We need the liberal billionaires to start funding anti-propaganda outfits. PragerU’s podcasts, maybe help make basic front page news free, could Craigslist sponsor a free AP news feed?
As long as the American populace is awash in misinformation there’s no chance to improve things in this country.
I actually had a conversation with someone about forming our own incorporations and LLCs, to try and build capital through stock sales and such. It's only an unformed idea at the moment, and may not be feasible, but the idea of everyone pooling resources through stock sales to build up a counter-weight in that manner has some appeal.
What she's shown is that she's persuadable, depending on the persuasions offered but, unlike and honest crook, she doesn't stay bought. Effective pressure on Collins will have to start at home, but might be reinforced by Democratic leadership if some develops. Neill's comment on the DNC is especially apropos in this situation.
May be, but her votes for Trump's three justices, her sellout on climate and her MAGA tilt in her last campaign suggest something lots worse than "persuadable" to me.
If Trump's favorable numbers tank like Biden's did, and they may, people like her may rediscover their consciences. But even lame duck Rs have been scared to cross Trump.
Except for his willingness to destroy Alaska wilderness and massacre its wildlife, where she's gung-ho. And his anything-goes stance towards Big Oil. Tongass logging, Refuge oil leases, and Pebble Mine will be back on the table. But yes, she stood up to him on some issues.
Thank you for your writing and advocacy, and thank you for opening your comments section to everyone. I know it invites trolls and bots, but dammit—why is so much “good” content behind paywalls, while “bad” content is free? Anyone can log on to youtube and watch hours of video from right-wing provocateurs, but a sensible critique by most major media is behind a paywall. How do we get around that?
I’m thinking of Will Bunch, who writes incredible columns for the Philadelphia Inquirer. Usually I’m lucky enough to read from a gift link posted by someone who subscribes to that paper—but that doesn’t help most readers.
My advice to everyone: read books, ride a bike. Two very subversive activities!
Great advice! And I agree about paywalls. I try to gift-link when I can. It’s a problem that the verified, reported stuff is inaccessible to most; this is one of the reasons I like writing for the Guardian. They ask for donations but there is no paywall.
We need to get this point out front. The airwaves on A.M. radio and Fox News are drowning our least educated citizens. Most of the least educated are good, hard working people, many whom we love. They just don’t know what they don’t know.
I support the Guardian and three Substack writers. I want the well-informed writers to earn a good income from their hard work. I will slowly add to my paid subscriptions. Thank you to the many substack writers who allow their articles to be freely read and shared.
I also support the ACLU and Mother Jones, great defenders. I need to recoup after political donations for a couple months, then add to my paid subscriptions.
Thank you for sharing this whole post and all the useful comments collected here. I am seeing way too much Democratic recriminations and way too little media self critique about the sanewashing and normalization of Trump’s policy radicalism. The discussions about project 2025 barely entered legacy media (Don Moynihan got one oped) and the journalists accepted as truth the utterly incredible claim Trump made that he knew nothing about it. The transition is already bringing all those loyalists from Project 2024 into positions of authority. But what to do now?? 1. Hold the legacy media to account for covering the plans being unrolled now as the threats they are and not a normal transition. 2. Hold ourselves accountable for calling out the lies in our interactions with others.
Here’s one example.
I don’t usually do this kind of writing, but I needed to say something. Apologies for length:
To my Republican friend who can’t understand why I’m taking this election so personally:
We meet at the dog park almost every day. We’ve done this for years. We are friendly. We sit at a picnic table in our upscale neighborhood and talk about our dogs and our lives, vacations, my RV and your grandchildren. We commiserate about health and family issues. I wish you and your family well, and I sincerely believe you wish the same for me. Everything has seemed equal – or at least equal in the context of the park and the dogs - voting a matter of personal preferences and what I took as your good-natured needling about the Democrats.
But here’s the truth – we are not equal. And in this election, your vote did not only affect you.
I need you to understand that for me to be able to sit at that table with a wife, a good job, a new car (just like yours), a nice house, and many of the rights you never question has taken decades of struggle. For me, these rights are new and they are fragile. And I am now in danger of losing every one of them.
I did not have the legal right to have an intimate relationship with my spouse until the Supreme Court decision in Lawrence v. Texas (2003), a case that involved a man who was arrested for engaging in consensual sex with an adult in his own home. In their dissent to the majority opinion, Scalia, Rehnquist, and Thomas, called the majority decision: “a massive disruption of the current social order.”
My spouse did not have the right to inherit my property until the Supreme Court decision in US v. Windsor, in 2013. In this case, Edie Windsor challenged the inheritance tax on an apartment where she had lived with her wife for decades (they married in Canada in 2007). Roberts, Thomas, Scalia, and Alito dissented. Alito wrote: “Same-sex marriage presents a highly emotional and important question of public policy—but not a difficult question of constitutional law. The Constitution does not guarantee the right to enter into a same-sex marriage. Indeed, no provision of the Constitution speaks to the issue.”
I did not have the right to marry my spouse until the Supreme Court decision in Obergefell v. Rodgers (2015). Justices Roberts, Scalia, Thomas, and Alito dissented, writing: “If you are among the many Americans—of whatever sexual orientation—who favor expanding same-sex marriage, by all means celebrate today’s decision…But do not celebrate the Constitution. It had nothing to do with it.”
I did not have protection against job discrimination until the Supreme Court’s decision in Bostock (2020). This case established that Title VII applies to sexual orientation and gender identity and that it provides protection against discrimination. Kavanaugh and Alito dissented, with Kavanaugh writing: “Common usage in the States underscores that sexual orientation discrimination is commonly understood as a legal concept distinct from sex discrimination.”
Every one of these rights is under threat. With the exception of Rehnquist and Scalia, every one of these Justices still serves. Two were appointed by Trump. He will likely appoint even more. And recently, in the Dobbs decision overturning Roe, Justice Thomas wrote that all of the Court’s “due process precedents” should be reconsidered – including Lawrence v. Texas and Obergefell.
So now what?
We need to be truthtellers like this on every issue from deportations to trans rights to the economic rights that unions provide us.
So even though you may not care for all the news in The Inquirer, you can read Will Bunch (who I admire), for only $1 for 6 months with the special offer.
I like the idea of creating our own bots within their information machine. These could be little AI generated truth bots that correct disinformation and foster taking care of one another.
This outcome is American individualism and capitalism no matter what.
Completely agreed. We owe it to our children to not give in to despair. Re: journalists, who bear a significant portion of responsibility—something tells me based on the initial coverage that they aren’t going to be pointing fingers inwards. The sheer volume of detritus they’ve put out since last Tuesday suggests if anything, they are not so secretly happy with the grist/grift they have to work with now. Can’t wait to read Maggie Haberman’s next book.
There are so many places to lay blame. Right now, I'm trying to change my defeatist attitude. Instead of thinking "Yes, but...", I'm thinking "Yes, and..."
I am with you in feeling hurt, California doesn't even have all of its vote counted so my advice is to keep feeling regardless of what other people tell you is appropriate. But also recognize that we have to turn despair into action or we are making the choice to give in.
I agree, if we would VOTE instead of assuming that the polls (or whatever people use to justify not showing up) make the results happen, they could move the needle in better directions. This keeps happening, for no good reason. I think it is easier for many to decide that someone else will do the work that is needed. BTW, that is why magas love their felon - they think he will do the work to save them too.. baloney.
The only thing I know for sure is that we need to take a page from the Republican book of tactics: Do not give an inch. Anywhere. Ever. And point out every failure, at top volume, every day. Gas prices go up a dime? TRUMP INFLATION. Jobs report didn’t live up to expectations? ANOTHER TRUMP FAILURE. All day, every day.
I have no faith in the Democratic gerontocracy to do this, but some of the younger crowd give me hope.
There’s no point in blaming, especially at this point, because things will be different in two years, much less four. Focus on what to do now.
And don’t forget those egg prices… climate change is rearing its ugly head and this cost has not been part of our economic conversation. In Oregon, a law prohibiting caging chickens for egg production went into effect, about Easter time when the bird virus struck. Our egg prices went up, but have eased somewhat. Before the Covid lockdown, a minimal number of producers were selling designer eggs:organic, free range, grain-fed, cage-free, Heirloom, pasture raised, vitamin and omega vegetarian. Now, with an egg cooler full of choices at $6,7or 8, the store brand seems cheap at $2.99, which my 50 cent coupon. I get that prices went up and have stayed up. Funny, the same thing happened the other times in my 74 year lifespan when we experienced the economics of inflation. So I expected nothing different. Maybe the truth of inflation is that prices are never going to go down, so our job is to help you make more in wages. The truth is when climate alters the growing patterns of our farms and gardens, prices are probably not going to go down. I buy a large amount of produce weekly, and those costs have more than doubled. It isn’t cheap to eat fresh produce, no matter where it is coming from. Add the deportation of workers and tariffs. The truth will not be easy. But we need to be honest and loud.
If MAGA is not who we are, like you Margaret, it's not me or anyone in my family, we have a couple of jobs going forward. 1) We need to do everything we can to protect and support those who Trump and his thugs will target. 2) We need to loudly and broadly call out all of the un and anti-Constitutional acts that Trump and his thugs engage in. 3) We need to build the infrastructure to kick these unfit violent racist misogynist haters out of office in 2026 and 2028 - and to make sure that there is no comeback opportunity.
Check out the Meidas Touch Network, LegalAF, Anthony Davis, Talking Feds and Keith Olberman-all on You Tube. They are free unless you want to join to support them.
Thank you for this. I am so, so uninterested in the blame game I’m seeing in newspaper headlines right now. It’s like blaming a rape victim for her rapist’s action because she wore an attractive dress. Frankly, it angers me, and I don’t need the anger either. What I do need is the hope you offer in this piece.
Thanks Margaret. Your point re the MAGA message machine is critically important...most people do NOT get their information from traditional media which becomes more irrelevant to the national discourse with each new podcast, TikTok video or YouTube post. While I applaud your call to protect the media, I'd suggest resources, brainpower, and savvy would be much more valuable building an effective counter to the Rogans, InfoWars, OANs, Xs and their ilk.
Margaret, I admire everything you do and say and stand for. You have taken the press to task often and have educated us endlessly. However, the fact-based media HAVE done wonderful work about the once and future prez. True, we cannot count on mainstream media for all of our news, but WE NEED THEM. And that's not a joke.
As I noted in a separate comment, I will NOT stop my subscriptions to NY Times or WaPo. I need them. I also pay for print subscriptions to The Atlantic, The Buffalo News, and my Lockport newspaper (such as it is). In addition, I support the Investigative Post and the Rochester Beacon (a friend is the editor) financially. I am about to send a donation to the Associated Press, too.
I don't make these financial decisions lightly; as a household, we have many other obligations to family and important charitable works. We aren't rich. But paying for real news remains a priority. Always.
Thank you, Richard. True, Bezos' decision to pull the endorsement was vile. But I never use Amazon (too vastly big, too much money and financial influence for one man). Dropping Amazon purchases would hurt him more than a few dropped subscriptions.
(Should be free to read from my WaPo subscription.)
I am a former print journalist married to a retired journalist. Also a proud graduate of the small-but-mighty Jandoli journalism school at St. Bonaventure University. (Five Pulitzers!)
Also the daughter of a patriot, a 20-year USMC pilot (two wars), aeronautical engineer, and conservative voter of the best kind. Dad would have despised the once and future prez for his lies and immorality. I will continue my resistance in his honor.
This will be no easy task but must be done else Dems will keep losing. People like Adam Kinzinger too should go on all the bro podcasts. There is a reason RFK ended up helping Trump more than people know, he went on all the podcasts and many smart people rightfully do want changes in health in America, all of this helped Trump more than the pundits know.
The MSM besides MSNBC and even they were sketchy were NO help as they normalized Trump, we can’t depend on them any more and their influence is weaker than ever before. We now live in an age of misinformation and disinformation and propaganda . And the side that is taking us in the wrong direction is winning
I hate to say this but I'm not sure big media survives this. Even if they do, they are not the vehicle we need. Their stories used to set the tone for a lot of smaller media, but they have abandoned democracy, and the masses who need to be informed don't read their papers. We still need quality journalists but we will need to find a place for them in re-imagined new channels of media.
Agreed. And this substack appears to be the kind of media that will actually help us share real alarm and appropriate strategies for community mobilization. It has already begun. As I read it, I have come to call it hopescrolling. We are already scared, but we need to share our commitment to help prevent despair. And considering the voters who were actively misled or merely ignorant we need to keep telling them the truth and welcoming them to join the reality based community.
the Democratic Party is fundamentally broken. The "Davos Dems," created in the 1990s, prioritized corporate interests over community. They outsourced organizing to data firms and parachuted in people during election time from outside the community to do work that local organizers had traditionally done. That model collided head-on with the era of Bowling Alone (I always come back to that book), which describes an increasingly atomized, lonely, and disconnected society.
Trump capitalized on this void, offering millions of people a sense of belonging. His "cult" is actually a church—a place where people who feel ignored or left behind find meaning and connection. They don’t need to bus in volunteers; they already know each other.
About ten years ago, I met the head of NYC’s SEIU. He lamented that younger, newer union members viewed it simply as an insurance company providing benefits, without any real sense of community or connection to other members or the union itself. I asked him what they were doing to build community, and the answer was sending emails. In other words, nothing. Couple the lack of community with the constant bombardment of transactional fundraising appeals and you have people feel more alone than ever.
After 2016, rather than rebuilding the party, we built a parallel infrastructure—Indivisible, Swing Left, and others—to organize and turn out the vote. But that’s not enough. We need to create a political party for the 21st century—one with deep local roots, full-time organizers who connect people to one another, take care of people, build real community and do politics together. The Democratic Party needs to shift from a transactional model to a relational one. And one with a dedicated, ongoing communications department.
I like very much what you’ve written here. Ben Wikler is one, I think, who understands this very well. We need to clone him. Also, along with Bowling Alone, I recommend Theda Skocpol, who has done extensive field work examining how organization-building works on the ground. Here’s a good, shorter piece from her: https://democracyjournal.org/arguments/middle-america-reboots-democracy/ Also, as someone who was part of the Indivisible push that led to a blue wave in 2018, it was very disappointing to see how quickly that effort dissolved. Skocpol has written about that, too: https://prospect.org/politics/resistance-disconnect-indivisible-national-local-activists/ I think the latter article, particularly, goes directly to your great insight that we need to rebuild the party itself, not simply make a parallel structure alongside it.
I would like to see journalism with a partisan mission to enhance our institutions and make them actually democratic (small d intentional.) As they exist now the news sections hope for big stories exist in finding corruption in government institutions or campaign minutia.
Let's make space for the big things: discussing the veto points in the constitution fulfilling the framers' fear of too drastic of changes preventing necessary action from government until it is done at the last moment with less effectiveness and greater costs; that the rise of parties (factions in the language of the founding) creates alliances between the branches that mediate the checks the can exercise on each other (can you picture any president getting removed from office with the 2/3 majority required?); the way that a small percentage of the population can have a Senate majority, etc.
Let's lift the stigma on positive portrayal of government programs. Talk up IRA funded projects and if there is a need for balance probe why some programs are taking so long to come online (rural broadband would be a good start.)
Asking for these things will get you accusations of desiring Pravda however. I don't know to get across to journalists that defending the institutions that make a free press possible has to be part of real freedom of the press.
I get very animated and sometimes write faster than I can think. What hasn't clicked for most people is that the mission of objectivity was only possible because market forces made it so (this is obviously way too big of a topic for a comment) in newspapers and that broadcast news was accepted as necessary public service that may even lose money for the networks. Now the market is vastly different and journalists' ethic are not inline with the incentive for publishers...
YES! This. help us, Margaret, to make this vital point. Asking for these things will get you accusations of desiring Pravda however. I don't know to get across to journalists that defending the institutions that make a free press possible has to be part of real freedom of the press.
What is sad to me is that the message of the Democrats--stand against autocracy and for democracy--didn't sell. I read it as a failure of public education. Schools have systematically turned curricula away from the arts and humanities to our own detriment.
Mainstream media is so much less influential that it has been in the past and the American billionaires who own it are more concerned with kowtowing to preserve their own billions than supporting an agenda of freedom and responsibility.
Set up and fund a system of civics education through social media and podcasts, community organizations and, yes, schools and universities. iCivics is one organization that has excellent resources and curricula, as does Educating for American Democracy, and Facing History and Ourselves.
Fund documentaries and air them freely (PBS does this, but only the old choir watches PBS, unfortunately). Make it entertaining - and add short clips, TikTok style. In fact, sponsor young influencers to create their own - and pay them to do it responsibly, using facts and history!
We are NOT all MAGA, but we are all responsible for making sure succeeding generations understand that freedom isn't free, but that we all have the power to advocate for ourselves and our communities.
I don't know who coordinates and pays for all this (I don't think the DNC has really done a stellar job lately but, then, what do I know), but surely there are those who will step up to support such a public effort!
How many billions of dollars were spent on the past election by us anti-trumpers reading this post? Can’t we figure out a way to use our resources to better counter the MAGA messaging so that it is heard by those who don’t know what they don’t know? Post like this are making us stronger…like Maddow said, “Join something!” and spread this good messaging far and wide.
Yes, Jane, I agree. We need to lay the groundwork to seed new growth. It starts on the local levels. There's a reason it's called "grassroots" organizing. But to bear fruit, it has to be sustainable. Everyone can do a little bit to water, fertilize and tend those grassroots--even if it's just doing more listening to what's on peoples' minds who disagree without judgment.
We've been warning that the republicans will do away with our democracy for a long time and people no longer take it seriously. There's always been just enough opposition to contain them. This time there may not be.
Whether this is true or not, it feels like we have to stop waiting for other people to solve the problem. It's in our hands. So to everyone reading, what is one thing you can and will do to know, protect and defend our Constitution?
Those educational resources look good, and could be used by anyone to learn more! Thanks for those! Also, there are stats that show the "issues" that were important to the democrats were not the same as the Gop. This is why saving democracy, women's issues, or any environmental issues did not push the needle. It was not on the maga leader's agenda. The magas voted for what the leaders of their cult told them to which was supposedly a broken economy, and immigration problems and that the GOP would fix those. They are in a different reality, and now all of us have to deal with it. I think we do need to let them find out just what they signed up for.
We're living through a disruption of how people apprehend their/our surroundings as radical as the invention and dissemination of the printing press. That round took the Thirty Years War and Protestantism to resettle into some kind of equilibrium -- one which only gradually improved the conditions of most people.
We can't quite know where and and how we are going, but we can recognize the humane and generous as it floats up amid the wreckage, amplify where possible, comfort where necessary, if able. And demand that the humanity of all be recognized, always.
I think one thing democrats need to do is tell stories. By that I mean start making it clearer what they are doing on the local level and tell it. They can’t rely on the media in most places because local media doesn’t exist anymore or is miles away from their region (saw an ad for a Wheeling, WV newspaper ad job based in Baltimore, Md for example). But when they tell these stories they need to explain them better. Ie. This bridge is from the Biden adminstration etc.. Because if no one knows what you are doing, then they won’t see there’s stuff they can do. And there’s a lot that can be done, even if in the Senate you talk for 72 hrs to stop an appointment from happening.
Side note: Your students are so lucky to have you to lead and mediate the conversation! My daughter is at Barnard, and I am so glad she has smart poly sci and climate change professors (as well as peers) to offer perspective. Because I am too much of an upset hothead to do more than rant and rave right now.
Thank you for these smart (and level-headed) links.
I think most of us feel powerless. We're not giving up but we don't know what we can do to help. Sending money has limits and is extraordinarily passive. Demonstrations are risky (will become riskier) and the reporting is scant (not accidentally).
We do need to construct an activity where we can all participate, where we can see others participating as well (visibility matters) and where the impact can be felt.
I don't think Jeff Bezos likes Trump - but he likes losing contracts even less. The same applies to the NYT and Jamie Dimon. If we want them to change their behavior we need to give them an economic reason to do so. I am suggesting targeted boycotts. I think we might even get a twofer. Perhaps we should speak with our neighbors and friends. Suggest that terminating their relationship with the NYT is a good idea and instead subscribing to another paper that reflects their values (Hello Philadelphia Inquirer, Teen Vogue). Yes we will miss the great reporting. The good articles, the nice analysis. But they have harmed our country. Our Democracy. They did it for the money. We can start with the NYT. We can then use social media (maybe Mastodon) to discuss the next target. We can put stickers on our cars. We should encourage our elected officials to do their bit but a boycott is something we can all do now.
Heck, we could even subscribe to Margaret's stuff.
We need the liberal billionaires to start funding anti-propaganda outfits. PragerU’s podcasts, maybe help make basic front page news free, could Craigslist sponsor a free AP news feed?
As long as the American populace is awash in misinformation there’s no chance to improve things in this country.
I actually had a conversation with someone about forming our own incorporations and LLCs, to try and build capital through stock sales and such. It's only an unformed idea at the moment, and may not be feasible, but the idea of everyone pooling resources through stock sales to build up a counter-weight in that manner has some appeal.
Great post. But regarding Susan Collins, when someone shows you who they are, believe them.
That’s a fair point!
Amy Fried is a great source for Maine politics.
What she's shown is that she's persuadable, depending on the persuasions offered but, unlike and honest crook, she doesn't stay bought. Effective pressure on Collins will have to start at home, but might be reinforced by Democratic leadership if some develops. Neill's comment on the DNC is especially apropos in this situation.
May be, but her votes for Trump's three justices, her sellout on climate and her MAGA tilt in her last campaign suggest something lots worse than "persuadable" to me.
No argument. We should definitely not trust her, but if we can play her and pick up some votes, we should do that.
If Trump's favorable numbers tank like Biden's did, and they may, people like her may rediscover their consciences. But even lame duck Rs have been scared to cross Trump.
I corrected an error in my reply: Collins DID vote to convict Trump.
Exactly. She is one who should have “learned [her] lesson” but didn’t.
There is Lisa Murkowski and she dislikes Trump a great deal.
Except for his willingness to destroy Alaska wilderness and massacre its wildlife, where she's gung-ho. And his anything-goes stance towards Big Oil. Tongass logging, Refuge oil leases, and Pebble Mine will be back on the table. But yes, she stood up to him on some issues.
Both Collins and murkowski voted with McCain against repealing the affordable care act.
Thank you for your writing and advocacy, and thank you for opening your comments section to everyone. I know it invites trolls and bots, but dammit—why is so much “good” content behind paywalls, while “bad” content is free? Anyone can log on to youtube and watch hours of video from right-wing provocateurs, but a sensible critique by most major media is behind a paywall. How do we get around that?
I’m thinking of Will Bunch, who writes incredible columns for the Philadelphia Inquirer. Usually I’m lucky enough to read from a gift link posted by someone who subscribes to that paper—but that doesn’t help most readers.
My advice to everyone: read books, ride a bike. Two very subversive activities!
Great advice! And I agree about paywalls. I try to gift-link when I can. It’s a problem that the verified, reported stuff is inaccessible to most; this is one of the reasons I like writing for the Guardian. They ask for donations but there is no paywall.
We need to get this point out front. The airwaves on A.M. radio and Fox News are drowning our least educated citizens. Most of the least educated are good, hard working people, many whom we love. They just don’t know what they don’t know.
I support the Guardian and three Substack writers. I want the well-informed writers to earn a good income from their hard work. I will slowly add to my paid subscriptions. Thank you to the many substack writers who allow their articles to be freely read and shared.
I also support the ACLU and Mother Jones, great defenders. I need to recoup after political donations for a couple months, then add to my paid subscriptions.
Precisely. We defeat ourselves with paywalls.
Thank you for sharing this whole post and all the useful comments collected here. I am seeing way too much Democratic recriminations and way too little media self critique about the sanewashing and normalization of Trump’s policy radicalism. The discussions about project 2025 barely entered legacy media (Don Moynihan got one oped) and the journalists accepted as truth the utterly incredible claim Trump made that he knew nothing about it. The transition is already bringing all those loyalists from Project 2024 into positions of authority. But what to do now?? 1. Hold the legacy media to account for covering the plans being unrolled now as the threats they are and not a normal transition. 2. Hold ourselves accountable for calling out the lies in our interactions with others.
Here’s one example.
I don’t usually do this kind of writing, but I needed to say something. Apologies for length:
To my Republican friend who can’t understand why I’m taking this election so personally:
We meet at the dog park almost every day. We’ve done this for years. We are friendly. We sit at a picnic table in our upscale neighborhood and talk about our dogs and our lives, vacations, my RV and your grandchildren. We commiserate about health and family issues. I wish you and your family well, and I sincerely believe you wish the same for me. Everything has seemed equal – or at least equal in the context of the park and the dogs - voting a matter of personal preferences and what I took as your good-natured needling about the Democrats.
But here’s the truth – we are not equal. And in this election, your vote did not only affect you.
I need you to understand that for me to be able to sit at that table with a wife, a good job, a new car (just like yours), a nice house, and many of the rights you never question has taken decades of struggle. For me, these rights are new and they are fragile. And I am now in danger of losing every one of them.
I did not have the legal right to have an intimate relationship with my spouse until the Supreme Court decision in Lawrence v. Texas (2003), a case that involved a man who was arrested for engaging in consensual sex with an adult in his own home. In their dissent to the majority opinion, Scalia, Rehnquist, and Thomas, called the majority decision: “a massive disruption of the current social order.”
My spouse did not have the right to inherit my property until the Supreme Court decision in US v. Windsor, in 2013. In this case, Edie Windsor challenged the inheritance tax on an apartment where she had lived with her wife for decades (they married in Canada in 2007). Roberts, Thomas, Scalia, and Alito dissented. Alito wrote: “Same-sex marriage presents a highly emotional and important question of public policy—but not a difficult question of constitutional law. The Constitution does not guarantee the right to enter into a same-sex marriage. Indeed, no provision of the Constitution speaks to the issue.”
I did not have the right to marry my spouse until the Supreme Court decision in Obergefell v. Rodgers (2015). Justices Roberts, Scalia, Thomas, and Alito dissented, writing: “If you are among the many Americans—of whatever sexual orientation—who favor expanding same-sex marriage, by all means celebrate today’s decision…But do not celebrate the Constitution. It had nothing to do with it.”
I did not have protection against job discrimination until the Supreme Court’s decision in Bostock (2020). This case established that Title VII applies to sexual orientation and gender identity and that it provides protection against discrimination. Kavanaugh and Alito dissented, with Kavanaugh writing: “Common usage in the States underscores that sexual orientation discrimination is commonly understood as a legal concept distinct from sex discrimination.”
Every one of these rights is under threat. With the exception of Rehnquist and Scalia, every one of these Justices still serves. Two were appointed by Trump. He will likely appoint even more. And recently, in the Dobbs decision overturning Roe, Justice Thomas wrote that all of the Court’s “due process precedents” should be reconsidered – including Lawrence v. Texas and Obergefell.
So now what?
We need to be truthtellers like this on every issue from deportations to trans rights to the economic rights that unions provide us.
Yes, thank you so much for the open comments. I enjoy your writing and the great comments.
Some of us are old political activists and want to stay relevant, but have limited means.
But I’m fighting for my kids, grandkids and two great grandkids. MAGA won’t stop me; I’d like to see them try.
And it is a cause worth donating to.
Exactly. On of my go to sources and I can get the UK news as well.
So even though you may not care for all the news in The Inquirer, you can read Will Bunch (who I admire), for only $1 for 6 months with the special offer.
I like the idea of creating our own bots within their information machine. These could be little AI generated truth bots that correct disinformation and foster taking care of one another.
This outcome is American individualism and capitalism no matter what.
Don’t we have to face up to the cold hard facts?
We did this to ourselves.
Racism&misogyny for some.
Apathy about racism&misogyny for many.
Journalism has to do some blame accepting, too.
The U.S. elected a criminal. The press for 10 years has put a frosting over rape, theft, fraud, treason.
So much of the safety net, laws protecting those who need protection are at risk/gone.
We have to refight re litigate battles won years ago.
Do we really think a group who couldn’t bother to vote will mount a resistance?
Yes, you’re right. face the facts. But I’m suggesting don’t despair over them.
Completely agreed. We owe it to our children to not give in to despair. Re: journalists, who bear a significant portion of responsibility—something tells me based on the initial coverage that they aren’t going to be pointing fingers inwards. The sheer volume of detritus they’ve put out since last Tuesday suggests if anything, they are not so secretly happy with the grist/grift they have to work with now. Can’t wait to read Maggie Haberman’s next book.
There are so many places to lay blame. Right now, I'm trying to change my defeatist attitude. Instead of thinking "Yes, but...", I'm thinking "Yes, and..."
Hope. 4 years is a long time
But in two years we could change things significantly.
I can no longer count on Democrats to show up.
ThankYou for responding.
I am in despair. Probably will be for a while.
Understood
I am with you in feeling hurt, California doesn't even have all of its vote counted so my advice is to keep feeling regardless of what other people tell you is appropriate. But also recognize that we have to turn despair into action or we are making the choice to give in.
[edit for sentence fragment]
I voted for Kamala Harris. Trump got fewer votes than in 20. Lots of Biden voters didn’t show up for VP Harris.
There’s only one conclusion.
I am envious that you got it down to one.
Things may get tough enough that people snap out of it finally.
I agree, if we would VOTE instead of assuming that the polls (or whatever people use to justify not showing up) make the results happen, they could move the needle in better directions. This keeps happening, for no good reason. I think it is easier for many to decide that someone else will do the work that is needed. BTW, that is why magas love their felon - they think he will do the work to save them too.. baloney.
The only thing I know for sure is that we need to take a page from the Republican book of tactics: Do not give an inch. Anywhere. Ever. And point out every failure, at top volume, every day. Gas prices go up a dime? TRUMP INFLATION. Jobs report didn’t live up to expectations? ANOTHER TRUMP FAILURE. All day, every day.
I have no faith in the Democratic gerontocracy to do this, but some of the younger crowd give me hope.
There’s no point in blaming, especially at this point, because things will be different in two years, much less four. Focus on what to do now.
And don’t forget those egg prices… climate change is rearing its ugly head and this cost has not been part of our economic conversation. In Oregon, a law prohibiting caging chickens for egg production went into effect, about Easter time when the bird virus struck. Our egg prices went up, but have eased somewhat. Before the Covid lockdown, a minimal number of producers were selling designer eggs:organic, free range, grain-fed, cage-free, Heirloom, pasture raised, vitamin and omega vegetarian. Now, with an egg cooler full of choices at $6,7or 8, the store brand seems cheap at $2.99, which my 50 cent coupon. I get that prices went up and have stayed up. Funny, the same thing happened the other times in my 74 year lifespan when we experienced the economics of inflation. So I expected nothing different. Maybe the truth of inflation is that prices are never going to go down, so our job is to help you make more in wages. The truth is when climate alters the growing patterns of our farms and gardens, prices are probably not going to go down. I buy a large amount of produce weekly, and those costs have more than doubled. It isn’t cheap to eat fresh produce, no matter where it is coming from. Add the deportation of workers and tariffs. The truth will not be easy. But we need to be honest and loud.
If MAGA is not who we are, like you Margaret, it's not me or anyone in my family, we have a couple of jobs going forward. 1) We need to do everything we can to protect and support those who Trump and his thugs will target. 2) We need to loudly and broadly call out all of the un and anti-Constitutional acts that Trump and his thugs engage in. 3) We need to build the infrastructure to kick these unfit violent racist misogynist haters out of office in 2026 and 2028 - and to make sure that there is no comeback opportunity.
Check out the Meidas Touch Network, LegalAF, Anthony Davis, Talking Feds and Keith Olberman-all on You Tube. They are free unless you want to join to support them.
Thank you for this. I am so, so uninterested in the blame game I’m seeing in newspaper headlines right now. It’s like blaming a rape victim for her rapist’s action because she wore an attractive dress. Frankly, it angers me, and I don’t need the anger either. What I do need is the hope you offer in this piece.
Keep the faith, as my dad wouid say.
Mine too!
Thanks Margaret. Your point re the MAGA message machine is critically important...most people do NOT get their information from traditional media which becomes more irrelevant to the national discourse with each new podcast, TikTok video or YouTube post. While I applaud your call to protect the media, I'd suggest resources, brainpower, and savvy would be much more valuable building an effective counter to the Rogans, InfoWars, OANs, Xs and their ilk.
Or we could just count on the mainstream media, Joe. (Joke.)
As a former NYT subscriber I agree re the joke Margaret!
Margaret, I admire everything you do and say and stand for. You have taken the press to task often and have educated us endlessly. However, the fact-based media HAVE done wonderful work about the once and future prez. True, we cannot count on mainstream media for all of our news, but WE NEED THEM. And that's not a joke.
As I noted in a separate comment, I will NOT stop my subscriptions to NY Times or WaPo. I need them. I also pay for print subscriptions to The Atlantic, The Buffalo News, and my Lockport newspaper (such as it is). In addition, I support the Investigative Post and the Rochester Beacon (a friend is the editor) financially. I am about to send a donation to the Associated Press, too.
I don't make these financial decisions lightly; as a household, we have many other obligations to family and important charitable works. We aren't rich. But paying for real news remains a priority. Always.
You’re awfully generous with the WaPo after what they pulled. Democracy dies in oligarchy.
Thank you, Richard. True, Bezos' decision to pull the endorsement was vile. But I never use Amazon (too vastly big, too much money and financial influence for one man). Dropping Amazon purchases would hurt him more than a few dropped subscriptions.
I really liked Dana Milbank's column on the situation. https://wapo.st/3AqB2W1
(Should be free to read from my WaPo subscription.)
I am a former print journalist married to a retired journalist. Also a proud graduate of the small-but-mighty Jandoli journalism school at St. Bonaventure University. (Five Pulitzers!)
Also the daughter of a patriot, a 20-year USMC pilot (two wars), aeronautical engineer, and conservative voter of the best kind. Dad would have despised the once and future prez for his lies and immorality. I will continue my resistance in his honor.
This will be no easy task but must be done else Dems will keep losing. People like Adam Kinzinger too should go on all the bro podcasts. There is a reason RFK ended up helping Trump more than people know, he went on all the podcasts and many smart people rightfully do want changes in health in America, all of this helped Trump more than the pundits know.
The MSM besides MSNBC and even they were sketchy were NO help as they normalized Trump, we can’t depend on them any more and their influence is weaker than ever before. We now live in an age of misinformation and disinformation and propaganda . And the side that is taking us in the wrong direction is winning
I hate to say this but I'm not sure big media survives this. Even if they do, they are not the vehicle we need. Their stories used to set the tone for a lot of smaller media, but they have abandoned democracy, and the masses who need to be informed don't read their papers. We still need quality journalists but we will need to find a place for them in re-imagined new channels of media.
Agreed. And this substack appears to be the kind of media that will actually help us share real alarm and appropriate strategies for community mobilization. It has already begun. As I read it, I have come to call it hopescrolling. We are already scared, but we need to share our commitment to help prevent despair. And considering the voters who were actively misled or merely ignorant we need to keep telling them the truth and welcoming them to join the reality based community.
Hopescrolling, Yes! 🙌🏽
Thanks Myra
the Democratic Party is fundamentally broken. The "Davos Dems," created in the 1990s, prioritized corporate interests over community. They outsourced organizing to data firms and parachuted in people during election time from outside the community to do work that local organizers had traditionally done. That model collided head-on with the era of Bowling Alone (I always come back to that book), which describes an increasingly atomized, lonely, and disconnected society.
Trump capitalized on this void, offering millions of people a sense of belonging. His "cult" is actually a church—a place where people who feel ignored or left behind find meaning and connection. They don’t need to bus in volunteers; they already know each other.
About ten years ago, I met the head of NYC’s SEIU. He lamented that younger, newer union members viewed it simply as an insurance company providing benefits, without any real sense of community or connection to other members or the union itself. I asked him what they were doing to build community, and the answer was sending emails. In other words, nothing. Couple the lack of community with the constant bombardment of transactional fundraising appeals and you have people feel more alone than ever.
After 2016, rather than rebuilding the party, we built a parallel infrastructure—Indivisible, Swing Left, and others—to organize and turn out the vote. But that’s not enough. We need to create a political party for the 21st century—one with deep local roots, full-time organizers who connect people to one another, take care of people, build real community and do politics together. The Democratic Party needs to shift from a transactional model to a relational one. And one with a dedicated, ongoing communications department.
I like very much what you’ve written here. Ben Wikler is one, I think, who understands this very well. We need to clone him. Also, along with Bowling Alone, I recommend Theda Skocpol, who has done extensive field work examining how organization-building works on the ground. Here’s a good, shorter piece from her: https://democracyjournal.org/arguments/middle-america-reboots-democracy/ Also, as someone who was part of the Indivisible push that led to a blue wave in 2018, it was very disappointing to see how quickly that effort dissolved. Skocpol has written about that, too: https://prospect.org/politics/resistance-disconnect-indivisible-national-local-activists/ I think the latter article, particularly, goes directly to your great insight that we need to rebuild the party itself, not simply make a parallel structure alongside it.
I would like to see journalism with a partisan mission to enhance our institutions and make them actually democratic (small d intentional.) As they exist now the news sections hope for big stories exist in finding corruption in government institutions or campaign minutia.
Let's make space for the big things: discussing the veto points in the constitution fulfilling the framers' fear of too drastic of changes preventing necessary action from government until it is done at the last moment with less effectiveness and greater costs; that the rise of parties (factions in the language of the founding) creates alliances between the branches that mediate the checks the can exercise on each other (can you picture any president getting removed from office with the 2/3 majority required?); the way that a small percentage of the population can have a Senate majority, etc.
Let's lift the stigma on positive portrayal of government programs. Talk up IRA funded projects and if there is a need for balance probe why some programs are taking so long to come online (rural broadband would be a good start.)
Asking for these things will get you accusations of desiring Pravda however. I don't know to get across to journalists that defending the institutions that make a free press possible has to be part of real freedom of the press.
Ugh, this is most of what I want to say but I am too tired and angry to write coherently.
It is coherent, be assured.
I get very animated and sometimes write faster than I can think. What hasn't clicked for most people is that the mission of objectivity was only possible because market forces made it so (this is obviously way too big of a topic for a comment) in newspapers and that broadcast news was accepted as necessary public service that may even lose money for the networks. Now the market is vastly different and journalists' ethic are not inline with the incentive for publishers...
Yes, Let’s create a forum for the ‘big things’.
Veto points, Constitutional literacy as a requirement for candidates, ethics codes, violations equal dismissal, etc.
Imagine if there was a cap on campaign spending? What would we then put our money toward..?
Substack !
Let’s support; wise words, valid research with links, human journalists, with wit & banter.
YES! This. help us, Margaret, to make this vital point. Asking for these things will get you accusations of desiring Pravda however. I don't know to get across to journalists that defending the institutions that make a free press possible has to be part of real freedom of the press.
What is sad to me is that the message of the Democrats--stand against autocracy and for democracy--didn't sell. I read it as a failure of public education. Schools have systematically turned curricula away from the arts and humanities to our own detriment.
Mainstream media is so much less influential that it has been in the past and the American billionaires who own it are more concerned with kowtowing to preserve their own billions than supporting an agenda of freedom and responsibility.
Set up and fund a system of civics education through social media and podcasts, community organizations and, yes, schools and universities. iCivics is one organization that has excellent resources and curricula, as does Educating for American Democracy, and Facing History and Ourselves.
Fund documentaries and air them freely (PBS does this, but only the old choir watches PBS, unfortunately). Make it entertaining - and add short clips, TikTok style. In fact, sponsor young influencers to create their own - and pay them to do it responsibly, using facts and history!
We are NOT all MAGA, but we are all responsible for making sure succeeding generations understand that freedom isn't free, but that we all have the power to advocate for ourselves and our communities.
I don't know who coordinates and pays for all this (I don't think the DNC has really done a stellar job lately but, then, what do I know), but surely there are those who will step up to support such a public effort!
Just my two cents...
That makes me sad, too. And I agree about education.
How many billions of dollars were spent on the past election by us anti-trumpers reading this post? Can’t we figure out a way to use our resources to better counter the MAGA messaging so that it is heard by those who don’t know what they don’t know? Post like this are making us stronger…like Maddow said, “Join something!” and spread this good messaging far and wide.
Yes, Jane, I agree. We need to lay the groundwork to seed new growth. It starts on the local levels. There's a reason it's called "grassroots" organizing. But to bear fruit, it has to be sustainable. Everyone can do a little bit to water, fertilize and tend those grassroots--even if it's just doing more listening to what's on peoples' minds who disagree without judgment.
We've been warning that the republicans will do away with our democracy for a long time and people no longer take it seriously. There's always been just enough opposition to contain them. This time there may not be.
Whether this is true or not, it feels like we have to stop waiting for other people to solve the problem. It's in our hands. So to everyone reading, what is one thing you can and will do to know, protect and defend our Constitution?
Those educational resources look good, and could be used by anyone to learn more! Thanks for those! Also, there are stats that show the "issues" that were important to the democrats were not the same as the Gop. This is why saving democracy, women's issues, or any environmental issues did not push the needle. It was not on the maga leader's agenda. The magas voted for what the leaders of their cult told them to which was supposedly a broken economy, and immigration problems and that the GOP would fix those. They are in a different reality, and now all of us have to deal with it. I think we do need to let them find out just what they signed up for.
We're living through a disruption of how people apprehend their/our surroundings as radical as the invention and dissemination of the printing press. That round took the Thirty Years War and Protestantism to resettle into some kind of equilibrium -- one which only gradually improved the conditions of most people.
We can't quite know where and and how we are going, but we can recognize the humane and generous as it floats up amid the wreckage, amplify where possible, comfort where necessary, if able. And demand that the humanity of all be recognized, always.
I think one thing democrats need to do is tell stories. By that I mean start making it clearer what they are doing on the local level and tell it. They can’t rely on the media in most places because local media doesn’t exist anymore or is miles away from their region (saw an ad for a Wheeling, WV newspaper ad job based in Baltimore, Md for example). But when they tell these stories they need to explain them better. Ie. This bridge is from the Biden adminstration etc.. Because if no one knows what you are doing, then they won’t see there’s stuff they can do. And there’s a lot that can be done, even if in the Senate you talk for 72 hrs to stop an appointment from happening.
Side note: Your students are so lucky to have you to lead and mediate the conversation! My daughter is at Barnard, and I am so glad she has smart poly sci and climate change professors (as well as peers) to offer perspective. Because I am too much of an upset hothead to do more than rant and rave right now.
Thank you for these smart (and level-headed) links.
Thank you; I learn a lot from them, too.
I know, I get it. That's a wonderful privilege and a bright spot of hope.
I think most of us feel powerless. We're not giving up but we don't know what we can do to help. Sending money has limits and is extraordinarily passive. Demonstrations are risky (will become riskier) and the reporting is scant (not accidentally).
We do need to construct an activity where we can all participate, where we can see others participating as well (visibility matters) and where the impact can be felt.
I don't think Jeff Bezos likes Trump - but he likes losing contracts even less. The same applies to the NYT and Jamie Dimon. If we want them to change their behavior we need to give them an economic reason to do so. I am suggesting targeted boycotts. I think we might even get a twofer. Perhaps we should speak with our neighbors and friends. Suggest that terminating their relationship with the NYT is a good idea and instead subscribing to another paper that reflects their values (Hello Philadelphia Inquirer, Teen Vogue). Yes we will miss the great reporting. The good articles, the nice analysis. But they have harmed our country. Our Democracy. They did it for the money. We can start with the NYT. We can then use social media (maybe Mastodon) to discuss the next target. We can put stickers on our cars. We should encourage our elected officials to do their bit but a boycott is something we can all do now.
Heck, we could even subscribe to Margaret's stuff.