Trump, Musk, and the GOP have hotwired our democracy, stripped it for parts, and are selling the pieces to the highest bidder while telling us to enjoy the ride.
Wow what a Visual ?! You're so right on this point. One could argue that trump is just being trump, but if indeed Putin is calling the shots, the outcome would be the same,the death of the American Experiment, and we the people left with poverty, sickness and bewilderment. We must,all of us,Resist. Bless you Thom for all you do for the American people and me, and will reStack ASAP 🙏💯👍🇺🇸
This is the result of a democratic republic failing to understand how the class war that capitalism engenders overcomes and destroys government by the people. Without a strict regime of taxation, regulation, and unionization (notably, the three things businesses hate most), democracy will always be overrun by private-sector avarice.
America's superpower is consumption, prior to WWII it was production, but with an overabundance of material, supplies and equipment, and deferred gratification, consumption became king, and for a decade or two America produced much of what it consumed, but as we consumed and produced wages became higher, and the price of products became out of reach, so Clinton passed holy water on what had been the practice and now industry was rushing to the Mexican border to build maquilledoras.
And now America could afford to satisfy it's appetite, but since it no longer produced the products it was consuming, it didn't have the means to buy all it wanted, so it resorted to debt. Borrowing to satiate need and gluttony.
What enables consumption is debt, and debt is a liability that we pass on to our heirs.
We live high at their expense.
A bonus with offshoring is the Greening of America, no more Love Canals, the Hudson River is now one you can swim in, rather than walk on. All of the pollution that our consumption produces is also offshored, alas, there is something about polljution, it just won't stay local but winds it's way into the water that feeds into the oceans, in the rain that fall s on us and our crops, and the wind that circulates the globe, the wind that drops Sahara dust on the Bahamas and Caribbeans.
And the chickens come home to rust, not to mention that this unbridled consumption is making the planet unlivable for all mammalian species.
100%...or 1000%....Correct!! I especially agree & believe it to be fact, the last part, beginning at the word "Without"!
That "strict regime" is/was the only reins keeping Capitalism in check & democracy safe! Those things are exactly how we succeeded & grew into a powerhouse nation, w/o GREED, arrogance & entitlement of the wealthiest on top destroying everything this nation had built.
UNTIL NOW.
I sure hope that all those voters who were lied to daily & believed every word (never bothered to check facts)... who were played for fools by DJT & GOP, so they'd vote AGAINST their own best interests & be the authors of their own demise (for generations to come!), mired down in poverty, while working like slaves just to feed their family... I hope those people don't wait too long to open their eyes to what they see around them ~ aka. "get woke". They're dragging all of us down with them & yes, I resent that! We need them to wake the hell up NOW & take to the streets with us ~ not live in their "la-la-land" of 🙈🙉🙊!!!
They need to see, think, speak, while we still have the Right to do so. Soon we won't & like all that Trump-a-chump does, it will happen very fast, in chaos, by EO of the "littlest dick-tator".
Corruption of the Justice Department is now as bad as that of SCOTUS. Bondi is Trump and Putin's enforcer. All syndicates need one and she is happy to do it.
Senator Schiff and Representative Raskin have started shadow hearings for whistleblowers. The current one is for Attorney Liz Oyer who was fired from her Justice Dept. position for refusing to restore Mel Gibson's gun rights after his domestic abuse charges. She gave a brief powerful statement that everyone needs to hear. She summed up what has happened to our Justice Department. You can find it on the MeidasTouch YouTube channel.
Spot on history and commentary, Thom. If we don't speak against this corruption, we are part of it. Be Bold. Stay Brave.
Was there ever a pack of playing cards with the names and faces of Republicans who have caved to Trump? I recall one with all the targets of Bush in his ridiculous "war on terrorism". Who can produce a deck of Putin's Puppets, Trump's sycophants, "marked for extinction Republicans", and filthy rich useless billionaires as stones around our necks weighing us down? These people need to be clearly identified as wanted traitorous cowards doing Putin's bidding and cowering in fear of a whiny crybaby Trump. Playing cards or larger placards for distribution as protest signs of all the senators and representatives who refuse to stand up for democracy and stand up against fascism should be mass produced with specifics, such as email addresses and phone numbers marking them for criticism and condemnation. The worst of the wealthy tycoons and kleptocrats should also be included. Who could manage such a project? Anyone? Isn't something like this what is needed now?
All things go through a life cycle, stars, planets, countries, civilizations, even rocks. Capitalism has one of the quickest cycles and would reach its peak and subsequent demise in a matter of years if not kept artificially alive by government intervention. It behaves like more of a cancer that needs to be kept under control by constant treatment.
Unless we creative a more equitable society we are in for a rough and downward ride.
It has been done in the Scandinavian countries. Of course there will be a certain amount of scamming because the rich always find a way. But on the whole people are not unhappy to pay taxes because they know the benefits they will receive. We need to stop all the hating and taking advantage of each other. It will come to no good. How do we stop 250 years of racism? Good question, but it will take time and more importantly EDUCATION.
Scandinavians have been socially conditioned, different than Americans.
What works in one situation, does not work in another.
To understand the American pysche, understand our myths, rugged individualism, Manifest Destiny, Horatio Alger, our role models, John Wayne, the Lone Ranger,
Scandinavians haven't been infected with these viruses, on the other hand they have been exposed to the realities of social life, unlike Americans.
Europe is one great battlefield,of men, religions, ideas, nations and for millenia.
America just one so called revolution in which few died or suffered, and civil war between regions.
Racism. What we humans need to do is discern the difference between a problem and a difficulty.
Problems have solutions, difficulties don't. You can't solve a difficulty if you try you only make it worse, you ameliorate the difficulty.
There is no solution racism, It occurs in many forms. The west looked at Rwanda and saw a political problem, the Rwanda's saw and see a racial problem.
To oureyes,Rwanda's are Negros all. To the Rwandan the Hutu's are a different race, robust, round heads,short broad flat noses, whereas theTutsi's are taller, gracile heads,and narrow noses.
Whites see Nigerians, west Africans and Somali's as one and the same Negro's.
Where as they see themselves as different races.
If all of creation was of the same skin color,I guarantee you there would be an outlier, a scapegoat, whether it would be eye color, hair type, or some other feature.
And mankind is always suspicious of the other, the outsider, the Sassenach
Races isn't the only problem,nor the paramount problem, (unless one perceives itself a member of the oppressed race), there is sexism, ageism, homophobia, and even transphobia (a phenomenon seen among queers of all things).
It is all a subset of the real problem of classism, and classism not just a feature of capitalism is also a feature of communism, socialism,all isms.
Is classism a problem.?No because there is no solution, not even the Levelers had a solution, because once you level the playing field, a new dominant class arises.
An alternative view of this mess is that 50% of Americans are following a reactionary path back to monarchy. "Just let me farm my field in peace (or write code, assemble cars, etc.) and exploit whatever you want. I do not want to deal with the overwhelming stress anymore. I want a simple life."
Until I read Michael Warren Davis's book "The Reactionary Mind," I had no idea that there were people like that. Mike is one BTW. However, the more MAGA interviews I see on TV, the more I see people asserting that they voted for oligarchy. "The rich deserve power because they are smarter than me." They often assert that they do not follow politics or the news. The fact that MAGA demographics reflect a disproportionate percentage of non-college-exposed people is consistent with a reactionary movement.
Comic Jordan Klepper's MAGA visits to Trump rallies seem more to reflect people attending a big social tailgate party of pick-up drivers than actual meetups to become familiar with the details of political platforms. I am not sure how one turns that around.
Krasnov is exactly what the Supreme Court made possible with their pretense that corporations are people and have the same rights as natural people. These lies are the foundation of Drumpism. The shame will last long but its end will be a victory much longer remembered. Time to woke up.
Can we just say, that if you or I cannot afford to BRIBE our President to win his favor, that we shall all be reduced to the status of the old era, of serfs, indentured servants, or other terms for persons living here?
And, are we to just get used to the idea, that we will be living in fear that we may be swept away without the protection of due process that we have all grown up to understand it as our constitutional right?
Well, I hope we can salvage something. Or is it going to be a "winner takes all?"
I didn't even think yet to mention freedom of speech. I shudder at the thought of losing any one, let alone all of these things I took for granted since I was a patriotic boy in farmers short pants.
Cory Booker spoke so eloquently last night on CBS Late Show. I would like to see that type of thing be repeated over and over.
We know of the wickedness by now. I want to know what activities can turn the wagon arund.
How depressing! Please give to David Hogg movement. Those being shot at, need a Boost of media and money. Weapons of war in our hearts ends now. Let's do it.
How do we get Americans to want a different type of politician? They have become addicted to performance politics. They want a wrestling show. They don’t want people that believe in doing real policy work. Forty five years of trashing Democrats with democrats aiding and abetting corporatists has permanently changed the people of the Republican party’s ability to make any practical decision. The imprinting has been successful.
Well it turns out that crashing the markets IS the Mar a Lago plan !!! = their calm to keep us calm till it is ALL GONE
SEE Apple Podcasts Macro Voices # 467 with Jim Bianco for the full nefarious details...it is not good and just like we have lost 90% of our guardrails ..he HAS ALMOST SUCCEEDED !
Thom,great post today.I am wondering if anyone who posts here has a suggestion for taking one very big issue and tackle it every day. There are so many issues,do any of them ever get any real traction? What if we just recruit 50-75 friends,relatives,who are willing to get out every week on street corners against Musks destruction of Medicare -SS? The National rallies have been amazing,I think more local ones just amplify the concern.
Given that the US economy is a capitalist economy, the citizens of the country are safe (can survive reasonably well) is because the government intervenes in the economy to protect them from the unlimited greed of the capitalists. The only reason this has worked (if not always well) is because government leaders have a reasonable interest in those who voted them into office. Clearly Trump whose morality quotient is close to zero does not.
Maybe it is time to transition to a socialist economy. Okay, it's well past time.
Wow what a Visual ?! You're so right on this point. One could argue that trump is just being trump, but if indeed Putin is calling the shots, the outcome would be the same,the death of the American Experiment, and we the people left with poverty, sickness and bewilderment. We must,all of us,Resist. Bless you Thom for all you do for the American people and me, and will reStack ASAP 🙏💯👍🇺🇸
This is the result of a democratic republic failing to understand how the class war that capitalism engenders overcomes and destroys government by the people. Without a strict regime of taxation, regulation, and unionization (notably, the three things businesses hate most), democracy will always be overrun by private-sector avarice.
This is the result of greed and psy ops.
America's superpower is consumption, prior to WWII it was production, but with an overabundance of material, supplies and equipment, and deferred gratification, consumption became king, and for a decade or two America produced much of what it consumed, but as we consumed and produced wages became higher, and the price of products became out of reach, so Clinton passed holy water on what had been the practice and now industry was rushing to the Mexican border to build maquilledoras.
And now America could afford to satisfy it's appetite, but since it no longer produced the products it was consuming, it didn't have the means to buy all it wanted, so it resorted to debt. Borrowing to satiate need and gluttony.
What enables consumption is debt, and debt is a liability that we pass on to our heirs.
We live high at their expense.
A bonus with offshoring is the Greening of America, no more Love Canals, the Hudson River is now one you can swim in, rather than walk on. All of the pollution that our consumption produces is also offshored, alas, there is something about polljution, it just won't stay local but winds it's way into the water that feeds into the oceans, in the rain that fall s on us and our crops, and the wind that circulates the globe, the wind that drops Sahara dust on the Bahamas and Caribbeans.
And the chickens come home to rust, not to mention that this unbridled consumption is making the planet unlivable for all mammalian species.
Well said!
Was, "chickens come home to rust", on purpose [it fits] or, a fitting typo? Either way ~ good 1.
Thanks, a typo. I am unwell at the moment. A struggle to get to the computer and at most an hour behind it.
Yes, all mankinds hearts are bent toward evil.
100%...or 1000%....Correct!! I especially agree & believe it to be fact, the last part, beginning at the word "Without"!
That "strict regime" is/was the only reins keeping Capitalism in check & democracy safe! Those things are exactly how we succeeded & grew into a powerhouse nation, w/o GREED, arrogance & entitlement of the wealthiest on top destroying everything this nation had built.
UNTIL NOW.
I sure hope that all those voters who were lied to daily & believed every word (never bothered to check facts)... who were played for fools by DJT & GOP, so they'd vote AGAINST their own best interests & be the authors of their own demise (for generations to come!), mired down in poverty, while working like slaves just to feed their family... I hope those people don't wait too long to open their eyes to what they see around them ~ aka. "get woke". They're dragging all of us down with them & yes, I resent that! We need them to wake the hell up NOW & take to the streets with us ~ not live in their "la-la-land" of 🙈🙉🙊!!!
They need to see, think, speak, while we still have the Right to do so. Soon we won't & like all that Trump-a-chump does, it will happen very fast, in chaos, by EO of the "littlest dick-tator".
Corruption of the Justice Department is now as bad as that of SCOTUS. Bondi is Trump and Putin's enforcer. All syndicates need one and she is happy to do it.
Senator Schiff and Representative Raskin have started shadow hearings for whistleblowers. The current one is for Attorney Liz Oyer who was fired from her Justice Dept. position for refusing to restore Mel Gibson's gun rights after his domestic abuse charges. She gave a brief powerful statement that everyone needs to hear. She summed up what has happened to our Justice Department. You can find it on the MeidasTouch YouTube channel.
Spot on history and commentary, Thom. If we don't speak against this corruption, we are part of it. Be Bold. Stay Brave.
Was there ever a pack of playing cards with the names and faces of Republicans who have caved to Trump? I recall one with all the targets of Bush in his ridiculous "war on terrorism". Who can produce a deck of Putin's Puppets, Trump's sycophants, "marked for extinction Republicans", and filthy rich useless billionaires as stones around our necks weighing us down? These people need to be clearly identified as wanted traitorous cowards doing Putin's bidding and cowering in fear of a whiny crybaby Trump. Playing cards or larger placards for distribution as protest signs of all the senators and representatives who refuse to stand up for democracy and stand up against fascism should be mass produced with specifics, such as email addresses and phone numbers marking them for criticism and condemnation. The worst of the wealthy tycoons and kleptocrats should also be included. Who could manage such a project? Anyone? Isn't something like this what is needed now?
All things go through a life cycle, stars, planets, countries, civilizations, even rocks. Capitalism has one of the quickest cycles and would reach its peak and subsequent demise in a matter of years if not kept artificially alive by government intervention. It behaves like more of a cancer that needs to be kept under control by constant treatment.
Unless we creative a more equitable society we are in for a rough and downward ride.
Chris, how do we create a more equitable society, without creating a New Class of elite oppressors? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_class
It has been done in the Scandinavian countries. Of course there will be a certain amount of scamming because the rich always find a way. But on the whole people are not unhappy to pay taxes because they know the benefits they will receive. We need to stop all the hating and taking advantage of each other. It will come to no good. How do we stop 250 years of racism? Good question, but it will take time and more importantly EDUCATION.
Scandinavians have been socially conditioned, different than Americans.
What works in one situation, does not work in another.
To understand the American pysche, understand our myths, rugged individualism, Manifest Destiny, Horatio Alger, our role models, John Wayne, the Lone Ranger,
Scandinavians haven't been infected with these viruses, on the other hand they have been exposed to the realities of social life, unlike Americans.
Europe is one great battlefield,of men, religions, ideas, nations and for millenia.
America just one so called revolution in which few died or suffered, and civil war between regions.
Racism. What we humans need to do is discern the difference between a problem and a difficulty.
Problems have solutions, difficulties don't. You can't solve a difficulty if you try you only make it worse, you ameliorate the difficulty.
There is no solution racism, It occurs in many forms. The west looked at Rwanda and saw a political problem, the Rwanda's saw and see a racial problem.
To oureyes,Rwanda's are Negros all. To the Rwandan the Hutu's are a different race, robust, round heads,short broad flat noses, whereas theTutsi's are taller, gracile heads,and narrow noses.
Whites see Nigerians, west Africans and Somali's as one and the same Negro's.
Where as they see themselves as different races.
If all of creation was of the same skin color,I guarantee you there would be an outlier, a scapegoat, whether it would be eye color, hair type, or some other feature.
And mankind is always suspicious of the other, the outsider, the Sassenach
Races isn't the only problem,nor the paramount problem, (unless one perceives itself a member of the oppressed race), there is sexism, ageism, homophobia, and even transphobia (a phenomenon seen among queers of all things).
It is all a subset of the real problem of classism, and classism not just a feature of capitalism is also a feature of communism, socialism,all isms.
Is classism a problem.?No because there is no solution, not even the Levelers had a solution, because once you level the playing field, a new dominant class arises.
An alternative view of this mess is that 50% of Americans are following a reactionary path back to monarchy. "Just let me farm my field in peace (or write code, assemble cars, etc.) and exploit whatever you want. I do not want to deal with the overwhelming stress anymore. I want a simple life."
Until I read Michael Warren Davis's book "The Reactionary Mind," I had no idea that there were people like that. Mike is one BTW. However, the more MAGA interviews I see on TV, the more I see people asserting that they voted for oligarchy. "The rich deserve power because they are smarter than me." They often assert that they do not follow politics or the news. The fact that MAGA demographics reflect a disproportionate percentage of non-college-exposed people is consistent with a reactionary movement.
Comic Jordan Klepper's MAGA visits to Trump rallies seem more to reflect people attending a big social tailgate party of pick-up drivers than actual meetups to become familiar with the details of political platforms. I am not sure how one turns that around.
Da. But post Liberation Day,"Trump has lost many of his major supporters for several reasons. Was it a scam? https://futurism.com/truth-social-stock-tariffs
Did he and his allies short the market?
National security is his Achilles heel. E.G. https://www.kyivpost.com/opinion/50094
Trump and Musk oppose each other on tariffs. Musk is asking for a tariff free zone that encompasses the EU.
Trump and a few Republicans oppose each other on deportations. Pressure our three amigos, and contact CANF, the Cuban American National Foundation.
Trump and some Congressional Republicans oppose each other re Musk/DOGE.
4 Republican senators voted to exempt Canada from tarriffs, and Grasseley sponsored a bill to revoke Trump's authority re tariffs.
With help of some Republican constituents and donors who now realize that all are compromised, we might get shared government.
https://jerryweiss.substack.com/
Krasnov is exactly what the Supreme Court made possible with their pretense that corporations are people and have the same rights as natural people. These lies are the foundation of Drumpism. The shame will last long but its end will be a victory much longer remembered. Time to woke up.
So, Thom, and everyone...
Can we just say, that if you or I cannot afford to BRIBE our President to win his favor, that we shall all be reduced to the status of the old era, of serfs, indentured servants, or other terms for persons living here?
And, are we to just get used to the idea, that we will be living in fear that we may be swept away without the protection of due process that we have all grown up to understand it as our constitutional right?
Well, I hope we can salvage something. Or is it going to be a "winner takes all?"
I didn't even think yet to mention freedom of speech. I shudder at the thought of losing any one, let alone all of these things I took for granted since I was a patriotic boy in farmers short pants.
Cory Booker spoke so eloquently last night on CBS Late Show. I would like to see that type of thing be repeated over and over.
We know of the wickedness by now. I want to know what activities can turn the wagon arund.
I know for sure that you are 100% right in everything you said. Kleptocracy indeed. Thank you for illuminating the dark corners.
How about "Kakistocracy" -- government or rule by the worst or least suitable people, derived from the Greek word "kakistos" meaning "worst".
Also omomonopoetic to government by feces. Starts at the top and runs....
We are a Client/Vassal state. Putin owns U.S. because he is Trump's mentor.
The Ruski Tail, therefore, Wags the Yankee Dog. . . . Facts!!!
Vlad dispatched "Budapest Fats" [Orban] to Mar-a-L to show "Queens Fats" [Donald Doofus] how it was done.
Putin is the stalker in Stephen King's "Misery:" named Annie Wilkes. America is her victim, the writer: Paul Sheldon,.
And, Donald? Don Don is the [Brainless] sledgehammer Annie cripples Paul with.
Arkansas has been a red fascist state ever since our democratic leader was murdered, Steve Gwatney.
How depressing! Please give to David Hogg movement. Those being shot at, need a Boost of media and money. Weapons of war in our hearts ends now. Let's do it.
How do we get Americans to want a different type of politician? They have become addicted to performance politics. They want a wrestling show. They don’t want people that believe in doing real policy work. Forty five years of trashing Democrats with democrats aiding and abetting corporatists has permanently changed the people of the Republican party’s ability to make any practical decision. The imprinting has been successful.
Well it turns out that crashing the markets IS the Mar a Lago plan !!! = their calm to keep us calm till it is ALL GONE
SEE Apple Podcasts Macro Voices # 467 with Jim Bianco for the full nefarious details...it is not good and just like we have lost 90% of our guardrails ..he HAS ALMOST SUCCEEDED !
Check his shorts....
Thom,great post today.I am wondering if anyone who posts here has a suggestion for taking one very big issue and tackle it every day. There are so many issues,do any of them ever get any real traction? What if we just recruit 50-75 friends,relatives,who are willing to get out every week on street corners against Musks destruction of Medicare -SS? The National rallies have been amazing,I think more local ones just amplify the concern.
That's what he does....
Given that the US economy is a capitalist economy, the citizens of the country are safe (can survive reasonably well) is because the government intervenes in the economy to protect them from the unlimited greed of the capitalists. The only reason this has worked (if not always well) is because government leaders have a reasonable interest in those who voted them into office. Clearly Trump whose morality quotient is close to zero does not.
Maybe it is time to transition to a socialist economy. Okay, it's well past time.