After spending my whole life looking at the USA as a bastion of decency, honour and democracy, I am saddened to see it descend in such a short period of time into a nascent fascist, angry, hateful, bigoted and misogynistic place. And even sadder is the growing realization that this ideological disease is spreading into enough hearts and minds that it may be never be stopped.
This disease is now in my country, spread across our borders and our airwaves by the same merchants of Fascisism that have spread yours. From my point of view, here’s hoping our foundations, and our people will be strong enough to reject this illness, for what it is…..HATRED!
It can be stopped. These kinds of social madnesses flare up and cause enormous chaos, but then the forces of democracy have a chance to quell them. We need to accurate diagnose the problem in order to array our defense properly, however. And that means getting to the heart of the problem, with things like gerrymandering, extremist propaganda, social media silos, racist power structures, and basic guardrail protections for freedom and liberty.
We rarely hear about the kindness, love and devotion dedication and determination of our people. But it’s there. It’s here. I believe all the bad news is scaring people which is good for fascism. Don’t buy in. Just work hard for the ideal we want.
Susan, I know that kindness and love exist, and that news outlets always post stories that show the underbelly of the world. “If it bleeds it leads” is the first thing journalists and Editors learn in the news industry. My point is that Right Wing ideology, and all it’s inherent actions, have made an end run around much of what made America a country to be admired, and most of it cannot nor will not be able to be pried loose. It is a learned ideology of hatred, just as racism is a learned ideology. And from my perspective outside the USA, and being an active participant and student of politics and history, I see the same creeping fascism that has spread in so many other countries, spreading through the USA.
It is not enough to talk about “kindness” or “not buying in”, to save your country. Those who despise this ideology had best start working to destroy it, because it is NOT up to politicians on any side to do this, this is a job for the PEOPLE of the USA. And if they can’t be bothered to actually stand up and be heard by the MILLIONS, then the battle will be lost.
It is the defiance of the population that will move the needle. This is why it’s called a Participatory democracy, because it requires the people to be actively involved.
I agree. There are some words from an ancient Chinese book that says, and I’m going to paraphrase this: Do not engage with evil directly. Just make steady progress in the good. Which includes rallies and marches in protest against what we will never accept, along with all manor of other forward motion. Americans have the genes for protest because most of us have had the experience of relative freedom. We’re going to get in good trouble.
We defeated the fascists in our own country in the 1930s and we will do it again. Everything gets sanitized by the light of the sun. Reveal their ugliness to the world and they will be defeated. Hope truth and democracy will prevail. You’ve got to believe. We are a country of good people. The world’s stability literally depends on it. 2024 is going to be a good year. The tide is turning for the better!
Yes Dave, exactly. That’s why some comments are unhelpful if when I finish reading them I feel weak and worried or afraid. Let’s stay strong and push forward in our work to save our democracy. And while we’re at it let’s make it even stronger.
My concern is the same as in 2016...no one thought Drumpf would win. And since then, no one imagined the nightmare we were heading into. Democrats and SANE, THINKING republicans and independents need to work hard, non-stop to make sure the current GOP ends now.
The fact that Montana governor signed the anti-trans bill, despite the opposition from his own son tells me - they really don't care anymore. I used to think these people had SOME shred of humanity, that if the fallout from their bills impacted them personally, their minds could be changed. Apparently not. Their own LGBTQ+ kids will suffer from these bills - and they won't care. Their own children will get slaughtered at school due to their failure to pass sensible gun legislation - and they won't care. Their own wives, daughters, sisters, and female friends will die or be rendered permanently infertile due to the draconian anti-abortion bills - and they won't care. We SO need to vote.
Also, if ANY of us at our jobs were caught in a conflict of interest the likes of Thomas's, we would have been fired on the spot. If any of us were caught in the range and magnitude of crimes like those of Trump, we would have been in the slammer a year ago. Why is there one law for us and the other for them?
Hatred, fear and ignorance can live within people who are inherently decent. It’s a horrific conundrum. My own experience is that these things can be changed, but it takes courageous people speaking up to their loved ones. It may not have swayed the MT governor, but that story made the rounds to lots of other families with non-binary children.
It’s important to me to hear you say that your experience tells you that things can be changed. Things can be changed! It’s strengthening. It doesn’t sap my energy like some apparently well meaning but very frightening posts constantly reminding us to be afraid. You work to understand what’s really going on then present it to us.
I truly hope you are right Jay. Every day though, I see my rights get chipped away at and I truly fear what happens if the Republicans get the House, Senate and the Presidency. I never thought my head would be in a place where I would have to consider a “bug out” scenario from the US. I never thought I’d read about Canada considering amnesty protections for transgender people. It is a scary time and its hard to just navigate around the hate.
They seem to not care. It looks to me as though they believe the end game of white rule trumps all the china that is going to be destroyed by the raging bull. The china being the lives of their citizens, you know, the voters. How is that going to work?
As I recall, in the time before trump, there were ethical problems with politicians, which is partly why trump was elected. My fading memory and his "Drain the swamp" slogan attest to that. We now need to drain the swamp even more than ever.
Yes, there were - and we have precedent for booting them out, so, we know it can be done. This level of corruption in the SCOTUS is new - which is why we need new measures to counteract it. Also, the majority of voters in this country did NOT elect Trump, because they understood that hiring a crook to fix corruption was a dumb idea.
It was projection. Always has been. Everything they claim is projection. It’s their stupid childish trick to call the normal kid names of their own insecurities. Time to call them out. Expose them to the light of the sun so everyone can see clearly now. Time to wake up.
One could also call that "cordless hole puncher" a "portable abortion machine."
While a noble and likely effort that's all those petitions are. The only way she'll ever lose her job will be at the ballot box. Her next election will be another nail biter.
Unless something drastic happens (death?) I think that Trump will certainly be the Republican nominee. The Republican leadership and donor class understand that if Trump is NOT the nominee he, having no allegiance to party or principle, will run as an Independent. If he does so, a Democratic victory is certain. I'm glad the Republicans have this dilemma but it does present a clear danger.
Holding onto the thot that, given time, that the youth of the USA & the decline in the older generations will pull Our country back from extreme conservative (trumpism) to more basic human rights beliefs.
Once again, the dog whistles are shrill within our public restrooms, evidence of the cruelty and enlightment of these protectors of our public mores. What ever would we do without them? Maybe we'll find out in Nov '24.
The right invents ideology to be against so they have a platform to exhibit white musculature. They use ‘Christianity’ as a way to suck stupid people in. The politicians couldn’t care less about these ideologies but they realize they can whip their constituents up into a frenzy over them in hopes of securing white supremacy. Some of this ideology is a setup for what they intend to do next, one of which is to own women and their babies. Another is to crush dissention forever. Never forget the evil separation of the immigrant children from their parents.
- A six week abortion ban is far worse when you consider that the laws seem to be counting length of pregnancy from the beginning of the previous period, which is, on average, 2-3 weeks before ovulation, making them actually 3 week bans.
- Something that may be a good topic of discussion: Is Twitter a threat to the 2024 elections? Musk appears to have bought the company so he could take away everything that got in the way of Twitter serving as a platform of mass propaganda and indoctrination.
Thanks for the stat. There was a lot of talk about how much Twitter interfered in 2016 and 2020, as Trump's and other's bullhorn to the masses, so I figured that once it had all guard rails taken down that it would be much worse.
I’ve said this all along. The 6 week ban is fucking misleading. 6 weeks is when you realize that you are pregnant. It’s cruel cruel cruel. Everyone needs to stop calling it anti abortion and say it like it is. Forced pregnancy and death for people who suffer miscarriages and complicated pregnancies. It’s fucking cruel. Cruel!!
I don't understand how the North Carolina Supreme Court can just decide to "revisit" a decision that was already decided. If there was new evidence or something about the case dramatically changed, I can see where another look would be appropriate. But this is just a majority of conservatives who decided they didn't like the previous ruling and wanted to change it. Can anything else be done? Can there be a lawsuit by someone or a group that can fix this?
This is what I mean about sacrificing legitimacy for political gain. The Supreme Court did it with Dobbs overturning Roe. Precedent and stare decisis went out the window. What should the public think about that?
I for one do not need to be reminded how dire the circumstances are. I read news from good sources. Some of the comments I read on Substack line up all the details of what horrible thing the Right is doing today and what they did before and they remind us of how we are descending into fascism and how we’re not doing enough to combat these ruthless attacks on our Democracy. They harp on how ineffectual the dems are. It isn’t enlightening because we already know what is going on by reading newsletters like Jay Kuo and The Big Picture and Heather’s post too. The people who are writing these posts that seem to try to scare us often sound angry and although they seem to be writing as a liberal, I’m not positive they aren’t writing for the opposition.
Having grown up in a Republican household I continued to be puzzled by the fact that there is essentially no opposition from within the party to the regressive, suicidal path it now seems to be on. Watching them trying to silence their opposition only to make them national heros, and turning off all but the most ardent anti-choice women, makes it seem as though they have no plans for the future of their party as their aging base dies off.
After spending my whole life looking at the USA as a bastion of decency, honour and democracy, I am saddened to see it descend in such a short period of time into a nascent fascist, angry, hateful, bigoted and misogynistic place. And even sadder is the growing realization that this ideological disease is spreading into enough hearts and minds that it may be never be stopped.
This disease is now in my country, spread across our borders and our airwaves by the same merchants of Fascisism that have spread yours. From my point of view, here’s hoping our foundations, and our people will be strong enough to reject this illness, for what it is…..HATRED!
It can be stopped. These kinds of social madnesses flare up and cause enormous chaos, but then the forces of democracy have a chance to quell them. We need to accurate diagnose the problem in order to array our defense properly, however. And that means getting to the heart of the problem, with things like gerrymandering, extremist propaganda, social media silos, racist power structures, and basic guardrail protections for freedom and liberty.
The ugliness you speak of gets all the news. It’s a disease of free floating fear more than fascism
We rarely hear about the kindness, love and devotion dedication and determination of our people. But it’s there. It’s here. I believe all the bad news is scaring people which is good for fascism. Don’t buy in. Just work hard for the ideal we want.
Susan, I know that kindness and love exist, and that news outlets always post stories that show the underbelly of the world. “If it bleeds it leads” is the first thing journalists and Editors learn in the news industry. My point is that Right Wing ideology, and all it’s inherent actions, have made an end run around much of what made America a country to be admired, and most of it cannot nor will not be able to be pried loose. It is a learned ideology of hatred, just as racism is a learned ideology. And from my perspective outside the USA, and being an active participant and student of politics and history, I see the same creeping fascism that has spread in so many other countries, spreading through the USA.
It is not enough to talk about “kindness” or “not buying in”, to save your country. Those who despise this ideology had best start working to destroy it, because it is NOT up to politicians on any side to do this, this is a job for the PEOPLE of the USA. And if they can’t be bothered to actually stand up and be heard by the MILLIONS, then the battle will be lost.
It is the defiance of the population that will move the needle. This is why it’s called a Participatory democracy, because it requires the people to be actively involved.
I agree. There are some words from an ancient Chinese book that says, and I’m going to paraphrase this: Do not engage with evil directly. Just make steady progress in the good. Which includes rallies and marches in protest against what we will never accept, along with all manor of other forward motion. Americans have the genes for protest because most of us have had the experience of relative freedom. We’re going to get in good trouble.
“It’s not enough to talk about “kindness” and “not buying in” to save our country.
Do you know people who believe it IS enough? I don’t.
Join your local Indivisible and get to work. It’s as close as your computer, cell phone, or pad.
We defeated the fascists in our own country in the 1930s and we will do it again. Everything gets sanitized by the light of the sun. Reveal their ugliness to the world and they will be defeated. Hope truth and democracy will prevail. You’ve got to believe. We are a country of good people. The world’s stability literally depends on it. 2024 is going to be a good year. The tide is turning for the better!
I actually DO believe and yet still, I’m strengthened by what you say here.
Jay, in re your 2nd to the last paragraph: may it be so.
"...a disease of free floating fear more than fascism" That is actually one of the most fertile soils for the flourishing of fascism.
Yes Dave, exactly. That’s why some comments are unhelpful if when I finish reading them I feel weak and worried or afraid. Let’s stay strong and push forward in our work to save our democracy. And while we’re at it let’s make it even stronger.
My concern is the same as in 2016...no one thought Drumpf would win. And since then, no one imagined the nightmare we were heading into. Democrats and SANE, THINKING republicans and independents need to work hard, non-stop to make sure the current GOP ends now.
They are starting to come our way. I hope it is in time.
The fact that Montana governor signed the anti-trans bill, despite the opposition from his own son tells me - they really don't care anymore. I used to think these people had SOME shred of humanity, that if the fallout from their bills impacted them personally, their minds could be changed. Apparently not. Their own LGBTQ+ kids will suffer from these bills - and they won't care. Their own children will get slaughtered at school due to their failure to pass sensible gun legislation - and they won't care. Their own wives, daughters, sisters, and female friends will die or be rendered permanently infertile due to the draconian anti-abortion bills - and they won't care. We SO need to vote.
Also, if ANY of us at our jobs were caught in a conflict of interest the likes of Thomas's, we would have been fired on the spot. If any of us were caught in the range and magnitude of crimes like those of Trump, we would have been in the slammer a year ago. Why is there one law for us and the other for them?
Hatred, fear and ignorance can live within people who are inherently decent. It’s a horrific conundrum. My own experience is that these things can be changed, but it takes courageous people speaking up to their loved ones. It may not have swayed the MT governor, but that story made the rounds to lots of other families with non-binary children.
It’s important to me to hear you say that your experience tells you that things can be changed. Things can be changed! It’s strengthening. It doesn’t sap my energy like some apparently well meaning but very frightening posts constantly reminding us to be afraid. You work to understand what’s really going on then present it to us.
I truly hope you are right Jay. Every day though, I see my rights get chipped away at and I truly fear what happens if the Republicans get the House, Senate and the Presidency. I never thought my head would be in a place where I would have to consider a “bug out” scenario from the US. I never thought I’d read about Canada considering amnesty protections for transgender people. It is a scary time and its hard to just navigate around the hate.
They seem to not care. It looks to me as though they believe the end game of white rule trumps all the china that is going to be destroyed by the raging bull. The china being the lives of their citizens, you know, the voters. How is that going to work?
I agree - I find it impossible to have any hope for change in those states. I would be glad to be proved wrong.
As I recall, in the time before trump, there were ethical problems with politicians, which is partly why trump was elected. My fading memory and his "Drain the swamp" slogan attest to that. We now need to drain the swamp even more than ever.
Yes, there were - and we have precedent for booting them out, so, we know it can be done. This level of corruption in the SCOTUS is new - which is why we need new measures to counteract it. Also, the majority of voters in this country did NOT elect Trump, because they understood that hiring a crook to fix corruption was a dumb idea.
It was projection. Always has been. Everything they claim is projection. It’s their stupid childish trick to call the normal kid names of their own insecurities. Time to call them out. Expose them to the light of the sun so everyone can see clearly now. Time to wake up.
"The state [North Carolina] is in desperate need of political reform, including independent map drawing similar to what Michigan passed in 2018,"
which will not happen as long as the Dems keep ignoring rural areas. There are grassroots efforts, like this
https://downhomenc.org/
and the state party has a new young chair
https://www.ncdp.org/leaders/ncdp/
so there's some hope.
You’ve got to focus on the hope! I couldn’t agree more
In case anyone is so moved- I have had about a enough of that special combination of snark and smug idiocy that is Lauren Boebert.
Please consider signing this anti-endorsement of this monster.
https://sign.moveon.org/petitions/expel-lauren-boebert?share=59df4440-c5fc-4cb0-a964-4a3dc8c76b1a&source=email-share-button&utm_medium=&utm_source=email
One could also call that "cordless hole puncher" a "portable abortion machine."
While a noble and likely effort that's all those petitions are. The only way she'll ever lose her job will be at the ballot box. Her next election will be another nail biter.
Unless something drastic happens (death?) I think that Trump will certainly be the Republican nominee. The Republican leadership and donor class understand that if Trump is NOT the nominee he, having no allegiance to party or principle, will run as an Independent. If he does so, a Democratic victory is certain. I'm glad the Republicans have this dilemma but it does present a clear danger.
I honestly think a Democratic victory is certain. Trump will be the nominee and he will lose significantly.
Lady Jane Roberts just took the pedestal as THE symbol for our courts however instead of holding a sword, she holds the keys to the family Bugatti.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/nicholasreimann/2023/04/28/chief-justice-john-roberts-wife-made-over-10-million-as-legal-consultant-report-says/?sh=1719a77a1e9a
Holding onto the thot that, given time, that the youth of the USA & the decline in the older generations will pull Our country back from extreme conservative (trumpism) to more basic human rights beliefs.
Are you sure that the oldsters who have lived long and experienced much have decided that the extreme conservative route is the way to go?
The younger generation is our Hope.
Once again, the dog whistles are shrill within our public restrooms, evidence of the cruelty and enlightment of these protectors of our public mores. What ever would we do without them? Maybe we'll find out in Nov '24.
We will certainly find out in 2024 and I’m for it!
The right invents ideology to be against so they have a platform to exhibit white musculature. They use ‘Christianity’ as a way to suck stupid people in. The politicians couldn’t care less about these ideologies but they realize they can whip their constituents up into a frenzy over them in hopes of securing white supremacy. Some of this ideology is a setup for what they intend to do next, one of which is to own women and their babies. Another is to crush dissention forever. Never forget the evil separation of the immigrant children from their parents.
I've got a two-fer for you, Jay:
- A six week abortion ban is far worse when you consider that the laws seem to be counting length of pregnancy from the beginning of the previous period, which is, on average, 2-3 weeks before ovulation, making them actually 3 week bans.
- Something that may be a good topic of discussion: Is Twitter a threat to the 2024 elections? Musk appears to have bought the company so he could take away everything that got in the way of Twitter serving as a platform of mass propaganda and indoctrination.
Six weeks makes no sense as a cutoff point. It’s entirely arbitrary, and it means many women aren’t going to even know they are pregnant, correct.
Musk and Twitter? I have no idea. Only around 5% of people use the platform, so I think Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and WhatsApp are far bigger risks.
Thanks for the stat. There was a lot of talk about how much Twitter interfered in 2016 and 2020, as Trump's and other's bullhorn to the masses, so I figured that once it had all guard rails taken down that it would be much worse.
I’ve said this all along. The 6 week ban is fucking misleading. 6 weeks is when you realize that you are pregnant. It’s cruel cruel cruel. Everyone needs to stop calling it anti abortion and say it like it is. Forced pregnancy and death for people who suffer miscarriages and complicated pregnancies. It’s fucking cruel. Cruel!!
I don't understand how the North Carolina Supreme Court can just decide to "revisit" a decision that was already decided. If there was new evidence or something about the case dramatically changed, I can see where another look would be appropriate. But this is just a majority of conservatives who decided they didn't like the previous ruling and wanted to change it. Can anything else be done? Can there be a lawsuit by someone or a group that can fix this?
This is what I mean about sacrificing legitimacy for political gain. The Supreme Court did it with Dobbs overturning Roe. Precedent and stare decisis went out the window. What should the public think about that?
Courts can overturn prior decisions, and they can't be sued for exercising that power.
It seems not - I think R led states are working to set up a system where they have total control. Frightening.
Go read "Catch-22" - catch-22 says they can do anything you can't stop them from doing. Who's gonna stop them?
I've actually read Catch 22 multiple times but never thought it would become reality.
I would certainly hope so. Because this insane.
I for one do not need to be reminded how dire the circumstances are. I read news from good sources. Some of the comments I read on Substack line up all the details of what horrible thing the Right is doing today and what they did before and they remind us of how we are descending into fascism and how we’re not doing enough to combat these ruthless attacks on our Democracy. They harp on how ineffectual the dems are. It isn’t enlightening because we already know what is going on by reading newsletters like Jay Kuo and The Big Picture and Heather’s post too. The people who are writing these posts that seem to try to scare us often sound angry and although they seem to be writing as a liberal, I’m not positive they aren’t writing for the opposition.
Correction: I meant ...the people who are writing these comments, not posts.
Having grown up in a Republican household I continued to be puzzled by the fact that there is essentially no opposition from within the party to the regressive, suicidal path it now seems to be on. Watching them trying to silence their opposition only to make them national heros, and turning off all but the most ardent anti-choice women, makes it seem as though they have no plans for the future of their party as their aging base dies off.
As soon as I can write with my right hand again (found some ice to slip on and broke my wrist) I will be writing letters thru Vote Forward again!
Don't underestimate catharsis