I’ve been a faithful listener of NPR for decades. This organization does not have the deep pockets needed to pay for endless litigation. Please support NPR and PBS by giving what you can. Every dollar helps.
A wolf in wolf's clothing? Yes, and a moron in a dunce cap. Evil in a black cape. Oligarchs in tuxedos and top hats. It looks, sounds, and walks like a duck; let's make duck soup.
This column underscores why these incompetent lunatics will fail. They telegraph their every movements. Whoever came up with the "flood the zone" strategy is an idiot. Not only has the "adiministration" tipped off its intentions, it's alienated the very people who put The Grifter in power again. Constituent pressure on GOP members of Congress grows by the day. The Boss was right. We are the last guardrails. I have two MAGA Senators, but I send them a weekly email, just to let them know my state is 100% red and some of us are keeping an eye on them.
"Flood the zone comes from" the MAGA swine Bannon. His face reminds me of the red eyed pig creature in the Amityville Horror. That dangerous scum has the 🍊 👂.
What an image! Bannon the red-eyed pig creature. Steve Miller, the Nosferatu. Musk, the smooth not yet human body waiting in the leaves from the Body Snatchers?
I disagree about "flooding the zone." It was Steve Bannon's phrase -- a description of brilliant madness, and so far it's working just fine --- for them. In earlier days, Nazis described the same phenomenon in war --- blitzkrieg. We all have limited thresholds for attention, for outrage, for follow-up action, for waging counter-battles. They continue to pelt us with so many things all at once most of us don't even know about. You and I find one or two fronts where they lost, and jump and down and claim we're winning.
I would love to be wrong. But if forced to, I would say this is all going to get MUCH worse very quickly. We shall see.
I don’t think we’re winning by any means. I’m just looking for any ray of sunlight I can find in an otherwise gloomy situation. In this case, I think the courts are holding him accountable. That’s my ray of sunshine. Now, whether he abides by the courts’ decisions is another matter. But that could bring us to the brink of that “Constitutional Crisis,” you’ve heard tell about. Will he try to bring in the military? Are members of the military more loyal to their oath to protect and preserve than The Grifter? We shall see. I hope it doesn’t come to that. But it might.
You have the right idea. Every bit of resistance helps, and your emails are a constant reminder. Encourage friends to do the same; it's like a splinter - keep up the irritation.
As Trump/MAGA accelerate their attack on American freedoms and values, it is painfully clear that there exists two Americas.
One is Trump, his MAGA crowd, his "fall in line" GOP loyalists and some unknown number of voters who believed Trump would be better for their future. Many of these folks mistakenly think Trump/MAGA is just fine for the future of America.
The other America is we the Dems and Libs, who's values and work have built a modern, thriving, more humane America over the past 80 years. Make no mistake, It is this America, our America, that Trump is relentlessly attacking on his retribution campaign to kingship and his shredding of the parts on the Constitution that would limit his powers. He must be stopped.
Across the liberal alliance in America, and this goes well beyond party loyalty, we need to stand up for and extoll the virtues of our America. We have accomplished so much. We need to crow about it relentlessly. We need to educate or re-educate enough of those stuck in the other America, that their future well-being is with us not Trump/MAGA. We must not be fooled by Trump's exaggerated megaphone. His plans, his agenda and his BBB are all losers for America's future. It is time WE stood up, put aside our fears, stop our self-flagelation game about losing the working class voters and claim the upper hand again.
Your post is a rallying cry that needs to be printed out and posted on every refrigerator door, desk top, mirror or wherever we post important notes to ourselves and others.
I agree, but the problem here is trump has voters from both sides the monies and the nots. they have polar opposite goals for trump....people who do not agree are voting together perhaps for the first time. This is how trump won.
goals that trump told BOTH sides he would get for them....unfortunately for the nots he left the lifesaver he showed them on the last campaign stage....that's how he got both sides voting for him...waiting for the nots to realize what he did to them...
I’m a frequent NPR listener and sustainer, and the real point of NPR is that it is supposed to bridge between the “two Americas”. Only through a commitment to fact based reporting and presenting issues that resonate with the 2 Americas can we hope to heal the divide.
NPR/PBS, and BBC world service are go-to sources in video media. For the printed word, The Guardian, and online The Contrarian and Dan Rather's Steady commentary are also good.
Right you are. The resistance to traditional mainstream media is showing up online with these people presenting facts and not ignoring or sane-washing issues.
Please keep this issue at the forefront and current. Update us regularly so that we can share it within our own networks with the particular aim to let those who ordinarily would not care see this and hopefully plant some seeds of understanding.
The administration has been open about everything it is trying to do to destroy everything the Constitutuhion is supposed to protect. Is it because Trump is immune? It is great to see certain institutions standing up to the dictator-in-chief. But Congress, who the president is always trying the bypass? Crickets. As long as Republicans stay silent, Trump will not stop his lawlessness and unconstitutional activity.
So well written that I had to guess, is this Jen or Norm? Sheesh, don’t you have jet lag? Honestly, I should have posted the autocorrect version of this post; hilarious. Thank you, Jen. You brought me to the Contrarian and I am ever grateful.
The whole Bill of Rights is on the block with the MAGAt in Chief. It is up to all of us to defend it and the rest of The Constitution. Daily, tRump is in violation of his oath of office. Would that we could show him the door.
We are starting to see some push back from the White House Press Pool -- not nearly enough, but recently reporters have done a little fact checking of KKKaroline Levitt, aka Propaganda Barbie.
Standing up for democracy is a recurring theme in this day and age of our country. Even if Joe or Kamala were still in office we would still likely be having to fight for democracy because a certain group of politicians and special interest groups think it’s their right to undermine the democratic process that has worked for nearly 250 years and that we as Americans hold so dear. This will likely be the case for as long as we continue to exist. A couple of the Contrarians have written about this just this week. In one column one wrote that people who are feeling the effects of diminished rights often don’t connect what they are feeling with whom they are choosing as their elected officials. Jennifer Weiss-Wolfe wrote a similar piece about the health of democracy in the state legislatures. She had essentially iterated the same or a very similar idea that I had written a response to in the previous Contrarian column that I read earlier. We all will have to teach our present and future generations that they will all have to stand up and fight for democratic principles always.
No doubt our public schools could do a better job teaching these subjects at varying levels of education. Having adequate knowledge is one thing for sure but applying it in real time is altogether different. People must be willing to protest and fight for their rights and freedoms and for others who can’t.
What I was pointing out was that we need the knowledge first. Of course it must be applied. One can only effectively protest what doesn't fit what they've learned.
The Indiana supermajority Republican legislature and Govenor Mike Braun have cut ALL state funding for public radio and television in Indiana, even though it is vital in the largely rural areas. I depend on my local public radio out of Mishawaka for state and local news. Many families rely on the educational programs for their children. The state cuts, along with Trump's attempt to withdraw Congressionally appointed funding could destroy public broadcasting in Indiana. I have sent a donation, in addition to our annual membership to my local NPR station. I am hoping enough people will do so to keep them on the air.
This political action by state Republicans is why we need to start at the state level to defeat Republicans, removing them from their role in leadership. Education and healthcare should not be politicized. Those who do it need to be removed for the good of the people.
Stories like the one featured yesterday on Morning Edition, which covered the Conservative Political Action Conference’s (CPAC) 4th annual meeting in Budapest and Donald Trump’s embrace of Viktor Orbán’s authoritarian playbook—including attacks on independent media and academia—help explain why the Trump administration is at war with NPR and PBS.
Orbán began his political career as a liberal reformer but after his 2010 victory, he suspended civil service protections, fired swaths of public employees—especially those in public media—and weaponized the state budget to punish dissent.
Orbán used his party’s supermajority to rewrite the Constitution, restructure the judiciary, and gerrymander parliamentary districts. His administration cut funding to non-profit organizations, eliminated subsidies for independent media, and starved critical outlets of state advertising.
These methods are increasingly visible in the U.S. Trump’s allies have drawn from Orbán’s script, as seen in the Project 2025. His administration has embraced budgetary weapons and legal overreach to silence critics and consolidate control.
Recently, the Trump White House issued an executive order cutting all federal funding—direct and indirect—to NPR and PBS, citing bias and lack of objectivity.
NPR, along with three Colorado public radio stations, is suing in federal court, arguing that the order constitutes unconstitutional retaliation based on content.
Meanwhile, Anne Applebaum’s essay, “The Hungarian Model,” outlines Hungary’s steep decline in governance, productivity, and press freedom, despite earlier optimism. Hungary is now considered the most corrupt country in the EU and ranks near the bottom in economic freedom and government integrity—even by conservative metrics like those from the Heritage Foundation.
These trends—economic deterioration, emigration of talent, and shrinking civil liberties—are the real costs of authoritarianism. It’s no accident that U.S. conservatives have embraced Orbán’s Hungary as a model, or that Trump is attempting to replicate its tactics domestically.
The question is not whether NPR or PBS can survive without federal funding. The question is whether American democracy can survive without truth-telling institutions willing to challenge state narratives.
Hungary inspires U.S. conservatives. Its leader is seen as running a 'dictatorship'
I am reminded of the phrase "kill the messenger." I.e., the human instinct to shut down messages that feel bad, scary, or unbelievably threatening. NPR and my home radio station in Colorado, Colorado Public Radio, are some of my most cherished sources of messages I want to hear even while the truth is disturbing. Deep kudos to NPR and my Colorado's honest message-bearers. I am proud to have just donated my old car to Colorado Public Radio, giving what I can.
Wonderful piece! Thankful for NPR and all those fighting for freedom of speech!!
Will Republican Harvard grads in Congress foresake their alma mater?
Do Congressional Republicans' kids emulate Big Bird or Oscar the Grouch?
I’ve been a faithful listener of NPR for decades. This organization does not have the deep pockets needed to pay for endless litigation. Please support NPR and PBS by giving what you can. Every dollar helps.
A wolf in wolf's clothing? Yes, and a moron in a dunce cap. Evil in a black cape. Oligarchs in tuxedos and top hats. It looks, sounds, and walks like a duck; let's make duck soup.
Don't forget the face paint. Trump uses more than a French mime.
Plus, it makes him look like those he is so desperately trying to deport!
Like a duck? Don’t you mean a chicken?
I get it but Joyce is on the other stack...
Right, but nobody says it quacks like a chicken. And chicken soup heals you. Although, my suggested metaphorical duck soup might heal the country.
nobody says that because well, chickens don't quack...OK?
Explaining a joke never improves it.
nor does explaining it...wasn't duck soup an old 3 stooges movie ?
Marx Brothers movie!
Satan has many devils that walk the earth
Stealing your last line, Jim. Thanks.
This column underscores why these incompetent lunatics will fail. They telegraph their every movements. Whoever came up with the "flood the zone" strategy is an idiot. Not only has the "adiministration" tipped off its intentions, it's alienated the very people who put The Grifter in power again. Constituent pressure on GOP members of Congress grows by the day. The Boss was right. We are the last guardrails. I have two MAGA Senators, but I send them a weekly email, just to let them know my state is 100% red and some of us are keeping an eye on them.
"Flood the zone comes from" the MAGA swine Bannon. His face reminds me of the red eyed pig creature in the Amityville Horror. That dangerous scum has the 🍊 👂.
What an image! Bannon the red-eyed pig creature. Steve Miller, the Nosferatu. Musk, the smooth not yet human body waiting in the leaves from the Body Snatchers?
Thank you, Marcia. You gave me the Friday morning laugh that I so badly needed. You should put that on a sign and carry it to a rally. 👍
I disagree about "flooding the zone." It was Steve Bannon's phrase -- a description of brilliant madness, and so far it's working just fine --- for them. In earlier days, Nazis described the same phenomenon in war --- blitzkrieg. We all have limited thresholds for attention, for outrage, for follow-up action, for waging counter-battles. They continue to pelt us with so many things all at once most of us don't even know about. You and I find one or two fronts where they lost, and jump and down and claim we're winning.
I would love to be wrong. But if forced to, I would say this is all going to get MUCH worse very quickly. We shall see.
I don’t think we’re winning by any means. I’m just looking for any ray of sunlight I can find in an otherwise gloomy situation. In this case, I think the courts are holding him accountable. That’s my ray of sunshine. Now, whether he abides by the courts’ decisions is another matter. But that could bring us to the brink of that “Constitutional Crisis,” you’ve heard tell about. Will he try to bring in the military? Are members of the military more loyal to their oath to protect and preserve than The Grifter? We shall see. I hope it doesn’t come to that. But it might.
You have the right idea. Every bit of resistance helps, and your emails are a constant reminder. Encourage friends to do the same; it's like a splinter - keep up the irritation.
and yet they are in charge...
As Trump/MAGA accelerate their attack on American freedoms and values, it is painfully clear that there exists two Americas.
One is Trump, his MAGA crowd, his "fall in line" GOP loyalists and some unknown number of voters who believed Trump would be better for their future. Many of these folks mistakenly think Trump/MAGA is just fine for the future of America.
The other America is we the Dems and Libs, who's values and work have built a modern, thriving, more humane America over the past 80 years. Make no mistake, It is this America, our America, that Trump is relentlessly attacking on his retribution campaign to kingship and his shredding of the parts on the Constitution that would limit his powers. He must be stopped.
Across the liberal alliance in America, and this goes well beyond party loyalty, we need to stand up for and extoll the virtues of our America. We have accomplished so much. We need to crow about it relentlessly. We need to educate or re-educate enough of those stuck in the other America, that their future well-being is with us not Trump/MAGA. We must not be fooled by Trump's exaggerated megaphone. His plans, his agenda and his BBB are all losers for America's future. It is time WE stood up, put aside our fears, stop our self-flagelation game about losing the working class voters and claim the upper hand again.
Let's go America we can do this.
Well said, Merrill!
Your post is a rallying cry that needs to be printed out and posted on every refrigerator door, desk top, mirror or wherever we post important notes to ourselves and others.
I am doing so right now.
Thank you for posting!
I agree, but the problem here is trump has voters from both sides the monies and the nots. they have polar opposite goals for trump....people who do not agree are voting together perhaps for the first time. This is how trump won.
goals that trump told BOTH sides he would get for them....unfortunately for the nots he left the lifesaver he showed them on the last campaign stage....that's how he got both sides voting for him...waiting for the nots to realize what he did to them...
I’m a frequent NPR listener and sustainer, and the real point of NPR is that it is supposed to bridge between the “two Americas”. Only through a commitment to fact based reporting and presenting issues that resonate with the 2 Americas can we hope to heal the divide.
👍👍👍
NPR is always my “go to” station for news, informed commentary and intelligent content. Thanks for this response to injustice.
NPR/PBS, and BBC world service are go-to sources in video media. For the printed word, The Guardian, and online The Contrarian and Dan Rather's Steady commentary are also good.
And HCR and Joyce Vance! And Mark Elias and Steve Valdeck!
Right you are. The resistance to traditional mainstream media is showing up online with these people presenting facts and not ignoring or sane-washing issues.
Please keep this issue at the forefront and current. Update us regularly so that we can share it within our own networks with the particular aim to let those who ordinarily would not care see this and hopefully plant some seeds of understanding.
The administration has been open about everything it is trying to do to destroy everything the Constitutuhion is supposed to protect. Is it because Trump is immune? It is great to see certain institutions standing up to the dictator-in-chief. But Congress, who the president is always trying the bypass? Crickets. As long as Republicans stay silent, Trump will not stop his lawlessness and unconstitutional activity.
So well written that I had to guess, is this Jen or Norm? Sheesh, don’t you have jet lag? Honestly, I should have posted the autocorrect version of this post; hilarious. Thank you, Jen. You brought me to the Contrarian and I am ever grateful.
The whole Bill of Rights is on the block with the MAGAt in Chief. It is up to all of us to defend it and the rest of The Constitution. Daily, tRump is in violation of his oath of office. Would that we could show him the door.
If only the major news organizations possessed the same fidelity to the First Amendment. Same with the surrendering law firms.
We are starting to see some push back from the White House Press Pool -- not nearly enough, but recently reporters have done a little fact checking of KKKaroline Levitt, aka Propaganda Barbie.
Standing up for democracy is a recurring theme in this day and age of our country. Even if Joe or Kamala were still in office we would still likely be having to fight for democracy because a certain group of politicians and special interest groups think it’s their right to undermine the democratic process that has worked for nearly 250 years and that we as Americans hold so dear. This will likely be the case for as long as we continue to exist. A couple of the Contrarians have written about this just this week. In one column one wrote that people who are feeling the effects of diminished rights often don’t connect what they are feeling with whom they are choosing as their elected officials. Jennifer Weiss-Wolfe wrote a similar piece about the health of democracy in the state legislatures. She had essentially iterated the same or a very similar idea that I had written a response to in the previous Contrarian column that I read earlier. We all will have to teach our present and future generations that they will all have to stand up and fight for democratic principles always.
A return to a greater emphasis on teaching Civics & Government in our schools would be a good idea. Better knowledge is better for our people.
No doubt our public schools could do a better job teaching these subjects at varying levels of education. Having adequate knowledge is one thing for sure but applying it in real time is altogether different. People must be willing to protest and fight for their rights and freedoms and for others who can’t.
What I was pointing out was that we need the knowledge first. Of course it must be applied. One can only effectively protest what doesn't fit what they've learned.
Thank you NPR. 🩷
The Indiana supermajority Republican legislature and Govenor Mike Braun have cut ALL state funding for public radio and television in Indiana, even though it is vital in the largely rural areas. I depend on my local public radio out of Mishawaka for state and local news. Many families rely on the educational programs for their children. The state cuts, along with Trump's attempt to withdraw Congressionally appointed funding could destroy public broadcasting in Indiana. I have sent a donation, in addition to our annual membership to my local NPR station. I am hoping enough people will do so to keep them on the air.
This political action by state Republicans is why we need to start at the state level to defeat Republicans, removing them from their role in leadership. Education and healthcare should not be politicized. Those who do it need to be removed for the good of the people.
Stories like the one featured yesterday on Morning Edition, which covered the Conservative Political Action Conference’s (CPAC) 4th annual meeting in Budapest and Donald Trump’s embrace of Viktor Orbán’s authoritarian playbook—including attacks on independent media and academia—help explain why the Trump administration is at war with NPR and PBS.
https://lnkd.in/eRYTy24M
Orbán began his political career as a liberal reformer but after his 2010 victory, he suspended civil service protections, fired swaths of public employees—especially those in public media—and weaponized the state budget to punish dissent.
https://lnkd.in/ePgcZ9Tf
Orbán used his party’s supermajority to rewrite the Constitution, restructure the judiciary, and gerrymander parliamentary districts. His administration cut funding to non-profit organizations, eliminated subsidies for independent media, and starved critical outlets of state advertising.
These methods are increasingly visible in the U.S. Trump’s allies have drawn from Orbán’s script, as seen in the Project 2025. His administration has embraced budgetary weapons and legal overreach to silence critics and consolidate control.
Recently, the Trump White House issued an executive order cutting all federal funding—direct and indirect—to NPR and PBS, citing bias and lack of objectivity.
https://lnkd.in/eETHcWWa
NPR, along with three Colorado public radio stations, is suing in federal court, arguing that the order constitutes unconstitutional retaliation based on content.
https://lnkd.in/eekr_-QW
https://lnkd.in/ekSE5UKH
Meanwhile, Anne Applebaum’s essay, “The Hungarian Model,” outlines Hungary’s steep decline in governance, productivity, and press freedom, despite earlier optimism. Hungary is now considered the most corrupt country in the EU and ranks near the bottom in economic freedom and government integrity—even by conservative metrics like those from the Heritage Foundation.
These trends—economic deterioration, emigration of talent, and shrinking civil liberties—are the real costs of authoritarianism. It’s no accident that U.S. conservatives have embraced Orbán’s Hungary as a model, or that Trump is attempting to replicate its tactics domestically.
https://lnkd.in/eZQ6Rh4R
The question is not whether NPR or PBS can survive without federal funding. The question is whether American democracy can survive without truth-telling institutions willing to challenge state narratives.
Hungary inspires U.S. conservatives. Its leader is seen as running a 'dictatorship'
npr.org
I am reminded of the phrase "kill the messenger." I.e., the human instinct to shut down messages that feel bad, scary, or unbelievably threatening. NPR and my home radio station in Colorado, Colorado Public Radio, are some of my most cherished sources of messages I want to hear even while the truth is disturbing. Deep kudos to NPR and my Colorado's honest message-bearers. I am proud to have just donated my old car to Colorado Public Radio, giving what I can.