My book club is also reading Freedom's Dominion by Jefferson Cowie, and that book makes me feel that the revival of Feudalism, which the rich, white men never let go of, is why we can see the Musk/Trump administration as the New Feudalism. If people want to be serfs, this is the regime to support.
Otherwise the Democrats need to be doing something none of them are doing, which is furiously drafting legislation to counter everything that Musk is doing and everything that is in Project 2025. I mean drafting legislation to protect us, divvy up the work, and then present these bills each day and call a press conference. They can be presented, but do not need to be accepted to make news. Let the people know what is on offer as opposition, not just talk. but bills. While the unions get their shit together to organize a massive strike. People need to be boycotting all businesses that they can. It is a time to not spend money and let the economy be what it will be. Resist.
Otherwise, you need to make a plan B and a plan C. I have written on that.
I don't think there are blue or red states, you can find people of all persuasions in all of them, and find enclaves of one group living in areas predominantly populated by the others. State aren't a natural demarcation or provide boundaries for any sort of secession, I find it to be a ridiculous idea.
I think we would be far better off remembering what makes us purple and focus on those things, because I feel that the situation today is more about those who exploit our differences and exaggerate them for their own ends rather than there being any natural division between us all. Exposing charlatans and offering alternative solutions with broad support are the best way to go.
I'm with you Terry. Greed for money, power and adulation, along with "the rules don't really apply to me" are the drivers of this whole mess. This greed has been a problem throughout history and around the world. It will continue to be a problem whether the United States remains one entity or splits up. Pelosi's investment acumen, her trip to the hairstylist and Newsom's party during Covid shutdowns, Menendez and Blagojevich, Cuomo, Adams and Guliani, banks bailed out without meaningful consequences for predatory actions. Greed is not confined into red and blue boxes. I recently read that 60% of Americans are living paycheck to paycheck. I don't know where that number came from, but I remember thinking that the writer was someone that I would consider reliable. That is a ridiculous number for a country with our wealth. It's no wonder that people are frustrated and grasping for whatever they think might change their condition. I know quite a few folks that live paycheck to paycheck. Many of them didn't vote because "it doesn't matter" or voted red because "the Democrats had their chance and I'm no better off than before." Lots of these people work long hours at physically demanding jobs, and while they may be un/mis/disinformed, they are not dumb. In fact, the vast majority of them are far more closely aligned with "blue" policies and policy proposals than they are with "red" ones. They just don't know it. This is in Montana, where we have shifted hard red for federal and statewide offices, though we shifted back in the blue direction in our state house and senate. The "red" has done a far better job of "marketing" and of seizing on talking points that the "blue" presented them with. Reining in the greed and leveling the playing field may be hard, but in the long run it would do a lot more for the common good than opting for an amicable divorce because it would be a lot easier. It's also worth noting that the amicable divorce that the USSR went through hasn't really turned out to be that amicable.
The red side has done a much better job of marketing thanks to Fox News and now Musk’s manipulation of X. The problem is after 40 years of trickle down economics the wealth gap is vast and the middle class has been hollowed out. The conservatives blame it on immigrants and trans people because they are owned by the oligarchs who are actually at fault. In all fairness, the Democrats are owned by their business sponsors as well but maybe the more liberal of them realize that we live in a consumer based economy and so it’s important to spread the wealth out a little bit…
There are those who feel it is okay for everything to be hard. That is an acceptable point of view. However, there are those who feel like could be a lot easier if these increasingly large rifts were addressed by amicable divorce.
Linda--I hope there are more developmental elements to your thinking than "amicable divorce" would imply. I mean no offence, but the idea "as is" is way oversimplified.
I think our history as a country is long and much more "rooted," complex, and unified, up and down the fullness of one's being, and in many ways in most if not all of our minds, a history that at least need to be recovered, and the best of it celebrated, as we all go forward. Change alone, even if good for all, is hard enough to undergo for such a varied culture.
I agree-- I've written numerous posts, here and in the old days at the WaPo that Red and Blue America are like a couple trapped in a bad marriage, rapidly becoming an abusive one, that is rapidly becoming beyond repair. The best solution is an (amicable, I hope) divorce, although the logistics would be complicated, as I detail in my other posts.
Ivan, I agree with you. I cannot see the divorce of the Red and Blue as being more painful or disruptive that what is going on now. I have read Project 2025, and this needs to be nipped in the bud. Let the Red States celebrate their victory and their way of life, and figure out how to fund it, without our money supporting them. My friend says that would only be feasible if we joined Canada, but I don't think that is necessary. Let the Red States wage war on Mexico, Canada, and Greenland, and pull support from Ukraine, but without us.
What makes the logistics hard is that even in deep red states like Texas, the big cities (Houston, Dallas, San Antonio, Austin) are solidly blue, and even in deep blue states like NY and CA, much upstate and the central valley, respectively, are pretty red.
The disruption would be akin to when British South Asia was partitioned into India and Pakistan because of Hindu and Muslim acrimony
I would use the model that the US used when it took Texas from Mexico. People have a choice of which side to go with. Blue Texas will perhaps have to move to California to get the climate they want. A period of a year to make the switch. People in the world have to adjust to new set ups all the time. Create jobs with a green economy. States Rights should be used.
I see a two year time period. One for people to decide who to go with and to draft a new government. Another where people can still switch to the other side, and then they are done. It should not be a hard sell. If we find that the Red States have more men then women, so be it. Let them be the American China.
We should have a group already drafting a new constitution. One that does not allow everyone who immigrates to become a citizen because that is a formula for Reds moving to the Blue and then trying to change it to Red again. I would like a constitution that makes fascist parties illegal. They have to all be parties that will abide by the constitution.
That was my point about the analogy to the partition into India and Pakistan. It happened, but while it was happening it caused a lot of internal disruption. Still I agree with you that ultimately that's what would happen. You'd see an enormous brain drain from Red America, and Blue America would get smarter, since the people who'd move to Texas or Florida would tend toward the bumpkins, morons, Yahoos, misogynists, bigots, racists, rubes and boobs who comprise much of Red America.
I think the big issue is who is writing the new constitution. BOth Gary and I thought of the United Blue States of America. Let the rest be The Confederate States of America. They can even have the Confederate Flag. I am all for creating a new flag. I would like to see this set up for 2026. Less than a year away.
I live in Texas and am Blue; keep hopelessly wishing for Texas to get back to Blue, but realize the awful gerrymandering will never allow for it. Who will buy my home, move me or change my medical insurance elsewhere, etc.
William so much has been created in the world by people who have rich imaginations and a good ability to engage in fantasy, as well as the experiences to try things out, accept failures on the way to successes, and continued working on it.
I have been around naysayers all of my life. I have mostly ignored them, or the parts that I could. At the same time, someone has to dream it first to make it happen. I Have a Dream is a famous speech. In this speech I think King is pointing the way to a Democratic States of America. Of course, King died before his dream was realized. We could however, carry it on. That might mean cleaving the unified States. Also, sometimes change is just progress.
Linda what do you do with the vast numbers of poor people who would like to leave red states but have no money to do so. Additionally, several red states have large populations of poor Black people. What would be their fate if struck in Red America? Re-enslavement? And why do you think red America would separate peacefully? All those gun happy incel white boys would like nothing better than to invade and blast away in reality, computer games having schooled them well. And what about the military and nuclear arsenals? What on earth is the chance of a cordial & reliable agreement about them?
I agree Margaret. It’s a great dream but there’s no way the GOP would let it happen peacefully since the blue states and “coastal elites” heavily subsidize them.
Linda, for sure blue and purple states should have the right of self determination. Nobody can push decent and intelligent people to follow and destructive horde.
Patricia, I am of the school, nothing ventured nothing gained. I am not suggesting that we have to join another country. We have enough people to form our own nation. My city's of Chicago's greater metropolitan area alone (9.26 mil) is about the size of Austria (~9.1 mil, Hungary (~9.7 mil), and Belarus (~9.1 mil). It is bigger than Switzerland (~8.9 mil), Bulgaria and Serbia (~6.7 mil), Denmark (~6 mil), Finland, etc... and many other countries in Europe. So, even if we do not join Canada, we can make countries of our own.
Canada would be wise financially to let us join, with a willingness to join their constitution. They just have elected a new PM who is sure to see the wisdom of the economics of it. Might be easier if we were our own nation first. Us joining Canada or seceding is a win-win for Canada, Mexico, Greenland, Ukraine, the EU, and NATO. They don't need to keep both nations, just the one that actually supports allies.
it sounds good, but why would Canada, or any country, join with us, risking getting some americans who have proven themselves to be idiots ? Why would they risk having them pull the same crap in their currently perfectly good country ?
Patricia I am not advocating joining Canada, just un-uniting the United States as they are into 2 entities. Since people would have a choice of which side to be on, with an allowance to move, we should get people who are better aligned with the political values where they are living.
The French Revolution may have inspired America, but America has never been more in need of its own actual French Revolution or, rather, its own Enlightenment, with the starkest possible separation of church and state enshrined in the constitution so as to leave absolutely no shred of doubt nor hope for anyone dreaming of 'restoration.'
The fact that there actually never was an Enlightenment here has allowed this current cancer to metastasize. We never needed more surgeons, and more people holding up the light.
You people are giving up WAY too easy. As someone who has been married for more than fifty years, I can testify that it can be hard, but the rewards are worth it.
If you even came close to the insanity you seem to be seriously proposing, you would discover that the world you created would be far worse than the world you destroyed. You talk about India and Pakistan, for example. India and Pakistan have fought three major wars and one undeclared war, and have also engaged in numerous armed skirmishes and military standoffs since 1947. I remind you that Ghandi was completely against the separation and an Indian nationalist assassinated him. The dis-United States would be easy prey for the forces of the world that hate our democracy (including many in the so-far-United States. And you are playing directly into the hands of MAGA in even suggesting it.
Porter: I often think of the movie version of Ghandi's life, the scene where a man was telling Ghandi about his son having been killed and asking how to try to live with his situation without being violent. Ghandi told him to find a child from the other side whose parents had been killed and raise him as his own.
I think you (and Ghandi) were right about the idea of political/cultural/ geographical separation--we all just bring our present problems with us to re-emerge in a new context of "others."
Also, I think the U.S. Constitution needs a LITTLE work, and interpretations in corroboration with sane and well-developed, knowledgeable human beings, but certainly not rewriting precisely because it enables reasonable change from within the common democratic principles (of, for, by the people, rule of law, the First Amendment, but with some reference to responsibility, etc.) that are ensconced in it without giving or inviting micromanagement. (The Federalist Papers were a real eye-opener for me on this.)
I don't know if "we'" will survive this present onslaught of vengeful ignorance, but my thought and historical research tell me separation (especially of next-door states), is not a better way.
Thank you! I think the Federalist Papers are great too. I don't know why they're not required reading in high school.
But I think the Constitution needs a bit more than a LITTLE work. On the other hand, it would be too easy to make it even worse so we need to be very careful.
Wait a minute! Why would we, in "blue states" abandon our neighbors in "red states"? They are hurting, right now. Plenty of people who did not vote for this live in those "red states." This is an opportunity for the Trump Cult to be revealed for what it is. This is already happening in States across the US. Re-read The posts on this site from March fourth. Take note of the protests in "red states". Those Americans are us! They are a vital piece of our resistance.
While I strongly object to your first paragraph, I strongly agree with most of your second paragraph. Democrats need to be presenting and making public, alternatives at every turn. The alternative budget which protects all of the services that americans need, presented by Jeffres is one example. Congressional Democrats must make it very public. That alternative budget needs to be advertised in every town across our nation.
Our best hope is that our neighbors in every State will join the fight to protect justice and Democracy in the country we all love.
Agreed. As soon as we make our politics existential and follow proposals that haven't been well thought through, we become the functional equivalent of the MAGAs.
Josephine, if you read the Wittenberger plan, there is money for relocating and choice. If you have read the history of how the US acquired Texas from Mexico, you know that they had to do this sort of thing too. of course there was some land deceit in that which we would not want to replicate. Wittenberger lays it out how it works. It is about choice.
Wait another minute, who gets the kids, and by kids, I mean me, a blue resident of a purple state, Pennsylvania, living in a bluish collar county of Philadelphia. I emphatically don’t want to stranded on the red side and I know there are plenty more like me.
DSA seems entirely reasonable and real to me. Don’t know what would happen with the military, and a crazy man is in charge. But certainly a possibility in a subset context, like right now. I know there are Rs in blue states, but that’s an immovable reality with the electoral college barrier - at least for now. Still looking forward to our daily Opposition press briefing from the Dems! Is it happening? Other government departments with less authority have their own press secretaries. Why not the Opposition in Congress? We need it yesterday!
I like that name too. I was following Gary Whittenberger's Suggestion of The United Blue States of America, but I like the Democratic States of America better.
It will be a good reminder of who we are and what we stand for. Of course that did not work for the Democratic Republic of the Congo, so protections still need to be built in.
We could become The Democratic States and The Confederate States of America. DSA and CSA. A friend asks, who would draft a constitution.
Although I find your proposal tempting, when I look at the landscape of my northern blue state, I see that the rural counties are a vivid red. I suspect that any attempt at secession would at worst lead to a local civil war and at best lead to a partition.
I agree. I live in a purple district in rural Virginia. It elected Trump for President, but also elected Eugene Vindman (D) to replace Abigail Spanberger (D) as our representative to Congress. How do you cut that baby in half?
It does sound good dosen't it ? How about you cut out voter supp,the sup crt,unfair taxes,etc. Give everyone a history class, enough food and 10,ooo dollars....have at least one news program everyone watches.....uh see what you mean
Richard, there are other options, but really is this going to be harder than life under a USA turned into a third world country, where you pay taxes but get nothing back for them, but the Red States will. That does not mean that it will improve the quality of life of most of the people, but it will be performative for Red State governors to pretend to their people like they are doing something.
Any way you look at it, Kevin Roberts says it will get bloody unless people go along with what they plan to do. Secession might not be what he envisioned, but will there be the will to keep Blue states in at that cost. As for your red counties, like the red counties in Illinois which have a lot of value to me personally because they grow the food, although too much corn, and they do not bring in the money Chicago does. I am willing to have my food coming from a Blue state, in fact, Illinois could make a pipeline to CA with water in exchange for produce.
At this point, because I have read project 2025 in a book club, which means I took notes on my reading, and we had hour+ discussions on each chapter for the most part, I have a good sense of the document part of it. Reading Jefferson Cowie's Freedom's Dominion book now in my book club, and it is all about the New Feudalism. Elrod's article in the Bulwark on the Red South, along with what Rubin says here, convince me that it is a way to go. Here is a plan of how it could happen without violence, although if you want to avoid violence the US is not the place to be.
That means 131 countries less violent, and at least 20 of them are in Africa. One of them is right next door. I would definitely make gun control a big part of any new constitution. That will separate the straw from the chaff.
Does anyone realize much of the problems have to do with entire aspects of a culture ignoring that human beings are developmental, and that the elephant in the room is secular culture with inadequately educated persons?
I'll go with "inadequately educated persons". One of the great accidents of my life was that I took SIX YEARS to get my engineering degree because I was desperately trying to avoid getting drafted during the Vietnam War. (They got me anyway.) So I took a lot of economics and history classes. Graduating from the school of engineering was a choice for me, not an inevitability. But the broad education I got as a result was wonderful.
The problem is not Blue vs Red; the problem is humanity itself. Plato identified the problem with democracy 2500 years ago, and humans today are the same irrational, emotional, easily duped group they were thousands of years ago. Sadly humans don’t change, only their technology does.
Hello Richard Class: I hear you, but I am sure you have changed, as I have, and Porter has, and probably everyone here to some degree and in many ways has changed. So I hope your judgment is temporary?
That, however, is my point about education. One of Plato's great contributions was "know thyself," (probably ascribed to Socrates), and that self-changes and develops.
With Aristotle, however, I think it's an oddity of democracy that the realities of human development require that children need to be educated and guided to live in one--set them totally free in the beginning, and you get a mess. I do not mean by education "propaganda" or, in the old Greek term, sophistry.
I agree that education is paramount. Yet, we live during a time when public education is underfunded, disrespected, and possibly being dismantled in preference for religious education. Six of the current Supreme Court justices are Catholic and although all are highly educated, at least four of them appear to let their religion inform their decisions much of the time. Yes, we as individuals can change, and a great deal of change has been accomplished during the past 50 years, but that change has led us to this extreme reaction by the under educated, the religious zealots, and those who fear a multicultural and diverse society. The point I was trying to make is that the secession of blue states is easier to say than to accomplish.
The ironic thing is that virtually all the Red states are net gainers for federal benefits; that is, they get back way more in benefits than they pay in taxes. Those benefits are of course paid for by the economic success of the Blue States. So efforts by Trump to damage the Blue state economies in some sort of weird revenge for not voting for him, will result in lower tax revenues, and less money to the Red states. In a similar vein, in Oregon, the state is divided on a very partisan basis with Blue counties on the west and north of the Cascades, and very Red counties on the east side. And a lot of the east siders are convinced they should leave Oregon and become part of very Red Idaho. Of course, just like the Red state Trumpies, they haven't considered that the Blue counties of the state are where the money comes from to support their state benefits. If it was up to me, I'd bless this move as it would probably result in a net savings for the state. Not that any of the Trump economy-destroying moves make any sense. In my darkest moments I wonder if that's the plan; destroy the economy so that DJT can "save" the country by declaring martial law and tossing out the rule of law.
I have read that about 70% of GDP comes from Blue Counties. More of them in Blue States. In my state Chicago's contribution to the state coffers far outweighs what the agricultural part of the state contributes. This is the north south difference all over again. I just think that one, if there were a secessionist movement it would throw plans off, and they would have to think outside the box of their carefully planned move, and it should be timed to happen in 2026. So, Trump can be king to the rest. The whole world hates Trump now, including the authoritarians he is sucking up to, and being nice to, alternately with doing crappy things to them too. He is just like that. Let people go and see what it is like not to be propped up by real economics, instead of those fake ones that the Republicans tout. We will then see in a side by side experiment which ideas really work better economically. We already know, but those in the Red states need to understand it too. I am a Deweyan teacher and this would be a real great way to let them see. Also, there is nothing to prevent purple states from joining the Democratic States of America if they can live within the rules of a constitution that does not allow their undemocratic practices. Mandatory voter registration and voting for all. Any ID required it is free and provided by the state. Or the money for it is for anyone who cannot afford it.
"Otherwise the Democrats need to be doing something nothing of them are doing...."
Linda, this is the most frustrating thing of all. These actions are complicated but not that hard. Do what you were elected to do. Draft legislation. Communicate with the public by holding press conferences. But the stunning ineptitude of the current Democratic Party leadership stands in the way.
James, I agree. If I were a lawyer I would be drafting the stuff, like we see people like Marc Elias doing in Democracy Docket. However, we need our elected legislators to develop legislation that protects us. Perhaps we can all make some mock bills to get them started and send them. It was like I kept telling Dick Durbin during the last 3 years, that there are members of the Supreme Court that he should start impeaching. Success is not measured by impeaching them, but by making them aware that there is a willingness to do it and to keep trying until it sticks. Doing it tells the masses that it is something to be done. It is about education. I was a very successful teacher because I taught in John Dewey's school. He believed in learning by doing. Each of them as legislators will also understand better what kinds of bills they need to draft to have an effect. So, they should all be upping their learning curves. I have done this in retirement too, by mostly moving to another country. That is also an option to have as a back up.
Thank you for your response, Linda. I had not thought about preparing "mock bills" of our own. Back in my days as a civil serpent, I sometimes had the opportunity to meet and work with members of Congress and their staffers. Most of the staffers I met were smart and hard-working, often more so than the people they were working for. I thought these were the people who would be drafting the proposed legislation.
One other thing. I think you might see that in Germany the Left, upped their visibility and recruited youth. Here is Anand Girihandaras talking with a member of this German party on how they campaigned to get votes.
Americans disengaged from the political process and daily news got the wrong idea about Trump because for 3 years in his first term, he avoided shouting himself in the foot economically and rode Obama's coattails taking the credit for a home run after starting on third base.
Of course, that's the only way Donald Trump has ever found success, inheriting it.
This time however, he is a rush to destroy everything President Biden build up from scratch pretending that what comes after, will make America great again. The scumbag president's followers are due for a rough awakening. At least the portion of them not profoundly stupid. Remainder: there's no cure for stupidity.
No doubt about that Patricia. He even might outsource the weather forecasting to a religious institution with a rate of accuracy of 0 %. Everything for America great again!!!!!!
I can almost hear the weather report now: "It's going to rain for forty days and forty nights. Get your livestock into your own Arks-R-Us, now on sale from your local revival preacher."
His “reason” is often that petty. But now he has other sinister types who exploit his pettiness, to create targeted discriminatory cuts that really hurt real people- or even end our alliances and our democracy. The Rs had no business allowing such a damaged person to run in the first place. Maybe someday that Party will be held to account for its attack on our country. Ds should not dismiss the reality of an enemy from within, and identify that enemy loudly- it’s the Republican Party, not “the other”.
Ricardo, St Kassiani, an Orthodox saint, said “The only cure for stupidity is death”. I find that a strangely comforting thing to mutter to myself in these times!
There's good data to indicate that if he just took his inheritance and simply invested it into some index funds, he'd be a lot richer than he is today.
IOW, he took his inheritance and flushed a bunch of it down the crapper.
… or by cheating others to get it. We can tell the truth, say it’s true, and tell others he lied to them. (Calling others a dupe or fool is demeaning, and will usually make them dig in.). Then move on. They think that with soooooo much smoke, there must be fire- BUT THERE IS NO FIRE.
Acting president Elon Musk could cease mindless cuts
"Acting president" is the wrong title, because it implies some sort of formal transfer of power.
The better title is "SHADOW PRESIDENT" because, like the man behind the curtain in the Wizard of Oz, he's pulling the levers where nobody can watch, and the face we see is just a figurehead!
IOW, Musk is the "Puppeteer" and he's just pulling Don the Con's strings to make him move.
Absolutely shadow president. Musk wasn't (and cannot be) elected president, though he has apparently bought one. Referring to him as 'president' in any way is using the Josef Goebbels's approach, that "if you tell a lie long enough, it becomes accepted as truth." We need to avoid this.
Keep your eye on 'Little Red Riding Hood's grandmother' with his BIG TEETH....as he goes on Fox News with his lying over and over. AND even worse in ways, is the main stream media soft shoeing everything he does ie Hungary style media. I think our Bernie style - get out to the people town halls is our best hope for now :). BUT we still need the Democrats to learn their own powerful strategy to "fight like Hell" like the Republican do..since that is who we are fighting ! Oh, and stay out of the woods .... ;)
Yes. My new Rep. held a packed town hall on the weekend, then immediately held another for the overflow crowd. I think the real majority, and Rs, crave a routine, in person (with necessary streaming) meeting every month in every district. Odd this isn’t mandatory for all districts already, since this is the people’s government.
I see the occasional story about working-class Trump voters regretting their votes, but even those are equivocal. They didn't think he would do such-and-such but they still believe in his "goals." It's too humiliating to admit you were wrong. I think I am now an election denier and a conspiracy theorist. Does anyone else imagine (or have reason to believe) that Musk manipulated the vote tally in some of the swing states? Remember how Trump et cie accuse others of what they themselves are actually doing? And that they are not above cheating? Why did Trump tell RFK Jr ,"by the way, we're going to win," when he first offered the cabinet position? That they are all a bit psychotic doesn't help, either.
I so agree with you, Rachel. I’ve been saying it since the election that Kamala was told to sit the F down and shut the F up. Bullet ballots in ridiculous numbers only in the swings states. “Winning” in EVERY swing state…no possible way. The Dems with no protest. You bet your ass I’m an election denier.
Take a look at the audit that was completed by electiontruthalliance.org. They analyzed voting patterns in the most populous county in Nevada, Clark County. The found voting patterns for mail in vote and same day voting fit a normal distribution, following the bell curve. However, in the early vote data they found evidence of what is called a russian tail. Same russian tail found in the country of Georgia, indicating some rigging. The probability of Trump winning all seven swing states with less than 50% of the vote is improbable. Also, all swing state votes were not close enough to trigger a recount probably by design. Visit their site, they have all the data and graphs.
Nancy, do you really believe that? The facts are that we lost this election by not getting as many votes as Republicans. Let’s deal with that reality, because that’s how we’ll win the election. We need to win more votes.
Yes I do believe it. This country is filled with stupid, brainwashed, internet fed crazies but I refuse to believe those people outnumber us. The trump told us over and over he had rigged the 2024 election. The better question is why don’t you believe him the single time he actually spoke the truth? Musk’s technology and teenage hackers running and ruining the country now just confirms my election doubts. I also believe his so called assassination attempt in Butler was completely staged - so now you can totally write me off as certifiable. However, you might check out who is currently running the Secret Service.
Yes. that "assassination" attempt - clipping a teensy bit of his ear (when has THAT ever happened??)- was carefully staged to impress his base with his willingness to sacrifice for them. HOOEY!! Someday that sharpshooter will emerge and confess, from his villa in St. Thomas.
You’re not going to win if you spend your time fighting imaginary conspiracies. What specific proof do you have, beyond a vague feeling that “they rigged the election”? How did they do that? Where? What evidence do you have?
Musk’s technology (I assume you’re referring to Starlink) had nothing to do with the election. His teenage tech bros are incompetent and clumsy. I work at the polls, as a vote counter. It would be exceedingly difficult to rig an election in even one precinct, never mind across many towns and cities in many states. The number of people who would have to be involved, and kept silent, is in the thousands. Do you realize how impossible that would be? We saw Trump try to steal an election in 2020 - he failed miserably. He failed in Michigan, in Georgia, in Arizona, in Pennsylvania, in Wisconsin - and we know all about that because of the court cases and recounts and testimony.
Let’s deal with reality. Trump won more votes than Kamala. How do we make sure that doesn’t happen again?
You’re not alone. Leave it to Dems, bless ‘em, to deny absolutely on one side, without looking on the other. I can’t reconcile how the result was in so ridiculously fast. And DT was campaigning with reckless abandon, as if the result was predetermined. He said more than once, that if his people did their jobs in red states, he was going to win. (I’m sure he didn’t mean getting more of the general public to vote. Remember, Rs got access to voter rolls when they did all those phony audits.) Elon’s effect was very real, but I’m not sure that would have put him over. I also doubt all the money and time was put into Proj. 2025 for a “maybe”. They were ready to go the day after the election. I hate going there, but maybe it’s right in front of our face. Then there are China and Russia. My Canada friend has been hearing about China’s interference in their election outcomes, not just messaging. But we need to save our country right now!
What we're seeing right now is the collision of the right-wing fever dream called Project 2025 with cold, hard reality. This is the result of a low-information, largely disengaged electorate falling for the promises of a known conman, AGAIN. Trump has neither the interest nor the capacity to do the 'presidenting' part of his job, so he's delegated that to an unelected, unvetted, ketamine addict who hasn't a clue how the U.S. government works. Meanwhile, Trump is busy vacationing in Florida, playing golf, and pushing out his latest crypto grift, and elected republicans are hiding from their own constituents because of the growing anger against this administration and congress's failure to check his authoritarian rampage.
We're in for a rough ride this year on all fronts. But let's not forget, it wasn't that long ago the corporate media was predicting a 'Biden recession' and calling the chances of recession under Trump 'near zero' [see Business Insider 12/24, for one]. No wonder corporate media is failing, and rightfully so. The rise of independent media like The Contrarian is one of the few bright spots of this so-far dark era. The growing Great American Pushback, as Jim Acosta calls it, is another light in the darkness. Thanks for your great article today, Jen!
"The rise of independent media like The Contrarian is one of the few bright spots of this so-far dark era."
I was an Internet pioneer. I was creating web sites with a 300 baud audio link and a telephone. I can tell you that there were LOTS of problems back then, but the power of a great new idea overcame them. SubStack (and there are lots of competitors that are both great and keeping each other honest) will chew up today's media giants and spit them out.
Sounds like you've had a remarkable career, Porter. That's awesome. Couldn't agree more that Substack and similar sites are the future of media. And it's about damned time, if you ask me.
I wish the Dems would do a WEEKLY "Report Card" on Trump comparing current economic status with Biden’s last day in office. Cute index names, cartoon illustrations, catchy narration by memorable voices, short, clever and funny. Needs an overall "score." Must be same-day weekly. Blasted on all the platforms. If it's honest, it would have the added advantage of being picked up by establishment media that us oldsters read/watch.
We don't NEED the Democrats to do it. There are a lot of similar websites doing that now. (On a weekly basis.)
I haven't seen your idea of comparing to Joe Biden, however. I think Joe was the best president since Jimmy Carter. And both were unfair victims of political assassination.
tRump+Musk are really full of themselves and being the antiempathetic cretins that they are, think this is some kind of delightful sortie into demolishing the US Government and all the Country's institutions. And - the problem is the wind beneath tRump+Musk's wings is the oligarchy. They have this fever dream that they can practice their rapacious business models totally unimpeded by the Government. But it has been proved time and again that uncontrolled and unregulated Capitalism is unstable and leads to massive boom-bust cycles. There is no way an ethical and beneficial society can survive with an oligarchy.
It's working out really well for Putin personally (so far). Have you seen the pictures of his royal palace? And all he has to do is nod his head to get someone thrown out of a window.
What makes you think he (or Trump, or Elon, or any of the tech buds) care about anything else?
I would add this line to the last paragraph. “Electing an ignorant, narcissist president and spineless supplicants to control Congress has real consequences. Tragically, the ones most affected will be the most vulnerable Americans. Fittingly, many of them brought this on themselves by voting for Trump.”
Interesting that the trump voters who claimed they voted for him because the price of groceries are too high, are now responding to his current inflationary actions by defending him. Even as grocery prices continue to rise.
For those who continue to believe trump voters were acting in good faith, it should now be clear that they weren’t. They voted for trump because they are all in on his revenge and burn the government to the ground agenda.
Do you really believe that they thought that far ahead? It's more likely that it was the lure of lower prices that got them hooked as single-issue voters tend to do. They also appear to like the theatrics.
True, but I just read some interesting research showing that the U.S. right wing is much more ideologically aligned with Turkey and Russia than it is with western democracies. The right seems to love dictators, just as trump does.
To say that the billionaire media under played President Biden's economic accomplishments is an understatement. Most of the time they ignored the good news or presented alternative explanations or prioritized other events.
Heather Cox Richardson recently wrote that Elon Musk calls his political opponents NPCs, a gaming term short for 'non-playing character' --- a background prop of no consequence to anything or anybody: in her words "there only to populate the game for the actual players." This is the man our scheming, sociopathic President has given most of his authority to.
This chilling dismissal of all of us, our concerns, livelihoods, dreams, and fears with that description exposes the mental workings of a truly depraved, degenerate fanatic. Musk is the modern incarnation of Friar Savonarola, the 'moral dictator' of post-Reformation Florence, who ordered the faithful to burn all of their 'vanities' -- couches, comfortable chairs, beautiful linens and clothes, lipstick, combs, mirrors, delectable foods -- in order to be pure and closer to God.
One fine day, the good people of Florence decided they'd had enough, and hanged the fanatic from his neck above as one of his roaring bonfires consumed him from below.
For anyone paying attention before the election, all of this was not only predictable but also bound to happen if our current dear leader was elected. How the American public expected the tiger to change his stripes is unfathomable. But the ox is in the ditch, and we have to find effective ways of countering this administration's chaos. So far, we aren't doing too well. We have some protests going, we have the Contrarian, we have Bernie (who's older than dirt), but we don't have a focused movement from any tangible opposition. I'm still waiting for someone to catch fire.
In reality there have been hundreds of protests from Austin to NYC...even to Twin Falls and Boise IDAHO and Sioux Falls, SD. The protests have been ignored by the media...understandable considering how little the media reported on the good things Biden did.
The new 50/50/1 group has held protests in all 50 states, but - again! - very little reporting.
Even imagining a change of positions on the economy seems naive. The Project 2025 blueprint, as Trump is implementing it, leads to adverse consequences intended to alter both our government and our economy. Before the effects were felt, its advocates said there might be some pain, so they knew we would experience pain in the transition to the society it envisioned. What is happening and will happen was intended; Trump and his minions will follow the script in the belief that stability on their terms is just around the corner--until it isn't.
CEOs wanted their sweet tax cuts, Veterans wanted their sweet misogyny and racism, Christians wanted their antiabortion, farmers wanted their ant woke shit, Arabs were talking Gaza, and now we're all fucked.
Trumpcession should be met by Blue Secession. That is Blue States form their own union and keep DC, and Trump can go rule from Mar-a-Lago, which would make him happy. After reading your article and on from the Bulwark that a friend shared yesterday called Waiting for Liberal Democracy in the American South I have come to this conclusion. https://www.thebulwark.com/p/liberal-democracy-american-south-vance-bourbons?r=f0qfn&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=false
My book club is also reading Freedom's Dominion by Jefferson Cowie, and that book makes me feel that the revival of Feudalism, which the rich, white men never let go of, is why we can see the Musk/Trump administration as the New Feudalism. If people want to be serfs, this is the regime to support.
Otherwise the Democrats need to be doing something none of them are doing, which is furiously drafting legislation to counter everything that Musk is doing and everything that is in Project 2025. I mean drafting legislation to protect us, divvy up the work, and then present these bills each day and call a press conference. They can be presented, but do not need to be accepted to make news. Let the people know what is on offer as opposition, not just talk. but bills. While the unions get their shit together to organize a massive strike. People need to be boycotting all businesses that they can. It is a time to not spend money and let the economy be what it will be. Resist.
Otherwise, you need to make a plan B and a plan C. I have written on that.
https://lindaweide.substack.com/p/a-plan-c-for-catastrophe?r=f0qfn
I don't think there are blue or red states, you can find people of all persuasions in all of them, and find enclaves of one group living in areas predominantly populated by the others. State aren't a natural demarcation or provide boundaries for any sort of secession, I find it to be a ridiculous idea.
I think we would be far better off remembering what makes us purple and focus on those things, because I feel that the situation today is more about those who exploit our differences and exaggerate them for their own ends rather than there being any natural division between us all. Exposing charlatans and offering alternative solutions with broad support are the best way to go.
Thank you. What we need, at this moment is unity. Division hurts all of us.
I'm with you Terry. Greed for money, power and adulation, along with "the rules don't really apply to me" are the drivers of this whole mess. This greed has been a problem throughout history and around the world. It will continue to be a problem whether the United States remains one entity or splits up. Pelosi's investment acumen, her trip to the hairstylist and Newsom's party during Covid shutdowns, Menendez and Blagojevich, Cuomo, Adams and Guliani, banks bailed out without meaningful consequences for predatory actions. Greed is not confined into red and blue boxes. I recently read that 60% of Americans are living paycheck to paycheck. I don't know where that number came from, but I remember thinking that the writer was someone that I would consider reliable. That is a ridiculous number for a country with our wealth. It's no wonder that people are frustrated and grasping for whatever they think might change their condition. I know quite a few folks that live paycheck to paycheck. Many of them didn't vote because "it doesn't matter" or voted red because "the Democrats had their chance and I'm no better off than before." Lots of these people work long hours at physically demanding jobs, and while they may be un/mis/disinformed, they are not dumb. In fact, the vast majority of them are far more closely aligned with "blue" policies and policy proposals than they are with "red" ones. They just don't know it. This is in Montana, where we have shifted hard red for federal and statewide offices, though we shifted back in the blue direction in our state house and senate. The "red" has done a far better job of "marketing" and of seizing on talking points that the "blue" presented them with. Reining in the greed and leveling the playing field may be hard, but in the long run it would do a lot more for the common good than opting for an amicable divorce because it would be a lot easier. It's also worth noting that the amicable divorce that the USSR went through hasn't really turned out to be that amicable.
The red side has done a much better job of marketing thanks to Fox News and now Musk’s manipulation of X. The problem is after 40 years of trickle down economics the wealth gap is vast and the middle class has been hollowed out. The conservatives blame it on immigrants and trans people because they are owned by the oligarchs who are actually at fault. In all fairness, the Democrats are owned by their business sponsors as well but maybe the more liberal of them realize that we live in a consumer based economy and so it’s important to spread the wealth out a little bit…
There are those who feel it is okay for everything to be hard. That is an acceptable point of view. However, there are those who feel like could be a lot easier if these increasingly large rifts were addressed by amicable divorce.
https://secularhumanism.org/exclusive/secession/
Linda--I hope there are more developmental elements to your thinking than "amicable divorce" would imply. I mean no offence, but the idea "as is" is way oversimplified.
I think our history as a country is long and much more "rooted," complex, and unified, up and down the fullness of one's being, and in many ways in most if not all of our minds, a history that at least need to be recovered, and the best of it celebrated, as we all go forward. Change alone, even if good for all, is hard enough to undergo for such a varied culture.
I agree-- I've written numerous posts, here and in the old days at the WaPo that Red and Blue America are like a couple trapped in a bad marriage, rapidly becoming an abusive one, that is rapidly becoming beyond repair. The best solution is an (amicable, I hope) divorce, although the logistics would be complicated, as I detail in my other posts.
Ivan, I agree with you. I cannot see the divorce of the Red and Blue as being more painful or disruptive that what is going on now. I have read Project 2025, and this needs to be nipped in the bud. Let the Red States celebrate their victory and their way of life, and figure out how to fund it, without our money supporting them. My friend says that would only be feasible if we joined Canada, but I don't think that is necessary. Let the Red States wage war on Mexico, Canada, and Greenland, and pull support from Ukraine, but without us.
What makes the logistics hard is that even in deep red states like Texas, the big cities (Houston, Dallas, San Antonio, Austin) are solidly blue, and even in deep blue states like NY and CA, much upstate and the central valley, respectively, are pretty red.
The disruption would be akin to when British South Asia was partitioned into India and Pakistan because of Hindu and Muslim acrimony
I would use the model that the US used when it took Texas from Mexico. People have a choice of which side to go with. Blue Texas will perhaps have to move to California to get the climate they want. A period of a year to make the switch. People in the world have to adjust to new set ups all the time. Create jobs with a green economy. States Rights should be used.
I see a two year time period. One for people to decide who to go with and to draft a new government. Another where people can still switch to the other side, and then they are done. It should not be a hard sell. If we find that the Red States have more men then women, so be it. Let them be the American China.
We should have a group already drafting a new constitution. One that does not allow everyone who immigrates to become a citizen because that is a formula for Reds moving to the Blue and then trying to change it to Red again. I would like a constitution that makes fascist parties illegal. They have to all be parties that will abide by the constitution.
That was my point about the analogy to the partition into India and Pakistan. It happened, but while it was happening it caused a lot of internal disruption. Still I agree with you that ultimately that's what would happen. You'd see an enormous brain drain from Red America, and Blue America would get smarter, since the people who'd move to Texas or Florida would tend toward the bumpkins, morons, Yahoos, misogynists, bigots, racists, rubes and boobs who comprise much of Red America.
Ivan here is a plan set up by Gary Whittenberger a couple of months ago.
https://secularhumanism.org/exclusive/secession/
I think the big issue is who is writing the new constitution. BOth Gary and I thought of the United Blue States of America. Let the rest be The Confederate States of America. They can even have the Confederate Flag. I am all for creating a new flag. I would like to see this set up for 2026. Less than a year away.
I live in Texas and am Blue; keep hopelessly wishing for Texas to get back to Blue, but realize the awful gerrymandering will never allow for it. Who will buy my home, move me or change my medical insurance elsewhere, etc.
Fantasy Land!
William so much has been created in the world by people who have rich imaginations and a good ability to engage in fantasy, as well as the experiences to try things out, accept failures on the way to successes, and continued working on it.
I have been around naysayers all of my life. I have mostly ignored them, or the parts that I could. At the same time, someone has to dream it first to make it happen. I Have a Dream is a famous speech. In this speech I think King is pointing the way to a Democratic States of America. Of course, King died before his dream was realized. We could however, carry it on. That might mean cleaving the unified States. Also, sometimes change is just progress.
Linda what do you do with the vast numbers of poor people who would like to leave red states but have no money to do so. Additionally, several red states have large populations of poor Black people. What would be their fate if struck in Red America? Re-enslavement? And why do you think red America would separate peacefully? All those gun happy incel white boys would like nothing better than to invade and blast away in reality, computer games having schooled them well. And what about the military and nuclear arsenals? What on earth is the chance of a cordial & reliable agreement about them?
I agree Margaret. It’s a great dream but there’s no way the GOP would let it happen peacefully since the blue states and “coastal elites” heavily subsidize them.
Linda, don't tempt them. They are so profoundly stupid that they might do it.
Please, hurry up, just tell them it was a joke 😃
Ricardo, There are several discussion of the Blue States Seceding, and here is one considered plan that includes Blue States.
https://secularhumanism.org/exclusive/secession/
Linda, for sure blue and purple states should have the right of self determination. Nobody can push decent and intelligent people to follow and destructive horde.
Canada would not let us join them !
Patricia, I am of the school, nothing ventured nothing gained. I am not suggesting that we have to join another country. We have enough people to form our own nation. My city's of Chicago's greater metropolitan area alone (9.26 mil) is about the size of Austria (~9.1 mil, Hungary (~9.7 mil), and Belarus (~9.1 mil). It is bigger than Switzerland (~8.9 mil), Bulgaria and Serbia (~6.7 mil), Denmark (~6 mil), Finland, etc... and many other countries in Europe. So, even if we do not join Canada, we can make countries of our own.
Canada would be wise financially to let us join, with a willingness to join their constitution. They just have elected a new PM who is sure to see the wisdom of the economics of it. Might be easier if we were our own nation first. Us joining Canada or seceding is a win-win for Canada, Mexico, Greenland, Ukraine, the EU, and NATO. They don't need to keep both nations, just the one that actually supports allies.
it sounds good, but why would Canada, or any country, join with us, risking getting some americans who have proven themselves to be idiots ? Why would they risk having them pull the same crap in their currently perfectly good country ?
Patricia I am not advocating joining Canada, just un-uniting the United States as they are into 2 entities. Since people would have a choice of which side to be on, with an allowance to move, we should get people who are better aligned with the political values where they are living.
Again, Wittenberger lays it out.
https://secularhumanism.org/exclusive/secession/
The French Revolution may have inspired America, but America has never been more in need of its own actual French Revolution or, rather, its own Enlightenment, with the starkest possible separation of church and state enshrined in the constitution so as to leave absolutely no shred of doubt nor hope for anyone dreaming of 'restoration.'
The fact that there actually never was an Enlightenment here has allowed this current cancer to metastasize. We never needed more surgeons, and more people holding up the light.
You people are giving up WAY too easy. As someone who has been married for more than fifty years, I can testify that it can be hard, but the rewards are worth it.
If you even came close to the insanity you seem to be seriously proposing, you would discover that the world you created would be far worse than the world you destroyed. You talk about India and Pakistan, for example. India and Pakistan have fought three major wars and one undeclared war, and have also engaged in numerous armed skirmishes and military standoffs since 1947. I remind you that Ghandi was completely against the separation and an Indian nationalist assassinated him. The dis-United States would be easy prey for the forces of the world that hate our democracy (including many in the so-far-United States. And you are playing directly into the hands of MAGA in even suggesting it.
Porter: I often think of the movie version of Ghandi's life, the scene where a man was telling Ghandi about his son having been killed and asking how to try to live with his situation without being violent. Ghandi told him to find a child from the other side whose parents had been killed and raise him as his own.
I think you (and Ghandi) were right about the idea of political/cultural/ geographical separation--we all just bring our present problems with us to re-emerge in a new context of "others."
Also, I think the U.S. Constitution needs a LITTLE work, and interpretations in corroboration with sane and well-developed, knowledgeable human beings, but certainly not rewriting precisely because it enables reasonable change from within the common democratic principles (of, for, by the people, rule of law, the First Amendment, but with some reference to responsibility, etc.) that are ensconced in it without giving or inviting micromanagement. (The Federalist Papers were a real eye-opener for me on this.)
I don't know if "we'" will survive this present onslaught of vengeful ignorance, but my thought and historical research tell me separation (especially of next-door states), is not a better way.
Thank you! I think the Federalist Papers are great too. I don't know why they're not required reading in high school.
But I think the Constitution needs a bit more than a LITTLE work. On the other hand, it would be too easy to make it even worse so we need to be very careful.
"I agree-- I've written numerous posts, here and in the old days at the WaPo that Red and Blue America are like a couple trapped in a bad marriage..."
For a little levity:
"Republicans vs. Democrats - Studio C"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aXyDAi51A7s
Wait a minute! Why would we, in "blue states" abandon our neighbors in "red states"? They are hurting, right now. Plenty of people who did not vote for this live in those "red states." This is an opportunity for the Trump Cult to be revealed for what it is. This is already happening in States across the US. Re-read The posts on this site from March fourth. Take note of the protests in "red states". Those Americans are us! They are a vital piece of our resistance.
While I strongly object to your first paragraph, I strongly agree with most of your second paragraph. Democrats need to be presenting and making public, alternatives at every turn. The alternative budget which protects all of the services that americans need, presented by Jeffres is one example. Congressional Democrats must make it very public. That alternative budget needs to be advertised in every town across our nation.
Our best hope is that our neighbors in every State will join the fight to protect justice and Democracy in the country we all love.
The best sentence in your message:
"This is an opportunity for the Trump Cult to be revealed for what it is."
Agreed. As soon as we make our politics existential and follow proposals that haven't been well thought through, we become the functional equivalent of the MAGAs.
Josephine, if you read the Wittenberger plan, there is money for relocating and choice. If you have read the history of how the US acquired Texas from Mexico, you know that they had to do this sort of thing too. of course there was some land deceit in that which we would not want to replicate. Wittenberger lays it out how it works. It is about choice.
https://secularhumanism.org/exclusive/secession/
It's about the choice for civil war and violence versus communication and reconciliation. No thank you. I'll stick with the UNITED States of America.
Wait another minute, who gets the kids, and by kids, I mean me, a blue resident of a purple state, Pennsylvania, living in a bluish collar county of Philadelphia. I emphatically don’t want to stranded on the red side and I know there are plenty more like me.
Yes! I could be the domestic equivalent of NATO. The Democratic States of America.
DSA seems entirely reasonable and real to me. Don’t know what would happen with the military, and a crazy man is in charge. But certainly a possibility in a subset context, like right now. I know there are Rs in blue states, but that’s an immovable reality with the electoral college barrier - at least for now. Still looking forward to our daily Opposition press briefing from the Dems! Is it happening? Other government departments with less authority have their own press secretaries. Why not the Opposition in Congress? We need it yesterday!
I like that name too. I was following Gary Whittenberger's Suggestion of The United Blue States of America, but I like the Democratic States of America better.
https://secularhumanism.org/exclusive/secession/
It will be a good reminder of who we are and what we stand for. Of course that did not work for the Democratic Republic of the Congo, so protections still need to be built in.
We could become The Democratic States and The Confederate States of America. DSA and CSA. A friend asks, who would draft a constitution.
Yes, the Congo: It's an existential, and not a conceptual issue. CBK
Although I find your proposal tempting, when I look at the landscape of my northern blue state, I see that the rural counties are a vivid red. I suspect that any attempt at secession would at worst lead to a local civil war and at best lead to a partition.
I agree. I live in a purple district in rural Virginia. It elected Trump for President, but also elected Eugene Vindman (D) to replace Abigail Spanberger (D) as our representative to Congress. How do you cut that baby in half?
with the sharp knife of necessity
That's saying nothing. It sounds good in a comments section but it's otherwise meaningless. How would you go about it?
It does sound good dosen't it ? How about you cut out voter supp,the sup crt,unfair taxes,etc. Give everyone a history class, enough food and 10,ooo dollars....have at least one news program everyone watches.....uh see what you mean
Richard, That's right, how about this...americans cut the shit and realize we live in a great place and act accordingly.
Richard, there are other options, but really is this going to be harder than life under a USA turned into a third world country, where you pay taxes but get nothing back for them, but the Red States will. That does not mean that it will improve the quality of life of most of the people, but it will be performative for Red State governors to pretend to their people like they are doing something.
Any way you look at it, Kevin Roberts says it will get bloody unless people go along with what they plan to do. Secession might not be what he envisioned, but will there be the will to keep Blue states in at that cost. As for your red counties, like the red counties in Illinois which have a lot of value to me personally because they grow the food, although too much corn, and they do not bring in the money Chicago does. I am willing to have my food coming from a Blue state, in fact, Illinois could make a pipeline to CA with water in exchange for produce.
At this point, because I have read project 2025 in a book club, which means I took notes on my reading, and we had hour+ discussions on each chapter for the most part, I have a good sense of the document part of it. Reading Jefferson Cowie's Freedom's Dominion book now in my book club, and it is all about the New Feudalism. Elrod's article in the Bulwark on the Red South, along with what Rubin says here, convince me that it is a way to go. Here is a plan of how it could happen without violence, although if you want to avoid violence the US is not the place to be.
https://secularhumanism.org/exclusive/secession/
Look where the US falls on the Global Peace Index. It is 132.
https://www.visionofhumanity.org/maps/#/
That means 131 countries less violent, and at least 20 of them are in Africa. One of them is right next door. I would definitely make gun control a big part of any new constitution. That will separate the straw from the chaff.
https://www.visionofhumanity.org/maps/#/
Does anyone realize much of the problems have to do with entire aspects of a culture ignoring that human beings are developmental, and that the elephant in the room is secular culture with inadequately educated persons?
I'll go with "inadequately educated persons". One of the great accidents of my life was that I took SIX YEARS to get my engineering degree because I was desperately trying to avoid getting drafted during the Vietnam War. (They got me anyway.) So I took a lot of economics and history classes. Graduating from the school of engineering was a choice for me, not an inevitability. But the broad education I got as a result was wonderful.
But "secular culture" is a plus in my book.
The problem is not Blue vs Red; the problem is humanity itself. Plato identified the problem with democracy 2500 years ago, and humans today are the same irrational, emotional, easily duped group they were thousands of years ago. Sadly humans don’t change, only their technology does.
Hello Richard Class: I hear you, but I am sure you have changed, as I have, and Porter has, and probably everyone here to some degree and in many ways has changed. So I hope your judgment is temporary?
That, however, is my point about education. One of Plato's great contributions was "know thyself," (probably ascribed to Socrates), and that self-changes and develops.
With Aristotle, however, I think it's an oddity of democracy that the realities of human development require that children need to be educated and guided to live in one--set them totally free in the beginning, and you get a mess. I do not mean by education "propaganda" or, in the old Greek term, sophistry.
I agree that education is paramount. Yet, we live during a time when public education is underfunded, disrespected, and possibly being dismantled in preference for religious education. Six of the current Supreme Court justices are Catholic and although all are highly educated, at least four of them appear to let their religion inform their decisions much of the time. Yes, we as individuals can change, and a great deal of change has been accomplished during the past 50 years, but that change has led us to this extreme reaction by the under educated, the religious zealots, and those who fear a multicultural and diverse society. The point I was trying to make is that the secession of blue states is easier to say than to accomplish.
As a contrarian, I think it's the first time in my life to be in 💯 % agreement with anybody. Great Linda, you accomplish what my wife never could. 🤝😄
Agreed!
The ironic thing is that virtually all the Red states are net gainers for federal benefits; that is, they get back way more in benefits than they pay in taxes. Those benefits are of course paid for by the economic success of the Blue States. So efforts by Trump to damage the Blue state economies in some sort of weird revenge for not voting for him, will result in lower tax revenues, and less money to the Red states. In a similar vein, in Oregon, the state is divided on a very partisan basis with Blue counties on the west and north of the Cascades, and very Red counties on the east side. And a lot of the east siders are convinced they should leave Oregon and become part of very Red Idaho. Of course, just like the Red state Trumpies, they haven't considered that the Blue counties of the state are where the money comes from to support their state benefits. If it was up to me, I'd bless this move as it would probably result in a net savings for the state. Not that any of the Trump economy-destroying moves make any sense. In my darkest moments I wonder if that's the plan; destroy the economy so that DJT can "save" the country by declaring martial law and tossing out the rule of law.
I have read that about 70% of GDP comes from Blue Counties. More of them in Blue States. In my state Chicago's contribution to the state coffers far outweighs what the agricultural part of the state contributes. This is the north south difference all over again. I just think that one, if there were a secessionist movement it would throw plans off, and they would have to think outside the box of their carefully planned move, and it should be timed to happen in 2026. So, Trump can be king to the rest. The whole world hates Trump now, including the authoritarians he is sucking up to, and being nice to, alternately with doing crappy things to them too. He is just like that. Let people go and see what it is like not to be propped up by real economics, instead of those fake ones that the Republicans tout. We will then see in a side by side experiment which ideas really work better economically. We already know, but those in the Red states need to understand it too. I am a Deweyan teacher and this would be a real great way to let them see. Also, there is nothing to prevent purple states from joining the Democratic States of America if they can live within the rules of a constitution that does not allow their undemocratic practices. Mandatory voter registration and voting for all. Any ID required it is free and provided by the state. Or the money for it is for anyone who cannot afford it.
Here is a campaign to join. The Ideas of Trump. https://indivisiblemrv.org/action/2025/03/05/set-a-world-postcard-record.html
"Otherwise the Democrats need to be doing something nothing of them are doing...."
Linda, this is the most frustrating thing of all. These actions are complicated but not that hard. Do what you were elected to do. Draft legislation. Communicate with the public by holding press conferences. But the stunning ineptitude of the current Democratic Party leadership stands in the way.
James, I agree. If I were a lawyer I would be drafting the stuff, like we see people like Marc Elias doing in Democracy Docket. However, we need our elected legislators to develop legislation that protects us. Perhaps we can all make some mock bills to get them started and send them. It was like I kept telling Dick Durbin during the last 3 years, that there are members of the Supreme Court that he should start impeaching. Success is not measured by impeaching them, but by making them aware that there is a willingness to do it and to keep trying until it sticks. Doing it tells the masses that it is something to be done. It is about education. I was a very successful teacher because I taught in John Dewey's school. He believed in learning by doing. Each of them as legislators will also understand better what kinds of bills they need to draft to have an effect. So, they should all be upping their learning curves. I have done this in retirement too, by mostly moving to another country. That is also an option to have as a back up.
https://lindaweide.substack.com/p/a-plan-c-for-catastrophe?r=f0qfn
The more people who leave either by state or individually, the more power they lose.
Thank you for your response, Linda. I had not thought about preparing "mock bills" of our own. Back in my days as a civil serpent, I sometimes had the opportunity to meet and work with members of Congress and their staffers. Most of the staffers I met were smart and hard-working, often more so than the people they were working for. I thought these were the people who would be drafting the proposed legislation.
One other thing. I think you might see that in Germany the Left, upped their visibility and recruited youth. Here is Anand Girihandaras talking with a member of this German party on how they campaigned to get votes.
https://the.ink/p/tiktok-door-knock?r=f0qfn&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=false
It is ALL ON US!
Well done!
Americans disengaged from the political process and daily news got the wrong idea about Trump because for 3 years in his first term, he avoided shouting himself in the foot economically and rode Obama's coattails taking the credit for a home run after starting on third base.
Of course, that's the only way Donald Trump has ever found success, inheriting it.
This time however, he is a rush to destroy everything President Biden build up from scratch pretending that what comes after, will make America great again. The scumbag president's followers are due for a rough awakening. At least the portion of them not profoundly stupid. Remainder: there's no cure for stupidity.
Everything Trump touches dies. No exceptions.
he is even ruining the weather service because they contradicted his sharpie forcast that hurricaine season.
No doubt about that Patricia. He even might outsource the weather forecasting to a religious institution with a rate of accuracy of 0 %. Everything for America great again!!!!!!
I can almost hear the weather report now: "It's going to rain for forty days and forty nights. Get your livestock into your own Arks-R-Us, now on sale from your local revival preacher."
Great reply Porter !!!! Thanks 😄
His “reason” is often that petty. But now he has other sinister types who exploit his pettiness, to create targeted discriminatory cuts that really hurt real people- or even end our alliances and our democracy. The Rs had no business allowing such a damaged person to run in the first place. Maybe someday that Party will be held to account for its attack on our country. Ds should not dismiss the reality of an enemy from within, and identify that enemy loudly- it’s the Republican Party, not “the other”.
and corporations
Ricardo, St Kassiani, an Orthodox saint, said “The only cure for stupidity is death”. I find that a strangely comforting thing to mutter to myself in these times!
No wonder he was declared a saint. I'll keep his quote at hand. Thanks so much Marcia 😆
patron saint of the mafia I presume ?
There's good data to indicate that if he just took his inheritance and simply invested it into some index funds, he'd be a lot richer than he is today.
IOW, he took his inheritance and flushed a bunch of it down the crapper.
… or by cheating others to get it. We can tell the truth, say it’s true, and tell others he lied to them. (Calling others a dupe or fool is demeaning, and will usually make them dig in.). Then move on. They think that with soooooo much smoke, there must be fire- BUT THERE IS NO FIRE.
Acting president Elon Musk could cease mindless cuts
"Acting president" is the wrong title, because it implies some sort of formal transfer of power.
The better title is "SHADOW PRESIDENT" because, like the man behind the curtain in the Wizard of Oz, he's pulling the levers where nobody can watch, and the face we see is just a figurehead!
IOW, Musk is the "Puppeteer" and he's just pulling Don the Con's strings to make him move.
Nobody voted for him. 5 Million Patriots --- bring five million citizens to Washington until MUSK is expelled; and, TRUMP and VANCE are impeached.
5MillionPatriots.blogspot.com
Feathers of Hope. https://jerryweiss.substack.com/p/remove-impeach-impeach
Presssure Congressional Republicans. Call. Write. Picket. Sit in.
Absolutely shadow president. Musk wasn't (and cannot be) elected president, though he has apparently bought one. Referring to him as 'president' in any way is using the Josef Goebbels's approach, that "if you tell a lie long enough, it becomes accepted as truth." We need to avoid this.
Absolutely right in your description Ivan 👏
I don’t think he deserves any title, since he’s just a gate crasher, dangerously ignorant and cold.
Keep your eye on 'Little Red Riding Hood's grandmother' with his BIG TEETH....as he goes on Fox News with his lying over and over. AND even worse in ways, is the main stream media soft shoeing everything he does ie Hungary style media. I think our Bernie style - get out to the people town halls is our best hope for now :). BUT we still need the Democrats to learn their own powerful strategy to "fight like Hell" like the Republican do..since that is who we are fighting ! Oh, and stay out of the woods .... ;)
Yes. My new Rep. held a packed town hall on the weekend, then immediately held another for the overflow crowd. I think the real majority, and Rs, crave a routine, in person (with necessary streaming) meeting every month in every district. Odd this isn’t mandatory for all districts already, since this is the people’s government.
I see the occasional story about working-class Trump voters regretting their votes, but even those are equivocal. They didn't think he would do such-and-such but they still believe in his "goals." It's too humiliating to admit you were wrong. I think I am now an election denier and a conspiracy theorist. Does anyone else imagine (or have reason to believe) that Musk manipulated the vote tally in some of the swing states? Remember how Trump et cie accuse others of what they themselves are actually doing? And that they are not above cheating? Why did Trump tell RFK Jr ,"by the way, we're going to win," when he first offered the cabinet position? That they are all a bit psychotic doesn't help, either.
I so agree with you, Rachel. I’ve been saying it since the election that Kamala was told to sit the F down and shut the F up. Bullet ballots in ridiculous numbers only in the swings states. “Winning” in EVERY swing state…no possible way. The Dems with no protest. You bet your ass I’m an election denier.
Take a look at the audit that was completed by electiontruthalliance.org. They analyzed voting patterns in the most populous county in Nevada, Clark County. The found voting patterns for mail in vote and same day voting fit a normal distribution, following the bell curve. However, in the early vote data they found evidence of what is called a russian tail. Same russian tail found in the country of Georgia, indicating some rigging. The probability of Trump winning all seven swing states with less than 50% of the vote is improbable. Also, all swing state votes were not close enough to trigger a recount probably by design. Visit their site, they have all the data and graphs.
starting to get there.....
Don’t do this, Rachel. There’s no evidence - none - that the election was rigged. Let’s deal with reality. Don’t sink to their level.
John, that’s only because the Democrats didn’t even bother to look for evidence. As usual they just rolled over and died.
Nancy, do you really believe that? The facts are that we lost this election by not getting as many votes as Republicans. Let’s deal with that reality, because that’s how we’ll win the election. We need to win more votes.
Yes I do believe it. This country is filled with stupid, brainwashed, internet fed crazies but I refuse to believe those people outnumber us. The trump told us over and over he had rigged the 2024 election. The better question is why don’t you believe him the single time he actually spoke the truth? Musk’s technology and teenage hackers running and ruining the country now just confirms my election doubts. I also believe his so called assassination attempt in Butler was completely staged - so now you can totally write me off as certifiable. However, you might check out who is currently running the Secret Service.
Yes. that "assassination" attempt - clipping a teensy bit of his ear (when has THAT ever happened??)- was carefully staged to impress his base with his willingness to sacrifice for them. HOOEY!! Someday that sharpshooter will emerge and confess, from his villa in St. Thomas.
Nahhh ... the whole incident was too public ... Your theory sounds too much like a "The moon landing was faked!" idea.
BUT ... You might talk me into the idea that Satan saved him instead.
"... but I refuse to believe those people outnumber us."
I don't. They might as well eliminate the Department of Education because we're not doing that anymore.
You’re not going to win if you spend your time fighting imaginary conspiracies. What specific proof do you have, beyond a vague feeling that “they rigged the election”? How did they do that? Where? What evidence do you have?
Musk’s technology (I assume you’re referring to Starlink) had nothing to do with the election. His teenage tech bros are incompetent and clumsy. I work at the polls, as a vote counter. It would be exceedingly difficult to rig an election in even one precinct, never mind across many towns and cities in many states. The number of people who would have to be involved, and kept silent, is in the thousands. Do you realize how impossible that would be? We saw Trump try to steal an election in 2020 - he failed miserably. He failed in Michigan, in Georgia, in Arizona, in Pennsylvania, in Wisconsin - and we know all about that because of the court cases and recounts and testimony.
Let’s deal with reality. Trump won more votes than Kamala. How do we make sure that doesn’t happen again?
You’re not alone. Leave it to Dems, bless ‘em, to deny absolutely on one side, without looking on the other. I can’t reconcile how the result was in so ridiculously fast. And DT was campaigning with reckless abandon, as if the result was predetermined. He said more than once, that if his people did their jobs in red states, he was going to win. (I’m sure he didn’t mean getting more of the general public to vote. Remember, Rs got access to voter rolls when they did all those phony audits.) Elon’s effect was very real, but I’m not sure that would have put him over. I also doubt all the money and time was put into Proj. 2025 for a “maybe”. They were ready to go the day after the election. I hate going there, but maybe it’s right in front of our face. Then there are China and Russia. My Canada friend has been hearing about China’s interference in their election outcomes, not just messaging. But we need to save our country right now!
What we're seeing right now is the collision of the right-wing fever dream called Project 2025 with cold, hard reality. This is the result of a low-information, largely disengaged electorate falling for the promises of a known conman, AGAIN. Trump has neither the interest nor the capacity to do the 'presidenting' part of his job, so he's delegated that to an unelected, unvetted, ketamine addict who hasn't a clue how the U.S. government works. Meanwhile, Trump is busy vacationing in Florida, playing golf, and pushing out his latest crypto grift, and elected republicans are hiding from their own constituents because of the growing anger against this administration and congress's failure to check his authoritarian rampage.
We're in for a rough ride this year on all fronts. But let's not forget, it wasn't that long ago the corporate media was predicting a 'Biden recession' and calling the chances of recession under Trump 'near zero' [see Business Insider 12/24, for one]. No wonder corporate media is failing, and rightfully so. The rise of independent media like The Contrarian is one of the few bright spots of this so-far dark era. The growing Great American Pushback, as Jim Acosta calls it, is another light in the darkness. Thanks for your great article today, Jen!
The best sentence in your message:
"The rise of independent media like The Contrarian is one of the few bright spots of this so-far dark era."
I was an Internet pioneer. I was creating web sites with a 300 baud audio link and a telephone. I can tell you that there were LOTS of problems back then, but the power of a great new idea overcame them. SubStack (and there are lots of competitors that are both great and keeping each other honest) will chew up today's media giants and spit them out.
Sounds like you've had a remarkable career, Porter. That's awesome. Couldn't agree more that Substack and similar sites are the future of media. And it's about damned time, if you ask me.
I wish the Dems would do a WEEKLY "Report Card" on Trump comparing current economic status with Biden’s last day in office. Cute index names, cartoon illustrations, catchy narration by memorable voices, short, clever and funny. Needs an overall "score." Must be same-day weekly. Blasted on all the platforms. If it's honest, it would have the added advantage of being picked up by establishment media that us oldsters read/watch.
Agree. It would be powerful. But, the Democrats to do it on a weekly basis? We have a better chance pitching the idea to John Oliver.
We don't NEED the Democrats to do it. There are a lot of similar websites doing that now. (On a weekly basis.)
I haven't seen your idea of comparing to Joe Biden, however. I think Joe was the best president since Jimmy Carter. And both were unfair victims of political assassination.
tRump+Musk are really full of themselves and being the antiempathetic cretins that they are, think this is some kind of delightful sortie into demolishing the US Government and all the Country's institutions. And - the problem is the wind beneath tRump+Musk's wings is the oligarchy. They have this fever dream that they can practice their rapacious business models totally unimpeded by the Government. But it has been proved time and again that uncontrolled and unregulated Capitalism is unstable and leads to massive boom-bust cycles. There is no way an ethical and beneficial society can survive with an oligarchy.
So very true, Mr. Brady. Look how that's working out for Russia under Putinskaya and his oligarchs.
It's working out really well for Putin personally (so far). Have you seen the pictures of his royal palace? And all he has to do is nod his head to get someone thrown out of a window.
What makes you think he (or Trump, or Elon, or any of the tech buds) care about anything else?
I would add this line to the last paragraph. “Electing an ignorant, narcissist president and spineless supplicants to control Congress has real consequences. Tragically, the ones most affected will be the most vulnerable Americans. Fittingly, many of them brought this on themselves by voting for Trump.”
I just love the way you tell it! My morning tonic!!
Interesting that the trump voters who claimed they voted for him because the price of groceries are too high, are now responding to his current inflationary actions by defending him. Even as grocery prices continue to rise.
For those who continue to believe trump voters were acting in good faith, it should now be clear that they weren’t. They voted for trump because they are all in on his revenge and burn the government to the ground agenda.
Do you really believe that they thought that far ahead? It's more likely that it was the lure of lower prices that got them hooked as single-issue voters tend to do. They also appear to like the theatrics.
More evidence that "You can't fix stupid."
True, but I just read some interesting research showing that the U.S. right wing is much more ideologically aligned with Turkey and Russia than it is with western democracies. The right seems to love dictators, just as trump does.
To say that the billionaire media under played President Biden's economic accomplishments is an understatement. Most of the time they ignored the good news or presented alternative explanations or prioritized other events.
Heather Cox Richardson recently wrote that Elon Musk calls his political opponents NPCs, a gaming term short for 'non-playing character' --- a background prop of no consequence to anything or anybody: in her words "there only to populate the game for the actual players." This is the man our scheming, sociopathic President has given most of his authority to.
This chilling dismissal of all of us, our concerns, livelihoods, dreams, and fears with that description exposes the mental workings of a truly depraved, degenerate fanatic. Musk is the modern incarnation of Friar Savonarola, the 'moral dictator' of post-Reformation Florence, who ordered the faithful to burn all of their 'vanities' -- couches, comfortable chairs, beautiful linens and clothes, lipstick, combs, mirrors, delectable foods -- in order to be pure and closer to God.
One fine day, the good people of Florence decided they'd had enough, and hanged the fanatic from his neck above as one of his roaring bonfires consumed him from below.
I love historical metaphors! Whatever HAS happened, CAN happen.
I prefer the one about Mousellini (and his girlfriend) hanging upside down from a gas station, however.
For anyone paying attention before the election, all of this was not only predictable but also bound to happen if our current dear leader was elected. How the American public expected the tiger to change his stripes is unfathomable. But the ox is in the ditch, and we have to find effective ways of countering this administration's chaos. So far, we aren't doing too well. We have some protests going, we have the Contrarian, we have Bernie (who's older than dirt), but we don't have a focused movement from any tangible opposition. I'm still waiting for someone to catch fire.
In reality there have been hundreds of protests from Austin to NYC...even to Twin Falls and Boise IDAHO and Sioux Falls, SD. The protests have been ignored by the media...understandable considering how little the media reported on the good things Biden did.
The new 50/50/1 group has held protests in all 50 states, but - again! - very little reporting.
Even imagining a change of positions on the economy seems naive. The Project 2025 blueprint, as Trump is implementing it, leads to adverse consequences intended to alter both our government and our economy. Before the effects were felt, its advocates said there might be some pain, so they knew we would experience pain in the transition to the society it envisioned. What is happening and will happen was intended; Trump and his minions will follow the script in the belief that stability on their terms is just around the corner--until it isn't.
Whatever HAS happened, CAN happen.
CEOs wanted their sweet tax cuts, Veterans wanted their sweet misogyny and racism, Christians wanted their antiabortion, farmers wanted their ant woke shit, Arabs were talking Gaza, and now we're all fucked.