End of the American Dream

A Digital Diary: November 2020 — June 2022

Before the Deluge: Dec. 19, 2019

Our current national drama over impeachment is merely the prologue to what will be one of the most consequential elections in US history. Comparisons are being made to 1860 and the Civil War. But the issues and dynamics closely resemble 1800, an epic clash over the type of government, the powers of presidents, defining citizenship and political repression, and the meaning of the Constitution. In the end, it made John Adams a one-term President. But the next president, Thomas Jefferson, expanded presidential power even more.

Nov. 6, 2020: Zeno’s World

Will this election ever end? Are we trapped in pointless, endless motion? Could Zeno’s paradox be right after all? As recounted by Aristotle, the philosopher argued that anything in motion must arrive at the half-way stage before it arrives at the goal. Sounds simple, but there’s a problem. You’ll never arrive. 

Let’s say the election is like taking a walk to the end of a path. We can see it out there, just beyond the horizon. But before we can get there, we have to go halfway, right? And before that we need to go a quarter of the way. Before that, one-eighth, one-sixteenth and so on. Get it? Frustrating, endless.

Motion entails an infinite number of tasks, explained Zeno, back and back and back, and therefore an impossibility to ever complete. In fact, we can’t even start. Any distance can be divided in half, after all. So we can’t say exactly where we began. 

Forward motion is an illusion! My God, we’ll never get anywhere! Hell, we haven’t even begun.... What were we talking about? Right, the election. Fortunately, motion forward is possible (after several steps back), and Trump’s evil stupidity isn’t infinite. It will end, eventually. And right now it looks like Tortoise Joe can beat Orange Achilles this time. 

Nov. 8: Words Matter

Most election coverage suggests that use of the words “defund the police” and socialism turned races in New York, Florida, South Carolina and maybe more. It’s a key reason that House seats were lost and the Senate may not flip. GOP candidates were given useful weapons. Yet there is little acknowledgement among progressives that such maximalist calls are poison in close races. They will continue to matter going forward. The US may be a liberal country, on some policies and in various cultural ways. But it also remains conservative in many respects. Higher turnout did not alter this balance.

Nov. 9

Winning is great, but Trump’s chaos has long-term costs, and all the coping we’ve done along the way has had side effects. To start, nothing feels stable anymore. And we haven’t been able to stop, take stock, or properly mourn. Is trauma the right word for it?

Nov. 14

The lies never stop in Trumpworld. Today Mike Pence added to the epic pile of disinformation with an email appeal to millions of supporters. The con reads like a Publisher’s Clearinghouse pitch, but it could be part of a slow-moving coup. “I have great news,” Mike writes. Citing the recent electoral college call for Trump in North Carolina, he claims that “we’ve proved to the Left that, no matter what the media says, this Election is not over.” Oh, really? Tell me more.

 

“More votes are coming in for the President every single day, and with your help, we’ll secure FOUR MORE YEARS for the American People.” The CAPS tell the story, aimed at true believers and low info “persuadables.” He quickly gets to the real point: convincing the gullible “YOU to support the Official Election Defense Fund so that we can keep fighting against the Radical Left’s attempts to undermine this race.” In other words, send money!

 

“We are closer than ever,” Mike lies, fueling the delusion now also bringing out thousands into the DC streets. This is precisely what a slow coup looks like. Stay tuned for rogue electors and maybe even a Supreme Court “Hail Mary” case to restore “stability.” 

I hate to admit it, but Pence may be right about one thing. The battle for the White House is not over yet!

Nov. 28: One more thing...

An elaborate right-wing echo chamber has created a distorted picture of contemporary reality that now appeals to tens of millions who feel insecure and are hungry for clear and simple answers. Alienated and uncertain about their futures and the security of their families and friends, too many are vulnerable to the politics of paranoia and blame.

Bombarded with disinformation, in 2016 they placed their faith, and the planet’s future, in the hands of a gold-plated huckster who gave them slogans instead of answers, and the false hope for a return to some illusory “greatness.” Fortunately, he will soon no longer be president, or so it appears. Still, he may yet become a schismatic far-right “pope,” with his own media network and royal court-in-exile. And the forces he has unleashed will no doubt remain a formula for chaos, alienation, and deep division for years to come.

Dec. 9

The New Confederacy (aka states with leaders who want to secede from democracy) includes Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Montana, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, and West Virginia. Taken together, they represent 135 million people, or 41 % of the total US population. (Probably won’t be visiting them in the near future. Foreign travel can be risky.) If not for geography, it might make sense to let them go their own way. They could even call it MAGAMERICA, or Great America.

Dec. 22

Four years ago it was merely fantasy and speculation. Today it’s our shared reality, what the Washington Post just called “a ragtag crew of conspiracy-minded allies” who are trying to overturn the 2020 election as Trump desperately resists leaving the White House. You COULD make this kind of thing up. But that’s no longer necessary.

Dec. 26

With the end in sight, Trump and his gang cry victim while looting, burning, pardoning themselves, and holding America hostage. Meanwhile, poverty deepens and society crumbles. But as many have noted, cruelty is the point, a feature not a glitch. On the other hand, this is clearly the end of Act Three. Just 25 days until the Fat Whiner-in-Chief leaves the building.

2021

Jan. 4

First it was just shirts, signs and shouting at Trump rallies. Then he met with supporters at the White House. In 2020 one chaired a reelection group, and several have just been elected to Congress. Now they’re scheming to overturn the presidential election....that’s QAnon and the danger of truth decay.

Jan. 6: Give’em an inch and they’ll take the whole country

In 2017, QAnon jumped to the mainstream in the form of shirts and signs that were prominently visible at a Trump campaign rally. After that he met with several supporters of the conspiracy theory — at the White House. One co-chaired a coalition group for Trump’s reelection, and several have since been elected to Congress. Today they are challenging the legitimacy of the last presidential election.

Jan. 6

Insurrection: CNN calls it that. But it’s also another step in the slow coup. So far it has derailed the electoral count. More likely to come. And certainly no peaceful transition. Had the insurgents been young, Muslim or black, however, they’d be dead or in jail. That’s how we know who really owns this place, and why the old order is on the verge of collapse. Time to head for the exits.

Jan. 8: Stupid Fascism

Anyone who claims that they couldn’t imagine the “Trump era” ending this way has an imagination deficiency. Or hasn’t watched TV serials like 24 and House of Cards. It’s not over yet, and another official failure of imagination (mixed with some complicity) is very possible. On Jan. 20, we may see a large mob, peppered with vandals, criminals and nihilists, descend on the Capitol. And the response could again be too little, too late. What will the police and National Guard do when they face an enraged mob of deranged white people? Think of it this way: Trump’s “American Carnage” demands a final twist.

Jan. 8: A Social Virus Can Also Be Deadly

Conspiracy theories. They used to be good fun, provocative dinner table conversation and the focus of action movie plots. They were like certain parts of the body. Everybody had them and, most of the time, no one got hurt. But that’s no longer true. Now believing conspiracy theories can get people killed...

Jan. 8

Finally! The end of T****’s un-mediated access to millions. That was the trouble. No human has ever abused the public more with such a vehicle. A privilege actually, but he turned it into a weapon. It allowed him to spread a social virus. Congrats to Twitter for finally helping to liberate the country from this deadly demagogue. Better late... but never again!

Jan. 9

Impeachment. It’s already word of the year. And not for the first time. Twenty-two years ago, Bill Clinton was impeached — but not removed — for oval office intern sex. For Democrats, it was relatively easy to condemn the sex and lying, yet reject that it warranted conviction. Afterward, the big impact was the damage it did to Al Gore’s 2000 presidential campaign. 

Twenty five years before that, Richard Nixon resigned and waved goodbye. But he wasn’t impeached. He was merely threatened with it. Nixon was caught running a private gang of political thugs. He’d weaponized agencies and obstructed Congress until the evidence became overwhelming. Trump’s insurrection and attempted coup has made that look trivial.

But he won’t be president for much longer. And although his departure will certainly be must-see TV (and a potential calamity), there will be smarmy claims afterward that the system worked after all, and now things will return to normal. Doubtful. After Nixon left, especially after his hand-picked successor Gerald Ford pardoned him, a deep disillusionment set in. We seem to be headed there again....

Jan. 17

Trump took presidential lying into new territory, with the complicity of corporate and social media. But the problem has been developing for a much longer time. And it’s not just the lies, it’s the job. ...what better time to consider whether the office of president itself is still working.

Jan. 24: Meanwhile in Russia…

Tens of thousands have mobilized in support of jailed opposition leader Aleksei Navalny — the biggest nationwide showdown in years between various Kremlin critics and the Russian oligarchy. More than 3,000 were arrested this weekend. The geographic scope of protests — Far East to Moscow — signals widespread fatigue with the stagnant, corruption-plagued political order that Putin has presided over for two decades. It had to blow sometime. Navalny, Putin’s most prominent critic, was poisoned last August in Siberia and recovered in Germany. After flying home to Moscow, he was arrested at passport control. No peaceful resolution in sight.

Feb. 9

BAMN? As the second Trump impeachment begins — for his incitement of violence and insurrection — I’m wondering whether anyone has a problem with these words, delivered last summer to a large, angry crowd who had marched on Burlington’s Police Department: “If another motherf—— black person, brown person — or even a motherf—— white person — dies on one of y’all’s n—- hands, that building is going motherf—— down. Do you understand that?” Haven’t heard anything, except maybe tacit endorsements. Sometime later another crowd marched on the mayor’s home. Is all this OK? Does the sense of pursuing a “just cause” excuse it? “By any means necessary,” some might say. Or just BAMN. If so, I think we’re in trouble. 

Feb. 10

Today a few questions are on my mind. Who among you are following the impeachment trial, avidly watching or at least following the proceedings? And who isn’t watching, or trying to ignore it? In either case, why? Answers to the third question may be the most important to understand. It’s hard to argue that it’s not historic. But is it important? Will it make a difference, regardless of the verdict? Or is it just a distraction? Or worse. 

Many are probably busy; the rest of life certainly must go on. But many of us are staying home, and the trial and its coverage isn’t hard to find. In fact, it’s hard to avoid. Rather than providing my own response up front — except to say I have seen some of it — I’m sincerely asking those willing to share: how are you handling the event and the moment, and how do you feel about it?

Feb. 17

The plot thickens as the rats begin to turn on one another. It may only be a matter of time until the biggest rat begins to look tasty. Eat up, MAGA. Turns out MAGA actually means Maniacs Against Government Action.

Feb. 28

Mainstream media seems finally to have caught on to the Big Don’s game. As he claims all Dems want Communism and Biden’s first month is a “disaster,” only Fox is carrying his speech live. His audience of sheeple sit close and largely maskless at his latest superspreader, inhaling both lies and virus, leaning hard into their death cult prophecy of victory or death. Looks like the latter. Go for it, guys, hugging and kissing to the final wheeze. The rest of us just want to live and love each other, preferably as far away from  MAGA mania as possible. It may not be over, but the GOP is DOA.

March 1

Those C-PAP speeches, especially the one by Der Fatso, were all better in the original German. We’ve seen this movie: it’s called Triumph of the Willfully Ignorant.

March 2

Bombarded with disinformation, people often turn to hucksters and demagogues who offer simplistic answers and the faint hope of a moral revival. Erich Fromm says that Hitler's authoritarian personality, which made him so brutal, was also part of his appeal to an insecure middle class. Their "fear of freedom" became a deadly threat to democracy. Sadomasochism was also a factor, he believed, the demand for deference to those “above,” and contempt for those “below.” A frightened person “seeks for somebody or something to tie his self to," Fromm wrote, "he cannot bear to be his own individual self any longer, and he tries frantically to get rid of it and to feel security again."

March 7: Burning Times in a New Dark Age

At least 100 people gathered at the Idaho Capitol on Saturday to burn masks in a protest against measures taken to limit infections and deaths caused by the coronavirus. By the way, there is no statewide mask mandate there. They chose the wrong target, but I understand the attraction to setting fire to things you don’t need or like. It’s usually childish, but also cathartic. At least they’re not burning books. Yet.

June 23: Rethinking the Reset

Due to a local presentation on the Great Reset — a matter of considerable concern for some folks, I’d like to broaden the discussion. Unfortunately, the talk didn’t adequately address the so-called Reset’s actual agenda, relying instead on guilt by association and promotional videos as evidence of covert malign intent. This isn’t a unique response to new thinking. Conspiracy theories often echo or build on those from the past. In a related and relevant discussion, Joseph Uscinski of the University of Miami and Adam Enders of the University of Louisville recently argued that there is little evidence for the rise of such theories due to the pandemic. Rather, they suggest that conspiracy theories draw on a long tradition, and don’t align exclusively with either the right or the left. 

More specifically, an article released by the BBC examines whether the Great Reset is a strategic part of a grand conspiracy by a global elite, who have planned and manipulated the Covid-19 pandemic to achieve their goals — and how that theory went viral.  Unfortunately, the local presentation about the Reset and Fourth Industrial Revolution didn’t provide a clear description of its actual principles and goals — Interconnection, Information Transparency, Technical Assistance, and Decentralized Decisions. 

Regarding the Reset, what do these concepts mean? The first refers to the ability of devices and people to connect and communicate with each other via the Internet; the second suggests that inter-connectivity can allow people to collect huge amounts of information and identify areas that can benefit from improvements that increase functionality. Moving forward, technology and automation may lead to a dystopian future, as many already fear. But Technical Assistance means it could also help us to solve problems and handle difficult or unsafe tasks. We still have a choice. And the last principle relates to the ability of hybrid human-cyber systems to act autonomously and make decisions — another prospect that could go either way. Yet for now at least, the Fourth Industrial Revolution holds out the hope that control may be kept as local (and human) as possible. No secret masters of the universe have as yet wired the outcome.

June 25: America’s Wrong Turn 

It didn’t start with Trump. A profound paradigm shift actually began with the election of Ronald Reagan, concludes Kurt Andersen in Evil Geniuses: The Unmaking of America, one equivalent in scale and scope to those in the 1930s and 1960s. It radically changed the foundation of the US legal system and the conduct of businesses and the financial industry, and led liberals to distance themselves from principles that had once defined progress. Among the key first steps, what I described in the Vanguard Press as the first failure of Reaganomics, was an unprecedented merger binge. 

A century earlier, government limited the drift toward monopoly power. But enforcement was weak, and with the right’s ascendance in the 1980s industries began bidding up the price of old facilities rather than investing in new ones. That was the shortest road to easy profits. In the end, merger madness not only undermined economic recovery but launched a massive redistribution of wealth to the top and meant that average wages would stagnate for the next 40 years.

July 1: Anatomy of an Attempted Coup

There is little doubt about what happened on January 6, 2021, and why millions of Americans, along with many Republican officials, are desperate to deny and bury reality. I believe we are again in a Civil War, and the outcome is quite uncertain. The earlier one lasted almost five years, and more than a decade after it officially ended, its outcome was largely reversed. In a very real sense, this new war continues the first. It may yet end the United States as we know it. That was, after all, the original mission. To be blunt, if those pursuing or supporting it cannot overthrow the current system, they are determined to destroy it — and feel justified in using any means necessary.

July 2

As I’ve been sharing with friends, a national meltdown seems to be brewing, or is already underway. An Atlantic feature tells the story of a Republican State Senator from rural Michigan, a farmer “who decided to tell the truth.” Now he’s worried about the safety of his family and whether “civil conflict” can be avoided. Another description for that is civil war. At the end, it notes...

... whatever fleeting dread he feels about personal backlash is diminished by his concern for the country’s sudden epistemological crisis. Not long ago, McBroom said, he would have defaulted to dismissing any notions of mass societal irrationality. He is not dismissive anymore. He sees large portions of the voting public rejecting the basic tenets of civic education and sequestering into “this alternate world” of social media. He hears from constituents about “enemies” on the other side of political disputes and a looming civil conflict to resolve them. And he wonders, as an amateur historian, whether the “very real trouble” we’re in can be escaped.

July 8: There is a storm coming

Liberals have good reason to worry about the political reach of QAnon. A survey published in May by the Public Religion Research Institute found that fifteen percent of Americans subscribe to the central QAnon belief that the government is run by a cabal of Satan-worshipping pedophiles and that twenty per cent believe that “there is a storm coming soon that will sweep away the elites in power and restore the rightful leaders.” Yet anxiety about the movement tends to be undercut by laughter at the presumed imbecility of its members. Some of the attorneys representing QAnon followers who took part in the invasion of the Capitol have even made this their chief line of defense.

Mike Rothschild, in his book about the QAnon phenomenon, “The Storm Is Upon Us” (Melville House), argues that contempt and mockery for QAnon beliefs have led people to radically underestimate the movement, and, even now, keep us from engaging seriously with its threat. The QAnon stereotype of a “white American conservative driven to joylessness by their sense of persecution by “liberal elites” ought not to blind us to the fact that many of Q’s followers, like the members of any cult movement, are people seeking meaning and purpose. “For all of the crimes and violent ideation we’ve seen, many believers truly want to play a role in making the world a better place,” Rothschild writes.

July 30

Now it’s obvious: half of Republicans — in other words, about 25% of Americans — are finished with democracy. They no longer believe in elections and support the potential use of force to preserve the “traditional American way of life.” Translation: our rule (white & christian) or no rules. And most of their state and federal representatives are accomplices. Lincoln called it long ago: “A house divided against itself cannot stand.” So, we’ve been warned. The question now is how to deal with this new reality. In my view, either a complete systemic overhaul (aka Constitutional Convention) or let the two very different countries that are emerging go their own ways. Some might say it’s “too big to fail.” But maybe it’s just too big (and divided) to survive.

Sept. 16: GOP crazy talk

It was Sept. 16, 2015… just six years ago. But various statements made that day in a Republican Presidential debate conclusively proves that the party’s leaders were already far gone when Trump arrived on the scene. Commenting on immigration, for example, Bobby Jindal said he wanted to jail the mayors of sanctuary cities. Meanwhile, Lindsey Graham called for sending at least 10,000 troops back to the Middle East to fight ISIS in Syria and Iraq. 

Need more evidence? Jindal also thought the biggest discrimination was against — wait for it — Christian businesses. It turns out that was just a small part of the GOP's emerging war on reality. For instance, Rick Santorum, after saying that the First Amendment was about "freedom of conscience," argued that the President should defy the Supreme Court on gay marriage.

Some not-so-crazy talk did make it into the debate. For example, Jindal called Bernie Sanders an "honest socialist," and Graham said Hillary Clinton "did a good job" in Africa. But to solve world problems Graham also promised to have political leaders "drink more" in the White House. Another example of less crazy talk was John Kasich’s candid comment that if he was watching the debate he'd turn it off.

George Pataki's answer to the Iran Deal was to give Israel better weapons. Santorum wanted to scrap the deal and demand total access… or bomb 'em. Then Jindal claimed, "the idea of America is slipping away;" he didn't mention what that was, but promised he would "save it." Under Huckabee, the former governor claimed, America won't be "bullied" anymore, and any country that tried "will be destroyed."

Trump was fairly restrained that night. But he did say, “We don't get along with anybody around the world.” Then added, "But I would get along with everybody" — including Putin. So, we were warned. Ted Cruz meanwhile argued that the Iran deal had made the US the leading supporter of "Islamic terrorism" and Obama wanted to "take away our sovereignty."

John Kasich bizarrely claimed that most people wanted to defund Planned Parenthood. Chris Christie wasn’t so sure, but he had other reasons to shut down the government. And when Trump claimed, "Right now we don't have a country, we don't have a border," Christie played his own trump card — a draconian tracking plan for immigrants.

Asked about possible changes to the faces on US currency, Mike Huckabee said he would put his wife's face on the $10 bill. Carson preferred his mother’s. Trump chose his daughter and Jeb Bush picked Margaret Thatcher. Avoiding the issue, Carli Fiorina said there was no need for any change.

Near the end of the debate, Ben Carson admitted that he was seeing a lot of things going on in the country that "aren't logical." One example, as it turned out, was his candidacy.

Oct. 12

Yesterday I posted a poll question using the Facebook story option. Will American democracy reach 250 years?. Based on a 1776 start date, that would make 2026 the date in question. More than 40 people viewed the question, but only 18% voted! Of these half felt democracy would make it. I’m surprised at the optimism, but do wonder what it is based on. The signs are not good. One person wrote to me personally, arguing that the US was never a democracy and has become an oligarchy. That strikes me as simplistic. Even Bernie — master of simple answers to complex questions — says we’re just headed that way. But I do think we’re on the edge of something more profound than regime change. Every day more evidence emerges that the current system no longer works. The question is: what’s next?

Dec. 17

"There are decades where nothing happens; and there are weeks where decades happen." So said Lenin when he was in exile before the Russian Revolution. For the US, the weeks leading up to the siege of the US capitol last January are a clear example. We are still feeling the impacts, and do not yet see how fundamentally they have changed the country’s direction. 

An older example suggests the scope. On December 10, 1898, a peace treaty between the US and Spain was signed, ending the Spanish-American War. Spain gave Cuba, their prize possession, its independence. In reality, this placed it under US  control for the next 60 years. The emerging empire also acquired most of Spain’s remaining imperial possessions. That included Puerto Rico, parts of the West Indies, Guam and the Philippines. In less than two months the US had defeated one of the so-called “great powers” and acquired significant colonial possessions. It became one of few nations with the ability to project power far beyond its borders. Eventually, it would be labeled a “superpower,” a handy euphemism to avoid mentioning its imperial status. 

A year ago, that empire officially entered an era of decline that is unlikely to be reversed. In weeks, its basic ideals were shattered, its capitol was attacked and vandalized by its own people, and its “rule of law” failed. A return to “normal” is no longer possible. Millions have lost faith and too much has changed. Perhaps the worst can still be avoided. But the barbarians are inside the gates.

2022

Jan. 3: Vaccination & Its Discontents

Suspicions about vaccines and inoculation are almost as old as the scientific innovations themselves. In the West, two physicians first proposed “engrafting” people with smallpox pustules in 1714. They had seen it done in Istanbul. Among the earliest patients were the diplomatic class and royalty — Maria Theresa of Austria, Louis XVI, Catherine II of Russia — and their children! A safer approach was eventually developed using cowpox to vaccinate; credit for this goes to Benjamin Jesty, a farmer, in 1774, and more widely, to Edward Jenner, who performed his first vaccination about 20 years later.

As Naill Ferguson explains in Doom: The Politics of Catastrophe, European royalty and educated Americans like Cotton Mather were ready to accept the risks of the practice. However, local folk were sometimes skeptical. During an epidemic in Boston, for instance, town meetings passed resolutions charging that a schoolmaster, Samuel Danforth, had “endangered the town” by inoculating people and wanted to “remove such inoculated persons” from their midst. A novel approach to quarantine.

Smallpox vaccination became compulsory in Massachusetts in 1809; Sweden followed seven years later. By 1874, England, Scotland, the Netherlands and Germany had joined the list. But in the US, vaccination became and remains a divisive issue. By 1930, compulsory vaccination had been prohibited in Arizona, Utah, North Dakota, and Minnesota. In 35 states, regulation was left to local authorities. Only nine states and the District of Columbia followed Massachusetts’ example. In those places, fines were imposed and only vaccinated children could attend school. That approach was backed by the US Supreme Court in 1905. But nothing has quelled the resistance. Instead, vaccine opposition has grown, with fewer seeming to accept the advice of scientific authorities today than did a century ago. 

In Civilization and Its Discontents, Freud argued that aggression was the greatest threat to humanity. It stemmed, he theorized, from our primitive, subconscious and perhaps self-destructive urges. These days willful ignorance and knee-jerk suspicion add more fuel to humanity’s deep unrest. The combination can be lethal.

Jan. 12: The denial virus

How can it be shocking that tens of millions embrace wild conspiracies and comforting lies when we have known for so long that almost half the population (40% in recent Gallop and other polling) also believes the earth is only around 10,000 years old? This suggests another virus is rapidly becoming a pandemic — denial. And given its extension to thinking about the environmental crisis, rumbling toward us like a Tsunami, the prospects look grim. 

This virus also distorts how we handle immediate problems, like preserving what remains of democracy across much of the world. In the US, for example, we persist in believing that negotiation and compromise remain possible with those who simply do not believe in it. We also deny that this group extends beyond what we call conservatives, the Right or disciples of Trump. Long before they decided that regime change (by any means necessary) was justified, even noble, this was the belief of revolutionaries and many on the Left. They avoid the issue today, but not so long ago it was an article of faith. Faith in an inevitable overthrow of capitalism that would replace “bourgeois democracy” with the “dictatorship of the proletariat.” In other words, control of society by the working class. 

This dictatorship was meant to be a temporary arrangement, a comforting type of wishful thinking. And it was short-term in many places where attempted. But what followed mostly has been one-party and gangster states. The response to that: let’s not talk about it.

Jan. 2: How the Koch network hijacked the response to COVID and has continued to supplant public health experts 

The authors of a new report, Walker Bragman and Alex Kotch, point out that "when COVID began its spread across the United States in early March 2020, states responded by locking down to varying extents. All 24 Democratic governors and 19 of the 26 Republican governors issued weeks-long stay-at-home orders and restrictions on non-essential businesses. Lockdown measures drove down cases in the U.S. and likely saved millions of lives globally."

However, the decline of in-person shopping and work, combined with factory shutdowns, disrupted the economy. "One sector in particular that took a big hit was the fossil fuel industry. Oil demand fell sharply in 2020, placing the global economy on uncertain footing.

"Before long, business-aligned groups — particularly those connected to fossil fuels — began targeting the public health measures threatening their bottom lines. Chief among them were groups tied to billionaire Charles Koch, owner of the largest privately held fossil fuel company in the world.

"The war on public health measures began on March 20, 2020, when Americans For Prosperity, the right-wing nonprofit founded by Charles and David Koch, issued a press release calling on states to remain open.... To fight its war, the Koch network also relied on the astroturf roadmap behind the anti-government Tea Party movement, using its dark money apparatus to coordinate anti-lockdown protests.

"Participants for a number of anti-lockdown rallies were recruited by FreedomWorks, a dark money group tied to Charles Koch instrumental in organizing Tea Party protests in 2009. Several of the 2020 rallies were also promoted by the Convention of States Action, a group founded by an organization with ties to the Koch network and hedge fund billionaire Robert Mercer that wants to rewrite the U.S. Constitution."

Feb. 3: Defining Trumpery

We often hear that Orange Julius Caesar says the “quiet part out loud.” In fact, it’s right there, in the family’s chosen name. Here’s the official definition, from the Oxford English Dictionary. Understanding what it means might have saved the world much time and trouble. As the OED explains, Trumpery is, 1) deceit, fraud, imposture, trickery; 2) a., something of less value than it seems; hence, trifles, worthless stuff, trash, rubbish; applied to abstract things like beliefs, discourse and writing, rubbish; applied to religious practices and ceremonies, idle or superstitious; showy but unsubstantial apparel, worthless finery; in gardening, weeds or refuse that hinders the growth of valuable plants; applied to a person, trash; 2) b., of little or no value, trifling, paltry, insignificant, worthless, rubbishy, trashy. Take your pick and spread the word.

Feb. 9

Have you been following the Canadian trucker protests? First off, there were nowhere near 50,000 trucks. Second, Ottawa cops didn’t quit en masse. Third, the Canadian and Ottawa governments didn’t instruct hotels to refuse protesters. The misinformation goes on. One photo, labeled as being from Ottawa, is actually from Moscow in 1991. Another, supposedly taken of the 2022 convoy, is actually of a 2018 convoy in support of the... oil and gas industry. 

Recent investigative reports also show that there’s more to these protests than meets the eye. The entity behind some of the largest Facebook groups supporting the protests is an unknown source who used the Facebook account of a Missouri woman. She says her account was hacked and stolen. 

In short, this “siege” is no organic grassroots event. Rather, it’s an escalation of the information war against civil society.

Feb. 18: Slouching toward war

The ancient Greeks had many great stories — today we call them myths — some of which also served as warnings about the high price of exclusion, revenge, vanity, and quarreling over who is the best, the most deserving of love and respect.

Take Eris, known as the goddess of chaos, strife and discord. Some say she was the daughter of Zeus and Hera; others claim she was birthed alone by Nyx (dark night). Her opposite was Harmonia. Eris also had a son, known as Strife, whom she brought along when, accompanied by Ares, she rode her chariot to war.

As one story goes, all the Olympians — except for Eris — were invited to the wedding of Peleus and Thetis, destined to become the parents of Achilles. Why was Eris snubbed? The gods knew about her tendency to cause fights. Leaving her out seemed like a way to avoid one.

But the gods had miscalculated. Being excluded instead made Eris want to seek revenge. Her plan was simple: dropping a golden apple — henceforth known as the Apple of Discord — into the exclusive party. Inscribed on it were just four words — To The Fairest One. 

The results were predictable and tragic. Hera, Athena and Aphrodite immediately began quarreling over who should get the apple. That brought vanity into the equation. When applied to countries, you might call it national pride. 

Looking for a way to resolve the dispute, Zeus appointed Paris, Prince of Troy. Assuming he could be bribed, however, the goddesses offered him various gifts. It worked. Paris eventually chose Aphrodite, who promised him the most beautiful woman in the world. That was Helen, who happened to be the wife of Menelaus, king of Sparta. 

What resulted was catastrophe — the Trojan War and destruction of Troy. So, you might say that trying to avoid a fight by excluding an unpleasant person led to resentment and made things much worse. The moral: perhaps that it’s better to air our differences than conveniently repress them.

Feb. 25: Top Story

Russia launched a wide-ranging attack on Ukraine early Thursday. As AP reported, “Vladimir Putin deflected global condemnation and cascading new sanctions — and chillingly referred to his country’s nuclear arsenal. He threatened any foreign country attempting to interfere with ‘consequences you have never seen.’” NATO held an emergency session after the Baltic nations and Poland, which border Russia, triggered Article 4 of the alliance’s treaty that allows members to hold consultations when they feel their territorial integrity is under threat. Nevertheless, the Fox-Trump right, as well as some on the left, blame NATO for the invasion and charge that its expansion since the 1990s forced Putin act and liberate Ukraine from a neo-Nazi regime. For them, AP and most media, along with both political parties, are all part of a global cabal that is hiding the real story, one which only they can see.

March 3

I should send the following summary to old friends who think Russian media is more reliable than CNN. They’ve been quiet since Putin invaded Ukraine. But no doubt they’ll be back soon, offering “teach-ins” once they construct a new rationalization. Meanwhile, consider this:

On Wednesday morning, as Russia’s unprovoked war on Ukraine entered its seventh day, RT— the Russia-controlled network that has recently been banned in Europe and dropped by TV carriers across the world — continued its disinformation. Founded in 2005, and operating multiple channels including RT America, it has served as one of Putin’s largest megaphones, revealing how he would like to portray the world and Russia’s role in it.  

 

RT hosts and personalities brazenly mislead its audience and deflect from the issues at hand. The main thrust presents Russia as a mere victim of western aggression, a country forced to launch a limited “military operation” after its hand was forced by a high-and-mighty NATO that showed no interest in taking Moscow’s security concerns seriously. Here's a brief breakdown:

 

Peter John Lavelle, the host of RT’s signature talk program, "Crosstalk," put it like this yesterday: the failed "liberal order" implemented by the West is to blame. "It is so irritating," Lavelle said. "The way it is being framed: Ukraine’s democracy. Well, it has nothing to do with Ukraine’s democracy — if you can say it even has one. ... This is about security … There is only security for other countries." 

 

On its news programs, RT’s on-screen graphics blared breaking news alerts supporting that notion: "RUSSIA: NATIONAL SECURITY THREATS LEFT NO CHOICE BUT TO START MILITARY OPERATION." Another read, "RUSSIA SAYS ITS GOALS IN UKRAINE TO DEMILITARIZE & DENAZIFY THE COUNTRY." 

 

According to RT, Russia wasn’t even the aggressor. The channel at times claimed that Russia was a "liberator," essentially freeing people from the menacing forces in Kyiv. "MILITIA SAYS 40 TOWNS AND VILLAGES NOW LIBERATED IN CURRENT OFFENSIVE," a chyron declared.

 

One package the network repeatedly ran characterized life under Ukraine as unbearable for those who lived in the Lugansk region. Another focused on damages to residential buildings in the Donetsk region.

 

Noticeably left out was a focus on how unbearable life has been for Ukrainians whose cities are under attack by Russian forces. Little coverage showed the damage they have caused as they try to seize control of the country. Or the residents of cities who live in terror and sleep underground in bomb shelters. Or the hundreds of thousands fleeing the country for their safety. Those are inconvenient facts. Also left out are the ramifications that the West's sanctions and other actions are having on Russia's economy.

 

On the other hand, RT did find time to portray Russians who aren’t even in the war zone as victims. One segment focused on how Russians "face hostility in western countries" over the "situation" in Ukraine. It quoted a man in the UK who said that he is "not ashamed" to say he is Russian, but "afraid" and "worried that society will have this perception that all Russians are bad."

 

RT portrays Russia as a country that cares deeply about humanitarian issues. The network aired a story yesterday on how Russia has welcomed school kids displaced by the war: "RUSSIAN SCHOOLS WELCOME HUNDREDS OF SCHOOLCHILDREN FROM DONBASS." With uplifting background music, the segment featured interviews with several children expressing how thankful they were and saying Russia is willing to welcome many more kids. 

 

Now that Russia has invaded Ukraine and its role in promoting dishonest talking points has been exposed, RT is being cut off in some places. But its propaganda has aired across the world unfettered for years, coloring the minds of untold numbers of people, many who distrust western news outlets — sometimes with good reasons. It apparently took a war to get some corporations to realize that the programming they beam into homes matters. Russia's real-world war started last week, but its information war started long ago.

March 5

We can say the word now… Fascism. Not here! Not anywhere! But vigilance is still the price. Smedley Butler warned the country in the 1930s. There have been at least six attempted American insurrections — Shay’s Rebellion, New York City and Richmond Riots during the Civil War, Wilmington in 1898, the Battles of Blair Mountain and Athens after major wars, plus the Oxford Race Riot in 1962. And the 2020 assault on the Capitol.

March 31: No Fun Facts 

In the late 1950s, facing a more aggressive (sometimes lethally misguided) US, the KGB created a new directorate to undermine America. Known as Department D — for dezinformatsiya, it focused on “false reports intended to mislead public opinion.” This was the world’s first industrial factory of fake news. But evidence suggests that Stalin coined the term earlier, and its use dates back to 1923, when the USSR established a "special disinformation office."

The first project it undertook in the 1950s and 60s was forgery of official-looking US documents, along with planting them in overseas print and broadcast media. Eventually catching on, the CIA described some of this as one-time “sniper shots.” But others were part of sustained assaults. All of it was designed to define the US as an imperialist aggressor and threat to world peace.

Some of the disinformation incorporated a kernel of facts, a hallmark of effective propaganda. The overall goal was to discredit the US and undermine ties with its allies. A 1965 CIA analysis described three primary aims: 1) destroy the confidence of Congress and the American people in key government agencies, specifically the FBI and CIA; 2) damage US prestige in Europe, spurring the break up of NATO; and 3) promote distrust of the US in the “third world” (a phrase only recently coined). Over the following 30 years — until the USSR collapsed — Department D provided a roadmap for the updated global network of political warfare pursued effectively by Putin for the last 20 years — with strategic assistance since 2016 by Donald Trump, leaders of the Republican Party, and even some on the left. 

But lately the disinformation has been blowing back on Russia, and their grand plan to take over Ukraine is turning into a military and economic disaster.

April 7: Beyond the Fringe 

The GOP’s Putin wing is not only affecting coverage by the most important news source for Republicans voters — Fox News, it’s shaping the behavior of another major corporation — Koch Industries. And since Trump remains a leading contender for the 2024 Republican nomination, the party’s Putin-friendly faction may not remain on the fringe.

Leading up to the invasion, Trump praised Putin for recognizing Ukraine’s economic and strategic value to Russia. More recently he has shifted to a more mixed message, but has also encouraged Putin to release negative information on Biden’s family.

Taking their cue, some Republican voters have begun to view Putin more favorably. A YouGov poll in January found that Republicans viewed Putin more favorably than they viewed President Biden, Kamala Harris or Nancy Pelosi. The level of support has dropped since the invasion — but not much.

Tucker Carlson suggests that American liberals represent a bigger threat than Putin. He has also promoted a false rumor, popular in Russia, that the U.S. funds biological weapons labs in Ukraine. These comments are consistent with Carlson’s history of arguing that the U.S. should align itself with Russia over Ukraine.

Koch Industries, a major funder of Republicans and conservative causes, has said it would continue to operate in Russia; many Western companies have left. Political advocacy groups affiliated with Charles Koch also question why the U.S. is levying harsh sanctions on Russia and suggests that a Ukrainian victory is not in America’s interest. As Will Ruger, the president of a Koch-funded group, put it, “Ukraine simply doesn’t matter to America’s security or our prosperity.”

Marjorie Taylor Greene, a far-right congresswoman, claims that Ukraine’s government is corrupt (without offering evidence), and is in power only because the Obama administration helped overthrow the previous regime (not true). She has argued that the U.S. should not send weapons to Ukraine.

Former Trump administration officials echo their boss’s comments. “I have enormous respect for him,” Mike Pompeo, the former secretary of state, said of Putin. “He is very savvy, very shrewd.” Peter Navarro, a former Trump economic adviser just voted in contempt of Congress, argues that Ukraine is “not really a country” because it used to be part of the Soviet Union. Douglas Macgregor, another former administration official, says that Russian forces have been “too gentle” with Ukraine.

At least two Republican candidates have made similar comments. “I don’t really care what happens to Ukraine one way or another,” says J.D. Vance, who is running for Senate in Ohio. Joe Kent, who is trying to win a primary over a House Republican who voted to impeach Trump over the Jan. 6 riot, has called Putin’s demand to control part of eastern Ukraine “very reasonable.”

Russian state television shows its appreciation for the kind words by airing clips of Carlson’s show, defending Trump from what it calls unfair attacks by the American media and suggesting that he should become president again.

April 10

President Trump didn’t get away with jailing and murdering his critics during his term as president. But it could still happen, and Vladimir Putin is ready to help. Prior to the January 6, 2021 attack on Congress, Trump had begun to deploy para-military forces into American cities and there was a palpable sense — even before his defeat in the 2020 election — that he welcomed violent confrontations, in hopes of creating the kind of authoritarian opening that he admired in Russia and other countries. 

We can’t blame all that on Putin, although the Russian strongman has been waging an information war against the US for years. Still, it is useful to understand what actually happened in Russia, Crimea and Ukraine before the current war, especially since it may point to what may lie ahead for the US — especially if Trump runs for President again.

April 11

The leading edge of 21st century warfare is not land, air or sea. It is digital. And the most dangerous cyber-weapons, once controlled by the US, are now in foreign hands.

April 13

As I was saying…cyber warfare has already begun. In May 2021, for instance, Colonial Pipeline was targeted in a cyber attack. The company, which operates the largest gasoline pipeline network in the country, was forced to shut down operations due to ransomware. The attackers — identities still unknown — used a group called DarkSide, which has targeted other companies. 

The same thing happened in October 2020, in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, to the UVM Health Network, which runs six hospitals in Vermont and New York. Ransomware attacks like this are becoming more common. According to Christopher Krebs, the former Homeland Security official ousted by former president Trump, “We are on the cusp of a global digital pandemic driven by greed.”

April 14

In terms of unintended consequences, the prospect of Finland joining NATO ranks high for Vladimir Putin. For decades the term findlandization referred to a policy of neutrality, specifically under Russian influence and generally in relation to any powerful neighbor. It wasn’t usually a compliment. But Finland does share an 830-mile border with Russia, so it’s not hard to understand why the country opted not to join NATO for fear of angering its touchy neighbor.

During the Cold War, Finland was a buffer between the West and the Soviet Union. By agreeing not to embrace any foreign policy that made the USSR uncomfortable, it was assured of sovereignty over its domestic affairs. By 2014, however, Russia was flying over Finnish airspace and sending thousands of Indian and Afghan migrants to its border, a provocative move analogous to Cuba’s Mariel boatlift more than 40 years ago. After that, Finland began modernizing its military and participating in joint military exercises with NATO members. As Finnish president Sauli Niinisto put it three years ago, “We have to have a threshold high enough so that if someone wants to come here without invitation, he knows it will be expensive.” Finland also began investing in defense against cyber attacks. “The walls have ears,” Niinisto explained.

President Putin apparently ignored the warnings. And if Finland joins the NATO alliance, Sweden will likely follow. Both are already members of the European Union. And what is Putin’s response? As usual, playing the nuclear threat card. If the two countries follow through, he warns, a nuclear-free Baltic region will no longer be possible, clearly alluding to new nuclear deployments in Europe. Obviously, more countries joining NATO isn’t what he thought would happen when he decided to invade Ukraine. Doublespeak master Dumbass Chump put it best, He’s a “genius.” Not.

April 15

Putin’s new strategy in Ukraine reminds me of a callously destructive approach from half a century ago. In 1968, a comment by a US Major during the Vietnam war became infamous: “It became necessary to destroy the town to save it.” The often-quoted and mocked remark appeared in a report by then-AP journalist Peter Arnett, published Feb. 8. The Major was referring to the destruction of  Ben Tre by US bombs, to prevent it from being taken by the Viet Cong. It soon morphed into a broader rationalization: “It might be necessary to destroy the country in order to save it.”

By 1970, the idea was being paraphrased for the title of an apocalyptic cult comedy, directed by Roger Corman: “GAS-S-S-S...or IT BECAME NECESSARY TO DESTROY THE WORLD IN ORDER TO SAVE IT.” And by 2003, things escalated again, this time for the title of a political cartoon collection by Khalil Bendib: “It Became Necessary to Destroy the Planet in Order to Save It.” The cover showed George W. Bush launching the Iraq War like Slim Pickens in Dr. Strangelove.

In 2017, an op-ed by Rebecca Gordon, philosophy professor at the University of San Francisco, turned it into a medical metaphor. A military approach to disease, she suggested, could cause doctors to think of patients as battlefields, rather than people: “When we declare war on a disease, like cancer, we risk limiting understanding of the disease process to models like invasion, or territorial aggression, and so limit imaginable treatments to therapies that eradicate the invaders with poison or radiation. In effect, we accept that in the case of cancer, as in the case of the Vietnamese village of Ben Tre, it may be necessary to destroy the patient in order to save her.” 

Now Putin suggests that he may need to destroy Ukraine in order to save it from his imaginary Nazis. The deadly logic continues.

April 20: Beating the Coup 

930 more days, that’s about how much time democracy may have left. On the other hand, there is an attractive way out. You don’t have to be clairvoyant to see what’s highly likely to happen after the next presidential election. It may sound extreme, I realize, but plans are clearly afoot to create a constitutional crisis, one leading to selection of the President by Congress. It’s well underway, right out in the open. And it won’t be the usual “representative” congressional vote. No, instead each state will get one vote. One for New York, one for Wyoming. Sound fair? Not even close.

On the surface, the problem looks pretty straightforward; all it takes to steal the presidential election is enough states that don’t certify the results until early January. According to the 12th Amendment to the Constitution, the President and Vice President need “a majority of the electors appointed” to win. And if no one gets 270 electoral votes? Well, then the House of Representatives selects the President and Senate picks the VP. It’s called a “contingent election,” and it happened in the 19th century — in 1801, 1825, and 1837.

And let’s not forget 1876! That hijacked election went this way. New York Democrat Samuel Tilden emerged from a close election leading Ohio Republican Rutherford Hayes just one vote shy of the 185 electors needed then to win. Returns from Louisiana, Florida, South Carolina, and Oregon were in dispute. Both Tilden and Hayes electors submitted votes, each claiming victory in violent, confused elections. 

Democrats controlled the House, Republicans dominated the Senate. Their compromise was a bipartisan Electoral Commission, including House members, Senators, and Supreme Court Justices. Together they would make the final decision on the unassigned electoral votes. On Feb. 1, 1877 the Commission went to work, investigating Florida’s returns in front of a large, rowdy audience. After 15 more sessions over the next month, it awarded the disputed vote to Hayes. He became president by just one dubiously obtained vote.

How will it go next time? Each state, regardless of its population, will get one vote, based on who controls state political power. In other words, under current constitutional rules, it will take just 26 state “votes” to select the president. The District of Columbia, which isn’t a state, gets no say, even though it has three electoral votes. Many secretaries of state, however, will have powerful roles. 

On January 6, 2021, this was behind Trump’s big push to get Mike Pence not to certify the results. Next time Republicans won’t need a Veep’s cooperation, just enough states — basically, GOP-controlled legislatures and partisan officials — declining to certify. Until then, the Big Lie about 2020 will keep insurrectionary fervor alive and set the stage for completion of the coup in about two and half years. Or 930 days.

Still, there is a way out! A good one. Run Barack Obama  as Biden’s vice presidential running mate in 2024. According to the 22nd Amendment, no one can be elected President more than twice. But that only applies to running for President. There’s no limit to how many times a person can be elected Vice President. It just hasn’t been tried yet. Will there be a legal challenge? Duh. You bet. But think about it: wouldn’t you rather have that fight than depend on some archaic, inherently unfair constitutional procedure.

May 4

Doubts about the independence and fairness of courts have been building for a while. The looming decision to essentially rescind the right to an abortion could be a fatal blow to the shaky legitimacy of this final institutional guardrail. Echoing Scalia, interference "fanned into life an issue that has inflamed our national politics.”

May 19

The tragic massacre in Buffalo is yet another tragic example of white extremism, expressed locally but inspired globally. The gunman, an 18-year-old who went down a racist rabbithole during the COVID lockdown, is a believer in the "great replacement" theory. John Feffer, director of Foreign Policy in Focus, recently provided some helpful context for understanding of this toxic idea, which is infecting conservative parties and groups around the world. 

First formulated by French poet Renaud Camus about a decade ago, Feffer explains, the theory holds that "they" (Muslims, Blacks, Africans, Mexicans) are out to replace "us" (white people) through emigration, having children, and the cultural policies of diversity and multiculturalism. Since then, it has motivated gunmen around the world. In addition, it has become orthodoxy for at least the Trump wing of the Republican Party. 

One prominent example is Elise Stefanik, who Kevin McCarthy elevated to replace Liz Cheney as House Republican Conference leader. Stefanik’s contribution has been to accuse Democrats of using immigration to create a permanent electoral majority. Aiding the blizzard of misinformation is Tucker Carlson, who has mentioned the theory at least  400 times on his Fox show, along with a troll army on social media.

But this isn’t just happening in the US. The global far right has embraced the "great replacement" idea to such an extent that it functions as ideological connective tissue among individuals, movements, and political parties. How? The theory allows far right activists to cut across languages, cultures and ideologies to promote what was previously an obsession among only fringe elements and move it into the political mainstream. Twenty years ago, few people would have predicted that the Internet could prove so useful as an organizing tool for white racists.

And if you think this has nothing to do with the war in Ukraine, consider this. Vladimir Putin has sought to lead the disparate far-right voices in Europe with a specific goal in mind: to undermine the European Union. Toward that end, he has curried favor with anti-immigration forces and become a hero for white nationalists on both sides of the Atlantic. However, his invasion of Ukraine does mark a turn away from that strategy. Although Putin continues to cultivate good relations with extreme nationalists in Russia, these days he focuses less on sowing divisions within Europe and more on creating an anti-Western alliance. This social virus continues to spread, leaving violence in its wake.

May 22

Is America over? I don’t mean to upset anyone, but when I recently began asking friends this question, many basically said yes. And one friend suggested that it would make a good book title. Maybe. And if so, here are some possible chapters — also big reasons the American dream has ended.

1. The Constitution doesn’t work.

2. The Civil War never ended.

3. The country’s growth was based on slavery and exploitation.

4. The melting pot was wishful thinking.

5. About half the country hates the other half.

6. Many of its leaders are psychopaths, sociopaths and liars.

7. People idolize athletes and celebrities but don’t trust teachers and scientists.

8. The line between reality and fantasy is gone (and isn’t much missed)

9. Men can’t share or stop bullying.

10. People are not getting smarter.

11. No empire lasts forever.

Bottom line: It’s time to wake up and move on.

May 25

When a disturbed teenager or adult commits mass murder it has nothing to do with liberty. Yet, since the weapon is usually a gun, many people in the US essentially say that the freedom to be armed is more important than the right to be safe. In fact, millions claim that being armed is the only way to be safe. Like most arguments against gun control, it’s cruel and illogical.

May 28: Nothing except ruin 

In 1934, Leon Trotsky described Europe between two great wars, trapped by inward-looking capitalist systems that weren’t keeping pace with the demands of a global economy. Driven from the Soviet Union after Stalin took control, he was living in exile. In Europe, Mussolini had been in power in Italy for more than a decade, Adolf Hitler had become chancellor of Germany the year before, and the continent — as well as the US—was in a severe economic depression.  

It was a short road from economic nationalism to fascism, he argued, and fascism would lead to “nothing except ruin.” Although Trotsky didn’t live long past the outbreak of World War II — he was murdered in Mexico in 1940 — the warning in his essay foreshadowed the devastation to come: the violence of the early twentieth century would “seem only an idyllic overture compared to the music of hell that is impending.”

June 8: Minority Rule 

That’s how the US is governed, based on representation in the Senate. Elected statewide, the 50 Republicans come from 28 states, but only 22 have two Republican senators. And those 22 represent only 39% of the population. Remove Florida and the percentage drops to 32. That means 44 Senators, representing less than a third of the people, can stop any bill from becoming law — or being debated. Bottom line: the fate of the nation is in the hands of a small minority, mainly from rural states. It’s simple math.

June 25

It’s official: There are two very different Americas. Triggered by the Supreme Court’s latest decision, overturning Roe v. Wade, 26 states have or will soon show where they stand. And not only on abortion rights. The old social contract is over. So, what can people do? First, stop waiting for political leaders or courts to band aid what are clearly irreconcilable differences. And then… 

If you're young, study the 1960s, the last time a young generation reformed the country. You are the biggest victims of this cultural counterrevolution, specifically visible in the cancellation of Roe V Wade and inaction on climate change, to mention just two clear signs. No one's going to fix this for you. So, recreate the 1960s! 

Move to a pro abortion state: Your state may not care what you want or think, but a major migration will have a big impact. Vote with your feet.

Don't attend sports events with one or two teams from anti-abortion states. And let everyone know you're doing it. 

Don't apply to colleges in anti-abortion states. 

Boycott anti-abortion states, especially large ones like Texas, Florida, Michigan and Wisconsin.

Many companies have pledged assistance for those seeking abortions. Let them know you appreciate it — and make sure they follow through!