May I suggest that we henceforth refer only to "The Trump–Epstein Files"?
This gives an appropriate focus on whose posterior is parked on the files preventing their unedited release, it acknowledges Trump’s desire to make it all about himself, and it echoes Trump’s recent narcissistic renaming of the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.
In fact, I recommend that cities, counties and states throughout America follow up by renaming sewage treatment plants, landfills, recycling centers, parking lots, psychiatric hospitals and more after Donald J. Trump!
CBS correspondent Sharyn Alfonsi is a very brave soul, indeed! I would love to see a person with such deep integrity and courage replace Bari Weiss. Weiss is unqualified and continues to be a highly destructive force against quality journalism.
Alfonsi is white and was born in Virginia. She should be ok for now re: forced disappearances.
So far, the public figures that team Trump has gone after, it has been via sham or trumped-up criminal charges and the like. Ex/ Judge Hannah Dugan, James Comey, Letitia James. Even with immigrant public figures like Ilhan Omar or Zohran Mamdani, the threat being bandied about is attempted denaturalization and deportation.
The closest thing to forced disappearances that we’ve started seeing in the US is via the targeting of undocumented immigrants or suspected or accused immigrants who have issues with their visa/status. The CECOT flights, renderings to African prisons, and Alligator Auschwitz are so far the most extreme examples.
Everyone who was sent to CECOT is now free except for some Salvadorans who were packed along and (I hope) had final orders of removal from an immigration judge. I’m not sure how many of those there are, but the last investigative journalist report I saw about them said they are now all scattered throughout Bukele’s prison system.
The number of people rendered to African prisons thus far is comparably small. Some were illegally rendered from there to their original home countries, and some have effectively disappeared (no access to counsel or communication with the outside world, exact whereabouts may be unknown).
As for Alligator Auschwitz, there was some indication that several hundred to around 1,200 detainees permanently disappeared from the ICE detention locator system and we don’t know where they are or if they are alive. I don’t know how current this information is; it seems to have got lost in the mix.
If you find yourself detained or incarcerated with no lawful basis, under the US constitution you have the right to petition the nearest federal judge for a writ of habeas corpus (“free the body”). I’m sure team Trump would like to start incarcerating dissidents and obstructing their ability to petition for habeas corpus, but to my knowledge thus far it is not happening. They are going after the immigrants first because the immigrants are disproportionately nonwhite and are easier prey.
Not disappeared, but reappeared on networks that will let her report the stories we need right now. CBS is losing market share by the millions. Bari Weiss is a suicide pill. Keep fighting.
Regarding your use of the term “Reich” for the current regime, please reconsider. As you know Professor Robert Reich is a well known and widely read Substack author. It makes me cringe to see his name used in this context.
At first I thought I had misspelled it. Which given my capacities is totally possible. But no, I spelled it correctly. Then I checked - I didn’t originate the phrase, I was using the same,phrasé Simon did. Then I thought about the person I’ve known Bob Reich for’roughly 50 years. I doubt that he is crying much about this. Then. I thought about my use of the word and concluded it was totally appropriate and I’d of course use it again.
Don, what does this mean? Seriously......my point is that in a democracy - we are not at war - you don't terrorize your citizens or allies during holiday periods for no good reason. It is part of being an able leader of a people. To let them rest. His manic, desperate, never ceasing lust for power is a manifestation of his illness, his disregard for democracy.....
Of all the things you can write about this site and this community is that we never ever let up. I have not taken a day off all year. This comment was off the mark, brother.
Simon, I totally agree with you. I'm seriously pissed. I was sharing with (more like ranting at!) a friend Saturday my intense disgust and fury over this lunatic injecting himself into every corner of our holidays. This is about the date every year when I step away from my computer and turn off the world for a few glorious days of peace and quiet. I understand that I'm responsible for my happiness, but the fact that he's making it so damn difficult to achieve at this time of year is unforgivable and makes me feel even more determined (which I didn't think was possible) to dedicate myself to making 2026 the last year when he isn't held politically accountable for this seemingly perpetual assault on both my mood and our democracy.
Like Art, I share your outrage, and am also furious over the Evil One's craven and selfish invasion of our holidays. However, I was fortunate in that before reading, I opened a letter I just received from RAZOM for Ukraine, in response to a donation I made [in furtherance of Hopium's suggestion to work for Ukraine]. It contained a booklist "curated by Razom for Ukraine," with a list of books related to "post-Soviet Ukraine," ""occupation of Crimea," "the best non-fiction books about the Full Scale Invasion" and a host of other topics and recommended reading. Like so much we do at Hopium, this putting of something in my hands pulled my attention away from the anger and the horror -- not for too long a time, but enough for me to catch my breath. I look forward to hitting the library on Tuesday or Wednesday,
It's hard to follow "hope with a plan" and stifle all the anger and distraction. But I try to think of Tim Snyder and all those in Ukraine we're trying to support, and that helps a bit.
Simon, you do so much for all of us. We are grateful.
Simon. Your thoughtful and impassioned response I appreciated deeply. I - like you I expect - am frequently vexed by a general lack of party politics understanding and support among Dems. Poling objectively proves this. This is THE problem to be solved if we are to move forward, away from authoritarianism and back toward liberal democracy. Your work, which I support, is boots on the ground “RESISTANCE”. …. The purpose of my comment was to buck up moral by asking readers to realize how much was sacrificed so that we can sacrifice today a little more than we may think ourselves capable of. We are in this together. All best. Don
Hillary Clinton won the popular vote, though. And for Harris, it was 48% to his 49% (rounded numbers). So it just isn’t true that the main problem is people won’t vote for a woman POTUS.
I've read that the Catalist data showed that not enough men would vote for a woman, and that was recent. so it really is a thing. as had been noted incessantly, much of hillary's pv margin was because of huge numbers in california. people saw the debate; harris tore trump a new asshole, so much so he was afraid to debate her again. moreover, people who watched it felt the same way; finally, exit polls showed people liked harris more and thought she had more integrity and cared more for people like them; however, they saw her as weak and voted for trump. make of that what you will.
Bari Weiss is a cuckqueen (look it up) to the Ellisons. Long after Trump is gone, and the sooner the better, she will be thrown aside just like the trash she is protecting. She’s not a journalist, she’s a propagandist.
Simon -- your quote, verbatim = "OK, I may be a little grumpy today. I will admit it. For today, for whatever reason, the insanity of all this, the “sabotage, plunder, betrayal” just got to me."
Yes, yes, and yes. I join you in your mood and I thank you for showing it to us. So much more to say...we're watching our favorite Christmas films now. Last night, we watched the GOAT Scrooge performances by Alistair Sim in the 1951 British film, which premiered at Radio City Music Hall in NYC, attended by my late father and uncle.
There are many analogies one can make between that story and the current regime. The one that stuck with me last night was spoken by Jacob Marley, Scrooge's business partner who died and visits Scrooge as a ghost, warning him to change his selfish, miserly ways. Scrooge tells Marley that he was always a good man of business, to which Marley replies.... "Mankind was my business. The common welfare was my business."
tRump and his ilk all need to crawl back under the rock from which they came....and that can't happen too soon. I sent more postcards end of last week to my Dem Senators and Congressman here in VA.
After my usual reading of the news on various outlets and substacks, I felt very similar to you, very grumpy and wondering if all of this has breached a personal tipping point where I have to make a choice to stay in this Reich or find another country. I suppose at some point I could not live with myself to stay and continue to pay taxes and nominally support the Reich, but I think I will always choose to stay and fight. I hope you continue to motivate us to stand up and give us reasons to eliminate this disease and return our country to the values and principles we all love.
Simon continues to be one of the very few who describe this criminal regime exactly how it is. There are times I think he is a tad,too optimistic but I can make my own mental adjustments. But I want to comment on how we campaign. I do not think issues will matter much in 2026. We have to campaign on what this administration really is and tell voters the truth - this is not just about some abstract multi syllable quality called democracy (it is of course exactly about that) Rather everything the voters care about is being trashed by this government. At the same time we have to be relentless and implacable about the people in this government. Everyone of the senior’members and most of the sub cabinet are quilty of criminal acts. We cannot let them get away with being described as though they were normal public servants. For example, Rubio has’directly caused thousands of deaths - he cannot just be described as’the best behaved member of the cabinet. Something similar goes for all of them. And we have to create a broad front that welcomes the Rs who are as opposed to this mafia gang as anyone else. We can’t be requiring they agree with Democrats on policy.
I concur. I believe this gets to a fundamental failure of the media and the Democrats, from 2015 on. People can see what's happening, and yet people are not naming it. And the ones who are sidelined and portrayed as ridiculous. It has the same effect as gaslighting; it disempowers. I want Dems who are unafraid to tell the truth.
I completely agree. There cannot be the sort of impunity we typically fall into. Every member of this criminal organization has to begin to think that the milks of the gods grind slowly but they grind exceedingly fine. I want the DOGe thugs who pushed around (physical) normal competent decent federal workers to know they are not safe.
Trump continues to be allowed to single handedly make decisions and take action on “big things” … R reps can rise up collectively to halt him, right ? When will they finally decide : Enough!!
Later today, I'll be attending, via Zoom, a meeting of the Anchorage Democrats. As I said recently, I have a lot of irons in the fire. I will gravitate to whatever group actually wants to make use of my experience and skills.
I second BeeBee’s request! I am keenly interested in Democrats’ effort in Alaska. Big questions to be decided: who will be our senate and gubernatorial candidates? Which office will Peltola choose to run for? David, do you have any thoughts or preferences?
It won't last 1,000 years. I'll be surprised if it lasts another year.
I called my Congressman and Senators to ask them to stop war in Venezuela and to make them stop fucking up DC. I don't want arches; I don't want him to take over the golf courses in DC; I don't want him stealing honor and slapping his name on stuff, and I want the East Wing rebuilt, at his expense.
I join you in a mood of extreme pissed-off-edness. EXTREME.
The pedophile reich…
The Sound of Music was on last night. Need I say more.
May I suggest that we henceforth refer only to "The Trump–Epstein Files"?
This gives an appropriate focus on whose posterior is parked on the files preventing their unedited release, it acknowledges Trump’s desire to make it all about himself, and it echoes Trump’s recent narcissistic renaming of the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.
In fact, I recommend that cities, counties and states throughout America follow up by renaming sewage treatment plants, landfills, recycling centers, parking lots, psychiatric hospitals and more after Donald J. Trump!
CBS correspondent Sharyn Alfonsi is a very brave soul, indeed! I would love to see a person with such deep integrity and courage replace Bari Weiss. Weiss is unqualified and continues to be a highly destructive force against quality journalism.
What is the over/under on how soon she is disappeared.
Right now I just applaud and keenly appreciate her fight. I don’t even want to think about her being disappeared.
Alfonsi is white and was born in Virginia. She should be ok for now re: forced disappearances.
So far, the public figures that team Trump has gone after, it has been via sham or trumped-up criminal charges and the like. Ex/ Judge Hannah Dugan, James Comey, Letitia James. Even with immigrant public figures like Ilhan Omar or Zohran Mamdani, the threat being bandied about is attempted denaturalization and deportation.
The closest thing to forced disappearances that we’ve started seeing in the US is via the targeting of undocumented immigrants or suspected or accused immigrants who have issues with their visa/status. The CECOT flights, renderings to African prisons, and Alligator Auschwitz are so far the most extreme examples.
Everyone who was sent to CECOT is now free except for some Salvadorans who were packed along and (I hope) had final orders of removal from an immigration judge. I’m not sure how many of those there are, but the last investigative journalist report I saw about them said they are now all scattered throughout Bukele’s prison system.
The number of people rendered to African prisons thus far is comparably small. Some were illegally rendered from there to their original home countries, and some have effectively disappeared (no access to counsel or communication with the outside world, exact whereabouts may be unknown).
As for Alligator Auschwitz, there was some indication that several hundred to around 1,200 detainees permanently disappeared from the ICE detention locator system and we don’t know where they are or if they are alive. I don’t know how current this information is; it seems to have got lost in the mix.
If you find yourself detained or incarcerated with no lawful basis, under the US constitution you have the right to petition the nearest federal judge for a writ of habeas corpus (“free the body”). I’m sure team Trump would like to start incarcerating dissidents and obstructing their ability to petition for habeas corpus, but to my knowledge thus far it is not happening. They are going after the immigrants first because the immigrants are disproportionately nonwhite and are easier prey.
First they came for…
Not disappeared, but reappeared on networks that will let her report the stories we need right now. CBS is losing market share by the millions. Bari Weiss is a suicide pill. Keep fighting.
Nope you are right
are they? I hadn't heard this
Regarding your use of the term “Reich” for the current regime, please reconsider. As you know Professor Robert Reich is a well known and widely read Substack author. It makes me cringe to see his name used in this context.
At first I thought I had misspelled it. Which given my capacities is totally possible. But no, I spelled it correctly. Then I checked - I didn’t originate the phrase, I was using the same,phrasé Simon did. Then I thought about the person I’ve known Bob Reich for’roughly 50 years. I doubt that he is crying much about this. Then. I thought about my use of the word and concluded it was totally appropriate and I’d of course use it again.
A very good response which does,not make me,feel at all compelled with this regime.
She (Weiss) is a threat to democracy, never mind a threat to quality journalism.
She’s also incompetent for this job. Another clown in this circus.
As for lamenting having no “respite” … “The Battle of the Bulge was fought from
16 December 1944 to 25 January 1945.” … I think we can dig in a little longer don’t you?
Don, what does this mean? Seriously......my point is that in a democracy - we are not at war - you don't terrorize your citizens or allies during holiday periods for no good reason. It is part of being an able leader of a people. To let them rest. His manic, desperate, never ceasing lust for power is a manifestation of his illness, his disregard for democracy.....
Of all the things you can write about this site and this community is that we never ever let up. I have not taken a day off all year. This comment was off the mark, brother.
Simon, I totally agree with you. I'm seriously pissed. I was sharing with (more like ranting at!) a friend Saturday my intense disgust and fury over this lunatic injecting himself into every corner of our holidays. This is about the date every year when I step away from my computer and turn off the world for a few glorious days of peace and quiet. I understand that I'm responsible for my happiness, but the fact that he's making it so damn difficult to achieve at this time of year is unforgivable and makes me feel even more determined (which I didn't think was possible) to dedicate myself to making 2026 the last year when he isn't held politically accountable for this seemingly perpetual assault on both my mood and our democracy.
Dear Simon,
Like Art, I share your outrage, and am also furious over the Evil One's craven and selfish invasion of our holidays. However, I was fortunate in that before reading, I opened a letter I just received from RAZOM for Ukraine, in response to a donation I made [in furtherance of Hopium's suggestion to work for Ukraine]. It contained a booklist "curated by Razom for Ukraine," with a list of books related to "post-Soviet Ukraine," ""occupation of Crimea," "the best non-fiction books about the Full Scale Invasion" and a host of other topics and recommended reading. Like so much we do at Hopium, this putting of something in my hands pulled my attention away from the anger and the horror -- not for too long a time, but enough for me to catch my breath. I look forward to hitting the library on Tuesday or Wednesday,
It's hard to follow "hope with a plan" and stifle all the anger and distraction. But I try to think of Tim Snyder and all those in Ukraine we're trying to support, and that helps a bit.
Simon, you do so much for all of us. We are grateful.
Simon. Your thoughtful and impassioned response I appreciated deeply. I - like you I expect - am frequently vexed by a general lack of party politics understanding and support among Dems. Poling objectively proves this. This is THE problem to be solved if we are to move forward, away from authoritarianism and back toward liberal democracy. Your work, which I support, is boots on the ground “RESISTANCE”. …. The purpose of my comment was to buck up moral by asking readers to realize how much was sacrificed so that we can sacrifice today a little more than we may think ourselves capable of. We are in this together. All best. Don
Why must we be saddled with these traitorous clowns? I’m with you in rage, Simon.
Because unconscious sexism has real-world results. Too many Americans just couldn't vote for a woman. Twice.
My sentiments exactly, Catherine.
not to mention shrugging off sex crimes (see: Kavanaugh, Thomas, Jim Jordan, RFK, etc etc etc etc etc etc etc etc etc )
Hillary Clinton won the popular vote, though. And for Harris, it was 48% to his 49% (rounded numbers). So it just isn’t true that the main problem is people won’t vote for a woman POTUS.
I've read that the Catalist data showed that not enough men would vote for a woman, and that was recent. so it really is a thing. as had been noted incessantly, much of hillary's pv margin was because of huge numbers in california. people saw the debate; harris tore trump a new asshole, so much so he was afraid to debate her again. moreover, people who watched it felt the same way; finally, exit polls showed people liked harris more and thought she had more integrity and cared more for people like them; however, they saw her as weak and voted for trump. make of that what you will.
To our great, great loss as a nation, Catherine.
Bari Weiss is a cuckqueen (look it up) to the Ellisons. Long after Trump is gone, and the sooner the better, she will be thrown aside just like the trash she is protecting. She’s not a journalist, she’s a propagandist.
Simon -- your quote, verbatim = "OK, I may be a little grumpy today. I will admit it. For today, for whatever reason, the insanity of all this, the “sabotage, plunder, betrayal” just got to me."
Yes, yes, and yes. I join you in your mood and I thank you for showing it to us. So much more to say...we're watching our favorite Christmas films now. Last night, we watched the GOAT Scrooge performances by Alistair Sim in the 1951 British film, which premiered at Radio City Music Hall in NYC, attended by my late father and uncle.
There are many analogies one can make between that story and the current regime. The one that stuck with me last night was spoken by Jacob Marley, Scrooge's business partner who died and visits Scrooge as a ghost, warning him to change his selfish, miserly ways. Scrooge tells Marley that he was always a good man of business, to which Marley replies.... "Mankind was my business. The common welfare was my business."
tRump and his ilk all need to crawl back under the rock from which they came....and that can't happen too soon. I sent more postcards end of last week to my Dem Senators and Congressman here in VA.
Here's a video of Jake Paul, pro-Trump YouTuber, exploring the world of professional boxing and facial reconstruction surgery:
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/do_IWqHa7xU
we deserve this
The Kennedy Performing Arts Center will always be The Kennedy Performing Arts Center and nothing else. Let the dung flinging felon in the
White Trump Out House play Pied Piper with his MAGA Mob in another country, Russia, maybe, which is more to their liking.
Just as the Sea of Galilee was renamed the Sea of Tiberius
The Jews still referred to it as the Sea of Galilee
Trump is Caligula or King Herod
People were warned in the Hebrew Bible not to insist upon a King
Things will not go well
But people want a Strongman
After my usual reading of the news on various outlets and substacks, I felt very similar to you, very grumpy and wondering if all of this has breached a personal tipping point where I have to make a choice to stay in this Reich or find another country. I suppose at some point I could not live with myself to stay and continue to pay taxes and nominally support the Reich, but I think I will always choose to stay and fight. I hope you continue to motivate us to stand up and give us reasons to eliminate this disease and return our country to the values and principles we all love.
Simon continues to be one of the very few who describe this criminal regime exactly how it is. There are times I think he is a tad,too optimistic but I can make my own mental adjustments. But I want to comment on how we campaign. I do not think issues will matter much in 2026. We have to campaign on what this administration really is and tell voters the truth - this is not just about some abstract multi syllable quality called democracy (it is of course exactly about that) Rather everything the voters care about is being trashed by this government. At the same time we have to be relentless and implacable about the people in this government. Everyone of the senior’members and most of the sub cabinet are quilty of criminal acts. We cannot let them get away with being described as though they were normal public servants. For example, Rubio has’directly caused thousands of deaths - he cannot just be described as’the best behaved member of the cabinet. Something similar goes for all of them. And we have to create a broad front that welcomes the Rs who are as opposed to this mafia gang as anyone else. We can’t be requiring they agree with Democrats on policy.
I concur. I believe this gets to a fundamental failure of the media and the Democrats, from 2015 on. People can see what's happening, and yet people are not naming it. And the ones who are sidelined and portrayed as ridiculous. It has the same effect as gaslighting; it disempowers. I want Dems who are unafraid to tell the truth.
I completely agree. There cannot be the sort of impunity we typically fall into. Every member of this criminal organization has to begin to think that the milks of the gods grind slowly but they grind exceedingly fine. I want the DOGe thugs who pushed around (physical) normal competent decent federal workers to know they are not safe.
Trump continues to be allowed to single handedly make decisions and take action on “big things” … R reps can rise up collectively to halt him, right ? When will they finally decide : Enough!!
I feel very determined this morning.
Later today, I'll be attending, via Zoom, a meeting of the Anchorage Democrats. As I said recently, I have a lot of irons in the fire. I will gravitate to whatever group actually wants to make use of my experience and skills.
Keep us apprised!
I second BeeBee’s request! I am keenly interested in Democrats’ effort in Alaska. Big questions to be decided: who will be our senate and gubernatorial candidates? Which office will Peltola choose to run for? David, do you have any thoughts or preferences?
It won't last 1,000 years. I'll be surprised if it lasts another year.
I called my Congressman and Senators to ask them to stop war in Venezuela and to make them stop fucking up DC. I don't want arches; I don't want him to take over the golf courses in DC; I don't want him stealing honor and slapping his name on stuff, and I want the East Wing rebuilt, at his expense.