I would never argue that Trump is sane. But the problem is deeper than Trump. Biden almost certainly couldn't have passed an examination of psychiatric competence. Both Clinton and Johnson left trails of dead people on their way to the White House. Ordinary sociopaths are very good at hiding their true motives and putting on a facade of compassion. "I feel your pain." Trump is a lousy sociopath. He expresses his contempt for everyone else openly, and that's what makes him different.
The way to avoid having presidents like Trump is for the Democrats to nominate someone whom the people want to vote for -- a Bernie Sanders or Elizabeth Warren or Robert F Kennedy or Dennis Kucinich or Paul Wellstone. The people would vote overwhelmingly for a real populist over a faux populist like Trump. But Kamala Harris? She's one of a very small set of Democrats who would not be able to beat Trump, and the DNC nominated her by acclimation.
No wonder we can't look to the Democrats to solve this problem.
You’re tapping into a real concern about power itself. Leaders who polish their masks can be more dangerous than the ones who tear theirs off. Transparency in motives, even when ugly, can reveal more truth than rehearsed empathy ever will.
"The people would vote overwhelmingly for a real populist over a faux populist like Trump."
But only if he/she is a D - and any one who fills the bill will never make it through the D gauntlet and the Ds have pretty successfully poisoned the well for any 3rd Party candidate who does fill the bill - folks just won't vote 3rd Party even when that candidate is the best one on the ballot ... This is on us ...
I gladly voted for Jill Stein last November even though she had no chance - I dont understand how the Duopoly gets into power given their atrocious failures.
I do not believe the Democratic party is on the side of We the People. It seems to have largely sold out to wealthy corporate and donor interests. I think the Democrats are more likely to support social programs, which is very important (and can be decisive), but it appears not to be enough for many at current levels, since so much more is needed for decent survival.
People need health care, housing, food, childcare, transportation, skills training, higher education, insurance, medical bill coverage, and many people dream of owning a home, and those on social programs badly need a significant raise (not cuts). The time to rest and recover is also essential. Whereas some countries give all people a five week annual vacation, we here may get none or much less.
Life is tough here. Costs keep decimating people. The problem of the rust belt and the loss of livelihood and self-respect are terrible realities that do not get addressed. Corporations left. We are not likely to get them back, since they want hard work for low wages, which means that many good jobs are lost and with them a decent way of life.
The real problems of real people, addressed and resolved generously, is what people want, in my opinion. Some want a living wage to protect us from AI.
Trump is an example of an accident that is about to happen, as you recall trump lost all of his daddy's 750 million and then some at the Atlantic tables along with a string of failed business ,, remember that university did you get your money back ? And as he continues to fool and loot the American tax payers coffers ,, why are loyal Republicans standing by about to soon pick up the pieces ?.
Why do I say that ?
In life you can only show boat for so long ,, as many of the now closed and defunked hot shot closed hedge funds will tell you . They took about 856 billion with them , but don't worry the big boys and you the tax payer covered for them .. remember the Silicon Valley Bank and Trust) ?
So when is Trump going to get his come up ins ? It's high noon ,the train is coming into town ,I can hear the whistle blowing and the music is playing,,
,Don't forsake me old my darling
I bet A lot Sooner then later ,,
Let's just hope we can all get out of the theater before trump burns the place down ..and if the Republicans want to stay around and clean up afterwards that's ok with me .
Dr. Bandy Lee makes the case for Donald Trump’s gross maladjustment as a person. What impresses me about Dr. Lee is that she has not backed away from her accurate description of the insanity we all face because of Donald Trump and his ilk. The political, economic, and social systems that ushered in the dsytopia we see before us have been a long time in the making. As Mr. Nader found after courageously running for president, the power elite will make those who accurately describe the conditions before us from an honest professional and human point of view, pay. Today, all those of goodwill with a committed perspective attempting to fix the world we see before us, also pay. It can’t happen here? It certainly can and is now happening at the speed of light.
The question of Trump’s sanity and of those surrounding him is central to everything else, and yet as this interview reveals, we are effectively prevented from seriously considering, much less addressing it. Meanwhile, most of the mainstream media continues to cover the Trump White House as if these manifestations of mental illness are just alternative policy decisions, despite the illegality of many of them. Between Trump’s mental illness and the Supreme Court’s silent coup to remove virtually all constraints on the presidency, we are in a very bad place. Many thanks to Dr. Lee.
So much in this episode would generate another full episode.
Having lived with a diagnosed sociopath (diagnosis I only found out years after his passing), I never doubt that Trump was one of them. The manipulation is so extreme, it overwhelms you. For almost two decades the abuses just pilled up and it took me a while to stand up to his threats, at which point he backed off a little.
And that's a point that keeps coming to me. I can see the explanation of contamination as a valid one, I think that some on the republican party are on this group, while others are just cowards - as is half of the world. There are too many people with power to do something, or at least try to do something that are capitulating to the first little threat coming from Trump. I fear the worst and can more or less understand the fear but since things are going from bad to worse at lighting speed, should we just call his bluff? I really don't know the answer.
We are living in a very dangerous time and imagining the worse is not that hard anymore. Only that what we might imagine as the worst maybe is not even close to it.
As for the No Kings protests, I agree: there is a place for joy. More than that, joy itself is resistance. We cannot live in continuous fear and dread, we need little things to keep going. I, for one, need to constantly remind myself of this. Not allowing the sociopaths to completely break us is one effective way to resist. Also, remind ourselves that we are many, they are few, as Ralph always say.
I do think that Congresspeople need a major intervention to bring them to a position of cooperation, where the Marjorie Taylor Greenes of the world can join forces with progressives. If we can do that, I am sure the Orange Sociopath will be impeached and that even the ones loyal to him today will not feel like they have the following to just defy the masses.
It is the only way other the other way that would not only martyrize him, it would make those who are waking up to the problems and turning away from that cult to go right back there. And it is illegal, a crime, we don't want that, as much a relief that would bring, let's be honest. We need to focus on working, organization, education , agitation (joyful agitation). Block parties with protest signs.
Finally, I would like to see Ralph comment on the 80th anniversary of the UN, the mostly useless organization that caters to imperialist nations and obey those nations that pay more, who have more power (the US). Has the UN ever been audited? how would that work? I don't understand the function of that entity as it operates today, in an era where most of the world (the Global South) is trying to move towards a multipolar world. Why are they still propping up the declining empires?
I have been following Ralph Nader since 1964 when my father bought a new car with something I had never heard of: seat belts. I have been following Bandy X. Lee since the COVID breakout in 2020. Both are now pariahs to many political progressives: Nader for splitting Democratic party votes in the 2000 Presidential election, and Lee for breaking a psychiatric guideline to refrain from diagnosing a patient without interviewing them with their consent during Trump's disinformation campaign on COVID in 2020. Their detractors are in my opinion too harsh. Their reasons for "going rogue" are defensible, and their facts and insights are invaluable. Highly recommended.
Nader didn't "split D party votes" - that's a DP trope, Nader votes were never D votes to begin with, those "political progressives" who trash Nader are simply carrying water for the DP
Albert Gore shouldn't have distanced himself from William Jefferson Clinton in 2000. And he also should have picked Russ Feingold as his running mate instead of Joseph Lieberman.
I am glad to hear Ralph and team discuss the No Kings protest.
I have been so upset about the direction of our country that I have needed to speak up and be heard and not be silent and appear complicit, but I am scared to death by the cruel violence of ICE raids and kidnappings and deportations without any respect whatsoever for due process, not to mention the Supreme Court acting like we live in a monarchy with the shadow docket and its rulings that support a unitary executive.
Who knows where the next violent physical assault by our government on our people will occur? No one. My own Senator was assaulted at a DHS/ICE press conference in his own office building. Anything can happen. I do not feel safe anymore in the U.S.A.
I am old and have multiple difficulties, so to some extent I could excuse myself for my lack of participation, but my conscience was hurting. I was becoming more and more frightened and angry about all these egregious developments and what they portend for the future of our country, which looks bleak.
Before the recent No Kings protest, I looked up the protest locations surrounding my area. Unlike the other times when I have looked up locations, this time I finally found a protest not too far away from me. I could take only one bus for less than an hour to get from my area to the protest.
I decided to go, and I did go. (Yay for me!!) And it turned out to be a great decision. When I got off the bus, people with amazing energy were saying with their posters and tee-shirts and chants and music exactly what was on my mind. I had found my people!!
I want to add to the comments by Ralph's team that support the JOY of joining with people who share my sympathies. It was a great antidote to the worry, upset, and isolation I have been feeling. 0ther people are against this outrageous, destructive, hateful, corrupt, cruel, self-serving way of operating government, too! Although I knew this, it is hard to believe in isolation. It is wonderful to experience first hand.
The area where the protest was held was near a very nice shopping center on a main boulevard that is strewn for miles each way with high-end shops and high rises and professional offices. The sidewalks are wide in that area, so there was lots of room for a big crowd to move around. Talking was difficult because it was noisy, but the signs communicated great camaraderie.
I don't know how big the crowd was, but to me it seemed huge. The sidewalks on all sides of the street, going East and West, and going North and South, were covered with elbow-bumping crowdings of people extending for at least one long block in all directions from its center. I had to look for a bathroom, and it was a long walk to get there, and crowds of people were lining my path. A nice lady took my hand and led me to the right place
Many stood at the curb and held up their signs for the traffic to see, and there were others across the street doing the same. People in cars were honking (I believe it was in support), and some in cars were even holding up their own signs of support.
One of the best things I remember was the wonderful music that took me back in time. When I hear this great music of Woody Guthrie, I feel and know l how much I love my country, how much I want to protect our freedoms and safety, and how much I need to protest against outrages that are now threatening every one of us.
Here is an example of the music. Be sure to notice the sign on the guitar:
Some people were blowing bubbles through the crowd. It was one great thing that supported the JOY of the event for me. It was fun to try to catch the bubbles in my hands like a kid and instead (of course) they burst, which is also fun. I like very much bringing our JOY and our LOVE OF LIFE and our EMPATHY for ourselves and others into play to defeat the hate and cruelty of this Administration.
It was a very optimistic, joyful, upbeat crowd of people who seriously do not like this Administration and openly said so. I am so glad I went to this No Kings protest. It gave me a lot of good energy. t helped me relax my fears, experience solidarity, feel hope, and even enjoy a sense of personal power. However, I cannot guarantee that protests will be safe in future. I wish I could.
This event was hosted by Indivisible, an organization supporting peaceful solidarity and non-violence. Indivisible provides the website and publicizes protest events. The events themselves are hosted by individuals who volunteer on the website to host a protest group in the local community.
I'm not sure about Ralph's comments that the organizers of these events ought to collect money, so these protests can result in the direct political action needed to make change. What do you folks think of this idea?
I will end my post with some of the words on posters I saw that might interest you. I wrote some pf them in a tiny notebook I had because I thought some of them might encourage me after I returned home. Here they are:
"ELVIS IS THE ONLY KING."
"MORONS ARE GOVERNING AMERICA"
"WE HAVE A CONSTITUTION - NOT KINGS"
"I AM ANTIFA - I FIGHTING FASCISM"
"N0 KINGS - IMPEACH REMOVE CONVICT"
"I LOVE AMERICA"
"N0 KINGS - SAVE DEMOCRACY"
"NO KINGS - NO FASCISM - NO TYRANTS - NO HATE"
"ANTIFA (USA FLAG PHOTO) FLAG "
"I'M SMARTER THAN THIS GUY (PHOTO OF TRUMP) AND I'M IN FORTH GRADE"
"WISDOM - OPTIMISM - KINDNESS - EMPATHY"
"OUR TAX DOLLARS ARE PAYING FOR THIS SHIT SHOW (PHOTOS)"
"RELEASE THE EPSTEIN CLIENT FILES"
"DON'T TREAD ON ME - DON'T TRUMP ON ME"
"HATE WON'T MAKE US GREAT"
"FREEZE TRUMP - CRUSH I.C.E."
"PROJECT 2025 - THE END OF DEMOCRACY"
"HANDS OFF OUR DEMOCRACY"
"DON'T MAKE ME REPEAT MYSELF."
- history
"THE BEST WAY TO IMPROVE AMERICA'S HEALTH IS TO FEED AND HOUSE EVERYONE"
"BURGER KING IS MY ONLY KING"
"NOT PAID TO BE HERE - WE JUST DON'T LIKE YOU"
"IMPEACH THE MAN WHO WOULD BE KING"
"HEY TRUMP - NO ONE PAID US TO BE HERE - WE ALL HATE YOU FOR FREE"
"IMMORAL - CALLOUS - EVIL"
"WE DESERVE A FUTURE"
"WHEN INJUSTICE BECOMES LAW - RESISTANCE BECOMES DUTY"
"THEY'RE COMING FOR you NEXT"
"RESTORE DUE PROCESS AND DEMOCRACY"
"NO KINGS IN THE USA"
"TRUMP IS AMERICA'S HITLER"
"DEMOCRACY DIES WHEN GOOD PEOPLE STAY SILENT"
"RESIST - INSIST - PERSIST"
"ELECT A CLOWN - EXPECT A CIRCUS"
"STOP ICE"
"DUE PROCESS - NOT KINGS"
"MIGRATION IS A SACRED HUMAN RIGHT"
'NO KINGS IN AMERICA SINCE 1776"
"F**K FASCISM"
"JUSTICE USA - NOT REVENGE. VOTE!"
'FIGHT TRUTH DECAY - NO MORE LIES"
"ONLY YOU CAN PREVENT FOREST LIARS"
"BEING ANTI-FASCIST IS PRO AMERICAN"
"OUR NEXT PRESIDENT WON'T BE ELECTED"
"IMMIGRANTS - WE GET THE JOB DONE"
"IMMIGRANTS MAKE AMERICAN GREAT"
"USA - WHAT HAPPENED? SAID THE STATUE OF LIBERTY"
"FAMILIES HAVE NO BORDERS"
"RESPECT MY EXISTENCE OR EXPECT RESISTANCE"
"IMAGINE BEING SCARED OF DIVERSITY BUT NOT OF DICTATORSHIP"
"THIS IS AMERICA - NOT I.C.E.-LAND"
"INJUSTICE ANYWHERE IS A THREAT TO JUSTICE EVERYWHERE"
"NO F**KING I.C.E. IN THE USA"
"I LIKE MY I.C.E. CRUSHED"
"FIGHT IGNORANCE - NOT IMMIGRANTS"
"IKEA HAS BETTER CABINETS"
###
Folks, one last word: I read with horror that DHS is now using that wonderful Woody Guthrie song, for which I gave you a link above, to promote DHS (which includes ICE).
That can never be true. Woody Guthrie was totally against Fascism.
I've read that we project on him and he projects on us. When the latter happens I believe that's what Bandy Lee has called narcissistic symbiosis. In Trump's case I think that means whoever receives the projection has, if not a mental condition, then at least a BIG personality problem. OK, what if an individual has too much a fear of what s/he thinks is anti-semitism; we know that in many many cases that's a mental state called relative ignorance. Or what if an individual has a fear of Russia out of sight and mind, beyond reason? Russiaphobia IMO is also only a state of relative ignorance, and yet if members of congress don't attempt to evaluate such fears they themselves have, they might not question letting Ukraine lob Tomahawks into Russia proper...for example (that's walked back thank God). The same goes for Iran. And for exaggerated threats to Israel...everyone in Gaza?? It's that middle "M" in MICIMATT very much to blame I think...media.
So could it be in this epoch in which we find ourselves that propaganda supported phobias are as dangerous as group narcissism? I don't know; seems like if someone like Trump just "naturally" suckered people into believing a war with Iran was necessary and also one with Venezuela, then all the little wars could stir up quite a little cloud of blowback, even if short of nuclear blowback. Mr Trump has the country over a barrel...with all his insane initiatives...because of that quelling-war-card he holds. A lot of voters may be thinking Trump talked peace when NO ONE else would [and support 3rd term?], but hopefully they'll observe Vance now sees the light on Tomahawks and "looks" like he'll push back some on Netanyahu. It'll be a strange strange world if the right chooses IMF/Muskian style austerity with the Republicans out of fear that Democrats will draft their kids to a radiactive Iran (not a phobia). I've seen that fewer Dems now favor arms to Israel, but what have they stood up and proposed in the name of ending genocide...I mean together? Chatgtp tells me the only congresspersons who have opposed arms to Israel and Ukraine are Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) and Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY). And now I see the Progressive Caucus has a rule they can't take a stand on Gaza.
I would never argue that Trump is sane. But the problem is deeper than Trump. Biden almost certainly couldn't have passed an examination of psychiatric competence. Both Clinton and Johnson left trails of dead people on their way to the White House. Ordinary sociopaths are very good at hiding their true motives and putting on a facade of compassion. "I feel your pain." Trump is a lousy sociopath. He expresses his contempt for everyone else openly, and that's what makes him different.
The way to avoid having presidents like Trump is for the Democrats to nominate someone whom the people want to vote for -- a Bernie Sanders or Elizabeth Warren or Robert F Kennedy or Dennis Kucinich or Paul Wellstone. The people would vote overwhelmingly for a real populist over a faux populist like Trump. But Kamala Harris? She's one of a very small set of Democrats who would not be able to beat Trump, and the DNC nominated her by acclimation.
No wonder we can't look to the Democrats to solve this problem.
Right on! Unfortunately this lively hope for the Democratic party to do what is best for the people does not occur.
You’re tapping into a real concern about power itself. Leaders who polish their masks can be more dangerous than the ones who tear theirs off. Transparency in motives, even when ugly, can reveal more truth than rehearsed empathy ever will.
To paraphrase JFK, "Those who made Bernie impossible made Trump inevitable," TWICE!
"The people would vote overwhelmingly for a real populist over a faux populist like Trump."
But only if he/she is a D - and any one who fills the bill will never make it through the D gauntlet and the Ds have pretty successfully poisoned the well for any 3rd Party candidate who does fill the bill - folks just won't vote 3rd Party even when that candidate is the best one on the ballot ... This is on us ...
I gladly voted for Jill Stein last November even though she had no chance - I dont understand how the Duopoly gets into power given their atrocious failures.
I do not believe the Democratic party is on the side of We the People. It seems to have largely sold out to wealthy corporate and donor interests. I think the Democrats are more likely to support social programs, which is very important (and can be decisive), but it appears not to be enough for many at current levels, since so much more is needed for decent survival.
People need health care, housing, food, childcare, transportation, skills training, higher education, insurance, medical bill coverage, and many people dream of owning a home, and those on social programs badly need a significant raise (not cuts). The time to rest and recover is also essential. Whereas some countries give all people a five week annual vacation, we here may get none or much less.
Life is tough here. Costs keep decimating people. The problem of the rust belt and the loss of livelihood and self-respect are terrible realities that do not get addressed. Corporations left. We are not likely to get them back, since they want hard work for low wages, which means that many good jobs are lost and with them a decent way of life.
The real problems of real people, addressed and resolved generously, is what people want, in my opinion. Some want a living wage to protect us from AI.
You're a national treasure, Ralph. Thank you.
Love You Ralph ❤️
Next no kings should include the extended family of thieves complicit for propping up the narcissistic Trump
Trump is an example of an accident that is about to happen, as you recall trump lost all of his daddy's 750 million and then some at the Atlantic tables along with a string of failed business ,, remember that university did you get your money back ? And as he continues to fool and loot the American tax payers coffers ,, why are loyal Republicans standing by about to soon pick up the pieces ?.
Why do I say that ?
In life you can only show boat for so long ,, as many of the now closed and defunked hot shot closed hedge funds will tell you . They took about 856 billion with them , but don't worry the big boys and you the tax payer covered for them .. remember the Silicon Valley Bank and Trust) ?
So when is Trump going to get his come up ins ? It's high noon ,the train is coming into town ,I can hear the whistle blowing and the music is playing,,
,Don't forsake me old my darling
I bet A lot Sooner then later ,,
Let's just hope we can all get out of the theater before trump burns the place down ..and if the Republicans want to stay around and clean up afterwards that's ok with me .
Good luck America have a great day my friends
Dr. Bandy Lee makes the case for Donald Trump’s gross maladjustment as a person. What impresses me about Dr. Lee is that she has not backed away from her accurate description of the insanity we all face because of Donald Trump and his ilk. The political, economic, and social systems that ushered in the dsytopia we see before us have been a long time in the making. As Mr. Nader found after courageously running for president, the power elite will make those who accurately describe the conditions before us from an honest professional and human point of view, pay. Today, all those of goodwill with a committed perspective attempting to fix the world we see before us, also pay. It can’t happen here? It certainly can and is now happening at the speed of light.
The question of Trump’s sanity and of those surrounding him is central to everything else, and yet as this interview reveals, we are effectively prevented from seriously considering, much less addressing it. Meanwhile, most of the mainstream media continues to cover the Trump White House as if these manifestations of mental illness are just alternative policy decisions, despite the illegality of many of them. Between Trump’s mental illness and the Supreme Court’s silent coup to remove virtually all constraints on the presidency, we are in a very bad place. Many thanks to Dr. Lee.
It is always projection with a narcissist, isn’t it.
Thank you Ralph and Dr. Lee. What do you think about psychopats banding together ie, Trump and Netanyahu?
Thank you for inviting her back on your show.
I would love to see a collaboration between Dr. Lee and Dr. Mary Trump about how deal with Trump’s psychopathy and lawlessness.
And I wonder how Folie a Deux factors in to Trump’s appeal
So much in this episode would generate another full episode.
Having lived with a diagnosed sociopath (diagnosis I only found out years after his passing), I never doubt that Trump was one of them. The manipulation is so extreme, it overwhelms you. For almost two decades the abuses just pilled up and it took me a while to stand up to his threats, at which point he backed off a little.
And that's a point that keeps coming to me. I can see the explanation of contamination as a valid one, I think that some on the republican party are on this group, while others are just cowards - as is half of the world. There are too many people with power to do something, or at least try to do something that are capitulating to the first little threat coming from Trump. I fear the worst and can more or less understand the fear but since things are going from bad to worse at lighting speed, should we just call his bluff? I really don't know the answer.
We are living in a very dangerous time and imagining the worse is not that hard anymore. Only that what we might imagine as the worst maybe is not even close to it.
As for the No Kings protests, I agree: there is a place for joy. More than that, joy itself is resistance. We cannot live in continuous fear and dread, we need little things to keep going. I, for one, need to constantly remind myself of this. Not allowing the sociopaths to completely break us is one effective way to resist. Also, remind ourselves that we are many, they are few, as Ralph always say.
I do think that Congresspeople need a major intervention to bring them to a position of cooperation, where the Marjorie Taylor Greenes of the world can join forces with progressives. If we can do that, I am sure the Orange Sociopath will be impeached and that even the ones loyal to him today will not feel like they have the following to just defy the masses.
It is the only way other the other way that would not only martyrize him, it would make those who are waking up to the problems and turning away from that cult to go right back there. And it is illegal, a crime, we don't want that, as much a relief that would bring, let's be honest. We need to focus on working, organization, education , agitation (joyful agitation). Block parties with protest signs.
Finally, I would like to see Ralph comment on the 80th anniversary of the UN, the mostly useless organization that caters to imperialist nations and obey those nations that pay more, who have more power (the US). Has the UN ever been audited? how would that work? I don't understand the function of that entity as it operates today, in an era where most of the world (the Global South) is trying to move towards a multipolar world. Why are they still propping up the declining empires?
I like your idea that JOY is worth cultivating as a way of resistance and can be one positive effect of these protests.
Yes, it is a beautiful sentiment. But it is not my idea. I heard and saw signs several times.
I have been following Ralph Nader since 1964 when my father bought a new car with something I had never heard of: seat belts. I have been following Bandy X. Lee since the COVID breakout in 2020. Both are now pariahs to many political progressives: Nader for splitting Democratic party votes in the 2000 Presidential election, and Lee for breaking a psychiatric guideline to refrain from diagnosing a patient without interviewing them with their consent during Trump's disinformation campaign on COVID in 2020. Their detractors are in my opinion too harsh. Their reasons for "going rogue" are defensible, and their facts and insights are invaluable. Highly recommended.
Nader didn't "split D party votes" - that's a DP trope, Nader votes were never D votes to begin with, those "political progressives" who trash Nader are simply carrying water for the DP
Albert Gore shouldn't have distanced himself from William Jefferson Clinton in 2000. And he also should have picked Russ Feingold as his running mate instead of Joseph Lieberman.
Just like me, people should have voted for Nader, so the u.s.a. could have had a real leader for a change.
Change you can believe in.
Isn’t that how Obama’s empty slogan went???
When I could vote for Ralph Nader or Bernie Sanders, my conscience faced no dilemma. It is all those other times that have made me sick.
And when the choice was Jill Stein, what did your conscience say ...
Jill was a great candidate.
I was even more enthusiastic about Claudia De La Cruz.
I am glad to hear Ralph and team discuss the No Kings protest.
I have been so upset about the direction of our country that I have needed to speak up and be heard and not be silent and appear complicit, but I am scared to death by the cruel violence of ICE raids and kidnappings and deportations without any respect whatsoever for due process, not to mention the Supreme Court acting like we live in a monarchy with the shadow docket and its rulings that support a unitary executive.
Who knows where the next violent physical assault by our government on our people will occur? No one. My own Senator was assaulted at a DHS/ICE press conference in his own office building. Anything can happen. I do not feel safe anymore in the U.S.A.
I am old and have multiple difficulties, so to some extent I could excuse myself for my lack of participation, but my conscience was hurting. I was becoming more and more frightened and angry about all these egregious developments and what they portend for the future of our country, which looks bleak.
Before the recent No Kings protest, I looked up the protest locations surrounding my area. Unlike the other times when I have looked up locations, this time I finally found a protest not too far away from me. I could take only one bus for less than an hour to get from my area to the protest.
I decided to go, and I did go. (Yay for me!!) And it turned out to be a great decision. When I got off the bus, people with amazing energy were saying with their posters and tee-shirts and chants and music exactly what was on my mind. I had found my people!!
I want to add to the comments by Ralph's team that support the JOY of joining with people who share my sympathies. It was a great antidote to the worry, upset, and isolation I have been feeling. 0ther people are against this outrageous, destructive, hateful, corrupt, cruel, self-serving way of operating government, too! Although I knew this, it is hard to believe in isolation. It is wonderful to experience first hand.
The area where the protest was held was near a very nice shopping center on a main boulevard that is strewn for miles each way with high-end shops and high rises and professional offices. The sidewalks are wide in that area, so there was lots of room for a big crowd to move around. Talking was difficult because it was noisy, but the signs communicated great camaraderie.
I don't know how big the crowd was, but to me it seemed huge. The sidewalks on all sides of the street, going East and West, and going North and South, were covered with elbow-bumping crowdings of people extending for at least one long block in all directions from its center. I had to look for a bathroom, and it was a long walk to get there, and crowds of people were lining my path. A nice lady took my hand and led me to the right place
Many stood at the curb and held up their signs for the traffic to see, and there were others across the street doing the same. People in cars were honking (I believe it was in support), and some in cars were even holding up their own signs of support.
One of the best things I remember was the wonderful music that took me back in time. When I hear this great music of Woody Guthrie, I feel and know l how much I love my country, how much I want to protect our freedoms and safety, and how much I need to protest against outrages that are now threatening every one of us.
Here is an example of the music. Be sure to notice the sign on the guitar:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wxiMrvDbq3s
Some people were blowing bubbles through the crowd. It was one great thing that supported the JOY of the event for me. It was fun to try to catch the bubbles in my hands like a kid and instead (of course) they burst, which is also fun. I like very much bringing our JOY and our LOVE OF LIFE and our EMPATHY for ourselves and others into play to defeat the hate and cruelty of this Administration.
It was a very optimistic, joyful, upbeat crowd of people who seriously do not like this Administration and openly said so. I am so glad I went to this No Kings protest. It gave me a lot of good energy. t helped me relax my fears, experience solidarity, feel hope, and even enjoy a sense of personal power. However, I cannot guarantee that protests will be safe in future. I wish I could.
This event was hosted by Indivisible, an organization supporting peaceful solidarity and non-violence. Indivisible provides the website and publicizes protest events. The events themselves are hosted by individuals who volunteer on the website to host a protest group in the local community.
I'm not sure about Ralph's comments that the organizers of these events ought to collect money, so these protests can result in the direct political action needed to make change. What do you folks think of this idea?
I will end my post with some of the words on posters I saw that might interest you. I wrote some pf them in a tiny notebook I had because I thought some of them might encourage me after I returned home. Here they are:
"ELVIS IS THE ONLY KING."
"MORONS ARE GOVERNING AMERICA"
"WE HAVE A CONSTITUTION - NOT KINGS"
"I AM ANTIFA - I FIGHTING FASCISM"
"N0 KINGS - IMPEACH REMOVE CONVICT"
"I LOVE AMERICA"
"N0 KINGS - SAVE DEMOCRACY"
"NO KINGS - NO FASCISM - NO TYRANTS - NO HATE"
"ANTIFA (USA FLAG PHOTO) FLAG "
"I'M SMARTER THAN THIS GUY (PHOTO OF TRUMP) AND I'M IN FORTH GRADE"
"WISDOM - OPTIMISM - KINDNESS - EMPATHY"
"OUR TAX DOLLARS ARE PAYING FOR THIS SHIT SHOW (PHOTOS)"
"RELEASE THE EPSTEIN CLIENT FILES"
"DON'T TREAD ON ME - DON'T TRUMP ON ME"
"HATE WON'T MAKE US GREAT"
"FREEZE TRUMP - CRUSH I.C.E."
"PROJECT 2025 - THE END OF DEMOCRACY"
"HANDS OFF OUR DEMOCRACY"
"DON'T MAKE ME REPEAT MYSELF."
- history
"THE BEST WAY TO IMPROVE AMERICA'S HEALTH IS TO FEED AND HOUSE EVERYONE"
"BURGER KING IS MY ONLY KING"
"NOT PAID TO BE HERE - WE JUST DON'T LIKE YOU"
"IMPEACH THE MAN WHO WOULD BE KING"
"HEY TRUMP - NO ONE PAID US TO BE HERE - WE ALL HATE YOU FOR FREE"
"IMMORAL - CALLOUS - EVIL"
"WE DESERVE A FUTURE"
"WHEN INJUSTICE BECOMES LAW - RESISTANCE BECOMES DUTY"
"THEY'RE COMING FOR you NEXT"
"RESTORE DUE PROCESS AND DEMOCRACY"
"NO KINGS IN THE USA"
"TRUMP IS AMERICA'S HITLER"
"DEMOCRACY DIES WHEN GOOD PEOPLE STAY SILENT"
"RESIST - INSIST - PERSIST"
"ELECT A CLOWN - EXPECT A CIRCUS"
"STOP ICE"
"DUE PROCESS - NOT KINGS"
"MIGRATION IS A SACRED HUMAN RIGHT"
'NO KINGS IN AMERICA SINCE 1776"
"F**K FASCISM"
"JUSTICE USA - NOT REVENGE. VOTE!"
'FIGHT TRUTH DECAY - NO MORE LIES"
"ONLY YOU CAN PREVENT FOREST LIARS"
"BEING ANTI-FASCIST IS PRO AMERICAN"
"OUR NEXT PRESIDENT WON'T BE ELECTED"
"IMMIGRANTS - WE GET THE JOB DONE"
"IMMIGRANTS MAKE AMERICAN GREAT"
"USA - WHAT HAPPENED? SAID THE STATUE OF LIBERTY"
"FAMILIES HAVE NO BORDERS"
"RESPECT MY EXISTENCE OR EXPECT RESISTANCE"
"IMAGINE BEING SCARED OF DIVERSITY BUT NOT OF DICTATORSHIP"
"THIS IS AMERICA - NOT I.C.E.-LAND"
"INJUSTICE ANYWHERE IS A THREAT TO JUSTICE EVERYWHERE"
"NO F**KING I.C.E. IN THE USA"
"I LIKE MY I.C.E. CRUSHED"
"FIGHT IGNORANCE - NOT IMMIGRANTS"
"IKEA HAS BETTER CABINETS"
###
Folks, one last word: I read with horror that DHS is now using that wonderful Woody Guthrie song, for which I gave you a link above, to promote DHS (which includes ICE).
That can never be true. Woody Guthrie was totally against Fascism.
Excellent interview! Thank you!
I've read that we project on him and he projects on us. When the latter happens I believe that's what Bandy Lee has called narcissistic symbiosis. In Trump's case I think that means whoever receives the projection has, if not a mental condition, then at least a BIG personality problem. OK, what if an individual has too much a fear of what s/he thinks is anti-semitism; we know that in many many cases that's a mental state called relative ignorance. Or what if an individual has a fear of Russia out of sight and mind, beyond reason? Russiaphobia IMO is also only a state of relative ignorance, and yet if members of congress don't attempt to evaluate such fears they themselves have, they might not question letting Ukraine lob Tomahawks into Russia proper...for example (that's walked back thank God). The same goes for Iran. And for exaggerated threats to Israel...everyone in Gaza?? It's that middle "M" in MICIMATT very much to blame I think...media.
So could it be in this epoch in which we find ourselves that propaganda supported phobias are as dangerous as group narcissism? I don't know; seems like if someone like Trump just "naturally" suckered people into believing a war with Iran was necessary and also one with Venezuela, then all the little wars could stir up quite a little cloud of blowback, even if short of nuclear blowback. Mr Trump has the country over a barrel...with all his insane initiatives...because of that quelling-war-card he holds. A lot of voters may be thinking Trump talked peace when NO ONE else would [and support 3rd term?], but hopefully they'll observe Vance now sees the light on Tomahawks and "looks" like he'll push back some on Netanyahu. It'll be a strange strange world if the right chooses IMF/Muskian style austerity with the Republicans out of fear that Democrats will draft their kids to a radiactive Iran (not a phobia). I've seen that fewer Dems now favor arms to Israel, but what have they stood up and proposed in the name of ending genocide...I mean together? Chatgtp tells me the only congresspersons who have opposed arms to Israel and Ukraine are Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) and Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY). And now I see the Progressive Caucus has a rule they can't take a stand on Gaza.
https://en.prolewiki.org/wiki/MICIMATT
And of course the irrationally fearful project their shadows on the "enemy."
George Washington warned us about factions. It appears we did not listen.