From Red Hats To Raised Fists

They slashed your healthcare, hiked your bills, and left you screaming into the void. This isn’t policy; it’s punishment. And millions of Americans are done staying quiet.

Guest article by Michael Cohen

If you're waking up every morning stressed, angry, and questioning whether this whole thing is a really bad sequel to Idiocracy, you're not alone. You're not crazy, either. You're just awake. And if that’s a miserable realization, welcome to the club; I’ve been screaming into this void for years now. My voice is hoarse. My soul is tired. But I’m not done. Not even close.

This week, something rare happened. Truth got a standing ovation. Not in D.C.; God forbid. But in Wisconsin, where a local Republican congressman, Bryan Steil, faced a righteous ass-beating at a town hall that sounded more like a WWE smackdown. The crowd, many of them ruby-red loyal voters, weren’t just disgruntled; they were pissed. And not over the refusal to release the Epstein file or the transfer of Ghislaine Maxwell to a low-level satellite camp, but over the very real pain that they are feeling at the grocery store, the car dealership, and everywhere in between.

And why? My three-word slogan: Tariffs. Are. Taxes.

I’ve said it before. I’ll say it again. I’ll keep saying it until it’s etched into the damn Capitol dome: Consumers Pay Tariffs. You, me, your neighbor who keeps putting up “Trump Won” signs even though his house is literally falling apart—we’re the ones footing the bill for Trump’s so-called “art of the deal” trade policies. Not China. Not Mexico. Not Vietnam. Not India. Us.

Now we’re watching this debacle unfold in real time. The tariffs Trump imposed—now ballooned into a sweeping “new system of trade” with over 190 countries—were never about fairness. They were about control, distraction, and feeding red meat to the MAGA base. But guess what? The meat’s spoiled. Rotted to the freakin’ core. And his loyalists living in the Rust Belt are finally getting a whiff.

At the Elkhorn town hall on Thursday night, one brave soul finally said what too many in Congress are too cowardly to admit: “This is a terrible tax.” Ding ding ding! Give that person a medal. Or at least a discount at Costco, where prices have quietly crept up thanks to tariffs on goods you didn’t even know were imported. The crowd applauded. Steil winced. Then he did what Republicans do best: he tap-danced around the truth and tried to pass it off as “ensuring fairness.” The crowd wasn’t buying it. The boos rolled in like thunder. Then came the Cohen language by pissed-off attendees screaming at Steil, “Fuck you, you fuckin’ liar.”

That’s what happens when spin meets suffering. That’s what happens when you gaslight the American people for years and then hand them the bill.

Let me be crystal clear here: tariffs are not some abstract economic maneuver. They're not Monopoly money. They're not Wall Street gymnastics. They are a tax on imports, and those costs are passed directly to American consumers. Period. No matter how many Fox News talking heads or Heritage Foundation flunkies try to tell you otherwise.

And here’s the kicker: while Americans are getting hammered at the checkout line, struggling to cover rent, and rationing their meds, Trump’s so-called “American Renewal Act” is already doing its damage. This isn’t just some bloated piece of political theater; it’s a calculated, cruel piece of legislation that gutted Medicaid, slashed healthcare subsidies, and handed billions in tax breaks to the wealthiest Americans. The Congressional Budget Office warned it would strip coverage from 17 million Americans, and guess what? It’s happening. Quietly. Relentlessly. You know it’s happening when mom calls crying because her prescription isn’t covered anymore; or when your dad skips the doctor because the copay now eats half his grocery budget. That’s not renewal. That’s abandonment.

So when Rep. Steil hops on social media and calls his Elkhorn town hall a “great dialogue,” I have to ask: what exactly does “great” mean when your constituents are bringing cardboard coffins to your front lawn? When seniors in folding chairs are booing you for defending a bill that’s kicking the legs out from under them? But this is how the GOP operates now: paint outrage as civic engagement, treat human suffering as a PR problem, and gaslight the American people into believing that shared pain is just part of the plan. It's not leadership. It's cowardice wrapped in talking points. And it's tearing communities apart, one brutal budget line at a time.

Here's the truth: America is angry. Real angry. And across the political spectrum. Because it’s not just about the Epstein crimes. It’s not just about ICE and the deportations. It’s everything. It’s the feeling that no one’s in charge. That no one gives a damn. That the people we elect to lead are either hiding behind Zoom screens or fleeing to recess like it’s a damn fire drill.

And speaking of fleeing, let’s talk about Speaker MAGA Mike Johnson, who waved the House into early vacation like a chaperone dismissing a school field trip. While the country burns, Congress bailed. Must be nice. For the rest of us, we’re stuck picking up the pieces—without health coverage, without price stability, and with a government that seems more invested in performative politics than actual policy.

So yeah, if you're waking up pissed off, overwhelmed, and uncertain—good. That means you're paying attention. That means you’re still in this fight. Because the only thing worse than being angry is being numb. And that’s what they want: our apathy, our exhaustion, our silence.

But we don’t have to give it to them.

So the next time your grocery bill hits triple digits or your prescription doubles in price, don’t just grumble. Speak up. Show up. Demand more. Because if town halls in Wisconsin are any indication, the tide is turning. The con is unraveling. And even the most loyal voters are realizing that the emperor has no economic clothes.

And trust me—I’ve seen the tailor’s receipts.

---

SUBSCRIBE. SHARE. RESTACK. SHOW UP AND BE LOUD.

This is too important to ignore! Make sure to share and RESTACK…

I’ve spent the last 8 years throwing punches in the dark so truth could get a little daylight. And now I’m asking you to step into the ring with me.

Because if you’re still reading this, you already get it:
This isn’t just a newsletter. It’s a rally cry. A war drum. A line in the sand.

We are not passive observers of the downfall. We are the resistance. We call out the liars. We drag corruption by the collar into the sunlight. We say the quiet parts out loud—and we don’t flinch.

But here’s the truth: I can’t do this solo. Not anymore.

The storm is already here. We are standing in it. And it’s wearing stars and stripes like camouflage, preaching “freedom” while it sells fascism at retail.

So let me ask you:
Are. You. In?

Because this is not a scroll-and-forget read. This is a living, breathing, fire-breathing movement—and movements don’t move unless you do.

We need to be louder than spin, tougher than propaganda, and impossible to gaslight.
That takes more than clicks. More than likes.
It takes skin in the game.

So if you believe truth matters, if you're sick of the bullshit, if you’re ready to stop screaming into the algorithm and start pushing back with purpose, this is your next step.

HERE’S HOW YOU PUT YOUR FOOT ON THE GAS:

• Become a paid subscriber. Fund fearless, unfiltered journalism that hits back.

• Share this with the loudest people you know—the ones who never sit down and shut up.

• Build the community. Amplify the message. Be the damn megaphone.

And yeah—Founding Members? The first 240 of you will get a signed, numbered, limited-edition Substack version of Revenge. That’s not just a collector’s item. That’s receipts. Proof you didn’t sit this one out.

But let’s be clear:

This isn’t about a book.
It’s about backbone.
It’s about calling out the gaslighters and refusing to be played.
It’s about locking arms and saying, “Not. On. Our. Watch.”

You want to make a difference?

Then make it—right now.

Because if we don’t fight for truth, no one will.
But if we fight together?

They can’t drown us out.

Let’s be so loud, they wish we were just angry tweets.
Let’s be unshakable.
Unignorable.
Un-fucking-breakable.

Let’s go!