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John D.'s avatar

Kathleen Parker of the Washington Post was pissing and moaning this morning that things are out of control in this country. No shit. This comes from a woman who advocated for MAGA politicians — Tim Scott would make a great President, she said — and told us that we were nervous ninnies because Roe versus Wade would never be overturned.

The stupidity in this country, as exemplified by the above, is staggering. This is why we are where we are.

Lisa J. Miller's avatar

I read her column after I saw what you'd written John. Did you see the comments? They were brutal. She sure was part of the problem wasn't she?! She enabled him back in 2016 and said we were all just worrywarts. Now look where we are. Every single day brings us another step closer to a full-blown Fascist country. Thanks Kathleen. /s.

John D.'s avatar

I stopped reading the comments at the Washington Post, Lisa, after I found my own comments were either edited or refused for posting. It is a newspaper run by idiots with idiots writing columns.

Lisa J. Miller's avatar

I agree. Most all of the good columnists are gone. Doubt I'll renew my subscription in February.

Carol Shuman Ph.D.'s avatar

Mine is cancelled…as is CBS when Stephen Colbert is gone.

Robert Jaffee's avatar

Agreed, many of these opinion writers are nothing more than hired political mercenaries; and we wonder how we got here!…:)

Johan's avatar

Here’s an idea…it’s a macroeconomic thought experiment:

Here’s a simple thought experiment….not a plan, not a proposal, just an idea if someone with the right expertise ever wanted to explore it. The median American has about $8,000 in liquid savings, but politically engaged households usually sit closer to the $10k–$30k range. If 20 million people redirected even that modest amount into a euro‑denominated index fund or another stable foreign asset (let’s say a pro-democracy private equity fund that’s easy to invest in from your personal bank account to this fund, like the stock market) you’re looking at $400–$600 billion moving in a coordinated window. That’s not symbolic. That’s a macro‑signal: reduced marginal demand for dollars, upward pressure on the euro, and a political‑risk premium that U.S. corporations and the Federal Reserve would have to register.

Launching something like this would require a regulated, transparent investment vehicle …essentially a professionally managed fund open to U.S. investors; very possible, these already exist for other investments. I’m not saying I know how to build it or whether it’s even feasible.

But if you extend the same logic outward, you can see how it scales: if participation ever reached the level where the aggregate capital approached $1 trillion, you’re suddenly talking about a figure equal to several percentage points of U.S. GDP. At that level, the signal becomes impossible to ignore.

And participation wouldn’t just be financial. It would function almost like a referendum: people would sign on publicly and commit to coordinated economic behavior—- including stepping away from the corporations and platforms driving the very dynamics they’re resisting. No Amazon, no big‑tech ecosystems, no convenience‑based backsliding, The leverage only works if the commitment is real.

It’s just an idea, nothing more, but if anyone with the right background wants to think about real, non‑violent leverage, the math shows where scale actually lives.

Think about, do you agree? What’s the next step?

Gisele Dubson's avatar

Any time spent reading Parker is time wasted.

foofaraw & Chiquita(ARF!)'s avatar

At this point, how can anyone on Earth (including MAGA) actually think Trump is sitting around the Offal Office thinking, "How can I best serve the American people?"

Not even MAGA can possibly be that stupid.

John D.'s avatar

I can personally attest there are MAGA people that stupid. Many of them are my neighbors.

foofaraw & Chiquita(ARF!)'s avatar

I get it, John.

Here in rural SC, where my family put down roots >250 years ago, I know of no one not taken over as a pod. Not neighbors, not relatives, not local, state or federal officials.

I had no one to warn that would listen, or care.

Dad was the biggest liberal I've personally known, but he's gone now. I almost feel like I'm under siege, alone in this house.

Pat B's avatar

Offal Office. Good one!

Jeff Clabault's avatar

Every day more Americans are figuring that out and the growing awareness is how we get out of this. It is incumbent upon all of us in the resistance to keep reminding the American people how Trump is not only destroying our constitutional Republic but he is also ruining the lives of them and their families, for now and in the future. Take every opportunity, everyone, to call out the MAGA abuses and to remind your legislators and your Trump supporting friends, neighbors, and family what is at stake. Civil disobedience is also ok, as long as it is peaceful. The Trump ship is listing, let's send it to the bottom.

Louise Bowes's avatar

They really are that stupid.

Kevin Cromer's avatar

My fear manifests itself as rage.

Lisa Nystrom's avatar

Fuck, now I am crying…😭 I am grateful for you, Steve. I have followed you since the Lincoln project fall out and you started The Warning. I have always been a never Trumper. He’s a disgusting human being. Not one redeeming quality can be found. Without your guidance, I would be much worse off mentally. It’s not that I am not scared. I am. I find much strength and comfort in your mission. You’ve put it all out there, and for that I will be eternally grateful. ❤️🤍💙

mary M keymer's avatar

Yes, we are in a great danger . What we need is a 50 million person march. We need Schumer to have some humility and to step down. I used to say to Trumpers in his first term that I am not a criminal because I am a democrat.They would look at me with a blank expression.

Last night my neighbors had a birthday party for another neighbor. She is not a Trumper but a lot of the neighbors that went are. The person who gave it is a Trumper.

i could not attend . It would have been unbearable. I can hardly give them a wave in the parking lot when I see them. I am ready to rip them a new one. It isn't as though they are not educated and poor ..nope they have plenty. I feel sick . The ones defending ICE and the shooting of Ms. Good are intolerable. The ones saying it's ok that the shithead went into Venezuela and is threatning to go into any country he wants is beyond my ability to understand. I think to myself all these people are fine with giving up our democracy. In the 60's when we marched against the war we had to worry about hardhats cracking our skulls now it's ICE. And now they are allowed to do it and they are vigorously defended .If they don't like our protesting they can just shoot us.

lost in america

Howard's avatar

Unfortunately many of these people are racists and mysogonists and hide behind it. I am with you on ripping a new one

mary M keymer's avatar

Thanks ..I'm glad I'm not alone.

Demetria Livingston's avatar

You are definitely not alone.

Joan Serkin's avatar

Definitely you are not alone

Pat B's avatar

My neighbor said she was glad every single one of the J6ers were pardoned. Also, I was invited over after the election and another neighbor came over wearing a crystal embossed MAGA visor! I wanted to leave but would not give her the satisfaction. I am mystified. The one with the visor’s mother is an immigrant from Japan!

Demetria Livingston's avatar

Dear Lord, I don’t know about giving who what satisfaction but I don’t think I could have contained myself. I am pretty certain that I would have had to make an announcement about the bedazzled MAGA adornment on my way to the door.

Pat B's avatar

I was boiling. I think she wore it on purpose to harass me. I have since had run-ins with this person. She is a total gaslighter (long story). I have zero to do with her and her husband and have told her to keep away from me. I wanted to say “you paid money for that?” I really need to move. I live in Florida and am from New England. I hate it here. I’m a stranger in a strange land. This happened right after being hit by two hurricanes and my house was flooded. Then the election. My brain broke. I have hated Trump since the 80’s. He represents everything I despise.

Demetria Livingston's avatar

We live in Florida too but at least have a Democrat Mayor and lots of like minded friends. We simply don’t socialize with MAGA people. My husband is from New England and we go there a lot. Love our family and friends there. The best we can do is protest, make our voices heard, write letters, encourage young people to vote, support state and local elections and local businesses. Stay strong, my friend. 💪🏻❤️

mary M keymer's avatar

I know the woman who gives me a facial is from South Korea . She said, “they are not waiting there turn “ she waited her turn so whatever happens to them it’s their own fault .

Martha Jones Eberle's avatar

I agree with you, Steve, that this time in our history, is the murder of America. We are in our second Civil War. You wrote, or cited, many admirable quotes, that I have written down, and am keeping in my mind and journal. Your plea for us, not to praise you, but to LISTEN, is accurate: "because the lives of our children depend on it." And I firmly believe and try to live this: "fierceness and non-violence are utterly compatible." Thank you for these lessons to live by.

Bob Johnson's avatar

I have the feeling that there will be no elections in November.

mary M keymer's avatar

Oy ! I have the same fear or that they will have the election but it will be stolen for real this time.

Louise's avatar

Fear is a reasonable reaction to what is going on but, sadly, fear alone does nothing to address the situation. Much better: support the people and organizations who are taking action! A couple of suggestions: support the ACLU and Marc Elias's law firm if you have a few dollars that you can spare. If you cannot spare a penny (and I really get that), then inform yourself and spread the word. The information is out there. Find it. Share it.

mary M keymer's avatar

I already do all that and more ..

Louise's avatar

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YznAxP02zhM

Here is a link to an explanation of what you fear. At the same time, there are things we can do to protect ourselves from this dishonest power grab. This is enlightening.

Patrick Lillard's avatar

I believe Donald Trump, our Hitler, is responsible for the murder of Ms. Good, just as he is responsible for the deaths of those who died as a result of the insurrection of January 6th. He has set the stage for the dissolution of our Democracy and his Gestapo has followed his orders for action and innocent people are being tortured and killed by his actions. In the murder of Ms. Good there are MANY alternatives that could have been safe and acceptable. But in this Trump fascist country all issues are solved with the rhetoric of hate and actions of an insane demented monster who holds himself out as the savior of our country while day by day he is the instrument of our destruction.

When will our elected leaders grow some courage and say, and take action to end the bloody reign of a psychopathic—sociopathic—narcissistic demented Nazi.

How many innocent people will suffer and die before we come to our senses? Are we to leave the future of our country in the hands of people like Donald Trump, Stephen Miller and all the butt licking sycophants he dominates with his blithering trash. It is time to take off the gloves.

Pat B's avatar

He also is responsible for the deaths of hundreds of thousands with his Covid misinformation. He is a mass murderer plain and simple. He loves death and blood. Look how he wants to hold a UFC spectacle at the White House! He wants to rub it in our faces.

mary M keymer's avatar

I love what you wrote but what does taking the gloves off look like ?

Patrick Lillard's avatar

Taking the gloves off means calling him out for every single lie, which will be a task because everything he says is a lie. It means his false beliefs are just paranoid delusions and his psychosis needs to be addressed in exactly those terms. It means calling him Hitler because his racism and misogyny are supported by his own words. It means demanding the results of certified neuropsychological testing which every candidate for president should have because our very existence may well depend on the president’s cognitive status and there is a wealth of evidence he is mentally impaired;and there is no evidence he could have graduated from the college he claims he completed. Let’s see his academic records; did he ever take an examination by himself. Surely he had to produce some form of academic paper, term paper, etc. If we know where in the Class at West Point or Annapolis a candidate finished— indeed actually finished, then it is fair to verify the academic results of a President who is giving the military orders for war or armed intervention in various cities across the country. As a neurosurgeon and then a psychiatrist I was certified by both specialties, in both written and face to face oral examinations. Yet, we have no information at all about the intellectual capacities of the man with his finger on the button that could destroy humanity.

Taking off the gloves means examining the obvious features in Trump: the obvious features of both narcissistic and sociopathic personality disorders manifest in Trump every single day. This means recognizing his basic failure to conform to social norms, deceitfulness, repeated lying (in this case lying when the truth would work for him) and conning others for personal profit; and impulsive irritability and aggressiveness even when is not necessary or useful; and reckless disregard for the safety and lives of others; and lack of remorse.

Taking off the gloves means recognizing and calling out his sense of self-importance and the way he exaggerates his achievements and talents. (What Talents/ lying is not a talent). Taking off the gloves means calling out his fantasies of unlimited success and brilliance; he is not special or unique, though he thinks he is. Taking off the gloves means he is not entitled to special treatment or automatic compliance. We must call out unbridled exploitive behavior and taking advantage of others to achieve his personal goals particularly his financial exploitation for him and his children. And, there is no evidence he is empathetic about the feelings or needs of any one else: he calls them nasty or garbage or piggy. And taking off the gloves means calling out his profound arrogance.

Taking off the gloves means calling him out every time he lies about men and women who have served our nation in the past with honor, in military service and in elected service. Let us see the bone spurs that prevented him from military service but do not interfere with the hundreds of days he plays golf.

Patrick Lillard's avatar

I could go on for hours and days about taking off the gloves with Trump with more direct and profane language, but the bone spurs in me fingers will only allow me to hold the Big Mac I am having

mary M keymer's avatar

I'm a retired mental health professional . I would add he also has borderline personality disorder .. just my opinion .. I think all the substack newsletters do a lot of what you say.. what we need is the mainstream media to do it and as you say do it every time. Thanks Patrick lost in america

BigDaddy52's avatar

I see ICE as trump's brownshirts, not Gestapo. There is no 'secret' to their evil.

Edwin Bunch's avatar

I also saw ICE as Trump’s brown shirts but now the comparison to the gestapo applies.

Mike's avatar

ICE = Brownshirts for sure. Stephen Miller will be the one building out the Gestapo. I'm thinking he'll recruit Ka$h Patel to organize it via the FBI. Or maybe he'll get TFG to $hitcan Ka$h and find someone even more odious to run the FBI/Gestapo. Maybe Miller will even run it himself.

BigDaddy52's avatar

Had to laugh at crazy-eyes organizing ANYTHING. Miller is surely drooling to stand up a secret police.

Robert Jaffee's avatar

Given everything that has taken place, does anyone actually believe this next election will be fair and free? These goons know they’re going to jail, yet they act like they don’t have a worry in the world. Therefore, expect the worst!

Instead, the double down. Their strategy is simple: Never admit you’re wrong, deflect when possible, and always demonize your opponents to the point where they’re no longer human; call them cockroaches and vermin, poisoning the blood of your children.

Bottom line, the Nazi’s did this against the Jews and all opposition. The Hutu’s did this to the Tutsi’s in Rwanda, and now we have MAGA which manages to take legitimate issues; magnifying them to hyperbolic heights, while redirecting its anger and vitriol at any and all opposition.

Honestly, something has to give!…:)

Debra's avatar

I sure hope all Americans heed this warning. Wake up people.

FVera's avatar

We are demonstrating in east Dallas, Texas for one hour every Saturday and Sunday on busy street corners. The groups started out small but have grown tremendously. I except this weekend’s protests to be even larger. We will not look away, ever. Last weekend a woman rode up on horseback with a Ukrainian flag. ✊🏻

Regarding WaPo: I cancelled long ago and probably will never renew unless ownership and policies change hands. They are part of the problem and I won’t give them my money.

Ardelle Tuxen's avatar

More people need to understand all of this history. The public is totally ignorant of these facts. I’m 81 and purposefully engage with young adults wherever possible-on the hiking trails, coffee shops, arts events, everyday. Trust me, they are totally ignorant. We need a bold leader, like you, making more effort for PUBLIC PRESENTATIONS- somehow requiring attendance. Yes a dream. The murder of Ms Good must not be shoved aside! I’m so deeply saddened by Good’s KILLING by thugs who swaggered away with pride! 🇺🇸

James Towner's avatar

Well Steve,

This was your best post… at least of all the ones I have read. Thank you!!

CE's avatar

There are protests nationwide today. Join the one nearest you.

Jim Scheiner's avatar

Another Texas Congressman, Wesley Hunt, tells us to obey orders from federal officers, “you get to keep your life”. What hole did these guys climb out of?