I like your article, despite not knowing anything about fentanyl because it's not a problem for my family and friends. But when I read that for eight out of ten people in red states, it's a very important problem, I thought that it might be a good idea to send your article to the Democrats who are speaking in town halls in red states, and perhaps to democratic groups in read states as well. I'm assuming it's crosses political barriers!
Speaking of the experience of drug addiction hitting home in deep red communities, I just finished reading Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver. It helps me understand and connect on a human level and to agree with your essay. The comment of @oldandintheway below is especially on point.
Let's talk about Tulsi Gabbard's hand in this issue; she has no problem lying to Congress on the record:
During a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing Tuesday, Gabbard presented the Annual Threat Assessment, or ATA, about the dangers state and nonstate actors pose to the United States. In her opening statement, Gabbard emphasized the presence of foreign cartels and illicit drug trafficking as the most dire threat to national security—but notably didn’t mention Canada at all.
Canada’s absence in the report presents a stark contradiction to the Trump administration’s insistence that drug trafficking across the northern border presents a major threat to Americans. Trump has cited this excuse as part of his rationale for levying 25 percent tariffs on Canadian exports.
Senator Martin Heinrich asked Gabbard to explain why she hadn’t mentioned Canada in her report.
“Is the [Intelligence Community] wrong in its omission of Canada as a source of illicit fentanyl in the ATA? I was surprised, given some of the rhetoric, that there is no mention of Canada in the ATA,” the New Mexico Democrat pressed.
“Senator, the focus in my opening and the ATA was really to focus on the most extreme threats in that area. And our assessment is that the most extreme threat related to fentanyl continues to come from and through Mexico,” Gabbard replied.
“So, the president has stated that the fentanyl coming through Canada is massive, and actually said it was an “unusual and extraordinary threat,” and that was the language that was used to justify putting tariffs on Canada,” Heinrich said. “I’m just trying to reconcile those two issues. Is it an “unusual and extraordinary threat,” or is it a minor threat that doesn’t even merit mention in the Annual Threat Assessment?”
Gabbard said she couldn’t speak to the “specifics” of the threat posed by Canadian fentanyl trafficking.
The facts around fentanyl have been totally missing of course. While I don't expect truth from the administration, the job of the media is to present it! Legacy news organizations are not giving this crucial issue anywhere near the attention it deserves. https://joshlevs.com/episode-48-cycle-breaker-immigration/
Under Sleepy Joe Biden, the HHS was able to design and implement very successful drug treatment programs. It took a while, but getting people clean is the best way to keep them alive. It is also the best way to get the cartels and the drug dealers out of business.
Too many people, especially in the red states where small farms and manufacturing jobs have dried up, are living lives of quiet desperation. That makes addiction very attractive. Also people whose jobs involve a lot of manual labor, live with a lot of pain, especially as they age and keep working. That also, leads to addiction.
Treatments involving drugs that cut the cravings, along with counseling, and relationship therapy, have been very successful. But Biden’s administration provided a lot of those so Trump will get rid of it. He probably has already.
Stopping the influx of drugs ha been uinsuccessful for over fifty years.
Are we supposed to somehow understand, forgive, and feel sorry for those who are just now starting to understand that there were not ever going to be two worlds in Rump 2.0: one for his supporters and one for his nons ?
They had the same chances to see that a scofflaw and felon running roughshod over the Constitution was never going to be a good idea.
But to an extent, we are going to have to work with those who do regret their vote and try to bring them back into the mainstream to save our democracy.
So would I work with them? As far as I was able to yes. Would I forgive them and act like they just made a simple mistake? No. But I would pair with them on common ground and work to bring them around on more issues.
And I have no pity on the consequences and hardship they are facing due to their vote. But I'm worried sick about myself, family and friends who didn't vote for Orangina and have to face these consequences. So I will fight like hell on the behalf of protecting Trump voters from themselves. And I shouldn't have to.
Trump is an abject moron, incapable of thinking deeply about anything. Fentanyl, egg prices, trade policy, you name it. There's no there there. There never was and never will be. He's an impulse-oriented 4-year-old, filled with cruelty and avarice. His policies are already making his own willfully ignorant base suffer most of all. I see no other way for this terrible disease to begin dissipating other than for it to boomerang back to those responsible for it. It will get worse before any of it gets better.
I am so happy to see someone finally state the obvious. There are two parts to every one of our drug crises. Supply and demand. For whatever reason, most politicans talk only about the supply portion of the crisis. Trump's border and immigration issues deal only with the supply issue.
The demand issue is strictly our problem. Americans want the drugs. They must be cured of the need for these drugs, so we need treatment centers and maybe even something so simple as a reason to want to live and prosper. I doubt that Trump or any his political allies can give anyone much less a drug user a reason to live and prosper.
Thanks for publishing this, The Contrarian. THIS is an example of a story that hits home for so many Americans -- including many in "deep red" areas steeped in Republican politics. More facts and details: https://theystandcorrected.substack.com/p/immigration-lies-drugs-and-sex-trafficking
I like your article, despite not knowing anything about fentanyl because it's not a problem for my family and friends. But when I read that for eight out of ten people in red states, it's a very important problem, I thought that it might be a good idea to send your article to the Democrats who are speaking in town halls in red states, and perhaps to democratic groups in read states as well. I'm assuming it's crosses political barriers!
Send it to everyone! And send this, which has more: theystandcorrected.substack.com
Speaking of the experience of drug addiction hitting home in deep red communities, I just finished reading Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver. It helps me understand and connect on a human level and to agree with your essay. The comment of @oldandintheway below is especially on point.
It's a heartbreaking tragedy. Given that a huge number of Americans are disconnected from politics -- and much more likely to vote R -- zeroing in on issues that hit home can be especially impactful. https://theystandcorrected.substack.com/p/immigration-lies-drugs-and-sex-trafficking
Let's talk about Tulsi Gabbard's hand in this issue; she has no problem lying to Congress on the record:
During a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing Tuesday, Gabbard presented the Annual Threat Assessment, or ATA, about the dangers state and nonstate actors pose to the United States. In her opening statement, Gabbard emphasized the presence of foreign cartels and illicit drug trafficking as the most dire threat to national security—but notably didn’t mention Canada at all.
Canada’s absence in the report presents a stark contradiction to the Trump administration’s insistence that drug trafficking across the northern border presents a major threat to Americans. Trump has cited this excuse as part of his rationale for levying 25 percent tariffs on Canadian exports.
Senator Martin Heinrich asked Gabbard to explain why she hadn’t mentioned Canada in her report.
“Is the [Intelligence Community] wrong in its omission of Canada as a source of illicit fentanyl in the ATA? I was surprised, given some of the rhetoric, that there is no mention of Canada in the ATA,” the New Mexico Democrat pressed.
“Senator, the focus in my opening and the ATA was really to focus on the most extreme threats in that area. And our assessment is that the most extreme threat related to fentanyl continues to come from and through Mexico,” Gabbard replied.
“So, the president has stated that the fentanyl coming through Canada is massive, and actually said it was an “unusual and extraordinary threat,” and that was the language that was used to justify putting tariffs on Canada,” Heinrich said. “I’m just trying to reconcile those two issues. Is it an “unusual and extraordinary threat,” or is it a minor threat that doesn’t even merit mention in the Annual Threat Assessment?”
Gabbard said she couldn’t speak to the “specifics” of the threat posed by Canadian fentanyl trafficking.
https://newrepublic.com/post/193148/donald-trump-tulsi-gabbard-canada-fentanyl
The facts around fentanyl have been totally missing of course. While I don't expect truth from the administration, the job of the media is to present it! Legacy news organizations are not giving this crucial issue anywhere near the attention it deserves. https://joshlevs.com/episode-48-cycle-breaker-immigration/
Under Sleepy Joe Biden, the HHS was able to design and implement very successful drug treatment programs. It took a while, but getting people clean is the best way to keep them alive. It is also the best way to get the cartels and the drug dealers out of business.
Too many people, especially in the red states where small farms and manufacturing jobs have dried up, are living lives of quiet desperation. That makes addiction very attractive. Also people whose jobs involve a lot of manual labor, live with a lot of pain, especially as they age and keep working. That also, leads to addiction.
Treatments involving drugs that cut the cravings, along with counseling, and relationship therapy, have been very successful. But Biden’s administration provided a lot of those so Trump will get rid of it. He probably has already.
Stopping the influx of drugs ha been uinsuccessful for over fifty years.
Yup. Biden had a lot of successes that the right of course does not give him credit for.
For Trump every issue/problem is just a tool that he can use to rile up his base.
Trump doesn't give a rat's arse about addiction or fentany. l
Are we supposed to somehow understand, forgive, and feel sorry for those who are just now starting to understand that there were not ever going to be two worlds in Rump 2.0: one for his supporters and one for his nons ?
They had the same chances to see that a scofflaw and felon running roughshod over the Constitution was never going to be a good idea.
No pity for them, here.
No pity. Just the glimmer of hope that they might not vote R in the next election.
I will never understand their vote - ever.
But to an extent, we are going to have to work with those who do regret their vote and try to bring them back into the mainstream to save our democracy.
So would I work with them? As far as I was able to yes. Would I forgive them and act like they just made a simple mistake? No. But I would pair with them on common ground and work to bring them around on more issues.
And I have no pity on the consequences and hardship they are facing due to their vote. But I'm worried sick about myself, family and friends who didn't vote for Orangina and have to face these consequences. So I will fight like hell on the behalf of protecting Trump voters from themselves. And I shouldn't have to.
I hear you! No need to see his return to office as a simple mistake -- it's a far worse phenomenon that threatens Democracy. https://theystandcorrected.substack.com/p/trump-storm-and-helicopters
Trump is an abject moron, incapable of thinking deeply about anything. Fentanyl, egg prices, trade policy, you name it. There's no there there. There never was and never will be. He's an impulse-oriented 4-year-old, filled with cruelty and avarice. His policies are already making his own willfully ignorant base suffer most of all. I see no other way for this terrible disease to begin dissipating other than for it to boomerang back to those responsible for it. It will get worse before any of it gets better.
I hear you. I call the time we're living in a Trump-storm. https://theystandcorrected.substack.com/p/trump-storm-and-helicopters
In the meantime, this is the kind of issue that could actually reach some people who are in deep red areas. Maybe even in time for the midterms.
I am so happy to see someone finally state the obvious. There are two parts to every one of our drug crises. Supply and demand. For whatever reason, most politicans talk only about the supply portion of the crisis. Trump's border and immigration issues deal only with the supply issue.
The demand issue is strictly our problem. Americans want the drugs. They must be cured of the need for these drugs, so we need treatment centers and maybe even something so simple as a reason to want to live and prosper. I doubt that Trump or any his political allies can give anyone much less a drug user a reason to live and prosper.
Yup. Supply is mostly our problem too, in the sense that U.S. citizens do the vast majority of the importing: https://joshlevs.com/episode-48-cycle-breaker-immigration/