I have been waiting for that “Have you no shame” moment or the famous picture of the little Vietnamese girl running naked down the road as her village burns behind her.
Perhaps this picture of the painter with the brush roller is it?
We may have to wait for a better one but at least it deserves inclusion in the lexicon of evil.
Your writing—your relentless, gut-punching account of the latest disasters—leaves me teetering between gratitude and total emotional collapse. I have been screaming about this for years, years, and now, here we are, watching the country unravel in real time, like a badly knitted sweater coming apart with a single, merciless tug.
I used to think I was prepared for this. I saw the warning signs. I shouted. I wrote. I told anyone who would listen. But now, as he dismantles our nation hour by hour, as the news churns out fresh horrors at a pace I can’t keep up with, I find myself physically afraid to read the next headline. I brace myself before opening the paper, like I’m about to step into a crime scene, which, let’s be honest, I probably am.
The only thing I can compare this feeling to—this gut-deep, marrow-freezing dread—is watching my parents die. That slow, agonizing, inevitable march toward the end. Sitting there, helpless, listening to their breath turn ragged, knowing there was no stopping it. That’s what this feels like, Tom. The same miserable helplessness, but this time, it’s not just personal. It’s the whole damn country gasping for air.
And yet, here we are. Watching. Waiting. Screaming into the void.
It’s pretty clear we are headed in the 1934 direction. The Trumpist/Muskovians will not stop until they run into an immovable object. It’s also clear that the legacy press will be supine and Democratic elected leadership will largely irrelevant. About half of the District Courts and Courts of Appeal will be willing to facilitate the Trumpist/Muskovians, and of course 5 to 6 of the Supreme Court justices will be on board with that. The only way to oppose it is through direct action in the streets. Mass protests. (Not general strikes because our working class are so overwhelmingly non-union and maybe more than half are adjacent to the Trumpist/Muskovians.) I see no other way. It’s time to organize. Form cells. Recruit members. Make plans.
This is what the slim majority of the roughly 2/3 of the American people voted for. These "God, Guns, and Family" people are going to get the shaft, and be saying "thank you sir, may I have another"..... unless they say "I didn't think you meant ME!!!" It depends on what they are told, and more importantly, choose to believe.
Perhaps a Tax Revolt? What stronger power, really, do we have? BUT Team Elon, with permission from the Administration they funded & installed, can now reach directly into our bank accounts to appropriate whatever tax they choose to levy. Even those whose personal wealth has sheltered them til now must realize that no bank account is safe from The Tech Bro Gang & their Orange Mascot.
During the early 70's in Berkeley, I attended a Quaker-sponsored meeting promoting a Tax Resistance Campaign. It involved an alternate "Peace Tax" (rather than the "War Tax" we were resisting). We would withhold our Federal Taxes only when a sufficient number of pledges had been collected, and we'd deposit the amount of our Tax Liability into an alternate "Peace Tax" account - which could be used to pay back delinquent taxes if necessary.
Obviously, the idea was "safety in numbers". No one would act on their pledge until x-number of pledges had been made. I thought it was a great plan.
However, during that time, the urgency was insufficient.
But today, In the inimitable words of my own generation's bard: "Things Have Changed". (Bob Dylan)
Maybe the plan could work today? .... Does anyone want to join me in searching for Quakers who may recall their Tax Resistance campaign of the early 70's? Or their ideological heirs?
During the early 70's I attended a meeting hosted by a Quaker group launching a Tax Resistance campaign. We were asked to withhold our Federal Tax and deposit the money into an alternate "Peace Tax" account. We would pledge to act on this intention only in the event that the campaign collected a sufficient number of pledges (safety in numbers). I gave my pledge, but never heard back from the group. Perhaps there was insufficient urgency at that time.
But, today, "Things Have Changed". Maybe that campaign would go viral today ...
I'd love to find some Quakers who recall that early '70s Tax Resistance campaign. Are any of you out there?
Respect, compassion, fairness, integrity etc— normal human traits which all religions preach and most parents teach their children. P4547 has none of those values. For his third week in office, the walls will be repainted with the wretch’s values—meanness, nastiness, selfishness, greed. The repulsive malignant sociopath attacked his own government on January 6 four years ago. MAGats don’t care.
TC you are alas hitting the nail on the head, as the saying goes. No long knives for senators—just bags of future money or poverty as bribes; no panzers and troops racing to Paris—just Elon with the Treasury database. Almost silent.
At our weekly potluck and Scrabble game, I asked my dear friends, all expressing outrage about Trumps actions, who had called or written their representatives? Several pointed at me, saying I’m representing them. I told them it doesn’t work that way. I can’t vote for them nor can I call our Representatives for them.
The most disgusting part of this moment in history is our collective silence.
I have been waiting for that “Have you no shame” moment or the famous picture of the little Vietnamese girl running naked down the road as her village burns behind her.
Perhaps this picture of the painter with the brush roller is it?
We may have to wait for a better one but at least it deserves inclusion in the lexicon of evil.
Pretty soon he will start “firing” the judges who enjoin all this. And of course Elon can now stop their paychecks and those of their entire staffs.
Tom,
Your writing—your relentless, gut-punching account of the latest disasters—leaves me teetering between gratitude and total emotional collapse. I have been screaming about this for years, years, and now, here we are, watching the country unravel in real time, like a badly knitted sweater coming apart with a single, merciless tug.
I used to think I was prepared for this. I saw the warning signs. I shouted. I wrote. I told anyone who would listen. But now, as he dismantles our nation hour by hour, as the news churns out fresh horrors at a pace I can’t keep up with, I find myself physically afraid to read the next headline. I brace myself before opening the paper, like I’m about to step into a crime scene, which, let’s be honest, I probably am.
The only thing I can compare this feeling to—this gut-deep, marrow-freezing dread—is watching my parents die. That slow, agonizing, inevitable march toward the end. Sitting there, helpless, listening to their breath turn ragged, knowing there was no stopping it. That’s what this feels like, Tom. The same miserable helplessness, but this time, it’s not just personal. It’s the whole damn country gasping for air.
And yet, here we are. Watching. Waiting. Screaming into the void.
God help us.
We’ve all got to die of something. Keep in touch with the living and believe our spirits are real.
Here there be dragons, indeed.
It’s pretty clear we are headed in the 1934 direction. The Trumpist/Muskovians will not stop until they run into an immovable object. It’s also clear that the legacy press will be supine and Democratic elected leadership will largely irrelevant. About half of the District Courts and Courts of Appeal will be willing to facilitate the Trumpist/Muskovians, and of course 5 to 6 of the Supreme Court justices will be on board with that. The only way to oppose it is through direct action in the streets. Mass protests. (Not general strikes because our working class are so overwhelmingly non-union and maybe more than half are adjacent to the Trumpist/Muskovians.) I see no other way. It’s time to organize. Form cells. Recruit members. Make plans.
Holy Fuck.
This is what the slim majority of the roughly 2/3 of the American people voted for. These "God, Guns, and Family" people are going to get the shaft, and be saying "thank you sir, may I have another"..... unless they say "I didn't think you meant ME!!!" It depends on what they are told, and more importantly, choose to believe.
Perhaps a Tax Revolt? What stronger power, really, do we have? BUT Team Elon, with permission from the Administration they funded & installed, can now reach directly into our bank accounts to appropriate whatever tax they choose to levy. Even those whose personal wealth has sheltered them til now must realize that no bank account is safe from The Tech Bro Gang & their Orange Mascot.
During the early 70's in Berkeley, I attended a Quaker-sponsored meeting promoting a Tax Resistance Campaign. It involved an alternate "Peace Tax" (rather than the "War Tax" we were resisting). We would withhold our Federal Taxes only when a sufficient number of pledges had been collected, and we'd deposit the amount of our Tax Liability into an alternate "Peace Tax" account - which could be used to pay back delinquent taxes if necessary.
Obviously, the idea was "safety in numbers". No one would act on their pledge until x-number of pledges had been made. I thought it was a great plan.
However, during that time, the urgency was insufficient.
But today, In the inimitable words of my own generation's bard: "Things Have Changed". (Bob Dylan)
Maybe the plan could work today? .... Does anyone want to join me in searching for Quakers who may recall their Tax Resistance campaign of the early 70's? Or their ideological heirs?
During the early 70's I attended a meeting hosted by a Quaker group launching a Tax Resistance campaign. We were asked to withhold our Federal Tax and deposit the money into an alternate "Peace Tax" account. We would pledge to act on this intention only in the event that the campaign collected a sufficient number of pledges (safety in numbers). I gave my pledge, but never heard back from the group. Perhaps there was insufficient urgency at that time.
But, today, "Things Have Changed". Maybe that campaign would go viral today ...
I'd love to find some Quakers who recall that early '70s Tax Resistance campaign. Are any of you out there?
What the almight everlasting f#$k.
“…there is no liberty, if the judiciary power be not separated from the legislature and executive.”
Montesquieu. XI–6
Respect, compassion, fairness, integrity etc— normal human traits which all religions preach and most parents teach their children. P4547 has none of those values. For his third week in office, the walls will be repainted with the wretch’s values—meanness, nastiness, selfishness, greed. The repulsive malignant sociopath attacked his own government on January 6 four years ago. MAGats don’t care.
TC you are alas hitting the nail on the head, as the saying goes. No long knives for senators—just bags of future money or poverty as bribes; no panzers and troops racing to Paris—just Elon with the Treasury database. Almost silent.
At our weekly potluck and Scrabble game, I asked my dear friends, all expressing outrage about Trumps actions, who had called or written their representatives? Several pointed at me, saying I’m representing them. I told them it doesn’t work that way. I can’t vote for them nor can I call our Representatives for them.
The most disgusting part of this moment in history is our collective silence.
If I could bottle your fury Tom, one small vial of it would obliterate a city the size of Cincinnati.