On the morning of November 4, 2024—forty-eight hours before the most consequential election in a generation—Donald Trump tweeted, in all caps, about a squirrel.
The collusion of the media in this whole sh*tshow is truly depressing. They know they’re being manipulated, but don’t seem to be able to do anything about it. Trump’s appointees and media representatives have learned that the more obnoxious and aggressive they are the more they can get away with. All the famed checks and balances of the US political system are failing utterly.
President Biden will go down in history as a kind hearted, intelligent, sincere man and a great leader who helped take the country out of the Great Recession as Vice President and even more consequential, he as President, took us out of the depths of deaths and despair of COVID 19. May you have a speedy recovery. You got this Sir!
It’s why credible INDEPENDENT media is so important now. If you want to know what’s going on in government and how the public feels about it, C-SPAN Washington Journal is my go to. If you want discussion and commentary where there are opposing opinions, there’s CNN round tables. If you want a more Progressive perspective and discussion, there’s No Lie with Brian Tyler Cohen. Rachel Maddow is only on Monday on msnbc. Legal analysis, news and commentary on The MeidasTouch and Legal AF with Ben Meiselas, Michael Popok and Ron Filipowski.
I think Substackers already know these names. They are also becoming more popular among younger voters.
YES! My go to press for a neutral viewpoint is Reuters, and AP. For a different take, I like The Guardian, CBC, and the BBC. Then AllSides for neutrality, and Wapo and the Atlantic of a lean to the left. Love Rachel and wish she stayed on every night. And also I’m a big fan of Ali Velshi. That kind of fills up my mornings with reading. And I do listen to some FOX News to see what propaganda they are pushing today.
I mean, I can't choke down Fox for any reason. I can't get it any more, but I used to watch the CBC, if I wanted to know what was really going on in this country.
Did that Reuters and the AP were being paid off by USAID change your opinion ? Your list of favorite sources is quite a collection of very biased reporting. I smell TDS in the air.
Your comment is another example why fact checking is so important. I’ve been caught off-guard by “fake news” too often. Here are the facts:
The claim that Reuters and the AP were “paid off” by USAID isn’t supported by any credible evidence. While both organizations have received payments from U.S. government agencies, these were for things like data services or standard licensing—not journalism or editorial content. In Reuters’ case, the funds went to Thomson Reuters Special Services, a separate division that handles data analysis. Thomson Reuters is a large company with a long history in both journalism and analytical services, and it’s important to separate those roles.
The AP’s payments were typical content licensing deals—no different from what thousands of clients around the world pay for wire access. These are commercial arrangements, not influence or subsidy.
There’s also no indication these transactions affected news coverage. Just like I’ve seen with the Washington Post—despite all the noise about Jeff Bezos being “bought off” or pressured by Trump—the paper’s reporting hasn’t changed. I read it daily, and it’s still holding power to account.
Bottom line: the “payoff” narrative around Reuters and AP falls apart when you look at the facts. It’s a case of routine business dealings being spun into something they’re not.
I like the TRUTH explained by Bill Southworth that the "paid off" comment was BOGUS AF! BUT, I'd also like to add if there were any truth to an ailment called TDS, I proudly claim I have it in spades! There is NOTHING about that man I admire or respect. He and his antics are so anti-American, they may as well have originated in Russia....oh, well now, maybe there's a good reason for that?!
Yup. Did you wonder why Reuters was such a source of lis and propaganda about the clot shot? Their CEO also on the Pfizer board of directors - quite the conflict of interest perhaps?
You're just too used to the media being paid mouthpieces for the Democrat party.
Debbie - “clot shot" is a term that comes from autopsies finding large congealed threads (clots) in the blood vessels of people who got the COVID shots. It was an experimental drug that caused much damage. Some of us were able to avoid the dictatorial Biden regime's mandates and did not get any shots. Pfizer and Moderna knew the dangers but there was too much money to be made so they lied to everyone and Fauci and others including the media covered it up. We're still learning how bad it was.
I got the series of vaccinations because I am old enough to remember polio.
After reading everything I could get my eyes on from the NIH, CDC, and other members of the international medical community, I drew my own conclusions.
It was clear that the best choice for me was to be vaccinated.
YES! We must ALL be vigilant about taking the time to question what is published and seek out TRUTH! Trump's MO is exactly what Putin does...distract with something that grabs the headlines and buries the real news, then keep it up...flood the zone so we become so inundated, we give up trying. DON'T GIVE UP! Seek TRUTH and ACT on it! Our great nation depends on WE THE PEOPLE and what we'll accept. We cannot give up; our founding fathers and all those who have fought and died for democracy are counting on US!
Worst is yet to come. Donald "The Beast" Trump is building a wall once again. Colossal tariff wall that is the beginning of the end for the system of down. At first the beast will pull the plug out of the global economy. The worst financial crisis of human history will pull a swarm of the banks underwater and the bank run begins. Then the beast will collapse a mountain of debt shattering the backbone of the monetary system causing a systemic risk to realize. Finally the beast will cast American citizens into a system slavery under the name of Ronald Wilson Reagan, just to "honor his legacy" count the number. After the destruction a new world order will be established in the US. And the Golden Age begins from the ruins of the world wide collapse. All of the system slaves will love it. No more cash - just digital transactions. No more traditional criminal activity. No more tax evasion. No more transactions without the "all seeing eye". Outcasts will hate the world without freedom, hope and privacy. To cover up the mess and distract the public by smoke and mirrors, the beast will engage in a war with Iran. Lies and deceit, corruption and decay, dancing on the graves will continue. Until; Black hole sun, won't you come, won't you come... I want to play a game. Time has come to opt out of the empire of filth. Live or die...
No - but I’m getting older. I will retire at 70 in two years and if it is going to happen I don’t want to be too old to show my disdain in some fruitful way with the masses in the millions when we take it to the streets and burn down the house. If we have to go - let’s take “The Beast” and all of his cronies with us. Thank you Jarno Jokinen for telling it like it is. You know something is coming . . .
Sorry to hear about your retirement. You have my sympathy. I’ve tried retiring a couple of times—it was awful. I’m almost 80 and working harder now than ever, but my stress is lower, and I actually feel like I have a purpose.
Not to complain, but to offer a bit of encouragement: the goal isn’t to rage about how bad things are, but to connect with anyone willing to listen—and try to make things better. Not by getting more tribal, but by asking why people feel the way they do. Understand where they’re coming from. Then figure out how to move forward—together.
What a wonderful idea, but I am now finding after a decade of Trump, I am no longer able to carry on a civil conversation with anyone who supports that horrible man. My son and I no longer speak. I just broke up with my best friend of 40 some years. I cannot abide the stupidity that comes along with a Trump supporter...I just CAN'T!
It sounds like you have summed things up quite accurately. I don’t think you left anything out. Can we have this happen soon or do we have to wait ? Im serious.
I believe we are very close to the moment where things go south real fast. I don’t know the exact timing though, but when the US economy tanks and unemployment goes north that is the point of no return, the way I see it.
On TV, give Trump’s latest loony distraction the forty seconds or so required to describe it then, with appropriate dismissal of whatever kookiness the diseased President pops out, get to the real news affecting the citizenry and the world.
We have them, they just no longer command one of three channels so their words are HEARD by most of the population. There are so many varying so-called "news" outlets now, its very hard to get any one voice to be consistently heard.
Which TV? Broadcast? Cable? Satellite? Are the various consumers of TV news outlets all interested in the same news? Who exerts the authority to determine what is loony? Most viewers watch news programming that confirms their pre-conditioned biases. This is particularly true for Fox News. The only citizenry important to them is MAGALAND.
It’s a good question, and I don’t have a good answer. My fear is that the media is now in effect a lost cause, since audiences are now so fragmented along tribal lines that every channel and outlet now consists of a partisan echo chamber, however “independent” they may view themselves as being. Electorates are now generally so unsophisticated that they expect quick fixes to the most intractable problems (as does Trump) and are unwilling, even unable, to accept nuance of any kind. Media manipulation of the truth, which is a much more longstanding problem than the establishment of Fox News, has been a major factor in the erosion of trust, to the extent that mass thinking is effectively cult-like, impervious to any amount of fact-checking. Deprogramming the cult is the most urgent cultural problem in the west, and since it’s been a problem years in the making, it will years to solve.
We didn’t just lose trust in the media—we lost the shared reality it lived in. What’s left are tribes, each with their own facts, their own villains, their own dopamine drip. Truth isn’t defeated by lies anymore—it’s drowned out by noise.
I’m in a hospital (Day 16) and haven’t had time to respond. Thanks for engaging. Something I’d like to learn about is news audience fragmentation and confirmation bias.
Great post. The essential challenge for Democrats is how to make as much noise in the media. My idea is to get all 23 Democratic governors to start giving short weekly briefings the way they did during Covid. They call it, “The state of our state under Trump.“ They tell stories about the suffering he is causing. They point out his lying and educate about democracy. They keep beating the drum about how American pride has become American shame. They bring the voices of American heroes, who help create the foundation of our American identity, to the podium. Some of these are unsung, everyday heroes, and some are big names in entertainment, politics, sports, for example. If they all keep doing it every week on the same day, it will make a very big noise, the media won’t ignore it and Trump will go nuts trying to compete.
A big challenge for Democrats is to stop sending inane posts with big blue lettering asking for money before midnight… and start coming up with ideas and action.
The ones that I hate are those surveys for dummies where you know they’re not interested really in what you think so much as whether you’re going to answer that question at the end that leads you into admitting that everything you agreed to means that you now need to donate.
OMG! PLEASE STOP all the requests for my money! I do donate a lot of money to various political causes supporting Dems, but all that gets me is more and more and more requests! I've started writing back exactly what you said...I'll contribute my hard-earned money again once you show me a PLAN of how to get us on track again. Until I see a PLAN...forget it!
If you have any stories that you hear about of everyday folks with the courage to stand up, and of people that are having the giant thumb of the administration pushing down on them, please send the stories to me.
That’s a great idea. We can hope that the governors (and I’d challenge ALL governors) have sufficient backbone to do it, hopefully more than the members of the Senate and the House.
I’m glad you agree, Bill! The progressive radio showhost Thom Hartmann also gave it an enthusiastic thumbs up. So how to get the idea to the guvs? I’m near Seattle. I have a former WA state senator who is going to be meeting our governor Bill Ferguson at the end of May and he’s going to share my idea with him. Ferguson was attorney general of WA last year, and he’s the one who corralled all 23 Dem attorneys general in 2024 to begin planning to deal with Trump’s lawlessness. They meet weekly now and have been key players in the many lawsuits currently out there. So maybe he’ll be inspired to see what’s possible.
Meanwhile, I continue to spread the word on Substacks like yours when I can. And yes, will the guvs have the backbone? A number of them have already won lawsuits. The thing is to be proactive now, before things get a lot worse and more dangerous.. .
EXACTLY! There will come a time, IF WE DON'T ACT NOW, where Trump will silence ALL voices that are not supporting him. He's already started the process by sicking the FCC and other agencies on those who dare to speak out against his regime and then filing huge lawsuits against them to extract money for himself on top of silencing them! It's pure criminality on his part.
Agree—great post. And the governors are in a good position to compare the ridiculous tweets to what’s really happening on the ground, like, for example pulling funding for disaster relief from FEMA.
Thank you, everyone for your comments! I am working on it and keep your fingers crossed that there might be a presentation to Governor Bob Ferguson in the near future!
I like this. However, all Dem governors would have to be on board with the idea, and I don't feel they truly are. Fear of losing their jobs, rather than fear of losing their country.
At this point, there are about 10 of them that have been winning lawsuits, and 23 attorneys general of those states have been meeting weekly since 2024 to strategize in order to bring a bunch of those lawsuits. So there is momentum, the governors just haven’t realized how much power they could have if they were working altogether. Plus there is also more safety when they are not standing alone.
Rondi, can you resend your original post, especially to Bob Ferguson and maybe also to the Beto O’Rorke Texas democrats that are making some good trouble down there? Gotta get some facts out there.
The “Art of the Deal” has always been the art of the con. What remains most amazing is how easily the legacy press continues to support that con… but they are running their own con, aren’t they…?
The killing of Peanut was not a hoax, and it was an actual (as opposed to imaginary) example of government overreach. Usually MAGA doesn’t know the difference.
I pay extremely close attention to politics and was absolutely mortified by the possibility of a Trump return and was appalled that so many voters were stupid enough to vote for him and put all of us in danger. This doesn’t mean it wasn’t entirely unnecessary to seize and destroy an orphaned squirrel who couldn’t fend for himself and was happy in his home with his caretakers. I wasn’t even aware Trump had commented on the incident because I was trying to get people to prevent Project 2025.
Distraction takes a complicit media. Trump apparently had a broken clock moment, and voters were too uneducated to care about the dismantling of the world’s largest economy and its many facets.
I agree with you that killing Peanut was just wrong. And I’m left wondering of Trump really cared or just used the story as a distraction. It’s a strange time. Not everything Trump does is bad. Certainly, much of it is inept. Most of it is self-serving. But sometimes his personal interest coincides with something good.
First I’ve heard about the squirrel thing. At the time, I—like you, it seems—was preoccupied with Project25, white supremacists, grifters, and easily-led idiots. Silly me… 🤷♂️
“… Daily Mail reported that Kristi Noem may host a reality TV show called ‘The American’ pitched by former Duck Dynasty producer Rob Worsoff where immigrants will compete in a series of challenges to win US citizenship. Worsoff submitted a 35-page outline for the show proposal to DHS.
… DHS Asst Secretary Tricia McLaughlin told the Daily Beast that the show is under consideration, but claimed that Noem has not personally seen the pitch. She said it is “in the very beginning stages of the vetting process, and approval has not been given—or denied.”
I’ve been wondering what the pimpmobile airborne has kept us from noticing. I’m guessing the attacks on Librarian of Congress and more important, the control of copyright in the face of AI’s need to devour everything.
We already know trump’s disdain for national records from the documents case, and his minion’s disregard of keeping them from the Signal app. SOMEONE knows that what we know of history is mostly controlled by what documents there are to memorialize it. Trump has already put a Someone Preferred in as head of National Records.
We need to remember what Winston Smith’s actual job was.
There are so many tentacles on this kraken. A reporter said, “we are blessed, or cursed, with a story-rich environment.” I think it’s the latter. The attempts to control all sources of information — media, newspapers, libraries, social media — are probably the most frightening aspect of what we are all going through.
Thanks for the reminder, it's been so long since I read or watched 1984. I went to Wikipedia. Winston Smith's job was to rewrite historical documents so they were consistent with whatever the current party line was. Was it called the department or ministry of truth? ( I'd insert appropriate swear words here). So much that would be hilarious if it wasn't a horrible modern tragedy. I'm trying to pay close attention, watching from Alberta, Canada. Our elected provincial leader is following parts of a trumpish playbook. I'm cheering for you guys, as are so many of us in Canada. We're a now estranged cross-border family, kind of, and I have some actual family there in the U.S. too.
A line right out of the TV cartoon "The Simpsons". Homer sounded intelligent in one episode, because he went to school, then saw a squirrel outdoors and you guessed it, ran out of class and started chasing the squirrel....
It was exactly this history of drawing the media eye and changing the narrative that makes be disbelieve (from the beginning) that there was an “assassination attempt” on Trump. I believe that people died in that incident. But his life wasn’t in danger, and the media immediately stopped talking about Project 2025.
I have been saying this repeatedly, focus attention on citizens losing voting rights, expose gerrymandering and partisan voter rolls purging at the state and local levels. Don't be derailed by the Thug-In-Chief's tweets. Stop paying sooo much attention to what he says, and focus on what he and his administration are doing, especially behind the scenes, the quiet moves, the actions taken late at night and early in the morning. What's being done while he golfs?
Thank you. “Narrative warfare” is perfectly descriptive. Distraction tactics reminds me of Richard Gere’s razzle dazzle dance in CHICAGO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ZYG2PCyNfE
The collusion of the media in this whole sh*tshow is truly depressing. They know they’re being manipulated, but don’t seem to be able to do anything about it. Trump’s appointees and media representatives have learned that the more obnoxious and aggressive they are the more they can get away with. All the famed checks and balances of the US political system are failing utterly.
President Biden will go down in history as a kind hearted, intelligent, sincere man and a great leader who helped take the country out of the Great Recession as Vice President and even more consequential, he as President, took us out of the depths of deaths and despair of COVID 19. May you have a speedy recovery. You got this Sir!
I so agree.
It’s why credible INDEPENDENT media is so important now. If you want to know what’s going on in government and how the public feels about it, C-SPAN Washington Journal is my go to. If you want discussion and commentary where there are opposing opinions, there’s CNN round tables. If you want a more Progressive perspective and discussion, there’s No Lie with Brian Tyler Cohen. Rachel Maddow is only on Monday on msnbc. Legal analysis, news and commentary on The MeidasTouch and Legal AF with Ben Meiselas, Michael Popok and Ron Filipowski.
I think Substackers already know these names. They are also becoming more popular among younger voters.
YES! My go to press for a neutral viewpoint is Reuters, and AP. For a different take, I like The Guardian, CBC, and the BBC. Then AllSides for neutrality, and Wapo and the Atlantic of a lean to the left. Love Rachel and wish she stayed on every night. And also I’m a big fan of Ali Velshi. That kind of fills up my mornings with reading. And I do listen to some FOX News to see what propaganda they are pushing today.
I just can't choke them down, even with a strong cup of coffee or Earl Grey tea.
I mean, I can't choke down Fox for any reason. I can't get it any more, but I used to watch the CBC, if I wanted to know what was really going on in this country.
Did that Reuters and the AP were being paid off by USAID change your opinion ? Your list of favorite sources is quite a collection of very biased reporting. I smell TDS in the air.
Your comment is another example why fact checking is so important. I’ve been caught off-guard by “fake news” too often. Here are the facts:
The claim that Reuters and the AP were “paid off” by USAID isn’t supported by any credible evidence. While both organizations have received payments from U.S. government agencies, these were for things like data services or standard licensing—not journalism or editorial content. In Reuters’ case, the funds went to Thomson Reuters Special Services, a separate division that handles data analysis. Thomson Reuters is a large company with a long history in both journalism and analytical services, and it’s important to separate those roles.
The AP’s payments were typical content licensing deals—no different from what thousands of clients around the world pay for wire access. These are commercial arrangements, not influence or subsidy.
There’s also no indication these transactions affected news coverage. Just like I’ve seen with the Washington Post—despite all the noise about Jeff Bezos being “bought off” or pressured by Trump—the paper’s reporting hasn’t changed. I read it daily, and it’s still holding power to account.
Bottom line: the “payoff” narrative around Reuters and AP falls apart when you look at the facts. It’s a case of routine business dealings being spun into something they’re not.
I like the TRUTH explained by Bill Southworth that the "paid off" comment was BOGUS AF! BUT, I'd also like to add if there were any truth to an ailment called TDS, I proudly claim I have it in spades! There is NOTHING about that man I admire or respect. He and his antics are so anti-American, they may as well have originated in Russia....oh, well now, maybe there's a good reason for that?!
Yup. Did you wonder why Reuters was such a source of lis and propaganda about the clot shot? Their CEO also on the Pfizer board of directors - quite the conflict of interest perhaps?
You're just too used to the media being paid mouthpieces for the Democrat party.
What is "the clot shot"? I've never heard that before.
Debbie - “clot shot" is a term that comes from autopsies finding large congealed threads (clots) in the blood vessels of people who got the COVID shots. It was an experimental drug that caused much damage. Some of us were able to avoid the dictatorial Biden regime's mandates and did not get any shots. Pfizer and Moderna knew the dangers but there was too much money to be made so they lied to everyone and Fauci and others including the media covered it up. We're still learning how bad it was.
I got the series of vaccinations because I am old enough to remember polio.
After reading everything I could get my eyes on from the NIH, CDC, and other members of the international medical community, I drew my own conclusions.
It was clear that the best choice for me was to be vaccinated.
And I am glad I did.
YES! We must ALL be vigilant about taking the time to question what is published and seek out TRUTH! Trump's MO is exactly what Putin does...distract with something that grabs the headlines and buries the real news, then keep it up...flood the zone so we become so inundated, we give up trying. DON'T GIVE UP! Seek TRUTH and ACT on it! Our great nation depends on WE THE PEOPLE and what we'll accept. We cannot give up; our founding fathers and all those who have fought and died for democracy are counting on US!
Hear, hear!
Worst is yet to come. Donald "The Beast" Trump is building a wall once again. Colossal tariff wall that is the beginning of the end for the system of down. At first the beast will pull the plug out of the global economy. The worst financial crisis of human history will pull a swarm of the banks underwater and the bank run begins. Then the beast will collapse a mountain of debt shattering the backbone of the monetary system causing a systemic risk to realize. Finally the beast will cast American citizens into a system slavery under the name of Ronald Wilson Reagan, just to "honor his legacy" count the number. After the destruction a new world order will be established in the US. And the Golden Age begins from the ruins of the world wide collapse. All of the system slaves will love it. No more cash - just digital transactions. No more traditional criminal activity. No more tax evasion. No more transactions without the "all seeing eye". Outcasts will hate the world without freedom, hope and privacy. To cover up the mess and distract the public by smoke and mirrors, the beast will engage in a war with Iran. Lies and deceit, corruption and decay, dancing on the graves will continue. Until; Black hole sun, won't you come, won't you come... I want to play a game. Time has come to opt out of the empire of filth. Live or die...
I hope this isn’t you looking at the bright side.
No - but I’m getting older. I will retire at 70 in two years and if it is going to happen I don’t want to be too old to show my disdain in some fruitful way with the masses in the millions when we take it to the streets and burn down the house. If we have to go - let’s take “The Beast” and all of his cronies with us. Thank you Jarno Jokinen for telling it like it is. You know something is coming . . .
Sorry to hear about your retirement. You have my sympathy. I’ve tried retiring a couple of times—it was awful. I’m almost 80 and working harder now than ever, but my stress is lower, and I actually feel like I have a purpose.
Not to complain, but to offer a bit of encouragement: the goal isn’t to rage about how bad things are, but to connect with anyone willing to listen—and try to make things better. Not by getting more tribal, but by asking why people feel the way they do. Understand where they’re coming from. Then figure out how to move forward—together.
What a wonderful idea, but I am now finding after a decade of Trump, I am no longer able to carry on a civil conversation with anyone who supports that horrible man. My son and I no longer speak. I just broke up with my best friend of 40 some years. I cannot abide the stupidity that comes along with a Trump supporter...I just CAN'T!
I understand completely.
😂
It sounds like you have summed things up quite accurately. I don’t think you left anything out. Can we have this happen soon or do we have to wait ? Im serious.
I believe we are very close to the moment where things go south real fast. I don’t know the exact timing though, but when the US economy tanks and unemployment goes north that is the point of no return, the way I see it.
What would you do differently than what the news media are doing?
On TV, give Trump’s latest loony distraction the forty seconds or so required to describe it then, with appropriate dismissal of whatever kookiness the diseased President pops out, get to the real news affecting the citizenry and the world.
Where is the Walter Cronkite of this era??
We have them, they just no longer command one of three channels so their words are HEARD by most of the population. There are so many varying so-called "news" outlets now, its very hard to get any one voice to be consistently heard.
Which TV? Broadcast? Cable? Satellite? Are the various consumers of TV news outlets all interested in the same news? Who exerts the authority to determine what is loony? Most viewers watch news programming that confirms their pre-conditioned biases. This is particularly true for Fox News. The only citizenry important to them is MAGALAND.
It’s a good question, and I don’t have a good answer. My fear is that the media is now in effect a lost cause, since audiences are now so fragmented along tribal lines that every channel and outlet now consists of a partisan echo chamber, however “independent” they may view themselves as being. Electorates are now generally so unsophisticated that they expect quick fixes to the most intractable problems (as does Trump) and are unwilling, even unable, to accept nuance of any kind. Media manipulation of the truth, which is a much more longstanding problem than the establishment of Fox News, has been a major factor in the erosion of trust, to the extent that mass thinking is effectively cult-like, impervious to any amount of fact-checking. Deprogramming the cult is the most urgent cultural problem in the west, and since it’s been a problem years in the making, it will years to solve.
We didn’t just lose trust in the media—we lost the shared reality it lived in. What’s left are tribes, each with their own facts, their own villains, their own dopamine drip. Truth isn’t defeated by lies anymore—it’s drowned out by noise.
I’m in a hospital (Day 16) and haven’t had time to respond. Thanks for engaging. Something I’d like to learn about is news audience fragmentation and confirmation bias.
Thanks for revealing what is right in our face. Like the nose on our face we really don’t see it. Thanks
Great post. The essential challenge for Democrats is how to make as much noise in the media. My idea is to get all 23 Democratic governors to start giving short weekly briefings the way they did during Covid. They call it, “The state of our state under Trump.“ They tell stories about the suffering he is causing. They point out his lying and educate about democracy. They keep beating the drum about how American pride has become American shame. They bring the voices of American heroes, who help create the foundation of our American identity, to the podium. Some of these are unsung, everyday heroes, and some are big names in entertainment, politics, sports, for example. If they all keep doing it every week on the same day, it will make a very big noise, the media won’t ignore it and Trump will go nuts trying to compete.
A big challenge for Democrats is to stop sending inane posts with big blue lettering asking for money before midnight… and start coming up with ideas and action.
The ones that I hate are those surveys for dummies where you know they’re not interested really in what you think so much as whether you’re going to answer that question at the end that leads you into admitting that everything you agreed to means that you now need to donate.
And they wonder why the popularity of Democrats is not any better than the Republicans.
Yah...let's all write a strongly worded letter or something! Good God...get rid of Schummer and Jeffries. WE NEED REAL LEADERSHIP!
OMG! PLEASE STOP all the requests for my money! I do donate a lot of money to various political causes supporting Dems, but all that gets me is more and more and more requests! I've started writing back exactly what you said...I'll contribute my hard-earned money again once you show me a PLAN of how to get us on track again. Until I see a PLAN...forget it!
Hear hear.
If you have any stories that you hear about of everyday folks with the courage to stand up, and of people that are having the giant thumb of the administration pushing down on them, please send the stories to me.
Nothing so far—I live on a small island. But for sure I will remember if I do!
That’s a great idea. We can hope that the governors (and I’d challenge ALL governors) have sufficient backbone to do it, hopefully more than the members of the Senate and the House.
I’m glad you agree, Bill! The progressive radio showhost Thom Hartmann also gave it an enthusiastic thumbs up. So how to get the idea to the guvs? I’m near Seattle. I have a former WA state senator who is going to be meeting our governor Bill Ferguson at the end of May and he’s going to share my idea with him. Ferguson was attorney general of WA last year, and he’s the one who corralled all 23 Dem attorneys general in 2024 to begin planning to deal with Trump’s lawlessness. They meet weekly now and have been key players in the many lawsuits currently out there. So maybe he’ll be inspired to see what’s possible.
Meanwhile, I continue to spread the word on Substacks like yours when I can. And yes, will the guvs have the backbone? A number of them have already won lawsuits. The thing is to be proactive now, before things get a lot worse and more dangerous.. .
EXACTLY! There will come a time, IF WE DON'T ACT NOW, where Trump will silence ALL voices that are not supporting him. He's already started the process by sicking the FCC and other agencies on those who dare to speak out against his regime and then filing huge lawsuits against them to extract money for himself on top of silencing them! It's pure criminality on his part.
Agree—great post. And the governors are in a good position to compare the ridiculous tweets to what’s really happening on the ground, like, for example pulling funding for disaster relief from FEMA.
Thank you, everyone for your comments! I am working on it and keep your fingers crossed that there might be a presentation to Governor Bob Ferguson in the near future!
I like this. However, all Dem governors would have to be on board with the idea, and I don't feel they truly are. Fear of losing their jobs, rather than fear of losing their country.
At this point, there are about 10 of them that have been winning lawsuits, and 23 attorneys general of those states have been meeting weekly since 2024 to strategize in order to bring a bunch of those lawsuits. So there is momentum, the governors just haven’t realized how much power they could have if they were working altogether. Plus there is also more safety when they are not standing alone.
If one governor starts and gets a good response, others will follow.
I think most of them would be on board with this...especially if they ALL did it. There is strength in numbers!
Rondi, can you resend your original post, especially to Bob Ferguson and maybe also to the Beto O’Rorke Texas democrats that are making some good trouble down there? Gotta get some facts out there.
I like this!
I LOVE this idea! It should be implemented IMMEDIATELY! WHERE is our Democratic leadership?!!
The “Art of the Deal” has always been the art of the con. What remains most amazing is how easily the legacy press continues to support that con… but they are running their own con, aren’t they…?
The killing of Peanut was not a hoax, and it was an actual (as opposed to imaginary) example of government overreach. Usually MAGA doesn’t know the difference.
I pay extremely close attention to politics and was absolutely mortified by the possibility of a Trump return and was appalled that so many voters were stupid enough to vote for him and put all of us in danger. This doesn’t mean it wasn’t entirely unnecessary to seize and destroy an orphaned squirrel who couldn’t fend for himself and was happy in his home with his caretakers. I wasn’t even aware Trump had commented on the incident because I was trying to get people to prevent Project 2025.
Distraction takes a complicit media. Trump apparently had a broken clock moment, and voters were too uneducated to care about the dismantling of the world’s largest economy and its many facets.
I agree with you that killing Peanut was just wrong. And I’m left wondering of Trump really cared or just used the story as a distraction. It’s a strange time. Not everything Trump does is bad. Certainly, much of it is inept. Most of it is self-serving. But sometimes his personal interest coincides with something good.
Trump doesn’t care.
RARELY does Trump's personal interest coincide with something good!
Sometimes, but rarely.
He didn’t care. As far as I can tell, he doesn’t care about anybody but himself. If his media distraction was true, that was just coincidence.
First I’ve heard about the squirrel thing. At the time, I—like you, it seems—was preoccupied with Project25, white supremacists, grifters, and easily-led idiots. Silly me… 🤷♂️
Bill you are spot on. This angered me during the 2016 primaries and election. He got tons of free coverage and Hillary zero.
Made me angry, too. He'd call, uninvited, into some news program and yack forever. I would be screaming at the TV or radio about equal access.
During the debates with HRC, I wanted her to turn around and ask him why he was stalking her.
Insightful post. Thank-you.
From Ron Filipkowski, Today in Politics, Bulletin 132. 5/16/25
https://www.meidasplus.com/p/today-in-politics-bulletin-132-51625
“… Daily Mail reported that Kristi Noem may host a reality TV show called ‘The American’ pitched by former Duck Dynasty producer Rob Worsoff where immigrants will compete in a series of challenges to win US citizenship. Worsoff submitted a 35-page outline for the show proposal to DHS.
… DHS Asst Secretary Tricia McLaughlin told the Daily Beast that the show is under consideration, but claimed that Noem has not personally seen the pitch. She said it is “in the very beginning stages of the vetting process, and approval has not been given—or denied.”
“Bread and circuses” Roman gladiators.
Of course it is another distraction. Old as time.
I heard about that. But I thought I had dreamed it. Actually, I hoped it had just been a bad dream.
Everything this administration does is a bad dream or a nightmare.
I’ve been wondering what the pimpmobile airborne has kept us from noticing. I’m guessing the attacks on Librarian of Congress and more important, the control of copyright in the face of AI’s need to devour everything.
We already know trump’s disdain for national records from the documents case, and his minion’s disregard of keeping them from the Signal app. SOMEONE knows that what we know of history is mostly controlled by what documents there are to memorialize it. Trump has already put a Someone Preferred in as head of National Records.
We need to remember what Winston Smith’s actual job was.
There are so many tentacles on this kraken. A reporter said, “we are blessed, or cursed, with a story-rich environment.” I think it’s the latter. The attempts to control all sources of information — media, newspapers, libraries, social media — are probably the most frightening aspect of what we are all going through.
Thanks for the reminder, it's been so long since I read or watched 1984. I went to Wikipedia. Winston Smith's job was to rewrite historical documents so they were consistent with whatever the current party line was. Was it called the department or ministry of truth? ( I'd insert appropriate swear words here). So much that would be hilarious if it wasn't a horrible modern tragedy. I'm trying to pay close attention, watching from Alberta, Canada. Our elected provincial leader is following parts of a trumpish playbook. I'm cheering for you guys, as are so many of us in Canada. We're a now estranged cross-border family, kind of, and I have some actual family there in the U.S. too.
A line right out of the TV cartoon "The Simpsons". Homer sounded intelligent in one episode, because he went to school, then saw a squirrel outdoors and you guessed it, ran out of class and started chasing the squirrel....
Yes, distraction is indeed "the whole show" with Trump!
And the show must not go on
It was exactly this history of drawing the media eye and changing the narrative that makes be disbelieve (from the beginning) that there was an “assassination attempt” on Trump. I believe that people died in that incident. But his life wasn’t in danger, and the media immediately stopped talking about Project 2025.
I have been saying this repeatedly, focus attention on citizens losing voting rights, expose gerrymandering and partisan voter rolls purging at the state and local levels. Don't be derailed by the Thug-In-Chief's tweets. Stop paying sooo much attention to what he says, and focus on what he and his administration are doing, especially behind the scenes, the quiet moves, the actions taken late at night and early in the morning. What's being done while he golfs?
Absolutely right. It’s not what he says, it’s what he does.
Well that sounds… terrifyingly accurate. And difficult to defeat. 😢
Thank you. “Narrative warfare” is perfectly descriptive. Distraction tactics reminds me of Richard Gere’s razzle dazzle dance in CHICAGO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ZYG2PCyNfE