There have been so many occasions in the last 10 years when I have thought of that Hemmingway line from The Sun Also Rises, "How did you go bankrupt?" "Two ways. Gradually and then suddenly."
That exchange couldn't be more accurate in describing what has happened to this country. The trust that was whittled away by FOX (in the name of fair and balanced) has succeeded beyond any aspiring facist's imagination.
I am utterly amazed by the billionaires and their insatiable need to be in the good graces of this President. The one group of people that literally have F you money and they grovel like starving paupers from a Dickens novel.
When WaPo started printing the drivel Marc Theissen producedthe writing was on the wall.
One lesson from their groveling: they know what side their bread is buttered on, and it's not the side of their customers and consumers. It's all about tax breaks and government policy. (Without which we might never have heard of Elon Musk.)
That "Gradually and then suddenly" line is so appropriate. Would we have billionaires running amok if not for the Reagan tax cuts and corporate coddling? Would they and their ilk have the power they do without the Citizens United decision, which came down in 2010, six years before Trump was elected the first time?
How stunned the upper-level congressional Democrats were -- especially the white ones -- when Trump II got underway! It seems the elected Dems "outside the Beltway," notably the state attorneys general, governors, and secretaries of state, have been among the first to spring into action. That's another important lesson for all of us.
Theissen. His name says it all. Last week he gloatingly predicted that Trump would handle Putin much more successfully and forcefully than the hapless Biden. He still has his job.
OMG, you bring back bad memories from when I still subscribed to the WAPO rag. Even the excellent journalism of Jennifer Rubin, Catherine Rampell and others couldn't keep me as a subscriber. And now, thank God, they have all left.
The Oligarchs are winning -- for now. And they love them some Trump -- all the way to the bank.
For all of you who want to make some sense of where we are in the US compared to previous societies like the Roman Empire, I highly recommend Goliath's Curse - The History and Future of Societal Collapse by Luke Kemp.
Totally Linda. We've been boycotting Walmart for several years. They take in one out of every $3 for groceries spent in the US. And 25% of the money spent on SNAP benefits goes to Walmart.
The Waltons are the wealthiest family in the US. What will they do to help if the fucking Republicans continue to refuse to negotiate on insurance premiums.
The Roman "republic" only lasted 300 years. The ancient Romans took great pride in their "republic." Julius Cesar was murdered because he fancied himself to be king. At that point there was a brief period in which Marc Antony and Octavian (who later went by Augustus) shared leadership. Both keenly avoiding the appearance of a "king." Octavian astutely pushed Marc Anthony out and became Emperor - thereby ending any pretense Rome had as a Republic.
OMG, you bring back bad memories from when I still subscribed to the WAPO rag. Even the excellent journalism of Jennifer Rubin, Catherine Rampell and others couldn't keep me as a subscriber. And now, thank God, they have all left.
The Oligarchs are winning -- for now. And they love them some Trump -- all the way to the bank.
For all of you who want to make some sense of where we are in the US compared to previous societies like the Roman Empire, I highly recommend Goliath's Curse - The History and Future of Societal Collapse by Luke Kemp.
For Whom the Outrages Toll. Let us not forget the Epstein Files, first. I mean we know a pedophile when we see one dodge, duck, shuck, and jive. For some reason we need the files. I rather think we do not, and we already know what is there. The outrages toll for you as a distraction. https://hotbuttons.substack.com/p/too-much-two-buckets-to-sanity?r=3m1bs
Much as I liked Fallows's playing the public-editor role, I was reminded once again that the only reason the Times responded to him is because he's a member of the club. That's not intended as an insult to Fallows; rather, it highlights the difference between his reception and the one that I or any other Joe/Jane Blow off the street would receive.
I'm still expecting both the Washington Post and the New York Times to declare at this point "Trump to run 2028" with no context that it's illegal and on the editorial pages something along the lines of "Has democracy gone to far? Why the democrats need to give up their dignity"
If they can't recognize news and the value of journalism, why do they keep acting surprised when their readers decide to take their business elsewhere because they can?
The Times's response to its lack of front page coverage: So sanctimonious!
I can't disagree with everything you say, and especially in your Guardian column. One small, admittedly anecdotal cause for hope: We voted yesterday, the 2nd day of early voting in New York City. We have been early voters for years now, and always before we've been in and out in 10 minutes. Not yesterday, though; the polling place was packed. Not only that, at the final stage, when voters scanned their paper ballots into the machine, the poll workers were asking people if this was the first time they'd voted. When someone said yes, the worker would shout out, "First time voter here!," and everyone would clap and cheer. So encouraging!
I expect the Post’s next attention-grabbing editorial to laud the current president’s force of will in finally getting the trains to run on time. They will likely include a “To be sure…” paragraph acknowledging while nonetheless downplaying concerns by civil libertarians, Democrats, and other contrarians over the methods he used, but will conclude, “hey, look at the results.”
It is deeply concerning and disheartening that the Post editorial board cannot see that democracy is fundamentally about the way in which we come together as free people to govern ourselves. Leaving aside the aesthetic and historical preservation arguments, which I don’t diminish at all, this is perhaps the starkest example of a would-be despot who holds himself outside and above the law. Somewhere Putin is smiling.
Thank you again, Ms. Sullivan, for your major role in trying to save our democracy.
A little over a year ago, I received an offer to subscribe to the Chicago Tribune for $1 for a year. I bit. The Tribune has historically been conservative leaning in a liberal city. Up until about 5 weeks ago, they rarely published anything critical or even controversial about the Trump administration.
But then came ICE to the Windy City. The Chicago Sun-Times published story after story about the Fascist ICE criminal activities in Chicago and I'm guessing, but the Tribune was losing market share quickly.
It seems that Chicagoans were getting sick of melba toast.
But since then, the Tribune has done a top-notch job of reporting on almost everything Trump. While it is still possible to report on the Fascist Trump administration and his crazy day to day breaking of norms as well as the law, they certainly haven't been.
Kudos to the Tribune and all of the other newspapers and magazines that are not afraid of the dotardly orange menace.
The irony, of course, is that media outlets like WAPO, NYTimes, CNN and now CBS of course, think that in addition to avoiding Trump’s wrath, they will somehow grow their audiences by appealing to Republicans/MAGA.
In the past few weeks I had considered resubscribing to the NYT. It's pitiful coverage of No Kings was a stinging reminder of why I dumped my years long subscription. Their response confirms it. Thanks for letting us know.
I also continue to subscribe to the Post (the actual print edition) because I live in the Washington metro region and the news coverage is actually pretty negative about Trump. The real problem with the editorial about the new Versaille on the Potomac is that you should never have a person engaged in bribery write about whether or not bribery is okay. Duh.
Apologies for the long message - I just had to voice this to you all.
I sent an email to the New York Times complaining about their weak coverage of the No Kings protests and that it should have been paper’s headline and I got this response.
“On Sundays we tend to showcase reporting that readers can only find at The Times, in this case, the results of a monthslong investigation into how members of a murderous regime have escaped justice. Two other articles on the Sunday front addressed major themes that came up in the protests, namely President Trump's approach to the shutdown/governing and whether the Democratic Party can regain power in Washington.
— Having two photos on the Sunday front page and deep nationwide reporting on most of an inside page is significant print coverage. Many more readers find our coverage live online during and after the protests, and as I’ve said, that coverage was significant as well.Editorial judgment calls on ongoing protests draw on a lot of factors. The “No Kings” protests last weekend made similar arguments as the “No Kings” protests in June that we covered on the front page; given that, do you put those October protests on the front page again? We decided that the October protests did warrant prominent treatment, and we provided it through two photos on the front page, and then had robust coverage inside the paper. Two photos on Sunday's front page is significant real estate. We are serving a wide and diverse audience every day, and our editors make independent judgment calls for online and print display. As with all such choices, reasonable people can disagree about them.”
REALLY?!!! This is the judgement they make? The Times is copping out. This was my email to them.
“I am hugely disappointed in the way the NYT is covering Trump's fascist regime. Not only is the paper shying away from directly naming the fascist for what he is but it is also burying articles about resistance efforts. The No Kings rallies around the world (not just in America) were highly significant and powerful, and warranted the front page headline! It speaks volumes that NYT avoids saying it as it is….”
I’m so frustrated with the so called liberal media. They should be held accountable for the part they played in the rise of US fascism.
I wonder how the news media in Hungary covered the massive anti-Orban protests this weekend. Oh wait, Orban has severely restricted press freedom in Hungary. Thank goodness no one is trying that in the U.S.
I read that editorial with my jaw on the floor. I wrote a response for the comments that dealt largely with the appalling writing and editing -- not even worthy of a 5th grader's argumentative essay -- and my comment was rejected for violating their guidelines. I didn't even swear! I did ask if an actual professional writer wrote that slop, or if an actual professional editor passed his or her eyes over it. Jesus H. Christ. For now I'm keeping my WaPo subscription (and my Times one, which includes the physical Sunday paper because I am old and a creature of habit and I like reading the paper on Sunday mornings), but my rationale for doing so is growing thinner.
Margaret Sullivan: jeff bezos has always been evil -- greedy and power-hungry and amoral -- but he has only become more like himself since lauren whatsherface entered his life. which is not to say that he wasn't fully evil before, but she seemingly (along with the orange rapist) has given him permission to be his absolutely worst self. and the WaPo -- and the NYTimes and the public -- are all paying the price.
The best thing that Bezos did for humanity was to marry Mackenzie Scott without a pre-nup. She has given more than $19 billion to charitable causes with "no strings attached."
And she keeps getting richer and richer because she is a wise investor.
On the other hand, Mackenzie Scott was crucial in building the early success of Amazon. If not for her, Bezos may have never attained his present status.
One positive that I have seen with the growing degradation and demise of the Opinion and Editorial pages at the NYT and WAPO has been the migration of intelligent and talented writers from those pages to places like Substack. Each time I hear of an exit, I anticipate a reemergence of a writer and thinker freed from those pages to write more freely and frequently than they had before.
Meanwhile, back at those pages what is becoming increasingly true is that those left are ones that have become predictable in what they write. I can only imagine what it must feel like to work hard on styling a column once or twice a week knowing that most of its readers will not be surprised by the opinion, while some of my former colleagues and others are cranking out several and even daily columns that are fresh and provocative enough to generate truly thoughtful comments from readers.
That Post editorial was awful, describing the project as just another renovation, a transaction. NPR presented a vastly superior look at the history of the White House on Weekend Edition Sunday with Ayesha Rascoe. She interviewed Leslie Jones, who formerly worked for the White House Historial Association. Ms. Jones provided a lyrical and informative history of past projects. This is well worth your time to listen or read. (I think the transcript shortened the interview.) Some important points: The original building was deliberately designed to look like a home – NOT a palace; you know, NO KINGS. And Truman's changes added structural stability, while preserving history. Here's the link: https://www.npr.org/2025/10/26/nx-s1-5582403/former-director-at-the-white-house-historical-association-on-the-east-wing-renovation
There have been so many occasions in the last 10 years when I have thought of that Hemmingway line from The Sun Also Rises, "How did you go bankrupt?" "Two ways. Gradually and then suddenly."
That exchange couldn't be more accurate in describing what has happened to this country. The trust that was whittled away by FOX (in the name of fair and balanced) has succeeded beyond any aspiring facist's imagination.
I am utterly amazed by the billionaires and their insatiable need to be in the good graces of this President. The one group of people that literally have F you money and they grovel like starving paupers from a Dickens novel.
When WaPo started printing the drivel Marc Theissen producedthe writing was on the wall.
One lesson from their groveling: they know what side their bread is buttered on, and it's not the side of their customers and consumers. It's all about tax breaks and government policy. (Without which we might never have heard of Elon Musk.)
That "Gradually and then suddenly" line is so appropriate. Would we have billionaires running amok if not for the Reagan tax cuts and corporate coddling? Would they and their ilk have the power they do without the Citizens United decision, which came down in 2010, six years before Trump was elected the first time?
How stunned the upper-level congressional Democrats were -- especially the white ones -- when Trump II got underway! It seems the elected Dems "outside the Beltway," notably the state attorneys general, governors, and secretaries of state, have been among the first to spring into action. That's another important lesson for all of us.
Theissen. His name says it all. Last week he gloatingly predicted that Trump would handle Putin much more successfully and forcefully than the hapless Biden. He still has his job.
OMG, you bring back bad memories from when I still subscribed to the WAPO rag. Even the excellent journalism of Jennifer Rubin, Catherine Rampell and others couldn't keep me as a subscriber. And now, thank God, they have all left.
The Oligarchs are winning -- for now. And they love them some Trump -- all the way to the bank.
For all of you who want to make some sense of where we are in the US compared to previous societies like the Roman Empire, I highly recommend Goliath's Curse - The History and Future of Societal Collapse by Luke Kemp.
Just arrived in my mailbox....will begin reading tonight! What we must now do is boycott. Begin with Amazon and Walmart.
Totally Linda. We've been boycotting Walmart for several years. They take in one out of every $3 for groceries spent in the US. And 25% of the money spent on SNAP benefits goes to Walmart.
The Waltons are the wealthiest family in the US. What will they do to help if the fucking Republicans continue to refuse to negotiate on insurance premiums.
Catherine Rampell just joined the Bulwark! Another reason to subscribe if you haven’t already. 🙂
The Roman "republic" only lasted 300 years. The ancient Romans took great pride in their "republic." Julius Cesar was murdered because he fancied himself to be king. At that point there was a brief period in which Marc Antony and Octavian (who later went by Augustus) shared leadership. Both keenly avoiding the appearance of a "king." Octavian astutely pushed Marc Anthony out and became Emperor - thereby ending any pretense Rome had as a Republic.
Ugh, Theissen is a college classmate of mine. Blargh.
OMG, you bring back bad memories from when I still subscribed to the WAPO rag. Even the excellent journalism of Jennifer Rubin, Catherine Rampell and others couldn't keep me as a subscriber. And now, thank God, they have all left.
The Oligarchs are winning -- for now. And they love them some Trump -- all the way to the bank.
For all of you who want to make some sense of where we are in the US compared to previous societies like the Roman Empire, I highly recommend Goliath's Curse - The History and Future of Societal Collapse by Luke Kemp.
For Whom the Outrages Toll. Let us not forget the Epstein Files, first. I mean we know a pedophile when we see one dodge, duck, shuck, and jive. For some reason we need the files. I rather think we do not, and we already know what is there. The outrages toll for you as a distraction. https://hotbuttons.substack.com/p/too-much-two-buckets-to-sanity?r=3m1bs
Great comment, Mary. Though I have to defend Dickens’s paupers—they had more dignity than to grovel. His rich persons and
criminals—they groveled, just like now.
Hard agree Catherine!
Magnificently stated
Thanks to you and Jim Fallows and Bill Grueskin for continuing to play the Public Editor role even in its absence!
Much as I liked Fallows's playing the public-editor role, I was reminded once again that the only reason the Times responded to him is because he's a member of the club. That's not intended as an insult to Fallows; rather, it highlights the difference between his reception and the one that I or any other Joe/Jane Blow off the street would receive.
I'm still expecting both the Washington Post and the New York Times to declare at this point "Trump to run 2028" with no context that it's illegal and on the editorial pages something along the lines of "Has democracy gone to far? Why the democrats need to give up their dignity"
If they can't recognize news and the value of journalism, why do they keep acting surprised when their readers decide to take their business elsewhere because they can?
The Times's response to its lack of front page coverage: So sanctimonious!
I can't disagree with everything you say, and especially in your Guardian column. One small, admittedly anecdotal cause for hope: We voted yesterday, the 2nd day of early voting in New York City. We have been early voters for years now, and always before we've been in and out in 10 minutes. Not yesterday, though; the polling place was packed. Not only that, at the final stage, when voters scanned their paper ballots into the machine, the poll workers were asking people if this was the first time they'd voted. When someone said yes, the worker would shout out, "First time voter here!," and everyone would clap and cheer. So encouraging!
Very!
I expect the Post’s next attention-grabbing editorial to laud the current president’s force of will in finally getting the trains to run on time. They will likely include a “To be sure…” paragraph acknowledging while nonetheless downplaying concerns by civil libertarians, Democrats, and other contrarians over the methods he used, but will conclude, “hey, look at the results.”
It is deeply concerning and disheartening that the Post editorial board cannot see that democracy is fundamentally about the way in which we come together as free people to govern ourselves. Leaving aside the aesthetic and historical preservation arguments, which I don’t diminish at all, this is perhaps the starkest example of a would-be despot who holds himself outside and above the law. Somewhere Putin is smiling.
Thank you again, Ms. Sullivan, for your major role in trying to save our democracy.
A little over a year ago, I received an offer to subscribe to the Chicago Tribune for $1 for a year. I bit. The Tribune has historically been conservative leaning in a liberal city. Up until about 5 weeks ago, they rarely published anything critical or even controversial about the Trump administration.
But then came ICE to the Windy City. The Chicago Sun-Times published story after story about the Fascist ICE criminal activities in Chicago and I'm guessing, but the Tribune was losing market share quickly.
It seems that Chicagoans were getting sick of melba toast.
But since then, the Tribune has done a top-notch job of reporting on almost everything Trump. While it is still possible to report on the Fascist Trump administration and his crazy day to day breaking of norms as well as the law, they certainly haven't been.
Kudos to the Tribune and all of the other newspapers and magazines that are not afraid of the dotardly orange menace.
The irony, of course, is that media outlets like WAPO, NYTimes, CNN and now CBS of course, think that in addition to avoiding Trump’s wrath, they will somehow grow their audiences by appealing to Republicans/MAGA.
Pretty sure wrong on both counts.
In the past few weeks I had considered resubscribing to the NYT. It's pitiful coverage of No Kings was a stinging reminder of why I dumped my years long subscription. Their response confirms it. Thanks for letting us know.
The only thing positive about the NYT’s is Wordle!
To me the best thing about the NYT at the moment is Jamelle Bouie.
I also continue to subscribe to the Post (the actual print edition) because I live in the Washington metro region and the news coverage is actually pretty negative about Trump. The real problem with the editorial about the new Versaille on the Potomac is that you should never have a person engaged in bribery write about whether or not bribery is okay. Duh.
Apologies for the long message - I just had to voice this to you all.
I sent an email to the New York Times complaining about their weak coverage of the No Kings protests and that it should have been paper’s headline and I got this response.
“On Sundays we tend to showcase reporting that readers can only find at The Times, in this case, the results of a monthslong investigation into how members of a murderous regime have escaped justice. Two other articles on the Sunday front addressed major themes that came up in the protests, namely President Trump's approach to the shutdown/governing and whether the Democratic Party can regain power in Washington.
— Having two photos on the Sunday front page and deep nationwide reporting on most of an inside page is significant print coverage. Many more readers find our coverage live online during and after the protests, and as I’ve said, that coverage was significant as well.Editorial judgment calls on ongoing protests draw on a lot of factors. The “No Kings” protests last weekend made similar arguments as the “No Kings” protests in June that we covered on the front page; given that, do you put those October protests on the front page again? We decided that the October protests did warrant prominent treatment, and we provided it through two photos on the front page, and then had robust coverage inside the paper. Two photos on Sunday's front page is significant real estate. We are serving a wide and diverse audience every day, and our editors make independent judgment calls for online and print display. As with all such choices, reasonable people can disagree about them.”
REALLY?!!! This is the judgement they make? The Times is copping out. This was my email to them.
“I am hugely disappointed in the way the NYT is covering Trump's fascist regime. Not only is the paper shying away from directly naming the fascist for what he is but it is also burying articles about resistance efforts. The No Kings rallies around the world (not just in America) were highly significant and powerful, and warranted the front page headline! It speaks volumes that NYT avoids saying it as it is….”
I’m so frustrated with the so called liberal media. They should be held accountable for the part they played in the rise of US fascism.
What you're saying here is that Grueskin got a form response from the house PR twit.
I wonder how the news media in Hungary covered the massive anti-Orban protests this weekend. Oh wait, Orban has severely restricted press freedom in Hungary. Thank goodness no one is trying that in the U.S.
Bezos sold out to greed and power; what else would we expect from Post.
Before Bezos, a hell of lot more!
I read that editorial with my jaw on the floor. I wrote a response for the comments that dealt largely with the appalling writing and editing -- not even worthy of a 5th grader's argumentative essay -- and my comment was rejected for violating their guidelines. I didn't even swear! I did ask if an actual professional writer wrote that slop, or if an actual professional editor passed his or her eyes over it. Jesus H. Christ. For now I'm keeping my WaPo subscription (and my Times one, which includes the physical Sunday paper because I am old and a creature of habit and I like reading the paper on Sunday mornings), but my rationale for doing so is growing thinner.
Margaret Sullivan: jeff bezos has always been evil -- greedy and power-hungry and amoral -- but he has only become more like himself since lauren whatsherface entered his life. which is not to say that he wasn't fully evil before, but she seemingly (along with the orange rapist) has given him permission to be his absolutely worst self. and the WaPo -- and the NYTimes and the public -- are all paying the price.
The best thing that Bezos did for humanity was to marry Mackenzie Scott without a pre-nup. She has given more than $19 billion to charitable causes with "no strings attached."
And she keeps getting richer and richer because she is a wise investor.
On the other hand, Mackenzie Scott was crucial in building the early success of Amazon. If not for her, Bezos may have never attained his present status.
One positive that I have seen with the growing degradation and demise of the Opinion and Editorial pages at the NYT and WAPO has been the migration of intelligent and talented writers from those pages to places like Substack. Each time I hear of an exit, I anticipate a reemergence of a writer and thinker freed from those pages to write more freely and frequently than they had before.
Meanwhile, back at those pages what is becoming increasingly true is that those left are ones that have become predictable in what they write. I can only imagine what it must feel like to work hard on styling a column once or twice a week knowing that most of its readers will not be surprised by the opinion, while some of my former colleagues and others are cranking out several and even daily columns that are fresh and provocative enough to generate truly thoughtful comments from readers.
That Post editorial was awful, describing the project as just another renovation, a transaction. NPR presented a vastly superior look at the history of the White House on Weekend Edition Sunday with Ayesha Rascoe. She interviewed Leslie Jones, who formerly worked for the White House Historial Association. Ms. Jones provided a lyrical and informative history of past projects. This is well worth your time to listen or read. (I think the transcript shortened the interview.) Some important points: The original building was deliberately designed to look like a home – NOT a palace; you know, NO KINGS. And Truman's changes added structural stability, while preserving history. Here's the link: https://www.npr.org/2025/10/26/nx-s1-5582403/former-director-at-the-white-house-historical-association-on-the-east-wing-renovation
“On Sundays, we tend to showcase reporting that we think might win us a Pulitzer Prize. If readers like it, even better.”
Not even that- just what readers,looking for diversion, want: puzzles, fashion, entertainment.. Bottom line.