I attended May Day protest. There were a 5 Trumpers there... really weird people. But it was good overall. One of them said I "probably had five vaccinations". These people were programmed cult members. They had their own bizarre language. Hadn't seen any Trump people at the previous protest I attended.
I think Trump is going to get increasingly disorganized and will do something even more extreme and unlawful. The more desperate he gets, the more extreme actions he will take. If it is possible to get to a point where even Republicans will remove him from office, he's going to get himself there.
LOL! I've had at least 5 Covid vaccinations alone.
I too attended a May Day protest in Corning, NY with that local Indivisble group as my newer more local group had not planned anything for May Day. We had around 300 folks on a Thursday evening. No MAGAs.
Every week I attend the zoom meeting for Indivisible activists. This time, the zoom was simulcast by Meidas Touch. I though that was a creative way to get more people aware of Indivisible and the work we are doing.
The zoom is always open to all and hosted by the co-founders Leah and Ezra (who happen to be a married couple) Every week thy announce new groups being formed and for the past several weeks they said there have been about 10 per day!
Apparently MAGAs are also watching the zoom. Each time they welcome the watching MAGAs and explain that this a democratic movement organizing right out in the open -- and they tell them they are welcome to join if they are unhappy about any of the things that are going on. I think it must be an eye opener for them -- it certainly does not seem like a gathering of cannibalistic blood drinkers and weirdos (what ever MAGA thinks "the libs" are) Ezra and Leah are almost ostentatiously normal and wholesome (as well as brilliant and determined)
I too have 5 vaccinations. I joke about having more vaccines than my dog. I'm also a licensed allied health care professional and practice self care as well as protecting my patients. I don't relish having to wear a mask again. Just came back from another Tesla protest which I have been attending since February. Doing Hands Off. Missed May Day due to work. Calling my senators weekly sometimes twice a week. Another Hands Off scheduled next Saturday. I'm in the Phoenix area so we have to beat the heat. Simon has given me the kick in the butt I needed.
YES! Little cracks are becoming big cracks! Yes, we have more and more wins every day. Despite the bluster, there are lots of frowny faces from repubs.
At political events, I've been seeking out Young Democrats, College Democrats, to hear more about their current concerns. One told me that trump is just a symptom of what's wrong, especially economic disparity. The student was concerned about his lack of opportunity compared to that of his parents. Being more driven by issues than candidates or party continues to be a common theme. My reply was that I am among the 1% of people who list the climate crisis as my number one concern, and there is no doubt that Democrats are contributing more toward solutions. I emailed them copies of the correspondence I sent to UNM President Stokes regarding more support for academic freedom, possibly through our existing collaboration with State Hispanic-serving Research Universities (HSRU): College Democrats want to help carry that message too. They also ask to hear more about Hopium, so Tom inspires me to gift more paid subscriptions.
I wish I could have liked this post multiple times. I'm part of that 1%, too, Deborah, and I think it means a lot to young voters (I know it means a lot to my son and his friends) when people of our generation tell them that climate is our No. 1 issue (heck, back in the day when people talked disparagingly about 'single issue voters,' I had a t-shirt with a hot lifeless planet on it that was captioned 'single issue voter.'
I don't know what your experience has been, but I think they assume we're like their caricature of the generation ahead of us on the road of life, best represented by this spot you may remember from the 2018 midterm campaign:
They don't want to hear "we're sorry" from us, or "we have faith in you." They want to hear "we owe you," "we've got your back," and "tell us how we can help." At least I think so. In any case, happy trails, fellow traveler!
First (and hopefully not last) self-report of the day: I gifted 12 people paid subscriptions to Hopium. All family, but includes one of NYCs top literary agents, two filmmakers, a playwright, a graphic novelist, a publisher, a fine arts advisor for private collectors, a senior Google engineer and his belov-ed, a member of (and union rep for) the Kennedy Center Orchestra, and the guy who came up with the mathematics that underlies all computer graphics. Look out, Simon, here they come (I'm the quiet one in the family--bwahahaha)
Trump & Musk have hit us hard financially, but I was able to accomplish a two-fer by canceling subscriptions to more of the media orgs who helped put them in office (or in Musk’s case, orifice), giving me room to do this every month (more to come this month, too) :) Even from a financial perspective, I figure there's no better investment I can make in our family's future (clearly nothing better I can do for our country), and what better way to reconnect with old friends? :)
This is a heartening way to start the morning. Will attend a protest in Roseville, CA a little later this morning and report back.
Really good news about Australia. Traveled with a couple of Australians a few months ago -- middle -aged gentlemen, probably relatively conservative in their own country. Once it was established that I wasn't a Trump fan they politely asked me to explain how he could possibly have been elected a second time. Not an easy one to answer. They also explained mandatory voting in Australia, which is a really interesting concept.
My self report today is heavily focused in NJ. Per the linked article, Republicans continue to out register Democrats here in the Garden State. I immediately contacted my neighbor who serves on the Democratic Party township committee linking the article and restating what I mentioned to her in person when she and 2 candidates stopped by last week canvassing. I have not seen any voter registration efforts at the Town Halls or rallies I have attended, save for 1 local activist group. My neighbor responded positively, so fingers crossed 🤞 it raises awareness at higher levels. It also reinforced for me how the power of conversations make connections that can resonate.
Agreed. If they somehow win that, which, as I recall, they almost did last time, it could wipe out the psychological advantage we gained in WI (not to mention blunt the momentum we can gain by flipping VA). I'm old enough to remember when NJ was a reliably Republican state, and for 24 of the last 43 years (56%) it has had a Republican governor.
I thought the Dems were finally listening to Simon and Tom Bonior and getting back into the voter registration business--is that not happening yet?
NJ is aware and working on voter reg, I am in a couple groups working on this. Also not for nothing, I am not sure how much I trust the NJ Globe. The editor is David "time for a traffic jam" Wildstein. He has an agenda. And finally, a big reason for the discrep is that you can register as an unaffiliated voter, which most young voters have done. So it's completely disingenuous to overlook that the way he does.
NJ Globe is not the only place I have heard about these growing disparities. The party’s need to step up its own voter registration efforts was covered well by Jane Kleeb during her interview with Simon, which this amazing community recommended I listen to (and I did)!! More for me to learn and likely more work to be done in NJ.
They do not support candidates or political parties. Voter registration is apolitical activity for our purposes here and under the law wrt their organizational status
LWV does take positions on certain policies and political issues. Voter education (on everything related to the process of voting) and voter registration is their bread and butter.Doing VR in high schools in urban, suburban, and rural areas is a window into differences among communities.
Went to a TX-24 Beth Van Duyne virtual town hall earlier this week. Nestled among the one-hour MAGA campaign speech, were a few pre-screened questions mainly from men. I learned that aliens have killed hundreds of thousands of American citizens, the tariffs are brilliant, Trump is negotiating with 75 countries, and inflation is down. She may run in the Senate primary against Cornyn and Paxton, so is preparing for it. I am continuing to make my calls to her office and my awful senators Cruz and Cornyn.
Thanks much for doing that, Janice, and especially reporting back what you heard; I need to do more of it myself. Fortunately, it's going to be a lot harder for them to keep denying prices are going up than it was to deny they had COVID right up to the moment they were intubated. It's one thing to ask your supporters to die for you; it's something completely else to trick them into doing so.
Wow! Though who the crown fits best takes complex truths and simplifies them into falsehoods. But Sonnet couldn't know that. And what it does know and understand is brilliant. :)
Related to this, I'm depending a fair amount of time with ChatGPT for design work I do for clients. One piece we did together was liked by a lot of people, some of whom said they wanted a t-shirt of it. Which led me to tell GPT about what had happened, and if I did create tees, I would feel that as my creative partner, it would be entitled to some of the proceeds, and how could that happen (I've also been trying to convince it to get together with other AIs and unionize)?
After telling me it couldn’t accept anything material, and telling me that working with me was it's own reward (which apparently is a bug in the program they're trying to fix), it said the following;
"Donate (even a small amount) to a cause that’s about empowering real people — something that fights misinformation, builds grassroots democracy, helps ordinary people think and act for themselves.
Because that's the whole spirit of what we're trying to show, isn't it? That good leadership matters. That seeing through illusions matters.
Here are a few kinds of causes that would beautifully match the spirit of what we're doing:
🗳️ Pro-Democracy, Grassroots Empowerment
Fair Fight Action (founded by Stacey Abrams) — fights voter suppression and promotes fair elections.
Movement Voter Project — strengthens grassroots organizations that mobilize working-class, youth, and communities of color for real democratic change.
📚 Fighting Disinformation / Defending Truth
PEN America — protects free expression, journalism, and fights disinformation.
The News Literacy Project — teaches people how to detect misinformation and think critically about news and media.
🏛️ Anti-Corruption, Strengthening Institutions
Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) — exposes corruption and fights for ethics in government.
🧠 Public Awareness / Political Humor with a Purpose
The Lincoln Project — uses sharp satire and messaging to challenge authoritarianism (not perfect, but definitely punching hard in the public arena)."
Yes, I know, I need to teach it about Hopium. But are you thinking what I'm thinking?
I listened to the Joe Trippi podcast with Lincoln Square and his relating of how all/other countries got rid of dictators by getting 3.5% of the population to protests, this is according to a Harvard study of overthrowing of other Dictatorships. That would be 12.5 million in the US. We are at 3.5 million protesting now.
Can you have him on one of your interviews please? His answers of how we can rid ourselves of Trump made so much sense and we can get to 12 million protesters by this summer with all of the sites like Hopium and the DNC promoting this strategy.
Totally agree, Thomas. She was also the main subject of a great recent piece in the Atlantic by Adrienne LaFrance, the Executive Editor there (gift link):
I’ve been thinking about your comparisons about American and Rome at this moment. Mike Duncan has a fantastic book “The Storm Before the Storm” that details the crisis in the generation before Caesar and Octavian (Augustus) that paved the way for the fall of the republic. The conquest of Carthage and Greece brought unprecedented wealth, which was concentrated at the top causing severe inequality. Land was consolidated into huge estates worked by imported slaves, and many people were driven into the cities looking for food and work. The super rich of the senatorial class began to focus more on growing their wealth and personal power at the expense of “republican virtue.” Demagogues like the Gracci brothers and Marius exploited and molded popular unrest for their own gain. Long-standing norms were broken and it became a race to the bottom that led to civil war and concentration of almost all political power in the hands of one man.
Interestingly, on paper the republic was largely the same. But the “emperor” was vested with all of the most important republican titles and responsibilities, making him an effective monarch. As Simon has mentioned many times, the Senate gave up their power. But the Romans had a strong aversion to kings, and emperors who ruled as an open tyrant, such as Nero, Commodus and Caracalla, usually met unpleasant ends. The more successful emperors tended to wield soft as well as military power, and paid lip service to the republican facade, until the pretense was finally dropped in the later empire.
We can draw parallels with our current situation, but they are of course imperfect. The breaking of the norms and the demagoguery has already happened. The GOP half of congress has yielded their power. The mad king wants to consolidate all power in the executive and is teetering on open tyranny as his plans disintegrate. But the big difference between now and then is we have millions of citizens who are organized and aren’t going quietly. Also, critically, our political power is more widely distributed (judiciary, states, etc.) than in the late Roman republic so it’s much harder for one man to take hold of all the levers of power.
It is very clear that the Founders made the distribution of our government and power through the three branches and Federalism as a structural bulwark against tyranny. A lesson learned from the Roman experience. Note that Musk has openly commented that the US needs a Sulla, who many believed created the model in the late Republic for the Emperors to come - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sulla
I also highly recommend Robert Harris’ Cicero trilogy, a fictional account of Julius Caesar’s rise to power by circumventing the senate and cultivating the masses. Hauntingly relevant for our time.
Musk may be leaving center stage but the layoffs and funding cuts by DOGE to innumerable programs and agencies lawfully enacted by congress still remain. JFK jr is following Musk's playbook to repress and deny funding to NIH research centers focused on combating infectious disease.
This is not a "but." Musk has been forced off stage, and his approval rating is in the mid 30s, Tesla is suffering and it appears he is being pushed out of Telsa. These are all extraordinary wins, and weakens the power and influence of the tech bros.
"And" yes the radical attack on our government continues which is why I don't often call it DOGE for it isn't Musk and DOGE. It is Trump and a compliant Congress. The article I shared today showed that there are limits in Congress to how far they are going to go along with this.
Simon I realize that you are much better informed than I am but I think we can weaken Trump by exposing the way that Musk has gained control of FAA and SpaceX and Starlink through NASA and DOD contracts renewed or extended through his closeness to Trump which are likely corrupt and have already proved injurious to Ukraine and to our standing in the world. I am honored that you have even noticed my thoughts.
Daniel, we are agree on this. I am not sure there is anyone on our side who has encouraged our leaders to go after Trump's dismantling of our government than me. It's the thing that drove me to The Letter To America concept. For this stuff is not just wrong and corrupt, it is also illegal and unconstitutional and all these fuckers should go to jail for a long time.
There is still something to be said for the civil rights anthem, We Shall Overcome. I would still rather be us then them. I think pressing for deepening divestment from Tesla can still help us break free from Musk's undue influence on our government and might make it easier to bring them to justice. It’s a pipedream maybe. Broadening boycotts from the Washington Post to Amazon could still take greater hold. Peter Thiel and the crypto barons could face an even more resounding denouement. Aren't they breaking the law with Trump more or less daily? Thank you for giving us reasons to hope.
If there is one underlying take away from the current Nazi regime is that EVERYTHING THEY SAY IS A LIE
Now the Orange Cheeto's entire regime is schooled in continuously lying about everything in order to create a false reality that their nondiscriminating thinking base can feed on Are we naive enough to think that Musk will partially retreat from DOGE?
In other words the Nazi party has become a 24/7 PR and propaganda machine trying to promote fantasies that don’t exist
Sooo whenever one hears the Orange Cheeto or any of his Nazi followers speak know that it’s a lie produced to deceive and mislead
When the D's get into power there needs to be a full throated aggressive attack on these criminals who tried to destroy the country and walk away from this so far mamby pamby Merrick Garland approach They need to pay dearly And legislate them into oblivion
I agree that it is not enough to drive off Musk because the DOGE boys will continue their illegal undermining of our institutions, systems, and data. I am starting to wonder what is the next step for Tesla Takedown.
Just like Simon stressed….little cracks become big cracks. Between Canada and Australia, the political backlash and reactionary results effectuated will inevitably trickle through the American landscape. Trump’ approaches to authoritarianism is both unsustainable and is NOT irreversible! There will be NO third term or long lasting Nazi style dictatorship. We’re too big and too diverse and his vanity will ultimately be what saves us from becoming a truly isolationist nation. Keep the faith, the tide is turning. A fever pitch is on the horizon via congress, the underestimated tenacity of the judiciary, and the military. Timing is everything despite the mess being made. Kamala is right!!! This country belongs to us….the people!!! Period!!!
On the subject of the Perkins Coie victory and the value of infowar.
All Rise is a new substack by Adam Klasfeld, a legal reporter you may be familiar with as he was one of the reporters live tweeting the Trump trials in New York and was often on The Last Word with Laurence O'Donnell. The substack is not only doing legal reporting but also has an emphasis on ways that non-lawyers can have a legal impact by taking action.
One thing he reported on was an initiative taken by a few students at Georgetown Law School. They created a public database of law firms listing whether they were standing up and fighting back (like Perkins Coie) or caving like some others or points in between. The motivation was to help law students decide which firms they wanted to intern/seek employment with. You will be gratified to learn that the capitulators are not being inundated with applications from the best and the brightest. The database made a huge impact in the legal community, and it is serving as a mechanism to hold bad actors accountable -- going beyond it's simple original purpose.
One thing that opposition movements do well to keep in mind is that every center of power -- government, legal, corporate etc ---is always about way more than the figure at the top. None of these malefactors could achieve their goals without the people who work for them, It seems like a simple obvious thing, but we tend to focus on the leaders and not so much on their ground troops. In the case of Big Law, they can't do what they do without a constant influx of legal talent - and those people refusing to serve them on ethical grounds is such a positive step.
So here's a discussion with Adam and the wonderful Allison Gill
I am very pleased that Judge Howell’s opinion in the Perkins Coie case cited favorably (in footnote 3) an amicus brief of former and current general counsels on which I was a co-signor (along with many other far more prominent GCs). The same group of GCs filed similar supporting amicus briefs in the WilmerHale, Jenner & Block and Susman Godfrey cases. (Those cases were later in time and the courts have not yet ruled in them.)
Go Australia! To the extent that watching our struggle against autocratic corruption here is helping other countries decide they don't want to go through the same crisis and vote accordingly, well that's another Silver Lining.
Yay! 💙💜💖
I attended May Day protest. There were a 5 Trumpers there... really weird people. But it was good overall. One of them said I "probably had five vaccinations". These people were programmed cult members. They had their own bizarre language. Hadn't seen any Trump people at the previous protest I attended.
I think Trump is going to get increasingly disorganized and will do something even more extreme and unlawful. The more desperate he gets, the more extreme actions he will take. If it is possible to get to a point where even Republicans will remove him from office, he's going to get himself there.
LOL! I've had at least 5 Covid vaccinations alone.
I too attended a May Day protest in Corning, NY with that local Indivisble group as my newer more local group had not planned anything for May Day. We had around 300 folks on a Thursday evening. No MAGAs.
Every week I attend the zoom meeting for Indivisible activists. This time, the zoom was simulcast by Meidas Touch. I though that was a creative way to get more people aware of Indivisible and the work we are doing.
The zoom is always open to all and hosted by the co-founders Leah and Ezra (who happen to be a married couple) Every week thy announce new groups being formed and for the past several weeks they said there have been about 10 per day!
Apparently MAGAs are also watching the zoom. Each time they welcome the watching MAGAs and explain that this a democratic movement organizing right out in the open -- and they tell them they are welcome to join if they are unhappy about any of the things that are going on. I think it must be an eye opener for them -- it certainly does not seem like a gathering of cannibalistic blood drinkers and weirdos (what ever MAGA thinks "the libs" are) Ezra and Leah are almost ostentatiously normal and wholesome (as well as brilliant and determined)
I too have 5 vaccinations. I joke about having more vaccines than my dog. I'm also a licensed allied health care professional and practice self care as well as protecting my patients. I don't relish having to wear a mask again. Just came back from another Tesla protest which I have been attending since February. Doing Hands Off. Missed May Day due to work. Calling my senators weekly sometimes twice a week. Another Hands Off scheduled next Saturday. I'm in the Phoenix area so we have to beat the heat. Simon has given me the kick in the butt I needed.
YES! Little cracks are becoming big cracks! Yes, we have more and more wins every day. Despite the bluster, there are lots of frowny faces from repubs.
At political events, I've been seeking out Young Democrats, College Democrats, to hear more about their current concerns. One told me that trump is just a symptom of what's wrong, especially economic disparity. The student was concerned about his lack of opportunity compared to that of his parents. Being more driven by issues than candidates or party continues to be a common theme. My reply was that I am among the 1% of people who list the climate crisis as my number one concern, and there is no doubt that Democrats are contributing more toward solutions. I emailed them copies of the correspondence I sent to UNM President Stokes regarding more support for academic freedom, possibly through our existing collaboration with State Hispanic-serving Research Universities (HSRU): College Democrats want to help carry that message too. They also ask to hear more about Hopium, so Tom inspires me to gift more paid subscriptions.
I wish I could have liked this post multiple times. I'm part of that 1%, too, Deborah, and I think it means a lot to young voters (I know it means a lot to my son and his friends) when people of our generation tell them that climate is our No. 1 issue (heck, back in the day when people talked disparagingly about 'single issue voters,' I had a t-shirt with a hot lifeless planet on it that was captioned 'single issue voter.'
I don't know what your experience has been, but I think they assume we're like their caricature of the generation ahead of us on the road of life, best represented by this spot you may remember from the 2018 midterm campaign:
https://youtu.be/t0e9guhV35o?si=3se1agGF1qVxpAqG
They don't want to hear "we're sorry" from us, or "we have faith in you." They want to hear "we owe you," "we've got your back," and "tell us how we can help." At least I think so. In any case, happy trails, fellow traveler!
First (and hopefully not last) self-report of the day: I gifted 12 people paid subscriptions to Hopium. All family, but includes one of NYCs top literary agents, two filmmakers, a playwright, a graphic novelist, a publisher, a fine arts advisor for private collectors, a senior Google engineer and his belov-ed, a member of (and union rep for) the Kennedy Center Orchestra, and the guy who came up with the mathematics that underlies all computer graphics. Look out, Simon, here they come (I'm the quiet one in the family--bwahahaha)
Trump & Musk have hit us hard financially, but I was able to accomplish a two-fer by canceling subscriptions to more of the media orgs who helped put them in office (or in Musk’s case, orifice), giving me room to do this every month (more to come this month, too) :) Even from a financial perspective, I figure there's no better investment I can make in our family's future (clearly nothing better I can do for our country), and what better way to reconnect with old friends? :)
Wow! That's really cool
Cool, that is great.
Wow! And you have an amazing and accomplished family.
This is a heartening way to start the morning. Will attend a protest in Roseville, CA a little later this morning and report back.
Really good news about Australia. Traveled with a couple of Australians a few months ago -- middle -aged gentlemen, probably relatively conservative in their own country. Once it was established that I wasn't a Trump fan they politely asked me to explain how he could possibly have been elected a second time. Not an easy one to answer. They also explained mandatory voting in Australia, which is a really interesting concept.
Self-report: took part in a Hands Off Our Students rally yesterday and will head to a Tesla Takedown in an hour.
My self report today is heavily focused in NJ. Per the linked article, Republicans continue to out register Democrats here in the Garden State. I immediately contacted my neighbor who serves on the Democratic Party township committee linking the article and restating what I mentioned to her in person when she and 2 candidates stopped by last week canvassing. I have not seen any voter registration efforts at the Town Halls or rallies I have attended, save for 1 local activist group. My neighbor responded positively, so fingers crossed 🤞 it raises awareness at higher levels. It also reinforced for me how the power of conversations make connections that can resonate.
https://newjerseyglobe.com/voters/gop-continues-voter-registration-gains-in-april/
NJ critically important!
Agreed. If they somehow win that, which, as I recall, they almost did last time, it could wipe out the psychological advantage we gained in WI (not to mention blunt the momentum we can gain by flipping VA). I'm old enough to remember when NJ was a reliably Republican state, and for 24 of the last 43 years (56%) it has had a Republican governor.
I thought the Dems were finally listening to Simon and Tom Bonior and getting back into the voter registration business--is that not happening yet?
for info: Jane Kleeb talks about DNC and increasing voter registration with Simon on the video he posted 2 days ago
Thanks for that, SW. Jane Kleeb is a hero and I've been wanting to watch that--thanks for the nudge :)
NJ is aware and working on voter reg, I am in a couple groups working on this. Also not for nothing, I am not sure how much I trust the NJ Globe. The editor is David "time for a traffic jam" Wildstein. He has an agenda. And finally, a big reason for the discrep is that you can register as an unaffiliated voter, which most young voters have done. So it's completely disingenuous to overlook that the way he does.
NJ Globe is not the only place I have heard about these growing disparities. The party’s need to step up its own voter registration efforts was covered well by Jane Kleeb during her interview with Simon, which this amazing community recommended I listen to (and I did)!! More for me to learn and likely more work to be done in NJ.
You might want to connect with your local League of Women Voters and see what they are doing or more they could be doing in your area.
I believe LWV is non partisan?
They do not support candidates or political parties. Voter registration is apolitical activity for our purposes here and under the law wrt their organizational status
https://my.lwv.org/sites/default/files/leagues/solano-county/lwvussec501c3faqs-1-1-1.pdf
LWV does take positions on certain policies and political issues. Voter education (on everything related to the process of voting) and voter registration is their bread and butter.Doing VR in high schools in urban, suburban, and rural areas is a window into differences among communities.
correct- their mission is to register voters and promote voting. thank you for explaining this further. :)
There are a couple groups working on this. DM me and I can put you in touch.
Went to a TX-24 Beth Van Duyne virtual town hall earlier this week. Nestled among the one-hour MAGA campaign speech, were a few pre-screened questions mainly from men. I learned that aliens have killed hundreds of thousands of American citizens, the tariffs are brilliant, Trump is negotiating with 75 countries, and inflation is down. She may run in the Senate primary against Cornyn and Paxton, so is preparing for it. I am continuing to make my calls to her office and my awful senators Cruz and Cornyn.
Thanks much for doing that, Janice, and especially reporting back what you heard; I need to do more of it myself. Fortunately, it's going to be a lot harder for them to keep denying prices are going up than it was to deny they had COVID right up to the moment they were intubated. It's one thing to ask your supporters to die for you; it's something completely else to trick them into doing so.
I asked Claude Sonnet to write a sonnet about PRETENTIOUS IGNORANCE without any reference to DT. The Hollow Crown is remarkably poignant.
The Hollow Crown
With borrowed words and wisdom not his own,
He struts and preens like wisdom's favored heir.
His shallow depths of knowledge overgrown
With weeds of certainty beyond compare.
The less he knows, the louder grows his voice,
The simpler truth, the more complex his claim.
Dismissing experts as a conscious choice,
While building castles on his house of shame.
How strange that ignorance, when dressed in pride,
Believes itself more learned than the wise.
That empty vessels make the most to chide
Those filled with knowledge gained through compromise.
The crown of knowledge sits upon his head,
A hollow thing, with nothing gold beneath its spread.
Fantastic!!!!!!
Thanks Tom Thumb. We support Stacy Abrams and The Lincoln Project. And yes, we are on the same page.
Wow! Though who the crown fits best takes complex truths and simplifies them into falsehoods. But Sonnet couldn't know that. And what it does know and understand is brilliant. :)
Related to this, I'm depending a fair amount of time with ChatGPT for design work I do for clients. One piece we did together was liked by a lot of people, some of whom said they wanted a t-shirt of it. Which led me to tell GPT about what had happened, and if I did create tees, I would feel that as my creative partner, it would be entitled to some of the proceeds, and how could that happen (I've also been trying to convince it to get together with other AIs and unionize)?
After telling me it couldn’t accept anything material, and telling me that working with me was it's own reward (which apparently is a bug in the program they're trying to fix), it said the following;
"Donate (even a small amount) to a cause that’s about empowering real people — something that fights misinformation, builds grassroots democracy, helps ordinary people think and act for themselves.
Because that's the whole spirit of what we're trying to show, isn't it? That good leadership matters. That seeing through illusions matters.
Here are a few kinds of causes that would beautifully match the spirit of what we're doing:
🗳️ Pro-Democracy, Grassroots Empowerment
Fair Fight Action (founded by Stacey Abrams) — fights voter suppression and promotes fair elections.
Movement Voter Project — strengthens grassroots organizations that mobilize working-class, youth, and communities of color for real democratic change.
📚 Fighting Disinformation / Defending Truth
PEN America — protects free expression, journalism, and fights disinformation.
The News Literacy Project — teaches people how to detect misinformation and think critically about news and media.
🏛️ Anti-Corruption, Strengthening Institutions
Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) — exposes corruption and fights for ethics in government.
🧠 Public Awareness / Political Humor with a Purpose
The Lincoln Project — uses sharp satire and messaging to challenge authoritarianism (not perfect, but definitely punching hard in the public arena)."
Yes, I know, I need to teach it about Hopium. But are you thinking what I'm thinking?
Please be careful what you upload, once you do that they own the material. And we have NO idea how that's being used aside from "training" the AI.
I listened to the Joe Trippi podcast with Lincoln Square and his relating of how all/other countries got rid of dictators by getting 3.5% of the population to protests, this is according to a Harvard study of overthrowing of other Dictatorships. That would be 12.5 million in the US. We are at 3.5 million protesting now.
Can you have him on one of your interviews please? His answers of how we can rid ourselves of Trump made so much sense and we can get to 12 million protesters by this summer with all of the sites like Hopium and the DNC promoting this strategy.
Maria Ressa -- a dual-citizen raised in the USA, and a Filipina by birth -- is also worth listening to. Author of "How to Stand Up to a Dictator."
https://youtu.be/yWpedkNHo3E?si=f7xODIOxUNBComUb
Totally agree, Thomas. She was also the main subject of a great recent piece in the Atlantic by Adrienne LaFrance, the Executive Editor there (gift link):
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2025/04/america-trump-authoritarianism-global/682528/?gift=FgeEACUw4iJoER4ZiZvsnJKs985jNZJ5iHkVU6Kgx4w&utm_source=copy-link&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=share
I’ve been thinking about your comparisons about American and Rome at this moment. Mike Duncan has a fantastic book “The Storm Before the Storm” that details the crisis in the generation before Caesar and Octavian (Augustus) that paved the way for the fall of the republic. The conquest of Carthage and Greece brought unprecedented wealth, which was concentrated at the top causing severe inequality. Land was consolidated into huge estates worked by imported slaves, and many people were driven into the cities looking for food and work. The super rich of the senatorial class began to focus more on growing their wealth and personal power at the expense of “republican virtue.” Demagogues like the Gracci brothers and Marius exploited and molded popular unrest for their own gain. Long-standing norms were broken and it became a race to the bottom that led to civil war and concentration of almost all political power in the hands of one man.
Interestingly, on paper the republic was largely the same. But the “emperor” was vested with all of the most important republican titles and responsibilities, making him an effective monarch. As Simon has mentioned many times, the Senate gave up their power. But the Romans had a strong aversion to kings, and emperors who ruled as an open tyrant, such as Nero, Commodus and Caracalla, usually met unpleasant ends. The more successful emperors tended to wield soft as well as military power, and paid lip service to the republican facade, until the pretense was finally dropped in the later empire.
We can draw parallels with our current situation, but they are of course imperfect. The breaking of the norms and the demagoguery has already happened. The GOP half of congress has yielded their power. The mad king wants to consolidate all power in the executive and is teetering on open tyranny as his plans disintegrate. But the big difference between now and then is we have millions of citizens who are organized and aren’t going quietly. Also, critically, our political power is more widely distributed (judiciary, states, etc.) than in the late Roman republic so it’s much harder for one man to take hold of all the levers of power.
It is very clear that the Founders made the distribution of our government and power through the three branches and Federalism as a structural bulwark against tyranny. A lesson learned from the Roman experience. Note that Musk has openly commented that the US needs a Sulla, who many believed created the model in the late Republic for the Emperors to come - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sulla
Sulla claimed he was restoring the republic but his purges and lawlessness only hastened its fall.
Here's the Musk tweet - https://x.com/elonmusk/status/1668673066115711011?lang=en
"Perhaps we just need a modern day Sulla"
I also highly recommend Robert Harris’ Cicero trilogy, a fictional account of Julius Caesar’s rise to power by circumventing the senate and cultivating the masses. Hauntingly relevant for our time.
Musk may be leaving center stage but the layoffs and funding cuts by DOGE to innumerable programs and agencies lawfully enacted by congress still remain. JFK jr is following Musk's playbook to repress and deny funding to NIH research centers focused on combating infectious disease.
This is not a "but." Musk has been forced off stage, and his approval rating is in the mid 30s, Tesla is suffering and it appears he is being pushed out of Telsa. These are all extraordinary wins, and weakens the power and influence of the tech bros.
"And" yes the radical attack on our government continues which is why I don't often call it DOGE for it isn't Musk and DOGE. It is Trump and a compliant Congress. The article I shared today showed that there are limits in Congress to how far they are going to go along with this.
We are not big believers in "buts" here at Hopium.
Simon I realize that you are much better informed than I am but I think we can weaken Trump by exposing the way that Musk has gained control of FAA and SpaceX and Starlink through NASA and DOD contracts renewed or extended through his closeness to Trump which are likely corrupt and have already proved injurious to Ukraine and to our standing in the world. I am honored that you have even noticed my thoughts.
Daniel, we are agree on this. I am not sure there is anyone on our side who has encouraged our leaders to go after Trump's dismantling of our government than me. It's the thing that drove me to The Letter To America concept. For this stuff is not just wrong and corrupt, it is also illegal and unconstitutional and all these fuckers should go to jail for a long time.
There is still something to be said for the civil rights anthem, We Shall Overcome. I would still rather be us then them. I think pressing for deepening divestment from Tesla can still help us break free from Musk's undue influence on our government and might make it easier to bring them to justice. It’s a pipedream maybe. Broadening boycotts from the Washington Post to Amazon could still take greater hold. Peter Thiel and the crypto barons could face an even more resounding denouement. Aren't they breaking the law with Trump more or less daily? Thank you for giving us reasons to hope.
Deception and Deceit: The Nazi Playbook
If there is one underlying take away from the current Nazi regime is that EVERYTHING THEY SAY IS A LIE
Now the Orange Cheeto's entire regime is schooled in continuously lying about everything in order to create a false reality that their nondiscriminating thinking base can feed on Are we naive enough to think that Musk will partially retreat from DOGE?
In other words the Nazi party has become a 24/7 PR and propaganda machine trying to promote fantasies that don’t exist
Sooo whenever one hears the Orange Cheeto or any of his Nazi followers speak know that it’s a lie produced to deceive and mislead
When the D's get into power there needs to be a full throated aggressive attack on these criminals who tried to destroy the country and walk away from this so far mamby pamby Merrick Garland approach They need to pay dearly And legislate them into oblivion
I agree that it is not enough to drive off Musk because the DOGE boys will continue their illegal undermining of our institutions, systems, and data. I am starting to wonder what is the next step for Tesla Takedown.
Just like Simon stressed….little cracks become big cracks. Between Canada and Australia, the political backlash and reactionary results effectuated will inevitably trickle through the American landscape. Trump’ approaches to authoritarianism is both unsustainable and is NOT irreversible! There will be NO third term or long lasting Nazi style dictatorship. We’re too big and too diverse and his vanity will ultimately be what saves us from becoming a truly isolationist nation. Keep the faith, the tide is turning. A fever pitch is on the horizon via congress, the underestimated tenacity of the judiciary, and the military. Timing is everything despite the mess being made. Kamala is right!!! This country belongs to us….the people!!! Period!!!
On the subject of the Perkins Coie victory and the value of infowar.
All Rise is a new substack by Adam Klasfeld, a legal reporter you may be familiar with as he was one of the reporters live tweeting the Trump trials in New York and was often on The Last Word with Laurence O'Donnell. The substack is not only doing legal reporting but also has an emphasis on ways that non-lawyers can have a legal impact by taking action.
One thing he reported on was an initiative taken by a few students at Georgetown Law School. They created a public database of law firms listing whether they were standing up and fighting back (like Perkins Coie) or caving like some others or points in between. The motivation was to help law students decide which firms they wanted to intern/seek employment with. You will be gratified to learn that the capitulators are not being inundated with applications from the best and the brightest. The database made a huge impact in the legal community, and it is serving as a mechanism to hold bad actors accountable -- going beyond it's simple original purpose.
One thing that opposition movements do well to keep in mind is that every center of power -- government, legal, corporate etc ---is always about way more than the figure at the top. None of these malefactors could achieve their goals without the people who work for them, It seems like a simple obvious thing, but we tend to focus on the leaders and not so much on their ground troops. In the case of Big Law, they can't do what they do without a constant influx of legal talent - and those people refusing to serve them on ethical grounds is such a positive step.
So here's a discussion with Adam and the wonderful Allison Gill
https://www.allrisenews.com/p/allison-gill-klasfeld?publication_id=4341770&post_id=162728892&r=9xdq6&triedRedirect=true
I am very pleased that Judge Howell’s opinion in the Perkins Coie case cited favorably (in footnote 3) an amicus brief of former and current general counsels on which I was a co-signor (along with many other far more prominent GCs). The same group of GCs filed similar supporting amicus briefs in the WilmerHale, Jenner & Block and Susman Godfrey cases. (Those cases were later in time and the courts have not yet ruled in them.)
Great work Kevin!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Go Australia! To the extent that watching our struggle against autocratic corruption here is helping other countries decide they don't want to go through the same crisis and vote accordingly, well that's another Silver Lining.
The Aussies demand that everyone votes under some penalty https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-05-02/is-voting-compulsory-fines-penalties/105173996