You’re not saying anything here. Just feelings, emotions, and you ignore that while the current situation is uncomfortable it’s both uncovering and allowing others to expose the lies we have been living under. Trump isn’t a threat to our country. The threat is many, many well educated people ignoring that we’ve been duped and mislead. The threat that we are facing is so many unwilling to accept that many in positions of power and decision making have betrayed their fellow citizens. They have sold us out to the highest bidder. Trump and what Elon thinks he is doing, likely not, would not be happening if those we entrusted actually put the country first. You only believe this to be certain because you need security so badly you’ll accept a false narrative to be right. We’ve been duped . All before Trump have failed us. Trump is a change agent . I see this because I don’t drink the Kool - Aid of either side. https://open.substack.com/pub/markbrent/p/idiot-factory-chapter-1
Trump would have been impeached during his first term if everyone had been willing to do their duty, to fulfill their oaths to the Constitution. Instead, they focussed on remaining in power and seeking to advance their own ambitions. Mitch McConnell bears a tremendous amount of responsibility for the current situation.
Mark “You’re Canadian so your opinion doesn’t matter” is a disgusting statement. Canada is drawn into this tariff-laden nihilistic worldwide catastrophe that is unfolding and somehow Canadians don’t count? Show some compassion for our abused Canadian neighbors. They are part of this conversation.
Trump Derangement Syndrome is such a pathetic misnomer. It tries to denote that anyone who isn't on board with the Trump program and is suffering in angst is just deluded and pitiful. No, no, no. Those fools that still support Trump are the ones that have TDS. Anyone who hasn't abandoned Trump yet is suffering from TDS. When you embrace the lies, the corruption, sexual abuse, the racism, misogyny, ridiculous ineptitude, isolationism, fake Christianity ( I love Jesus, I just don't love conservative white Christian nationalists)..... the list is endless. And 30% + of this cognitively impaired voting population still supports him as the Titanic USA has hits the iceberg and is starting to sink. You listen to the band playing its tunes and barely flinch as the cold water enters your cabin.
And no the Democrats are not just the same. Sure they have plenty of faults but they do not tilt at windmills or seek tyranny.
And if I have your version of TDS (a better name would be CTO (Concerned Trump Observer) then it because I am awake and see what is going on and it ain't pretty.
You’re not a concerned observer. You’re freaked out over shit you can’t control. Making assumptions about where people stand based on their observation to your baked in certainty. IMO your world view has been challenged and you can’t handle it… example, I never said one thing about TDS. You should read chapter 1 of my book on my stack to get where I am coming from. I’m not a Trumper but I can also see the insanity that many put forward as intelligence when they are really just wresting with their own cracked reality. Seriously, take the challenge. Read chapter 1 then come back.
I added the link later… chapter 1 explains what I am saying better than I can in a comment. That’s all. But sure I am on here to share my work. Find engaged people to read and provide feedback. But that’s probably not you… lol.
How can you say "I never said one thing about TDS " when this was your actual statement "You’re Canadian, so your opinion doesn’t matter… but you should read my book to learn why all this TDS is just you suffering… unnecessarily". And I didn't say you were a Trumper. And I am a concerned observer. Are you telling me I am not concerned, or I am not an observer? Most of us don't have control over the big picture but we can all have a small influence. Strength to move the dial comes in large numbers.
I just read your Chapter One. It is good and I can see myself in there. BUT I disagree with you in a major way. These conversations help construct reality. And it takes millions of these conversations every day to move society. The Vietnam War was stopped, the French and American Revolutions happened because people talked. And people marched. And protested. So I value much of what you say in Chapter One but I think the conclusion is empty, somewhat nihilist. So I am progressive and I think the Democrats are flawed. And conversation is part of what moves the dial. Power is overly concentrated in one man at the top right now. And it will take millions to protest and fight. And it will take years. The system is barely functioning as a democracy any more. Not hyperbole. Just fact.
At some deeper level yes this whole world is Leela. When I am the detached observer I can find inner peace. I can be in this world but not be of this world. That does not mean i don't participate. There may be superficial angst, sure, but please don't assume that is all that is going on when you say I am not "a concerned observer". Spare me your condescension.
First off I thought I was having different conversations… I didn’t think you were having TDS as much as struggling with the reality of what is going on and finding real anger in it. The other lady that’s just straight TDS when you shout from another country. Those people can fuck off. When Canada cleans up its own mess they can maybe say something to us.
Unfortunately, some of your comments are assuming that I’m writing a book that’s prescriptive in nature. I’m a fiction writer writing my first non-fiction book. I’m a fellow suffer. I’ve screamed into the void until I became bitter and unhappy. What I’m attempting to write and I’ve written 8 chapters so far more coming as I refine them is a crazy romp through why we can’t accept reality. I don’t think the time of Trump is anything more than change agent, exposing the corruption and ineffective government that we’ve lived under far too long. My book’s not about Trump. It just happens to fit this time. It’s about a lifetime of suffering until I decided not to suffer anymore.
When we accept that pain is a constant in life and resistance to reality is what brings suffering, and we drop that resistance then we stop suffering. At 58. I’ve learned this the hard way. Destroyed many things that were awesome in my life along the way.
What I’m trying to bring to the table is I disagree with you that all of this vitriol, and opinion, and screaming into the void is actually going to change the reality of what’s going on.
It’s when I stop doing that about Trump in particular that I saw that he’s only a change agent in a moment in time. He’s not gonna destroy this country unless we all give up and lose our collective fucking minds. But what is going to happen is we will never be able to look at the way our government has taken advantage of us on both sides And be able to act like that’s not how we’ve been governed.
But if you were to read the only other chapter, that is there, you’ll see the applies to relationships, our careers, and so so much more because we’re bound to find security through certainty. And that has us believing things that aren’t actually factual or reality. And it is my creative opinion, that this has been going on far too long and that’s why we’re seeing the chaos in response to Trump. All of this crazy response is only giving him more power. It is not going to change the fact that he is our president at this moment.
Think about it we just live through four years of a president that had the mental capacity to do nothing more than stand up and blather about things he didn’t even know he was talking about. And we’re still here.
So in short, what I’m writing about is how to find an effective peace, from experience, and like a fellow suffer, share what I’ve learned in what I hope is a compelling story.
Personally, I’ve never liked Trump. I’m afraid of people like Elon. But I can accept that that more than half the country wanted what they’re bringing to the table and voted for it. And if our politicians had done their job, there would be no Trump and there would be no Elon.
In the US at the moment the only opinions that matter are those of Trump and the supporters of his regime.
However, when the US farts, the whole world is exposed to the toxic gas. Unfortunately, this time the US is sharting and the world is going to be covered with something much worse. We here in Canada will experience it first and likely worse than any other country. So, I challenge your assertion about my right to an opinion. I won't waste my time reading your “book”.
No you’re sad because you’ve decided what is other people’s problems are your problems. You make yourself sad. It’s your control issues that saddens you.
We are going through a necessary reset. Our country was going broke through bad leadership. It’s stressful and creates uncertain times… but only people who think their singular opinion is so important that they need to shout it across borders are sad. Read the first chapter of my book. I’m a fellow suffer the things I say come from driving myself nuts. Then waking up.
What baloney!! “Trump isn’t a threat to our country”? Trump is an existential threat. At what point do you recognize this? Ignoring the Supreme Court wasn’t enough? What flavor of Kool-Aid are you drinking? Playing with tariffs like a 2 year old plays with a Jenga tower. He doesn’t have the skills.
You only believe this to be certain because you need security so badly you’ll accept a false narrative to be right. We’ve been duped . All before Trump have failed us. Trump is a change agent . I see this because I don’t drink the Kool - Aid of either side. https://open.substack.com/pub/markbrent/p/idiot-factory-chapter-1
The pendulum WILL swing, and since Democrats were captured by the uber left wing - ie far too extreme for the majority of Americans — now the pendulum needs to swing BEFORE it returns to a “center.”
Accountability is necessary. Cuts are necessary.
NPR (as just one example) cannot claim to be a non partisan news institution and be supported by tax dollars when ALL of its employees are registered Democrats with not a single Republican. That’s not balanced and it’s certainly not a “center” you speak of.
Reform was needed.
Perhaps you’d rather someone else do it? Fine, but nobody else was.
Given that the definition of a Republican has become someone who believes in lies and fantasies, it seems unsurprising that some organisations have become dominated by Democrats.
The solution is for people with right wing views to regain a solid connection with the real world. Then they will become employable again and the imbalance will go.
Most of my life I viewed left wingers as idealists and right wingers as realists. The tea party movement challenged that notion and Trump flipped it completely.
The Democrats were never wholly captured by the leftwing and in any case most Americans had plenty of constitutional and state protections against far left overreach. Including an incredibly reactionary Supreme Court for the past 30 years. You’re simply spouting propaganda that extremely rich men have been spreading like poison for decades in order to ensure they could live in a society where billionaires no longer had to be subjected to laws and consequences like ordinary citizens. They have now won. Congrats, I hope you feel that avoiding the danger a transwoman might try to use a bathroom somewhere was worth shredding the entire Constitution.
About 1% of NPR’s budget comes from the federal government. When Elon’s minions gut the CPB, what that will actually destroy is hundreds of independent public radio stations all over the country that serve communities and have, for decades, been crucial sources of local news and information.
If “cuts” and “accountability” are necessary—something that is always true—then we now have the absolute worst possible people in charge relative to that necessity. The most self-dealing, ignorant, incompetent and corrupt administration in the history of the USA. They are inveterate liars, their “service” oriented toward Trump and his whims, and their own self-aggrandizement and enrichment. Elon Musk and his baby thug bros are breaking the government’s spine, stealing our personal data, and moving with the speed, grace and precision of a blind bee-stung bull in a graphics chip factory. The White House is a firehouse of disinformation and stupidity that is breaking the law and flouting the Constitution every day, and is now defying the Supreme Court.
There is no defense for them, no excuse for them, no use for them; and very little hope for the rest of us.
"Broadcast the news. Period." is a completely meaningless phrase.
What is "the news," Alden? Do you have a universal definition of what is and what isn't "the news" that applies to every single situation in the history of the civilization? Of course not. Newsworthiness is subjective; the people who make that determination—editors, reporters, publishers, broadcasters—are educated, trained, to do so. But they will never please everyone, and if they were to try it would destroy the entire point of what they do.
Complaining about this from a place of ignorance about the very job of "the news" has become a great national bipartisan past-time.
Peabody award winning journalist, a Harvard fellow of 25 years at NPR, just sharing facts.. and you’re what - scared?
I’m not even a republican but man for preaching open-mindedness and educated, blah blah blah, the leftists sure are afraid of learning and expanding their minds.
For what it’s worth, the *center* to which the author refers is not a political one but military, and physical: In battle formation, the center of the line of men needs to stay intact for them to maintain their position and strength. If it breaks, well, that’s bad news.
The phrase “the center will not hold” comes from a Yeats poem, “The Second Coming,” and it’s actually “the centre cannot hold.”
News institutions should not be worried about whether their employees are Democrats or Republicans. Their goal should be to hire individuals who have demonstrated an ability and commitment to report factual information while being able to think and analyze critically.
If individuals who happen to be Republicans don't have those skills, well, then let the chips fall where they may. Besides which, they can always pretend to be journalists at Fox "News" or "News"max.
Our tax dollars should be used wisely, and dumbing down a publically supported news institution to make you feel better is, well, dumb. Remember, let's not let DEI get in the way of meritocracy.
Ok, so if Trump abolished NPR as we know it and replaced it with 100% conservative-leaning journalists you’d be cool with it? And what if he bragged specifically about it being non-partisan? And about your tax dollars paying their salaries?
Cmon Jamie, you wouldn’t buy the “unbiased” claim for a minute.
The sad part about Jamie is 1. There are dates for each mistake (or lie - depending on your opinion) for each admission of the Covid failures. Jamie will not embrace the admissions - even tho they be made by Fauci, Birx, Collins, Mandy Cohen, etc!
In other words the very carmaker has issued a recall yet Jamie says “nah I’ll just keep driving as is..”
and
2. Listen to the episode on NPR (don’t listen to me) - thus becoming more informed, not less informed.
I am not, nor should a news organization be, concerned with the "leanings" of an employee. They have a job to do, and if they do their job as I described above, then how they lean otherwise is of no concern to me...because facts don't lean.
Report the news and get the facts right...that's all I ask of a news organization.
Also, you are grossly misinformed about Covid spread.
- Covid is most certainly transmissible outside if you are in close proximity talking to someone who is shedding the virus and neither of you are masked. Outside is better than inside due to airflow, but to say that outside spread can't occur is simply not factual.
- Cloth masks, though far from perfect, actually did help with the reduction in the spread of the virus, especially when everyone was masked. The type of cloth, weave of the cloth, design of the mask, and number/type of layers used for the mask contributed to its efficacy. Although it was a bone-headed mistake to not make clear to the public that N95 and KN95 masks needed to be saved for our healthcare workers until production of said masks could be ramped up to create enough for everyone, cloth masks, coupled with social distancing, did help with limiting the spread of the virus.
- The Covid vaccines are safe and they have been tremendously helpful in keeping people out of the hospital and alive. And before you subject me to a rant about the small number of individuals who have been injured by a Covid vaccine or any vaccine, I'll remind you that THAT HAS ALWAYS BEEN THE CASE! There are always some small risks with any vaccine or any medicine for that matter! Have you ever read the "Cautions and Warnings" portion of a prescription medicine insert? Perhaps you ought to just give up on all medical care if you're this uneasy about a vaccine because virtually all medicines, treatments, surgeries and such come with some risks.
Also, never once did I hear it being said that the Covid vaccine would prevent transmission. I heard our medical officials (which, hopefully I don't need to point out, does not include Trump) say that there were HOPES that it would, but it was always with the caveat that only time would tell once enough people were vaccinated.
There was no narrative. There was a learning curve, as there will always be when presented with a new virus. The world I live in is imperfect, but, generally speaking, full of many people who do their best with the tools and knowledge that they have, to help others. I'll stay in this world, thank you very much.
lol omg Jamie — if there was no narrative then why were top level scientists at Stanford, J Hopkins, etc.. silenced on Twitter or pulled from YouTube, etc.. for “challenging” the narrative?
You are in so deep it’s truly shocking. The attempts to silence the Great Barrington Declaration says everything.
But you’re so deep probably even factual history will not get through..
Take care and please mask inside your own car, better safe than sorry right? 😂 ✌️
I appreciate your analysis of what has gone wrong. I agree with the commenters who point out that the decline of democracy has been coming for a long time and not just by Trump. He is a figurehead, perhaps even a sacrificial lamb in lion’s clothing. IMHO, we who lean liberal have been pretending that everything was OK because we were too comfortable. We wanted to believe that our politicians could be trusted and acted as if. In the meantime they were slowly chipping away, undermining the democracy that we assumed would last forever because it was good and just and right. I’m as guilty as the rest, immersed in my own personal challenges, too busy to be bothered. We thought we were awake and now we are seeing that the wool was being pulled across our eyes so gradually that we didn’t notice. We don’t want to admit that we were fooled, got taken advantage of, were gullible, because we are intelligent, compassionate people. Now the collapse has begun and we are behind. We have few strategies because we didn’t prepare for decades to oppose this coup hitting us at lightning speed. Now it’s time for us to stand strong and most of us don’t have a clue about how to do that. I’m looking for the leaders who will point the way, champion a better democracy than we had before. The old one is already gone. They need to be stopped and we need to rebuild. I wish I knew how. Until then, I’m not going anywhere and I hope you hang in there with me and the millions of other Americans who hate that this is happening to our precious country.
Mike, I first started with Thom Hartmann, Heather Cox Richardson, Robert Reich. They are all good. Who’s my favorite currently? Mike Brock. Geez, even Lev Parnas has a big following now. I hope your influence grows. I love the merging of philosophy and politics. You find lines of thinking and analysis that even these great others sometimes miss. I forward your essays to many friends.
Why do we act as though this just all of a sudden happened out of nowhere? Our country has been fading away for decades now under the likes of multiple administrations. To squarely place this on one man is absurd. Did we forget about the dismantling set in motion by Bush, Clinton, Bush Jr. and Obama? No my friends this has been going on for some time now.
Trump may have a different way of going about this. Some of it is necessary while other aspects are highly questionable just as in other administrations. I'm disappointed by government in general!!!
By "different way of going about this," I assume you mean trying to conduct a constitutional coup and operate outside of law, conduct arrests with no due process, and send people to foreign concentration camps in defiance of the courts? You think these things are a stylistic matter? Just a different approach, among many legitimate approaches?
Still can't face all the other bullshit that came before. Opening borders to traumatize our population. Sleeper cells of terrorists. Crushing our energy section. Treasonous Chinese ties by our President. Issuing Pardons for the guilty. I don't know but I see plenty wrong here too. The a cumulative effect is they have all screwed our country!!
I'm not condoning what's going on but I wonder did you act in this manner when Biden was abusing the Constitution and conducting Lawfare against his enemies? I'm looking for balance from you not necessarily about what's going on right now. They have all been instigating a coup. It doesn't matter about party. We get screwed no matter who's running the show.
You're telling me the Biden Administration attempted the exact same kind of coup that Trump is now attempting? Is this what you are trying to say? Are you mad?
No difference between a Communist and a Fascist. Are you mad?? Enough is enough!! Open your own eyes that the whole system of our Republic has been under attack for decades. It didnt start or not will it probably end with Trump!!
I see things more from a Hegelian Dialectic perspective. Dangerous no matter who's running the show. In the end citizens lose no matter what!!
Once you see the lies, corruption and government overreach, you cannot unsee it. The silver lining of Covid was that it pulled back the curtain and many of us saw the rot. The US government funded research that unleashed a global pandemic, then profited off a dangerous vaccine forced on the people, and are still covering it up. Where is the media? They are in on it. I can’t understand why more people aren’t outraged by this but will keep sounding the alarm. The vaunted institutions you cry about are compromised.
So because you are mad about these things, it's okay Trump is ignoring the Supreme Court and ruling by decree? Am I understanding your logic correctly?
There is much that needs to be fixed in this country. Focusing time and energy defending a wife-beating gang member who entered the country illegally is insane.
Okay, so... you're conceding my point then. You're not even disagreeing with me. You're acknowledging Trump is ignoring the constitution and you don't care. That makes you a traitor.
So, on behalf of all American patriots who maintain allegiance and fidelity to the United States Constitution, I have nothing other to offer your cultural grievances than a, fuck you Ms. Shepphird. You are a traitor. A disgrace. A person of poor moral character.
The lawless Biden regime ignored law and SCOTUS frequently. Anyone remember waiving mortgage and rent payments? How about canceling student loans? How about the lies that they couldn’t close the border without new laws? Biden’s behavior doesn’t excuse like behavior from Trump but I sure would like to know where the Dems were when their guy was breaking laws and telling the Republican to sue me for it.
This is exactly the type of message that needs to be said, and spread out. So thankful you have to ability to write with such clarity and determination.
And the true horror is that the demolition is not even the primary goal.
It's not that Hippo Don intends to destroy the American or World economy, it's not that Hippo Don intends to destroy American Democracy, or the Free Press, or the Rule of Law, because he doesn't understand any of these things, not even on the most basic conceptual level.
All Hippo Don wants is admiration - not loyalty, for loyalty is only the absence of criticism, a prerequisite for admiration. And Donny needs admiration to sustain the greatness in his own mind.
The destruction of America is not the goal, but mere collateral damage. Of Hippo Don's insatiable desire to think himself a genius...
Sadly, Hippo Don's puppeteers do have an agenda. It appears they want to return to a feudal society consisting of the owners of capital and poorly educated, poorly paid labour.
You say that, but you haven't added any details beyond that he's a Marxist and he sees "the faults in the capitalist system". That's light on detail. Is there any overview or review of his work that you'd like to share?
We have to hold and then push forward. It's not good enough to just hold. How can one fight when the objective is to hold. They are not holding - they are conquering. Fuck them. This will be a fight. Hopefully not physical, but in every legal manner that we can think of and communicate.
Keep flooding the zone with truth. We will fight. Emense gratitude for your words. Let light keep spilling into the cracks.
I enjoy the refreshing honesty of the presentation.
Among your finest essays in a long legacy of excellent posts.
You’re not saying anything here. Just feelings, emotions, and you ignore that while the current situation is uncomfortable it’s both uncovering and allowing others to expose the lies we have been living under. Trump isn’t a threat to our country. The threat is many, many well educated people ignoring that we’ve been duped and mislead. The threat that we are facing is so many unwilling to accept that many in positions of power and decision making have betrayed their fellow citizens. They have sold us out to the highest bidder. Trump and what Elon thinks he is doing, likely not, would not be happening if those we entrusted actually put the country first. You only believe this to be certain because you need security so badly you’ll accept a false narrative to be right. We’ve been duped . All before Trump have failed us. Trump is a change agent . I see this because I don’t drink the Kool - Aid of either side. https://open.substack.com/pub/markbrent/p/idiot-factory-chapter-1
Trump would have been impeached during his first term if everyone had been willing to do their duty, to fulfill their oaths to the Constitution. Instead, they focussed on remaining in power and seeking to advance their own ambitions. Mitch McConnell bears a tremendous amount of responsibility for the current situation.
You’re Canadian, so your opinion doesn’t matter… but you should read my book to learn why all this TDS is just you suffering… unnecessarily . https://open.substack.com/pub/markbrent/p/idiot-factory-chapter-1
Mark “You’re Canadian so your opinion doesn’t matter” is a disgusting statement. Canada is drawn into this tariff-laden nihilistic worldwide catastrophe that is unfolding and somehow Canadians don’t count? Show some compassion for our abused Canadian neighbors. They are part of this conversation.
Trump Derangement Syndrome is such a pathetic misnomer. It tries to denote that anyone who isn't on board with the Trump program and is suffering in angst is just deluded and pitiful. No, no, no. Those fools that still support Trump are the ones that have TDS. Anyone who hasn't abandoned Trump yet is suffering from TDS. When you embrace the lies, the corruption, sexual abuse, the racism, misogyny, ridiculous ineptitude, isolationism, fake Christianity ( I love Jesus, I just don't love conservative white Christian nationalists)..... the list is endless. And 30% + of this cognitively impaired voting population still supports him as the Titanic USA has hits the iceberg and is starting to sink. You listen to the band playing its tunes and barely flinch as the cold water enters your cabin.
And no the Democrats are not just the same. Sure they have plenty of faults but they do not tilt at windmills or seek tyranny.
And if I have your version of TDS (a better name would be CTO (Concerned Trump Observer) then it because I am awake and see what is going on and it ain't pretty.
You’re not a concerned observer. You’re freaked out over shit you can’t control. Making assumptions about where people stand based on their observation to your baked in certainty. IMO your world view has been challenged and you can’t handle it… example, I never said one thing about TDS. You should read chapter 1 of my book on my stack to get where I am coming from. I’m not a Trumper but I can also see the insanity that many put forward as intelligence when they are really just wresting with their own cracked reality. Seriously, take the challenge. Read chapter 1 then come back.
Yeah, we get it...you want us to read your book.
I added the link later… chapter 1 explains what I am saying better than I can in a comment. That’s all. But sure I am on here to share my work. Find engaged people to read and provide feedback. But that’s probably not you… lol.
How can you say "I never said one thing about TDS " when this was your actual statement "You’re Canadian, so your opinion doesn’t matter… but you should read my book to learn why all this TDS is just you suffering… unnecessarily". And I didn't say you were a Trumper. And I am a concerned observer. Are you telling me I am not concerned, or I am not an observer? Most of us don't have control over the big picture but we can all have a small influence. Strength to move the dial comes in large numbers.
I just read your Chapter One. It is good and I can see myself in there. BUT I disagree with you in a major way. These conversations help construct reality. And it takes millions of these conversations every day to move society. The Vietnam War was stopped, the French and American Revolutions happened because people talked. And people marched. And protested. So I value much of what you say in Chapter One but I think the conclusion is empty, somewhat nihilist. So I am progressive and I think the Democrats are flawed. And conversation is part of what moves the dial. Power is overly concentrated in one man at the top right now. And it will take millions to protest and fight. And it will take years. The system is barely functioning as a democracy any more. Not hyperbole. Just fact.
At some deeper level yes this whole world is Leela. When I am the detached observer I can find inner peace. I can be in this world but not be of this world. That does not mean i don't participate. There may be superficial angst, sure, but please don't assume that is all that is going on when you say I am not "a concerned observer". Spare me your condescension.
First off I thought I was having different conversations… I didn’t think you were having TDS as much as struggling with the reality of what is going on and finding real anger in it. The other lady that’s just straight TDS when you shout from another country. Those people can fuck off. When Canada cleans up its own mess they can maybe say something to us.
Unfortunately, some of your comments are assuming that I’m writing a book that’s prescriptive in nature. I’m a fiction writer writing my first non-fiction book. I’m a fellow suffer. I’ve screamed into the void until I became bitter and unhappy. What I’m attempting to write and I’ve written 8 chapters so far more coming as I refine them is a crazy romp through why we can’t accept reality. I don’t think the time of Trump is anything more than change agent, exposing the corruption and ineffective government that we’ve lived under far too long. My book’s not about Trump. It just happens to fit this time. It’s about a lifetime of suffering until I decided not to suffer anymore.
When we accept that pain is a constant in life and resistance to reality is what brings suffering, and we drop that resistance then we stop suffering. At 58. I’ve learned this the hard way. Destroyed many things that were awesome in my life along the way.
What I’m trying to bring to the table is I disagree with you that all of this vitriol, and opinion, and screaming into the void is actually going to change the reality of what’s going on.
It’s when I stop doing that about Trump in particular that I saw that he’s only a change agent in a moment in time. He’s not gonna destroy this country unless we all give up and lose our collective fucking minds. But what is going to happen is we will never be able to look at the way our government has taken advantage of us on both sides And be able to act like that’s not how we’ve been governed.
But if you were to read the only other chapter, that is there, you’ll see the applies to relationships, our careers, and so so much more because we’re bound to find security through certainty. And that has us believing things that aren’t actually factual or reality. And it is my creative opinion, that this has been going on far too long and that’s why we’re seeing the chaos in response to Trump. All of this crazy response is only giving him more power. It is not going to change the fact that he is our president at this moment.
Think about it we just live through four years of a president that had the mental capacity to do nothing more than stand up and blather about things he didn’t even know he was talking about. And we’re still here.
So in short, what I’m writing about is how to find an effective peace, from experience, and like a fellow suffer, share what I’ve learned in what I hope is a compelling story.
Personally, I’ve never liked Trump. I’m afraid of people like Elon. But I can accept that that more than half the country wanted what they’re bringing to the table and voted for it. And if our politicians had done their job, there would be no Trump and there would be no Elon.
In the US at the moment the only opinions that matter are those of Trump and the supporters of his regime.
However, when the US farts, the whole world is exposed to the toxic gas. Unfortunately, this time the US is sharting and the world is going to be covered with something much worse. We here in Canada will experience it first and likely worse than any other country. So, I challenge your assertion about my right to an opinion. I won't waste my time reading your “book”.
When you get your house in order you might be able to condemn mine.
Actually, I am deeply saddened by what is happening in the US.
No you’re sad because you’ve decided what is other people’s problems are your problems. You make yourself sad. It’s your control issues that saddens you.
We are going through a necessary reset. Our country was going broke through bad leadership. It’s stressful and creates uncertain times… but only people who think their singular opinion is so important that they need to shout it across borders are sad. Read the first chapter of my book. I’m a fellow suffer the things I say come from driving myself nuts. Then waking up.
What baloney!! “Trump isn’t a threat to our country”? Trump is an existential threat. At what point do you recognize this? Ignoring the Supreme Court wasn’t enough? What flavor of Kool-Aid are you drinking? Playing with tariffs like a 2 year old plays with a Jenga tower. He doesn’t have the skills.
You only believe this to be certain because you need security so badly you’ll accept a false narrative to be right. We’ve been duped . All before Trump have failed us. Trump is a change agent . I see this because I don’t drink the Kool - Aid of either side. https://open.substack.com/pub/markbrent/p/idiot-factory-chapter-1
I hear you, Mike. You’re right. God, I wish you weren’t. Some of us will hold. I have no idea that it will be enough of us, but some of us will hold.
You are not screaming into the void. You are bringing solace to hearts and heads that feel the danger but can’t grasp it.
You’re showing us how to hold it.
The pendulum WILL swing, and since Democrats were captured by the uber left wing - ie far too extreme for the majority of Americans — now the pendulum needs to swing BEFORE it returns to a “center.”
Accountability is necessary. Cuts are necessary.
NPR (as just one example) cannot claim to be a non partisan news institution and be supported by tax dollars when ALL of its employees are registered Democrats with not a single Republican. That’s not balanced and it’s certainly not a “center” you speak of.
Reform was needed.
Perhaps you’d rather someone else do it? Fine, but nobody else was.
Given that the definition of a Republican has become someone who believes in lies and fantasies, it seems unsurprising that some organisations have become dominated by Democrats.
The solution is for people with right wing views to regain a solid connection with the real world. Then they will become employable again and the imbalance will go.
Most of my life I viewed left wingers as idealists and right wingers as realists. The tea party movement challenged that notion and Trump flipped it completely.
The trouble is that the Trump Administration has ripped the pendulum out of the clock.
The Democrats were never wholly captured by the leftwing and in any case most Americans had plenty of constitutional and state protections against far left overreach. Including an incredibly reactionary Supreme Court for the past 30 years. You’re simply spouting propaganda that extremely rich men have been spreading like poison for decades in order to ensure they could live in a society where billionaires no longer had to be subjected to laws and consequences like ordinary citizens. They have now won. Congrats, I hope you feel that avoiding the danger a transwoman might try to use a bathroom somewhere was worth shredding the entire Constitution.
About 1% of NPR’s budget comes from the federal government. When Elon’s minions gut the CPB, what that will actually destroy is hundreds of independent public radio stations all over the country that serve communities and have, for decades, been crucial sources of local news and information.
If “cuts” and “accountability” are necessary—something that is always true—then we now have the absolute worst possible people in charge relative to that necessity. The most self-dealing, ignorant, incompetent and corrupt administration in the history of the USA. They are inveterate liars, their “service” oriented toward Trump and his whims, and their own self-aggrandizement and enrichment. Elon Musk and his baby thug bros are breaking the government’s spine, stealing our personal data, and moving with the speed, grace and precision of a blind bee-stung bull in a graphics chip factory. The White House is a firehouse of disinformation and stupidity that is breaking the law and flouting the Constitution every day, and is now defying the Supreme Court.
There is no defense for them, no excuse for them, no use for them; and very little hope for the rest of us.
Serving communities has morphed into activism. Broadcast the news. Period.
Serving communities has ALWAYS BEEN activism.
"Broadcast the news. Period." is a completely meaningless phrase.
What is "the news," Alden? Do you have a universal definition of what is and what isn't "the news" that applies to every single situation in the history of the civilization? Of course not. Newsworthiness is subjective; the people who make that determination—editors, reporters, publishers, broadcasters—are educated, trained, to do so. But they will never please everyone, and if they were to try it would destroy the entire point of what they do.
Complaining about this from a place of ignorance about the very job of "the news" has become a great national bipartisan past-time.
Listen then reply.
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/honestly-with-bari-weiss/id1570872415?i=1000651871685
No thanks.
Peabody award winning journalist, a Harvard fellow of 25 years at NPR, just sharing facts.. and you’re what - scared?
I’m not even a republican but man for preaching open-mindedness and educated, blah blah blah, the leftists sure are afraid of learning and expanding their minds.
Goodness
For what it’s worth, the *center* to which the author refers is not a political one but military, and physical: In battle formation, the center of the line of men needs to stay intact for them to maintain their position and strength. If it breaks, well, that’s bad news.
The phrase “the center will not hold” comes from a Yeats poem, “The Second Coming,” and it’s actually “the centre cannot hold.”
Alden,
News institutions should not be worried about whether their employees are Democrats or Republicans. Their goal should be to hire individuals who have demonstrated an ability and commitment to report factual information while being able to think and analyze critically.
If individuals who happen to be Republicans don't have those skills, well, then let the chips fall where they may. Besides which, they can always pretend to be journalists at Fox "News" or "News"max.
Our tax dollars should be used wisely, and dumbing down a publically supported news institution to make you feel better is, well, dumb. Remember, let's not let DEI get in the way of meritocracy.
Ok, so if Trump abolished NPR as we know it and replaced it with 100% conservative-leaning journalists you’d be cool with it? And what if he bragged specifically about it being non-partisan? And about your tax dollars paying their salaries?
Cmon Jamie, you wouldn’t buy the “unbiased” claim for a minute.
The sad part about Jamie is 1. There are dates for each mistake (or lie - depending on your opinion) for each admission of the Covid failures. Jamie will not embrace the admissions - even tho they be made by Fauci, Birx, Collins, Mandy Cohen, etc!
In other words the very carmaker has issued a recall yet Jamie says “nah I’ll just keep driving as is..”
and
2. Listen to the episode on NPR (don’t listen to me) - thus becoming more informed, not less informed.
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/honestly-with-bari-weiss/id1570872415?i=1000651871685
Alden,
I think you missed my point.
I am not, nor should a news organization be, concerned with the "leanings" of an employee. They have a job to do, and if they do their job as I described above, then how they lean otherwise is of no concern to me...because facts don't lean.
Report the news and get the facts right...that's all I ask of a news organization.
Facts don’t lean? Jamie the following (and more) were reported as “facts” over the past 5 years by NPR:
There was Russian collusion in 2016 (untrue)
Outdoor COVID spread happens (untrue)
Cloth and t shirt masks would stop the v (untrue)
All ages were at serious risk from COVID (untrue)
Remote learning would not have negative consequences (untrue)
The vaccine was safe and effective and it would stop transmission of the V (untrue, and now even the cdc changed the definition.)
These “facts” were not shared by NPR and others because they went against the narrative.
I agree with you in theory, however in NPR’s case, the damage to trust is already done and they can no longer claim to be unbiased.
Alden,
That is correct. Facts don't LEAN.
Also, you are grossly misinformed about Covid spread.
- Covid is most certainly transmissible outside if you are in close proximity talking to someone who is shedding the virus and neither of you are masked. Outside is better than inside due to airflow, but to say that outside spread can't occur is simply not factual.
- Cloth masks, though far from perfect, actually did help with the reduction in the spread of the virus, especially when everyone was masked. The type of cloth, weave of the cloth, design of the mask, and number/type of layers used for the mask contributed to its efficacy. Although it was a bone-headed mistake to not make clear to the public that N95 and KN95 masks needed to be saved for our healthcare workers until production of said masks could be ramped up to create enough for everyone, cloth masks, coupled with social distancing, did help with limiting the spread of the virus.
https://www.phc.ox.ac.uk/news/comprehensive-review-confirms-masks-reduce-covid-19-transmission
- The Covid vaccines are safe and they have been tremendously helpful in keeping people out of the hospital and alive. And before you subject me to a rant about the small number of individuals who have been injured by a Covid vaccine or any vaccine, I'll remind you that THAT HAS ALWAYS BEEN THE CASE! There are always some small risks with any vaccine or any medicine for that matter! Have you ever read the "Cautions and Warnings" portion of a prescription medicine insert? Perhaps you ought to just give up on all medical care if you're this uneasy about a vaccine because virtually all medicines, treatments, surgeries and such come with some risks.
Also, never once did I hear it being said that the Covid vaccine would prevent transmission. I heard our medical officials (which, hopefully I don't need to point out, does not include Trump) say that there were HOPES that it would, but it was always with the caveat that only time would tell once enough people were vaccinated.
There was no narrative. There was a learning curve, as there will always be when presented with a new virus. The world I live in is imperfect, but, generally speaking, full of many people who do their best with the tools and knowledge that they have, to help others. I'll stay in this world, thank you very much.
lol omg Jamie — if there was no narrative then why were top level scientists at Stanford, J Hopkins, etc.. silenced on Twitter or pulled from YouTube, etc.. for “challenging” the narrative?
You are in so deep it’s truly shocking. The attempts to silence the Great Barrington Declaration says everything.
But you’re so deep probably even factual history will not get through..
Take care and please mask inside your own car, better safe than sorry right? 😂 ✌️
https://youtu.be/vM3J9jDoaTA
I appreciate your analysis of what has gone wrong. I agree with the commenters who point out that the decline of democracy has been coming for a long time and not just by Trump. He is a figurehead, perhaps even a sacrificial lamb in lion’s clothing. IMHO, we who lean liberal have been pretending that everything was OK because we were too comfortable. We wanted to believe that our politicians could be trusted and acted as if. In the meantime they were slowly chipping away, undermining the democracy that we assumed would last forever because it was good and just and right. I’m as guilty as the rest, immersed in my own personal challenges, too busy to be bothered. We thought we were awake and now we are seeing that the wool was being pulled across our eyes so gradually that we didn’t notice. We don’t want to admit that we were fooled, got taken advantage of, were gullible, because we are intelligent, compassionate people. Now the collapse has begun and we are behind. We have few strategies because we didn’t prepare for decades to oppose this coup hitting us at lightning speed. Now it’s time for us to stand strong and most of us don’t have a clue about how to do that. I’m looking for the leaders who will point the way, champion a better democracy than we had before. The old one is already gone. They need to be stopped and we need to rebuild. I wish I knew how. Until then, I’m not going anywhere and I hope you hang in there with me and the millions of other Americans who hate that this is happening to our precious country.
Mike, I first started with Thom Hartmann, Heather Cox Richardson, Robert Reich. They are all good. Who’s my favorite currently? Mike Brock. Geez, even Lev Parnas has a big following now. I hope your influence grows. I love the merging of philosophy and politics. You find lines of thinking and analysis that even these great others sometimes miss. I forward your essays to many friends.
Solid choices.
I'd also recommend:
https://americansunlight.substack.com/
https://claireberlinski.substack.com/
https://michaeldsellers.substack.com/
https://substack.com/@fairycrank
https://www.mind-war.com/
https://www.muskwatch.com/
https://substack.com/@thucydides604012
https://kellihere.substack.com/
Why do we act as though this just all of a sudden happened out of nowhere? Our country has been fading away for decades now under the likes of multiple administrations. To squarely place this on one man is absurd. Did we forget about the dismantling set in motion by Bush, Clinton, Bush Jr. and Obama? No my friends this has been going on for some time now.
Trump may have a different way of going about this. Some of it is necessary while other aspects are highly questionable just as in other administrations. I'm disappointed by government in general!!!
By "different way of going about this," I assume you mean trying to conduct a constitutional coup and operate outside of law, conduct arrests with no due process, and send people to foreign concentration camps in defiance of the courts? You think these things are a stylistic matter? Just a different approach, among many legitimate approaches?
Still can't face all the other bullshit that came before. Opening borders to traumatize our population. Sleeper cells of terrorists. Crushing our energy section. Treasonous Chinese ties by our President. Issuing Pardons for the guilty. I don't know but I see plenty wrong here too. The a cumulative effect is they have all screwed our country!!
What does this have to do with the current executive trying to usurp unchecked power illegally? I'm still not following.
I'm not condoning what's going on but I wonder did you act in this manner when Biden was abusing the Constitution and conducting Lawfare against his enemies? I'm looking for balance from you not necessarily about what's going on right now. They have all been instigating a coup. It doesn't matter about party. We get screwed no matter who's running the show.
You're telling me the Biden Administration attempted the exact same kind of coup that Trump is now attempting? Is this what you are trying to say? Are you mad?
No difference between a Communist and a Fascist. Are you mad?? Enough is enough!! Open your own eyes that the whole system of our Republic has been under attack for decades. It didnt start or not will it probably end with Trump!!
I see things more from a Hegelian Dialectic perspective. Dangerous no matter who's running the show. In the end citizens lose no matter what!!
Your voice matters - ignore the unsubscribed 💕
Once you see the lies, corruption and government overreach, you cannot unsee it. The silver lining of Covid was that it pulled back the curtain and many of us saw the rot. The US government funded research that unleashed a global pandemic, then profited off a dangerous vaccine forced on the people, and are still covering it up. Where is the media? They are in on it. I can’t understand why more people aren’t outraged by this but will keep sounding the alarm. The vaunted institutions you cry about are compromised.
So because you are mad about these things, it's okay Trump is ignoring the Supreme Court and ruling by decree? Am I understanding your logic correctly?
There is much that needs to be fixed in this country. Focusing time and energy defending a wife-beating gang member who entered the country illegally is insane.
Okay, so... you're conceding my point then. You're not even disagreeing with me. You're acknowledging Trump is ignoring the constitution and you don't care. That makes you a traitor.
So, on behalf of all American patriots who maintain allegiance and fidelity to the United States Constitution, I have nothing other to offer your cultural grievances than a, fuck you Ms. Shepphird. You are a traitor. A disgrace. A person of poor moral character.
The lawless Biden regime ignored law and SCOTUS frequently. Anyone remember waiving mortgage and rent payments? How about canceling student loans? How about the lies that they couldn’t close the border without new laws? Biden’s behavior doesn’t excuse like behavior from Trump but I sure would like to know where the Dems were when their guy was breaking laws and telling the Republican to sue me for it.
What. The actual fuck.
This is exactly the type of message that needs to be said, and spread out. So thankful you have to ability to write with such clarity and determination.
And the true horror is that the demolition is not even the primary goal.
It's not that Hippo Don intends to destroy the American or World economy, it's not that Hippo Don intends to destroy American Democracy, or the Free Press, or the Rule of Law, because he doesn't understand any of these things, not even on the most basic conceptual level.
All Hippo Don wants is admiration - not loyalty, for loyalty is only the absence of criticism, a prerequisite for admiration. And Donny needs admiration to sustain the greatness in his own mind.
The destruction of America is not the goal, but mere collateral damage. Of Hippo Don's insatiable desire to think himself a genius...
Sadly, Hippo Don's puppeteers do have an agenda. It appears they want to return to a feudal society consisting of the owners of capital and poorly educated, poorly paid labour.
Richard Wolff has much to say about what is really destroying America from within.
At a glance, there appear to be multiple criticisms of Wolff's work. What does he bring to the table?
https://www.reddit.com/r/AskEconomics/comments/aez6t3/what_are_some_criticisms_of_richard_d_wolff_as_an/
Yes Wolff is a Marxist. I am not. That fact does not destroy his ability to see the faults in the capitalist system.
Richard Wolff brings a lot to the table and has been for years.
You say that, but you haven't added any details beyond that he's a Marxist and he sees "the faults in the capitalist system". That's light on detail. Is there any overview or review of his work that you'd like to share?
I would say a very well informed historical perspective of the interface between economics and geopolitics
Right, but in what way?
Thats for you to explore - he has a substantial body of work to research if you’re interested
Vague answers are unhelpful.
We have to hold and then push forward. It's not good enough to just hold. How can one fight when the objective is to hold. They are not holding - they are conquering. Fuck them. This will be a fight. Hopefully not physical, but in every legal manner that we can think of and communicate.
I have no words clearer and stronger than yours.