Hello David, many thanks for the hard work and diligence you put into your work. Grateful for having the opportunity to elevate my knowledge and being inspired at the same time. Many of my fellow citizens are in their own personal hamster wheel, and the hamsters are in awe as to how they can keep it up. I stress the importance of understanding how we have arrived at this place in time if we ever stand a prayer of climbing out of this mess. Aside from the hell bound train with passengers of moral, intellectual and ethical bankruptcy, I urge people to assess how vulnerable they personally are to undue influence, disinformation and just good old propaganda. In all of this we are plagued by biases and a bumper crop of fallacies which the merchants of malarkey make hay off of for the benefit of the mobligarchs. Thanks again, I'm saving your works as reference material, or sort of like leftovers, better the second time around.
I've just posted the following comments in response to a Substack essay by Steven Beschloss today, but I think they are relevant here as well:
In choosing to appoint the very worst people to head our most important institutions - the ones responsible for education, defense, intelligence, health, law and administration - Trump is telegraphing his intention to destroy this country from within. There could be no other motive for this madness.
The Republican senators may provide a semblance of resistance to these efforts by denying one or two of these nominations, but Trump will ride roughshod over this bunch of cowards and ensure that his goons are appointed, if not to the top jobs, then to those that do not require confirmation.
These Republican senators, these abject cowards without a shred of conscience between the lot of them, could have stopped Trump during his impeachments or after his coup attempt. Instead, they've chosen to genuflect before him.
Our mainstream press has proved complicit by playing footsie with Trump. How can we possibly depend on them to stand for the truth?
Let's not kid ourselves: unimaginable evil is to be unleashed upon us and upon the world. So how do we counter this in the face of the apathy of the majority among us who could not be bothered to so much as vote? How do we reach them? Of course, Trump is going to help when the evidence of his intentions is made palpable: his laws are killing women now; but children are soon to start dying as well.
We need to start organizing now so that we will be prepared, when the time is right, to mobilize in overwhelming numbers, and to do so nonviolently for as long as it takes, in order to shut this country down. The oligarchs who are funding the regime will only pay attention when their economic health is threatened.
I hope the heads of our military forces are paying close attention and are having serious discussions amongst themselves. As a first step, they must commit themselves to disregarding any orders that are illegal. Or do we need to remind them that they have sworn an oath to uphold the Constitution?
We have to get our senators to say no way. I drafted a letter to your senator for you. It is something I do well and will wake a Senator from a dead sleep. Fill in names and address.
Excellent essay, David. Thank you for so eloquently stating what many of us are thinking and feeling. The task at hand -- the re-shaping of cultural hegemony away from the interest of the few and toward the interest of the many -- is no small task. I think one of the most important things to fight against right now is the discouragement that so many of us have been feeling since the election. As a life-long lefty (yeah, I marched with Cesar Chavez and voted for Gus Hall and Angela Davis in my early 20s) I have always understood that what has been heralded as "American Democracy" functioned for the benefit of the wealthy and powerful, both nationally and internationally. We on the progressive side have made a serious mistake in assuming that our hard-won civil rights, once won, would always remain. Now we know (if we didn't know before) that this is NOT the case. We will need to fight those battles again (and again) -- democracy, civil rights and freedoms will always have to be vigorously defended. My fervent hope is that we can do so without having to go through a painful and extended period during which what is left of democracy is destroyed, and we have to rebuild from the ashes. I won't live long enough to see it, if that is indeed the case. But with what time and energy I have left, I will do the best I can to stand on the side of truth, and as the saying goes, BE the change I want to see in the world. Thank goodness for these burgeoning communities -- at least here I feel some hope.
Carol, thanks for your clear, insightful post. It stands out to me because it’s so well written and so focused; it seems you are not one to bite off more than you need to chew and that makes your comment very effective. I feel the same as you about Mr. Rothkopf’s writing. Very often he says what many of us are thinking and feeling. Lastly, I agree that the task of re-shaping cultural hegemony is monumental and, being 76 years old, I may not live to see it come to pass. I’ll try not to let that stop me fighting for it.
We give up our Democracy one piece at a time. The top 1% will continue to chip away at our freedoms and we’ll help them along the way. Your comment about how anything that levels the playing field is labeled as socialism and unAmerican is correct. Until large groups show up to the poles and vote for something different, this won’t change. I’m afraid of the slippery slope we are on. Time will tell if we recover or continue the slide.
Very well said. I tend to be pessimistic and a little grumpy and I do wonder if you feel the same way when you think about our chances of resurrecting democracy in our country. In my better moments I think we can do it!
Hope. NONE of the orange baby man's clown show would be happening if he was disqualified day one after forensic psychiatrist Dr Bandy X Lee's report of the five dangerous mental pathologies of Donald Trump.
🔸️FITNESS FOR DUTY EVALUATIONS that are mandatory, like the military for high responsibility positions, would have stopped Trump before he got within a mile of the White House.
Bandy X Lee, Steven Hassan, and 100 other psychiatrists agree Trump has five dangerous mental pathologies as listed in the books "The More Dangerous Case of Donald Trump" and "The Psychology Of Trump Contagion - An Existential Threat to American Democracy and All Humankind".
"Containing Trump Contagion and Healing from Mental Pathology in Politics"
🔸️Fitness for Duty Evaluations start with everyone who interacts with the individual in question, and when red flags start to appear, 'say something.'
The US Military has procedures to follow that require individuals in question to have a Fitness for Duty Evaluation. Voters must demand the House and Senate do the same.
"Stephen Xenakis- Fitness for Duty Exams: Preventing Autocratic Abuse"
🔸️Outside the military are professionals like Dr. Bandy X. Lee who has several dozen colleagues all of whom are highly qualified to do Fitness for Duty Evaluations.
The U.S. House and Senate have several mechanisms to enforce their rules, including:
* Leadership
* Committees
* Floor Procedures
* Party Discipline
It's important to note that these mechanisms are not always used consistently or effectively. The more voters demand mentally fit leaders the more the House and Senate will comply.
🔸️I like what forensic psychologist Dr. Bandy X. Lee says that fascism and authoritarianism are just dangerous mental pathologies that worm their way into politics.
Everyone on Earth deserves and demands leadership that is mentally fit.
Fitness for Duty Evaluations performed by well respected psychiatrists ensures every country has leaders who do not serve their own power, but serve their own people.
With a pool of mentally fit candidates, we then have all the elections we wish.
- 4 years constant FOX campaign for GOP's in all 50 states
From Hopium Chronicles on SubStack.
We need a more robust 24/7/365 pro-democracy media we discussed yesterday, but we also need a more aggressive Democratic Party-led strategy to engage Democratic voters in all 50 states to drive turnout in every election, in every state. The Democratic Party and our Presidential campaigns have to be more than just 7 battleground states.
Ok, i wrote postcards, made calls, gave money to state and national candidates, marched in Democratic solidarity, ate pizza at fundraising events and VOTED. Now what? I'm really not into political theory anymore, even ehen I agree.
There is a critical mass for all forms of Institutional Corruption. When the institution reaching that critical mass is one's own Duopolistic and clearly corporate-captured government dba Cronyocracy, we are facing an existential crisis for even deeply flawed attempts at a non Pay2Play republic, fugggedabout tiny "d" democracy.
Our body politic has got to find a balance point between the complexities we the body politic are required to train ourselves up to if systemic reformation within democratic republican models will survive and\or toughen ourselves internally to follow-through on scam-proofing these systems whose designed complexity has opened the doors to the self-serving elite that already has such an advantage over the body-politic by our his\herstoric refusal to pare back the Pay2Play Oligarchic template we've been persuaded to adhere to LEMMING-Like by this self-serving elite.
Yes, I'm looking at youse DNC Elite that nixed the popular primary candidacies of Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren the few unimpeachable Public Servants left standing. This isn't a case where the Grand Ol' Party's Elite Oligarchs have shown any mettle for holding back the internal LOOTERS in pinstriped suits and their far from democratic Pay2Play New Feudalism deformers rather than reformers....
I regrettably began way too late spending time viewing the televised if low-rated U.S. Senate Banking Committee Hearings where the real Public Interest was being served by Senator Elizabeth Warren (who displayed on the trail of her own Presidential Primary candidacy NONE of her real skill as a cross-examining interrogtor of arrogated Corporate Power during those televised hearings now archived on U. of Tube and that I submit as evidence under these YouTube search words):
If you can come up with any more rousing rah-rah for big "R" REFORMATION of INSTITUTIONAL CORRUPTION from Wall Street to Washington than these barely viewed yet nationally televised clips now archived in near secrecy on U. of Tube, you can tape my eyelids open like that scene in the Orwellian circa 70's big screen blockbuster barely referenced by our body politic, namely A CLOCKWORK ORANGE to force me to witness the mechanics of HIGH FINANCE & ELITE GOVERNMENT versions of INSTITUTIONAL CORRUPTION in action.
Here's only a few minutes I'd choose from the above search words I've provided for the entire REFORMATION FESTIVAL on U. of Tube:
Senator Elizabeth Warren questions Wells Fargo CEO John Stumpf at Banking Committee Hearing
Senator Elizabeth Warren
76.8K subscribers
Save
4,629,928 views Sep 20, 2016
"Senator Elizabeth Warren's two rounds of questions for Wells Fargo CEO John Stumpf at the September 20, 2016 Senate Banking Committee hearing entitled: "An Examination of Wells Fargo’s Unauthorized Accounts and the Regulatory Response." For more information on the hearing, click here: http://www.banking.senate.gov/public/... "
Transcript
If that doesn't bring down a poly-partisan truly POPULIST ROAR 4 REFORM, than the hour may indeed be too late....As Michael Ray Richardson, a maligned Knickerbocker hooper of my well-spent yoot used to chime in those struggling years of rebuilding:
"Da Ship Be Sinking...."
Here's to a productive rather than dejected NEW YEAR and healthier revivified seasonal cycles! Deformation to Reformation! Rah-Rah-Rah....
You are perfectly capturing the progression to Trump, explaining how he is the product of decades of politics. This is why I figuratively rip my hair out every time I hear or read “how could we have ever gotten here?”, proof that truly the majority of Americans are absolutely and utterly clueless about their own history.
Lastly, let me spill my outrage here, about the monologue held by Fareed Zakaria yesterday on his weekly CNN (yes, yes, I know) Sunday show. The abomination of normalizing Trump in the mainstream media is a HUGE factor in the fall of the American democracy, as imperfect as she may be. Below is a link to the episode as podcast, the mononlogue is the first 5 min or so.
David, I was raised differently than most people and I don't see a lot to admire in wealthy people. My father raised me with almost no access to television and told me he didn't see much of value in it. My brother and I lived the lives of kids in the Twenties and Thirties in the Fifties and Sixties. He was a university professor, and my parents spoiled me outrageously intellectually. So I had no interest in making a lot of money, living an outrageous lifestyle, or buying anything expensive. I never invest in brand name items, unless I buy them in a thrift shop. I buy items when I know the actual producers, and this applies to food too. I am interested in foreign policy and the climate crisis, and that's pretty much the only reason I pay much attention to T. I know that, as usual, this doesn't address your point, but I think we should use our economic power, such as it is, to avoid whatever the wealthy want us to pay attention to. Oh, well, that's the best I can do.
Excellent article this evening, David, while I am deeply concerned and am waiting for the Golden Hammer that's about to come down on the American people, I'm hopeful that Congress will hold the line for their constituent's and their own interests?!! One can only hope at this point. Staying informed Is going to be key. Thank You, for your insight and will reStack ASAP 💯👍🇺🇲
Once we disenfranchise the women it will be great. 😉
https://msmagazine.com/2024/11/29/christian-nationalism-project-2025-women-right-to-vote-suffrage/?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAR2yZOv84d9imPc1h7JKmAeMiddZQET3WFK-JoEROAXHxtV7mXSLPbOlRKQ_aem_5CIyABa7RVtnwe-NbRlPUg
Hello David, many thanks for the hard work and diligence you put into your work. Grateful for having the opportunity to elevate my knowledge and being inspired at the same time. Many of my fellow citizens are in their own personal hamster wheel, and the hamsters are in awe as to how they can keep it up. I stress the importance of understanding how we have arrived at this place in time if we ever stand a prayer of climbing out of this mess. Aside from the hell bound train with passengers of moral, intellectual and ethical bankruptcy, I urge people to assess how vulnerable they personally are to undue influence, disinformation and just good old propaganda. In all of this we are plagued by biases and a bumper crop of fallacies which the merchants of malarkey make hay off of for the benefit of the mobligarchs. Thanks again, I'm saving your works as reference material, or sort of like leftovers, better the second time around.
I've just posted the following comments in response to a Substack essay by Steven Beschloss today, but I think they are relevant here as well:
In choosing to appoint the very worst people to head our most important institutions - the ones responsible for education, defense, intelligence, health, law and administration - Trump is telegraphing his intention to destroy this country from within. There could be no other motive for this madness.
The Republican senators may provide a semblance of resistance to these efforts by denying one or two of these nominations, but Trump will ride roughshod over this bunch of cowards and ensure that his goons are appointed, if not to the top jobs, then to those that do not require confirmation.
These Republican senators, these abject cowards without a shred of conscience between the lot of them, could have stopped Trump during his impeachments or after his coup attempt. Instead, they've chosen to genuflect before him.
Our mainstream press has proved complicit by playing footsie with Trump. How can we possibly depend on them to stand for the truth?
Let's not kid ourselves: unimaginable evil is to be unleashed upon us and upon the world. So how do we counter this in the face of the apathy of the majority among us who could not be bothered to so much as vote? How do we reach them? Of course, Trump is going to help when the evidence of his intentions is made palpable: his laws are killing women now; but children are soon to start dying as well.
We need to start organizing now so that we will be prepared, when the time is right, to mobilize in overwhelming numbers, and to do so nonviolently for as long as it takes, in order to shut this country down. The oligarchs who are funding the regime will only pay attention when their economic health is threatened.
I hope the heads of our military forces are paying close attention and are having serious discussions amongst themselves. As a first step, they must commit themselves to disregarding any orders that are illegal. Or do we need to remind them that they have sworn an oath to uphold the Constitution?
We have to get our senators to say no way. I drafted a letter to your senator for you. It is something I do well and will wake a Senator from a dead sleep. Fill in names and address.
https://bit.ly/3ZfigJh
Excellent essay, David. Thank you for so eloquently stating what many of us are thinking and feeling. The task at hand -- the re-shaping of cultural hegemony away from the interest of the few and toward the interest of the many -- is no small task. I think one of the most important things to fight against right now is the discouragement that so many of us have been feeling since the election. As a life-long lefty (yeah, I marched with Cesar Chavez and voted for Gus Hall and Angela Davis in my early 20s) I have always understood that what has been heralded as "American Democracy" functioned for the benefit of the wealthy and powerful, both nationally and internationally. We on the progressive side have made a serious mistake in assuming that our hard-won civil rights, once won, would always remain. Now we know (if we didn't know before) that this is NOT the case. We will need to fight those battles again (and again) -- democracy, civil rights and freedoms will always have to be vigorously defended. My fervent hope is that we can do so without having to go through a painful and extended period during which what is left of democracy is destroyed, and we have to rebuild from the ashes. I won't live long enough to see it, if that is indeed the case. But with what time and energy I have left, I will do the best I can to stand on the side of truth, and as the saying goes, BE the change I want to see in the world. Thank goodness for these burgeoning communities -- at least here I feel some hope.
Carol, thanks for your clear, insightful post. It stands out to me because it’s so well written and so focused; it seems you are not one to bite off more than you need to chew and that makes your comment very effective. I feel the same as you about Mr. Rothkopf’s writing. Very often he says what many of us are thinking and feeling. Lastly, I agree that the task of re-shaping cultural hegemony is monumental and, being 76 years old, I may not live to see it come to pass. I’ll try not to let that stop me fighting for it.
Thank you.
We give up our Democracy one piece at a time. The top 1% will continue to chip away at our freedoms and we’ll help them along the way. Your comment about how anything that levels the playing field is labeled as socialism and unAmerican is correct. Until large groups show up to the poles and vote for something different, this won’t change. I’m afraid of the slippery slope we are on. Time will tell if we recover or continue the slide.
Very well said. I tend to be pessimistic and a little grumpy and I do wonder if you feel the same way when you think about our chances of resurrecting democracy in our country. In my better moments I think we can do it!
I think we can do it too.
Hope. NONE of the orange baby man's clown show would be happening if he was disqualified day one after forensic psychiatrist Dr Bandy X Lee's report of the five dangerous mental pathologies of Donald Trump.
"World Mental Health Coalition"
https://youtube.com/@dangerouscasenow2523?si=OzNy4LkMVxd8JzHZ
How to Stop Authoritarians Before They Start
🔸️FITNESS FOR DUTY EVALUATIONS that are mandatory, like the military for high responsibility positions, would have stopped Trump before he got within a mile of the White House.
Bandy X Lee, Steven Hassan, and 100 other psychiatrists agree Trump has five dangerous mental pathologies as listed in the books "The More Dangerous Case of Donald Trump" and "The Psychology Of Trump Contagion - An Existential Threat to American Democracy and All Humankind".
"Containing Trump Contagion and Healing from Mental Pathology in Politics"
https://youtu.be/HTkCqU5LM-k?si=f6g0PolglC21w1nR
🔸️Fitness for Duty Evaluations start with everyone who interacts with the individual in question, and when red flags start to appear, 'say something.'
The US Military has procedures to follow that require individuals in question to have a Fitness for Duty Evaluation. Voters must demand the House and Senate do the same.
"Stephen Xenakis- Fitness for Duty Exams: Preventing Autocratic Abuse"
https://youtu.be/vdtChF07ryU?si=VJ5dauWFoUQg10uH
🔸️Outside the military are professionals like Dr. Bandy X. Lee who has several dozen colleagues all of whom are highly qualified to do Fitness for Duty Evaluations.
The U.S. House and Senate have several mechanisms to enforce their rules, including:
* Leadership
* Committees
* Floor Procedures
* Party Discipline
It's important to note that these mechanisms are not always used consistently or effectively. The more voters demand mentally fit leaders the more the House and Senate will comply.
🔸️I like what forensic psychologist Dr. Bandy X. Lee says that fascism and authoritarianism are just dangerous mental pathologies that worm their way into politics.
Everyone on Earth deserves and demands leadership that is mentally fit.
Fitness for Duty Evaluations performed by well respected psychiatrists ensures every country has leaders who do not serve their own power, but serve their own people.
With a pool of mentally fit candidates, we then have all the elections we wish.
The 2024 DNC Presidental Campaign
- Silence for 3 years, 7 months
- Campaign 5 months in swing states
The 2024 RNC Presidential Campaign
- 4 years constant FOX campaign for GOP's in all 50 states
From Hopium Chronicles on SubStack.
We need a more robust 24/7/365 pro-democracy media we discussed yesterday, but we also need a more aggressive Democratic Party-led strategy to engage Democratic voters in all 50 states to drive turnout in every election, in every state. The Democratic Party and our Presidential campaigns have to be more than just 7 battleground states.
Ok, i wrote postcards, made calls, gave money to state and national candidates, marched in Democratic solidarity, ate pizza at fundraising events and VOTED. Now what? I'm really not into political theory anymore, even ehen I agree.
There is a critical mass for all forms of Institutional Corruption. When the institution reaching that critical mass is one's own Duopolistic and clearly corporate-captured government dba Cronyocracy, we are facing an existential crisis for even deeply flawed attempts at a non Pay2Play republic, fugggedabout tiny "d" democracy.
Our body politic has got to find a balance point between the complexities we the body politic are required to train ourselves up to if systemic reformation within democratic republican models will survive and\or toughen ourselves internally to follow-through on scam-proofing these systems whose designed complexity has opened the doors to the self-serving elite that already has such an advantage over the body-politic by our his\herstoric refusal to pare back the Pay2Play Oligarchic template we've been persuaded to adhere to LEMMING-Like by this self-serving elite.
Yes, I'm looking at youse DNC Elite that nixed the popular primary candidacies of Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren the few unimpeachable Public Servants left standing. This isn't a case where the Grand Ol' Party's Elite Oligarchs have shown any mettle for holding back the internal LOOTERS in pinstriped suits and their far from democratic Pay2Play New Feudalism deformers rather than reformers....
I regrettably began way too late spending time viewing the televised if low-rated U.S. Senate Banking Committee Hearings where the real Public Interest was being served by Senator Elizabeth Warren (who displayed on the trail of her own Presidential Primary candidacy NONE of her real skill as a cross-examining interrogtor of arrogated Corporate Power during those televised hearings now archived on U. of Tube and that I submit as evidence under these YouTube search words):
"Elizabeth Warren Senate Banking Hearings Grilling CEOs".
If you can come up with any more rousing rah-rah for big "R" REFORMATION of INSTITUTIONAL CORRUPTION from Wall Street to Washington than these barely viewed yet nationally televised clips now archived in near secrecy on U. of Tube, you can tape my eyelids open like that scene in the Orwellian circa 70's big screen blockbuster barely referenced by our body politic, namely A CLOCKWORK ORANGE to force me to witness the mechanics of HIGH FINANCE & ELITE GOVERNMENT versions of INSTITUTIONAL CORRUPTION in action.
Here's only a few minutes I'd choose from the above search words I've provided for the entire REFORMATION FESTIVAL on U. of Tube:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xJhkX74D10M&t=909s
Senator Elizabeth Warren questions Wells Fargo CEO John Stumpf at Banking Committee Hearing
Senator Elizabeth Warren
76.8K subscribers
Save
4,629,928 views Sep 20, 2016
"Senator Elizabeth Warren's two rounds of questions for Wells Fargo CEO John Stumpf at the September 20, 2016 Senate Banking Committee hearing entitled: "An Examination of Wells Fargo’s Unauthorized Accounts and the Regulatory Response." For more information on the hearing, click here: http://www.banking.senate.gov/public/... "
Transcript
If that doesn't bring down a poly-partisan truly POPULIST ROAR 4 REFORM, than the hour may indeed be too late....As Michael Ray Richardson, a maligned Knickerbocker hooper of my well-spent yoot used to chime in those struggling years of rebuilding:
"Da Ship Be Sinking...."
Here's to a productive rather than dejected NEW YEAR and healthier revivified seasonal cycles! Deformation to Reformation! Rah-Rah-Rah....
Mitch Ritter\Paradigm Sifters, Code Shifters, PsalmSong Chasers
Lay-Low Studios, Ore-Wa (Refuge of Atonement Seekers)
Media Discussion List\Looksee
You are perfectly capturing the progression to Trump, explaining how he is the product of decades of politics. This is why I figuratively rip my hair out every time I hear or read “how could we have ever gotten here?”, proof that truly the majority of Americans are absolutely and utterly clueless about their own history.
Lastly, let me spill my outrage here, about the monologue held by Fareed Zakaria yesterday on his weekly CNN (yes, yes, I know) Sunday show. The abomination of normalizing Trump in the mainstream media is a HUGE factor in the fall of the American democracy, as imperfect as she may be. Below is a link to the episode as podcast, the mononlogue is the first 5 min or so.
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/fareed-zakaria-gps/id377785090?i=1000678849544
Wow. I have to re-read and digest this article. Thank you for this deep dive .
For me, digesting the article was easier than digesting some of the Comments 🤔.
It’s sickening.
Thank you for this piece. It is an eye opener, and yet grounding at the same time. Your analysis is trustworthy.
David, I was raised differently than most people and I don't see a lot to admire in wealthy people. My father raised me with almost no access to television and told me he didn't see much of value in it. My brother and I lived the lives of kids in the Twenties and Thirties in the Fifties and Sixties. He was a university professor, and my parents spoiled me outrageously intellectually. So I had no interest in making a lot of money, living an outrageous lifestyle, or buying anything expensive. I never invest in brand name items, unless I buy them in a thrift shop. I buy items when I know the actual producers, and this applies to food too. I am interested in foreign policy and the climate crisis, and that's pretty much the only reason I pay much attention to T. I know that, as usual, this doesn't address your point, but I think we should use our economic power, such as it is, to avoid whatever the wealthy want us to pay attention to. Oh, well, that's the best I can do.
Excellent article this evening, David, while I am deeply concerned and am waiting for the Golden Hammer that's about to come down on the American people, I'm hopeful that Congress will hold the line for their constituent's and their own interests?!! One can only hope at this point. Staying informed Is going to be key. Thank You, for your insight and will reStack ASAP 💯👍🇺🇲