This lib is far from owned, this lib recalls the words "he has awakened a sleeping giant and filled it with a terrible rage". Trump and his MAGAs have no clue how much they are hated by the majority in this country; how easily their lies are exposed; how weak they look. And the blowback that is building, and will take them out, will never be seen coming. It will take them completely by surprise.
I, from Canada, am really hoping you are right. Meanwhile power is fully consolidated in the new king. Do you remember how to depose a mad king? What avenues do you have for organizing that are not subject to the oligarchs? You have a lot of work to do. And now that youve been isolated from sane countries it will be harder.
But you are a determined and resourceful people. And a strong enough general strike would shut it all down and give you a chance against the machine…
I have recently realized that we have rarely heard much about general strikes in other countries other than that they were occurring, if that. The United States has very little world news that isn’t self-centered, and now, we have little that isn’t entertainment or sports— a few minutes of national news, some weather, and on to the next award show. Free press is a joke. Power is fully consolidated? Truer words never spoken. I’m not sure we have a clue as to how to pull off a general strike. We don’t have a leader to show us that I can see. That’s our real problem. Too many too easily bought.
Download free international news sources like the BBC to get an unfiltered look at America, and learn more about what's happening in the world. Do not despair.
I watch BBC and Al-Jazerra. I read foreign papers. That’s not helping the entire country get the truth, which was my point. (No easy fix really, imo) It’s not just about me. Too many think it is only about themselves. We need to work together to change that. It is what will isolate us all the more. I want what the Constitution promises me— a free press that holds the government accountable. I demand it, in fact. See you Oct 18– No Kings Rallies across the country.
This is a terrible test. But Canada is aware that the good people of America still outnumber the MAGAt cult. You are not all brainwashed and cowed. Be brave. Be loud. Be together. Be careful. Find your tribe. Find an overpass and make a sign. Above all else DO NOT OBEY IN ADVANCE.
To paraphrase the famous philosopher Yogi Berra, "It's not over until it's over." I believe in non-violent activism but I fear where this is all going. I think the MAGA's actually want a civil war so that they can pretend to be soldiers. I can only hope that our military believes in their oath to the Constitution and not to a wannabe dictator.
One of the things the capitulation has done is have us search elsewhere for the truth. Either deliver what you promised, or go bust! I don’t expect ABC/Disney to go bust, but they did feel that subscriber loss. I’d like a screen blackout. Someone suggested it (who???) and the more I think about it, the more it seems like a good passive resistance idea. What do you think?
Oh, John. Let me be the first to offer congratulations. You've nailed it: MAGA really did it. They’ve finally won. They’ve managed to take a nation with a functioning government, a halfway decent economy, and at least the illusion of stability — and smash it like a cheap piñata at a six-year-old’s birthday party. And what’s inside? Not candy, not toys, but IOUs, eviction notices, and a half-rotten bag of beans.
But hey, the libs are owned. That’s what matters.
Because that’s the prize, right? Not affordable groceries. Not a government that can pass a budget or keep the lights on. Not clean water, not civil rights, not allies abroad who trust us. No — the prize is watching the other half of the country suffer while you, too, drown in the same flood. MAGA politics is the equivalent of cutting off both your legs so your neighbor doesn’t win the three-legged race. Congratulations, America. We’ve built an entire ideology out of spite.
The Defense Department is now run like a late-night call-in show, the Geneva Conventions treated like fine print in a gym membership. Federal agents are disappearing people from homes and churches, whole cities feel like occupied zones, and the news cycle has turned into a running tally of which freedoms got repossessed this week. But sure — you’ve won.
And here’s the twisted genius of it: misery itself has become the proof of victory. The worse things get, the more it feels like vindication. If you can’t pay your hospital bill, that means you’re free from “socialism.” If your kid’s school is shuttered, that means you’ve defeated “woke indoctrination.” If the government collapses into a carnival of grifters, well then, the swamp got drained. This is the upside-down logic of MAGA’s scoreboard — your suffering is their touchdown dance.
But make no mistake: this isn’t governance, it’s demolition with a laugh track. They don’t actually want functioning institutions, because functioning institutions require accountability. They don’t want democracy, because democracy requires compromise. They don’t want peace, because peace denies them the thrill of permanent culture war. No, what they want is endless grievance, endless theater, endless chances to stand on the smoldering remains and shout “We won!”
And the cost? Let’s itemize, since they love to talk like this is some grand bargain.
You’ve lost a functioning democracy. You’ve lost global standing. You’ve lost allies who trusted us, institutions that safeguarded us, and a press that once pretended to hold power accountable. You’ve lost wages that can keep pace with rent. You’ve lost health care that doesn’t bankrupt you. You’ve lost food prices that don’t force you into credit card debt. You’ve lost leaders who at least knew what a briefing book was. But all of that was apparently worth it, so long as someone, somewhere, can imagine Rachel Maddow frowning into her camera at night.
And here’s the tragic joke inside the joke: the victory is hollow even for those who “won.” The cult gets its spectacle — the rallies, the fireworks, the staged funerals with pyrotechnics — but at the end of the day, they still have to live in the America they’ve burned down. They still have to eat the same overpriced food, send their kids to the same gutted schools, breathe the same poisoned air, and fight through the same broken healthcare system. The empire they’ve saved is unlivable — but damn if it doesn’t feel good to chant “U-S-A” while the walls cave in.
So yes, congratulations are in order. MAGA has owned the libs, and all it cost them was a country. It’s the most expensive joke in history, and the punchline is we’re all stuck inside it.
And when the cheering dies down, when the adrenaline fades, when the confetti is swept away, they’ll realize what they’ve actually won: the privilege of presiding over the ruins.
That’s not victory. That’s rot dressed up in red hats.
Thanks for publishing your so-well-written essays here. If I wasn't just getting by these days, I would subscribe to your substack in a heartbeat. Blessings.
Thank you for writing my holiday card to my entire maggot family for me!!! Not that they'll read it or care. But we are so many years passed the "I didn't know he was gonna do..." stage of plausible deniability. They get to own every single bit of this misery.
They don’t seem to mind high priced healthcare, groceries, rent, and any other rip off the regime has implemented. They are miserable in their “winning”, just as they were miserable for the past lives they led. They are just hateful people who don’t care for anyone, not even themselves.
The ones who work in government are finding out, reaching the FO stage of FAFO. A former friend who went full blown maga, hence the former, has two sons and a daughter in law who work for the state, in unions no less. They will see their pensions drop with the next contract negotiation, their share of their healthcare expenses go up and other cuts. Will they connect the dots? I doubt it. They are far too entrenched in the cult to ever admit they are the architect of their own demise.
They’re still angry and miserable. We’re all exhausted, scared and being dragged on a rope behind the MAGA clown car careening into full authoritarianism. And the only happy people are the monsters who are causing all of this for greed and power. Somedays isn’t it all too much to even comprehend this is our home?? Or that humanity can shit on itself like this??
Can I get a hooRah? Yeah, they think they've done something. Well, they did they ruined their own lives, their children's lives, and the USA. We "owned" libs will begin to repair what they have destroyed and try to leave this country and the world and better place after clean up on aisle 47. We won't get it all done, but we will do all we can. Thanks, John!
I have never in my life have thought that America-the land that I love would become so deadly scary, We have a Mental Case-in Chief and a cabinet of unqualified individuals who got placed in their respective positions not because of their skills/previous experiences but because they would plant their lips on his gluteus maximus. Life is like a stack of dominoes-when you line them up and they fall against each other. The shutdown is the first dominoe and when it falls will hit our food safety, aviation security, public health maintenance and a myriad of other services/functions that are vital to our society. Governor Pritzker is calling to evoke the 25th Amendment and he is so right to do so. We must push for this action to take place ASAP. We cannot afford to have a President who is just concerned with revenge and retribution; to get even with those who he feels wronged him. That is not how leadership works and we need a leader not a Mental Case-in-Chief. Our psychiatric hospitals are already too full.
Don’t forget all the bankrupt (or soon to be) generational farmers; and rural hospitals shut down so they have to drive hours away to get emergency health care.
"the food you’ll be eating will have fewer safeguards". But at least it will be free of artificial dye! Priorities, John. What's a little salmonella, listeria, E coli or other food borne illnesses that can potentially kill us?
USA Today (2 days ago)-"Listeria outbreak possibly linked to pasta meals leaves 4 dead, expands to 15 states"
rfk jr. is riding to the rescue keeping us and our children safe from purple Skittles.
This lib is far from owned, this lib recalls the words "he has awakened a sleeping giant and filled it with a terrible rage". Trump and his MAGAs have no clue how much they are hated by the majority in this country; how easily their lies are exposed; how weak they look. And the blowback that is building, and will take them out, will never be seen coming. It will take them completely by surprise.
I, from Canada, am really hoping you are right. Meanwhile power is fully consolidated in the new king. Do you remember how to depose a mad king? What avenues do you have for organizing that are not subject to the oligarchs? You have a lot of work to do. And now that youve been isolated from sane countries it will be harder.
But you are a determined and resourceful people. And a strong enough general strike would shut it all down and give you a chance against the machine…
I have recently realized that we have rarely heard much about general strikes in other countries other than that they were occurring, if that. The United States has very little world news that isn’t self-centered, and now, we have little that isn’t entertainment or sports— a few minutes of national news, some weather, and on to the next award show. Free press is a joke. Power is fully consolidated? Truer words never spoken. I’m not sure we have a clue as to how to pull off a general strike. We don’t have a leader to show us that I can see. That’s our real problem. Too many too easily bought.
Download free international news sources like the BBC to get an unfiltered look at America, and learn more about what's happening in the world. Do not despair.
I watch BBC and Al-Jazerra. I read foreign papers. That’s not helping the entire country get the truth, which was my point. (No easy fix really, imo) It’s not just about me. Too many think it is only about themselves. We need to work together to change that. It is what will isolate us all the more. I want what the Constitution promises me— a free press that holds the government accountable. I demand it, in fact. See you Oct 18– No Kings Rallies across the country.
This is a terrible test. But Canada is aware that the good people of America still outnumber the MAGAt cult. You are not all brainwashed and cowed. Be brave. Be loud. Be together. Be careful. Find your tribe. Find an overpass and make a sign. Above all else DO NOT OBEY IN ADVANCE.
To paraphrase the famous philosopher Yogi Berra, "It's not over until it's over." I believe in non-violent activism but I fear where this is all going. I think the MAGA's actually want a civil war so that they can pretend to be soldiers. I can only hope that our military believes in their oath to the Constitution and not to a wannabe dictator.
One of the things the capitulation has done is have us search elsewhere for the truth. Either deliver what you promised, or go bust! I don’t expect ABC/Disney to go bust, but they did feel that subscriber loss. I’d like a screen blackout. Someone suggested it (who???) and the more I think about it, the more it seems like a good passive resistance idea. What do you think?
Oh, John. Let me be the first to offer congratulations. You've nailed it: MAGA really did it. They’ve finally won. They’ve managed to take a nation with a functioning government, a halfway decent economy, and at least the illusion of stability — and smash it like a cheap piñata at a six-year-old’s birthday party. And what’s inside? Not candy, not toys, but IOUs, eviction notices, and a half-rotten bag of beans.
But hey, the libs are owned. That’s what matters.
Because that’s the prize, right? Not affordable groceries. Not a government that can pass a budget or keep the lights on. Not clean water, not civil rights, not allies abroad who trust us. No — the prize is watching the other half of the country suffer while you, too, drown in the same flood. MAGA politics is the equivalent of cutting off both your legs so your neighbor doesn’t win the three-legged race. Congratulations, America. We’ve built an entire ideology out of spite.
The Defense Department is now run like a late-night call-in show, the Geneva Conventions treated like fine print in a gym membership. Federal agents are disappearing people from homes and churches, whole cities feel like occupied zones, and the news cycle has turned into a running tally of which freedoms got repossessed this week. But sure — you’ve won.
And here’s the twisted genius of it: misery itself has become the proof of victory. The worse things get, the more it feels like vindication. If you can’t pay your hospital bill, that means you’re free from “socialism.” If your kid’s school is shuttered, that means you’ve defeated “woke indoctrination.” If the government collapses into a carnival of grifters, well then, the swamp got drained. This is the upside-down logic of MAGA’s scoreboard — your suffering is their touchdown dance.
But make no mistake: this isn’t governance, it’s demolition with a laugh track. They don’t actually want functioning institutions, because functioning institutions require accountability. They don’t want democracy, because democracy requires compromise. They don’t want peace, because peace denies them the thrill of permanent culture war. No, what they want is endless grievance, endless theater, endless chances to stand on the smoldering remains and shout “We won!”
And the cost? Let’s itemize, since they love to talk like this is some grand bargain.
You’ve lost a functioning democracy. You’ve lost global standing. You’ve lost allies who trusted us, institutions that safeguarded us, and a press that once pretended to hold power accountable. You’ve lost wages that can keep pace with rent. You’ve lost health care that doesn’t bankrupt you. You’ve lost food prices that don’t force you into credit card debt. You’ve lost leaders who at least knew what a briefing book was. But all of that was apparently worth it, so long as someone, somewhere, can imagine Rachel Maddow frowning into her camera at night.
And here’s the tragic joke inside the joke: the victory is hollow even for those who “won.” The cult gets its spectacle — the rallies, the fireworks, the staged funerals with pyrotechnics — but at the end of the day, they still have to live in the America they’ve burned down. They still have to eat the same overpriced food, send their kids to the same gutted schools, breathe the same poisoned air, and fight through the same broken healthcare system. The empire they’ve saved is unlivable — but damn if it doesn’t feel good to chant “U-S-A” while the walls cave in.
So yes, congratulations are in order. MAGA has owned the libs, and all it cost them was a country. It’s the most expensive joke in history, and the punchline is we’re all stuck inside it.
And when the cheering dies down, when the adrenaline fades, when the confetti is swept away, they’ll realize what they’ve actually won: the privilege of presiding over the ruins.
That’s not victory. That’s rot dressed up in red hats.
Perfect.
Thanks for publishing your so-well-written essays here. If I wasn't just getting by these days, I would subscribe to your substack in a heartbeat. Blessings.
I remain free whether you can donate or not. My words are always yours.
Thanks for the kindness, D. Keep up your fine work. :-)
Thank you for writing my holiday card to my entire maggot family for me!!! Not that they'll read it or care. But we are so many years passed the "I didn't know he was gonna do..." stage of plausible deniability. They get to own every single bit of this misery.
I am wondering, with appropriate attribution, if you would mind if folks forward this as a letter to the editor in local papers?
They don’t seem to mind high priced healthcare, groceries, rent, and any other rip off the regime has implemented. They are miserable in their “winning”, just as they were miserable for the past lives they led. They are just hateful people who don’t care for anyone, not even themselves.
The ones who work in government are finding out, reaching the FO stage of FAFO. A former friend who went full blown maga, hence the former, has two sons and a daughter in law who work for the state, in unions no less. They will see their pensions drop with the next contract negotiation, their share of their healthcare expenses go up and other cuts. Will they connect the dots? I doubt it. They are far too entrenched in the cult to ever admit they are the architect of their own demise.
Makes a great point. Anger is building up. And the American people are not stupid.
They’re still angry and miserable. We’re all exhausted, scared and being dragged on a rope behind the MAGA clown car careening into full authoritarianism. And the only happy people are the monsters who are causing all of this for greed and power. Somedays isn’t it all too much to even comprehend this is our home?? Or that humanity can shit on itself like this??
I am feeling the pain.
I agree, John. So any maga complaining better STFU. You reap what you sow.
Well written. Resist. Resist. Resist.
Can I get a hooRah? Yeah, they think they've done something. Well, they did they ruined their own lives, their children's lives, and the USA. We "owned" libs will begin to repair what they have destroyed and try to leave this country and the world and better place after clean up on aisle 47. We won't get it all done, but we will do all we can. Thanks, John!
I have never in my life have thought that America-the land that I love would become so deadly scary, We have a Mental Case-in Chief and a cabinet of unqualified individuals who got placed in their respective positions not because of their skills/previous experiences but because they would plant their lips on his gluteus maximus. Life is like a stack of dominoes-when you line them up and they fall against each other. The shutdown is the first dominoe and when it falls will hit our food safety, aviation security, public health maintenance and a myriad of other services/functions that are vital to our society. Governor Pritzker is calling to evoke the 25th Amendment and he is so right to do so. We must push for this action to take place ASAP. We cannot afford to have a President who is just concerned with revenge and retribution; to get even with those who he feels wronged him. That is not how leadership works and we need a leader not a Mental Case-in-Chief. Our psychiatric hospitals are already too full.
If pointed sarcasm is repeated it can force change.
Don’t forget all the bankrupt (or soon to be) generational farmers; and rural hospitals shut down so they have to drive hours away to get emergency health care.
Yay! My Nebraska corn farming cousins. You sure showed us woke libtards! You won. Have fucking at it. Selfish evil idiots.
If I'd of known you were coming I'd have MAGA cake.
UGH! Destruction is all around! But maybe they like it that way. I don’t.
"the food you’ll be eating will have fewer safeguards". But at least it will be free of artificial dye! Priorities, John. What's a little salmonella, listeria, E coli or other food borne illnesses that can potentially kill us?
USA Today (2 days ago)-"Listeria outbreak possibly linked to pasta meals leaves 4 dead, expands to 15 states"
rfk jr. is riding to the rescue keeping us and our children safe from purple Skittles.