Jon Thompson
@jfthompson.bsky.social
Retired journalist, erstwhile fly fisherman, dedicated folkie.
Heather: “The Trump administration is replacing American democracy with a kleptocracy, a system of corruption in which a network of ruling elites use the institutions of government to steal public assets for their own private gain.”
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November 30, 2025
On Friday evening, the Wall Street Journal published an article about the Trump administration’s negotiations with Russia over Ukraine that illuminated the administration’s approach to the world at ho...
open.substack.com
December 1, 2025 at 2:43 PM
Heather: “The Trump administration is replacing American democracy with a kleptocracy, a system of corruption in which a network of ruling elites use the institutions of government to steal public assets for their own private gain.”
open.substack.com/pub/heatherc...
open.substack.com/pub/heatherc...
Heather: “Putin told reporters in Kyrgyzstan that Russia will continue to attack Ukraine ‘until the last Ukrainian dies’ in order to gain control of Ukraine’s industrial east.”
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November 28, 2025
As Trump’s popularity continues to drop, the MAGA coalition shows signs of cracking, and Trump’s mental acuity slips, there is a frantic feel to the administration, as if Trump’s people are trying to ...
open.substack.com
November 29, 2025 at 3:35 PM
Heather: “Putin told reporters in Kyrgyzstan that Russia will continue to attack Ukraine ‘until the last Ukrainian dies’ in order to gain control of Ukraine’s industrial east.”
open.substack.com/pub/heatherc...
open.substack.com/pub/heatherc...
Heather: “And then, on April 12, 1861, southern soldiers fired on Fort Sumter, a federal fort in Charleston Harbor, and the meaning of a holiday for giving thanks changed.”
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November 26, 2025
Thanksgiving is the quintessential American holiday…but not for the reasons we generally remember.
open.substack.com
November 27, 2025 at 2:29 PM
Heather: “And then, on April 12, 1861, southern soldiers fired on Fort Sumter, a federal fort in Charleston Harbor, and the meaning of a holiday for giving thanks changed.”
open.substack.com/pub/heatherc...
open.substack.com/pub/heatherc...
Reposted by Jon Thompson
Political cartoonists also draw his cankles. LOL
Marian Kamensky.
Marian Kamensky.
November 26, 2025 at 7:27 PM
Political cartoonists also draw his cankles. LOL
Marian Kamensky.
Marian Kamensky.
Heather: “And so an American president called for the arrest and execution of elected lawmakers.”
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open.substack.com/pub/heatherc...
November 20, 2025
Trump spent this morning calling a group of military veterans in Congress traitors and saying they “should be ARRESTED AND PUT ON TRIAL.” Their crime, in Trump’s eyes, was their release Tuesday of a v...
open.substack.com
November 21, 2025 at 3:12 PM
Heather: “And so an American president called for the arrest and execution of elected lawmakers.”
open.substack.com/pub/heatherc...
open.substack.com/pub/heatherc...
Heather: “On the other end of the spectrum is the Trump administration’s crusade against not just undocumented immigrants but also against legal immigrants and darker-skinned Americans in general.”
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November 16, 2025
On Thursday, November 13, Michael Schmidt reported in the New York Times the story of the 17-year-old girl the House Ethics Committee found former representative Matt Gaetz (R-FL) likely paid to have ...
open.substack.com
November 17, 2025 at 3:18 PM
Heather: “On the other end of the spectrum is the Trump administration’s crusade against not just undocumented immigrants but also against legal immigrants and darker-skinned Americans in general.”
open.substack.com/pub/heatherc...
open.substack.com/pub/heatherc...
Reposted by Jon Thompson
November 15, 2025 at 2:46 PM
Heather: “The U.S. withdrew $870 million from its account at the International Monetary Fund shortly before a similar sum appeared in Argentina’s IMF fund in time for that country to pay an $840 million debt. It is, one redditor noted, ‘turning into a scandal.’”
open.substack.com/pub/heatherc...
open.substack.com/pub/heatherc...
November 14, 2025
In a transparent attempt to distract from the many times his own name appears in the documents from the Epstein estate members of the House Oversight Committee released Wednesday, President Donald J.
open.substack.com
November 15, 2025 at 2:57 PM
Heather: “The U.S. withdrew $870 million from its account at the International Monetary Fund shortly before a similar sum appeared in Argentina’s IMF fund in time for that country to pay an $840 million debt. It is, one redditor noted, ‘turning into a scandal.’”
open.substack.com/pub/heatherc...
open.substack.com/pub/heatherc...
Heather: “Despite how explosive these documents were, they do not appear to be the end of the story.”
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November 12, 2025
It turns out Representative Eric Swalwell (D-CA) and House Democrats were right to call it the “Epstein Shutdown” for the last several weeks on social media and in interviews.
open.substack.com
November 13, 2025 at 3:14 PM
Heather: “Despite how explosive these documents were, they do not appear to be the end of the story.”
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open.substack.com/pub/heatherc...
Heather: “Trump’s behavior during the shutdown made it clear he simply didn’t care how badly Americans got hurt.”
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November 10, 2025
Last night, the Senate advanced a measure to end the government shutdown, which at 41 days today is the longest in U.S.
open.substack.com
November 11, 2025 at 3:36 PM
Heather: “Trump’s behavior during the shutdown made it clear he simply didn’t care how badly Americans got hurt.”
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Heather: “The rejection put the Republicans in the awkward position of rejecting the reopening of the government because they are determined to kill a measure that is popular with three-quarters of the American people.”
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November 7, 2025
The repercussions from Tuesday’s vote, in which Democratic candidates were victorious across the country, continue to echo.
open.substack.com
November 8, 2025 at 3:11 PM
Heather: “The rejection put the Republicans in the awkward position of rejecting the reopening of the government because they are determined to kill a measure that is popular with three-quarters of the American people.”
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Heather: “Undermining Trump’s insistence that the tariffs are paid by foreign countries, in yesterday’s arguments the administration’s lawyer admitted that American consumers pay from 30% to 80% of the tariffs.”
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November 6, 2025
“None of this is complicated,” political data specialist Tom Bonier wrote yesterday about Tuesday’s dramatic Democratic victories around the country.
open.substack.com
November 7, 2025 at 3:17 PM
Heather: “Undermining Trump’s insistence that the tariffs are paid by foreign countries, in yesterday’s arguments the administration’s lawyer admitted that American consumers pay from 30% to 80% of the tariffs.”
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Heather: “Mamdami promised a government that would answer to the demands of the people.”
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November 5, 2025
New York City mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani, a member of both the Democratic Party and the Democratic Socialists of America, began his victory speech last night with a nod to Eugene V.
open.substack.com
November 6, 2025 at 3:13 PM
Heather: “Mamdami promised a government that would answer to the demands of the people.”
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Heather: “Certainly, neo-Nazi voices are becoming more obvious in the MAGA party.”
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November 2, 2025
Last Monday, October 27, right-wing personality Tucker Carlson interviewed white nationalist Nick Fuentes for more than two hours, mainstreaming the podcaster whose praise for Hitler, vows to kill Jew...
open.substack.com
November 3, 2025 at 2:24 PM
Heather: “Certainly, neo-Nazi voices are becoming more obvious in the MAGA party.”
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Heather: “There are signs the administration is not just trying to give the impression that Americans are rioting, but is trying to push them to do so.”
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October 30, 2025
House speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) continues to try to pin the upcoming catastrophic lapse in Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) funding on the Democrats.
open.substack.com
October 31, 2025 at 12:06 PM
Heather: “There are signs the administration is not just trying to give the impression that Americans are rioting, but is trying to push them to do so.”
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Heather: “Farm prices crashed after WWI, leaving rural Americans falling behind, while workers’ wages did not rise along with production. The new economy of the 1920s benefited too few Americans to be sustainable.”
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October 28, 2025
In the election of 1920, Americans handed a landslide victory to the Republicans and their presidential candidate Warren G.
open.substack.com
October 29, 2025 at 2:51 PM
Heather: “Farm prices crashed after WWI, leaving rural Americans falling behind, while workers’ wages did not rise along with production. The new economy of the 1920s benefited too few Americans to be sustainable.”
open.substack.com/pub/heatherc...
open.substack.com/pub/heatherc...
Heather: “Trump appears to want the world to conform to his ideology in foreign affairs as well as in the domestic sphere, claiming the ultimate power over life and death without regard to the rule of law.”
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October 24, 2025
Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) has canceled House business again next week, meaning that over the last 17 weeks, the House of Representatives will have worked on Capitol Hill for just 20 days.
open.substack.com
October 25, 2025 at 3:04 PM
Heather: “Trump appears to want the world to conform to his ideology in foreign affairs as well as in the domestic sphere, claiming the ultimate power over life and death without regard to the rule of law.”
open.substack.com/pub/heatherc...
open.substack.com/pub/heatherc...
Heather: “Republican congressional leaders are refusing even to talk with Democrats to reopen the government, let alone to negotiate with them. They are trying to force Democrats simply to do as they say.”
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October 19, 2025
All last week, Republican leaders tried to portray the No Kings protests scheduled for Saturday, October 18, as “Hate America” rallies.
open.substack.com
October 20, 2025 at 1:42 PM
Heather: “Republican congressional leaders are refusing even to talk with Democrats to reopen the government, let alone to negotiate with them. They are trying to force Democrats simply to do as they say.”
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Heather: “Democrats are saying it’s illegal because it is illegal.”
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October 16, 2025
Yesterday the Trump administration announced it would pay furloughed troops by using funds Congress appropriated for research, development, testing, and evaluation (RDTE) for fiscal year 2026.
open.substack.com
October 17, 2025 at 2:48 PM
Heather: “Democrats are saying it’s illegal because it is illegal.”
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Heather: “But, since gerrymandering depresses turnout of the losing party’s voters, Republicans would appear to hold the country even more firmly, making the United States as a whole reflect the American South from about 1874 to 1965.”
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October 15, 2025
Today the Supreme Court heard arguments in the case of Louisiana v.
open.substack.com
October 16, 2025 at 2:56 PM
Heather: “But, since gerrymandering depresses turnout of the losing party’s voters, Republicans would appear to hold the country even more firmly, making the United States as a whole reflect the American South from about 1874 to 1965.”
open.substack.com/pub/heatherc...
open.substack.com/pub/heatherc...
Reposted by Jon Thompson
Republicans are on the wrong path,
as this political cartoon by Pat Bagley shows:
as this political cartoon by Pat Bagley shows:
October 13, 2025 at 12:41 PM
Republicans are on the wrong path,
as this political cartoon by Pat Bagley shows:
as this political cartoon by Pat Bagley shows:
Reposted by Jon Thompson
All praise for political cartoonists.
They say in a single phrase what needs to be said by the mainstream media & western governments / leaders.
Any comment @senatorwong.bsky.social
Richard Marles? @albomp.bsky.social
They say in a single phrase what needs to be said by the mainstream media & western governments / leaders.
Any comment @senatorwong.bsky.social
Richard Marles? @albomp.bsky.social
October 13, 2025 at 1:36 PM
All praise for political cartoonists.
They say in a single phrase what needs to be said by the mainstream media & western governments / leaders.
Any comment @senatorwong.bsky.social
Richard Marles? @albomp.bsky.social
They say in a single phrase what needs to be said by the mainstream media & western governments / leaders.
Any comment @senatorwong.bsky.social
Richard Marles? @albomp.bsky.social
Reposted by Jon Thompson
Ben Jennings @BJennings90 on #Trump the peacemaker @guardian on #Hamas #Israel #MiddleEast #المنتخب_السعودي #GazaCeasefire #Egypte #Egypt #cartoon - political cartoon gallery in London original-political-cartoon.com
October 13, 2025 at 4:54 PM
Ben Jennings @BJennings90 on #Trump the peacemaker @guardian on #Hamas #Israel #MiddleEast #المنتخب_السعودي #GazaCeasefire #Egypte #Egypt #cartoon - political cartoon gallery in London original-political-cartoon.com
