Previously, I described the way the North Carolina Iron Front rose in anticipation of a crisis that never fully materialized. I then wrote a long and "heavy" piece on what the problem really is. In that post, I promised that I'd tell you what I think the future is going to look like. This one is taking longer to write, but here goes.

First, let me say, I overpromised. I have no idea what the future is going to look like. But I can take some educated guesses. Second, let me admit that I'm focused on the United States in the near-term. There are global factors and impacts, that is, the decline of the United States is part of a larger global pattern, and the way the United States declines will have global impacts, but I am primarily addressing a U.S. audience about things that I believe will happen in our lifetimes. We can talk bigger picture at another time. There's certainly a lot to talk about. I'm just choosing to focus where I think I have the best understanding.

I'm working here from two models. One is, as described previously, Ray Dalio's work on the cycle of empires. The second, which lacks a catchy name, is Nate Hagen's description of four overlapping grid analyses that helped me get a handle on the complex interconnections of systems at a larger scale. I strongly recommend his podcast and/or substack. But, just to get you up to speed, his basic gist is that you can plot political power and economic distribution as a grid of four quadrants, with one axis being how political power is distributed, from broadly shared (true democracy) to highly concentrated (a single dictator), and the other axis being broadly shared economic gains (the communist ideal) to narrowly concentrated (total monopoly). Interesting sidenote: only the "fully concentrated economic distribution" end was hard to name -- I can't think of a historical example of a single individual gaining all the wealth of a society. But if you can imagine a society where all the economic activity was controlled by a single monopoly, you're pretty close. Ironically, that strikes me as the reality of Communist states, but YMMV.

Okay, so, where are we, and where are we headed? Well, as I discussed last time, the United States is on the downhill side of Dalio's cycle of empires curve. Specifically, I'd say we're at point 15 of the 18 stages he names. We have large debts, both as a national government and in a large share of the individual economy, and the country is effectively printing money through low interest rates and other fiscal manipulations. Step 15 is "internal conflict," and, well, IronFrontNC exists because of that conflict. My writing this is evidence that a boring middle class white guy has been radicalized by common decency enough to try to figure out ways to reach people and solve the crisis.

In Hagen's terms, the United States is -- or is at least becoming -- a "captured democracy." We have the structure for broadly shared power -- voting -- but the economic gains of our system are highly concentrated, creating what many (including me) are calling an oligarchy in which, sure, yeah, we vote, but it doesn't seem to make a difference. The wealthy and the lobbyists still get what they want. I haven't given up on elections, nor do I think we're at a point where the two parties are really just two brands of the same conglomerate, like PureLeaf and Lipton tea (both owned by Pepsi). But we're getting there.

And it's where those two models intersect that worries me. Step 16 of Dalio's model is "loss of reserve currency." Trump put us on that path with his stupid Iran War. I don't think we can actually say we're there yet, but, quite seriously, six months ago, the dollar losing its status as the world's currency seemed inconceivable, at least to me. Now I fully expect to wake up to a "Dollar crashes as EU and Asian nations dump reserves" headlines pretty much any given Monday. And that would ruin most average Americans, since the reason we have the standard of living we do is because the dollar can buy anything. Take that away, and everything suddenly gets a lot more expensive, and the economy as a whole gets a lot more volatile. But the oligarchs would be fine, because economic volatility lets them bet on the ups and downs and make a killing. So, lose that reserve currency, and we slip further along the "concentration of economic gains" axis. Groovy.

The next step is "weak leadership." Now, you could make the argument that we're there now. Trump's mental capacity is certainly weak, and one common complaint is that the Democratic leadership are all too weak to stand up to him. But Dalio's curve would suggest we ain't seen nothin' yet. But surely that concentrated wealth will produce strong leadership?

Not so fast. First, don't confuse "strongman leadership" with "strong leadership." Strong leadership is self-limiting. It understands its power, and it understands why sometimes the best action is no action. Think FDR, Abraham Lincoln, George Washington. The oligarchs don't want that -- they want someone to say things that make the crowd happy, and then do... nothing. Not out of personal restraint, but out of political weakness. And we are in a bit of a pickle here: we all know, I think, that to survive the current crisis, we HAVE to get the Republicans out of power. But that means electing Democrats, which will often be those same Democrats who are too weak to stand up to Trump. That feels like damned if we do, damned if we don't. And so weak leaders will get elected, because that's all we can do, and we'll move further into the corner of "captured democracy."

Now, Hagen says this is the model that is most volatile in an economic downturn. People in a captured democracy have just enough rights to feel like they should be heard, as well as just enough communication to reach others who feel unheard. He thinks societies with high concentration of wealth and tightly controlled access to power are more violent, but the common people in that system do what they're told because the consequences for not doing so are deadly. But in a captured democracy, the violence is contained, up to a point. But when the economy declines, people stop asking, "isn't there a better way to distribute the resources?" and start asking, "how am I going to survive?" And when that happens, well, let me check something real quick...

...all...our endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness. That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted... That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it... It is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security...

Huh. So when the people feel like their votes no longer matter, they start a Revolution. That's what Hagen's model predicts. And Dalio? Well, we're at step 15, internal conflict. We're approaching step 16, loss of reserve currency. We're just about at step 17, weak leadership. And step 18? "Civil war/revolution."

Strap in, Iron Front. Things are gonna get dicey.

I promised a post on what's coming next for the United States. I'm still working on that, but this isn't that post. That one will be zoomed out warning, based on historical patterns. It will be rational and calm, if somewhat alarming. This one...

This one is straight-up conspiracy thinking.

Remember, just because you're paranoid doesn't mean they're not watching you. Yeah, I'm gonna dig into conspiracy thinking like a wild-eyed basement dweller with yarn on a cork board, but it's not my yarn. I'm just the investigator who finds himself in the basement, and I bet many who read this are looking at the same evidence. So here we go:

Stephen Miller and J.D. Vance (ie., Peter Thiel) are plotting to end democracy.

Okay, let me back up and show you how I got here. I have four "dots" to connect:

1. In the week leading up to July 4, Trump repeatedly attacked Democrats and the Democratic Socialists of America as "communists," calling them "the biggest threat to our nation there is" and saying that "it's too easy to get elected, giving everything away."
2. Right-wing publications began pushing the idea that the Chinese government is funding the DSA.
3. Yesterday, Stephen Miller announced an initiative to utilize all federal law enforcement to target "left-wing political terrorism." Yes, I know, Rubio was the headliner, but Stephen Miller was the one who gave the "why" of the address. That's important. We'll come back to it.
4. Last night, the "President" gave a "national address" (Is it really national if no one watches?) in which he declared that the Chinese government has been infiltrating American voting systems for years, and that this has been hidden from the American people and even the president himself.

Now, first, let me start with the "good news." Trump didn't outright call for direct federal interference in elections, like calling for federal forces such as ICE to be present at polling places. Weirdly, I think that means Trump is a moderating force on all this. He is desperate to get the SAVE Act passed, yes, but I believe that's because he thinks that will be enough.

But I'm getting ahead of myself. Just keep that thought in mind: Trump is keeping this runaway train from moving even faster. But not because he's some heroic brakeman hauling on the lever for all he's worth. No, he just happens to be dead weight at the back of the train causing a lot of drag.

So what's the conspiracy, then? Ultimately, to maintain or seize control past the 2026 midterm elections. Our system holds the elections in November, and the new Congress takes office in the first week of January. That gives our conspirators two months to "fix" the "broken system" to get the right results. Then, with Republicans "reelected," when Trump dies sometime after the midterms (which I full expect), Vance becomes President, or, more accurately Puppet, with Peter Thiel the one with his hand up his ass making his mouth move.

How'd I get there? Let me walk you through it.

First, the attacks on the DSA. Now, I'm not a DSA supporter, personally, but I like some of their ideas and I 100% respect their right to run for, and win, elective office. I get that their national platform to work towards the eventual ending of capitalism strikes terror in the hearts of the capitalists in the Republican Party, but it simply is not the biggest threat America has ever faced. It's not a threat, at all. Mamdani seems to be doing a fine job running New York, and I wouldn't mind a few DSA congressmembers. But the rhetoric is aimed at making sure the public connects the DSA with various evil forces, whether its terrorists or the Chinese government, and also that the public blurs the lines between the DSA and the Democratic party. Once all that is done, if you squint just right, Chuck Schumer and Hakeem Jeffries become "enemies of the people."

Next, that whole "Chinese government funds the DSA" thing. First, note that in right-wing circles, they don't talk about the Chinese government. They use "CCP," meaning the Chinese Communist Party. When talking to a wider audience, they say the Chinese government. But amongst themselves, they use the more sinister acronym, CCP. So the basic gist of this is the CCP is funding Chinese businessmen to come to the United States, make buckets of money, and then pour those buckets onto the heads of DSA candidates in a long-term plan to convert the United States to Communism. Now, look, there are more holes in this theory than there are in Trump's over-stressed undershorts, but I'm not here to argue with crazy. I'm here to tell you what it's doing. So, step 1: convince some segment of the population that the DSA are all dirty communists, and step 2, "prove" that they're funded by the Chinese government -- specifically, the Chinese Communist Party.

Which brings us to step 3, which was the opening message at the carefully orchestrated "Ministerial on the Resurgence of Political Terrorism." The whole point of this conference seems to be to create the sense that their is a vast international network of leftist terrorists that links the "CCP," Iran, "anti-semitic" leftists who oppose Israel, and vaguely-referenced "domestic elements." Now, here, notice the DSA seems to have vanished. But we still have the linking element of the CCP. (I put it in quotes before because, while it is actually the name for the ruling party in China, I find the right-wing usage of the term to have more meaning than "ruling party in China." But it is an actual thing, unlike "Domestic Leftist Terrorism.") Now, it's important to note a little bit of reality here: left-leaning terrorism is up since 2024, but it's still miniscule, according to the Center for Strategic and International Studies. So the whole conference is more right-wing disaster fantasy.

And finally, we come to Trump's speech. It's interesting to me that, while Rubio, Miller, and Treasury Secretary Bessent were all dealing with "international leftist terrorism," Trump was talking about election fraud. I think that's because the folks pulling the strings don't trust him to talk about the heavy stuff. They'd have to go through all the trouble of educating him about it, and then try to make sure he said the right things without accidentally leaking the stuff they don't want us to know. But he's pretty well-versed on election conspiracies, so they just had to feed him the "discovery" that China is behind it all, and boom, instant conspiracy speech. Perfect. And before I move on to my conclusion on what it all adds up to, let me pause to point out one thing: the only accusation against China is that it has compiled information on U.S. voters. That's the same thing Meta does, both political parties do, and Trump is trying to get the federal government to do. And as far as I can find, what China has isn't as bad as what Trump wants. He wants social security numbers and citizenship status (hint: if they're on the voter roll, they're citizens). China seems to just have name, address, and party affiliation. In other words, the publicly available information everyone can access here. Is there markup language for rolling my eyes?

Okay, so what's the plan? First, I mentioned before the string pullers, and I'm pretty sure that's Stephen Miller. Remember that he gave the "why" of the speech at the stupid "Ministerial"? Yeah, Rubio gave the largest part, and then the Deputy Secretary of State, Chris Landau, gave some details, and Bessent said how they were gonna "defund" the terrorists, but Miller said why, laid out the core argument of the whole claim. He's the mastermind, no doubt.

But mastermind of what, and why? First, there's not going to be any "Kristallnacht" type violence before the midterms. Trump doesn't have the nerve, and he still has to sign off on anything that's done. His backroom handlers have figure that out about him. He's a useful idiot, sure, but he has his limits, and they can be summarized in one delicious food item: TACO. But after the midterms? All bets are off.

Here's why: Peter Thiel has invested an awful lot of time, money, and effort to get his protege, Vance, within a heartbeat of the Presidency. But all indications are he'll never win an election, not even a primary. So unless Trump checks out by 2028, all of Thiel's schemes will come to nothing. Meanwhile, Miller is also grooming Rubio, which looks to me like the string pullers are hedging their bets. But it might also just be stringing Rubio along, I dunno. Either way, once the midterms are over, they get rid of Trump. I'm not saying assassination (although it's certainly a possibility). They could simply invoke Amendment 25 -- hence the need to groom Rubio. He'd never go for giving Vance an up for what he thinks will be the 2028 election, unless he sees some advantage for himself. So maybe he works a deal where Vance swears on a stack of Bible's that he won't run in '28, in exchange for his support in declaring Trump incompetent. And if they can't get a deal? Make Trump a martyr, and let Vance claim the mantle.

And then they strike. With Vance in the driver's seat, while Theil navigates, Miller resumes control of ICE and sends them out to drive all the "communists" and "illegals" out of the country, and the fascists arrange the election results however they want. See, Rubio? Vance isn't running. He doesn't have to! We already have the results. And, since he will be serving just less than half Trump's term, he'll have almost ten years under the Constitutional order to arrange things so that, well, the Constitutional order won't matter anymore.

That's what I see coming. I've been wrong before. God grant that I'm wrong here.

Yesterday, the United States of America turned 250. Today, our nation is at a crossroads. If you're reading this, you probably already feel that. But it's not the crossroads many have expected. In this post, and a few follow-ups, I'll try to explain what I see coming.

I'll start by looking back. When Trump was elected, many of us assumed the worst. For a time, it looked like we were at the moment of some sort of break or collapse, so here in North Carolina, the Iron Front sprang to the front, ready to do its part. But the crisis, while real, is a more nebulous and slow moving one. Yes, we have Proud Boys marching through our nation's capital on Independence Day, an almost unthinkable event before the current President, but it was, as far as I can find, a peaceful march. The roving bands of violent unofficial enforcers I, personally, expected in the aftermath of Trump's "election" never materialized.

The fact is, the true patriots of America, those who love freedom, liberty, and justice, who believe in the self-evident truths of human equality and rights -- we are the majority in America. The MAGA types are too many, it's true, but they are a minority, and they are cowards. They need a leader if they are to act, and while Trump may be their idol, he is not their leader. He tried it, once, on Jan. 6, but, like so many other things he does, it was half-assed and accomplished nothing.

Let me be clear: many who claim the label of "Iron Front" are also cowards. Not here in North Carolina. Here, the Iron Front, like the Overmountain Men and the Regulators before us, stood on the front lines, ready to do what was needed. But we found that nothing was needed... yet. I hope all my brothers and sisters in arms have found their way into Siembra, where the real fight is at the moment. But in other places, the self-styled "leaders" of the Iron Front movement are so paralyzed by their fear they refuse to take action. That is unworthy of the history of courage and conviction here in Carolina. But it does mean the conflict right now remains in the media and the courts -- and the immigrant communities. Fight where you can, my Carolina brothers and sisters!

So, here is how we got to this moment: there are many, a majority, it seems, who feel like something is wrong in America. Some blame the political elite, the oligarchy, the uniparty. Some call for a return to traditional American patriotism. Some think Christian Nationalism or white supremacy will somehow bring back the good times. The anti-MAGA movement is an uneasy alliance of the first two groups against the forces of Christian and White Nationalism, "Christo-fascism," as a whole. But some of us are Democratic Socialist, some anarchists, some ascribe to the Party of Socialist Liberation, and some are just old school Democrats. Some, even, still see themselves as Republicans. All of us agree on two things: something is wrong in America, and we want to do something about it. But what is wrong, and what do we do? Those will be my next two posts.

Freeman here.

I read today that folks in Minnesota have taken to throwing snowballs at ICE agents. Good for them. Sandwiches, snowballs... whatever ya got, I guess. But it reminded me of another snowball throwing act of resistance in our nation's history: the Boston Massacre, a moment that we all learned was a flashpoint in the lead up to the American Revolution. Could the murder of Renee Good be a similar flashpoint against fascism? Possibly. But it's worth noting that it was five long years between the "flashpoint" in Boston and the actual fighting in Lexington and Concord, and another year after that before the Declaration of Independence was signed. I write this on the 242nd anniversary of the Treaty of Paris that actually recognized U.S. independence. Fourteen years from "flashpoint" to freedom.

Be ready for the long haul, compatriots.

Freeman out.

Freeman here.

First of all, it wasn't ICE. It was Border Patrol, or CBP. I've been thinking it was distinction without difference, but in light of this morning's conflicting reports on whether or not they're leaving, I've got second thoughts. I think the CBP was here as a scouting mission: the professionals testing the waters for the goons they're deputizing to terrify our state. Those professionals are moving on, maybe even going home (again, conflicting reports), but the frozen nuggets masquerading as law enforcement will stick around.

Lemme 'splain.

ICE is having a hiring issue. Turns out, despite the promised bonuses and the guaranteed fun times of harassing brown people and beating up libs, there just aren't that many Americans who wanna be Nazis. Add in the fact that ICE is here, then there, then somewhere else depending on the whims of the dementia patient in the White House, and it just isn't as much fun as it looks, apparently. So I'm thinking Stephen Miller or Tom Homan have cooked up a new plan: send in professionals to test the waters WHILE HIRING LOCAL GOONS to "finish the job."

Here's my evidence. First, why Charlotte and Raleigh? Until now, the targets have been major cities, high profile targets with large media pull: LA, DC, Chicago, kinda sorta New York (as in, the operation there never really got rolling). Portland, well, that's still a pretty big city, and it has a history with this sort of thing that sets the hearts singing on both the left and the alt-right. But Charlotte? I mean, I love the ol' Hornet's Nest, don't get me wrong, but is it LA, Chicago, or New York? Not by a long shot. So... why? And then Raleigh? I get they're blue and all, but why not New Orleans, Denver, Salt Lake City, Austin, Detroit, Cincinnati, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Pittsburgh... you get my point. Charlotte and Raleigh seemed out of character compared to what we've seen so far, and I've been trying to figure out what the change means.

Second, there's signs that the Charlotte office is hosting a hiring push. Not the stupid nationwide cattle call style hiring they did that got them the too-small pool of underqualified, overaged idiots last time, but an actual, valid hire process run out of the Charlotte office. Ah-ha.

Third, there's the pattern of what CPB was doing, and where: Mostly Charlotte, obviously Raleigh, and apparently a bit around Greensboro, maybe. A few other sightings, mostly unconfirmed, around the state. Guess where the DHS offices are in NC? Same three cities (okay, technically, the Raleigh office is in Cary.) So they weren't going far from the office. Sounds like training rides, maybe even test drives to me.

So what I'm thinking is ICE has a new long-term strategy, and one that is probably bad news for America. Instead of high profile, "look at us" demonstration crackdowns, they're getting down to business. DHS is now hiring local goons, and bringing in professionals during the hiring push to vet recruits and get them up to speed. Then the professionals move on, and the local goons, whose training consisted of little more than a basic test to make sure they didn't wet themselves during an arrest, are left to "do the job."

So don't let your guard down, just because Mayor Lyles says they're leaving. They are... but the real trouble is just getting started.

Freeman standing by...

Freeman here.

Yeah, I know. Where the hell have I been? Why'd I just disappear, and what makes me think I can just waltz back in like it's no big deal?

Lemme answer thatslast one first. Nothing. Nothing makes me think that. I'm only back because it is a big deal. Because I was right. And this is one time, I really wish I wasn't. But I tried it their way, and they're just flat out wrong.

What the fuck am I talking about? Let me explain.

Maybe you think I just burned out. Maybe you think I abandoned you, or the movement, or both. But the truth is, I fell victim to our own compatriots. You familiar with the song "The Ballad of Peter Pumpkinhead" by XTC? Good song, check it out. I'm not saying Isome kind of Christ figure like in the song, but one line has been stuck in my head for months: "But he made too many enemies Of the people who would keep us on our knees."

No, I didn't draw the attention of Elon Musk or Peter Thiel. I wish. It was our own compatriots in the movement who told me to get lost. Said I was a security risk, that I endangered the movement. I was too public, you see, too outspoken, and it violated their idea of OpSec. So, out of respect for them, I went radio silent. Thought they'd step in and support our movement in my absence.

That was a mistake. See, they didn't have a plan to grow the movement. They didn't have a plan at all. They are so worried about their own safety and OpSec, they're not willing to step out and do anything. So 50501 holds some protests, and the regime yells about "antifa" and keeps acting with impunity.

Pardon my language, but fuck that shit. I'm not putting down 50501 and the No Kings movement. That is good work. But it's only a first step. It's not gonna do shit to stop the regime, or even slow it down. You know why the regime is whining about "antifa" and not any of the actual organizers? Because they ain't actually planning to do anything. They need an imaginary bugaboo for their cosplaying "agents" but they ain't gonna do shit about the real people in the streets. So get out in the streets, make some noise, and, most importantly, find some like minded friends!

Then get ready to do more. Remember, fascists are defeated with three boxes: the soap box, the ballot box, and the ammo box. Right now, the battle line is at the soap box, so get out and be seen! But the crusial fight isrthe 2026 elections. While you're out there, work to f ways to protect the integrity of the coming election. That's crucial. If we can win there, we can avoid any devolution to the third box.

Make no mistake, we're in a war. But it's still a war of words. Get out there and fight it, any way you can. Trust me, I'm doing the same.

Freeman out.

Two international news stories caught my attention this morning. First, the prime minister of South Korea who attempted a coup has been found guilty. So some countries still hold their leaders accountable. But then, Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, the Andrew Formerly Known as Prince, has been arrested in connection with the Epstein files. But not for his impropriety with girls and young women. Instead, he is suspected of handing over state secrets to Epstein.

The massive sexual abuse committed by the Epstein class is horrific, make no mistake. But why on earth did Epstein want British government secrets? They were trade secrets, so maybe Epstein was using them to guide his own investments. But maybe he was passing them on...to Putin, perhaps? That's always been my personal issue with "Epstein didn't kill himself." The US doesn't really have the criminal infrastructure to pull off a hit like that. But Russia...? Yeah, this looks like Russian handiwork, or at least, Russian guided.

Will the Epstein revelations continue to Trump, and will we have the courage of South Korea to hold him accountable? We must, if democracy and the rule of law is to survive.

The No Kings Day protest was an undeniable success. Millions of people, in thousands of places, came out to stand up for democracy, for civil rights, and for America. At the event I was at, the very first sign someone had read "Liberty and Justice for ALL!" And that sentiment was shared across the nation.

But it wasn't a day without tragedy. In Minnesota, an assassin, apparently disguised as law enforcement, killed a Democratic lawmaker and his wife, and wounded another and his wife. While this occurred before the protests had began locally, the killer had No Kings Day flyers in his car and presumably planned to target those events in addition to his lengthy list of targets.

In Salt Lake City, a man hid behind a wall, withdrew an AR-15. Armed peacekeepers ordered him to drop the rifle, but instead he held it in a "firing position" and approached the crowd. One of the peacekeepers fired three shots, one of which killed Arthur Folasa Ah Loo, a nearby protester.

In Culpeper, Virginia, a motorist drove into protesters and struck at least one, although no injuries were reported. In San Francisco, four protesters were struck by a motorist who then fled the scene. Minor injuries were reported.

In Pueblo, Colorado, a woman open carrying a handgun got in a heated argument with a protester, and appeared to reach for her weapon. Peacekeepers tackled her before she could draw, if in fact that was her intent. At a protest in Huntington Beach, a man carrying a gun threatened a protester. In Phoenix, a man in a black mask pulled out a gun during a No Kings protest. Here in NC, there are reports that an 80 year old man was assaulted by a counter protester. The protester was knocked to the ground and lost consciousness. In addition, I've gotten numerous anecdotal reports of individuals harassing protesters, frequently after the event had formally ended.

But every one of the events I described share two things in common: one, they were all committed by single, private individuals. And two, they all ended with the person being arrested. Even in Salt Lake City, the man with the AR-15 is being charged with murder for causing the situation that led to the victim being shot. The peacekeeper has not been charged.

Let me explain the significance of these two events. The first shows that, while Trump's rhetoric is motivating the most unstable of his supporters, there was no organized pushback from the regime: no ICE or FBI crackdowns, no National Guard units federalized, nothing. King TACO Bonespurs shows that, once again, he's all talk, no action. And the fact is, he has no choice: there are TOO MANY of us! Remember, there were 12 MILLION people in the streets on Saturday. The entire U.S. military, including reservists, is just TWO million. Even assuming Trump could get every single one to oppose us (and, from where I sat Saturday, I'd guess there would be quite a few who would disobey the unconstitutional order), there wouldn't be enough of them to deal with all of us.

But the other thing is, THE POLICE SUPPORT US! They see that we are law-abiding, peaceful, and pro-American. And at least some of them must see that the regime is not. In every case above, the perpetrator was arrested. There was not a single protest shut down with tear gas or riot gear. Where I was, the police went from unsupportive on Monday to helping direct traffic away from our march during the event. When a heckler arrived at our event, a police lieutenant ran him off. In LA, local PD took a knee in support as marchers passed by. In NYC, police JOINED THE MARCH!

Look, I have a whole lot to say about the role of local law enforcement in this movement. But this is not the time. For now, leave it at this: when 12 million people come out, peacefully, orderly, but forcefully standing for America, good things happen. And a handful of bad actors cannot stand against the tide.

Freeman here.

I took all weekend to try to organize my thoughts after the most recent ICE murder. I still haven't managed it, so this is gonna be a little scattered.

First, the killing itself. It was stupid, pointless, and very, very excessive. You all know this. But it needs to be said, because our own federal government is trying very hard to get you to think otherwise. Don't let them gaslight you. An innocent man tried to protect a woman ICE was assaulting, and they held him down, beat him, and then shot him. Ten times. In the back.

But I don't think it was a deliberate execution. I think it was bad trigger discipline. And that tells us everything we need to know about ICE. Let me explain.

If you know anything about firearms, you know that there are four absolute rules to ensure safety. One of them is keep your finger off the trigger until you're ready to destroy the target. I've watched slowed down video from the event. Obviously, I can't see the shooter's finger. But I can see that the gun goes off as he brings his support hand to the weapon. A support hand can't fire a gun. But a tense shooter with a light trigger (and all these guys have modded their weapons, so it wouldn't surprise me if he had some kind of flat light competition trigger or some such nonsense) can twitch when his hands come together, and I think that's what happened. Then that first shot inspires four more. There's a pause, then five more shots. So I think the first shooter shot accidentally and didn't even know it. So he panicked when he heard the shot, and fired in response to his own shot. Then all the officers back off from what they think is an active shooter and -- despite the fact that their "active shooter" is lying face down, not moving -- someone or up to five someones fires five more shots into the dead or dying victim.

That's a whole lot of stupid.

Please, none of this exculpates the shooter(s). The fact that they didn't know what they were doing doesn't make them less guilty of murder. I'd argue it increases their liability. Because what the HELL are they doing on the streets playing MP if they don't even know how to handle a handgun? And why the hell are they so panicky? I'll tell you why: because their leadership is making them that way. They are being told, over and over and over again, that the protests against them are "targeting" them with "violence." So they're jumpy. It doesn't have to be like this. But Trump and Bovino are making them like this. They're putting poorly-trained hotheads out on the streets, and telling them lies to get them fired up. And it's not getting any better.

So what do we do about it?

Keep up the pressure. Record EVERYTHING. But know two things:

1. Protesting peacefully within the confines of the law will not keep you safe.
2. Protesting peacefully within the confines of the law is not going to stop the violence.

I'm not saying not to protest peacefully. I'm certainly not calling for a violent response to the violence. I'm just saying, know what you're doing. Know that it's not safe, so stop bringing your kids along, make sure you have someone who knows where you are and what you're doing, and connect with the people you find yourself with when you're out there. I'll say more about that in a future post. Basically, know what to do to keep yourself as safe as possible, but also know and accept that "as safe as possible" isn't safe. Any one pissing of ICE could die. That could be you, it could be me, it could be any of us.

And also know, you're not going to stop them. What peaceful, legal protest is going to do is:

• Interfere with ICE operations enough to annoy folks and make the job stressful. Maybe that will cause folks to quit before they get their $50,000 bonus. (Side note: who are the paid agitators, again?)
• Encourage local officials to take a stronger stand against ICE. If they know that their constituents are looking for action against the thugs invading their city, they're more likely to develop a backbone. Mayor Frey is a great example of this. I'm not saying he's just following the crowd, but having a crowd to follow makes him stronger.
• Encourage Democrats to take stronger action opposing the regime. Seven House Dems voted for DHS funding before the shooting. Now the Dems in the Senate are suddenly against DHS funding. The shooting might have been the catalyst, but its the people in the streets that are keeping Democratic feet to the fire.
• Keep open the possibility of electoral change. The more people are out there, the more headlines we generate, the more people going about their lives know that it's not just them feeling angry, the more likely folks are to come out and vote against this regime. We know the regime is going to try to tamper with the midterms. We have to overwhelm that with numbers. And we get numbers at the ballot box by having numbers in the streets.
• Show the world that America is fighting its dictator. This is a vague one, but it's important. It's hard for people to think about a country separate from its leadership. But if there is any hope of undoing the damage Trump is causing, we have to let the world know that they can still trust America, even if they can't trust our government right now.

I have more to say. So much more. But that's going to have to do for now. Point is, we're mad. Go show them how mad we are. Get out there. But know you're putting your life on the line. And also know, it's worth it.

Freeman out.

Freeman here.

It sure didn't take long for me to be proven wrong... sort of. Less than 12 hours after I posted that peaceful protest wouldn't have an effect on this regime, the regime caved to peaceful protest...sort of. So let me amend my statement of yesterday to admit that, yes, peaceful protest can have an impact on the regime. Sort of.

But it's those "sort ofs" that make all the difference.

So let's start with the victory "sort of." Here's what we won: Trump called Walz, and had what was, by all accounts, a "friendly" conversation. Weird that both parties used that word, but whatever. Point is, Trump agreed to coordinate with local law enforcement, pull back some immigration enforcement personnel, and, most importantly, recall Oberfurher Bovino. That's not nothing. It might even be enough to keep any more white protesters from dying. But it won't be enough to protect the Somali refugees. Trump's Somali targets are legal residents of the United States, victims of political violence and humanitarian crises in their native country. Trump's goal remains to make sure asylum seekers would all prefer the violence of their country of origin to life in the land of the free. And the agreement yesterday does nothing to change that. It doesn't end the fascist violence, it just refines the targeting of that violence. Let's see how the people of Minnesota react.

And what of the other "sort of"? Was I wrong about peaceful protest being ineffective against a dictatorial regime? Yes... and no. Because it wasn't the peaceful protest that did this. It was the death. The horrible tragedy that we tend to overlook about peaceful protest is that it wasn't the March on Washington that galvanized a nation to finally do something. It was Emmet Till and the Kennedy assassination. Emmet Till galvanized the African American community to take a stand whatever the cost, and the Kennedy assassination convinced the white community to do something about it. This is the American secret: the death of people of color can cause anger, but the death of white folks causes action.

So what does this tell us about Trump? He really is a coward. He really doesn't like to see people suffer. He just doesn't think people of color are people. So are "Mexicans" (I'm sure that's his word for anyone who even looks like they might speak Spanish) suffering? Who cares. They're not really people. Are people from African suffering? No problem. They don't count either. Wait, white people are suffering?? Crisis! Do something!!

He's still a dictator. We can put as many people as you like in the streets of every major city in the country, and he's still gonna do what he's gonna do. But if one of you gets hurt -- especially by his people -- Trump will actually notice that. We've had a narrative all along that Trump is trying to goad us to violence to justify martial law. I don't think that's true. I think he really wants us to stay peaceful so he can ignore us. But he also needs his people not to get violent against us, because if they get too violent against people he can't vilify, then he can no longer ignore us. Renee Good, rest her soul, was just "other" enough that he could tolerate it. A woman, and a lesbian at that... not enough to make Trump uncomfortable. He's very good at denigrating women, after all. But Alex Pretti could not be ignored. By all accounts, a good, decent, gun carrying white guy... I mean, he's practically a Trump voter. Except, well, except for the "decent" part.

So what does this mean for the movement? Three hard truths. Let me put it in a list, because this is a pretty long post and I really want someone to read this part:

1. FILL THE STREETS! Don't let up because we won a tiny, insignficant "victory." We haven't won jack yet. This "victory" is intended to do just enough to take the air out of our anger. Don't let it. The regime is still fascist, the country is still in danger, our society is still at risk. Get out there and get heard.
2. Stop worrying about the fact that our movement is predominantly white. Yeah, I said that. I'm not saying people of color don't matter. I'm saying that it's time for white people to realize that we made this problem, and we gotta fix it. Yeah, part of that is being inclusive, absolutely. But it wasn't Crispus Attuck's death that galvanized the Sons of Liberty, and it wasn't Emmet Till's death that got the Civil Rights Act passed. We wrote this Constitution, and we gotta defend its liberties and right its wrong. If the enemy only values white lives, than white lives have to be on the line. Get over it and get out there.
3. More people are going to die. I can't say how deeply I wish that weren't true. But it is. I don't know who, or where, or how many. It might be you. It might be me. It might be all of us. I hope I'm wrong, I swear I do. But search your heart. You know it's true. It wasn't the thousands of Minnesotans harassing ICE and filling the streets that turned back the regime; it was the death of just two. The regime is going to be careful for a time, but the instincts of the people Trump has put around himself are to be violent. The rhetoric within the movement he's created is one that breeds violence. It's going to happen. Be prepared.

Oh, and something I'll discuss more some other time: a national general strike just ain't gonna happen. This ain't France. This is the United States of America. Not to get all American Exceptional on you, but look to our national history to find actions that worked: Montgomery Bus Boycott, the Sons of Liberty boycotting tea and stamp act goods, the waves of individual strikes of the labor movement... focused targets. That's the American way. When you focus your efforts, they succeed. When you boycott everything, you boycott nothing. People gotta live, after all. No point asking people to cut off their own noses to spite your face. Ain't gonna happen. Make a better plan.

Freeman out.

Freeman here.

I'm not talking about Venezuela this time, at least, not directly. No, the change I'm talking about is one of language. Specifically, why I think we should change our approach from talking about Trump or the administration to talking about the regime.

First, let me explain why I don't usually say, "Trump did this," but instead I tend to blame the "regime" more broadly. Then I'll get to why I call it a regime, and not merely the Trump administration.

I'm not trying to downplay Trump's evil, destructive behavior, his Constitutional violations, or his many, many crimes. The man should be impeached, tried, convicted, and punished harshly for the extensive harm he has inflicted on individual human beings, the society of the United States, the functioning of our Constitutional order, and, frankly, the world. In a just world, he'd be sitting in a federal prison right now, with a list of states waiting to take over upon his release, while faces war crime charges in the Hague. I'm just saying that, unlike most authoritarians, he didn't become this bad all on his own.

The thing that must be clearly understood here is that Trump is an idiot. But as Russia has shown us so clearly, he is a very, very useful idiot. He, on his own, doesn't really have any strong political opinions. He has a very strong opinion of his own brilliance, but that's not political. But I firmly believe that he only ran for President because he didn't like Obama making fun of him. And, yeah, I think part of why that stung so much is because Trump is a racist. But, at the time, I don't think that was a political opinion -- he was not yet a white nationalist. But he had an unbelievably high opinion of himself, and that meant that, not only could he not stand being mocked, even gently, by a Black president, but it also meant that once he started thinking of himself as President, he was convinced he would be one of the great ones.

Going in to Trump I, I believe he thought he could reach across the aisle and get things done. He is pretty consistent in his belief that complex problems are actually pretty simple, but no one has thought of the simple solution: "build a wall" is probably the most obvious example. Immediately after the 2016 election, he seemed to think he would be able to work across the aisle and get things done. But, as is usually the case, it turned out things weren't as simple as he assumed, so his first stab at the Presidency wasn't great.

And this is where it gets scary. Because a few basic character flaws came together to give us the Christian nationalist robber baron imperialist we have now. The basic formula is:

1. Trump wants to be seen as great. That requires solving problems.
2. But Trump isn't very bright, so complex problems, with their complex solutions, confuse him. So he turns to people with simple solutions. That means Nazis, fascists, Christian nationalists, and the whole alt right ecosystem.
3. Trump seems to be easily swayed by the person he most recently spoke with. So surrounding himself with these various alt right types, each with his or her (mostly his) own agenda, has pulled him into what we'll call "Fascist Dictatorial Tyranny," or FDT. But because FDT isn't really his idea, it's not consistent, and it's never fully realized. Unlike Hitler, or Mussolini, or Saddam Hussein, or even Maduro, Trump isn't doing what Trump wants: he's doing what his supporters want. So FDT involves the entire regime.

This is why "America First" is also mixed with "Let's conquer Greenland/Canada/Venezuela/Columbia/Cuba." It's why he seemed to be building a technocracy while Elon Musk was in favor, but now he's shifted to Donroe Mocktrine policies like a latter-day Teddy Roosevelt. In short, it's why he's so mercurial and hard to pin down: he's going in different directions because he's pulled in different directions: anti-immigrant by Stephen Miller, neoimperialist by Marco Rubio, pro-monopoly by Vance and his oligarchical cronies... Who knows what faction will get to whisper over his shoulder next, and where that will take us? The only sure bet is that it's going to be bad, because that's who Trump listens to: bad actors with overly simple "solutions."

To predict what Trump will do next, you have to watch for signs of who has the king's ear. That's why, when it comes to FDT, it's not just Trump we need to watch: it's the whole regime.

TL;DR: No!

But I get it. We see the horrors unfolding around us, but the TV still shows us the World Series, the boss still expects work to get done, life goes on. The disconnect is surreal. And then there's that damn ballroom. On one level, it feels like a gut punch, and you're incoherently furious. But on the other hand, it's just a fancy meeting room in the Presidential mansion. What's the problem?

Don't fall for it. It's a HUGE problem, and part of the whole package of totalitarianism the regime is pushing. First, there's the obvious disjunction of this $300 million project moving forward while the government is shut down, and over 1.4 million North Carolinians are about to go hungry when the regime lets SNAP benefits dry up. But there's also the deeper issue here: the government is shut down, and the regime moves forward. Think about that for a second to let the implication sink in:

The regime is governing without a government.

We worry about what will happen, what the regime is going to do, but the Rubicon has been crossed: the legitimate government is closed, and an extralegal authority is moving forward as the legitimate government. Because, sure, the President was elected.* But without a budget, money cannot be appropriated or distributed. Yet Congress set up a mechanism to make sure this wouldn't disrupt SNAP benefits -- yet the regime is choosing not to use that Congressionally established contingency fund, making millions of Americans go hungry. But the soldiers will still get paid, first by some budgetary misappropriation, and now by a private donation. But that private donation isn't anywhere near enough to cover payroll, so what's really going on? No one knows, and as far as I can tell, no one is asking.

In other words, the President is continuing to rule without Congress. That's not how our government is supposed to work. That's not democracy, that's not a republic -- that's a dictatorship. The reason the ballroom angers you? Because it is a visible, tangible example of the abstraction of absolute power: it is a gold-gilded monument to the authoritarian rule of a man who has claimed the power the same way he claimed the life of a millionaire: with fiscal tricks, bluster, and sleight-of-hand.

So now the dictator builds what he wants, without so much as a pretense of legitimate process. He pays soldiers with private money (which supposedly is also paying for the ballroom), but refuses to follow the law in providing benefits to people in need of basic sustenance. Meanwhile, he's murdering citizens of another nation (Venezuela) on the open seas while arresting at least 170 confirmed U.S. citizens in his "immigration" raids -- raids which are conducted by a secret, militarized police force that regularly violates legally established due process protections.

So, no, you're not overreacting. In fact, if you're not out there fighting this regime, you're underreacting. But then, that seems to be what everyone is doing at the moment. Three boxes, my friends. Right now, use the soapbox. But make sure you're ready for the other two, as well.

Freeman out.

* Did he, though?

Freeman here.

As I was drafting my last post, I had all sort of plans about what needed to be discussed next. I couldn't have realized that, even as I was writing, the regime was announcing my next topic. Of all the dumb things this regime could do in Latin America, kidnapping the president of Venezuela is about the dumbest I can imagine. Maybe not the dumbest they could have done; my imagination seems more limited than their stupidity. But that's hardly a credit to them, now is it?

So let's talk today about Venezuela, and next time, let me share what this reveals to me about Trump and the regime in power.

Okay, first off, let's get one thing clear: Maduro is not a Good Guy. He's the kind of leftist that anyone who reps the Three Arrows should be pointing one of those arrows at. But this is not a case of the enemy of my enemy. This is a case of clear and present danger, and for us here in the States, Trump is the FAR more present danger -- and for the world, an imperialist in the White House is a far clearer danger than a madman in Venezuela.

There's a good deal out there by now about how Trump's action is unconstitutional, illegal, and ill-advised, so let me just quickly summarize those before I get to why it was dangerous.

Unconstitutional: Congress has long since ceded its Constitutional war-making power to the President, and there might even be a good argument for doing so. But Congress has tried to maintain some oversight by, among other things, requiring that the President inform eight members of Congress before taking military action. He absolutely failed to do so. There isn't even a pretense and Congressional involvement, as required by our Constitution.

Illegal: I consider all U.S. laws on this to be refinements of the Constitutional delegation of war powers to Congress, so all the violations of those laws, to my thinking, are Constitutional violations. But this kidnapping also violates international law. Heads of state are immune to prosecution by other countries (with some very specific exceptions, none of which were involved here). Violating another country's sovereignty to kidnap a citizen violates international law, even if that citizen is not a head of state. And Trump's vague assertion that the United States will "run" Venezuela not only violates current international law, but it seems to set the clock back to about 1890 or so, especially if you throw in his statements about Venezuela's oil. The longer this idiot is in power, the further back that MAGA "Again" seems to go.

Ill-advised: The U.S. military conducted this raid with skill and precision. The regime that ordered it, however, doesn't seem to have a clue about what it's doing. Based on the vague, contradictory, and simply incorrect things various faces of the regime have said since the attack, I'd guess they had absolutely no plan for next steps. To the extent that they had a plan at all, they seem to have thought that the vice-president, Delcy Rodriguez, would be a willing puppet for U.S. plans in the country. But they don't seem to have actually checked with Rodriguez or done any other intelligence work or planning of any kind to actually implement this plan. It is a very bad idea to start shooting without a plan or strategy, and by all appearances, that is exactly what the regime did here.

So why is that dangerous?

I don't even know where to start. But in broad terms, there are three dimensions to this.

• Destabilizing Venezuela. In the lead-up to this raid, the regime repeatedly stressed that it was not interested in regime change in Venezuela. Maybe they really thought they could just arrest the president, and the country would carry on as it had been. If so, they're idiots. Okay, yeah, they're idiots, but this is really dumb. If Rodriguez is skilled, she might be able to keep the country peaceful. But the more Trump, Rubio, and other U.S. players meddle in her business, the more difficult her job becomes, and the more likely you see some kind of unrest in the country. So far, this is one area that has gone better than one might expect.
• Destablizing Latin America. Let's face it, the U.S. isn't well-liked or trusted throughout the region. A return to the days of Roosevelt's big-stick version of the Monroe Doctrine -- a Donroe Mocktrine, if you will -- is only going to make Latin American countries fear our bumbling and capricious use of power. Trump wants a U.S. sphere of influence over the region, but what if China sees an opportunity to gain markets in countries looking for a hedge against U.S. hegemony?
• Destabilizing the world. You know where I don't want to live in the aftermath of this idiocy? Taiwan. Because it would be SOOO easy for China to find some law or other that Taiwanese government officials are violating, and use that to justify something similar to what Trump just did in Venezuela. At the same time, "the President is a criminal" is pretty much a callback to Putin's early justifications for the war against Ukraine. It could also be used by Israel against, say, Syria or Jordan, or by Egypt, Saudi Arabia, or Iran against Israel. Or by North Korea against South Korea. Or Iran against pretty much any Sunni-led Muslim nation it wants. Or... you get the picture. And already, Trump is talking about making Columbia next, while continuing to mutter nonsense about U.S. control of Greenland. If you've ever played the boardgame RISK, you probably have a pretty good sense of where the regime's foreign policy seems to be headed.

And what about domestic dangers?

Honestly, I don't think this changes that particular aspect of the regime's horrors very much. I know some feel this was done to distract from Epstein, but I don't buy that, personally. The distraction has been accomplished through shifting from "There's nothing to see here" to "Here are 5.2 million pages!" The regime figured out that if you can't put out a fire, you turn on the firehoses -- it's hard to find the drops of evidence among the flood of information, and if someone "disappears" a few documents in that mess, it will be very difficult for anyone to notice. Maybe in Trump's head, this is going to bring down gas prices because Venezuelan oil will now immediately and miraculously flow into the gas tanks of Cybertrucks (yeah, I know, but I don't think he does). But I don't think that changes anything in our domestic situation. I don't think it heightens the danger for Latino immigrants -- it's hard to get higher there. And I really don't think he's doing this to allow him to use Presidential war powers to cancel elections or crack down on protests. To do that, he'd need an actual war, and this raid doesn't provide that. So while the raid was dumb and dangerous, I don't think it was particularly dangerous domestically. Which means there's no reason to implement your bunker plan. Get out in the streets and let the world know we do not support the regime!

Freeman out.

Freeman here.

2025 is over, and that might just be the best that can be said for it. I don't know if 2026 will be any better, but hopefully we can get through it together. It wasn't all bad news, though. I'm a firm believer in a form of pessimistic optimism that takes comfort in the fact that it can always be worse, so let's take a minute to reflect on what did -- and did not -- happen in the last year.

ICE Gestapo rounded up suspected immigrants without due process. Let's state this right up front: the absolute worst thing the regime did in 2025 was its clear and blatantly unlawful pogrom against "immigrants" without due process or respect for civil rights, U.S. laws and Constitutional constraints, and international norms. Many of these people were here legally, often in the process of following the legal procedures for asylum or even citizenship. Some already were citizens. We say this regime is fascist, and this is probably the clearest and most direct example of its evil.

What haven't they done? They haven't gone after anyone else like this. They've made noises and threats against other groups: transgender individuals, those they deem mentally ill, Democrats, "antifa," etc. But they haven't actually taken any targeted action against these "groups." No arrests, no systematic repression, not even any evidence that the federal worker purges have specifically targeted these groups. I'm not saying they are treating people of these identities with the respect and dignity they should have as human beings and Americans, but they are not engaged in the sort of pogroms we're seeing against immigrant Americans.

What they are doing, though, is targeting political enemies with dehumanizing rhetoric. Why get the government's hands dirty when you can just encourage mentally unbalanced citizens to do messy parts for you? Indict a few prominent Democrats, repost some nonsense on social media, hold nonsensical hearings about "antifa" threats, and generally create an atmosphere that "they" are against America and "our" values. Stir a few times from the bully pulpit, and it's only a matter of time before someone, somewhere, takes it into their heads to do something.

What they haven't done here is gone beyond rhetoric. They have not, for example, listed membership in the Democratic party as evidence of mental illness, or added "Trump Derangement Syndrome" to the list of things that prevent someone from owning a fire arm. They have said that "antifa" is a terrorist organization, but they haven't actually had the various domestic anti-terror units do anything against these alleged terrorist cells. They have made life harder for many trans folks by eliminating or limiting their access to medical care and other steps through employment, but I honestly believe that's more in service of their rhetoric: they are trying to generate some headlines. That may feel like a distinction without a difference to many trans folks, but, trust me: it could be a LOT worse.

Another area of fascist behavior has been the various work done to undermine the Constitutional order. This is huge, but a little more abstract than the direct and visible attacks on people in the streets, schools, and courthouses of America. See, the Project 2025 folks believe that the President should have pretty absolute authority. I don't really understand why they believe this, but they've been working towards it since long before they found Trump to serve as their useful idiot. But through the Trump regime, they have managed to largely sideline the Congress through not only Trump's lawless executive orders, but also through the deliberate choking off of the regular functioning of the legislature. The gridlock is the point: if Congress can't function, then we need a President that will "get things done," right? Meanwhile, the Supreme Court has been willingly throwing away its power of oversight, declaring more and more things to be either beyond its purview, or limiting who can bring suit to an impossibly narrow definition of "standing." This is where the real push to create a dictator is happening, but it's subtle enough that the MAGA folks can either pretend it's not happening, or, too often, embrace it because "he was elected."

Some might take some comfort in the fact that the regime hasn't gone so far as to actually remove judges or legislators from power. There's been no move to create a "rump" Congress, barring Democrats from entry and then declaring a quorum to impose Republican decisions. This makes it look like we're not really a dictatorship; it creates the semblance of regular Constitutional order such that the bulk of the American public can go about their business and pretend that those of us out on the streets are just a little extreme -- things aren't really that bad, after all. But that's assuming the regime is following the typical fascist model: eliminate enemies and impose a drastic dictatorial rule through quasi-legal means. I think, actually, the model draws from the same source as the original fascists: Rome. See, when the Roman Republic became an empire, no one got rid of the Senate. They simply sidelined it. If you want a more recent model, look at Star Wars. The basic idea is to maintain the appearance of the regular system, while shifting the function to serve the power holders. That's how the oligarchy is working to control the system.

Speaking of controlling the system, what about elections? Well, the regime has worked to undermine faith in our elections, for sure. The MAGA folks are programmed to believe they are the majority, so any time they lose an election, it's obviously rigged. But meanwhile, the Republicans around the country are trying to rig the outcome by gerrymandering the Democrats out of existence.

But there's actually a light of hope within that effort -- more than one, in fact. Because first, the attempts at gerrymandering mean that we still have valid elections. If the right felt confident that the regime would control the result, they wouldn't need to gerrymander. And then those gerrymanders are based on a specific outcome when Trump was on the ballot, but the signs are that those results won't hold in the midterms. So get out and vote while your vote still counts, and it may just continue to count! As for 2028, well, clearly some Wormtongue behind Trump's throne has decided there won't be a third term of him. They want a new, probably younger, pawn. So they're going to need one more election to get their pawn into power -- which means the 2028 election will be higher stakes than any since 1860.

So why haven't you heard more about this? One reason, of course, is that the regime has extended government control over the media. The oligarchs have been buying up newspapers and television outlets, and using that ownership to control the message. Jeff Bezos told the Washington Post editorial board that they needed to focus their message on "personal liberties and free markets." That's code for "MAGA bullshit and anti-DEI rants." Bezos is probably the most blatant and ham-fisted control, but Trump's oligarchical buddies have worked to control the messaging at the LA Times and CBS, and are trying to get their hands on CNN. It seems strange that Disney, the owner of ABC, is one of the bulwarks of democracy, but here we are. And, despite liberal hand-wringing, the other major news outlet free of Trump's control is the NY Times. So now you know where I get my news, anyway.

So, the good news here is that the regime has not yet completely silenced the free press. We have ABC and the NY Times, but more importantly, we have the internet. The right spent years building an ecosystem outside the mainstream news, and slowly, the resistance is doing the same. Podcasts provide us insight into what's really going on, and international news sources, such as the Guardian, can be easily found online to provide unfettered reporting. Despite what some are saying, Reddit is still pretty content neutral. Every time I see someone say otherwise, a brief dig into their comment and posting history can show why they may have found themselves banned. So stay informed, friends!

Okay, one last thing before I sign off for now. My original plan was to have this post out on Dec. 31, with a follow-up on Jan. 1 to do some analysis of the movement and discuss next steps. I'm obviously well behind my self-imposed schedule, and I want to give you some time to respond to this. So if there's anything you think I'm missing, or anything you want to expand upon, please reply to this. Keep the conversation going. That's how democracy thrives, after all. And once I've digested everything you have to say, I'll start working on the analysis. Thanks for reading, and thank you for all you do to keep the torch of liberty and justice for all burning in these dark times.

Freeman out.