Indeed. I am fortunate to live near Brandywine Creek. Not far from the battlefield and Washington’s headquarters with Valley Forge to the east. Very conscious of the history this administration ignores or distorts. Be well and strong.
The caution is this: who are the men behind the curtains? The shitshow of clowns in DC is for our terror and amusement. We can rail against the obvious idiocy of it all, while purring in the background are dozens and dozens of data centers dedicated to putting the public into lockdown as to movement, independent thought, protest, dissent and the ability to set one's own ship into order. Dependency, at its highest levels, is behind those curtains, and its infliction on the citizenry and the environment will be enforced by supply, which will control the volume of demand and its outcry when unfullfilled. Centralized power is here, take it or leave it. It can only be brought down by Refusal to Play. Steve, do not worry about the volume of writing, just work on the quality and usefulness of same. Refuse to Play. Refuse to Pay. Refuse to be Duped. Refuse to be Intimidated. We cannot demand truth when there are only LIES, and my friends, we are awash in LIES. Before we can save a democracy, we have to save Sanity. Throw these bums out, only to be replaced by the next wave of bums. For many decades, oligarchy has chosen ALL the leaders except a scant few, who are isolated and picked off by leverage or seduction. In 1984, all went silent. To remember France, my gpa fought there in 17-18, my dad in 41-45, is to remember first the Resistance, underground, silent and unrecognizeable on its face.
"The perpetual union of the United States. It has always saved us in times of storm; one day it will save the world." Marquis de LaFayette
We are more likely to destroy rather than save the world as long as Trump and his like remain in control of the executive and legislative branches of the federal government.
We must support, in every way we can, progressive Democrats running for election on 11/3 this year. Among them, is Jon Ossoff, running to be re-elected to his Senate seat from Georgia. Following is a speech he gave yesterday at UGA:
“I don’t know if you saw, but JD Vance was in Georgia this week. Don’t worry – no one showed up. The stadium was empty. But JD came to UGA to attack the pope two days after Trump depicted himself as Jesus Christ.
“Did you hear what the president said two weeks ago? Quote: ‘It’s not possible,’ the president said, ‘for us to take care of daycare, Medicaid or Medicare.’
“He said, ‘We can only afford to fund war.’ Because draft-dodging Donald loves sending other people’s children to war. Instead? A war no one voted for and no one can explain. And the daily, the hourly lying to the American public about why we’re at war, whether we’ve won, what’s been agreed to, not to mention the insane genocidal threat.
“On day 10 of the war, the president said, quote: ‘The war is very complete.’ That was day 10. Then, day 11: ‘Going to be finished pretty quickly.’ Day 12: ‘We won.’ Day 21: ‘Getting very close.’ Day 32: ‘Leaving very soon.’ Day 40: ‘Total and complete victory.’ Yesterday, day 49, Trump said Iran had opened the strait – except this morning the strait was closed, and it looks like Iran hit a cargo ship.
“Donald Trump depicted himself as Jesus Christ. The faithless president depicts himself as Christ while he plunges the nation into wars of choice, while he and his family rake in billions from foreign princes, while he plunders our healthcare to cut taxes for the rich.”
“Meanwhile, rent, power, groceries and healthcare have all hit all-time highs this year. While you pay more for everything, the first family’s wealth is growing by billions of dollars – because they’re crooks, and everybody knows it.”
“How much do you guys know about Jared Kushner, Ivanka’s husband? He’s on the Saudi payroll for $2 billion, did you know that? And now he’s leading American diplomacy in the Middle East, apparently, while at the very same time asking princes and sheikhs across the Arab world to give him billions more.”
“Can you imagine, like a normal, sitting US ambassador just hitting up Saudi crown prince Mohammed bin Salman for billions of dollars? But he’s a Trump, a royal, a princeling. The rules are for us, not for them. And it’s not just Jared getting in on the action.
“Never before have we seen so little effort to hide so much corruption. The Mar-a-Lago mafia has taken American corruption to spectacular new heights.”
He and fellow Ga. senator Raphael Warnock do not fear Trump and they don't water down their criticisms out of fear or phony gestures of politeness and moderation.
Donate to them if you can. If not, do whatever you can to get their message across.
All empires fall. The American empire is no exception. It was not the empires that brought about change in this 250 year story. It was the little guys. I suspect that will be the case this time as well. Too much concentrated wealth distorts the world. At this time, it is US wealth that is at the root of the problem. The US may not be the solution. Someone else may have to do that.
Steve....I see you writing and posting your videos daily....don't know why some people are complaining you are not posting as much as you have been in the past....
you're one of the hardest and most committed people there are on substack and youtube...keep up the great work...I highly appreciate it....
This is a truly inspiring essay! And for me so timely, as I am flying to Paris tomorrow for the first time, and I'm 74! So glad I read this today. Makes the trip even more meaningful. I'll go back and start at the beginning of your series, and watch for your new ones. Thank you!
We really should start calling him Professor Schimdt. His knowledge of history is immense! I learn so much from Steve and value his incisive writing - although he is never 'brief!" When I listen to him, I hear a Jersey boy who doesn't let others interrupt him when he's making a point (Yes!) and who doesn't waiver from his convictions.
My constant fear has been our continued coexistence with Republicans. I have repeatedly said that we do not need Republicans; we would be a truly democratic country without them, with a national health plan for all, gun control, a wage scale for all, and a respectful retirement package for everyone. I have advocated for a soft secession and, eventually, a full secession, with two countries existing side by side as Republican and Democratic states.
The November election will be a landslide for the Democrats. However, the Republicans, especially in the South, will still be alive and waiting to undo all the progressive ideas enacted by the Democrats. The reality is that our country has long been a battle between the North and the South, between the Republicans and the Democrats. We have swung back and forth between the two parties.
The Republican opponent now is the MAGA movement, the radical believers in Trump who think he can do no wrong. Our immediate enemy is MAGA, the diehard followers of Trump. Nothing Trump could do would change their undying commitment to him. That is up to now. Their belief in Trump resembles the mentality of cult members who would follow their leaders over a cliff rather than change their belief in their leaders' superior wisdom. Cultism takes many forms, and once the believers lock into the programmed mentality, they will not change. Religious systems and social societies share characteristics of cultism. Think of the soul-searching and torment that occurs when someone is considering leaving a formal religion, and now compare that to the agreement of all the followers of Jim Jones in Africa, who agreed to a mass suicide of 918 people in Jonestown. Once they have established a belief, it is almost impossible to change that thinking process. We see the same things in neighborhoods, states, and sports teams' obsessions.
So why is Trump a destroyer of MAGA
Trump’s bizarre behavior, irrational decisions, and deteriorating mental condition are causing them concern. Trump's deranged decision-making and his continued demonstration of this mental deterioration are slowly weakening their belief that he is their savior. He is providing them with daily examples of his dysfunctional mentality, and he will continue to deteriorate, presenting more and more examples of this failing personality.
Trump is past the point of retreating to normal behavior; he has drunk the Kool-Aid and is obsessed with POWER. Like all authoritarian leaders, power is the motivating factor behind their delusions. Steven Cohen, in his book Disloyal, tries to capture Trump's “magnetic force because he offered an intoxicating cocktail of power, strength, celebrity, and a complete disregard for the rules and realities that govern our lives. To Trump, life was a game, and all that mattered was winning and his desire for power at all costs.” The lust for power can drive a person insane, consuming them and amplifying their magnetic effect; insatiability grows over time.
He will continue his erratic behavior and will present examples of it daily. In 6 months, he will become unrecognizable, and it will be impossible for MAGA not to see these examples of his deterioration. So, Trump will have done something that no one else could have; he may have destroyed MAGA, something that could have been done only by him.
I simply agree. No amount of logic, intellectual suggestions, rational thought has the ability to effect change in these individuals. Thus something so extreme as to be unthinkable now will be the act too far. I fear to think of it.
RICHMOND DOCTOR: This account: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jonestown; indicates that not all of these members of this cult freely agreed to this suicide, so it was a murder suicide with children including infants also being murdered. It states; "Seventy or more individuals at Jonestown were injected with poison, a third of the victims were minors, and armed guards had been ordered to shoot anyone who attempted to flee the settlement as Jones lobbied for suicide." Prior to the suicide 5 people visiting the site including Representative Leo Ryan were murdered. Larry Layton one of the surviving members who was involved as an enforcer of orders by Jones to murder others was ever tried in court.
I believe it is because, from my perspective, Trump has not changed substantially from the first and only time I saw his show "The Apprentice" which began in 2004. His narcissism and declarations of grandiosity were on full display then, even when his net worth was rather paltry based on his lack of any actual business acumen up to that point. (see the 1980's and 1990's) : (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wealth_of_Donald_Trump).
I consider everything he does as a replay of that show, while all of us are all seeing the actual real world implications of that play out. Those implications are what should eventually catch up to him, while he continues to raid the economic well-being of the world.
Trump is also the agent to imperil humanity's physical health and the earth's environmental health by defunding research into the biological sciences, immunology, and environmental sciences, including the effects of climate change in those other fields.
Don't insult mastodons. They served a purpose. There is no known or even unknown purpose to Agolf Shitler. None whatsoever. He is a monumental waste of skin cells.
Nothing can stop an idea whose time has come. It can be slowed down. It can be wounded. It can be mightily challenged. But it cannot be stopped. That was true of Christianity. It was true of the Civil Rights movement under Martin Luther King. And it is true of democracy. It is true of liberty. It is true of freedom. It is our responsibility to see to it.
Steve, I am amazed at how much content you provide on a daily basis. We need people like you to bring attention to, and fight to help change the terrible situation we are in with Trump and his associates. I am still stunned that so many of them continue to go along with him. Also in my opinion Russel Vought is the one to really watch out for. Stephen Miller will eventually self destruct. Hopefully soon!
I like “eminently fixable.”
It is truly a difficult time when to read this history brings tears to my eyes.
Agreed.
It's also what makes this so sad. To see how far we have fallen in such a short time.
It's certainly not the USA I grew up in as a young man.
Indeed. I am fortunate to live near Brandywine Creek. Not far from the battlefield and Washington’s headquarters with Valley Forge to the east. Very conscious of the history this administration ignores or distorts. Be well and strong.
My God, Steve. This is beautiful. I am crying.
The caution is this: who are the men behind the curtains? The shitshow of clowns in DC is for our terror and amusement. We can rail against the obvious idiocy of it all, while purring in the background are dozens and dozens of data centers dedicated to putting the public into lockdown as to movement, independent thought, protest, dissent and the ability to set one's own ship into order. Dependency, at its highest levels, is behind those curtains, and its infliction on the citizenry and the environment will be enforced by supply, which will control the volume of demand and its outcry when unfullfilled. Centralized power is here, take it or leave it. It can only be brought down by Refusal to Play. Steve, do not worry about the volume of writing, just work on the quality and usefulness of same. Refuse to Play. Refuse to Pay. Refuse to be Duped. Refuse to be Intimidated. We cannot demand truth when there are only LIES, and my friends, we are awash in LIES. Before we can save a democracy, we have to save Sanity. Throw these bums out, only to be replaced by the next wave of bums. For many decades, oligarchy has chosen ALL the leaders except a scant few, who are isolated and picked off by leverage or seduction. In 1984, all went silent. To remember France, my gpa fought there in 17-18, my dad in 41-45, is to remember first the Resistance, underground, silent and unrecognizeable on its face.
As long as we have nuclear weapons, and emerging AI we will have autocracy - because they both lead to the few dominating the many.
Let’s be wise this time and not fall for it.
I look forward to the day when Steve's words are regarded as canon in history textbooks. No first draft needed, it's all there plainly laid out.
"The perpetual union of the United States. It has always saved us in times of storm; one day it will save the world." Marquis de LaFayette
We are more likely to destroy rather than save the world as long as Trump and his like remain in control of the executive and legislative branches of the federal government.
We must support, in every way we can, progressive Democrats running for election on 11/3 this year. Among them, is Jon Ossoff, running to be re-elected to his Senate seat from Georgia. Following is a speech he gave yesterday at UGA:
“I don’t know if you saw, but JD Vance was in Georgia this week. Don’t worry – no one showed up. The stadium was empty. But JD came to UGA to attack the pope two days after Trump depicted himself as Jesus Christ.
“Did you hear what the president said two weeks ago? Quote: ‘It’s not possible,’ the president said, ‘for us to take care of daycare, Medicaid or Medicare.’
“He said, ‘We can only afford to fund war.’ Because draft-dodging Donald loves sending other people’s children to war. Instead? A war no one voted for and no one can explain. And the daily, the hourly lying to the American public about why we’re at war, whether we’ve won, what’s been agreed to, not to mention the insane genocidal threat.
“On day 10 of the war, the president said, quote: ‘The war is very complete.’ That was day 10. Then, day 11: ‘Going to be finished pretty quickly.’ Day 12: ‘We won.’ Day 21: ‘Getting very close.’ Day 32: ‘Leaving very soon.’ Day 40: ‘Total and complete victory.’ Yesterday, day 49, Trump said Iran had opened the strait – except this morning the strait was closed, and it looks like Iran hit a cargo ship.
“Donald Trump depicted himself as Jesus Christ. The faithless president depicts himself as Christ while he plunges the nation into wars of choice, while he and his family rake in billions from foreign princes, while he plunders our healthcare to cut taxes for the rich.”
“Meanwhile, rent, power, groceries and healthcare have all hit all-time highs this year. While you pay more for everything, the first family’s wealth is growing by billions of dollars – because they’re crooks, and everybody knows it.”
“How much do you guys know about Jared Kushner, Ivanka’s husband? He’s on the Saudi payroll for $2 billion, did you know that? And now he’s leading American diplomacy in the Middle East, apparently, while at the very same time asking princes and sheikhs across the Arab world to give him billions more.”
“Can you imagine, like a normal, sitting US ambassador just hitting up Saudi crown prince Mohammed bin Salman for billions of dollars? But he’s a Trump, a royal, a princeling. The rules are for us, not for them. And it’s not just Jared getting in on the action.
“Never before have we seen so little effort to hide so much corruption. The Mar-a-Lago mafia has taken American corruption to spectacular new heights.”
He and fellow Ga. senator Raphael Warnock do not fear Trump and they don't water down their criticisms out of fear or phony gestures of politeness and moderation.
Donate to them if you can. If not, do whatever you can to get their message across.
All empires fall. The American empire is no exception. It was not the empires that brought about change in this 250 year story. It was the little guys. I suspect that will be the case this time as well. Too much concentrated wealth distorts the world. At this time, it is US wealth that is at the root of the problem. The US may not be the solution. Someone else may have to do that.
Well said, well written and explains why we must fight hard to preserve our country’s liberty and freedom.
Steve....I see you writing and posting your videos daily....don't know why some people are complaining you are not posting as much as you have been in the past....
you're one of the hardest and most committed people there are on substack and youtube...keep up the great work...I highly appreciate it....
Thank you for hope.
This is a truly inspiring essay! And for me so timely, as I am flying to Paris tomorrow for the first time, and I'm 74! So glad I read this today. Makes the trip even more meaningful. I'll go back and start at the beginning of your series, and watch for your new ones. Thank you!
We really should start calling him Professor Schimdt. His knowledge of history is immense! I learn so much from Steve and value his incisive writing - although he is never 'brief!" When I listen to him, I hear a Jersey boy who doesn't let others interrupt him when he's making a point (Yes!) and who doesn't waiver from his convictions.
And I would add that Steve listens; he waits and he listens. That thoughtful pause is one of his greatest talents.
I agree wholeheartedly. I was partly teasing Steve as someone who grew up in that part of the East Coast, in fact very close to where he is from :)
We face what seems insurmountable odds. But, so did they and overcame it. We will too.
TRUMP, A DESTROYER OF MAGA
My constant fear has been our continued coexistence with Republicans. I have repeatedly said that we do not need Republicans; we would be a truly democratic country without them, with a national health plan for all, gun control, a wage scale for all, and a respectful retirement package for everyone. I have advocated for a soft secession and, eventually, a full secession, with two countries existing side by side as Republican and Democratic states.
The November election will be a landslide for the Democrats. However, the Republicans, especially in the South, will still be alive and waiting to undo all the progressive ideas enacted by the Democrats. The reality is that our country has long been a battle between the North and the South, between the Republicans and the Democrats. We have swung back and forth between the two parties.
The Republican opponent now is the MAGA movement, the radical believers in Trump who think he can do no wrong. Our immediate enemy is MAGA, the diehard followers of Trump. Nothing Trump could do would change their undying commitment to him. That is up to now. Their belief in Trump resembles the mentality of cult members who would follow their leaders over a cliff rather than change their belief in their leaders' superior wisdom. Cultism takes many forms, and once the believers lock into the programmed mentality, they will not change. Religious systems and social societies share characteristics of cultism. Think of the soul-searching and torment that occurs when someone is considering leaving a formal religion, and now compare that to the agreement of all the followers of Jim Jones in Africa, who agreed to a mass suicide of 918 people in Jonestown. Once they have established a belief, it is almost impossible to change that thinking process. We see the same things in neighborhoods, states, and sports teams' obsessions.
So why is Trump a destroyer of MAGA
Trump’s bizarre behavior, irrational decisions, and deteriorating mental condition are causing them concern. Trump's deranged decision-making and his continued demonstration of this mental deterioration are slowly weakening their belief that he is their savior. He is providing them with daily examples of his dysfunctional mentality, and he will continue to deteriorate, presenting more and more examples of this failing personality.
Trump is past the point of retreating to normal behavior; he has drunk the Kool-Aid and is obsessed with POWER. Like all authoritarian leaders, power is the motivating factor behind their delusions. Steven Cohen, in his book Disloyal, tries to capture Trump's “magnetic force because he offered an intoxicating cocktail of power, strength, celebrity, and a complete disregard for the rules and realities that govern our lives. To Trump, life was a game, and all that mattered was winning and his desire for power at all costs.” The lust for power can drive a person insane, consuming them and amplifying their magnetic effect; insatiability grows over time.
He will continue his erratic behavior and will present examples of it daily. In 6 months, he will become unrecognizable, and it will be impossible for MAGA not to see these examples of his deterioration. So, Trump will have done something that no one else could have; he may have destroyed MAGA, something that could have been done only by him.
I simply agree. No amount of logic, intellectual suggestions, rational thought has the ability to effect change in these individuals. Thus something so extreme as to be unthinkable now will be the act too far. I fear to think of it.
RICHMOND DOCTOR: This account: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jonestown; indicates that not all of these members of this cult freely agreed to this suicide, so it was a murder suicide with children including infants also being murdered. It states; "Seventy or more individuals at Jonestown were injected with poison, a third of the victims were minors, and armed guards had been ordered to shoot anyone who attempted to flee the settlement as Jones lobbied for suicide." Prior to the suicide 5 people visiting the site including Representative Leo Ryan were murdered. Larry Layton one of the surviving members who was involved as an enforcer of orders by Jones to murder others was ever tried in court.
You ask: "So why is Trump a destroyer of MAGA"
I believe it is because, from my perspective, Trump has not changed substantially from the first and only time I saw his show "The Apprentice" which began in 2004. His narcissism and declarations of grandiosity were on full display then, even when his net worth was rather paltry based on his lack of any actual business acumen up to that point. (see the 1980's and 1990's) : (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wealth_of_Donald_Trump).
I consider everything he does as a replay of that show, while all of us are all seeing the actual real world implications of that play out. Those implications are what should eventually catch up to him, while he continues to raid the economic well-being of the world.
Trump is also the agent to imperil humanity's physical health and the earth's environmental health by defunding research into the biological sciences, immunology, and environmental sciences, including the effects of climate change in those other fields.
Nicely done
Trump jumps in a tar pit and then starts screaming at the tar pit!
The fat boy is stuck.
He is dumber than a mastodon.
Don't insult mastodons. They served a purpose. There is no known or even unknown purpose to Agolf Shitler. None whatsoever. He is a monumental waste of skin cells.
He'll be dead but the damage is done.
Nothing can stop an idea whose time has come. It can be slowed down. It can be wounded. It can be mightily challenged. But it cannot be stopped. That was true of Christianity. It was true of the Civil Rights movement under Martin Luther King. And it is true of democracy. It is true of liberty. It is true of freedom. It is our responsibility to see to it.
Steve, I am amazed at how much content you provide on a daily basis. We need people like you to bring attention to, and fight to help change the terrible situation we are in with Trump and his associates. I am still stunned that so many of them continue to go along with him. Also in my opinion Russel Vought is the one to really watch out for. Stephen Miller will eventually self destruct. Hopefully soon!