There is a panic blooming in the American news media over Donald Trump. The new year has begun with an avalanche of commentary asserting Trump’s restoration is inevitable and catastrophe pre-ordained. Much of the coverage is deeply idiotic and all most all of it is apocalyptic. The overwhelming point of view seems to be that American democracy won’t survive a second Trump presidency.
I embrace what you are saying here and will use your thoughts, and the quotes you cited from others as my watch words. Thank you.
That said, I firmly believe that the Dem strategy must consider taking over the news cycle(s) early and often with how Biden’s policies have helped and will continue to help common Americans like me. Too often all I hear is the right conflating the news with outright fabrication. Dems must have solid plans to overtake the obfuscation of the right!
Could not agree more. It’s not the thugs and zealots in NY and DC which we should fear. It’s the zealots in your hometown with thugs on their side who want to rule school boards and voting districts and turn this country into a theocracy. I know zealots and they look a lot like normal people. But they’re not. They create rules about gays and leftists, and then (as in Florida) they go off and have threesomes with their wife. And film it. But they are oh so holy.
I live in the south where there is rampant hypocrisy with these people, just as you describe in your last four sentences. It's really sad and sickening.
It's not just the south. I live in the NE, hypocrisy is what drove me from religion. But, with that, the attitude of "knowing" what's good for everyone else.
I got hooked on FDR's Fireside Chats when I was 7. Scary times in 1944 and his voice and demeanor were very reassuring. I know that it is a very different, very fragmented world we live in and breaking through is not so easy as then. But I think President Biden should dust off that model, modernize it, keep it to 30 second bursts, each on one topic off the cuff and from the heart. In my work making videos for charities I tell sometimes nervous participants that I only talk to experts on subjects they are expert about and I let them drive the conversation even though I am guiding it. They always end up looking comfortable and assured. The principal is the same. Biden is an expert among experts. He would only talk about what he knows, so why a speechwriter or teleprompter when he can tell it like two guys over a beer. Biden is a great ingredient. He just needs to be folded into an intelligent, impactful series of messages that will be the Biden and Democratic story for 2024 This is old but also new in that a fresh, honest approach can be powerful counterpoint to the ugly, unfortunately honest approach of the would-be king of the world. Sondheim said, "Children Will Listen". So will grownups if the message is right and he has a ton of positive messages.
Thank you Bob Fleck, I was not born until 1948 so cannot relate to FDR’s Fireside Chats. I do know that I respect our elders. Joe Biden is what you say. He has lived serving his Country at very close range, he admits several things he maybe should have done differently. However, don’t we all? He has a HUGE HEART. He has suffered family losses, a child (a daughter), (and a Son) which is like no other.
He has empathy for the people. There is nothing to compare to anyone that has his integrity. We have several in the Dem Party that have a lot of integrity.
My thoughts as of today are “Can we honestly trust our Supreme Court to follow their Oath and do what is right for Our Country?” The R’s daily suggest that the D’s are guilty of what they are exactly doing...
I look forward to President Biden’s words tomorrow. (Don’t look forward to hearing how “out of touch he is”) 🤮🤢. That is a lie, like none other. Lies are a big problem.
May our Court for America BE a SUPREME COURT and protect “We The People”. Use their Supreme knowledge of our Laws, head and heart in their decision. Our Constitution states what should be done. While a “play on words” is not the point. We SAW it, many of our Government servants “LIVED” it. Stop this madness. Don’t let it be “How did this happen”. By then, it IS too late.
Don't despair, Ruth. There is a long way to go and Trump is making the most noise but there is much on our side. We just need to keep focused and understand that EVERY vote is important and we have to urge Democrats to understand that, no matter what FDR said , a little fear is just fine if it keeps everyone on their toes. Bob
Thanks Bob, I appreciate a little fear 😧 but this guy and the r’s in general are over-the-top revenge, do nothing to help “We The People”. Quick thought on that. If they are so adamant that something needs to be done about immigration. Why then, didn’t their genius “Leader” and them fix it?? Now, they won’t even vote to pass anything that, perhaps could help? 🇺🇸🥰
Yes, Biden is POTUS despite a life-long speech impediment. He is POTUS because of who he IS. We need exactly what you've described here, Bob. I hope this will be a course of action.
I'm not sure if I heard the Fireside Chats idea from you or someone else last week. Although I wasn't born when FDR was president, I know about these chats that FDR had during the war. So last week I decided to write, e-mail, text and call the White House and ask President Biden to please consider "Fireside Chats 2.0" I encouraged my friends and family to do the same and they followed through!
Hi You heard it from me because I am older than dirt. I cried in my schoolyard when FDR died and his little dog, Fala, went screaming out of his house in Warm Springs. I was 7 and Canadian but he had made a powerful impression on me even then. I've been a U.S. politics junkie ever since. I also wrote to the White House, but I expect, unfortunately, that they think they know what they are doing. Bob
My opinion of you changed when you chose to support Dean Phillips over President Biden. And now, when you say that Democrats are “deeply flawed”, isn’t that damning with faint praise? Please tell me about Sen. Whitehouse’s deep flaws. Elizabeth Warren’s. Maxine Water. Jamie Raskin has some, surely. Katie Porter? Jasmine Crockett? How about Pete Buttigieg? Josh Shapiro? Biden and all of the Democrats need full throated support, not just a weak “but they’re better than the other guys”.
Susan, that’s old news. Steve has been a stalwart against Trump and Trumpism from the beginning. Yes, I was upset as well when he supported Phillips, but in his defense, it was looking more likely than not, that Biden would lose the election.
What’s important now is we defeat Trump. It’s all hands on deck. So save your energy for the true enemies of the state; and it’s not Steve or the MSM...:)
Every day for months I’ve heard the MSM ask “with such a good economy, why isn’t Biden doing better in the polls?” The media has been heroically trying to boost Biden. It’s not working. The problem was the price increases from 2021-2023. Not entirely his fault, but that’s soured voters on Bidenomics enough so that media can’t overcome it.
This is why it is smart for Ds to evaluate Phillips on a dual track with Biden. Zero downside to this sensible approach.
It is still highly likely that Biden loses the election, which is why Phillips is such an important lifeline. Democrats who went crazy over this don’t seem to understand the difference between a primary alternative and a third-party candidate. Rejecting choice out of hand is as irresponsible as as not pulling your parachute ripcord because you’re aiming for a pile of soft hay. Now that they have completely misapprehended the risk, my fellow Democrats had better make sure they hit the pile.
He’s not FDR, but listen to any of his hourlong podcast interviews, including Pod Save America, which was a semi-hostile interview because Favreau supports Biden. He hit them all out of the park. You can just tell he would destroy Trump in the debates and win in November by a solid margin.
Fair enough, then the MSM needs to give him some air time. I just don’t want him making claims against Biden that could be used by republicans to denigrate him further.
Biden isn’t my first choice, and clearly not the choice for most democrats or independents, but unless Phillip’s can move the needle, it’s pointless...:)
Agree 100%. He has been pointedly complimentary about Biden and says he will campaign for him. At this point his only chance is to win New Hampshire and have the press cover him. It’s a Hail Mary, but much more attractive than sticking with Biden.
Among many other things, Democrats haven’t thought through what happens if a recession occurs this year, and what that will do to Biden’s (up to) four-point poll deficit. It’s a really bad situation.
I certainly disagreed with you when you supported Dean Phillips. I thought that maybe you ventured down the wrong rabbit holes. But I hung in there because I think it's important to see other sides of arguments and reasoned debates, and you're a talented writer. I also believe that you deeply care about democracy. This essay is on point and I loved the "I'm On Your Side" song by Michael Franti and I agree with it's message.
Thank-you!! You make this history live; make it relevant for those who are eligible to vote today and are so young they may never have heard of FDR or very much about WWII. My grandfather had great respect for FDR and shared that with me. I’ve always been grateful that he did. The song, I’m On Your Side, is meaningful and beautiful beyond words.
Steve, I agree much of the news media seems panicked about Trump and what he’d do to our democracy. Their efforts would be better spent for the American voters, in my opinion, exposing Trump’s corruption and kleptocracy via his nepotism. Also, American voters would benefit from an in-depth media review of Trump’s first term track record where he decimated our economy and killed many Americans due to his politicized inept response to the pandemic.
However, while I agree with you about the size, scope, and decentralized structure of much of our federal government making it harder for an authoritarian like Trump to destroy our democracy quickly, he only has to “eat this elephant” of our democracy one bite at a time. That’s somewhat what he did in his first term, but back then he still had some people around him who would tell him “no”. That wouldn’t be the case this time.
What really could hasten Trump’s efforts to install an authoritarian regime is his planning being done right now through Project 2025 to eradicate the merit based federal civil service system replacing it with the old spoils patronage system. Having grown up around the Cook County/Chicago, Illinois spoils system, you can’t image how corrupt, inept, and smarmy such a system is. Already Trump’s people are lining up the unqualified blindly loyal sycophants who would be more than willing to carry out any order their fascist leader and his cronies give them. As democracy Larry Diamond describes it, democracy disappears two ways- gradually and then suddenly.
Thank you, Steve, for your commentary. You educate and inspire us. I am doing what I can to help young people see the danger of Trump having the power of the Presidency. He will be an authoritarian and will appoint unscrupulous people to help him take away our freedoms. Many young people have never contemplated this. We have to work hard to help them see how dangerous Trump is to our country.
Add my voice to the many requesting that your oratorical skills find a larger microphone than just this Substack. Your words are powerful and clarifying; please join forces with the Biden campaign which struggles in this arena. May the complex social and capital experiment that is the United States of America continue its arc towards liberal democracy but with a truly engaged and informed populace.
Thank you Steve, for yet another sober, probing piece. Your words help to tamp down my feelings of panic over the immediate future. That part of FDR's address certainly seems as foreshadowing as it was relevant to the moment. What I find terrifying is the inching forward at the local level in so many states towards The Handmaid's Tale. As you say, what is happening to Brittany Watts is monstrous. I've had a miscarriage at more than 22 weeks, so I know what it is like - and thank heavens I didn't live in the States at the time - and have friends who have had multiple miscarriages trying to have a child - and you know what? Don't mean to be gross, but when it happens suddenly at home without possibility to run to the hospital, it happens on the toilet. Poor Ms Watts just probably panicked and didn't think to remove it. Another thing is that so many early miscarriages happen precisely because there is something wrong with the fetus or the placenta.
Excellent piece today, Steve. Thanks for your clarity and perseverance. Great song...the video does a terrific job capturing the day to day issues confronting people.
Right on Steve! THIS column/comment is EXACTLY what I've been waiting to hear from you for months, perhaps ever since you started The Warning and your Substack. I'm sure you have many friends in the Biden campaign. I sure as hell hope you are doing everything you can to get this very eloquent column into the hands of President Biden. And if you can't, then go back on MSNBC, do Jen Psaki's show and make sure she gets it to them. The FDR speech and the Michael Franti lyrics are pure gold. The whole country needs to hear this coming from the President and his campaign. Please drop the Philips campaign and offer your services to President Biden. We can't afford to not have your brilliance and expertise in the mix. I beg you. Thank you. Respectfully yours, Jody
We can do this! This is the year of awakening, evolution … we are a better people. As Susan Sanders has said … there are plethora of folks working 24/7 … however, we must individually pick up our batons. They, we are not “just better then the other guy”. We are the future of an evolving inclusive democracy for all. Where it is apparent that “we are on your side” and although not perfect, are continuing to strive for a better nation … and YES! We have a long way to go. Am I/you in, picking up the baton or going to sit back, be oblivious to what is at stake. What are our New Year’s resolution for our country, our community, our families. We can be a huge part of the positive shaping of our country going forwards, for ALL.
I embrace what you are saying here and will use your thoughts, and the quotes you cited from others as my watch words. Thank you.
That said, I firmly believe that the Dem strategy must consider taking over the news cycle(s) early and often with how Biden’s policies have helped and will continue to help common Americans like me. Too often all I hear is the right conflating the news with outright fabrication. Dems must have solid plans to overtake the obfuscation of the right!
Could not agree more. It’s not the thugs and zealots in NY and DC which we should fear. It’s the zealots in your hometown with thugs on their side who want to rule school boards and voting districts and turn this country into a theocracy. I know zealots and they look a lot like normal people. But they’re not. They create rules about gays and leftists, and then (as in Florida) they go off and have threesomes with their wife. And film it. But they are oh so holy.
I live in the south where there is rampant hypocrisy with these people, just as you describe in your last four sentences. It's really sad and sickening.
It's not just the south. I live in the NE, hypocrisy is what drove me from religion. But, with that, the attitude of "knowing" what's good for everyone else.
EVIL to the CORE.
I got hooked on FDR's Fireside Chats when I was 7. Scary times in 1944 and his voice and demeanor were very reassuring. I know that it is a very different, very fragmented world we live in and breaking through is not so easy as then. But I think President Biden should dust off that model, modernize it, keep it to 30 second bursts, each on one topic off the cuff and from the heart. In my work making videos for charities I tell sometimes nervous participants that I only talk to experts on subjects they are expert about and I let them drive the conversation even though I am guiding it. They always end up looking comfortable and assured. The principal is the same. Biden is an expert among experts. He would only talk about what he knows, so why a speechwriter or teleprompter when he can tell it like two guys over a beer. Biden is a great ingredient. He just needs to be folded into an intelligent, impactful series of messages that will be the Biden and Democratic story for 2024 This is old but also new in that a fresh, honest approach can be powerful counterpoint to the ugly, unfortunately honest approach of the would-be king of the world. Sondheim said, "Children Will Listen". So will grownups if the message is right and he has a ton of positive messages.
Thank you Bob Fleck, I was not born until 1948 so cannot relate to FDR’s Fireside Chats. I do know that I respect our elders. Joe Biden is what you say. He has lived serving his Country at very close range, he admits several things he maybe should have done differently. However, don’t we all? He has a HUGE HEART. He has suffered family losses, a child (a daughter), (and a Son) which is like no other.
He has empathy for the people. There is nothing to compare to anyone that has his integrity. We have several in the Dem Party that have a lot of integrity.
My thoughts as of today are “Can we honestly trust our Supreme Court to follow their Oath and do what is right for Our Country?” The R’s daily suggest that the D’s are guilty of what they are exactly doing...
I look forward to President Biden’s words tomorrow. (Don’t look forward to hearing how “out of touch he is”) 🤮🤢. That is a lie, like none other. Lies are a big problem.
May our Court for America BE a SUPREME COURT and protect “We The People”. Use their Supreme knowledge of our Laws, head and heart in their decision. Our Constitution states what should be done. While a “play on words” is not the point. We SAW it, many of our Government servants “LIVED” it. Stop this madness. Don’t let it be “How did this happen”. By then, it IS too late.
Don't despair, Ruth. There is a long way to go and Trump is making the most noise but there is much on our side. We just need to keep focused and understand that EVERY vote is important and we have to urge Democrats to understand that, no matter what FDR said , a little fear is just fine if it keeps everyone on their toes. Bob
Thanks Bob, I appreciate a little fear 😧 but this guy and the r’s in general are over-the-top revenge, do nothing to help “We The People”. Quick thought on that. If they are so adamant that something needs to be done about immigration. Why then, didn’t their genius “Leader” and them fix it?? Now, they won’t even vote to pass anything that, perhaps could help? 🇺🇸🥰
Yes, Biden is POTUS despite a life-long speech impediment. He is POTUS because of who he IS. We need exactly what you've described here, Bob. I hope this will be a course of action.
I'm not sure if I heard the Fireside Chats idea from you or someone else last week. Although I wasn't born when FDR was president, I know about these chats that FDR had during the war. So last week I decided to write, e-mail, text and call the White House and ask President Biden to please consider "Fireside Chats 2.0" I encouraged my friends and family to do the same and they followed through!
Hi You heard it from me because I am older than dirt. I cried in my schoolyard when FDR died and his little dog, Fala, went screaming out of his house in Warm Springs. I was 7 and Canadian but he had made a powerful impression on me even then. I've been a U.S. politics junkie ever since. I also wrote to the White House, but I expect, unfortunately, that they think they know what they are doing. Bob
My opinion of you changed when you chose to support Dean Phillips over President Biden. And now, when you say that Democrats are “deeply flawed”, isn’t that damning with faint praise? Please tell me about Sen. Whitehouse’s deep flaws. Elizabeth Warren’s. Maxine Water. Jamie Raskin has some, surely. Katie Porter? Jasmine Crockett? How about Pete Buttigieg? Josh Shapiro? Biden and all of the Democrats need full throated support, not just a weak “but they’re better than the other guys”.
Susan, that’s old news. Steve has been a stalwart against Trump and Trumpism from the beginning. Yes, I was upset as well when he supported Phillips, but in his defense, it was looking more likely than not, that Biden would lose the election.
What’s important now is we defeat Trump. It’s all hands on deck. So save your energy for the true enemies of the state; and it’s not Steve or the MSM...:)
Yes, he is against Trump, but I would like to see some more enthusiasm for Biden. And MSM is not promoting Biden’s accomplishments.
Every day for months I’ve heard the MSM ask “with such a good economy, why isn’t Biden doing better in the polls?” The media has been heroically trying to boost Biden. It’s not working. The problem was the price increases from 2021-2023. Not entirely his fault, but that’s soured voters on Bidenomics enough so that media can’t overcome it.
This is why it is smart for Ds to evaluate Phillips on a dual track with Biden. Zero downside to this sensible approach.
It is still highly likely that Biden loses the election, which is why Phillips is such an important lifeline. Democrats who went crazy over this don’t seem to understand the difference between a primary alternative and a third-party candidate. Rejecting choice out of hand is as irresponsible as as not pulling your parachute ripcord because you’re aiming for a pile of soft hay. Now that they have completely misapprehended the risk, my fellow Democrats had better make sure they hit the pile.
You’re right, but I’m not sure Philips is the right guy though. Apparently, celebrity is a must; or some semblance of charisma.
Personally, I couldn’t pick Phillips out of a police lineup....:)
He’s not FDR, but listen to any of his hourlong podcast interviews, including Pod Save America, which was a semi-hostile interview because Favreau supports Biden. He hit them all out of the park. You can just tell he would destroy Trump in the debates and win in November by a solid margin.
Fair enough, then the MSM needs to give him some air time. I just don’t want him making claims against Biden that could be used by republicans to denigrate him further.
Biden isn’t my first choice, and clearly not the choice for most democrats or independents, but unless Phillip’s can move the needle, it’s pointless...:)
And late in the game scary as hell. 🇺🇸💙
Agree 100%. He has been pointedly complimentary about Biden and says he will campaign for him. At this point his only chance is to win New Hampshire and have the press cover him. It’s a Hail Mary, but much more attractive than sticking with Biden.
Among many other things, Democrats haven’t thought through what happens if a recession occurs this year, and what that will do to Biden’s (up to) four-point poll deficit. It’s a really bad situation.
Absolutely not. End of speech...
*Waters
I certainly disagreed with you when you supported Dean Phillips. I thought that maybe you ventured down the wrong rabbit holes. But I hung in there because I think it's important to see other sides of arguments and reasoned debates, and you're a talented writer. I also believe that you deeply care about democracy. This essay is on point and I loved the "I'm On Your Side" song by Michael Franti and I agree with it's message.
Thanks for sticking with this community and me.
Steve
Thank-you!! You make this history live; make it relevant for those who are eligible to vote today and are so young they may never have heard of FDR or very much about WWII. My grandfather had great respect for FDR and shared that with me. I’ve always been grateful that he did. The song, I’m On Your Side, is meaningful and beautiful beyond words.
Steve, I agree much of the news media seems panicked about Trump and what he’d do to our democracy. Their efforts would be better spent for the American voters, in my opinion, exposing Trump’s corruption and kleptocracy via his nepotism. Also, American voters would benefit from an in-depth media review of Trump’s first term track record where he decimated our economy and killed many Americans due to his politicized inept response to the pandemic.
However, while I agree with you about the size, scope, and decentralized structure of much of our federal government making it harder for an authoritarian like Trump to destroy our democracy quickly, he only has to “eat this elephant” of our democracy one bite at a time. That’s somewhat what he did in his first term, but back then he still had some people around him who would tell him “no”. That wouldn’t be the case this time.
What really could hasten Trump’s efforts to install an authoritarian regime is his planning being done right now through Project 2025 to eradicate the merit based federal civil service system replacing it with the old spoils patronage system. Having grown up around the Cook County/Chicago, Illinois spoils system, you can’t image how corrupt, inept, and smarmy such a system is. Already Trump’s people are lining up the unqualified blindly loyal sycophants who would be more than willing to carry out any order their fascist leader and his cronies give them. As democracy Larry Diamond describes it, democracy disappears two ways- gradually and then suddenly.
www.tomthedemocratist.com
Thank you, Steve, for your commentary. You educate and inspire us. I am doing what I can to help young people see the danger of Trump having the power of the Presidency. He will be an authoritarian and will appoint unscrupulous people to help him take away our freedoms. Many young people have never contemplated this. We have to work hard to help them see how dangerous Trump is to our country.
Add my voice to the many requesting that your oratorical skills find a larger microphone than just this Substack. Your words are powerful and clarifying; please join forces with the Biden campaign which struggles in this arena. May the complex social and capital experiment that is the United States of America continue its arc towards liberal democracy but with a truly engaged and informed populace.
Thank you Steve, for yet another sober, probing piece. Your words help to tamp down my feelings of panic over the immediate future. That part of FDR's address certainly seems as foreshadowing as it was relevant to the moment. What I find terrifying is the inching forward at the local level in so many states towards The Handmaid's Tale. As you say, what is happening to Brittany Watts is monstrous. I've had a miscarriage at more than 22 weeks, so I know what it is like - and thank heavens I didn't live in the States at the time - and have friends who have had multiple miscarriages trying to have a child - and you know what? Don't mean to be gross, but when it happens suddenly at home without possibility to run to the hospital, it happens on the toilet. Poor Ms Watts just probably panicked and didn't think to remove it. Another thing is that so many early miscarriages happen precisely because there is something wrong with the fetus or the placenta.
Sorry, but that story got to me.
Thanks Steve. Never submit, never give up.
This will be a big test of America’s soul.
Excellent piece today, Steve. Thanks for your clarity and perseverance. Great song...the video does a terrific job capturing the day to day issues confronting people.
Right on Steve! THIS column/comment is EXACTLY what I've been waiting to hear from you for months, perhaps ever since you started The Warning and your Substack. I'm sure you have many friends in the Biden campaign. I sure as hell hope you are doing everything you can to get this very eloquent column into the hands of President Biden. And if you can't, then go back on MSNBC, do Jen Psaki's show and make sure she gets it to them. The FDR speech and the Michael Franti lyrics are pure gold. The whole country needs to hear this coming from the President and his campaign. Please drop the Philips campaign and offer your services to President Biden. We can't afford to not have your brilliance and expertise in the mix. I beg you. Thank you. Respectfully yours, Jody
Ohio is now added to my list. If I lived in either Ohio, Texas, or Florida, I would sell my house and move. ASAP.
Thank you, Steve.
We can do this! This is the year of awakening, evolution … we are a better people. As Susan Sanders has said … there are plethora of folks working 24/7 … however, we must individually pick up our batons. They, we are not “just better then the other guy”. We are the future of an evolving inclusive democracy for all. Where it is apparent that “we are on your side” and although not perfect, are continuing to strive for a better nation … and YES! We have a long way to go. Am I/you in, picking up the baton or going to sit back, be oblivious to what is at stake. What are our New Year’s resolution for our country, our community, our families. We can be a huge part of the positive shaping of our country going forwards, for ALL.