Important Sunday Morning Post

Hey everybody, it’s MeidasTouch co-founder Ben Meiselas. As you know, doing this Sunday morning post is my favorite post of the week, and it’s extra special for me because it’s Mother’s Day.

So let me start off by wishing all of the moms a very happy Mother’s Day. Let me wish my wife Xochitl a very happy Mother’s Day. And of course, all the moms out there.

I said this on my last show: the MeidasTouch moms are the backbone of this community, just like you are the backbone of this country and the backbone of this world. You’re on the front lines fighting for democracy each and every day. You inspire me. So I wanted to start off by saying that.

You know, here we are on Sunday morning again, coffee in hand, and we’re stuck in the same Trump market-manipulation loop. The quagmire in the Strait of Hormuz remains unchanged, and we move closer and closer toward the abyss.

The parallels between this and the way Donald Trump handles every crisis are identical. Chaos. Bluster. Lies. Manufactured drama. Then more chaos.

The problem is that we’re beginning to reach a point where resources and supplies are actually running thin. We’re running out of oil. Fertilizers are becoming harder to access. Vital necessities are being disrupted. And the Strait of Hormuz is nowhere near being reopened.

In fact, as Donald Trump’s weakness continues to show, Iran’s latest move isn’t just about controlling shipping lanes anymore. Their state-run media is now talking about controlling the internet cables that run underneath the waterway.

And remember when Donald Trump told us we were going to get Iran’s response to his so-called offer on Friday? Well, that never happened. Of course it didn’t. It’s just part of the endless cycle of lies and distractions.

Now the latest stunt is that we’re being told Marco Rubio, Steve Witkoff, and Jared Kushner had some “super secret” mediation meeting with the leader of Qatar down in Miami. Supposedly this is different from the Pakistan mediation and all the other backchannel nonsense they keep floating.

It’s all BS.

And inevitably, Americans are the ones suffering.

Honestly, I don’t think this is getting nearly enough attention, but consumer confidence is now at historically catastrophic levels. The latest University of Michigan consumer confidence report showed one of the lowest readings ever recorded.

Think about that. Lower than the Great Recession. Lower than the dot-com crash. Lower than virtually every major economic catastrophe Americans have endured over the past sixty years since the survey began.

And that’s because people are hurting right now.

People can’t afford rent. People can’t afford homes. People can’t afford groceries. People can’t afford gas. Healthcare is being ripped away. Families are exhausted by endless wars and endless instability.

And meanwhile you have this madman in the Oval Office talking about reflecting pools and arches and ballrooms and taking over public golf courses while posting deranged social media rants at all hours of the day.

Americans are sick of it.

But you know what I’ve really been thinking about this morning as I sit here drinking this coffee with you?

Listening.

I honestly think listening is the most important quality any leader can have.

Too many people just want to hear themselves talk. Too many people think leadership means screaming the loudest or dominating the room.

That’s not leadership.

Leadership means listening to what people are actually going through. It means hearing the hardships people are enduring every single day. It means understanding what families need and what communities need.

And I think the most important thing we do at the MeidasTouch Network is listen.

We listen to you. We read the comments. We hear your stories. We understand your frustrations. And we fight for you.

That’s what this Substack is. That’s what our YouTube channel is.

That’s what this entire network is supposed to be: an open discussion with people who care deeply about democracy and about one another.

So yes, I’m going to make a bunch of videos today. You know me — I’ll probably be posting nonstop. But I’m also going to spend time with my wife and with our family, and I hope you do the same.

And I want you to know something: you are part of my family too.

I care deeply about all of you as these Sunday coffee posts mean the world to me to spend this time with you.

Thank you for having this coffee with me this morning.

And hang in there. We are going to get through this together.

You know, I was thinking about the massive celebrations in Hungary when Peter Magyar was sworn in and the crowds filled the streets of Budapest celebrating democracy and hope and a better future. I watched those images of people singing and dancing in front of Parliament, and honestly, I thought to myself:

That’s going to be us someday.

We’re going to celebrate together. We’re going to dance together. We’re going to sing together. And we’re going to celebrate democracy together.

We’re going to get through this. I promise you.

Happy Mother’s Day, everybody.

And make sure you hit subscribe. Truly, now is the best time to subscribe and help us continue growing this independent network together.

Love you all.