Rae, my sense is that we can’t do anything about Trump without the help of real congressional leadership, so I believe we need to get that so we have a real opportunity to fight back as a united public and Congress.
Paula, this country does fetishize its guns. The day we try to take them away is the day they turn them on us. I know liberal Democratic gun owners who oppose any such move. Murphy knows he would be completely discredited if he went that far.
It would be a brave and admirable, but an ultimately futile and self-defeating step. I understand where you’re coming from, but the whopping majority of Americans won’t go that for.
Only 20% of Americans support banning all guns. More than 40% of Americans own a gun. Leadership entails knowing how far you can go before losing your constituency.
I agree with you. I like Murphy and his message is clear. I sit in MN. I follow my reps on SM, mostly Dems, and I find people’s reactions usually a mixed bag. I look at comments to gain a measure of the temperature of the electorate, so to speak. Recently our Gov (yes, Tim Walz) has created town halls in red districts in the Midwest, outside of MN, to give voice to those whose Reps are refusing to listen to them. I expected this to also have a mixed bag response. I have been surprised by the level of support and enthusiasm. The response to these few town halls has been quite extraordinary. People are begging him to come to their district. From all over the country. There is a vast amount of energy out there, not just in “safe blue” areas, where Dems have a real chance to get their message out. And Murphy’s message is clear. But he also needs to get together with others to do what Walz is doing. Build that network. It can’t be just a coastal thing. Walz was on the losing ticket but is filling town halls because he is giving voice to people. Bernie is doing it too. Leaders need to tap into that energy and help people rise up.
I don't know what Elon and Donnie think they're doing, but it's going to come back to bite them hard in '26. It would help if Dems weren't timid enough to vote with Reps, like about censuring Green, but apart from not doing stupid stuff like that, what they can do is hone a message, and make noise, as Walz, Buttigieg, and Murphy are doing.
Read Shane Almgren’s excellent Substack newsletter where he ties Musk and JD Vance with Curtis Yarvin’s shocking philosophy (he wants to DESTROY democracy.
“We Are Headed For a Tech CEO DICTATORSHIP”
“Elon Musk, JD Vance, and Peter Thiel are executing a long-planned agenda to take over the government. Donald Trump is just a dementia-addled old man along for the ride, ranting about windmills and magnets and taking over canals, and content to just sign large pieces of papers for the TV cameras all day.”
Curtis Yarvin has been the prominent influencer of what is currently occurring in the exponential dismantling of our government and democracy.
Excerpts from Wikipedia about Curtis Yarvin:
"If Americans want to change their government," he said, "they're going to have to get over their dictator phobia."[46]
Yarvin's ideas have been influential among right-libertarians and paleolibertarians, and the public discourses of prominent investors like Peter Thiel have echoed Yarvin's project of seceding from the United States to establish tech-CEO dictatorships.[50]
Venture capitalist Marc Andreessen, an informal adviser to Donald Trump, has spoken approvingly of Yarvin's thinking.[51]
Political strategist Steve Bannon has read and admired his work.[16]
Vice-president JD Vance has cited Yarvin as an influence, saying in 2021, "So there's this guy Curtis Yarvin who has written about these things," which included "Retire All Government Employees," or RAGE, written in 2012.
Vance said that if Trump became president again, I think what Trump should do, if I was giving him one piece of advice: Fire every single midlevel bureaucrat, every civil servant in the administrative state, and replace them with our people. And when the courts stop you, stand before the country and say, 'The chief justice has made his ruling. Now let him enforce it.'"[17][52]
“…Hey, Congress, give me absolute power, or I'll take it anyway.”
[His] relationship with the investor-entrepreneur Thiel is his most important connection."[15]Thiel was an investor in Yarvin's startup Tlon… In 2016, Yarvin privately asserted to Milo Yiannopoulos that he had been "coaching Thiel" Yarvin has pointed to a 2009 essay by Thiel, in which the latter declared: "I no longer believe that freedom and democracy are compatible... Since 1920, the vast increase in welfare beneficiaries and the extension of the franchise to women—two constituencies that are notoriously tough for libertarians—have rendered the notion of 'capitalist democracy' into an oxymoron."[55]
In a May 2021 conversation, Anton said Yarvin was arguing that a president could "gain power lawfully through an election, and then exercise it unlawfully."
I agree. He has been on social media but he could really break through doing what Walz is doing.
There is already deep opposition to Schumer and Durbin. We just keep pushing along with principled congresspeople.
Rae, my sense is that we can’t do anything about Trump without the help of real congressional leadership, so I believe we need to get that so we have a real opportunity to fight back as a united public and Congress.
And I would add Walz. He is out there everywhere.
Paula, this country does fetishize its guns. The day we try to take them away is the day they turn them on us. I know liberal Democratic gun owners who oppose any such move. Murphy knows he would be completely discredited if he went that far.
It would be a brave and admirable, but an ultimately futile and self-defeating step. I understand where you’re coming from, but the whopping majority of Americans won’t go that for.
Only 20% of Americans support banning all guns. More than 40% of Americans own a gun. Leadership entails knowing how far you can go before losing your constituency.
Exactly.
Senator Murphy has been reaching out all over the country. He is visible. He is fighting for our country. He is smart.
Pete Buttigieg is also very intelligent, quick witted, a great problem solver, a fighter, and able to handle FOX News.
I admire them both.
No reason. He is every bit the prospective president.
Buttigieg is coming to Santa Barbara for a talk soon; sold out! People are hungry for leadership, some fight back.
I think he’s the one! He’s got the charisma & quick wit. Maybe Murphy could be Vice President?
I agree with you. I like Murphy and his message is clear. I sit in MN. I follow my reps on SM, mostly Dems, and I find people’s reactions usually a mixed bag. I look at comments to gain a measure of the temperature of the electorate, so to speak. Recently our Gov (yes, Tim Walz) has created town halls in red districts in the Midwest, outside of MN, to give voice to those whose Reps are refusing to listen to them. I expected this to also have a mixed bag response. I have been surprised by the level of support and enthusiasm. The response to these few town halls has been quite extraordinary. People are begging him to come to their district. From all over the country. There is a vast amount of energy out there, not just in “safe blue” areas, where Dems have a real chance to get their message out. And Murphy’s message is clear. But he also needs to get together with others to do what Walz is doing. Build that network. It can’t be just a coastal thing. Walz was on the losing ticket but is filling town halls because he is giving voice to people. Bernie is doing it too. Leaders need to tap into that energy and help people rise up.
I don't know what Elon and Donnie think they're doing, but it's going to come back to bite them hard in '26. It would help if Dems weren't timid enough to vote with Reps, like about censuring Green, but apart from not doing stupid stuff like that, what they can do is hone a message, and make noise, as Walz, Buttigieg, and Murphy are doing.
I'm 100% down for NEW and YOUNGER Dem leadership - all across the nation and at the DNC...
Who would you suggest?
I love it.
Right on right back at ya, Delia!
I’ll read it. Thanks for the tip.
Great piece and agree wholeheartedly
Destroying our economy is part of “the plan”.
Read Shane Almgren’s excellent Substack newsletter where he ties Musk and JD Vance with Curtis Yarvin’s shocking philosophy (he wants to DESTROY democracy.
“We Are Headed For a Tech CEO DICTATORSHIP”
“Elon Musk, JD Vance, and Peter Thiel are executing a long-planned agenda to take over the government. Donald Trump is just a dementia-addled old man along for the ride, ranting about windmills and magnets and taking over canals, and content to just sign large pieces of papers for the TV cameras all day.”
~ Shane Almgren
https://open.substack.com/pub/shanealmgren/p/democracy-is-done-the-rise-of-corporate
Curtis Yarvin has been the prominent influencer of what is currently occurring in the exponential dismantling of our government and democracy.
Excerpts from Wikipedia about Curtis Yarvin:
"If Americans want to change their government," he said, "they're going to have to get over their dictator phobia."[46]
Yarvin's ideas have been influential among right-libertarians and paleolibertarians, and the public discourses of prominent investors like Peter Thiel have echoed Yarvin's project of seceding from the United States to establish tech-CEO dictatorships.[50]
Venture capitalist Marc Andreessen, an informal adviser to Donald Trump, has spoken approvingly of Yarvin's thinking.[51]
Political strategist Steve Bannon has read and admired his work.[16]
Vice-president JD Vance has cited Yarvin as an influence, saying in 2021, "So there's this guy Curtis Yarvin who has written about these things," which included "Retire All Government Employees," or RAGE, written in 2012.
Vance said that if Trump became president again, I think what Trump should do, if I was giving him one piece of advice: Fire every single midlevel bureaucrat, every civil servant in the administrative state, and replace them with our people. And when the courts stop you, stand before the country and say, 'The chief justice has made his ruling. Now let him enforce it.'"[17][52]
“…Hey, Congress, give me absolute power, or I'll take it anyway.”
[His] relationship with the investor-entrepreneur Thiel is his most important connection."[15]Thiel was an investor in Yarvin's startup Tlon… In 2016, Yarvin privately asserted to Milo Yiannopoulos that he had been "coaching Thiel" Yarvin has pointed to a 2009 essay by Thiel, in which the latter declared: "I no longer believe that freedom and democracy are compatible... Since 1920, the vast increase in welfare beneficiaries and the extension of the franchise to women—two constituencies that are notoriously tough for libertarians—have rendered the notion of 'capitalist democracy' into an oxymoron."[55]
In a May 2021 conversation, Anton said Yarvin was arguing that a president could "gain power lawfully through an election, and then exercise it unlawfully."
Read the entire article about Yarvin below: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curtis_Yarvin
Excellent Read, Agree