But also for the Gangster-in-Chief
And you, to whom adversity has dealt the final blow
With smiling bastards lying to you everywhere you go
Turn to, and put out all your strength of arm and heart and brain
And like the Mary Ellen Carter, rise again
— “The Mary Ellen Carter,” by Stan Rogers, 1979
Friends ask me how I am, and my stock reply is now “Managing my stress.” My mother, 93, tells me she and her friends are all wondering whether their Social Security checks will arrive in April. But then that’s just what a “fraudster” would say, according to Donald Trump’s billionaire Commerce Secretary, Howard Lutnick, speaking from whatever planet that bastard lives on. My mother and her friends know all about his comments.
A friends laments that too many in the progressive sphere seem to think clicktivism is enough. Another looks at the descent of the U.S. into will-to-power lawlessness and says there’s nothing you can do. But that’s not true.
Read this carefully:
There is a lesson in there: Stand up to Trump and he backs down. He has a loud bark and a glass jaw.
In case you need reminding what Carney did:
Carney: “The old relationship we had with the United States based on deepening integration of our economies and tight security and military cooperation is over.” pic.twitter.com/LKYkpO8JD0
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) March 27, 2025
So attend those protests, the big and the small. Contact your representatives, even the MAGA ones. Write letters to the editor. Make phone calls for Susan Crawford in Wisconsin (the election is Tuesday). Even if the checks keep coming, I promise you that those reliably voting seniors on Social Security won’t forget the Trump-inspired stress and worry they feel over whether they will be able to pay their bills or, you know, eat.
The smiling, lying bastards only win if you give up first.
(h/t ER)
* * * * *
Have you fought the coup today?
National Day of Action, Saturday, April 5
Choose Democracy
Indivisible: A Guide to Democracy on the Brink
You Have Power
Chop Wood, Carry Water
Thirty lonely but beautiful actions
Attending a Protest Surveillance Self-Defense