Well, it’s not “journalism’s” country, it’s YOUR country - each one of you. The marches are great now, but where was everyone on November 5th?
The failure is not journalism's, it is a failure of individual imagination and independent, critical thinking, far away from what journalism had to offer in your country’s most critical moment.
Journalism was the timid support of quislings; tepid, hesitant and now likely losing your country after 250 years. Shame.
I’m also angry with people who have influence who haven’t been using it, or who I feel are getting it wrong— but I fear we’re diffusing our energy and creating unnecessary divisions among people who essentially agree. Let’s focus on what we need to do, not on who may have been wrong.
I simply cannot listen to any more folks like this - oh, when the mueller report is released, oh when we impeach him for J6, oh when we convict him for a, b, c, d… honestly , these folks are intelligent - or u think they are , but they’re in the Schumer lane. This IS going down . We missed ALL of the off ramps because of these individuals , and they added to our problems with there output.
Yes, but because I listened to them - my inclination , as child of 60s and 70s , was to protest - as far back as merrick garland not getting a confirmation … then mueller , etc. the number of times people were told , patronizingly I might add- we just don’t get it , this isn’t a t.v show etc - is sickening now. Because all of them were wrong. I will not follow them, will not read if someone posts, some have changed their handles - but I remember
Kamala Harris, Tim Walz, Republican and Democrat speakers 🚨 warned us repeatedly🚨 what Musk, Trump and complicit Republicans had planned if they won. The American Billionaires and the South African (Unelected President of America) proudly invested in making sure they could bring America to her knees for their nefarious purposes. We must fight together to save Democracy.🎯
I have applied the same reasoning as commenters here when I read the articles about global heating. Those that are designed to keep us calm, uninformed, hopeful and uncommitted to action against fossil fuels.
Sleeping Giant, I appreciate the clarity and directness in laying this out. There’s no waiting for perception to shape reality when reality is already unfolding. Trump and Musk aren’t hesitating—they’re restructuring from the inside, removing every safeguard meant to keep power in check. The courts, Congress, the press—each is being hollowed out, functioning in name only.
The assumption that backing down in one area means retreat is dangerous. Trump doesn’t need a single path to power—just one that isn’t blocked. If one route closes, he pivots. That’s not incompetence; it’s persistence. A slow administrative takeover, built on legal defiance and media control, keeping people second-guessing their own eyes.
The comparison to developing autocracies is accurate. The U.S. has long believed itself immune to this, but institutions don’t enforce themselves. And once they fall, there’s no automatic reset. This isn’t about hoping the system will self-correct. It won’t unless people make it happen.
Jo, yes. And that doesn’t mean there’s nothing anyone can do—far from it. History shows again and again that many small people, in many small places, doing many small things can bring down even the most powerful opponents. It just happened in Syria. It happened in Germany. It happened across the Arab world. And it never succeeded by being only against something. Change happens by moving toward something—fighting for a better world, a vision, a dream. Just like MLK once did.
Happened recently, barely a decade ago in the largest country in Europe, 2014—the Revolution of Dignity in Ukraine. They were tired of being ruled by oligarchs with shady ties to Russia.
I don’t think it’s just one journalist. I believe it’s the perspective that many people have about appropriate types of solutions. I’ve read here that some believe that enlisting the help of military or the use of violence would be inappropriate. Maybe so, but do you think that the maga thugs share that perspective?? Do you believe that they are or will engage in lawful means? They won’t! They have shown you with everything they have done since taking office, even before! So this is the where the real problem lies. Stop believing that they play by the same rules! Adapt and pivot accordingly!
Bravo. This is as cogent a piece of journalism as I have read on Substack! Trump has little in his path to autocratic rule, except his wincing now and again at public blowback. I hope you can get this piece more widely circulated.
fuck Biden/Harris, but fuck Trump a thousand times more. We don't all work in binaries - also seems you didn't actually read the article based on your comment about Ezra lol
I guess the question is what the fuck are YOU doing here? There are plenty of other places to troll. OR do you think anyone here actually GAF about your delusional ranting? <rhetorical>
They’ve attempted to eliminate healthcare for 45% of children in US, but stopped based on “poor timing.” Now the most powerful person in the US is openly calling Social Security as a ponzi scam. Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security are on the table.
Some people can imagine driving over the cliff and avoid it. Others require a more tactile experience.
Your "Trump Derangement Syndrome" has made you highly susceptible to being conned out of acting in your own self-interest by the convicted criminal, civilly convicted sexual assaulter, multiple bankruptcy, multiple times proven fraud Trump and his co-President Musk. Anyone who thinks the law-breaking Trump/Musk administration has anything in mind other than satiating their own megalomania is severely mentally challenged with an extreme inability to discern character.
You are the first commentator I’ve seen to mention the military but I have been wondering for the past couple of weeks where they and the armed citizenry of the US would come in. Please keep including bits on that topic in your posts. I subscribed.
Watch for attempts to persecute former generals critical of Trump. It will happen as they get more and more emboldened, and generally it’s a bad idea to go after people capable of leading military forces.
If the military is going to support Trump, Musk & Republicans our democracy/republic is done. Neal Brennan, a comedian & writer, has a bit about protesters protesting against the government & who would win. The protesters are in a group protesting & the government is viewing them with a drone & in one click they are gone. It’s funny at first & then frightening.
In a direct confrontation, protestors would obviously not fare well. In a guerrilla-style campaign of assassination and extermination of enablers, however, the situation is more than a little different.
true... given also one thing not made up for action movies by Hollywood is the ability to shut down things like vehicles power in our homes (we can even do this thru apps ourselves )and worse with a few clicks and oh say thinking out loud the sham leader liar created a fake agency to allow his brosiollanre south Africa apartheid nepo born billionaire beyond the amount rapist predator liars could squander even ..and say they weren't prevented by other elected and paid officials in the government at hailing some sort of unauthorized access to everyones info....just sayin.... then yes an actual push back of revolution or just to get rid of them that doesn't come from other sin government would be w very tricky painful nasty affair indeed
So looking for solutions. Scrolled pretty deep in your posts. Saw nothing. I am going to say if you don’t have suggested solutions, don’t post problems. I mean, why trust your analysis that Ezra’s writings are wrong, if you can’t provide alternatives of hope?
The author did propose solutions: mass protests and military intervention. As to Pandora's Box's comment, the country did not blow up in a week. It has taken nearly fifty years of Ray-gunism to blow it up, 50 years for the wealthy to secure most of the media, 50 years for the Republican Party to complete the conservative reform of the courts, 50 years for social media to make us mindless.
Calling a spade a spade doesn’t require some alternative to the spade if you don’t like the spade. This is ridiculous. Part of the problem is people’s denial and delusion. Learning to identify reality as you see it before your very eyes and not letting yourself be gaslit, IS part of the solution. And your argument is illogical, sure, but I wonder why you made it. Genuinely, no sarcasm. How do you believe it contributes to positive progress?
Honestly we are being attacked on three fronts from people with a lot of money and power. This has been in the works for decades. As an American in her 60’s I’m still trying to get my arms around the fact that everything I was taught and hold dear about this country including the vaunted rule of law - blew up in a week.
Same here, Pandora. All of the progress in women’s rights, autonomy and reproduction that we fought for our entire working lives is being undermined. It seems that the “me, too” movement and the push to negate sexual harassment in the workplace actually “feminized” work to the extent that it became unbearable to “manly men”. It upset them so much, that they now want to roll back the 50 years of progress that allowed us the choices and protections we’ve achieved as American women.
It was not a week. How many people have you decried as “conspiracy theorists”? Have you ever dismissed or trivialized the panopticon of the security state in the last 20 years? Don’t you people realize the inaction of our intelligence agencies and military is their complicity? We all know about continuity of government plans. Why aren’t they being enacted? Because those who would uphold them do not see what is happening as a threat.
"Don’t you people realize the inaction of our intelligence agencies and military is their complicity?" They see it but have been as blindsides as the rest of us.
The author said historically only two resources stop a dictator: the military and people. I did not interpret those as solutions. Perhaps mass strikes, nonviolent protests/resistance ala MLK,Jr or Ghandi. Military is no solution unless the entire US rank and file plus commanders claim that an illegal order has been given by the Commander in Chief. Unlikely to get unanimity.
Unanimity among the military leaders regarding a complete constitutional collapse of the presidency into outright tyranny coupled with a direct order from the president to enforce his tyranny by imposing military arrests of key opposition figures followed by an attempt to forcible remove the top military brass if they refuse that order would be sufficient justification for the military to usurp the power of the president I can imagine that scenario given tRump’s appointments of sycophants
It is illegal to explicitly post detailed solutions for violent resistance, so most websites will take it down. The mainstream democratic “left” (presumably including the author) championed this kind of censorship within the last decade.
Of course. Any posting that promoted violence as a way to solve problems should be resisted and rejected. Violence begets violence. An eye for an eye, leaves the whole world blind. There are times when violence is justified. See the Niebuhr brothers back and forth as WW 2 approached. Self-defense. The right of free speech certainly clashes with those who would use it to promote violence as a political tool. A thorny situation for sure.
Sapere Aude - have the courage to use your own reason. What makes me sad is over and over reading: "But what are we supposed to do? Tell us what to do!" It doesn't work that way.
Unfortunately, I agree with you. As Michael Fanone & Harry Reed said on Jim Acosta’s show, a political change will not effectuate what needs to happen. The necessary change has to come from us, the American people.
He’s been so wrong abt so many things it’s unbearable. Constant softening of a total collapse of our constitution so that it’s less alarmist, typical NYer meh shit. It’s exhausting. Go spend time in a blue dot city in a red state pal. And no, I don’t mean Austin.
He is one person. Honestly. since Trump/Musk, etc. have been lying about the media being fake news, etc.. along with the other string of pejoratives, even sane people question what they say now.
Insane Clown was always a small time petty scammer who lacked the stomach for being a stone cold killer like his idol Putin. I think he lost his nerve on "J6" and that is why he eventually sent the rioters home and left quietly after that. I don't think that is any longer the case. I think he backed off the global spending freeze only because he recognized that it would only serve to piss off everyone including his cult followers and better to let Muskrat loose on things like USAID that the cult followers in particular and really no one gives a shit about. I think Insane Clown is just fucking around with all this Greenland and Gaza shit. This is only the beginning. Once Insane Clown gets his cabinet approved by Congress Patel in particular is when all hell will break loose with the retribution which along with ethnic cleansing and getting filthier and richer is all Insane Clown really gives a shit about.
But yeah I think Klein is talking nonsense. Insane Clown can only be a tyrant if we believe it? Like Dorothy clicking her heels? Insane Clown is a tyrant because we elected him to be one. Because voters given a choice of an Insane Clown madman and a joyous pom pom waving Barbie Doll went with the madman. I think it's worth noting that Bezos Zuckerberg Soon-Shiong only capitulated after the election or shortly before when it became apparent that Kamala was going to lose. Democrats have a relentless will to lose and the price of that failure will be off the charts.
I believe it was Timothy Snyder who noted democracies take work. Too many of We The People stopped working and social media is helping deliver the coup de grace.
Chris Hedges' "Death of the Liberal Class" was my wake-up call before 45 even happened. But I just said "dammit that was too depressing" and stopped reading anything by Hedges for about 10 years. I'm no leader — a waste of my big pretty white boy phenotype on that score.
The system was already rotten. But the "fix" and "swamp-draining" isn't and never was for the benefit of The People. Unfortunately we will have to fix it ourselves, and that will almost certainly be as painful and messy as it was the last time, and the time before that, and the time before that...
I completely agree with this—Congress neutered, the Courts neutered, and the media neutered. It is on us. What is our Boston Tea Party. We need a national strike. Shut it all down.
Thanks for this piece. I have intuitively thought it would take military involvement to change course. I’m not sure that’s possible at this juncture. And we could sure use a charismatic leader to step into the breach.
I follow some military stuff on FB as I am interested in a strong military. I have seen soft, right wing stuff creeping into my feed. Also lots if historical Hitler stuff I'm NOT interested in creeping into my YouTube feed. Someone is tweeking the dials.
I keep wondering, where are all the law enforcement agencies in this mess? Do none of them have the authority to arrest citizens hacking the nation's software? Either they are complicit, afraid, or lack the guts to do so.
They’re being gutted - only loyalists at the FBI level - a Local LE officer I spoke with said if stuff starts really going down , they’re going home to protect their families - as it should be . So we have to hope the military rank and file - a good portion will not follow u lawful orders
A LOT of the FBI are attempting to fight back via the courts and their union. Remember they have access to intelligence via what they do for a living. They will never speak out, it is not their nature. BUT I have to think they are smarter then Musk and his merry band of incel hackers.
To be honest, I don't trust giving out my personal information on the internet anymore to a resistance movement like this. Why can't they let us join anonymously?
Your personal information is likely on its way to China or on some J6er sympathizers computer. Remember the 6 kids breaking into the Treasury department’s data based last Fri nite? Yah. It's compromised.
I get it…I am flooded with emails & it's annoying AF, but believe me, it's already too late to worry about (most of) these ppl.
PLEASE REPOST - In addition to economic protests, change all of your ad preferences so it minimizes how they monetize your data. That’s what really rakes in the $. Here are some ways:
Ezra Klein isn’t a shrewd political observator. He is one of the many NYT columnists who were complicit when they should have been factual.
Correct, this is the type of “journalism” that enabled the takeover.
Well, it’s not “journalism’s” country, it’s YOUR country - each one of you. The marches are great now, but where was everyone on November 5th?
The failure is not journalism's, it is a failure of individual imagination and independent, critical thinking, far away from what journalism had to offer in your country’s most critical moment.
Journalism was the timid support of quislings; tepid, hesitant and now likely losing your country after 250 years. Shame.
It is late.Tuum Est! - It is up to YOU.
👍👏🙏💙
Klein went off the deep end when he started sanewashing TFG’s election trail statements. Complicit is a great word.
Exactly right. Thank you.
Yep, just more sanewashing to keep people complacent while the rich turn the government into a dictatorship.
I’m also angry with people who have influence who haven’t been using it, or who I feel are getting it wrong— but I fear we’re diffusing our energy and creating unnecessary divisions among people who essentially agree. Let’s focus on what we need to do, not on who may have been wrong.
I simply cannot listen to any more folks like this - oh, when the mueller report is released, oh when we impeach him for J6, oh when we convict him for a, b, c, d… honestly , these folks are intelligent - or u think they are , but they’re in the Schumer lane. This IS going down . We missed ALL of the off ramps because of these individuals , and they added to our problems with there output.
We were kicking the can down the road too.
Yes, but because I listened to them - my inclination , as child of 60s and 70s , was to protest - as far back as merrick garland not getting a confirmation … then mueller , etc. the number of times people were told , patronizingly I might add- we just don’t get it , this isn’t a t.v show etc - is sickening now. Because all of them were wrong. I will not follow them, will not read if someone posts, some have changed their handles - but I remember
Kamala Harris, Tim Walz, Republican and Democrat speakers 🚨 warned us repeatedly🚨 what Musk, Trump and complicit Republicans had planned if they won. The American Billionaires and the South African (Unelected President of America) proudly invested in making sure they could bring America to her knees for their nefarious purposes. We must fight together to save Democracy.🎯
I have applied the same reasoning as commenters here when I read the articles about global heating. Those that are designed to keep us calm, uninformed, hopeful and uncommitted to action against fossil fuels.
Yes, never forget.
Well said!
"this isn't a tv show" - if anybody ever told Donnie T-rex that he certainly didn't take them seriously
Sleeping Giant, I appreciate the clarity and directness in laying this out. There’s no waiting for perception to shape reality when reality is already unfolding. Trump and Musk aren’t hesitating—they’re restructuring from the inside, removing every safeguard meant to keep power in check. The courts, Congress, the press—each is being hollowed out, functioning in name only.
The assumption that backing down in one area means retreat is dangerous. Trump doesn’t need a single path to power—just one that isn’t blocked. If one route closes, he pivots. That’s not incompetence; it’s persistence. A slow administrative takeover, built on legal defiance and media control, keeping people second-guessing their own eyes.
The comparison to developing autocracies is accurate. The U.S. has long believed itself immune to this, but institutions don’t enforce themselves. And once they fall, there’s no automatic reset. This isn’t about hoping the system will self-correct. It won’t unless people make it happen.
I agree. The reality is unfolding in front of our own eyes. This is dangerous , and trump , musk, and all his puppets in congress are bringing down
The United States because they can.
Too sad.
Jo, yes. And that doesn’t mean there’s nothing anyone can do—far from it. History shows again and again that many small people, in many small places, doing many small things can bring down even the most powerful opponents. It just happened in Syria. It happened in Germany. It happened across the Arab world. And it never succeeded by being only against something. Change happens by moving toward something—fighting for a better world, a vision, a dream. Just like MLK once did.
Happened recently, barely a decade ago in the largest country in Europe, 2014—the Revolution of Dignity in Ukraine. They were tired of being ruled by oligarchs with shady ties to Russia.
I don’t think it’s just one journalist. I believe it’s the perspective that many people have about appropriate types of solutions. I’ve read here that some believe that enlisting the help of military or the use of violence would be inappropriate. Maybe so, but do you think that the maga thugs share that perspective?? Do you believe that they are or will engage in lawful means? They won’t! They have shown you with everything they have done since taking office, even before! So this is the where the real problem lies. Stop believing that they play by the same rules! Adapt and pivot accordingly!
Bravo. This is as cogent a piece of journalism as I have read on Substack! Trump has little in his path to autocratic rule, except his wincing now and again at public blowback. I hope you can get this piece more widely circulated.
That’s hysterical. You people are so utterly delusional
No - the delusional people are the MAGA morons. The pathetic and dangerous cult is full of spineless narcissists and psychopaths.
Well said. Absolutely right.
😂😂😂😂😂
Amazing. The Biden/Harris cult is truly hilarious.
Ah yes, the infamous Biden/Harris cult that stormed the capitol at the behest of their cult leader after he lost the electi…hey wait a second…
I am a registered Independent moron..
fuck Biden/Harris, but fuck Trump a thousand times more. We don't all work in binaries - also seems you didn't actually read the article based on your comment about Ezra lol
We people tell it like it is.
😂😂😂😂😂😂
I guess the question is what the fuck are YOU doing here? There are plenty of other places to troll. OR do you think anyone here actually GAF about your delusional ranting? <rhetorical>
Laugh all you want but a Trump-Musk autocracy is not going to benefit YOU either.
“ Autocracy”😂😂😂😂😂
Can you read this piece, take the arguments seriously, and then say what you think is not accurate, or how you would interpret it differently?
They’ve attempted to eliminate healthcare for 45% of children in US, but stopped based on “poor timing.” Now the most powerful person in the US is openly calling Social Security as a ponzi scam. Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security are on the table.
Some people can imagine driving over the cliff and avoid it. Others require a more tactile experience.
You actually pay for Krugman. That’s hysterical.
That’s a lie
Your "Trump Derangement Syndrome" has made you highly susceptible to being conned out of acting in your own self-interest by the convicted criminal, civilly convicted sexual assaulter, multiple bankruptcy, multiple times proven fraud Trump and his co-President Musk. Anyone who thinks the law-breaking Trump/Musk administration has anything in mind other than satiating their own megalomania is severely mentally challenged with an extreme inability to discern character.
😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂
Now I see why your name is "beginner". 🤣🤣🤣🤣
What is hysterical? I don’t get why you think this is funny.
The first comment on it being the most “cogent” piece of journalism. It’s not and it’s delusional to think it is. Ezra is a hack.
what u mean u people
You are the first commentator I’ve seen to mention the military but I have been wondering for the past couple of weeks where they and the armed citizenry of the US would come in. Please keep including bits on that topic in your posts. I subscribed.
Watch for attempts to persecute former generals critical of Trump. It will happen as they get more and more emboldened, and generally it’s a bad idea to go after people capable of leading military forces.
they took out JFK can't they deal with the orange diahreaa stain on humanity
If the military is going to support Trump, Musk & Republicans our democracy/republic is done. Neal Brennan, a comedian & writer, has a bit about protesters protesting against the government & who would win. The protesters are in a group protesting & the government is viewing them with a drone & in one click they are gone. It’s funny at first & then frightening.
In a direct confrontation, protestors would obviously not fare well. In a guerrilla-style campaign of assassination and extermination of enablers, however, the situation is more than a little different.
true... given also one thing not made up for action movies by Hollywood is the ability to shut down things like vehicles power in our homes (we can even do this thru apps ourselves )and worse with a few clicks and oh say thinking out loud the sham leader liar created a fake agency to allow his brosiollanre south Africa apartheid nepo born billionaire beyond the amount rapist predator liars could squander even ..and say they weren't prevented by other elected and paid officials in the government at hailing some sort of unauthorized access to everyones info....just sayin.... then yes an actual push back of revolution or just to get rid of them that doesn't come from other sin government would be w very tricky painful nasty affair indeed
So looking for solutions. Scrolled pretty deep in your posts. Saw nothing. I am going to say if you don’t have suggested solutions, don’t post problems. I mean, why trust your analysis that Ezra’s writings are wrong, if you can’t provide alternatives of hope?
The author did propose solutions: mass protests and military intervention. As to Pandora's Box's comment, the country did not blow up in a week. It has taken nearly fifty years of Ray-gunism to blow it up, 50 years for the wealthy to secure most of the media, 50 years for the Republican Party to complete the conservative reform of the courts, 50 years for social media to make us mindless.
Calling a spade a spade doesn’t require some alternative to the spade if you don’t like the spade. This is ridiculous. Part of the problem is people’s denial and delusion. Learning to identify reality as you see it before your very eyes and not letting yourself be gaslit, IS part of the solution. And your argument is illogical, sure, but I wonder why you made it. Genuinely, no sarcasm. How do you believe it contributes to positive progress?
Thank you. Came here to make the same point. It’s nothing but bla bla bla without solutions.
Honestly we are being attacked on three fronts from people with a lot of money and power. This has been in the works for decades. As an American in her 60’s I’m still trying to get my arms around the fact that everything I was taught and hold dear about this country including the vaunted rule of law - blew up in a week.
Same here, Pandora. All of the progress in women’s rights, autonomy and reproduction that we fought for our entire working lives is being undermined. It seems that the “me, too” movement and the push to negate sexual harassment in the workplace actually “feminized” work to the extent that it became unbearable to “manly men”. It upset them so much, that they now want to roll back the 50 years of progress that allowed us the choices and protections we’ve achieved as American women.
It was not a week. How many people have you decried as “conspiracy theorists”? Have you ever dismissed or trivialized the panopticon of the security state in the last 20 years? Don’t you people realize the inaction of our intelligence agencies and military is their complicity? We all know about continuity of government plans. Why aren’t they being enacted? Because those who would uphold them do not see what is happening as a threat.
Yes, im aware it was decades in the making. But when the parts align destruction does not take long. It never does.
"Don’t you people realize the inaction of our intelligence agencies and military is their complicity?" They see it but have been as blindsides as the rest of us.
The author said historically only two resources stop a dictator: the military and people. I did not interpret those as solutions. Perhaps mass strikes, nonviolent protests/resistance ala MLK,Jr or Ghandi. Military is no solution unless the entire US rank and file plus commanders claim that an illegal order has been given by the Commander in Chief. Unlikely to get unanimity.
Unanimity among the military leaders regarding a complete constitutional collapse of the presidency into outright tyranny coupled with a direct order from the president to enforce his tyranny by imposing military arrests of key opposition figures followed by an attempt to forcible remove the top military brass if they refuse that order would be sufficient justification for the military to usurp the power of the president I can imagine that scenario given tRump’s appointments of sycophants
It is illegal to explicitly post detailed solutions for violent resistance, so most websites will take it down. The mainstream democratic “left” (presumably including the author) championed this kind of censorship within the last decade.
Of course. Any posting that promoted violence as a way to solve problems should be resisted and rejected. Violence begets violence. An eye for an eye, leaves the whole world blind. There are times when violence is justified. See the Niebuhr brothers back and forth as WW 2 approached. Self-defense. The right of free speech certainly clashes with those who would use it to promote violence as a political tool. A thorny situation for sure.
Sapere Aude - have the courage to use your own reason. What makes me sad is over and over reading: "But what are we supposed to do? Tell us what to do!" It doesn't work that way.
👏👏👏👏👏👏
Unfortunately, I agree with you. As Michael Fanone & Harry Reed said on Jim Acosta’s show, a political change will not effectuate what needs to happen. The necessary change has to come from us, the American people.
He’s been so wrong abt so many things it’s unbearable. Constant softening of a total collapse of our constitution so that it’s less alarmist, typical NYer meh shit. It’s exhausting. Go spend time in a blue dot city in a red state pal. And no, I don’t mean Austin.
I think Klein is way too sanguine. Not as smart as he thinks he is.
He is one person. Honestly. since Trump/Musk, etc. have been lying about the media being fake news, etc.. along with the other string of pejoratives, even sane people question what they say now.
Insane Clown was always a small time petty scammer who lacked the stomach for being a stone cold killer like his idol Putin. I think he lost his nerve on "J6" and that is why he eventually sent the rioters home and left quietly after that. I don't think that is any longer the case. I think he backed off the global spending freeze only because he recognized that it would only serve to piss off everyone including his cult followers and better to let Muskrat loose on things like USAID that the cult followers in particular and really no one gives a shit about. I think Insane Clown is just fucking around with all this Greenland and Gaza shit. This is only the beginning. Once Insane Clown gets his cabinet approved by Congress Patel in particular is when all hell will break loose with the retribution which along with ethnic cleansing and getting filthier and richer is all Insane Clown really gives a shit about.
But yeah I think Klein is talking nonsense. Insane Clown can only be a tyrant if we believe it? Like Dorothy clicking her heels? Insane Clown is a tyrant because we elected him to be one. Because voters given a choice of an Insane Clown madman and a joyous pom pom waving Barbie Doll went with the madman. I think it's worth noting that Bezos Zuckerberg Soon-Shiong only capitulated after the election or shortly before when it became apparent that Kamala was going to lose. Democrats have a relentless will to lose and the price of that failure will be off the charts.
I believe it was Timothy Snyder who noted democracies take work. Too many of We The People stopped working and social media is helping deliver the coup de grace.
Chris Hedges' "Death of the Liberal Class" was my wake-up call before 45 even happened. But I just said "dammit that was too depressing" and stopped reading anything by Hedges for about 10 years. I'm no leader — a waste of my big pretty white boy phenotype on that score.
The system was already rotten. But the "fix" and "swamp-draining" isn't and never was for the benefit of The People. Unfortunately we will have to fix it ourselves, and that will almost certainly be as painful and messy as it was the last time, and the time before that, and the time before that...
I completely agree with this—Congress neutered, the Courts neutered, and the media neutered. It is on us. What is our Boston Tea Party. We need a national strike. Shut it all down.
You are dead right. Ezra Klein has missed this one.
Thanks for this piece. I have intuitively thought it would take military involvement to change course. I’m not sure that’s possible at this juncture. And we could sure use a charismatic leader to step into the breach.
I follow some military stuff on FB as I am interested in a strong military. I have seen soft, right wing stuff creeping into my feed. Also lots if historical Hitler stuff I'm NOT interested in creeping into my YouTube feed. Someone is tweeking the dials.
I keep wondering, where are all the law enforcement agencies in this mess? Do none of them have the authority to arrest citizens hacking the nation's software? Either they are complicit, afraid, or lack the guts to do so.
They’re being gutted - only loyalists at the FBI level - a Local LE officer I spoke with said if stuff starts really going down , they’re going home to protect their families - as it should be . So we have to hope the military rank and file - a good portion will not follow u lawful orders
A LOT of the FBI are attempting to fight back via the courts and their union. Remember they have access to intelligence via what they do for a living. They will never speak out, it is not their nature. BUT I have to think they are smarter then Musk and his merry band of incel hackers.
The short answer is no.
We need to get organized and leverage our collective power
https://generalstrikeus.com/
To be honest, I don't trust giving out my personal information on the internet anymore to a resistance movement like this. Why can't they let us join anonymously?
Agree. Use a more secure browser like Duck Duck Go. They will create an anonymous email for you.
I have a VPN...all of us can get one they are relatively cheap
Your personal information is likely on its way to China or on some J6er sympathizers computer. Remember the 6 kids breaking into the Treasury department’s data based last Fri nite? Yah. It's compromised.
I get it…I am flooded with emails & it's annoying AF, but believe me, it's already too late to worry about (most of) these ppl.
PLEASE REPOST - In addition to economic protests, change all of your ad preferences so it minimizes how they monetize your data. That’s what really rakes in the $. Here are some ways:
https://support.google.com/My-Ad-Center-Help/answer/12155764?hl=en
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2025/01/mad-meta-dont-let-them-collect-and-monetize-your-personal-data
https://www.wired.com/story/amazon-tracking-how-to-stop-it/