Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse; Max Stier; Jen Rubin with Susanne Craig & Russ Buettner; Nick Anderson; Carron J. Phillips; Rep. Ritchie Torres talks to Jen Rubin; and Jennifer Weiss-Wolf.
I (and my students) have just become one of the victims. I am a professor at MIT and was just told that my research contract with the VA was cut "for convenience" as of yesterday. I was doing research on providing safer healthcare. I have grad students who now are in deep trouble financially, and I don't know how to help them pay their tuition and live. I am not alone, 875 other contracts were also cut, so it is not personal and has nothing to do with the quality or importance of our work. I guess it is more important for billionaires to get a tax cut than that our veterans get safe healthcare.
So very sorry to read about this! It is a travesty. I send my condolences to you and your students. I hope there is some group in academia or at MIT that is providing help!
Please tell your elected representatives about this experience. I would be happy to help you do so. I’ve been calling, emailing, and writing the Legislative Branch a lot in the last month.
Hello There! I am feeling like I am getting some real news coverage with the Contrarian. One thing that is hard to get out of my mind that is missing: Trump's diplomatic ineptitude was on full display at the UN this week, bending his knee to Putin. But was it really just ineptitude? Since taking office a little over a month ago, Trump appears to have taken Putin's wish list and, not only did he fulfill it, he gave more than Putin could have dreamed of. Weakening NATO, verbally attacking our allies, threatening to take over Greenland, weakening the Defense Department, weakening the CIA, weakening the FBI, blaming Ukraine for Russia's invasion, and in the past handing secrets over to Russia, trusting the word of Putin over the US intelligence service and of course I could go on. For me, Trump's play at the UN was showing his hand, in card playing parlance. There is no way that there isn't something of a diabolical nature going on between Putin and Trump. Blackmail, money laundering, payoffs, loans...He cannot possibly be acting in such a treasonous manner because he has such admiration for another lawless leader. Trump doesn't do anything without there being something in it for him. And as an added bonus for Russian Intelligence, I’ve not seen any evidence that Trump has anything resembling a moral compass. If a person with Trump's history had applied for a security clearance during the Biden Administration, there isn't a chance that he'd get even the lowest clearance. He would be too easy to blackmail. A past debt, a future Trump Tower? All that to say, I wish that the Contrarian would dig deep, really really deep, to find out what is going on here. Because whatever it is, there is no doubt in my mind that we have a Russian Asset sitting in the White House. And I expect that his sidekick Elon Musk's actions and intentions are not intended to be in the interest of the US either. It is hard for me to imagine that Musk is not doing espionage work while he destroys the heart of the US financial, health, social security, systems. That being said, digging into Elon Musk's background would surely lead to some interesting, and terrible, revelations as well.
That s - - t show was planned. It was a set up to make this regime look “powerful” (from a bully’s standpoint). Instead, they looked, as you say, inept. Trump is indeed going for the long show, the big payoff. You’re on the right track Jonathan. Keep digging.
I agree with you and feel this is finally the bridge too far. Trump and all his gangrenous supporters must be removed from office and prevented from causing further damage to out country internally and Internationally. Let your representatives know how you feel. Also send an email to Brian Mast FL21 chair of the House committee on Foreign Affairs and James E Risch, chair of the senate foreign relations committee
Folks, we know there is lots of work to do. Start by joining your local Indivisible group. You will join like minded people at the “grass roots” pushing for change. You can do as much or as little as you wish. Send postcards, emails electeds, attend town halls, make phone calls. The important thing is to be engaged and doing something. Thank you
Joy-Ann Reid was fired from MSNBC this week because she spoke the truth about the Trump/Musk administration. She was a beacon of light and courage for all of us who are trying to resist the outrages that are coming to us Americans daily. Why don't you ask her to join your team and help us in this fight? She would be another tremendous warrior on our team!
You’re right to ask. I checked. It is the Yahoo/MSNBC position that JAR’s ratings had fallen. However if you fact check that and look at the comments of other MSNBC journalists, you’ll see that she and the other black journalist (the only two) have both been “let go”. So. Opinion, fact or whatever… I call it racial purging of mainstream media. They’ve gone for the fact driven media and now the Black media and the arts… will you be next?
Jeff Bezos just finished demolishing the Washington Post. It will be missed, especially as it was a forum for progressive and responsible journalism as you know and a very intelligent group of commenters. What can Substack do to unite the good journalists into one readable news'paper' like it was or like the NYTimes is? These large news outlets are very important because the info, news and opinion is all in one place with one general set of values so people do not have to subscribe here and there to flesh out ideas. How do they actually know who to subscribe to? People need a trustworthy news framework to read that is broad based and easily accessible. Bezos is counting on the former readership being so fragmented that no one can get together under one umbrella.
There is a deep social economical and political crisis that let to Trump and Musk. This belief that some president on a white horse will clean up the mess, is one of the roots of this tragedy. Democracy is all of us participating, not imagining superheroes to do the job for us.
Thanks to Trump he pulled a lot of Canadians together all supporting each other. No one is afraid of tariffs even though we know they will hurt. Bullies don't deserve respect and he's not going to get any. When it's all over we can have a Canadian beer together, it's got more alcohol! Thanks Contrarians for having us see you aren't all crazy down there!
If Trump and Musk are "public servants" by rights all their profits should go to the Treasury.
Musk, a government contractor, was under investigation and had significant litigation in effect exonerated by Trump and by rights, he should be exposed for any fraud, criminally or civilly.
Thank you, for Senator Whitehouse' statement. I have emailed both my Senators to give full support to Senator Whitehouse and Wyden's endeavors to force the jusidicial Brnach to uphold the Constitution and obey the law.
The cartoon was “right on” . I always thought extortion was against the law but guess not when trump does it. I am beyond embarrassed for our country. The guardrails are gone that’s for sure.
I have been summarizing JOSH MARSHALL's deconstruction of ELON MUSK's now infamous Saturday 2/22 "Epic Email" purporting to give federal employees a deadline to answer his questions or be fired.
JOSH's own investigation revealed that "DOGE" created "GWES' on 2/5/25, "GWES" stands for non-entity, "The Government-Wide Email System" (sic).
The Key Fact to JOSH's analysis is that OPM made a "Privacy Impact Statement" (PIA) for the newly manufactured "DOGE". The PIA Cleary states that any response to to ELON MUSK/"DOGE" is clearly VOLUNTARY an analysis JOSH confirmed citing a "government tech" source.
Given the intended confusion over the weekend some federal agencies told their employees that any reply was "voluntary" That is correct as a matter of federal agency law.
Trump was busy today 2/26 issuing more EO's in an attempt strengthen the fictitious entity "DOGE". I am not buying.
I (and my students) have just become one of the victims. I am a professor at MIT and was just told that my research contract with the VA was cut "for convenience" as of yesterday. I was doing research on providing safer healthcare. I have grad students who now are in deep trouble financially, and I don't know how to help them pay their tuition and live. I am not alone, 875 other contracts were also cut, so it is not personal and has nothing to do with the quality or importance of our work. I guess it is more important for billionaires to get a tax cut than that our veterans get safe healthcare.
So very sorry to read about this! It is a travesty. I send my condolences to you and your students. I hope there is some group in academia or at MIT that is providing help!
That is correct. NOTHING is more important than that tax cut!
Please tell your elected representatives about this experience. I would be happy to help you do so. I’ve been calling, emailing, and writing the Legislative Branch a lot in the last month.
Hello There! I am feeling like I am getting some real news coverage with the Contrarian. One thing that is hard to get out of my mind that is missing: Trump's diplomatic ineptitude was on full display at the UN this week, bending his knee to Putin. But was it really just ineptitude? Since taking office a little over a month ago, Trump appears to have taken Putin's wish list and, not only did he fulfill it, he gave more than Putin could have dreamed of. Weakening NATO, verbally attacking our allies, threatening to take over Greenland, weakening the Defense Department, weakening the CIA, weakening the FBI, blaming Ukraine for Russia's invasion, and in the past handing secrets over to Russia, trusting the word of Putin over the US intelligence service and of course I could go on. For me, Trump's play at the UN was showing his hand, in card playing parlance. There is no way that there isn't something of a diabolical nature going on between Putin and Trump. Blackmail, money laundering, payoffs, loans...He cannot possibly be acting in such a treasonous manner because he has such admiration for another lawless leader. Trump doesn't do anything without there being something in it for him. And as an added bonus for Russian Intelligence, I’ve not seen any evidence that Trump has anything resembling a moral compass. If a person with Trump's history had applied for a security clearance during the Biden Administration, there isn't a chance that he'd get even the lowest clearance. He would be too easy to blackmail. A past debt, a future Trump Tower? All that to say, I wish that the Contrarian would dig deep, really really deep, to find out what is going on here. Because whatever it is, there is no doubt in my mind that we have a Russian Asset sitting in the White House. And I expect that his sidekick Elon Musk's actions and intentions are not intended to be in the interest of the US either. It is hard for me to imagine that Musk is not doing espionage work while he destroys the heart of the US financial, health, social security, systems. That being said, digging into Elon Musk's background would surely lead to some interesting, and terrible, revelations as well.
That s - - t show was planned. It was a set up to make this regime look “powerful” (from a bully’s standpoint). Instead, they looked, as you say, inept. Trump is indeed going for the long show, the big payoff. You’re on the right track Jonathan. Keep digging.
Hey Jonathan,
I agree with you and feel this is finally the bridge too far. Trump and all his gangrenous supporters must be removed from office and prevented from causing further damage to out country internally and Internationally. Let your representatives know how you feel. Also send an email to Brian Mast FL21 chair of the House committee on Foreign Affairs and James E Risch, chair of the senate foreign relations committee
Folks, we know there is lots of work to do. Start by joining your local Indivisible group. You will join like minded people at the “grass roots” pushing for change. You can do as much or as little as you wish. Send postcards, emails electeds, attend town halls, make phone calls. The important thing is to be engaged and doing something. Thank you
Joy-Ann Reid was fired from MSNBC this week because she spoke the truth about the Trump/Musk administration. She was a beacon of light and courage for all of us who are trying to resist the outrages that are coming to us Americans daily. Why don't you ask her to join your team and help us in this fight? She would be another tremendous warrior on our team!
How do you know that? How do you know that she wasn't fired because of the decline in her ratings? Do you mean to just express an opinion?
You’re right to ask. I checked. It is the Yahoo/MSNBC position that JAR’s ratings had fallen. However if you fact check that and look at the comments of other MSNBC journalists, you’ll see that she and the other black journalist (the only two) have both been “let go”. So. Opinion, fact or whatever… I call it racial purging of mainstream media. They’ve gone for the fact driven media and now the Black media and the arts… will you be next?
Jeff Bezos just finished demolishing the Washington Post. It will be missed, especially as it was a forum for progressive and responsible journalism as you know and a very intelligent group of commenters. What can Substack do to unite the good journalists into one readable news'paper' like it was or like the NYTimes is? These large news outlets are very important because the info, news and opinion is all in one place with one general set of values so people do not have to subscribe here and there to flesh out ideas. How do they actually know who to subscribe to? People need a trustworthy news framework to read that is broad based and easily accessible. Bezos is counting on the former readership being so fragmented that no one can get together under one umbrella.
Whitehouse for the Whitehouse. We need a non controversial President to clean up the mess.
There is a deep social economical and political crisis that let to Trump and Musk. This belief that some president on a white horse will clean up the mess, is one of the roots of this tragedy. Democracy is all of us participating, not imagining superheroes to do the job for us.
I failed spelling throughout my life, but I see that I did spell WhiteHouse correctly, I don't know where the horse came from.
This is where I trust the news I consume. Don’t stop
Thanks to Trump he pulled a lot of Canadians together all supporting each other. No one is afraid of tariffs even though we know they will hurt. Bullies don't deserve respect and he's not going to get any. When it's all over we can have a Canadian beer together, it's got more alcohol! Thanks Contrarians for having us see you aren't all crazy down there!
Trump says that "we" will recoup the $ sent to Ukraine by getting her rare earth minerals.
Will the US Treasury benefit from these sales or private companies?
If Trump and Musk are "public servants" by rights all their profits should go to the Treasury.
Musk, a government contractor, was under investigation and had significant litigation in effect exonerated by Trump and by rights, he should be exposed for any fraud, criminally or civilly.
Good question. I hope The Contrarian can run down the answer.
private companies, for sure. musk's for one.
Thank you for keeping me sane in these crazy times with such stellar reporting!!
This subscription is the best investment that any of us who value Democracy can ever make11
Thank you, for Senator Whitehouse' statement. I have emailed both my Senators to give full support to Senator Whitehouse and Wyden's endeavors to force the jusidicial Brnach to uphold the Constitution and obey the law.
The cartoon was “right on” . I always thought extortion was against the law but guess not when trump does it. I am beyond embarrassed for our country. The guardrails are gone that’s for sure.
An impeccable roundup of Contrarian News today! You guys are doing a fantastic job and service for our communities! 👍👍
seeing people fight back but not elected officials. and looking for events to go to in Southern CA.
join an Indivisible group near you
NO DEBT CEILING SUSPENSION!
Not for these greedy clowns!
I have been summarizing JOSH MARSHALL's deconstruction of ELON MUSK's now infamous Saturday 2/22 "Epic Email" purporting to give federal employees a deadline to answer his questions or be fired.
JOSH's own investigation revealed that "DOGE" created "GWES' on 2/5/25, "GWES" stands for non-entity, "The Government-Wide Email System" (sic).
The Key Fact to JOSH's analysis is that OPM made a "Privacy Impact Statement" (PIA) for the newly manufactured "DOGE". The PIA Cleary states that any response to to ELON MUSK/"DOGE" is clearly VOLUNTARY an analysis JOSH confirmed citing a "government tech" source.
Given the intended confusion over the weekend some federal agencies told their employees that any reply was "voluntary" That is correct as a matter of federal agency law.
Trump was busy today 2/26 issuing more EO's in an attempt strengthen the fictitious entity "DOGE". I am not buying.