Not sure that Epstein is the magic word at all. True, that name threads its way through many of the appalling morality-free relationships that are creating the mess we're in. But by itself it is not the core, but an indicator of a destructive set of values: a flag to watch for. But if we're not careful, it could also turn into a detraction as we hone in on the underlying dynamics that seem to put Epstein at the center. I think it is far more complex than that.
That's not to say that the cover-up isn't a factor. It's part of the world of lies and propaganda that surround this presidency, that is causing a hightened level of distrust and disapproval.
Finally. Maybe some of these politicians have finally realized that the disservice to their constituents and losing their votes, is more powerful than fear of being primaried by a failure named Trump.
True that. No matter what Trump throws up as distractions, (ICE, DHS firing of Noem, threats to Greenland and Cuba, military action in Venezuela and Iran) the Epstein cover-up is still there.
Listening to the utter nonsense being presented as "news" today--I recommend NPR's coverage, because the contempt in Robert Malley's voice when interviewed by Michel Martin was unmistakable (https://www.npr.org/2026/04/01/nx-s1-5769355/former-special-envoy-on-trumps-comments-that-iran-war-could-be-over-in-weeks)--I coined a new term for this maladministration: malignant incompetence. It's not just that they are morally bankrupt, intellectually vacant grifters and hooligans. It is that they are deliberately so. The only goal seems to be to destroy--gleefully--the entire country and to create an oligarch's utopia.
Our brothers and sisters in Poland managed to topple not only communism in Poland, but in the rest of eastern Europe as well. Ukrainians are continuing to resist Russia, much larger and more powerful on paper. Solidarity is more powerful than any dictatorship.
Thank you Jen! What a wonderful way to start my day! Love love and joy. We humans have it in there! And we long to live it! Thank you so much for the reminder!
This was certainly evident from the pictures and the people of Portland in their No Kings protest rally last Saturday. Vigor, joy, and optimism are a good way to combat the authoritarian chaos.
Terror can freeze you; try not to let it overwhelm you. Anger is certainly not out of place, and its energy needs to be directed toward a solution to tyrany.
Not just for the democrats. This movement wouldn't be as large or as successful if it relied only on democrats. It's taken a coalition of democrats, independents, former and even some current republicans as well as people who don't normally engage with politics to become the force it is now. And it will take ALL of us to rebuild this country in the post-Trump era - by remembering how close we came to losing our democracy because we allowed one man to divide us. It's also not right that one party should have to bear the entire burden of rebuilding our democracy alone. We're ALL in this together. As Franklin said following the signing of the Declaration of Independence, "we must all hang together or we will surely hang separately."
Even the party of Eisenhower would be an improvement. At least Republicans would talk to Democrats in Congress. It was a less adversarial relationship.
Agreed! A big reason our democracy is teetering is because we only have one functioning political party. That's not healthy - not now and not in the future.
Lasting it's the key word Thomas. We have a lot to rebuild and we have to include an extended guarantee to that to prevent another nightmare down the road 😀
And yet there are many millions of MAGA morons who still support Trump because they are morons. To be fair to some of them, their ability to think above the moron level has been carefully and skillfully blunted by Fox “News” and similar mental filth manufacturers of ignorance. This leaves the question of how any of the well educated and presumably intelligent MAGAs could possibly continue to support Trump. The obvious answer is simple, plain, ordinary immorality.
MAGA is composed of religious and racial bigots just as the Confederate States were and about 40% of the American public still is. Bigotry always has been "The Republican Base" since at least the mid 60's. They were the "Birthers" and now they are MAGA.
Most of the magaloids I know listen to hate radio all day. They get their news from Fox and similar outlets. They "do their own research" -- but only where Fox and Sinclair tell them. They've had it drummed into their heads for decades that "lib'rulz" are evil socialists, that they hate Ammurrica, and that there are secret cabals out there destroying the country. To what purpose? Take your pick. A new International order is a popular boogie man. But the steady stream of conspiracy theories makes them believe that they are party to inside information, which makes them feel important.
Some of them are intelligent. All are ignorant. And like most intellectually lazy people, they put up powerful resistance to any information that contradicts what they believe.
I don't think I excused anybody. I have to wonder how much free will do cult members actually have. I think that's one of the first things they surrender.
I do think you've put your finger on the main reason for the radical right wing's decades-long effort to destroy public education.
After all this time, we need to accept that there some people who willfully choose the ignorance peddled by Fox because it's what they want to hear and believe. They'd rather believe comfortable lies than accept uncomfortable reality. I know that's true of my own MAGA family members.
These are people who see everything in black and white. But reality isn't binary. Reality requires seeing and accepting nuance, shades. People who are rigid in their thinking and worldview find reality a very uncomfortable thing. They also have a giant chip on their shoulders and constantly need someone to blame for their circumstances. Reality requires them to take responsibility for their own lives; Fox sells them the comforting lie that they don't have to.
Always hopeful, I'm waiting for the wonderful day when Trump's approval ratings drop into the low 20's. Then I think I might feel optimistic that the MAGA curse is really breaking.
There are many reasons that so many people voted for 'him' in 2016. He could not have done it without the aid of a Democratic Party that had forgotten its working class roots. That didn't know how to bring together enough of its varied constituents with their various fears and needs. Then comes Murdoch's news outlets, so-called, that the candidate used to convince people that everything said against him was fake news. To say it's personal immorality that explains the third of people who still seem to support him, is as helpful as calling them despicables was in 2016. Public support for our moronic, cruel president is entrenched in more nuance, more complexity. As a Party the Democrats would do well to consider those nuances.
Jen Rubin - you are amazing! Excellent opinion (factual) piece. Everyone who doubts the power of events like 3/28 needs to read this. And thanks for the great coverage of NO KINGS day.
Don't blame his erratic behavior on bad advice. He could be surrounded by Mensa members and it wouldn't make any difference. The bottom line: trump is insane and were he not the president, surrounded by toadies who are making billions, he would be locked up in a mental hospital. He won't be impeached because his cabinet would have to admit they are following the orders of a crazy person, and what would that say about them?
Impeachment is delivered by Congress, which with its current makeup certainly won't happen. It would be up to the Cabinet to invoke the 25th Amendment, and due to its current makeup isn't going to happen either. Agreed, Trump is hostile, demented and delusional.
This is great! Something MUST be done about the detention centers/camps and the corrupt contractors that are not fulfilling their obligations. When is that going to generate such mass movements? People are dying!
One of our avenues is Project Salt Box, in which communities stop the purchase and construction of these human warehouses at the local level. This can be done by challenging them through their reckless disregard of zoning and environmental standards. Also, by putting Sunshine on the contracts and ownership. In the meantime, we must press reps. to keep on trying do oversight on these deplorable and inhumane camps like Dilley.
Always excellent commentary and summary of the moment. The absence of violence at the many events is one of the best indicators of success. When the story becomes the conflicts, the anger, and the inattention to the reason for gathering then doubts and fears predominate. No “Antifa” no “resistance” opened up the doors for the people who feel supportive but don’t want to feel threatened. Plus, there was no trigger event but a strong sense that everyone is impacted by the myriad of problems needing confrontation to lead to change.
The theme for those of us who will celebrate Passover tonight is freedom. From enslavement, from tyrants, from constraint, narrowness. May freedom from tyranny come to us all, soon.
Happy Passover! (I was told by a fellow who is in a position to know that I couldn't go wrong with this salutation.) May tonight, and your evenings to come, be filled with joy and celebration!
We always knew the person described in Haberman’s book, “Confidence Man”, would fail and ruin many lives in the process. We were not sure whether it would ruin the country as a whole. The sooner we put him on his heels and turn to the next chapter of American autocracy, the sooner this book ends.
The majic word is EPSTEIN.
Daniel, the majic word is magic. 😉
You're right.
It happens to me all the time Daniel, mostly before my first cup of coffee. 😃
https://imajic.com/en/privateshop
Not sure that Epstein is the magic word at all. True, that name threads its way through many of the appalling morality-free relationships that are creating the mess we're in. But by itself it is not the core, but an indicator of a destructive set of values: a flag to watch for. But if we're not careful, it could also turn into a detraction as we hone in on the underlying dynamics that seem to put Epstein at the center. I think it is far more complex than that.
That's not to say that the cover-up isn't a factor. It's part of the world of lies and propaganda that surround this presidency, that is causing a hightened level of distrust and disapproval.
4 layers.
1. perps
2. pimps
3. those who did business with a criminal organization.
4. obstruction of justice.
Every politician needs to be scrutinized. Congressional Republicans are discovering they have potential liability.
Finally. Maybe some of these politicians have finally realized that the disservice to their constituents and losing their votes, is more powerful than fear of being primaried by a failure named Trump.
Hope you don't play chess.
True that. No matter what Trump throws up as distractions, (ICE, DHS firing of Noem, threats to Greenland and Cuba, military action in Venezuela and Iran) the Epstein cover-up is still there.
Listening to the utter nonsense being presented as "news" today--I recommend NPR's coverage, because the contempt in Robert Malley's voice when interviewed by Michel Martin was unmistakable (https://www.npr.org/2026/04/01/nx-s1-5769355/former-special-envoy-on-trumps-comments-that-iran-war-could-be-over-in-weeks)--I coined a new term for this maladministration: malignant incompetence. It's not just that they are morally bankrupt, intellectually vacant grifters and hooligans. It is that they are deliberately so. The only goal seems to be to destroy--gleefully--the entire country and to create an oligarch's utopia.
Our brothers and sisters in Poland managed to topple not only communism in Poland, but in the rest of eastern Europe as well. Ukrainians are continuing to resist Russia, much larger and more powerful on paper. Solidarity is more powerful than any dictatorship.
It started in Poland and went all the way....
Here, more Ukrainian Americans per square inch in Parma...
Yes, Anne. Poland. Estonia. Ukraine (though not yet completed). We can do this.
Thank you Jen! What a wonderful way to start my day! Love love and joy. We humans have it in there! And we long to live it! Thank you so much for the reminder!
Go forth with love and joy!
This was certainly evident from the pictures and the people of Portland in their No Kings protest rally last Saturday. Vigor, joy, and optimism are a good way to combat the authoritarian chaos.
Oh please. I'm mad and terrified, not joyful.
Terror can freeze you; try not to let it overwhelm you. Anger is certainly not out of place, and its energy needs to be directed toward a solution to tyrany.
Fine. The next step, far more difficult, is to create a lasting majority for the Democrats.
Not just for the democrats. This movement wouldn't be as large or as successful if it relied only on democrats. It's taken a coalition of democrats, independents, former and even some current republicans as well as people who don't normally engage with politics to become the force it is now. And it will take ALL of us to rebuild this country in the post-Trump era - by remembering how close we came to losing our democracy because we allowed one man to divide us. It's also not right that one party should have to bear the entire burden of rebuilding our democracy alone. We're ALL in this together. As Franklin said following the signing of the Declaration of Independence, "we must all hang together or we will surely hang separately."
I'd love for the Republicans to return to being the Party of Lincoln.
Even the Party of Dewey would do. :)
Even the party of Eisenhower would be an improvement. At least Republicans would talk to Democrats in Congress. It was a less adversarial relationship.
Agreed! A big reason our democracy is teetering is because we only have one functioning political party. That's not healthy - not now and not in the future.
Lasting it's the key word Thomas. We have a lot to rebuild and we have to include an extended guarantee to that to prevent another nightmare down the road 😀
And yet there are many millions of MAGA morons who still support Trump because they are morons. To be fair to some of them, their ability to think above the moron level has been carefully and skillfully blunted by Fox “News” and similar mental filth manufacturers of ignorance. This leaves the question of how any of the well educated and presumably intelligent MAGAs could possibly continue to support Trump. The obvious answer is simple, plain, ordinary immorality.
MAGA is composed of religious and racial bigots just as the Confederate States were and about 40% of the American public still is. Bigotry always has been "The Republican Base" since at least the mid 60's. They were the "Birthers" and now they are MAGA.
Most of the magaloids I know listen to hate radio all day. They get their news from Fox and similar outlets. They "do their own research" -- but only where Fox and Sinclair tell them. They've had it drummed into their heads for decades that "lib'rulz" are evil socialists, that they hate Ammurrica, and that there are secret cabals out there destroying the country. To what purpose? Take your pick. A new International order is a popular boogie man. But the steady stream of conspiracy theories makes them believe that they are party to inside information, which makes them feel important.
Some of them are intelligent. All are ignorant. And like most intellectually lazy people, they put up powerful resistance to any information that contradicts what they believe.
Don't excuse them. They have free will. Sometimes I do wonder what the point of free public education is if this is the result.
I don't think I excused anybody. I have to wonder how much free will do cult members actually have. I think that's one of the first things they surrender.
I do think you've put your finger on the main reason for the radical right wing's decades-long effort to destroy public education.
The other obvious answer Ed, is that many of those well educated and presumably intelligent are also getting richer.
without the racism of the US the billionies would not have trump
After all this time, we need to accept that there some people who willfully choose the ignorance peddled by Fox because it's what they want to hear and believe. They'd rather believe comfortable lies than accept uncomfortable reality. I know that's true of my own MAGA family members.
What is 'uncomfortable' about peace, equality, human rights, and freedom from want?
These are people who see everything in black and white. But reality isn't binary. Reality requires seeing and accepting nuance, shades. People who are rigid in their thinking and worldview find reality a very uncomfortable thing. They also have a giant chip on their shoulders and constantly need someone to blame for their circumstances. Reality requires them to take responsibility for their own lives; Fox sells them the comforting lie that they don't have to.
You're correct. These people are bent toward the irrational. They clearly do not see their reality based upon facts.
Always hopeful, I'm waiting for the wonderful day when Trump's approval ratings drop into the low 20's. Then I think I might feel optimistic that the MAGA curse is really breaking.
intelligent MAGAS ?
There are many reasons that so many people voted for 'him' in 2016. He could not have done it without the aid of a Democratic Party that had forgotten its working class roots. That didn't know how to bring together enough of its varied constituents with their various fears and needs. Then comes Murdoch's news outlets, so-called, that the candidate used to convince people that everything said against him was fake news. To say it's personal immorality that explains the third of people who still seem to support him, is as helpful as calling them despicables was in 2016. Public support for our moronic, cruel president is entrenched in more nuance, more complexity. As a Party the Democrats would do well to consider those nuances.
Jen Rubin - you are amazing! Excellent opinion (factual) piece. Everyone who doubts the power of events like 3/28 needs to read this. And thanks for the great coverage of NO KINGS day.
Don't blame his erratic behavior on bad advice. He could be surrounded by Mensa members and it wouldn't make any difference. The bottom line: trump is insane and were he not the president, surrounded by toadies who are making billions, he would be locked up in a mental hospital. He won't be impeached because his cabinet would have to admit they are following the orders of a crazy person, and what would that say about them?
Impeachment is delivered by Congress, which with its current makeup certainly won't happen. It would be up to the Cabinet to invoke the 25th Amendment, and due to its current makeup isn't going to happen either. Agreed, Trump is hostile, demented and delusional.
This is great! Something MUST be done about the detention centers/camps and the corrupt contractors that are not fulfilling their obligations. When is that going to generate such mass movements? People are dying!
One of our avenues is Project Salt Box, in which communities stop the purchase and construction of these human warehouses at the local level. This can be done by challenging them through their reckless disregard of zoning and environmental standards. Also, by putting Sunshine on the contracts and ownership. In the meantime, we must press reps. to keep on trying do oversight on these deplorable and inhumane camps like Dilley.
Thank you, thank you! An uplifting and hopeful message grounded in truth and clear vision.
Let our people go…(We the People will prevail)!
Power to the People!
Wonderful essay. “Love will find a way/Love always finds a way.”
Always excellent commentary and summary of the moment. The absence of violence at the many events is one of the best indicators of success. When the story becomes the conflicts, the anger, and the inattention to the reason for gathering then doubts and fears predominate. No “Antifa” no “resistance” opened up the doors for the people who feel supportive but don’t want to feel threatened. Plus, there was no trigger event but a strong sense that everyone is impacted by the myriad of problems needing confrontation to lead to change.
The theme for those of us who will celebrate Passover tonight is freedom. From enslavement, from tyrants, from constraint, narrowness. May freedom from tyranny come to us all, soon.
Happy Passover! (I was told by a fellow who is in a position to know that I couldn't go wrong with this salutation.) May tonight, and your evenings to come, be filled with joy and celebration!
Beautifully written. Thank you, Elvi. Pesach Sameach! 💙
We always knew the person described in Haberman’s book, “Confidence Man”, would fail and ruin many lives in the process. We were not sure whether it would ruin the country as a whole. The sooner we put him on his heels and turn to the next chapter of American autocracy, the sooner this book ends.