I am 74 years old and for the past twelve months have been a reporter for our local, non-profit newspaper, The Lakeville Journal in NW Connecticut. The importance of our endeavor increases daily. The freedom of the press and our right to know the truth are under fire. This grandmother of four intends to be an indomitable force against the evil afoot in our land. Fascism has no home in America. Knit your community together with bands of steel. E Pluribus Unum. Written in my 1776 home in Norfolk Connecticut, Jennifer Almquist
One intended effect, in the staging of the Republican coup, is that the enormity of events - the Republican blitzkrieg - will stop us dead in our tracks. Here is a single thing to focus on. The wide ranging voter suppression provisions in Voter ID laws. The Federal SAVE act and its more insidious state level cut and paste clones. This is not common sense legislation. The SAVE acts will disenfranchise a wide range of voters. Not surprisingly, the League of Women Voters is in the forefront of opposition to this Republican scheme. Please contact your state chapters of the League of Women Voters. To learn what you can do to protect our voting rights on the Federal and State levels.
Tell your members of Congress to oppose the SAVE Act | League of Women Voters
Take action to opposse the so-called "SAVE" Act (Safeguard American Voter Eligibility), which has been introduced by House Republicans as HR 22. This Act does the opposite: it is a threat to the voting rights of millions of Americans.
Action Under the Dome | League of Women Voters | Maine
The Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act is a dangerous bill that would require voters to prove their citizenship by showing a passport or birth certificate in order to register to vote. It’s already illegal for noncitizens to cast a ballot in federal elections. The SAVE Act is plain voter suppression because more than half of American citizens don't have a passport. Plus, many Americans don't have ready access to a birth certificate, much less one that shows their current name. Tell your U.S. Representative and Senator that you oppose the SAVE Act: www.lwvme.org/TakeAction.
Names. My birth certificate only says 'Baby' because I was early and my parents hadn't agreed on a name yet and never went back to change the certificate. I'm from Brooklyn and don't have a drivers license. (Not so strange - there.) My name has changed over the years, but I don't have official papers to prove it - it wasn't listed in the divorce papers. And although the details may differ - many of us are in this situation.
Yes spent last night at a LWV meeting. Brilliant reminder of state level resistance.
I thought I was the only one (at almost 78) who didn’t have a name at birth [they expected a boy] tho I finally was given one. My hospital baby bracelet: “baby Eisenstodt” & I do have a non-driver’s ID after scrambling to put together documents that show a name. A digression and I needed this connective note.
It is great to see those comparisons of Putin and Trump's rise and the changes in what we see going on here. I think putting them in 2 columns side by side and simplified for those low brain cell count Magas would be necessary for them to read the comparisons. Great two-faced image, too!! Thanks, Steve.
You are on fire, Steve. Thank you for what you are showing us every day, the breadth and depth of the depravity of what Trump and his minions are doing, and for giving us actions to take to counter it. 🙏
Kluwe’s heroic stance and flaccid protest brought at least six large beefy sheriffs to “arrest”him. He was manhandled IMO. Local coverage made him look like a terrorist because he crossed a boundary to yell in the faces of the MAGAotts of Orange County CA.
More photos of dead and dying in Ukraine will also work - short term. Blue and Yellow Paint anyone? Graffiti artists? Bueller?
We must spell it out why we stand with Ukraine and against Putin. We can’t assume that the average person knows why it matters. The same with why we need to support NATO. Every issue needs to be explained. Even the most basic things, like why Fascism is bad for us, why Hitler was bad for his own country, not just the Jews.
Why it is bad for us to demonize the LBGTQ and migrants. If there is one thing we should have noticed it is that many of our citizens are poorly educated and don’t get their information from truthful sources.
Snyder's insights are always powerful. My hope rests on the fact that Americans are not Russians. The latter have a deep and enduring relationship with dictators; it seems part of their DNA as a people. Americans are not like that. As compromised as our government has become, as captured as our media outlets may be, we still have expectations that our leaders must be responsive to us. There will be a tipping point. There will be a moment when a broad spectrum coalition develops to push back against this insanity. There will be a time when the MAGA base realizes it's been swindled and that they have nowhere to turn. Then...we'll reawaken. Like everyone, I want that moment to be now. But the sad truth is that more pain...much more pain will have to be felt before we get there.
The enormity of the human wreckage being wrought by American Republicans who put and kept Donald Trump in office, and have given him the thuggish crew he wants to wreak vengeance over the planet, seems to be reaching the heights which his enraptured acolytes and enablers pray for. What we see as dire problems to be solved, they see as signs and wonders. Herald of the End Days. Apocalypse now.
The wonder, for me, is that they believe that, having hollowed out the foundations, they will be spared when the roof caves in. That is not 'positive thinking.' That's not thinking at all. Which Hannah Arendt termed the 'banality of evil.' But which is also the irrationality of religious habits of mind. Religion at its best can rein in irrationality by ritualizing it as religious practice. The Constitutional separation of church and state was to keep not only religious creed out of government but to build government on coming to consensus through reasoned debate of empirical evidence.
Instead movement conservatism in bed with the religious right has made of a tawdry huckster, a demagogue, a savior, and now a tyrant. Republicans are using the power of unconscionable wealth and the unfathomable resentment of white supremacist christian extremists to indulge in an orgy of destruction.
As Walter Benjamin, in writing of Paul Klee's Angelus: This is how one pictures the angel of history. His face is turned toward the past. Where we perceive a chain of events, he sees one single catastrophe which keeps piling wreckage and hurls it in front of his feet.
Gestures made in the shadow of the gallows.
The American film and performance artist Ken Jacob has continually explored the intersection politics, injustice, and frenzy in such works as Star Spangled to Death, The Sky Socialist, Baud'larian Capers. and The Human Wreckage Review (Stick to Your Carpentry and You Won't Get Nailed.)
Baud'larian Capers - Ken Jacobs - The Film-Makers' Cooperative
The Austrian performance artist Hermann Nitsch explored, and attempted to counter, the tragic affects of religious repression through composed rituals of 'abreaction'. Through the Aktionen of his Orgien Mysterien Theater. Some of which went on for days.
THE TOTAL ART WORK OF THE Orgies Mysteries Theatre AND ITS DISCIPLINES - Nitsch Foundation
I just sent this message to my senator. please feel free to send it to yours too.
Dear Sen. Scott,
While I realize a change in administrations, especially when that change includes party affiliation, often means changes in policy, I never believed that it would go so far as what Mr Trump and Mr Musk have wrought. A complete 180 on how Russia is viewed, and abandonment of all our allies, not just Ukraine. I hope you and the other majority party senators will have the courage to stand up for what is right. It is not right to rape the rare earth minerals as Musk wants to do with Greenland and Ukraine. It is not right to covet our neighbors land and resources as Trump is doing in regards to Canada. It is not right to renege on agreements negotiated decades ago as Trump wishes to do with Panama. While his words and approach can be seen as "trolling" he is serious about what he wants. He has admitted this in serious comments made to various press outlets. Please stand up for the REAL America. Trump has made us the laughing stock of Russia and China. He has alienated us from all our former allies. If you and your fellow GOP Senators do not stand up to Trump and Musk, America will end up either alone, or allied with China and Russia. And not full allies, USA will be the puppet of Putin, who will be controlled by China. We can still have an America that plays a great role in world affairs, but not if you and your cohorts continue to bend the knee. Please, grow a spine!
I am 74 years old and for the past twelve months have been a reporter for our local, non-profit newspaper, The Lakeville Journal in NW Connecticut. The importance of our endeavor increases daily. The freedom of the press and our right to know the truth are under fire. This grandmother of four intends to be an indomitable force against the evil afoot in our land. Fascism has no home in America. Knit your community together with bands of steel. E Pluribus Unum. Written in my 1776 home in Norfolk Connecticut, Jennifer Almquist
Stay in your power Jennifer!! Thank you!
One intended effect, in the staging of the Republican coup, is that the enormity of events - the Republican blitzkrieg - will stop us dead in our tracks. Here is a single thing to focus on. The wide ranging voter suppression provisions in Voter ID laws. The Federal SAVE act and its more insidious state level cut and paste clones. This is not common sense legislation. The SAVE acts will disenfranchise a wide range of voters. Not surprisingly, the League of Women Voters is in the forefront of opposition to this Republican scheme. Please contact your state chapters of the League of Women Voters. To learn what you can do to protect our voting rights on the Federal and State levels.
Tell your members of Congress to oppose the SAVE Act | League of Women Voters
.https://www.lwv.org/take-action/tell-your-members-congress-oppose-save-act.
Time Range For Action Alert:
Feb 18 2025 to Feb 25 2025
Take action to opposse the so-called "SAVE" Act (Safeguard American Voter Eligibility), which has been introduced by House Republicans as HR 22. This Act does the opposite: it is a threat to the voting rights of millions of Americans.
.https://my.lwv.org/ohio/oxford/action-alert/stop-save-act.
Action Under the Dome | League of Women Voters | Maine
The Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act is a dangerous bill that would require voters to prove their citizenship by showing a passport or birth certificate in order to register to vote. It’s already illegal for noncitizens to cast a ballot in federal elections. The SAVE Act is plain voter suppression because more than half of American citizens don't have a passport. Plus, many Americans don't have ready access to a birth certificate, much less one that shows their current name. Tell your U.S. Representative and Senator that you oppose the SAVE Act: www.lwvme.org/TakeAction.
https://www.lwvme.org/node/3413
https://stevebrodner.substack.com/p/putrid-bladderdump/comments
Will repost Lin. Thanks.
Thanks.
I'm lin. Someone else is Lin.
Names. My birth certificate only says 'Baby' because I was early and my parents hadn't agreed on a name yet and never went back to change the certificate. I'm from Brooklyn and don't have a drivers license. (Not so strange - there.) My name has changed over the years, but I don't have official papers to prove it - it wasn't listed in the divorce papers. And although the details may differ - many of us are in this situation.
Yes spent last night at a LWV meeting. Brilliant reminder of state level resistance.
I thought I was the only one (at almost 78) who didn’t have a name at birth [they expected a boy] tho I finally was given one. My hospital baby bracelet: “baby Eisenstodt” & I do have a non-driver’s ID after scrambling to put together documents that show a name. A digression and I needed this connective note.
Happy Birthday John Lewis.
John Lewis, his last words, released on the day of his funeral
.https://www.loc.gov/resource/ppbd.01379/.
And the same day/diff year, Barbara Jordan, two people + Fannie Lou Hamer who showed me a path of good.
You know what that link leads to;)
Maybe you will reprise it here.
It is great to see those comparisons of Putin and Trump's rise and the changes in what we see going on here. I think putting them in 2 columns side by side and simplified for those low brain cell count Magas would be necessary for them to read the comparisons. Great two-faced image, too!! Thanks, Steve.
You are on fire, Steve. Thank you for what you are showing us every day, the breadth and depth of the depravity of what Trump and his minions are doing, and for giving us actions to take to counter it. 🙏
So grateful Kate. The work is just beginning. Polls show we are in the right place for activism. Please keep us up on what you are doing!
Kluwe’s heroic stance and flaccid protest brought at least six large beefy sheriffs to “arrest”him. He was manhandled IMO. Local coverage made him look like a terrorist because he crossed a boundary to yell in the faces of the MAGAotts of Orange County CA.
More photos of dead and dying in Ukraine will also work - short term. Blue and Yellow Paint anyone? Graffiti artists? Bueller?
Maga can spin a genocide (in fact …)
See how the politics is running. Maga is no pop hit. All ideas are goood!!
We must spell it out why we stand with Ukraine and against Putin. We can’t assume that the average person knows why it matters. The same with why we need to support NATO. Every issue needs to be explained. Even the most basic things, like why Fascism is bad for us, why Hitler was bad for his own country, not just the Jews.
Why it is bad for us to demonize the LBGTQ and migrants. If there is one thing we should have noticed it is that many of our citizens are poorly educated and don’t get their information from truthful sources.
Snyder's insights are always powerful. My hope rests on the fact that Americans are not Russians. The latter have a deep and enduring relationship with dictators; it seems part of their DNA as a people. Americans are not like that. As compromised as our government has become, as captured as our media outlets may be, we still have expectations that our leaders must be responsive to us. There will be a tipping point. There will be a moment when a broad spectrum coalition develops to push back against this insanity. There will be a time when the MAGA base realizes it's been swindled and that they have nowhere to turn. Then...we'll reawaken. Like everyone, I want that moment to be now. But the sad truth is that more pain...much more pain will have to be felt before we get there.
The enormity of the human wreckage being wrought by American Republicans who put and kept Donald Trump in office, and have given him the thuggish crew he wants to wreak vengeance over the planet, seems to be reaching the heights which his enraptured acolytes and enablers pray for. What we see as dire problems to be solved, they see as signs and wonders. Herald of the End Days. Apocalypse now.
The wonder, for me, is that they believe that, having hollowed out the foundations, they will be spared when the roof caves in. That is not 'positive thinking.' That's not thinking at all. Which Hannah Arendt termed the 'banality of evil.' But which is also the irrationality of religious habits of mind. Religion at its best can rein in irrationality by ritualizing it as religious practice. The Constitutional separation of church and state was to keep not only religious creed out of government but to build government on coming to consensus through reasoned debate of empirical evidence.
Instead movement conservatism in bed with the religious right has made of a tawdry huckster, a demagogue, a savior, and now a tyrant. Republicans are using the power of unconscionable wealth and the unfathomable resentment of white supremacist christian extremists to indulge in an orgy of destruction.
As Walter Benjamin, in writing of Paul Klee's Angelus: This is how one pictures the angel of history. His face is turned toward the past. Where we perceive a chain of events, he sees one single catastrophe which keeps piling wreckage and hurls it in front of his feet.
Gestures made in the shadow of the gallows.
The American film and performance artist Ken Jacob has continually explored the intersection politics, injustice, and frenzy in such works as Star Spangled to Death, The Sky Socialist, Baud'larian Capers. and The Human Wreckage Review (Stick to Your Carpentry and You Won't Get Nailed.)
Baud'larian Capers - Ken Jacobs - The Film-Makers' Cooperative
.https://film-makerscoop.com/catalogue/ken-jacobs-baudlarian-capers.
THE ULTIMATE KEN JACOBS
.https://www.artforum.com/features/the-ultimate-ken-jacobs-197389/.
The Austrian performance artist Hermann Nitsch explored, and attempted to counter, the tragic affects of religious repression through composed rituals of 'abreaction'. Through the Aktionen of his Orgien Mysterien Theater. Some of which went on for days.
THE TOTAL ART WORK OF THE Orgies Mysteries Theatre AND ITS DISCIPLINES - Nitsch Foundation
.https://www.nitsch-foundation.com/en/the-orgies-mysteries-theatre/.
Chilling.
Thank you, Steve Brodner.
Thanks again for your vital messaging. My heart breaks while also filling with anger over what Trumputin is dumping on Ukraine.
Find action, though! Thanks!
Already working on it!
Thank you, Steve.
I just sent this message to my senator. please feel free to send it to yours too.
Dear Sen. Scott,
While I realize a change in administrations, especially when that change includes party affiliation, often means changes in policy, I never believed that it would go so far as what Mr Trump and Mr Musk have wrought. A complete 180 on how Russia is viewed, and abandonment of all our allies, not just Ukraine. I hope you and the other majority party senators will have the courage to stand up for what is right. It is not right to rape the rare earth minerals as Musk wants to do with Greenland and Ukraine. It is not right to covet our neighbors land and resources as Trump is doing in regards to Canada. It is not right to renege on agreements negotiated decades ago as Trump wishes to do with Panama. While his words and approach can be seen as "trolling" he is serious about what he wants. He has admitted this in serious comments made to various press outlets. Please stand up for the REAL America. Trump has made us the laughing stock of Russia and China. He has alienated us from all our former allies. If you and your fellow GOP Senators do not stand up to Trump and Musk, America will end up either alone, or allied with China and Russia. And not full allies, USA will be the puppet of Putin, who will be controlled by China. We can still have an America that plays a great role in world affairs, but not if you and your cohorts continue to bend the knee. Please, grow a spine!
Topic adjacent: How long before musk and his dogebags get access to voter registration records?
Why do we think they haven’t?