The letter I sent to my Senators Tina Smith and Amy Klobuchar today 6/9/25
Dear Senator
I am contacting you because I am scared. As a married gay male, living in Golden Valley on social security and surviving cancer, I have just about given up hope on our country’s future. We are no longer “slipping into an authoritarian state,” we are an authoritarian state, and I do not believe this is hyperbole. With corruption at the highest levels of government including the President of the United States and Supreme Court, the destruction of our government agencies and research facilities, the hostility towards free and open journalism and our universities, the potential reduction/destruction of our social net we are rapidly approaching the social and political environment of Germany in 1933-35. And with the deployment of the U.S. military on the streets of our cities arresting American citizens for their constitutional right to protest is just one step short of goose-stepping.
I understand you are a Democrat and working hard to fight this abomination and you do not have the support of half the Congress, but I believe it is time for us to start getting radical. Introduce impeachment proceeding against the most egregiously corrupt Supreme Court justices, I’m thinking Alito and Thomas. While it would never happen, it would send a warning sign to them and hope for a lost nation. Introduce laws to remove the presidential immunity and cancel Citizens United. Take back your power regarding tariffs. Make noise about these actions and let the nation – and me – know there is hope and to set the stage for the 2026 midterm elections.
You referenced trump’s use of the song/poem “The Snake”. As a fan and huge admirer of Oscar Brown Jr, who is the original author and performer of the song, I have always found trump’s coopting of that lyric ironic, outrageous, absurd and appalling - the late Oscar Brown Jr was a brilliant Black American songwriter/singer/writer/poet /performer, whose promising career was “shortstopped” by the entertainment industry’s “powers that be” due to his outspoken honesty. Anyone interested should look him up. He’s a legitimate and sadly, mostly forgotten, American treasure. Oscar Brown Jr!
I don’t know Charlie. You’re doing a great job. But I agree, someone with Mencken’s gift with a phrase would be really refreshing in the MSM. Such a person might find him/herself in El Salvador after a short run.
You often make me look up a word or a person. Today it was Mencken. Reading about him I came across this quote:
“As democracy is perfected, the office of president represents, more and more closely, the inner soul of the people. On some great and glorious day the plain folks of the land will reach their heart's desire at last and the White House will be adorned by a downright moron.”
― H.L. Mencken, On Politics: A Carnival of Buncombe
Ah, yes. The clown car finally caught fire and now the flaming wreckage is doing donuts on the White House lawn while the band plays “Fortunate Son” on broken kazoos. And we’re supposed to be shocked?
This isn’t politics—it’s a meth-fueled demolition derby between two men whose egos couldn’t fit in the cargo hold of a Saturn V. One’s a tech messiah with a god complex and a rapidly decaying meme brain; the other is a spray-tanned chaos engine with a rap sheet’s worth of grievances and a cult that cheers as he feeds their futures through a paper shredder.
And yet, here we are: watching the long-awaited showdown between the Martian king of fiscal fraud and the mango Mussolini who thinks the Constitution is something he left in a hotel drawer. Of course it was coming. Of course it was going to be public, vulgar, and spectacular. The only surprise is how quickly the knives came out—and how eagerly both sides are leaking Epstein files like they’re passing out hors d’oeuvres at a donor dinner.
This is what happens when you build a society that rewards wealth without wisdom, rage without reason, and volume over virtue. We gave two megalomaniacs the launch codes to our public discourse, and now we’re shocked it looks like the last ten minutes of Dr. Strangelove out here?
What’s astonishing isn’t the fallout. It’s the stunned blinking of the pundit class, still treating this like an intra-party spat instead of what it actually is: a symptom of terminal rot. This isn’t a schism—it’s an exorcism gone wrong. MAGA summoned the spirits of authoritarian capitalism, wrapped them in red, white, and blue, and now can’t figure out why the room smells like sulfur and betrayal.
You’re right—we needed a Mencken or a Twain. Instead, we got Chuck Todd blinking earnestly into the camera while civilization slips into its final costume change.
But still… popcorn. Always popcorn. Because there’s nothing left to say, really—just the choice between fighting like hell to rebuild something sane, or watching the empire crack while the emperors bicker over who owns the coliseum.
Pass the bourbon. The circus is only on its second act.
I asked a friend who now works for Palantir about the database they are putting together on us and he says it’s a lie. I don’t know that I believe a thing he is saying… which is sad.
We all know Trump promised something to Musk for buying his election. And now Trump's not delivering the promise, which should not have been a surprise to Musk - the umpteenth person who was sure it wouldn't happen to them. And then there's the fact they're both narcissists with a demand to being the most fabulous man in any and all rooms.
The letter I sent to my Senators Tina Smith and Amy Klobuchar today 6/9/25
Dear Senator
I am contacting you because I am scared. As a married gay male, living in Golden Valley on social security and surviving cancer, I have just about given up hope on our country’s future. We are no longer “slipping into an authoritarian state,” we are an authoritarian state, and I do not believe this is hyperbole. With corruption at the highest levels of government including the President of the United States and Supreme Court, the destruction of our government agencies and research facilities, the hostility towards free and open journalism and our universities, the potential reduction/destruction of our social net we are rapidly approaching the social and political environment of Germany in 1933-35. And with the deployment of the U.S. military on the streets of our cities arresting American citizens for their constitutional right to protest is just one step short of goose-stepping.
I understand you are a Democrat and working hard to fight this abomination and you do not have the support of half the Congress, but I believe it is time for us to start getting radical. Introduce impeachment proceeding against the most egregiously corrupt Supreme Court justices, I’m thinking Alito and Thomas. While it would never happen, it would send a warning sign to them and hope for a lost nation. Introduce laws to remove the presidential immunity and cancel Citizens United. Take back your power regarding tariffs. Make noise about these actions and let the nation – and me – know there is hope and to set the stage for the 2026 midterm elections.
You still have power…please, use it.
Sincerely,
Stephen M. Dent
A+, Charlie. This retired English teacher salutes you.
Somehow I keep remembering a quote from The New Republic from the 80s about the war between Iran and Iraq.. It is hard to root for a side.
You referenced trump’s use of the song/poem “The Snake”. As a fan and huge admirer of Oscar Brown Jr, who is the original author and performer of the song, I have always found trump’s coopting of that lyric ironic, outrageous, absurd and appalling - the late Oscar Brown Jr was a brilliant Black American songwriter/singer/writer/poet /performer, whose promising career was “shortstopped” by the entertainment industry’s “powers that be” due to his outspoken honesty. Anyone interested should look him up. He’s a legitimate and sadly, mostly forgotten, American treasure. Oscar Brown Jr!
I don’t know Charlie. You’re doing a great job. But I agree, someone with Mencken’s gift with a phrase would be really refreshing in the MSM. Such a person might find him/herself in El Salvador after a short run.
To the Chris Hayes quote I would add…..And six of the nine Supreme Court vote to give Elon Musk and his DOGE all of our personal information.
Scott Galloway said it best
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jCK43eW2x8M
Re: The November, 1992 photo: Was Epstein that much taller than Trump, or was he standing on something like a stair?
You often make me look up a word or a person. Today it was Mencken. Reading about him I came across this quote:
“As democracy is perfected, the office of president represents, more and more closely, the inner soul of the people. On some great and glorious day the plain folks of the land will reach their heart's desire at last and the White House will be adorned by a downright moron.”
― H.L. Mencken, On Politics: A Carnival of Buncombe
Ah, yes. The clown car finally caught fire and now the flaming wreckage is doing donuts on the White House lawn while the band plays “Fortunate Son” on broken kazoos. And we’re supposed to be shocked?
This isn’t politics—it’s a meth-fueled demolition derby between two men whose egos couldn’t fit in the cargo hold of a Saturn V. One’s a tech messiah with a god complex and a rapidly decaying meme brain; the other is a spray-tanned chaos engine with a rap sheet’s worth of grievances and a cult that cheers as he feeds their futures through a paper shredder.
And yet, here we are: watching the long-awaited showdown between the Martian king of fiscal fraud and the mango Mussolini who thinks the Constitution is something he left in a hotel drawer. Of course it was coming. Of course it was going to be public, vulgar, and spectacular. The only surprise is how quickly the knives came out—and how eagerly both sides are leaking Epstein files like they’re passing out hors d’oeuvres at a donor dinner.
This is what happens when you build a society that rewards wealth without wisdom, rage without reason, and volume over virtue. We gave two megalomaniacs the launch codes to our public discourse, and now we’re shocked it looks like the last ten minutes of Dr. Strangelove out here?
What’s astonishing isn’t the fallout. It’s the stunned blinking of the pundit class, still treating this like an intra-party spat instead of what it actually is: a symptom of terminal rot. This isn’t a schism—it’s an exorcism gone wrong. MAGA summoned the spirits of authoritarian capitalism, wrapped them in red, white, and blue, and now can’t figure out why the room smells like sulfur and betrayal.
You’re right—we needed a Mencken or a Twain. Instead, we got Chuck Todd blinking earnestly into the camera while civilization slips into its final costume change.
But still… popcorn. Always popcorn. Because there’s nothing left to say, really—just the choice between fighting like hell to rebuild something sane, or watching the empire crack while the emperors bicker over who owns the coliseum.
Pass the bourbon. The circus is only on its second act.
I asked a friend who now works for Palantir about the database they are putting together on us and he says it’s a lie. I don’t know that I believe a thing he is saying… which is sad.
Just wanted to throw this out there to see if anybody else noticed it
When you listen to Pam Bondi, the way she talks so forced trying to act like she’s so authoritative
Exact same way that press secretary Karoline talks !
Such theatrics
With a tough talk and the forced speech try to sound so tough
Do these women realize how foolish they look and sound?
Neither one of them have a truthful word coming out of their mouths
We all know Trump promised something to Musk for buying his election. And now Trump's not delivering the promise, which should not have been a surprise to Musk - the umpteenth person who was sure it wouldn't happen to them. And then there's the fact they're both narcissists with a demand to being the most fabulous man in any and all rooms.
You left out Molly Ivins
The world is watching all of this
Everything that’s going on compromises our national security and our safety
So like a freaking free-for-all