The deeper story isn't the $500. It’s what happens to democracy when politicians steeped in pay-to-play politics start treating ordinary citizens like one more constituency to be won over with money…
Democracy was gradually undermined when corporations became people, money became speech, and petitioning the government became professional lobbying. Accepting money in exchange for one's principles is the logical absurdity that leads to mobster government.
Thom's newest book that explores and explains the fraud underlying our current system should be a streaming documentary or a movie so the voters understand what happened.
Yet, it appears that everything and everyone, or most everyone, has a price. E.G. The two Santa Claus theory. The question is how much does it take to buy you.
I learn that the Soviet Union didn't bother recruitng leftists and liberals, because they were 1. principled 2. obvious to FBI.
Rather they went after conservatives, because they could be bought. All of the turncoats in the CIA and FBI were conservatives. Aldrich Ames first sell out was for $36,000. he had severe personal debts.
People sell out for Money, Ideology, Coercion/Compromised, Ego or MICE
Psychology Today magazine did a story a few years ago about the difference between the physical brains of Democrats and Republicans. How do you change minds if the differences are organic? It's all in how you frame the issues in the media.
Brains can be changed, they aren't static. For instance a person loses sight, and the part of the brain for sight, becomes acutely aware of sound,
But, ideologically, many an ultra conservative (secular and/or sectarian) has become a liberal, but it requires exposure to alternatives, doesn't happen when you live in a bubble(cult)
All the most damaging Soviet era U.S. spies for the Soviets were FBI, CIA, The John Walker Naval Intelligence spy ring. All swore an oath to the United States.
I think you are on to something here William, though a rock solid conservative would be hard to suborn as they would see through the offer and could test to see if it matched their beliefs. Robert Heinlein once said that people at either end of the spectrum could not be corrupted because they firmly believed in what they stood for. But it was those in the middle who could be influenced because they didn't strongly believe in anything.
i speak from personal experience. I was a right wing extremist (how far right I won't say for embarrassment and maybe disbelief) until 1989, when by circumstance I did a geographic and found myself in the company of liberals,progressives,leftists,lesbians,gays, unionists, Old Weathermen and SDS.
I met Gloria Steinem and sat down for lunch, with other union officers with the delightful Angela Davis
Impressive. I was very conservative until went to a liberal college and really began to think for myself. Getting tear gassed a view times in anti-Vietnam War demonstrations was educational too. Once you wake up you can never go to sleep again.
I hope that statement isn't copyrighted. Once you wake up you can't go to sleep again.
As regards Vietnam. I am the sole survivor of a 4 man team. I missed that mission because of illness. The war was a waste, a needless waste, and I actually had friends (VC friends playing both sides) that saved my life during Tet. True story.
However, the demonstrations did nothing but cause a reaction by middle, Anti communist, America and prolonged the war and cost thousands of lives.
In fact ti was Abie Hoffman and the Chicago riots that did more than anything else to elect Nixon in 68.
I was, as I said, very conservative at the time, and was aghast at how the "commies in America", helped Nixon and the Republicans get elected, with their antics.
Democrats have always underestimated the power of reaction, or did the leadership.
Middle America is conservative, Christian, even if they don't go to church, and nothing pushes their buttons like "liberals"and leftists..
Marches didn't stop the war. The 50,,000 caskets unloaded at Travis AFB, the military funerals across the land, especially in the Midwest and South, convinced the Republicans to bring it all to an end,sell bull shit to the South Vietnamese,and then after the South Vietnamese went along with the bullshit, Nixon and Congress,Congress especially pulled the plug, the result was the influx of hundreds of thousands of boat people, which brought with them a Vietnamese and Cambodian mafia.
$500 or $5000 checks - it’s all bribery. “High crimes, BRIBERY, Misdemeanors. Ordering a war is a high crime. There are thousands of misdemeanors. Also-
One has more control over you when threatening a loved one than threatening you directly. That is why Tempertantrump is targeting children and seniors.
When the smug corrupt racist John Roberts penned the Citizen United decision he saw nothing illogical in claiming that money is speech. Or that obviously those with the most money get the most speech. He also claimed the Voting Rights act signed by LBJ was not needed anymore. Then of course, we know what happened. The States of the old Jim Crow South whose voting laws had been clearly racist, immediately began return to their exclusionist practices. The former Confederate States are on their way to re-imposing Jim Crow and in the near future these states will be sending all-white congressional representatives to Washington. After all, think of their avatar, Tommy Tubbervile, an ideal of Anti-Bellum intelligence and arrogance.
To paraphrase Blanche DuBois, Donald John has ALWAYS depended on the STUPIDITY of strangers.
BTW, Keg's-Breath, the misogynist, the drugging rapist of another man's wife, has put Newt G., a billionaire named Luckey, and the incredible Mr. DOGE himself, the Well-Beyond-Mad, the Ketamine junkie, the Nazi sperm donor, the world's richest deadbeat dad . . . MuskRat, in charge of the Armed Forces' future, whilst firing 20% of America's Admirals and Generals.
Exactly, he is a fool and a tool, not smart enough to think tactically or strategically. It is his advisors and staff, and a fat cat with a ton of cash that has his ear, and Putin has compromat on him, as well as carrots.Mainly Trump admires winners and shuns losers, he sees Putin,Xi, Un as winners, paradoxically he sees Iran as a winner, as they have stood up, frustratingly, to him. but Trump is like a shark he can smell weakness, and willingness on the part of Iran is perceived as weakness and encourages him to double down and press harder.
I am conflicted here. The mullahcracy in Iran is an anti human, theocracy that kills it's own people in the tens of thousands, fly by night executions are a daily event, they slow strangle young girls for disrespecting the head scarf, in reality rejecting the authority of the mullahs.
The hated Savak of the Shah is the Vivak of the mullahcracy, even a lot of carry over of personnel.
If nothing else I want to see the regime implode and a revolt, but at the same time i see our only chance of a regime change in America is failure by the Trump regime.
Trump is a gangster, tutored by Roy Cohn. Also, Trump hates America. The racist loudmouth from Queens was never accepted by the Manhattan elite. This is his revenge.
Repugnicans have been hypocritical, selfish dicks since Reconstruction (Ike was an aberration), but the “Reagan Revolution” (is it something about “R’s” ?) and its neoliberal, ethics-free falsehoods paved a road straight to POSOTUS. Democratic “leadership” fell in neolib line, while SCOTUS has, remarkably, emptied its bowels over rule-of-law notions.
As a relevant aside, my ballot arrived this morning. I will be voting for Angie Nixon despite Chuck Schumer’s preference for her Repugnican opponent.
Cheeto’s Desperate Midterm Election Tactics: Promises Made But Never Kept
Cheeto’s advisors must have finally got to him about his amazingly poor polling numbers and so Cheeto is turning to the only thing he knows how to do….bribery. After large premium hikes to ACA recipients with his tax bill, beneficent Cheeto is sending $5oo checks with a signed letter from him to less than 1m who didn’t receive tax credit assistance. Since the fanstastical $5000 check for ALL Americans if the Republicans keep their majorities in Congress didn’t work, he’s decided he’d fork out some $$ to a small minority of people he screwed over with his tax bill.
Recently because Iowa, a reliable red state bastion, is now turning against Republican candidates for governor and senate, Cheeto has announced an implausible steel mill in northwest Lee county. Such a project is untenable for a number of reasons highlighted by logistical and geographical hurdles. This is similar to his ambiguous gambits in Wisconsin(Foxconn) and Indiana(Caterpillar) that he announced but then never delivered in his first term. Lie about some far fetched job promoting project to get a short term gain in electorate approval.
But the electorate has become wise to such manipulations and lies since Cheeto’s entire campaign messaging to stay out of jail has never materialized. The Muskrat was met with similar electorate scorn when he tried to buy the Wisconsin Supreme Court seat in April 2025.
Americans have learned their lesions with Republicans who think they can bribe their way through elections since their policies don’t pass the smell test. Vote these bums out of office and hold Cheeto, his wealthy billionaires, and greedy corrupt contractors accountable.
What can you say? The most absolute corrupt non human piece of malignant cells will do anything to win. However we must remember he went bankrupt 4 times,had16 business failures,a 32 count felon, a rapist.What would the news be like if not for this malignant pig?
I'm writing this comment on 10/11. Has anyone actually gotten one of these checks? I haven't heard about it if they have, and I can't imagine that the Republicans running in the midterms wouldn't be touting this in their ads if it was actually happening.
Democracy was gradually undermined when corporations became people, money became speech, and petitioning the government became professional lobbying. Accepting money in exchange for one's principles is the logical absurdity that leads to mobster government.
Thom's newest book that explores and explains the fraud underlying our current system should be a streaming documentary or a movie so the voters understand what happened.
You are so right! Now the matter is : how WE THE PEOPLE are going to do to change this situation?
Yet, it appears that everything and everyone, or most everyone, has a price. E.G. The two Santa Claus theory. The question is how much does it take to buy you.
tidbit here. From a Malcolm Nance, Black Spy, podcast/you tube/substack recently https://malcolmnance.substack.com/p/us-iran-nap-cast-day-21576-live-wmalcolm
I learn that the Soviet Union didn't bother recruitng leftists and liberals, because they were 1. principled 2. obvious to FBI.
Rather they went after conservatives, because they could be bought. All of the turncoats in the CIA and FBI were conservatives. Aldrich Ames first sell out was for $36,000. he had severe personal debts.
People sell out for Money, Ideology, Coercion/Compromised, Ego or MICE
Psychology Today magazine did a story a few years ago about the difference between the physical brains of Democrats and Republicans. How do you change minds if the differences are organic? It's all in how you frame the issues in the media.
Brains can be changed, they aren't static. For instance a person loses sight, and the part of the brain for sight, becomes acutely aware of sound,
But, ideologically, many an ultra conservative (secular and/or sectarian) has become a liberal, but it requires exposure to alternatives, doesn't happen when you live in a bubble(cult)
True.
All the most damaging Soviet era U.S. spies for the Soviets were FBI, CIA, The John Walker Naval Intelligence spy ring. All swore an oath to the United States.
And , AFIK, all were money, though compromat/sex is a biggy.
Those two are the cause of most moral failings and poor judgement
Money alone can clearly buy a Lot of people. It is just horrific to realize how pedestrian is the path to corral people to do evil.
i hate to say this but I must. Even we, the people, are bought. What do you think the significance of James Carville's "It's the economy stupid"
How many people will vote for Tump if gas dropped to $2 a gallon, bee to $1 pound, eggs to $1.50 a dozen. bread to $1.00 a loaf.
I was thinking especially in this month the people joining ICE for “bonuses” and “by the head” payouts.
The worst of the worst, and no background checks, probably a requirement is to have a police record
I think you are on to something here William, though a rock solid conservative would be hard to suborn as they would see through the offer and could test to see if it matched their beliefs. Robert Heinlein once said that people at either end of the spectrum could not be corrupted because they firmly believed in what they stood for. But it was those in the middle who could be influenced because they didn't strongly believe in anything.
i speak from personal experience. I was a right wing extremist (how far right I won't say for embarrassment and maybe disbelief) until 1989, when by circumstance I did a geographic and found myself in the company of liberals,progressives,leftists,lesbians,gays, unionists, Old Weathermen and SDS.
I met Gloria Steinem and sat down for lunch, with other union officers with the delightful Angela Davis
Impressive. I was very conservative until went to a liberal college and really began to think for myself. Getting tear gassed a view times in anti-Vietnam War demonstrations was educational too. Once you wake up you can never go to sleep again.
I hope that statement isn't copyrighted. Once you wake up you can't go to sleep again.
As regards Vietnam. I am the sole survivor of a 4 man team. I missed that mission because of illness. The war was a waste, a needless waste, and I actually had friends (VC friends playing both sides) that saved my life during Tet. True story.
However, the demonstrations did nothing but cause a reaction by middle, Anti communist, America and prolonged the war and cost thousands of lives.
In fact ti was Abie Hoffman and the Chicago riots that did more than anything else to elect Nixon in 68.
I was, as I said, very conservative at the time, and was aghast at how the "commies in America", helped Nixon and the Republicans get elected, with their antics.
Democrats have always underestimated the power of reaction, or did the leadership.
Middle America is conservative, Christian, even if they don't go to church, and nothing pushes their buttons like "liberals"and leftists..
Marches didn't stop the war. The 50,,000 caskets unloaded at Travis AFB, the military funerals across the land, especially in the Midwest and South, convinced the Republicans to bring it all to an end,sell bull shit to the South Vietnamese,and then after the South Vietnamese went along with the bullshit, Nixon and Congress,Congress especially pulled the plug, the result was the influx of hundreds of thousands of boat people, which brought with them a Vietnamese and Cambodian mafia.
$500 or $5000 checks - it’s all bribery. “High crimes, BRIBERY, Misdemeanors. Ordering a war is a high crime. There are thousands of misdemeanors. Also-
One has more control over you when threatening a loved one than threatening you directly. That is why Tempertantrump is targeting children and seniors.
When the smug corrupt racist John Roberts penned the Citizen United decision he saw nothing illogical in claiming that money is speech. Or that obviously those with the most money get the most speech. He also claimed the Voting Rights act signed by LBJ was not needed anymore. Then of course, we know what happened. The States of the old Jim Crow South whose voting laws had been clearly racist, immediately began return to their exclusionist practices. The former Confederate States are on their way to re-imposing Jim Crow and in the near future these states will be sending all-white congressional representatives to Washington. After all, think of their avatar, Tommy Tubbervile, an ideal of Anti-Bellum intelligence and arrogance.
Don Don's a "Bullsh*t Artist?"
To paraphrase Blanche DuBois, Donald John has ALWAYS depended on the STUPIDITY of strangers.
BTW, Keg's-Breath, the misogynist, the drugging rapist of another man's wife, has put Newt G., a billionaire named Luckey, and the incredible Mr. DOGE himself, the Well-Beyond-Mad, the Ketamine junkie, the Nazi sperm donor, the world's richest deadbeat dad . . . MuskRat, in charge of the Armed Forces' future, whilst firing 20% of America's Admirals and Generals.
Some details at https://robertreich.substack.com/p/autowar
Also, the drunkard-rapist Keg's-Breath opened an Office of Religious Affairs in the Pentagon. Seriously!!
Do you think these jackoffs, these cretinous F-ups, are going anywhere on Jan. 20th, 2029?
#VOTE for Virtue, Honesty, Altruism
#BEZOS PAY Marla and Melania to co-author a tell-all
#GATES PAY Keg's-Breath's victim to do the same
Trump is not clever enough to set up this kind of action. Who are in the brain trust that is driving these detailed implementation plans?
Exactly, he is a fool and a tool, not smart enough to think tactically or strategically. It is his advisors and staff, and a fat cat with a ton of cash that has his ear, and Putin has compromat on him, as well as carrots.Mainly Trump admires winners and shuns losers, he sees Putin,Xi, Un as winners, paradoxically he sees Iran as a winner, as they have stood up, frustratingly, to him. but Trump is like a shark he can smell weakness, and willingness on the part of Iran is perceived as weakness and encourages him to double down and press harder.
I am conflicted here. The mullahcracy in Iran is an anti human, theocracy that kills it's own people in the tens of thousands, fly by night executions are a daily event, they slow strangle young girls for disrespecting the head scarf, in reality rejecting the authority of the mullahs.
The hated Savak of the Shah is the Vivak of the mullahcracy, even a lot of carry over of personnel.
If nothing else I want to see the regime implode and a revolt, but at the same time i see our only chance of a regime change in America is failure by the Trump regime.
Trump is a gangster, tutored by Roy Cohn. Also, Trump hates America. The racist loudmouth from Queens was never accepted by the Manhattan elite. This is his revenge.
Repugnicans have been hypocritical, selfish dicks since Reconstruction (Ike was an aberration), but the “Reagan Revolution” (is it something about “R’s” ?) and its neoliberal, ethics-free falsehoods paved a road straight to POSOTUS. Democratic “leadership” fell in neolib line, while SCOTUS has, remarkably, emptied its bowels over rule-of-law notions.
As a relevant aside, my ballot arrived this morning. I will be voting for Angie Nixon despite Chuck Schumer’s preference for her Repugnican opponent.
Edit: Teddy Roosevelt was also an aberration.
Why was the January 6, 2021 Federal video given to Tucker Carlson?
The checks are access to your bank account. Do not deposit; cash them at a different bank.
Follow the money.
Cheeto’s Desperate Midterm Election Tactics: Promises Made But Never Kept
Cheeto’s advisors must have finally got to him about his amazingly poor polling numbers and so Cheeto is turning to the only thing he knows how to do….bribery. After large premium hikes to ACA recipients with his tax bill, beneficent Cheeto is sending $5oo checks with a signed letter from him to less than 1m who didn’t receive tax credit assistance. Since the fanstastical $5000 check for ALL Americans if the Republicans keep their majorities in Congress didn’t work, he’s decided he’d fork out some $$ to a small minority of people he screwed over with his tax bill.
Recently because Iowa, a reliable red state bastion, is now turning against Republican candidates for governor and senate, Cheeto has announced an implausible steel mill in northwest Lee county. Such a project is untenable for a number of reasons highlighted by logistical and geographical hurdles. This is similar to his ambiguous gambits in Wisconsin(Foxconn) and Indiana(Caterpillar) that he announced but then never delivered in his first term. Lie about some far fetched job promoting project to get a short term gain in electorate approval.
But the electorate has become wise to such manipulations and lies since Cheeto’s entire campaign messaging to stay out of jail has never materialized. The Muskrat was met with similar electorate scorn when he tried to buy the Wisconsin Supreme Court seat in April 2025.
Americans have learned their lesions with Republicans who think they can bribe their way through elections since their policies don’t pass the smell test. Vote these bums out of office and hold Cheeto, his wealthy billionaires, and greedy corrupt contractors accountable.
What can you say? The most absolute corrupt non human piece of malignant cells will do anything to win. However we must remember he went bankrupt 4 times,had16 business failures,a 32 count felon, a rapist.What would the news be like if not for this malignant pig?
It's all about the money, until is isn't, and you realize that money is just one form of energy, and not the most important one, at that.
Thank You, Thom. I think. [MSU '74]
Sadly, the truth is that we have a Mobster Government.
I'm writing this comment on 10/11. Has anyone actually gotten one of these checks? I haven't heard about it if they have, and I can't imagine that the Republicans running in the midterms wouldn't be touting this in their ads if it was actually happening.