Against ALL fascists.

Morning, Threaders, Threadheads, and all in between.

Strong coffee; black coffee.

I’m following my own advice and taking a knee for a bit to recharge and breathe. It seems like the right time to leave a message up on my feed for the duration of the mental health break with food for thought. The kind that requires plenty of digestion. So walk with me with open minds and hearts.

We are resisting and opposing the establishment of a Christian Fascist inspired government in the United States. We watched this tendency rise and the truth is we were unable to stop it before it reached power. Now the fight got harder. History will tell us if the ball was dropped by the millions who stayed home last November or if the ball was yanked away in the shadows. But we’re here. And we’re still watching.

I write these words the day after Germany dodged a bullet, denying the neo-Nazi AfD a victory. And yet they got their best electoral results to date; it was a closer call than you think. We watched JD Vance point fingers at Europe, before the elections in Germany, as democracies are in danger. There were two ironies in his delusional, insulting speech: one was Vance is a fascist; the other was how fascists feel entitled to lecture us about the dangers of religious fundamentalism.

Their entitlement comes from the lack of courage democracies show in the face of the intolerance of others. Germany is not out of the woods yet. Should their democracy fail the test before it they will rise again. Stronger. We must stand against all extremism, not be selective about which we oppose. Our society learned poorly the lessons of history but still those lessons are remembered when we stand against neo-Nazis marching on our streets.

Most of us feel extremely uncomfortable, angered by the public manifestation of Nazi symbols and its hate. Most of us know what it means. And yet, when a similar hate shows up wrapped in Keffiyehs we look the other way or even join in. History lesson NOT learned: as if someone airbrushed the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem sitting with Adolf Hitler and that never happened. As if all the atrocities committed by Islamic fundamentalists against their own people don’t matter.

This is where it gets worse: it’s not just the lessons from the past that are ignored; it’s the ones before our eyes: from the horrors of October 7 to the ones perpetrated in Iran and Afghanistan. Some people among us are perfectly fine supporting these horrors and their authors. Christian fascism is bad but Islamic fascism is great. Just like that, “resistance is justified” and so is the murder of women who refuse to cover their hair. Or that of men who choose to love other men.

In a very complex world we go for the dumbest answers and pick sides based on immediate satisfactions. This is also valid for those who see fascism as a champion in the fight against antisemitism. Remember Musk jumping around a stage with a chainsaw? Of course you do. That was bad. But some pretend to forget who gave him the chainsaw because it was the same person who declared a national holiday in his country in honor of the murdered Shiri Bibas and her children. It’s a gray world.

A world we must live in with eyes open, minds open and hearts open. Fascists are not good when they happen to appease us by doing things we agree with because those things are not what they seem. A protest against the Israeli government seems legitimate on its face but the reality is 10 out of 10 times it’s not against Bibi or his fascist government: it’s against the very existence of Israel. Open your eyes.

Protests that seem to legitimately demand tolerance are quickly turned into hate fests aimed at destroying tolerance itself. And our democracies are being flooded with movements supporting those who wish to destroy them. We need to show our rejection of religious intolerance is unbiased and not selective. It extends to all beliefs and it must be called out at every turn.

Our fight is hard enough as it is but we have to resist the urge to over simplify it and ignore the wolves amongst us and those who willingly provide cover for them. Which brings us to those who, being on our side when it comes to fight the fascist government we now have, turn a blind eye to other fascists who are just as dangerous because they happen to be victims of their own follies. Because, how surprising, their children are victims of a war they started.

I feel for the Palestinian children killed in Gaza like I still feel for the German children killed in Dresden. But I do NOT forget who got them killed. Yes, the allies could have had a different strategy for bombing Germany and yes the Israeli war strategy could be better, but war is never a good thing, nor are its results no matter how careful the strategy. In the end, those who started the war are the ones responsible for its horrors. We should remember this.

Those trying to establish moral equivalences between the makers of horror and those fighting it are to blame for the confusion added to an already complex tragedy. They end up covering for horror itself and defining it as “inevitable” and even “justified”. In their righteous private jihad they compare the premeditated brutal murder of innocent children to the killing of innocent children victims of their parents’ own terror. In their minds it’s all the same.

The Russian bombing of Ukrainian hospitals is to these apologists the same as the Israeli bombing of hospitals in Gaza which, they not obliviously say, was an “open air prison” before October 7. But they conviniently leave out the fact Hamas turned Gaza into a terror base and most Palestinians killed in Gaza between 2005 and 2023 were murdered by Hamas. That “doesn’t matter”. It’s all good. Enter Joy Reid, stage left. Yes.

On October 9, 2023, Joy Reid immediately initiated the washing of all Hamas responsibility for October 7. Two days after the most horrific attack on Jews since the Holocaust she made a point of making clear it was all “the Jews” fault. And it just got worse since then. Like many of you I only watch Lawrence O’Donnell and Rachel Maddow on MSNBC. Others do speak up against the ongoing coup on that channel; Joy Reid was one of them.

For that reason alone I understand many are revolted by her termination, and I understand the solidarity shown by MeidasTouch and their offer of a place for Reid in their network at a time when they are kicking Fox News and Joe Rogan’s butts. I get that. We need all the help we can muster and I get that too. But the minute MeidasTouch starts making apologies for Islamic fundamentalism I will turn it off. Because I am against ALL fascists.

I will be back. Peace out.

Resist & Oppose!

Sincerely, An American.

Morning, Threaders, Threadheads, and all in between. Coffee is black.

March 4.

Members of Congress: what are you prepared to do that day? I have a suggestion for you, @housedemocrats and @senatedems. You are not going to like it. This is an open letter to you, Congress Democrats, and it should be read as such.

We know what the fascists in Congress will do. They will rise as their dear leader is announced; they will cheer and applaud him all the way to the well; they will shake his hand with a smile and probably will not wash their hands ever again; they will underscore each one of his lies with feverish applause and shout “USA, USA!”; they will bend over backwards to show which is more devoted to fascism. Just a “normal” State of the Union in an unscheduled time.

Maybe the dictator wannabe will announce a Medal of Freedom for Elon Musk, who will stand up and humbly accept it to thunderous applause and more cheers. I wouldn’t be surprised. What about you, Congress Democrats? Will you be there to perform a few of those things too? Or just sit silently like good boys and girls to whom decorum is more important than democracy? Or shout and pull your hairs out during the speech like middle schoolers? That it?

I have a suggestion for you. Do none of the above. Show up but when the traitor in chief walks in the chamber stand up and leave. All of you. Leave him to the complete meltdown he will have as he watches you exit. Perhaps he will ignore his prepared speech and spend his time insulting you and threatening you. Maybe he will call YOU traitors and suggest you should be arrested for disrespecting him. Or maybe he will ignore your walk out and go on like nothing just happened.

But don’t just walk out of there. Gather on the steps of the Capitol after you leave. The same steps the insurrectionists climbed on January 6, 2021. Wait until the fascist performance is over and then have one of you step forward and deliver the rebuttal from the steps of the Hill. Right there. Tell us, and the world, you have no respect for dictators or traitors. Tell us, and the world, fascism will not take root in this country.

Dare him and his fascist minions to dissolve Congress like they are dissolving all our institutions, from USAID to USDA, from Energy to Education, from the DOJ to the DOD. Call them out as fascists and traitors and tell us, and the world, you had enough of this shit. Just like that. But don’t choose one of your washed out alleged “leaders” to do it. Have Jasmine Crockett do it. Just her, with all 260 of you, representatives and senators, standing behind her. Let her speak.

Don’t jump over each other for another 5 minutes of worthless, meaningless fame on national television. Let her do her job. Show some discipline and coherence and in doing so maybe show you are not the power hungry spineless collaborators we think you are. Because if you stay in that chamber for decorum’s sake, if you have a bipartisanship apologist in a little room with a flag behind him, or her, deliver the rebuttal as we had it done before, you are collaborating with fascists.

Staying in that chamber is a sign of defeat. It’s pretending, like so many of you have been doing, everything is normal and you can still work “across the aisle”. Work with the fascist puppets that will stand and cheer their dear traitorous leader. You need to show us, and the world, you are done with that crap. It’s time to stand up and rise to the occasion. No better time than this: March 4. Show us what you are made of. Or don’t.

Millions will take to the streets on that day in planned demonstrations against the fascist take over of our government. That would be you, Congress Democrats. You are a part of that government. The legislative part of it. You have the option to stand up against the ongoing coup and denounce it from the steps of Congress that day, just as millions of us will be doing, or try to tell us there is nothing to see there and everything will be okay.

Don’t choose the latter. Don’t be “nice”. Don’t think for a minute that collaboration will save you from the inevitable consequences of a fascist dictatorship. It won’t. You will either be crushed by it or by the movement that we, the people, will lead against it. Either way, as collaborators you are done. Time to pick a lane, ladies and gentlemen in Congress, honorable men and women representing us. Time to see just how honorable you are.

We are plunging into the darkness of fascism while some of you write “strong worded” letters or go out on book tours. The fight most of you have fought so far is summarized by adding “very” to “concerned” in your statements; going as far as using “extremely concerned” is actually the extent to which “resistance” goes for most of you. And you have been watching us. We’re resisting. We are showing you the way. Hear us. Enough “concern”. We need you to do something.

But we are not “your best tool”, as one of you recently stated after revealing her helplessness on television. YOU are our tool. YOU need to do your job for us: that’s why we sent you to Congress. Show us, and the world, there is steel in your backbones. Stand up for your country and leave the fascist room. No one has ever done it before, but never before have we been so close to lose our democracy. We are watching you. So come March 4 do your fucking job. 

Sincerely,

An American.

Give them the Byrd?

Morning, Threaders, Threadheads, and all in between. More coffee. Lots.

Give them the Byrd?

Fighting back in Congress is about to turn uglier. Are Democrats up to the task? They better be. Early indications tell us we should be worried as Hakeem Jeffries seems to be using the word “budget” a lot when he should not use it at all. Say it with me, @repjeffries: Continuing resolution.

Democrats are worried about the perception they will be blamed for a government shutdown. Think about this for a minute. In a scorched earth environment caused by a Republican trifecta they worry about being blamed for shutting down the scorcher. It doesn’t get more oblivious than that. The fascist puppets in the Senate, on the other hand, sense this hesitation in the House and like wolves picking up the scent of fear they are moving ahead with their own budget bill.

Regardless of which version makes the cut, no budget bill can be voted in the Senate without the House voting on it. The purpose, other than adding to the confusion, is to reach the point where reconciliation can be invoked in the Senate; which means a simple 51 votes would suffice to pass it. Should House Democrats fail to pass the test and allow a budget to get to the Senate it’s up to Democratic Senators to give them the Byrd.

“The "Byrd Rule" is named after former Sen. Robert C. Byrd (D-W.Va). In 1990, out of concern that the budget reconciliation process was being used for purposes outside of three noted above as required, the Byrd Rule, which was previously just a Senate procedural rule, was codified into the Congressional Budget Act of 1974. Waiving the Byrd Rule requires a vote by three-fifths of all senators. (…)”

- Holland & Knight Law

“(…) most budget points of order are subject to three-fifths vote of the entire Senate, not a simple majority, making it unlikely the Byrd Rule could be circumvented in the same way cloture was for nominations and judicial appointments.”

- Holland & Knight Law

That’s the Byrd. Will it work? Probably not. These days “unlikely” means “definitely” when it comes to the fascist lawlessness. And these are just Senate rules, not laws. Circumventing Congress rules calls for lawsuits.

In the Senate as in the House, if all else fails, the last stand will be to take it to court. And we all know what that means. Will a federal court suspend a budget bill on the grounds “rules were broken”? Will the Supreme Court rule in its favor? Is this the Congress Dems back up plan? God, I hope not. Giving the Senate fascist puppets the Byrd may feel good for about… Five minutes. That’s it.

All bets are on the House where a simple majority vote will do but that’s exactly what they have with 218 representatives. When was the last time all republicans in the house voted for a budget? I honestly don’t know but “never” comes to mind. As long as all 215 Democrats vote “no” there’s no way to avoid a shutdown unless an agreed upon Continuing Resolution is passed instead of the budget, depending on Democrats’ demands being met. So, again, shut it down.

House Democrats must NOT allow ANY budget to reach a vote and instead place their demands to pass Continuing Resolutions ONLY. Continuing Resolutions are meant to keep the government lights on and nothing more, while the budget itself goes back to the drawing board. But the objective of holding the votes on any Continuing Resolution is not to renegotiate the budget. If you believe these fascists will ever agree to any substantive changes to their idea of budget you are delusional.

The only thing left is to stonewall them. That means allowing the government to run on fumes for as long as it takes. Two years until the midterms or four years until the presidential election. That is an extremely high bar and it will require Democrats to own the process and take full responsibility for it. Yes, if as expected the crazies in the republican side of the House will be responsible, that’s not an exact assessment: they are surely the ones to blame. But not only.

When a shutdown is in effect they will accuse the Democrats of causing it. If only CR’s are passed and the government is not properly funded they will blame Democrats for it. Instead of deflecting and pointing fingers at the Republicans, Democrats need to own it and give them the bird. Not the Byrd. The actual fucking bird. In the House, where there is no Byrd rule but 215 birds exist. Give it to them; every time. And own it.

There is a lot more at stake than Medicaid and Medicare. Social Security is on the line. The continued subsidizing of Musk Inc. to the tune of billions of dollars is on the line. Trillions of added debt are on the line. Tax increases for everyone making less than a billion dollars are on the line. EVERYTHING is on the line. So do NOT allow ANY budget to pass. House Democrats need to stand their ground on Continuing Resolutions only and make it count.

Giving these fascists the Byrd in the Senate might not work, but when it comes to the House of Representatives giving them the bird just might do it. So do it.

Give them the fucking bird.

Resist & Oppose!

Breaking Through.

Morning, Threaders, Threadheads, and all in between. Very hot coffee. Black.

The Revolt.

All that we see or seem Is but a dream within a dream. We want a leader who dreams of this with eyes wide open. A reluctant leader, a revolutionary leader for a revolution the likes of which no one has ever seen. How do we recognize such a leader?

He will look like the devil. He will inspire fear into the hearts of our foes and, yes, doubt in our own hearts for he will not be perfect and must stand where so many wish a woman would. But a woman can’t. Not now. We have to understand this tragedy and see it in his eyes. He must realize he is standing where a woman should and admit it, so that women trust him. That’s the unfortunate state of our society, still afflicted by systemic misogyny. Denial will not solve it.

Once we recognize that quality in the man, we must see in him other ones: the ones that make the revolt novel. The will to denounce and effectively reject money in politics forever. Step one, without which none other works: a 13 member SCOTUS with term limits and ethics oversight. Say it. Mean it. Extend the term limits to Congress. We had enough of Congress people shedding tears as they watch Hamilton and then spending 60 years in their warm seats. So Washingtonian of them.

Once that is done we will remove both Citizens United from the law and make lobbying and fundraising illegal. Period. Establish a straight forward and free method to redress grievances and advocate for justice whenever needed that does not involve favors of any kind. Lead by example by removing the presidential immunity and abolishing the unitary executive theory. Show us the will to return power to the people instead of clinging to it, like everyone has before.

Embrace social democracy and reject democratic socialism. This means breaking up massive corporations into smaller competitive companies NOT taking control of them or replacing their boards of directors with worker cooperatives. It means taxing corporations to the tune of 50% or more NOT nationalizing their profits. Once and for all end the myth of capitalism AND socialism as solutions and embrace the empowerment of the individual for the benefit of the collective.

Social democracy is the realization of the common good without the tragedy of the commons. Limit the growth of personal wealth at the same time individual wages are drastically increased. Raise the minimum wage to a dignified living wage standard. Lower personal wealth to levels far from the obscenity they reach now. Allow people to become richer by their ingenuity and effort but end homelessness and hunger. Don’t eat the super rich: tax the hell out of them until they’re just rich.

Forever break the ties between religion and state and tax the mega churches and limit the reach of cult like fanatical ones by separating them from public life without infringing their rights. Keep faith out of public schools and public office while allowing those who follow a faith to gather and support each other in those same spaces without imposing themselves on others or infringing others’ rights. Be tolerant of the faithful and intolerant of the fanatical.

Set Women’s rights and Marriage Equality in stone. Amend the Constitution to that effect. Strengthen workers rights by banning right to work laws and regulating Unions so they may defend their members without exploiting them. Do not allow Unions to become the new mega corporations and their leaders the new oligarchs. Impose fair term limits to their leadership structure. They are no different than Congress people. No little “kings” anywhere.

Listen to us when we ask for Medicare for all and Medicaid expansions for the less fortunate among us. No “supplements” to appease health insurance companies. Private insurance and private hospitals will still exist, the same way Cadillac dealerships will, but in a world where public healthcare will provide first class services we all pay for. In time the private healthcare system will turn to more aesthetic and elective services leaving preventive and lifesaving ones to the public.

Once and for all ban assault weapons and ammunition designed for war from the public market. Regulate legal firearms as we regulate cars. End stand your ground laws. Reform law enforcement practices and regulations as well as their employment methods. Make sure officers expelled for misconduct cannot be rehired in other counties or states. Direct investment in the police to these practices and increase funding of social services as a federal initiative.

Expand the conversion of our energy industry from fossil to renewable sources quickly but rationally, creating a new and thriving jobs oriented economy. Be bold in offering every American a job but also face the reality automation and artificial intelligence will create a world where jobs will become fewer. They are already disappearing.

People want dignity and respect. They don’t want handouts or charity. Given the opportunity to work for a good paying job the overwhelming majority of us will take it without a second thought. But some of us can’t for good reason and no fault of their own. They deserve a roof over their heads and food on their tables. Establish a Universal Basic Income for those unable to achieve these basic needs. It’s called humanity, not charity.

Let’s start here. Let’s not fall into denial traps that will make us get close to glory only to die on the beach. The glory we seek is deeper inland. I wrote about this, right after the election. I want a woman president. I want a black or a Hispanic or a gay president and I don’t care about their religion as long as they keep it out of government. I want to live in a country that allows all these things and has no glass ceilings or any ceilings.

In order to get there we need to get off the fucking beach and break through. The break through is listed above. Those are the qualities we should look for in a leader for this revolt. But we better understand it must be one that will get us off the beach while giving us the assurance of a new bold vision we can rally around. If the policies listed above don’t come true we will find ourselves here again. Let’s find someone who can lead this revolt and get us off the beach.

Seen on the internet:

Dear Democratic Leaders,
Have you started Project 2029 yet?

It should contain at least:
Eliminating Citizens United

Doubling Minimum Wage
Removing Presidential Immunity
Breaking Up Massive Corporations
SCOTUS Term Limits
Expanding SCOTUS to 13
Taxing Mega Churches
Women's Healthcare Rights
Banning Right-to-Work Laws

Amendment for Marriage Rights
Reversing Global Warming
Medicare For All
Assault Weapons Bans

Get To Work!

- Anonymous.

Never Forget. Never Forgive.

The saddest morning arrived.

It’s very cold and snow still covers all things with white. Peaceful cold… Coffee.

I didn’t want to post anything about the Bibas family before we are 100% certain the bodies returned today are those of Shiri and her babies, Ariel and Kfir. It is my helpless wish for a miracle still holding by a thread. But here we are, waiting for the forensic reports we dread.

Together with the babies and their mother, Oded Lifschitz finally went home as well. Through the immense tragedy that Israel lives in since October 7, 2023, these four hostages shed the brightest light on that day’s infamy. Shiri, Ariel and Kfir: a mother and her babies, innocent souls taken from us by monsters; the images of their abduction becoming the most poignant illustration of the atrocity, the deep horror 10/7 represents: a mother in fear for her children.

And Oded, a retired journalist and an advocate for the rights of the very people that killed him. One of the founders of Kibbutz Nir Oz, from where he was taken, he was not just an advocate for the people of Gaza: he actively helped many of them, as a volunteer for Road to Recovery, an organization that transports Palestinian children who are ill from Gaza to hospitals in Israel. He was an 84 year old man helping the children of the monsters who used his kindness against him.

Oded Lifschitz represents most of the population in the kibbutzim attacked on October 7, often called bastions of Israel’s progressive left, many actively advocating for and helping the Palestinians in Gaza, offering them work and friendship, trying to build a future together. So many of those people were betrayed by those who pretended to be their friends for years. So many of us still don’t realize this and its horrendous perfidy.

These four souls we lost, as they feel like family to those of us who shared this pain for the past 503 days, represent the best and the kindest of all that was destroyed: the unimaginable pain their families are feeling is also the sad loss of hope for a peaceful future and coexistence. I feel the rage trying to come to the surface and I am trying not to allow it to take over. It’s really hard.

I will not share any images of the macabre spectacle Hamas created for the transfer of the four bodies over to the Red Cross. But I have seen them. What shocked me the most was the many Palestinian babies present, the same age as Ariel or Kfir. And then it hit me. Those babies are hostages too. Not because they were kidnapped from their homes but because their homes were turned into dens of horror they are forced to live in. And die in.

Those Palestinian babies that in a better world could be playing with Ariel and Kfir were brought in to be displayed as horror trophies, too young to understand it could be them in those coffins; too innocent to realize their parents murdered those babies that they could be playing with. Instead they will be brought up to hate them and one day they will display the images of this morning with pride and proclaim they were there. If they live that long.

This is the horror. The promise of a better world laid down to rest in those coffins. The innocence stolen from children before they can even understand it, as they are held in hatred’s arms or carried lifeless by them. The horror of one people celebrating this very hateful spectacle and another people in despair for it. There will be no forgiveness for this horror. There can’t be any.

Perhaps one day those innocent Palestinian babies held in hatred’s arms this morning will look back at it and ask their parents how they could do this. I know they would if they were allowed to grow up like ordinary children. But they won’t. They will be taught to glorify the horror of mornings such as this and their mothers will proudly send them to their death. In the name of the horror they grew up with.

This is what is keeping my rage in check: the immense pain for a mother and her two babies slain by the horror that turns other mothers into monsters who hold their babies up for sacrifice. The babies are keeping my rage in check. Today I cry for Israel and for peace. I cry in despair and anger. I cry with Yarden Bibas. My tears are of despair for the innocent and anger against the monsters who killed them. And those who celebrate this horror.

In this sad morning, saddest of all mornings, I remember those close to me, living in this country, who gleefully destroyed the photos of Ariel and Kfir on the posters that reminded us of them. Those who hysterically call for a thousand October 7’s and more babies taken from their homes and killed. This morning these despicable, hateful people look more disgusting than ever before. Their hands are covered in blood and I will never forgive them.

As the hours go by I look for images of Ariel and Kfir from before. I need to see their happy faces as they play. The love surrounding them. I hold on to this helpless wish that for some miracle they may live still. I fear they will only live in our hearts from now on. So I look for images of their happy lives from before, in the hope their love can help me drown the rage deep inside and keep hate at bay. May their sweet memory be a blessing.

Never forget. Never forgive.

… Can Be a Threat.

Morning, Threaders, Threadheads, and all in between. Coffee is strong.

Nazis never really went away.

Yesterday morning I posted the lyrics to this Chumbawamba song and their live version at Düsseldorf, almost 15 years ago, 6 years after it was written. The day the Nazi died. Such a meta thing to do, posting an anarchist band. You should know me by now.

Last year I, and many others, said we were in the fight of our lives. As I recall, many a time I pointed out that fight would go on came November 6, no matter the outcome of the election. Here we are; the fight goes on as I predicted. It was an easy prediction, hardly the kind required of an oracle. The forces we are up against would not have disappeared had we won. Their victory just means one thing: the fight got harder.

You probably don’t remember but back in 2023, on his visit to Tel-Aviv, President Joe Biden used a line he attributed to his father while making a speech in solidarity with Israel after October 7. One he would reuse the following year, the day after his notorious presidential debate. “When we get knocked down, we get up again,” Biden said. Good revolutionaries everywhere immediately thought about “Tubthumping”.

On the Nazi platform previously known as Twitter, they went berserk. Comments ranged from “the speech writer is getting fired” to “it made me cringe”, although one thought it was actually a “sick Chumbawamba reference”. It wasn’t. It’s a common refrain Biden’s father used. No relation to underdog anarchist punk bands. I wish! That would have been truly sick. In a great way. “Action that music inspires”…

Fascism and Nazism are closely related. To me, Nazism has one characteristic that adds on to Aryan supremacy and distinguishes it from Fascism: antisemitism. Nazism is the preferred brand of Fascism for white supremacist antisemitic douchebags. But it is that specific kind of hate that brought together the Aryan wannabe Adolf Hitler and the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem Haj Amin al-Husseini. Both had in common delusions of hegemony and, in particular, antisemitism.

The very things that went on existing “the day the Nazi died”, in 1945, remained very much alive in the sewers of Europe and on the sands of Arabia. Not only of Saudi Arabia but of the Pan-Arab empire still dreamed of by the fundamentalist Muslim world. An empire free from infidels. An empire without Jews. Albeit antisemitism is a core tenet of radical Islam, from Ankara to Riyadh, from Tehran to Jakarta, their most fervent acolytes remain the Arabs, geographically and historically.

One could rightfully argue the extreme Persian Shia belong to this group of fanatics. Their feud with the Sunni taking a back seat to their Jew hatred. Those who follow the tradition of the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem I consider as Nazi as the most blonde Aryan German Nazi. The poisonous cherry on top of all the other hegemonic, authoritarian, inhumane and cruel characteristics they proudly share. A Nazi is a Nazi, regardless of the clothes, skin color or religion.

In effect, all other considerations are details; the one true common denominator remains the vicious hatred for the Jews. So vicious some will try to convince you antisemitism applies to others too. It does not. And this is why, in my opinion, shared by many punks and anarchists alike, splitting Nazi hairs is a pastime for Nazis. When anarchists say they won’t stop until every Nazi dies that’s exactly right. And they mean it.

I am not an anarchist and my punk phase didn’t last long at all, but I admire their pulse on things. Their need of defiance and challenge. In a way that keeps us honest, if we let them. Just don’t confuse either with the nihilistic dumbfucks: anarchists and punks are extremely real. For all this I was amused by those who consider invoking Chumbawamba in Tel-Aviv a “sacrilege” of sorts.

Along those lines I want to make clear to some of you, who may not know me for long, that I believe Tel-Aviv is one of the best places to sing “The Day the Nazi Died”. For many reasons, up to and including the fascist tendencies of the radical Israeli right wing, to which the term Nazi, by definition, does not apply, but especially because Israel is surrounded by Arab Nazis, following the footsteps of the Grand Mufti, the closest ones living in Gaza and the West Bank.

Having made that clear, the forces we face today in the United States are an amalgamation of all these despicable things, from the right wing fascists in power to the left wing extremists that do their bidding (from which the left that truly fights fascism stands apart). Those of us not on the extremes of the horse shoe need to put our differences aside and stand together if we are to defeat them.

But we have to learn from the anarchists if we are to succeed. If we are to be truly revolutionary in our struggle we need to recognize the limits of tolerance as early as the gathering of our ranks that is still ongoing. We have the amazing advantage of history to guide us in this XXI century revolution. All we have to do is put that knowledge to good use and stop lying to ourselves about who the underdog is.

We, the people, must come together against those who consider diversity and equality as enemies to be melted into a compliant single aberration that is neither. Those to whom the goal is totalitarianism, usually under a God but not necessarily so. The only purity we require is the one of purpose, found in our hearts. The purpose to never rest until every Nazi and Fascist dies. No matter their clothes.

Today is Wednesday. It’s a particularly hard hump to get over because of the news we know are coming this Thursday. I believe my words tomorrow needed this introduction, no matter what those news may be and the words are. I wish I didn’t feel this way but I can’t help it. Someone very dear to me told me sadness turns to strength and determination. This is true. May we also turn it into clarity of purpose.

May we find it in ourselves not only the resolve to resist and oppose the true evil standing against us but the power to let kindness keep us from becoming that which we fight. May we be like music that inspires, not entertains; that brings happiness, not contentment. May we become the threat the fascists fear the most. And crush them.

Resist & Oppose!

Do the Fucking Deed.

Morning, Threaders, Threadheads, and all in between.

Coffee in freezing temperatures.

Presidents Day.

Wow. Presidents Day… No flags out. Nothing to see here except a fascist in the White House. Or running laps on a NASCAR track while people suffer. The new rules are there are no rules and if “the president does it” no laws are broken because there are no laws.

There are demonstrations scheduled for noon today at State Capitols and DC. What do we want and when do we want it? The secret to a successful demonstration is a unified message. The message must be “STOP!” And stop NOW. We want it to stop now. That’s it. That’s the one message. That’s what our elected officials should be doing in Congress along with the actions of a true shadow government that with few exceptions is still not working.

We need our elected officials to be proactive and anticipate the fascists’ moves. Even a child can figure out what many of them are. DOGE and the other traitors in the administration are erasing entire institutions and their records from existence. Besides telling us that in front of the MSM cameras are our elected officials preserving those records and making them available still?

Complete government webpages filled with essential information are being wiped out. Is our shadow government making sure that a) they are preserved, and b) still on the web somewhere? Or not? As far as I can tell, not. They are like excited tour guides taking us through the remnants of a crumbling site and going like “Quick! Look on your right! You may still see the Department of Education before it’s gone!” What a thrill.

We don’t need apocalyptic tour guides, we need fighters who can prevent it. To break it down into a sentence: deeds, not words. We are sick of words. And we are behind already. They should’ve been acting since last November 6. I could see what was coming. Most of us did. Why couldn’t they? Do they think it’s productive to work with traitors? Do they think decorum is still a thing and we shouldn’t call a dick a dick? Or fascism by its name?

Want to know what this feels like? Probably the same way it felt inside the Warsaw Ghetto during the two and a half years before the uprising when weapons were being smuggled in to the protests of those who were afraid that would “upset” the Nazis. Like resistance would provoke what they thought was not going to happen. The Nazis would have destroyed the ghetto anyway. At least some tried to do something about it.

The cautionary voices of today, that tell us we are overreacting or provoking the fascists into Martial Law by resisting them fiercely aren’t just cowards. They are enablers; quickly becoming collaborators who hope they can survive the inevitable onslaught if only they make just the right amount of noise to not “upset” the Nazis. Like they tried in Warsaw. That went well.

We will be out on the streets today. What do we want? For it to stop. When do we want it? Right fucking now. Who are we talking to? Are we telling this to the traitors in DC and around the country? Nope. This message is for the people we voted for: the Democrats in Congress. God, I hope they show up and tell us they will. Because if they join these demonstrations to demand change they are only shouting into a mirror. It’s YOU, you idiots. YOU must stop it. NOW.

We are demonstrating to show YOU our support and our demands are addressed to YOU. Please don’t look oblivious and join the chorus like some sort of self motivation exercise. Join the protests to show us you will. To tell us you hear us and you will act. Don’t pretend joining these protests is the action we want from you. They are meant FOR YOU. So get off your butts and stop it. Now.

So few of our Democratic senators and representatives are actually doing something to stop this madness. So few understand there will be no “come to Jesus” moment like in 2018. All those Republicans, who strongly supported TFG before btw, are gone. All you have left is the fascist puppets who vote for their constituents suffering and then come out whimpering softly some worried words. Perhaps a couple of them will grow a spine but not if you pat them on the back.

These bipartisanship collaborators justify their inaction and their criminal behavior by saying how many of their colleagues across the aisle tell them they hate TFG and Musk over a nice dinner at a fancy restaurant in DC, where no one can see or hear them. That’s nice. Same place tomorrow? We can’t go on appeasing these traitors or commiserating with them in the cover of anonymity. Flush them out. If they approach you in private and say they hate the turd record it. Boohoo.

Let them feel the dear leader’s wrath, don’t cover for them expecting them to come out on their own. They will not. Stop pretending it’s not good to shutdown the government when the government is erasing its former self and replacing democracy with tyranny. Shut it down before you can’t anymore. Refuse continuing resolutions unless your demands are met and if they are not shut it down again once they expire but DO NOT agree to a budget under ANY circumstances.

These traitors in the House will probably collapse any budget proposal on their own by wanting to add their beloved pork, on top of which they will add the bacon offerings to the dear leader, like making his birthday a national holiday. Let them implode. Do NOT help them out. The federal workers are already being sent home without pay and it’s not because the government is shut down. It’s because it’s working. So shut it down.

Enough halfhearted deeds and heartfelt words. We are sick of those. Listen to us. We want it to stop now. That’s what we will be telling you on the streets today and every day from now on.

Do the fucking deed.

Resist & Oppose!

A Tragedy of Flowers.

Hello, Threaders, Threadheads, and all in between.

I like coffee in the rain.

A tragedy of flowers.

It seems like plans are being made to destroy the Rose Garden, at the White House, turning it into a dull limestone patio, more suitable for the turd’s 3rd term campaign rallies. Looks like they are finishing the job Melania started in 2020. In a way I am now glad Jill Biden didn’t completely undo that.

I feel terrible about it, but I knew this was coming. Same for the receptions with cheeseburgers and the vampire Christmas decorations perfect for Halloween. But the changes to “the Garden” are particularly painful. Historian Michael Beschloss had a meltdown over the first demolition of 2020, when most of the damage was done. Wait til he hears about the limestone à la Mar-a-Lago.

Everything these people touch turns to shit. It is a tragedy, since these once beautiful places were symbols of aspirational beauty and kindness. I was only a child when I fell in love with Albert Speer’s architecture as I saw it through the masterful lens of Leni Riefenstahl. Then I grew up. I became aware of what these stone monumental tributes to fascist rule meant and how practically all were destroyed and replaced. The tragedy is gone.

Everything these people touch turns to shit. It is a tragedy, since these once beautiful places were once symbols of aspirational beauty and kindness. I was only a child when I fell in love with Albert Speer’s architecture as I saw it through the masterful lens of Leni Riefenstahl. Then I grew up. I became aware of what these stone monumental tributes to fascist rule meant and how practically all were destroyed and replaced. That tragedy is gone.

At least the Nazis had brilliant minds in charge of aesthetics. These dumbfucks are more like a wrecking crew of drunks followed by drafters high on cocaine. At least it makes it easier to reconstruct. The real tragedy this destruction of beauty means is not the one inflicted on spaces and buildings. It’s the one people suffer. That is the tragedy that in so many cases cannot be undone. The one that requires our full attention.

These horrendous actions being planed and carried out against our symbols deserve our indignation but not our focus. Like every stupid act by these traitors it’s supposed to distract us from their treason but in particular from those actions that are truly tragic and the results of which cannot be undone by competent architects or arborists. Two bills will soon hit the Senate floor, perhaps at the same time.

One is H.R.722 - To implement equal protection under the 14th article of amendment to the Constitution for the right to life of each born and preborn human person. The other is H.R.1161 - Red, White, and Blueland Act of 2025 - To authorize the President to enter into negotiations to acquire Greenland and to rename Greenland as "Red, White, and Blueland". Go ahead, show your indignation for both. But please, focus on H.R. 722. It’s a federal abortion ban.

Both bills will pass the House and head to the Senate where either will get nothing but high praise and the rubber stamp of the fascist puppets who placed at the head of HHS a guy who wants to send people with mental health problems to “wellness farms” where they can enjoy forced labor without medication, side by side with “drug addicts” on cold turkey. You think they will stop the renaming of Greenland or the federal abortion ban?

Republicans in Congress will pass a bill that mandates them to eat shit on every other day and drink piss on the others if the dear leader wishes them to. And maybe Fetterman will vote for that too; he’s practically doing it already, anyway. We don’t have to choose which actions we are appalled by but we have to focus on what matters in terms of the impact it has on people. On us and our families and our neighbors.

That’s why as disgusted as the completion of the destruction of the Rose Garden may be I take a deep breath and move on immediately to other destructive actions being taken or planned right now that will tragically impact the lives of millions, for certain ending many of them. One day, the Rose Garden will be brought back in all its beauty, and yet some of its flowers will grace the tombs of the victims of H.R. 722. Those we can’t bring back.

Focus on that.

Resist & Oppose!

The News.

Morning, Threaders, Threadheads, and all in between.

No Valentine’s without coffee!

News you can trust.

“All the News That's Fit to Print”. I don’t expect most to remember this NYT motto was created in 1897. That was way before the WP “Democracy dies in darkness” slogan of 2017, now turned into “Riveting Storytelling for All of America.”

In a televised world these seem like relics today, even if the NYT switched “print” to “click” on its website. More like clickbait. Growing up, I fell in love with my grandparents’ old radio they used to get close to as the words “This is London” came through the speaker. News they could trust. In today’s world, even the BBC World Service has been compromised by opinion. The WP is right: we are down to “riveting storytelling” instead of journalism.

NPR tells us the news but immediately followed by some “expert” in the matter, bowing down to the storyteller reality we live in. News are no longer enough. We are not to be trusted with judgement and need to be told what they mean. The sad truth is most of us really do: lack the judgement to understand the news. We also became addicted to the storytelling, especially when it comes to televised news. News channels are 5% journalism and 95% opinion. Roughly.

We flock to the opinions we like and trash the ones we don’t and in the process the news itself is lost. Reassured by my grandparents experience I also grew up with newspapers and tv newscasts that lasted about an hour, three or four times a day, with no commercial breaks. Those were the days! There was barely time to broadcast the news, let alone give airtime to opinion makers. We used to digest it, discuss it over coffee and form our judgement by ourselves.

There were propaganda reports, for sure. During the years of fascist rule, as a child in Portugal, my grandparents ways returned and people would gather around their radios, turned the volume down, and listened to London again. News you could trust. The old ways of the resistance in Europe lived well beyond 1945 in places like Portugal, Spain, Hungary, Poland… The USSR itself. The lessons I learned inform the way I consume the news today.

The almighty internet is not a problem for me but rather the solution to cut through the noise and the storytelling. That’s where the news is hiding. News agencies like AP or Reuters still work, verified by new outlets living in the ethereal bytes like Meidas Touch. Newspapers still report news, believe it or not, from the Haaretz to the Guardian, all over the world. Even NPR news service still works, if you tune out before the storytelling starts.

Today we are witnessing the end of an era. Not just the demise of the newly assumed storytelling news but the end of the news system as we knew it, with all its changes that mostly were for the worse. “The enemy of the people” narrative is back in full swing and, like every other aspect of a free society, legacy media (and all mainstream media) is threatened. Some of it is already gone. It will get worse.

Our options are clear: we either fight for the reinstatement of storytelling or fight for the rebirth of journalism. It seems to me that the former is a waste of time and as for the latter it can only happen from the ashes of the current news media. So we should crush it. Rather than save a corrupt and biased media we need to destroy it so it can rise anew. In a time when practically all legacy media and their employees are bought and paid for by billionaires they became untrustworthy.

News became a billion dollar racket, dependent on advertising to make a profit. And subscribers, of course. It also became more propaganda than you’d think, beyond the punditry and storytelling. The news is broadcasted as propaganda even before the pundits and storytellers (aka commentators, aka journalists) start spinning them. I stopped watching them and subscribing them. If we all do the same they will all die.

The hard core skeptics will howl we are lost without news and we must save them. They are both right and wrong. We will be lost without news but, in my opinion, we need to create a true news system that eliminates the illusion it became and returns to the roots of journalism itself. Photojournalists do it best. That’s the paragon of journalism. Each frame is opinion free. You see it. There’s no noise or explanation. The story becomes history. The storyteller is silent.

Not a storyteller at all but a witness. The first witness who then shares it with us so we can become witnesses as well and through our experience, perspective and reason make our judgement. Journalists, true journalists, are like photographers. Their camera is a pen or a keyboard. Their photographs are paragraphs. They write down a picture for us; unbiased; untouched by opinion or useless adjectives. They are witnesses, sharing the truth.

For the news is the truth. We allowed it to become a caricature of it. It now conceals the truth rather than preserve it. We need to stop consuming this garbage we call news and start finding it where it lives still: hiding in the terabytes of information untouched by the storytelling thugs who saw it there first too. There are some honest storytellers among the opinion makers, who try to bear witness to the news. Don’t worry about them. They will survive.

As we take on the destruction of the corrupt mainstream media, the few honest journalists and opinion experts will be saved by it and rise from the ashes as the pioneers of a renewed journalism we all must fight for. The one that does not care about anything but the truth. The one that through photographs or paragraphs bear witness to it first hand and pass it on to us and our judgement.

Stay informed. Find out where the news is hiding and bear witness. We are, in a way, all journalists now. In today’s world we must stop watching and reading what a few billionaires spoon feed us as the news. We must show them there’s no longer a future for their business model. We must destroy it so the real newscasting can rise from its ashes. Stop watching “the news”. Start finding the news where it is hiding. And bear witness.

Shut it down.

Morning, Threaders, Threadheads, and all in between. I have no idea what a morning without coffee looks like. Black.

Shut it down.

Actions, not words. The country is on fire because of a gasoline dump. It’s not a leak. It’s a full blown disaster and it has a name: the US government. Shut it down.

A few of our elected officials are calling it like it is and acting boldly but their colleagues are still marinating in delusions of bipartisanship. The bipartisanship with fascists that can only be described as collaboration. I understand we need to explore all avenues but not that one. I already called for a shadow cabinet and legislature and FINALLY Democrats are holding informal hearings to expose the criminal activities of this administration. Good. Go ahead and start legislating.

And by that I mean creating a real project based not on ideas, like P2025, but bills ready to go on day one after this shitshow is over. Some, like the Voting Rights Act, are already there; we need more: draft legislation on Healthcare, Women’s Rights, Gun Control. Create bills reinforcing Social Security, Medicaid and Medicare. And don’t forget Judicial Reform and Citizens United. Do it. A real project you can run on.

And don’t tell me you can’t do that at the same time you take other bills to the floor to stall Congress, or filibuster the hell out of everything, or conduct the informal hearings, or get in touch with your constituents. Stop fundraising. There. You got an extra 12 hours a day, just by doing that. Fuck fundraising. There’s 260 of you in Congress. 260!! Get to work. No excuses.

Each time a new fire starts to add to the inferno our country is becoming you need to expose and address it. Try to block it, delay it, obstruct it. We all get that. But there’s nothing like cutting off the main flow of gasoline feeding the firestorm. Government. Stop whining about leverage when their “mandated majority” in the House is defined by 3 votes. You have all the leverage in the world.

The opportunities to make it stop are approaching and you need to take them. There’s a $4 Trillion debt ceiling increase on the table. Crush it. And when they propose a half assed continuing resolution to temporarily allow this government to go on killing people do not allow it. Shut it all down. They will accuse you of throwing the country into a crisis. Stand up to speak and read back to them the names of those they killed and how they did it. Don’t waste time with empty rhetoric.

Read the names of the dead. The list is long and it’s getting bigger. “Why are you not allowing the government to work while we talk this through?” they will ask. “Because each day this government is working you are killing people.” is the right answer. Once you get through the list of the dead you can pick up on the unthinkable damage caused to tens of thousands, including thousands of Americans. You have material for months.

TFG and his minions will lose their shit and probably try to dissolve Congress. Good. You think they wouldn’t if you keep voting for their nominees and whimpering for bipartisanship? Congress will be dissolved, you can count on it. It’s, as they like to say, “a waste of taxpayer dollars and a DEI liability.” Are you preparing for that? Are you preparing for Martial Law? Or will you create some panels to think about it after the fact, like you are doing now.

It’s too soon to talk about it? Like it was too soon to make plans for this treasonous crap between November 6 and January 19? Is that why you sat on your hands back then? Cause it was too soon? There’s an image that is burnt on my mind forever. It was burnt on January 20. Amy Klobuchar smiling and clapping her hands at fascism. The face of collaboration. Myself and millions of other Americans are sick of it. Shut it down.

There shouldn’t have been a single Democrat at that inauguration, better called usurpation. Those who thought of decorum back then and those who keep willingly underestimating what is happening to our country are the ones who lost their souls long ago. The ones who spend the time they should be working for us on the phone, grovelling for a few crumbs from the rich: the only trickle down there ever was. At this point that’s its own brand of treason.

They are destroying our nation. Stop worrying about having the government closed. It’s not a bad thing at all, considering what it’s doing while open for business. We will have your backs on the streets. We will go out by the millions to support you. Do your part and we will do ours. No fear. Just shut the whole thing down. Be prepared to act during the shutdown and know how to end it. Expose their crimes, one by one. Stop this. Shut it down.

Resist & Oppose!

Remember us.

Morning, Threaders, Threadheads, and all in between. More coffee needed.

Back to the future…
It’s been a few months since January 20. A young protester takes to his paper notebook and writes how it’s going. Maybe someone will find his words, one day…This is a future string.

Day 35.
We’re still here. I stopped using the phone to write my notes when the solar powered generators went down. Back to paper. There was around a million people here on day one. It was a scheduled demonstration. The National Mall was chosen for its unique history and significance. It was a great day. Few were aware of what was planned next. There were speakers who encouraged us to fight from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial.

One of them, a Senator of all people, introduced a young woman from one of the resistance groups that have been working to mobilize us. I think from Indivisible or Action Network or something like that. She said those of us who wished to stay on site should do that and explained how several groups at the Mall were ready with support stations, generators, supplies and medical assistance. These groups had blue arm bands. I watched two guys by me putting them on when she said that.

Looked like we were here to stay. As the speeches went on some people left. At the end of the day, as the demonstration turned to a sit in, it was obvious a lot of us decided to join. There wasn’t any police containment; people were free to come and go. Many came back later, better prepared to stay. The initial plan was to rotate and allow people to go out and take a shower, eat better, rest, return. That didn’t last long.

 

I think by day 5 we were boxed in by the National Guard. Our supply groups were no longer allowed in. Drones started doing that. It took the police a couple of weeks to start interfering with them but some still made it through. We heard some representatives and senators were sitting in inside Congress but Capitol Police eventually ended it. Around day 20 we lost communication with the outside. No signal on the phones. We rely on radio communications since, but they’re jamming it too.

It’s been hard to know what’s going on. There must still be like 50,000 of us left. It’s hard to say. I haven’t showered in a couple of weeks and people have been using the reflecting pool as bathroom for a while now. There are some police and military among the blue bands. They organize the so called defense. It worked okay when the riot police tried to disperse us before we were boxed in by the military. Since then it’s been quiet. They are waiting us out.

There’s talk of a large demonstration supposed to come join us but I don’t know how they will get past the military. I know they were arresting judges the day before we got here. A few representatives supportive of Palestine were arrested on antisemitism charges too and we had to push out some people who mistook this as a free Palestine demonstration and showed up with Hamas head bands, burning American flags. We’re here to save our country not burn it down.

They also started trouble with the riot police and it got real bad. Like they needed encouragement. That was around day three, I think. The fascists are using them as an excuse to arrest everyone else as the Congress people found out. I knew having fascists pretending to be against antisemitism wasn’t a good idea. They’re gone now, the keffiyeh crowd. The House tried to shut down government again; we got that on the radio. NPR and local stations still get through.

It feels so strange to listen to them. The news are heavily edited and biased and the commercial breaks sound more fantastic than ever. I guess people are still using Ozempic. It’s just wild! More than once fighter jets flew over us, real low. That started a week ago. I think they want us to believe there’s a civil war going on. Today, for the first time, a military helicopter flew by and hovered above us. They’re trying to intimidate us.

The basic supply of water and canned food the city is still bringing in may soon stop. We rely on basic humanity to survive here, especially since our own supply chain broke down. We’ll know it got serious when that stops. I guess we’ll involuntarily hunger strike. EMS still has access. A lot of people have been evacuated for health reasons since the beginning. The medics with blue bands do a great job but can’t deal with a heart attack or a severe wound.

The initial clashes with the riot police were bad. Lots of wounded. There’s talk of deaths but I don’t know. I haven’t witnessed any. On day one there were children, people on wheel chairs. Pets… They moved out very early. I am 21 years old and my feet are killing me after running around like crazy and my eyes are still burning from the tear gassing. No one shot at us yet. We’re a pretty tight bunch; resilient; but I don’t know how much longer we can keep this up without support.

I can’t go over our list of demands anymore. I should have written them down on this notebook. I have them in my dead phone. I remember reinstating the IG’s, removing the AG and the FBI director… Dismantling the DOGE crap. Respecting the courts… Shit like that. It was a long list. Too long if you ask me. Whatever. Too much shit going on; the list was going to be long, anyway.

They must have closed the air space above us. The news helicopters are long gone. News crews have also been cut off when the military replaced the police and the few remaining among us are basically keeping record. Nothing goes in or out. The Guard takes care of the basic supplies and EMS is escorted by them too. I wonder if they managed to get some news out. I haven’t seen any of our drones in a long while. We’re on our own. We always were.

There’s this old guy I usually sit with. He’s an Iraq war veteran. He looks bad. I tried to convince him to let EMS take a look at him but he refused. Our medics keep an eye on him when they can. He has a strange look on his face and sometimes he stares into the distance. The beauty of this place is awe inspiring. As much as the beauty of the people around me. Even the suffering has this strange beauty about it. The old man is staring into the void again. He’s right here.

 

Last night I dreamed paratroooers broke through the Guard perimeter and brought us food and water. They had inverted US flag patches on their arms. One of them knelt by me and said: “101st Airborne. We’re here to rescue you.” My dad made me watch Band of Brothers too many times. Hold on. (…)

 

The Guard is putting on gas masks. I’ll see you on the other side. Remember us.

 

Resist & Oppose!

Last Call.

Morning, Threaders, Threadheads, and all in between. Hot black coffee.

Constitutional Crisis.

No, we’re not getting close. No, our toes are not dipping in it. No, it’s not on the horizon. We ARE in a Constitutional Crisis. I would argue we have been in one since 2016, given all the steps took to weaken the Judiciary, the ones strengthening the Executive, and the progressive stagnation of the Legislative. Now there’s no doubt. We’re here.

Most politicians and pundits who fear for democracy are in complete denial, as they have been since 2016. The ones opposing democracy are doing their worst to help them by pretending everything is fine and this is the way God and the founding fathers intended it to be. As for the people, we watch in disbelief as those of us who see it start to lose patience and hope and those who don’t go about their business resignedly. Very few rejoice in it.

There are no signs this administration will stop defying the Constitution and the rule of law. Just the opposite. While they throw some more plastic straws around to distract us, and gather their strength to apply pressure where we’re not looking, they blatantly ignore unfavorable court rulings and slow walk others to the same effect. Suggestions of impeachment of judges are being tested at the same time official orders from the DOJ are sent to the courts to stop prosecutions.

As we feared, Pam Bondi’s official policy of protecting this administration from judicial scrutiny and investigation is in full effect while the Executive, free from those checks and constraints, does its part by removing every single person and mechanism that may have stood in their way. Unlawfully. The traitors have reached the positions they need to start dismantling democracy and more are ready to join them as soon as they are confirmed by their puppets in the Senate.

Although I don’t believe in rehashing the past I need to ask: how is that “weird” stuff working out? Are they weird enough yet to be called fascists or should we wait some more? When people discuss possible messages and strategies for the future there are some who still cling to this notion that we should try the “weird” stuff again. I don’t understand how they still don’t see it. They were never “weird”. They were always traitors and fascists.

They don’t want to change our country: they want to destroy it. They don’t want to talk: they want to impose. They don’t want a Republic: they want a fascist, Christian nationalist state. They don’t want to go back to Reagan: they want Gilead. From trapping transgender people in the military by cutting them off from treatment and care mid transition to forbidding millions of women to vote by forcing them match their married names to their birth certificates.

By expanding the abortion ban at the federal level with point to point measures that don’t require legislation to have that effect. By banning books and removing selected words from existence. All this while restoring the symbols of the Confederacy before they can safely place statues of the dear leader in every city, town and village. But, hey, let’s worry about plastic straws, right? Because that’s just so… weird.

Last night, @maddowshow got close to reality but still hopes for the best. She did, however, hit it straight: the time is now. I was pleased @lawrence_odonnell started his show with my exact scheduled good night post: J.D. Vance’s declaration that judges are NOT allowed to control the executive power. This IS a Constitutional crisis. It’s high time to stop pussyfooting around it.

I am glad some democrat officials are starting to use the word “fascism” on the MSM. Even the @nyt is crawling on broken glass trying to atone for their part in the rise of authoritarian rule. They finally understand there is not much time left. And still the head of the Democrats in the House is putting panels together that “may eventually lead to lawsuits”. Some day. Is God still on the throne, @repjeffries?

The platitudes offered by most our elected officials are met on SM by indignation, disbelief, outrage and outright anger. We know better. We’re running out of time. People are indeed taking to the streets, some in Congress are starting to push harder, but although these things matter they are like spontaneous bursts that last a few moments and need to be reignited. We need more. Much more.

We need to realize sooner than we think most of the tools at our disposal will be taken away from us. As soon as the Judiciary falls. While we give the courts more time to fight back we must act while we still can. Unions will soon be dismantled. They need to start a lasting, coordinated series of strikes NOW, while they still can. Congress will be reduced to an echo chamber without any power. They must stand their ground NOW, while they still can access the building.

All these things, these seemingly impossible things, these hysterical scenarios, all of it will come. And you can’t just wish them away or put some panels together to eventually try to maybe do something about it some day. We still have some time and the tools to do something NOW. We either use them or lose them. We better understand this.

This is my last call. You know how bad things are and you can see how bad they will soon be. From now on I will focus on the actions required to take the fight to these traitors. So they can know at last just how dangerous we are to them and how hopeless their plans are when the people rise. I don’t know how long I have before I no longer can reach out to you like this. Every morning I wake up expecting to be cut off from the world I can only reach this way.

Although the last call I mentioned refers to the dangers we face with a pivot to action, this may well be my last call altogether. We are approaching the point of no return very fast. My hope is our efforts to start an effective popular movement will be in place by then and we’ll have become unstoppable. We need to achieve it quickly, while we still have the tools to do it. Let’s make the time we have count. Every second of it. Time to rise up.

Resist & Oppose!

Holding the line.

Morning, Threaders, Threadheads, and all in between. More coffee.

Hold the line.

Yesterday, as the Super Bowl unraveled, the first hints about the coming frontal assault on the judiciary showed up. Thrown around like spaghetti at the wall, they uphazardly reveal a much serious intent. Some were quick to dismiss them as BS. They’re not.

This treasonous administration and their minions may be dumb and their statements may look outlandish but they are set to take the final step to end Democracy, of which only a sad caricature already remains as fascism expands its tentacles: the complete disregard of the law. When they say courts have no authority over the executive they mean it. They are already acting like it.

Actions that require congressional approval or the observance of legally establish methods are being taken in defiance of laws. Many are being fought in court, as they should, but the effects of temporary stays and the eventual final rulings that would stop such actions depend on the executive to enforce them. Judges don’t run around on motorcycles with shotguns, enforcing their rulings. The words they put on paper are just words, strong and just as they may be.

Norman Eisen, one of several lawyers working on cases involving this administration who had their security clearances revoked by TFG, was asked how will the courts enforce their rulings when it’s on the administration itself to uphold them and enforce them. I believe the question involved a scenario where US Marshals would arrest members of government held in contempt for disregarding the court’s orders. Good question, right? Who is going to arrest them?

He painstakingly dodged the question with proclamations of the power people have in a democracy and a sprinkle of faith in law enforcement. Very fainted faith in it. The truth is any and all law enforcement depends on the policy determined by the DOJ. And reality is we are closer to prosecuting the judges who issue orders against government officials than enforcing those orders.

If you’re disappointed in Merrick Garland’s half assed tenure and you still remember the damage Bill Barr did, you’re going to have your mind blown by Pam Bondi. Enforcement against “certain people” was already weak or non existent before so don’t expect it to improve under the rule of a full fledged fascist traitor in charge of our justice department. Am I suggesting it’s useless to prosecute these cases? Absolutely not.

Eisen, James, Elias, and all the lawyers involved in legal cases where the defendants are government officials or entities should double down on their actions, just as the Democrats in Congress should get off their butts and sue the living daylights out of everyone and everything they can. Some cases may slip through the sieve while those who don’t will expose the traitors involved in their dismissal.

We will beat them back; fascism will not take root, and all these cases will reemerge when the rule of law is restored. With a vengeance. Yesterday I reminded you how we the people have the power to take to the streets and demand justice. That’s particularly important in this case. Wherever, whenever a case like this is in court show up if you can and demonstrate outside. Show them we are watching and are not taking this shit.

The courts are our last line of defense when it comes to institutional resistance. They must hold the line for as long as they can and only we can buy them the time they need. Every day a court manages to delay the institution of this madness is a victory. We are all fighting for time. We’re running the clock and if you’re like me you probably hate it but the end zone is too far and if we try anything else at this point we risk losing everything.

At some point, as the disregard of the law becomes more scandalous and impossible to sustain, they may go ballistic and try to shut it all down with Martial Law. If it comes to that it must be on a beautiful day with birds chirping and children laughing so it’s indefensible. We must not give them any excuse to do it under the flimsiest pretext other than their treason and their intent of turning us into a fascist nation. We must force them to drop their act and lose their masks.

This is why, even with a puppet AG and all her treasonous doings, it’s so important to keep fighting on the legal front. It’s not hopeless, as frustrating and enraging as it is. We must support those efforts on the streets and, together with those fighting inside the court rooms, hold the fucking line as long as we possibly can. Destroying the judiciary is the most difficult step to climb on the way to fascism. Few succeeded in doing it. Many others failed.

Before leaving office, Joe Biden left us the gift of many judges who can fight for the survival of Justice. Their efforts, along with the prosecutors who dare defy Pam Bondi’s orders not to go against the government, are not in vain. They are our best shot at preventing Project 2025 to come true. Every case won and struck down by the DOJ or ignored by the administration is still a victory and it reminds us what we’re up against.

The megalomania of these traitors is unparalleled and it will bite them in the ass. They can’t help themselves and rejoice at every one of their heinous achievements as if those who suffer from them are not human. It’s already hurting many of the fools who fell for their BS who now cry on SM how wrong they were voting for this. Good. Cry some more. When they’re done crying perhaps they will join us on the streets. And in the voting booths.

Do not despair but do not look away either. Justice is coming under attack like never before. If we allow it to fall it will take a lot more than peaceful demonstrations to get it back. We must not let that happen. We must hold the line.

Resist & Oppose!

Treason.

Morning, Threaders, Threadheads, and all in between. Black coffee.

Treason.

Call it what it is. Own it, because the people in power will soon (and in some cases now - DOJ, of all places) define it as betraying and disobeying the government. Treason is not about betraying the government: it’s betraying the country and the Constitution. They will soon call us traitors because they always project their crimes on others.

I also have news for you. If you still believe this can be fixed by drafting bills, and hoping for the few courts that try to stop it to uphold their rulings, or by working “across the aisle” to persuade some of them to abandon their God King, you are probably living in a fantasy. Democracy is gone. This is fascism. They may not yet have taken away our right to vote but if we manage to flip the House in April expect Martial Law to nullify it. I do.

What makes a government accept the results of an election? The rule of law. It must obey the law that states what happens after. How is the rule of law working so far? It isn’t. So why do we expect it to work in April? Or in 2026? These traitors will not fear becoming a little bit more treasonous by ignoring the Constitution a little bit more. In case you haven’t noticed they are all in. They learned their lesson. Have we learned ours?

In the four years these traitors had power they allowed the law to stand in their way. Their delusions of grandeur and disdain for the Constitution were cut short by the courts, again and again. And the minions they placed at the head of the DOJ and the DOD were undermined by their own staff. They weren’t fanatical enough. This time they are. Pam Bondi’s first order of business was to issue a warning to any DOJ official who would investigate government policies: Don’t.

Pete Hegseth’s first order of business was to declare the DOD a DEI free zone and the “return” to the “American warrior” philosophy, starting his addresses with “All glory to God” for now. “Deus Vult” will soon replace it. How long before the DOD changes its name to DOW? Anytime, now. Both departments, where all the guns are, are going through purity purges as we speak. They learned their lesson. We did not.

We are watching a coup in motion, but unlike an ordinary coup meant to overthrow a government, this coup is meant to keep the government in power. It’s a coup against democracy itself. Against the foundation of our democratic society: the rule the coup is aimed at is not the rule of a government but the rule of law. In their first run they became aware that it wasn’t enough to have some power and now they are ready to destroy what kept them from having it all then: the law.

I placed a lot of trust in our military last year. I wrote about it and my assessment was that, with the exception of a few nut jobs, the military would keep their oath to the country they are sworn to defend from all enemies, foreign and domestic. They are being purged of the highest ranking officers who believe and understand their oath. Will that work? I hope not for the time must come when we start calling what is happening by its true name: treason.

We do have professional armed forces and law enforcement, but they are still made of citizens. The armed citizens the 2nd Amendment speaks of. They must be made aware of the treasonous movement in progress and it’s our responsibility to let them know. In that respect we the people are the judges and the jury. In what is still left of a democracy being drowned by fascism we must try with all our strength to bring sense to those in charge of execution.

Lest we are forced to become all three: judges, jurors, and executioners. As time goes by it seems only a miracle will prevent this from happening. There are already calls for violence as the answer. Violence is not the answer. It’s the absence of it. It’s the last resort of the hopeless. This is why it is so important to get to the streets peacefully and raise awareness to what is going on. Before it is too late.

In 1974, fascism was deposed in Portugal after nearly 50 years of dictatorship. The military started the coup and the people followed. The army units still faithful to the regime were met by the people on the streets and instead of shooting at them they joined them. The military coup became a revolution. Here, today, we find ourselves in an opposite circumstance in which we the people must bring the military into the fold. They must see what we see: who the traitors are.

Unlike other revolutions but similar to the Ukrainian Maidan, ours must be fought peacefully on the streets, so those who will be sent to crush us will realize the traitors are the ones issuing their orders. Unless we rise by the millions they may be convinced otherwise. Don’t let that happen. Open their eyes. Our elected representatives must engage in this effort and start using the right words: treason and fascism.

In the Senate and the House business as usual is no longer acceptable. It hasn’t for a long time. They must stay there and speak up, every chance they get, old fashioned filibusters but not reading the phone book; calling out the traitors and fascism clearly, again and again. No more recesses, no more vacations, no more fundraising. Stay and fight! Denounce the government and its actions as a true opposition, not some whimpering call for bipartisan ways.

There’s a name for bipartisanship when the other side is fascist: collaboration. Just stop. Let the MSM try to call you crazy, unhinged, unprecedented and dangerous. We all better be recognized as dangerous by those we are fighting against. They must fear us. Once they do, their pathetic grins will vanish from their faces and we will have a chance to exploit that breach and widen it. And freedom will flow through it and drown them. Yes, you fascist pieces of shit: we are dangerous.

If we weren’t dangerous they wouldn’t try to silence us. It’s way past time to show them just how dangerous we are. From the streets to the chambers of Congress: call them out. Expose them for what they are: traitors and fascists. That’s the only way to prevent the worst from happening: the time when we will have to become judges, jurors and executioners. Fascism is taking root but there’s still time to stop it by speaking up.

So speak up! Resist & Oppose!

Paradigms.

Morning, Threaders, Threadheads, and all in between. Coffee. Black. Three sugars.

A new paradigm.

Back in August of 2023 I published a blogpost establishing a parallel between my upbringing in a fascist country and the real threat such would come to pass here. History rarely repeats itself flawlessly; all it does is show us behavioral patterns likely to lead to similar results.

Those patterns are obvious to those, like me, who have lived through them. To others, not so much or, unfortunately, not at all. In spite of my warning having thousands of views, along with many other similar ones, most people believed it was an overreaction. Indeed, as I have said myself, the US is a much bigger and much more different country than Germany, which together with contemporary factors unthinkable in 1933 made the Nazi phenomenon impossible to carbon copy.

This is where critical thinking comes into play, and the ability to look for patterns rather than exact layouts. I didn’t know how exactly the institutionalization of fascism would come to be made but I knew it would require elections and the breakdown of the legislative AND judicial systems so the executive could rule supreme. That’s exactly what happened with the ascension of Nazism in Germany and that would undoubtedly happen here, should TFG win, as he has.

I just didn’t know how that would happen. But now I do. To commit a crime with impunity the best thing to do is to dismantle the organizations that would stop it and punish it. When the crime is to destroy democratic society that objective is both the assurance of impunity and the crime itself. So think of Musk’s cybertrooper kids as the Nazi Sturmabteilung, or SA. That’s their part to play, the pattern we’re looking for.

Not a part of the elected government, acting outside the law, unstoppable due to the control government itself has over the institutions meant to investigate, stop, and punish them. Without uniforms and armed with computers. No stormtroopers: cybertroopers. And this is how the size of our country becomes irrelevant as a protective buffer against this assault.

To make matters worse, the DOJ is now in the hands of a puppet whose main concern is to prevent any legal action against the government and ignore the unconstitutional criminal actions of the cybertroopers while going after those who oppose both. Yet the FBI is resisting the ongoing purge and the courts are trying to minimize the ongoing slaughter. Regardless of the puppet AG and the conniving SCOTUS, the courts remain our immediate line of defense. For now.

What do we have that Germany didn’t in 1932? What the Ukrainians did, during the Maidan uprising of 2013-14: the people. We will not go gently into that good night and if there’s one playbook we need to look at to fight the seemingly inexorable institution of fascism in our country is the Ukrainian playbook. I’m convinced that only massive peaceful demonstrations, coupled with nationwide strikes and civil disobedience will stop it.

Step two of the take over, the conversion of the legislature into a useless, aesthetic body that allows the executive all power, is in progress. It will serve as a rubber stamp to all the dear leader wishes done, and if we do regain control of the House in April it will probably be dissolved under martial law. Unless the people make that impossible. Much as the technocrats wish, this country cannot work without the cooperation of its people yet.

We can’t be replaced by robots or AI, yet. We have the power. The power to say no. The power to disobey. The power to stop this madness. But we must not wait for the very probable dissolution of Congress and we cannot leave to the courts alone the fight that belongs to us. I see some reminding us that demonstrations “are nice” but ineffective. Tell that to the Ukrainian people.

This, and I can’t stress it enough, is not a drill. People will die on the streets. Understand that is not just a real possibility: it will happen. And it will happen during peaceful demonstrations, just as it did during the Civil Rights Movement and just as it did during the Ukrainian Maidan. We had our shot at bloodless change last November and it was taken away from us. It does matter if by apathy or if outright stolen, and we will get to the bottom of it. But not now.

As much as I agree with those wanting swing states recounts and vote tampering investigations that’s not going to happen now. It’s a waste of time as we don’t have the means to do it. We have to focus on the ongoing coup that is taking democracy away from us as we speak. That’s where all our energy needs to be channeled to. Expect a hard push back from “the authorities”. Be careful about the way you resist and oppose as only you know how much you can give.

I see some people already leaving SM for fear of the very real harm they and their families may face if they go on writing against the government and the orange turd. I don’t blame them. My disabled wife asked me how long will I keep risking our lives by posting these words. I don’t know. As long as I can. Maybe one day I will have to stop, but not today. One thing is certain: it will come a time when none of us will have anything left to lose if we don’t try to prevent it.

If we get to that point it won’t be too late to fight but the fight will get much harder and deadly. So stand up and do your part right now, big or small. Take to the streets everywhere if you can. Give our elected officials the strength they need to get bolder and louder by our example. And if you are one of those targeted by the coup, still with a government job, do not quit. Do not resign. You are not alone. None of us are.

Resist & Oppose!

This is not a drill.

Morning, Threaders, Threadheads, and all in between. Must have coffee.

Justice asks for courage first.

The courage to resist with all your might and show the world the power of your beliefs. To be on the right side of History is most times dangerous. It requires being smart and know when and how to resist.

The calls for marches, national days of protest, demonstrations and gatherings multiply as we move deeper into the present nightmare. Instructions on how to participate and prepare for them number the hundreds, maybe thousands. Among those I have seen one particular piece of advice struck me: wear a mask. Usually there’s a health concern involved, with the resurgence of Covid, followed by a more obvious reason: to remain anonymous. Big brother is watching.

My feelings about masked protests are well known among those who read me. Let me just say that if you believe a mask during a protest is going to protect you, you never read 1984. You probably go back home and back to work, after the protest, and resume your compliant little life. Then, maybe, a mask will protect you. We don’t need people who only show up for “demonstrations” while their everyday lives demonstrate the opposite.

If you are a true activist for Justice, Big Brother knows who you are long before you show up to protest wearing a mask. So all the mask does is cast a shadow of doubt over your purpose. On top of which, it provides the perfect cover for those who join these protests with nefarious intentions. Anonymity plays a role in the resistance. It serves us well when acting on private spheres, directly impacting our private lives, but it is short ranged in nature.

Take my own case as an example. At first glance, I am anonymous. Yes, I know. I am not a beagle with a typewriter. Shocker, right? It is meant to shield me (and my family) from local and familiar dicks whose grief I don’t need. We have enough shit to worry about. However, I have written enough and shown enough about my real self to be identified by a closer look, and I have no illusions that Big Brother knows exactly who I am.

If the shit really hits the fan, be sure the beagle will get a knock on the door and his typewriter will be taken away. My virtual mask is useless in the big picture, yet effective at a local level. That’s its only purpose. But going out on the street is different. Back in Portugal I was very active in public and participated in protests and demonstrations. Never wore a mask or concealed my identity in any way.

Where I live there aren’t many opportunities to be a part of such initiatives, on top of which I am a 24/7 caregiver who can’t just go out the door and risk being arrested. I have others to consider before engaging in such activity now. Still, at the height of George Floyd’s protests, I did join a local street event. Unmasked. I took the chance. The thin rope I walk on is not shared by many, but enough understand it. Despite these reasons to be careful, here I am.

Knowing my anonymity is an illusion when it comes to the government is always on my mind as we descend from chaos into full fledged fascism. The risk is real but I choose to fight, every day. Having said that, if there is ever a chance to join a street protest I will not be concealing my identity behind a mask and I will leave it if there are enough masked people around me. I am not into that kind of protest.

If you wish to demonstrate peacefully count me in. If you choose to use violence while marching alongside women and children count me out. Maybe there will be a time for violent uprisings but those yes must be clandestine and run by brave people willing to risk their lives. And there will be no baby strollers involved. That is courage. To go into the night not knowing if you’re coming back.

To go out in brought daylight, covering your face and using children and old people as shields is not courageous. It’s what cowards do. So unless you are planning a violent protest, in which case you’re dumb as fuck by advertising it, don’t tell people to wear masks on demonstrations. Only cowards do. These protests we so desperately need must be open and transparent as Justice is. And they must be peaceful.

Underground resistance is another animal. It has no public side, no street side. And its actions are not advertised. That’s not what the protests we need are. Those are very public manifestations of our dissent and our power. A power that requires the courage to show your face as you confront injustice. If the worst comes to pass, even completely peaceful demonstrations will be met with brute force. Keep that in mind.

Bringing children and disabled people to demonstrations is both stupid and irresponsible. I assure you they will not stop any bullets, rubber or live. Don’t do that. Even a peaceful protest can turn into a bloodbath by no fault of the protesters. Know this. We need to be on the streets but we must be smart and brave. And we must root out the cowards amongst us who don’t want peaceful protests and crave children in casualty lists.

The rules of engagement have changed. You are no longer protesting in a Democracy. You are facing Fascism now. There is no kumbaya marches or flower power that won’t be met by cruelty and violence. No need to provoke it. It will happen. I lived under fascism and witnessed my dad pondering participating in protests where people were shot at with live rounds. Pondering the risk of making me an orphan and my mother a widow. He never thought about taking us with him.

This is not a drill. This is not a possibility. It’s reality and we must face it as we choose how to resist. If you can, march for Justice; but do it as safely and peacefully as possible, show your face as a sign of strength and righteousness, and be ready to be met with violence. And if, like me, you are fighting online, have no illusions. They know exactly who you are. If that’s a problem for you, now’s the time to leave. For those who stay, thank you. Welcome to the resistance.

Power to the People.