You know how sometimes a sequel gets made and you think to yourself, “Why would they make another edition of a movie that sucked so bad the first time around?” Trump II has that feeling, no?
A lot of friends I have are stepping away from social media, taking a hiatus from news, and I kind of think it's not a bad idea. I mean, it's not even the inauguration, and the palpable dread of this next term is already weighing heavily on everyone. We need to reserve our outrage and battles for when the shit being described in the news right now is actually hitting the fan.
I already voiced this and I am not trying to nag the point.
But I did write my Senators, with links provided here on Substack and now that pedophile Frankenstein is outta Congress and not gonna be AG.
I ain’t leaning into this pessimism. Diddy’s going down. Everyone actually knows Epstein’s name now. This ain’t 2016, baby. The X-odus is happening. MSNBC is being sold. Putin is ramping shit up, because he’s scared. Bibi just got a warrant issued. This is not 2016 or 2020.
Everyone, take your vitamins, and take walks. Get some rest. Jan 20th is months away. Enjoy Thanksgiving as a harvest festival. Do not go gently into a dark holiday season.
Michael the waiting gets easier when you also read Heather Cox Richardson, Robert Hubble and Joyce Vance. I urge everyone to check them out for great historical and legal perspectives of today’s news.
Here's another take akin to this one. Whenever people hear about massive reductions to government spending, they probably think that any extra monies found will somehow get back to the people. Remove 200 billion from the Dept of Ed and send 200 billion right into roads and bridges, right? You'd have to look at what happens to these "found" funds historically. They end up in special projects steered by people in congress and their lobbies. The DOGE team till be led a couple of grifters who specialize in raising investment funds through massive speculations and drawing gross personal wealth from those investments before the speculations prove wrong and investors are left in the lurch. Even if they succeed in all of the slicing and dicing, do people really think more money will go back to the people? The Republicans have had 12 years to come up with a better version of the affordable care act. Not a single peep. That is just one example of thousands of departments to be sliced and diced.
Mannnn...I believed in America until I went to college and read Decline of the West. Oswald Spengler spelled out the inevitable in no uncertain terms and I've pretty much just been waiting around for this nonsense ever since. I still do believe in American exceptionalism, though, just in a sort of past tense. The thing is, for all of her sins, America at her birth stood in such marked contrast to the rest of the West, and I think this is the piece of the puzzle that so many on the left just miss entirely. Europe is looked to as a sophisticated better, and maybe it is, but in 1770's we were truly something remarkable, and, as a country, we have been truly and wonderfully remarkable at many points in our history. This coexists alongside all of the horrors we have committed. It is a both/and not an either/or. This is what I miss most about Harris. She grasped fully both the joy and the tragedy of America, and it makes me so sad we have lost her ability to hold both truths at one time, in exchange for this clown* of a president. (Except not a clown clown, more of a John Wayne Gacy clown.)
This interregnum has us all in suspended animation. When you’re surrounded by the Himalayas it’s hard to choose the mountain you’re prepared to die on. But Yeti still lurks.
We still feel icky because this time feels more than mere bread and circuses. There's a very real chance we're looking at a collapse. You can't put those kind of guys in power and expect the status quo.
As your friend Molly Jong-Fast wrote: during her most difficult times in life her mantra was "The only way through is through." I agree. Each day, do what we can and keep going.
I’m a sober heroin/fentanyl addict. Right now I’ve never felt a stronger pull to become an active addict again. It would certainly allow me to nod out for the next four years, if I don’t accidentally overdose in an attempt to get away from all this shit. Going back to AA/NA just seems pointless right now. I don’t want to hear uplifting statements about how I’ll be okay and to take it one day at a time. The unease is palpable and the relief is just a shot away. Nevertheless, I’ll do my best to keep clean. I wouldn’t place any bets on it though.
Thank you, everyone, sincerely. Trump and Co. have a devious, foul way of getting under my skin that feels like I have no other choice but to check out. I wish I could say I’ll be fine and remain clean for the next four years. Still, something deeply wrong—a touch of malice and unbridled hatred—that will define our country makes me see my fellow citizens as chaotic, uncaring assholes who, if I’m honest with myself, will make it much harder to stay sober than not. I may be in the wrong headspace, and a few months later, I’ll come out of it and question why I ever thought I could be an active user again. Until then, I have my two cats—brothers nearly two years old who couldn't be more dissimilar and hilarious—whose lives and well-being are my responsibility. If not for myself, then for them, I will stay clean. Thank you all again for indulging this idiot addict. I don't deserve it, but I welcome it all the same.
Hi, Jason, I’m gonna be that guy. 🤣🫣I’m active in meetings and Boomers are NOT fuckin handling this well. Many have expressed the desire to relapse or “not be here anymore”. And everyone just kinda sighs, like yup.
I do keep it in the day. I do walk in nature to find my HP. I read the literature, because it has the message, without unprincipled messengers or the either toxic positivity/conformity thumpers. I am praying like a mutherphucker and sometimes it looks like scream singing in the shower. But I need to know I am not alone and that this too shall pass.
Basically, bro, it’s working because I’m worth it. Fuck working the Program right now. White knuckle it. Grind it, til you find it. Don’t commit suicide in the slow or fast form.
Because I love you, and I am proud of you for sharing your struggle, and this small digital exchange made me stop worrying about court tomorrow with my former landlord. I don’t know you, but I FEEL YOU. Don’t fuckin quit and don’t forget you’re already a miracle.
And ODAT is actually right. I was one of thousands to write to my Senators and today, Matt Gaetz is no longer a House Rep or the future AG. Be a drop, and watch the tsunami rise.
I mean it, I fuckin love you, dude. Zip around Zoom meetings, camera off. You are not alone, in grief or hope. 💪🏽
I went to rehab 2 years ago for alcohol. The fact that I have no cravings today despite all this stress proves to me just how far I have come. Stay strong, we can all weather this storm as a nation. Don't poison yourself because of Donald Trump, hes not worth it.
Jason, we can’t let them demoralize us, then they really win. It is not going to be pretty or sane. BUT there will be effective guardrails and their own hugh level of incompetence. None of these cabinet picks are going to be able to fully carry out DT’s and Project 2025’s goals.
The good news from this morning: Gaetz has pulled out of his bid for AG. And he has already given up his seat in Congress, so that’s something to cheer about. Yes, there are and will be other terrible nominees but Dems are pushing for full vetting of all of them while Biden is in office. And in many blue states the Governors have been working behind the scene for months to protect the vulnerable in their states and to help people in nearby states (including some reproductive health care access). The machine (of Democracy) is grinding as fast as it can.
Please don't let them steal your sobriety. Stay clean in response to their filthy world. There are more good people than bad out there, and just because he won the election doesn't mean otherwise. You need to go back to the meetings - you know that, right? No excuses.
This is the "waiting for the hurricane" period. I (unfortunately) live in North Central Florida and we experience this feeling for the week before a hurricane will arrive. Covering the windows with boards (not here so much, but it's a thing), laying sandbags, making sure you have water and candles, hunkering down and preparing for the storm. The energy is EXACTLY the same.
Not sure I can or will follow all of your recommendations, but I do like your take on things. Keep it up.
A lot of friends I have are stepping away from social media, taking a hiatus from news, and I kind of think it's not a bad idea. I mean, it's not even the inauguration, and the palpable dread of this next term is already weighing heavily on everyone. We need to reserve our outrage and battles for when the shit being described in the news right now is actually hitting the fan.
I already voiced this and I am not trying to nag the point.
But I did write my Senators, with links provided here on Substack and now that pedophile Frankenstein is outta Congress and not gonna be AG.
I ain’t leaning into this pessimism. Diddy’s going down. Everyone actually knows Epstein’s name now. This ain’t 2016, baby. The X-odus is happening. MSNBC is being sold. Putin is ramping shit up, because he’s scared. Bibi just got a warrant issued. This is not 2016 or 2020.
Everyone, take your vitamins, and take walks. Get some rest. Jan 20th is months away. Enjoy Thanksgiving as a harvest festival. Do not go gently into a dark holiday season.
Michael the waiting gets easier when you also read Heather Cox Richardson, Robert Hubble and Joyce Vance. I urge everyone to check them out for great historical and legal perspectives of today’s news.
Congrats for season 2 of Have I got news for you !
Here's another take akin to this one. Whenever people hear about massive reductions to government spending, they probably think that any extra monies found will somehow get back to the people. Remove 200 billion from the Dept of Ed and send 200 billion right into roads and bridges, right? You'd have to look at what happens to these "found" funds historically. They end up in special projects steered by people in congress and their lobbies. The DOGE team till be led a couple of grifters who specialize in raising investment funds through massive speculations and drawing gross personal wealth from those investments before the speculations prove wrong and investors are left in the lurch. Even if they succeed in all of the slicing and dicing, do people really think more money will go back to the people? The Republicans have had 12 years to come up with a better version of the affordable care act. Not a single peep. That is just one example of thousands of departments to be sliced and diced.
Mannnn...I believed in America until I went to college and read Decline of the West. Oswald Spengler spelled out the inevitable in no uncertain terms and I've pretty much just been waiting around for this nonsense ever since. I still do believe in American exceptionalism, though, just in a sort of past tense. The thing is, for all of her sins, America at her birth stood in such marked contrast to the rest of the West, and I think this is the piece of the puzzle that so many on the left just miss entirely. Europe is looked to as a sophisticated better, and maybe it is, but in 1770's we were truly something remarkable, and, as a country, we have been truly and wonderfully remarkable at many points in our history. This coexists alongside all of the horrors we have committed. It is a both/and not an either/or. This is what I miss most about Harris. She grasped fully both the joy and the tragedy of America, and it makes me so sad we have lost her ability to hold both truths at one time, in exchange for this clown* of a president. (Except not a clown clown, more of a John Wayne Gacy clown.)
This interregnum has us all in suspended animation. When you’re surrounded by the Himalayas it’s hard to choose the mountain you’re prepared to die on. But Yeti still lurks.
Just came here to say that expendables trailer is fake
Did you see ICC wants to arrest Netanyahu for war crimes? Never a dull moment.
We still feel icky because this time feels more than mere bread and circuses. There's a very real chance we're looking at a collapse. You can't put those kind of guys in power and expect the status quo.
As your friend Molly Jong-Fast wrote: during her most difficult times in life her mantra was "The only way through is through." I agree. Each day, do what we can and keep going.
Trump kept saying he would just be a dictator on Day 1, so I guess that’s when he issues the new calendar
I’m a sober heroin/fentanyl addict. Right now I’ve never felt a stronger pull to become an active addict again. It would certainly allow me to nod out for the next four years, if I don’t accidentally overdose in an attempt to get away from all this shit. Going back to AA/NA just seems pointless right now. I don’t want to hear uplifting statements about how I’ll be okay and to take it one day at a time. The unease is palpable and the relief is just a shot away. Nevertheless, I’ll do my best to keep clean. I wouldn’t place any bets on it though.
Thank you, everyone, sincerely. Trump and Co. have a devious, foul way of getting under my skin that feels like I have no other choice but to check out. I wish I could say I’ll be fine and remain clean for the next four years. Still, something deeply wrong—a touch of malice and unbridled hatred—that will define our country makes me see my fellow citizens as chaotic, uncaring assholes who, if I’m honest with myself, will make it much harder to stay sober than not. I may be in the wrong headspace, and a few months later, I’ll come out of it and question why I ever thought I could be an active user again. Until then, I have my two cats—brothers nearly two years old who couldn't be more dissimilar and hilarious—whose lives and well-being are my responsibility. If not for myself, then for them, I will stay clean. Thank you all again for indulging this idiot addict. I don't deserve it, but I welcome it all the same.
Hi, Jason, I’m gonna be that guy. 🤣🫣I’m active in meetings and Boomers are NOT fuckin handling this well. Many have expressed the desire to relapse or “not be here anymore”. And everyone just kinda sighs, like yup.
I do keep it in the day. I do walk in nature to find my HP. I read the literature, because it has the message, without unprincipled messengers or the either toxic positivity/conformity thumpers. I am praying like a mutherphucker and sometimes it looks like scream singing in the shower. But I need to know I am not alone and that this too shall pass.
Basically, bro, it’s working because I’m worth it. Fuck working the Program right now. White knuckle it. Grind it, til you find it. Don’t commit suicide in the slow or fast form.
Because I love you, and I am proud of you for sharing your struggle, and this small digital exchange made me stop worrying about court tomorrow with my former landlord. I don’t know you, but I FEEL YOU. Don’t fuckin quit and don’t forget you’re already a miracle.
And ODAT is actually right. I was one of thousands to write to my Senators and today, Matt Gaetz is no longer a House Rep or the future AG. Be a drop, and watch the tsunami rise.
I mean it, I fuckin love you, dude. Zip around Zoom meetings, camera off. You are not alone, in grief or hope. 💪🏽
I went to rehab 2 years ago for alcohol. The fact that I have no cravings today despite all this stress proves to me just how far I have come. Stay strong, we can all weather this storm as a nation. Don't poison yourself because of Donald Trump, hes not worth it.
Jason, we can’t let them demoralize us, then they really win. It is not going to be pretty or sane. BUT there will be effective guardrails and their own hugh level of incompetence. None of these cabinet picks are going to be able to fully carry out DT’s and Project 2025’s goals.
The good news from this morning: Gaetz has pulled out of his bid for AG. And he has already given up his seat in Congress, so that’s something to cheer about. Yes, there are and will be other terrible nominees but Dems are pushing for full vetting of all of them while Biden is in office. And in many blue states the Governors have been working behind the scene for months to protect the vulnerable in their states and to help people in nearby states (including some reproductive health care access). The machine (of Democracy) is grinding as fast as it can.
Agree with everybody encouraging you to stay clean. Better to work for a better day in a few years than to check out of this world now.
Please don't let them steal your sobriety. Stay clean in response to their filthy world. There are more good people than bad out there, and just because he won the election doesn't mean otherwise. You need to go back to the meetings - you know that, right? No excuses.
Here's a total stranger on the internet wishing you the best.
This is the "waiting for the hurricane" period. I (unfortunately) live in North Central Florida and we experience this feeling for the week before a hurricane will arrive. Covering the windows with boards (not here so much, but it's a thing), laying sandbags, making sure you have water and candles, hunkering down and preparing for the storm. The energy is EXACTLY the same.
On behalf of neurodivergent non-billionaires, we don't claim Elon