The way I live: get up at 4 AM, work (write or make art), clean the house, begin to check email for Hopium around 10, exhale when it arrives, pump my fist when it contains the sort of news today's contains. The radical ugliness being MET by our radical good.
Well, often involving ear plugs and one of my favorite yoga nidras from the insight timer app, followed by oatmeal, coffee and Hopium. I do pick up steam as the day goes on
That sounds like steam aplenty. But if you need a few book recommendations so as to fill in any gaps you know who to call. I have a house full of those things.
Thanked Senator Merkley on behalf of my son and his spouse who live in Portland. Canvassed for Prop 50, mostly preaching to the choir in my neighborhood. May have convinced one fellow who had a strong sense of fair play, that the way to deal with a bully is to bully back.
Simon I laud and support all you are doing. Question: are you concerned with the state judges race in Pennsylvania and if so how can we donate and otherwise support the three good judges?
Hooray for the West Coast! I made my electeds aware of the four important items. I got one response from a US Senator. "We have to have a trade balance". Bet you can't guess which party he belongs to.
So proud of my AZ AG Kris Mayes for initiating a lawsuit on behalf of Adelita Grijalva. I sent her office an email thanking her for serving Mike Johnson with the lawsuit even though I don't live in CD7. But our senator Mark Kelly does and he's being denied representation in Congress.
The constant comments of, āhe paid for it with his own moneyā encapsulates the totalitarian mindset of MAGA, that the person with the most wealth and access to power gets to do whatever the fuck he wants. They hate democracy because it puts limits on that power. The ballroom is symbolic of that.
Simon, thanks for the great interview with Adelita S. Grijalva!
I called Congressman Raskin and Senators Alsobrooks and Van Hollen to express my outrage at Trump's destruction of The People's House and to ask them to start making criminal referrals. I'm writing postcards to Virginia voters today.
I wonder what a poll asking, "Do you support Trump's remodel of the White House that destroyed the majority of the East Wing" would reveal? Reviewing the polls listed here today, it won't be long before low 40s for job approval disappear and its all in the 30s. Necessary but not sufficient.
It's fine that 13 Republicans want to continue "tax credits" for the ACA, but I don't think that is the same thing as extending subsidies for premiums. Also, the idea is that Little Mikey Maga Johnson (LMMJ) and Co, have to agree to put that into the continuing resolution for the short term funding before the government opens. Otherwise, Dems lose leverage and guarantee that it will happen. They also need to agree to a "no recission guardrail" that will protect it from being undone. It's a little crack in the GOP, but unlikely to pressure LMMJ enough unless that crack grows.
Calling my peeps: 1) Do NOT CAPITULATE ON BUDGET DEMANDS! 2) Get LOUDER on seating Adelita Grijalva (great interview SImon) 3) Speak out against ICE gestapo tactics highlighting 4th and 5th amendment protections against no illegal search and seizure and providing due process for all residents. 4) Start talking up the 25th Amendment, the guy just destroyed the White House because he didn't like 7-8 million Americans protesting and mocking him! He's nuts!!!
Yo Simon - you brought me to Substack. I read other posts and I gotta say THANK YOU for bringing FACTS, analysis and STRATEGY and not just doomerist opinions. YOU ROCK, bud
PRRI is holding an event today at 2pm at Brookings discussing the release of the survey cited in Simon's article. (Trump is a dangerous dictator) You can watch the event for free online by registering here
So proud of Oregon Senator Jeff Merkley and the rest of our Oregon delegation-except Cliff Bentz, a Republican complicit in his silence while his dear leader decimates healthcare for his constituents. Simon we need a strong candidate to run against him and support that candidate to trim Oregon 100% blue.
While I donāt condone flipping off law enforcement that pic is hilarious! How sheās dressedā¦ that is NOT a ālooney leftistā, itās a regular person fed up with this shitā¦ love it
I'm a looney leftist and I dress like a farmer. You really can't tell us by how we dress. But I find it instructive that even on a site like this, one can learn how much people's ideas are presumed by their appearance. I too have discovered how much I judge by appearance. Back in the day I could find my people by the long hair and tie dye. I can't get over seeing MAGAs nowadays appear like that. In the old days you could spot them by the skin head. I always find it funny to hear older women (like me) described as "grannies" - grannies can be looney leftists too -- at the protest. I guess we shouldn't tell them...
I've been reminded to check my assumptions at roadside protests. Sometimes it's the guy in the huge pickup truck -- who I've already tagged in my mind as MAGA -- giving us the supportive honk or the thumbs up.
Made my calls to TX senators saying I blame them and their party for the shitdown, sorry, shutdown. Also called my Rep Doggett to exhort him to continue the fight. LFG
You're lucky to have Rep. Lloyd Doggett. For a time, he was my representative (because of gerrymandering) and I actually got to meet him when I was volunteering for the Kerry-Edwards race in 2004. I asked him how tax cuts contribute to the deficit--because I didn't understand at the time--and he explained it to me. It was great that he took the time to explain to a constituent how things work, and that's what makes him or any other elected official a good one.
The destruction of the American people's White House is not getting the media attention it deserves. The current tenant's desecration of America's No. 1 National Historic Site is grounds for immediate removal from office. As a political issue, it has the same basic characteristic as the Jimmy Kimmel incident: Even people who don't follow national politics closely understand blatant censorship, and they will understand why tearing down the White House is dead wrong. Dem politicians and the media cannot afford to miss the symbolic and real importance of Trump's latest destructive and anti-American act.
I agree. Seeing the White House literally demolished hit me so hard. It's the physical manifestation of what is happening to our country. I can hardly describe my outrage but it seems peak dictator. The White House is not his personal property and the fact that he's treating it like it is drives the point home so hard. It brings up the question that I think anyone understands: how he just do this without the permission of anyone? And then trying to make sure no one sees the photos.
He understands that even people who don't follow the ins and outs of a budget discussion will sit up and listen to this: Trump is bulldozing the White House!
Oddly enough, I think it will upset Republicans/conservatives the most because they are the symbol venerators, the tradition lovers. If it hits me like this, and I have little respect for either symbols or traditions, I can only imagine.
The way I live: get up at 4 AM, work (write or make art), clean the house, begin to check email for Hopium around 10, exhale when it arrives, pump my fist when it contains the sort of news today's contains. The radical ugliness being MET by our radical good.
Iām pretty much the same except for the first 6 hours š
Love you guys!
Ha. And your first six hours?
Well, often involving ear plugs and one of my favorite yoga nidras from the insight timer app, followed by oatmeal, coffee and Hopium. I do pick up steam as the day goes on
That sounds like steam aplenty. But if you need a few book recommendations so as to fill in any gaps you know who to call. I have a house full of those things.
Proud of our Senator Merkley!
Another way to help get out the vote for Proposition 50 is to right letters to voters through Vote Forward. https://votefwd.org/
Thanked Senator Merkley on behalf of my son and his spouse who live in Portland. Canvassed for Prop 50, mostly preaching to the choir in my neighborhood. May have convinced one fellow who had a strong sense of fair play, that the way to deal with a bully is to bully back.
Love our Oregon Senators Merkley and Wyden.
Simon I laud and support all you are doing. Question: are you concerned with the state judges race in Pennsylvania and if so how can we donate and otherwise support the three good judges?
Starting at about 14:10 is a good discussion of the PA race, why it matters for 2028, and how to get involved. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eHvHvurJl5k&list=PLDExWrUC_MXW51Nmybfp9gzszMsxtMVCN&index=1
Hooray for the West Coast! I made my electeds aware of the four important items. I got one response from a US Senator. "We have to have a trade balance". Bet you can't guess which party he belongs to.
So proud of my AZ AG Kris Mayes for initiating a lawsuit on behalf of Adelita Grijalva. I sent her office an email thanking her for serving Mike Johnson with the lawsuit even though I don't live in CD7. But our senator Mark Kelly does and he's being denied representation in Congress.
The constant comments of, āhe paid for it with his own moneyā encapsulates the totalitarian mindset of MAGA, that the person with the most wealth and access to power gets to do whatever the fuck he wants. They hate democracy because it puts limits on that power. The ballroom is symbolic of that.
presumably, then, he can also take a wrecking ball to their houses, as long as he pays for it himself
You know, considering how prone they are to self-immolation, I wouldn't be surprised to see them support that too.
Simon, thanks for the great interview with Adelita S. Grijalva!
I called Congressman Raskin and Senators Alsobrooks and Van Hollen to express my outrage at Trump's destruction of The People's House and to ask them to start making criminal referrals. I'm writing postcards to Virginia voters today.
I wonder what a poll asking, "Do you support Trump's remodel of the White House that destroyed the majority of the East Wing" would reveal? Reviewing the polls listed here today, it won't be long before low 40s for job approval disappear and its all in the 30s. Necessary but not sufficient.
It's fine that 13 Republicans want to continue "tax credits" for the ACA, but I don't think that is the same thing as extending subsidies for premiums. Also, the idea is that Little Mikey Maga Johnson (LMMJ) and Co, have to agree to put that into the continuing resolution for the short term funding before the government opens. Otherwise, Dems lose leverage and guarantee that it will happen. They also need to agree to a "no recission guardrail" that will protect it from being undone. It's a little crack in the GOP, but unlikely to pressure LMMJ enough unless that crack grows.
Calling my peeps: 1) Do NOT CAPITULATE ON BUDGET DEMANDS! 2) Get LOUDER on seating Adelita Grijalva (great interview SImon) 3) Speak out against ICE gestapo tactics highlighting 4th and 5th amendment protections against no illegal search and seizure and providing due process for all residents. 4) Start talking up the 25th Amendment, the guy just destroyed the White House because he didn't like 7-8 million Americans protesting and mocking him! He's nuts!!!
Yo Simon - you brought me to Substack. I read other posts and I gotta say THANK YOU for bringing FACTS, analysis and STRATEGY and not just doomerist opinions. YOU ROCK, bud
PRRI is holding an event today at 2pm at Brookings discussing the release of the survey cited in Simon's article. (Trump is a dangerous dictator) You can watch the event for free online by registering here
https://www.brookings.edu/events/taking-the-pulse-of-the-nation-americans-views-in-trumps-second-term/?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email
I'm sure it will be fascinating. I just signed up.
So proud of Oregon Senator Jeff Merkley and the rest of our Oregon delegation-except Cliff Bentz, a Republican complicit in his silence while his dear leader decimates healthcare for his constituents. Simon we need a strong candidate to run against him and support that candidate to trim Oregon 100% blue.
OR2 Dems are working hard to accomplish this and Indivisible groups are growing larger.
While I donāt condone flipping off law enforcement that pic is hilarious! How sheās dressedā¦ that is NOT a ālooney leftistā, itās a regular person fed up with this shitā¦ love it
I'm a looney leftist and I dress like a farmer. You really can't tell us by how we dress. But I find it instructive that even on a site like this, one can learn how much people's ideas are presumed by their appearance. I too have discovered how much I judge by appearance. Back in the day I could find my people by the long hair and tie dye. I can't get over seeing MAGAs nowadays appear like that. In the old days you could spot them by the skin head. I always find it funny to hear older women (like me) described as "grannies" - grannies can be looney leftists too -- at the protest. I guess we shouldn't tell them...
I've been reminded to check my assumptions at roadside protests. Sometimes it's the guy in the huge pickup truck -- who I've already tagged in my mind as MAGA -- giving us the supportive honk or the thumbs up.
Made my calls to TX senators saying I blame them and their party for the shitdown, sorry, shutdown. Also called my Rep Doggett to exhort him to continue the fight. LFG
You're lucky to have Rep. Lloyd Doggett. For a time, he was my representative (because of gerrymandering) and I actually got to meet him when I was volunteering for the Kerry-Edwards race in 2004. I asked him how tax cuts contribute to the deficit--because I didn't understand at the time--and he explained it to me. It was great that he took the time to explain to a constituent how things work, and that's what makes him or any other elected official a good one.
The destruction of the American people's White House is not getting the media attention it deserves. The current tenant's desecration of America's No. 1 National Historic Site is grounds for immediate removal from office. As a political issue, it has the same basic characteristic as the Jimmy Kimmel incident: Even people who don't follow national politics closely understand blatant censorship, and they will understand why tearing down the White House is dead wrong. Dem politicians and the media cannot afford to miss the symbolic and real importance of Trump's latest destructive and anti-American act.
I agree. Seeing the White House literally demolished hit me so hard. It's the physical manifestation of what is happening to our country. I can hardly describe my outrage but it seems peak dictator. The White House is not his personal property and the fact that he's treating it like it is drives the point home so hard. It brings up the question that I think anyone understands: how he just do this without the permission of anyone? And then trying to make sure no one sees the photos.
He understands that even people who don't follow the ins and outs of a budget discussion will sit up and listen to this: Trump is bulldozing the White House!
Oddly enough, I think it will upset Republicans/conservatives the most because they are the symbol venerators, the tradition lovers. If it hits me like this, and I have little respect for either symbols or traditions, I can only imagine.