As the president decays in public, Epstein files vanish, coups get U.S. cover, and late-night satire is axed, welcome to the kleptocracy, now with fewer jokes.
Re. Your health: Take care for yourself, please…the energy you give to distilling the ruination is A LOT…seriously, I don’t know how you do it…so rest, rejuvenate, chill…and thanks so much for your service.
Aspirin was said to cause some of the bruising. He's reported to be taking it for "heart care regime" or some other ill-advised notion. Aspirin hasn't been recommended as daily idea for decades, unless person has suffered heart attack.
I pulled: "the systematic collapse of satire in traditional media isn’t an accident. It’s the cultural wing of a broader authoritarian project: bury the corruption, silence the critics, and leave the public laughing only at state-approved TikToks while the rest of the world burns."
It can’t help but be stressful to track and convey the everyday horrors of this regime so the rest of us can stay current. It’s an invaluable service that needs you alive and well! Streams of wishes for a full and speedy recovery.
Mary strikes at the heart of the matter. It is a systemic attack on our Country. Trump is the manifestation of a deeper pathology, our national degeneration. The First Amendment is a first casualty. The Constitutional Rights assuring life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness are also under assault. While Trump may be the avatar, it is the GOP who is the architect.
The question for government, any government, is: "Who benefits". The Confederates/Democrats/Republicans/MAGA (depending on your era) insist the answer is "the filthy rich". I fear that the broadly prosperous* period 1945-1980, with spillover into the 21st century, will, 100 years from now, be seen as a historical aberration rather than as an achievable, or even desirable, goal.
* for some people. As well as the struggle to extend that prosperity to those excluded from it.
The Meidas Touch Network is offering Colbert a spot and I really hope he accepts. They get more views than any of the networks and he would be free to say whatever he wants.
Once someone lies to you, the only thing you can be really certain of is that they are capable of and willing to lie. That's also true of getting misled. Trust is broken.
Yesterday I wrote a post taking a news bite from Lincoln Square about how the County Commissioners in Kerr County, Texas, (the place that had the most people die from recent flooding,) received money from the Biden Administration that could have been used to build an early warning system and used that money elsewhere. The tidbit I posted also quoted Kerr county citizens requesting that this money be sent back to Washington.
Last night, after receiving a comment from my daughter, I took that post down. While it was factually correct, it was misleading as hell. Seems like that money was Pandemic relief funds. Money that could have been used for sirens, or a number of other things like assistance to businesses that were suffering from the COVID shutdown or improving other emergency services. The Kerr County Commissioners chose to spend the bulk of the allocation on improving communications for the Sheriff's department.
I was wrong to post that. I'm sorry. I was also wrong to a accept information from Lincoln Square and to share it without first checking the veracity of the content. I no longer trust that SubStack.
This mistake I made exemplifies the real reason why America is presently sooooo screwed up. People and institutions in our country are no longer trusted. They betrayed that trust for expediency, or greed, or for some mistaken belief that lying was for the benefit off our country.
The two culprits who are the worst offenders of this broken trust are our government, and by default the leaders and administrators who run our government, and our journalists who report the news and events through whatever medium they may be reporting through. Other major offenders are the people who run our country's finances, corporations and business who create jobs and provide services and the religious institutions who have people using our faith to promote their self interests.
Presently our country is divided and is struggling to retain Democracy and the values that this nation was founded on. A sizable minority of our citizens are either OK with the destruction of our government, or are actively engaged in doing it. A larger minority are actively resisting this destruction and are strongly opposed to the people leading the charge. The remainder of our people are just not interested. What they all have in common is a distrust of our nation's institutions, all of them. If we are ever to have hope of becoming "United" again, as our nation's name suggests, we are going to have to regain the trust of the people. Truth, real truth must prevail.
I'm sorry you've been so poorly, Mary. I hope you are well on the mend.
I don't think these networks realize that they are speeding up their own demise. Do people still watch these networks anymore? Do the Republicans in congress think that all the PBS viewers will magically move over to the bland and banal content of the big 3 networks? Not likely.
It's pretty sad. I've been watching PBS since the early 70's (I've been through two renditions of Poldark -- both are pretty great ... LOL) I'm a supporter of their content. It's important to people of all ages. Shame on the Republicans for doing this.
I've had sinus infections and headaches, so sending sympathy your direction. Surgery to remove things created nasal passages I had before I was routinely miserable.
Today I listened to an interview on BBC TV with the German Chancellor Friedrich Merz (who, incidentally, must be the tallest leader in Europe!) He spoke better English than Donald Trump.
I’m am here to state as entertainment your pinpoint satire is refreshing, may have to go underground, and TV , such is left, is likely more programming people , far more than they recognized for decades.
As far as your ( or anyone else’s) health, lots of probiotics, citrus , vinegar w/heather dressed up with healing herbs on fresh salads, swim as often as possible , stay away from dairy unless cultured.
Yes, we’re have to endure what’s created and truthfully most the troublemakers won’t see the light for awhile . Us peons !?!?!… band bonds in our/your communities, strengthen available food chains ,service needs, the farmer’s markets are gold! Support them and cinch in your belts.
We may not have been this close to losing our country but Many Many countries survived despite losses and rose vanquished a.lot.smarter.
Support the protests.
Boycott as possible.
Increase your knowledge of less waste, more how to repair/can/grow yer own/be healthy/polish up your gifts ie patience, loving, music,volunteer, knit/sew/sharing as in Substack,writers ( like Meg) welcomed!
I read a half-dozen of your brilliant pieces--and you have such fun with language!--and bought a subscription. I know I'm hooked when your absence from my in-box evokes a little whimper of disappointment. So, yes! Stay healthy! Even at the selfish momentary loss to your readers.
Re. Your health: Take care for yourself, please…the energy you give to distilling the ruination is A LOT…seriously, I don’t know how you do it…so rest, rejuvenate, chill…and thanks so much for your service.
Aspirin was said to cause some of the bruising. He's reported to be taking it for "heart care regime" or some other ill-advised notion. Aspirin hasn't been recommended as daily idea for decades, unless person has suffered heart attack.
I pulled: "the systematic collapse of satire in traditional media isn’t an accident. It’s the cultural wing of a broader authoritarian project: bury the corruption, silence the critics, and leave the public laughing only at state-approved TikToks while the rest of the world burns."
It can’t help but be stressful to track and convey the everyday horrors of this regime so the rest of us can stay current. It’s an invaluable service that needs you alive and well! Streams of wishes for a full and speedy recovery.
Mary strikes at the heart of the matter. It is a systemic attack on our Country. Trump is the manifestation of a deeper pathology, our national degeneration. The First Amendment is a first casualty. The Constitutional Rights assuring life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness are also under assault. While Trump may be the avatar, it is the GOP who is the architect.
The question for government, any government, is: "Who benefits". The Confederates/Democrats/Republicans/MAGA (depending on your era) insist the answer is "the filthy rich". I fear that the broadly prosperous* period 1945-1980, with spillover into the 21st century, will, 100 years from now, be seen as a historical aberration rather than as an achievable, or even desirable, goal.
* for some people. As well as the struggle to extend that prosperity to those excluded from it.
The Meidas Touch Network is offering Colbert a spot and I really hope he accepts. They get more views than any of the networks and he would be free to say whatever he wants.
Once someone lies to you, the only thing you can be really certain of is that they are capable of and willing to lie. That's also true of getting misled. Trust is broken.
Yesterday I wrote a post taking a news bite from Lincoln Square about how the County Commissioners in Kerr County, Texas, (the place that had the most people die from recent flooding,) received money from the Biden Administration that could have been used to build an early warning system and used that money elsewhere. The tidbit I posted also quoted Kerr county citizens requesting that this money be sent back to Washington.
Last night, after receiving a comment from my daughter, I took that post down. While it was factually correct, it was misleading as hell. Seems like that money was Pandemic relief funds. Money that could have been used for sirens, or a number of other things like assistance to businesses that were suffering from the COVID shutdown or improving other emergency services. The Kerr County Commissioners chose to spend the bulk of the allocation on improving communications for the Sheriff's department.
I was wrong to post that. I'm sorry. I was also wrong to a accept information from Lincoln Square and to share it without first checking the veracity of the content. I no longer trust that SubStack.
This mistake I made exemplifies the real reason why America is presently sooooo screwed up. People and institutions in our country are no longer trusted. They betrayed that trust for expediency, or greed, or for some mistaken belief that lying was for the benefit off our country.
The two culprits who are the worst offenders of this broken trust are our government, and by default the leaders and administrators who run our government, and our journalists who report the news and events through whatever medium they may be reporting through. Other major offenders are the people who run our country's finances, corporations and business who create jobs and provide services and the religious institutions who have people using our faith to promote their self interests.
Presently our country is divided and is struggling to retain Democracy and the values that this nation was founded on. A sizable minority of our citizens are either OK with the destruction of our government, or are actively engaged in doing it. A larger minority are actively resisting this destruction and are strongly opposed to the people leading the charge. The remainder of our people are just not interested. What they all have in common is a distrust of our nation's institutions, all of them. If we are ever to have hope of becoming "United" again, as our nation's name suggests, we are going to have to regain the trust of the people. Truth, real truth must prevail.
Dave Hamby
I'm sorry you've been so poorly, Mary. I hope you are well on the mend.
I don't think these networks realize that they are speeding up their own demise. Do people still watch these networks anymore? Do the Republicans in congress think that all the PBS viewers will magically move over to the bland and banal content of the big 3 networks? Not likely.
It's pretty sad. I've been watching PBS since the early 70's (I've been through two renditions of Poldark -- both are pretty great ... LOL) I'm a supporter of their content. It's important to people of all ages. Shame on the Republicans for doing this.
I've had sinus infections and headaches, so sending sympathy your direction. Surgery to remove things created nasal passages I had before I was routinely miserable.
Today I listened to an interview on BBC TV with the German Chancellor Friedrich Merz (who, incidentally, must be the tallest leader in Europe!) He spoke better English than Donald Trump.
I’m am here to state as entertainment your pinpoint satire is refreshing, may have to go underground, and TV , such is left, is likely more programming people , far more than they recognized for decades.
As far as your ( or anyone else’s) health, lots of probiotics, citrus , vinegar w/heather dressed up with healing herbs on fresh salads, swim as often as possible , stay away from dairy unless cultured.
Yes, we’re have to endure what’s created and truthfully most the troublemakers won’t see the light for awhile . Us peons !?!?!… band bonds in our/your communities, strengthen available food chains ,service needs, the farmer’s markets are gold! Support them and cinch in your belts.
We may not have been this close to losing our country but Many Many countries survived despite losses and rose vanquished a.lot.smarter.
Support the protests.
Boycott as possible.
Increase your knowledge of less waste, more how to repair/can/grow yer own/be healthy/polish up your gifts ie patience, loving, music,volunteer, knit/sew/sharing as in Substack,writers ( like Meg) welcomed!
Thanks Mary, you are the treat of the day.🫶
I read a half-dozen of your brilliant pieces--and you have such fun with language!--and bought a subscription. I know I'm hooked when your absence from my in-box evokes a little whimper of disappointment. So, yes! Stay healthy! Even at the selfish momentary loss to your readers.
there's a reason there are no stand ups in North Korea:
https://jaywilson1.substack.com/p/the-war-on-laughter?r=10sd39
Thank you for our country’s rotting progress report, Mary….sinus infections and all😒 Feel better🌻