No. No. No. "Irreparably damaged" is unacceptable. So long as good people stand for truth, irreparable is not an option. I am a physically impaired old woman and I do what I can to keep truth alive. Yesterday, July 4, I lit a candle for peace not only for us, but also for troubled places in the world - Ukraine, Gaza, Africa, to name a few. Feel free to add to the litany and thank you for what you do, Steven.
I think we can undo the damage that really is ongoing as well as a fate accompli’. The sooner we can get to work on it the better. GOPs must be thrown out Office on their keisters!! They should all be arrested, charged with whatever is appropriate, convicted and jailed for the rest of their natural lives. We then should have the best chance at achieving the restoration of our Constitution!!!!
Who would do that? The DoJ is acting on his orders. SCOTUS majority finds any possible work around on the “emergencies” put before them that don’t require any justification written. Last night as I listened more closely to the words in the film “1776” about the desire to take “tyrant” or “tyrannical” out of the Declaration (yes, realizing it was a film) I thought how do we raise an army of peaceful protestors in such great numbers that imprisoning us all would make others realize. But who would help us “throw da bums” out? Since the Bill passed, my “funk” won’t go away. And signing at a picnic with again cheering..
Fascism doesn't cure anxiety. It requires amplification of anxiety about the Other who must be "dealt with." Anxiety is its modality. End the anxiety, and fascism fades away.
"...researchers was extremely low, and indicated that accuracy of the researchers was, for the most part, less than 10%. In fact, for certain types of feelings..." HUMANS SUCK AT EMPATHY
Have we hit bottom? We will wallow in this morass for 15 months before we can vote to change course. What thawed out from a hard winter at Valley Forge turned out to be men of forged, hardened steel filled with resolve. A forge pounds steel blocks to created hardened steel, and Valley Forge begat the legendary Bethlehem Forge. It was one bad winter. We are there again. We know what to do. Wear them down. Wear them out. Vote’m Out! Block the concentration camps. https://hotbuttons.substack.com/p/concentration-camping?r=3m1bs
We had a group of around 30 reading the Declaration OUT LOUD AND TOGETHER at our town gazebo. So many said afterwards how meaningful it was to do this AND that they’d never read the document start to finish.
The way to believe in America is to know and communicate the history, the good and the bad, of a nation striving to live up to its stated values that “all men are created equal” with “unalienable rights” of “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.”
I carry my copy of the Constitution, Bill of Rights, Declaration and writings of Thomas Paine everywhere. The 27 grievances in the Declaration are the same grievances we have with the Turd Reich today
Thanks Steven for this post. I still believe in America. As a 73 year old veteran, this is the first time I am really scared at what is happening. My wife and I marched on the No Kings Day and felt better that like-minded americans were with us and were feeling the same. I'm not sure if street protests will work against this administration, we need new smart charismatic leaders to come forward and help us fight this monster together. I appreciate your posts and am upgrading to 'paid' today.
People need to understand exactly what you wrote "Independence Day = Resistance Day". It is about fighting back for our country and freedoms that are never to be taken for granted. We have checks and balances and we need to regain them by voting out the "cult 45/47 and all the congress members that follow it. This is not something to wait until the regular election in 3 more years. The protests in whatever way you are able to do by marching, ,calling, letter writing, emails whatever you can do to put pressure on them so they understand we are not going to take this lying down. All authoritarians lose their power eventually lose their power when the people !
He said out loud he hates Dems. He’s showing again and again he hates women, Black, Brown, AAPI, LGBTQIA, and disabled people. It’s the VOTERS who still believe his lies who need to awaken. Too many of those who voted for the Bill didn’t read it and continue to assure their constituents it won’t hurt them. People can’t connect dots - actions to other actions. Who will show the truth to the masses?
It was not only impossible to celebrate the 4th, but I spent my time writing and reflecting on my past experiences living in Russia, and how tht applies to today's reality. I raised American children in the middle of Moscow, and they attended Moscow Public School. Russian schools/education were lightyears ahead of American schools in so many ways - yet their construction skills were far behind. I remember my youngest daughter telling me that "she refused to use their rest room for an entire year."
Our country is at a cross-roads for so many reasons, but from where I sit and the knowledge gained from twenty years living and working in an adversarial country - we are in trouble. Here is what I wrote in my Substack:
This Bill – Trumponomics 2.0, will erode the very foundations of America’s prosperity. And while I did not plan to celebrate this fourth of July writing about Trump and his delusional leadership, this domestic policy bill will impact the lives of every single American – the rich get richer, and the poor get poorer. It needs to be discussed - not just by me - but by every single American citizen. CNN Business said that “the top 20% of earners would increase by nearly $13,000 per year, which amounts to an average 3% increase for those households. However, for the top 0.1% of American earners, the average annual income gain would amount to more than $290,000.” (Ibid)
CNN also stated that “many people at the lowest end of the income ladder would be worse off because the package would enact historic cuts to the nation’s safety net programs, particularly Medicaid and food stamps.” (Ibid) Several sources have said that millions of low-income Americans are expected to lose their benefits. “All told, the bill could result in more than 10 million more Americans being uninsured by 2034” (Ibid)
There will be federal cuts to rural hospitals, which will impact the lives of those living in rural areas. “The real-life consequences of these nearly $1 trillion in Medicaid cuts – the largest ever proposed by Congress – will result in irreparable harm to our health care system,” (Ibid) . . . hurting millions upon millions of Americans no matter where you live.
In the end, sources such as The Economist, CNN newscasts, MSNBC, and the NYT all report that this bill will increase our deficit by $3.4 to $4 trillion over the next decade – leaving our children and grandchildren to pay the bill, but not providing any means for such repayment.
Our country is in a transitional period and is led by a megalomaniac who is destroying every vestige of American democracy. The reason for this devastation and dismantling of our country, our society, and our way of life was openly announced to the world in 1957 when the Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev used the phrase “We will bury you” on multiple occasions. Time Magazine, one of the leading publications in the 1950’s and still today, printed a cover that shows Khrushchev’s anger toward the U.S. The entire sentence said, “Whether you like it or not, history is on our side. We will bury you!” It appears that this archival prognostication may be correct and delivered by a man who says he is an American and a Republican. He is neither.
No photo description available.
At the time of this speech, Vladimir Putin was a young boy. He was inspired by Khrushchev’s tirade that lumped the U.S., Britian, France, and Israel all as bandits - enemies of the Soviet Union. If you follow Putin’s history, he is the person who inspired thousands upon thousands of former KGB men and women to rejoin the FSB (in 1994) and to restore Russia’s days of glory after Yeltsin’s embarrassing bought with alcohol. By 1994, Putin headed the newly formed FSB and controlled all Russian banks and financing. Russia gleefully accepted millions of dollars from western sources in the 1990’s – designated to build a Russian democracy – and instead and unbeknown to those international donors, large portions of this money went to rebuild Russia’s cycle of Cheka, KGB, FSB, SVR, and GRU – all variations of intelligence agencies created to oppose and destroy Russia’s enemies – including their number one adversary and nemesis - the United States.
In 1993, I was living in Moscow and was the westerner who informed British Secret Intelligence Service (M16) that many Soviet/Russian nuclear weapons were headed south to the Mid-East. Former Soviet employees were selling off anything of value at junk yard prices.
Money pillaged from the USSR ruins were stached abroad in hidden bank accounts - many in New York and some in Chicago. Together with money stolen from western governments, and millions of dollars laundered through Trump real estate deals (since the 1980s) - was all earmarked to be used later by Putin to rebuild Russia’s secret service, military, and fulfill his vendetta against the United States. In the mind of Vladimir Putin, the Cold War was alive and escalating as he felt an urgent need to retaliate against the west for the downfall of the Soviet Union. He found it amusing that all western nations thought the Cold War era had ended. It was a tool he used in his grand plan. Putin also rebuilt Russia’s natural resources, which now produce as much gas and oil as Saudia Arabia. By 2000, he was the new President of Russia and had accumulated adequate resources to enact his revenge.
Craig Unger has reported that “Trump rose to fame on Russian money. It was all legal. Collusion or not, President Donald Trump and the Russians are thick as thieves.” (House of Trump, House of Putin) Russians laundered dirty cash through condo purchases in Trump’s Miami buildings. These million dollar deals also bailed Trump out of his seventh bankruptcy. Trump claimed over and over that he has no ties to Russia, but in Craig Unger’s book, he describes Russian mafia linked to money laundering involving Trump properties that goes back to the 1980’s. Unger told Ari Melber that he found at least “1300 times” over the past 3 years where Russian money helped Trump build a political career and get rich again.” (House of Trump, House of Putin)
General Oleg Kalugin, the senior-level manager of the KGB in the US for decades, declared to Unger in an interview that Trump is a Russian asset. Why have Americans ignored this proof or turned a blind eye to the truth? Why is this not on the front page news?
So YES, Donald Trump is a Russian asset working on behalf of the Russian government and is fulfilling the Khrushchev prophecy that Russia will bury the United States. The Russians have been a financial lifeline to support Trump’s extravances for decades and they expected reimbursement per Putin's instructions.
On the Fourth of July 2025, we have half of our country brainwashed into believing Donald Trump is a good person - when he is most likely a traitor. We have a Republican Congress genuflecting in front of Mr. Trump and passing legislation that hurts rather than helps build our nation. We have a president who has been convicted of major crimes – fraud, felony, and sexual abuse. We have a president who apparently has provided highly classified information to our country’s number one advisary. And we have a president who has commercialized the presidency, by selling tee shirts, perfume, hats, clocks, watches, and meme coins. He is internationally bargaining tariffs instead of lowering prices on consumer products for the average American. He has published a caricature of himself dressed like the Pope, and boasted that "he rules this country and the world." He is a master of hallucination, delusion, and illusions.
DONALD TRUMP is the Judas Iscariot of our time, basking in the warmth of his self-obsessed lifestyle bought at the price of our democracy.
I liked your reference to the Khruschev comment. I was ten years old when he made it, and it made a deep impression on me. It has turned out to be a false prediction. The USSR is no more. But the Marxist analysis of our country's condition may well still apply. We appear to be collapsing, not because of outside pressure but because of our inevitable internal contradictions. Who knows what may emerge from the current chaos as a synthesis?
I could barely get out of bed yesterday and never made it out of my pajamas. No self care whatsoever. I was deeply grieving for my country and its innocents
Today is better. Yoga helped my perspective. This is bad, really bad, and more than likely going to get worse. But I’m grateful for Steven Beschloss and others like him who do the work, reaching out to other likeminded folks like us.
The Phoenix rises from the ashes. I believe our country can rise from its current metaphorical ashes. But on the 4th - I took a day off from hope. I didn't think about the country or politics. We watched some movies, ate some food, but did not memorialize our dying country.
Now it's the 5th. I'm back to doing what I can - be it ever so little - to bring our country back.
(Side note - on July 3rd we re-watched "Schindler's List". This should be required viewing for everyone in America right now, especially ICE agents. They can quit their jobs. They can refuse to participate. I wish they would.)
A day off from hope...that's so perfect. And I agree with watching Schindler's list. Spielberg was on our minds as well so we watched Jaws and I imagined the shark eating our real life monsters. :)
I stayed off the information highway yesterday, only reading Jeff Tiedrich and Andy Borowitz. When the inevitable noise machines started up early and ended way after midnight, my dogs were huddled in terror in spite of my best efforts to keep them calm, when I asked the neighbor to please stop doing firecrackers in the driveway for the sake of the neighborhood dogs and the elderly in the nursing home across the street, she told me she hoped my dogs die from the trauma.
I'm one of those directly impacted by the ugliness of the horrible bill, in every way and the fear and uncertainty I live with is so dark and heavy.
That's bad enough but to be told by this woman that she hoped my dogs died from the trauma of extreme noise shook me to my core.
I have no reason to feel pride in this country anymore. In fact, I'm glad I'm old, or older or whatever because opting out is on the table for me. I can't leave the country but I can make sure my dogs are cared for and just get the fuck off the planet.
That's how I feel. I don't want platitudes of "get out and protest" (I do) or make calls and write my reps (I live in a completely blue state, I know how they vote. One is so vocal she makes headlines now. Yay Melanie) or have hope. This is the reality of being an older american, where I don't have quite enough money to get by on but my dogs are always fed and walked, I have a roof for the time being and maybe sometimes enough to eat.
This is my reality on July 5, 2025. It sucks here now 😕.
You are loved, and you are right. When life isn’t worth living, it’s best to go. We are kinder to our animals than to our fellow humans in that respect. The callousness we live with every single day is deadly in every possible way. Sending you my heart across the miles. Solidarity.
The neighbor's comments are totally the America of today and indicative of the selfish hatefullness of too many. I'm so sorry this happened. Both shocked and not shocked.
Oh geeze, that's awful. What is wrong with people? I am so sorry you had to experience that, so sorry you're having a hard time, just so sorry about everything. I am an atheist but I hope that woman burns in hell.
I understand and too have an out. It’s your neighbors who care not that disturb me: the same attitude as one gets from the Senate, House, WH and all departments.
My heart is heavy. I watched the fireworks and know what they represent. I feel grief. History celebrates this day but I don’t feel like celebrating. I like the idea of the 4th of July being a day of resistance. That’s what it was truly about. That’s the only thing that gives me hope. Resist! Don’t comply!
Yesterday we ate and drank with neighbors and friends in Weehawken, down the street from the dueling grounds where Burr shot Hamilton. Living here, we’re constantly reminded of the momentary triumph of darkness over light. And how the arc of American history bends toward democracy and enlightenment. We are in an ahistorical moment but we will exit it if we want. This is a nation of wide pendulum swings and what is being wrought now will seed the ground for the future we’ve always sought. If we can make it through the most nihilistic time I can remember and manage to beat the GOP everywhere we need to.
It was hard to celebrate the 4th. The small flag at my front door continues to fly upside down and the heat even in MN has been stifling, reminiscent of climate change. I tried begging, shaming, encourahing my Congressman Finstad to vote no, but no surprise, he has sold his soul. I didn't watch fireworks even on TV, avoiding patriotic songs altogether. I am praying for better times, but at 76, I'm not sure how long I can keep fighting.
Thank you Steven for this prompt. I have of late been feeling discouraged over what's been happening, the cruelty, the grift, the open malice on the gleeful faces of those perpetrating it. I do sit with the grief I feel over all of this. Then I go in search of the light to guide me out of that rabbit hole. I just watched a TED talk by Angus Harvey called "Is This the Time of Monsters - or Miracles" (definitely worth watching). He reminds that life is and always has been a paradox, moments of destruction and inspiration at the same time. The question is which direction we choose to follow. Yes, I can still believe in America. What is happening now has happened throughout our history, from slavery to the robber barons of the early 1900s to the Japanese internment camps and beyond. And as long as there are individuals and communities that will stand up for what is right and just, we will continue.
Irreparable is the wrong word. The correct word, assuming this fascist regime ends, is that the American experiment is destroyed. We cannot go back to where we were. One third of the country will still be fascist. Even if we return to democracy, the constitution, as it currently stands is no longer operative. A more just document is needed. And we may have to let large parts of the country separate and set up their version of Gilead, sad as that may be.
No. No. No. "Irreparably damaged" is unacceptable. So long as good people stand for truth, irreparable is not an option. I am a physically impaired old woman and I do what I can to keep truth alive. Yesterday, July 4, I lit a candle for peace not only for us, but also for troubled places in the world - Ukraine, Gaza, Africa, to name a few. Feel free to add to the litany and thank you for what you do, Steven.
Thank you, Kay.
I think we can undo the damage that really is ongoing as well as a fate accompli’. The sooner we can get to work on it the better. GOPs must be thrown out Office on their keisters!! They should all be arrested, charged with whatever is appropriate, convicted and jailed for the rest of their natural lives. We then should have the best chance at achieving the restoration of our Constitution!!!!
Who would do that? The DoJ is acting on his orders. SCOTUS majority finds any possible work around on the “emergencies” put before them that don’t require any justification written. Last night as I listened more closely to the words in the film “1776” about the desire to take “tyrant” or “tyrannical” out of the Declaration (yes, realizing it was a film) I thought how do we raise an army of peaceful protestors in such great numbers that imprisoning us all would make others realize. But who would help us “throw da bums” out? Since the Bill passed, my “funk” won’t go away. And signing at a picnic with again cheering..
YES!!!
Up to 60% of anxious people are cured by placebo... if that placebo is Fascism... then...
...***GAME OVER***
Fascism doesn't cure anxiety. It requires amplification of anxiety about the Other who must be "dealt with." Anxiety is its modality. End the anxiety, and fascism fades away.
If all US starts out anxious and 60% are cured by innocuous placebo...NOT GOOD ENOUGH... because innocuous placebo can mutate into insidious placebo
First Do No Harm
Stop The Lying
"Don't Sweat It" is a lie... Exercise and Exposure therapy cause sweat and both are mandatory
99.9% of US refuse the White House recommended inoculation:"Do one thing every day that scares you."--Ms.FDR
https://feelinggood.com/science-behind-t-e-a-m-therapy/
"...researchers was extremely low, and indicated that accuracy of the researchers was, for the most part, less than 10%. In fact, for certain types of feelings..." HUMANS SUCK AT EMPATHY
Have we hit bottom? We will wallow in this morass for 15 months before we can vote to change course. What thawed out from a hard winter at Valley Forge turned out to be men of forged, hardened steel filled with resolve. A forge pounds steel blocks to created hardened steel, and Valley Forge begat the legendary Bethlehem Forge. It was one bad winter. We are there again. We know what to do. Wear them down. Wear them out. Vote’m Out! Block the concentration camps. https://hotbuttons.substack.com/p/concentration-camping?r=3m1bs
No, we haven’t hit bottom. Not by a long shot. We just passed a law to take us there.
Many deserted from Valley Forge that winter. Those that stayed were retrained and became the core of Washington’s Continental Army.
Yes. They did pass it. I have no voting representation and take no responsibility just beg for vote in House and Senate.
Agree. But we've got to keep trying. First to slow the descent, then stop it, then reverse the direction of movement.
I’m afraid all the sheep in America are just like those in Nazi Germany. And I’ve decided to get out before it’s too late.
Begging is not a good position for citizens.
T
We had a group of around 30 reading the Declaration OUT LOUD AND TOGETHER at our town gazebo. So many said afterwards how meaningful it was to do this AND that they’d never read the document start to finish.
The way to believe in America is to know and communicate the history, the good and the bad, of a nation striving to live up to its stated values that “all men are created equal” with “unalienable rights” of “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.”
Loud and together sounds right. So too reading the declaration in full.
I carry my copy of the Constitution, Bill of Rights, Declaration and writings of Thomas Paine everywhere. The 27 grievances in the Declaration are the same grievances we have with the Turd Reich today
Remarkable isn’t it?
This is perfect!
Thanks Steven for this post. I still believe in America. As a 73 year old veteran, this is the first time I am really scared at what is happening. My wife and I marched on the No Kings Day and felt better that like-minded americans were with us and were feeling the same. I'm not sure if street protests will work against this administration, we need new smart charismatic leaders to come forward and help us fight this monster together. I appreciate your posts and am upgrading to 'paid' today.
Thanks for your support, Bruce. The larger the protest, the more it will be unavoidable.
People need to understand exactly what you wrote "Independence Day = Resistance Day". It is about fighting back for our country and freedoms that are never to be taken for granted. We have checks and balances and we need to regain them by voting out the "cult 45/47 and all the congress members that follow it. This is not something to wait until the regular election in 3 more years. The protests in whatever way you are able to do by marching, ,calling, letter writing, emails whatever you can do to put pressure on them so they understand we are not going to take this lying down. All authoritarians lose their power eventually lose their power when the people !
I believe that the basic truth is that Donald Trump just really, really hates America. He has never been able to get the ‘respect’ he thinks he deserves. He’s not out to make America great again. He’s out to make America grovel at his feet. https://open.substack.com/pub/jonthinks/p/donald-trump-hates-america?r=mrvx1&utm_medium=ios
I agree with you, Jon. No one hates Americans more than Trump and his array of flying monkeys.
He said out loud he hates Dems. He’s showing again and again he hates women, Black, Brown, AAPI, LGBTQIA, and disabled people. It’s the VOTERS who still believe his lies who need to awaken. Too many of those who voted for the Bill didn’t read it and continue to assure their constituents it won’t hurt them. People can’t connect dots - actions to other actions. Who will show the truth to the masses?
It was not only impossible to celebrate the 4th, but I spent my time writing and reflecting on my past experiences living in Russia, and how tht applies to today's reality. I raised American children in the middle of Moscow, and they attended Moscow Public School. Russian schools/education were lightyears ahead of American schools in so many ways - yet their construction skills were far behind. I remember my youngest daughter telling me that "she refused to use their rest room for an entire year."
Our country is at a cross-roads for so many reasons, but from where I sit and the knowledge gained from twenty years living and working in an adversarial country - we are in trouble. Here is what I wrote in my Substack:
This Bill – Trumponomics 2.0, will erode the very foundations of America’s prosperity. And while I did not plan to celebrate this fourth of July writing about Trump and his delusional leadership, this domestic policy bill will impact the lives of every single American – the rich get richer, and the poor get poorer. It needs to be discussed - not just by me - but by every single American citizen. CNN Business said that “the top 20% of earners would increase by nearly $13,000 per year, which amounts to an average 3% increase for those households. However, for the top 0.1% of American earners, the average annual income gain would amount to more than $290,000.” (Ibid)
CNN also stated that “many people at the lowest end of the income ladder would be worse off because the package would enact historic cuts to the nation’s safety net programs, particularly Medicaid and food stamps.” (Ibid) Several sources have said that millions of low-income Americans are expected to lose their benefits. “All told, the bill could result in more than 10 million more Americans being uninsured by 2034” (Ibid)
There will be federal cuts to rural hospitals, which will impact the lives of those living in rural areas. “The real-life consequences of these nearly $1 trillion in Medicaid cuts – the largest ever proposed by Congress – will result in irreparable harm to our health care system,” (Ibid) . . . hurting millions upon millions of Americans no matter where you live.
In the end, sources such as The Economist, CNN newscasts, MSNBC, and the NYT all report that this bill will increase our deficit by $3.4 to $4 trillion over the next decade – leaving our children and grandchildren to pay the bill, but not providing any means for such repayment.
Our country is in a transitional period and is led by a megalomaniac who is destroying every vestige of American democracy. The reason for this devastation and dismantling of our country, our society, and our way of life was openly announced to the world in 1957 when the Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev used the phrase “We will bury you” on multiple occasions. Time Magazine, one of the leading publications in the 1950’s and still today, printed a cover that shows Khrushchev’s anger toward the U.S. The entire sentence said, “Whether you like it or not, history is on our side. We will bury you!” It appears that this archival prognostication may be correct and delivered by a man who says he is an American and a Republican. He is neither.
No photo description available.
At the time of this speech, Vladimir Putin was a young boy. He was inspired by Khrushchev’s tirade that lumped the U.S., Britian, France, and Israel all as bandits - enemies of the Soviet Union. If you follow Putin’s history, he is the person who inspired thousands upon thousands of former KGB men and women to rejoin the FSB (in 1994) and to restore Russia’s days of glory after Yeltsin’s embarrassing bought with alcohol. By 1994, Putin headed the newly formed FSB and controlled all Russian banks and financing. Russia gleefully accepted millions of dollars from western sources in the 1990’s – designated to build a Russian democracy – and instead and unbeknown to those international donors, large portions of this money went to rebuild Russia’s cycle of Cheka, KGB, FSB, SVR, and GRU – all variations of intelligence agencies created to oppose and destroy Russia’s enemies – including their number one adversary and nemesis - the United States.
In 1993, I was living in Moscow and was the westerner who informed British Secret Intelligence Service (M16) that many Soviet/Russian nuclear weapons were headed south to the Mid-East. Former Soviet employees were selling off anything of value at junk yard prices.
Money pillaged from the USSR ruins were stached abroad in hidden bank accounts - many in New York and some in Chicago. Together with money stolen from western governments, and millions of dollars laundered through Trump real estate deals (since the 1980s) - was all earmarked to be used later by Putin to rebuild Russia’s secret service, military, and fulfill his vendetta against the United States. In the mind of Vladimir Putin, the Cold War was alive and escalating as he felt an urgent need to retaliate against the west for the downfall of the Soviet Union. He found it amusing that all western nations thought the Cold War era had ended. It was a tool he used in his grand plan. Putin also rebuilt Russia’s natural resources, which now produce as much gas and oil as Saudia Arabia. By 2000, he was the new President of Russia and had accumulated adequate resources to enact his revenge.
Craig Unger has reported that “Trump rose to fame on Russian money. It was all legal. Collusion or not, President Donald Trump and the Russians are thick as thieves.” (House of Trump, House of Putin) Russians laundered dirty cash through condo purchases in Trump’s Miami buildings. These million dollar deals also bailed Trump out of his seventh bankruptcy. Trump claimed over and over that he has no ties to Russia, but in Craig Unger’s book, he describes Russian mafia linked to money laundering involving Trump properties that goes back to the 1980’s. Unger told Ari Melber that he found at least “1300 times” over the past 3 years where Russian money helped Trump build a political career and get rich again.” (House of Trump, House of Putin)
General Oleg Kalugin, the senior-level manager of the KGB in the US for decades, declared to Unger in an interview that Trump is a Russian asset. Why have Americans ignored this proof or turned a blind eye to the truth? Why is this not on the front page news?
So YES, Donald Trump is a Russian asset working on behalf of the Russian government and is fulfilling the Khrushchev prophecy that Russia will bury the United States. The Russians have been a financial lifeline to support Trump’s extravances for decades and they expected reimbursement per Putin's instructions.
On the Fourth of July 2025, we have half of our country brainwashed into believing Donald Trump is a good person - when he is most likely a traitor. We have a Republican Congress genuflecting in front of Mr. Trump and passing legislation that hurts rather than helps build our nation. We have a president who has been convicted of major crimes – fraud, felony, and sexual abuse. We have a president who apparently has provided highly classified information to our country’s number one advisary. And we have a president who has commercialized the presidency, by selling tee shirts, perfume, hats, clocks, watches, and meme coins. He is internationally bargaining tariffs instead of lowering prices on consumer products for the average American. He has published a caricature of himself dressed like the Pope, and boasted that "he rules this country and the world." He is a master of hallucination, delusion, and illusions.
DONALD TRUMP is the Judas Iscariot of our time, basking in the warmth of his self-obsessed lifestyle bought at the price of our democracy.
I liked your reference to the Khruschev comment. I was ten years old when he made it, and it made a deep impression on me. It has turned out to be a false prediction. The USSR is no more. But the Marxist analysis of our country's condition may well still apply. We appear to be collapsing, not because of outside pressure but because of our inevitable internal contradictions. Who knows what may emerge from the current chaos as a synthesis?
I didn't celebrate. I couldn't do it. There was nothing to celebrate in my opinion. I felt a deep sense of sadness for an unrecognizable country.
Same 😔
I could barely get out of bed yesterday and never made it out of my pajamas. No self care whatsoever. I was deeply grieving for my country and its innocents
Today is better. Yoga helped my perspective. This is bad, really bad, and more than likely going to get worse. But I’m grateful for Steven Beschloss and others like him who do the work, reaching out to other likeminded folks like us.
Shanti shanti shanti
☮️
The Phoenix rises from the ashes. I believe our country can rise from its current metaphorical ashes. But on the 4th - I took a day off from hope. I didn't think about the country or politics. We watched some movies, ate some food, but did not memorialize our dying country.
Now it's the 5th. I'm back to doing what I can - be it ever so little - to bring our country back.
(Side note - on July 3rd we re-watched "Schindler's List". This should be required viewing for everyone in America right now, especially ICE agents. They can quit their jobs. They can refuse to participate. I wish they would.)
A day off from hope...that's so perfect. And I agree with watching Schindler's list. Spielberg was on our minds as well so we watched Jaws and I imagined the shark eating our real life monsters. :)
I like that image - sharks feeding on <insert list of names> ....nice! thanks!
You're so welcome! :)
I honestly don't know anymore.
I stayed off the information highway yesterday, only reading Jeff Tiedrich and Andy Borowitz. When the inevitable noise machines started up early and ended way after midnight, my dogs were huddled in terror in spite of my best efforts to keep them calm, when I asked the neighbor to please stop doing firecrackers in the driveway for the sake of the neighborhood dogs and the elderly in the nursing home across the street, she told me she hoped my dogs die from the trauma.
I'm one of those directly impacted by the ugliness of the horrible bill, in every way and the fear and uncertainty I live with is so dark and heavy.
That's bad enough but to be told by this woman that she hoped my dogs died from the trauma of extreme noise shook me to my core.
I have no reason to feel pride in this country anymore. In fact, I'm glad I'm old, or older or whatever because opting out is on the table for me. I can't leave the country but I can make sure my dogs are cared for and just get the fuck off the planet.
That's how I feel. I don't want platitudes of "get out and protest" (I do) or make calls and write my reps (I live in a completely blue state, I know how they vote. One is so vocal she makes headlines now. Yay Melanie) or have hope. This is the reality of being an older american, where I don't have quite enough money to get by on but my dogs are always fed and walked, I have a roof for the time being and maybe sometimes enough to eat.
This is my reality on July 5, 2025. It sucks here now 😕.
I’ve got no platitudes for you because it really just is a dark & heavy time right now. But like Amy wrote, I send you love & hugs across the miles.
You are loved, and you are right. When life isn’t worth living, it’s best to go. We are kinder to our animals than to our fellow humans in that respect. The callousness we live with every single day is deadly in every possible way. Sending you my heart across the miles. Solidarity.
The neighbor's comments are totally the America of today and indicative of the selfish hatefullness of too many. I'm so sorry this happened. Both shocked and not shocked.
Oh geeze, that's awful. What is wrong with people? I am so sorry you had to experience that, so sorry you're having a hard time, just so sorry about everything. I am an atheist but I hope that woman burns in hell.
I understand and too have an out. It’s your neighbors who care not that disturb me: the same attitude as one gets from the Senate, House, WH and all departments.
My heart is heavy. I watched the fireworks and know what they represent. I feel grief. History celebrates this day but I don’t feel like celebrating. I like the idea of the 4th of July being a day of resistance. That’s what it was truly about. That’s the only thing that gives me hope. Resist! Don’t comply!
Yesterday we ate and drank with neighbors and friends in Weehawken, down the street from the dueling grounds where Burr shot Hamilton. Living here, we’re constantly reminded of the momentary triumph of darkness over light. And how the arc of American history bends toward democracy and enlightenment. We are in an ahistorical moment but we will exit it if we want. This is a nation of wide pendulum swings and what is being wrought now will seed the ground for the future we’ve always sought. If we can make it through the most nihilistic time I can remember and manage to beat the GOP everywhere we need to.
“Who was prepared to believe that millions of people were being seized for no reason whatever and led to slaughter by multiple means?
Who was prepared to believe that a whole people was being led to destruction at the diabolical will of a gang of contemptible criminals?
Who was prepared to believe that a whole people was to be exterminated to compensate for failure in a struggle for power and supremacy.
Who was prepared to believe that a people would blindly obey a law leading to death and destruction?”
“It may be that this, these very lines I am writing, will be the only witnesses to what was my life."
Załmen Gradowski: "From the Heart of Hell. Manuscripts of a Sonderkommando Prisoner, Found in Auschwitz"
https://www.auschwitz.org/en/museum/news/from-the-heart-of-hell-publication-with-manuscripts-of-zalmen-gradowski-a-member-of-sonderkommando-at-auschwitz-,1298.html
Thank you for this link.
You are welcome! The link includes an Auschwitz-Birkenau Museum bookstore tab. https://books.auschwitz.org/?_gl=1*1l56w35*_ga*MTIyMjE2NDI5My4xNzUxNTc1MDk5*_ga_ES4EZDDBMD*czE3NTE3MzcxMzIkbzQkZzEkdDE3NTE3Mzc1NjMkajYwJGwwJGgw. I bought the book in my post from there and received it by mail. It arrived quickly: https://books.auschwitz.org/en_US/searchquery/zalmen/1/desc/5?url=zalmen. 50 Zlotys = USD ~$14. I paid through Pay-Pal, which did the currency conversion. The book is heartbreaking account, but a must read, must have. Gradowski tells what few could.
It was hard to celebrate the 4th. The small flag at my front door continues to fly upside down and the heat even in MN has been stifling, reminiscent of climate change. I tried begging, shaming, encourahing my Congressman Finstad to vote no, but no surprise, he has sold his soul. I didn't watch fireworks even on TV, avoiding patriotic songs altogether. I am praying for better times, but at 76, I'm not sure how long I can keep fighting.
Hang in there.
Thank you Steven for this prompt. I have of late been feeling discouraged over what's been happening, the cruelty, the grift, the open malice on the gleeful faces of those perpetrating it. I do sit with the grief I feel over all of this. Then I go in search of the light to guide me out of that rabbit hole. I just watched a TED talk by Angus Harvey called "Is This the Time of Monsters - or Miracles" (definitely worth watching). He reminds that life is and always has been a paradox, moments of destruction and inspiration at the same time. The question is which direction we choose to follow. Yes, I can still believe in America. What is happening now has happened throughout our history, from slavery to the robber barons of the early 1900s to the Japanese internment camps and beyond. And as long as there are individuals and communities that will stand up for what is right and just, we will continue.
Irreparable is the wrong word. The correct word, assuming this fascist regime ends, is that the American experiment is destroyed. We cannot go back to where we were. One third of the country will still be fascist. Even if we return to democracy, the constitution, as it currently stands is no longer operative. A more just document is needed. And we may have to let large parts of the country separate and set up their version of Gilead, sad as that may be.
They can’t leave fast enough for me.