I use a variant of the line. I frame it this way: "Anyone who votes against both their own best self-interests and those of the country deserves whatever consequences they invited for themselves." Neither do they deserve any sympathy. They must feel the pain; it might be the only way to get their attention. Some are like the followers of Jim Jones. Too far gone.
Monica Potts of The New Republic just did a story on this in the past few days: "Why Won’t Farmers Rebel Against Trumponomics? Because They’re Rich.... The majority of family farmers aren’t working-class strivers. They’re affluent, politically connected businessmen who know when their next bailout is coming."
Also in play is rural schools that have been decimated by decades of cuts, information deserts where Sinclair etc reign unchallenged, and "God wants you to vote republican" coming from way too many church pulpit.
Not 100% true - you can see that if you watch Farm Aid every year. Family farms are still a BFD, and they are still struggling 40 years after the first event. So much so that Dylan played a rare set for this year's event.
Seems to me that a shutdown next week is inevitable and that Trump relishes it as a way to further shutter government functions and fire employees. Do you agree ?
A few notes. 1) If Trump and the Rs choose to shut the government down rather than negotiate, AND they illegally fire large numbers of federal employees do you think this will be good for them and the country? Something they can defend to the public? 2) There is no easy or safe path available to us any more, and we just have to fight. Not fighting encourages escalation, and based on the data available to us now if we fight hard and show courage should be able to get wins here. Trump is very, very weak right now.
See what Sen. Mark Kelly and whoever was on Colbert last night said about this. The trumplicans are shutting down the government because they don't want people to have healthcare.
Please narrow our legislative demands to the healthcare issue plus one other!! Please do not clog the national discussion with a demand on changing the tariffs which most folks don’t understand and what he will never agree to—THE ISSUE which will move a majority of the country will be to reduce the costs of healthcare insurance!!! Don’t expand the demands which will reduce the force of the health insurance??
"The Office of Management and Budget move to permanently reduce the government workforce if there is a shutdown, outlined in a memo shared with POLITICO ahead of release to agencies tonight, escalates the stakes of a potential shutdown next week."
Voted early on Tuesday in VA. Have been urging everyone in all the groups I’m a part of to do so. Turnout was apparently very high in Albemarle County (leans blue) the first day of early voting which I think is all we have data for. The Albemarle Dems had this in their newsletter today: “You vote early —> campaigns don’t need to focus on you —> campaigns reach more voters who do need persuading —> more Dems vote —> we win!”
If you have the chance to participate, this next No Kings national rally for 10/18 is growing by the day. The site has a map where you can locate an event close to you, as well as different Zoom sessions to help prepare for the protest. One thing I noticed at the last event were several cars that drove by with signs taped in the windows or people holding flags out the window, so that's yet another way to participate and show support the day of. I hope this rally is even bigger than the last one, and that one was pretty tremendous.
busy day ahead so made my calls early. It seems farming is the theme of the morning. Called today to my 3 MD Dems to talk about illegal tariffs and farming. The tariffs- along with ending USAID have destroyed many farms. Neither the US or China are buying American produce (soy/ corn) so these crops have lost much of their market. In the meantime, government is doing deals with China on TikTok with T's big donors and rich buddies. And of course, now China is buying Argentina's soy while America is bailing out Argentina's government to tune of many billions of US dollars. And, then once again using American taxpayers dollars he is likely to bail out farmers as a kind of bribe. This is a cycle of corruption, criminality and cruelty we cannot let stand.
One of the things Simon has advocated for in the past is for Dems to come up with alternate slogans that have been terrifically successful for the Rs. Something to rival Make America Great Again and Trump Derangement Syndrome. For the former, I suggested Democracy Needs Us Now in a comment last week. No one on this thread reacted to it at all. As for our answer to TDS, I'm suggesting variations on that depending on the issues/circumstances. Such as TCS (Trump Cruelty Syndrome, TUS (Trump UnAmerican Syndrome), TBS (Trump Bully Syndrome), etc. I know there are intelligent witty folks in Hopium that can come up with suggestions that can bolster this fight. Let's hear it!
sorry I missed your comment; I've been thinking about slogan; right now going for We The People, also thought about America the Beautiful and America's Promise
From a longstanding progressive town to a conservative oil town. BAD. Not sure what is behind that, tbh. I would recommend reading Texas Monthly, they do outstanding investigative journalism and their coverage of Texas politics is excellent.
UPDATE: it looks like the move was bc new chair lives there, and folks are not happy about it.
The students are back on campus. While I love the quiet of our local university during the summer, I feel a sense of optimism and possibility when they return in the fall.
This morning I reached out to my contact at the university student union, WAWU-UAW Local 4929. I'm encouraging members to turn out for the No Kings rally in Bellingham on October 18.
I also made my daily phone calls to the offices of my members of Congress.
It would seem to me that Democrats could point out that Trump is bailing out Milei and his right-wing project in Argentina at the same time Argentina is getting soybean contracts from China.
How are farmers going to react when they realize we are bailing out a country which has taken their soybean contracts?
Self report: Still at postcarding, just a couple of activities planned over the weekend. Food distribution site and phone banking for CA 50.
Thanks everyone for your efforts. I'm always very impressed by how many things this community is doing.
Shoot! I meant to mention Milei in my calls yesterday and forgot. He is bonkers! Did you know that he cloned his dog and credited his dead dog for his win in his acceptance speech? He named the four puppies after right-wing economists. I will make a note of this for tomorrow's calls.
Yes! He used an American company called PerPETuate. Their website actually has a picture of him and his new dogs. https://www.perpetuate.net/index.html
he is a total nutjob who makes bolsonaro look sane. colombia might be the sanest country down there these days; they've got a real leftist president, and while he is not the most popular, guess what, the country is doing fine. they are even ranked higher than us in healthcare....
I don't know. I think there is discretionary money that he can probably control for foreign aid. I don't think Congress has to authorize everything. I'm not sure though. They probably could cancel it if they wanted to.
I'll keep an eye out for more info on how he would try to implement it and add if I find something. T is so weak now, not sure he'd have a clear route in Congress. Interesting, NE-02 R Don Bacon is co-sponsoring Ro Khanna's bill to remove tariffs on coffe with the argument that US does not produce coffee as inroad into taking back Congressional authority to set tariffs.
Your comment shows you aren't following any recent info about T's weakness - e.g., paid subscriber meeting/ today's video. why isn't Speaker letting Congress meet? what about the reducing tariff legislation? Epstein files?
Hi. Should we be worrying a lot about Sherrill (NJ)? This is my typical "one month to go" freakout, probably, but it feels like the polling isn't matching the reality.
Simon posted these the other day -- https://bsky.app/profile/simonwdc.bsky.social/post/3lzmhcbzp3c2d -- all great! But Emerson shows a completely different electorate and I feel like I haven't seen a single Sherrill sign or event locally. It probably isn't helping that folks are freaking out on Bluesky and Reddit as well.
a little freakout is not a bad thing; if people think mikie will win walking away, they may not bother. we need people to come out; we need newark, camden, jersey city et al to have big turnouts. the suburbs are going to be a battle and the property tax issue does not favor us, nor do utility rates, and that gets blamed on the incumbent party. jack c of course has no viable plan for utility rates or property taxes, and sherrill's ideas on property taxes are, frankly, the same stuff we have heard for decades about regionalization. it won't happen; when it is done, the locals complain and want their local high school back. the republican position is just get rid of teacher tenure and unions, fire them all, cut their benefits, and hire cheap teachers with emergency certificates. and of course, privatize everything in the schools, from the cafeteria to the social workers and psychologists. that won't happen either.
i find it strangely coincidental that this poll comes out just before the release of her military records, illegally i might add....the karl rove playbook; attack your opponent's strengths; now they can create the idea that she was a cheat at the naval academy and put her on defense, despite the fact that it is pretty obvious the trump people released her full file illegally and are no calling it an error. ffs her social security number is on every page. the only thing that should matter is her dd214, which i am sure is honorable. full stop. i for one am sick of this october surprise shit from the gop. she was not allowed to walk in graduation, which is a black mark, but she was awarded her degree and went on to serve honorably. now, are people gonno focus on the illegal gop ratfuckery, or will she be a new hillary? i fuckin hope not.
Here in NJ, my friends are upset by the Emerson poll, which my online research rates as credible. My husband canvassed for Mikie this weekend in the People’s Republic of Essex County and found the support for her lukewarm. We’re working to put her over the line first but I have always thought it’s going to be tight.
I hope she wins, but NJ can be a tough place and Jack is sleazy.
I am so appreciative of the clarity, focus and forcefulness you are conveying to us now - in this post and in our meeting yesterday. Your succinct comments are ones I will share with a sizable group of friends and family - also my local Indivisible group- that I communicate with regularly to suggest actions etc. I am redoubling my own efforts thru donations, calls, postcards, plans for October 18th - and especially working for Prop 50 since I live in CA. Many thanks, Simon.
"recent polling suggests that voters want us focusing on the economy/rising costs and threats to democracy..."
It would be a good label to say "the corrupt, lawless Trump Administration" The Tom Homan scandal should become as loud as the Epstein Files. The so-called border czar is on tape (audio and video) literally taking a bagful of cash ($50,000) last fall in exchange for promised future favors, and the Pam (nothing to see here) Bondi DOJ shut down the investigation. You'd think the public would be outraged.
We have to tag Trump and his cronies as corrupt.... every day in every way.
It seems to me that the Disney ABC boycott worked so well out of everything else that has been tried that we should use boycotts as our primary tool to weaken MAGA
Simon, last night you were talking about how farmers and farming communities were suffering under Trump's policies.
Maybe it's time to revive this quote from Harry S Truman (a former farmer) from his 1948 campaign:
"[A]ny farmer in these United States who votes against his own interests, that is, who votes the Republican ticket, ought to have his head examined!"
https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/address-the-kiel-auditorium-st-louis-missouri
I use a variant of the line. I frame it this way: "Anyone who votes against both their own best self-interests and those of the country deserves whatever consequences they invited for themselves." Neither do they deserve any sympathy. They must feel the pain; it might be the only way to get their attention. Some are like the followers of Jim Jones. Too far gone.
Monica Potts of The New Republic just did a story on this in the past few days: "Why Won’t Farmers Rebel Against Trumponomics? Because They’re Rich.... The majority of family farmers aren’t working-class strivers. They’re affluent, politically connected businessmen who know when their next bailout is coming."
https://newrepublic.com/article/200822/farmers-rebel-trumpnomics-tariffs-economy
Also in play is rural schools that have been decimated by decades of cuts, information deserts where Sinclair etc reign unchallenged, and "God wants you to vote republican" coming from way too many church pulpit.
There is something else at play. Germany in the 1920s and 30s was no information desert. Highly literate and educated on average. And yet.
Here, Dietrich Bonhoeffer's "Theory of Stupidity" applies. It's a type of moral intelligence...
https://youtu.be/ww47bR86wSc?si=caTnaofLlr8BfsAQ
Not 100% true - you can see that if you watch Farm Aid every year. Family farms are still a BFD, and they are still struggling 40 years after the first event. So much so that Dylan played a rare set for this year's event.
Potts, I think, really covers that well in her article. Yes, she says "there are exceptions," and mentions Farm Aid. However...
There are a lot of "exceptions." And as Simon pointed out, hard times for farmers also mean hard times for surrounding communities.
didn't read the piece yet, thanks for that. I will take the time to read thoroughly.
On a positive note -- Maybe more Americans will become vegetarians & learn to eat (and love) the soybeans that China is not buying.
Seems to me that a shutdown next week is inevitable and that Trump relishes it as a way to further shutter government functions and fire employees. Do you agree ?
A few notes. 1) If Trump and the Rs choose to shut the government down rather than negotiate, AND they illegally fire large numbers of federal employees do you think this will be good for them and the country? Something they can defend to the public? 2) There is no easy or safe path available to us any more, and we just have to fight. Not fighting encourages escalation, and based on the data available to us now if we fight hard and show courage should be able to get wins here. Trump is very, very weak right now.
See what Sen. Mark Kelly and whoever was on Colbert last night said about this. The trumplicans are shutting down the government because they don't want people to have healthcare.
Please narrow our legislative demands to the healthcare issue plus one other!! Please do not clog the national discussion with a demand on changing the tariffs which most folks don’t understand and what he will never agree to—THE ISSUE which will move a majority of the country will be to reduce the costs of healthcare insurance!!! Don’t expand the demands which will reduce the force of the health insurance??
"The Office of Management and Budget move to permanently reduce the government workforce if there is a shutdown, outlined in a memo shared with POLITICO ahead of release to agencies tonight, escalates the stakes of a potential shutdown next week."
https://www.politico.com/news/2025/09/24/white-house-firings-shutdown-00579909
https://www.politico.com/f/?id=00000199-7e8f-ddde-a199-fedf6c5d0000
Voted early on Tuesday in VA. Have been urging everyone in all the groups I’m a part of to do so. Turnout was apparently very high in Albemarle County (leans blue) the first day of early voting which I think is all we have data for. The Albemarle Dems had this in their newsletter today: “You vote early —> campaigns don’t need to focus on you —> campaigns reach more voters who do need persuading —> more Dems vote —> we win!”
If you have the chance to participate, this next No Kings national rally for 10/18 is growing by the day. The site has a map where you can locate an event close to you, as well as different Zoom sessions to help prepare for the protest. One thing I noticed at the last event were several cars that drove by with signs taped in the windows or people holding flags out the window, so that's yet another way to participate and show support the day of. I hope this rally is even bigger than the last one, and that one was pretty tremendous.
https://www.nokings.org/#map
busy day ahead so made my calls early. It seems farming is the theme of the morning. Called today to my 3 MD Dems to talk about illegal tariffs and farming. The tariffs- along with ending USAID have destroyed many farms. Neither the US or China are buying American produce (soy/ corn) so these crops have lost much of their market. In the meantime, government is doing deals with China on TikTok with T's big donors and rich buddies. And of course, now China is buying Argentina's soy while America is bailing out Argentina's government to tune of many billions of US dollars. And, then once again using American taxpayers dollars he is likely to bail out farmers as a kind of bribe. This is a cycle of corruption, criminality and cruelty we cannot let stand.
One of the things Simon has advocated for in the past is for Dems to come up with alternate slogans that have been terrifically successful for the Rs. Something to rival Make America Great Again and Trump Derangement Syndrome. For the former, I suggested Democracy Needs Us Now in a comment last week. No one on this thread reacted to it at all. As for our answer to TDS, I'm suggesting variations on that depending on the issues/circumstances. Such as TCS (Trump Cruelty Syndrome, TUS (Trump UnAmerican Syndrome), TBS (Trump Bully Syndrome), etc. I know there are intelligent witty folks in Hopium that can come up with suggestions that can bolster this fight. Let's hear it!
1) The Corrupt Lawless Trump Administration...
2) Democrats govern, Maga destroys
sorry I missed your comment; I've been thinking about slogan; right now going for We The People, also thought about America the Beautiful and America's Promise
I just read a piece in the Texas Tribune about the TX Democratic Chair moving the headquarters from Austin to Dallas. it's not a good look.
https://www.texastribune.org/2025/09/25/texas-democratic-party-dallas-staff-resignations-kendall-scudder/
I'm not sure what's going to happen next. If nothing else, it seems poorly timed.
From a longstanding progressive town to a conservative oil town. BAD. Not sure what is behind that, tbh. I would recommend reading Texas Monthly, they do outstanding investigative journalism and their coverage of Texas politics is excellent.
UPDATE: it looks like the move was bc new chair lives there, and folks are not happy about it.
The students are back on campus. While I love the quiet of our local university during the summer, I feel a sense of optimism and possibility when they return in the fall.
This morning I reached out to my contact at the university student union, WAWU-UAW Local 4929. I'm encouraging members to turn out for the No Kings rally in Bellingham on October 18.
I also made my daily phone calls to the offices of my members of Congress.
Join now in our Gorilla Warfare to fight for our Democracy for our children and their children. Might be a nice rallying cry.
In Florida they are marching during the No Kings for Open Carry. That is scary for a lot of us. They have been scheduled in the same place!
That does seem deliberately provocative. Also shows how frightened MAGA is by No Kings.
It would seem to me that Democrats could point out that Trump is bailing out Milei and his right-wing project in Argentina at the same time Argentina is getting soybean contracts from China.
How are farmers going to react when they realize we are bailing out a country which has taken their soybean contracts?
Self report: Still at postcarding, just a couple of activities planned over the weekend. Food distribution site and phone banking for CA 50.
Thanks everyone for your efforts. I'm always very impressed by how many things this community is doing.
Shoot! I meant to mention Milei in my calls yesterday and forgot. He is bonkers! Did you know that he cloned his dog and credited his dead dog for his win in his acceptance speech? He named the four puppies after right-wing economists. I will make a note of this for tomorrow's calls.
People actually pay to clone dogs? Weird.
He might be bonkers, but at least he likes dogs. Unlike our "leader".
Yes! He used an American company called PerPETuate. Their website actually has a picture of him and his new dogs. https://www.perpetuate.net/index.html
I guess like the Boys from Brazil, the Dogs from Argentina.
LOL!
he is a total nutjob who makes bolsonaro look sane. colombia might be the sanest country down there these days; they've got a real leftist president, and while he is not the most popular, guess what, the country is doing fine. they are even ranked higher than us in healthcare....
Uruguay is making tremendous strides in sustainable energy.
yes, uruguay is generally a quiet place; my son did research for his master's in paraguay, another under the radar country these days.
what is the mechanics of that? doesn't Congress have to authorize the aid?
I don't know. I think there is discretionary money that he can probably control for foreign aid. I don't think Congress has to authorize everything. I'm not sure though. They probably could cancel it if they wanted to.
I'll keep an eye out for more info on how he would try to implement it and add if I find something. T is so weak now, not sure he'd have a clear route in Congress. Interesting, NE-02 R Don Bacon is co-sponsoring Ro Khanna's bill to remove tariffs on coffe with the argument that US does not produce coffee as inroad into taking back Congressional authority to set tariffs.
https://riponadvance.com/stories/bacon-cosponsors-legislation-to-end-trumps-coffee-tariffs/
it's a 'swap line' - credit, perhaps this
https://som.yale.edu/story/2023/central-bank-swap-lines-primer
but I still don't understand how T has the authority to do it, would it be the Fed chair? Ken Martin commenting on it:
https://nitter.poast.org/kenmartin73/status/1971295400884670835#m
"Congress? We don' t need no stinking Congress!."
Your comment shows you aren't following any recent info about T's weakness - e.g., paid subscriber meeting/ today's video. why isn't Speaker letting Congress meet? what about the reducing tariff legislation? Epstein files?
I was speaking in terms of a classic movie line about "aid" that was mentioned.
Hi. Should we be worrying a lot about Sherrill (NJ)? This is my typical "one month to go" freakout, probably, but it feels like the polling isn't matching the reality.
Simon posted these the other day -- https://bsky.app/profile/simonwdc.bsky.social/post/3lzmhcbzp3c2d -- all great! But Emerson shows a completely different electorate and I feel like I haven't seen a single Sherrill sign or event locally. It probably isn't helping that folks are freaking out on Bluesky and Reddit as well.
Should I just breathe?
I think Simon addressed this in the video above. Republican junk polls are getting released to muck things up.
Not at all, watch Simon's talk. :)
a little freakout is not a bad thing; if people think mikie will win walking away, they may not bother. we need people to come out; we need newark, camden, jersey city et al to have big turnouts. the suburbs are going to be a battle and the property tax issue does not favor us, nor do utility rates, and that gets blamed on the incumbent party. jack c of course has no viable plan for utility rates or property taxes, and sherrill's ideas on property taxes are, frankly, the same stuff we have heard for decades about regionalization. it won't happen; when it is done, the locals complain and want their local high school back. the republican position is just get rid of teacher tenure and unions, fire them all, cut their benefits, and hire cheap teachers with emergency certificates. and of course, privatize everything in the schools, from the cafeteria to the social workers and psychologists. that won't happen either.
this garbage polling for NJ comes up every day. look at Simon's responses in the threads yesterday and the day before.
i find it strangely coincidental that this poll comes out just before the release of her military records, illegally i might add....the karl rove playbook; attack your opponent's strengths; now they can create the idea that she was a cheat at the naval academy and put her on defense, despite the fact that it is pretty obvious the trump people released her full file illegally and are no calling it an error. ffs her social security number is on every page. the only thing that should matter is her dd214, which i am sure is honorable. full stop. i for one am sick of this october surprise shit from the gop. she was not allowed to walk in graduation, which is a black mark, but she was awarded her degree and went on to serve honorably. now, are people gonno focus on the illegal gop ratfuckery, or will she be a new hillary? i fuckin hope not.
Here in NJ, my friends are upset by the Emerson poll, which my online research rates as credible. My husband canvassed for Mikie this weekend in the People’s Republic of Essex County and found the support for her lukewarm. We’re working to put her over the line first but I have always thought it’s going to be tight.
I hope she wins, but NJ can be a tough place and Jack is sleazy.
I do not believe the Emerson poll is an accurate reflection of where the race is and explain why tomorrow.
I am so appreciative of the clarity, focus and forcefulness you are conveying to us now - in this post and in our meeting yesterday. Your succinct comments are ones I will share with a sizable group of friends and family - also my local Indivisible group- that I communicate with regularly to suggest actions etc. I am redoubling my own efforts thru donations, calls, postcards, plans for October 18th - and especially working for Prop 50 since I live in CA. Many thanks, Simon.
"recent polling suggests that voters want us focusing on the economy/rising costs and threats to democracy..."
It would be a good label to say "the corrupt, lawless Trump Administration" The Tom Homan scandal should become as loud as the Epstein Files. The so-called border czar is on tape (audio and video) literally taking a bagful of cash ($50,000) last fall in exchange for promised future favors, and the Pam (nothing to see here) Bondi DOJ shut down the investigation. You'd think the public would be outraged.
We have to tag Trump and his cronies as corrupt.... every day in every way.
It seems to me that the Disney ABC boycott worked so well out of everything else that has been tried that we should use boycotts as our primary tool to weaken MAGA
Plenty of people can participate in boycotts who can't or won't show up at a protest. Tesla, Target, and Avelo (airline) can attest to this!
That's what Indivisible has been leaning toward, amongst other things. We'll see what they say on today's call at 3.
I am continuing to fight every day .... but can't 2 things be true at one time?
3 whistleblowers now.
https://open.substack.com/pub/thiswillhold/p/third-whistleblower-the-epstein-files?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android&r=2w2fkz