Thanks for this. I am having an issue on the home front. I share with my wife what I am reading, especially posts like The Plot Against America. But she won't do anything—no phone calls, no nothing. I make her mad—on purpose—when I say that she would have been like millions in Germany, clutching at pearls, but no public pushback. I am all out, everyday, writing blogs, sending emails to the media and pols, feeding my Facebook pages, making comments on blogs, like this one, and on the DailyKos, who actually published one of my pieces. It trended well for 36 hours. I get up every morning thinking about how I am going to resist that day. I am a small influencer with maybe a total audience of 200 from my Substack, and a couple of private, political Facebook pages. She is now scared for me and wants me to tone it down. I am not Jeff Tedrich, but would like to be. I am not rude, but can be sarcastic, snide and snarky. I will not tone it down.
Mike: I agree with your sentiment: “Politeness and caution don't deter authoritarians; they embolden them”. It is one thing for us to share like-minded opinions here on Substack, but I think it is time for people to gather together and demonstrate they SEE what is happening, are “mad as hell, and aren’t going to take it anymore!” I think it was Beto O’Rourke who suggested we all contact our state representatives, and demand they hold town hall meetings. In my mind, his strategy was to give us a reason to take to the streets, show up and be counted….something has to be done beyond politely talking about it.
A useful martial arts move when confronted with a formidable opponent is called constructive retreat. It is a disciplined retreat with a view to timing blows while retreating to throw the opponent off so that an opportunity for a countermovement and advance is possible.
I see both sides of this. The right has been playing really dirty while the left has not wanted to stoop to their level, and that adherence to the norms helped us get here. So that makes me think we need to take off the gloves and get in the mud. I also have drastically changed my comms to protect myself from surveillance and I have mixed feelings about that. I actually had a small role in the Harris Walz campaign and just that little involvement strikes fear in me because when they do start using AI to create a surveillance profile on all citizens, to decide who gets benefits or not, or worse, I’m sure that will be in mine.
I'm afraid I agree with Popehat, Mike. One thing I have learned over and over from him and other experienced lawyers is that the feds can fuck you over in ways that slap-suiting bozos like Michael Cohen, in his Trump years, cannot. they can ruin your finances, you family and your mental health.
And that's in normal times. A total and complete motherfucker like EagleEd Martin would relish the opportunity and ramp it up.
I'm sure you know who Garcia is. He's anything but rich, and probably doesn't have anyone to bankroll the representation he would need.
Feels like Vance’s straw man victimization under the banner of “freedom of speech” was the front of the hand while this subtextual threat of “demanding an explanation” was the back of the hand. They don’t want freedom or explanation; they want to spray-paint their narrative over the constitution so nothing else can be read.
I rarely disagree with PopeHat Ken White, however I think his caution in this instance is misplaced. On the other hand, your approach might not be the best way to handle this situation. Might we find a middle ground approach? I agree that it should not pass without a strong response, but maybe leavened with a bit more grace. Just my 2cents worth.
You need to utilize the Substack payment system. That should help greatly with paid subscriptions, including mine. I just attempted to subscribe, which took me to your website requesting entry of my payment information. That won't work for me (risky), and I would really like to support your site.
OK, Mike. I successfully subscribed with Substack using the saved format I have grown comfortable using. Might have been where I was attempting to subscribe, possible a sub link or something within the Substack system that took me to the unfamiliar domain that Microsoft did not recognize. Whatever, I am now proudly subscribed to your outstanding Substack. Putting my money where my heart, pride of country and mouth are.
I'm no expert on setting up Substack payments, but I do not normally have to enter credit card information, and I have over 15 Substack subscriptions purchased automatically through the Substack payment system which saves my information. Hope you can find the answer soon, as your posts really need to be propagated widely, IMO. Please keep me posted. I suspect the subscription page going offsite to your domain is the issue.
Thanks for this. I am having an issue on the home front. I share with my wife what I am reading, especially posts like The Plot Against America. But she won't do anything—no phone calls, no nothing. I make her mad—on purpose—when I say that she would have been like millions in Germany, clutching at pearls, but no public pushback. I am all out, everyday, writing blogs, sending emails to the media and pols, feeding my Facebook pages, making comments on blogs, like this one, and on the DailyKos, who actually published one of my pieces. It trended well for 36 hours. I get up every morning thinking about how I am going to resist that day. I am a small influencer with maybe a total audience of 200 from my Substack, and a couple of private, political Facebook pages. She is now scared for me and wants me to tone it down. I am not Jeff Tedrich, but would like to be. I am not rude, but can be sarcastic, snide and snarky. I will not tone it down.
Mike: I agree with your sentiment: “Politeness and caution don't deter authoritarians; they embolden them”. It is one thing for us to share like-minded opinions here on Substack, but I think it is time for people to gather together and demonstrate they SEE what is happening, are “mad as hell, and aren’t going to take it anymore!” I think it was Beto O’Rourke who suggested we all contact our state representatives, and demand they hold town hall meetings. In my mind, his strategy was to give us a reason to take to the streets, show up and be counted….something has to be done beyond politely talking about it.
A useful martial arts move when confronted with a formidable opponent is called constructive retreat. It is a disciplined retreat with a view to timing blows while retreating to throw the opponent off so that an opportunity for a countermovement and advance is possible.
I see both sides of this. The right has been playing really dirty while the left has not wanted to stoop to their level, and that adherence to the norms helped us get here. So that makes me think we need to take off the gloves and get in the mud. I also have drastically changed my comms to protect myself from surveillance and I have mixed feelings about that. I actually had a small role in the Harris Walz campaign and just that little involvement strikes fear in me because when they do start using AI to create a surveillance profile on all citizens, to decide who gets benefits or not, or worse, I’m sure that will be in mine.
I'm afraid I agree with Popehat, Mike. One thing I have learned over and over from him and other experienced lawyers is that the feds can fuck you over in ways that slap-suiting bozos like Michael Cohen, in his Trump years, cannot. they can ruin your finances, you family and your mental health.
And that's in normal times. A total and complete motherfucker like EagleEd Martin would relish the opportunity and ramp it up.
I'm sure you know who Garcia is. He's anything but rich, and probably doesn't have anyone to bankroll the representation he would need.
There are just 3 ways to control psychopaths: bribery, bullying and blackmail. These are the methods that now must be deployed.
In addition, psychopaths are utterly ruthless and never forget a slight, so in order to remain safe from them, one needs to be totally ruthless.
Feels like Vance’s straw man victimization under the banner of “freedom of speech” was the front of the hand while this subtextual threat of “demanding an explanation” was the back of the hand. They don’t want freedom or explanation; they want to spray-paint their narrative over the constitution so nothing else can be read.
I rarely disagree with PopeHat Ken White, however I think his caution in this instance is misplaced. On the other hand, your approach might not be the best way to handle this situation. Might we find a middle ground approach? I agree that it should not pass without a strong response, but maybe leavened with a bit more grace. Just my 2cents worth.
You need to utilize the Substack payment system. That should help greatly with paid subscriptions, including mine. I just attempted to subscribe, which took me to your website requesting entry of my payment information. That won't work for me (risky), and I would really like to support your site.
I do use Substack payments as far as I know!
OK, Mike. I successfully subscribed with Substack using the saved format I have grown comfortable using. Might have been where I was attempting to subscribe, possible a sub link or something within the Substack system that took me to the unfamiliar domain that Microsoft did not recognize. Whatever, I am now proudly subscribed to your outstanding Substack. Putting my money where my heart, pride of country and mouth are.
🙏
I'm no expert on setting up Substack payments, but I do not normally have to enter credit card information, and I have over 15 Substack subscriptions purchased automatically through the Substack payment system which saves my information. Hope you can find the answer soon, as your posts really need to be propagated widely, IMO. Please keep me posted. I suspect the subscription page going offsite to your domain is the issue.