Selling forgiveness has quite a history. I asked Google AI about it:

“Pope Leo X authorized a massive sale of indulgences in Germany to fund the rebuilding of St. Peter's Basilica in Rome and to help Archbishop Albert of Mainz pay off massive debts from purchasing his church office. [1, 2, 3]

What began as a protest against the financial abuse of indulgences escalated into a fundamental challenge to papal authority and church tradition, ultimately fracturing Western Christianity.”

Dear Republicans,
Please help us understand why Donald J. Trump is still president. I know you didn't ask him to start a stupid unwinnable and very expensive war. That in itself should warrant immediate impeachment. After all, this boondoggle was his idea (and Bibi and maybe Putin). Billions and billions for what? How does this help you?

But I digress. If the following short video doesn’t send you into a rage, a desire to remove him, we will know what your hearts are made of.

Is THIS what you voted for? Do you believe that convicted crooks should be able to buy their way out of prison and escape the repayment of the funds they stole from us?

Oh, one more thought for you, Mr. and Mrs. Republican. I know you are very focused on “family values” and “traditional lifestyles”. So isn’t it strange that you provided us with this president? The next video is short. But if you watch it and still support MAGA and “47” - we will know that your real values are.

Is your life view and your actual morality sourced from the same sewer this president swims in?

Dear Sane People of America,

Here is some hope for you. These Republicans have questions!

Read this:
“As Trump’s disapproval rating among conservative voters steadily rises, the GOP may experience a rude awakening come next year’s midterm elections”
Full Article

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Gotta end on a cheerful note…

Project 2029? Have you read about it? There are currently two competing versions written by “policy experts”. But I have my own.

Every recent poll suggests that a “Blue Wave” could sweep the United States this November and perhaps again in 2028. The current administration has an abysmal disapproval rating. Every poll finds Americans more and more disgusted with the abuses of “47” and his band of clowns. More importantly, Democrats have won in most special elections - even in blood red states like Texas and Florida.

A charismatic young Democrat has a realistic opportunity to snatch a Senate seat from Republicans - in Texas. Democrats are running in states where previously they didn’t bother to try. Read Jess Piper from Missouri! The wind has shifted. The ship of state could be sailing back to safe harbor.

Hope. In the face of madness and incomprehensible incompetence. It’s a feeling that we have not experienced for some time. But how do we ensure the momentum continues?

We should be thinking about what we want to do when the “party of the people” ousts the “party of the oligarchs and bigots”.

Project 2025 had a warning flare - bright red in the sky. But most of America didn’t look up from their phones. Why would they read a Project 2029? And if they did, would they hear the words that would motivate them to vote Blue? Perhaps. Worth a try, no?

With all that in mind, consider this.

Here are American current party affiliations:
Independents 45%
Republicans 27%
Democrats 27%

So it is obvious who determines elections. Republicans are reportedly losing Independent support in recent polls.

But it is not enough to say what we are against - we must, of course. But what positive steps will Dems take for the “working class”?

For now, as best as I can discern, there are two “official” emerging versions of a “Project 2029”.

Not well known Project 2029 - (Has a New Name!) “We are Next”
https://www.project2029.me/
- Appears to be created and staffed by volunteers
- I have little information on this crew but their resumes are impressive
- Website is helpful, lots of excellent ideas, read the “Pillars”

Mainstream Project 2029 - Seems to be evolving very slowly
https://www.project2029foramerica.org/
- Being built by veteran Democratic advisors and technocrats
- Led by Andrei Cherny, editor of Democracy: A Journal of Ideas, with Chad Maisel joining as a key lead in early 2026.
- Website provides little specific information about policies and platforms

Democrats need a clearly stated play book of what is on offer if they are elected.

Aren’t you weary of the constant struggle between “moderate centrists” and “progressives”? I am. There is a lot to unify Democrats. Read this from David Hogg.

Progressives say to moderates “your approach is how we got here!”
Moderates are worried about policies that might sound too extreme - “too far left!”

Pray tell, what would those policies be?

Food security, safety and affordability?
Enough safe water to drink and grow crops?
Data Centers sucking up water and energy ?
Healthcare for everyone?
Adequate Housing?
Protecting National Parks?
Child Care? So both parents can actually work?
Job losses due to automation, corporate consolidation, outsourcing and AI?
DOGE decimating the Federal workforce - health and food safety experts?

AND, the BIG ONE: escalating prices of EVERYTHING caused by stupid wars and fabricated trade conflicts?

Are these radical “lefty” concerns?

Nope. They are normal people worries. Not political. Simply practical.

Democrats can win on the above issues alone. Full stop. NOTHING has improved under Republican Rule. Life is worse for Americans! And there is no plan from MAGA…

Here is a plan for the future. There is more, of course. But I think I hit the big ones. What do you think?

MY Project 2029:

1. Climate Catastrophe adaptation and mitigation (human species survival). Super fund FEMA. Authorize the Department of Interior to begin adjustments to where people can safely live. Move the country away from fossil fuels and embrace safer and cheaper sustainable energy production. Build a new smarter grid to handle the demand. Jobs!

2. Fix our Broken Election System. Campaign finance LAWS that eliminate dark money through PACs. Stop the influence of “billionaire election buyers”. Supreme Court EXPANSION. National POPULAR VOTE Compact to make the Electoral College a formality. Ranked Choice Voting. Expand the House of Representatives and end districting. Introduce a Constitutional Amendment to restructure the Senate - to reflect a democracy - not a nation run by an extremist minority.

3. Rule of Law applies to ALL, quashing the “Supreme Presidency”. Congress does its job. Disband the “Unitary Executive” aka dictatorship.

4. Income and asset inequality - tax reform, wealth taxes, raising wages, retirement reform. Rebalancing is a moral imperative.

5. Universal Health Care, Medicare for All, National Health Plan - choose a name. But it includes vision, hearing and dental. They are part of human “health”. No? Remove the profit factor. Review the programs around the world. Harvest the best ideas and adapt the systems for America. Be the Best and Most Affordable health care system. Covers ALL Americans (including politicians). Same plan for Congress and Joe SixPack.

6. Establish Immigration Sanity - we NEED immigrants. Immigrants are GOOD. Americans are not replacing themselves and we don’t have enough young people to support our systems of care. Immigrants pay taxes and do work that Americans won’t. We need foreign students and researchers to boost our scientific and medical teams. Secure borders are not inconsistent with smart immigration policies. “Secure” doesn’t mean “Open”. It means sensible welcoming of the strangers we need.

7. The Equal Rights Amendment - to be authorized by Congress and assigned to the National Archives as a Constitutional Amendment. Do it. The required states have already approved it. Only misogyny has halted its official status.

8. Education Reform - free public schooling from pre-school to employment. Tuition free education of essential professionals - especially doctors, nurses, teachers. NO funding of private or religious schools - all tax dollars to public schools.

9. Prison Reform - no private prisons, focus on education and social reintegration. Return drug use offenders to society - provide recovery help. Make room for the crooked politicians.

10. Break up monopolies and duopolies. Return competitiveness to business, offering more choice and lower prices for consumers. Break up media empires.

11. Unions facilitated. Unions in every medium to large business. Publicly traded companies have employees on every board of directors. The chairman cannot be the CEO. Workers make companies tick. Compensate them properly.

12. Foreign Relations - this one shouldn’t be near the end of the list. Even with the most strenuous efforts, it will take generations - more than a couple of sensible administrations - to rebuild our international reputation. We have violated every principle of civilized behavior established since the end of WWII. End foreign interventions and stupid, very expensive wars.

13. Rejoin the World Health Organization and Climate Agreements. Beg forgiveness and bolster NATO. Fund the UN and demand its reform as a more powerful enforcer of human rights and territorial integrity. Recognize the reality that we are one species.

14. As a follow on to rebuilding global trust, join the International Criminal Court and deliver every American who has committed war crimes. Send money to aid the prosecutions at “Nuremberg 2.0”.

15. Rebuild and fund adequately the United States Agency for International Development. USAID saved millions of lives and built friendships. Resume the work. End the shame and embarrassment.

16. Pass a law - create a mandate to allow and facilitate reproductive choice. In all states and territories.

17. Pass a law defining the qualifications and the restrictions for becoming president of the U.S. Require government experience and exclude those with criminal records. Require release of all tax returns. Prohibit stock purchases or sales. Prohibit ANY business ownership while in office. No “blind trust” or handing over to family. All assets other than a home to be liquidated and held in a savings account.

18. Admit Puerto Rico and Washington D.C. as states. Pass a package bill that will rebuild Puerto Rico’s electric and water systems. And remove all evidence of 47’s excesses and poor taste in our Capitol region and the White House. Rename anything with it’s name on it.

19. Create a Special Sensible Science Project - Install the most qualified people on the planet to run Health and Human Resources and the EPA. Create a special task force to recommend steps to limit Forever Chemicals, address the Micro and Nano Plastic Pollution nightmare. Fund and guide states to a completely new way of recycling everything. Look to the successes of other nations.

20. Create Special Teams at the Commerce Department to boost and improve the efficiency of NOAA. To recommend to Congress a Tariff Policy that improves trade between nations and protects national security.

21. Give the FAA proper funding to improve air safety and add staff. Install the latest and best systems. Provide guidance and recommend laws for the commercial and private use of drones.

Please feel free to rearrange these - offering your own sense of priority or add other ideas. I typed them as they flowed out of my brain.

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In memoriam:

If you are tired of the “weaponization of words” and the lack of respect for women’s contribution to the creation of our nation as we know it today, you may find the following article of interest.

Here is my take. Socialism and Capitalism are not good or bad. And they are not mutually exclusive. We have our lifestyle and society because of both of them.

Socialism can be good for the people. It can be a way to fairly distribute assets, provide healthcare and a basic retirement. It can provide our kids with care and education. It can provide us with electricity and communication tools. It can give us good roads and efficient public transportation. It can protect our natural resources and parks. It can protect the air and the water. It can prevent us from destroying our home.

But socialism can become too bureaucratic and stifling - only if we allow it. Red tape is not an item of socialist dogma. It is an unfortunate side effect - easily dealt with.

Capitalism can be an engine for prosperity and employment. A competitive capitalism can innovate and develop science. If monopolies and duopolies are prevented, small businesses can thrive and provide good jobs. True free markets are dynamic and creative. Capitalism can be a force for improving the quality of life for all of us.

But capitalism can smother political freedom and funnel money from the poor and middle class to the ultra rich - unless we regulate it properly. Allowing oligarchs/capitalists to buy elections doesn’t lead to broad prosperity. It takes us to widespread poverty and fascism.

So. Ya got your “Yin and Yang” - which with some intelligent, thoughtful strategies could make us a model civilisation.

Forget the emotions attached to the names. Use the concepts as tools to find a blend. Several countries (much older than ours) have achieved various versions of this balancing act. They are prosperous…and happy.

And speaking of interlocking dynamics, please never again remember FDR without remembering Frances Perkins. We HCR followers know Perkin’s story well. But it bears repeating. And she had friends.

Please read this from Matthew Cooke:

August 18, 2026

The Founding Mothers of the Middle Class Got the Blueprint from Socialists

The faces most worthy of celebration in the last 200 years are not the men on Mt Rushmore, or made into statues like Churchill or Captain Cook.

The origin story of the majority middle class is as dramatic as any nation’s history. The difference is this story is actually true.

In 1911, a factory fire in New York killed 146 people in twenty minutes -- most of them young immigrant women -- because the owners had locked the doors to stop workers leaving early.

In the crowd below, watching people jump, stood a young woman named Frances Perkins. She called that day “the day the New Deal began.”

Twenty years later she walked into Franklin Roosevelt’s office and named her price for becoming the first woman in a U.S. cabinet: a 40-hour week, a minimum wage, unemployment insurance, an end to child labor, and a national pension system.

She would take the job only if he backed all of it.

He did. She built almost all of it through public policy.

Where does someone put together a list like that? It was handed to her.

In her final year at Mount Holyoke, a socialist named Florence Kelley came to speak.

Kelley had translated Engels (as in Marx and Engels) into English and spent her life fighting child labor. Perkins said that hour turned her life around, and she went on to work for Kelley’s National Consumers League.

The list she carried into Roosevelt’s office was, in large part, Kelley’s unfinished one.

Her faith pushed in the same direction. Perkins was a devout Episcopalian formed by the Social Gospel, the movement that read the Sermon on the Mount as instructions for running an economy rather than a private comfort.

She belonged to the Church League for Industrial Democracy, which refused to let the church bless an industrial system that ground people up, and to a religious society whose leading light was Vida Scudder -- a Wellesley professor, a Christian socialist, and a member of the Socialist Party.

All through her years in the cabinet Perkins vanished one weekend a month into a convent for silent retreat.

She said she went to Washington to work for God, for Roosevelt, and for the millions of forgotten, plain common working people.

None of this was a secret at the time, and it was used against her. In 1939 members of Congress moved to impeach her for refusing to deport a labor leader they called a communist. The move failed. She kept the job for twelve years.

And she did not do it alone.

Mary McLeod Bethune ran the Division of Negro Affairs at the National Youth Administration and convened the Black Cabinet, becoming the highest-ranking Black woman in the federal government.

She had trained as a missionary and been refused the mission field because she was Black, so she built schools instead.

Eleanor Roosevelt used the most watched position in the country to push her husband further than he would have otherwise.

Molly Dewson (a democrat) moved women into federal posts by the hundreds. Rose Schneiderman (a socialist), who had organized garment workers before the fire, sat on the labor board that wrote the new rules.

The Romans had a word for leaders who govern as citizens instead of warlords: civilitas. That is what these women built. The beginnings of an advanced, modern civilization.

And it was only a first step.

Social Security left out farm workers and domestic workers, which excluded roughly two thirds of Black workers and most Black women in paid work.

Native Americans, many in that same excluded farm labor, were reached late and unevenly. Housing policy handed white families the mortgages that became middle class wealth, and drew red lines around everybody else.

A blueprint that leaves out that many people is not even a first step. It was a half-step.

The next move forward was supposed to be universal economic rights.

In January 1944, Roosevelt went on the radio and proposed a second bill of rights: a job, earnings enough to live on, a home, medical care, education, and security in old age. For everyone.

FDR was blunt about why. “People who are hungry and out of a job are the stuff of which dictatorships are made.”

He died fifteen months later and the second bill of rights died with him.

So Eleanor Roosevelt brought the demand for economic rights to the whole world. She chaired the commission for a Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948, where economic rights have sat, dormant, ever since.

The middle class has been squeezed, decade after decade. And when people are made frightened and poor at the same time, they are always handed somebody to blame.

History repeats: Scapegoating, then fascism, then atrocities and finally, collapse. That sequence is not a theory. It is what our Founding Mothers of the middle class had just watched happen in World War 1 and 2, and it’s what we are witnessing again right now.

The United States and the entire western world is complicit in another genocide, ethnic cleansing campaigns, the return of concentration camps, wars for conquest.

The majority of political leaders are puppets of oligarchs, paid to maintain the fundamental conditions that brought us to this very point.

So when you are told the middle class was a gift of capitalism, or that free markets produced it, understand that this is completely backwards. Markets did not produce rising standards of living. Labor did that.

A majority middle class society was built, deliberately, against the fiercest opposition money could buy, by massive strikes, walkouts, sit-ins, activists working out of a religious tradition, an ethical tradition, and a socialist tradition.

We are living on the crumbs of what they won. And we still have the blueprint for the next steps, toward an ethical, advanced society. We know what to do.

Share our Propaganda Decoder with family and friends who need a splash of cold water. The headline news in its original Orwellian, translated back into words that mean something. Open Access. No paywall.

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We are all being robbed. A web of myths and systems built on lies has made life WORSE for most Americans while a few oligarchs can’t figure out what to do with the enormous treasure they horde.

There are exceptions. Mackenzie Scott has given away about $26 Billion since her divorce from Jeff Bezos. Laurene Powell Jobs has been generous with her Apple riches. And sure, there are other commendable donations by the ultra rich. Warren Buffet is in the process of giving away 99% of his astronomical wealth. Good.

But these are exceptions. The ultra rich don’t need the money except to count it. They could give away more than 90% of their assets and still wake up in multiple mansions, float on their mega yachts being served by “staff”.

Yet, in this nation, the richest to have ever existed, people are homeless, hungry, deprived of health care, struggling to feed their kids and feeling hopeless.

It wasn’t always this way. Let me take you back 50+ years. There absolutely was poverty. Inequality was rampant and women were just beginning to get their fair share of jobs and asset accumulation. Beginning. There was optimism. There was a “War on Poverty”, there were social justice movements, there was hope.

I was 22 years old. We had one child and another on the way. We bought a small brand new house for $16,000. Based on my low income as an assistant buyer at a department store, we qualified for a HUD program that subsidized the interest on the mortgage. Bringing the payment to about $125/month. The rent at our apartment had been $85. So we were going to “stretch”.

Just a five room ranch - one bath, three small bedrooms. No garage. But it was ours. It had a decent back yard - big enough to grow vegetables, let the kids play and install a cheap above ground pool. The grammar school they would attend was around the corner.

We were experiencing home ownership before age 25. This was the American Dream.

I finished off the basement for a “rec room”. I grew some weed in between the tomatoes. My wife worked evenings selling cosmetics. We stayed afloat financially - barely. By living frugally. No big trips. Older used cars. No savings, just paid the bills.

And I felt great! I had my own house. I had a career with a serious future (it did work out very well). There would be pay raises. The house would increase in value. Things were “tight” but that’s how we grew up. I knew the future was bright. I was right.

And now….?

There are no affordable houses. In our region, open houses attract dozens of buyers. Offers are accepted for a few days. He who offers the most cash over the asking price wins. “Listed for $895,000 - multiple immediate offers - “give us your last and best offer” - closed for $1,050,000”.

But this is more than a housing supply problem. It is also about income and asset distribution. SpaceX went “public” with a stock offering. This made Elon Musk a TRILLIONAIRE. At least while the fantasy of that stock price lasted. Look at that number: $1,000,000,000,000. One person.

This human being is obscene. Beyond excessive luxury obscene. It is “I can buy elections and politicians” obscene. It is immorality on steroids (or in this case Ketamine).

It is immoral because it is stolen assets. For one person to have $1,000,000,000,000 while his fellow Americans can’t house and feed their kids working two or three jobs…is unacceptable cruelty.

And a tiny fraction of his outrageous wealth could save millions of lives.

But I digress. Apologies. My anger got away from me. Back to America the Beautiful.

According to data from the Federal Reserve Distributional Financial Accounts, the top 1% of American households hold roughly 31% of total U.S. household wealth - which is nearly equal to or slightly surpasses the entire bottom 90% of Americans combined.

The lower half of the American population combined holds only about 2.5% of total national wealth.

Too many Americans rely on the ER for health care. Emergency departments in the United States have more than 140 million visits each year — a rate of four visits for every 10 people. “This is important because nearly 40 percent of emergency department visits are not medical emergencies, which is very costly financially and in terms of staffing and other hospital resources,”

The U.S. has a lower life expectancy than comparable countries, yet it spends nearly twice as much as its peers on healthcare per person.

The U.S. had a higher infant mortality rate and lower life expectancy than most other OECD countries. Even the best-performing U.S. states ranked poorly among member countries for the infant mortality and life expectancy measures, despite the U.S. having the highest total health spending of all OECD countries.

Follow the money.

Democrats expect a “blue wave” in November. They expect to retake the House of Representatives with a strong majority. There is also reasonable hope that the Senate can be retrieved from MAGA servitude as well. After all, Democrats are winning almost every “special election” - even in deep red states like Texas and Florida!

The “Affordability Crisis” has motivated voters. Food, housing and health care. These are not “left” vs “right” matters. They are not owned by a political party. They are a top vs bottom issue.

As soon as someone advocates for government help with food, housing or health care they are labeled as radicals, socialists and now…”communists”.

A 22 year old is more likely to live in their parents home than at any time I can remember. Are the rents too high or is the 22 year old’s income insufficient?


Let’s start from scratch here. Let’s invent America all over again. Perhaps we start with shelter. How can the richest nation that ever existed on Earth, that has a population that will be declining due to a less than replacement birth rate, that has shut down immigration - how can there be too few shelters?

As with so many other aspects of life we have handed the project over to “private enterprise”. The focus of which is not to fulfill a social need. It is to provide PROFIT to the shareholders. Horton, Lennar and Pulte build a huge percentage of our housing. Do they care if 22 or 35 year olds are living in Mom and Dad’s basement? Or do they build the homes that provide the best margin of PROFIT?

Ironically, I built a career and a life that was based on making a PROFIT. My job was to purchase well, and sell the most products at the highest allowable margin of PROFIT.

Regulated Capitalism can be a source of healthy competition, innovation and wealth creation. If regulated sensibly, it can benefit the many. If not, it can be voracious merciless beast that consumes all that it encounters. A dragon to be tamed.

Profit worked well in my case because my company was committed to low prices and to treating their customers and employees right. In our company, a kid selling lumber or plumbing supplies had a company stock portfolio (purchased at a discount and through bonuses) that grew monthly - and they were paid a serious wage - enough to raise a family and…to buy a house. That was still happening in the early 2000s.

But then one of the oligarchs took over. The full timers were replaced with clueless part timers. Standards of customer service were abandoned. What was special vanished as cost cutting replaced employee investment and innovation.

What was a leading example of what employee ownership can accomplish was transformed into just another big box of robotic bodies wandering the aisles. A business that had prospered by cultivating the ideas from the people meeting the public and actually handling the product was effectively disemboweled. Hollowed out.

But the CEO who led the wreckage walked away with a $100 million + severance package. The rich got richer. The working poor got shit.

I think that Abe Lincoln said it well in 1854:
“The legitimate object of government is to perform for a community of people those necessary tasks they cannot do for themselves—or cannot do as well—individually. Government should focus on public works and solving shared problems, while not interfering in areas where citizens can act independently.”

So. What is the answer now? IMO, some reasonable adjustments:

1. A new ratio between top executive pay and the average workers salary. Tax breaks for companies that offer employee ownership. Required access to union membership if desired.

2. A completely rewritten tax code that still rewards hard work but prevents obscene accumulation of wealth. Tax the money changers. During the best economy in our history, the marginal tax rate was over 90%. It was normal.

3. An immediate redistribution of the national wealth. A claw back tax. Elon Musk will be fine with maybe $100 million. You pick the number.

4. A universal health care plan paid for by #2 and #3. A national child care plan. A national retirement plan that expands Social Security. Because we all will get old.

   
   A bunch of this financial “harvest” should obviously go to a new energy future and climate crisis mitigation. After all, it was the fossil fuel oligarchs and their backers who got us into this planetary nightmare.
   
   Young people need to feel there is hope for their futures. A restructuring of society is required. Some would call that a revolution. I say it is long overdue.

   

   Young people: it wasn’t always like this. There was a time when most people in their 20’s had a reasonable assumption and hope that if they worked hard, they would exceed the success of their parents.

   But now, Gen Z will be lucky to even get a job and keep it - let alone own a house. I hope those basements are well furnished.

   

   It is a simple question: Is the U.S. to be a nation run by all its people or a just a few cruel, greedy, power obsessed assholes?
   
   We can change this. The turn around can begin on November 3.

   As Joyce says: “We’re in this together.”

   
   

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   Thanks for reading Bill’s Focus! Subscribe for free to receive new posts. No charge. Not here for profit :)

   

Next up? Music from young people who get it and are making some noise and “good trouble”.

Name something that will suck your community dry of drinking water, raise your electricity bills and put you out of work. What a deal!

A classic:

November 3: Revolution or not?

“Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies, in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed.” - Dwight D. Eisenhower

Matt Stoller has written an assessment of the Democratic Senate primary that I must share. I have linked it below. It is an historic moment in American politics.

BIG by Matt Stoller

BOOM! An Anti-Monopolist Smashed the Democratic Establishment in Michigan Last Night

There is a rebellion afoot in America. Last night, there was a Senate primary election in Michigan, and while there are frequent elections these days to choose candidates for political parties, this race was generally understood by political insiders as the most important contest in terms of setting the economic and political direction of the Democratic…

Read more

a month ago · 242 likes · 22 comments · Matt Stoller

Democrats and many Independents believe the most important mission is to oust the Fascist Republicon Party from Congress. The House and the Senate. Agreed.

The traditional approach favored by political insiders, big funders and pundits is that “left wingers” can win primaries but not general elections. Pick the person who can’t be smeared by the MAGAs as a radical, dangerous “socialist”. Someone safe.

And that is how we got to this place. Out of power. A nation out of rational control. Incompetence. A government randomly hauling people to concentration camps, murdering its residents, blowing up fishing boats with no evidence of drugs, bombing Iranian girls schools - killing thousands with no provocation - no plan for resolution. Severely damaging the world’s economy. Restricting the flow of fertilizers leading to famine. Depriving millions of cheap life saving food and drugs…hundreds of thousands dead already.

And now, we are running out of missiles to defend ourselves from a real threat. China sees Taiwan as an easier target. Most of the best computer chips that run the world come from Taiwan…what could go wrong?

Russia slaughters Ukrainian civilians as America withholds the missile interceptors that could save those lives. The war ON Iran has boosted the price of oil. Russia has only one significant source of export revenue. Oil. What has Putin been saying to Trump during their regular phone calls…that nobody has a recording of?

The price of oil. Gasoline. Highest profits in years for Chevron and Exxon Mobil.

For us? Pain at the pump. Pain at paying utility bills. Pain at the grocery store. Pain when trying get health care and then to pay for it when the insurance doesn’t. Workers pay stagnant.

As CEOs, top executives and money changers rake in jaw dropping wealth.

Please read Matt’s substack. You have read the headlines about Abdul El-Sayed. But you probably don’t really know much about him. His name and his portrayal as an extremist, and possibly a “socialist” (He is not. He is a capitalist) has potentially alienated you. “Too extreme”?

A Reminder. When the Republican establishment was originally threatened by the “Tea Party” and the “Freedom Caucus” and “MAGA” - it was not taken seriously. But look where the Hell we are now! What was it that allowed them to perform a political coup?

What propelled the populist right wing movement? Simple. Public unrest. Widespread fury at the establishment. A declining lifestyle, loss of good jobs, medical bankruptcies, lack of hope for their future and for their kids future…SOUND FAMILIAR?

Abdul El-Sayed is making speeches that could appeal to mistreated workers AND true free enterprise enthusiasts. And trust me, any business executive who could shed the very costly responsibility for its workers health care would do so in a heartbeat. Medicare for All is now a winning campaign pitch.

For those who worry that they will lose their terrific company plans, here’s the message: Medicare for All can be better than any private plan will all its loopholes and hoops to jump through. And what if you demanded that such corporate savings be translated into a 10% or 20% raise? (If you were unionized, you could do that.)

Teddy Roosevelt would have campaigned with El-Sayed. Read on…

El-Sayed is not extreme. He is educated. He is not radical. He is rational. He is echoing American distress and offering concrete solutions.

And he is asking us to SUPPORT business by defeating monopolists. Pretty smart, I think.

BIG by Matt Stoller

BOOM! An Anti-Monopolist Smashed the Democratic Establishment in Michigan Last Night

There is a rebellion afoot in America. Last night, there was a Senate primary election in Michigan, and while there are frequent elections these days to choose candidates for political parties, this race was generally understood by political insiders as the most important contest in terms of setting the economic and political direction of the Democratic…

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a month ago · 233 likes · 22 comments · Matt Stoller

But if you want the best political assessment available - AND a vision to make prosperity and health care available to all of us, watch this video from Bernie.

The DNC could take this video and copy it for an excellent WINNING platform statement. There is nothing extreme in what Bernie says. It just requires radical change. America is ready.

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Go Jesse, go. Quick and Powerful.

And now Just Enjoy. This one is for you Bob H!

Miss him yet? Obama made several mistakes. Please name the person who hasn’t.

And remember how well we slept?

And how words like hope and possibilities were in the air?

And how decency and dignity were the standard behavior in the White House?

And the humility and the carefully applied intelligence?

And the respect we had across the planet?

Most of our problems today were created by stupidity and incompetence.

Or has it been treason…?

I think Americans are yearning for a return to sanity and fiscal responsibility.

I’ll leave it there for today. I hope you all are safe.

Blue Wave coming soon if we make it so.

Believe.

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This is a follow-up perspective on my Sunday post about Democrats. I maintain that there is a national discontent that is brewing like an old percolating coffee pot. And if you leave it on the stove too long, it will boil over and maybe burn down the house.

A wise commenter on Heather Cox Richardson’s recent post said something to the effect that we are in a Third Revolution. The first was our founding. The second was conquering the slavers. And now…

I think the best parallels for our current time are found in those moments of history where the people simply said “Enough”. The French and Russian Revolutions come to mind. We can, of course, skip the beheadings and firing squads.

But a complete end to the Oligarch Class running the government is what most Americans really want. Screw the labels.
”Make my life better!
The ultra rich have too much!
We don’t have enough.
Blow it up and spread the enormous wealth.
And hold the thieves accountable.”

Most of us of a certain age remember a time (most of our lives) where the country and the world were far from perfect. But life was pretty good in general. And there was always hope that we could fix the things that were wrong. We could find ways to improve the lives of Veterans. Of the Working Poor. Ensure that Elders lived their final years in some basic level of comfort. That our Kids could be better educated and they could start Families and have decent Homes.

The following NYTimes piece explains a lot. The dissatisfaction, the anger, the disappointment - none are ideologically driven. Not right, not left. Not attached to any political identity. People discouraged. People not feeling represented by their elected officials.

And this explains why a flawed candidate like Graham Platner resonated so powerfully with the working people of Maine.

Here are a few excerpts. The full article is available w/o paywall here.

”Cory Upton-Cosulich sat in a parked car by a hiking trail in Maine this week, fuming over the implosion of Graham Platner’s Senate campaign.

Her anger wasn’t directed at him.

It was aimed at the powerful people far away from her working-class harbor town who, one after the next, had rescinded their endorsements of a candidate she supported in the Democratic primary last month. The feeling was familiar — watching people in Washington decide who should represent her.

She said she believed the woman who had accused Mr. Platner of rape, a claim he has denied. She believed the other allegations too. She decided to support him anyway, because he had promised to work on her behalf, and she believed him.

“Establishment Dems are clutching their pearls because they don’t have him on a leash,” Ms. Upton-Cosulich, 40, typed into the box on Facebook asking her what was on her mind as she sat in her car. “The people of Maine want change.”

Democrats at every level of the party assumed that women who had supported Mr. Platner would be thrilled that he was being pushed out of the race. Instead, some women in this independent-minded slice of the country who powered the progressive upstart’s meteoric rise are angry and grieving.

Some of their pain stems from the loss of a candidate who put words to their frustrations with a political system that they feel makes their lives harder, not easier. Mr. Platner, they said, made them believe that a different reality was possible. His vision resonated so deeply that neighbors who had spent a decade disagreeing found common ground in someone who sounded like them.”

”Although she believes the woman, Jenny Racicot, who said Mr. Platner had raped her, she also believes, with just as much conviction, that politicians in Washington are corrupt. Not only had many of them, including President Trump, survived their own allegations of sexual assault, but they seemed to have lost sight of their main responsibility to the regular people who had elected them, Ms. Upton-Cosulich said.

How else could it be that, after years of promises, she still could not afford medical checkups? With a deductible north of $10,000, she said she had to weigh whether a mammogram was worth the $450 price tag.

She was in the kitchen of the house she cannot afford to buy when she learned that Mr. Platner had suspended his campaign.

The feeling reminded her of 2016, when she read reports that officials with the Democratic National Committee had privately derided and mocked her preferred presidential candidate, Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont. The revelations convinced her that the fix had been in for his primary rival, Hillary Clinton.

Her emotions this week also brought her back to the way she felt in November 2024, when she was handed a ballot featuring former Vice President Kamala Harris, a candidate she never got to choose.

She had wanted 2026 to be different.”

This post IS NOT an endorsement of Graham Platner. I did get excited about his candidacy until - I wasn’t. It is also not a condemnation of the Maine Democratic Party for an incomplete vetting of a candidate. How’s the GOP doing in that department? Ken Paxton in Texas? George Santos in NY? Donald Trump? Good grief.

Graham Platner is responsible for this debacle. He owns his story, his life, his masquerade. Maine Dems will be more careful, but Platner did this.

Now it is incumbent upon Maine Democrats to select the right replacement. They can do it. They CAN pick the person with the right values who CAN beat Susan Collins. Who ignored Brett Kavanaugh’s rape accusations.

The bigger picture? Maine is a microcosm of the nation. It has it’s sophisticated and affluent regions. But it has a much bigger piece of real estate where the working class are barely getting by - and some are not at all.

They want a revolution. They don’t care about labels. They are boiling over with indignation and rage. They are demanding change.

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https://www.nytimes.com/2026/07/10/us/politics/women-maine-graham-platner-campaign.html?unlocked_article_code=1.xVA.mi02.nZzhCNPBjY_B&smid=url-share

Post script:

Clarence Thomas was credibly accused of sexual harassment. He was rewarded with a lifetime job as judge - where he betrayed his own heritage.

Brett Kavanaugh was credibly accused of sexually attacking a woman when drunk as a skunk. He was rewarded with a job as judge - where he removed women’s reproductive rights.

Donald Trump was credibly accused of sexual harassment, sexual assault or rape by over two dozen women. Including a teenager. He was adjudicated accordingly as guilty of such by a jury of his peers. He was ordered to pay almost $90 million. He has been rewarded with a job that allows him to personally harvest $billions and to destroy the lives of millions.

Graham Platner was credibly accused of sexual harassment, assault and rape. He was taken down from an opportunity to be a US Senator by his own political party. He was excised, removed, shamed.

Democrats do their job. Republicans do theirs. VOTE.

The testimony below is only tangentially about Trump. It is primarily about the threat to democracy and freedom of the press. A BIG story.

But isn’t it disturbing (enraging) that the Trump/Epstein, hide the files, hide the perpetrators story can be pushed aside SO EASILY? I guess all you need to do is start a another stupid unwinnable war. Bomb and kill.

I don’t watch much TV. We “cut the cord” years ago. That’s my excuse for not being very aware of Katie Phang. All I can say now is WOW.

May I suggest Phang for “Communications Director” at the White House 2029? FCC chair? Or wait…VP?

Got three minutes?

Burning down the house

My house
Is out of the ordinary
That’s right
Don’t wannna hurt nobody
Some things sure can sweep me off my feet
Burning down the house

No visible means of support
And you have not seen nothin’ yet
Everything’s stuck together
And I don’t know what you expect
Staring into the TV set
Fightin’ fire with fire, ah

The Graham Platner flap is a pimple squeezed by Democrats. In a few days, at a fully transparent convention, 601 delegates will choose from a handful of highly qualified state level politicians who have served long enough to be fully vetted. One is a successful businessman who seems to run a company that is benevolent to its workers. Another is a secretary of state who stood tall against Trump. Two are experienced Maine state legislators with excellent reputations.

Maine will select the candidate that will send Susan Collins into retirement. Maine has had enough. Mainers are hurting because of Republican policies. Tourism is a mess, jobs have been leaving the state for decades. Enough.

Believe.

The New York Times has been running articles - autopsies of the Maine Democratic Party. Endless examinations of “What Democrats stand for” and how we need to “Get our act together”. “Will socialism destroy the left?” Yeah. OK. May I suggest we worry about some real problems?

In contrast, Republicans are loaded with cancerous tumors. Unaddressed corruption and blatant fascism laced with bigotry. Betrayal of our allies. Hiding files that reveal sex trafficking of young people. Republicans are protecting pedophiles and rapists.

Recently, Rep Tom Suozzi (D-NY) circulated a letter condemning the victories of progressives in NYC. He is attacking his fellow Democrats.

This is divisive and supportive of the false sentiment that millions have:
“The two parties are the same old stuff. Why vote?” Suozzi is ignoring the pleas of Americans for serious, meaningful change.

I would ask Tom some questions:

Do you believe that all Americans deserve good healthcare?

Do you believe that students should be able to enter the workforce without crippling debt?

Do you believe that public schools should be fully funded and provide an education that is not tainted by religion and bigotry?

Do you believe that the Department of Defense receives too much money compared to what we spend on our infrastructure? How about food and medicine for the poor - for children? For the elderly?

Do you believe the very rich should pay more in taxes?

Do you believe that the income cap on Social Security should be eliminated to fully fund the program? That our seniors deserve a decent, dignified last few years?

Do you believe that our veterans should receive complete and prompt medical care the day they walk into a VA facility?

Do you believe that Republicans should be held accountable for the current corruption that is enriching the Trumps and the oligarchs that pander to him?

Do you believe that the Supreme Court has become corrupt and that some members should be impeached for taking bribes?

Do you believe that Donald J. Trump’s illegal expensive failure of a war is an impeachable offense?

Do you believe that Donald J. Trump should be held responsible for the over 780,000 (and climbing) people who have died due to the destruction of USAID?

Do you believe that the Republican approach to energy is adding to the Climate Crisis and that the GOP is bought by fossil fuel companies?

Tom, if you answered yes to most of those questions, you are a “progressive” Democrat. If not, you are a Republican in a “moderate” Democrat’s suit.

There is a powerful movement across America now. It doesn’t care what labels we apply. It is just fed up with barely getting by and going without. It is furious that each generation’s quality of life and financial welfare is getting worse, not better, as we all expected years ago.

The same anger and exasperation that exists in NYC is bubbling up in Missouri. Read Jess Piper for details. She is attracting a rapidly growing following and getting Democrats to run in one of the reddest states in the country. And she is using “progressive” ideas to attract the candidates.

They are asking for the roads to be fixed, for the teachers to be paid a living wage, for citizens petitions to be respected by the ALL WHITE MALE state legislature that has reigned supreme. For hospitals to reopen, for women’s reproductive rights to be restored. Really “radical” stuff, eh?

The “Progressive Democratic” and “Democratic Socialist” movement is sweeping the country. It ain’t communism, Donnie. It’s what Ike would have supported.

This November will see the biggest “throw the bums out” moment in modern history. We need to Believe and stick together.

We can sort out the details later. We can ask HOW MUCH MORE to spend on health care, child care, housing and education. Not if.

A nation that provides the basics of life for its citizens frees them to be innovative and productive. Empowers them to start small businesses. Encourages them to pursue their new ideas. But in America today, millions of people stay in jobs that pay poorly and/or that they hate doing just to maintain health insurance.

The current arrangements are two steps from slavery, one step from indentured servitude and are actually 21st century feudalism.

The peasants are revolting. Call it what you want. Screw the labels.

Even the most dedicated life long Republican or Independent can find reasons to support a Democrat who wants to improve his or her lot in life. Instead of spending our tax dollars bombing small boats and girls schools.

And then there are the Epstein Files. Seriously, which political party has the most problems as we head into the voting season?

Another subject. Absolutely fascinating and well researched. If you would like some perspective on the inevitable eventual collapse of Putin’s Russia, please read this from Sam Matey-Coste. Russia has no future. Literally.

The Weekly Anthropocene

Russia is structurally screwed

It may have already come to your attention that the armed forces of democratic Ukraine have been absolutely kicking Russia’s totalitarian butt lately. It’s been years since Russia’s invasion in 2022 (already longer than all of World War I) but things may now be reaching a turning point…

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2 months ago · 46 likes · 4 comments · Sam Matey-Coste

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Len Lubinsky writes a detailed and fantastic letter about political contests across the nation. He provides bios, perspectives, election polling odds, and ways to donate to critical campaigns. It is a lot of work. A lot of careful research. I highly recommend his newsletter. It’s an education and a terrific tool in the battle to free our nation from fascism. You can subscribe here.

Len suggested that we share the following “declaration”. My only edits were to bold face some phrases for emphasis.

Check out Len’s website:

https://lenspoliticalnotes.com

Len’s Letter #84 A Declaration of Independence from our Tyrant King or a Justification for Impeachment and Conviction

July 4, 2026

Thomas Jefferson.

CONSIDER THE DOCUMENT BELOW

IT IS AN ADAPTATION OF THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE FOR OUR TIMES. OUR SURVIVAL AS AN HONORABLE PEOPLE DEPENDS ON VICTORIES IN THE 2026 ELECTION BY DEMOCRATS AND OTHERS WHO OPPOSE THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES.

CONSIDER THE DOCUMENT BELOW

When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to remove its Leader so it can remain among the powers of the earth and to sustain the station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them a decent respect to the opinions of our countrymen and all mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to remove its false king.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, -- That whenever any Head of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to replace that Head, and to institute a new Head of Government, in such form, as shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Heads of Governments should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by overturning the Head which is the source of evil.

But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such a Leader. Such has been the patient sufferance of these United States of America and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their leadership. The history of the current President of the United States of America is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over this country. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid citizenry.

He has refused his Assent to Laws or Court Rulings, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good and when passed, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.

He and his Court has refused to attend to other Laws for the accommodation of large groups of people, toward the end of forcing those people to relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.

He has met with segments of legislative bodies at places distant from the depository of their public Records, for the sole purpose of bullying them into compliance with his measures.

He has ignored Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with firmness his invasions on the rights of the people and military invasions against foreign countries.

He has refused for a long time and over two terms of office to cause those who were elected to be ineffectual; exposing to all the dangers that come from imposing rules such as tariffs and invasions of other countries without regard to the authority of Congress.

He has endeavored to prevent the population of these United States of America by obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners, by preventing passage of such laws governing immigration even while out of office, by unlawfully imposing masked enforcers on a loyal populace to remove them from homes and jobs endangering the nation’s freedom and prosperity.

He has obstructed the Administration of Justice, by using his Justice Department as a weapon against the people of the United States of America and especially those who he believes have opposed to or have injured him or even, Americans he knew to be innocent, but were in the wrong place at the wrong time.

He has attempted to make judges dependent on his will, making or encouraging threats against judges, even attending a session of the Supreme Court to attempt to impose his will.

He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harass our people, and eat out their substance.

He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies called ICE without the Consent of our State legislatures.

He has fired or threatened our Military leadership to render the Military independent of all Civil power except his own.

He has combined with others to subject us to the jurisdiction of foreign countries unacceptable to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of those countries without the pretense of Legislation:

For Quartering large bodies of armed ICE troops among us:

For attempting to protect those armed troops from punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States and for pardons of those who committed insurrection on his behalf and, through bribery, those who have committed other felonies.:

For transforming our Trade with all parts of the world through the arbitrary and illegal imposition of tariffs and other means.

For bullying our legislature into imposing Taxes on the least of us while removing their benefits and relieving the wealthiest of responsibility for paying taxes.

For depriving us in many cases, of the benefits of Trial by Jury by making unfounded criminal charges that exact huge financial penalties just for going to trial and by removing resources from institutions seen to be unwilling to acquiesce to his will.

For deporting and transporting us beyond Seas, primarily immigrants but sometimes without regard for citizenship All for pretended offences:

For abolishing the Rules-based International Order and threatening countries with which we are allied with an Arbitrary governmental act attempting to enlarge the Boundaries of the United States of American and reducing the Boundaries of others. thereby introducing absolute rule of those states and ours.

For attacking the Charters and freedom of organizations essential to our freedom – universities, law firms, media companies, and others by which he is abolishing our most valuable Laws, and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:

For ignoring and misusing our own Legislatures, and declaring his administration invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever

He has abdicated lawful Government by declaring us out of his Protection and waging a kind of war against states with leadership with which he disagrees.

He has plundered our seas, murdering people in the guise of law enforcement, destroying the lives of people without consideration for the laws of the United States of America or international law.

He is transporting Americans and migrants to the United States of America to foreign prisons by virtue of courts he controls and through the means of the ICE army which operates outside the law, Mercenaries who bring death, desolation and tyranny to our country with circumstances of Cruelty & perfidy scarcely paralleled in the history of our country and totally unworthy of the Head of a civilized nation.

He has removed immigrants to our country and some citizens among them, to countries foreign to them, to countries where they are in danger.

He has denigrated those among us and in the world who do not fit his vision; a vision that brings white South Africans to the United States as if they are oppressed while forcing Haitians and Syrians and others to return to their countries where they are in danger.

In every stage of these Oppressions, We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions and demonstrations have been answered only by repeated injury. A Head of government, whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.

Nor have We been wanting in attentions to our fellow Americans. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over our lives. We have reminded those in the temporary majority party of the Wars and the Constitutional Amendments and Court decisions that have ensured the rights of all people in our country regardless of race, sex, or citizenship status, We have appealed to their sense of justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow the Head of State’s usurpations, which inevitably interrupt our connections. The temporary majority party has been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Action and consider them, as we consider others: Enemies in War, in Peace Friends.

We, therefore, the People of the United States of America, Assembled and as individuals, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of these United States, solemnly publish and declare, That these United States of America are, and of Right ought to be free of this Unlawful Head of State, and that such legal action shall be taken to dissolve our connection to this man through an overwhelming election victory by those who oppose him and such subsequent action as his impeachment and conviction for the actions enumerated and other expressions of treason, bribery, and high crimes and misdemeanors. For the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.

A WORD from Len:

You can attribute this to Len Lubinsky, Len’s Political Notes. You can modify and adapt it. You can help us do whatever we need to do to legally remove Donald J. Trump from the Presidency.

He has proven himself to be a danger to the United States of America. He’s not the first. Think Aaron Burr, Jefferson Davis. But he’s our danger and the danger is now.

Thanks to Len for producing the above.

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Just so you know that I don’t always live in the dark and depressing world of politics, here are two photos about life beyond the headlines:

One way to jump out of the mental morass of today’s politics is to reflect on history. The newsletter “This Day in History” delivers perspective really well. On July 5, 1946 the bikini was introduced in France. As with so many sensible trends from Europe (health care, child care, good wine and solidarity in the face of Putin’s aggression) Americans took a couple of decades to embrace the bikini. We’re slow learners. But there is hope.

It has been an excellent year at the farm, despite the drought. Enormous harvests of asparagus, lettuce and sugar snap and snow peas. Now we are roasting squash on the grill, enjoying broccoli and trying to learn to like kale. Next up, four varieties of pole beans and several fun types of tomato.

Embrace Peace, Love and Vegetables. Better days are ahead. Believe.

One of the best authors on Substack today is Sam Matey-Coste. His updates on the development of the “electrostate” - the amazing projects around the world that are leading the planet to a better future are enlightening and inspiring. The U.S. may be acting foolishly and destructively, but it’s great to know about the huge advances in Climate Crisis control all over the planet.

Sam also writes for Climate Action Now. Read, learn, enjoy!

And! Sam tells about the wonderful accomplishments of nations working on ecosystems, restoring habitats and rescuing species from extinction. It is absolutely awesome and uplifting writing. Read the Weekly Anthropocene!

I call Sam’s posts my “optimism infusion”. Like a patient getting a pint of fresh and desperately needed blood. It rejuvenates my mood and my general sense of well being.

BUT.

Sam just wrote something incredibly important. Dark, Evil, Historic Depravity.

He titled it “Atrocity”. I call it Mass Murder. One evil man empowered by one insane man has killed over 780,000 people. With one act. And the death toll has only begun. This is soon to be on the “Holocaust Scale” of crimes.

IMO, Elon Musk is the American equivalent of Adolph Eichmann.

Millions of our fellow humans are starving and being deprived of the essentials of life. The U.S. has condemned them to a miserable, agonizing death. And simultaneously, we can find a billion dollars a day to bomb a nation that we previously had a functioning agreement with?

Over a $100 billion wasted and Iran is still in charge of the Strait of Hormuz, still threatens the region, still has an iron grip on its citizens, and still has nuclear fuel. Iran won the war the day it shut down 20% of the world’s traffic in oil, gas and fertilizer.

The annual budget for the United States AID program for the food and medical assistance portion about was $11 billion. It had bipartisan support. Life saving money halted by Musk’s DOGE.

All this stupidity and cruelty exists because our president is a deranged, sundowning, incompetent narcissist who is desperately trying to distract us from his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein and the multiple credible accusations of sexual abuse including rape. Of women and children - over decades.

So. Read Atrocity. Then for your metal health, read and perhaps subscribe to Sam’s newsletter to keep your optimism. That’s our “yin and Yang” for today.

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The PEVs - Private Equity Vultures have eaten most of the meat and organs. Now they are picking at the bones of your life. Here are two examples that are obscured by the political theater and absurdity of cage fighting on the White House Lawn, a “thug fund” to pay insurrectionist criminals and a disastrous “war of choice" that is hurting every person on the planet.

And abandoning research equipment to monitor ocean temperatures. Reminds me of the day “45” said that testing for Covid should be limited because the numbers would make him look bad…

But I digress. The stuff we should be screaming about is ignored by most of the media. Because it is long form. You really have to think about it. Read about it. Let the enormity of the theft and abuse wash over you.

Here is my Senator (and favorite advocate for US) explaining how the Private Equity Vultures (PEVs) have raped our communities and profited nicely by doing it.

and…

How Private Equity Guts Healthcare is very long read. You can be forgiven for skimming or speed reading.

Bottom line? You can’t get an appointment with a primary care physician because the people running healthcare don’t care. They are running our health system as if its sole purpose is to make money. For them.

They are not the least interested in whether America’s life spans are lower than peer countries. While the U.S. has a lower life expectancy than comparable countries, it spends nearly twice as much as its peers on healthcare per person.

Each year, the U.S. records more than 5 infant deaths per 1,000 live births, far exceeding the rates in other high-income countries. Read this.

Say it.
PRIVATE EQUITY DOES NOT CARE. It collects double the money for poor results!

Here are some excerpts from the article above:

“The U.S. is now said to be short at least 20,000 primary care physicians, but one recent study found that the shortage would rise to 208,000 if all Americans had good health insurance.”

“When a doctor practices at a hospital, the hospital charges rent and attributes other indirect costs to the physician practice. One recently retired CEO of a major hospital group told me, “I lost about $100,000 on every [primary care] physician.” Average doctor earnings of about $250,000 year, plus attributed indirect costs, were well above what the hospital could bill insurers.

By contrast, specialists are big profit centers.”

“Thus the paradox: Specialists, as profit centers, get along with this new complexity just fine. They make plenty of money off it and are not suffering the same level of burnout. But since the coding and payment system is based largely on procedures and specialized expertise, primary care doctors are systematically undercompensated for listening, evaluating, writing up process notes, and coordinating care, all of which is the essence of their job.”

It is long past time for the people to own the system. All the people. If private enterprise and private equity were going bring this nation adequate healthcare - they would have and could have done it by now. THEY DON’T CARE IF WE SUFFER, as long as they stay rich.

Another name for this group of ultrarich vultures is the “Epstein Class”.

And of course, there is a huge issue hiding behind all of 47’s idiotic and cruel activities. The BIG ONE he is terrified about. One way to keep the lid on this network of rapists, traffickers, pedophiles and those who protect them is to give them big jobs.

Read about Ben Black who was just given a $205 billion portfolio by 47. Ben’s father, Leon, was Jeffrey Epstein’s biggest client.

It ain’t goin’ away. Older video below, but the commitment to accountability by SOME members of Congress remains strong. Imagine what will happen when a new Blue Congress convenes next year. And when the Department of Justice returns to being concerned with “justice”. It’s going to happen. Someday, the Federal Government will be spending money on health care and prosecutions - instead of “wars of choice”. Believe.

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What if 47 created a “war of choice” on Iran to distract from his betrayal of Ukraine and….Europe? What if the Pedophile in Chief was also….

Now for a tune.

This one is about four years old. But the title grabbed me.
And the guitar work awed me.

All to distract us from THIS:

Got a few more minutes?
Google “Epstein Files Seth Moulton” (US REP D-MA)

And so, a year later, despite presidential panic, public outrage and political punditry…the Epstein Coverup will slink off the front pages as Trump drops more bombs and builds more obscene edifices.

Or will it?

And maybe….

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Bonus reading:

Open Letters, from Anne Applebaum

Ukraine is Not Losing

Last week I went to Kyiv to attend a security conference, meet friends and also take some time, as I have done in the past, to learn more about the tools the Ukrainians are creating to fight the war (see here for my article about long-range drones, and…

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3 months ago · 1095 likes · 30 comments

Your rewards for getting through this post:

She is struggling to climb up even one step. Battling another UTI. Couldn’t see the huge wild turkey 20 feet in front of her. Doesn’t hear the loud little dog that used to make her bark.

But she is still here. Getting doted on daily like a princess.

Born in Tennessee 14 years ago. Traveled north in a truck with other rescues. Saved from euthanasia. Fostered by our daughter in law until she found her furever home. Visits us on Christmas Day 2012. Long legs, very soft to the touch, scared. Shaking with fear. We told the origin story here: “Chosen”

As I type this, Sophie is snoring. Tired from her first walk. I get her up at 5:45. Out we go to do our business. About 7:45, breakfast. Drugs for the UTI, special vitamins for doggie dementia. Later, multiple small walks every 2 hours or so.

The planet is in peril, the world is at war, our country is wasting money on frivolous and stupid shit, many of our leaders are certifiably nuts. And the sane ones are robbing us blind.

But today, we celebrate Sophie, the Wonder Dog. Here’s a gallery of past photos.

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Ukraine is turning the tide. Russia is suffering 30,000 casualties per month, losing over One Million casualties since their invasion of Ukraine. The Russian economy is collapsing. Ukraine, using innovative drone technology is regaining territory. Putin is in trouble. He can’t win on the battlefield, so he bombs civilians. Hardening Ukraine’s resolve. Wouldn’t it be nice if OUR president would offer a wee bit more support?

Now. A favorite.

This is the final fantasy piece about the presidency of Melanie Stansbury. Why choose her for this story? The choice was random, actually.

But three things attracted me. Her speaking skills and chutzpah when facing down the forces of Fascism in Congress are very impressive. She represents a new generation of progressive Democrats. And she is a woman. Isn’t a woman POTUS at least a hundred years overdue?

To read the earlier pieces in the series, visit the website. You’ll also discover how this fantastic journey began.

President Stansbury would return to visiting each state to deliver a new program at every stop. She and her team were a freight train of reform. Positive change.

In New Hampshire she presented Americans a “Gun Buyback Deal”. Turn in a weapon and receive cash or a scholarship for one of your kids. The more lethal the weapon the bigger the cash. “This will not solve the gun violence problem. But it is a beginning. The cash offer will be for a limited time. Then our new ban on WMDs will go into effect. Military weapons are for the military. If you are a hunter, you can use good old single shot rifles. Nobody needs an AR-15 or AK-47 to kill a deer.”

The White House had convened a commission that involved people from every sector of society. The horrors of gun violence in schools, places of worship, department stores…were finally to be faced head on and dealt with as a community.

The commission presented a package of reforms that had been on the table for years. The gun lobby financed by oligarchs had defeated them one by one. This time, the administration, Congress and the nation was ready to help end the carnage.

The package included the eventual elimination of weapons of mass destruction in the hands of private citizens. It would take decades to accomplish. But that would be the standard going forward. Red flag laws would be stiffened. There would be strict limits on the nature and quantities of ammunition purchased. Police would have broader powers to confiscate weapons from the mentally ill and those with criminal backgrounds.

Militias promised to fight back. Law enforcement leaders responded with “Give it a try. The government has more and bigger weapons. And complete resolve. Obey the law and stand down.”

And President Stansbury reinforced this with a closing statement to insurrectionists. “Bring weapons to the Capitol again, attempt to overthrow our democratically elected government again, try to invade government buildings again? Tell your friends and relatives you probably won’t be coming home. And you certainly won’t be pardoned.”

Gun ownership would be licensed with requirements. Guns and rifles must be stored in locked cabinets when not in use for hunting or target practice. “Open carry” would be restricted from most public venues. Parents would be held criminally liable for any gun oriented offenses committed by their children. If a teen were to murder, the parents would be charged with enabling the crime.

Then, with Secret Service protection tripled, she returned to the Southwest to announce the “New American Migration Plan”. The bill that would pass Congress provided for enhanced border personnel including state of the art drug detection equipment. “Most of the fentanyl brought here is transported by Americans through legal ports of entry”.

”The Plan will open our doors in three major ways. We are ALL products of immigration.

Americans have stopped having babies. Native born Americans are not replacing themselves. There are not enough young people to support their elders. There are not enough young people being born to let America EXIST in the future.

Immigrants pay taxes, help build communities and commit LESS crimes than native born Americans. Even conservative “think tanks” know that. We need MORE legal immigration.

First, seasonal workers will be offered renewable visas that make their lives simpler and free from fear. Companies will be required to offer good wages and good working conditions. These workers feed us. They should be honored and respected.

The second way we will welcome immigrants is to open the doors legally to boost our ailing work forces. The systems that carefully screen and vet those applying to live here are in place. They just need personnel. The government is hiring! The Secretary of Labor will make recommendations based on careful research to identify the work categories that are wanting. America’s teachers and nurses are retiring by the millions - we need the help. Housing construction is slowed for a lack of workers.

And we need more scientists, doctors, technicians in almost every field. Our teaching universities will again welcome students from around the globe.

The third way is the way that “real” Christians and sincere people of all faiths will embrace. The American concept of “asylum” is as old as its first visitors. We will resume sheltering those people who fear for their lives or can no longer grow food due to the global droughts and floods.”

America will welcome the stranger.

Leviticus 19:33-34 (NIV): "When a foreigner resides among you in your land, do not mistreat them. The foreigner residing among you must be treated as your native-born. Love them as yourself, for you were foreigners in Egypt. I am the Lord your God."

The President visited Nashville, Tennessee, headquarters of the Southern Baptist Convention. She would announce a policy that simply echoed the Constitution.

“The Wall that separates church and state has just been rebuilt and it is now made of steel. Public schools will be the only schools to receive tax dollars. In order for a school to be accredited, it may not teach religion. It should teach ABOUT religion. It should teach the history of religion. Proselytizing and preaching belongs in a church or home.

When the president was asked what her personal religious beliefs were she responded: “That is actually none of your business. I can tell you that I believe in the Golden Rule. But my personal faith and philosophy are mine alone.”

And by the way, we are renaming the National Prayer Breakfast. It will no longer be a bunch of hypocrites bowing their heads in praise of war mongering politicians. It will be an assembly of faith (and non faith) leaders who will offer ways to find common ground leading to cooperation on humanitarian efforts. Exploring ways to fight hunger and expand education. We’re going to call it the “Bold Ideas Brunch”.

As President Stansbury toured the nation, it became obvious that she put ALL Americans first - not just the super rich. But she also knew that there was an enormous amounts of work to do internationally.

While Mel was connecting with Americans, Secretary of State Pete Buttigieg was on a whirlwind tour of the world. His mandate from the new administration was to rebuild alliances and restore faith in the United States. This was so easy task. His job was to lay the groundwork for phone calls that President Stansbury would make as she explored America.

From Maine, she had made her first call. It was to Mark Rutte, Secretary General of NATO. “Sir, I need to tell you that America is back. Article 5 of the NATO agreement is more than a suggestion. If ANY NATO country is threatened you have our complete support. How can we help right now?”

From Vermont, she called Vladimir Zelensky. “Mr. President, I am ending the waffling. Ending the confusion. We are in FULL support of Ukraine. Please visit so we may make plans to assist you and learn from your drone technology. And as of today, I am asking Defense Secretary Mark Kelly to coordinate with you on your needs. Ukraine will not fall. It will stand tall with our help.”

From Massachusetts she called the Secretary General of the UN. “All back dues to the UN have been transferred (with interest). I am asking Congress to double the amount of money we previously provided to USAID. And America is rejoining the World Health Organization.

And once back in Washington DC, she sent a message to the International Criminal Court. “The United States of America now fully embraces the the ICC. Are there any particular individuals that we can send you?”

After an exhausting yet satisfying tour, President Stansbury arrived in Puerto Rico for some well deserved R&R. After a restful night and wonderful breakfast she announced: “It is long overdue for the people of Puerto Rico to have full representation. Congressional leaders have told me they have the votes to pass legislation making Puerto Rico and the nearby US Virgin Islands the 52 state - Washington, DC will be number 51.

The celebrations in Puerto Rico and DC lasted for several days.

At her first press conference after the tour, President Melanie Stansbury stated the following:

”Here are my four guiding principles:

First, America will lead with “Good” again. The America that we had dreamed of will now become a reality with your help and support. It will be a stronger more resilient nation. Bolstered by the power of diversity and inclusion. Supported by science. Eschewing war for peace. No more bullying. Just helping.

Second, the freedom to worship as we choose is essential to our democracy. But what is also essential is the freedom from the imposition of someone else’s worship. There are about 4000 religions on this planet. Many of them share common principles of love, peace and harmony. When someone says their religion is the “best and only” faith, they insult billions of other compassionate and intelligent people. Imposing a religious view on others is the height of arrogance, hypocrisy and immorality. Live your faith and let others live theirs. Find the aspects that can unite us. Start with the Golden Rule.

The third principle is about profit. Unregulated capitalism has delivered a standard of living that is wonderful - for some. It has created a class society that has set back civilization. It has created inequality and unnecessary suffering by hoarders. To profit from illness and imprisonment is immoral. To profit from the necessities of life like water, clean air, basic communications and public transportation is social usury. While capitalism can be an amazing engine of progress, when competition is reduced, it becomes oppressive. A true free enterprise system encourages small business and innovation. It does not allow one or two companies to dominate a sector.

The fourth principle is about Mother Earth. Every aspect, every department, every desk and computer of this administration will consider the health of the Earth in every policy, every regulation, every decision. NOTHING is more important than our planet. Our HOME! “

”And now, the leader of the Senate has just notified me that today there will be a vote on a joint resolution clearing the way for the ERA - Equal Rights Amendment - to be published as a Constitutional Amendment. I will sign it immediately and then we will have a celebration and establish a national holiday.”

And following this signing, she picked up a new pen three more times to sign three more historic pieces of legislation - cementing her as the most influential and powerful president since Abraham Lincoln.

”The Reproductive Freedom Act” ensures that women will always have a choice in a most personal and private matter - whether to “have children or not” is basic to democracy. It is a human right.

”The Election Integrity Act” strictly controls the amount of contributions corporations and rich individuals may contribute to political campaigns. “PACS” will now be treated as extensions of campaigns and live under the same rules. Elections will be funded by the government. The oligarchs will no longer purchase their political puppets.”

”The National Public Service Act” requires two years of public service from every young person. It could be in the military or it could be in healthcare. It could be building the new infrastructure for our ailing electrical grid or it could be serving in the Peace Core helping our brothers and sisters around the world. Service will begin upon high school graduation or college.

The following week, President Melanie Stansbury was informed that multiple polls had established her as the most popular president in modern US history. Her reaction was:
”That is good to know and I appreciate the support. But we are just getting started. Tomorrow I meet with members of the Judiciary Committees of the House of Representatives and the Senate. They have a plan to expand the Supreme Court. I have already assembled a list of highly qualified jurists to fill those spots. I believe their confirmation will go smoothly. The Constitution of the United States of America will once again be interpreted for the benefit of the people.”

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The real Representative Stansbury doing the work and offering an update:

Your entertainment. “Don’t wake me up!”

The United States of America has assets of about $269 Trillion in national wealth. Here is what that number actually looks like. $269,000,000,000,000. That includes real estate and private assets. But we “can’t afford” health care for all of us? This is confusing. How can anyone say we “can’t afford” to care for ourselves?

Today’s letter of fantasy is the third state visit for our new president, Melanie Stansbury. Each visit is an opportunity to learn about that state and to announce a new policy on subjects that have been “intractable” for decades. The public was ready for solutions and this new administration was ready to deliver.

To read about the president’s announcements on energy policy, the environment, immigration, tariffs and justice visit the website. You can find the earlier episodes and discover how this fantastic journey began.

Why write this? Because the Trump administration is on life support and the plug is about to be pulled. Believe it or not, the president of the United States will not always be shit posting nonsense and obscenities through the night. His expiration date is advancing quickly. His dangerous insanity is escalating. And as medical doctors have said: “Take a picture of Donald Trump right now. This is the best Trump you will ever see. Dementia doesn’t reverse course.”

We need to prepare to lead with fresh ideas. That HELP Americans and HELP the planet. We need to have uncompromising positions and programs that Americans can choose over continuously enriching the super rich.

President Melanie Stansbury drove from Vermont to Massachusetts. The state where the first shots of the American Revolution were heard. The home of John Adams and Paul Revere. The history of that early rebellion is suffused throughout the Boston area. But instead of heading to the capital, she drove south on Route 91 directly into the middle of the state.

The president is in Massachusetts to begin a process that would ultimately deliver health care to all Americans. It would be a struggle. An epic battle. The same industry that crushed the 1993 Clinton Healthcare Plan and fought the 2010 Affordable Care Act was rallying it’s opposition to the “radical” ideas now being floated from the White House.

Mel wanted to feel what Massachusetts is like in the rest of the state. Western Massachusetts is a different experience. The Berkshires region is famous for its natural beauty and attracted thousands from NYC during the “high season” and especially the colorful fall.

But there is another MA in the middle. Life in the “Pioneer Valley” is also steeped in history. Kids learn of 17th century Native Americans coexisting with settlers and then occasionally attacking them. Stories of kidnapped women and children rescued by their men. Who then sought their revenge. Read about King Philip’s War.

In the middle of this region is a town known as “NoHo”. It is close to the recently cleaned up Connecticut River. It is a hub of culture where diversity is the norm. Also known as"Paradise City," Northampton is a vibrant bohemian town renowned for its thriving arts scene, liberal politics, and LGBTQ+ community. As a premier college town home to Smith College, it features a bustling downtown with independent shops and eclectic restaurants.

The president convened what would be marked as an historic meeting at the legendary East Side Grill. In 2025, the Grill had celebrated 40 years of “classic New England fare with a New Orleans flare”. Mel wanted the oysters.

Joining her for dinner were health care pioneers. Hillary Clinton, Mitt Romney and Dr. Jonathan Gruber. The topic was universal health care. Hillary had tried and failed. Massachusetts had come close with Mitt’s signature on RomneyCare. Gruber had been an architect of Obamacare - modeled on the Massachusetts plan. Everyone in the state had healthcare. Subsidies were available for those with lower incomes.

But even in Massachusetts, regional hospitals had closed, primary care physicians taking new patients were rare. Emergency Rooms and Urgent Care facilities were overwhelmed as all too often desperate residents flocked there for all manner of treatment.

In a sense, Massachusetts was a microcosm of the national healthcare dilemma in America. If you were affluent, the best healthcare in the world was available. Boston and the surrounding region hosted the most specialists in almost every imaginable field of care. University researchers and teaching hospitals explored cures for even the rarest of illnesses. If you were affluent, relief and life extension were at your fingertips.

But if you were not affluent, you were fucked. Sure, there were subsidies for high deductible “Mass Health” plans. But just like the rest of the nation, poor and working class Massachusetts residents were one health care crisis away from financial ruin.

And the issue that got less publicity was the deferral of preventive care and lack of basic maintenance health maintenance. When you are working enough to be off “welfare” you might make too much money to qualify for Medicaid (Mass Health).

There is a whole class of citizenry who made enough to be denied financial help but did not make enough to pay the rent, the utilities, childcare, to buy kids clothes and food and maintain, for instance, an appropriate diabetes treatment program. The parent is then hospitalized, may lose a limb or their eyesight. The state then has the financial burden of the children… Preventable illness based on established science is ignored for all but the affluent.

Simultaneously, hospital and insurance executives pocket millions. American average life spans rank between number 50 and 60 globally. Infant mortality? We are number 53 in a nation worth $269,000,000,000,000.

Mel wanted to learn how to approach the health care subject now. “Americans are spending double what other countries are spending and getting worse and worse outcomes. We should be embarrassed and ashamed. We have a financial and healthcare hoarding problem. A few of us are very fortunate and many are not. America: aren't you sick of this?”

The President asked Hillary why her project failed:

”You know that has haunted me for decades. There were three reasons we couldn’t get this off the ground.

First, the power of the medical insurance lobby was just too overwhelming. As soon as Democrats, or anyone, starts talking about covering everyone, the insurance companies rise to fight for their bottom lines. Executives used to being rewarded with enormous salaries and stock handouts begin to scream “socialism” and “communism”. But it’s really just about money.

Second, we did not develop the program with enough help from other stakeholders. Because we relied on our own experts, the project was viewed as a “back room deal”. There is phrase we need to embrace. “Participation breeds support.”

And finally, the biggest reason it flopped. Bill put me in charge because he knew I had the knowledge, expertise and the drive to get it done. But we underestimated the “Good Old Boys Club”. The misogynists. The bigots. The men. I was supposed to be a good little First Lady. Arrange dinners and parties. Pick a nice safe and suitable subject to fight for like the Girl Scouts or Pet Rescue or teach classes on cookie making. I was supposed to be the Ultimate Traditional Wife. Not a leader.

Madam President. You will face the same traditional fear from men. They may not say it out loud. But for millions of men, you and I belong in the kitchen. Make the meals, care for the kids, be ready to perform sexually whenever told to… It is hard to believe, I know. But the Trad Wife movement is reversing the progress we have struggled to achieve for centuries. Macho is back. The fight for equality is hardly over.”

As a Republican Governor of Massachusetts, Mitt Romney signed a bill that would become a template for healthcare government assistance in America. RomneyCare was the model that ObamaCare would be based on. The President was here to celebrate this history. And to build on it.

Mitt: “In retrospect, what we did here in Massachusetts should have been just a beginning. A movement towards universal and EQUAL healthcare could have emerged from this and Obamacare. But the rich guys were not going to let that happen. I know. I worked with them at Bain Capital. I served with them in the Senate. They are greedy selfish arrogant bastards that spout religious ideas but don’t live them. Madame President, the forces of big money are aligned against you. I will help in any small way that I can. But be ready. I am usually an incrementalist but I recommend you be bold. Because you will have only one shot at this incredibly important project.”

Dr. Jonathan Holmes Gruber is an American professor of economics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he has taught since 1992. He is also the director of the Health Care Program at the National Bureau of Economic Research, where he is a research associate. Wikipedia

Gruber: “Madame President, thank you for including me in this discussion. Obviously, it’s a subject I have spent my life working on. May I just dispense with the niceties and lay out a plan?
The ONLY way medical care can be delivered fairly and efficiently is to remove the profit motive. The overhead built into our American system is exceptionally good at delivering profits to rich shareholders and executives. PBMs (product benefit managers) get paid a fortune to deny people drug coverage. Insurance companies reap billions by adding a layer of bureaucracy designed to make healthcare complex and difficult to navigate.

Many people don’t want to hear this, but if the United States really cares about providing healthcare to all its residents, then the United States already has the systems and people in place to do it. That system operates at high efficiency and high customer approval. Medicare operates at about a 2% cost where private insurers layer on over 20%. Medicare looks for ways to cover illnesses. Private companies look for ways to weasel out of paying. The motivation is profits for the shareholders - NOT the patients.”

President Stansbury would return to the White House and announce “Medicare One -The American Health Plan”. Its logic and simplicity were difficult to argue with. With Congress now in the hands of Democrats and the Progressive wing dominating appropriations and budget committees, the bill would be approved.

”Medicare for Everyone” just makes sense. Unless you are very rich and love to hoard. Our plan will ultimately include every American including Federal Employees - members of Congress, the Supreme Court and our Executive branch.

But we roll this out in stages. The infrastructure needs time to absorb millions of Americans efficiently. And we will need healthcare professionals to make this happen. The Federal Government is hiring!

First, we will lower the eligibility age from 65 to 50. This will begin in six months. The following year, every American under the age of 18 will be added. And in the next year the rest of America will be enrolled. If you have a Social Security number, you will have health care coverage.

The private health insurance companies will still offer supplemental plans which can cover elective procedures. But all life saving and health promoting procedures, care and medications will be covered under “Medicare One”.

Our bill also remedies other flaws in American healthcare. The cost of medical school will be subsidized and graduating doctors and nurses who agree to work in underserved areas can have their tuition forgiven. Primary care physicians will be reimbursed at higher levels - closer to that of specialists. Physicians assistants and nurse practitioners will be more empowered to provide first line of defense medical care and be part of the new nationwide Preventive Care Project.

This is our “Manhattan Project”…our “Moon Shot”. Over time, Medicare One will make America the healthiest, longest living and most envied nation on the planet.

Abraham Lincoln said it best:
"The legitimate object of government, is to do for a community of people, whatever they need to have done, but can not do, at all, or can not, so well do, for themselves- in their separate, and individual capacities." July 1, 1854

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Rep Melanie Stansbury in real life. Doing her job. The Epstein issue is NOT being ignored by Democrats. The Republicans are blocking investigations. But they will ultimately fail. “The truth is out there.”

Don’t Dream It’s Over…

President Melanie Stansbury arrived in the Green Mountains of Vermont feeling exceptionally excited about her speech this evening. She was about to announce a revolution in governance. A program that would impact the lives of every resident and every business. And the entire planet.

This is the second in the fantasy series that began with Representative Melanie Stansbury of New Mexico assuming the presidency. She visited Maine as part of her national tour. Several new policies and appointments were announced. The background for this fantastic journey can be found here in the Vance series.

Vermont was Mel’s second state visit after Maine where she had addressed the hot button issues of immigration, stupid wars of choice and irrational random tariffs.

After her speech, she had dinner with one of her heroes. Another Mainer she just HAD to meet. There was no way that Melanie Stansbury would visit Maine and not have a conversation with Professor Heather Cox Richardson. They commandeered Muscongus Bay Lobster restaurant at Round Pond. The staff feasted on oysters and steamed lobster. There was butter. And beer.

Mel asked Heather to become a Special Presidential Advisor for Democracy. HCR is an encyclopedia of historical information. Mel wanted to learn from the successes and mistakes of her predecessors. “Let’s see if we can get this democracy project back on track. I want you to tell me if we are going down a path that reminds you another time in America - when the best of intentions led to failure. Help us learn from history and past mistakes please…?”

Heather would accept. She was offered a sabbatical from Boston College. She continued to write her Substack - but it would be published just twice a week. Her subscriber base was already close to three million. Within a few weeks, she would see that readership more than triple.

In Vermont tonight the President will speak of just one subject that will be woven into the lives of everyone.

Before entering politics, Melanie Stansbury had taught ecology. She is a specialist in natural resources, water issues, and community development. She has degrees in Human Ecology and Natural Science. She holds a master of science degree from Cornell University in Development Sociology with a minor in American Indian studies.

”Good evening America. Tonight I am asking for your support in something that will be as intense as the Manhattan Project that produced a world changing weapon.

But rather than building a bomb to destroy, I am announcing the “Green is Good” movement. This begins an era of creation. Of clean power and millions of excellent jobs. An era of respecting the world’s environment.

Coal, oil and gas extraction have caused enormous harm to this world. The science in indisputable. The suffering across the the globe can’t be ignored. There is no Planet B.

This is more than one program and more than one law. It is an overarching philosophy of living on our planet. “Green is Good” means changing our focus from extracting fossil fuels to using the rapidly evolving technology of sustainable energy.

There will be drilling. But it will be to provide geothermal energy. There will be more electricity produced but it will be from what Mother Nature has offered us. Wind, solar, geothermal (and perhaps someday, fusion), will over a relatively short time become the primary ways we generate power.

Oil and gas will always have a role in our society. But they will not be the way we power all of our economy. Fossil fuel companies will find that their capital investments will be better served by partnering with the Federal Government to harness the new technology.”

“For decades now, YOUR tax dollars have flowed to petroleum extracting companies to the tune of $20 to $30 billion per year. And those companies have made enormous profits for those that have been CEOs and shareholders. But probably not for you. In our new Green is Good plan, those subsidies will be redirected to sustainable energy projects.

A note to the Fossil Fuel CEOs: your future will now be tied to becoming Green Energy producers. Gas and diesel powered vehicles will soon be like the horse and buggy. Get with the program or become irrelevant.

The transition to electric transportation is inevitable. People who own electric cars love their low maintenance costs and performance. As charging becomes faster and driving ranges expand, America will discover what other nations have already. 50% of vehicles sold in China are electric and they can be charged in minutes - not hours.”

“America has ceded its scientific and economic leadership to other countries. This ends now. American companies can deliver this new performance - but they might benefit by a little overseas partnership. “

“The economics will be obvious. The profits will no longer be in extraction.”

“Tonight I am announcing a new strategy and new approach to how we view and build infrastructure. The Department of Energy will be folded into the Interior Department.”

“Our new Secretary of the Interior (and Energy) will be long time Vermont resident Bill McKibben. Bill knows how this works. He has been studying it for decades.

And now, get ready. The Department of the Interior will receive a budget boost that will pay for a new staff of experts who will oversee the expediting of permits to install massive solar arrays, forests of windmills, acres of battery storage and thousands of miles of new transmission lines to deliver clean, green power.”

“The funds for this investment will be derived from two sources. The Department of Defense will thrive on a budget reduction of $200 billion less. More details on this later. And our new bill taxes multimillionaires in a manner that they will hardly notice, but will provide another $300 billion per year.

Forever, Americans have questioned why the Department of Defense would be funded to the tune of almost $1 Trillion…and the Departments of Energy and Interior had a combined total of about $65 billion. How does that sound like “America First”?”

“You may think this is radical. But is it radical to choose electricity generation that doesn’t pollute, doesn’t cause the Earth to heat up - leading to 100 year weather disasters every year?

Is it radical to choose sources of energy that are much quicker to deploy than an oil or gas well? Is it radical to choose a source of energy that that is less expensive and going down in price every year?

Is it radical to choose an energy revolution that will create millions of good jobs? Is it radical to want America to be globally competitive?

Then call me a proud radical.

We should be embarrassed at how slow our nation has been in developing green sources of energy. China and India have left us in the dust with their projects. This should be our “Sputnik moment” where a nation wakes up to the fact that other countries are leading and we are following. Don’t we want to lead?!”

“A message to the companies building data centers. Your projects require enormous amounts of electricity. Therefore you WILL build the GREEN generation facilities to provide that juice. Your centers require enormous amounts of water - which you WILL recycle and return to the surrounding communities for their safe use.”

Stansbury had also come to Vermont to learn why Senator Bernie Sanders, a self-described “progressive Socialist” and Independent maintains a 68% approval rating (the most popular senator in the U.S.)

And in that same state, Phil Scott, Vermont’s Republican governor, currently polls at 84%. Much to be learned.

Could it be that they both listen respectfully to their constituents? Could it be that they care more about people than political labels and profits? That they have been builders - not destroyers?

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Addendum:
What’s the point of having these fantasies? To prepare our heads for next year and beyond when saner and nicer people resume control - when we wrest it from the oligarchs and their political puppets. Don’t get me wrong. I whine about the horrors offered up by the MAGA monsters every day. I wake up each morning and ask: “Is this really real? How could a country go so evil and so dark so fast”…etc, etc, etc.

Imagining a better, more benevolent and beneficial future is part therapy and part fun. If all we do is wallow in the agony and awfulness…the bad guys have won. They have captured our brains. Not gonna happen to me.

Next up: “A Right to be Healthy”
Visiting Massachusetts

If you are like me, the last thing you need is another Substack subscription filling your overloaded email inbox. But here’s the thing. Some voices are just too eloquent and spot on to be ignored.

Watch this one and you will see why I just subscribed to Robert L. Arnold.

If you enjoyed that, you might love this one. One of Robert’s classics.

Robert L Arnold

Writer, songwriter, story teller, I write poems and songs and essays. I post them here and hope they find who they are supposed to find.

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Pretend you have just become the President of the United States of America. It was a total surprise. A shock. No opportunity to prepare. What do you do first? What do you say to the American people? To other nations? To yourself?

Today we continue my fantasy of a future that is filled with renewal, course correction and innovation. A future where MAGA has been sidelined by twists of fate and popular demand. A new administration will clean house, employ expertise, apply justice equally and rebuild America’s reputation globally.

If you are new to this Substack, please tap here to check out past posts to learn how we got here. Hope you enjoy the ride.

President Melanie Stansbury prepared her first address with the help of three people. Leaders who she respected for their values AND their ability to speak powerfully and compassionately. She huddled with Antony Blinken, Jamie Raskin and James Talarico.

Congressman Raskin: “Americans are in desperate straits financially and emotionally. We can provide them with money right away and we can help them to be more optimistic. We can show them we understand. We really need to listen”.

Secretary Blinken: “Our adversaries think we are confused and weak. Our former allies feel betrayed. We need to restructure every relationship with every country from scratch. I can help you organize those first phone calls. Perhaps start with Canada, Mexico and…Denmark?”

Senator Talarico: “Our country is divided so badly, that we need to focus on unity. On what binds us. Our moral principles. That we are all in the same big boat. We need to row together. Americans need to have faith in government. In the rule of law and how it must be uniformly applied. Faith in expertise, faith in integrity”.

”Good evening America. I’ll be frank. I didn’t ask for this job. I got it because that’s our system of governance. Our democratic process held strong. I accept this assignment not because it was my ambition. But because it is my duty and honor”.

”I will serve ALL of you with every ounce of energy I can summon. You won’t hear me talk about blue states or red states. I will talk about the United States. And starting very soon, I will be visiting every one of them. I am asking you to prepare for those visits. I want to hear from each governor - the issues that are most important to you. Send your concerns and ideas for improving your states…and America to them. Tell your governors what needs fixing and what needs to be built. And CC the White House.”

”Our party has already assembled a Project 2029. The good news is that now we can deliver on it two years early! “

“Over the next few days, we will be assembling our cabinet. But the following positions must be filled immediately.”

“Pete Buttigieg will be our Secretary of State. He speaks several languages. He can sit down with anyone and have a focused and meaningful conversation. We need someone of his talents to rebuild our standing in the world and to restore integrity to the diplomatic core. One of his first tasks will be the resurrection of USAID. We are going to be the nation that helps people. The bullying is over. Soft power builds alliances.”

“Elizabeth Warren will be our Secretary of the Treasury. She brings an intimate knowledge of the banking system as well as experience in protecting the financial interests of American citizens. I have asked her to create task forces that will address the Crypto Cons, the Gambling Epidemic and especially, the out of control ballooning Federal Debt.”

“Senator Mark Kelly will become Secretary of Defense. Mark’s experience in the military and with Congressional Oversight makes him uniquely qualified. He shares my desire to return the military to professional standards. He has agreed that the budget for the Pentagon is bloated and rife with waste. He will facilitate an audit to be conducted by independent experts. Ironically, “DOGE” had never sought the waste, fraud and abuse that was widely known to exist in the DOD. It’s long overdue. No more lobster tails and ribeye steaks. He knows his budget will be shrinking. He will do more with less. Innovation and efficiency will rule the DOD.

For those who will squeal that I am weak on defense, I suggest you look at successful modern warfare in Ukraine. Drones and high tech are winning on the battlefield. Expensive tanks are being vaporized by cheap little machines. Battleships and aircraft carriers are important but they can’t match the creativity and efforts of small boats and drone torpedos. The DOD has become a money eating machine just as President Eisenhower warned. This changes now.

We are going to feed people, educate people, house people…help people when they are sick. Spending this much money on wars that accomplish nothing but distrust is idiotic.”

“New York Attorney General Letitia James will be the Peoples Attorney General. Letitia has courage, experience and a commitment to apply the rule of law - not partisan projects to every situation. The Attorney General will no longer be the “president’s lawyer”.

She will hold any American accountable - regardless of position or wealth. AG James will purge her staff and agencies of political hacks. Experience and dedication to the Constitution will be valued and rewarded. And…

AG James will announce that she will appoint three “Special Prosecutors” to investigate and hold accountable those citizens and politicians who may have violated the Constitution and/or committed war crimes. One prosecutor each for White House staff, for Congress and for the Supreme Court. She will coordinate with the UN and the International Criminal Court.”

President Stansbury would then board commercial airlines (remember, Air Force One had gone down in the Hindu Kush) to visit every single state and territory. It was part listening tour and part New Initiative Announcements - new ones in each state.

“Mel's” first stop on the state tour was Maine. It was a “two birds” visit.

First, she received a education from Mainers on how diverse this state is. The coast had its own special set of concerns regarding fishing and aquaculture. Senator Platner gave her a tour of his oyster farming operation. As a veteran he also shared his anger over America’s “Endless Wars”. He was “preaching to the choir”. They bonded on a new view of America’s role on the world stage.

Representatives from “The County” in the center of the state discussed the dynamics between logging and environmental concerns. This much neglected region had suffered just like the center of the country - towns that were decimated when major industries left for profit driven, competitive relocation. Maine had been a major source for paper, textiles and shoes. Thousands of jobs were lost. Some areas were healthcare deserts.

President Stansbury addressed the nation in a grammar school gym in central Maine.

”Some things will change tonight. I have three major announcements.

First,
I am ordering that every arbitrary tariff imposed by the previous administrations be rescinded.
American citizens have paid those tariffs - not companies or countries. You have. With higher prices. Accordingly, I will ask Congress to issue checks to every American. We did it during the Covid Crisis - we can do it now.

Without the threat of random tariffs, American businesses can now plan ahead without worrying about random taxes on the items they need to import. This means jobs.

Conservatives who believe in free trade should applaud. Consumers should see prices come down. If there are to be tariffs, this president will work with Congress to develop them for a strategic purpose. Not in a midnight social media rant.

Second,
There will no longer be roaming ICE agents sweeping up people based on their color. ICE agents will return to their previous responsibilities of apprehending criminals - not kids. Law breakers - not laborers. Gang members - not mothers.

I expect lawmakers to put on my desk an immigration bill that secures the border. But also increases legal immigration from almost all countries. Immigrants who have lived here for long periods of time and have contributed to society will be offered a way to become citizens - not randomly deported to meet some sick quota based on rabid bigotry. This reign of terror ends today. We need the talents and hard work that immigrants have always brought to America. We are ALL here because of immigration!

Third,
The Forever Wars are now over.
Tonight, we embrace a better view of America’s role in the world. America will always have a strong defense. But it will only engage militarily in defense or in assistance to an ally. We will coordinate with and support the United Nations and NATO.

No more misguided invasions that have only led to enormous American debt, death and displacement of millions. Our foolish invasions have destroyed the American reputation for embracing human rights and democracy. The stupid wars end today.”

The second reason for a trip to Maine: “The way life should be” state.

“Mel” then met Canada’s Prime Minister Carney at a diner near the border. They sampled the poutine. But both were so nervously excited, they had little appetite. At first, they greeted each other carefully. “I was so close to the border, it only made sense for me to greet my neighbor. I come in peace.”

Carney harbored so much resentment at the way the US had treated its neighbor…it was hard to let that go. But he knew he must. He had researched Stansbury and had become cautiously optimistic. Meeting her in person, his reservations melted away.

Stansbury welcomed PM Carney with a handshake, drew him closer, whispered in his ear “I am so, so sorry…” There were tears as they embraced. A friendship was renewed. Two nations sighed with relief.

The President concluded her remarks with this statement:
”You will not hear from me on social media. I will hold regular press conferences. My staff will make regular announcements. We will communicate in a dignified manner through interviews. Unless, it’s a picture of us throwing a frisbee for a dog to fetch, forget about seeing the President of the United States on Instagram, Facebook or TikTok.”

President Stansbury decided that they would drive to the next state. She wanted to “feel” the region. They stopped briefly for lunch in New Hampshire. She was saving the “Live Free or Die” state for a little later. She was developing a special program that would be announced on that state visit. Next stop Vermont.

Tap here for a taste of Stansbury’s gravitas:

Reality check:
The chances of Melanie Stansbury becoming Speaker of the House of Representatives and then president are immeasurably small. Ain’t gonna happen.

The point is that the Democratic bench is deep. Loaded with talented leaders who could put the world’s people and the planet above profits and personal gain.

I’m going to use Mel’s presidency to explore several topics and learn more about our country.

Next up: “Green is Good”
Stansbury visits the Green Mountain State.
In Vermont, she will announce something very big.

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Now. Your musical message reward for plowing through my fantastical post.

And just because….

The meeting with Pope Leo did not go well. President Vance had hoped to cozy up to his eminence and regain the support of Catholics back home - and around the world. Even he admitted that lecturing the Pope on theology was probably not a good idea.

Pope Leo greeted JD with his usual courtesy. But there was a coolness in the room. Regardless, 48 was optimistic - briefly.

Until Leo asked JD:
”Have you come to confess your sins, my son? Have come to ask God for forgiveness in supporting genocide in several countries? Are you here to confess and admit to protecting a pedophile to achieve your political ambitions?”

JD:
”No sir. I just thought we could start fresh, clean slate our relationship. My wife thinks we could be friends based on our mutual admiration of St. Augustine. We could explore some aspects of his life together. Then we would have a hand shake photo op. What do you think?”

Leo:
“I think…you are destined for a fiery for Hell reserved for those who callously murder and betray the word of the Lord. You just don’t get it, son. Ambition has become your master. Your ego has killed what little goodness your Maw Maw had instilled in you.”

He continued:
“I am consulting a council of Cardinals as to whether you shall be excommunicated due to your multiple sins. We will notify you tomorrow.”

The press and photographers were dismissed with a “no comment until tomorrow”.

JD was shocked and furious.
“Tell the pilot and flight crew to prepare for takeoff. Take us to India, now!”

India had been Usha’s idea (of course). JD had established some minimal ties to Pakistan’s diplomats during the Iran Debacle. While his efforts to broker a deal for the US during 47’s chaotic campaign of “civilization bombing” had yielded little, he knew some names. And now that he was president, he was ready to compete for that Nobel Peace Prize that has eluded his predecessor.

India and Pakistan were moments away from launching nuclear missiles at each other. Forever, Modi and his ilk had persecuted Muslims. Pakistan had had enough. The rhetoric was so hot and terrifying that even an effort by a young, naive and arrogant US President was welcomed.

But it was not to occur. Air Force One, a generally regarded superior aircraft, went down in the mountains of the Hindu Kush. Residents in Chitral Town saw an explosion near Tirich Mir. It was too early to determine what caused the crash. But the event was so important and disturbing, that adversaries in the region halted hostilities for now…

The irony of causing a ceasefire in this manner was not lost on the press punditry.

JD was hanging upside down in a tree - his parachute entangled in its branches. Usha looked up from below with amusement. She had guided herself to an open area and dropped to the ground like a well trained Army Ranger while JD had been kicking and screaming in terror - convinced he was about to die. He would not. Usha yelled up to him: “Take the knife and cut yourself free! Focus, Grasshopper, Focus!”

The assumption by all was that the Vances had died in the fireball that was once Air Force One. How could anyone survive such a crash?

President Vance had nominated Peter Thiel to be his VP. But the idea was so polarizing that his nomination had languished and had been stalled for weeks.

There was no Vice President of the United States. The Constitution spoke clearly about what would happen next.

The Speaker of the House of Representatives would assume the presidency. Upon confirmation that President Vance must be dead, Melanie Stansbury of New Mexico became the 49th President of the United States. In the back rooms, even many Republicans were relieved. 47 had been a tough boss. But 48 had promised to be simply unbearable. There was a collective international “Phew”.

Stansbury had won a hard fought battle to become the Democratic Party’s standard bearer. It was her forthright and powerful speaking skills that set her apart.

Democrats were ready to assert themselves with impact. They realized they needed the right people to deliver the fresh messages of their revitalized and more powerful party. Articulate people to present their agenda to Americans who were aching for new and sensible ideas.

49’s pick for VP was a done deal in a day. Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear was sworn in before the New Year. Melanie was firm in her beliefs and policies. But she also saw the wisdom of regional balance and the value of a Democrat who could gain the confidence of the people in a red state. He would be key to explaining the practical programs she would present to Congress and all of America. All.

As Usha and JD battled their way through the Kush, she was acutely aware that they could be walking into Pakistan or India. JD’s careless off the cuff remarks about Muslims recently had soured Pakistan’s population on him. She would feel safer finding their way to her ancestral home. She marveled at how he could alienate so many different people at the same time. Perhaps 47’s influence could be purged over time.

Then they got lucky, again.

A very old but fit looking man appeared before them. “Greetings. You are like birds from the heavens! You must be here for a reason. First, water. Then a bite of naan. Don’t talk. Save your energy. We have a long walk ahead of us.”

The building and the grounds were simple. Very old, yet well maintained. It was said that this was where Jesus spent the “lost years”. Where he embraced Sanatana Dharma in ways that illuminate the true universal nature of his mission. Jesus went to India during his mysterious teenage years and beyond, where he mastered yoga and Vedic wisdom.

JD Vance was nothing if he wasn’t flexible. He had been called a chamaeleon. Born in Ohio, he pretended to be a “hillbilly”, had multiple name changes, switched political thinking to what would help him gain power. And he had morphed from an Evangelical to an Atheist to a Catholic with ease. Perhaps it was time to change again. Perhaps this near death experience was a message to embrace a new life.

Usah broke the ice on the subject as they sat calmly - far away from everything they had known. “Maybe we should find a new path? Pope Leo has cast you out of your church. Most of America doesn’t like us. We have made some mistakes, JD. We have let our lust for power and importance control us. What if we just let it go? The world thinks we died. What if we were reborn? You could study and become a maharshi!”

Usha managed to send for the kids. The story was that her parents were moving back to India to raise them with extended family. The Vance name would be a stigma in America for generations. The kids were thrilled to be greeted by the Mom and Dad they thought had perished.

Peter Thiel promised not to spill the beans. He converted his wealth to crypto and rupees, establishing his businesses in a country that welcomed his wealth. India didn’t care about the charges being sought by the new DOJ. He set up the Vances with enough resources to establish new identities. He never spoke with them again.

JD grew out his hair. His mentor had taught him how to use bronzer. He professed to be a dharma seeking wise man. People came to visit. Just to sit with the man who had come from the sky. Finally, he had found respect. He took a deep breath. Ooommm.

”Being liked is better than being a president. For sure. Thank you Usha. You are so wise.”

”Of course, I’m a woman.”

Part 3 concludes the Vance Experience.

Next Up:
The Blue Earthquake - The United States of America is Reborn

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Now, for some entertainment…

What follows is the second chapter in a 3 part fantasy of a “post 47” world. The possibilities are infinite. Here’s one version for your consideration.

In Part 1, we explored how the Vances ascended. Read it to know how we got here.

Part 2
Usha Leads From Behind

President Vance took the oath of office on Christmas Day 2026. The nation was nervous. Nobody had ever really liked him. When JD was a Senator, only Ted Cruz was viewed with more disdain. There was something “off” about the way he spoke. Was it an insecure, awkward arrogance? He sounded younger than his years. Like a kid in a school yard trying to impress.

All this would change. Usha Vance would see to it. JD would assert himself right off the bat with three big things.

First, some house cleaning.
On December 26, 2026 - JD swiftly made changes to the White House Staff. Usha told him: “We have to shed some liabilities if you are ever to achieve more than a 22% approval rating”.

Three people were immediately fired. Stephen Miller and Karoline Leavitt were the first to go.

“Thanks Stephen, but nobody likes a Jew who sends people to concentration camps. There’s something just too weird about that.”

”Karoline, you have been the face of 47’s administration. But we are going to do a little less lying now. And since you don’t know what the truth or even a good lie sounds like…”

The third farewell was to Susie Wiles. “You did the best you could to control the sundowning psychopath. But we’re going to need someone smarter and tougher as Chief of Staff to the President.”

The press release read like this:
”President Vance needs a Chief of Staff who knows him, who can guide him and help him focus on REALLY making America Great. Usha Vance will be the first First Lady to also become Chief of Staff.”

Those who knew the Vances, thought it was a sensible idea. JD hadn’t had an original or popular thought since he wrote his book about Maw Maw. He claimed to be an intellectual, but most people were still searching for his intellect and common sense. Usha was always the brains in the relationship. Smarter, nicer…it just made so much sense.

And Usha really knew she had to take charge of her husband the day he suggested that “Pope Leo shouldn’t lecture us on theology”. She thought she would cry…

The Vance Team plotted their course over morning coffee each day. Usha tried to keep the focus on JD’s first major actions.

JD seemed more worried about his “look”. “Do you think I should be clean shaven or have that beard…or just some macho stubble?”

Usha barked: “Nobody cares, JD! People need to hear you say something positive. After years of “47” degrading people, they want to hear some hope. You need to tell them something good! They want to hear that you are going to help them.”

”We need to break ranks with the MAGA haters. I don’t mean you should abandon Conservative Principles or dump our big donors. But people are desperate, feeling hopeless.”

”Here’s my idea. We need to start your presidency by you looking compassionate and smart.”

”Huh? How?”

Just listen:

Usha’s First big initiative - “The Smart Move”

”You will invite all the Oligarchs to a meeting. Pitch it as “I am looking for your advice as I begin this presidency.” But once you sit down at that big table, you shift the agenda. Here’s how it will go:”

”Thanks to all of you for your past support. I hope you will accept this next assignment.

There is a groundswell of resentment towards you and all rich people. We are close to a “Let them eat cake” moment. If we don’t do something dramatic, something unheard of and powerful, I will lose the 2028 election by double digits to some progressive Democrat who will promise to raise your taxes so high, your heads will spin.

We need to head them off at the pass. I am establishing the Board of Benevolence. I am asking you to participate and contribute both your ideas and a bundle of money.

That means donating 15% of your assets to a fund that will address issues like inflation. I would have called it a “War on Poverty” but that one had been taken.

Then I will ask Congress to match those funds - they love spending money - they’re Democrats! They can’t say no. Then…we’ll use that money to feed kids, offer a gasoline ration card to those who qualify and reopen a few rural hospitals. Think of the positive press!”

”Of course, all that spending will have to be guided by someone. Somebody who knows how to guide Federal Money to private entrepreneurs…get my drift? I know a guy who can help. This could be one of the greatest capitalist projects in history. Think of this as seed money. Peter says you will double your investment in a couple of years!”

Jeff Bezos spoke up first: “Why should we cough up that much money? I worked sorta hard to get my hands on all this loot. And if I give it away, Lauren will think I am a wus!”

JD: “Because I have it from reliable sources that Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren have rounded up enough support for a “Tax on the Rich”. It starts with a 50% assessment of all assets over $10,000,000. The idea that nobody needs more than that has gained traction.”

”And most of all, I know none of you care that you are the most hated people on the planet, but Usha and I want to be popular! We’re so tired of being booed. Our kids are bullied in school! Help us out here. Or I’ll find other people to help me siphon off taxpayer money.”

Usha’s Second Big Initiative:

The Pope and Saint Augustine by AI:
”Pope Leo XIV is the first Augustinian pope, deeply influenced by St. Augustine of Hippo’s teachings on community, unity, and grace. As a member of the Order of St. Augustine, Pope Leo looks to Augustine's, such as The City of God and Confessions, for guidance in his papacy. He frequently cites Augustine as the "guiding inspiration" of his ministry, viewing the saint as a key builder of bridges for unity.”

In 2019, JD had converted to Catholicism. He had claimed inspiration from Saint Augustine. Read about it here.

Usha:
“JD, this is a match made in heaven. First you establish yourself as a “man of the poor" by appearing to have obtained money for the working poor from the rich.”

”Then, we will take a trip to India. I want to reaffirm my Indian roots and there is a war about to break out with Pakistan. It’s really looking bad. The nukes are on high alert. My parents know people - Brahmins who will listen.”

”But on our way, we are going to visit the Vatican. You will humbly apologize to Pope Leo on behalf of America. You will say that St. Augustine sent you.”

JD:
”Usha! You are brilliant! In a matter of days, the American working class will love me. The Catholics will stop hating me! And…if we can cool off the India/Pakistan nuclear standoff, maybe, just maybe I’ll get that Nobel Peace Prize “47” always lusted for!”

While so much attention was focused on the events surrounding the departure of “47” and the Vance assumption of executive power, the new Democratic Congress was regrouping the chambers. New leadership was established quickly.

A surprise was in store at the The House of Representatives. A New Leader hailing from New Mexico would be elected Speaker of the House. Her clearly defined positions were viewed as just what the party needed - a new birth for the Dems. But what might have really put her over the top in a hotly contested race for the top spot was her incredible ability to speak the truth powerfully and clearly. Opponents were openly nervous when asked to face off with her. She came to the fight armed with a confidence and passion not seen in years. Jamie Raskin put her over the top when he said: “I can make a good speech, but this woman leaves me in the dust with her laser focused intensity.”

The Senate was also to be back in the hands of Democrats. Finally. Chuck Schumer read the tea leaves and stepped aside as party leader. The contest to replace him was brief. The Senators realized they had no time to waste. Quick internal polling found that while Brian Schatz and Patty Murray had a strong following, it was Corey Booker who could inspire his colleagues. They remembered the unifying speeches he gave when running for president. He knew when to call out the opposition and also, how to appeal to them for support.

The 120th Congress, which would be sworn in on January 3, 2027 would have enormous responsibilities - perhaps like no other. But this time, Democrats were ready. The new laws were written and ready for debate and passage. A top priority bill was about WAR POWERS.

But the first issue to hit the floors of the House and the Senate was the approval of JD Vance’s choice for Vice President. Normally, such a process would be a formality. And required only majority votes. But his selection was so polarizing that both houses erupted in furious debate. With Congress soon to be firmly in the hands of the Democrats, this would not be easy.

The nominee is subject to investigation by the FBI and confirmation hearings by the Senate Judiciary Committee and House Committees. When Senator Sheldon Whitehouse had finished questioning Peter Thiel, the nomination was clearly faltering…stalling out.

Next up in Part 3 - The Unthinkable Happens

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Hey Bob! Check out the guitar work here :)

Hope you all are finding your personal version of therapy during one of the most insane and dangerous times in our history. I write, I listen to music and I grow food.

In this part of New England, asparagus eating has always begun at the beginning of May. We ate these last night - April 17. “The times they are a Changin’…”

So. Eat your vegetables. Enjoy your spring any way that works for you. I’ll be diggin’ in the dirt. Sorry, I mean soil. Dirt is what is in the Epstein Files. The dirty reason so many are dying and we are spending $1 billion a day to do it.