"...a loyal partisan roundly indifferent to facts." This is how Jen has characterized Kash Patel, but this description can be applied to every one of the president's Cabinet Secretaries. Some, like Rubio, might once have had competence to bring to his important position. But he's traded that for fawning fealty to the man at the top of the pile of ignorance that is now our government.
Rubio might also have fallen victim to the Peter Principle, having risen so far that he has found his level of incomptence and that is being exploited.
That was ever tRump's goal. He wants incompetent underlings who know NOTHING about the departments they are running. The destruction of a functioning US Government has to have been Goal 1. It is the one which makes it possible to institute the tRump Dictatorship. The Heritage Foundation boys who wrote Project 2025 get their Gilead. tRump doesn't care if he destroys The Economy or The Dollar. He is no doubt converting crypto to gold as fast as possible. The Oligarchs too. The pursuit of great wealth and the attendant power has always been awful for society and the whole process is on steroids now.
I agree completely. I have read and deeply discussed Project 2025 and clearly much of its checklist of disruptive actions has already happened. It's not a crackpot conspiracy theory. The faith of the American people in our government and the democratic process will be destroyed. Then the autocrat-in-chief (likely Trump with his libertarian backers) will promise that he alone can fix things and the poor desperate MAGATS will forget who caused the destruction and continue to support him. We must continue to call out this behavior, support those in Congress and the courts who are trying to keep our democracy afloat, and resist in any non-violent way we can.
Unfortunately there is no more Congress or Courts! Even the lower Courts who have tried to regulate, have been stopped by the SCOTUS! We stand now with no way to regulate, or enforce any action by Trump. This was the object of the Heritage Manifesto!
So, going forward, the only currently known door to change, and the long road back to a full democracy, is the Mid-term election. But we are already seeing Trump and the Publicans working hard to find ways to win. However, even if they cam’t find that now, they will find a way to delay or cancel the voting for 2026!
We need a miracle to happen between now and next November!
All this while the “leader” rides in a Gilded Age Coach during his visit to London., puts up tacky gold trim on everything he sees, paves over the White House rose garden, and focuses his attention on building his ballroom. Nero is fiddling while the country “burns”.
One way to control; them is through shareholder derivitive litigation.
E.G. In Delaware state court, Plaintiffs the New York City Funds and the State of Oregon, against certain directors and officers of Fox Corporation. In connection with Fox News’ propagation of unfounded, defamatory conspiracy theories concerning the U.S. presidential election of 2020, the action alleges breach of fiduciary duties for: (1) the adoption of an illegal business model by which Fox News pursues profits by committing actionable defamation; (2) the lack of good faith efforts to establish systems or practices for minimizing, mitigating, or monitoring defamation risk; and (3) inaction in the face of red flags of defamation risk.
Contrarian should be keeping track.
Moreover, the fact that the head of the FCC, knows this and appears on Fox to call out Jimmy Kimmel, ABC, etc could be the basis for impeaching him.
Some of the most widely available channels, Fox News, CNN, and MSNBC are often referred to as the "big three" and Fox News has the highest viewership and ratings. While the networks are usually referred to as 24-hour news networks, reruns of news programs and analysis or opinion programming are played throughout the night, with the exception of breaking news. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_cable_news
Cable networks like MSNBC and USA Network are part of NBCUniversal, which was owned by Comcast but is undergoing a spin-off into a new, independent, publicly traded company that will be separate from Comcast but will include many of its cable assets.
A good first step. But if you start boycotting all the corporations that are enabling the fascist takeover of the country, soon you’re at a general spending strike, which is a good thing.
We, the People, can’t easily or safely withhold our tax dollars that are allowing this corrupt government to function. Our tax dollars fund the fascist takeover. Our tax dollars fund ICE and all the other corrupt activities of the regime.
But as consumers we can indirectly withhold our tax dollars. Consumer spending is about 70% of the economy. That spending ends up as tax dollars. Stop unnecessary spending and there will be far less money to fund the fascist takeover.
A general strike is long overdue. This mixes democracy and capitalism in the best way. Time to remind the capitalists of who the customer is and why we are so important. You can narrow down spending to just the essentials like food, shelter, and energy. Stop giving your attention to media that tries to muzzle comics.
The Labor Tribune newspaper always has a page entitled We Do Not Patronize, listing the area businesses that are against or are in litigation with one or more of the unions. We could have such a listing for our country's businesses that do not support democracy and/or fund and encourage the current administration and Congress. It would be long and exhausting.
Who would lead this strike? Why is a strike not being used today, or like in France, announced and then held? We do not have ANY leadership that thinks, let alone can act, in this manner. Someone with money and power, who agrees with those at the Contrarian and other alternative media, must become organized and then support a group, or an organization to begin this process. It could be held once, or twice a month! This, if started, advertised and actually held, using labor for example as a starter, could work.
This is a draft of part 3- How to accomplish a Spending Strike
My part 3 will address how to accomplish a spending strike. It will include ideas on how to get high profile national leadership.
My belief is that there will have to be a lot of grassroot support before a national “leader” will take up the cause. Most of our supposed leaders are really followers of movements. They’ll get out front after it’s shown to have popular support. So, we recruit more foot soldiers, like ourselves, and spread the word on various Substacks and other social media platforms.
Get some Substack writers with lots of readers to take up the cause and spread the word, like Jen Rubin, Steve Schmidt, Robert Reich, Heather Richardson, Paul krugman. Again, a good amount of grassroot support will have to be demonstrated.
Then hopefully one or more national leaders will take up the cause. I did see where some were encouraging Steve Schmidt to promote a spending strike. Excellent. I think we need an organized effort to encourage those writers to concentrate on this method of opposition. Coordinated mass emails to them promoting the idea. If we could get the 100+ people who have liked my recent posts, to all email one of these writers on the same day, it might get their attention. Something along those lines.
That’s where I see the usefulness of The Peaceful Solution Subscriber Chat. Coordinate effort, exchange information, resources, ideas.
There is nothing more dangerous than a fool in a position of power. The worst danger is that a fool will never recognize they are in over their head. They will never admit to having screwed things up and step down. People can be incompetent, they can not have the right skill set or level of training, etc. but as long as they are not fools, we can limp along. Harry Truman never went to college. But he knew enough to know what he didn't know and seek advice. And most importantly, he was not a fool. He could discern the difference between good advice and bad advice. Fools cannot do this.
So, as to Trump, pointing out all his errors of judgment, ability and the horrible results of his mistakes will never cause him to accept he should step aside as a non-fool might. He has the delusions and simple-mindedness of the fool. The only thing you can do when someone like Trump is in a position of power is to figure out how to remove him from office. So, the issue we have now is how to do that when Congress and the Supreme Court have chosen not to exercise their constitutional duties to the American people and check the Executive Branch to further the common good.
Trump realizes that he cannot keep being unchecked if he loses Congress. Therefore, every Democrat should be focused on preventing and/or mitigating all his dirty tricks, including mid-cycle redistricting, to make sure the will of the people does not prevail.
"Certainly, Trump’s escalating lawlessness and resorting to military power move us closer to a police state."
We, including Ms. Rubin, must continue to hold the entire Republican party accountable for everything that the Trump administration says and does. His administration exists because the Republican party allows it to exist. It is the REPUBLICAN party's excalating lawlessness and resorting to minitary power. Make them own it. Perhaps most importantly it is the REPUBLICAN party scheming to interfere with free and fair elections. That is the best explanation for why they are enabling policies that are so unpopular.
Time for every American to join one of the many activist groups and resist this tyranny.
To show Trump and his Republicans that the American people will not stand by as they turn our Democratic Republic into a Fascist state, support and vote for these Democrats on Nov.4,2025:
There's a hard core of Heritage fascists that DO know what they're doing, and a soft core of capitalists and oligarchs who have no problem going along with what's going on. They're the problem. The guy at the top is a joke but he has enough writers, good and bad, to make the jokes deadly to our republic.
Once again, Ms. Rubin exposes the current administration for what it is, and the first paragraph (before the Trump image) lays it out most clearly. Yes, bullies can be dangerous, especially when they are stupid, mentally deranged, and have power. They can also be maipulated by those around them who are smarter, and more foul of intent and agenda.
We have seen what the likes of Stephen Miller can accomplish through this manipulation.
We also need to keep in mind that DOGE wasted large amounts of taxpayer dollars with it's reckless antics and it's complete lack of knowledge about government departments and agencies. Stationing the military in LA and DC, and coming soon to Memphis and maybe St Louis, also costs millions per day. The Guard in DC doing landscaping work was because the National Parks Services employee base has been decimated. Add in the taxpayer dollars being spent to push forward "show" arrests, going through grand juries and bringing lawsuits. This is about waste and abuse.
New sanctions on Russia are not coming. Trump plays a game to protect Putin at Ukraine’s expense. Now he blames his delays on others. This crook has to go.
Every day, every hour, brings another justification for letting this government close down. Haven't the Democrats prepared some bills that would have bipartisan popular support, such as saving Medicare, that they will demand a vote on before they'll approve a funding bill? Has Schumer done anything at all about the shutdown, other than dither and blather?
The poor man only knows how to act like a politician. Acting as a statesman for the good of the people is a bridge too far. Again, it's an ego problem; it's time for him to step down.
"...a loyal partisan roundly indifferent to facts." This is how Jen has characterized Kash Patel, but this description can be applied to every one of the president's Cabinet Secretaries. Some, like Rubio, might once have had competence to bring to his important position. But he's traded that for fawning fealty to the man at the top of the pile of ignorance that is now our government.
Rubio might also have fallen victim to the Peter Principle, having risen so far that he has found his level of incomptence and that is being exploited.
That was ever tRump's goal. He wants incompetent underlings who know NOTHING about the departments they are running. The destruction of a functioning US Government has to have been Goal 1. It is the one which makes it possible to institute the tRump Dictatorship. The Heritage Foundation boys who wrote Project 2025 get their Gilead. tRump doesn't care if he destroys The Economy or The Dollar. He is no doubt converting crypto to gold as fast as possible. The Oligarchs too. The pursuit of great wealth and the attendant power has always been awful for society and the whole process is on steroids now.
I agree completely. I have read and deeply discussed Project 2025 and clearly much of its checklist of disruptive actions has already happened. It's not a crackpot conspiracy theory. The faith of the American people in our government and the democratic process will be destroyed. Then the autocrat-in-chief (likely Trump with his libertarian backers) will promise that he alone can fix things and the poor desperate MAGATS will forget who caused the destruction and continue to support him. We must continue to call out this behavior, support those in Congress and the courts who are trying to keep our democracy afloat, and resist in any non-violent way we can.
Unfortunately there is no more Congress or Courts! Even the lower Courts who have tried to regulate, have been stopped by the SCOTUS! We stand now with no way to regulate, or enforce any action by Trump. This was the object of the Heritage Manifesto!
So, going forward, the only currently known door to change, and the long road back to a full democracy, is the Mid-term election. But we are already seeing Trump and the Publicans working hard to find ways to win. However, even if they cam’t find that now, they will find a way to delay or cancel the voting for 2026!
We need a miracle to happen between now and next November!
Yes, you're probably correct.
And, unfortunately, it's only the the beginning....
VOTE BLUE IN VIRGINIA AND NEW JERSEY. BUILD A BLUE WALL IN THE DEMOCRATIC STATES OF AMERICA.
All this while the “leader” rides in a Gilded Age Coach during his visit to London., puts up tacky gold trim on everything he sees, paves over the White House rose garden, and focuses his attention on building his ballroom. Nero is fiddling while the country “burns”.
Definitely dangerous.
Yes. I'm waiting for Congress to stop that ballroom asap. He'll no doubt return from the UK with a plan to build himself a gold carriage.
He'll have his gold airplane. (And don't hold your breath waiting for Congress to do anything but say "Yes, your Highness".)
No doubt about that! 👀🙄
While he burns Rome (the USA).
RIGHT WING MAGATS ARE TAKING OVER OUR MEDIA. WE MUST STOP USING THESE SERVICES.
One way to control; them is through shareholder derivitive litigation.
E.G. In Delaware state court, Plaintiffs the New York City Funds and the State of Oregon, against certain directors and officers of Fox Corporation. In connection with Fox News’ propagation of unfounded, defamatory conspiracy theories concerning the U.S. presidential election of 2020, the action alleges breach of fiduciary duties for: (1) the adoption of an illegal business model by which Fox News pursues profits by committing actionable defamation; (2) the lack of good faith efforts to establish systems or practices for minimizing, mitigating, or monitoring defamation risk; and (3) inaction in the face of red flags of defamation risk.
Contrarian should be keeping track.
Moreover, the fact that the head of the FCC, knows this and appears on Fox to call out Jimmy Kimmel, ABC, etc could be the basis for impeaching him.
House Energy and Commerce Committee Communications Subcommittee: . https://energycommerce.house.gov/representatives
Senate:https://www.commerce.senate.gov/home
Only takes a few House Republicans to get it started. Check out their donors.
Fox is a broadcasting company competing with the big three -- ABC, NBC, CBS. Elsewhere, I noted that Trump has called Comcast, CEO Brian Roberts disgraces to 'integrity of Broadcasting' https://cbsaustin.com/news/nation-world/trump-calls-comcast-ceo-brian-roberts-disgraces
Why annouce FCC policy on Fox?
Some of the most widely available channels, Fox News, CNN, and MSNBC are often referred to as the "big three" and Fox News has the highest viewership and ratings. While the networks are usually referred to as 24-hour news networks, reruns of news programs and analysis or opinion programming are played throughout the night, with the exception of breaking news. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_cable_news
Cable networks like MSNBC and USA Network are part of NBCUniversal, which was owned by Comcast but is undergoing a spin-off into a new, independent, publicly traded company that will be separate from Comcast but will include many of its cable assets.
Most of the corporate media is sensitive to institutional investors that control large blocks of stock. Corportate media.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Concentration_of_media_ownership#:~:text=Discovery%2C%20Fox%20Corporation%2C%20Hearst%20Communications,Discovery%2C%20and%20Paramount%20Skydance.
It's possible that there will be shareholder derivitive suits stemming from capitulation to Trump extortion. https://www.abajournal.com/news/article/did-9-law-firms-making-deals-with-trump-violate-bribery-anti-fraud-laws-democratic-letters-seek-answers
Thank you very much, Daniel, for on so many issues getting the facts together and sharing them with us in very clear terms.
What happened so far with the 9 law firms?
Ok! This sounds plausible. Have you heard of any, any open discussion of this process? If so, why are the democrats keeping it a secret?
If MAGATS are not takingover the media, they are surely corrupting it.
Boycott Disney
A good first step. But if you start boycotting all the corporations that are enabling the fascist takeover of the country, soon you’re at a general spending strike, which is a good thing.
We, the People, can’t easily or safely withhold our tax dollars that are allowing this corrupt government to function. Our tax dollars fund the fascist takeover. Our tax dollars fund ICE and all the other corrupt activities of the regime.
But as consumers we can indirectly withhold our tax dollars. Consumer spending is about 70% of the economy. That spending ends up as tax dollars. Stop unnecessary spending and there will be far less money to fund the fascist takeover.
A general strike is long overdue. This mixes democracy and capitalism in the best way. Time to remind the capitalists of who the customer is and why we are so important. You can narrow down spending to just the essentials like food, shelter, and energy. Stop giving your attention to media that tries to muzzle comics.
Please join us in our effort to spread the word.
The Labor Tribune newspaper always has a page entitled We Do Not Patronize, listing the area businesses that are against or are in litigation with one or more of the unions. We could have such a listing for our country's businesses that do not support democracy and/or fund and encourage the current administration and Congress. It would be long and exhausting.
Who would lead this strike? Why is a strike not being used today, or like in France, announced and then held? We do not have ANY leadership that thinks, let alone can act, in this manner. Someone with money and power, who agrees with those at the Contrarian and other alternative media, must become organized and then support a group, or an organization to begin this process. It could be held once, or twice a month! This, if started, advertised and actually held, using labor for example as a starter, could work.
But, why are we not doing it?
This is a draft of part 3- How to accomplish a Spending Strike
My part 3 will address how to accomplish a spending strike. It will include ideas on how to get high profile national leadership.
My belief is that there will have to be a lot of grassroot support before a national “leader” will take up the cause. Most of our supposed leaders are really followers of movements. They’ll get out front after it’s shown to have popular support. So, we recruit more foot soldiers, like ourselves, and spread the word on various Substacks and other social media platforms.
Get some Substack writers with lots of readers to take up the cause and spread the word, like Jen Rubin, Steve Schmidt, Robert Reich, Heather Richardson, Paul krugman. Again, a good amount of grassroot support will have to be demonstrated.
Then hopefully one or more national leaders will take up the cause. I did see where some were encouraging Steve Schmidt to promote a spending strike. Excellent. I think we need an organized effort to encourage those writers to concentrate on this method of opposition. Coordinated mass emails to them promoting the idea. If we could get the 100+ people who have liked my recent posts, to all email one of these writers on the same day, it might get their attention. Something along those lines.
That’s where I see the usefulness of The Peaceful Solution Subscriber Chat. Coordinate effort, exchange information, resources, ideas.
There is nothing more dangerous than a fool in a position of power. The worst danger is that a fool will never recognize they are in over their head. They will never admit to having screwed things up and step down. People can be incompetent, they can not have the right skill set or level of training, etc. but as long as they are not fools, we can limp along. Harry Truman never went to college. But he knew enough to know what he didn't know and seek advice. And most importantly, he was not a fool. He could discern the difference between good advice and bad advice. Fools cannot do this.
So, as to Trump, pointing out all his errors of judgment, ability and the horrible results of his mistakes will never cause him to accept he should step aside as a non-fool might. He has the delusions and simple-mindedness of the fool. The only thing you can do when someone like Trump is in a position of power is to figure out how to remove him from office. So, the issue we have now is how to do that when Congress and the Supreme Court have chosen not to exercise their constitutional duties to the American people and check the Executive Branch to further the common good.
Trump realizes that he cannot keep being unchecked if he loses Congress. Therefore, every Democrat should be focused on preventing and/or mitigating all his dirty tricks, including mid-cycle redistricting, to make sure the will of the people does not prevail.
"Certainly, Trump’s escalating lawlessness and resorting to military power move us closer to a police state."
We, including Ms. Rubin, must continue to hold the entire Republican party accountable for everything that the Trump administration says and does. His administration exists because the Republican party allows it to exist. It is the REPUBLICAN party's excalating lawlessness and resorting to minitary power. Make them own it. Perhaps most importantly it is the REPUBLICAN party scheming to interfere with free and fair elections. That is the best explanation for why they are enabling policies that are so unpopular.
Time for every American to join one of the many activist groups and resist this tyranny.
Spot on.
To show Trump and his Republicans that the American people will not stand by as they turn our Democratic Republic into a Fascist state, support and vote for these Democrats on Nov.4,2025:
Abigail Spanberger for Governor of Virginia and
Mikie Sherrill for Governor of New Jersey.
There's a hard core of Heritage fascists that DO know what they're doing, and a soft core of capitalists and oligarchs who have no problem going along with what's going on. They're the problem. The guy at the top is a joke but he has enough writers, good and bad, to make the jokes deadly to our republic.
Once again, Ms. Rubin exposes the current administration for what it is, and the first paragraph (before the Trump image) lays it out most clearly. Yes, bullies can be dangerous, especially when they are stupid, mentally deranged, and have power. They can also be maipulated by those around them who are smarter, and more foul of intent and agenda.
We have seen what the likes of Stephen Miller can accomplish through this manipulation.
We also need to keep in mind that DOGE wasted large amounts of taxpayer dollars with it's reckless antics and it's complete lack of knowledge about government departments and agencies. Stationing the military in LA and DC, and coming soon to Memphis and maybe St Louis, also costs millions per day. The Guard in DC doing landscaping work was because the National Parks Services employee base has been decimated. Add in the taxpayer dollars being spent to push forward "show" arrests, going through grand juries and bringing lawsuits. This is about waste and abuse.
We need to stand up to this budding police state!
Go to NoKings.org and sign up to attend the next nationwide protest on Oct 18! Let’s flood the streets of our towns and cities!
Let’s demand a government that works FOR THE PEOPLE!
New sanctions on Russia are not coming. Trump plays a game to protect Putin at Ukraine’s expense. Now he blames his delays on others. This crook has to go.
Powerful. Thank you.
Every day, every hour, brings another justification for letting this government close down. Haven't the Democrats prepared some bills that would have bipartisan popular support, such as saving Medicare, that they will demand a vote on before they'll approve a funding bill? Has Schumer done anything at all about the shutdown, other than dither and blather?
The poor man only knows how to act like a politician. Acting as a statesman for the good of the people is a bridge too far. Again, it's an ego problem; it's time for him to step down.