I love Eisen.. but we can't play Trump's long game anymore... By that I mean we are trying to use traditional democratic means to fight a maniacal smart immoral dictator. David Brooks said this is not normal we can not fight back without not normal behavior.
We need innovative prescriptions not descriptions.
He's not smart. You give him far too much credit, Boris. He has a team of fiends and he is the chief fiend. But if he was smart he wouldn't have blabbed his mouth before bombing Iran. Everybody knows how to play him; bribery, praise and bending the knee. He has an instinctual talent for exploiting weakness, but he is a simpleton. A megalomaniac. He careens from one failure to the next... and he smells really bad.
The bastids are still flooding the zone... but SCROTUS... I think the cowards have been mobbed by death threats or financial ruin. Several weeks ago we had some bit of hope for Roberts, Barrett, even Kavanaugh... but 6-3 on this sh*t? I suspect they are being manipulated by fear.
On SCOTUS I found Adam Klasfeld & Katie Phang (with the Contrarians as guests) today were really great & showed ways forward. Look up their Substacks if you don't already follow them.
On SCOTUS I found Adam Klasfeld & Katie Phang (with the Contrarians as guests) today were really great & showed ways forward. Look up their Substacks if you don't already follow them.
Well one surprising & interesting thing given recent reporting …is somehow this investigation didn't get shut down. Obviously the case context isn’t great but the action against it is maybe hopeful?
Thanks for this. I’m glad you highlighted Elizabeth T.’s comment which I found really inspiring and relatable.
But yeah rough week, with the Parliamentarian rulings providing some light.
I’ll look for the Bluesky posts, almost have that as a daily habit now. Agree that it’s almost as if they really do simply want more people to die. Cost-savings? Do they really sleep well at night?
Wanted to reshare this excellent and brief video from Adam Schiff on the impact of the awful reconciliation bill in healthcare, particularly rural hospitals. Really well done in my view, and maybe a good example of the kind of communication that will reach people in this day and age. https://youtu.be/xOs0EBRbGY0?si=DtxAucPgg-OUvtlT
Simon long week for you with travel. Hope you get some downtime this weekend.
Whenever some Republican asks a Dem what they'd say to Laken Riley's mom about her death, I wish the Democrat would respond with absolute fury about all the deaths they have caused, and want to cause.
Thanks, John! Yeah, today was rough. The terrible economic news gave me a little hope that the normies will start to wake up, but sheesh! It's a sign of where things are that I could construe that as a positive!
Is anyone pondering an additional Resolution about SCOTUS? (We're on a roll here.) What would the be-it-resolved ask be? For that matter, were there resolutions passed after Dobbs? I'm remembering protests.
Some days are really hard, prompting a competition between screaming, crying, and feeling paralyzed -- temporarily. We've got a Tesla protest tomorrow morning.
I throw my arms around all of you. It's just—unimaginable. They just keep finding more ways to be even uglier. It won't help them in the long run, but today, this week, all if it—it sucks. What in the world would we do without each other?
As Simon has told us many times, there will be wins and there will be losses. This week the losses are on top. But solidarity is consequential, and the great groundswell of opposition that is growing exponentially--is for me, a regular infusion of hope. What matters is the arc of history in our country, which shows us inspiring victories through long struggle, and we will yet vindicate our cause for freedom and democracy despite the forces of evil arrayed against it--a perennial thing: There is an inscription at the entrance to the National Archives (I think) in DC which reads: "The price of freedom is eternal vigilance"
There was also good news this week in Hopium Chronicles, including the two resolutions of condemnation of the executive branch that were passed in NM. (Simon gave details on 6/25.) We uplift one another here and in our local communities.
Deborah, yes. That. There IS good news. I am usually the beacon for all my friends, channeling Simon and all of you. But sometimes you just get mowed down. Today is better. All those lawyers, ready with their class action suits.
In case you missed, Mary McCord, an attorney who brought one of the cases regarding birthright citizenship that led to a preliminary injunction, filed- within a half hour of today’s Supreme Court decision curtailing national injunctions- a class-action suit on behalf of pregnant US residents and those recently born in this country to non-citizens. It is possible that the judge who issued the previous injunction will issue another covering this nation-wide class of petitioners.
We should also call our state AG’s and ask them to file suit in a like manner for all the pregnant non-citizens of our state.
On SCOTUS I found Adam Klasfeld & Katie Phang (with the Contrarians as guests) today were really great & showed ways forward. Look up their Substacks if you don't already follow them.
What an exhausting day.... made 3 different points of contacts today on 3 topics to each of my Senators. Vote with Tim Kaine, on war resolutions, support for Science everywhere : NIH, NSF, universities, research of all kind, medicine, hospitals, etc., and vote No on Emile Bove. I called my Congressman too on science and war resolutions, but not on Bove. Of course my senators and representative are all Dems so my calls just add hash tag to their columns and are not about persuasion.
I also listened to Senators Alsobrooks and Van Hollen's telephone town hall last night. I had to leave before it ended, but the first hour plus was filled with angry and scared constituents. Both Senators spoke about their efforts to push back.
Here's a little sunshine from a rotten end to the week. Elissa Slotkin had a great speech yesterday, claiming we gotta do offense as well as defense. This is her 5 part Economic War Plan. It's the kind of voice Simon has been talking about... taking it to the public, giving them something to vote for, not just against. Apparently there was too much noise for her to break through. I encourage all to have a look
Simon has mentioned there will be bad days and good days. Don't need to tell you what day this falls on.
Today's SCOTUS rulings are angering. The Planned Parenthood one was wholly unnecessary (medicaid already doesn't cover abortions). The ruling on the Texas online Porn age verification is not terrible although we'll have to see its follow on effects. Obamacare ruling was good, although with RFK in charge, that can be concerning based on who he'll put in charge. The LGBTQ one is...yea i'm not keen at all. There has to be a balance between letting your kids learn other viewpoints and the beliefs you want to raise them in. Good parents can do both.
The Nationwide Injunctions one was angering. And it's interesting they were okay with hearing it from this particular EO, not the ones in the past when the Biden and Obama administration complained. That being said, one thing to help calm us down a little and give us a new strategy to fight back is watch the interview Katie Phang did with Jennifer Rubin and Norman Eisen. This was posted in the comments on Simon's previous post by Punkette and I want to bump it again here.
30 days til the EO goes back into effect. We've got ways forward but we have work to do. Simon will probably expound on that over the next few days.
On a more lighter note, thank you for interviewing Mikie. I know many Naval Aviators like her and they're a pleasure to serve with, although I will refrain from talking trash about the US Naval Academy (I commissioned ROTC from a real college lol). For some of the disappointments of the state party, NJ has a good stable of Dems in Congress with Sen. Booker and Kim along with Rep. Sherril.
Actually Planned Parenthood gives women good information and access to birth control as well as screenings for cancer
They want to control women and keeping them pregnant is one way to do this . Women cannot get any contraception from Catholic hospitals and clinics which are about 1/3 of our system
Feed the hungry, clothe the poor, comfort the broken-hearted…
Today I bought some art from a differently-abled, transgendered painter who needs Medicare to not get dissolved. I cleaned up (as best I could) another chunk of the donor spreadsheet for the D candidate for CA state senate I agreed to do volunteer work for. I listened to Schiff talk about rural hospital closures… we’re working on a “Play Music on the Porch” event themed as building peace through community. Sat. August 30. Will we still have a porch to play on by then?
I am happy to report that it got the attention (and the like) of the great Will Robinson. But I am looking forward to any feedback and constructive criticism I can get from the Hopium community.
My political chat group is defeated! The texts tonight were about hatred for what is being done to innocent people, about hatred for this administration. Some of the women have small children, one family is bi-racial, the other, the dad is military. I fear for them. 🙁 I fear for our adult children who are rethinking wanting a family due to
Called and emailed TN Sens this morning by 8:00 AM CT and, in lieu of Senate debate? voting? tomorrow, I just called and emailed them again tonight at 8:30 PM CT.
I finished reading through Substack and Bluesky an hour before calls and am totally dismayed at the rulings of the majority of the Supreme Court. I pray for the health and wellbeing of Justices Sotomayor, Jackson, and Kagan.
After reading the SC outcomes & today's ICE reporting, I am stunned. I have been holding my head in my hands...unraveling along with our constitutional order :(
I do have faith we will all bounce back but OMG...
If your child dies of measles, you can't get a covid booster, or a flu shot, thank RFK and Trump
I feel as if there is no bottom for the GOP
There is no bottom.
Usually I am the one bolstering the confidence of my circle, but today...the relentlessness is getting to me.
I'll be back Monday, in fighting form.
I agree..
Polls are one thing, but the breakage of the rule of law and "we the people" continues.
We need FEROCIOUS OPPOSITION to break the momentum..
We had the momentum until a couple days ago. Trump was a loser. Time for the streets again and time to begin planning for general strike, me thinks.
Norrm Eisen is already on the case. He's ready and Ferocious.... Check it out
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eNPnS8PhJJg
I love Eisen.. but we can't play Trump's long game anymore... By that I mean we are trying to use traditional democratic means to fight a maniacal smart immoral dictator. David Brooks said this is not normal we can not fight back without not normal behavior.
We need innovative prescriptions not descriptions.
In what specifically do you differ with Eisen? - I found his assessment and prognosis very sound.
He's not smart. You give him far too much credit, Boris. He has a team of fiends and he is the chief fiend. But if he was smart he wouldn't have blabbed his mouth before bombing Iran. Everybody knows how to play him; bribery, praise and bending the knee. He has an instinctual talent for exploiting weakness, but he is a simpleton. A megalomaniac. He careens from one failure to the next... and he smells really bad.
Watch Simon's Wedensday sermon again. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BiKuv9KDpoY .
Oh that made me more relaxed today. It's not great at all. But it's not hopeless either.
Yes. I’m taking the night off. Will watch that zoom with AG’s tomorrow. Sometimes you just have to pace yourself.
The bastids are still flooding the zone... but SCROTUS... I think the cowards have been mobbed by death threats or financial ruin. Several weeks ago we had some bit of hope for Roberts, Barrett, even Kavanaugh... but 6-3 on this sh*t? I suspect they are being manipulated by fear.
On SCOTUS I found Adam Klasfeld & Katie Phang (with the Contrarians as guests) today were really great & showed ways forward. Look up their Substacks if you don't already follow them.
Me too.
On SCOTUS I found Adam Klasfeld & Katie Phang (with the Contrarians as guests) today were really great & showed ways forward. Look up their Substacks if you don't already follow them.
Susan, don't forget to focus on self-care. That's the best way to fight back.
A contagion of cowardice among our not-so-honorable 'public servants'. Courage is the antidote. Keep the faith and keep up the good work, patriots!
Well one surprising & interesting thing given recent reporting …is somehow this investigation didn't get shut down. Obviously the case context isn’t great but the action against it is maybe hopeful?
https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/sinaloa-cartel-hacked-phones-surveillance-cameras-find-fbi-informants-doj-says-2025-06-27/
Thanks for this. I’m glad you highlighted Elizabeth T.’s comment which I found really inspiring and relatable.
But yeah rough week, with the Parliamentarian rulings providing some light.
I’ll look for the Bluesky posts, almost have that as a daily habit now. Agree that it’s almost as if they really do simply want more people to die. Cost-savings? Do they really sleep well at night?
Wanted to reshare this excellent and brief video from Adam Schiff on the impact of the awful reconciliation bill in healthcare, particularly rural hospitals. Really well done in my view, and maybe a good example of the kind of communication that will reach people in this day and age. https://youtu.be/xOs0EBRbGY0?si=DtxAucPgg-OUvtlT
Simon long week for you with travel. Hope you get some downtime this weekend.
Whenever some Republican asks a Dem what they'd say to Laken Riley's mom about her death, I wish the Democrat would respond with absolute fury about all the deaths they have caused, and want to cause.
Thanks, John! Yeah, today was rough. The terrible economic news gave me a little hope that the normies will start to wake up, but sheesh! It's a sign of where things are that I could construe that as a positive!
Is anyone pondering an additional Resolution about SCOTUS? (We're on a roll here.) What would the be-it-resolved ask be? For that matter, were there resolutions passed after Dobbs? I'm remembering protests.
Some days are really hard, prompting a competition between screaming, crying, and feeling paralyzed -- temporarily. We've got a Tesla protest tomorrow morning.
We found a resolution from our Council that followed Dobbs, so I'm guess we'll be writing and filing another that's SCOTUS-focused.
https://boston.legistar.com/LegislationDetail.aspx?ID=5713849&GUID=65FE2A87-083A-4B06-B5E1-0D5AC6DD2A5A&Options=ID%7CText%7C&Search=Reproductive
I throw my arms around all of you. It's just—unimaginable. They just keep finding more ways to be even uglier. It won't help them in the long run, but today, this week, all if it—it sucks. What in the world would we do without each other?
As Simon has told us many times, there will be wins and there will be losses. This week the losses are on top. But solidarity is consequential, and the great groundswell of opposition that is growing exponentially--is for me, a regular infusion of hope. What matters is the arc of history in our country, which shows us inspiring victories through long struggle, and we will yet vindicate our cause for freedom and democracy despite the forces of evil arrayed against it--a perennial thing: There is an inscription at the entrance to the National Archives (I think) in DC which reads: "The price of freedom is eternal vigilance"
Hear! hear!
Beautifully stated!
There was also good news this week in Hopium Chronicles, including the two resolutions of condemnation of the executive branch that were passed in NM. (Simon gave details on 6/25.) We uplift one another here and in our local communities.
Deborah, yes. That. There IS good news. I am usually the beacon for all my friends, channeling Simon and all of you. But sometimes you just get mowed down. Today is better. All those lawyers, ready with their class action suits.
UPDATE: Tomorrow’s San Pedro, California Rally for the Port will Welcome Congresswoman Nanette Barragán at Noon.
Rally - Tomorrow Saturday, June 28. Noon - 1:30pm. Harbor Blvd between 3rd and 6th Streets.
https://youtu.be/B4sCRtqDDK4
In case you missed, Mary McCord, an attorney who brought one of the cases regarding birthright citizenship that led to a preliminary injunction, filed- within a half hour of today’s Supreme Court decision curtailing national injunctions- a class-action suit on behalf of pregnant US residents and those recently born in this country to non-citizens. It is possible that the judge who issued the previous injunction will issue another covering this nation-wide class of petitioners.
We should also call our state AG’s and ask them to file suit in a like manner for all the pregnant non-citizens of our state.
On SCOTUS I found Adam Klasfeld & Katie Phang (with the Contrarians as guests) today were really great & showed ways forward. Look up their Substacks if you don't already follow them.
What an exhausting day.... made 3 different points of contacts today on 3 topics to each of my Senators. Vote with Tim Kaine, on war resolutions, support for Science everywhere : NIH, NSF, universities, research of all kind, medicine, hospitals, etc., and vote No on Emile Bove. I called my Congressman too on science and war resolutions, but not on Bove. Of course my senators and representative are all Dems so my calls just add hash tag to their columns and are not about persuasion.
I also listened to Senators Alsobrooks and Van Hollen's telephone town hall last night. I had to leave before it ended, but the first hour plus was filled with angry and scared constituents. Both Senators spoke about their efforts to push back.
Here's a little sunshine from a rotten end to the week. Elissa Slotkin had a great speech yesterday, claiming we gotta do offense as well as defense. This is her 5 part Economic War Plan. It's the kind of voice Simon has been talking about... taking it to the public, giving them something to vote for, not just against. Apparently there was too much noise for her to break through. I encourage all to have a look
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pbFiKN48UxI
Michael I interviewed Senator Slotkin this afternoon. Look for it tomorrow.
great. she's on fire!
Simon has mentioned there will be bad days and good days. Don't need to tell you what day this falls on.
Today's SCOTUS rulings are angering. The Planned Parenthood one was wholly unnecessary (medicaid already doesn't cover abortions). The ruling on the Texas online Porn age verification is not terrible although we'll have to see its follow on effects. Obamacare ruling was good, although with RFK in charge, that can be concerning based on who he'll put in charge. The LGBTQ one is...yea i'm not keen at all. There has to be a balance between letting your kids learn other viewpoints and the beliefs you want to raise them in. Good parents can do both.
The Nationwide Injunctions one was angering. And it's interesting they were okay with hearing it from this particular EO, not the ones in the past when the Biden and Obama administration complained. That being said, one thing to help calm us down a little and give us a new strategy to fight back is watch the interview Katie Phang did with Jennifer Rubin and Norman Eisen. This was posted in the comments on Simon's previous post by Punkette and I want to bump it again here.
https://katiephang.substack.com/p/new-scotus-rulings-live-w-jen-norm
30 days til the EO goes back into effect. We've got ways forward but we have work to do. Simon will probably expound on that over the next few days.
On a more lighter note, thank you for interviewing Mikie. I know many Naval Aviators like her and they're a pleasure to serve with, although I will refrain from talking trash about the US Naval Academy (I commissioned ROTC from a real college lol). For some of the disappointments of the state party, NJ has a good stable of Dems in Congress with Sen. Booker and Kim along with Rep. Sherril.
Actually Planned Parenthood gives women good information and access to birth control as well as screenings for cancer
They want to control women and keeping them pregnant is one way to do this . Women cannot get any contraception from Catholic hospitals and clinics which are about 1/3 of our system
The GOP has always waged war on women
Feed the hungry, clothe the poor, comfort the broken-hearted…
Today I bought some art from a differently-abled, transgendered painter who needs Medicare to not get dissolved. I cleaned up (as best I could) another chunk of the donor spreadsheet for the D candidate for CA state senate I agreed to do volunteer work for. I listened to Schiff talk about rural hospital closures… we’re working on a “Play Music on the Porch” event themed as building peace through community. Sat. August 30. Will we still have a porch to play on by then?
Hello everyone,
Just want to send along my latest take on Iran news for your humble consideration: https://davidsalzillo.substack.com/p/salzillos-two-cents-oniran.
I am happy to report that it got the attention (and the like) of the great Will Robinson. But I am looking forward to any feedback and constructive criticism I can get from the Hopium community.
Where is the Massachusetts attorney general?
My political chat group is defeated! The texts tonight were about hatred for what is being done to innocent people, about hatred for this administration. Some of the women have small children, one family is bi-racial, the other, the dad is military. I fear for them. 🙁 I fear for our adult children who are rethinking wanting a family due to
the state of this country.
Called and emailed TN Sens this morning by 8:00 AM CT and, in lieu of Senate debate? voting? tomorrow, I just called and emailed them again tonight at 8:30 PM CT.
I finished reading through Substack and Bluesky an hour before calls and am totally dismayed at the rulings of the majority of the Supreme Court. I pray for the health and wellbeing of Justices Sotomayor, Jackson, and Kagan.
After reading the SC outcomes & today's ICE reporting, I am stunned. I have been holding my head in my hands...unraveling along with our constitutional order :(
I do have faith we will all bounce back but OMG...