I feel the notion that America is this grand experiment is a lie. America is a selfish, hypocritical, and vindictive nation. They tell themselves they are Christians while bullying the most vulnerable people.
"They tell themselves they are Christians while bullying the most vulnerable people."
No True Scotsman fallacy.
They do all that in the name of Jesus. Just like Christians have been committing atrocities in the name of Jesus for the past two millennia, without God lifting a finger to stop them or object in any way.
Christianity isn't inherently benevolent. And treating Christianity as if it's automatically, intrinsically good is how we got to this sorry state.
Stop the No True Scotsman garbage. If we're going to have any chance at all of getting back to stable ground we, as a culture, have to come to grips with the fact that Christianity was the vector fascism spread by.
I won't ever give up but I have to admit that I am scared shitless. Inconceivably, it's happening bigger, faster and worse than I thought. I will look to my substack writers and readers for hope and truth and ways to fight back and to protect the most vulnerable. Fight on.
Going to work with Christofascist maga douchebags will be more difficult than ever. At what point am I allowed to call a nazi a nazi without going to HR?
It's just as ridiculous as it sounds. And I know for a fact most of the black and brown guys I work with didn't vote. It's incredibly frustrating.
Why did Biden go through with Tea with Trump? The magas laugh at the dems. He later eviscerated Biden while he and his wife sat there and listened. If you are a Magat you enjoyed watching Biden be humiliated. It was a disgusting, embarrassing scene.
And Biden is a gentleman, something trump will never be. As Michelle Obama once said, "When they go low we go high" and Biden did by attending, doing the necessary, being gracious (remember trump did not attend the Biden inauguration or do anything resembling manners) and then departing for one hopes a happier time to spend with his family and friends.
Attending is one thing. The peaceful transfer of power continued once again. Having tea with those two liars and frauds Donald and Melania did not need to happen.
Doesn't change that Trump is a fearless flawless LIAR, a tax cheat, election cheat, wife cheat, golf cheat, Felon and putin loving insurrectionist FRAUD. Just sayin....
I literally went to an MLK event hosted by Congresswoman Ayanna Presley. She is my representative, and I wanted to meet her and hear what she had to say about how we are going to oppose what Felon 47 is going to do next. I started an organization after the election called Disability Community for Democracy, Inc. and the mission of the organization is to fight for civil rights and liberal democracy no matter who's in power at the state, local, and federal levels. They work for us and they forgot that. Our job is to remind them and if they don't do what we want them to do we vote them out. My organization is organizing a virtual rally on Zoom in March. If you want more information, check out my Substack or Disability Community for Democracy, Inc.'s social media platforms. We are on Facebook, Instagram, and BlueSky.
Brilliant initiative, Nieta. Hopefully people will join the various Democracy defender groups that are being established. Everything passes, so will these 4 years, with much damage. But US has an advantage: You know what a democracy looks like ❤️. Calling him Felon 47 is super good.
He wants to emulate Putin by taking over lands that he wants. Putin took Crimea and went after Ukraine. Trump wants Panama and Greenland. Trump will spend 4 years trying to get Putin to allow a Trump hotel in Moscow by doing what Putin does in the hope of currying favor. Meanwhile, the US will go down the toilet because Republicans are far more concerned about keeping their own power and will allow Trump to do whatever he wants. All the noise with Musk and the incompetent cabinet picks will fade as people will leave the Trump administration like they did the first time, either by his firing or finding their conscience. It will be a shit show from day 1. I ignored the news yesterday because it was 10 hours of kowtowing to Trump. I don't recall any previous inauguration that was blasted on TV all day. Most of the media should be ashamed of themselves for normalizing Trump and what he does. I read Public Notice and Talking Points Memo for factual takes on events. Thanks, Aaron, for all you do. It's much appreciated.
None of the people who he's brought on this time have anything even remotely like a conscience. Some of them will get fired when they fail to meet some absurd demand of his, but none of them will be leaving out of the (non-existent) goodness of their hearts.
Somehow, I'm not that worried. trump has already overreached, (rescinding the lowering of Rx prices) and like you say, his popularity has nowhere to go but down. Yes it will be painful for some (and I hope those are trump voters), but calling the Gulf of Mexico the Gulf of America only on American maps is just plain stupid.
Keep calling your congress critters and tell them what you think,. Authoritarianism wants you to feel defeated. Stay strong and smart.
I wish I could be that sanguine. Given that Republicans found out they could outright steal elections in November and the press will gleefully go along with it, I don't expect to have anything like actual elections for the foreseeable future. And even if he theoretically makes it four more years, the nazified supreme court is never going to let a democrat retake the white house.
I called my Senators’ and Rep’s offices this morning and left messages insisting that they speak up in support of the Constitution and the rule of law. You’d hope there would be bipartisan support for that, right? If nothing else, don’t be silent.
Of all the fearsome members, supporters, and hangerson, the most fearsome to me is Musk, the would-be president. His identification with the Nazis of the last century should be enough to eliminate him for within miles of the White House but instead he is in the middle of it. Unfortunately his wealth and willingness to buy trump's access will keep him in the power parade until trump realizes that he is being used and that the light is shining on someone other than him. Please let it happen soon or the round-ups will be horrendous.
Thank you for your sane take on the state of things today. It's difficult to feel powerless, but as you point out, there are only some things we are powerless over.
What was on my mind? Profound sadness. I tried to avoid news yesterday, but found myself reading some things late.
On one hand, I can't wait for the find out phase to get going in earnest. But I also know that when some of those get what they voted for, others who didn't are going to get hurt too.
I'm reminded of Venezuela's Hugo Chavez: populism and circus. A great example of how breaking things is harder than fixing them.
I expect the federal hiring freeze and return-to-office orders will have quick and dramatic impacts on morale and could impact Fed's ability to attract talent fpr decades.
What is on Trump's mind - is himself. But this dire situation goes beyond this simple statement. I now firmly believe that Donald Trump is psychotic and criminally insane - someone who is considered legally insane is unable to understand the nature of their actions, distinguish between right and wrong, or know what they are doing. (AI Ovewrview)
The whole world is attempting to "normalize this man" and he is NOT normal.
In November 1923, Hitler and other members of the Nazi Party attempted to overthrow the German government. The government managed to stop this coupe, and Adolf Hitler was arrested and imprisoned for his role in instigating the Beer Hall Putsch. He was put on trial for treason, convicted, but served only nine months of his five years (due to a sympathetic judge). He then turned his attention to spreading propaganda and gaining votes. " (William Braden, a Substack author) He brainwashed an entire peaceful nation into mass murderers. “He had a firm belief in his own righteousness and that helped him manifest a charisma that drew others to his cause. On the other hand, his belief that he knew better than his generals probably helped him lose the war he started." (Ibid)
According to Hitler, "ultimate authority rested with him and extended downward." Hitler's madness literally butchered and slaughtered over six million humans, and an estimated 25 million on the battlefields attempting to stop Hitler's insanity and derangement.. (https://www.bbc.co.uk)
This Hitler comparison to Donald Trump is an exact replica to 100 years ago. Trump has clearly stated that he will put millions of immigrants into detention camps and/or deport them. He has not mentioned what will happen to them while in these "camps" nor does he care. The last time he was in office, immigrant children were separated from their parents, and many grew up in prison-like conditions without parental love and guidance. He has also mentioned that he would like to acquire Greenland, Panama, and Canada - even if it requires force. (NBC, Jan. 7, 2025)
Like Hitler, Donald Trump committed treason as defined by our Constitution. He has managed to avoid trial and prison. Jack Smith's report on the criminal and treasonous charges against Trump make an ironclad case. He has also committed a long, long list of other previously judicated crimes and is now legally designated as a felon, a fraud, and a sexual predator. However, due to our tainted Scotus, he has avoided retribution.
Trumpers compose about half of the voting public in the United States. They have successfully been brainwashed by his lies, propaganda, and disinformation. With Russia’s clandestine assistance, he has decayed Biden’s reputation – a president who saved our country from Trump’s previous mismanagement. Over one million Americans died from Covid, while Trump was telling the public to inject bleach. (Politics, by Meridith McGraw and Sam Stein, 04/23/2021) And “under the Biden-Harris Administration, the United States has had the strongest growth and employment creation of any advanced country, brought inflation back down, and achieved a soft landing, defying many forecasts. . .” (U.S. Department of Treasury, January 14, 2025) If you asked a Trumper, they would tell you that our economy is in shambles and Biden is a crook.
Our country is now facing our own potential holocaust. We have a man about to assume the U.S. leadership role who has told us what to expect – he will eliminate voting, he will imprison over a million people, and he will invade other sovereign nations – for no reason other than it will feed his ego or Putin has instructed him to do this.
Less shocked and awed than I would have been thanks to knowing that so much of this was predictable in advance. Which helped. And Trump is nothing if not predictable. WHO, Paris were absolutely givens, as was dismissive nonchalance about Gaza. Why any country in the world would ever trust a treaty or agreement with us again is beyond me, so much destroyed in sheer petulance. Wonder how Tom "CHINA!" Cotton feels about Trump's breezy TikTok nonchalance. "Yes, sir, more like this please" is my guess. We'll really get to the FAFO phase when the Medicare/Social Security cuts come down.
Was happy Elon finally felt comfortable enough to fully reveal himself. Give that man a black armband, now! German political parties should run that image non-stop next to the AFD logo, just to remind people who they're palling around with.
They never wavered. He offered them everything they ever wanted, and he's the embodiment of their shitty God. They love him because he's everything they are/want to be.
Please don't make it into a gay joke. Queer people are going to have it bad enough as it is.
I feel the notion that America is this grand experiment is a lie. America is a selfish, hypocritical, and vindictive nation. They tell themselves they are Christians while bullying the most vulnerable people.
"They tell themselves they are Christians while bullying the most vulnerable people."
No True Scotsman fallacy.
They do all that in the name of Jesus. Just like Christians have been committing atrocities in the name of Jesus for the past two millennia, without God lifting a finger to stop them or object in any way.
Christianity isn't inherently benevolent. And treating Christianity as if it's automatically, intrinsically good is how we got to this sorry state.
Stop the No True Scotsman garbage. If we're going to have any chance at all of getting back to stable ground we, as a culture, have to come to grips with the fact that Christianity was the vector fascism spread by.
Or it was an experiment that has failed
I’m thinking something more accurately descriptive: Christian jingoism.
I won't ever give up but I have to admit that I am scared shitless. Inconceivably, it's happening bigger, faster and worse than I thought. I will look to my substack writers and readers for hope and truth and ways to fight back and to protect the most vulnerable. Fight on.
Going to work with Christofascist maga douchebags will be more difficult than ever. At what point am I allowed to call a nazi a nazi without going to HR?
It's just as ridiculous as it sounds. And I know for a fact most of the black and brown guys I work with didn't vote. It's incredibly frustrating.
Why did Biden go through with Tea with Trump? The magas laugh at the dems. He later eviscerated Biden while he and his wife sat there and listened. If you are a Magat you enjoyed watching Biden be humiliated. It was a disgusting, embarrassing scene.
Because Biden still believes in institutions. He believes that there will come a time when MAGA will have to cede power and he wants the high ground.
And Biden is a gentleman, something trump will never be. As Michelle Obama once said, "When they go low we go high" and Biden did by attending, doing the necessary, being gracious (remember trump did not attend the Biden inauguration or do anything resembling manners) and then departing for one hopes a happier time to spend with his family and friends.
That's unfortunately why he lost. Too old school.
Attending is one thing. The peaceful transfer of power continued once again. Having tea with those two liars and frauds Donald and Melania did not need to happen.
Trump won the popular vote.
Doesn't change that Trump is a fearless flawless LIAR, a tax cheat, election cheat, wife cheat, golf cheat, Felon and putin loving insurrectionist FRAUD. Just sayin....
Not at all.
Only because Republicans have suppressed the vote to absurd degrees.
I literally went to an MLK event hosted by Congresswoman Ayanna Presley. She is my representative, and I wanted to meet her and hear what she had to say about how we are going to oppose what Felon 47 is going to do next. I started an organization after the election called Disability Community for Democracy, Inc. and the mission of the organization is to fight for civil rights and liberal democracy no matter who's in power at the state, local, and federal levels. They work for us and they forgot that. Our job is to remind them and if they don't do what we want them to do we vote them out. My organization is organizing a virtual rally on Zoom in March. If you want more information, check out my Substack or Disability Community for Democracy, Inc.'s social media platforms. We are on Facebook, Instagram, and BlueSky.
Felon 47! Can I use that?
Of course.
Brilliant initiative, Nieta. Hopefully people will join the various Democracy defender groups that are being established. Everything passes, so will these 4 years, with much damage. But US has an advantage: You know what a democracy looks like ❤️. Calling him Felon 47 is super good.
Thanks, Helen.
He wants to emulate Putin by taking over lands that he wants. Putin took Crimea and went after Ukraine. Trump wants Panama and Greenland. Trump will spend 4 years trying to get Putin to allow a Trump hotel in Moscow by doing what Putin does in the hope of currying favor. Meanwhile, the US will go down the toilet because Republicans are far more concerned about keeping their own power and will allow Trump to do whatever he wants. All the noise with Musk and the incompetent cabinet picks will fade as people will leave the Trump administration like they did the first time, either by his firing or finding their conscience. It will be a shit show from day 1. I ignored the news yesterday because it was 10 hours of kowtowing to Trump. I don't recall any previous inauguration that was blasted on TV all day. Most of the media should be ashamed of themselves for normalizing Trump and what he does. I read Public Notice and Talking Points Memo for factual takes on events. Thanks, Aaron, for all you do. It's much appreciated.
You're welcome. Thanks for the kind words, Barbara.
None of the people who he's brought on this time have anything even remotely like a conscience. Some of them will get fired when they fail to meet some absurd demand of his, but none of them will be leaving out of the (non-existent) goodness of their hearts.
Somehow, I'm not that worried. trump has already overreached, (rescinding the lowering of Rx prices) and like you say, his popularity has nowhere to go but down. Yes it will be painful for some (and I hope those are trump voters), but calling the Gulf of Mexico the Gulf of America only on American maps is just plain stupid.
Keep calling your congress critters and tell them what you think,. Authoritarianism wants you to feel defeated. Stay strong and smart.
I wish I could be that sanguine. Given that Republicans found out they could outright steal elections in November and the press will gleefully go along with it, I don't expect to have anything like actual elections for the foreseeable future. And even if he theoretically makes it four more years, the nazified supreme court is never going to let a democrat retake the white house.
I called my Senators’ and Rep’s offices this morning and left messages insisting that they speak up in support of the Constitution and the rule of law. You’d hope there would be bipartisan support for that, right? If nothing else, don’t be silent.
Of all the fearsome members, supporters, and hangerson, the most fearsome to me is Musk, the would-be president. His identification with the Nazis of the last century should be enough to eliminate him for within miles of the White House but instead he is in the middle of it. Unfortunately his wealth and willingness to buy trump's access will keep him in the power parade until trump realizes that he is being used and that the light is shining on someone other than him. Please let it happen soon or the round-ups will be horrendous.
Thank you for your sane take on the state of things today. It's difficult to feel powerless, but as you point out, there are only some things we are powerless over.
Please find other images for your articles than Trump. Please.
I am sensitive to this but it was hard to avoid today. Your feedback is noted though.
What was on my mind? Profound sadness. I tried to avoid news yesterday, but found myself reading some things late.
On one hand, I can't wait for the find out phase to get going in earnest. But I also know that when some of those get what they voted for, others who didn't are going to get hurt too.
I'm reminded of Venezuela's Hugo Chavez: populism and circus. A great example of how breaking things is harder than fixing them.
I expect the federal hiring freeze and return-to-office orders will have quick and dramatic impacts on morale and could impact Fed's ability to attract talent fpr decades.
What is on Trump's mind - is himself. But this dire situation goes beyond this simple statement. I now firmly believe that Donald Trump is psychotic and criminally insane - someone who is considered legally insane is unable to understand the nature of their actions, distinguish between right and wrong, or know what they are doing. (AI Ovewrview)
The whole world is attempting to "normalize this man" and he is NOT normal.
In November 1923, Hitler and other members of the Nazi Party attempted to overthrow the German government. The government managed to stop this coupe, and Adolf Hitler was arrested and imprisoned for his role in instigating the Beer Hall Putsch. He was put on trial for treason, convicted, but served only nine months of his five years (due to a sympathetic judge). He then turned his attention to spreading propaganda and gaining votes. " (William Braden, a Substack author) He brainwashed an entire peaceful nation into mass murderers. “He had a firm belief in his own righteousness and that helped him manifest a charisma that drew others to his cause. On the other hand, his belief that he knew better than his generals probably helped him lose the war he started." (Ibid)
According to Hitler, "ultimate authority rested with him and extended downward." Hitler's madness literally butchered and slaughtered over six million humans, and an estimated 25 million on the battlefields attempting to stop Hitler's insanity and derangement.. (https://www.bbc.co.uk)
This Hitler comparison to Donald Trump is an exact replica to 100 years ago. Trump has clearly stated that he will put millions of immigrants into detention camps and/or deport them. He has not mentioned what will happen to them while in these "camps" nor does he care. The last time he was in office, immigrant children were separated from their parents, and many grew up in prison-like conditions without parental love and guidance. He has also mentioned that he would like to acquire Greenland, Panama, and Canada - even if it requires force. (NBC, Jan. 7, 2025)
Like Hitler, Donald Trump committed treason as defined by our Constitution. He has managed to avoid trial and prison. Jack Smith's report on the criminal and treasonous charges against Trump make an ironclad case. He has also committed a long, long list of other previously judicated crimes and is now legally designated as a felon, a fraud, and a sexual predator. However, due to our tainted Scotus, he has avoided retribution.
Trumpers compose about half of the voting public in the United States. They have successfully been brainwashed by his lies, propaganda, and disinformation. With Russia’s clandestine assistance, he has decayed Biden’s reputation – a president who saved our country from Trump’s previous mismanagement. Over one million Americans died from Covid, while Trump was telling the public to inject bleach. (Politics, by Meridith McGraw and Sam Stein, 04/23/2021) And “under the Biden-Harris Administration, the United States has had the strongest growth and employment creation of any advanced country, brought inflation back down, and achieved a soft landing, defying many forecasts. . .” (U.S. Department of Treasury, January 14, 2025) If you asked a Trumper, they would tell you that our economy is in shambles and Biden is a crook.
Our country is now facing our own potential holocaust. We have a man about to assume the U.S. leadership role who has told us what to expect – he will eliminate voting, he will imprison over a million people, and he will invade other sovereign nations – for no reason other than it will feed his ego or Putin has instructed him to do this.
Elizabeth Graham
Less shocked and awed than I would have been thanks to knowing that so much of this was predictable in advance. Which helped. And Trump is nothing if not predictable. WHO, Paris were absolutely givens, as was dismissive nonchalance about Gaza. Why any country in the world would ever trust a treaty or agreement with us again is beyond me, so much destroyed in sheer petulance. Wonder how Tom "CHINA!" Cotton feels about Trump's breezy TikTok nonchalance. "Yes, sir, more like this please" is my guess. We'll really get to the FAFO phase when the Medicare/Social Security cuts come down.
Was happy Elon finally felt comfortable enough to fully reveal himself. Give that man a black armband, now! German political parties should run that image non-stop next to the AFD logo, just to remind people who they're palling around with.
"Trump’s campaign was ugly, dystopian, and authoritarian."
What won it for him was the Evangelicals, who were wavering until he fellated that microphone and rhapsodized about Arnold Palmer's driver.
They never wavered. He offered them everything they ever wanted, and he's the embodiment of their shitty God. They love him because he's everything they are/want to be.
Please don't make it into a gay joke. Queer people are going to have it bad enough as it is.
It's not a gay joke. It's a hypocritical evangelical joke.