Free speech just died. RIP First Amendment. Oligarchs and autocrats control the media. It was a nice 250 years while it lasted. www.nytimes.com/2025/09/17/b...

Sticker shock! Trump's decision to rescind the exemption of duties and customs charges on overseas items under $800 is a much bigger deal than I realized. I just priced $797 of William and Morris wallpaper for a project - the added duties were $224. Ouch.

NEW:

Kristi Noem secretly took a cut of political donations and then failed to disclose it

www.propublica.org/article/kris...

w/ @josh-kaplan.bsky.social @amierjeski.bsky.social

6/ And this is just a sample. The campaign is relentless and planned.

Democracies don't die in a single moment. You just wake up one day, and the regime has so badly crippled the opposition that they can't compete in elections.

This is where we are heading if we don't wake up.

Chris Murphy is speaking truth to power. Hopefully, the Democratic establishment is listening. The party needs to focus on reforming the government, not defending the status quo that allowed Trump to fill the void.
www.newyorker.com/podcast/the-...

Question - how does it make sense to make these cuts? Anyone? www.vnews.com/USDA-cuts-Vt...

At a time when this country needs tough fighters willing to stand up to a bully, you gave that bully your lunch money in the vain hope it would preserve a few guardrails—guardrails the bully and his MAGA henchman are already willfully ignoring. This was a false choice.

Chuck Schumer Helps Pull Democrats Back From Brink Of Courage

Call your senators

It is time for Schumer (aka Neville Chamberlain) to go. The Senate needs new leadership that has a spine. Dems caught between Scylla and Charybdis should take the road that shows some fight. Senate Dems must vote "no" today and force the Republicans to own this shut-down and negotiate.

Financial check-in: eggs were $11.49/doz. this morning.

From our financial advisor re: Trump's tariffs: "...we expect a drop in GDP of approximately 0.4% - which is a pretty big number....if the US economy slumps under the weight of a volatile stock market and a timid consumer, we could see a recession manifest quickly.” Uncertainty = timid consumer.

Loving this short piece from the NY Times. Self-righteous satisfaction, however cathartic, isn't going to get this country back on track. True. www.nytimes.com/2025/03/03/o...

David French has this spot on. America has become unreliable under Trump. www.nytimes.com/2025/03/02/o...

Manchurian candidate indeed - if Trump isn’t a Russian spy, Putin is getting the best deal of his life.

A member of Russia’s state-owned news agency gained access to the Oval Office for President Trump’s sit-down with Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky – even as the AP and Reuters were barred from the high-level meeting.

A great piece - unvarnished warnings about the real world, effective independence of our judiciary, shaping up to be the Alamo of democracy in the US.
www.nytimes.com/2025/02/23/o...

Power of the Pardon: Trump sent the clear message that any illegal and/or violent act supporting his agenda will be pardoned. If we are to rely on judges to stop the worst of his decrees, I ask you: How independent is that judge when their daughter's picture is posted online by Trump's cronies?

Local news gets to what is real in the way only local news can. We all need to recognize and hold dear our sources of support and normalcy amongst the artificial chaos being generated by the current administration...https://www.vnews.com/Column-It-takes-a-village-to-find-a-water-bottle-59555131