Emails sent to Reps DelBene and Jeffries and Sens Murray, Cantwell and Schumer asking that they protect Home Rule for District of Columbiad:
Please reject the following efforts by DJT to usurp Home Rule for the District of Columbia:
H.R. 5125 would give President Trump — and all future presidents — direct control over nominations to DC’s courts
H.R. 5143 would allow DC police to engage in more car chases of suspects, endangering the lives and property of innocent bystanders
H.R. 5140 would allow 14- and 15-year olds to be tried as adults for certain crimes
H.R. 4922 would limit DC’s authority to make sentencing decisions for juvenile offenders
Trump and his allies are trying to force changes to how DC governs itself over the objections of DC’s elected leadership. Once again, they’re flexing power over a place they don’t like.
I was struck by Simon’s observation that Mills’ entry into the Senate race may force Collins to distance herself from the Trump agenda. I guess the oyster man doesn’t post the same threat.
TACO is also shredding the ENTIRE First Amendment, but continuing to claim in his total ignorance and lack of concern for anything/anyone but himself that "This is just policy," and therefore ok to send out in his laughable "executive dictates." NO, amending the constitution--taking free speech away from all of us or, in his pathetic weakness who just can't stand for anyone to say "boo" to him also claiming he can take away the free press guaranteed SPECIFICALLY to get ALL the news to ALL the people, NEVER just what someone in the White House can stand to hear. The responsibility of the press--now media--in return for getting FREE speech in all writing and talking and ... is to tell the truth, regardless of anyone's tantrums. This came from the constitution, i.e., the LEGISLATIVE branch and can be changed or amended through ONLY the legislative branch. The THREE branches are there for a reason: to keep any one branch from EVER thinking it can control all of the federal government, that ALL THREE are necessary for all to work for The People, and that none is more important than any other.
Yes, the resident of the White House has the authority to make policies for the executive branch, but amending the bloody constitution has NOTHING TO DO WITH THAT.
I'd love to see a comical portrayal of Pam Bondi as a 40s gun moll from the gangster movies. Maga Edward G. Robinson and Peter Lorre are Kash Patel and Steven Miller.
No to use of US military against US cities & citizens.
No to ICE terrorism.
No to immunity to criminals in the Trump regime.
No to tariffs -- we know it is the American people who pay & that Trump funnels the money into his destructive policies -- shoring up South American dictators while punishing American farmers.
Don't forget Epstein -- many daughters were assaulted by him over the years -- Trump cast a blind eye and supported Epstein by his silence...
Yes to jobs & trade unions.
Yes to health care for all Americans as a human right and our shared governmental responsibility
Oh yes & VOTE YES for the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act that would restore the Voting Rights Act to its full power and expand its protections, putting a check on diluting minority voting power and other forms of voting discrimination.
"A fellow fighter FOR Democracy asked me to send you her comment: “He [Rep Jeff Hurd, CO] needs to read the Gospels and ask himself who he resembles more: the early Jesus people or the chronically violent Romans? Let the scales fall from his eyes.”
Who are you Jeff?
I will see our fellow Democracy LOVERS on No Kings Rallies on Oct 18th. Hope to see you there.
Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. Matthew 7:12
THIS IS NOT THE TIME FOR STENOGRAPHERS IN PRESS ROOMS!!
Per Don Lemon, the former CNN Primetime host, many in the mainstream news media have been cowed by Dolos and now admit (privately) that they are no longer fit for purpose (timestamp - 41:01): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wRpQUWbbL3c . He is now a successful, INDEPENDENT journalist. Lemon seems to be freer in his approach.
The LA Times and Washington Post should RELEASE their original endorsements of VP Harris from 2024. Their previous observations might prove highly insightful for the present moment. Agreed?
To better understand Dolos, the malignant narcissist, please watch an old “Twilight Zone” episode, “It’s a Good Life” (featuring an all-powerful and malevolent 6-year-old): https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLDWeGYuzgn8ZaBMTPPuQUDYNI37uXR696 . Think about all authoritarians as incompletely formed children— let alone adults. I remembered this episode after a citation by Tom Nichols of The Atlantic. [edit - 9_8_25: missing paragraph]
Here are Professor Barbara Walter’s five suggestions for fighting authoritarianism:
As the amazing Extremism specialist, Dr. Julia Ebner, has shared, once people have any interest in anything about National Socialism (beyond the purely academic/historical research), bad things begin to happen: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gUmeyEh-WxY&list=TLPQMDQwNTIwMjXguGg818G1fg . Previously, I’ve shared that some power players in the Republican/MAGA party have had a deep interest in CARL SCHMITT, the legal philosopher of National Socialism, and now seen as the apologist for the “Night of Long Knives”. To better understand Schmitt’s intellectual role in the EXTRAJUDICIAL activities of the Third Reich in their rise to power, please take a look at this document on the “Night of Long Knives”: https://sci-hub.st/10.1080/00168890.2012.675795 .
In the early 30s, when A.H. was about to be embroiled in a sex/murder scandal relative to the “suicide” of his 23-year-old niece (OK, half-niece) with his own gun, an enterprising journalist was about to drop a “bombshell” tell-all when his organization was attacked by “Brown Shirts” and his information was destroyed. The journalist was subsequently arrested and, in a matter of months, was later killed during the “Night of Long Knives” in 1934. So, Vanity Fair did an extensive piece on this lesser-known history of A.H. (it is a good and long read): https://www.vanityfair.com/news/1992/04/hitlers-doomed-angel .
With the recent revelations around Dolos and Epstein, it seems that authoritarians have difficulty managing sexual scandals within societal norms. Although MAGA might have problems with history, even recent history (i.e. revisiting January 6, 2021)— it is important to remember the truth (or the best approximation). For more on Epstein and Dolos, the Daily Beast has an excellent new podcast: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jC6OvXtVYso&list=PLC3I8Rb5dhRAGpR3tKxCq5TMX2WInOksz .
CARTHAGO DELENDA EST (via nonviolence).
P.S.: Do the following now! FIRST, TEACH CIVICS. Second, register voters. THIRD, TEACH CIVICS. Rinse. Repeat.
Thank you Simon! These are the calls I've been waiting for
There is more than just one wannabe king - there is also King John and his Court. Enough. It is absurd that they go on a lawless rampage by licensing criminal conduct from a president but expect us to meekly obey their majesties' declarations. F that!
It is time for the Blue Federation - coordinated action by states in defiance of the tyranny being pressed on us.
I really don't think we need to be sending our money to Russ "Savonarola" Vought to literally fund our own oppression. We've got to find a way to do our own impoundment so we can provide the services the regime is stealing from us - for example, emergency response, healthcare, environmental protection, funding scientific research etc
And this message is for OUR military: the only way you are welcome in our cities is if you are coming to defend the people from ICE - whose mission isn't immigration. They are a gestapo for the regime. It is to deport, imprison or kill anyone who opposes the regime. Please take what I say here as literal.
As far as that ballroom and rose garden - we can do a huge fundraiser - 20 dollar ticket for an hour of demolition and you can keep whatever you smash in that time. Line will be miles long.
Love these two ideas..... so sad to see young, mostly men, encouraged & highly paid to beat & terrify their fellow citizens. And military -- that is NOT what they signed up for -- but would they (or generals?) be court martialed/executed by firing squad for disobeying Trump regime orders? (Take this also as literal...)
"And this message is for OUR military: the only way you are welcome in our cities is if you are coming to defend the people from ICE - whose mission isn't immigration. They are a gestapo for the regime. It is to deport, imprison or kill anyone who opposes the regime. Please take what I say here as literal.
As far as that ballroom and rose garden - we can do a huge fundraiser - 20 dollar ticket for an hour of demolition and you can keep whatever you smash in that time. Line will be miles long."
"We must all hang together, or assuredly we shall all hang separately" is often attributed to Benjamin Franklin during the signing of the Declaration of Independence.
The conversation made me recall Gene Sharp, who years ago, wrote about 198 ways to protest. In Yugoslavia some of his readers released live turkeys into a square to protest.
Millie Polli Haskell....Reporting-first, Simon, it was a great lively conversation that you had with Adam Klasfeld with " All Rise News" I definitely want to hear more from him. My head is spinning from All that is happening. Great things, Yea, and not so good, Fuck, Robert's with the Calais case in Louisiana. Keep after them Adam! I called my Two Magats, Sen. Scott and Rep. Luna. Nothing from Scott's ofc., but some one alive, in Rep. Luna's ofc. answered, not too nice but I told him We Demand, You Act upon Our "FOUR PART AGENDA" And I made sure he heard Me, when I said that the Tariffs are affecting more and more People in Our Country and the World, He grunted a couple of times? I was going to say you Heartless Fuck, but I didn't!
We are all getting riled up! The tone of your message made me laugh, but also gave me a rueful smile. I unloaded twice today on my GOP senators' answering machines. I told them they were going to have to explain to their grandchildren why they sided with the Nazis.
Sorry I missed the live version but hope to catch a copy. Have been dancing all day to the Ghostbusters Theme in honor of Oriana Korol, the clarinetist who was snatched and disappeared across state lines to Clark County jail... took a day to find her, and get her a pre trial release as of yesterday. She was legally playing music (the theme!) as part of the Unpresidented Brass Band, which is an advocacy marking band in Portland with some remarkable performers in the group. In addition, the drummer was injured in an attack just after the protest Naked Bike Ride went through. Oriana appears to be reunited with her partner and 3 year old for the time being. Be aware that ICE has a long standing arrangement with county jails, often with inferior conditions, for holding people for deportation. Take it seriously, and check your county's "ICE policy". Meanwhile, check your play lists for Saturday. (You can find out about Unpresidented on Bluesky, Facebook, and Patreon.)
I ain't afraid of no... sorry, gotta step dance some more.
Emails sent to Reps DelBene and Jeffries and Sens Murray, Cantwell and Schumer asking that they protect Home Rule for District of Columbiad:
Please reject the following efforts by DJT to usurp Home Rule for the District of Columbia:
H.R. 5125 would give President Trump — and all future presidents — direct control over nominations to DC’s courts
H.R. 5143 would allow DC police to engage in more car chases of suspects, endangering the lives and property of innocent bystanders
H.R. 5140 would allow 14- and 15-year olds to be tried as adults for certain crimes
H.R. 4922 would limit DC’s authority to make sentencing decisions for juvenile offenders
Trump and his allies are trying to force changes to how DC governs itself over the objections of DC’s elected leadership. Once again, they’re flexing power over a place they don’t like.
I was struck by Simon’s observation that Mills’ entry into the Senate race may force Collins to distance herself from the Trump agenda. I guess the oyster man doesn’t post the same threat.
Thank you Simon and Adam!
TACO is also shredding the ENTIRE First Amendment, but continuing to claim in his total ignorance and lack of concern for anything/anyone but himself that "This is just policy," and therefore ok to send out in his laughable "executive dictates." NO, amending the constitution--taking free speech away from all of us or, in his pathetic weakness who just can't stand for anyone to say "boo" to him also claiming he can take away the free press guaranteed SPECIFICALLY to get ALL the news to ALL the people, NEVER just what someone in the White House can stand to hear. The responsibility of the press--now media--in return for getting FREE speech in all writing and talking and ... is to tell the truth, regardless of anyone's tantrums. This came from the constitution, i.e., the LEGISLATIVE branch and can be changed or amended through ONLY the legislative branch. The THREE branches are there for a reason: to keep any one branch from EVER thinking it can control all of the federal government, that ALL THREE are necessary for all to work for The People, and that none is more important than any other.
Yes, the resident of the White House has the authority to make policies for the executive branch, but amending the bloody constitution has NOTHING TO DO WITH THAT.
I'd love to see a comical portrayal of Pam Bondi as a 40s gun moll from the gangster movies. Maga Edward G. Robinson and Peter Lorre are Kash Patel and Steven Miller.
Today's email to Colorado Republican House Rep Jeff Hurd (a Catholic who has introduced a Bill to give the Pope a tax break)
"Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. Matthew 7:12
https://biblerepository.com/bible-verses-about-golden-rule/
(Truly I guess you have sold your soul to the Devil -- as much as I hate to say it.)
I pray: "Dear God, heavenly Father, open Rep Jeff Hurd's eyes to the destruction and evil he is doing."
Here is what you, Jeff, with the Trump regime, are doing to others....
please re-read the first sentence.
Take away health insurance
Take away health care
Take away food
ICE hard tackles you to the ground without care for your injuries
ICE shelters you where your family can't find you
Sexual abusers are given free reign
Polio, small pox, tetanus abound
Take away free speech
Take away due process of law
Recommended reading: @heathercoxrichardson @meidastouch
https://substack.com/@heathercoxrichardson
https://youtu.be/K5aidU_Fr2c?si=O3lVkhN362gaktaF
Don't forget, I stand for below:
No the authoritarian ism.
No to destruction of Democracy.
Yes to the rule of law.
Yes to the balance of power.
No to use of US military against US cities & citizens.
No to ICE terrorism.
No to immunity to criminals in the Trump regime.
No to tariffs -- we know it is the American people who pay & that Trump funnels the money into his destructive policies -- shoring up South American dictators while punishing American farmers.
Don't forget Epstein -- many daughters were assaulted by him over the years -- Trump cast a blind eye and supported Epstein by his silence...
Yes to jobs & trade unions.
Yes to health care for all Americans as a human right and our shared governmental responsibility
Oh yes & VOTE YES for the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act that would restore the Voting Rights Act to its full power and expand its protections, putting a check on diluting minority voting power and other forms of voting discrimination.
He needs to read the Gospels and ask himself who he resembles more: the early Jesus people or the chronically violent Romans?
Let the scales fall from his eyes
Today's opening paragraph on my daily email...
"A fellow fighter FOR Democracy asked me to send you her comment: “He [Rep Jeff Hurd, CO] needs to read the Gospels and ask himself who he resembles more: the early Jesus people or the chronically violent Romans? Let the scales fall from his eyes.”
Who are you Jeff?
I will see our fellow Democracy LOVERS on No Kings Rallies on Oct 18th. Hope to see you there.
Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. Matthew 7:12
https://biblerepository.com/bible-verses-about-golden-rule/
(Truly I guess you have sold your soul to the Devil -- as much as I hate to say it.)
I pray: "Dear God, heavenly Father, open Rep Jeff Hurd's eyes to the destruction and evil he is doing."
Here is what you, Jeff, with the Trump regime, are doing to others....
Please re-read the Golden Rule. You are personally responsible for below & will be held accountable on Judgement Day – as will I…
You are voting/rubber stamping to: ........"
ON REPEAT FROM SEPTEMBER PER THE REVELATIONS OF INTEMPERATE MESSAGES BY YOUNG REPUBLICANS IN POLITICO: https://www.politico.com/news/2025/10/14/private-chat-among-young-gop-club-members-00592146 .
THIS IS NOT THE TIME FOR STENOGRAPHERS IN PRESS ROOMS!!
Per Don Lemon, the former CNN Primetime host, many in the mainstream news media have been cowed by Dolos and now admit (privately) that they are no longer fit for purpose (timestamp - 41:01): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wRpQUWbbL3c . He is now a successful, INDEPENDENT journalist. Lemon seems to be freer in his approach.
The LA Times and Washington Post should RELEASE their original endorsements of VP Harris from 2024. Their previous observations might prove highly insightful for the present moment. Agreed?
Would you believe that Dolos actually lied about not sending the birthday card to Epstein: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Jc6HqLSYNQ ? I guess that water is wet.
To better understand Dolos, the malignant narcissist, please watch an old “Twilight Zone” episode, “It’s a Good Life” (featuring an all-powerful and malevolent 6-year-old): https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLDWeGYuzgn8ZaBMTPPuQUDYNI37uXR696 . Think about all authoritarians as incompletely formed children— let alone adults. I remembered this episode after a citation by Tom Nichols of The Atlantic. [edit - 9_8_25: missing paragraph]
Here are Professor Barbara Walter’s five suggestions for fighting authoritarianism:
https://barbarafwalter.substack.com/p/the-hidden-battle-that-decides-whether .
https://barbarafwalter.substack.com/p/authoritarian-power-is-mostly-performance .
https://barbarafwalter.substack.com/p/how-dictators-lose-control-of-the .
https://barbarafwalter.substack.com/p/4-storms-and-streets-break-regimes .
https://barbarafwalter.substack.com/p/5-how-to-break-a-tyrant .
Folks:
As the amazing Extremism specialist, Dr. Julia Ebner, has shared, once people have any interest in anything about National Socialism (beyond the purely academic/historical research), bad things begin to happen: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gUmeyEh-WxY&list=TLPQMDQwNTIwMjXguGg818G1fg . Previously, I’ve shared that some power players in the Republican/MAGA party have had a deep interest in CARL SCHMITT, the legal philosopher of National Socialism, and now seen as the apologist for the “Night of Long Knives”. To better understand Schmitt’s intellectual role in the EXTRAJUDICIAL activities of the Third Reich in their rise to power, please take a look at this document on the “Night of Long Knives”: https://sci-hub.st/10.1080/00168890.2012.675795 .
Supposedly, Sieg Heel used some of Schmitt’s texts in a course at Stanford that he taught. It seems that some public intellectuals, i.e. HCR, much brighter than myself, have also noticed the influence of Schmitt in this current moment for the American Right: https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/p/september-8-2025 . This validation of a National Socialist philosopher can often receive a tangential but still referential notice by some “mainline” Conservative organizations: https://www.heritage.org/conservatism/commentary/whats-old-new-the-right-against-god-and-man .
In the early 30s, when A.H. was about to be embroiled in a sex/murder scandal relative to the “suicide” of his 23-year-old niece (OK, half-niece) with his own gun, an enterprising journalist was about to drop a “bombshell” tell-all when his organization was attacked by “Brown Shirts” and his information was destroyed. The journalist was subsequently arrested and, in a matter of months, was later killed during the “Night of Long Knives” in 1934. So, Vanity Fair did an extensive piece on this lesser-known history of A.H. (it is a good and long read): https://www.vanityfair.com/news/1992/04/hitlers-doomed-angel .
With the recent revelations around Dolos and Epstein, it seems that authoritarians have difficulty managing sexual scandals within societal norms. Although MAGA might have problems with history, even recent history (i.e. revisiting January 6, 2021)— it is important to remember the truth (or the best approximation). For more on Epstein and Dolos, the Daily Beast has an excellent new podcast: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jC6OvXtVYso&list=PLC3I8Rb5dhRAGpR3tKxCq5TMX2WInOksz .
CARTHAGO DELENDA EST (via nonviolence).
P.S.: Do the following now! FIRST, TEACH CIVICS. Second, register voters. THIRD, TEACH CIVICS. Rinse. Repeat.
Please consider how disgruntled Republican voters might align with progressives as #PolarOppositePatriots with ideas in this post.
https://open.substack.com/pub/toddtelford/p/power-comes-to-the-99-victims-of?r=13imj&utm_medium=ios
Thank you Simon! These are the calls I've been waiting for
There is more than just one wannabe king - there is also King John and his Court. Enough. It is absurd that they go on a lawless rampage by licensing criminal conduct from a president but expect us to meekly obey their majesties' declarations. F that!
It is time for the Blue Federation - coordinated action by states in defiance of the tyranny being pressed on us.
I really don't think we need to be sending our money to Russ "Savonarola" Vought to literally fund our own oppression. We've got to find a way to do our own impoundment so we can provide the services the regime is stealing from us - for example, emergency response, healthcare, environmental protection, funding scientific research etc
And this message is for OUR military: the only way you are welcome in our cities is if you are coming to defend the people from ICE - whose mission isn't immigration. They are a gestapo for the regime. It is to deport, imprison or kill anyone who opposes the regime. Please take what I say here as literal.
As far as that ballroom and rose garden - we can do a huge fundraiser - 20 dollar ticket for an hour of demolition and you can keep whatever you smash in that time. Line will be miles long.
Love these two ideas..... so sad to see young, mostly men, encouraged & highly paid to beat & terrify their fellow citizens. And military -- that is NOT what they signed up for -- but would they (or generals?) be court martialed/executed by firing squad for disobeying Trump regime orders? (Take this also as literal...)
"And this message is for OUR military: the only way you are welcome in our cities is if you are coming to defend the people from ICE - whose mission isn't immigration. They are a gestapo for the regime. It is to deport, imprison or kill anyone who opposes the regime. Please take what I say here as literal.
As far as that ballroom and rose garden - we can do a huge fundraiser - 20 dollar ticket for an hour of demolition and you can keep whatever you smash in that time. Line will be miles long."
"We must all hang together, or assuredly we shall all hang separately" is often attributed to Benjamin Franklin during the signing of the Declaration of Independence.
Interesting use of this quote from Franklin Roosevelt in the State of the Union address January 11, 1944
https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/state-the-union-message-congress
(The literary jargon for this type of figure of speech, I learned, is called anatanaclasis.)
Lyn, not sure if you are referring to the Dems or to Americans as a whole or to the military or to the remaining Democracies around the world.
Everywhere the fight for freedom over tyranny is happening. Solidarity is how you defeat "divide and conquer."
The conversation made me recall Gene Sharp, who years ago, wrote about 198 ways to protest. In Yugoslavia some of his readers released live turkeys into a square to protest.
Correction here. It was in Belgrade, in the former Yugoslavia.
Millie Polli Haskell....Reporting-first, Simon, it was a great lively conversation that you had with Adam Klasfeld with " All Rise News" I definitely want to hear more from him. My head is spinning from All that is happening. Great things, Yea, and not so good, Fuck, Robert's with the Calais case in Louisiana. Keep after them Adam! I called my Two Magats, Sen. Scott and Rep. Luna. Nothing from Scott's ofc., but some one alive, in Rep. Luna's ofc. answered, not too nice but I told him We Demand, You Act upon Our "FOUR PART AGENDA" And I made sure he heard Me, when I said that the Tariffs are affecting more and more People in Our Country and the World, He grunted a couple of times? I was going to say you Heartless Fuck, but I didn't!
We are all getting riled up! The tone of your message made me laugh, but also gave me a rueful smile. I unloaded twice today on my GOP senators' answering machines. I told them they were going to have to explain to their grandchildren why they sided with the Nazis.
Good for you, I don't blame You!
I'm always encouraged when I listen to Simon. Thank both of you for this excellent discussion.
Love the frogs!
Sorry I missed the live version but hope to catch a copy. Have been dancing all day to the Ghostbusters Theme in honor of Oriana Korol, the clarinetist who was snatched and disappeared across state lines to Clark County jail... took a day to find her, and get her a pre trial release as of yesterday. She was legally playing music (the theme!) as part of the Unpresidented Brass Band, which is an advocacy marking band in Portland with some remarkable performers in the group. In addition, the drummer was injured in an attack just after the protest Naked Bike Ride went through. Oriana appears to be reunited with her partner and 3 year old for the time being. Be aware that ICE has a long standing arrangement with county jails, often with inferior conditions, for holding people for deportation. Take it seriously, and check your county's "ICE policy". Meanwhile, check your play lists for Saturday. (You can find out about Unpresidented on Bluesky, Facebook, and Patreon.)
I ain't afraid of no... sorry, gotta step dance some more.
Self-reporting - writing postcards for Swing States. These are in support of VA and Abigail Spanberger's campaign.
Such a meaningful conversation. Much appreciated!
You both are just the very best of what one could hope for in this fight.