Time For Action: Comment By Thursday (7/2) Against Mail-In Voting Restrictions

 

<"Hear me, O Lord, as I continue my never-ending campaign of bullying all those who dare to defy me..." (aclu.org)>

<i.>

Continuing our latest postings, here is another "Time For Action," to prevent the Bully-In-Chief from imposing himself on the rest of us. This time, the issue concerns the so-called executive order, signed last March, that attempts to strong-arm states from allowing absentee or mail-in voting -- unless they provide the Trump regime with lists of eligible voters.

There's lots of concerning ideas buried within that proposal, starting with the obvious one -- states run elections, according to the Constitution, which doesn't give the President any specific powers over them. That's before we get other pressing little issues, including the misuse of the U.S. Postal Service for political purposes, and the notion of making lists -- hmm, Trump's always made no bones about his desire for unlimited power. Why would he want to make mile-long lists of people?

Well...perhaps I can hazard a guess. Making lists and keeping tabs is a time-honored reflex of autocracies large and small, and whatever their stated purpose, anyone with an IQ above room temperature knows this much -- that just can't be good, right? Certainly not for those on the receiving end.

The good news is that federal judges are consistently rejecting the Trump regime's legal and administrative strong-arming. And, wonder of wonders, the US Supreme Court landed 5-4 against Trump's attempt to overturn a five-day grace period for mail-in ballots in Mississippi, of all places (see links below). Will wonders never cease?

At any rate, the critical point here is the information contained below, posted by Indivisible. We can weigh in against the idea, via email, for which the deadline is 5 p.m. Thursday, July 2. Here are the details:

"The Trump administration is trying to make it more difficult to vote by limiting access to mail-in ballots.

"We have until Thursday, July 2, at 5 p.m., to push back by submitting comments against the restrictions.

"We’re sharing more details on the proposed rules and guidelines for submitting comments in opposition below — we hope you’ll join us in making it clear that Michiganders are ready to defend the right to vote!

"Trump issued an Executive Order March 31 2026 to eliminate mail in and absentee ballots for federal elections nationwide in states that do not provide the federal government their voting rolls.

"HOW? He would do this by prohibiting the USPS from mailing ballots to any person in any state that is not on his federally created voter enrollment list. In fact, The USPS has begun a rules process to do this and is seeking comments by 5pm July 2, 2026 before implementing.

"This, of course, is illegal. The constitution clearly gives states the power to regulate elections. While this will most likely be struck down by multiple courts, the matter may not work through the judicial system until after the November election. That could mean this election could take place without absentee mail in ballots.

"Eliminating absentee and mail voting will most certainly suppress the vote, cause chaos, and cast doubt on election integrity. The good news is that we still have time to oppose this rule -- until July 2 -- by making your voice heard to the USPS Federal registry (PCFederalRegister@usps.gov).

"What should you do?

"ASAP: draft an email to PCFederalRegister@usps.gov, enter on subject line MAIL BALLOTS, and write your comments of opposition. These do not need to be lengthy...The goal is VOLUME of comments, as your voice will be considered by the courts and USPS in their decision. If this rule is allowed to go through it will have a profound effect on turnout and outcomes.

"We can stop this now. This matter is urgent.

"Please share with everyone you know on all media formats."

<ii.>

There you have it, then. I eliminated the language concerning "talking points below," because I couldn't find any evidence of them. However, we trust that, via the magic of the Internet, you can do sufficient finger-walking research to unearth them. Or find any number of news articles, perhaps, to support whatever comments you plan to make. Joyce Vance also offers an in-depth deep dive on her Substack (see link below), for those who want the nitty-gritty detail.

As I've mentioned, there ample reasons to oppose this Trumpist power grab -- pulled like a magician does with his scarves, from a seemingly bottomless black bag of bile, ill will, and aggrievement. Where today's Supreme Court outcome takes us, time will tell. Trump has ramped up calls to pass his so-called SAVE Act -- whose key language ties voting rights to citizenship -- though even his most craven Senate enablers doubt it can pass before the November midterm elections.

Nor do they seem inclined to dumping the filibuster, so they can pass SAVE by a hyper-slim majority, as Trump demands -- since one day, that shoe will go on the other foot, as several longtime Senate veterans on their side have already pointed out. And that shoe may drop in favor of Washington, DC statehood, Medicare For All, or any number of standard issue far-right nightmares. 

The flipside of this debate may well mean the return of Trump's masked paramilitary army to the polls, as allies like Steve Bannon have suggested. Or perhaps they'll be deputized to make balloting as physically draining as possible -- as we saw in Stacey Abrams' unsuccessful 2018 bid for Georgia governor, where six-hour waits were commonplace. It goes without saying that those same expectations may hold true again (as in, don't put anything past them).

That being said, I see little point in endless speculating about what "Trump might do," as it's fairly obvious he'll do his best to disrupt the proceedings -- since he may end up losing both houses of Congress, amid ongoing voter rage against his' abuses of power, economic mismanagement, and a war in Iran that seems no closer to ending than it did in February, when he and his Israeli cohort, Benjamin Netanyahu, unleashed it.

If there's one thing Trump understands well, beyond the power of money and celebrity, it's that rage crosses every possible party line. Poll after poll shows him underwater with all the key groups who restored him to power in 2024 -- young Black and Latino voters, independents, suburban women -- and, by all accounts, have had more than enough.

Of course, the hardline MAGA base remains solidly in his camp, a phenomenon powered by groups like evangelicals (of whom 58 percent voice support for "most" or "all of his policies," the Pew Center reported in January). However, as Republicans have seen -- notably, in the 2022 midterms, when the oft-predicted Red Wave fizzled to a Red Ripple - it's tough to win elections solely by turning out those who already agree with you. 

Time enough...

<iii.>

This is the scenario that keeps Trump's inner circle awake at nights. Having alienated most of those who gave him another look is not a good look, so to speak, at the political box office. 

There's also the ironclad rule that second-term Presidents suffer major losses in midterm elections -- the so-called "six-year itch" that political scientists have documented, when supporters and party officials begin looking past the incumbent, toward their own futures (and their own survival, in cases like the second Trump term, where chaos is the norm).

Major examples of the "itch" include LBJ's epic 1966 wipeout, as he struggled with the Vietnam War (47 House, and three Senate seats, lost); Gerald Ford, in 1974, fresh from the Watergate scandal that forced his boss, Richard Nixon, to resign (48 House, eight Senate seats); George W. Bush, coming off his own epic wars (Afghanistan, Iran), in 2006 (30 House, six Senate seats); and Barack Obama, in 2014, grappling with Republican opposition against the Affordable Care Act (13 House, nine Senate seats).

For Trump, the stakes are certainly as existential as an outlier result -- in which he somehow bucks the trend by gaining seats, or fends off a total wipeout -- might seem to his opposition. If he loses both houses, it essentially marks the end of his maximalist Presidency -- at least, as he's known and understood it.

One of the more obvious consequences will be a tidal wave of Democrat-led hearings, investigations, and various other maneuvers -- all aimed at holding him accountable, somehow, or even launching a third impeachment attempt against him. Or, if that looks unfeasible, they might settle for any number of his "junk drawer" Cabinet secretaries, or the more extreme Supreme Court Justices. The possibilities are endless.

For that six-year itch...

As several leading Democratic Senators have noted, the quality of Trump's nominees will "have to go up immediately"; anyone fitting the previous pattern that has been the norm (freaks, plutocrats, suckups) would find their confirmation prospects looking decidedly dicey.

Even an emboldened Democratic majority holding only one house of Congress could make the remainder of Trump's restoration miserable. At a minimum, it would halt implementation of further Project 2025 items, and force Republicans to rethink what they can pull over, legislative-wise. The old calculus of razor-thin House votes and Senate tiebreakers would no longer apply, forcing new political calculations.

While researching this post, I came across an excerpt from the aptly-titled Second Term Blues: How George W. Bush Has Governed (2007), by John C. Fortier, and Norman Ornstein. Obviously, it's dated now, but the introduction -- excerpted on the Brookings Institution's website -- holds plenty of relevant kernels for today's audience, like this one: "With the exception of FDR, every second-term president since the Civil War has faced a Congress with at least one chamber controlled by the other party. In a second term, let the investigations begin."

And the opening statement, though more general in tone, seems especially relevant nowadays, doesn't it: "Second terms have not been good to American presidents. They often are characterized by hubris, burnout, a paucity of new or bold ideas and are plagued by scandal, party infighting, lack of legislative success, and loss of seats in the midterm election."

... to kick in?

Undoubtedly, Trump hasn't read the book, but if his aides have come across it, I'm sure those quotes loom large in their minds -- and may well inspire some type of exaggerated response from their Dear Leader.

What will it look like? Time will tell, soon enough. All we can do is gear up for the long, hard pull ahead -- the work that must be done, to reclaim our democracy from Trump's movement, and the tech bros who continue to coddle it. Taking every opportunity is only the first step, but that's how it begins.

If the past teaches anything, it's to grab your chances while you can, and make the most of them. After all... Look at how it worked out for our current Commander-in-Chief. --The Reckoner

Links To Go: Hurry, Hurry (Get Your Ballots Early:
Beat The Voter Suppression Rush)

Civil Discourse With Joyce Vance:
The Executive Order To Restrict Vote By Mail:
https://joycevance.substack.com/p/the-executive-order-to-restrict-vote

NPR: A Federal Judge In Boston 

Blocks Key Parts Of Trump's Order...:
https://www.npr.org/2026/06/25/nx-s1-5844576/trump-mail-in-voting-order

NPR: The Supreme Court Upholds

Grace Periods For Mail-In Ballots:
https://www.npr.org/2026/06/29/nx-s1-5815312/supreme-court-mail-ballot-grace-period-ruling

The Brookings Institution:
Second Term Blues (Excerpt):
https://www.brookings.edu/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/secondtermblues_chapter.pdf

...As July Fourth Approaches (We've Never Felt Gloomier): A Handy Visual Reminder

 

<New York Federal Reserve Bank>

Suggested Soundtrack: "Freeze" (The Models), 1977

Last week will likely go down as the single most horrific one of the Trump Restoration. On Tuesday (6/23), we saw a man sentenced to 30 years for moving a box of anarchist-related 'zines after a protest, with equally imposing terms handed to his cohorts (30-100 years), all stemming from actions criticizing the Trump regime.

On Wednesday and Thursday (6/24-25), we watched a handful of Republicans abruptly reverse their stands on a largely symbolic war powers resolution, and continue kowtowing to the Orange Bully, because -- well, he might find some way to hurt them. And they don't have any other ideas, except to continue indulging his every whim, even if reduces the country to a smoking dumpster fire.

Also, on Thursday (6/25), we witnessed the Extreme Court, or the Supremacy Court (a far more accurate term than its present moniker, the Supreme Court), hand the Trump regime two major immigration victories. In one case, the court ruled that agents can physically turn back asylum seekers at the US-Mexico border, even if that person -- as Justice Sonia Sotomayor noted, in her blistering, 35-page dissent -- arrives at a station with adequate resources to review their claim, or strongly fear that they'll be persecuted, or killed, after their enforced return.

The other case allows the Trump regime to end Temporary Protected Status for Haitians and Syrians fleeing murderous conditions in their countries. (Both remain on State Department lists warning Americans "not to travel there for any reason due to ongoing danger," as Politico reports). More than a million people face potential deportation, unless they find some other means of gaining legal status.

Perhaps the regime will look at scrubbing the famous closing words inscribed on the Statute of Liberty ("I lift my lamp beside the golden door"), now that it's effectively slammed shut. Both decisions played out along the predictable 6-3 divide, which inspired starkly differing responses. The six right-wing Justices blandly asserted mere technical grounds for their reasoning, while Justice Elena Kagan's dissent included every major recent example of Trump's racial invective -- from his infamous "shithole countries" comment, to his henchman Vance's 2024 campaign lie about Haitians cannibalizing cats and dogs.

Kagan's actions undoubtedly reflected a desire to draw a contrast between the majority's assertions, and the racial hostility emboldened by the likes of Trump, Vance, and their fan club, who didn't waste any time baring their fangs -- such as rightist commentator Megyn Kelly ("We don't care if you're offended. Get out. Go home. Go back to f#cking Haiti."), or Katie Miller, the equally vile other half of Trump's odious chief aide, Stephen Miller ("Great news for the dogs and cats of Springfield [Ohio]").

Equally striking is the posture of Justice Amy Coney Barrett, who adopted two Haitian children, and never misses a photo op with them. By joining the majority opinion, she consigns some 350,000 of their countrymen and women to uncertain fates, at best -- or certain death, at worst. It's the type of compartmentalized thinking that's reminiscent of Revolutionary War-era slave holders -- including many of the Founders -- who happily freed people whom they felt warmly about, or considered exceptional workers, while leaving others forever trapped in servitude.

We also noticed, as the week finally ended, the groundswell of outrage surrounding the US "Justice" Department's unsettling memo, suggesting that states no longer need to follow the so-called Olmstead precedent -- in which a different Supreme Court, in a different era, upheld the rights of persons with disabilities to live independently, in their own communities (1999).

The memo's emergence coincides with the Texas v. Kennedy lawsuit, in which six states (AK, FL, LA, MO, MT, TX) are challenging Section 504, an important cornerstone of disability rights. Briefly, it bars treating people differently, due to their disability; requires including them in programs, and make reasonable accommodations, if requested and, most importantly, mandates that communities offer programs and services beyond mere custodial environments, like institutions (emphasis: ours).

It doesn't take a rocket scientist to connect these dots, should this latest make-believe case catch the Extreme Court's ear -- presumably, so its six enablers can rubber stamp this latest ghastly idea, one driven by the Olmstead memo's author (see link below). Of course, upending Olmstead is an idea that figures prominently in Project 2025, The Handbook From Hell, a status that needs no further elaboration.

You can read the links below -- which will undoubtedly invoke varying states of angst, depression, and rage, if not a fresh injection of PTSD (Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder) -- and draw the appropriate conclusions.

Suffice to say that we find ourselves in an existential struggle for our lives, along with basic civil rights, human decency, and sanity -- to a degree that seemed unimaginable, in previous times. It's the reason, undoubtedly, for the attitudes captured in the latest survey posted by the Federal Reserve of New York (above), one of many entities tasked with tracking the public mood.

What's noteworthy are the two "bookend" statistics, as we'll call them. As of May 2026, 43.6% of the participants reported being worse off financially than a year ago, or double pre-pandemic-era levels, as you'll see (20% or below). Additionally, 36% expect to be significantly worse off next year, a mark that's also twice pre-pandemic levels.

So much for the idea of prices going down on "day one," as the Orange Bully phrased it, but rocketing inflation -- coupled with go-go finance that only enriches Trump, Musk, Bezos, and their allies, plus lack of purchasing power, strangled by decades of flat wages -- aren't the only reasons for all the collective gloom that we're feeling.

Call it a general sentiment that someone else rigged the game, before we ever showed up; that naked feral capitalism, in all its untamed, and unabashed selfishness, yields a zero-sum game for our standards of living, such as they are; that an imperial, fanatical, and downright monarchial mindset, as we see in the Olmstead memo, has seized the imagination of the ruling classes.

Call it any or all of these things, as you wish. But make no mistake, take no comfort from the perfunctory assurances that they're already dangling out to deceive us ("It's just temporary"; "It's only a memo, not a law"; "It won't really affect you"), before they slam down the hammer, yet again. We know what they're doing, why they're doing it, and what they're all about. 

Needless to say, it's all extremely taxing. It's difficult to live with the feeling of another shoe, always ready to drop; in some ways, the current feels like the climax Werner Herzog's film, Nosferatu the Vampyre (1979, when (spoiler alert) Count Dracula succeeds in spreading the plague, and van Helsing ends up being arrested for his murder by the hero, Jonathan Harker -- now unmasked as a vampire.

There was ample reason during the Revolutionary War for Thomas Paine to declare, "These are the times that try men's souls," and last week fully fit that particular bill. That being said, what's worth fighting is also worth waiting for. However slowly the winds of change may blow, at some point, they do shift -- leaving open another window of opportunity. Our job is to be ready, when it finally arrives -- hopefully sooner, rather than later. --The Reckoner

Links To Go (Ring The Bell Anew,
And Raise The Spirit Of Paul Revere):

Associated Press: Senate Republicans
Reject War Powers Resolution...:
https://apnews.com/article/senate-republicans-trump-vote-reject-war-powers-0f1fa8189c275188a71ed02cc8c3270d

Civil Discourse: This Disappointing Term Of Court:
https://joycevance.substack.com/p/this-disappointing-term-of-court

CNN: Supreme Court Gives Trump
Major Wins On Two Immigration Cases:
https://www.cnn.com/2026/06/25/politics/live-news/supreme-court-issues-opinions

Common Dreams: "Criminalizing Dissent":

Alarm Grows Over Extreme Sentences...:

https://www.commondreams.org/news/prairieland-backlash

Disability Rights Education & Defense Fund:
Texas v. Kennedy: What It Is...:
https://dredf.org/protect-504/

Disability Belongs:
States Continue Legal Attack On Section 504:
https://www.disabilitybelongs.org/2026/04/texas-v-kennedy-action-update/

Politico: Supreme Court Allows Trump
To End Temporary Protections...:
https://www.politico.com/news/2026/06/25/supreme-court-temporary-protected-status-ruling-00975658

The Independent:
Trump Aide Stephen Miller's Wife Resurfaces Claim...:
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/katie-miller-tps-ohio-hatians-trump-b3003364.html

The Models: Freeze

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xqZvxLiaLJ8&list=RDxqZvxLiaLJ8&start_radio=1

The Models: Punk 77 Page:

https://punk77.co.uk/band/the-models/

You want to draw a line 

between right and wrong

This revolution's been going too long
You think they're gonna let you play

You better think again, 

Hear what they say, because...

I'm talking about a freeze

I said, I'm talking about a freeze,

Yeah, get down on your knees...

I'm talking about a freeze

They're putting on the squeeze

I'm talking about a freeze, oh, yeah...

<The Models: "Freeze," 1977>

Who Sent That Spoiled Ham Sandwich To Normandy?

 

Why Settle For A Ham Sandwich?
Make It A PUNK Sandwich!
<Ramen Noodle Nation:
https://ramennoodlenation.blogspot.com/2018/06/punk-rock-art-photo-punk-sandwich.html

"Whatever happens, I'd better not see
any fishing boats, trying to sneak up on me..."

Pete Hegseth contemplates future war crimes
on D-Day's 82nd anniversary
(France 24/Facebook)

The dust has barely settled from "Defense Secretary" Pete Hegseth's speech at an American military cemetery in Colleville-sur-Mer, France, with the usual disastrous results. Officially, he'd been invited as a US government representative to help mark the anniversary of the Normandy beach landings on June 6, 1944, which marked the first direct blow against Adolf Hitler, and the 1,000-year Reich he so assiduously envisioned. Though Hitler and his sycophants clung fiercely to dreams of "wonder weapons" that would turn around their flagging fortunes, the people that they'd ruled for so long already knew the reality -- the game was up.

Normally, these ceremonies serve as a solemn reminder of the enormous human cost required to pry Hitler's iron grip off continental Europe. For the major players involved, that first day alone resulted in 6,601 US casualties, including 2,501 deaths; 2,700 British casualties, including roughly a thousand deaths; and between 4,000 to 9,000 German troops killed, wounded, or missing.

These figures are separate, and distinct, from the broader battles that raged in and around Normandy, from June 6, through August 1944. Allied forces suffered an estimated 226,000 casualties, including over 73,000 killed, while German losses wound up considerably higher, with 200,000 to 400,000 troops. The fighting also claimed the lives of 14,000 to 20,000 French civilians.

It takes figures like these to appreciate the statistical reality that marked the final phase of World War II, whose last year proved to be its deadliest. But none of these things seemed to interest Hegseth -- whom we'll address, henceforth, by our preferred nickname, "Ham Sandwich" -- who seemed bent on scoring points for his equally unhinged boss, and the xenophobic hobby horse they rode in on:

“Beaches in Spain, Italy, Greece and Bulgaria, boats and men arrive. When will European capitals do something about that invasion, or is it too late? I pray not, and I believe not." 

That "Secretary" Ham Sandwich uses a code word ("invasion") referenced in speeches by the likes of Trump, Texas's whack job Governor, Greg Abbott -- and bygone fellow travelers from other eras, like Enoch Powell, or former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher (who opted for the phrase, "rather swamped") -- is hardly accidental. To fellow believers, it signals, "We get you"; to opponents, it threatens, "Wait and see what plans we have for you."

That being said, it's hard to see the linkage between immigration-related issues, and World War II, unless you're a Nazi fan, and view the outcome as unfair to the Third Reich. Then again, given the white power sheen attributed to the tattoos plastered liberally across Ham Sandwich's body, it only seems to fair to ask -- who invited him? 

Because, honestly, allowing an unhinged character of this sort -- one variously accused of alcohol indulgence, stealing funds from veterans' organizations, and sexual harassment, all before Trump's Republican enablers in Congress gave him the job -- is like praying that your drunken uncle won't moon your guests at the wedding ceremony, and finish with his favorite party piece of dropping his pants, as he treats everyone to a sodden rendition of "The Macarena."  (You can read the reviews for yourself below.)

Surely, France could have shut its doors to Ham Sandwich, and said, "Until you behave like an actual, honest-to-goodness human, we find it best that you stay on the beach -- not our beach, on Normandy. Your beach." After all, what did anyone gain from the whole belligerent display, one that also featured tone-deaf, leaden pot shots of this sort:

"Each nation pulled its weight; each nation bled. America will lead — and we must — but capable allies must be right there with us, shoulder to shoulder, in the breach, when it matters."

Coming from a government representative whose leader openly mulls purchasing (Greenland), invading (Cuba, Mexico) or bullying his neighbors (Canada), making a statement of the above sort really takes a great deal of chutzpah, doesn't it? Especially when we ponder that Trump bought his way out of Vietnam, thanks to a friendly doctor who certified him as medically unfit to serve -- even Ham Sandwich, for all his considerable shortcomings, retired from US Army in 2021, following an 18-year career that saw him deployed to Iraq, and Afghanistan.

Still, it's hard to fathom why the Europeans allowed themselves -- once again -- to be used as a punching bag for the Trump regime's pugilistic windmilling, all of it in service to imposing its mindless will on everyone else, democracy be damned; or, failing that goal, relentlessly airing its grievances and pursuing all manner of enemies under every bush and stem, real or imagined.

The reality of that situation makes a mockery of local leaders' pleas to set political differences aside, in the name of a historical gravitas ("It is not that we particularly like the man, but this is first and foremost a commemoration for the veterans") that Ham Sandwich seemed hellbent on undermining through his so-called speech, such as it was. We don't allow the crank at the park to go off on visitors, so why should Ham Sandwich enjoy the same privileges, simply because his name carries a title in front of it?

Or, perhaps, take a different approach. Let him show up, let him do his thing, and run the results on TV -- preferably, with a laugh track inserted at the appropriate moments. Then, at least, we could leave viewers to make up their own minds about whether it's appropriate to allow similar spectacles to take hold in the future.  (Or, we can contemplate a third alternative, similar to how current publishers treat Hitler's literary "masterpiece," Mein Kampf -- run the offending material, but with an extended opposing commentary, to ensure appropriate context.)

But either way, the more we normalize Ham Sandwich, and those like him, the more trouble we invite in the future. Imagine an even more militarist-minded official arriving at some future D-Day commemoration ceremony, complete with a swastika plastered across his face, wearing an Iron Cross necklace in place of the usual tie, and SS-issue, knee-high jackpots, leaving those assembled to murmur among themselves: "Hey, remember when that Yank showed up to bitch us all out? At least didn't look like that. Those were the good old days, eh?"

Conversely, the sooner we stop normalizing the likes of Ham Sandwich, and the petty behavior he displays of an angry teenage boy, still stuck in the act-out stage -- the sooner we can get out from under the shadow of the Trump era, and start the resulting De-Trumpification, just as Europe had to undergo Denazification, to ensure its re-entry back into the family of nations. 

Even so, for all the aggrievement on display, Ham Sandwich's anti-European tirade contained one kernel of truth:

"We forgot that freedom is not free. We forgot that peace is not wished into being. It is bought with purpose, with honor and with strength. The men who landed on these beaches knew this; the question we ask ourselves is, do we?"

Perhaps Ham Sandwich and his cohorts may get to ponder the meaning of that phrase, in full, if -- and when -- the tide finally turns on this madness, and he ends up tried for war crimes of the sort committed against those Caribbean fishing boats, perhaps.

But it's also a fair question that we should never stop asking ourselves, especially as we begin contemplating just what, exactly, should a post-Trump era should look like. Because the men who did pull their weight -- those who died on the beaches, who gave their lives in the struggle against Nazism, instead of spending all their spare time on the I'm-such-a-tough-guy cosplay so beloved among the far right -- expect nothing less. Let us hope that we're up to the task. --The Reckoner


Links To Go (Just Watch The Ghosts
Of Normandy, Turning In Their Graves):

AOL.com: French Villagers Say 
"Non Merci" To Hegseth...:
https://www.aol.com/articles/french-villagers-non-merci-hegseth-015302000.html?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbS8&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAALNEXeWzlamEiKZTYrjY8nCgLR1ypLXjb8rxszyfardXX5rp6pxoU2pUcrL4PDFGFVxGSf-FasvKC0KZlfsTwhSCt74ZXsmAHdVlEkuckUZ88WnlKUyFxze6mQl-h4Xhr8uIYIeKyEtG9A0woG25Yf2apcTdAyxkDrUI7r5Mkn_X

Steve Ahlquist Substack: "Secretary Of War" Hegseth
Receives Chilly Welcome In Quonset:
https://steveahlquist.substack.com/p/secretary-of-war-hegseth-recieves
(Not about D-Day, but chock full of great photos that sum up the man!)

The Guardian: Pete Hegseth's D-Day Speech
On Immigration Condemned As "Grotesque Stupidity":
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/jun/07/pete-hegseth-d-day-speech-immigration-grotesque-stupidity

<"Punk Sandwich (Reimagined)|"/The Reckoner>

"We're looking for a better world, but what do we see?
Just hatred, poverty, aggression, misery.
So much money spent on war,
When three-quarters of the world is so helplessly poor.

"Major General Despair sits at his desk,
Planning a new mode of attack,
He's quite unconcerned about chance or risk,
The Major General's a hard nut to crack."
<Crass, "Major General Despair,"
Christ: The Album (1982)>

<"Pentagon Pete: The View From Here"/The Reckoner>

Mad King Watch (Take IX): Good Trouble Lives On (Scenes From Our Protest)

 

<We improved on 

the Alitos' version 

of the distress flag... :-)/The Reckoner> 

<i.>

I'd never been to a weekday protest before, though I figured the vibe was bound to feel different. There's a reason why Loverboy sang, "Everybody's workin' for the weekend," though nowadays, not even that ritual seems like a given anymore for Americans, laboring for longer and less money than ever, thanks to four decades of feeding the rich, the military, and the donor classes.

Still, having missed the last couple of events -- like the doings on July 4th (above) -- and thought it important to show up myself, in some fashion. Still, I had a dilemma of my own: how to juggle my load? As I've often chronicled here, working for yourself doesn't mean that you lay in a hammock, waiting for all that "mailbox money" to land, smack dab on your doormat. 

That's what late night hucksters have you believe, but I guarantee: if you don't dream up something to generate that kind of money, you won't be laying down anywhere for long. Not with an empty belly, and an empty bankbook. And, while I'd gotten a pleasant surprise on my brake job -- about $250-plus, being a brake leak, not a master cylinder issue -- I needed to generate money for next week.

Well, I could do some transcription work, which wouldn't pay till early next week. However, with groceries and medicine likely to eat up my $250 savings, I'd probably need to drum up some money for the weekend, too. OK, I'm thinking, I've got the basic pieces of a drumkit, some T-shirts that long ago stopped fitting me, and an array of Prince bootlegs. Our friendly neighborhood record store could use that!

Mind you, working all this up would take some time, and our local Good Trouble Lives On event had been structured as a two-hour rally. Having already put in a ton of hours, scratching up all this additional money, I didn't feel sure that I could hit that long -- so what to do? 

Right, then. Make it mobile, I thought. Bring a sign that I could hold up in the window, with one hand, driving with the other. Oh, and make a sign of my own, which I duly whipped up: "NO KINGS: 1976 - 2025," with an image of a red circle running through a crown. Short, simple, and to the point, drawn with black, red and blue Sharpies, scratched out on a cardboard box flap.

<ii.>

I decided to make up 13 trips, up and down Main Street. One trip for each for the 13 colonies, in keeping with our colonial theme, where I could count on seeing a fair number of protesters. Who knows, I'm thinking, maybe I'll see a friendly face or two that I know. With temps running in the mid-80-plus range, the Squawker stayed home -- when you've got breathing issues, you don't push the pedal to the floor.

So off I go, armed with my humble cardboard effort, and one of Squawker's creations ("Trump Has Betrayed The Working Class & The Poor!"), and I begin zipping up and down Main Street. It doesn't take long for my signs to attract attention. I start to hear a shout or two, which starts to get louder: "Roll down your window, so we can see it!"

I duly hit the power button, and take turns holding both signs, as long as the light glows red. I can't resist the snarky remark, as I'm brandishing Squawker's sign: "See this? It's from Trump 1.0! And I didn't have to change a word!"

A graying gentleman with a goatee shoves his sign, whose sentiments don't seem too far removed from Squawker's sign: "See this one? That's from Trump 1.0! And I didn't have to change a word!" 

"Need we say more?" I laugh. "Tells you what you need to know!" Just then, the light turns red, and off I shoot, ready to turn around, and circle back again.

<Next round/Coming to a town near you: Saturday, August 2>

<iii.>

I count about a couple dozen people, thronging on both sides of the street. Obviously, if we were doing this on Saturday, you'd have those four or five blocks packed, wall to wall with people. But even though the proceedings started around six o'clock, who knows how many are still working late? Or can't snag the time off?

No matter. Everyone seems well engaged, though with fewer chants ("This is what democracy looks like!") than you might hear on a weekend protest. Tonight is a lower-key occasion, after all, though the commitment behind them isn't hard to miss. There's not a Trump supporter in sight, which is more likely on a weekend, as well.

Eventually, it's time for my last run, and head back home, to the editorial salt mines -- well, and the memorabilia ones, too, since I have to get that stuff ready, too. I roll down my window once more: "I'm really sorry, but it's time to head out. Gotta get back to work, if I'm gonna make a buck."

A fortyish Black woman reassures me, "Hey, that's all right. At least you were here. you showed up, you did something."

"Yeah, I suppose..." I sneak a look at the light, which is still flashing red. "Well, that is the point, isn't it?"

"Yes, it is!"

Just then, the light turns green, and off I go, ready to hunker down for the next day and a half, so I can put my plans in motion. 

Time will tell where this energy takes us, though it's worth remembering that the Democratic Party's overall rating is worse than Trump's. I suspect that the Democratic National Committee's goals of its long-threatened 2024 postmortem might not tick up the old confidence matter.

Why I do say that? Well, three topics are off the table, it seems -- whether Biden should have run for re-election, or quit the race sooner, and if Kamala Harris made the best alternative to replace him.

I don't know about you, but all I can say, when any established group insists on saying, "Nothing to see here, folks, time to move on," you may well hear a UFO -- as in, Unanimous Fierce Outcry -- to the contrary. And as any comedian will tell you, those who don't read the room can only sigh with the pain of hindsight -- once the paying customers start heading for the exits. --The Reckoner

An Alternative Inaugural Wish For 2025

<"Buyer's  Remorse Sunk In Yet?"/The Reckoner>

The less said about the Devil's Festival, AKA Donald Trump's Inauguration, the better. The less said about those obeying him in advance -- Jeff Bezos, John Fetterman, Carrie Underwood, Mark Zuckerberg, and too many others to name -- the better. The less said about those tithing themselves to the Dear Leader, the better (see US News & World Report link below).

The less said about Trump's junk drawer Cabinet picks, the better. For all the ink lavished on the freakish likes of Pete Hegseth -- whose tattoo-plastered upper body suggests some unholy collision of a Sharpie, and a bottle of Scotch, force-fed via some nickel and dime Henry Rollins-style angst -- it's easy to forget that he'll join 13 billionaires in the most plutocratic Cabinet seen since the Roaring '20s.

The less said about those sticking their heads in the sand -- imagine Husker Du retitling Zen Arcade's side four curtain raiser, "Turn Off The News" -- the better. The less said about those who didn't vote -- apparently, for lack of an ultra-ideal alternative, like someone who drinks milk all day, and hangs out with Donny Osmond, for instance -- the better. 

The less said about those who voted against their own interests -- from the suburban women who shrugged off the post-Dobbs world of abortion restrictions, to the Blacks and Latinos who rationalized Trump's bigoted outbursts ("He doesn't mean us"), and Arab Americans who cashed in their righteous moral anger over the slaughter in Gaza, with Israel's fullest-throated supporter -- the better.

The less said about those milking their ride on the Trump Train, the better. That includes the likes of Nick Johnson, one of countless YouTubers churning out pro-Trump content at an industrial place (full attention spans have no relevance in dopamine-driven culture, after all). 

The less said about Trump's loyal subjects -- such as the Black female proprietor of a pro-Trump merchandise store, proudly displaying her latest offering, a Confederate-styled flag bathing suit -- the better. If you can find a better snapshot of the contradictory doublethink that underpins the Trump movement, we'd like to see. (Hey, it's heritage, not hate, right? Wink-wink, nudge-nudge.)

The less said about the political deathbed conversions of our outgoing President -- who warned us, in his farewell address, “Today, an oligarchy is taking shape in America of extreme wealth, power and influence that literally threatens our entire democracy, our basic rights and freedoms, and a fair shot for everyone to get ahead' -- the better. Like his Democratic predecessors, Joe Biden left a fair imprint on the nation; yet, like Clinton and Obama before him, he also departs, having failed to fully appreciate, let alone master, the far right's continuing assault against our democratic system. If America sleepwalks into autocracy, that failure will cast the longest of shadows.

The less said about any, or all of these things, the better. Seeing Biden finally, belatedly, embracing some of the reforms that might have earned him another term -- notably, reforming the character and transparency of the Supreme Court, one dominated by Republican appointees, who seemed hellbent on kneecapping his presidency -- marks one of our most painful milestones, coming as it did, on the eve of his enforced departure from the race, and the end of his 50-year political career. 

We can only imagine how Biden might have fared, had he launched his 2024 Presidential campaign, with the above-mentioned words of warning, or these, perhaps: "And in a democracy, there's another danger to the concentration of power and wealth. It erodes a sense of unity and common purpose. It causes distrust and division. Participating in our democracy becomes exhausting and even disillusioning, and people don't feel like they have a fair shot." 

How much farther Biden (or Harris) would have gotten, and how much better would their party would have fared, if only they'd rallied around these forceful words? We'll never know, of course. It's the sort of cognitive dissonance that has driven progressives crazy, over the long run, and one that will surely haunt them, in the short one.

Our hope is that progressives do not linger over such parlor games for long. In many ways, they offer an energy-draining dance of diversion, and distraction, one that is temporarily useful, in venting frustration, yet no substitute for a long-term strategy. There is a great deal of truth in Martin Luther King Jr.'s suggestion that "right, temporarily defeated, is stronger than evil triumphant," and his oft-quoted aphorism: "If you can't fly, then run. If you can't run, then walk. If you can't walk, then crawl, but whatever you do, you have to keep moving forward."

We have already outlined some potential responses in our previous message ("The Real Project 2025"), which we need not rehash here. For now, it's sufficient to state our biggest wish, as we begin the likes of 2025 -- a year that seems destined to rival George Orwell's year (1984) in the pop culture infamy sweepstakes. That wish, simply stated, is to get up, and get moving.

Already, various counterintuitive narratives -- some promoted by the far right and its enablers, some not -- are beginning to take shape. Trump won a decisive mandate to remake America in his image. The various prosecutions against him represented partisan "lawfare" that cemented his re-election. Perhaps we can find ways of working with Trump, whatever we think of his worst tendencies, or his ghoulish cheering section.

Pushing back against these narratives is certainly an important step, in changing it for the better; it's the reason that the Clash placed a graphic on their breakthrough album, Combat Rock (1982), which reads, "Know your rights. The future is unwritten." In the spirit of self-defense, we offer a guide to finding a demonstration near you (see link below), for today.

And if you do, let these words from The New Republic ring in your ears: "In his second term, it should be the task of liberals to force Trump to swallow a daily spoonful of the very real job stress that Obama struggled so mightily to endure." That seems like a good start, especially as Trump and his allies gear up, and prepare us for four years of plutocratic minority rule. 

Let them plot, let them plan; let them laugh, and let them lick their chops; let them stand up and shout, let them stomp and scream and celebrate. Let them do any or all of these things, for today. What matters is tomorrow, one that will arrive sooner, rather than later -- one that we can take back, if we only put our minds to it -- and when that moment comes, we're ready to meet it. --The Reckoner

Associated Press: Progressives Are Frustrated
By Biden's Final-Days Warning Of Billionaire Influence:
https://apnews.com/article/biden-oligarchy-democrats-progressives-criticism-420ad7e81a692f0444f84d41654faae1

Paste Magazine: The Fake News Pipeline:
How A Small-Time Clickbait Farmer Is Spreading the Gospel of Big Oil:

https://www.pastemagazine.com/politics/bayou-bridge-pipeline/the-fake-news-pipeline-how-two-small-time-clickbait

People's March: Find A Demonstration Near You:
https://map.peoplesmarch.com/local?link_id=2&can_id=4e6c8046819e1ba183f676fa03eddc7a&source=email-take-a-stand-at-the-peoples-march-this-inauguration-weekend&email_referrer=email_2587221&email_subject=take-a-stand-at-the-peoples-march-this-inauguration-weekend

The New Republic: Shove The Presidency Down Trump's Throat:
https://newrepublic.com/post/190337/trump-second-term-democrats-respond

US News & World Report:
Trump Ushers In The Oligarchy Biden Is Warning Us About:

https://www.usnews.com/opinion/articles/2025-01-16/trump-biden-oligarchs-billionaires-treasury-secretary

White House: President Biden's Farewell Address (Text):

https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/speeches-remarks/2025/01/15/remarks-by-president-biden-in-a-farewell-address-to-the-nation/

Here's To The REAL Project 2025: Snuff The Stench Of Advance Obedience

A vision of the future?

The Sorrow And The Pity (1969): Movie poster

<i.>

The stench of advance obedience is hanging in the air, and so is the whiff of white-gloved propriety. Those are my main thoughts, as 2024 fades into 2025 -- the year we heard so much about on the campaign trail. Not that any of it mattered, mind you, when so many chose to stay home, throw up their hands, or vote against their own interests. 

The Donald Trump restoration is just over three weeks away, and as we've already seen, many entities have wasted no time falling in line. Start with the so-called legacy media, such as the billionaire-owned Los Angeles Times, and Washington Post, who declined to make any presidential endorsements, for fear of cramping their style at the box office. 

ABC News presumably followed the same logic in abruptly settling Trump's  $15 million defamation lawsuit. This, despite many experts suggesting that ABC had ample grounds for continuing the fight, since the suit focused on a question posed to U.S. Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC). 

Star correspondent George Stephanopoulous asked how Mace, who's spoken about being raped as a teenager, could support the same man (Trump) found "liable for rape" in a 2023 civil suit (see link below). Seems like a fair question deserving of a fair answer, doesn't it? Not in a Trump restoration, apparently.

While we're at it, let's not forget "Morning Joe"s main anchor team, Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski, who outdid their cohorts in making the requisite pilgrimage to Mar-a-Lago. Just in a case anybody thought they were "the enemy within," right? To coin a phrase from Margaret Thatcher, even if Trump thinks he came up with it first.

Finally, don't forget TIME making Trump its "Man Of The Year," just in time for his return. Yes, Virginia, it's not an official endorsement, but does anyone with an IQ above room temperature really believe it's not an unofficial one, of sorts? And that  narcissists like Trump, who crave unlimited adoration, money, and power, don't see such designations as the righteous validation of that lifelong mission? 

All could do with the advice dished out by Carole Cadwalladr, of The Guardian, via The Power, her new Substack venture: "Do not bend to power. Power will come to you, anyway. Don't make it easy. Not everyone can stand and fight. But nobody needs to bend the knee until there's an actual memo to that effect. WAIT FOR THE MEMO."

<https://www.downwithtyranny.com/>

<ii.>

The legacy media certainly has a lot to answer for, but they're hardly the only profiles (lacking) in courage. Let's not forget those mainstream Democrats, never the most resolute bunch, some floating trial balloons of running as independents (see Politico. com link below). Chief among these apostles is Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan, who expressed his reasoning thusly:

“I reached the conclusion that if you call yourself a Democrat, all the Republicans automatically line up against it. You call yourself a Republican, all the Democrats automatically line up against it. And I really don’t think there’s a path forward for this state if you don’t get the reasonable folks in both parties to work together.”

Alas, Mayor Mike's reasoning is seriously flawed, starting with the last sentence. Who does he mean by "reasonable," exactly? The notorious election denier Matt DiPerno, a man so politically radioactive, he swore off running for the Michigan Supreme Court? Or perhaps his like-minded cohort, Kristina Karamo, who unsuccessfully sought Michigan's highest elections office, Secretary of State?

Or could he mean Andrew Fink, a graduate of Hillsdale College, one of the nation's most extreme institutions? Or maybe Fink's ideological twin, Patrick O'Grady, who called himself a proud Christian, and staunch textualist, and promised to rigorously apply both principles, if they'd won their Michigan Supreme Court bids? (Thankfully, they didn't.)

Yes, those examples don't describe all Republicans, but they do describe who commands the center of gravity within their party. And until that situation changes, we should proceed accordingly. Mayor Mike may mean well, but he suffers from a malady called "Both Sides-Ism," which conflates both major parties into one seamless entity ("They both suck").

But let's take that last premise at face value, shall we? Given the yearning for common ground, what's the upside in posting bounties on women who seek abortions, or filing lawsuits, once they do? Where's the boon in banning books, or giving school districts vaguely defined, sweeping new powers to do it?

Who benefits most from maneuvers like those seen in North Carolina, where Republicans jammed through a bill stripping key powers from the Governor, and the Attorney General, as retribution for losing their veto-proof supermajority (see link below)? As of late, the answer seems to be, "The GOP, more often than not." Sadly, some prominent Democrats seem unable to learn this lesson, or worse, hellbent on disregarding it.

One of the more glaring examples is Pennsylvania Senator John Fetterman, who's joined Trump's website (Truth Social), as he counsels his colleagues to "stop freaking out." I wonder how long his advice will hold, or what good it will do, if Republicans finally succeed in shredding the national safety net -- or who will bother to listen, once the inevitable buyer's remorse finally begins to sink in.

             <https://downwithtyranny.com/>

<iii.>

While we're on the subject of advance obedience, and who helped in bringing it about, let's not leave the public out of our discussion. I find it to feel hard moved by the likes of MSNBC's exhortations against feeling "schadenfreude" for Trump voters, particularly in light of sentences like these:

"The common denominator is an ongoing refusal to take Trump’s own words at face value. Throughout the 2024 presidential campaign, it became clear that many of his supporters only believed what they wanted to believe and with a wave of their hand dismissed the most brutal or authoritarian of his promises."

The article cites a Georgian family, who seems to think their undocumented relative will somehow escape Trump's mass deportation threats, and farmers worried about how their livelihoods will fare, amid a severe absence of migrant workers. Such examples beg the question -- what emotions should we feel for people who vote against their own interests, and end up risking everybody's rights, in doing so?

Shouldn't be there some measure of social accountability, especially when we remember the consistent "sanewashing" of Trump's unhinged outbursts during the campaign, by cleaning them up for mass consumption? Because, at some point, the Trump circus will finally grind to an end, somehow, somewhere, some day, some weay, in our lifetimes -- and that's when the real fun will begin, once those who got caught up in the whirlwind, or made their peace with it, struggle to explain themselves.

It may, one suspects, sound uncomfortably similar to the German collaborators of World War II, like Leni Reifenstahl, in defending films like Triumph Of The Will, essentially one of several infomercials that she made, on behalf of Nazism: “I don’t know what I should apologize for. All my films won the top prize.” In short: "Hey, I was just making a movie around here. What was the harm?"

Or, perhaps, the lower-level local collaborator, who might have sworn, "Hey, I just helped out here and there. I didn't personally know anybody who disappeared." For a deeper dive into this particular phenomenon, and the social consequences it unleashes, see The Sorrow And The Pity (1969), which provides an important and necessary counterweight to films like Riefenstahl's. It's also four and a half hours long, having been made for TV, so plan to eat in, whatever night you choose to see it (popcorn: optional).

"Just a few uber-rich bros...meanin' you plenty of harm...":

(With apologies to the "Dukes of Hazzard" theme's composer!)

<https://broligarchy.substack.com/>

<iv.>

So where does this dark picture leave us, exactly? Not in a good place, obviously, but we're hardly as powerless as they want us to feel. We definitely have entered a sinister new phase, as the recent MAGA food fight over H-1B visas should demonstrate -- one that abruptly halted, once Trump sided with Elon Musk, who seems to be emerging as some type of co-president. That emergence, presumably, came with the $277 million that Musk reportedly splurged to re-elect Trump.

This is where I go back to the A-word again (accountability). Trump supporters already feel betrayed, apparently, by the elevation of Musk's money over their nativist beliefs; if you get into a conversation with them, it might be fair to ask, "When you voted for him, did you realize that you were casting a ballot for Musk, who wasn't even on the ballot?" The reaction will tell you what you need to know.

Then I'd revisit Carole Cadwalladr's list (via The Power), which offers an excellent starting point for the mindset we'll need to navigate this forthcoming era of chaos, darkness, and confusion. If we can be so bold, let us add a few pertinent observations of our own:

A better world won't happen overnight, but unless we imagine what it looks like, we'll never get one.  For too long, we've centered our politics on what we don't want, which throttles the discussion of what we do want. Why does Bernie Sanders publishing op-eds, all brimming with proposals that may or may not ever become law? Because jump-starting the discussion, he realizes, is the first step toward making changes that make people markedly better off. 

Be honest about what challenges you can take on, and what issues you can work. Everyone has to decide their own acceptable level of risk, the constraints involved, and how we navigate them. Suffice to say, the second Trump era will offer as many challenges as the first one, in making those calculations.

Consistency is not the hobgoblin of small minds, so don't be shy about demanding it.  Allowing bad actors to hijack notions of "cool" is neither savvy nor strategic, because that's how they grab enough air cover for doing decidedly "uncool" deeds. Questioning those lapses isn't some demand for "ideological purity," but a sign that you're paying attention! Don't forget, Obama's Justice Department approved the LiveNation/Ticketmaster merger that remains the bane of concertgoers' wallets to this day  -- just ask Bruce Springsteen.

Drop the power of perspective like a hammer. Wherever possible, challenge hype-driven assumptions, like the "devastating losses" inferred by the Politco article's subhead. How devastating is it, though, when Trump won by a mere 1.5 percent margin, and four of his five candidates fell short in their US Senate races? Raising these issues is more than some academic exercise. Doing so forces people to question self-serving corporate narratives designed to reinforce our learned helplessness.

Embrace the need for some disruption. The reality of many mass movements is that victory often follows action in the streets, rather than some black-robed savior striking a gavel out of sympathy for their interests. It is hard to imagine, for instance, what Parisian students would have gained, without the famous mass protests of 1968.

Follow your pushback, wherever it leads. Sometimes, a pointed question is all it takes to puncture a deeply-held assumption, as I learned during the election. I remember one such moment on Facebook, when someone asked if I was urging readers to abandon papers like the Washington Post. "No, but we have a right to demand better than the product they're putting out," I responded. "If we don't demand it, how are we ever going to get it?" You get the idea.

Get used to flipping the script. When we do, we win. As Indivisible co-founder Ezra Levin suggests, resistance to fascism begins and ends in a complete sentence: "No!" Don't forget how much worse the first Trump presidency would have been, without the mass  marches and rallies -- such as in 2017, when Republicans tried to overturn the Affordable Care Act. Those tempted to ignore such developments should feel the heat under their seat; "Me, too" is the last thing we should hear from anyone claiming to fall in opposition.

Hold our allies as accountable as our opponents. The surest sign of a politico feeling too big for their boots is when someone like Fetterman begins to insist, "I'm just fine without you." That's the time to clear our throat, and remind them forcefully otherwise. Those who want to follow the likes of Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema into the Sellout Hall of Shame should understand what the price of occupancy means.

In the end, remember: failure isn't always final. Like many autocrats, Mexican President Luis Echevarria thought that repression bought relief from domestic troubles. Yet his failure to punish the perpetrators of the 1971 Corpus Thursday massacre -- in which 120 protestors died, including a 14-year-old boy -- stuck to him like flypaper. In 2006, he just escaped being placed under house arrest -- he was 84 at the time --  and, even in death (2022), regularly tops lists as Mexico's worst president. When he launched his political career in the 1940s, it's safe to say that he probably envisioned a slightly different outcome.

Just remember, last, but not least: don't worry about "how long" it might take. History rarely follows a straight, predictable line, and even MLK's celebrated "long arc" sometimes takes its own sweet time bending in the relevant direction. While there are some exceptions -- the last three presidential elections, for example, all following the same "lesser of two evils" script -- it takes time to undo the excesses of entrenched power.

After all, why else did Marc Bolan sing, "Change is a monster/Changing is hard," on "Dandy In The Underworld?" Because it just is; don't worry so much about how, or why, or what. It goes with the territory. Every minute counts, for sure. But "how long" we take matters less than the day we finally get there, so dig in. And plan accordingly. --The Reckoner

Links To Go 
MSNBC: Why It's So Hard to Have
Schadenfreude For Trump Voters:
https://www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnbc-opinion/trump-voter-support-regret-policies-rcna185466

Museum Of The Moving Image:
The Sorrow And The Pity:
https://reverseshot.org/reviews/entry/3040/sorrow_pity

NBC News: NC Republicans Vote To Strip...:
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/elections/north-carolina-gop-lawmakers-vote-strip-powers-incoming-democrats-rcna181032

New York Times: ABC To Pay $15 Million...:

https://archive.ph/g1TGW

Politco.com: Is The Democratic Brand Toxic?:
https://archive.ph/KU2qy

The Power: How To Survive The Broligarchy:
https://broligarchy.substack.com/p/how-to-survive-the-broligarchy

"And, as the world stands on the brink with its superpower seemingly on the way to becoming an authoritarian state, 

it’s notable that two of the most powerful and influential men in it - Elon Musk and Peter Thiel - were shaped by a childhood spent under apartheid."

<"All The President's Men"
https://broligarchy.substack.com/p/all-the-presidents-men>