Mpls has been my home for 30+ years. My home: my house, my wife, my life. There is nothing, nothing that has prompted this hell but hate. They want to hurt
We have looked to escape but there is only return, to home. We don't go down alone. Gobless Amerika. Slava Ukraine
Mike, thank you for these short, heartfelt messages. Your longer form pieces are brilliant, and I read as many as I can, but I am so inundated with info, disinfo, misinfo, noise, cacophony, and sheer horror that it overloads & hurts my brain sometimes to try to process a long intellectual read. Perhaps I’m alone in this. But for me, these short pieces go straight to the heart and onward to the soul. They land. They always bring tears, release….and resolve. Thank you.
Americans need to look at what the Jews in the Warsaw Ghetto did to the Nazis during WWII. They made then pay a heavy price before they were finally beaten. We are the most heavily armed country in the world. That shouldn't happen to us. Make the ICE Gestapo afraid to set foot on the streets.
When the arrests occur for, and the charges are brought against, the Trump regime, I am betting many criminal defense attorneys will decline to represent. Everyone has their limits. 🤲
Rather than attempting to descalate the situation in Minneapolis, DHS is sending in thousands more heavily armed "agents" under the pretense of cracking down on welfare fraud. It is obvious that the stage is set for provocation of violent response to any serious protest of federal invasion of "enemy" Blue states and cities. The lines are drawn and there will be no compromise. Yes, a new Civil War is a very real outcome. Unfortunately, this time we have the polar opposite of "Honest Abe" as president.
My question is, what happens when the shooting starts? MAGA now has its own heavily armed Gestapo, but it is inexperienced and undiscliplined. They might terrorize and kill civilians, but there is too much at stake for chaos to remain unchecked and allow a nuclear-armed Banana Republic to fall into anarchy. The Military has an oath to protect the Constituion and the Nation from enemies both foreign and domestic. Those of us who have been in the miliary know they have their own proud subculture with traditions passed down through the millennia.
Historically, when a government collapes and anarchy occurs, the military stages a coup and declares martial law to restore order. The disrespect and abuse Trump has directed against military leaders and their honored culture has probably not endeared him to the Joint Chiefs who know he is a threat to the nation and the Constitution. I can assure you that there are plans on the shelf for just this "doomsday" scenario and I am sure they have been dusted off and updated recently. It is ironic that what Trump did in Venezuela is likely a blueprint for what will occur here. Perhaps Maduro and Trump can become cellmates.
Having served in the military too and been exposed to unsafe senior military leaders, I don’t share your same faith in the military and its (likely) response to all of this.
Senior military leaders clearly led the unconstitutional attacks on Venezuela fishermen and then on the mainland of Venezuela, the unconstitutional strikes in Iran, and active duty troops in U.S. cities.
Let us all be clear that the only ones capable and willing to protect and defend the American people are the American people - not any institution or any agents of institutions.
The biggest obstacle continues to be the myths that have never actually helped anyone but those whose masks are all of the way off as they try to tear our democracy asunder. The biggest obstacle continues to be Americans believing in what they want to see, instead of being crystal clear about what IS.
First of all, it was not military leaders who instigated the attacks in Iran and Venezuela. These were political actions and came from the White House civilian advisers. Yes, the military held their noses and followed orders. But, reacting to a collapse of the U.S. government leadership and mass insurrection demands a different level of military command and control priorities. If the civilian chain of command becomes incapacitated or actually becomes a security threat, then there are existing protocols to follow including imposing martial law.
Secondly, I am not clear about what you mean about “accepting what is”. Assuming that the American citizens can somehow prevail against heavily armed federal agents is naive. “What is” obviously is the catastrophic dysfunction of the federal government and a collapse of Constitutional safeguards against a totalitarian regime. King Donald and King George have a lot in common. Hopefully, a new General Washington will arise to save us from ourselves. “What is” is a total reboot and it will be chaotic and bloody.
The "military" is supposed to refuse any and all illegal orders! It does not matter if they come from a civilian or a military person. This is an ABSOLUTE!
The military "leaders" are already guilty of violation of this principle and I don't expect squat from them when the going gets tough!
Cowardice is everywhere these days, save a few like Mark Kelly, Jerome Powel, The Squad and some independent media. Mainstream media are cowards as the world has seen some 90 years ago! If you can find 50 people in Congress who are stepping up to the plate, you are allowed to celebrate.
I am not sure of the point you are making. Nihilism is not a winning strategy. The military is our option of last resort. You better hope you are wrong.
No, you better hope you are right, and it’s not likely you are.
You speak with such confidence when the reality is you have no basis for doing so. That mindset of blowing smoke is what has gotten us where we are - too many people have bought the smoke, the illusions. We are WAY past semantics.
Thanks for your thoughts! I keep hoping our armed forces have a plan . They must be out of their minds trying to internalize this possibility! I wonder what ice would do if a US tank started toward them?
I guess you mean that authoritarianism does not equal democracy; decency does not equal despicability; climate degradation does not equal everything's fine. Your values, the writer, and your audience's, include, as a major, important, one the pursuit of truth.
It is not easy to hold on to the integrity required to yell 2+2=4 when so many around you are constantly yelling that 2+2=5, because, in their view, the first equation, while perhaps materially factual, carries with it consequences that are hurtful to some people. Honesty and truth are not, nor do they have to be, a person's top values: some favor equality over truth; others favor dignity over honesty.
Because 2+2=4 means that history is not irrelevant story-telling; that economic structures affect the daily life and the political life of societies. The United States of America, a country without a name (the United States of Mexico, that's a country with a name; the Federal Republic of Argentina, that's a name... America is an entire continent, and taking over an entire continent in one's naming ceremony is very telling of what one plans to do...). A country whose governments have, since its inception, regarded indigenous nations as subhuman groups whose land was up for white people grabs; a country that, since 1898, and taking over Puerto Rico (my country), been an imperialist power; a country that has underdeveloped other countries in order to develop itself... remember your values!??! Which values!??! The values of 40 acres and a mule, that mean, displace the natives and take this land, because where there is a gun there is a way!?!? The values of Operation Condor, by which the US funded and assisted dictatorships in the Southern Cone in their operations to disappear political dissidents? The values of the Central American dirty wars, by which the US military trained the soldiers that in Guatemala and El Salvador tortured and killed thousands of people?
And 2+2=4 also means that men are men and women are women; that children are not little adults (who can make informed decisions regarding their endocrine system, their future fertility, their future wants and needs, their future selves, basically; OR, who can consent to sex with adults, for instance); that fetishes do not equal race, sex, or other immutable traits used historically to oppress entire segments of humanity.
Humans are mammals, and they go through certain time-related stages (infancy, childhood, adolescence, adulthood, old age): no amount of surgeries or pretense or wishful thinking can truly change that, and not facing that truth can only lead to frustration. As mammals, humans come in two sexes (although an infinitesimal amount of individuals have anomalies of sexual development that give them traits of both sexes--there are only two such anomalies, although there are around 60 anomalies of sexual development). There is nothing hurtful about the fundamental aspect of the human species. Frustrating, yes. And does society constructs structures that marginalize and oppress members of the species based on their sex, their age, their looks? Yes. But that should not lead to yelling 2+2=5
I said the very thing about the civil war to my husband this afternoon. I am a Minnesotan and felt strongly that Minnesota had a huge part to play in the Universe’s current plans when the George Floyd travesty happened. And now this tragedy with Renee Nichole Good, may she rest in the sunshine that her family and friends say she was. My hope and prayer is that love will indeed take us home and this will be the beginning of the end of this abhorrent and treasonous regime
Mike says: ". . .the regime in Washington knows perfectly well that if they are impeached, removed from power, and proper oversight is exercised over the machinations of the federal government, they will be subject to criminal prosecution. For this reason, they will resort to brutal means to hang on to power." An insightful observation explaining why dictators resort to increasingly violent means to remain in power.
Newton's 3rd Law of Motion (every action produces an equal but opposite reaction) also applies to politics, meaning that the opposition tends to respond with violence to match, producing civil wars or revolutions, which, if successful, can result in similarly repressive and brutal governments (as we saw in France (1789) and Russia (1917)).
Had George III resorted to more brutal means of tyranny than those listed as "Facts submitted to a candid world" in the Declaration of Independence, our reflective Founding Fathers might have more closely resembled Robespierre and Stalin rather than Aristotle.
This line of reasoning makes it imperative for the opposition to peacefully capitalize on the advantage in numbers now and next November to short-circuit the otherwise irreversible escalation of violence on both Left and Right.
I like your thoughtful ideas, David. We would like to see harsh punishment of those currently in power when (if) we regain our democracy. However, saying that now only causes the regime to dig in its heels and be more violent.
I am not an expert on Truth and Reconciliation programs, but I've read that in South Africa, after Apartheid, it prevented continuing violence, because there had been too many offenses to prosecute each individually. Sort of a compromise that the nation needed to move on.
If any of you disagree with this approach, I completely understand. I had to hold my nose as I wrote it.
In my first post of a series titled THE UPSIDE OF THE DOWNSIDE, as an economist, I argue that another great depression is coming that will discredit Trumpism, resulting in a leftward political shift. The upside of Trump's downside is that he has exposed all the weaknesses of American democracy and right-wing economics, thereby providing a leftward government with a roadmap for corrective legislation. See: davidlsmith.substack.com
Sadly, you may be right. I’ll be publishing further thoughts on the subject on Substack. Those interested should subscribe. It’s free and loaded with good stuff. davidlsmith.substack.com
Never thought the second civil war would start in Minnesota, but here we are. Where the fuck is congress? Arrest every single republican who refuses to impeach and remove for treason. This regime has now willfully violated every single part of the constitution in less than a year. There will be no midterms, ending this coup with voting was akways a fantasy. Its way past time for we the people to storm Washington and handle these fucking fascist traitors the way the founders would have. The people fucked up very badly this time and sadly its on now on each of us to set things right because there is truly no one coming to save us.
It'll take a lot of loving to overcome the mountains of hate. I, for one, am not able to love the murderers, the abusers like Jesus would. I will not hate them either because hate gives more power to haters. However, resistance is in my blood and my blood is boiling. Josh Riley, my Congress person, is nothing short of a traitor to our Constitution and to his "constituents". He says thank you to Ice and went to Israel after his swearing in. I just love swearing at him! All these traitors to our Constitution need to be sent home- wherever that is; they must never get a pension from us!
We are indeed at just such a moment as you describe. It remains to be seen whether we will get through it without one or more seriously high-casualty events. I pray we do not.
"The following is a fictional narrative about an American expedition to Greenland in the coming year. It is written from the first-person perspectives of a military officer and civilian policy official in the Pentagon.
Eschewing the style of think tank papers, I have instead sought to provide a readable and more accessible account of what a very worst-case scenario for an American takeover of Greenland might look like. Indeed, any kind of military action should be considered worst case.
Like most others, I hope and expect that this troubling situation will be resolved in the coming months well short of military operations. But the world is an uncertain place, and there is no guarantee of that.
Sometimes, to prevent the worst occurring, we need to imagine it."
Stock up on essentials (food, water, medicine, clothing), get your documents and physical contact lists in order and easily accessible, get a first aid kit, learn to defend yourself and your family, and reach out to likeminded people in your local area. We are headed into treacherous territory, and there is no one who can save us besides ourselves.
General strike ASAP. Be ready fight like hell if this cold civil war continues to heat up. There is no time to waste, our enemies are marching through our streets
We have the numbers, and we have justice and history on our side. We need to summon the same courage and resolve as the protesters putting themselves in far greater danger in Iran. We need to fight tyrants everywhere in global solidarity.
My candle is glowing bright but those around me are trying to blow it out! They are like those little monkeys who see no evil, hear no evil, say no evil! When will there be the "shot heard around the world!!!????
I have called & left messages with my Congressional Rep & both my Senators.
We are dealing with a malignant narcissist with escalating dementia. He MUST go.
None of us are safe. He will start WW3.
He will invade Greenland & destroy NATO—to Putin’s benefit. Now we have a Gestapo.
Mpls has been my home for 30+ years. My home: my house, my wife, my life. There is nothing, nothing that has prompted this hell but hate. They want to hurt
We have looked to escape but there is only return, to home. We don't go down alone. Gobless Amerika. Slava Ukraine
Mike, thank you for these short, heartfelt messages. Your longer form pieces are brilliant, and I read as many as I can, but I am so inundated with info, disinfo, misinfo, noise, cacophony, and sheer horror that it overloads & hurts my brain sometimes to try to process a long intellectual read. Perhaps I’m alone in this. But for me, these short pieces go straight to the heart and onward to the soul. They land. They always bring tears, release….and resolve. Thank you.
I agree that short pieces can be very effective. Perhaps one narrow subject per piece.
💯. And to feel seen
Americans need to look at what the Jews in the Warsaw Ghetto did to the Nazis during WWII. They made then pay a heavy price before they were finally beaten. We are the most heavily armed country in the world. That shouldn't happen to us. Make the ICE Gestapo afraid to set foot on the streets.
I want my Nuremberg.
When the arrests occur for, and the charges are brought against, the Trump regime, I am betting many criminal defense attorneys will decline to represent. Everyone has their limits. 🤲
Rather than attempting to descalate the situation in Minneapolis, DHS is sending in thousands more heavily armed "agents" under the pretense of cracking down on welfare fraud. It is obvious that the stage is set for provocation of violent response to any serious protest of federal invasion of "enemy" Blue states and cities. The lines are drawn and there will be no compromise. Yes, a new Civil War is a very real outcome. Unfortunately, this time we have the polar opposite of "Honest Abe" as president.
My question is, what happens when the shooting starts? MAGA now has its own heavily armed Gestapo, but it is inexperienced and undiscliplined. They might terrorize and kill civilians, but there is too much at stake for chaos to remain unchecked and allow a nuclear-armed Banana Republic to fall into anarchy. The Military has an oath to protect the Constituion and the Nation from enemies both foreign and domestic. Those of us who have been in the miliary know they have their own proud subculture with traditions passed down through the millennia.
Historically, when a government collapes and anarchy occurs, the military stages a coup and declares martial law to restore order. The disrespect and abuse Trump has directed against military leaders and their honored culture has probably not endeared him to the Joint Chiefs who know he is a threat to the nation and the Constitution. I can assure you that there are plans on the shelf for just this "doomsday" scenario and I am sure they have been dusted off and updated recently. It is ironic that what Trump did in Venezuela is likely a blueprint for what will occur here. Perhaps Maduro and Trump can become cellmates.
Having served in the military too and been exposed to unsafe senior military leaders, I don’t share your same faith in the military and its (likely) response to all of this.
Senior military leaders clearly led the unconstitutional attacks on Venezuela fishermen and then on the mainland of Venezuela, the unconstitutional strikes in Iran, and active duty troops in U.S. cities.
Let us all be clear that the only ones capable and willing to protect and defend the American people are the American people - not any institution or any agents of institutions.
The biggest obstacle continues to be the myths that have never actually helped anyone but those whose masks are all of the way off as they try to tear our democracy asunder. The biggest obstacle continues to be Americans believing in what they want to see, instead of being crystal clear about what IS.
BAS, you are 100 percent correct!
First of all, it was not military leaders who instigated the attacks in Iran and Venezuela. These were political actions and came from the White House civilian advisers. Yes, the military held their noses and followed orders. But, reacting to a collapse of the U.S. government leadership and mass insurrection demands a different level of military command and control priorities. If the civilian chain of command becomes incapacitated or actually becomes a security threat, then there are existing protocols to follow including imposing martial law.
Secondly, I am not clear about what you mean about “accepting what is”. Assuming that the American citizens can somehow prevail against heavily armed federal agents is naive. “What is” obviously is the catastrophic dysfunction of the federal government and a collapse of Constitutional safeguards against a totalitarian regime. King Donald and King George have a lot in common. Hopefully, a new General Washington will arise to save us from ourselves. “What is” is a total reboot and it will be chaotic and bloody.
The "military" is supposed to refuse any and all illegal orders! It does not matter if they come from a civilian or a military person. This is an ABSOLUTE!
The military "leaders" are already guilty of violation of this principle and I don't expect squat from them when the going gets tough!
Cowardice is everywhere these days, save a few like Mark Kelly, Jerome Powel, The Squad and some independent media. Mainstream media are cowards as the world has seen some 90 years ago! If you can find 50 people in Congress who are stepping up to the plate, you are allowed to celebrate.
I am not sure of the point you are making. Nihilism is not a winning strategy. The military is our option of last resort. You better hope you are wrong.
No, you better hope you are right, and it’s not likely you are.
You speak with such confidence when the reality is you have no basis for doing so. That mindset of blowing smoke is what has gotten us where we are - too many people have bought the smoke, the illusions. We are WAY past semantics.
Again, I have no idea of what you're talking about. What is your point?
Thanks for your thoughts! I keep hoping our armed forces have a plan . They must be out of their minds trying to internalize this possibility! I wonder what ice would do if a US tank started toward them?
I'd welcome that end
2+2=4... Remember your values...
I guess you mean that authoritarianism does not equal democracy; decency does not equal despicability; climate degradation does not equal everything's fine. Your values, the writer, and your audience's, include, as a major, important, one the pursuit of truth.
It is not easy to hold on to the integrity required to yell 2+2=4 when so many around you are constantly yelling that 2+2=5, because, in their view, the first equation, while perhaps materially factual, carries with it consequences that are hurtful to some people. Honesty and truth are not, nor do they have to be, a person's top values: some favor equality over truth; others favor dignity over honesty.
Because 2+2=4 means that history is not irrelevant story-telling; that economic structures affect the daily life and the political life of societies. The United States of America, a country without a name (the United States of Mexico, that's a country with a name; the Federal Republic of Argentina, that's a name... America is an entire continent, and taking over an entire continent in one's naming ceremony is very telling of what one plans to do...). A country whose governments have, since its inception, regarded indigenous nations as subhuman groups whose land was up for white people grabs; a country that, since 1898, and taking over Puerto Rico (my country), been an imperialist power; a country that has underdeveloped other countries in order to develop itself... remember your values!??! Which values!??! The values of 40 acres and a mule, that mean, displace the natives and take this land, because where there is a gun there is a way!?!? The values of Operation Condor, by which the US funded and assisted dictatorships in the Southern Cone in their operations to disappear political dissidents? The values of the Central American dirty wars, by which the US military trained the soldiers that in Guatemala and El Salvador tortured and killed thousands of people?
And 2+2=4 also means that men are men and women are women; that children are not little adults (who can make informed decisions regarding their endocrine system, their future fertility, their future wants and needs, their future selves, basically; OR, who can consent to sex with adults, for instance); that fetishes do not equal race, sex, or other immutable traits used historically to oppress entire segments of humanity.
Humans are mammals, and they go through certain time-related stages (infancy, childhood, adolescence, adulthood, old age): no amount of surgeries or pretense or wishful thinking can truly change that, and not facing that truth can only lead to frustration. As mammals, humans come in two sexes (although an infinitesimal amount of individuals have anomalies of sexual development that give them traits of both sexes--there are only two such anomalies, although there are around 60 anomalies of sexual development). There is nothing hurtful about the fundamental aspect of the human species. Frustrating, yes. And does society constructs structures that marginalize and oppress members of the species based on their sex, their age, their looks? Yes. But that should not lead to yelling 2+2=5
I so appreciate this article. Thank you❤️
I said the very thing about the civil war to my husband this afternoon. I am a Minnesotan and felt strongly that Minnesota had a huge part to play in the Universe’s current plans when the George Floyd travesty happened. And now this tragedy with Renee Nichole Good, may she rest in the sunshine that her family and friends say she was. My hope and prayer is that love will indeed take us home and this will be the beginning of the end of this abhorrent and treasonous regime
Mike says: ". . .the regime in Washington knows perfectly well that if they are impeached, removed from power, and proper oversight is exercised over the machinations of the federal government, they will be subject to criminal prosecution. For this reason, they will resort to brutal means to hang on to power." An insightful observation explaining why dictators resort to increasingly violent means to remain in power.
Newton's 3rd Law of Motion (every action produces an equal but opposite reaction) also applies to politics, meaning that the opposition tends to respond with violence to match, producing civil wars or revolutions, which, if successful, can result in similarly repressive and brutal governments (as we saw in France (1789) and Russia (1917)).
Had George III resorted to more brutal means of tyranny than those listed as "Facts submitted to a candid world" in the Declaration of Independence, our reflective Founding Fathers might have more closely resembled Robespierre and Stalin rather than Aristotle.
This line of reasoning makes it imperative for the opposition to peacefully capitalize on the advantage in numbers now and next November to short-circuit the otherwise irreversible escalation of violence on both Left and Right.
I like your thoughtful ideas, David. We would like to see harsh punishment of those currently in power when (if) we regain our democracy. However, saying that now only causes the regime to dig in its heels and be more violent.
I am not an expert on Truth and Reconciliation programs, but I've read that in South Africa, after Apartheid, it prevented continuing violence, because there had been too many offenses to prosecute each individually. Sort of a compromise that the nation needed to move on.
If any of you disagree with this approach, I completely understand. I had to hold my nose as I wrote it.
In my first post of a series titled THE UPSIDE OF THE DOWNSIDE, as an economist, I argue that another great depression is coming that will discredit Trumpism, resulting in a leftward political shift. The upside of Trump's downside is that he has exposed all the weaknesses of American democracy and right-wing economics, thereby providing a leftward government with a roadmap for corrective legislation. See: davidlsmith.substack.com
David, I wouldn't count too much on "next November". Just sayin....
Sadly, you may be right. I’ll be publishing further thoughts on the subject on Substack. Those interested should subscribe. It’s free and loaded with good stuff. davidlsmith.substack.com
Never thought the second civil war would start in Minnesota, but here we are. Where the fuck is congress? Arrest every single republican who refuses to impeach and remove for treason. This regime has now willfully violated every single part of the constitution in less than a year. There will be no midterms, ending this coup with voting was akways a fantasy. Its way past time for we the people to storm Washington and handle these fucking fascist traitors the way the founders would have. The people fucked up very badly this time and sadly its on now on each of us to set things right because there is truly no one coming to save us.
It'll take a lot of loving to overcome the mountains of hate. I, for one, am not able to love the murderers, the abusers like Jesus would. I will not hate them either because hate gives more power to haters. However, resistance is in my blood and my blood is boiling. Josh Riley, my Congress person, is nothing short of a traitor to our Constitution and to his "constituents". He says thank you to Ice and went to Israel after his swearing in. I just love swearing at him! All these traitors to our Constitution need to be sent home- wherever that is; they must never get a pension from us!
We are indeed at just such a moment as you describe. It remains to be seen whether we will get through it without one or more seriously high-casualty events. I pray we do not.
It can definitely get worse.
"The following is a fictional narrative about an American expedition to Greenland in the coming year. It is written from the first-person perspectives of a military officer and civilian policy official in the Pentagon.
Eschewing the style of think tank papers, I have instead sought to provide a readable and more accessible account of what a very worst-case scenario for an American takeover of Greenland might look like. Indeed, any kind of military action should be considered worst case.
Like most others, I hope and expect that this troubling situation will be resolved in the coming months well short of military operations. But the world is an uncertain place, and there is no guarantee of that.
Sometimes, to prevent the worst occurring, we need to imagine it."
https://mickryan.substack.com/p/the-greenland-expedition
Stock up on essentials (food, water, medicine, clothing), get your documents and physical contact lists in order and easily accessible, get a first aid kit, learn to defend yourself and your family, and reach out to likeminded people in your local area. We are headed into treacherous territory, and there is no one who can save us besides ourselves.
General strike ASAP. Be ready fight like hell if this cold civil war continues to heat up. There is no time to waste, our enemies are marching through our streets
We have the numbers, and we have justice and history on our side. We need to summon the same courage and resolve as the protesters putting themselves in far greater danger in Iran. We need to fight tyrants everywhere in global solidarity.
My candle is glowing bright but those around me are trying to blow it out! They are like those little monkeys who see no evil, hear no evil, say no evil! When will there be the "shot heard around the world!!!????