No one needs to wonder any longer how nations morph into police states under the thumb of dictators determined to wreak vengeance and destroy the lives and livelihoods of millions. It happens gradually and then suddenly.
Editor-in-chief of The Contrarian, MSNBC contributor, dog and art lover, democracy defender, and pro-Oxford comma. Book recommendations welcomed.
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No one needs to wonder any longer how nations morph into police states under the thumb of dictators determined to wreak vengeance and destroy the lives and livelihoods of millions. It happens gradually and then suddenly.
Had D POTUS rung up $37T debat, started a trade war, knocked job growth down from the 200,000s to 10,000's , tried to fire fed gov, fired experts who had the temerity to contradict him and his cultists with facts, and sounded loony (birds and windmills!) we'd be in impeachment or 25thA territory
Rs, before the Trump cult took hold, frequently railed (rightly so) against communist and fascist regimes that nationalized industry, indulged in crony capitalism, and substituted propaganda for free speech. (The five-year plan is working!) How times have changed. open.substack.com/pub/contrari...
Even if you never been in a union, you almost certainly have enjoyed protection of workplace safety rules and benefits unions fought for over decades (e.g., sick leave, overtime). But unions have also been key in battles for civil rights, environmental justice, etc. open.substack.com/pub/contrari...
Fuck him. This is on his head
Leon W. Russell on the intersection of civil rights and workers' rights... BRAVO!! open.substack.com/pub/contrari...
Israel’s Exhausted Soldiers Complicate Plans for Gaza Assault www.nytimes.com/2025/08/28/w...
ya know, @mayorbowser.bsky.social can be recalled if she cannot manage to stop collaborating with the invaders.
A 20 year retrospective: Mitch Landrieu on the legacy of Hurricane Katrina .. fascinating and inspirational open.substack.com/pub/contrari...
such a marvelous piece: Unions are the only major civil society institution in this country that give ordinary working Americans reliable access to collective political power. open.substack.com/pub/contrari...
This Labor Day, we’re going LIVE! Workers built this country, and they’ll define its future. Join us for a special coverage with leaders of the pro-worker movement on The Contrarian Substack + YouTube.
If you are a professional economist sign here!!
Is the Trump Regime Trying to Kill Us? The CDC meltdown is part of an epidemic ... assaults across the board on health and safety open.substack.com/pub/contrari...
Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi ... a model in so many ways, an inspiration to fight, fight, fight open.substack.com/pub/contrari...
Trump badly underwater on crime and economy. 37% approval overall. Americans tell him to keep his tiny little hands off the Smithsonian. KEEP POUNDING AWAY, folks poll.qu.edu/poll-release...
www.politico.com/news/magazin... If Powell does not come to Cook’s defense and continue to treat her as a governor-in-good-standing, he will be the Fed chair who oversaw the destruction of the Federal Reserve’s prized independence.. like Roberts presiding over demise of the S Ct.
Whether persecuting Abrego Garcia, threatening Fed independence, or eradicating military/civilian law enforcement divide, Trump is full on fascist. Unless states and ultimately the SCt (which created this monster) blows the whistle, democ is kaput open.substack.com/pub/contrari...
“Your clients are absolutely forbidden at this juncture to remove Mr. Abrego Garcia from the continental United States.... You can't condition the relinquishment of constitutional rights in that regard." Will govt keep humiliating itself or looks for an off-ramp? open.substack.com/pub/contrari...
As Trump’s approval numbers sink under the weight of repeated failure and flubs and the Democrats race to a huge advantage in the generic polling, his panic has escalated, causing him to resort to ever more extreme authoritarian moves. Last 3 fascist moves show it open.substack.com/pub/contrari...
unfortunately business leaders are continuing to cower as they often do when facing fascists
Labor champion Frances Perkins almost wasn't FDR’s Labor secretary... love this, one of my personal heroes open.substack.com/pub/contrari...
Lisa Cook's Unjust, Illegal Firing- BRAVO... where are the other voices? the defenders of Fed independence? former Treasury Sectys? open.substack.com/pub/econjare...
BRAVA!!
As constitutional scholar Larry Tribe put it to me recently: “The presumption of regularity rests on what has become a counterfactual assumption of normalcy.” It is time to make the presumption of irregularity (i.e. bad faith) when it comes to the Trump crowd. open.substack.com/pub/contrari...
Justin Wolfers: Trump's economic standoff with the Fed Reserve... fascinating and hilarious open.substack.com/pub/contrari...
Trump regime’s arrogant abuse of power in manipulating state officials and independent agencies to execute its program of revenge should shock Americans. Fortunately, MAGA persecution of Media Matters shocked the judge who delivered a rip-roaring defense of 1stA open.substack.com/pub/contrari...
Recognition that the MAGA-ized court majority, devoid of judicial integrity, is nothing but a band of partisan hacks should inform democracy advocates’ agenda.
Another outlandish, SCt decision from “emergency” docket underscored only substantial reform can halt its constitutional trail of destruction. Meanwhile, a district court judge and a plucky media watchdog reminded us that the 1stA is the bedrock of our democracy. open.substack.com/pub/contrari...
Time for the presumption of IRregularity www.mediaite.com/media/tv/we-...
English setter
Dog TV
Pam Bondi is deplorable open.substack.com/pub/contrari...
When do we get fines for shoe removal?
www.nytimes.com/2025/08/23/o... superb piece
Give this man a raise: Bob Clark, vice president of marketing for Herr Foods, Inc., said the company was surprised to see its chips mentioned in the press. “While we can’t speak to the details of the story,” he said, “we can confirm that our Sour Cream & Onion flavor is money.”
Where in the World is Tim Mak? Analyzing the Trump-Putin summit... crucial reporting and analysis open.substack.com/pub/contrari...
open.substack.com/pub/contrari... utterly delightful!!
It was a precisely choreographed diplomatic maneuver designed to contain and redirect Trump, to drown out Trump’s talk of “land swaps” (land Russia occupies and land it has failed to take militarily), and to reaffirm democratic values—even when the world’s only superpower cannot and will not do so.
On one level, it is embarrassing that a democratic leader facing down military aggression needed “protection” from a U.S. president, but that is the upside-down world we now inhabit—one in which the U.S. is a greater threat to Ukraine than it is to Russia.
They swiftly rose to a challenge, put egos aside, and stood to help defend another leader on the front line in the battle against an authoritarian bully (actually two bullies, but only one waging physical war). open.substack.com/pub/contrari...
A nation's memory is not a political weapon... beautiful, stirring piece open.substack.com/pub/contrari...
Couldn’t go anywhere near real residents who’ve have jeered and booed
LIVE IN 10 MINUTES: The Tea with April Ryan featuring Keisha Lance Bottoms and Pastor Jamal Bryant. Watch HERE: open.substack.com/live-stream/...
What a disgrace it has become
When a president fought for D.C. home rule, with help from MLK... wonderful piece, important history open.substack.com/pub/contrari...
evil is a shorter description www.mediaite.com/media/news/d...
Need some “I am Spartacus” activity
In addition to her vote for the big, ugly bill that slashes SNAP and Medicaid benefits to pay for tax cuts for billionaires, she has been a rubber stamp for Trump’s worst nominees, including Pete Hegseth. (So much for her sympathetic biography as a veteran and sexual assault survivor.)
A match-up between a courageous, tenacious individual for whom Medicaid was essential and an arrogant senator who has proven to deprioritize the real people she is supposed to represent has many Democrats chomping at the bit. open.substack.com/pub/contrari...
Katherine Maher on the future of public broadcasting in the Trump Era... why adn HOW you should support NPR open.substack.com/pub/contrari...
hope someone is keeping a running total of the damage: abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory...
Another must read:
Americans should seize the opportunity on Labor Day to join union members and leaders (who have been front and center in fighting authoritarianism) to protest peacefully.There are few more effective ways to show the bully-in-chief who still holds power contrarian.substack.com/p/trumps-cri...
Ferocity in court, D.C. government offices, and in Congress must match the public’s righteous anger.
If Trump, who pardoned violent Jan. 6 felons, actually cared about D.C. crime, he would not have appointed a TV personality or an unqualified political buffoon to the U.S. attorney’s job, nor would he have cut more than $1B in D.C. funding.
The telltale sign that Trump’s declared crime “emergency” is an utter farce? Trump claims the crime has vanished—in less than a week! open.substack.com/pub/contrari...
National Guard Troops in Washington Stick to Tourist Areas ... of course it is a show, they are doing nothing about crime which is already low www.nytimes.com/2025/08/19/u...
a worthy event... why are Ohio taxpayers funding Trump's fascist show... and what if their guardsmen are needed back home?? www.mobilize.us/commoncause/...
BRAVA!!
From Alaska With Love: Tom Malinowski on the Trump-Putin summit, diplomatic theatre, and the European Avengers ... Best explainer yet on what Trump is doing wrong and what needs to happen open.substack.com/pub/contrari...
www.mediaite.com/politics/ser... old enough to remember when ADL stuck to facts and universally respected. Just sad.
The other choices for "MS NOW"? Edsal and New Coke
It would be one thing for Zelensky to trust an honorable U.S. president with the fate of his country. It is quite another to trust one who has already repeatedly betrayed Ukraine (not to mention the United States) and who does not necessarily understand the concept of keeping his word.
It’s absurd to use Trump in the same sentence as “guarantee”... It is hard to think of a guarantee/pledge/vow/promise that Trump has not broken (e.g., his marriage vows, his oath to uphold the Constitution). open.substack.com/pub/contrari...
Really who came up with MS NOW??? Truly awful
Thank GOD he's so easily manipulated... wapo.st/3HrEWBp
next week: Why the Bill of Rights is a bother...
so much for personal liberties!!! FFS, this is just pro-authoritarian drivel: wapo.st/3Uy8nVf
Trump is right.. no Republican should ever, ever vote by mail. Ever. Not like 2024 when millions of you did. Nope. Never. Cut it out.
Protests Highlight Growing Discontent With Netanyahu and the Gaza War ... BRAVO. we need a similarly gigantic movement here. www.nytimes.com/2025/08/18/w...
Trump's storm troopers are doing nothing about crime. They are violently seizing immigrants.
Trump’s “big wins” turned into big negatives. His “summit” looked more like Robert E. Lee’s appearance at Appomattox. His D.C. and Texas bullying galvanized Democrats. And his economic agenda is gutting everyday Americans. No surprise approval 38%,disapproval 60, open.substack.com/pub/contrari...
Trump’s power grab has now emboldened D.C. residents, Democratic politicians, and anti-Trump forces around the country to rise in protest. His militaristic bullying has been met with righteous outrage. open.substack.com/pub/contrari...
In a summer of serial legal defeats, successive scandals, and sagging poll numbers, Trump hit new lows at the end of the last week. As with the big, ugly bill earlier in the summer, Trump’s attempts to boost his image and enhance his authoritarian reach backfired open.substack.com/pub/contrari...
www.cbsnews.com/news/protest... ... if they can do it so can...
Ukrainians didn't surrender in 2014, when the world refused even to recognize russian aggression. Ukrainians didn't surrender in 2022, when the world expected us to fall in 72h. Ukrainians won't surrender in 2025, either. For us, freedom and sovereignty are not empty words.
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archiv... just brilliant
"Hope will not come from above – it will come from us, from the streets, from the squares, from the hearts that are not willing to be silent ... If the government has lost its way – we will chart a new path." ... from an israeli protestor but equally applicable here
Calling Alaska a summit is like calling Appomattox a summit
Stalinesque architecture of USSR
contrarian.substack.com/p/contrarian... a limited win in court will not stop Trump
Trump looked weak, old. He is a punching bag for strongmen so he tries to beatdown on the vulnerable at home. A true bully.
going LIVE on Substack momentarily to discuss Reyes hearing and DC status - Don't miss!
contrarian.substack.com/p/undaunted-... Throughout his career, Brown has championed blue-collar workers, supported unions, expanded access to healthcare, and bolstered Social Security—all in support of what he calls “the dignity of work.”
www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/202... fcuk this and throw anyone in dC office who played a part in this out
The FBI figures under Patel
Cornyn looks like a desperate old man trying to morph into a MAGA. maybe he should just retire. he has disgraced himself enough
too fucking bad.. hire more stooges or stop getting rid of responsible attys
Trump's Folly.. brilliant analysis open.substack.com/pub/contrari...
Netanyahu deliberate policy to restrict food from entering Gaza and decision to occupy Gaza City ignoring IDF objections, hostage families’ pleas, and domestic opposition endanger Israel’s relationship with American Jewry and spawned internal crisis in Israel. open.substack.com/pub/contrari...
contrarian.substack.com/p/dont-be-fo... this may be the most important thing you read on DC
But they might ask if he has recourse vs a federal invasion
Good
Trump’s “test run” for militarizing domestic policing has begun in D.C., built on lies about crime and aimed at Democratic cities with Black leadership. Jen Rubin warns: Time is running out on the American experiment.
Basing such unprecedented action on the blatant lie that crime in D.C. is soaring underscores that our democracy is under assault. To write this off as a “distraction” misses the danger of the moment; the potential for unbridled deployment of the military for domestic policing.
The deployment of FBI and National Guard forces to D.C., and the (temporary) takeover of police based on a non-existent dystopian crime epidemic (following the deployment of federal troops to Los Angeles, based on a related lie) signifies we are in police state era open.substack.com/pub/contrari...
Fanone: There’s absolutely no legitimate justification for the way that many of these agents are behaving and the military-style show of force. If we ever do right this ship, this organization has lost all credibility. I would hope we would completely abolish ICE.
stellar piece, elegantly written: open.substack.com/pub/contrari...
no kidding... is mobster govt. thehill.com/policy/techn...
NYC ignoring ninny billionaires and clueless establishment Dems: sri.siena.edu/wp-content/u...