Fear, cruelty, and blind obedience are no longer whispers behind closed doors. They spill into courts, streets, and hearts, showing how violence spreads when hate becomes permission.
They may not all be Christian nationalists, I remember my friend who was in a war camp and a Catholic with our priest at our church saying they did not stand up soon enough to the Nazis until they were put in Auschwitz Poland.
That's quite a muddle you have there! Last I looked, the Heritage Foundation was nondenominational, though tacitly Christian. The Christian nationalists are predominantly Protestant -- their political ancestors didn't trust Catholics at all. The Supreme Court is indeed heavily under the influence of conservative Catholics with connections to Opus Dei, a secretive, ultra-conservative Catholic group. Guess who else is connected to Opus Dei? Leonard Leo, the guy who's done more than anyone to pack the Court with conservative Catholics. Here's an intro to the subject by Dahlia Lithwick and Mark Joseph Stern of Slate: https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2024/09/supreme-court-leonard-leo-catholicism.html.
Catholics are not Christians and here's why. Catholics follow the New and Old Testiments. Unlike Christians who follow the New and use the old as merely suggestions and ignore most of them.
What’s up with John Roberts? Nothing and everything. He, along with his miscreant immoral majority have sold their souls to the dark side in exchange for tenured immunity and the glamour of their vaunted seats on the Supreme Court bench. Their titles and the dark money perks are the ONLY things that concern them. They MUST all be impeached and disbarred. So who can start this ball rolling? WE THE PEOPLE!
I don’t know; I suspect that John Roberts is not the Mr. Milquetoast he wants us to believe he is. He is a radical right-winger. I think he had a hand in crafting Project 2025. They said “no” to just about everything the Biden administration brought to the court. Now the court approves everything Trump puts under their nose and they do it very quickly through the shadow docket, which seems to be the supreme courts variant on Trump’s executive order Both do plenty of damage with minimal deliberation.
One is compelled to wonder just what is this "shadow docket?" Who came up with this idea? How has it been used? Is it being abused? (I think we all know the answer to the last one).
He should have nothing against the US. He is really bad human being who btw has no integrity, no moral code, and looks down on everybody, but underneath it all is a coward and obviously therefore an insecure little man who made a decent living from his salary each year. So how does he have the money he has?
tRump is making this possible. He tells his followers end time is coming and there is nothing that can stop it. Said he had a 100year plan. They can't wait to die. It is the golden era and only he can get you there. DEMIGOD
It's INSANE how many people are HELPING trump rip USA apart. History will be brutal to these MASSIVE TRAITORS. Mass Media gave trump soooooo much credibility by constantly showing him 24/7 on their channels... thus normailizing all his INSANITY. Mass Media sold out their OWN COUNTRY for clicks and views. All those not calling him out are COMPLICIT. When grandchildren ask some democrat politicians what they did to save their country they can say "I held up a little paddle while keeping totally silent". Democracy is literally dying BECAUSE SOOO MANY AMERICANS ARE STAYING SILENT. It's way past the time to do your part. The worst is HERE. ACTION by alllllllllllllllllll is NEEDED NOW. It's reallyyyy reallyyyy bad now but without MASSIVE ACTION by ALLL AMERICANS... it's gonna be a zillion times worse very very soon. WAY WORSE !! And there may never be any coming back from it. DEMOCRACY needs EVERYONE to save it right now !!! E V E R Y O N E . No one else is going to do it but... YOU.
And we're not going to get rid of him hanging up funny little signs or getting together on a group and having a protest, that's not going to get rid of him
It is a show of power & that shouldn't be dismissed. The proof is in how the regime is trying to stop it. Speaking out against abuse is the first, most important step in a plan of action. Articulating, & as you said, Christine, communication, is important. Words alone aren't going to get through to this regime, but speaking out is doing something. Look how much effect the firehose of lies has had. Matching that volume with the truth will be even more powerful & we have to do that.
The October 18, 2025 protest is drawing nigh. I made a batch of 126 protest signs for you and your group. Please share, restack, copy and paste the link. Have a printing company do these for you! Here they are:
The rules don't apply to ICE. We are now in up is down, night is day, lies are truth, evil.is good, ignorance is smart, etc. Don't try to make sense of it.
Read the book Against the Wall. I can’t remember who wrote it but she said on The Left Hook that this is just how ICE has always been acting but we didn’t see it because it was in Texas.
Still about 90% of the seniors I meet really don't think anything bad is happening to our country because they don't even follow current events. Until marshal law is declared and they feel threatened,it's just business as usual to people in general.
Not in my town. I think you are in error to blame the "seniors" (however you define them). Here, at least half the attendees at protests are within 10 years of my age (68), or older. Here, 75% of voters are registered Republicans, so our votes are virtually useless, but we keep soldiering on. In the last election, where two Florida state government seats were on the ballot, the Democratic candidates captured more than 40% of the vote for the first time in many years. And in Escambia County the Democrats outvoted the Republicans! So we ARE moving the needle. Age does not matter, we ALL need to take action and stand up wherever and however we can to push back.
I too am in Florida and amazingly My other have who was a drumpf loyalist has been turning the corner saying things like..."he was not like this in his last term...He needs medical help, something is not right with him...". I believe the cruelty is what really bothers him.He has started reading substack and is seeing another angle to what is happening. He used to shut me down but that has stopped. I believe there are others out there that are beginning to see the light and are going to jump ship.
He was like this the first time. The difference was the guard rails were in place to stop him. That’s why he’s burned them all down and only sycophants are around him.
Everyone please remember, he is NOT making all these decisions. He is NOT smart enough. This is 100% Project 2025, the Heritage Foundation, Voight, SCOTUS, and all those who have been working on this for the last 5 years to complete the destruction of Democracy as we know it. They helped him win because they know he is the Perfect idiot to be their total puppet. These people need to be exposed for TREASON every day. We must be better at messaging to win.
We all hope this is true. One of my friends with people in Arkansas and Tennessee where she is from has noticed a decrease in drumpf talk on line and not as much hate…
Keep on keeping on! NEVER SURRENDER!! Love your refusal to back down. Canada is rooting for you and your countrymen to get your country back from the fascists! 🇨🇦 🍁 ❤️
Thank you Canada. We are so embarrassed by this stooges behavior and the people who are trying to keep him believing that the country is behind him. They are lying to him because he is so fragile. You are doing the right thing and staying strong. Elbows up!!
Seniors in my town (Aberdeen, WA) are very prevalent at our protests. I myself am 83 and have been to 6 protests so far and plan to go as long as I need to.
At least they are awake where you live..in Nevada we kissed Trump's ring and pretend everything is doing fine.....oh unless you have a casino job...then you are forced to be concerned.
This new white supremacy movement is IMO the worse because it's disgusted as a make america great again slogan. The white man stole and killed the native Americans land,they hired and abused Chinese people to dig gold tunnels during the 1800's as a horrible wage,the stole the black man from Africa to get free labor and create our robber barron oligarchy,abused Latin migrants who worked for pennies on the dollar in our fields,and locked up Japanese Americans in Manzanar during WWII. This country has never been fair or equal to people of different races and history proves this. But this is the most abysmal administration because they are taking advantage of everyone and don't even want to hide it...they flaunt it!
Everything you said is absolutely on point. I don't know what it would take to wake people up from this legacy. I guess it's been normalized for so long that people can't imagine anything different.
Correct just like the new Dennis Praeger curriculum they are going to introduce to the schools in Oklahoma calling slavery a "compromise" so is that food and lodging in exchange for working people to death...that's a compromise?
I grew up in Alabama. When I was in the fourth grade (a long time ago!), my classmates and I were reading out loud a history book about the state that was published way back when. The book's only mention of anything to do with black people was that the "slaves were happy because they were always dancing and singing". I was the only black kid in my class, and you could hear a pin drop when we read that because everyone knew it was bs. My classmates were completely embarrassed on my behalf. That Prager garbage is an attempt to reinstate that narrative. It will fail.
These far right people believe in cherry picking from the Bible,I'm not a religious person but if you did this from the Koran you would be called a radical jehad or a Jew from the Torah you would be a zealot. This new administration is very similar to these principles. Everyone who disagrees with them is a "bad" person and they're not "nice" to me these are the earmarked of exceptionalism and this should never be involved in any governmental institution,especially nothing involving children.
MAGA see it but they don’t want to admit to it. They will make up everyexcuse in the book. We should hold their heels to the fire when Democrats take over.
Way too many people in our country operate from the FUIGM (Fvck U I Got Mine) perspective. That belief partially explains trump's support. Unfortunately, they still don't understand that unless you are a billionaire who's preferably white, straight, and male, you aren't eating at the Big Boy Plutocrat table, but you are instead the meal. It will be yet another example of FAFO coming in the near future.
True this isn't anything new,it's a repeat of historical horror politics from the Romans to the monarchy of Russia and France and these all end is very bad scenarios. The problem is many innocent people pay the ultimate price to correct the outcome.
Yes unfortunately this is very much the case. When I was younger and more idealistic, I thought humanity had left all this primitive stuff behind. But as the saying goes, the more things change. the more they stay the same.
I don't know where you are getting you information. Perhaps it's your opinion. I will tell you that every single senior citizen I know here in red state Indiana (dozens -- I am one) is outraged, worried, reflecting on how we can be part of protests, change and boycotts. You may be unaware that we lived through Civil Rights, the Kennedy and King assassinations as well as the Vietnam War. We were protesting then, too. Seniors vote in the largest numbers of any demographic, and we will be voting again.
I don’t think you can generalize this by age. I know a lot of working folks with kids who don’t know of this bad stuff happening because they are too busy. The first Hands Off protest was 75% seniors. It’s time to stop blaming—seniors, democrats, Christians— everyone who is against trump and the minions is welcome. And keep trying to expand our movement.
Most of the protests I've been too have been predominantly folks 50+ (not calling any of us seniors).
I get it that younger people are busy with kids & careers, etc., but they actually have the most to lose, so maybe they need to take 2-3 hours out of a Saturday afternoon and join a protest. Driving by & waving is nice, but we need a mass of people out there!
I strongly disagree...and I am VERY Senior. Everyone I know is incensed over the cruelty and vindictiveness of this dreadful pretend-President and his immoral administration. More concrete action must be taken to show accountability is expected from them.
Well I’m 75 and involved. So are my friends 65 thru 78. I wish I could be a paid subscriber to more podcasts and Substacks. I’ll follow those that echo these views and opinions. I’ll fight with my vote and march when I can.
I Don't Know What 90% Seniors Your Talking To ??? They Must Be Young !! Because The 90% Seniors I've Talked To Are Pissed..!!..?? Anyone Younger Than Vietnam Aren't Worried !!? Some Are There In The Streets Teaching The Younger Generations How It's Done !!?
90% of the seniors who post on this and similar sites are very angry and are participating in rallies and Congress their representatives in Congress. You're hanging out with the wrong seniors. I'm 78 and my husband is 81. We're very angry and disgusted.
If that movie is on Tuesday's playbill, I trust that the adults in the room will know who they are.. These people swore their oath to (uphold and defend) the Constitution, not to anything/one else. I have faith in our great military and believe they will do their duty.
My husband and I are seniors in our 70s, and very involved and informed. We reside in a 55+ community in Florida. All the seniors who think everything is fine are Republikkkans and watch Faux news exclusively. That is the problem in the country right now. Our neighbors literally quote all the Rebulikkkan rhetoric verbatim daily. It's so frustrating. We'd love to move, but the market here is the worst in the country right now, thanks to DeSantis, hurricanes, and the insurance companies. It wasn't like this when we moved here 25 years ago. DeSantis has been implementing Project 2025 for the last 7 years here in Florida. It is NOT the Freedom state at all.
I hear you my neighbors here live like horses with blinders on,and the blinders have pretty rose colors on them. One person follows the most insane publication ever printed and it's called “the digital soldier” she believes that most celebrities and past politicians have been secretly sent to tribunals and executed for treason and some have been replaced by clones. This creepy publication is funded by a person who changes thier name and writes under pseudonyms. This insane publication spouts the adrenocrome conspiracy and that people involved are being done away with to protect our country and Trump is the secret savior of this country. This trash shouldn't be allowed because people just because it's free speech. Just as dangerous as the anarchist handbook.
I wanted to move to Margaritaville senior housing but they are both in Red States, FL and SC. I know that it would make my blood boil if I was among trumpers.
Some of my family. And, I mean some, managed to survive Nazi Germany by fleeing from Poland to Russia where they were sent to Siberia until the end of WW II. Nazi Germany did not just jump to sending Jews to death camps. It started with the Brown Shirts. Politicians calling Jews “vermin”. Sound familiar? It progressively grew worse. They sent the Jews to “work camps”. “Concentration camps”. They often then disappeared. No difference from what is being started here right now. The only difference. It’s brown people. My father in law lost his entire family. He was fortunate as he fled Poland to Russia and ended in Siberia where he met my mother in law. Her mother and brother. My brother up in law was born in a resettlement camp in Germany waiting to immigrate to America. Did you see Schindler’s List movie. My aunt was hidden in the latrines by her mother just like shown in that movie. Where, fortunately, my mother in law’s family sponsored them. Make no mistake. It is happening right now. And, it hasn’t even been a year. We should all be very worried. Is my Jewish family next? Or Muslim families? Stephen Miller is a Nazi. No question about it. Just look back to the 1930’s here. Henry Ford was such a Nazi he put in Nazi brochures in each new car. Look it up. Lindbergh, the hero of America, was a proud Nazi.
I just finished reading Etty Hilesums Diary. A Dutch Jew, went to Auschwitz at the age of 29, with her brother and parents. You are exactly right. It’s 1939 all over again. And if we dont become active, we will end up being complicit. It’s pretty simple
🇨🇦 Loves MTN.. Hates what tRump and his MAGAtts are doing to YOUR COUNTRY, this isn't tRumps country, although the way hes burning it down you sure can't tell.. it's been 9 months of pure Rhetoric and Lies.. I Hate tRump and the GOP for You 👎😪
Why Tyrants Go Too Far: Malignant Narcissism and Absolute Power; Betty Glad, Dept. of Government and Int'l Studies, Univ. of South Carolina; Political Psychology, Vol. 23, No. 1 (Mar., 2002), pp. 1-37; Int'l Society of Political Psychology https://tinyurl.com/323p7ekf
[A Tyrant's] grandiosity and his skills in deception, manipulation, and intimidation are an advantage to him in securing power. But as he moves toward absolute power, he is also apt to cross moral and geographic boundaries … that place him in a vulnerable position. [He] may engage in cruelties that serve no political purpose, challenge the conventional morality in ways that undermine his base, engage in faulty reality testing, and overreach himself in foreign engagements in ways that invite new challenges to his rule.
[But] his grandiosity and the consequent limited reality testing are apt to lead him into behavior that turns out to be self-defeating. Tyrants may tempt fate by challenging the fundamental morality of the people they govern. Or they may surround themselves with persons who have motivations to kill them, or undertake reckless adventures.
Once he has consolidated his position, however, a tyrant is apt to act out, with apparent impunity, the grandiose fantasies other people usually constrain. Secure in his political base and intoxicated by his early successes, the tyrant is apt to come to a point where he no longer thinks he needs to be careful and becomes convinced that he can act out his most extreme fantasies.
Surrounded by flatterers, he is not apt to receive new information regarding realistic limits to which he should pay attention. But fantasies, grounded as they are on transient wishes and fears, provide poor guides to action, apt to lead a tyrant into making his grandiose goals obvious in statements as well as in policy choices in which the means are not well suited to the ends.
[A]bsolute power … is apt to result in even more extreme behavior. Even a malignant narcissist, in the climb to power, operates within certain external political constraints. But once he has attained absolute power, he can act out the grandiose fantasies that he [had kept in] check. Fantasies, however, are not good guides to action. The individual under their pull is apt to overestimate his capabilities, fail to appreciate realistic obstacles in the external environment, and act in increasingly chaotic ways. As his cruelties and apparent erratic behaviors expand, he creates new enemies.
Eventually, as he engages in ever more extreme behavior, his major defense-paranoia-breaks down … [leading] to the creation of opposing alliances, new boundaries may keep his potential for fragmentation in check. But if he has undertaken a path that permits no face-saving exit, he may take a route that risks the structures he has built.
Caught in a maelstrom of conflicting wishes and emotions and undertaking adventures for which there is no realistic productive end, the individual in such circumstances may seek some sort of way out. Compromise with him is likely only to whet the appetite. But confrontations that humiliate him could lead to behavior that is destructive both to him and those threatening him.
Richard, thank you for your thoughtful insights. I agree with you, which is why I chose not to include the final line of the article author’s conclusion: "Short of keeping such a person from ever coming to power, the creation of countervailing constraints that are both clear and impersonally used may be the best alternative available."
It is two elections too late to spend words about how keeping him out of office would have been better. So, what do we do with: “the creation of countervailing constraints that are both clear and impersonally used may be the best alternative available"?
Clarity is easy, but an attempted impersonal “no” to what he wants will make things worse. Ask Erik Siebert. No matter what is said, he will take it as a personal ad hominem attack that requires retribution. That cannot be “the best alternative available.” Instead (to agree with you again, neither lethargy nor) inaction can be on the table.
We need to defeat a “unitary” president with a 50%+ unified country. E pluribus unum, with the one out of many being our republican democracy reestablished and him away.
When I think of 'redemption' and 'turning your life around', you are the person that comes to mind. Thank you Michael. It was hard to do what you did, but I'm glad you did it. I think you are too.
I saw that video and in no way was it possible to see the situation as the misconduct of a single officer. Just as close to her were at least one police officer, several of what appeared to be court officers, and a number of other men. Not one of these raised a hand to separate the officer from the woman or reach out to her to provide assistance. I am disgusted and appalled at this scene of grievous bodily harm. Will he do it again once his administrative leave is over? Yes. Will he have undergone any remorse? No. And every single right-thinking American (and there are many of you) will wear the shame of that incident and so many others like it. I’m so sorry…
The truly sad part is far too many on the right saw this and were overjoyed. They laughed, shared the video, talked of the assault in terms of righteousness. This is what they wanted and are thrilled that people are being hurt.
I always wonder when you see this type of behavior and inability to control their temper in public what must the person's behavior be in the privacy of their home?
I think every local community, Dem or GOP already has a local chapter of Antifa. I’m going to call mine the Kilroy chapter of the VA. We must honor all fascist fighters, especially the fallen.
Thank you from the bottom of my heart for writing what you feel , what you suspect, what you see and what you know to be true. I feel like you write MY feelings. You dont pussy-foot and I as do soooo many others appreciate it
What is Trump thinking now?
Trump repeatedly claimed in 2011 and 2012 that Obama would start a war with Iran to win reelection.
Trump warns US approaching 'World War III territory' under Biden-Harris admin: 'Clowns.'
Turns out his war is with the American people. If you don't think we're at war perpetuated by Trump, you're asleep.
This is his revenge on the United States for not letting the big baby have his way the first time around
So now what’s up with John Roberts? What’s he got against the United States?
He is in the Catholic grip, They have control with Christian Nationalists making everyone conform to the Heritage Foundation dogma.
I disagree, White Nationalist are not Catholics.
They may not all be Christian nationalists, I remember my friend who was in a war camp and a Catholic with our priest at our church saying they did not stand up soon enough to the Nazis until they were put in Auschwitz Poland.
You are right. They are not even Christian! They are all White Spremacist and trust me God is not in there ideology! Only hatred and cruelty.
If Roberts is in the Catholic grip, the Pope Leo should be able to defrock him, right?
Excommunicate, but don't hold your breath.
In a Heartbeat, but, there is so much bs going on when large amounts of money are involved,
That's quite a muddle you have there! Last I looked, the Heritage Foundation was nondenominational, though tacitly Christian. The Christian nationalists are predominantly Protestant -- their political ancestors didn't trust Catholics at all. The Supreme Court is indeed heavily under the influence of conservative Catholics with connections to Opus Dei, a secretive, ultra-conservative Catholic group. Guess who else is connected to Opus Dei? Leonard Leo, the guy who's done more than anyone to pack the Court with conservative Catholics. Here's an intro to the subject by Dahlia Lithwick and Mark Joseph Stern of Slate: https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2024/09/supreme-court-leonard-leo-catholicism.html.
I agree.
Catholics are not Christians and here's why. Catholics follow the New and Old Testiments. Unlike Christians who follow the New and use the old as merely suggestions and ignore most of them.
Not a jot or a tittle.
What’s up with John Roberts? Nothing and everything. He, along with his miscreant immoral majority have sold their souls to the dark side in exchange for tenured immunity and the glamour of their vaunted seats on the Supreme Court bench. Their titles and the dark money perks are the ONLY things that concern them. They MUST all be impeached and disbarred. So who can start this ball rolling? WE THE PEOPLE!
Or we can get the Pope to excommunicate all of them.
Catholics are not Christians. They follow the old and new Testaments from the Bible. Unlike Christians who pick only New Testiment parts.
Follow the money.
I don’t know; I suspect that John Roberts is not the Mr. Milquetoast he wants us to believe he is. He is a radical right-winger. I think he had a hand in crafting Project 2025. They said “no” to just about everything the Biden administration brought to the court. Now the court approves everything Trump puts under their nose and they do it very quickly through the shadow docket, which seems to be the supreme courts variant on Trump’s executive order Both do plenty of damage with minimal deliberation.
One is compelled to wonder just what is this "shadow docket?" Who came up with this idea? How has it been used? Is it being abused? (I think we all know the answer to the last one).
He should have nothing against the US. He is really bad human being who btw has no integrity, no moral code, and looks down on everybody, but underneath it all is a coward and obviously therefore an insecure little man who made a decent living from his salary each year. So how does he have the money he has?
tRump is making this possible. He tells his followers end time is coming and there is nothing that can stop it. Said he had a 100year plan. They can't wait to die. It is the golden era and only he can get you there. DEMIGOD
He never tells his followers that he is the one bringing on the end of days…
It's INSANE how many people are HELPING trump rip USA apart. History will be brutal to these MASSIVE TRAITORS. Mass Media gave trump soooooo much credibility by constantly showing him 24/7 on their channels... thus normailizing all his INSANITY. Mass Media sold out their OWN COUNTRY for clicks and views. All those not calling him out are COMPLICIT. When grandchildren ask some democrat politicians what they did to save their country they can say "I held up a little paddle while keeping totally silent". Democracy is literally dying BECAUSE SOOO MANY AMERICANS ARE STAYING SILENT. It's way past the time to do your part. The worst is HERE. ACTION by alllllllllllllllllll is NEEDED NOW. It's reallyyyy reallyyyy bad now but without MASSIVE ACTION by ALLL AMERICANS... it's gonna be a zillion times worse very very soon. WAY WORSE !! And there may never be any coming back from it. DEMOCRACY needs EVERYONE to save it right now !!! E V E R Y O N E . No one else is going to do it but... YOU.
And we're not going to get rid of him hanging up funny little signs or getting together on a group and having a protest, that's not going to get rid of him
What do you suggest? There was a country that had recently just gone to the streets and took the dictator out. We can do this.
HeyJim. How do you propose to get rid of this cancer???
At least the protesters are actively doing something and the signs are communicating dissent!
It is a show of power & that shouldn't be dismissed. The proof is in how the regime is trying to stop it. Speaking out against abuse is the first, most important step in a plan of action. Articulating, & as you said, Christine, communication, is important. Words alone aren't going to get through to this regime, but speaking out is doing something. Look how much effect the firehose of lies has had. Matching that volume with the truth will be even more powerful & we have to do that.
The October 18, 2025 protest is drawing nigh. I made a batch of 126 protest signs for you and your group. Please share, restack, copy and paste the link. Have a printing company do these for you! Here they are:
http://bit.ly/483Qrd4
This feels like a bad movie, and it needs to be canned, right the fuck now.
Yes 💯
You are SUCH a talented writer. "An ecosystem of rage." Encapsulates the zeitgeist of the nation so succinctly. Thank you!
Why has the officer only been put on administrative leave? He should have already been fired.
Administrative Leave ! For The Trump Administration Means !!!! He Was Just Transferred To Another Area ...!!!..??? 🤔
He should be in jail. Why isn't he?
He's probably received a bonus, pat on the back and an atta boy.
The rules don't apply to ICE. We are now in up is down, night is day, lies are truth, evil.is good, ignorance is smart, etc. Don't try to make sense of it.
Read the book Against the Wall. I can’t remember who wrote it but she said on The Left Hook that this is just how ICE has always been acting but we didn’t see it because it was in Texas.
Because he’s doing trumpf’s bidding.
Still about 90% of the seniors I meet really don't think anything bad is happening to our country because they don't even follow current events. Until marshal law is declared and they feel threatened,it's just business as usual to people in general.
Not in my town. I think you are in error to blame the "seniors" (however you define them). Here, at least half the attendees at protests are within 10 years of my age (68), or older. Here, 75% of voters are registered Republicans, so our votes are virtually useless, but we keep soldiering on. In the last election, where two Florida state government seats were on the ballot, the Democratic candidates captured more than 40% of the vote for the first time in many years. And in Escambia County the Democrats outvoted the Republicans! So we ARE moving the needle. Age does not matter, we ALL need to take action and stand up wherever and however we can to push back.
I too am in Florida and amazingly My other have who was a drumpf loyalist has been turning the corner saying things like..."he was not like this in his last term...He needs medical help, something is not right with him...". I believe the cruelty is what really bothers him.He has started reading substack and is seeing another angle to what is happening. He used to shut me down but that has stopped. I believe there are others out there that are beginning to see the light and are going to jump ship.
He was like this the first time. The difference was the guard rails were in place to stop him. That’s why he’s burned them all down and only sycophants are around him.
Everyone please remember, he is NOT making all these decisions. He is NOT smart enough. This is 100% Project 2025, the Heritage Foundation, Voight, SCOTUS, and all those who have been working on this for the last 5 years to complete the destruction of Democracy as we know it. They helped him win because they know he is the Perfect idiot to be their total puppet. These people need to be exposed for TREASON every day. We must be better at messaging to win.
exactlyy
Well said.
Glad to hear your other half has an open mind now and may be coming around! Gives me hope that others' eyes are opening.
We all hope this is true. One of my friends with people in Arkansas and Tennessee where she is from has noticed a decrease in drumpf talk on line and not as much hate…
Keep on keeping on! NEVER SURRENDER!! Love your refusal to back down. Canada is rooting for you and your countrymen to get your country back from the fascists! 🇨🇦 🍁 ❤️
Thank you
Your support means a lot.
Thank you Canada. We are so embarrassed by this stooges behavior and the people who are trying to keep him believing that the country is behind him. They are lying to him because he is so fragile. You are doing the right thing and staying strong. Elbows up!!
Seniors in my town (Aberdeen, WA) are very prevalent at our protests. I myself am 83 and have been to 6 protests so far and plan to go as long as I need to.
Good for you Patti. I’m 92 and I have not missed any in my area.
Even better!!! Thank you~
Yes, I am 65 and recently had a health problem but I am still going to be well enough to get out on October 18, 2025 to bring down the regime.
At least they are awake where you live..in Nevada we kissed Trump's ring and pretend everything is doing fine.....oh unless you have a casino job...then you are forced to be concerned.
Ya, we heard your Las Vegas mayor begging Canadians to come back. Lo siento Sra. Alcaldesa, we'll pass.
Note to Americans- protesting with your wallet counts.
Hmm...I wonder if they'll pay attention when their Medicare disappears and the Social Security checks start getting smaller and smaller.
This new white supremacy movement is IMO the worse because it's disgusted as a make america great again slogan. The white man stole and killed the native Americans land,they hired and abused Chinese people to dig gold tunnels during the 1800's as a horrible wage,the stole the black man from Africa to get free labor and create our robber barron oligarchy,abused Latin migrants who worked for pennies on the dollar in our fields,and locked up Japanese Americans in Manzanar during WWII. This country has never been fair or equal to people of different races and history proves this. But this is the most abysmal administration because they are taking advantage of everyone and don't even want to hide it...they flaunt it!
Everything you said is absolutely on point. I don't know what it would take to wake people up from this legacy. I guess it's been normalized for so long that people can't imagine anything different.
Correct just like the new Dennis Praeger curriculum they are going to introduce to the schools in Oklahoma calling slavery a "compromise" so is that food and lodging in exchange for working people to death...that's a compromise?
I grew up in Alabama. When I was in the fourth grade (a long time ago!), my classmates and I were reading out loud a history book about the state that was published way back when. The book's only mention of anything to do with black people was that the "slaves were happy because they were always dancing and singing". I was the only black kid in my class, and you could hear a pin drop when we read that because everyone knew it was bs. My classmates were completely embarrassed on my behalf. That Prager garbage is an attempt to reinstate that narrative. It will fail.
I’m surprised but glad to hear that your classmates were not buying that crap back then.
I Dennis Should be treated like a slave for a couple of months and then we’ll see what he thinks
He will change his tune real quick
These far right people believe in cherry picking from the Bible,I'm not a religious person but if you did this from the Koran you would be called a radical jehad or a Jew from the Torah you would be a zealot. This new administration is very similar to these principles. Everyone who disagrees with them is a "bad" person and they're not "nice" to me these are the earmarked of exceptionalism and this should never be involved in any governmental institution,especially nothing involving children.
MAGA see it but they don’t want to admit to it. They will make up everyexcuse in the book. We should hold their heels to the fire when Democrats take over.
Same message, different hats
Correct or this administration decides we are too liberal to get government money.
Way too many people in our country operate from the FUIGM (Fvck U I Got Mine) perspective. That belief partially explains trump's support. Unfortunately, they still don't understand that unless you are a billionaire who's preferably white, straight, and male, you aren't eating at the Big Boy Plutocrat table, but you are instead the meal. It will be yet another example of FAFO coming in the near future.
True this isn't anything new,it's a repeat of historical horror politics from the Romans to the monarchy of Russia and France and these all end is very bad scenarios. The problem is many innocent people pay the ultimate price to correct the outcome.
Yes unfortunately this is very much the case. When I was younger and more idealistic, I thought humanity had left all this primitive stuff behind. But as the saying goes, the more things change. the more they stay the same.
I don't know where you are getting you information. Perhaps it's your opinion. I will tell you that every single senior citizen I know here in red state Indiana (dozens -- I am one) is outraged, worried, reflecting on how we can be part of protests, change and boycotts. You may be unaware that we lived through Civil Rights, the Kennedy and King assassinations as well as the Vietnam War. We were protesting then, too. Seniors vote in the largest numbers of any demographic, and we will be voting again.
I don’t think you can generalize this by age. I know a lot of working folks with kids who don’t know of this bad stuff happening because they are too busy. The first Hands Off protest was 75% seniors. It’s time to stop blaming—seniors, democrats, Christians— everyone who is against trump and the minions is welcome. And keep trying to expand our movement.
Most of the protests I've been too have been predominantly folks 50+ (not calling any of us seniors).
I get it that younger people are busy with kids & careers, etc., but they actually have the most to lose, so maybe they need to take 2-3 hours out of a Saturday afternoon and join a protest. Driving by & waving is nice, but we need a mass of people out there!
I strongly disagree...and I am VERY Senior. Everyone I know is incensed over the cruelty and vindictiveness of this dreadful pretend-President and his immoral administration. More concrete action must be taken to show accountability is expected from them.
Well I’m 75 and involved. So are my friends 65 thru 78. I wish I could be a paid subscriber to more podcasts and Substacks. I’ll follow those that echo these views and opinions. I’ll fight with my vote and march when I can.
Well, I'm a senior who DOES pay attention and I'm enraged!
Your opinion. Not helpful. I am very senior and it's not mine.
I Don't Know What 90% Seniors Your Talking To ??? They Must Be Young !! Because The 90% Seniors I've Talked To Are Pissed..!!..?? Anyone Younger Than Vietnam Aren't Worried !!? Some Are There In The Streets Teaching The Younger Generations How It's Done !!?
90% of the seniors who post on this and similar sites are very angry and are participating in rallies and Congress their representatives in Congress. You're hanging out with the wrong seniors. I'm 78 and my husband is 81. We're very angry and disgusted.
Maybe martial law is among the issues for discussion on Hegseth's "mind" on Tuesday?
If that movie is on Tuesday's playbill, I trust that the adults in the room will know who they are.. These people swore their oath to (uphold and defend) the Constitution, not to anything/one else. I have faith in our great military and believe they will do their duty.
Maybe. We'll see soon enough. If it turns out to be so, we'll soon know if moxie still runs in AMERICANS' BLOOD.
My husband and I are seniors in our 70s, and very involved and informed. We reside in a 55+ community in Florida. All the seniors who think everything is fine are Republikkkans and watch Faux news exclusively. That is the problem in the country right now. Our neighbors literally quote all the Rebulikkkan rhetoric verbatim daily. It's so frustrating. We'd love to move, but the market here is the worst in the country right now, thanks to DeSantis, hurricanes, and the insurance companies. It wasn't like this when we moved here 25 years ago. DeSantis has been implementing Project 2025 for the last 7 years here in Florida. It is NOT the Freedom state at all.
I hear you my neighbors here live like horses with blinders on,and the blinders have pretty rose colors on them. One person follows the most insane publication ever printed and it's called “the digital soldier” she believes that most celebrities and past politicians have been secretly sent to tribunals and executed for treason and some have been replaced by clones. This creepy publication is funded by a person who changes thier name and writes under pseudonyms. This insane publication spouts the adrenocrome conspiracy and that people involved are being done away with to protect our country and Trump is the secret savior of this country. This trash shouldn't be allowed because people just because it's free speech. Just as dangerous as the anarchist handbook.
I wanted to move to Margaritaville senior housing but they are both in Red States, FL and SC. I know that it would make my blood boil if I was among trumpers.
Until a person is DIRECTLY affected
Some of my family. And, I mean some, managed to survive Nazi Germany by fleeing from Poland to Russia where they were sent to Siberia until the end of WW II. Nazi Germany did not just jump to sending Jews to death camps. It started with the Brown Shirts. Politicians calling Jews “vermin”. Sound familiar? It progressively grew worse. They sent the Jews to “work camps”. “Concentration camps”. They often then disappeared. No difference from what is being started here right now. The only difference. It’s brown people. My father in law lost his entire family. He was fortunate as he fled Poland to Russia and ended in Siberia where he met my mother in law. Her mother and brother. My brother up in law was born in a resettlement camp in Germany waiting to immigrate to America. Did you see Schindler’s List movie. My aunt was hidden in the latrines by her mother just like shown in that movie. Where, fortunately, my mother in law’s family sponsored them. Make no mistake. It is happening right now. And, it hasn’t even been a year. We should all be very worried. Is my Jewish family next? Or Muslim families? Stephen Miller is a Nazi. No question about it. Just look back to the 1930’s here. Henry Ford was such a Nazi he put in Nazi brochures in each new car. Look it up. Lindbergh, the hero of America, was a proud Nazi.
Thank you, Candace. Sharing your true story. Huge love and respect. 🇨🇦 🍁 ❤️
I just finished reading Etty Hilesums Diary. A Dutch Jew, went to Auschwitz at the age of 29, with her brother and parents. You are exactly right. It’s 1939 all over again. And if we dont become active, we will end up being complicit. It’s pretty simple
🇨🇦 Loves MTN.. Hates what tRump and his MAGAtts are doing to YOUR COUNTRY, this isn't tRumps country, although the way hes burning it down you sure can't tell.. it's been 9 months of pure Rhetoric and Lies.. I Hate tRump and the GOP for You 👎😪
Evil never seems to have a limit.
Why Tyrants Go Too Far: Malignant Narcissism and Absolute Power; Betty Glad, Dept. of Government and Int'l Studies, Univ. of South Carolina; Political Psychology, Vol. 23, No. 1 (Mar., 2002), pp. 1-37; Int'l Society of Political Psychology https://tinyurl.com/323p7ekf
[A Tyrant's] grandiosity and his skills in deception, manipulation, and intimidation are an advantage to him in securing power. But as he moves toward absolute power, he is also apt to cross moral and geographic boundaries … that place him in a vulnerable position. [He] may engage in cruelties that serve no political purpose, challenge the conventional morality in ways that undermine his base, engage in faulty reality testing, and overreach himself in foreign engagements in ways that invite new challenges to his rule.
[But] his grandiosity and the consequent limited reality testing are apt to lead him into behavior that turns out to be self-defeating. Tyrants may tempt fate by challenging the fundamental morality of the people they govern. Or they may surround themselves with persons who have motivations to kill them, or undertake reckless adventures.
Once he has consolidated his position, however, a tyrant is apt to act out, with apparent impunity, the grandiose fantasies other people usually constrain. Secure in his political base and intoxicated by his early successes, the tyrant is apt to come to a point where he no longer thinks he needs to be careful and becomes convinced that he can act out his most extreme fantasies.
Surrounded by flatterers, he is not apt to receive new information regarding realistic limits to which he should pay attention. But fantasies, grounded as they are on transient wishes and fears, provide poor guides to action, apt to lead a tyrant into making his grandiose goals obvious in statements as well as in policy choices in which the means are not well suited to the ends.
[A]bsolute power … is apt to result in even more extreme behavior. Even a malignant narcissist, in the climb to power, operates within certain external political constraints. But once he has attained absolute power, he can act out the grandiose fantasies that he [had kept in] check. Fantasies, however, are not good guides to action. The individual under their pull is apt to overestimate his capabilities, fail to appreciate realistic obstacles in the external environment, and act in increasingly chaotic ways. As his cruelties and apparent erratic behaviors expand, he creates new enemies.
Eventually, as he engages in ever more extreme behavior, his major defense-paranoia-breaks down … [leading] to the creation of opposing alliances, new boundaries may keep his potential for fragmentation in check. But if he has undertaken a path that permits no face-saving exit, he may take a route that risks the structures he has built.
Caught in a maelstrom of conflicting wishes and emotions and undertaking adventures for which there is no realistic productive end, the individual in such circumstances may seek some sort of way out. Compromise with him is likely only to whet the appetite. But confrontations that humiliate him could lead to behavior that is destructive both to him and those threatening him.
Thank you Kelvin. This is not license for lethargy, however
Richard, thank you for your thoughtful insights. I agree with you, which is why I chose not to include the final line of the article author’s conclusion: "Short of keeping such a person from ever coming to power, the creation of countervailing constraints that are both clear and impersonally used may be the best alternative available."
It is two elections too late to spend words about how keeping him out of office would have been better. So, what do we do with: “the creation of countervailing constraints that are both clear and impersonally used may be the best alternative available"?
Clarity is easy, but an attempted impersonal “no” to what he wants will make things worse. Ask Erik Siebert. No matter what is said, he will take it as a personal ad hominem attack that requires retribution. That cannot be “the best alternative available.” Instead (to agree with you again, neither lethargy nor) inaction can be on the table.
We need to defeat a “unitary” president with a 50%+ unified country. E pluribus unum, with the one out of many being our republican democracy reestablished and him away.
When I think of 'redemption' and 'turning your life around', you are the person that comes to mind. Thank you Michael. It was hard to do what you did, but I'm glad you did it. I think you are too.
I saw that video and in no way was it possible to see the situation as the misconduct of a single officer. Just as close to her were at least one police officer, several of what appeared to be court officers, and a number of other men. Not one of these raised a hand to separate the officer from the woman or reach out to her to provide assistance. I am disgusted and appalled at this scene of grievous bodily harm. Will he do it again once his administrative leave is over? Yes. Will he have undergone any remorse? No. And every single right-thinking American (and there are many of you) will wear the shame of that incident and so many others like it. I’m so sorry…
The truly sad part is far too many on the right saw this and were overjoyed. They laughed, shared the video, talked of the assault in terms of righteousness. This is what they wanted and are thrilled that people are being hurt.
I always wonder when you see this type of behavior and inability to control their temper in public what must the person's behavior be in the privacy of their home?
I think every local community, Dem or GOP already has a local chapter of Antifa. I’m going to call mine the Kilroy chapter of the VA. We must honor all fascist fighters, especially the fallen.
Antifa is not an organization, it's an ideology.
Antifa = Anti-Fascist ... we should ALL be PROUD ANTI-FASCISTS!
There aren't local chapters. Your veterans who fought in most of our wars are anti-fascists.
There are 6,000 VFW chapters, and all consist of Antifa
Thank you from the bottom of my heart for writing what you feel , what you suspect, what you see and what you know to be true. I feel like you write MY feelings. You dont pussy-foot and I as do soooo many others appreciate it
It is always good to hear from someone who was once a part of the team and knew the playbook. Thanks for sharing!
OMG another great article by Michael Cohen.
All your portraying is a mad dog that is asking someone ,no not asking but begging for someone to put him down.