I wanted to follow up on yesterday’s comment about extricating ourselves from big tech. Tara McGowan has an interesting podcast episode with Kara Swisher on the power of the tech bros. This podcast is part of Tara McGowan’s new series “Gloves Off.”
To me, the most interesting part of this podcast was Kara Swisher’s case that the tech bros are basically monarchical in their outlook. They run their companies like monarchs, and they regard democracy as a nuisance. They’re arrogant enough to believe that they know better than the rest of us what kind of world we should live in. They believe they make better decisions about our lives than we are capable of making ourselves.
Simon has spoken about our struggle against global authoritarianism as a 10-year fight for freedom and democracy. To win that fight, we’ll have to battle on many fronts, including against big tech. I don’t see how we will come out on the other side without defeating our tech overlords. I think that Europeans are waking up to this, and we need a more widespread movement to “resist and unsubscribe” from these tech bro traitors.
A European friend of mine recently told me about Ecosia, a German-based browser and search engine. It’s another alternative to Google. I’m curious—has anyone given it a try?
I was a tech writer in software start ups in San Francisco in 1999-2001 during the dot com boom, before they even figured out how to make money on the internet. Monarchical is a great description. It was not at all unusual for people to be fired with no notice, guarded as they emptied their desks and escorted out of the building. That happened to me and 19 other people in one day. At my next company, I was gone for a long weekend and came back to discover that my beloved manager had been unceremoniously removed the same way. When I turned to my coworkers and asked what we were going to do to protest, they all just shrugged and got back work. Even amongst the workers, the salaries were so high that the jobs created a hard heartedness I felt. (I couldn’t stand it and left before getting addicted to that kind of income.) Elon Musk‘s behavior with DOGE was a perfect example of that environment, the way he thoughtlessly gutted so many programs with the wave of his scepter.
I use Ecosia regularly, along with Vivaldi, DuckDuckGo's own browser, and Firefox. A lot of sites are built to work on Chrome, so it's helpful to have options when something won't work. I plan to give Brave a whirl soon, too.
I like Brave for its built-in ad blocker—it makes YouTube a pleasure to watch instead of a constant annoyance—but my iMac overheats if I have more than one tab open. I have no idea how it works on a Window machine.
It’s so encouraging, and in fact incredible, that even the Senate is in play. That’s partly due to Democrats having some wonderful candidates – such as James Talarico of Texas. Here is Stephen Colbert’s interview of Talarico. It’s really¨ superb! Well worth watching.
PS. This was posted on YouTube, because CBS/Paramount wasn’t willing to broadcast it. In fact, they even tried to forbid Colbert from talking about *why* they blocked it! So this is why Colbert posted it on YouTube.
I try not to fall in love with candidates, but JT makes it difficult. Former teacher (wife and mother were public school teachers), ordained preacher (we’re all churchgoers)… and he’s literally from my neighborhood! Went to same elementary school as my kids, even showed up to a PTA meeting when my neighbor invited him to speak.
Bit of a shame that we have two such great candidates running against each other in the primary though (they would BOTH make great Senators in my view).
Hopefully it is hard but fair and then a quick pivot to the general with everyone coalescing behind the winner, whoever that may be.
I agree, since they are both wonderful. But at least if Texas selects one of them for the Senate this time, the other will have the experience of running and can take the other seat in 2030.
I'm keeping my eye on the story about searching for graves on Zorro Ranch. Pedophilia is awful, truly awful (I feel physically ill when I read some of the news stories), but if it turns out Epstein had a couple of girls murdered . . .
They are trying to build a warehouse-gulag archipelago for detention/mass deportation. But how does the math work? It took 3000 ICE/CPB agents about 2 months to arrest about 3000 people in Minnesota. That works out to about 0.5 arrests per agent, per month. Then subtract all of the arrests that didn't stick in court (I don't know this rate, but it's not insignificant). Looks like a LONG, HARD road ahead for those guys to ever make full use of their warehouse gulags. They are generating so much friction/resistance that the whole project seems rather doomed. Perhaps they simply couldn't conceive of a reality in which people would stand up to them?
They miscalculate, but I wonder if they had thought they'd fill them with people whose TPS was revoked. The courts pushed back and there are 100's of thousands of people safe for now. But they could swoop in and pick up many, many people, probably in relatively short order.
The problem they have of course is they spend a bunch of time battling protestors for some reason, and then they just randomly pick people up. It's just disorganized and extremely inefficient. It's a big show.
The randomness was in and of itself a deliberate attempt to keep all of us in line. A warning that if it can happen anywhere to anyone, it can happen to each of us. It appears their warnings are being received with a big fu.
The true nature of the present Republican Party has been laid bare. It is a party of white supremacists, immoral tech tycoons, and fascists. It is a party willing to accept the killing of innocent Americans and immigrants without due process or cause. It is a party willing to cram upwards of fifty adults in holding rooms for inhumane periods of time, with detainees sleeping on floors, having no access to showers, sharing only one toilet, and being fed inadequately. In cares not for infants or children. If you are still a member of this party, you might question who you have had to become to accept this treatment of fellow human beings. It’s too late to say you did not understand the depths to which Trump’s party has willfully sunk.
Here are a couple news items that I think are worth mentioning.
First, Bruce Springsteen and his E Street Band will be going on tour, starting on March 31 (three days after No Kings III). He will start in Minneapolis and end in Washington, D.C. Here are his comments on the tour:
"We are living through dark, disturbing and dangerous times, but do not despair — the cavalry is coming! Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band will be taking the stage this spring from Minneapolis to California to Texas to Washington, D.C. for the Land of Hope And Dreams American Tour. We will be rocking your town in celebration and in defense of America — American democracy, American freedom, our American Constitution and our sacred American dream — all of which are under attack by our wannabe king and his rogue government in Washington, D.C. Everyone, regardless of where you stand or what you believe in, is welcome — so come on out and join the United Free Republic of E Street Nation for an American spring of Rock ‘n’ Rebellion! I’ll see you there!”
It is a musical event and political rally for democracy and freedom, not a fund-raising event. He uses his music to urge fans to take action, and often does not publically advertise his donations. Bruce Springsteen is doing other fund-raisers including an anti-ICE benefit concert in Minneapolis last month to support the families of Renee Good and Alex Pretti. That's why he wrote and dedicated the song "Streets of Minneapolis." He is also a long-term supporter of the WhyHunger Foundation by raising money to help alleviate poverty and hunger world-wide. He also supports the Light of Day Foundation for Parkinson’s disease, ALS, and similar medical research. He's made donations to alleviate homeless in NJ, ~ $8.5 million to $12.9 million, and many more donations to social justice causes. I'm sure there's more if you want to look into it.
It’s Springsteen not Stein. 😉 I am fully aware of what he does, I write for a fan magazine and have followed his career since early 80s. He gives away a lot of $. Doesn’t mean he can’t do it again. 🤞🏼 See: vote for change.
I am sorry this has become a distraction and that my sentiment has been misconstrued. I have been nothing but supportive and engaged in the Hopium Community and our collective fight to save our democracy. Pls let's move on.
I recommend John Oliver's new show this week. Instead of just focusing on ICE, he takes a look at the history of DHS and the mess that it is now. I was especially struck by the issue of money with them. Contrary to the original Trump campaign promise, they are literally directing money and resources away from investigating cartels and drug trafficking, and piling that money onto the already massive pile for ICE. And of course, FEMA is dramatically understaffed and underfunded. Last year they got lucky, as no hurricanes hit the US. It's a matter of time before they get another Katrina on top of everything else.
It looks like the USA is poised to reset (kind of) from structural ruptures associated with 9/11 and the election of a black president. Are we in an analog to 2004, then, and ready — again — for a BHO-like figure, i.e., one who doesn’t conform to established models of what’s acceptable/electable, to emerge as a vibrant counter to the current regime of authoritarian overreach? AOC?
John Oliver’s March 2025 segment on ICE detention, with its introduction to the prison industrial complex ghouls who will be running these gulags, is worth a re-watch as well.
Yes (thanks for the tip, Cynthia!), all of which will add to the deaths, already in the millions, he is directly responsible for. When the final tally of his contribution to (irreversible) climate change is included, that alone could exceed Hitler & Stalin combined, maybe even toss in Mao to boot.
The answer to the question posed in the title to your Substack article is … Yes.
The continuing resistance by millions of Americans and Trump’s unpopularity demonstrates a level of resistance to Trump’s policies perhaps unmatched in American history, even including the unpopular U.S. adventurism in SE Asia.
We shall see how that impacts the 2026 midterm elections and its threats to Republicans thin Congressional majorities. However, it is clear that Trump and his sycophants are worried.
Thank you for continuing to urge the pressure on them to continue.
For comparison purposes I wouldn't rule out the 1850s. For "level of resistance" we haven't seen anything yet that looks like "Bleeding Kansas," and I hope we never do.
Perhaps I should have more accurately conditioned my timeline as, "Since the Civil War?" Certainly, the Civil War was a strong example of mass resistance to federal government policies. Let us hope we do not find ourselves ever in that situation again.
Note that "mass resistance to federal government" during the Civil War meant the Confederacy. During the civil rights era it meant white Southerners opposed to school integration. A few years later, however, it meant resistance to a war being waged by the federal government. A few years after *that*, it included resistance to Roe v. Wade. These days it means resistance to a federal government that could be a direct descendant of the Old Confederacy. I tend to think of "resistance" as a good thing, but much depends on what's being resisted!
I believe in recognizing the difference between civil disagreement on policies and uncivil, unlawful violent resistance. One is characteristic of democracy and the other is political violence. I am a lifelong conscientious objector and even volunteered for and served two tours in Vietnam as a Conscientious Objector Combat Medic. I feel very strongly about my objections to violence as a solution to any conflict.
We should resist the descent into violence as a solution to conflict. However, I strongly support non-violent, non-compliance direct action as an effective form of resistance to unjust governance.
I call my senators (Kelly, Gallego) offices at least 4 times a week. I request the reining in of ICE, ending mass deportations, ending expansion of detention centers and also added vote "no" on the SAVE act. Indivisible is starting to send out notices of where No Kings protests will be held. I would like to see an article about who are the consultants that keep leading dems down less successful paths to winning. It seems the consultants should be listening to the base voters more acutely.
I agree, but as I just noted elsewhere, I suspect that many diehard Trump supporters *thought* this was what they wanted -- until they saw it happening in real life. Seriously -- how often do politicians do exactly what they say they're going to do?
he said he was going after the violent criminals. He said he was going to bring down prices. He said he would end the Ukraine war on day 1... etc., etc. etc...
I agree with Michael about this. This is a case where he broke his promise, grotesquely, and didn't keep it at all. He would have lost the election, badly, if he'd promised to do this, and plenty of pre-election polls (dating back decades, as Simon has shown) prove it, as does the Trump-Harris poll he shared today.
In fact, his breach of trust in this case meets all the conditions of what I'd call the Yanukovich test, after the Ukrainian would-be dictator whose broken promise was considered by the people to have delegitimized his election as completely fraudulent, so they drove him out of office and out of the country.
In Yanukovich's case, he was elected on a promise to get Ukraine into the EU. Instead he tried to put them into Putin's ersatz version. More broadly, a Yanukovich promise is one that was (a) key to the candidate's election (check) (b) not just unfulfilled, but reneged on in the opposite direction (check) (c) broken by choice, not circumstance (check). And (d) has done irreparable harm (check) that (e) will continue to increase unless he's stopped (check), so (f) just waiting for the next election is not an option (check).
The biggest threat to democracy, imnsho (and, by extension, the world) is lying politicians. They pave the way for authoritarians by undermining democracy's credibility, and, in fact, unlimited lies with impunity are authoritarians' weapon of choice. They're also highly corrosive to the most important quality of our people, both for ourselves and the world: our optimism.
We may not be able to stop all political lying right away (though there's literally no good reason not to--all the arguments as to why we have to grin and bear them are incredibly weak, imnsho), but *Yanukovich* lies like *this* one *have* to be red lines that we *never* accept and fight with *everything* we've got until they become politicians' new third rail *everywhere* democracy is treasured, just like they were (and are) in Ukraine (an outcome that every democracy in the world accepted as legitimate, btw, and every dictator did not)
I'd like to shout out for Stephen Colbert's courage in giving his corporate bosses the finger on the James Talerico interview. FCC threatened CBS, they caved and told Colbert that he couldn't air the segment, and further that he couldn't mention that this was being muzzled.
Which is when Colbert posted it on YouTube after mentioning it on his show. The result of course is that far more people watched it on Youtube than if it had just aired without comment.
Take the wins, baby.
And a shout out to Talerico. I was very moved when he discusses the separation of church and state, and how both church and state are injured when the one meddles in the other. To have a Christian seminarian calling out Christian Nationalism as completely unchristian... more of that please. "Love God and Love Neighbor" I'm not a Christian, but I can get 100% behind those values.
He is in a tough primary race against Jasmine Crocket for the TX Senate seat. I leave it to TX to pick their champion, but I am contributing again to the Audacious Fund in honor of Colbert and Talerico. Early voting has begun. Election day is March 3.
Here is the YouTube segment if you haven't watched it yet.
For those inspired by Talarico’s message, you may also feel uplifted by this wonderful essay by Reverend Cremer. Those of us who’ve been waiting and waiting to see a pushback against trump’s faux Christianity are starting to see it.
Thanks for this, Marcia. I'm seeing more and more people who love and believe in Jesus stop calling themselves Christians. Personally, as I understand it, Jesus and his followers called their faith "the Way," so when asked, I either say I'm a "follower of the Way of Jesus" or emulate someone I saw on TV and call myself "a Jesus guy." I love how Rev Cremer so gently and methodically cleans the stain of the "flawed man" off the true faith. It kills me every time I hear a MAGA say "he's our King Cyrus," when Trump is almost as far away from Cyrus (who basically invented DEI, right?) as he is from Barack or Jimmy Carter. :D
i think its well within our reach to have a dem senate majority. we have great candidates. they can win. getting them elected should be a big push for us. this victory will end trumpism. we are pretty much ensured to win the house back, so let's really support our dem nominees for the senate!!! i will contribute today to all hopium sen candidates, earlier is better!
Fighting mass deportations and the detention centers ( i.e the concentration camps), should remain our biggest fight. The conditions in these warehouses are sub-human and are being maintained and built in our name. We do not want to suffer the shame of the German population in the 1930’s who looked away ( with many even encouraging) the taking of their Jewish neighbors. Residents in Blue cities, with Minneapolis/St.Paul providing the clearest example, have shown us the way.
It is also a perfect time to put forward our own immigration policy as an alternative. Talk about our plan to for a bill that would lay the path to residency and citizenship for those who are already here, while overhauling the administration of our border policy, pushing back and emphasizing that Democrats have NEVER pushed for open borders. Press a new immigration plan now so people know there is a sane alternative and Democratic candidates can run with it as part of their own campaigns.
Imagine the huge funding boost not going to ICE/CBP, but to fund enough additional staffing and judges to swiftly process asylum claims. Dems need to step up and propose ways to fix the entire broken immigration system.
Agreed. This is a (rare?) case where we have a straightforward, easy-to-explain, even sound-bite solution-- comprehensive reform with a path to citizenship--that yuge majorities of Americans support (thanks, Stephen!) that they can't put forward *at all,* only offer up more horror show.
I imagine some Dems are skittish about going out on that limb, figuring some new Laken Riley tragedy will cause it to blow up in their faces, but I feel (a) they need to understand that sadly we have our own "Laken Rileys" now: Renee, Alex, and *a whole lot of others too* (b) if anything like that happens, they can and should--after expressing genuine sorrow for the family (families), of course--either take a page out of the GOP playbook and cry "false flag" (thanks to Epstein and ICE, the Repos would get zero benefit of the doubt, ZERO), or make the case (in the many cases where it might be plausible) that with immigration reform, the incident wouldn't have happened to begin with at all (for starters, reform would allow ICE and CPB to focus on stopping the actual criminals who come over the border, instead of spending time chasing down and locking up children!). Or advance both narratives, via different messengers.
Trump II has been a shock and a revelation and it's not over yet -- commentators and historians will be trying to figure it out for years. At the moment the old Stones song "You Can't Always Get What You Want" is running through my head, only the catch is "And when you do, you may find that you didn't want it after all." All those millions upon millions of USians thought (or thought they thought, or wanted to think) that "illegals" -- and/or immigrants in general, and/or Black and brown people in general -- were the cause of everything wrong with their lives. Trump told them over and over and over what they wanted to hear (or thought they wanted to hear). But now that Trump II is delivering it and they're seeing what it looks like in real life, some of them are realizing that no, this isn't what they had in mind.
And the Trump voters who were never hardcore MAGA, the ones who believed his lies about "the economy," they seem to be turning against him even faster.
I'd like to see "USian" to become common use informally, and "US American" more formally. The other American countries are clearly telling us we don't deserve to call our country "America". (Might even make Gulf of America a bit less offensive... nah, Mexico will be forever miffed about that lol.)
Well said, Simon - domestic Vietnam. I think there are enough of us still around to know what that means, and for the youngsters, they can look it up! I just called Gov. Sherrill and thanked her for her exec. orders re ICE/immigration. I also asked her to please sign the related legislation that former Gov. Murphy did not sign due to issues w the language. It's back in the state assembly and currently under consideration.
Going to make my calls to Booker & Kim, both of whom have done well w staying on message. Looking forward to this evening! Keep going!
I wanted to follow up on yesterday’s comment about extricating ourselves from big tech. Tara McGowan has an interesting podcast episode with Kara Swisher on the power of the tech bros. This podcast is part of Tara McGowan’s new series “Gloves Off.”
https://couriernewsroom.com/gloves-off/
To me, the most interesting part of this podcast was Kara Swisher’s case that the tech bros are basically monarchical in their outlook. They run their companies like monarchs, and they regard democracy as a nuisance. They’re arrogant enough to believe that they know better than the rest of us what kind of world we should live in. They believe they make better decisions about our lives than we are capable of making ourselves.
Simon has spoken about our struggle against global authoritarianism as a 10-year fight for freedom and democracy. To win that fight, we’ll have to battle on many fronts, including against big tech. I don’t see how we will come out on the other side without defeating our tech overlords. I think that Europeans are waking up to this, and we need a more widespread movement to “resist and unsubscribe” from these tech bro traitors.
A European friend of mine recently told me about Ecosia, a German-based browser and search engine. It’s another alternative to Google. I’m curious—has anyone given it a try?
https://www.ecosia.org/
I was a tech writer in software start ups in San Francisco in 1999-2001 during the dot com boom, before they even figured out how to make money on the internet. Monarchical is a great description. It was not at all unusual for people to be fired with no notice, guarded as they emptied their desks and escorted out of the building. That happened to me and 19 other people in one day. At my next company, I was gone for a long weekend and came back to discover that my beloved manager had been unceremoniously removed the same way. When I turned to my coworkers and asked what we were going to do to protest, they all just shrugged and got back work. Even amongst the workers, the salaries were so high that the jobs created a hard heartedness I felt. (I couldn’t stand it and left before getting addicted to that kind of income.) Elon Musk‘s behavior with DOGE was a perfect example of that environment, the way he thoughtlessly gutted so many programs with the wave of his scepter.
I’ve been using ecosia.org for years very happily. They plant trees with their profits.
Good to know. Thanks.
I use Ecosia regularly, along with Vivaldi, DuckDuckGo's own browser, and Firefox. A lot of sites are built to work on Chrome, so it's helpful to have options when something won't work. I plan to give Brave a whirl soon, too.
I like Brave for its built-in ad blocker—it makes YouTube a pleasure to watch instead of a constant annoyance—but my iMac overheats if I have more than one tab open. I have no idea how it works on a Window machine.
That overheating problem is crazy! I'm PC/Android, so I'll see how it goes...
I recommend Kagi - www.kagi.com. It's absolutely worth it to pay for search these days -- search that works.
It’s so encouraging, and in fact incredible, that even the Senate is in play. That’s partly due to Democrats having some wonderful candidates – such as James Talarico of Texas. Here is Stephen Colbert’s interview of Talarico. It’s really¨ superb! Well worth watching.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oiTJ7Pz_59A
PS. This was posted on YouTube, because CBS/Paramount wasn’t willing to broadcast it. In fact, they even tried to forbid Colbert from talking about *why* they blocked it! So this is why Colbert posted it on YouTube.
A.S. ~ you beat me to it, I posted about it above. Fine minds... ha!
Thank you! Yes to flipping Texas! No to maga's cancel culture.
I try not to fall in love with candidates, but JT makes it difficult. Former teacher (wife and mother were public school teachers), ordained preacher (we’re all churchgoers)… and he’s literally from my neighborhood! Went to same elementary school as my kids, even showed up to a PTA meeting when my neighbor invited him to speak.
Bit of a shame that we have two such great candidates running against each other in the primary though (they would BOTH make great Senators in my view).
Hopefully it is hard but fair and then a quick pivot to the general with everyone coalescing behind the winner, whoever that may be.
I agree, since they are both wonderful. But at least if Texas selects one of them for the Senate this time, the other will have the experience of running and can take the other seat in 2030.
I'm keeping my eye on the story about searching for graves on Zorro Ranch. Pedophilia is awful, truly awful (I feel physically ill when I read some of the news stories), but if it turns out Epstein had a couple of girls murdered . . .
I learned about that the other day. Ellie Leonard's write up was truly horrifying.
https://ellieleonard.substack.com/p/the-owner-of-zorro-ranch-is-revealed
They are trying to build a warehouse-gulag archipelago for detention/mass deportation. But how does the math work? It took 3000 ICE/CPB agents about 2 months to arrest about 3000 people in Minnesota. That works out to about 0.5 arrests per agent, per month. Then subtract all of the arrests that didn't stick in court (I don't know this rate, but it's not insignificant). Looks like a LONG, HARD road ahead for those guys to ever make full use of their warehouse gulags. They are generating so much friction/resistance that the whole project seems rather doomed. Perhaps they simply couldn't conceive of a reality in which people would stand up to them?
Yes, they made a huge miscalculation on many, many fronts....what fanatics do.
just pure grifting with the billions being thrown around.
more or less what I said yesterday, agree 100%
They miscalculate, but I wonder if they had thought they'd fill them with people whose TPS was revoked. The courts pushed back and there are 100's of thousands of people safe for now. But they could swoop in and pick up many, many people, probably in relatively short order.
The problem they have of course is they spend a bunch of time battling protestors for some reason, and then they just randomly pick people up. It's just disorganized and extremely inefficient. It's a big show.
The randomness was in and of itself a deliberate attempt to keep all of us in line. A warning that if it can happen anywhere to anyone, it can happen to each of us. It appears their warnings are being received with a big fu.
They do seem to believe their own hype, every time, every topic
The true nature of the present Republican Party has been laid bare. It is a party of white supremacists, immoral tech tycoons, and fascists. It is a party willing to accept the killing of innocent Americans and immigrants without due process or cause. It is a party willing to cram upwards of fifty adults in holding rooms for inhumane periods of time, with detainees sleeping on floors, having no access to showers, sharing only one toilet, and being fed inadequately. In cares not for infants or children. If you are still a member of this party, you might question who you have had to become to accept this treatment of fellow human beings. It’s too late to say you did not understand the depths to which Trump’s party has willfully sunk.
Here are a couple news items that I think are worth mentioning.
First, Bruce Springsteen and his E Street Band will be going on tour, starting on March 31 (three days after No Kings III). He will start in Minneapolis and end in Washington, D.C. Here are his comments on the tour:
"We are living through dark, disturbing and dangerous times, but do not despair — the cavalry is coming! Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band will be taking the stage this spring from Minneapolis to California to Texas to Washington, D.C. for the Land of Hope And Dreams American Tour. We will be rocking your town in celebration and in defense of America — American democracy, American freedom, our American Constitution and our sacred American dream — all of which are under attack by our wannabe king and his rogue government in Washington, D.C. Everyone, regardless of where you stand or what you believe in, is welcome — so come on out and join the United Free Republic of E Street Nation for an American spring of Rock ‘n’ Rebellion! I’ll see you there!”
https://brucespringsteen.net/news/2026/bruce-springsteen-and-the-e-street-bands-land-of-hope-and-dreams-american-tour-announced-for-spring-2026/
I note that his advertising poster has "No Kings" at the bottom.
Second, I learned that Epstein survivors will be attending the State of the Union with Rep. Walkinshaw of Virginia:
https://www.lincolnsquare.media/p/breaking-epstein-survivors-will-attend
I've been impressed with Walkinshaw in the few months he's been in office.
Thanks for mentioning the Bruce tour. I am of the opinion that the $ from ticket sales should go to nonprofits supporting communities.
It is a musical event and political rally for democracy and freedom, not a fund-raising event. He uses his music to urge fans to take action, and often does not publically advertise his donations. Bruce Springsteen is doing other fund-raisers including an anti-ICE benefit concert in Minneapolis last month to support the families of Renee Good and Alex Pretti. That's why he wrote and dedicated the song "Streets of Minneapolis." He is also a long-term supporter of the WhyHunger Foundation by raising money to help alleviate poverty and hunger world-wide. He also supports the Light of Day Foundation for Parkinson’s disease, ALS, and similar medical research. He's made donations to alleviate homeless in NJ, ~ $8.5 million to $12.9 million, and many more donations to social justice causes. I'm sure there's more if you want to look into it.
https://whyhunger.org/bruce-springsteen/artists/
https://p2phelps.org/2024/04/brucespringsteen/
https://springsteencenter.org/curatorial-corner-and-i-believe-in-a-promised-land-music-meets-activism-at-light-of-day-2026/
https://www.facebook.com/61576862224352/posts/breaking-news-rock-legend-bruce-springsteen-donates-his-entire-85-million-bonus-/122114358164895407/
It’s Springsteen not Stein. 😉 I am fully aware of what he does, I write for a fan magazine and have followed his career since early 80s. He gives away a lot of $. Doesn’t mean he can’t do it again. 🤞🏼 See: vote for change.
🙃 oopsie fixed it. My response was to Judith.
I am sorry this has become a distraction and that my sentiment has been misconstrued. I have been nothing but supportive and engaged in the Hopium Community and our collective fight to save our democracy. Pls let's move on.
You write for a fan magazine?! The things we learn about each other!
Here's a list of Republicans who might be beaten:
NV: OPEN-02, NB: Don Bacon-02, SD: Dusty Johnson, LA: Juli Letlow-05, WI: Tom Tiffany-07,
TN: John Rose-06, IA: Randy Freenstra-04, WY: Harriet Hageman, WA: OPEN-04,
AL: Barry Moore-01, SC: Nancy Mace-01,
GA: Buddy Carter-01, Mike Collins-10, OPEN-11,
FL: Neal Dunn-02, Byron Donalds-19, Vernon Buchanan-16,
TX: Chip Roy- 21, Wesley Hunt-38, Jodey Arrington-19,
TX: Morgan Luttrell-08, Troy Nehles-22, Michale McCaul-10.
Contribute to: https://dccc.org
I believe Brad Finstad in MN01 was recently added to this list.
Fl = Donalds running for Gov; Buchanan retiring
I recommend John Oliver's new show this week. Instead of just focusing on ICE, he takes a look at the history of DHS and the mess that it is now. I was especially struck by the issue of money with them. Contrary to the original Trump campaign promise, they are literally directing money and resources away from investigating cartels and drug trafficking, and piling that money onto the already massive pile for ICE. And of course, FEMA is dramatically understaffed and underfunded. Last year they got lucky, as no hurricanes hit the US. It's a matter of time before they get another Katrina on top of everything else.
It looks like the USA is poised to reset (kind of) from structural ruptures associated with 9/11 and the election of a black president. Are we in an analog to 2004, then, and ready — again — for a BHO-like figure, i.e., one who doesn’t conform to established models of what’s acceptable/electable, to emerge as a vibrant counter to the current regime of authoritarian overreach? AOC?
John Oliver’s March 2025 segment on ICE detention, with its introduction to the prison industrial complex ghouls who will be running these gulags, is worth a re-watch as well.
Yes (thanks for the tip, Cynthia!), all of which will add to the deaths, already in the millions, he is directly responsible for. When the final tally of his contribution to (irreversible) climate change is included, that alone could exceed Hitler & Stalin combined, maybe even toss in Mao to boot.
The answer to the question posed in the title to your Substack article is … Yes.
The continuing resistance by millions of Americans and Trump’s unpopularity demonstrates a level of resistance to Trump’s policies perhaps unmatched in American history, even including the unpopular U.S. adventurism in SE Asia.
We shall see how that impacts the 2026 midterm elections and its threats to Republicans thin Congressional majorities. However, it is clear that Trump and his sycophants are worried.
Thank you for continuing to urge the pressure on them to continue.
For comparison purposes I wouldn't rule out the 1850s. For "level of resistance" we haven't seen anything yet that looks like "Bleeding Kansas," and I hope we never do.
Perhaps I should have more accurately conditioned my timeline as, "Since the Civil War?" Certainly, the Civil War was a strong example of mass resistance to federal government policies. Let us hope we do not find ourselves ever in that situation again.
Note that "mass resistance to federal government" during the Civil War meant the Confederacy. During the civil rights era it meant white Southerners opposed to school integration. A few years later, however, it meant resistance to a war being waged by the federal government. A few years after *that*, it included resistance to Roe v. Wade. These days it means resistance to a federal government that could be a direct descendant of the Old Confederacy. I tend to think of "resistance" as a good thing, but much depends on what's being resisted!
I believe in recognizing the difference between civil disagreement on policies and uncivil, unlawful violent resistance. One is characteristic of democracy and the other is political violence. I am a lifelong conscientious objector and even volunteered for and served two tours in Vietnam as a Conscientious Objector Combat Medic. I feel very strongly about my objections to violence as a solution to any conflict.
We should resist the descent into violence as a solution to conflict. However, I strongly support non-violent, non-compliance direct action as an effective form of resistance to unjust governance.
I call my senators (Kelly, Gallego) offices at least 4 times a week. I request the reining in of ICE, ending mass deportations, ending expansion of detention centers and also added vote "no" on the SAVE act. Indivisible is starting to send out notices of where No Kings protests will be held. I would like to see an article about who are the consultants that keep leading dems down less successful paths to winning. It seems the consultants should be listening to the base voters more acutely.
They simply refuse to read the room on Epstein, mass deportation, and the economy. Blinded by their hubris and evil "secrets."
Thanks Simon. See y'all tonite.
I agree, but as I just noted elsewhere, I suspect that many diehard Trump supporters *thought* this was what they wanted -- until they saw it happening in real life. Seriously -- how often do politicians do exactly what they say they're going to do?
he said he was going after the violent criminals. He said he was going to bring down prices. He said he would end the Ukraine war on day 1... etc., etc. etc...
Why people ever believed this lying criminal is beyond me.
I agree with Michael about this. This is a case where he broke his promise, grotesquely, and didn't keep it at all. He would have lost the election, badly, if he'd promised to do this, and plenty of pre-election polls (dating back decades, as Simon has shown) prove it, as does the Trump-Harris poll he shared today.
In fact, his breach of trust in this case meets all the conditions of what I'd call the Yanukovich test, after the Ukrainian would-be dictator whose broken promise was considered by the people to have delegitimized his election as completely fraudulent, so they drove him out of office and out of the country.
In Yanukovich's case, he was elected on a promise to get Ukraine into the EU. Instead he tried to put them into Putin's ersatz version. More broadly, a Yanukovich promise is one that was (a) key to the candidate's election (check) (b) not just unfulfilled, but reneged on in the opposite direction (check) (c) broken by choice, not circumstance (check). And (d) has done irreparable harm (check) that (e) will continue to increase unless he's stopped (check), so (f) just waiting for the next election is not an option (check).
The biggest threat to democracy, imnsho (and, by extension, the world) is lying politicians. They pave the way for authoritarians by undermining democracy's credibility, and, in fact, unlimited lies with impunity are authoritarians' weapon of choice. They're also highly corrosive to the most important quality of our people, both for ourselves and the world: our optimism.
We may not be able to stop all political lying right away (though there's literally no good reason not to--all the arguments as to why we have to grin and bear them are incredibly weak, imnsho), but *Yanukovich* lies like *this* one *have* to be red lines that we *never* accept and fight with *everything* we've got until they become politicians' new third rail *everywhere* democracy is treasured, just like they were (and are) in Ukraine (an outcome that every democracy in the world accepted as legitimate, btw, and every dictator did not)
I'd like to shout out for Stephen Colbert's courage in giving his corporate bosses the finger on the James Talerico interview. FCC threatened CBS, they caved and told Colbert that he couldn't air the segment, and further that he couldn't mention that this was being muzzled.
Which is when Colbert posted it on YouTube after mentioning it on his show. The result of course is that far more people watched it on Youtube than if it had just aired without comment.
Take the wins, baby.
And a shout out to Talerico. I was very moved when he discusses the separation of church and state, and how both church and state are injured when the one meddles in the other. To have a Christian seminarian calling out Christian Nationalism as completely unchristian... more of that please. "Love God and Love Neighbor" I'm not a Christian, but I can get 100% behind those values.
He is in a tough primary race against Jasmine Crocket for the TX Senate seat. I leave it to TX to pick their champion, but I am contributing again to the Audacious Fund in honor of Colbert and Talerico. Early voting has begun. Election day is March 3.
Here is the YouTube segment if you haven't watched it yet.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oiTJ7Pz_59A
For those inspired by Talarico’s message, you may also feel uplifted by this wonderful essay by Reverend Cremer. Those of us who’ve been waiting and waiting to see a pushback against trump’s faux Christianity are starting to see it.
https://benjaminrcremer.substack.com/p/the-epstein-files-and-the-theology?r=8vyqy&utm_medium=ios&triedRedirect=true
Thanks for this, Marcia. I'm seeing more and more people who love and believe in Jesus stop calling themselves Christians. Personally, as I understand it, Jesus and his followers called their faith "the Way," so when asked, I either say I'm a "follower of the Way of Jesus" or emulate someone I saw on TV and call myself "a Jesus guy." I love how Rev Cremer so gently and methodically cleans the stain of the "flawed man" off the true faith. It kills me every time I hear a MAGA say "he's our King Cyrus," when Trump is almost as far away from Cyrus (who basically invented DEI, right?) as he is from Barack or Jimmy Carter. :D
I stopped calling myself Christian in 2015, and now simply say I am an admirer of the teachings of Jesus.
That’s a great write-up of the details around this interview, its contents, and the Texas race itself. Very nicely done!
i think its well within our reach to have a dem senate majority. we have great candidates. they can win. getting them elected should be a big push for us. this victory will end trumpism. we are pretty much ensured to win the house back, so let's really support our dem nominees for the senate!!! i will contribute today to all hopium sen candidates, earlier is better!
Also, the word is that Alito plans to retire this Spring or Summer, so we're going to need the Senate or as much of it as we can get.
Eek! I hadn't heard that.
Simon, thank you for the good news about the polls!
I called my congressman and senators about ICE, tariffs, and the need to regularly discuss Trump's dementia.
Fighting mass deportations and the detention centers ( i.e the concentration camps), should remain our biggest fight. The conditions in these warehouses are sub-human and are being maintained and built in our name. We do not want to suffer the shame of the German population in the 1930’s who looked away ( with many even encouraging) the taking of their Jewish neighbors. Residents in Blue cities, with Minneapolis/St.Paul providing the clearest example, have shown us the way.
It is also a perfect time to put forward our own immigration policy as an alternative. Talk about our plan to for a bill that would lay the path to residency and citizenship for those who are already here, while overhauling the administration of our border policy, pushing back and emphasizing that Democrats have NEVER pushed for open borders. Press a new immigration plan now so people know there is a sane alternative and Democratic candidates can run with it as part of their own campaigns.
Imagine the huge funding boost not going to ICE/CBP, but to fund enough additional staffing and judges to swiftly process asylum claims. Dems need to step up and propose ways to fix the entire broken immigration system.
Agreed. This is a (rare?) case where we have a straightforward, easy-to-explain, even sound-bite solution-- comprehensive reform with a path to citizenship--that yuge majorities of Americans support (thanks, Stephen!) that they can't put forward *at all,* only offer up more horror show.
I imagine some Dems are skittish about going out on that limb, figuring some new Laken Riley tragedy will cause it to blow up in their faces, but I feel (a) they need to understand that sadly we have our own "Laken Rileys" now: Renee, Alex, and *a whole lot of others too* (b) if anything like that happens, they can and should--after expressing genuine sorrow for the family (families), of course--either take a page out of the GOP playbook and cry "false flag" (thanks to Epstein and ICE, the Repos would get zero benefit of the doubt, ZERO), or make the case (in the many cases where it might be plausible) that with immigration reform, the incident wouldn't have happened to begin with at all (for starters, reform would allow ICE and CPB to focus on stopping the actual criminals who come over the border, instead of spending time chasing down and locking up children!). Or advance both narratives, via different messengers.
Trump II has been a shock and a revelation and it's not over yet -- commentators and historians will be trying to figure it out for years. At the moment the old Stones song "You Can't Always Get What You Want" is running through my head, only the catch is "And when you do, you may find that you didn't want it after all." All those millions upon millions of USians thought (or thought they thought, or wanted to think) that "illegals" -- and/or immigrants in general, and/or Black and brown people in general -- were the cause of everything wrong with their lives. Trump told them over and over and over what they wanted to hear (or thought they wanted to hear). But now that Trump II is delivering it and they're seeing what it looks like in real life, some of them are realizing that no, this isn't what they had in mind.
And the Trump voters who were never hardcore MAGA, the ones who believed his lies about "the economy," they seem to be turning against him even faster.
I'd like to see "USian" to become common use informally, and "US American" more formally. The other American countries are clearly telling us we don't deserve to call our country "America". (Might even make Gulf of America a bit less offensive... nah, Mexico will be forever miffed about that lol.)
Well said, Simon - domestic Vietnam. I think there are enough of us still around to know what that means, and for the youngsters, they can look it up! I just called Gov. Sherrill and thanked her for her exec. orders re ICE/immigration. I also asked her to please sign the related legislation that former Gov. Murphy did not sign due to issues w the language. It's back in the state assembly and currently under consideration.
Going to make my calls to Booker & Kim, both of whom have done well w staying on message. Looking forward to this evening! Keep going!
I keep remembering the Viet Nam era song, "Knee Deep in the Big Muddy (and the Damn Fool Said to Push On)".
Only it was "WAIST deep in the Big Muddy." Which is where Trump is now--waist deep in his own sh--.