanly possible so we have and keep our money to take our families to church and travel and the town fair and sports... and we should use and abuse this cuntry as much as possible right now because thats what they are telling us is the way to be, so let's just be it. And then when they are screwed and a good person gets into power, because theirs are kicked out, we stop doing that and fix it all again. While they have set us back, we must play their game and fk em up big time for our personal gain. That is one way to do it. After all, it worked for them. It comes down to what you will do when you win later. If I had billions of my own money right now I would have given a HUGE chunk of it to fight fires in LA. Taylor Swift just gave out millions for that. And she made a ton of money off all of us with teens! lol
I understand fighting fire with fire (sorry awful comment given LA) but I'm not willing to give up my ethics to do so. I live in a community of about 3000 people and we are A COMMUNITY who helps each other. We are neighbors and we take care of each other. Small businesses thrive because they get that support. Sinking to their level is NOT the answer.
to further clarify some of my small business issues: I make most of my own parts. I use everything local and US made... but there are some things you simply cannot get anywhere unless they are Chinese or Amazon or Both. There's a certain part in the universe called a ceiling flange hanger plate. These are available all over but take a closer look. Find me one that is the right thing I need but also NOT made in China! And not on a major box store or online site (like Amazon) which means it is probably from China. Find me a supplier in the USA that still makes these and can sell to the little guy (I found one place. The part was close but not quite right, but the issue was I needed to be a registered customer with them willing to buy like 2000 units and wait for approval and then credit because they were old school and didn't take cards or people who were not part of their approved client base). So how do I get these? I have to order it on ... you guessed it! (or pay more for it elsewhere by a lot, or try to make my own, but I do that already with so many other things and have limited staff (myself only) and time and resources. So aside from movies or protein bars, I need stuff.
Jeffrey, it's frustrating to see so many small businesses like yours and others with few viable supply options other than those from China. They control so many things. Their government chose a China First initiative many years ago, stuck with it, and see where they are today. For example, they, along with Vietnam, make 90% of all bicycles in the US. Wow. 90%
I hope the incoming administration promotes a "build it here" mentality and backs this up with a way to remove regulations and fees and other impediments to allow entrepreneur business people like yourself to thrive.
Jeffrey, one picks doable options and slowly move to better , more local stewardship . As you say, some things you need from Amazon periodically. But, in a year, recheck that 'truth' and see if it remains true. Find local growers and buy something from them. We are not in a 'do or die 'yet on this. This freight train has 50 years behind it.
This in the long view seems like a redoing of “The Robber Barron “ of American economic history…
It has all the same earmarks except we don’t have a Johnstown flood tragedy yet…. A rich guy country club causes a a downstream town full of worker and their family’s to die by flooding…
Will a New T Theodore Roosevelt arise from the current political mess ???
HBO/MAX has the Trump inauguration streaming on Jan 20. And so there's another to potentially cut. There's an app called GOODS which has a blue microphone for an icon. This tells you who backs what company. Like, Home Depot backs the republicans and particularly, the owner loves Trump, and so on. You will be surprised and dismayed as to who you use every day and what they do with your money. Can you cut it all out? How much is enough?
You dont, but many like minded folks do. It is easy to dismiss something we do not do anyway. For example, I really do not watch too much sports so yeah it's nice to see some of a game now and then but I do not have the problem soooo many people have: If I cancel cable, no sports, unless I sign up with many expensive streaming networks that makes it almost the same cost! So for me I'm like... who cares. I do not really watch em too much or care anyway. But for them.. it's like taking away their left arm
I guess the key then, is to figure out how to become equally as rich as Bezos and compete with him and also happen to not get corrupted by whatever it was that made him support trumpish things
Start shopping at big box stores more. Start using apps that will deliver to the stores if you don’t want to pay for shipping. Realize that you pay just as much for shipping or perhaps you’ll save money by not paying for prime shipping! We lived without these features most of lives, we can figure it out!
My husband and I just discussed that by the time we pay $15 Prime every month, does it come out evenly than us just paying for shipping? And this will force us to use more mom and pops on-line. And this can also help curve the spending. Much good can come from just quitting cold turkey! We will miss some of the shows on Prime, but Malania just tainted this! Everyone knows a gold-digger, and there is nothing more boring than a gold-digger who married an abusive husband! Now I would watch a show about Malania breaking away from him because she actually found a spark in her that made her human and realize what a selfish monster her husband is, but she is just like him wanting to grab up all the power and attention! Completely and utterly dead inside!
Through your library, you may be able to get movies from hoopla. 10 or more movies per month and it’s free see if your Library offers this anyway there are other subscription services that are less evil than Amazon.
good point about shipping (until you figure out that one item is 15 to ship and that many companies jack up the shipping to make their profits there instead of on the goods) and that $15 pays for more than just one shipping of one item.
I hate to ask, but do you work for Amazon? Listen: It's only money. $15? I'd rather flush the money down the f*** toilet than give it to someone who's going to rape my mind with pro-Melania Trump propaganda. What next, Bezos? What a degenerate!!!
My soul is not for sale. My COUNTRY is not for sale. If we don't take action NOW, we'll have to settle for NOTHING later. Hell, you even don't know what this guy has in mind for our future. Hint - Nothing good. If he's licking up Melania in 2025, what will he be doing in 2026? He obviously despises the Left. He's spitting on us.Ewww...
At the very least don't join prime. They hardly even have any free movies or shows included. If you wait until you have $35 worth that you must buy from Bozos then it's free to ship.
Thanks for the likes but let's see if anyone else has something to add, otherwise, it is very facebookie of us to just like a post. And that's the whole addiction
Then, pick a month to boycott Facebook. Pick another to boycott Amazon, and so forth. I personally have not watched a single network newscast in years. Why? because the mobsters running them are all liars and only allow gossip, sensationalism, slander, and lies to be broadcast. It can be done, and it MUST be done. These wise guys only feel the pain when their pocketbooks take a big hit. Think outside the box, my dude! Find alternatives.
I don’t watch TV/Cable news anymore. I never did anything serious on Facebook and am winding down on Twitter (no big deal, I don’t pay and I am algorithmically compromised already). Also cutting back on Amazon—they’ll miss my book purchases, but sometimes there’s no other choice. (My favorite candy, Justin’s vegan peanut butter cups, for example, just disappeared from local outlets.) Pinterest may be an option! But I’ll miss the experts on Twitter and news of Ukrainian resistance to Putin when I finally let go.
I dropped the Guardian for its treatment of President Biden (except Mr. Reich of course). I scan headlines and read articles in the Philly Inquirer, and we are subscribing to the Atlantic again to see if we get valuable news. Other than that, it’s down to daily newsletters like this one.
Here is just an example... A facebook ski group inspires me to ski in Japan. I may have heard of this or imagined it, but now I see real people (some of whom I then met and sked with and like as people and their families) and they have been there and tell me all about it. Their Instagram photos show me everything. This leads me to other Instagram photos and people from all over the world who want to ski there or who have been there. Some people have Whats App groups and I become members of these. Some of us have small groups and chat about specifics. One guy is a firefighter and we have used this connection to help people in his community. Guess where that happens to be, so it's a good thing we connected in these three SM mediums or we never would have met him or donated to anything we can trust. Anyway, how does one afford to ski in Japan? Well, going back to earlier days of online, I joined flying and travel forums and now we have Whatsapp and other groups. We talk endlessly about our hobbies and methods. Here's one: Do not apply for the Chase Amazon card to get your points there... No. Apply for the Chase Ultimate Rewards cards and some of those give you 5x on office supply. IF you run a business or just buy at places like Staples all the time anyway you will earn a lot quickly. So, go to Staples and get $500 Amazon gift cards. For some people with big families or businesses, they can burn through a couple of these a month! 5x times $500 is 2500 points. The sign up bonus for some of those Chase cards may be 90k points. After a while you have enough points to book some plane tickets. And if you do this over time and get other gigs going, you can book those Japan plane tickets! Same for Hotels. Cards and other online gigs that get you to get miles and points quickly allow for travel and travel is freedom, exposure to cultures, the way to meet people of different styles and races and mindsets... etc. Suddenly, because of online, and because of box stores or Amazon, I am going to be able to go to and afford a ski trip on the other side of the planet! And help fight fires, and meet wonderful people, and more! It even led to fitness and health, because skiers want to be in shape so we have small groups on these platforms that talk about best ways to get in shape and stay healthy. And guess where you can get the best deals on protein bars? If I stop using Amazon, can I still get the EPIC bars and be able to order them as needed like... right now at 5am? So the issue is not SM or amazon... it's how people run things, how people in charge have too much power and what should regulate that, and how people choose to use and manage their lives with these things. They exist, just like Alcohol. And the major airlines. You can't get away from them, but you can manage them and also hopefully something like a good government can regulate those things. The Trump era brings back the monopolies of the Railroad tycoons. Time will tell us that we need to invent a new way.
Yes sadly he became that. Seems like whatever we all signed up for changed mid stream. Like the moving goal posts of a marketing promo gone wrong. So how to unwind? Really? I see a lot of people saying they will stop using amazon. Do they have: commerce needs, limited time, a small business, a family, travel and gift and hobby needs, the desire to watch anything on tv for entertainment, etc? Really? Honestly? And are people bad who do like these things in life? I already made a lot of other cuts and changes. I already donate to things and disregard things in the wake of trumpism. Do I have to do it all and so drastically? What is my real alternative? How about we just pool our resources and find a guy to pull a United health care on this guy instead? I mean… come on.
Instagram is how I display and share most of the work in my small business. It is a record of what I do, and a regular thing people who follow me get, just like this platform is to those of us who enjoy it. It also is how I can show examples to new customers. And talking to others who use it, like ski friends or tech friends, or people who run communities or charities or whatever... is how and why I can use this platform for my business. I do not pay for it. There are some issues... some potential customers do not use Instagram and while you can sometimes show an individual post to a non user, we all know what a pain it is when something forces use and you cannot migrate off it with out extra effort that turns many people away. So I am trying to make all of these things on my website but that costs a lot of time and money, and knowhow I just do not have. I run my business and make my widgets. I do not do website design. I can only dabble and mess it up. Where did I find my web person? ON FACEBOOK! On a group with good folks in online! I can get her to help me and pay her. I use my Instagram posts to entice people who buy from me to pay me, and then I have money to, well, buy more crap on Amazon lolo (no, seriously, to live and run life and business and family stuff).
At some point, we must make an assessment of the simple, ugly facts. We may just adore that intelligent, charming babysitter, but if he/she is beating our children while we're at work - we must not only fire her/him - we must undertake punitive action. All these wonderful services are just extraordinary - but they are pretty ruthless and they are exacting their pound of flesh. They are masters of a technology that they are wielding against us. We have to be sufficiently competent and mature to come out from under their boot. We must wake up.
Really dude. You have to order candy bars at 5 am? If you need a sugar fix that bad head out to your nearest 24 hour QT and buy a Baby Ruth. Look on the wrapper of your EPIC bar, call the manufacturer, find the local distributor call them, order a case and request it be shipped USPS or UPS. If they insist on using Amazon... change your taste in candy bars and tell them why. GH
Dude. Just do it. Stop using the social media BS. I never signed up for any of it in the first place and my life has been just fine. I use the phone and the USPS. There is nothing I need so badly in one day that I have to make Jeff Bozo richer to get it. Same for Facebook/Meda, Instagram, Tic Tok, X, etc. Take a picture of your family, get a print at Walgreens and MAIL it to your family and friends. They will be happy to get something in the mail other than a bill... go analog on these assholes!!! All the best... GH
Not everyone has to. The real challenge is getting some agreement on particular targets. There is a natural inclination to go to broad in scope diluting the impact .if you can really hurt the business of one or two, then other companies see that and get the message.
This requires some careful thought. It would seem that Twitter could be a good target although I don’t know that there would be much financial impact at least not on the short term. Frankly, I doubt some of our leadership organizations can get it together in an organized way turf battles Are unending and agendas too often the purists are unwilling to compromise on.
There have been many opportunities to stop him: 2 impeachment trials, arresting Trump immediately after insurrection or Biden's inauguration or the installation of AG, multiple occasions when an act by Trump posed a national security risk, like contacting, plotting with & passing on top secret US intelligence to foreign adversaries, engaging in stochastic terrorism, promptly assigning a special counsel to investigate Trump, enforcing the 14th Amendment disqualifying Trump from government office, refusing to entertain any calls for trial delays, calling for an investigation & recount of the corrupted & manipulated 2024 election, refusing to certify the votes of a constitutionally ineligible traitor, Biden using his SCOTUS-enhanced powers to prevent Trump from assuming power. All opportunities missed, with that last one seemingly the only one left. It's been a huge betrayal of the American people by all branches of the federal government, both major parties & corporate mainstream & right-wing media.
WOW! That was so powerful, John! It gave me goosebumps as I read it! I am saving it so that when the orange man and his bunch face their last curtain call, I can read it and finally smile! Thank you for sharing this!
I guess you can and to be upfront, it is not mine to own, in fact, I did mention where I acquired from, the Adam Colemen Newsletter, but liked so much, I had to repost, that said, I always try and give credit where credit is due, so I cannot take the credit. so, if do repost, make sure you mention his name or newsletter
Trump, he says to tear down windmills, they should not be getting subsidies, but sure does not mind taxpayers subsidize the oil cartel and the American people have been doing so for decades, in the hundreds of millions of dollars, each and every year, 👉 we are subsidizing humanity's own destruction and that of the natural world
Ask Trump, he will tell you though, he would like a pyramid oil platform in the place of windmills and hence, more kick-backs in big oil donations his pockets
A new word: stochastic. I love learning new words. And I agree, Dems and Repubs were complicit in allowing this to get so far. Maybe concerned that it could lead to civil war. But has whitewashing it just postponed that? So many opinions about how this will play out, but little real unified leadership other than to continue to hope Rule of Law and the Constitution will win in the long run. I’m not confident that it will.
Sandy, if they hoped to avert a civil war, they should have impeached the orange stain the first time! They should have been better at leadership and listening to the people. As it stands now, they haven't averted a civil war, they have provided the reasons for one!
Why did they miss these opportunities? Perhaps their idea of decency came in the way? When the other side plays by different rules it is unwise to play by the rules that previously existed. Those were written for those who followed them. Even Nixon did and his Republican Party did. They respected laws of the country.
It reminds me of the Mahabharata, an Indian epic. Bad guys ‘Kaurav’s always mistreated their cousins ‘pandava’s to gain sole power. After going through misery and unfairness, Pandavas refused to give in to further unfairness. There was a war between the two groups. Lord Krishna helped the good side win the war, and how? By breaking the ‘be nice’ approach. They broke rules to win what was rightfully theirs because it was the only way.
It is time the democrats learned how to establish democracy. The first opportunity will be in 2026. They better not miss it.
We need to use their tactics against them. Form our own Q and use disinformation to counter their Bullshit. Form our own large scale protest with VISIBLE protection. Elect Younger pople with fresh ideas and who can inspire. Ect, ect, ect
This nice shit that Dems do every election has to end. ITS TIME TO GET NASTY and take our country back from the fascist.
All three branches are guilty of collusion or capitulation: much the latter, particularly, Congress that didn't take Trump seriously enough.
Now there's hell to reverse this ongoing horror show; cabinet hearings with lawmakers ignoring our Constitution. The rule of law has broken down for this time in history.
Only the collective actions of the people can restore and right the wrongs. We must monitor and oppose until there's justice for all-- better than ever before in America and around our planet, where arrogant power has taken a vicious hold.
I agree. This is where Capitalism leads. People were too busy criticizing Communism and even socialism which has been very successful in parts of Europe. The US public was fooled for many generations to believe they were superior to the rest. They lost the ability for critical thinking. Unfortunately our constitution was not tough enough against the negative forces.
Absolutely true! We have been taken over by the powerful due to those who were too busy being concern about their own lives over the peoples. This must reverse or we, including the oligarchy, will face collective demise. It's beyond words.
Jaime, Thank you for your comment. Unfortunately, I think the time for stopping Trump has come and gone. At this point we have to hope that the American people put up a resistance. I am afraid that this regime will be doing so much damage that it will take generations to repair. To try to stop Trump at this point in time would only fuel the flames of MAGA. Better to let them fail. Once people truly see what he is doing and plans to do, and how it will impact them personally, like cutting back or striking down Obamacare, or attacking seniors’ Medicare or Social Security benefits, maybe then, and only then, there will be a huge backlash.
This is a great list let’s add Mitch McConnell should have been thrown out for his enabling of Trump, FTC should have but Robert Murdock should have been thrown out of the country for abuse of Media and spreading lies. Steve Bannon should still be in jail.And Trump should be on death row. Now we need to boycott Amazon( difficult I know) just go to the store help local businesses, Boycott X Tesla, and Meta it is hard but worth it.
I was addressing Trump only. There are many others who should be punished, too. I like expelling Murdoch & I'd add Musk to the mix & maybe fellow South Africans Thiel & Sachs. Flynn, Stone, Manafort & other Trump accomplices should join Bannon in prison, & at minimum, numerous Republican members of Congress should've had Section 3 of the 14th Amendment enacted against them, too, & been expelled for breaking their oath of office by participating in Trump's unlawful attempts to stay in power.
I'm with you on boycotting those businesses, too, although I hardly use them, anyway.
In a very limited sense, sure. But the fall to oligarchy has been brewing for decades. Both parties are to be blamed for that and their embrace of neoliberalism while also crushing any attempt to address the ills of it.
Then maybe the Democratic Party shouldve actually listened to Bernie when they had a chance. Their embrace of neoliberalism is why we are here. Both parties embraced it and went ride or die on it. Unfortunately they chose the latter option. Paying lip service to the idea of democracy while actively taking big money interests against the will of their constituents is an oligarchy in the making.
Jamie is right.There were many opportunities to stop Trump, but people in a position to do something about it let the opportunities slide by. Harry Litman wrote a piece about how AG Garland- the main person who was in a position to do something about it- did what he could. I think he essentially said Garland couldn’t have done anything differently and spelled out why.
It’s an impressive piece written by someone who knows exactly how the DOJ operates, but I confess
I simply don’t believe it couldn’t have been done.
What was required was an AG who was willing to make prosecuting Trump the main point of his time
as AG. It required bending and breaking the rules
the same way bending and breaking the rules got
us Trump-a corrupt president, and a corrupt Supreme Court majority. And what’s so infuriating about it is, the people who were behind it probably knew they would succeed because Dems are sticklers for following the rules, even if following the rules gets us a never ending hellscape.This situation screamed out for doing whatever it took to prevent what we’re doing right now- staring into the abyss of a government run by treasonous idiots who intend to dismantle everything that made America great, and call it making America great again.
On one hand, we have a great economy that has been corroborated by many people who are in a position to know it’s a great economy. On the other hand we have a fire hose of disinformation that consistently
maintained (and still does) our economy is in the dumpster. All the voters heard were the lies, because the sheer volume of lies was overwhelming.
The mainstream media was MIA throughout President Biden’s term in office. They rarely published articles
about Biden’s many successes. They abandoned their traditional role of educating the public and they
stopped calling out Trump’s constant lies. What
mainstream media doesn’t get is, they’ve sealed their own fate as being entirely unnecessary to the future of this country. If I want to be entertained, there is a wealth of better options than what used to be a
serious media business that opted to be unserious by flushing truth down the toilet. Ignoring reality isn’t
a viable business plan.
Now we are at the mercy of what will be a tug of war
over who gets to plunder and ravish our country. Will it be Trump who prevails or Putin?
Will it be Trump or Putin who prevails? Or will they walk hand in hand & share in the spoils? I think Putin has gotten Trump to believe the latter. "Hey, you go for North America & South America. I get Europe & Asia & Africa." (Putin may be sharing the latter 2 continents with Xi.)
The American oligarchy has been in the works since the beginning of neoliberalism. Funny enough both parties are to blame. Democrats didn’t want to play with Carter and handed over the elections to Reagan, ensuring he’d win in a massive landslide. You need to stop looking at Trump as a phenomena that started in July of 2015
You’re right, the American oligarchy has been “in the works” since the Reagan era. But I wasn’t referring to that. I was referring to Putin’s installation of Trump in the presidency in 2017, period.
Republicans created a multi-prong approach to taking over our government for the purpose of ending our democracy 40 years ago. It’s a stretch to blame democrats for helping to elect Reagan though. Dems can be more appropriately blamed for not snapping to the fiasco of Citizens United, the Russian money being donated & illegally accepted by republican candidates for well over 2 decades, the gradual proliferation of extreme right wing rhetoric in articles on the internet, and on social media (that should’ve been regulated) and the nurturing of cultural indoctrination by Fox news. Something could have been done about Fox news, (they ARE subject to FCC regulations) but for 3 decades they’ve been allowed to create an alternative reality that indoctrinated millions and is the genesis for the cultural wars we’re now engaged in that are based on at least 3 decades of Fox news disinformation. Creating a corrupt republican majority on the Supreme Court and getting Trump installed as president was the icing on their fascist cake.
Putin didn’t do that. The broken system did. All of the things you refer to had times both parties contributed to it. What we’re in now is the natural conclusion of capitalism. Now the question is what do we do after the page has turned.
“The Senate Intelligence Committee on Tuesday reaffirmed its support for the U.S. intelligence community’s conclusion that the Russian government interfered in the 2016 presidential election with the goal of putting Donald Trump in the Oval Office.”
(Politico. com, 4/21/20, Martin Matishak)
I agree that Dems should’ve snapped to Citizens United and the Russian money being illegally
That hardly means it is their fault. US engages in information campaigns all over the place. Russians doing the same by stoking valid insecurities already felt by the working class doesn’t mean they’re responsible for Trump. Trump is US made. Democrats and Republicans allowed this to happen. Hell Democrats are still allowing it to happen by doing nothing
Because the justice dept didn't do its job. Also tax evasion should be a felony, and many of the oligarchs would be in jail. Over hear in the UK you are only allowed an appeal if there is new evidence. When you get rid of Trump, get rid of all the crooked judges like Cannon and some of the creeps on Scotus.
But HOW do you get rid of him now that he's installed himself with his own army? Look out. Protesters will quickly be reminded of Kent State, I'm afraid. It CAN happen.
I have no doubt. But and maybe this is wishful thinking but I don’t think he’s got 4 years left. Too many McDonald’s water ever the biggest burger is called with extra large fries. OMG it just occurred to me why that particular burger place
Don't be surprised if DT hasn't ordered new SS uniforms from China to outfit his soon to be released Jan. 6th prisoners. Nothing will stop him from firing all of his Secret Service protection and replacing them with "loyal" MAGS ex-cons. They will be paid by his billionaire friends and therefor will never have to answer to Congress or any American law.
Hitler's SS began as a personal body guard service for him and evolved into a national police/military force that ruled by brute force only answerable to him. All other police and military forces in Germany fell under their control. They had final say on everything. Summary executions on the spot for any perceived opposition to Hitler were common. Rule by fear.
I agree. These miscreants lie and don't play by the rules. The good people in power must recognize this and act accordingly. “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing” (often attributed to Edmund Burke, 1770)
Are you a millionaire or perhaps billionaire? If so, you are among the only ones going to benefit from the criminal mobsters who will be running the government.
Robert, DT is delusional & manipulative. He conned millions into believing his delusions. Almost all of his political beliefs are based on delusions and lies.
Elon is a loose liar cannon who has no official job in our government, knows zero about the budget & doesn’t care. He also has a serious conflict of interest as the head of a non-existent DODGE
How do we stop it? I wrote to my reps about enforcing amendment 14 section 3. The answer I got was we tried but the Republicans called for a filibuster.
At least in the old days someone had to stand for hours talking, the could read the phone book but they had to at least put in a little effort. Now it’s like kids saying I call shotgun so they can sit up front. It’s disgusting.
So now I’m on Bluesky making a fool of myself asking if anyone knows an attorney who specializes in constitutional law who could help me make a claim to halt the inauguration until there’s a trial about Trump‘s part of the insurrection and why he has no right to be president. as per amendment 14 section 3. So far I got Nada and I think that’s all I’ll get. I’m sickened by this and I don’t know what else to do.
Yes I think so too. I was extremely disappointed in Senator Padilla’s response. But at least he responded. Adam Schiff and my Congresswoman did not bother.
Susan, do not be discouraged! At least you are DOING something! Actions speak so much louder than words! Keep it up! I support you and I would sign on to that claim!
You’re reaching for the whole tamale. Recommend you join an organization in your state that defends voting rights, especially if you are in a red state. Or an organization that defends other aspects of democracy and to help people in your state whether it’s food, education, medical care, etc.
I live in California there’s not an issue of voter suppression. I’ve donated and signed hundreds of petitions. I’ve written to my representatives dozens of times.
Our representatives with a few exceptions lack the courage to fight back. And I’m coming from a liberal state mind haven’t done squat.
I’m disgusted with both parties and their cowardice and lack of commitment to heart and sole of our democracy.
Whole tamale? We haven’t even gotten a couple of beans.
The Colorado Supreme Court did conclude that Trump was in violation of Sec. 3, 14th amendment.The US Supreme Court ruled that only Congress, acting through legislation, has the power to determine who is disqualified to be president and under what procedures. Trump v. Anderson was overturned (the Colorado Supreme Court ruling disqualifying Donald Trump from the presidency under Section 3 of the 14th Amendment.) It did so on the grounds that Section 3 is not “self-executing.” In a per curiam opinion jointly authored by five justices, including Chief Justice John Roberts.
Any kind of convection was blocked or stalled by crooked judges. The SCOTUS SIX and Little Miss Loose Cannon.
Congress certainly provided enough evidence to at the very minimum to warrant a trial. SCOTUS blocked Colorado and Maine from eliminating Trump on the ballot, while other states were waiting for their ruling, so that was a wash.
Then SCOTUS ruled that a president can do WTF he wants to do while performing “presidential duties” We’ve seen what he’ll do before SCOTUS anointed him king so what’s going to hold him back? Nothing and no one apparently.
Jack Smith’s indictment was rewritten in response to the SCOTUS ruling and it’s been disclosed to Congress. Will they do anything about it? Of course not, it’s a career killer.
The 20th amendment has literally Trumped the 14th amendment.
What do you bet they’ll change the born in the USA requirement for the presidency once Trump tires of playing king?
Let’s use Elizabeth Warren’s wealth tax, make all carried interest from investments taxable at the personal tax rate, bring the estate tax up to 25% with the threshold being 10 million or more.
But first I’d like Jeff Bezos’ ex-wife to buy iHeart media and Sinclair Media and turn them into titans for progressive causes all over America’s airwaves. Let’s handcuff the old school propaganda machines in rural communities so that the blue wave in 2026 will make Mavericks blush.
Then when impeachment number three is a two-fer, with Vance on the hook as well, we’ll have Hakeem Jeffries in the Oval and justice will be served directly to all of Trump‘s co-conspirators, and billionaires will be in handcuffs all over the place.
That’s the future I want. PS: they call me Todd Quixote…
Jeff Bezos ex wife got a big settlement from Bezos when she divorced him, about $500 million. She set about donating it to good causes. Don't know much about her but I like what I hear.
She has donated billions of her money to charitable causes.
If you do continue to shop at Amazon, at least 4% will be going to consistent worthwhile causes.
She donated 17 million to totally rennovate the community college my nephew attends. Now it is one of the top community colleges facility wise in the country.
Chris White’s appointment as energy secretary represents a calculated shift toward environmental degradation. Behind his polished image lies a network of corporatism and corruption, eroding ecological safeguards to benefit powerful fossil fuel interests.
White’s career is deeply tied to the fossil fuel industry, notably through his tenure at BlackHydra Energy, a multinational linked to global environmental destruction. His policies promote deregulation disguised as economic growth, enabling unchecked resource extraction and dismantling of green initiatives like methane emission standards. Token gestures like subsidizing “clean coal” distract from his broader agenda.
Though White postures as a technocrat, his disdain for climate science is clear. He champions speculative geoengineering projects that gamble with Earth’s climate systems while ignoring urgent carbon reduction efforts. His dismissal of scientific consensus fosters public doubt and stalls meaningful climate action.
White’s true power lies in bureaucratic sabotage. By embedding loyalists into regulatory agencies, he obstructs environmental reviews, benefiting corporate polluters. His attacks on renewable energy, framed as “energy independence,” polarize public discourse and delay the transition to sustainability.
Ultimately, White’s tenure accelerates environmental degradation for short-term profit, threatening the planet’s future. Recognizing and resisting this trajectory is critical to preserving a livable world.
Professor Reich: now that you have provided us with a bit of a roadmap for going forward, i wonder how we can implement it? the congress is majority rethuglican as is scotus, so at this point, i've no clear idea how to proceed. legally. non-violently. bindingly.
sitting back in an easy chair and laughing at MAGA as the orange jesus sticks it to them is not the way forward because we will also suffer -- perhaps more than they do.
I will suggest once again that our collective response has power. Money is their language. So a national strike/ boycott will get their attention. They will see that DT isn’t the only one to play that game. Go to work and school but BUY NOTHING and STAY OFF ALL MEDIA owned or influenced by the ultra rich. I suggest January 21st would be perfect. No protests in the street so the tyrant can hurt people. Just stay home and close your wallets. Who’s in?
But this never happened the first time, as it should have. We really need a national organization that can rally the opposition. It should be easy with SM if we haven't quit or been censored.
I’m not confident there’s a national organization that will actually do something. I get constant notifications that they are “resisting” but no solution, just requests for money. I think we need to decide on a day and make it go viral so people know there is something we can do and it doesn’t require money. Power is in the hands of the people if we get on board and work together.
Money has always represented the roots of power in this country. Is it possible to control what we have created; we're a capitalistic society. There is a desperate need for some sort of control to be imposed on the super wealthy to maintain the voice of the people.
first, political debate about reform or revolution:
second, find the scale and forms for this debate.
We have little experience in political debate and thinking. Politics is not mass meetings, donations and knocking on doors to find voters. It is hard thinking and talking about the society that you want.
I wrote using the same poem about Obama before he was sworn in. About how his Recovery Act would be larger than expected. That turned out to be false, though at 813 billion it was still sizable. It needed to be to help get us out of the great Recession.
Tom--The current administration is departing Washington with a favorable rating of just about 36%. I know that is like the bailiff telling a witness to stand down. However, for a moment let's look at what really happened during Joe Biden's time as our President. Even before Joe was sworn in as this country's 46th commander and chief, Trump orchestrated the attack on the capital in an effort to undermine this country's election process. The country was in chaos because the orange guy didn't like the outcome of the 2020 election. For the first time in our history the peaceful transfer of power was being challenged. Crazy as it may seem that debacle was overshadowed by the introduction of the Covid Virus. Biden was facing a pandemic we haven't had to deal with in over 100 years. This country lost some 1.2 million souls because of Trump's ignorance. The pandemic threw our economy in a tailspin and we are still having to deal with the problems associated with Trump's inability to handle the realities of that situation. Then Russia invaded Ukraine and the conflict in the Middle East boiled over until the sands ran red with innocent blood. Here at home the FED raised interest rates causing the price of home ownership to soar. People bitched because of the price of eggs, they blamed Biden instead of the H5N1 bird flu. Car ownership was becoming next to impossible because the companies in charge of production were building vehicles meant for space travel not for the needs of the average family. Joe's woes didn't end there. With the election coming up the Republicans conducted a smear campaign to discredit anything the Biden administration tried to do. Trump's lies and misinformation left the Biden Presidency languishing in the swamp Trump had no intention of ever draining. Biden's time in office wasn't a failure, just the opposite. If Trump had won reelection in 2020 I would hate to think of where we would be today. We owe a special thanks to a man who faced adversity and never received any level of gratitude for his administration's efforts and his own personal sacrifice. The difference between Joe and Trump, Biden is a good man. History will smile upon Joe and his time spent as our 46th President. I give thanks to a man we were so lucky enough to have at this time in our history.
Tump will attempt to re-write history and steal many of Joe Biden’s successes. I have a feeling the next administration will be plagued by a more dangerous pandemic where COVID was only a dress rehearsal! The universe has a way of correcting these wrongs usually at the expense of innocent people. Whether it is H5N1 mutating to a more dangerous level or something else looming on the horizon, or Climate Change growing at a more rapid pace, or a combination of both, I just get the feeling that our universe has a way of slowing the evil down at a dear price humanity will have to pay. Let us hope I am wrong, and we can find ways to return the power and balance to the strategists in our society who want to help and not harm.
How we beat you the four clowns (the felon, muskrat, bozo Bezos, and Suck Zuck) is to boycott them financially! Quit reading the Washington Post, quit X, buy your stuff from target or Costco (not Amazon), and get off Facebook or at least do not buy anything from ads on Facebook! Write on Substack whenever the OAF (Orange Asinine 34x Felon) does something stupid, write or call your MAGA crazies in Congress that you do NOT support their bullshit. Talk to your friends who sat out the 2024 election to not sit out the 2026 elections! Get involved and the first sign of opposition do not watch the shit show of the OAF’s Inaugural so that it will have the lowest TV ratings in history!!!
Forgot to mention the muskrat’s shitty cars. Tesla has had two major recalls in the last month. Their tire pressure systems sensors and rear view mirror camera systems do NOT work. Perhaps, the muskrat should earn his annual $65 billion salary from Tesla by fixing his shitty cars!!
Rich people using more buffets example pay about 17% of their income on taxes .
The real issue, which is often smoke screened by the use of percentages.
Should not be about who pays the largest percent of taxes, BUT THE ARGUMENT SHOULD BE ABOUT DISPOSABLE INCOME. Work hard do a good job and you take home after all taxes will only be 60% of what you earned…
LET’S SWITCH THE DISCUSSION TO DISPOSABLE INCOME AND YOU FIND THE WORKING POOR WILL ALWAYS BE THE WORKING POOR. THEY WILL NEVER HAVE A REAL OPPORTUNITY TO DEVELOP SAVINGS AND THE RICH WILL GET RICHER.
Tax breaks to the rich go to offshore accounts and investments .
Tax breaks given to the working poor are utilized for necessities of life Food Clothing Shelter transportation education.
Make our tax system FAIR (even) for all levels of income …
Stop the smokescreen that the rich pay 98% of taxes. Make the discussion all about Disposal Income after all taxes and get this country back on its feet…
The WAPO has turned into a right-wing rag and now that Jennifer Rubin has left WAPO, I cancelled my subscription yesterday and signed up to her new Substack!
I understand. I have not read it much for some time. Maybe it's gotten worse. My general concern is an erosiion of support for media institutions which have, for WaPo in my view, historically been committed to fair and accurate reporting. I don't think a thousand substack writers is a good substitute for the public, though this can be debated.
Steve, Bozo Bezos has plenty of money to keep the WAPO, but none of it will be mine anymore and Jennifer Rubin will have thousands of subscribers shortly on Substack!!!
It's really not about Right vs Left now. It's about Top vs Bottom.
You can have democracy or a wealthy class, not both.
While I don't think it's a reach for Musk or much of a stretch for Bezos, I have to think for Zuckerberg doesn't like it. I think he saw it as a necessary business decision.... but that's about Trump, not him.
I dunno. I'm not sure how the pitchforks can be kept under control. The oligarchy is doing what oligarchies do and making everyone too poor to be able to afford the necessities of life - Housing, Healthcare, Higher Education... Family. The sad part is that it could explode into chaos. Chaos is where psychopaths thrive, nations, businesses and families, not so much. Maga folks are clearly ready to fight. If the Maga figure out the billionaires have lied to them, the country may make it as a democracy. It could allow social and economic adjustment instead of just unproductive chaos. We want change though, not revolution. Revolutions cause chaos, a place where psychopaths like Trump (and worse) thrive, but not nations, businesses or families. If they believe the right wing media and think the problem is left wing elites, Trump will be left as king of the ashes.
The Citizens United case must be reversed. Without a limitation on spending for campaigns and lobbying oligarchs like Musk, Zuckerberg and Bezos will continue to use their enormous wealth to affect elections and legislation.
I want to thank Elon for motivating me to contribute to the Los Angeles Fire Department Foundation. Something he should be doing but he's too much of a sniveling little Apartheid brat who thinks he needs to hang onto every swindled penny.
I dropped my Facebook account the day the changes were announced and signed up with Bluesky today. At least I see some integrity on Bluesky. Hopefully, some of my friends will follow.
Every word you wrote rings true. The ugliness of the oligarchs is going to be the worst thing I’ve ever witnessed in my 70 years of life. I for one know it’s been a good life for me up until now. I will do whatever it takes to stand in the way of this political obscenity. It’s been a good life and I have nothing to lose.
Many of us elderly people (I am 73) can relate to what you say. Maybe some of us can get together and talk about what we might do before we check out. There was a group in the 80's called The Gray Panthers.
Deadmanwalking, if all of us elderly people are going to stay in this fight, we do need to talk together about what we can do. I love the Gray Panthers! Great title! I am right there with you and let me know, please, what I can do! Stay strong!
I’m 81 and I am with you also. Gray Panthers II. Keep us informed.
Didn’t know that the Grey Panthers no longer existed! I’ll join.
As it turns out, The Gray Panthers, still exist as an organization and they are open to new chapters. Here is a link to the NYC chapter by-laws. https://www.graypanthersnyc.org/_files/ugd/2213d1_aeb3d5da25384085b8cbc61d1f7c7c28.pdf
Here is a list of Gray Panther chapters .
https://www.graypanthersnyc.org/graypanthersnetwork
I want to join, too!
Well,my hair is completely grey now so I believe I would qualify....
Mine is completely white now but I think I would qualify too.
Hahahahahahahaha! Mine, too, Jeannie!
One word answer to the Question asked by Robert:
Revolution.
1789
I have suspected a revolution is the only way for the last 30 years or more. Doesn't humanity ever learn anything from the past? Society can't keep moving in an unsustainable direction forever. When one person can wear a $900,000 watch while 770,000 are homeless, we are clearly going in the wrong direction, yet how many millions thought a vote for Trump was any kind of solution? It might be that when those millions didn't get what they bargained for, the seeds of revolution will start growing.
The irony is that many of the people who voted for the $800,000 watch crowd, don't have a pot to piss in, but to them it is more important to own he hated libs, their DEI,CRT, fags and trans.
Only now it has downed on me that "Jurassic Park" is an allegory and a prophesy. As long as saurian brains roam freely in the virtual world humanity is imperiled.
I never thought of that. Good catch. Yeh, movies often have a sublimal sub plot.
I'm more of a literalist. I've looked at the series as ridiculous. If one understands the effects of gravity, and don't buy Newtonian physics, they would realize that the largest lizard that can live in the present environment, and one that doesn't live most of the time in water, is the Komodo Dragon. The Brontosaurus and Tyrannosaurus Rex would suffocate under their own weight like a beached whale. But would never grow so big anyway. the gravitational field is too weak, the atmosphere too thin. They require a more vicuos atmosphere (thicker for buoyancy), but also more stressful, reqiring massive muscles and tendons to perambulate, which puts stress on bones which makes the bones more massive.
They may not have pots to piss in, but you can be darn sure that many have at least a half dozen guns, possible assault rifles, in their possession-ready to go...... A large number proved that to us during the January 6 insurrection.
Yep, I know and have said the same many times.
All that hate! And when I say I hate Trump, it makes me no better. I can remember years ago saying "I hate violence!" and suddenly realizing that the worst bits of human nature are in me too. I didn't like that, but at least it woke me up. Too many people never realize they might be a part of the problem, and hate of any kind can never be the best response.
Well Michelle, peace and love never achieved anything but a trip to Smithfield
Smithfield is where the Tudors burned heretics.
Hate feeds anger, anger feeds action.
Peace and love feed passivity, passivity feeds extinction and martyrdom
Peace only comes about with a lot of active participation in protest, refusal to make hate come alive ( war) and serious support for justice. It is not a passive activity.
Extinction is coming no matter what we do, but that is largely because the oligarchs are more interested in making money than in saving life on earth.
William, I'm not so sure I follow ... I have to work very hard at the peace and love attitude, which I try my best to do, and I have to say that if there is one thing I'm not, it's passive. I certainly agree with you that anger appropriately experienced and expressed is empowering, and yet I believe our actions must be balanced and ultimately guided by what is positive.
Yes. I call it righteous anger. We MUST be brave and stand against the oligarchs in whatever way possible. We surely shouldn't wish them peace and love.
Hate has its place. We should hate the actions, or the potential outcome without hating the person(s). It makes it more palatable when trying to converse or debate the person needing conversion from the lies they have been fed and now believe.
I've suspect that a democratic revo led by working people is the only way since the McGovern fiasco in '72
We have to develop media that is factual and can be relied upon. The sheer mass of misinformation has been probably the biggest contributor to Trump regaining the White House. BigSky, people. Let's get in there and keep it honest.
The French Revolution of 1789 degenerated into terror, and it ended with Napoleon's dictatorship. Trump and his "bonapartist" supporters are reacting against the civil rights legislation of the 1960s and the 1980s IT revolution brought about by the microchip. Ironically, that same technology enabled them to gain power. That same technology may also give us a reign of terror.
He won’t have to, Victor. They’re already doing it to themselves as they turn their social media networks into cesspools, toxic disinformation.
You are so correct.
1775 was not a revolution, as there was no change of Government, the king still sat astride the throne. It wasn't a civil war either, but a secessionist movement.
Even then there was violence, especially in Virginia. The good folk of Virginia had no desire to replace English overlords with homegrown overlords. And the tidewater aristocracy, the planters, were not at all interested in secession, as there sale of tobacco to London, netted them such wealth, that they lived large and were not bothered by taxes and the monopoly of the East India Company,
They joined the revolution because they saw it as a chance to become Royalty in America.
Their London relatives considered them to be coarse country bumpkins because of their weird (Surrey) accent, and coarse ungenteel manners.
To convince the citizen of Virginia to support their endeavors they formed Committees for Public Safety,which monitored the behavior of the people and punished those that were loyalists, Punishments ranged from economic to tar and feathering and riding out of town on a rail. if not worse.
William,
In my darker moments, I have had similar thoughts, but the reality of such a horrific recurring event would be beyond comprehension; beginning with all of the grey-haired bodies to be picked up off the street along with our dead, mutilated children and grandchildren. No one really wants this and I suspect that for all of our brave talk, none of us wants to become a martyr.
I believe that the solution to this mess must begin at the local level by supporting our state governments, military and other vital institutions so that they will come to our aid and defense if and when it is necessary. I know this sounds a bit like the first steps towards secession from the US but our safety and well-being must remain our primary concern.
Ilene, I have no choice but to face and live in reality, dark or not, escapism and wishful thinking enables the dark force.
At this point in time the only hope I can see is that Blue states secede and petition Canada and Mexico, or just secede. The Governors of Washington,California and Illinois have taken steps to help insulate against the right wing terror that we face.
There needs to be an interstate compact between all blue states, and among them is to withhold taxes and support of the federal government.
That is our only hope at the moment, We are in for a rough ride, rougher than most can imagine. With a cowed legislature, and a handpicked crony cabinet, and a religious fanatic, corrupt Supreme Court, and a federal judicial system that will cave to Trump because they are scared if not in agreement, we really don't have much choice.
Over 100 execuitve orders on Day 1, firing of almost all civil servants, unless they take a loyalty to Trump oath, a court system that will not stop but enables him.
The firing of 50,000 civil servants to be replaced by incompetent MAGAts.
.Where do you think we are headed.
The bridge is washed out, there are orange stanchions and warning signs, yet people refuse to pay attention
Hope is not your friend, it is your enemy.. People meekly boarded trains head to Auschwitz,because of hope. People stripped naked and ran into trenches at Baba Yar because of hope.
My family and I used to admire the fairness and how United States applied the Law following the Constitution. Now a days, after tRump brought out all the divisiness, racial hate and cult followers the safetiness I personally experienced living in the U.S. is no longer there. I feel that by allowing rich people (non-citizens and citizens) controlling the government and making decisions will be another third world country. Just by tRump stating that he will use the military to control the illegal immigrants gives chills and reminds me of my experiences as a child dealing with such events in my native country. The government used the military to control the people and to kill them! they will go into small towns and kill everybody! elderly, children, young men, women, pregnant women it did not matter who was there in their paths - they got killed! also poverty was another way of control! I don't know how U.S. can get rid of this pest but one thing is for sure, oligarchy has a small number and U.S. citizens who care for this country are MANY! I think that we could do harm in their pockets if we do not consume their products! But it requieres the MAYORITY OF US! Hispanics boycott Univision because it interviewed tRump and they did not the same for President Biden so we ALL DID IT and they had to let go personnel and close some stations because of audience decreased! SMALL STEPS DO WORK!
Yep Miss B, we are on a downward spiral. Look up the word entropy.
There is a parallel between Tudor England and today.including religious persecution and conformity.
Tudor England was followed by the Stuarts, and religious extremism,including real witch hunts (James I was a noted witch hunter)
and even that was not enough,there were extremists that called themselves Puritans and the Puritans had their own extremist faction that called themselves Brownists, their leader rented a boat and 32 of them boarded in the Netherlands (to which they had fled, because they were unwelcome in England because of their extremism), the boat sailed to Plymouth,England picked up another 70 less extreme puritans and set sail for the Hudson Bay, they ran out of beer, and landed in Massachusetts Bay to replenish their stores, and we know their sorry tale as "pilgrims" they called themselves Saints, but their Governor Bradford wrote in his diary that they were pilgrims, and in the mid 19th Century that diary was found in a library in England the pilgrim myth was born.
Religious extremists have been the bane of America since, there was a "great awakening" in the 19th Century when puritanical missionaries invaded Virginia preaching their b.s., and later in the early 19th Century another invasion with likes of a fanatic, Lorenzo Dow, spreading his brand of intolerance. A lot of men named sons after him.
NB: prays will not save us.
William, I fear you are right. Yet, if you consider Hope an enemy, then we are truly lost, but if you understand that Hope works both ways than there is still a chance for us to right our sinking ship of state even if it means a blue state secession and all of the Civil War horror which that may entail.
Hope is the mother of passivity and inaction. I am all for a blue state secession, but that won't come about by hoping.
Hope is not the same thing as wishful thinking. The victims of the Holocaust knew they had nothing to hope for, hence they did not resist.
Hope is an opiate. I do not agree with you about why the victims of the holocaust did not resist.
You make it sound like a cakewalk, William.
I do? How?Not hardly.
The way is fraught with obstacles, hard work, violence, danger, the only alternative is submission, helplessness, and forlorn hope, that a miracle or a knight on shiny armor will come to our rescue.
You must corral the saurian brains roaming freely in the www. Musk and Zuck are genuflecting to Trump because they fear that he will corral them.
That is probably the ONLY way.
I fear so
To the barricades! And which way to the Bastille?
Careful now, they have the guns, the courts, the press and, unlike in 1789, can and do sniff all electronic communications.
Be smart go analog.
I think you'll find your revolution got started in 1775, William. 1789 was the French kicking out their monarchy.
Nope I was alluding to the French Revolution of 1789. despite popular myth, and what our history books and movies tell us, 1775 was not a revolution.
A revolution results in a change of government. King George was not an issue, and after the treaty of Paris in 1783, he was still king.
1775 was an act of secession, the 13 colonies seceded from Britain, and their first attempt at forming a government was a confederacy.
George Washington is considered the first president of the United States, serving from 1789 to 1797. However, John Hanson was the first full-term president of the United States in Congress Assembled, serving from 1781 to 1782.
And it wasn't taxation without represenation that resulted in the Boston Tea party, it was the monopoly bestowed by the King on the East India Company, a monopoly which forced Boston merchants into becoming smugglers, At that time smuggling was capital offense, the penalty was hanging, and hanging in chains at that.
The Civil War was also fought over secession, but in that case the secessionists supported the slave-owning aristocracy.
All this talk of wars and political violence is unproductive. To make real change requires engagement in political processes, backed up by public protest marches. When the media are wholly owned arms of big business, the public is ill-informed and protests become a means of making statements that would otherwise be ignored.
If you think you could muster enough popular support for a secession, why not muster that same energy to make peaceful changes, like preventing a takeover of the diverse media environment?
We already have a distorted broadcast media, along with a polluted social media, with people re-posting lies, Russian propaganda, and "Christian" memes without understanding the repercussions.
And the left has no comprehensive, coherent strategy to put up against the right-wing narrative, marching in lockstep to nonsense. Not that we should now just give up, because we lost a big election, and the jack-booted thugs are girding for battle. We didn't lose by much, and there are still a majority of the American people who agree with us on most of the big issues. The problem is, they just stayed home, and failed to send in their ballots, being frustrated with "both sides", and having no hope for a boost in their economic prospects, not realizing that prosperity is ahead, even for the poorest.
A small event in the world could have been enough to have shifted the election. For instance, if Biden's peace deal for Gaza put forward in May had gone through, it would have been as if the 1979 hostages in Iran had been released to Jimmy Carter. Millions of voters would have seen hope for the world, and come out to vote to maintain it.
This. I like Mr. Reich. But like much commentary, his diagnosis is good, but not much on prescription or treatment. No call for action. We olds can actually enrich our lives by organizing and taking action. See comments below. I am intrigued by the Gray Pathers. Going to check them out! Find an orgainzation. Also, come on over to Blue Sky if you are sick of Social Media like twitter. bsky.app. Get back to work!
Please note that all cats, with the important exception of house cats, are endangered. Symbiosis has obvious advantages.
Which is the main reason (among many) that humanity is doomed, Victor. Collectively, we have disowned Mother Earth.
Robert has three big suggestions, but none are possible when the Magists are in power.
Count me in!
I’ll be code name “Bald Eagle” lol
I’m 75 and have deactivated Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Threads and will look to limit my exposure to Amazon. I also cancelled Starlink and will not buy a new Tesla (even tho both are , unfortunately, great products). Also I admit to being pissed at Apple’s Tim Cook for contributing to Trump’s inauguration as I write this on my iPad. These guys are selling us down the river. Damn them to hell .
What does it cost us to remain engaged, using these corporate media platforms to continue pushing for the truth? If we drop out, who will be there to counter the lies and distortions put out by the Putin bots and the Magist traitors?
Checkout INDIVISIBLE,
I have, Dawn, and I have joined my chapter!
Please do. The youth need elders to be involved. Most of my generation, gen x, who aren’t pubbies are just trying to make ends meet and have little time for activism. I boycott companies, but little else. Gen z is trying to affect change. But, yeah, we all need positive boomer involvement
I have thought about that...I'd join if it was independent of the Dem Party and the corporations that run it
I'm in
War is part of life, and we will all die. Most of us would take a bullitt for our children. Ideas are the best of us. Our current President was elected. He can take all the money he can get away with. We have a lot money. The rich guys just want to keep on doing what they have been doing. We don't have to take money from them. We must continue to help our fellow man. IDEAS ARE STRONGER THAN MONEY. IF SOMEONE SHOOTS AT ME I WILL SHOOT BACK.
I’m in
This is an ad, people. Not sure if she's even a real person. Ugh, they've infiltrated Substack, too. 😩
Sad
Banhammer.
?
Old term for kick that guy off the platform.
I'm willing to join, too. Over on Bluesky there is a movement to stage a 100 hour general strike starting Monday. No TV, no social media, don't watch his coronation, no non-essential spending. Deny the Orange Oaf his ratings. Pass it on if you agree.
Celebrate MLK DAY on Jan. 20.
This is the right snd best democratic focus on Monday 🩵
Unfortunately, with the latest media takeover by the fascists, how will knowledge of this strike reach the needed numbers to even get noticed? I have always been a progressive liberal political activist, so much so that I've been told, "not everything is political" by dear friends.
When Hillary lost, I was so devastated that I had to cancel my college classes the following days. After this election, when I was sure Americans would not vote for a convicted felon traitor, l didn't even get dressed for a week. I used to have MSNBC on all day, but I have stopped engaging with MSM, left X, and rarely seek out real news.
I fear for all Americans, especially women and the LGBT community. When the oligarchs bought SCOTUS, our Constitution was doomed.
I now feel like the TV show Scandal was actually what we are now living.
We were on our way to doomsday when the SC ushered in the dark money with Citizens United. Biden was right in his farewell address when he said the oligarchs have taken the power. WE have to stop it again. These forces have been whittling away at our freedoms for decades.
Susie, that is how I felt when Hillary was cheated out of the White House! Could not eat or 3 days. I call her Mama ever since. Let's stay in contact, we Hillary & Kamala supporters should stick together.
I support you completely, and was devastated when Hilary lost to that meathead. I was disappointed when she was nominated over Bernie, but I felt all well-meaning people should stay in the game and support her against a right-wing racist, misogynist cheating businessman billionaire bastard.
Then we got a repeat slam when Kamala lost.
But, all is not lost as long as we continue to engage, letting our voices be heard wherever and whenever we can.
I intend to protest the inauguration, and hold up a sign that says, "Stop Climate Change"
when the govern or the oligarchs control the media, it won't matter if there were a massive strike. They would like about it anyway.
Alternative modes of communication are probably needed.
TikTok. Word of general strikes and such gets around on TikTok. This is why they want to ban the app
also JURASSIC PARK.
I will not watch the ugliness on Monday.
Meidas Touch (If you're not familiar, they are on FB, substack and YouTube) is not covering the inauguration. I'm staying off Fb all together. Amazon too. I will tune my tv to MLK coverage. And I will keep Meidas Touch on YouTube all day. They have a huge following. Check them out.
I've been with Medias Touch since their beginning, as my avid political activism would imply.
I absolutely agree!
Stephen - I will be celebrating MLK Day and watching the Buckeyes win (hopefully). I Will Not watch that buffoon but will be thinking about all of his people freezing in the cold. Apparently hell is freezing over.
O H!
Moe and Effie - I O!! :)
We all know how to punch down Bezos ( no Amazon), Zuck ( no FB), Musk ( you get the point…)
Yes, and they fear that Trump will punch them.
I've been thinking exactly this but how do I cancel them?
Clean up your data there first.
You can then cancel them, directions available online.
Make your last post a note so people know to find you here
Thank you
For Amazon:
- Sign in
- Go to "Hello (your name)" in the upper right corner
- In the drop down menu click on "Account"
- Scroll half-way down the page to a box that says "Manage Your Data"
- Within that box click on "Close your Amazon Account"
- Read carefully what you're about to do ;-)
Keep in mind that you can keep an Amazon account (not Prime) and simply not use it. That way you still maintain a record of all your prior orders and such and it allows you to maintain your "Freevee" account to watch their free video/tv services.
I personally use the Amazon website to search for any given product I want to purchase, take note of who the manufacturer is, and then purchase the product either via the manufacturer's website or some other website that carries said product.
Make Bezos work for you and don't give him a f-ing dime.
Thanks so much!
Thank you so much
Instructions for deletion of Facebook account (from Facebook):
You can delete your account by going directly to the Accounts ownership and control settings in Accounts Center. Or you can follow these instructions:
Click your profile picture in the top right of Facebook.
Select Settings & privacy, then click Settings.
Click Accounts Center at the top left of your screen.
Click Personal details, under Account Settings.
Click Account ownership and control.
Click Deactivation or deletion.
Choose the account or profile you want to delete.
Select Delete account.
Click Continue then follow the instructions to confirm.
Thank you so much
Can we still watch The Ohio State v Norte Dame though?
I refuse to watch Trump while he pretends to be sworn into supporting America. He doesn’t and he won’t.
He violates the Constitution with every plan and every pitiful appointment he makes for these misfits to run various institutions. All for the sole purpose of destroying these institutions.
I cannot look at him anywhere. He has defiled this nation and her people with his twisted plans for revenge , and Putins pleasure.
Of course!
I will retire soon and willing to join!
That suggest an action, doesn’t it ? keeping tabs on people who are entering retirement and getting them politically active.
I've been a Gray Panther for 20 years and we've formulae for repeated legal wins that have attracted young politicians who have been winning and winning! Don't subscribe unless you're ready to join our Focus Group, etc.❤️❤️❤️❤️
Also Raging Grannies is a good group for us "women of a certain age" to get our rage out by singing outrageous songs!
Where please
Where do we subscribe?
I’m in
I'm with you. 77 this year.
❤️Reich❤️:"Hitler...gets...gifts...[and power causing WWII... which we fought so...]When we the people regain power, three reforms are critically necessary to begin to tame [our paranoia and replace it with FREEDOM FROM FEAR as FDR, UN.org, and 'Do one thing every day that scares you'--Ms.FDR... and anxiety science promised...]"
BUT THE SCIENCE OF ANXIETY ALSO FINDS A "HIDDEN" THREAT:
No fear due to "Up to 60% of anxious people are cured by placebo" but innocuous placebos can "mutate" into an insidious placebo... similar to when: "Moms replace baby's filthy thumb with a sterile pacifier"
...if algorithms or Trump or Murdoch or AI can convert the innocuous placebos all 60% of Americans use... to fascism...GAME OVER
Biden [on lethal misinformation by Zuck, fb, etc]:"They're killing people!"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cqn6UYx4SCY
Please don’t just talk.
I’m in. Great idea.
https://www.graypanthersnyc.org/_files/ugd/2213d1_aeb3d5da25384085b8cbc61d1f7c7c28.pdf
I’m in!
There is a group now called Third Act!
Deadmanngwmd, as a 73/o woman growing up in America under the misogyny of Christianity, many of our cultural norms, and many of our laws, I have learned that they can take away my opportunities, my security, my rights, and my safety, but they can’t take my integrity, my joy, my ability to have empathy, or l my ability to love. I can only loose these if I give them away. I love the idea of the Gray Panthers. I would love to see it organized and join with all the other discriminated against groups (ie all of us except the oligarchy and the white supremacists). If you form a group I would like to hear about it. I am home with long covid, but still love the dream of a multiracial pluralistic democracy, and could still contribute in a small way. I have become acutely aware of the fact that the one thing that unites everyone is that we can all count on the fact that we will all die. What a waste that we don’t all do what we can to make life on this planet as good as possible for all Life.
Linda - I don't know that I can form a group, I don't move too well anymore. I can use my computer and barely take care of myself. As it turns out the original Gray Panthers group is still out there. The following is a link to it's guidelines for becoming a part of the organization. It looks as if the by-laws were written before the Internet.
https://www.graypanthersnyc.org/_files/ugd/2213d1_aeb3d5da25384085b8cbc61d1f7c7c28.pdf Thanks to Matty above for the link .
Pray for Trump to pass on to the next life; Melania is on our side ; Melania is our best Hope. Trumpet 🎺 is at the point in his life where the statistics point to death from natural causes .
Go Melania Go !!!
Are you looking forward to President JD Vance? His mouth is worse!
I'm not ready to check out, not yet anyway. I'm also 73 and ready to continue the good fight. Biden passed the torch to us last night and we must carry it forward if our democracy is to survive.
Please put me in your list!!!!
I’m on board. We are about to lose a lot. Social security and Medicare. My only lifeline.
Pray for Trump to pass on to the next life; Melania is on our side ; Melania is our best Hope. Trumpet 🎺 is at the point in his life where the statistics point to death from natural causes .
Go Melania Go !!!
Who will step up to organize this? Robert? Someone else? The sooner the better.
I agree. For the sake of the grandchildren. And I will retire soon. What about supporting Elizabeth Warren and Bernie and wealth tax ideas?
I love Elizabeth Warren and Bernie, Dale, but I fear they would tell us we need younger voices to lead. Their wealth tax ideas are spot on and I am sure some of the younger politicians will pick up on their plans and start moving them forward. I want to see people like Ben Wikler, the AOC, Jasmine Crockett, Jamie Rasking, Gavin Newsome, Josh Shapiro and some others stepping up and talking LOUDLY!
Its not age but wealth that is the enemy here. Many of us will live and be healthy into our 90s. We need to stop being ageist or any "ist" . we need to focus on policies that defeat the rich and break up monopolies. We need to put more. Safety nets into place for the poor, LGBTQ people of color and other minorities.
Start locally, do what you are able to defeat the spread and slow the stupidity for the next 4 years. Build systems to fight back.
Thank you. My husband just turned 90 and I am 85. We still are active and engaged. How can you think that we don't count? Perhaps as Jimmy Carter modelled for us by staying alive until he could cast his one last vote. Even the smallest positive move.
I fear it's too late. Ignorance is much more prevalent than could have imagined. I have been an avid supporter of Chomsky's "Manufacturing Consent" which spelled out the oligarchs plan.
Unfortunately, the average IQ is 100, but that means half have IQs lower than that. And taking over local school boards was the beginning of the end of teaching critical thinking skills.
Well said! But get off the couch and DO SOMETHING!
@RickSender Excessive unequally taxed, buying power wealth is the enemy. "No reward for hard work" is exactly what we have now in the good ol' US of A. People do work hard and only want to have a decent chance at raising their families, keeping a roof over their heads. The uber wealthy have quashed that. People can't afford homes or rent, are working two jobs and are in utter despair at their prospects. THIS is what deregulation and unchecked greed do. And it all started with Ronnie--who is probably your fave--and his union busting, lowering of the corporate tax rates, allowing banking and Wall Street to run amok and his bullshit "trickle down economics".
That, sir, is what got us into the mess we are now in. That Middle America is in as a whole. Just because you can't admit it doesn't make it any less true.
Hi Marie. If you tax wealth, and do nothing more, we become Vernezuela. Once you tax wealth, and spread it around, you have to tax even more wealth to keep spreading it around. Venezuela was once the richest country in Latin America. Look at it today. The wealth ran out and there they are basically living in squalor. Something like half the population has left. Where are we going to go? The answer is in the history of America. Before you favor policies that redistribute wealth, you must favor policies that create wealth. Interesting that you are going after wealth instead of income, which is of course almost tapped out for many. If you look at Calif and NY, high income taxpayers are paying about 50% of the income in income taxes, and you can add real estate taxes, sales taxes, and whatever tax to that. Add that at this point a wealth tax is unconstitutional. The income tax amendment applies expressly income. Leveraging that into taxing wealth is a real stretch.
The problem Rick is that we have seen this movie before. Unlike yourself, we gave it a one star. but sure I’m hopeful and willing to acknowledge positive things that can come from the administration. Something better than recommendations to drink bleach.
You sat "gonna be okay" and then excoriate someone for trying to tell the future? I try to ignore you but you keep posting your misinformation.
Tragic. You're so indoctrinated. 😢
Peggy, I like all the people you named and I know Warren and Sanders will be excellent tutors. I would like to see Katie Porter with her white board back in action too. I think most of them are waiting to see just what havoc Toddler-Trump and his playground of toddlers and lapdogs have planned for all of us out of the gate before they speak up. I am then hoping they will get some, a bit crazy activities going so the media will actually have to cover them and people will see them everywhere: art installations, pop-up protests, toys of the toddlers in a playground with nothing to do but listen to their toddler daddy - bobble-head dolls would work, clever T-shirts, short-term billboards proclaiming the administrations missteps, letter-writing contests for the best letters to the Supreme Court to demand they start following a code of ethics and rule fairly on cases, write and produce songs by a lot of performers that praise the virtues of real unity not coersion, make play money with the faces of the ruling billionaires on it with honest but insulting phrases in place of "In God we trust," etc. I know others would have far better ideas, but the premise is sound. Let's not go quiet into this dark night (to paraphrase poet D. Thomas).
Ruth- these are great ideas! Keep ‘em coming!
Talking loudly may soon become perilous.
Victor, if talking loudly is perilous than so be it. I will not sit quietly while our country is being taken over by these traitors!
We need to reach out to the rising generation. AOC would be a good start.
Yes! Absolutely essential. Trump already is doing this, but mostly to males. Only an army of Joan of Arcs can save our democracy!
You probably need to return to your oubliette in Facebook…
Of course, because you get your anti American drivel from Faux News and NewsMax and Tucker Carlson.
I hope you reap all that you have sown. You support the most UNAmerican horror ever to come to power and think it's all just hunky dory. This is what indoctrination is. This is what being in a cult is. I will pray for you to see the light and escape it. Sooner rather than later.
Must we also sink to this ugliest way of interaction?
Good riddance to bad rubbish.
Delusional. Goodbye.
Definitely! Progressives will save the country!
As long as they can all move towards the center
Marianne Williamson. For DNC chair!
I heard Bernie is retiring.
He will not stop working towards a better country - even in retirement!
Liz Warren, aka Pocahontas, makes a fool of herself on a continual basis. She really put her foot in her mouth during the Hegseth confirmation hearing.
How pathetic. Is that the only way you know how to respond? Have you tried conversing or interasting intelligently without needing to demean? Good place to start making our one world a more productive and livable space.
She used false identification as an indigenous American for exploitation and personal gain. The lowest of the low life's.
Thank you so much
Elizabeth Warren should have been the candidate in 2020, but the corporate media didn't like her message or gender. She was doing great at explaining to less than astute people who was pull the strings.
Was that even English? If the implication is that Bernie Sanders is a billionaire so is now retiring, you are truly too far gone. 🥺
Indeed, the world truly is a scary place, I am thinking of the title, War of The Worlds, but the enemy is us! and Trump and his billionaire buddies, loot the country and leaving Americans holding a bag of you know what and may I add, I feel like we're witnessing in slow motion and every increasing (fires in California) natures end, people, were busy, going about our daily lives, not fully realizing the danger that lurks, as Trump, the destroyer of worlds, is going to his do his dam best to destroy the planet, just look at his cabinet for energy and EPA, nothing says more, a hell on earth scenario to climate, than those two especially.
Consider the oligarchs whose wealth exceeds or even begins to approach that of a medium sized nation equivalent to the merc's discussed in this comment:
https://youtu.be/UfxYtJPCaM4?si=3B8eAyX3gtXulxq6
It's a critique concerning who actually holds the power. At the time Machiavelli wrote, it was about who controls the armies. Today, it's about who can effectively buy governments.
i.e. the DOGE is roughly equivalent to a merc army.
Indeed, I consider the whole of what's left of the Republican party a bought-off mercenary force whose only loyalty is to those who pay for or assist their fund raising efforts and messaging in service to their continued office acquisition or tenure. Their loyalty is constrained by the length and depth of their "gravy train." I began worrying about the voters, as well, when GWB promised to pay voters to elect him by a big tax refund - that depleted the "rainy day" surplus Clinton had accrued and thus fueled the core debt, brought on by those idiotic wars, at the beginning of what we face today.
DOGE, is basically representative of the gilded age and hence its return and these heartless-soulless uber rich, like Musk, Bezzo's are just a symptom of the times
Maga Republicans, Trumps cronies, their loyalty is constrained by the length and depth of their "gravy train." indeed, and they will, as usual bend the knee and do what Trump wants
Enjoy Maga voters your choice and remember, you voted for this!
👍 You may appreciate this:
https://youtu.be/NqTQAvXPGiQ?si=pgdAZ3QSY6pA6kcd
OMG😨The Fall of Rome and the wealthy elite, did not like their tax dollars paying to give bread or feed the people and their three prong methodologies to end democracy and consolidate their power, all that, the Republicans are using just like in the Roman times. History indeed, does repeat itself, if we let it🤔
https://youtu.be/NqTQAvXPGiQ?si=Q8vvFCJxqs3wZ_iy
After I received GWB’s tax refund of $600, my rent was immediately raised by $100/month!
👍 I remember it well.
There is no negative in advance, Rick . We know who Trump is: a criminal who surrounds himself with other criminals, all bent on destroying institutions and infrastructure to line their own pockets. And with regard to Covid - estimates are that under Trump we lost almost 500,000 Americans unnecessarily. See https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/trumps-policy-failures-have-exacted-a-heavy-toll-on-public-health1/
I wonder? are more deaths on the way, under the new and not improved Trump grifters administration
You have been misinformed by people who don’t care about you, Rick.
Paying more attention to what Trump says and does would help you see. I have challenged people for years to find even one thing that he has done in his whole life that demonstrates kindness, generosity, character, empathy, honesty, fairness, or even real character. If it can stand any scrutiny, I will correct any posts I have made and mention what he has done right. He is a clear danger to our country and certainly not worth the risk he presents. Best of luck to you.
We are in Jurassic Park, and our best hope may be that the Rexes will devour each other.
Well his inadequacy with covid cost the lives of millions of Americans. My only regret is that he did not die from his case of the disease.
You assume that trump’s loss was because of covid and not because of the chaos surrounding him. You are about to be reminded.
There is no guarantee he would be leaving. Executive privilege.
Me too, and I'm Canadian.
A good start would be to overturn Citizens United. Of course, Dems would have to win massively during mid-terms. But it can be done.
I’m with you Wes! I’ll be 70 next month and it is so hard to watch what has happened to our Country since 2015. I want to take whatever action that I can to resist. I hope that we al have the strength to make it through the next 4 sickening years.
Wes, While I share your commitment, I would be remiss were I not to note, after hours of trying to locate a list of our party’s 448 DNC delegates replete with contact information, the best I could find was a piece by Micah L. Sifry (Jan 10, 2025) published in The American Prospect (prospect.org ) despairingly titled “Opening the DNC’s Black Box.” The subtitle reads, “Why we’re publishing a previously undisclosed list of all 448 members of the Democratic National Committee.” Regrettably, “to protect individual’s privacy,” phone numbers and email addresses were removed. The article, in my view a must-read, painstaking exposes the DNC, and, by extension, stalwarts of our party’s establishment, as the antithesis of a coalition intent on serving the interests of citizens and communities.
I would note I share this observation not because I believe the challenges we face are insurmountable and pervasive, but because, in my view, they result from factors it is incumbent upon us to grasp if we’re to treat these obstacles as specific and temporary, and therefore changeable.
Barbara Jo, that is another sound reason why we need a party that will actually work for us working middle and lower classes!
Peggy, I agree and simply would add that the two top contenders for DNC Chair I believe are Minnesota Democratic Chair and current DNC Vice-Chair Ken Martin and Wisconsin Democratic Chair Ben Wikler. While Wikler, who is not driven by the big-moneyed interests of billionaires, large corporations, and Wall Street and unequivocally is on the side of working people, I sense Martin, though advocating for working families, mainly would perpetuate the status quo in our national politics.
Hopefully, the enormous nationwide grassroots organizing backing Wikler will outweigh the stalwart party establishment seemingly favoring Martin.
Yes, Barbara Jo. Wikler has done so much in Wisconsin, I would like to see him do that across the country!
Me either, Wes, and I am proud to say I will be standing right there beside you! The only thing I refuse to lose is my America!
The brainwashing continues. Go back to your world of manipulative legacy media. Even the ones that aren't Fox are only talking about Trump. Why? Because Trump sells. And that's how pathetic and money grubbing the news has gotten. The newspapers, too. It is pathetic.
Pathetic indeed! The danger now is that many may accept state-imposed news reporting (not to be confused with safety guardrails).
70 here too - maybe this is the second coming of 'The Grey Panthers'... They wouldn't be so flagrant if they didn't think they Won. Remember that Teddy Roosevelt was able to stop the robber barrons and break up the trusts. But, Robert is right we have to stand up and speak truth to power,
Thank you Wes!! I love this and I am right there with you. All we have is strength in numbers. ✊🏼 💪🏼
I agree with you completely and at 73, I still care about others and will do all I can for them.
My exact sentiments ...but while I'm still here I will not accept this government ever!
I feel similar. I’m old enough to remember the WWII generation as I was growing up.
America is consuming itself because maga voters hate their fellow citizens so much they would rather destroy it all than share any of it. I was just thinking this morning the American experiment worked, but it worked too well when it started lifting “others.” It’s ironic that racism will destroy the US. Racism is the foundation of maga.
We’re with you brother, this must stop.
Same for my 85 years
Same for my 85 years
The French solved the problem in 1789. 😉
It's one solution. If they start jailing anybody for their beliefs or because they say Trump is a sonofabitch, it should be considered.
That will happen. I have no doubt.
Zero. The people jailed were jailed because of their actions, not their beliefs.
That should be the only reason for jailing somebody.
None obviously. Those who assaulted the Capitol should have been jailed, just as if it were Biden supporters doing the same act. I would feel the same way.
…you seem to want to forget the decades of police brutality and the public murder of George Floyd that spark that riot. If you were a person of color how would you have responded? You seem to have no compassion for people who are oppressed.
…for their illegal actions you mean.
That's what she means.
Indeed they did. And, though they didn't get to eat much cake, she lost her ability to eat at all.
We are no where near where the French people were before the revolution. The Bastille had been jailing people for many years and the wealthy had ground the poor into submission - or so they believed.
It Can happen here. For years I have seen people posting that we will survive, no matter whatever the republicans and Trump are doing. The time has come (should have come much earlier ) to face the truth. We are no better than other nations that did this to their people. The phrase “it won’t happen here” should be banned. Anything can happen anywhere and if you don’t learn from history you repeat it,
First of all, my comment was tongue in cheek. Second, the Bastille was due to be demolished and only had 7 inmates on the famous 14 July. It became a symbol of the revolution and nothing more.
Lets not WAIT for that.
"Madame Defarge missed a stitch...and then smiled..."
It took a lot of suffering before the French revolted. Years of it.
"Life moves pretty fast..." Ferris Bueller, almost 40 years ago.
Robespierre? Napoleon?
But by that time, it took 90% of a man’s daily wage to buy a loaf of bread — we can’t wait that long!
If we could just Luigi Elon or Mark or Jeff or Donald, the world would be a much better place. And it only takes one us to do it.
It didn’t really work out that great for them, especially if the goal was to avoid autocracy.
An excellent precedent !!!
Not so! You forgot the two Napoleons, and France's "strange defeat" in 1940.
The one thing that they all have in common is that they don’t give two shits about the people in Southern California whose lives have been upended and or destroyed by the climate change fires! The oligarchs only care about themselves, their money and their power. I don’t know how but they have to be stopped!
You know George Carlin spoke of this oligarchy years ago, he called them the owners the real business owners. It’s a club and you and I are not in the big club. He was spot on when he said they don’t give a shit about us. I bet ya none of them will give a penny to help the poor souls with the fire
I miss George Carlin so much! He was so prophetic.
I do too!
Keith, he was a comic genius and I loved him. He was very talented and politically savvy as well. I, too, miss him.
He was here just a minute ago. Gh
I remember George Carlin from his appearances on the Ed Sullivan Show and then the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson. We even saw him in person several times when he would come through Wisconsin. But best of all were the HBO Specials! He had changed from being 'just a comedian' to being a true social critic. The discs haven't worn out (yet) but the cardboard (from the boxed set) has come apart at the folds from opening and closing. He was the best!!
Yes he was
I was a young man when I first heard “The Seven Words”. I almost fell out of my chair!
Oh they will give a paltry say $100 million or some nonsense a fraction of their billions. They will look altruistic on the surface yet if you look at the billions they dont pay in taxes you will see that them giving away a $100 million is like us throwing a dollar at a homeless person (should I buy a gumball with thia). They will fight systemic help and reparations to keep their taxes low or lower. It is as you say they do not care.
Their only motive is to look good and not pay any taxes! We could fix the Social Security "problem " by getting rid of the cap on earnings! Why should they pay less and get more while the rest of us stuggle!
Social Darwinism.
Yes why do we choose to like animals?
No, its much more important to have the oligarchs space race
How? Maybe start with what worked to end the gilded age?
The 2 Roosevelts implemented many policies & programs targeted toward helping ordinary Americans, which ended up greatly alleviating wealth & power disparity in the country.
That won't happen under trump.
No kidding!
Yes, the winners can make policy and programs to help the Ordinary Americans. We have to win massively in the midterms and 2028 to be able to make the big changes we need.
Hopefully there will still be some semblance of a fair election by then, which I strongly doubt. This last one wasn't.
I agree Jamie. I think we’ve seen our last fair election
for a long time. I hope I’m wrong, but I don’t think I am.
The Great Depression and WWII ended the Gilded Age and ushered in the formation of a gigantic,
powerful, upwardly mobile middle class—assisted
by FDR’s leadership.
Jan, I think it was the Great Depression that ended the Gilded Age. We don’t want that.
They are GOING to tank the economy so they can buy back stocks at rock bottom and become exponentially more wealthy. Watch! Get ready for breadlines. And with all their efforts to cripple the voting apparatus, we may not have a say at all (His words: you will never need to vote again!). Make America a Cash Cow!
You are correct and those who think that the Oligarchs are to going to see the light and reverse there course do not understand the Narcissism that has brought these people to the amount of wealth they have. The dispassion and uncaring and complete selfishness is the sickness. The only way they will relent is if we stop them.
And yet they have extreme power and money. And much of the judicial system.
Ghandi fought the east india company and governmental monopoly and won. Not trying is the victory the Oligarchs have every day.
Gandhi succeeded because he had enormous popular support. Trump has enormous popular support largely for the same reasons. He will betray his supporters, and we must organize for that day.
Stop them How, pray tell?
Independent media. Holding politicians to account even when the law does not by voting them out. Boycotting their monopolies. Organized labor.
….And how would you educate the MAGATs who avoid independent media?
If they dont want to be educated we educate their kids. Time has a way of dealing with racist biggots. Its called natural causes.
They have conflicting interests, and we must support the lesser evil.
Never happen
The reactions about the fires are abhorrent, ugly, indecent; but let them, because their total incivility must be shown. A "cultural moment" is Trump's election, they say. But everything, every word is more fitting than cultural.
Actions speak louder than words
Thanks Keith. I am wondering how many Los Angeles MAGA DT voters have lost everything in the recent fires and are now realizing that their "great MAGA American Savior" isn't about to help them just because they happen to live in a Blue state!
Can't fix stupid. GH
I thought that many of the super wealthy had homes in Pacific Palisades and Malibu.
For them it is a minor problem.... friends in insurance companies, spread ownership and what have you...
Unfortunately but predictably, the media has focused way too much on the rich celebs. In reality, the vast majority of the thousands of families who’ve lost their homes lost everything. They don’t have second homes to go to or a giant slush fund to get by. Please don’t make broad assumptions borne of cynicism.
My reaction was caused by a remark about the Richard: they find solutions for every problem. But I did not want to underestimate the social drama that is caused by the fires
Tom, speak for yourself. I don't live in PP, but my heart goes out to all those who lost everything in the conflagration.
From what I understand, Pacific Palisades was 😢 mostly a middle class community
Indeed, and they are envied and hated by many. Trump and Musk will take advantage of it, but only for as long as it suits them.
The website for the Thomas Mann House in Pacific Palisades reported no fire damage.
So do we stop using facebook, instagram, whatsapp? And stop using Amazon? All of these can be done but they are super difficult and they know it. And not everyone is ever going to do that, really, and they know this too.
Yes, Jeffrey, we stop using all those. We show local. We curate our own media. We say goodbye to those platforms. Stay here with Reich, Heather Cox Richardson, Joyce Vance and other straight-shooters. Investigate Bluesky. Talk to your neighbors, connect in your community.
So I do all those things. I even own a small business where, I actually do whatever I can to get people to buy from it, not from online big national chains and things always made in China. I make everything myself, here. But I do have to get some things and some of them are simply not there unless I use Amazon for a few elements. Otherwise I cannot get them and have to charge super high prices no one will pay. Now, I can still work at this and keep going, but it takes a long time and effort to get there. If we all did this, then yeah. But how are you going to break the ease and convenience from everything and everyone? Especially if some of what they have is actually decent? For example, with many things you get free returns, free shipping. etc. The ability to pay with credit cards, gift cards, the ability to get things fast (I do not need it same day but you know what I mean). What small business or anything can offer any of that? And Whole Foods... it is pricey and we rarely go but they do have good quality. How do you unwind this? As for social media... I do not run my business solely dependent on those platforms (people do and it's not safe--after all you can get blocked out by FB for example for any number of reasons at any time) but I do use them and that's how many folks find me and see my work and I have to use these to get my wares out there. If my gig existed in the times of print ads and related, I would not be in business now. I can migrate a lot of the display and such to the web and hire a costly web person to do this with me, but still, you get exposure. I do not need to like, be in my car and just happen to say the words. "Michaels - Paint Brush" and then have ads for that chain store pop on my computer when I get home, but I do want myself known in the town groups. Social media groups (run and membered by good people) have been great for trading, free and give away, buying and selling. etc. Town groups organize fun events, help people, and more. I met many travel and ski and hobby friends from these. Do we unwind to the days of AOL forums and geeky mods? Then again, yeah, those worked. One can say things like: Do not fly, it's bad for the planet or do not eat or do this. Or do not use SM or Amazon... but what these folks NEVER do is offer a viable replacement for the things we need. Some say: You should not need those things. That's where people get mad though. You cannot tell another person what they should or should not need. Isnt that the exact problem we are fighting? (one example of these pains is any instance where a town charges you for recycling or restricts how to do it. If they REALLY want you to do it, MAKE IT EASIER AND FREE! and use our taxes for that!)
You know what, Jeffrey? You make excellent points here! Is there a way to start a website that would offer those things local people need without all the fees and sometimes overprice? Can we start a platform that speaks the absolute truth? I feel there has to be a way to counter these oligarchs but the problem is, I am not tech savvy and simply do not know how to begin! If we had a platform messaging what these substacks are messaging loudly, clearly and simply, couldn't we at least begin to counter the lies and misinformation out there? Kinda like pirate radio stations. I don't know, but I do like what you said!
there is. but it takes money time resources and dedicated people and funding. and once everything is up and running, you need incredible staying power and people get flustered and go different directions and have issues, and then if you get rich they get corrupt, and if you do not, but your idea is great, someone offers you a lot of money for it and you kinda cant say no (like amazon says hey we will buy it and you're like... um yeah, I am worn out and my mom is sick and I would like to stop working so hard) and so you sell it. And if you have morals and ethics and all that, you are good but you have no money to pay the bills and your spouse leaves you and so what about those morals and ethics? I think it is best to just: Use and abuse all these things and systems in any way we possibly can. Trump ways? Yes. We shall use those very tactics ourselves. Not on our close friends or families, but on THEM and every thing out there that supports them. We should game systems, rack up points and miles and monies and we should find ways to screw em (like repacking the bad vac cleaner in the box and shipping it back for full credit) and we should screw them as much as humanly possible so we have and keep our money to take our families to church and travel and the town fair and sports... and we should use and abuse this cuntry as much as possible right now because thats what they are telling us is the way to be, so let's just be it. And then when they are screwed and a good person gets into power, because theirs are kicked out, we stop doing that and fix it all again. While they have set us back, we must play their game and fk em up big time for our personal gain. That is one way to do it. After all, it worked for them. It comes down to what you will do when you win later. If I had billions of my own money right now I would have given a HUGE chunk of it to fight fires in LA. Taylor Swift just gave out millions for that. And she made a ton of money off all of us with teens! lol
I understand fighting fire with fire (sorry awful comment given LA) but I'm not willing to give up my ethics to do so. I live in a community of about 3000 people and we are A COMMUNITY who helps each other. We are neighbors and we take care of each other. Small businesses thrive because they get that support. Sinking to their level is NOT the answer.
This is another topic not discussed at the Democratic National convention
Maybe reduce what we buy from Amazon.
And The Contrarian!
We are all woven into a web that makes many of our needs contradict ourselves
to further clarify some of my small business issues: I make most of my own parts. I use everything local and US made... but there are some things you simply cannot get anywhere unless they are Chinese or Amazon or Both. There's a certain part in the universe called a ceiling flange hanger plate. These are available all over but take a closer look. Find me one that is the right thing I need but also NOT made in China! And not on a major box store or online site (like Amazon) which means it is probably from China. Find me a supplier in the USA that still makes these and can sell to the little guy (I found one place. The part was close but not quite right, but the issue was I needed to be a registered customer with them willing to buy like 2000 units and wait for approval and then credit because they were old school and didn't take cards or people who were not part of their approved client base). So how do I get these? I have to order it on ... you guessed it! (or pay more for it elsewhere by a lot, or try to make my own, but I do that already with so many other things and have limited staff (myself only) and time and resources. So aside from movies or protein bars, I need stuff.
Jeffrey, it's frustrating to see so many small businesses like yours and others with few viable supply options other than those from China. They control so many things. Their government chose a China First initiative many years ago, stuck with it, and see where they are today. For example, they, along with Vietnam, make 90% of all bicycles in the US. Wow. 90%
I hope the incoming administration promotes a "build it here" mentality and backs this up with a way to remove regulations and fees and other impediments to allow entrepreneur business people like yourself to thrive.
Jeffrey, one picks doable options and slowly move to better , more local stewardship . As you say, some things you need from Amazon periodically. But, in a year, recheck that 'truth' and see if it remains true. Find local growers and buy something from them. We are not in a 'do or die 'yet on this. This freight train has 50 years behind it.
This in the long view seems like a redoing of “The Robber Barron “ of American economic history…
It has all the same earmarks except we don’t have a Johnstown flood tragedy yet…. A rich guy country club causes a a downstream town full of worker and their family’s to die by flooding…
Will a New T Theodore Roosevelt arise from the current political mess ???
Who knows what good lurks in the heart of man …
Hopefully soon …
But in he long run we are all Dead ..,
HBO/MAX has the Trump inauguration streaming on Jan 20. And so there's another to potentially cut. There's an app called GOODS which has a blue microphone for an icon. This tells you who backs what company. Like, Home Depot backs the republicans and particularly, the owner loves Trump, and so on. You will be surprised and dismayed as to who you use every day and what they do with your money. Can you cut it all out? How much is enough?
Well said! In other words: respect yourself! Don't you deserve it?
I don't use any of the stuff you mentioned except Amazon and that will be going away very soon.
You dont, but many like minded folks do. It is easy to dismiss something we do not do anyway. For example, I really do not watch too much sports so yeah it's nice to see some of a game now and then but I do not have the problem soooo many people have: If I cancel cable, no sports, unless I sign up with many expensive streaming networks that makes it almost the same cost! So for me I'm like... who cares. I do not really watch em too much or care anyway. But for them.. it's like taking away their left arm
Me too! I don’t want to support millions going to Malania and billions for a turncoat like Basos
I guess the key then, is to figure out how to become equally as rich as Bezos and compete with him and also happen to not get corrupted by whatever it was that made him support trumpish things
Start shopping at big box stores more. Start using apps that will deliver to the stores if you don’t want to pay for shipping. Realize that you pay just as much for shipping or perhaps you’ll save money by not paying for prime shipping! We lived without these features most of lives, we can figure it out!
I go to Target
I hate Amazon. Someone I know who hated Amazon just signed up for Amazon prime. It’s like invasion of the body snatchers. we’re getting borged.
I use the company catalogs to order clothing or drive to a Home Goods location. Will not support that creep who treats his workers like slaves!🤢🤮
My husband and I just discussed that by the time we pay $15 Prime every month, does it come out evenly than us just paying for shipping? And this will force us to use more mom and pops on-line. And this can also help curve the spending. Much good can come from just quitting cold turkey! We will miss some of the shows on Prime, but Malania just tainted this! Everyone knows a gold-digger, and there is nothing more boring than a gold-digger who married an abusive husband! Now I would watch a show about Malania breaking away from him because she actually found a spark in her that made her human and realize what a selfish monster her husband is, but she is just like him wanting to grab up all the power and attention! Completely and utterly dead inside!
Through your library, you may be able to get movies from hoopla. 10 or more movies per month and it’s free see if your Library offers this anyway there are other subscription services that are less evil than Amazon.
good point about shipping (until you figure out that one item is 15 to ship and that many companies jack up the shipping to make their profits there instead of on the goods) and that $15 pays for more than just one shipping of one item.
I hate to ask, but do you work for Amazon? Listen: It's only money. $15? I'd rather flush the money down the f*** toilet than give it to someone who's going to rape my mind with pro-Melania Trump propaganda. What next, Bezos? What a degenerate!!!
My soul is not for sale. My COUNTRY is not for sale. If we don't take action NOW, we'll have to settle for NOTHING later. Hell, you even don't know what this guy has in mind for our future. Hint - Nothing good. If he's licking up Melania in 2025, what will he be doing in 2026? He obviously despises the Left. He's spitting on us.Ewww...
Melania is a poor excuse for a First Lady!
At the very least don't join prime. They hardly even have any free movies or shows included. If you wait until you have $35 worth that you must buy from Bozos then it's free to ship.
Thanks for the likes but let's see if anyone else has something to add, otherwise, it is very facebookie of us to just like a post. And that's the whole addiction
Then, pick a month to boycott Facebook. Pick another to boycott Amazon, and so forth. I personally have not watched a single network newscast in years. Why? because the mobsters running them are all liars and only allow gossip, sensationalism, slander, and lies to be broadcast. It can be done, and it MUST be done. These wise guys only feel the pain when their pocketbooks take a big hit. Think outside the box, my dude! Find alternatives.
I don’t watch TV/Cable news anymore. I never did anything serious on Facebook and am winding down on Twitter (no big deal, I don’t pay and I am algorithmically compromised already). Also cutting back on Amazon—they’ll miss my book purchases, but sometimes there’s no other choice. (My favorite candy, Justin’s vegan peanut butter cups, for example, just disappeared from local outlets.) Pinterest may be an option! But I’ll miss the experts on Twitter and news of Ukrainian resistance to Putin when I finally let go.
I dropped the Guardian for its treatment of President Biden (except Mr. Reich of course). I scan headlines and read articles in the Philly Inquirer, and we are subscribing to the Atlantic again to see if we get valuable news. Other than that, it’s down to daily newsletters like this one.
Maybe you’ll just have to give up Justin’s vegan peanut butter cups to storm the beaches! Everybody chooses their level of complicity
I have never seen anything negative in Guardian about Biden. Do you care to elaborate?
You mean Genocide Joe?
Plenty of news on Ukrainian resistance on youtube, unfortunately another conduit of misinformation.
You should’ve stopped using Amazon when they were supporting the genocidal fascist state of Israel
which is ironic that Israel even is that, given why it was even put there back when it was
More like why it was forced there. That’s what they started as anyway. They haven’t changed
But why not? Think about!
Here is just an example... A facebook ski group inspires me to ski in Japan. I may have heard of this or imagined it, but now I see real people (some of whom I then met and sked with and like as people and their families) and they have been there and tell me all about it. Their Instagram photos show me everything. This leads me to other Instagram photos and people from all over the world who want to ski there or who have been there. Some people have Whats App groups and I become members of these. Some of us have small groups and chat about specifics. One guy is a firefighter and we have used this connection to help people in his community. Guess where that happens to be, so it's a good thing we connected in these three SM mediums or we never would have met him or donated to anything we can trust. Anyway, how does one afford to ski in Japan? Well, going back to earlier days of online, I joined flying and travel forums and now we have Whatsapp and other groups. We talk endlessly about our hobbies and methods. Here's one: Do not apply for the Chase Amazon card to get your points there... No. Apply for the Chase Ultimate Rewards cards and some of those give you 5x on office supply. IF you run a business or just buy at places like Staples all the time anyway you will earn a lot quickly. So, go to Staples and get $500 Amazon gift cards. For some people with big families or businesses, they can burn through a couple of these a month! 5x times $500 is 2500 points. The sign up bonus for some of those Chase cards may be 90k points. After a while you have enough points to book some plane tickets. And if you do this over time and get other gigs going, you can book those Japan plane tickets! Same for Hotels. Cards and other online gigs that get you to get miles and points quickly allow for travel and travel is freedom, exposure to cultures, the way to meet people of different styles and races and mindsets... etc. Suddenly, because of online, and because of box stores or Amazon, I am going to be able to go to and afford a ski trip on the other side of the planet! And help fight fires, and meet wonderful people, and more! It even led to fitness and health, because skiers want to be in shape so we have small groups on these platforms that talk about best ways to get in shape and stay healthy. And guess where you can get the best deals on protein bars? If I stop using Amazon, can I still get the EPIC bars and be able to order them as needed like... right now at 5am? So the issue is not SM or amazon... it's how people run things, how people in charge have too much power and what should regulate that, and how people choose to use and manage their lives with these things. They exist, just like Alcohol. And the major airlines. You can't get away from them, but you can manage them and also hopefully something like a good government can regulate those things. The Trump era brings back the monopolies of the Railroad tycoons. Time will tell us that we need to invent a new way.
If you're giving him money he will use it against you.
If you're giving him money he will use it against you.
Yes sadly he became that. Seems like whatever we all signed up for changed mid stream. Like the moving goal posts of a marketing promo gone wrong. So how to unwind? Really? I see a lot of people saying they will stop using amazon. Do they have: commerce needs, limited time, a small business, a family, travel and gift and hobby needs, the desire to watch anything on tv for entertainment, etc? Really? Honestly? And are people bad who do like these things in life? I already made a lot of other cuts and changes. I already donate to things and disregard things in the wake of trumpism. Do I have to do it all and so drastically? What is my real alternative? How about we just pool our resources and find a guy to pull a United health care on this guy instead? I mean… come on.
Instagram is how I display and share most of the work in my small business. It is a record of what I do, and a regular thing people who follow me get, just like this platform is to those of us who enjoy it. It also is how I can show examples to new customers. And talking to others who use it, like ski friends or tech friends, or people who run communities or charities or whatever... is how and why I can use this platform for my business. I do not pay for it. There are some issues... some potential customers do not use Instagram and while you can sometimes show an individual post to a non user, we all know what a pain it is when something forces use and you cannot migrate off it with out extra effort that turns many people away. So I am trying to make all of these things on my website but that costs a lot of time and money, and knowhow I just do not have. I run my business and make my widgets. I do not do website design. I can only dabble and mess it up. Where did I find my web person? ON FACEBOOK! On a group with good folks in online! I can get her to help me and pay her. I use my Instagram posts to entice people who buy from me to pay me, and then I have money to, well, buy more crap on Amazon lolo (no, seriously, to live and run life and business and family stuff).
At some point, we must make an assessment of the simple, ugly facts. We may just adore that intelligent, charming babysitter, but if he/she is beating our children while we're at work - we must not only fire her/him - we must undertake punitive action. All these wonderful services are just extraordinary - but they are pretty ruthless and they are exacting their pound of flesh. They are masters of a technology that they are wielding against us. We have to be sufficiently competent and mature to come out from under their boot. We must wake up.
This is why the suitability of a target or targets needs to be thought through
Really dude. You have to order candy bars at 5 am? If you need a sugar fix that bad head out to your nearest 24 hour QT and buy a Baby Ruth. Look on the wrapper of your EPIC bar, call the manufacturer, find the local distributor call them, order a case and request it be shipped USPS or UPS. If they insist on using Amazon... change your taste in candy bars and tell them why. GH
Beware of Chase. If you have a dispute, they will Not back you up. Amex will.
I already did
Dude. Just do it. Stop using the social media BS. I never signed up for any of it in the first place and my life has been just fine. I use the phone and the USPS. There is nothing I need so badly in one day that I have to make Jeff Bozo richer to get it. Same for Facebook/Meda, Instagram, Tic Tok, X, etc. Take a picture of your family, get a print at Walgreens and MAIL it to your family and friends. They will be happy to get something in the mail other than a bill... go analog on these assholes!!! All the best... GH
Not everyone has to. The real challenge is getting some agreement on particular targets. There is a natural inclination to go to broad in scope diluting the impact .if you can really hurt the business of one or two, then other companies see that and get the message.
This requires some careful thought. It would seem that Twitter could be a good target although I don’t know that there would be much financial impact at least not on the short term. Frankly, I doubt some of our leadership organizations can get it together in an organized way turf battles Are unending and agendas too often the purists are unwilling to compromise on.
Why are we allowing this to happen?
There have been many opportunities to stop him: 2 impeachment trials, arresting Trump immediately after insurrection or Biden's inauguration or the installation of AG, multiple occasions when an act by Trump posed a national security risk, like contacting, plotting with & passing on top secret US intelligence to foreign adversaries, engaging in stochastic terrorism, promptly assigning a special counsel to investigate Trump, enforcing the 14th Amendment disqualifying Trump from government office, refusing to entertain any calls for trial delays, calling for an investigation & recount of the corrupted & manipulated 2024 election, refusing to certify the votes of a constitutionally ineligible traitor, Biden using his SCOTUS-enhanced powers to prevent Trump from assuming power. All opportunities missed, with that last one seemingly the only one left. It's been a huge betrayal of the American people by all branches of the federal government, both major parties & corporate mainstream & right-wing media.
https://substack.com/profile/89040941-adamcoleman/note/c-86264020
The Pyramid’s Shadow: A Rhyme to Justice
In the shadowed halls where whispers creep,
The architects of power sow what they reap.
Oil and finance, their banners unfurled,
Hold the puppet strings of a trembling world.
BlackRock, Vanguard, names in the game,
Building their empire with capital and shame.
They buy the truth, they own the tale,
They spin the storm, they set the sail.
A learned despair they craft with skill,
Economic chains to bend the will.
“Choose growth or green,” their false refrain,
As they profit from both the drought and rain.
Politicians dance, marionettes on strings,
Bought with promises of golden rings.
The media echoes their chosen lies,
While the planet burns and the oceans rise.
But history hums a warning tune,
From Paris streets to Versailles’ doom.
When masses awaken, disenfranchised, ignored,
They wield justice sharper than any sword.
The guillotine waits in symbolic disguise,
As anger and action begin to rise.
The rulers forget what the ruled can do,
When the veil is torn, and the lies shine through.
A reckoning looms, the hour draws near,
The elite’s worst nightmare: the people’s clear.
Transparency beckons, reform must come,
Or chaos will sound its deafening drum.
The Pyramid teeters, its base alight,
The people remember their ancient might.
For power hoarded will always decay,
And the truth, though buried, finds its way.
Enjoy the show, as history writes,
The tale of justice reclaiming its rights.
The architects thought their rule was supreme,
But the people awaken—the end of the scheme.
WOW! That was so powerful, John! It gave me goosebumps as I read it! I am saving it so that when the orange man and his bunch face their last curtain call, I can read it and finally smile! Thank you for sharing this!
Hi, Your Welcome
This is from Adam Coleman Newsletter, and I liked so much, I just had to repost, it resonates with me
Can I share this on another board?
I guess you can and to be upfront, it is not mine to own, in fact, I did mention where I acquired from, the Adam Colemen Newsletter, but liked so much, I had to repost, that said, I always try and give credit where credit is due, so I cannot take the credit. so, if do repost, make sure you mention his name or newsletter
Yes I will mention his name. Thx
👍
I see Adam Coleman wrote it himself. Terrific!
Indeed, very outstanding and gifted, to be able to write that, I will guess too, it may have come in a spiritual moment of thought, sure seems so
Very good. Thanks.
The pyramids turned out to be a fairly good investment over the long term. Digging oil wells only lead to devastation.
Trump, he says to tear down windmills, they should not be getting subsidies, but sure does not mind taxpayers subsidize the oil cartel and the American people have been doing so for decades, in the hundreds of millions of dollars, each and every year, 👉 we are subsidizing humanity's own destruction and that of the natural world
Ask Trump, he will tell you though, he would like a pyramid oil platform in the place of windmills and hence, more kick-backs in big oil donations his pockets
A new word: stochastic. I love learning new words. And I agree, Dems and Repubs were complicit in allowing this to get so far. Maybe concerned that it could lead to civil war. But has whitewashing it just postponed that? So many opinions about how this will play out, but little real unified leadership other than to continue to hope Rule of Law and the Constitution will win in the long run. I’m not confident that it will.
Sandy, if they hoped to avert a civil war, they should have impeached the orange stain the first time! They should have been better at leadership and listening to the people. As it stands now, they haven't averted a civil war, they have provided the reasons for one!
I think it will lead to civil war if not, it’ll be the mass deportation of Democrats.
Deporting anyone out-of-line!
Agree!
Agreed. Trump is now locking in the appeasers. Hoping that things will work out did not work out too well for chamberlain and the Brits.
Why did they miss these opportunities? Perhaps their idea of decency came in the way? When the other side plays by different rules it is unwise to play by the rules that previously existed. Those were written for those who followed them. Even Nixon did and his Republican Party did. They respected laws of the country.
It reminds me of the Mahabharata, an Indian epic. Bad guys ‘Kaurav’s always mistreated their cousins ‘pandava’s to gain sole power. After going through misery and unfairness, Pandavas refused to give in to further unfairness. There was a war between the two groups. Lord Krishna helped the good side win the war, and how? By breaking the ‘be nice’ approach. They broke rules to win what was rightfully theirs because it was the only way.
It is time the democrats learned how to establish democracy. The first opportunity will be in 2026. They better not miss it.
We need to use their tactics against them. Form our own Q and use disinformation to counter their Bullshit. Form our own large scale protest with VISIBLE protection. Elect Younger pople with fresh ideas and who can inspire. Ect, ect, ect
This nice shit that Dems do every election has to end. ITS TIME TO GET NASTY and take our country back from the fascist.
Of course the main reason is both parties are owned by corporations, lobbyists, oligarchs and AIPAC.
100% agree!
Lord Krishna now owns X.
Not sure what you mean. You can’t equate Lord Krishna and Elon Musk.
But what about the heirs of Newt Gingrich? Your solution is exactly what the Republicans do: that will not bring democracy...
The courts are the most guilty there.
All three branches are guilty of collusion or capitulation: much the latter, particularly, Congress that didn't take Trump seriously enough.
Now there's hell to reverse this ongoing horror show; cabinet hearings with lawmakers ignoring our Constitution. The rule of law has broken down for this time in history.
Only the collective actions of the people can restore and right the wrongs. We must monitor and oppose until there's justice for all-- better than ever before in America and around our planet, where arrogant power has taken a vicious hold.
The people desperately need a Joan of Arc!
No not the courts. You can’t blame the things that happened within the last 4 to 8 years. This is capitalism taken to its final conclusion.
I agree. This is where Capitalism leads. People were too busy criticizing Communism and even socialism which has been very successful in parts of Europe. The US public was fooled for many generations to believe they were superior to the rest. They lost the ability for critical thinking. Unfortunately our constitution was not tough enough against the negative forces.
Socialism hasn’t been in Europe for a long time. Scandinavian countries are still capitalist. But yes, socialism was a red herring.
Absolutely true! We have been taken over by the powerful due to those who were too busy being concern about their own lives over the peoples. This must reverse or we, including the oligarchy, will face collective demise. It's beyond words.
Jaime, Thank you for your comment. Unfortunately, I think the time for stopping Trump has come and gone. At this point we have to hope that the American people put up a resistance. I am afraid that this regime will be doing so much damage that it will take generations to repair. To try to stop Trump at this point in time would only fuel the flames of MAGA. Better to let them fail. Once people truly see what he is doing and plans to do, and how it will impact them personally, like cutting back or striking down Obamacare, or attacking seniors’ Medicare or Social Security benefits, maybe then, and only then, there will be a huge backlash.
Yes, we must be patient, but we must also be prepared to act if voting rights and freedom of the press are suppressed.
I totally agree. Unfortunately innocent people will have to suffer for years because of the evil MAGAs and the fools who voted for DT.
This is a great list let’s add Mitch McConnell should have been thrown out for his enabling of Trump, FTC should have but Robert Murdock should have been thrown out of the country for abuse of Media and spreading lies. Steve Bannon should still be in jail.And Trump should be on death row. Now we need to boycott Amazon( difficult I know) just go to the store help local businesses, Boycott X Tesla, and Meta it is hard but worth it.
I was addressing Trump only. There are many others who should be punished, too. I like expelling Murdoch & I'd add Musk to the mix & maybe fellow South Africans Thiel & Sachs. Flynn, Stone, Manafort & other Trump accomplices should join Bannon in prison, & at minimum, numerous Republican members of Congress should've had Section 3 of the 14th Amendment enacted against them, too, & been expelled for breaking their oath of office by participating in Trump's unlawful attempts to stay in power.
I'm with you on boycotting those businesses, too, although I hardly use them, anyway.
I won’t buy Tesla and I am not on X but I don’t see a way to escape Meta.
Squandered. Merrick Garland. And acting as though it can't happen.
In a very limited sense, sure. But the fall to oligarchy has been brewing for decades. Both parties are to be blamed for that and their embrace of neoliberalism while also crushing any attempt to address the ills of it.
Sorry but I don’t believe that both parties wanted this. Our msm has been blaming “both parties “ and see where it brought us.
Then maybe the Democratic Party shouldve actually listened to Bernie when they had a chance. Their embrace of neoliberalism is why we are here. Both parties embraced it and went ride or die on it. Unfortunately they chose the latter option. Paying lip service to the idea of democracy while actively taking big money interests against the will of their constituents is an oligarchy in the making.
True! But the betrayal started with the Republicans refusal to impeach Trump. They commuted treason in full possession of their mental faculties.
Jamie is right.There were many opportunities to stop Trump, but people in a position to do something about it let the opportunities slide by. Harry Litman wrote a piece about how AG Garland- the main person who was in a position to do something about it- did what he could. I think he essentially said Garland couldn’t have done anything differently and spelled out why.
It’s an impressive piece written by someone who knows exactly how the DOJ operates, but I confess
I simply don’t believe it couldn’t have been done.
What was required was an AG who was willing to make prosecuting Trump the main point of his time
as AG. It required bending and breaking the rules
the same way bending and breaking the rules got
us Trump-a corrupt president, and a corrupt Supreme Court majority. And what’s so infuriating about it is, the people who were behind it probably knew they would succeed because Dems are sticklers for following the rules, even if following the rules gets us a never ending hellscape.This situation screamed out for doing whatever it took to prevent what we’re doing right now- staring into the abyss of a government run by treasonous idiots who intend to dismantle everything that made America great, and call it making America great again.
On one hand, we have a great economy that has been corroborated by many people who are in a position to know it’s a great economy. On the other hand we have a fire hose of disinformation that consistently
maintained (and still does) our economy is in the dumpster. All the voters heard were the lies, because the sheer volume of lies was overwhelming.
The mainstream media was MIA throughout President Biden’s term in office. They rarely published articles
about Biden’s many successes. They abandoned their traditional role of educating the public and they
stopped calling out Trump’s constant lies. What
mainstream media doesn’t get is, they’ve sealed their own fate as being entirely unnecessary to the future of this country. If I want to be entertained, there is a wealth of better options than what used to be a
serious media business that opted to be unserious by flushing truth down the toilet. Ignoring reality isn’t
a viable business plan.
Now we are at the mercy of what will be a tug of war
over who gets to plunder and ravish our country. Will it be Trump who prevails or Putin?
Will it be Trump or Putin who prevails? Or will they walk hand in hand & share in the spoils? I think Putin has gotten Trump to believe the latter. "Hey, you go for North America & South America. I get Europe & Asia & Africa." (Putin may be sharing the latter 2 continents with Xi.)
This sounds interesting. Can you please post the link to Litman’s article? I would love to read it.
They gamed the system. Simple as that and it was a long-game plan.
Putin plays a very long game. Ivanka? Just sayin'.
You really need to stop blaming Putin for what Americans have done themselves
But Putin made it possible. We know beyond a shadow of doubt that Putin facilitated Trump’s
1st election. We also know Russian oligarchs
gave illegal foreign money contributions to
republican candidates.
The American oligarchy has been in the works since the beginning of neoliberalism. Funny enough both parties are to blame. Democrats didn’t want to play with Carter and handed over the elections to Reagan, ensuring he’d win in a massive landslide. You need to stop looking at Trump as a phenomena that started in July of 2015
You’re right, the American oligarchy has been “in the works” since the Reagan era. But I wasn’t referring to that. I was referring to Putin’s installation of Trump in the presidency in 2017, period.
Republicans created a multi-prong approach to taking over our government for the purpose of ending our democracy 40 years ago. It’s a stretch to blame democrats for helping to elect Reagan though. Dems can be more appropriately blamed for not snapping to the fiasco of Citizens United, the Russian money being donated & illegally accepted by republican candidates for well over 2 decades, the gradual proliferation of extreme right wing rhetoric in articles on the internet, and on social media (that should’ve been regulated) and the nurturing of cultural indoctrination by Fox news. Something could have been done about Fox news, (they ARE subject to FCC regulations) but for 3 decades they’ve been allowed to create an alternative reality that indoctrinated millions and is the genesis for the cultural wars we’re now engaged in that are based on at least 3 decades of Fox news disinformation. Creating a corrupt republican majority on the Supreme Court and getting Trump installed as president was the icing on their fascist cake.
Putin didn’t do that. The broken system did. All of the things you refer to had times both parties contributed to it. What we’re in now is the natural conclusion of capitalism. Now the question is what do we do after the page has turned.
“The Senate Intelligence Committee on Tuesday reaffirmed its support for the U.S. intelligence community’s conclusion that the Russian government interfered in the 2016 presidential election with the goal of putting Donald Trump in the Oval Office.”
(Politico. com, 4/21/20, Martin Matishak)
I agree that Dems should’ve snapped to Citizens United and the Russian money being illegally
accepted by republican candidates.
That hardly means it is their fault. US engages in information campaigns all over the place. Russians doing the same by stoking valid insecurities already felt by the working class doesn’t mean they’re responsible for Trump. Trump is US made. Democrats and Republicans allowed this to happen. Hell Democrats are still allowing it to happen by doing nothing
No he didn’t. Reagan did. This process started well before Putin was anyone.
Very accurate and succinct.
Here’s the link— if it doesn’t work type Harry’s name in the search bar at the top of the home page.
https://substack.com/@harrylitman/note/p-154916240?r=dusd&utm_medium=ios&utm_source=notes-share-action
Because the justice dept didn't do its job. Also tax evasion should be a felony, and many of the oligarchs would be in jail. Over hear in the UK you are only allowed an appeal if there is new evidence. When you get rid of Trump, get rid of all the crooked judges like Cannon and some of the creeps on Scotus.
But HOW do you get rid of him now that he's installed himself with his own army? Look out. Protesters will quickly be reminded of Kent State, I'm afraid. It CAN happen.
I have no doubt. But and maybe this is wishful thinking but I don’t think he’s got 4 years left. Too many McDonald’s water ever the biggest burger is called with extra large fries. OMG it just occurred to me why that particular burger place
McDONALDs. That can’t be a coincidence.
He should have gone to Burger KING!
McDonalds was founded by Ray Kroc, so why is it called McDonalds? Kroc bought the rights to the name and the service from the McDonald brothers.
We have to not let fear limit our response.
... the way our government has.
Don't be surprised if DT hasn't ordered new SS uniforms from China to outfit his soon to be released Jan. 6th prisoners. Nothing will stop him from firing all of his Secret Service protection and replacing them with "loyal" MAGS ex-cons. They will be paid by his billionaire friends and therefor will never have to answer to Congress or any American law.
Hitler's SS began as a personal body guard service for him and evolved into a national police/military force that ruled by brute force only answerable to him. All other police and military forces in Germany fell under their control. They had final say on everything. Summary executions on the spot for any perceived opposition to Hitler were common. Rule by fear.
Load up friends... GH
We as a country failed to get rid of him and now many generations will pay for it.
Have weheard from Garland yet? No! We assume so much and are so quick to lay blame.
I agree. These miscreants lie and don't play by the rules. The good people in power must recognize this and act accordingly. “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing” (often attributed to Edmund Burke, 1770)
Are you a millionaire or perhaps billionaire? If so, you are among the only ones going to benefit from the criminal mobsters who will be running the government.
Even most millionaires will suffer in the end (if not early on) from Trump's policies & conduct.
No, just one of the many fools who got scammed, but either doesn't realize it yet or won't admit it. He/she is beneath contempt and far beneath pity.
Robert, DT is delusional & manipulative. He conned millions into believing his delusions. Almost all of his political beliefs are based on delusions and lies.
Elon is a loose liar cannon who has no official job in our government, knows zero about the budget & doesn’t care. He also has a serious conflict of interest as the head of a non-existent DODGE
😵💫
How do we stop it? I wrote to my reps about enforcing amendment 14 section 3. The answer I got was we tried but the Republicans called for a filibuster.
At least in the old days someone had to stand for hours talking, the could read the phone book but they had to at least put in a little effort. Now it’s like kids saying I call shotgun so they can sit up front. It’s disgusting.
So now I’m on Bluesky making a fool of myself asking if anyone knows an attorney who specializes in constitutional law who could help me make a claim to halt the inauguration until there’s a trial about Trump‘s part of the insurrection and why he has no right to be president. as per amendment 14 section 3. So far I got Nada and I think that’s all I’ll get. I’m sickened by this and I don’t know what else to do.
80% of people, according to psychology, will turn their heads and carry on with their lives, like they did in Germany.
Hideous.
Yes I think so too. I was extremely disappointed in Senator Padilla’s response. But at least he responded. Adam Schiff and my Congresswoman did not bother.
Weak souls doing performative work.
If they had been paying attention to what was going on we would not have Trump in the WH, ever.
Susan, do not be discouraged! At least you are DOING something! Actions speak so much louder than words! Keep it up! I support you and I would sign on to that claim!
Susan, that is exactly what I ask and suggest for almost two years now...
You’re reaching for the whole tamale. Recommend you join an organization in your state that defends voting rights, especially if you are in a red state. Or an organization that defends other aspects of democracy and to help people in your state whether it’s food, education, medical care, etc.
Sound advice, Steve. Power comes with organization, and we must organize while we still can.
I live in California there’s not an issue of voter suppression. I’ve donated and signed hundreds of petitions. I’ve written to my representatives dozens of times.
Our representatives with a few exceptions lack the courage to fight back. And I’m coming from a liberal state mind haven’t done squat.
I’m disgusted with both parties and their cowardice and lack of commitment to heart and sole of our democracy.
Whole tamale? We haven’t even gotten a couple of beans.
Trump was not convicted, hence there is nothing you can do about the inauguration. Think ahead.
The Colorado Supreme Court did conclude that Trump was in violation of Sec. 3, 14th amendment.The US Supreme Court ruled that only Congress, acting through legislation, has the power to determine who is disqualified to be president and under what procedures. Trump v. Anderson was overturned (the Colorado Supreme Court ruling disqualifying Donald Trump from the presidency under Section 3 of the 14th Amendment.) It did so on the grounds that Section 3 is not “self-executing.” In a per curiam opinion jointly authored by five justices, including Chief Justice John Roberts.
Any kind of convection was blocked or stalled by crooked judges. The SCOTUS SIX and Little Miss Loose Cannon.
Congress certainly provided enough evidence to at the very minimum to warrant a trial. SCOTUS blocked Colorado and Maine from eliminating Trump on the ballot, while other states were waiting for their ruling, so that was a wash.
Then SCOTUS ruled that a president can do WTF he wants to do while performing “presidential duties” We’ve seen what he’ll do before SCOTUS anointed him king so what’s going to hold him back? Nothing and no one apparently.
Jack Smith’s indictment was rewritten in response to the SCOTUS ruling and it’s been disclosed to Congress. Will they do anything about it? Of course not, it’s a career killer.
The 20th amendment has literally Trumped the 14th amendment.
What do you bet they’ll change the born in the USA requirement for the presidency once Trump tires of playing king?
That is the right question. We did see this coming...
Some of us did. Half the country did not.
Hope that someone else will do our job for us.
Hope all you want, but there's no free lunch for laggards/late comers.
That’s what I say Tina. It doesn’t have to happen this way, we are allowing it, just like we allowed this 2nd
gilded age to happen. After January 20th it’s a done deal.
‘We’ aren’t!
Let’s use Elizabeth Warren’s wealth tax, make all carried interest from investments taxable at the personal tax rate, bring the estate tax up to 25% with the threshold being 10 million or more.
But first I’d like Jeff Bezos’ ex-wife to buy iHeart media and Sinclair Media and turn them into titans for progressive causes all over America’s airwaves. Let’s handcuff the old school propaganda machines in rural communities so that the blue wave in 2026 will make Mavericks blush.
Then when impeachment number three is a two-fer, with Vance on the hook as well, we’ll have Hakeem Jeffries in the Oval and justice will be served directly to all of Trump‘s co-conspirators, and billionaires will be in handcuffs all over the place.
That’s the future I want. PS: they call me Todd Quixote…
Jeff Bezos ex wife got a big settlement from Bezos when she divorced him, about $500 million. She set about donating it to good causes. Don't know much about her but I like what I hear.
Mackenzie Scott has a net worth of 35 billion.
She still controls 4% of Amazon.
She has donated billions of her money to charitable causes.
If you do continue to shop at Amazon, at least 4% will be going to consistent worthwhile causes.
She donated 17 million to totally rennovate the community college my nephew attends. Now it is one of the top community colleges facility wise in the country.
I thought she got a few billion at least.
Bezos' ex should also buy tik toc
I don't equate Jeffries as being a brave soldier for democracy. Most in the House and Senate need to resign or lose the upcoming elections.
WHO do you think will do that? not the trump oligarchy.
Start with getting rid of Oligarch Chris White!!
Chris White: Trump’s Energy Secretary Pick
Chris White’s appointment as energy secretary represents a calculated shift toward environmental degradation. Behind his polished image lies a network of corporatism and corruption, eroding ecological safeguards to benefit powerful fossil fuel interests.
White’s career is deeply tied to the fossil fuel industry, notably through his tenure at BlackHydra Energy, a multinational linked to global environmental destruction. His policies promote deregulation disguised as economic growth, enabling unchecked resource extraction and dismantling of green initiatives like methane emission standards. Token gestures like subsidizing “clean coal” distract from his broader agenda.
Though White postures as a technocrat, his disdain for climate science is clear. He champions speculative geoengineering projects that gamble with Earth’s climate systems while ignoring urgent carbon reduction efforts. His dismissal of scientific consensus fosters public doubt and stalls meaningful climate action.
White’s true power lies in bureaucratic sabotage. By embedding loyalists into regulatory agencies, he obstructs environmental reviews, benefiting corporate polluters. His attacks on renewable energy, framed as “energy independence,” polarize public discourse and delay the transition to sustainability.
Ultimately, White’s tenure accelerates environmental degradation for short-term profit, threatening the planet’s future. Recognizing and resisting this trajectory is critical to preserving a livable world.
GQ
Yes, economic growth is a ruse, along with energy dependence.
Pretty much how all Dump's nominees work. Can the nominations currently be stopped?
Professor Reich: now that you have provided us with a bit of a roadmap for going forward, i wonder how we can implement it? the congress is majority rethuglican as is scotus, so at this point, i've no clear idea how to proceed. legally. non-violently. bindingly.
sitting back in an easy chair and laughing at MAGA as the orange jesus sticks it to them is not the way forward because we will also suffer -- perhaps more than they do.
I will suggest once again that our collective response has power. Money is their language. So a national strike/ boycott will get their attention. They will see that DT isn’t the only one to play that game. Go to work and school but BUY NOTHING and STAY OFF ALL MEDIA owned or influenced by the ultra rich. I suggest January 21st would be perfect. No protests in the street so the tyrant can hurt people. Just stay home and close your wallets. Who’s in?
I'm in! Suggest this to Leah Greenberg at Indivisible. She's the co-founder.
That’s too soon. But I’m in with the concept.
I'm in! A national boycott for even ONE DAY will have their accountants have a meltdown.
But this never happened the first time, as it should have. We really need a national organization that can rally the opposition. It should be easy with SM if we haven't quit or been censored.
I’m not confident there’s a national organization that will actually do something. I get constant notifications that they are “resisting” but no solution, just requests for money. I think we need to decide on a day and make it go viral so people know there is something we can do and it doesn’t require money. Power is in the hands of the people if we get on board and work together.
It's a big problem. We need a leader.
Money has always represented the roots of power in this country. Is it possible to control what we have created; we're a capitalistic society. There is a desperate need for some sort of control to be imposed on the super wealthy to maintain the voice of the people.
Yes Donald, two things are necessary:
first, political debate about reform or revolution:
second, find the scale and forms for this debate.
We have little experience in political debate and thinking. Politics is not mass meetings, donations and knocking on doors to find voters. It is hard thinking and talking about the society that you want.
Taxes! There used to be a functional tax rate for the wealthy of around 90%. Now it is about 10%.
deadmanwalkingwmd ; If they pay anything at all.
Probably they don't...
“Twas the Night Before Coronation
By Sam Combs with apologies to Clement Clarke Moore
‘Twas the night before coronation, when from sea
to shining sea,
Not a varmint was stirring, well maybe just weird JD;
The cruel Executive Orders were coming to the Resolute chair,
In hopes that voters wouldn’t really care;
The Magas were nestled all snug in their beds,
While visions of brown deportations danced in their heads;
And Melancholia in her fur pj’s, and I in my red cap,
Had just settled down for a long winter’s nap,
When out by the pool there arose such a clatter,
I sprang from my golden throne to see what was the matter.
Away to the window I flew like Jabba the Hutt,
Tore open the shutters and fell on my big butt.
The moon on the breasts of the Libs down below
Gave me the feeling this second term I might go pretty low,
When what to my wandering eyes should appear,
But a miniature sleigh, and eight tiny Superiors,
With a little chubby driver, so biased a law robber,
I knew in a moment it must be St. Roberts.
More rapid than wraiths his justices they came,
And he whistled, and chortled, and called them by name;
“Now Thomas! now Alito! now Barrett and Jackson!
On, Kavanaugh! on Gorsuch! on Sotomayor and Kagan!
To the top of the porch! To the top of all heights!
Now dash away! Dash away! Dash away all rights!”
As weak wills that during my brown shirt rallies cry,
When the meet with an obstacle, say your turn to die,
So down to Mar-a-Lago the justices they flew,
With a sleigh full of Handmaids plans, and St. Roberts too.
And then, in a twinkling, I heard on the roof
The alleged lost ballots and the 2020 Election Fraud proof.
As I drew in my big orange head, and was turning around,
Down the chimney St. Roberts came with a bound.
He was dressed all in black, from his head to his feet,
And his robes were all tarnished with lying and deceit;
A bundle of cruel laws he had flung on his back,
And he looked like an addict about to taste smack.
His eyes—how they watered! his dimples how scary!
His cheeks were like ashes, his nose pretty darn hairy!
His harsh little mouth was drawn up like a crow!
And the drooling on his chin was as white as the snow;
The stump of his gavel he held tight in his teeth,
And the cruel laws encircled his head like a wreath;
He had a mean face and was really quite smelly,
The smell emerged, when he laughed like old moldy jelly.
He was stooped and without empathy, a right scary elf,
And I applauded when I saw him, in spite of myself;
A wink of his eye and a twist of his head,
Soon gave me to know that what we planned was much dread;
He spoke not a word, but went straight to his work,
And filled all the stockings with mean laws, such a jerk,
And laying his finger inside of his nose,
And pulling out some hairs, up the chimney he rose;
He sprang to his sleigh, to his justices gave a whistle
And away they all flew with their crowns made of gristle.
But I heard him explain, ere they flew out of sight,
Happy Coronation To All, we’re back in ‘25 to cause more blight!
I wrote using the same poem about Obama before he was sworn in. About how his Recovery Act would be larger than expected. That turned out to be false, though at 813 billion it was still sizable. It needed to be to help get us out of the great Recession.
Tom--The current administration is departing Washington with a favorable rating of just about 36%. I know that is like the bailiff telling a witness to stand down. However, for a moment let's look at what really happened during Joe Biden's time as our President. Even before Joe was sworn in as this country's 46th commander and chief, Trump orchestrated the attack on the capital in an effort to undermine this country's election process. The country was in chaos because the orange guy didn't like the outcome of the 2020 election. For the first time in our history the peaceful transfer of power was being challenged. Crazy as it may seem that debacle was overshadowed by the introduction of the Covid Virus. Biden was facing a pandemic we haven't had to deal with in over 100 years. This country lost some 1.2 million souls because of Trump's ignorance. The pandemic threw our economy in a tailspin and we are still having to deal with the problems associated with Trump's inability to handle the realities of that situation. Then Russia invaded Ukraine and the conflict in the Middle East boiled over until the sands ran red with innocent blood. Here at home the FED raised interest rates causing the price of home ownership to soar. People bitched because of the price of eggs, they blamed Biden instead of the H5N1 bird flu. Car ownership was becoming next to impossible because the companies in charge of production were building vehicles meant for space travel not for the needs of the average family. Joe's woes didn't end there. With the election coming up the Republicans conducted a smear campaign to discredit anything the Biden administration tried to do. Trump's lies and misinformation left the Biden Presidency languishing in the swamp Trump had no intention of ever draining. Biden's time in office wasn't a failure, just the opposite. If Trump had won reelection in 2020 I would hate to think of where we would be today. We owe a special thanks to a man who faced adversity and never received any level of gratitude for his administration's efforts and his own personal sacrifice. The difference between Joe and Trump, Biden is a good man. History will smile upon Joe and his time spent as our 46th President. I give thanks to a man we were so lucky enough to have at this time in our history.
Tump will attempt to re-write history and steal many of Joe Biden’s successes. I have a feeling the next administration will be plagued by a more dangerous pandemic where COVID was only a dress rehearsal! The universe has a way of correcting these wrongs usually at the expense of innocent people. Whether it is H5N1 mutating to a more dangerous level or something else looming on the horizon, or Climate Change growing at a more rapid pace, or a combination of both, I just get the feeling that our universe has a way of slowing the evil down at a dear price humanity will have to pay. Let us hope I am wrong, and we can find ways to return the power and balance to the strategists in our society who want to help and not harm.
Joe is not a good man. He's a heartless killer for AIPAC and sweet little Bibi.
Yeah... and Hamas are the good guys. GH
How we beat you the four clowns (the felon, muskrat, bozo Bezos, and Suck Zuck) is to boycott them financially! Quit reading the Washington Post, quit X, buy your stuff from target or Costco (not Amazon), and get off Facebook or at least do not buy anything from ads on Facebook! Write on Substack whenever the OAF (Orange Asinine 34x Felon) does something stupid, write or call your MAGA crazies in Congress that you do NOT support their bullshit. Talk to your friends who sat out the 2024 election to not sit out the 2026 elections! Get involved and the first sign of opposition do not watch the shit show of the OAF’s Inaugural so that it will have the lowest TV ratings in history!!!
Yes! I agree. Step 1 is to quit buying what they sell.
Forgot to mention the muskrat’s shitty cars. Tesla has had two major recalls in the last month. Their tire pressure systems sensors and rear view mirror camera systems do NOT work. Perhaps, the muskrat should earn his annual $65 billion salary from Tesla by fixing his shitty cars!!
Rich people using more buffets example pay about 17% of their income on taxes .
The real issue, which is often smoke screened by the use of percentages.
Should not be about who pays the largest percent of taxes, BUT THE ARGUMENT SHOULD BE ABOUT DISPOSABLE INCOME. Work hard do a good job and you take home after all taxes will only be 60% of what you earned…
LET’S SWITCH THE DISCUSSION TO DISPOSABLE INCOME AND YOU FIND THE WORKING POOR WILL ALWAYS BE THE WORKING POOR. THEY WILL NEVER HAVE A REAL OPPORTUNITY TO DEVELOP SAVINGS AND THE RICH WILL GET RICHER.
Tax breaks to the rich go to offshore accounts and investments .
Tax breaks given to the working poor are utilized for necessities of life Food Clothing Shelter transportation education.
Make our tax system FAIR (even) for all levels of income …
Stop the smokescreen that the rich pay 98% of taxes. Make the discussion all about Disposal Income after all taxes and get this country back on its feet…
The WaPo is a good paper. Not sure you want to throw the baby out with the bathwater, especially when there are other better targets for boycotting.
The WAPO has turned into a right-wing rag and now that Jennifer Rubin has left WAPO, I cancelled my subscription yesterday and signed up to her new Substack!
I understand. I have not read it much for some time. Maybe it's gotten worse. My general concern is an erosiion of support for media institutions which have, for WaPo in my view, historically been committed to fair and accurate reporting. I don't think a thousand substack writers is a good substitute for the public, though this can be debated.
Steve, Bozo Bezos has plenty of money to keep the WAPO, but none of it will be mine anymore and Jennifer Rubin will have thousands of subscribers shortly on Substack!!!
It's really not about Right vs Left now. It's about Top vs Bottom.
You can have democracy or a wealthy class, not both.
While I don't think it's a reach for Musk or much of a stretch for Bezos, I have to think for Zuckerberg doesn't like it. I think he saw it as a necessary business decision.... but that's about Trump, not him.
I dunno. I'm not sure how the pitchforks can be kept under control. The oligarchy is doing what oligarchies do and making everyone too poor to be able to afford the necessities of life - Housing, Healthcare, Higher Education... Family. The sad part is that it could explode into chaos. Chaos is where psychopaths thrive, nations, businesses and families, not so much. Maga folks are clearly ready to fight. If the Maga figure out the billionaires have lied to them, the country may make it as a democracy. It could allow social and economic adjustment instead of just unproductive chaos. We want change though, not revolution. Revolutions cause chaos, a place where psychopaths like Trump (and worse) thrive, but not nations, businesses or families. If they believe the right wing media and think the problem is left wing elites, Trump will be left as king of the ashes.
Trump, King of the Ashes. He would love that!
The oligarch owned msm will tell the dumb bunny base what to think.
The oligarch owned Trump will tell him what policies they want.
The Citizens United case must be reversed. Without a limitation on spending for campaigns and lobbying oligarchs like Musk, Zuckerberg and Bezos will continue to use their enormous wealth to affect elections and legislation.
I want to thank Elon for motivating me to contribute to the Los Angeles Fire Department Foundation. Something he should be doing but he's too much of a sniveling little Apartheid brat who thinks he needs to hang onto every swindled penny.
I dropped my Facebook account the day the changes were announced and signed up with Bluesky today. At least I see some integrity on Bluesky. Hopefully, some of my friends will follow.
Hopefully many former Twitter users will jump ship to Blue Sky and X will become just another untruth Social and will crash!