We who are awake and aware will never stop fighting. Never. I am often frightened, but never in despair. To fall into despair is to allow the greedy exploitative class to win. Maybe the sight of an 87 year old woman being forced out of her apartment is the kind of thing we ought to start featuring in our ads. After all, the mindset of that landlord is closely aligned with those of the billionaire class in this country. Enough is enough, and I've had it.
Good job of giving a brief summary of progressive history.
Recently I had a heated “discussion” with a relative who told me she was disturbed about a trans person in a female bathroom exposing their self to little girls. She cited a case. Appears this report came out of Facebook and was designed for MAGA moms. When I questioned the authenticity of what was suspected to be a deepfake, and simply asked how this even happens when there are privacy stalls in restrooms, I was personally admonished for being a Trump hater. Trump, I reminded her, was in the Epstein files 38,000 times, is an adjudicated rapist, and had a decades old, well documented, history of sexual abuse. So, I asked, if she were REALLY against perversion why vote for Trump? Shows exactly how the right wing works up a distraction campaign against scapegoats.
I stopped chatting with an old friend when she insisted that schools were changing the gender of students during lunch breaks, and that they were putting sandboxes in restrooms for students who identified as furries to use instead of toilets. My friend was a retired executive with a multinational, so this was not an IQ thing. She was at war with sin and perversion. Ironic that the GOP pols have a 10-to-1 lead over Democrats caught having sex with minors, performing rapes, serially cheating on spouses, incest, etc.
Judy,sometimes discussions with family members are the most difficult. If enough americans knew about the history of " Nazi Germany from 1934-41 they might recognize the similarities. Problem is most people who support Trump in the south don't know the defintion of " Nazi" ,don't know where Germany is and are bigots,don't like hispanics,blacks,Europeans,lesbians,those who support womens rights. We live in a very sad time and the" nazis" are winning along with the Technofascists. Next yr when we have 30-40 million unemployed due to AI,maybe people will wake up.
Nice try, but you can't talk to 90% of these people. Some are just confused and distracted. But most of these idiots actively seek this out, as it validates their own prejudices and hatreds. Reason, logic, and facts do not register in their brains. tRump could take away their first born children, and they would consider it their contribution and an honor to be supporting the king.
The best example of billionaire insanity is the absolute destruction of the White House and Washington city-sites that are being destroyed by TRump. Then there is the footage of the school in Iran and the graveyard they had to dig. We do not need to deep-fake ANYTHING, and we need to say so.
Time to put "social" back into Social Security. Time to use every means available to expose the billionaire grifters for the parasites that they are. Independent media like Thom are bravely answering the call. Time to pass it on. The moment is NOW, and it is just the beginning. We have so much work to do! See you in the streets.
Thom mentioned: A 7yo autistic White Canadian girl, currently wrapped in a tin-foil tarp, sleeping on the cold concrete floor of an ICE Concentration Camp where all the imprisoned babies scream, and the trapped children cry, but no one turns off the lights at night. Or daytime either, for that matter
The monsters. The horror.
#77,300,000 Nutjobs voted for this Racist, Kiddie Rapist
“…our democracy that’s been so badly battered by 45 years of Republican con men and Democratic neoliberals.” Those Democratic neoliberals are only fractionally less responsible for our circumstances than the Republican con men. Decades of muted, acquiescent, “pragmatic” responses and, worse, insincere posturing by the best of them has allowed the Party to be bought by the same oligarchs who now own all three branches of government. When the economy tanked in 2008, we bailed out the financial giants (“too big to fail”), permitting them to award their execs bonuses (!), while a huge swath of citizens were allowed to sink. Current Democratic “leadership’s” response to the likes of Bernie Sanders, AOC, Zorhan Mamdani, Abdul El-Sayed, Angie Nixon, etc., etc. speaks volumes. If we are to have a government of, by, and for the people, we must hear “leadership’s” disingenuous drivel for what it is and elevate the genuinely committed.
After the depression that followed the Gilded Age, public sentiment turned strongly against millionaires and oligarchs. Much of America believes billionaires deserve to keep the money instead of giving it back to society, because of the myth that "they earned it", and also because of the fantasy that some day they too will be rich. We need to push that anti-billionaire, anti-monopoly attitude again.
This post covers a topic that could fill a book--and has, many times. There has always been a class war between those who think so much of themselves, and the rest of us, who disgust them. But with the confluence of movement democracy and industrialization in the late 1700's, we have been battling against the power of money that has no personal stake in society and no fidelity to the law. The United States is a union of opposing forces--democracy and capitalism. It is only inevitable that it becomes torn apart, as the billionaires pull away from all accountability.
The U.S. is (and always has been) a union of democracy and capitalism, because it needs both, capitalism to provide incentive and initiative to accrue wealth, and socialism to control it. Any powerful force, like nuclear energy (or money, one of the most powerful social or cultural forces) most be controlled or regulated lest it destroys it's host - as has happened since the 1980 Reagan Revolution, where regulation in regards to capitalist profits has been steadily eroded by Republican pressure...and has allowed democracy - to spiral uncontrolled into the abyss.
"— After World War II, democracies around the world copied FDR’s American New Deal formula, and that tightly regulated capitalism along with high taxes on the morbidly rich produced the largest middle class in history."
Capitalism might have been tightly regulated, but I do not think it was ever recognized as a badly flawed paradigm based on a belief system which is based on a falsely elevated perception of capital as of more importance or value than lowly labor and unthinking consumers or democracy itself. Capitalism is the "ism" that puts the power in the hands of oligarchs with the zealotry of a religion, and the worship of wealth and the image of the wealthy as more deserving, superior, or harder working than laborers and workers is the poison which we have been feeding ourselves for centuries. It's in the air and the water, and especially in the schools. Now would be a good time to disabuse ourselves of the mythology.
Robert,Capitalism was fine as long there were guardrails. Today there no guardrails,Trump has destroyed all regulations. Nothing is regulated and the emergence of AI without regulation will destroy most of humanity. Machines,robots take over.
I don't think capitalism is fine at all. But regulated capitalism may be the best hope we have. Why do I think that? Because I have so poor a view of human nature. Communism, which is basically Christianity as Christ taught it, would be great but for the fact that human beings are deeply flawed, avaricious, envious, largely ignorant, and in too many cases, lazy. What we have now is a bit like Nazi Germany--where we have corporate socialism but also peak capitalism. The average German in Nazi Germany got something out of what happened there, until Hitler's megalomania destroyed them. The average American is getting nothing but kicked in the face by what is happening here today.
That is why this November election, while just a start if it breaks right, is so important. We need the power to grab the Epstein class by the balls and make it howl. And we need to use that power if we can get it. Because they have been using their power on the rest of us for far too long.
I'm rushed right now, but I have to say I disagree, and I recommend the statement made by Mr. Shutz. If capitalism were such a great system/paradigm/way, we would not have ended up where we are now, even if the regulations and guardrails had held. You have probably had a comfortable life and have benefited greatly. However, there are literally millions of people who have not had such a good life, and many who have suffered inordinately under these conditions. In a nation with such immense rich resources, a democratic government, and ambitious and intelligent people, no one should have been living in abject poverty, dependent on charity for subsistence, or desperate and willing to work under horrible conditions, as millions have. Did you ever work in a fast-food place or a factory where speed and production mattered more than anything else? I didn't think so.
The immigrant problem in America is not the same as in Europe. In America the problem is pure racism. however the immigrants are by and large very conservative Christians (Evangelicals, Catholics, Pentecostals) and share the same cultural values as MAGAts, in fact once they become citizens they become Republicans. That is the case in the last election, overwhelmingly the Latino vote went for Trump, And there is he case of Mayra Flores, rep Tex 34th, herself a border hopper, now a bonafide fire breathing anti immigration MAGAt.
in Europe the situation is different. Immigrants are coming from North Africa, from the Mid East, Afghanistan and they are Muslim. Whereas Christians assimilate, Muslims don't. they can't because if hey do they become apostates, even infidels. in the eyes of other Muslims
The situation is different in America, for a variety of reasons.
Putin and the far right demagogues, are using the Muslim immigration to gain power Orban did in Hungary, he promised to build a wall, he did, to sent Muslims back to where they came from, he did.
Europe is being swamped by Muslim migration, and the right wing parties are using that to gain power..
You probably didn't pay much attention to the situation in Cueta. Morocco, but Trump, to get even with Spain for not supporting his war against Iran, sent agitators into Morocco, rounding up young men, loading them into trucks, without back packs or bags, and then dumping them on the border of Ceuta, a Spanish Enclave in Morocco, and they invaded in the thousands, all of this to destablize the government and make Pedro Sanchez, Prime Minister and head of Spanish Socialists Workers Party to look bad, because they recently liberalized immigration laws.
And it is working, odds are that the fascist will take over Spain, as they are taking over countries in Europe, and these neo NAZIS are being supported by Putin, via his well practiced organized and extensive cyber operations.
Yes the anti immigrant sentiment can account for the rise of fascism in America and Europe, but the basis is different.
In America there is a back lash, because Immigrants by and large share the same culture as Americans and when they become Americans they become conservatives and it seems, vote Republican.
That is not the situation in Europe, immigrants in Europe do not assimilate. You hear of cars or trucks driving into crowds, especially in Xmas markets, and people being stabbed on trains by men hollering Allahu Akbar.
That doesn't happen in America with the same frequency.
We can't equate the two, the roots of the anti migrant sentiment are different.
Frankly liberal sentiments and values are not going to stem the tide of fascism, sweeping the world, but apparently exacerbating the problem.
Brazil is shifting to the right, the son of the fascist criminal, Bolsinaro will probably win the run off against Lula, and again it is the culture war, and behind it the power of Evangelicals.
“Spending just on Senate races is projected to pass $3.4 billion this cycle, and most of the big money is just now starting to hit the airwaves and, thus, tightening the races that had seemed were in the bag for Democrats”
And now you know why MSM does not pursue investigation of all of these deceptive ads and memes, it’s a gold mine in advertising revenue. Shame on them.
We have so many smart and talented people in this country who should be given the opportunity to provide guidance for furthering our democracy. Thom, Heather, Paul Krugman and a host of others could fix many of our problems in a hurry. But instead our governance is being controlled by a few wealthy men who have no objective other than acquiring more wealth. It makes my blood boil.
Not wanting to sound like a broken record, but those of us who are awake know all this already, even if not chapter and verse. What we do not see, hear, or know is what is the cohesive vision formulated by a focused response team whom have yet to be clearly identified.
E.g., I don't know if I trust Gavin Newsom to not be on the end of the CA Silicon Valley's IT bros' strings.
I certainly do not trust Jeffries as far as I can spit. His AIPAC links and hush hush meeting that slug Kushner tells me all I need to know about him and his crowd.
So, who's in charge? And what is the vision? I need names as whom to trust; and I need someone I can trust knows to tell me those names.
I need to see a step by step marketing / framing structure and a message delivery system.
Do you trust MSN or whatever it is called? I don't. That's how we got Hillary, and that's what really put us in this mess.
Imagine if they hadn't knee-capped Bernie in the back rooms in 2016????
Without all this, there cannot be properly framed messaging that can take control of the Progressive Brand. I for one am tired of being called a LIBETARD and having my hopes dashed by limousine liberals lunching with Hollywood stars.
Absolutely! They will buy their way - out of USA. There are 7 continents - one for each of the top 7. Can a continent be purchased for $10 Trillion? They are charging it in advance with the USA unlimited tax card.
Even if there is a blue wave in both houses of Congress, I doubt that the billionaires and corporate campaign pros will stop with the deceptive ads. They've worked in the past, they'll work in some places this time, and they will work in the future. Willie Horton style ads are still in use in lots of places. We need strong, and strictly enforced, "Truth in Advertising" legislation that applies to all political campaigns. And we should do what they do in the UK - total spending on campaigns there is limited, no matter the source of the funding. $3 billion for campaign expenditures? That is absurd, think of what that money could buy the American people instead.
Congress, the Supreme Court, and the White House are figurative vending machines for the 0.001%.
#VOTE
Vending machines for the .0001% , I love it, will steal it.
Yes. It’s called money laundering. Laws only exist when enforced.
Hardly figurative. They insert their tRump cards into Bessent's mouth, and money flows out the other end.
We who are awake and aware will never stop fighting. Never. I am often frightened, but never in despair. To fall into despair is to allow the greedy exploitative class to win. Maybe the sight of an 87 year old woman being forced out of her apartment is the kind of thing we ought to start featuring in our ads. After all, the mindset of that landlord is closely aligned with those of the billionaire class in this country. Enough is enough, and I've had it.
Good job of giving a brief summary of progressive history.
Recently I had a heated “discussion” with a relative who told me she was disturbed about a trans person in a female bathroom exposing their self to little girls. She cited a case. Appears this report came out of Facebook and was designed for MAGA moms. When I questioned the authenticity of what was suspected to be a deepfake, and simply asked how this even happens when there are privacy stalls in restrooms, I was personally admonished for being a Trump hater. Trump, I reminded her, was in the Epstein files 38,000 times, is an adjudicated rapist, and had a decades old, well documented, history of sexual abuse. So, I asked, if she were REALLY against perversion why vote for Trump? Shows exactly how the right wing works up a distraction campaign against scapegoats.
I stopped chatting with an old friend when she insisted that schools were changing the gender of students during lunch breaks, and that they were putting sandboxes in restrooms for students who identified as furries to use instead of toilets. My friend was a retired executive with a multinational, so this was not an IQ thing. She was at war with sin and perversion. Ironic that the GOP pols have a 10-to-1 lead over Democrats caught having sex with minors, performing rapes, serially cheating on spouses, incest, etc.
Judy,sometimes discussions with family members are the most difficult. If enough americans knew about the history of " Nazi Germany from 1934-41 they might recognize the similarities. Problem is most people who support Trump in the south don't know the defintion of " Nazi" ,don't know where Germany is and are bigots,don't like hispanics,blacks,Europeans,lesbians,those who support womens rights. We live in a very sad time and the" nazis" are winning along with the Technofascists. Next yr when we have 30-40 million unemployed due to AI,maybe people will wake up.
It's all about "the lessons of history," and those who don't understand or pay attention to them.
Nah, the oligarchs will just blame it on laziness, or lack of being willing to adjust to new realities. And they will buy it and blame themselves.
Nice try, but you can't talk to 90% of these people. Some are just confused and distracted. But most of these idiots actively seek this out, as it validates their own prejudices and hatreds. Reason, logic, and facts do not register in their brains. tRump could take away their first born children, and they would consider it their contribution and an honor to be supporting the king.
The best example of billionaire insanity is the absolute destruction of the White House and Washington city-sites that are being destroyed by TRump. Then there is the footage of the school in Iran and the graveyard they had to dig. We do not need to deep-fake ANYTHING, and we need to say so.
Time to put "social" back into Social Security. Time to use every means available to expose the billionaire grifters for the parasites that they are. Independent media like Thom are bravely answering the call. Time to pass it on. The moment is NOW, and it is just the beginning. We have so much work to do! See you in the streets.
Thom mentioned: A 7yo autistic White Canadian girl, currently wrapped in a tin-foil tarp, sleeping on the cold concrete floor of an ICE Concentration Camp where all the imprisoned babies scream, and the trapped children cry, but no one turns off the lights at night. Or daytime either, for that matter
The monsters. The horror.
#77,300,000 Nutjobs voted for this Racist, Kiddie Rapist
#VOTE
We who read the Hartmann Report all agree with you, but there are a significant number of "every day" citizens who do not. How do we address them?
Buy ads on FOX? That’s what they have on their TVs all during the day to make them feel like they belong.
“…our democracy that’s been so badly battered by 45 years of Republican con men and Democratic neoliberals.” Those Democratic neoliberals are only fractionally less responsible for our circumstances than the Republican con men. Decades of muted, acquiescent, “pragmatic” responses and, worse, insincere posturing by the best of them has allowed the Party to be bought by the same oligarchs who now own all three branches of government. When the economy tanked in 2008, we bailed out the financial giants (“too big to fail”), permitting them to award their execs bonuses (!), while a huge swath of citizens were allowed to sink. Current Democratic “leadership’s” response to the likes of Bernie Sanders, AOC, Zorhan Mamdani, Abdul El-Sayed, Angie Nixon, etc., etc. speaks volumes. If we are to have a government of, by, and for the people, we must hear “leadership’s” disingenuous drivel for what it is and elevate the genuinely committed.
Tom,great post.
After the depression that followed the Gilded Age, public sentiment turned strongly against millionaires and oligarchs. Much of America believes billionaires deserve to keep the money instead of giving it back to society, because of the myth that "they earned it", and also because of the fantasy that some day they too will be rich. We need to push that anti-billionaire, anti-monopoly attitude again.
This post covers a topic that could fill a book--and has, many times. There has always been a class war between those who think so much of themselves, and the rest of us, who disgust them. But with the confluence of movement democracy and industrialization in the late 1700's, we have been battling against the power of money that has no personal stake in society and no fidelity to the law. The United States is a union of opposing forces--democracy and capitalism. It is only inevitable that it becomes torn apart, as the billionaires pull away from all accountability.
The U.S. is (and always has been) a union of democracy and capitalism, because it needs both, capitalism to provide incentive and initiative to accrue wealth, and socialism to control it. Any powerful force, like nuclear energy (or money, one of the most powerful social or cultural forces) most be controlled or regulated lest it destroys it's host - as has happened since the 1980 Reagan Revolution, where regulation in regards to capitalist profits has been steadily eroded by Republican pressure...and has allowed democracy - to spiral uncontrolled into the abyss.
"— After World War II, democracies around the world copied FDR’s American New Deal formula, and that tightly regulated capitalism along with high taxes on the morbidly rich produced the largest middle class in history."
Capitalism might have been tightly regulated, but I do not think it was ever recognized as a badly flawed paradigm based on a belief system which is based on a falsely elevated perception of capital as of more importance or value than lowly labor and unthinking consumers or democracy itself. Capitalism is the "ism" that puts the power in the hands of oligarchs with the zealotry of a religion, and the worship of wealth and the image of the wealthy as more deserving, superior, or harder working than laborers and workers is the poison which we have been feeding ourselves for centuries. It's in the air and the water, and especially in the schools. Now would be a good time to disabuse ourselves of the mythology.
Robert,Capitalism was fine as long there were guardrails. Today there no guardrails,Trump has destroyed all regulations. Nothing is regulated and the emergence of AI without regulation will destroy most of humanity. Machines,robots take over.
I don't think capitalism is fine at all. But regulated capitalism may be the best hope we have. Why do I think that? Because I have so poor a view of human nature. Communism, which is basically Christianity as Christ taught it, would be great but for the fact that human beings are deeply flawed, avaricious, envious, largely ignorant, and in too many cases, lazy. What we have now is a bit like Nazi Germany--where we have corporate socialism but also peak capitalism. The average German in Nazi Germany got something out of what happened there, until Hitler's megalomania destroyed them. The average American is getting nothing but kicked in the face by what is happening here today.
That is why this November election, while just a start if it breaks right, is so important. We need the power to grab the Epstein class by the balls and make it howl. And we need to use that power if we can get it. Because they have been using their power on the rest of us for far too long.
I'm rushed right now, but I have to say I disagree, and I recommend the statement made by Mr. Shutz. If capitalism were such a great system/paradigm/way, we would not have ended up where we are now, even if the regulations and guardrails had held. You have probably had a comfortable life and have benefited greatly. However, there are literally millions of people who have not had such a good life, and many who have suffered inordinately under these conditions. In a nation with such immense rich resources, a democratic government, and ambitious and intelligent people, no one should have been living in abject poverty, dependent on charity for subsistence, or desperate and willing to work under horrible conditions, as millions have. Did you ever work in a fast-food place or a factory where speed and production mattered more than anything else? I didn't think so.
The immigrant problem in America is not the same as in Europe. In America the problem is pure racism. however the immigrants are by and large very conservative Christians (Evangelicals, Catholics, Pentecostals) and share the same cultural values as MAGAts, in fact once they become citizens they become Republicans. That is the case in the last election, overwhelmingly the Latino vote went for Trump, And there is he case of Mayra Flores, rep Tex 34th, herself a border hopper, now a bonafide fire breathing anti immigration MAGAt.
in Europe the situation is different. Immigrants are coming from North Africa, from the Mid East, Afghanistan and they are Muslim. Whereas Christians assimilate, Muslims don't. they can't because if hey do they become apostates, even infidels. in the eyes of other Muslims
The situation is different in America, for a variety of reasons.
Putin and the far right demagogues, are using the Muslim immigration to gain power Orban did in Hungary, he promised to build a wall, he did, to sent Muslims back to where they came from, he did.
Europe is being swamped by Muslim migration, and the right wing parties are using that to gain power..
You probably didn't pay much attention to the situation in Cueta. Morocco, but Trump, to get even with Spain for not supporting his war against Iran, sent agitators into Morocco, rounding up young men, loading them into trucks, without back packs or bags, and then dumping them on the border of Ceuta, a Spanish Enclave in Morocco, and they invaded in the thousands, all of this to destablize the government and make Pedro Sanchez, Prime Minister and head of Spanish Socialists Workers Party to look bad, because they recently liberalized immigration laws.
And it is working, odds are that the fascist will take over Spain, as they are taking over countries in Europe, and these neo NAZIS are being supported by Putin, via his well practiced organized and extensive cyber operations.
Yes the anti immigrant sentiment can account for the rise of fascism in America and Europe, but the basis is different.
In America there is a back lash, because Immigrants by and large share the same culture as Americans and when they become Americans they become conservatives and it seems, vote Republican.
That is not the situation in Europe, immigrants in Europe do not assimilate. You hear of cars or trucks driving into crowds, especially in Xmas markets, and people being stabbed on trains by men hollering Allahu Akbar.
That doesn't happen in America with the same frequency.
We can't equate the two, the roots of the anti migrant sentiment are different.
Frankly liberal sentiments and values are not going to stem the tide of fascism, sweeping the world, but apparently exacerbating the problem.
Brazil is shifting to the right, the son of the fascist criminal, Bolsinaro will probably win the run off against Lula, and again it is the culture war, and behind it the power of Evangelicals.
“Spending just on Senate races is projected to pass $3.4 billion this cycle, and most of the big money is just now starting to hit the airwaves and, thus, tightening the races that had seemed were in the bag for Democrats”
And now you know why MSM does not pursue investigation of all of these deceptive ads and memes, it’s a gold mine in advertising revenue. Shame on them.
We have so many smart and talented people in this country who should be given the opportunity to provide guidance for furthering our democracy. Thom, Heather, Paul Krugman and a host of others could fix many of our problems in a hurry. But instead our governance is being controlled by a few wealthy men who have no objective other than acquiring more wealth. It makes my blood boil.
This is a must read article!
Not wanting to sound like a broken record, but those of us who are awake know all this already, even if not chapter and verse. What we do not see, hear, or know is what is the cohesive vision formulated by a focused response team whom have yet to be clearly identified.
E.g., I don't know if I trust Gavin Newsom to not be on the end of the CA Silicon Valley's IT bros' strings.
I certainly do not trust Jeffries as far as I can spit. His AIPAC links and hush hush meeting that slug Kushner tells me all I need to know about him and his crowd.
So, who's in charge? And what is the vision? I need names as whom to trust; and I need someone I can trust knows to tell me those names.
I need to see a step by step marketing / framing structure and a message delivery system.
Do you trust MSN or whatever it is called? I don't. That's how we got Hillary, and that's what really put us in this mess.
Imagine if they hadn't knee-capped Bernie in the back rooms in 2016????
Without all this, there cannot be properly framed messaging that can take control of the Progressive Brand. I for one am tired of being called a LIBETARD and having my hopes dashed by limousine liberals lunching with Hollywood stars.
DL
Some day people are going to say a big NO to those who have literally bought their way through life without consequences.
Absolutely! They will buy their way - out of USA. There are 7 continents - one for each of the top 7. Can a continent be purchased for $10 Trillion? They are charging it in advance with the USA unlimited tax card.
Even if there is a blue wave in both houses of Congress, I doubt that the billionaires and corporate campaign pros will stop with the deceptive ads. They've worked in the past, they'll work in some places this time, and they will work in the future. Willie Horton style ads are still in use in lots of places. We need strong, and strictly enforced, "Truth in Advertising" legislation that applies to all political campaigns. And we should do what they do in the UK - total spending on campaigns there is limited, no matter the source of the funding. $3 billion for campaign expenditures? That is absurd, think of what that money could buy the American people instead.