20 Comments

I'm leaving messages about Musk every day. Today it was Tom Cotton and John Fetterman. We can't let up. Vance also needs targeting.

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Attended a rally sponsored by Indivisible Santa Barbara. Approximately 1,000 people showed up filling the venue and leaving an addition 300-400 people attending in the courtyard. Congressman Salud Carbajal and other current and past State and local representatives spoke. One speaker, Santa Barbara County Supervisor Laura Capps made clear the difference between Us and Them:

"In the face of Chaos, we offer clear-eyed vision.

While they spread hate, we spread hope.

While they spread racism we spread respect.

While they spread fear, we spread facts.

While they spread division, we spread determination.

They are led by a convicted felon, we are led by conviction and faith."

These are our responses!

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Every female reader needs to check out the wording on the SAVE law that passed the House and make sure they will still be able to vote, to get a passport, and so on. Word to the wise. Lines may be long.

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"[A]s they are cut loose like latter day Ernst Röhms" is a pretty clever phrase. [For those following along at home, Röhm ended up being seriously dead in the 1934 version of Night of the Long Knives, directed by one Adolph Hitler.]

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Man, this is a beautiful piece of work! America has a new Tom Paine. I’ll be quoting you from this gem in my rants and sending readers to your site for the duration of this coup. Thanks for standing up for the Constitution and refusing to be silenced.

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First, Tom thank you for recognizing Elon Musk is NOT a genius, he has invented NOTHING, he is a man singularly driven since childhood to amass a fortune to show his father he is a better man. He, like Trump is not a brilliant business man. The only thing remarkable about him is he is willing ti turn the real work over to a bunch of significantly younger computer experts to carry out his destruction for him.

Secondly, Robert Reich has called for a mass cross country demonstration at every State Capitol and every large city in the Country; on Saturday, April 19th, the 270th anniversary of the first shots fired in the American Revolution on April 19, 1775. I'm sure Professor Reich will post more information as the date nears.

Finally, thanks, Tom. for all you do to keep us informed on a daily basis. This is a large chore. I hope others appreciate your efforts and also become paid subscribers.

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Fay, I do! I appreciate Tom's work every day.

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I miss Phil Ochs

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He was a good guy. His biggest problem was that he showed up in NYC around the same time Bob Dylan did.

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Agreed. People often cite "Blowin' in the Wind" as the most significant song of the era. I guess they've never heard Ochs' "Crucifixtion". (Or maybe it's too deep?)

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The GOP became Magas, a totally new albeit disgusting identity. Dems need to become the Hard Work, Knuckle Down (See the logo there?) party, or something like it because we need to shake the identity that the magas have imposed on us, that of far left kinks. It's an evolvement that needs to be accelerated if we're to win House seats. We need higher profiles for Wes Moore, Phil Murphy, Chris Murphy (who's doing it on his own), Josh Shapiro, J.B. Pritzker, Gavin Newsom, or any others who might have a fire in their bellies for righting our listing ship of state. And apparently the appetite for novelty is insatiable, so throw in a late night comic or two on the ticket (It worked for Zelensky.)

Tom, thanks for keeping us well-informed so we can pass the word along to others before Elmo's nerd militia attacks Substack. And Kick Out the Cucks, the slavering GOP.

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Substack's owners have repeatedly said it's not for sale, and most particularly not for sale to elmo. Since Substack isn't a public company with a board of directors, they don't have to accept offers of purchase.

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My fear is that the hacker hoodlums might interfere with Substack distribution on the Internet and via email. I print out the best stuff I read because I trust books and hard copy. Hackers know how to scrub digital data.

Apparently, Elmo wants Treasury and the GSA to run on AI. I'm sure things go wrong here and there in the current system, things ITs can fix, but with AI there may be no failsafes built in where needed and the entire system could crash. The early pioneers of AI themselves have reservations about its applications. I interpret that as a warning.

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High crimes and misdemeanors. Will Rep. Al Green have his articles of impeachment ready tomorrow? (Monday of a four-day sitting week for the House). And will they have any effect beyond the performative if introduced?

John (Fop) Harris, founding editor of Politico, should have been honest and opined that he is “the greatest American fuck-up of his era.”

"High crimes and misdemeanors. High crimes and misdemeanors. [SQUAWK] Polly wants a claymore!"

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Probably not. So long as the MAGAts have a 1 vote majority, Dilbert will be protected.

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A country of laws being ignored, with no means of enforcement; where any potential or perceived threats are being silenced and defunded.

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I love the sound of claymores in the morning when the 4547 militias come a knockin'.

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There's also the traditional Scottish version, perfect for beheading traitors and splitting nazi nepo babies in half.

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Believe it or not, Mitch McConnell might be our best hope to stopping El Guapo of Jamaica Estates. Leigh Ann Caldwell at Puck had a fascinating piece on him and his strong dislike for Drumpf. (pro tip: Don't insult someone's wife, even a schmuck like me knows that) Fetterman has a method, I don't agree with it, but it's on him. The rest of the Rethugs can go to Mars with Elmo. https://puck.news/the-revenge-of-mitch-mcconnell/?utm_campaign=The+Best+%26+The+Brightest+-+SUBSCRIBERS+%282%2F9%2F25%29&utm_content=The+Best+%26+The+Brightest+-+SUBSCRIBERS+%282%2F9%2F25%29&utm_medium=email_action&utm_source=customer.io&utm_term=f6c60615e81ed9d826

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I can't say this enough, thank

you Tom for speaking truth to

power. You are a safe harbor

for so many of us.

I spit water all over my phone

on the Politico bullshit. Did he

make that statement before

or after Politico was accused

of accepting $$$ from USAID.

They are so far down Trump's

throat, he doesn't need a

colonoscopy or endoscopy.

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