So many points in here to consider. I'm struck by the irony that a symposium about hope and solutions ended up being counterproductive (or sounds like it, anyway). To me, this is reflective of the general frustration I have about so many items you mentioned - our democracy is hanging on by a thread and that fact can't seem to get the oxygen it needs to be placed at the forefront of our priorities because of all this other "stuff". We know what the template for fascism looks like - we have myriad historical and present day examples, we have experts like Applebaum. Ben-Ghiat, and others sounding the alarm, we have Marc Elias, Stacy Abrams and others in the trenches fighting voter suppression, etc. and yet it still feels like watching a slow motion train wreck is coming. Perhaps I would feel better if I knew Biden and the Dems had an anti-fascist "tzar" - someone or a group whose sole mission was to relentlessly and tirelessly educate/coordinate/combat against the opposing movement. But we don't, to my knowledge (at least not yet) and that's what scares me. I'm not giving up hope or ceasing to do my part, but it seems we need better organization. Ms. Trump, can you get you on this? :) At any rate, I so enjoy your writing style, it has just the right amount of sarcasm ("white power hour" and the pic of the TFG's "Made in China" shirt were my faves!) to lighten reality. Thanks for sharing with us.
Why can't MSM support what BBB DOES? They never scrutinize the govt over its ridiculous spending on the military and worse, it seems to go just increase without any recognition (in terms of a headline) by them.
In addition, I want to note how MSM held up Rittenhouse through the photos and headlines, nearly obliterated his victims' names their lives, who they were, and making their family's grief seem inconsequential. I could not remember their names and turned to Google so I could recall them. I typed in who were the men Rittenhouse killed and what popped up? Three pages about Rittenhouse, with no mention of their names until I got to the 3rd page. There were zero interviews with any family members and what was out there, vilified them because they were both diagnosed with Bipolar as adults and one had done time in prison. Doing time does mean that killing you is justified, yet from the coverage, you would think it does. I did not see any interviews until after the verdict. This is not right. Sorry for the rant, but that is not how things should be done. Two men died, and one was seriously injured, yet, it seems that their names, and who they were did not matter in the least.
Thank you, so important, so well said. Our own media, Fox poison, disInformation, bots, and propaganda are collectively dwarfing reality and Dem messaging.
Love Patti Smith! Thank you for sharing a bit of your experience with us. As far as the current vaccination roll out goes, we are a household of 3,fully vaxxed (each of us 3 times w/ Pfizer)and as I write this, one is sitting in the ER with an infusion drip as his Covid test came back positive Weds. He's been sick since then & today was the earliest they could schedule him. My daughter and I took Covid tests today as well. But won't have results until tomorrow at the earliest. We all wear masks, and follow guidelines. Breakthrough cases suck to put it lightly! As far as saving this country is concerned, my viewpoint on it is to revoke Rupert Murdoch's citizenship, and reinstate the Fairness Doctrine immediately!
Thank you for all of this. I'm equally irritated at the mainstream media for what they are doing to our society. It's so dangerous and corrosive. Glad your trip to Amsterdam went well. The symposium you participated in sounds fascinating and fantastic.
What an amazing group of people who were gathered. I wonder what would have come out of it if you had a few days instead of a few hours to hash out such profound topics. There could easily have been some actions planned. Or at least time to debrief on a „What just happened“ question. Personally, I feel racism and capitalism go hand in hand in the US.
I completely agree with you about the media. What makes it so hard to keep the public informed and to amplify the positive things happening during these dire times? I just don‘t get it!
I could not agree with you more. Btw, Chuck Todd is always softball with the R's and then laser-focused re: how will we pay for this? And nailing the Dems when a real journalist would treat both equally. His bias shows. Also, he is a terrible interviewer. UGH.
"Uniquely American. That's great." Says the President of the United States to a single mom (working 3 jobs) with a special needs child. @#$%&$##@ SO OUT OF TOUCH AND LACKING EMPATHY. The rich and powerful don't give a S#IT about the underprivileged at all. They sleep just fine in the empires they have built for themselves on the backs of beautiful people. They cause these beautiful people to be pathological over generations of this wounding. When will we wake up?
I'm hanging on to this to use when I need backup. The democrats need to hold rallies to get the facts out about the plans. Republicans are good at holding rallies to spew trash about everything. Democrats need to get busy.
Seems that missing link may have been to Tyler Pager’s piece, which is written so negatively biased against Biden that it should have been labeled as an “Opinion”:
MARY! YOU ARE ON FIRE!!
"I’m sure Chuck Todd will have Ted Cruz and Madison Cawthorne on Meet the Press in order to get their take on how Biden caused the latest variant."
So many points in here to consider. I'm struck by the irony that a symposium about hope and solutions ended up being counterproductive (or sounds like it, anyway). To me, this is reflective of the general frustration I have about so many items you mentioned - our democracy is hanging on by a thread and that fact can't seem to get the oxygen it needs to be placed at the forefront of our priorities because of all this other "stuff". We know what the template for fascism looks like - we have myriad historical and present day examples, we have experts like Applebaum. Ben-Ghiat, and others sounding the alarm, we have Marc Elias, Stacy Abrams and others in the trenches fighting voter suppression, etc. and yet it still feels like watching a slow motion train wreck is coming. Perhaps I would feel better if I knew Biden and the Dems had an anti-fascist "tzar" - someone or a group whose sole mission was to relentlessly and tirelessly educate/coordinate/combat against the opposing movement. But we don't, to my knowledge (at least not yet) and that's what scares me. I'm not giving up hope or ceasing to do my part, but it seems we need better organization. Ms. Trump, can you get you on this? :) At any rate, I so enjoy your writing style, it has just the right amount of sarcasm ("white power hour" and the pic of the TFG's "Made in China" shirt were my faves!) to lighten reality. Thanks for sharing with us.
Why can't MSM support what BBB DOES? They never scrutinize the govt over its ridiculous spending on the military and worse, it seems to go just increase without any recognition (in terms of a headline) by them.
In addition, I want to note how MSM held up Rittenhouse through the photos and headlines, nearly obliterated his victims' names their lives, who they were, and making their family's grief seem inconsequential. I could not remember their names and turned to Google so I could recall them. I typed in who were the men Rittenhouse killed and what popped up? Three pages about Rittenhouse, with no mention of their names until I got to the 3rd page. There were zero interviews with any family members and what was out there, vilified them because they were both diagnosed with Bipolar as adults and one had done time in prison. Doing time does mean that killing you is justified, yet from the coverage, you would think it does. I did not see any interviews until after the verdict. This is not right. Sorry for the rant, but that is not how things should be done. Two men died, and one was seriously injured, yet, it seems that their names, and who they were did not matter in the least.
Thank you, so important, so well said. Our own media, Fox poison, disInformation, bots, and propaganda are collectively dwarfing reality and Dem messaging.
Love Patti Smith! Thank you for sharing a bit of your experience with us. As far as the current vaccination roll out goes, we are a household of 3,fully vaxxed (each of us 3 times w/ Pfizer)and as I write this, one is sitting in the ER with an infusion drip as his Covid test came back positive Weds. He's been sick since then & today was the earliest they could schedule him. My daughter and I took Covid tests today as well. But won't have results until tomorrow at the earliest. We all wear masks, and follow guidelines. Breakthrough cases suck to put it lightly! As far as saving this country is concerned, my viewpoint on it is to revoke Rupert Murdoch's citizenship, and reinstate the Fairness Doctrine immediately!
Thank you for all of this. I'm equally irritated at the mainstream media for what they are doing to our society. It's so dangerous and corrosive. Glad your trip to Amsterdam went well. The symposium you participated in sounds fascinating and fantastic.
What an amazing group of people who were gathered. I wonder what would have come out of it if you had a few days instead of a few hours to hash out such profound topics. There could easily have been some actions planned. Or at least time to debrief on a „What just happened“ question. Personally, I feel racism and capitalism go hand in hand in the US.
I completely agree with you about the media. What makes it so hard to keep the public informed and to amplify the positive things happening during these dire times? I just don‘t get it!
Best thing I've read in weeks, notably your distinctive talent for body slamming the media.
I could not agree with you more. Btw, Chuck Todd is always softball with the R's and then laser-focused re: how will we pay for this? And nailing the Dems when a real journalist would treat both equally. His bias shows. Also, he is a terrible interviewer. UGH.
"Uniquely American. That's great." Says the President of the United States to a single mom (working 3 jobs) with a special needs child. @#$%&$##@ SO OUT OF TOUCH AND LACKING EMPATHY. The rich and powerful don't give a S#IT about the underprivileged at all. They sleep just fine in the empires they have built for themselves on the backs of beautiful people. They cause these beautiful people to be pathological over generations of this wounding. When will we wake up?
Thank you Mary for making sense of the senseless Biden blame game the media is playing. Wish you could replace Chuck Todd.
Bravo!! All of your newsletter additions are on track to be an absolute must read! I especially love the humor that you pepper in there.
So glad I subscribed. Wonderful piece.
I'm hanging on to this to use when I need backup. The democrats need to hold rallies to get the facts out about the plans. Republicans are good at holding rallies to spew trash about everything. Democrats need to get busy.
You are a national treasure. My whole mood about the past presidency changed, when you debuted. You gave us hope.
Seems that missing link may have been to Tyler Pager’s piece, which is written so negatively biased against Biden that it should have been labeled as an “Opinion”:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/biden-promises-politics/2021/11/14/45a7817a-43f9-11ec-a3aa-0255edc02eb7_story.html