Great list. What authoritarians don’t seem to understand is that it’s next to impossible to contain and control information in ‘the information age’. It’s easy to misdirect and misinform, and for those in our country who feel satiated getting news from one, maybe two (very biased) sources, it’s heartbreakingly easy to see why they’re misled. But cutting off or controlling information? That’s really really hard. Even in places like China and Russia, authoritarian strongholds, people persist in pushing boundaries and seeking out truth.
We must continue to fight for the truth to be shared. The vast majority of Americans are proud of our constitution, even if they might not completely understand what it guarantees. But we must celebrate free speech and resist its removal with everything we have. T-Rump is counting on being able to quash dissenting voices; in this, in an age where the truth is out there, only if we would look for it, we must stand strong in our wholehearted support for all of the guarantees our constitution gives us. Anyone opposing our constitution is opposing our country - maybe that’s a platform for all of us to embrace and publicize.
A wonderful Friday morning coffee read. An uplifting of the spirits is necessary to widen that ever dimming light at the end. I am quite hopeful of an epic summer of protest for 2025. I think this is more important than ever, to snap America out of this malaise we find ourselves in. Let's go!
Thank you, Steven. To me, at the heart of democracy is empathy. Its power is in bridging divides and building understanding, enhancing civil discourse, promoting social cohesion and trust, informing leadership and policy, and fostering democratic engagement. Empathy enriches democracy by creating an environment where diverse voices are heard and respected. It transforms political discourse from adversarial to collaborative and helps ensure that democratic institutions remain responsive to the needs of all citizens. While we are experiencing the utter absence of empathy in this glimpse of democracy replaced by autocracy, it is incumbent upon us all to practice empathy in a different way, and more genuinely: In essence, empathy for those with whom you violently disagree is less about finding common ground on specific beliefs and more about acknowledging the humanity behind those beliefs. It is not until we embrace this truth that our efforts will founder. In this time of great darkness, we must redefine what light is.
Excellent post, Chris. We have to ask ourselves two questions: Who is government for? and What sort of country to we want to have/be? Empathy may well be the key that could bring us together with sufficient cohesion to address those questions and not leave it to an organized band of sociopaths. Even so, many of us might not like the answers this cohesion might engender.
As for me, I think we are stronger together, when we strive to make a decent, productive, meaningful life possible for as many of our people as possible. We are all different, with different skills and attitudes, and some of us will do "better" than others. But there don't have to be winners and losers. Life is finite, but it doesn't have to be a zero-sum game.
And Trump et al. can't stop our sorrow at the suffering they are inflicting on so many innocents. They can't stop sympathy and empathy in our hearts and hands. (This is well covered under your bullet on love, but this morning i am feeling such sorrow over the random cruelty to people and the disrespect and fear unleashed on Canada. Canada! I am only 3 generations removed from being Canadian.
Unless we are realistic about the situation we are in and the difficulty of turning this around, we will fail. We must stay optimistic but also must have a plan.
"It’s only a question of time before millions of Americans decide they’ve had enough and take to the streets. This is not a pipe dream; this is inevitable."
Saturday, April 5th has been designated as a national day of action: https://handsoff2025.com/. If you haven't already done so, please sign up for a protest march near you.
Yes! This April 5 th day of action across the 50 states is an invitation to join the the resistance outside, in public, with or without protest signs .. just show up !
He can’t do these things unless we let him and my concern is the large number of folks who seem to be either disinterested or in agreement with what he is doing.
Thank you Steven. For me, your facts remind me of not only what I am loosing, but also challenges me to look in the mirror and ask, "how am I going to let my growing anger affect me?" I will not let these sick, demented people destroy me and our country. Americans have been fighting and dying for nearly 250 years for the ideals this country was founded on. These ideals are still worth fighting for, and now it's our turn to fight back. As sure as the sun will rise each day on this country, I will join every American who resists these threats from within. Will you?
What we can do is to cohere and ACT TOGETHER. We are being screwed by passive Damnacrats who are unresponsive and cowardly. What we do have is a rising tide of a pissed off populace who are attending town squares and demonstrations and rallies to preserve democracy and oppose oligarchy. We have several Senators and Congressmen & Congresswomen and some Governors— such as Pritzker of Illinois and Moore of Maryland — who are taking strong stands against growing fascist practices and policies of Trumphuk and Muskalini. We have several judges knocking down the illegalities of DOGE and the violations by Trump Administration officials of constitutional rights of citizens and horrible treatment of immigrants and even foreign visitors. This rising tide needs to grow into a flood that will wash the Cabal out of White House and washing their abettors out of the halls of Congress. Action is what will make this happen. Yes, in the streets. Yes, in the halls of government. If Damnacrats show weak kneed, we show them the door. For those who risk standing up like Alexandria Ocasio Cortez, Tim Walz, and Bernie Sanders, we stand up with them TOGETHER.
Steven, Another well prepared, written and presented commentary! Is it a beginning???? Is something stirring? SCOTUS has rebuked tRump…who in turn is threatening Judges with Impeachment while continuing to ignore Federal Judge’s orders. On the other hand the Democratic ratings are bouncing off the floor boards. Of course they being busy planning resistance to tRump’s assault on the Government….NOT!!! Should they eventually get their act together??? Who is going to back them up??? Most of their actions to date have been extremely disloyal to their own Party in general!!! Now we see actions by tRump’s personal Army against individuals that displease their boss.
Now the question is…when the time comes…if it comes…Who backs Whom???? Who being; Police, Marshalls or Military and, Whom being; POTUS, SCOTUS, The Judges, Democrats or the People? Maybe we’ll have to ask NATO to help us throw off the invading army of insurrectionists before tRump poisons that relationship as he attempted before during tRump 1.0!
I’m no Historian like my other Substack favorite Heather Cox Richardson, but this seems to be how a Civil War is born. Too drastic you say…read the News from other than Fox Style sources. The reason tRump appointed who he did for his Cabinet becomes more evident each day. Individuals who even some Democrats voted for! This insurrection is not the work of a few…it’s a full court press! It will require a full force to rid us of them! Sadly, I still doubt there will be 2026 and 2028 elections or, they’ll be masterfully rigged as 2024 may have been!
I hope so. I do know we need more like you — chroniclers and story tellers to remind us of the greatness in our country, and to make sure, even if we fail, that America will be remembered as having once been a shining promise to the world.
"When a clown enters a palace, he does not become a king, the palace becomes a circus."
- Various attributions
Great list. What authoritarians don’t seem to understand is that it’s next to impossible to contain and control information in ‘the information age’. It’s easy to misdirect and misinform, and for those in our country who feel satiated getting news from one, maybe two (very biased) sources, it’s heartbreakingly easy to see why they’re misled. But cutting off or controlling information? That’s really really hard. Even in places like China and Russia, authoritarian strongholds, people persist in pushing boundaries and seeking out truth.
We must continue to fight for the truth to be shared. The vast majority of Americans are proud of our constitution, even if they might not completely understand what it guarantees. But we must celebrate free speech and resist its removal with everything we have. T-Rump is counting on being able to quash dissenting voices; in this, in an age where the truth is out there, only if we would look for it, we must stand strong in our wholehearted support for all of the guarantees our constitution gives us. Anyone opposing our constitution is opposing our country - maybe that’s a platform for all of us to embrace and publicize.
A wonderful Friday morning coffee read. An uplifting of the spirits is necessary to widen that ever dimming light at the end. I am quite hopeful of an epic summer of protest for 2025. I think this is more important than ever, to snap America out of this malaise we find ourselves in. Let's go!
Thank you for this! It’s hard with the relentless news of more unimaginable situations happening.
Dear Steven, Your words today have expressed the hope and beauty that are the Spirit of Spring....and precisely the balm that our
....hearts yearned for after a winter of non-stop, battering by the despicable, endlessly mouthy clowns. Bless you, Sir!
Thank you, Steven. To me, at the heart of democracy is empathy. Its power is in bridging divides and building understanding, enhancing civil discourse, promoting social cohesion and trust, informing leadership and policy, and fostering democratic engagement. Empathy enriches democracy by creating an environment where diverse voices are heard and respected. It transforms political discourse from adversarial to collaborative and helps ensure that democratic institutions remain responsive to the needs of all citizens. While we are experiencing the utter absence of empathy in this glimpse of democracy replaced by autocracy, it is incumbent upon us all to practice empathy in a different way, and more genuinely: In essence, empathy for those with whom you violently disagree is less about finding common ground on specific beliefs and more about acknowledging the humanity behind those beliefs. It is not until we embrace this truth that our efforts will founder. In this time of great darkness, we must redefine what light is.
Thx for this thoughtful note.
Excellent post, Chris. We have to ask ourselves two questions: Who is government for? and What sort of country to we want to have/be? Empathy may well be the key that could bring us together with sufficient cohesion to address those questions and not leave it to an organized band of sociopaths. Even so, many of us might not like the answers this cohesion might engender.
As for me, I think we are stronger together, when we strive to make a decent, productive, meaningful life possible for as many of our people as possible. We are all different, with different skills and attitudes, and some of us will do "better" than others. But there don't have to be winners and losers. Life is finite, but it doesn't have to be a zero-sum game.
And Trump et al. can't stop our sorrow at the suffering they are inflicting on so many innocents. They can't stop sympathy and empathy in our hearts and hands. (This is well covered under your bullet on love, but this morning i am feeling such sorrow over the random cruelty to people and the disrespect and fear unleashed on Canada. Canada! I am only 3 generations removed from being Canadian.
From your mouth to G-d’s ear! I’m going to shul tonight while we still can!
Shabbat shalom, Rachel!
Yes!
Unless we are realistic about the situation we are in and the difficulty of turning this around, we will fail. We must stay optimistic but also must have a plan.
https://open.substack.com/pub/albellenchia/p/planning-tocope?r=7wk5d&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web
Democrats were guilty of lack of imagination…not realizing how bad things would be.
True, sadly.
"It’s only a question of time before millions of Americans decide they’ve had enough and take to the streets. This is not a pipe dream; this is inevitable."
Saturday, April 5th has been designated as a national day of action: https://handsoff2025.com/. If you haven't already done so, please sign up for a protest march near you.
Yes! This April 5 th day of action across the 50 states is an invitation to join the the resistance outside, in public, with or without protest signs .. just show up !
He can’t do these things unless we let him and my concern is the large number of folks who seem to be either disinterested or in agreement with what he is doing.
Thank you Steven. For me, your facts remind me of not only what I am loosing, but also challenges me to look in the mirror and ask, "how am I going to let my growing anger affect me?" I will not let these sick, demented people destroy me and our country. Americans have been fighting and dying for nearly 250 years for the ideals this country was founded on. These ideals are still worth fighting for, and now it's our turn to fight back. As sure as the sun will rise each day on this country, I will join every American who resists these threats from within. Will you?
What we can do is to cohere and ACT TOGETHER. We are being screwed by passive Damnacrats who are unresponsive and cowardly. What we do have is a rising tide of a pissed off populace who are attending town squares and demonstrations and rallies to preserve democracy and oppose oligarchy. We have several Senators and Congressmen & Congresswomen and some Governors— such as Pritzker of Illinois and Moore of Maryland — who are taking strong stands against growing fascist practices and policies of Trumphuk and Muskalini. We have several judges knocking down the illegalities of DOGE and the violations by Trump Administration officials of constitutional rights of citizens and horrible treatment of immigrants and even foreign visitors. This rising tide needs to grow into a flood that will wash the Cabal out of White House and washing their abettors out of the halls of Congress. Action is what will make this happen. Yes, in the streets. Yes, in the halls of government. If Damnacrats show weak kneed, we show them the door. For those who risk standing up like Alexandria Ocasio Cortez, Tim Walz, and Bernie Sanders, we stand up with them TOGETHER.
Steven, Another well prepared, written and presented commentary! Is it a beginning???? Is something stirring? SCOTUS has rebuked tRump…who in turn is threatening Judges with Impeachment while continuing to ignore Federal Judge’s orders. On the other hand the Democratic ratings are bouncing off the floor boards. Of course they being busy planning resistance to tRump’s assault on the Government….NOT!!! Should they eventually get their act together??? Who is going to back them up??? Most of their actions to date have been extremely disloyal to their own Party in general!!! Now we see actions by tRump’s personal Army against individuals that displease their boss.
Now the question is…when the time comes…if it comes…Who backs Whom???? Who being; Police, Marshalls or Military and, Whom being; POTUS, SCOTUS, The Judges, Democrats or the People? Maybe we’ll have to ask NATO to help us throw off the invading army of insurrectionists before tRump poisons that relationship as he attempted before during tRump 1.0!
I’m no Historian like my other Substack favorite Heather Cox Richardson, but this seems to be how a Civil War is born. Too drastic you say…read the News from other than Fox Style sources. The reason tRump appointed who he did for his Cabinet becomes more evident each day. Individuals who even some Democrats voted for! This insurrection is not the work of a few…it’s a full court press! It will require a full force to rid us of them! Sadly, I still doubt there will be 2026 and 2028 elections or, they’ll be masterfully rigged as 2024 may have been!
Wow! Beautiful! You made my day! I’m sending to all my friends!
As did I, to more friends than I’ve ever shared. What a bounty of good reminders …” what Trump can’t do.”
I hope so. I do know we need more like you — chroniclers and story tellers to remind us of the greatness in our country, and to make sure, even if we fail, that America will be remembered as having once been a shining promise to the world.
TRUTH... thank you