Thank you for this reminder of all who has been harmed as a result of this administration. And thank you for bringing up abortion rights where minority views have been imposed on the majority.
"The midterms are a referendum on cruel, chaotic MAGA rule, but beyond the midterms, Democrats must paint a vivid picture of the choice voters face: MAGA nihilism, corruption, cruelty, and oligarchic rule vs. Democrats’ actual objective (not Republican caricature, e.g., “socialism” or “open borders”), namely, functional government, improvement of safety net programs, humane immigration policy with border protection, personal freedoms to define one’s life, and fairness for the little guy and gal. " Very true. But Trump and MAGA also know it well and are planning to overcome by means of controlling the election and claiming the election is rigged when they lose. How can citizens prevent that from happening? Fight is just started.
Good plan. Also term limits for justices (see Brennan Center). But there’s so much more we can do that could happen even sooner. There’s a lot of public support for preventing lawmakers from owning and trading stock. Disincentivizing the ability to grow corruptly rich through “public service” is very useful. Also check out Tim Snyder’s Thinking Out Loud interview with Lawrence Lessig. There really are things we can do.
So we circle back to our need to take back government from oligarchs who own the press and can afford to air TV ads for those they support (who will surely support their interests). Yep, it’s all connected.
The names 'progressive' and 'liberal' have different meanings to different people. Those labels have been used by MAGA to beat up on people for a long time. Turns out, when We the People have Project 2025 jammed down our throats, names start to matter less, and how people are actually treated matters more. And then, words like 'fascist' and 'dictator' and 'corrupt' and 'regime' take on new meaning. Things have gotten personal real quick.
I just posted about the labels. Yes, MAGA has used them successfully as a pejorative. While it is the opposite of what is happening in our country, maybe we need to lean on words like humane and caring. In a world where MAGA has tried, maybe successfully for some, even pastors, to turn the words of Jesus into weapons against people. The Rs are pretty good at marketing when DJT is presented as Jesus figure and some people fall for it.
Because WORDS DO MATTER. But Everyone has their own interpretation. One person's "hot day" is "paradise", another person thinks "ugh, sweaty day." This is our nature and exposes the difficulty with human language. And yes, it can lead to misunderstandings. If in doubt, clarify.
"The midterms are a referendum on cruel, chaotic MAGA rule, but beyond the midterms, Democrats must paint a vivid picture of the choice voters face" The midterms are stepts toward restoration of democratic values and friends and allies of the world. King Charles appearance is the beginning.
This morning a NYT editorial contains outtakes from ICE body cameras as they gleefully harass and arrest black and brown people in Nashville and let white people go. It is disgusting to watch. Everyone should watch it.
As we know, there are some who are just fine with this sort of oppression and others who wish to ignore it. As such, many will not watch, or believe it to be "fake news".
I hope that we get to see all the cruel and inhumane idiots of this regime sitting in a courtroom at The Hague for their crimes against humanity. Ms. Rubin has described the charges perfectly.
This regime found all the holes in our Constitution. We need a commission here in the US to spotlight how this regime was able to destroy our democratic republic, and propose new laws and Constitutional amendments to prevent it from happening again.
Opening up the Constitution to amendments in this climate might be more dangerous than beneficial. With so many states (that have to ratify the amendments) firmly in support of MAGA ideals and policies, we might end up with a weaker document than we already have. Not saying that we shouldn't do it, or that it isn't needed, though we should be careful here.
Good point. What we need is to restore respect for the document that elected officials pledge an oath to defend and I don't know how we do that. Choose our elected officials more wisely, obviously, but after Trump got elected AGAIN, I'm not sure we're capable of it.
"I hope that we get to see all the cruel and inhumane idiots of this regime sitting in a courtroom..."
I would like to see all those cruel and inhumane idiots who knew Joe Biden was cognitively impaired and lied about it to the American people sitting in a courtroom.
If the only holes were in our Constitution, things would not be nearly as bad as they are. We need to fill the gaping hole of deliberative, participatory democracy. But yes, we desperately need amendments to protect against people like the current regime.
“Not paying attention.” Might be the best way to describe why our rights, services, and expectations are being taken away. If 70% of a representative’s constituents want something, shouldn’t that representative vote for it? Political party voting is not the same as constituent voting.
No kidding. If we were to pay attention, how many times have we seen a politician extol the value of a piece of legislation and then when it comes to the floor, vote against it? We have also seen politicians take credit for the results from legislation for which they did not vote or outright opposed.
tRump is an accomplished scam artist. He hooks people by telling them what they want to hear. Nobody wanted to believe you could implement P2025 by feeding all personal data into a massive AI and build detention capacity to detain specific voters on election day in critical districts. It's coming to a town near you soon. The system test is coming this Fall.
This would take the action of many educated voters to rise up and vote. Sadly, there is everything from acceptance to lack of interest thwarting the fixing. It will take a lot of work to change the pattern.
We begin with ourselves, and help inform our families, friends, neighbors. I don't know where you live, but where I live, people are very active in doing those things.
South central Illinois, where activities are increasing. An example is that some who have had Trump signs in their yards in the past are now showing up at our protest rallies - carrying signs in support of our mission. Word is spreading here too.
Thanks, Steve. I subscribe to a lot of sources and the signal for this is getting stronger in a lot of places. This is one reason it bothers me that so many people (some trolls, some just honestly concerned) keep harping on what they think is an absence of awareness, or ignorance, or whatever. People who are having a change of heart aren't necessarily advertizing it. But they are thinking, and they are starting to show up. The negativity toward them hinders that process. And I want to point out that the change is a result of a lot of things, different for every body, different in different communities. Every time we discount other's ability to change, we hurt our mission, which is to grow the willingness of others to reconsider.
"People who are having a change of heart aren't necessarily advertizing it."
True that. A lot of people don't want to admit publically that they made a mistake, and especially to their neighbors who they feel might think less of them for changing their minds.
Around here, we have a lot of farmers and their families, also people who work minimum wage jobs who have felt more of the pinch of the rising prices and failed promises than others who are better off. Conditions haven't gotten their attention - yet.
Excellent piece today Jennifer. However, if we are being honest with ourselves, then we must also add to the "reasons" of "why so many people voted for Trump" is because some (many?) of them would never vote for a person of color for president nor would they vote for a woman, and Heaven forbid, a woman of color - regardless of how abhorrent the other (white man's) policies and promises are. If we can face that fact squarely and honestly, then hopefully we will never have to relive this Project 2025 style governance again.
There are many people who don't understand the concept of "downstream," as in, "I don't care what happens to those people up there; I live miles away from them, even if it is on the same river."
Most people do like humane government. Humane government operates from the rule of law and democracy. Republicans have no clue what democracy even is. They want to force their ideology on everyone. It includes everything from abortion to immigration. Our Supreme Court needs the most work to be overhauled. It doesn’t work for the common good anymore.
The progressive agenda attempts to do the most good for the most people in the fairest manner possible. The Republican agenda is to do the most good for the smallest subset of the American People in the most destructive manner possible. It is powered by tribalism and a dedicated propaganda network.
Once again I feel “Rubin for President”. Failing that could you please hold some workshops for Dem candidates. Maybe “How to Articulate Progressivism”???
I recommend reading Monbiot & Hutchison’s Invisible Doctrine. It’s short, accessible, clear, and spot on about what progressivism means and what it takes. Also, Anat Shenker-Osorio is amazing at messaging. https://substack.com/@anatosaurus/posts
The simple answer to why republicans vote republican is that 20 to 30 percent of them have totally built their own identity around the republican party. They will follow what ever the now republican-communist-fascist party says period. Proof they voted a felon and rapist and alleged child rapist and trafficker as president. Forget them, 20-30 percent means nothing focus on independent voters.
The Biden economy was according to The Economist: "the envy of the world". In TrumpWorld Biden "destroyed the economy" & had "worst inflation in history" & thanks to Trump we're now in a "Golden Age".
Trump & Co project corruption & fraud, exploiting official power to achieve private gain. Box of ? Pirro: all star in constellation of corruption where fighting crime is criminal & fighting racism is criminal promotion of racism. SPLC is a victim of a weaponized DOJ/FBI .
Now, posting a photo of seashells is a federal offense?
Like Muhammad Ali (the boxer) the Left has to master the art of “Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee,” when up against IL Duce Trump. His right punch is “money talks, nobody walks,” i.e., show me the money and I’ll give you what you want. The Tech Broligarchs, autocrats, and international dictators delight in this open door as most of their money already comes from squeezing others. IL Duce Trump’s left punch is a pliant Congress and a Trump wholly-owned corporate Supreme Court. The former pays the Trump bills, cuts taxes for the rich, and guts benefits to most Americans. The latter uses the Shadow Docket to dispose of inconvenient legal cases for the ‘Duce. IL Duce also has a wicked gut punch called the Presidential Pardon. The left has to be nimble and not stumble into a clinch. And by all means, come up with a program that has meat on the bones and not merely “Trump is bad.”
Thank you for this reminder of all who has been harmed as a result of this administration. And thank you for bringing up abortion rights where minority views have been imposed on the majority.
"The midterms are a referendum on cruel, chaotic MAGA rule, but beyond the midterms, Democrats must paint a vivid picture of the choice voters face: MAGA nihilism, corruption, cruelty, and oligarchic rule vs. Democrats’ actual objective (not Republican caricature, e.g., “socialism” or “open borders”), namely, functional government, improvement of safety net programs, humane immigration policy with border protection, personal freedoms to define one’s life, and fairness for the little guy and gal. " Very true. But Trump and MAGA also know it well and are planning to overcome by means of controlling the election and claiming the election is rigged when they lose. How can citizens prevent that from happening? Fight is just started.
The fight to keep elites from buying the public narrative will never end. We have to be committed to this forever if we want democratic institutions.
"The fight to keep elites from buying the public narrative will never end."
One of the best ways to reduce their influence is to place term limits on Congress. They will never do it themselves, but there is this site:
https://conventionofstates.com/
Thus far twenty states have signed on. I believe the magic number is 34 to get the convention started.
Good plan. Also term limits for justices (see Brennan Center). But there’s so much more we can do that could happen even sooner. There’s a lot of public support for preventing lawmakers from owning and trading stock. Disincentivizing the ability to grow corruptly rich through “public service” is very useful. Also check out Tim Snyder’s Thinking Out Loud interview with Lawrence Lessig. There really are things we can do.
"There’s a lot of public support for preventing lawmakers from owning and trading stock."
Agreed - that should have happened long ago. But too many on both sides of the aisle enjoyed the benefits without any regard for regular investors.
So we circle back to our need to take back government from oligarchs who own the press and can afford to air TV ads for those they support (who will surely support their interests). Yep, it’s all connected.
These atrocities are so clear that the need to explain them to voters says much about who we really are and that is a hot mess.
The names 'progressive' and 'liberal' have different meanings to different people. Those labels have been used by MAGA to beat up on people for a long time. Turns out, when We the People have Project 2025 jammed down our throats, names start to matter less, and how people are actually treated matters more. And then, words like 'fascist' and 'dictator' and 'corrupt' and 'regime' take on new meaning. Things have gotten personal real quick.
The only thing "progressive" about this administration is his escalating dementia.
That would be "rapidly progressing "
Thank you, that too.
I just posted about the labels. Yes, MAGA has used them successfully as a pejorative. While it is the opposite of what is happening in our country, maybe we need to lean on words like humane and caring. In a world where MAGA has tried, maybe successfully for some, even pastors, to turn the words of Jesus into weapons against people. The Rs are pretty good at marketing when DJT is presented as Jesus figure and some people fall for it.
Because WORDS DO MATTER. But Everyone has their own interpretation. One person's "hot day" is "paradise", another person thinks "ugh, sweaty day." This is our nature and exposes the difficulty with human language. And yes, it can lead to misunderstandings. If in doubt, clarify.
"The midterms are a referendum on cruel, chaotic MAGA rule, but beyond the midterms, Democrats must paint a vivid picture of the choice voters face" The midterms are stepts toward restoration of democratic values and friends and allies of the world. King Charles appearance is the beginning.
This morning a NYT editorial contains outtakes from ICE body cameras as they gleefully harass and arrest black and brown people in Nashville and let white people go. It is disgusting to watch. Everyone should watch it.
As we know, there are some who are just fine with this sort of oppression and others who wish to ignore it. As such, many will not watch, or believe it to be "fake news".
I hope that we get to see all the cruel and inhumane idiots of this regime sitting in a courtroom at The Hague for their crimes against humanity. Ms. Rubin has described the charges perfectly.
This regime found all the holes in our Constitution. We need a commission here in the US to spotlight how this regime was able to destroy our democratic republic, and propose new laws and Constitutional amendments to prevent it from happening again.
Opening up the Constitution to amendments in this climate might be more dangerous than beneficial. With so many states (that have to ratify the amendments) firmly in support of MAGA ideals and policies, we might end up with a weaker document than we already have. Not saying that we shouldn't do it, or that it isn't needed, though we should be careful here.
Good point. What we need is to restore respect for the document that elected officials pledge an oath to defend and I don't know how we do that. Choose our elected officials more wisely, obviously, but after Trump got elected AGAIN, I'm not sure we're capable of it.
"I hope that we get to see all the cruel and inhumane idiots of this regime sitting in a courtroom..."
I would like to see all those cruel and inhumane idiots who knew Joe Biden was cognitively impaired and lied about it to the American people sitting in a courtroom.
If the only holes were in our Constitution, things would not be nearly as bad as they are. We need to fill the gaping hole of deliberative, participatory democracy. But yes, we desperately need amendments to protect against people like the current regime.
“Not paying attention.” Might be the best way to describe why our rights, services, and expectations are being taken away. If 70% of a representative’s constituents want something, shouldn’t that representative vote for it? Political party voting is not the same as constituent voting.
No kidding. If we were to pay attention, how many times have we seen a politician extol the value of a piece of legislation and then when it comes to the floor, vote against it? We have also seen politicians take credit for the results from legislation for which they did not vote or outright opposed.
tRump is an accomplished scam artist. He hooks people by telling them what they want to hear. Nobody wanted to believe you could implement P2025 by feeding all personal data into a massive AI and build detention capacity to detain specific voters on election day in critical districts. It's coming to a town near you soon. The system test is coming this Fall.
And, the oval office is no place for an "accomplished scam artist". T. Rump first year in office has AMPLY proved that POSITIVELY!
Lets get our government fixed, eh!!??
This would take the action of many educated voters to rise up and vote. Sadly, there is everything from acceptance to lack of interest thwarting the fixing. It will take a lot of work to change the pattern.
We begin with ourselves, and help inform our families, friends, neighbors. I don't know where you live, but where I live, people are very active in doing those things.
South central Illinois, where activities are increasing. An example is that some who have had Trump signs in their yards in the past are now showing up at our protest rallies - carrying signs in support of our mission. Word is spreading here too.
Thanks, Steve. I subscribe to a lot of sources and the signal for this is getting stronger in a lot of places. This is one reason it bothers me that so many people (some trolls, some just honestly concerned) keep harping on what they think is an absence of awareness, or ignorance, or whatever. People who are having a change of heart aren't necessarily advertizing it. But they are thinking, and they are starting to show up. The negativity toward them hinders that process. And I want to point out that the change is a result of a lot of things, different for every body, different in different communities. Every time we discount other's ability to change, we hurt our mission, which is to grow the willingness of others to reconsider.
"People who are having a change of heart aren't necessarily advertizing it."
True that. A lot of people don't want to admit publically that they made a mistake, and especially to their neighbors who they feel might think less of them for changing their minds.
Around here, we have a lot of farmers and their families, also people who work minimum wage jobs who have felt more of the pinch of the rising prices and failed promises than others who are better off. Conditions haven't gotten their attention - yet.
Excellent piece today Jennifer. However, if we are being honest with ourselves, then we must also add to the "reasons" of "why so many people voted for Trump" is because some (many?) of them would never vote for a person of color for president nor would they vote for a woman, and Heaven forbid, a woman of color - regardless of how abhorrent the other (white man's) policies and promises are. If we can face that fact squarely and honestly, then hopefully we will never have to relive this Project 2025 style governance again.
There are many people who don't understand the concept of "downstream," as in, "I don't care what happens to those people up there; I live miles away from them, even if it is on the same river."
recall that Democrats have never won the national popular vote among white voters since the Voting Rights Act of 1965. So the racism goes VERY deep.
Most people do like humane government. Humane government operates from the rule of law and democracy. Republicans have no clue what democracy even is. They want to force their ideology on everyone. It includes everything from abortion to immigration. Our Supreme Court needs the most work to be overhauled. It doesn’t work for the common good anymore.
The Republican take on democracy is, if it is good for their pocket book than it is great for our country.
We have got to get this fixed now!
Don't forget Christian Nationalism - wanting a Christian Theocracy. They've shown how serious they are about that.
Good piece today, Jen. Thank you.
The progressive agenda attempts to do the most good for the most people in the fairest manner possible. The Republican agenda is to do the most good for the smallest subset of the American People in the most destructive manner possible. It is powered by tribalism and a dedicated propaganda network.
And why can't the Democrats see that they need to come up with a concise ranked order of fixes they advocate for?
Once again I feel “Rubin for President”. Failing that could you please hold some workshops for Dem candidates. Maybe “How to Articulate Progressivism”???
I recommend reading Monbiot & Hutchison’s Invisible Doctrine. It’s short, accessible, clear, and spot on about what progressivism means and what it takes. Also, Anat Shenker-Osorio is amazing at messaging. https://substack.com/@anatosaurus/posts
I have no problem being called a Progressive… the Republicans should be called REGRESSIVES. which would you rather be? I call them, like I see them.
As Joni Mitchell famously said,
"Don't it always seem to go
That you don't know what you've got 'til it's gone..."
Yup. We singing that to myself as I read.
The simple answer to why republicans vote republican is that 20 to 30 percent of them have totally built their own identity around the republican party. They will follow what ever the now republican-communist-fascist party says period. Proof they voted a felon and rapist and alleged child rapist and trafficker as president. Forget them, 20-30 percent means nothing focus on independent voters.
On point.
The Biden economy was according to The Economist: "the envy of the world". In TrumpWorld Biden "destroyed the economy" & had "worst inflation in history" & thanks to Trump we're now in a "Golden Age".
Trump & Co project corruption & fraud, exploiting official power to achieve private gain. Box of ? Pirro: all star in constellation of corruption where fighting crime is criminal & fighting racism is criminal promotion of racism. SPLC is a victim of a weaponized DOJ/FBI .
Now, posting a photo of seashells is a federal offense?
Resist MAGA gangster authoritarianism! #VoteBlue!
Like Muhammad Ali (the boxer) the Left has to master the art of “Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee,” when up against IL Duce Trump. His right punch is “money talks, nobody walks,” i.e., show me the money and I’ll give you what you want. The Tech Broligarchs, autocrats, and international dictators delight in this open door as most of their money already comes from squeezing others. IL Duce Trump’s left punch is a pliant Congress and a Trump wholly-owned corporate Supreme Court. The former pays the Trump bills, cuts taxes for the rich, and guts benefits to most Americans. The latter uses the Shadow Docket to dispose of inconvenient legal cases for the ‘Duce. IL Duce also has a wicked gut punch called the Presidential Pardon. The left has to be nimble and not stumble into a clinch. And by all means, come up with a program that has meat on the bones and not merely “Trump is bad.”