Whilst I would not be *at all* surprised if this turns out to be a "gotcha" and they are bear-hugging in the Oval again by Monday, Elon has (unwittingly?) let the genie out of the bottle here. He is not wrong in pointing out that 80% (maybe more like 65/70% in my view, but either way a majority) of people do not feel at all represented by either red or blue party. There is a huge opportunity for a rational, reasonable party to come along and totally change the stale and corrupt political order in this country. It is happening in other countries (Reform in the UK is way ahead in the polls), and post-Trump, I hope it happens here too.
Elon is not the answer. A new party is not the solution. People changing and following GOD'S laws is the answer. GOD told us how to heal our land. We need to do what HE said.
“if my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.”
I'm not disagreeing with you Carolyn, and I never said or thought that Elon was the answer. The problem is, even if I was a practicing Christian, I would see *nothing* in either red or blue party that would make me feel that they were aligned with me. One or the other is ultimately going to make our laws. God, sadly, for the foreseeable future in America, is not.
"As we have discussed previously, it is a known fact that Trump is on the Epstein flight logs and has been obstructing the release of the Epstein files. It is also a known fact that Jeffrey Epstein worked with Israeli intelligence and was running a sexual blackmail operation, and that Trump has been bending over backwards to give Israel everything it wants while stomping out American free speech that is critical of Israel’s actions in Gaza.
“I’ve known Jeff [Epstein] for fifteen years. Terrific guy,” Trump said in 2002. “He’s a lot of fun to be with. It is even said that he likes beautiful women as much as I do, and many of them are on the younger side.”"
If true, this is very bad optics for Trump, USA and our (complicit for a foreign state?) Country.
I really do appreciate the humor Jenna finds to add levity to some very dark times. Blessings to her.
I might add one tiny but mighty point, replace we with I: if 'we/I' each did approach Him, asking for mercy to heal us/me individually, if 'we/I' really believed that His Love can change the way 'we/I' treat others, 'we/I' would do it. It's pretty hard in this culture of American exceptionalism. The nation is filled with people possessing an extraordinary level of self-deception, judgementalness and hypocrisy.
The problem is fairly simple to me, most people want others to change, not themselves. The earliest of Christians called this process 'stenosis'. I have found most people actually are unwilling to put the Bible up to their face as if it was a mirror and make the changes within themselves. 🪞 My experience is they point to a scripture verse they believe I should change in myself. Recall the story of taking the plank out of one's own eye before you remove the splinter from another. 🙏🏼
One day in college my friend and I were down at the river, and he got something in his eye. He asked me to help him get it out. Not wanting to poke his eye out, which would have happened, I quoted that bit of scripture instead.
I think there is a lot of wisdom in that verse. First, it's hard to see the spec in someone's eye at all. Second, the person with it and doing the removing can "feel" it, and has much better capacity to know how to get it out than someone else who isn't attached to the eye.
We have a new party and it’s MAGA. And it is trying to change one of the primary parties, because that’s the only way it can work. It takes time. Why reinvent the wheel and start from scratch when we have come this far? Any new party has to travel the same roads we did to get to where we are. We need to keep working on MAGA
Hey Juju, I am the most MAGA man I know. I am literally about to leave for the golf course where I will once again ruffle feathers in my "Trump Was Right About Everything" hat. But sadly, Trump is MAGA, and MAGA is Trump. We got over the line in November (not in a landslide, btw) and I hope this administration keeps working at pace to give the establishment a bloody nose (and more...a couple of shattered kneecaps and a ruptured spleen would be great too), but I hate to be the one to break it to you...in 3.5 years MAGA will be rudderless, and we can choose between neocon warmongering RINOs or the same sad sack of useless wet liberal Democrats. It's a third party all the way, for me.
So much can happen in 3.5 years! Look where we are now vs 3 years ago. Unpredictable- but we need to continue to demand & build on truth & accountability from our government.
The work involved in starting a third party is a next to impossible lift what with 50 states each with their own set of laws protecting against third parties and new parties. It’s never worked before.
The founders actually distrusted political parties and predicted disaster should they form, which of course they did anyway. Parties are valuable to a republic because they are the single best way to mobilize and organize voters while also providing stability to the system.
I’m not defeatist, but rather realistic about starting a third party. 1. It hasn’t worked yet. 2. The two major parties have locked in the two party system. 3. Overturning those laws in 50 states would require majority votes from members of the two parties who don’t plan on committing suicide any time soon. 3. Getting third parties on the ballot has higher qualifications than for the majority parties, including significantly larger numbers of signatures on petitions in order to even get on the ballot. The last time a third party rattled the system was when Ross Perot won 19% of the popular vote. Perot was not able to win even the electoral college vote in a single state, which is another major stumbling block for third parties.
Probably why Trump sensed that the quickest way was to take over one of the existing parties. In fact there are ample precedents, the Republican Party being a recent, but also older example.
Reagan took It over too by appealing to voter exasperation.
You make very fair and sensible points, Mary Ann. I agree that it will take serious commitment, a lot of money and an awful lot of public support to make this happen. But *if* I am right and 65-70% of the country wants a complete reset, I think it can happen.
Here's the response to such an effort from the two major parties should such an effort arise to create a third party: both parties will shift positions to accommodate the demands of the new third party. But I still do not see how in 50 states given how diverse those states are in political "personalities," how anything as large as what is needed to get it on the ballot in all 50 states can even happen. Note also that popular uprisings like that tend to be rather short-lived. Look at the Populist movement in the late 19th century. It looked for a while that it was going to set the prairie states and the South on fire with their huge meetings. They even managed to find candidates for president (William Jennings Bryant who was also nominated by the Democrats!) and vice president. But in the end in the 1896 election, lost the election due to opposition from labor. Farmers wanted high crop prices and labor wanted lower food costs, to name just one issue. In the end, the Democrats absorbed much of the Populists' agenda: direct election of senators, graduated income tax, as well as other measures that historians think led to the Progressive Era. After the election of McKinley in 1896, the Populist Party collapsed especially since Democrats co-opted the Populist agenda. And, if you look at the electoral college map of that election, you can see why McKinley won. And then there is the problem of electing majorities in the House and Senate. For such an enterprise to end up succeeding in fighting state laws about the two party system and then prevail in the courts of each state, the movement to create a large and winning coalition (which a third party would also need to do), the movement would wear itself out. They always do. Reform eras in the U.S. are remarkably short.
It also occurred to me that another stumbling block for a new party is that the state legislatures control redistricting making it easy to divide up areas that might be tempted to vote for a party outside of the two party system.
What hasn’t worked for over 50 years is voting for either the Dems or the Republicans. It’s clear to me that we will only get change when 70-80% of the voters who know that neither the Dems nor the Republicans are enacting laws that make any sense actually stop voting for the representatives of those parties, and are instead actually willing to rally around a fresh new approach that really does make sense. If Elon wants to lead such an effort, I’m at least willing to listen to what he has in mind.
In the very long runs of time, the parties really do respond to the voters at least some of the time. Over time, things change and change slowly which is exactly what the founders wanted. That’s why it’s so difficult to amend the Constitution. They knew what they were doing when they divided power between the branches of government, the federal and state governments, among all the other roadblocks they set up to prevent rapid change. Right now it seems as if we’re in a terrible predicament that the system can’t respond to. There have been 3 such pior eras: the ante bellum /Civil War era, the Great Depression, and right now (#4). We really are seeing lots of change happen, all of which is within the framework of the Constitution. Trump won’t get everything he wants, but we’re live through a kind of restoration right now. There will be compromises, partly because each party is itself a coalition of various factions.
Out of curiosity, what is this “new approach “ that we should try? I honestly don’t think Musk has anything particular in mind. He’s just lashing out with nothing constructive to offer.
"He is not wrong in pointing out that 80% (maybe more like 65/70% in my view, but either way a majority) of people do not feel at all represented by either red or blue party."
That doesnʼt mean a "centrist party" could work. Hereʼs why you and Elon are both wrong.
On most of the big issues, Americans are split somewhere between 50-50 and 65-35. No matter how you slice it, that leaves *the Center* not in agreement with itself. The people who don't feel represented by either party, in most cases have little else in common. At least not enough to operate a successful political party. Some are fiscally conservative but socially liberal. Some are socially conservative but favor welfare for the poor, etc., etc.
Even Elon's opposition to the bill based on intelligent opposition to runaway government spending would not be supported by the party he proposes, since it is pretty much only *very* fiscally conservative people who share that concern. Centrist Republicans could not care less about it, unless perhaps they became centrist Democrats.
Things will continue as before: People who don't feel represented by either party will continue to be swing voters who swing to the party they are closest with on the issue that currently concerns them the most.
There is simply no majority in the center on almost any issue, much less the 80% Elon postulates. Even worse, you need to agree on a majority of issues to form a viable party.
While Elon may or may not be a business and/or tech genius, I was really surprised to see him make this politically naive suggestion that just isn't supported by any available evidence.
Let's take one of the biggest and most 'controversial' issues in America today; abortion. By my estimation, 10-15% of people think it should be outlawed. 10-15% of people think it is essential and actively encourage it. But 70-80% of us in the middle think it *should* be legal, but within reasonable time limits (in my opinion, by 12 weeks a woman should be well aware that she is pregnant and has had plenty of time to make the decision). If there was a national referendum on this issue tomorrow, I am very confident the above estimates would be roughly borne out in the result.
We could do the same with guns; 10-15% think we should be able to have semi-autos and real heavy duty weapons of war, capable of killing hundreds of people per minute. 10-15% think there should be no guns for anyone except the government (and AOC's private bodyguards etc). But the vast majority think we should be able to have guns with a decent level of regulation to ensure that they are for self-defense and ensuring they do not get into the hands of children, the mentally ill or indeed Alec Baldwin.
This is the essence of what Elon is talking about. 70-80% of people actually *can* agree on a reasonable path forward.
IMO, what we need to do is get rid of all political parties. It only serves to divide us as a nation and as a people. Just my 2 cents from watching politics since 1961.
How would you do away with parties? How would you mobilize voters? There is no need for parties in authoritarian regimes or where only one party is permitted. Competitive parties have the effect of creating stability and unity which is why it’s so important that the Democrats get their act together. Without leadership and a program, you can see how Democrats are falling into chaos and violence. It would be even worse if both parties fell apart.
There are probably several ways to do away with parties. A bill could be passed in Congress for example, to cancel all political parties. People would need to vote independently and keep abreast of political events, not just routinely/blindly vote for anyone in the party they have joined, without thinking about anything. That's what too many people have been doing and it's brought us to this destructive place in America, IMO. The govt doesn't need to be authoritarian in order to not have parties, a well-run govt doesn't need parties. Political parties aren't mentioned in our constitution and James Madison and Alexander Hamilton didn't think we should have parties. Political party leaders have brought us to the present horrendous place our country is now and it's created much divisiveness as can be seen now. Dem voters have no idea what is really going on in our country because they listen to the Dem party leaders who have lied to We the People for a very long time. Some Repubs are guilty of that, too and at this point both parties are riddled with corruption. That's why I think we don't need parties. Just my 2 cents.
You are right about the founders thinking that parties were a bad idea, a notion that arose from their knowledge of how parties in England had not worked out very well. Parties were a brand new idea at
the time and as an institution that represented the wishes of the people had not had sufficient time to mature at the time when our constitution was being written. As it turns out, though, when Washington took office, our own party system began almost immediately with the president’s administration and Congress becoming divided over how to finance the Revolutionary war debt.
I would ask you, though, how would you expect the members of congress who have party affiliations to vote to end parties? Even if they were able to do so, there is still the problem of the 50 states that all have different laws on their books that support the two party system. The federal government has no constitutional right to interfere with state parties. One deleterious effect would be the end of the primary elections, but they are a state function, so the feds can't touch them.. How would the states determine who can run for office?
Another benefit of our two party system is that there have always been two visions of America: one that tends toward conservative values and a slower pace of change, while another group seeks more progressive policies. We need two parties with competing ideas but right now the Democrats have lost their way. It’s their collapse that is the problem. We should not be wishing for the collapse of the Republican Party as well. If both parties were to disappear, we would dissolve into political chaos and probably violence. There would be no way to organize or even know what the wishes of the voters are.
I have already given an example of how to go about abolishing party system - congress can vote. As well, people can vote in an election in their own state as to whether or not they want to have party system. Each state can determine their own party system or not. That's just one way to do it. I never said I have all the answers and I still stand by what I said - parties are dividing the people in very serious ways and it's destroying our country. That's my main reason. Also, it's too easy for people to vote according to what their party tells them - which has been found to be full of lies from that party - BOTH parties do this - and so people don't bother to do any research to find out what is really going on in our country and what politicians really think and feel. If there's no party, people are forced to think for themselves - something that is absolutely vital to a free republic, which is what we were founded as and are supposed to be.
I'm one of the majority non-voting "independents" but I'd never vote for anyone involved with Musk or any of the technocrats. This is a major reason I didn't vote for Trump and chose not to vote for any of the billionaires buying office.
I don't disagree with anything you say here, but at the end of the day, not voting is not going to change anything. Unless we all had a pact not to vote, which would be so cool, watching those slimy politicians weasel their way through a 0-0 dead heat. Sadly just a fantasy.
So, your "solution" is that if someone gives you two pile of crap candidates, you vote for one of them?
I'm not seeing that that makes sense and no, I won't do it. And I grow weary of people assuming I haven't thought this out thoroughly and am somehow ignorant. Actually, I'm leagues and years ahead, as I've known voting is a scam for 25 years.
Agree. American citizens are 'victims' of self-delusion and self-aggrandizement and the criminal government has been literally using the media, corporations and schools (including Hollywood, music, etc) as propaganda tools to create a fake world, including the 'capitalistic' financial system which is literally ripping citizens off through excessive debt, taxes* and inflation. The 'religion' of out of control materialism/consumption (once you realize you are a $ and nothing more, things will make sense), food grown striped of nutrition and distributed by mega-corporations promising ill health, chemicals/pollution throughout the land and water, drugs/vaccines to treat the symptoms of a mentally and physically sick people who are more spiritually corrupt than any nation that has preceded us. And they call this 'freedom'.
*the country is run by those who write the tax laws and the generous handouts with each successive BBB (Diden had Build Back Better, Strump has Big, Beautiful Bill). It's the same party and they hate us at WarpSpeed levels.
We live in The Truman Show, and although we get glimpses beyond it and want out, we constantly get pulled back in, because there is nowhere to hide from it.
First, you are hilarious & I love your narration! Second, I think, egos aside, trump didn't cut enough in the bill. Elon, although having a tantrum, is asking for exactly what we were all promised....no more funding of frogs, disco balls and cocaine...but unfortunately that & other craziness is STILL being funded. I am with Ron Johnson and Rand Paul on this bill...the bbb needs to go a diet (without cocaine) lol.
Yes, indeed! You said everything I've been thinking. I'm hoping that Johnson actually achieves a line-by-line evaluation of the BBB and the Senate votes for a much slimmer bill.
Same! And I don't think its some "personal attack" on trump to ask for that. Some ppl seem so personally offended when anyone disagrees with Trump lol. Funny ppl...( maybe those that get so angry are in the cocaine study)
Democrats tried to put Trump in prison for 700 years, take his business empire from him, impeach him twice, take him off the ballot, and censor him on all social media - all while they were sitting on info that Trump was on the Epstein list?
More drama!! Doesn't this all just feel very much orchestrated and staged at this point? Instead of actually going after Epstein's clients that are predominantly government officials, bureaucrats, royalty, and other parasites, there is just more finger pointing and blabbing about it while we continue pretending that the government doesn't know exactly who was boarding those planes and flying to the private pedophile islands.
This new "big beautiful bill" also prevents states from creating policies and laws around AI. Did you all know that? I didn't know until I just watched this recent epic Truthstream Media's rant: https://youtu.be/5FZfkeAdsi0
So yes, Jenna is totally right again! Keep starring at the billionaire drama while the other billionaires continue to architect and build the digital control grid to try and control us even more. But hey, at least we'll all be in the same digital prison together. Yeaa, Happy Friday!! Have a great weekend y'all!! 🤗
I believe I read something about that recently. My ears pricked up. Fed government to control AI? Well, wouldn’t that be hunky dory, since the Feds have been so sterling at that. I believe before the election some tech billionaires (Andreeson?) came out of a Biden meeting where our government planned to take over AI, stifle small companies and just let the Big Ugly Guys run it all under Federal guidance (we know what that is)That’s why Marc left the Dems. So here we are again? Oh, my dear Lord.
One fact remains unchanged: Trump is still President of the United States; Musk is not. I voted for Trump, and I remain pleased at what he continues to do.
President Trump has never drank alcohol, used drugs or needed to be in the position of being blackmailed for sex especially with minors. It would have already been exposed and prosecuted years ago.
Margery Taylor Greene is all of a sudden outraged that the states not having any ability to control AI for 10 years is part of the “big beautiful bill” SHE VOTED FOR. And THATS the f’ing problem w/ virtually all of the mental midgets in DC - they pass shit to know what’s in it AFTER. Ass hats
Meanwhile, we have to cross all the Ts and dot all the Is in our lives. Don’t they have lobbyists to read these things and “advise”. I heard there are sickening numbers assigned to each and ever congresscritter. Oh, wait—the lobbyists write the bills. My bad.
In her defense, the bill IS over 1000 pages long. Idk abt y'all but the longest book I’ve read in recent memory was THE REAL ANTHONY FAUCI by RFK. It was 469 pages long and took me 2 weeks to slog through— but of course, I was mouth-wide-open, in shock, filled with disgust and
anger, completely AGOG at much of the info I was seeing for the first time.
Long tomes with loads of detail can be hard on the “highlighter hand”. Give MTG some grace- and kudos for admitting she didn’t read all 1000 pages.
Hi KC, but those “bills” are so deliberately long / pork-filled & dropped so close to a vote that it’s obscene & that’s the feature, not the bug. Fix the f’ing feature. I like MTG but I don’t think it’s any badge of honor to fess up to not reading it, thus not knowing what all is in it but voting for it anyway & then being ticked that there are things she doesn’t like. I’d bet there’s plenty more to hate when she gets around to reading it. Just my opinion.
Oh so it's a bait-and-switch. Elon is faking a feud because he likes what's in the bill, which is the AI, and pretending it's about EV, which everyone knows is a non-starter and impossible with our current grid system.
So he really wants it to pass, he's just getting people all fired up about the wrong thing.
TBH, IDK what the hell is going on w/ anybody these days from the “feud” to MAHA & everything in between. Ultimately, we have to watch what people DO, not what they SAY. Actions speak louder than words & all that.
I can’t vote because I have no clue what or why this is happening and I’m f-ing tired of listening to a couple of billionaires throw their toys around. Or anything coming out of that fetid roach abode in DC. I’ve had it. I’m old. If or when we get out of this, I will be long gone. What’s next? “You’re a big poopy pants, and your mother…..”.
What hurts me: the people like el gato crawling out and shouting about how DJT is a “narcissist” and they always knew it and now is the time to talk third parties 🤦🏻♀️ I prayed for years for him and our Country all during the plague and this tif is not going to stop me🙏🇺🇸😇
And if President Trump is on the list. 1000% the whore dog Elon was running to be the first in line. This is a ploy. To get the Deep State and Media and Leftist to demand the files be exposed. My theory is neither of them are on the list why would either of them risk it??
I don’t have a clue what the pissing contest between Trump and Elon is really about?
I just wish if the Bromance was in a struggle they could’ve kept it behind closed doors PUHLEASE?
Ugh-instead of embarrassing all of us. really name-calling like two little 10-year-old’s fighting over the toys?
Something about the vapid Kardashian type of mindset reminds me of another smoke screen to keep the Attention on idiotic behavior and NOT the needed agenda items to MAGA?
Hilarious take on the BBB. Not sure what to think, actually. But seems sus to me...my initial reaction was that this will make the Dems buy Teslas again. (I doubt MAGA will burn them) And the ones who still hate Elon might vote for the OBBB out of spite. Time will tell.
(Elon, I know you read Jen's column. Here's what you should do to get ahead of the "Tesla-defunding" curve and save that particular company.)
Switch--immediately--to manufacturing hybrids, and drop the "all-EV" lines. Go further and create "conversion kits" to shade-tree mechanics so they can set up side gigs to keep those oldest Teslas on the road for the full 25-30 years while also creating a cottage industry.
Just like "all computer technology" ended up being driven into palm-sized devices, all transportation is going to end up as hybrids.
I'm still working on how to offer "personal rocketry" from SpaceX. What seems most obvious is to set up "Go-Fund-Mes" for rockets to be delivered to fan-chosen destinations.
(Elon, while I have your so-brief attention: please DIAL IT DOWN several thou of notches; we survived the Obidens for heaven's sake, and didn't see a need to TORCH EVERYTHING. Make sure to take ALL your medication. Luv ya bro'...)
I've got my AI set up to tell me things like: "cleaning and cooking are highly over-rated," and "you are now 4.7 minutes past time for another beer."
However, take my advice "Buy Tesla stock after it's been depressed 'enough'[1]" because it WILL move to building hybrids--and Toyota will soil itself--because: OBVIOUS, and it will come roaring back.
[1] 'Enough' means at a price where you won't lose your shirt because it continues to fall further and never recovers to the price you buy it at, causing you to lose most of your investment and want to assassinate whomever put the idea into your head. I do not know WHAT price that is, but I do know that thousands of books have been written explaining how to calculate that point to five decimal places. Sadly all but one of them are wrong, and if you even could find the name of the right one you would then also find it has been out-of-print for over 60 years. I recommend you kiss the money goodbye when you place your guess. It's nicer to be pleasantly surprised.
You're such a big help! I think the stock market is all a big casino run by mobsters that don't let the marks win in any meaningful way. The odds of winning are exactly the same whether you play or not...😂 JMHO
I have to contend with this because--personal experience.
I, believe, while She lives, America will keep becoming more valuable to the world because--innovation and incentive to solve others' problems. Also as an OWNER of stock, you are a REAL part-owner of a company, and there are companies that being an owner of just busts my buttons. I'm PROUD of what they make, or do, and others should be too. (It takes the sting out if the stock pays a dividend/little-quarterly-something-as-a-thank-you.)
"Mutual funds" being bets placed on "collections of stocks" are inherently safer. As "mixes" they will consequently miss the highest of the stratospherors, but will also miss the lowest of the star-crossed-doomed-ones.
I do NOT recommend amateur investing in individual stocks--even though I just did. I am an amateur. I have lost several shirts. And a set of pants. But I've come back to the advice (I think I mentioned before) given by an old stamp dealer, who was not a collector, to "buy what you like, so you'll still love it even if it doesn't increase in value."
Fair points. I have some dividend earning ones, but they were a gift. I don't trust myself to choose properly. But for some reason I bought some crypto and one of them took off and I keep cashing in coins as it keeps rising and I've been using house money for several years. So that was a nice surprise after also losing shirts in other investments. 💖
I hope y'all don't mind if I interrupt your regular programming to let you know, especially those of you who said you wanted to hear about our farm (in the comments here a few days ago), that I've launched a substack to tell the story of what we're doing. It's called "aboutthefarm" and tells the serialized story of "how an older landowner connected with young farmers to make everyone's dreams come true."
I hope it can be a refreshing distraction from the dog and pony show known as politics.
Two spoiled rich guys having a “your mother is so ugly that she ______” (fill in the blank). It’s both funny and unbecoming. The news cycle being what it is will soon find something else to hyperventilate over. Even though it’s distracting us from the really important things, a little comic relief once in a while isn’t altogether a bad thing.
Whilst I would not be *at all* surprised if this turns out to be a "gotcha" and they are bear-hugging in the Oval again by Monday, Elon has (unwittingly?) let the genie out of the bottle here. He is not wrong in pointing out that 80% (maybe more like 65/70% in my view, but either way a majority) of people do not feel at all represented by either red or blue party. There is a huge opportunity for a rational, reasonable party to come along and totally change the stale and corrupt political order in this country. It is happening in other countries (Reform in the UK is way ahead in the polls), and post-Trump, I hope it happens here too.
Elon is not the answer. A new party is not the solution. People changing and following GOD'S laws is the answer. GOD told us how to heal our land. We need to do what HE said.
Amen Carolyn
“if my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.”
2 Chronicles 7:14
I'm not disagreeing with you Carolyn, and I never said or thought that Elon was the answer. The problem is, even if I was a practicing Christian, I would see *nothing* in either red or blue party that would make me feel that they were aligned with me. One or the other is ultimately going to make our laws. God, sadly, for the foreseeable future in America, is not.
For me, the 900lb gorilla in the room is why can't we get some adults in the room to end the genocide in the ME?
This is the sickest I've seen humanity act, as we watch and all look the other way.
Is Trump 'owned'? Is he in the Epstein files? Who was Epstein working for?
Caitlin Johnstone has an opinion, and I think it's a relevant one.
https://www.caitlinjohnst.one/p/epstein-israel-isis-palantir
Her comment:
"As we have discussed previously, it is a known fact that Trump is on the Epstein flight logs and has been obstructing the release of the Epstein files. It is also a known fact that Jeffrey Epstein worked with Israeli intelligence and was running a sexual blackmail operation, and that Trump has been bending over backwards to give Israel everything it wants while stomping out American free speech that is critical of Israel’s actions in Gaza.
“I’ve known Jeff [Epstein] for fifteen years. Terrific guy,” Trump said in 2002. “He’s a lot of fun to be with. It is even said that he likes beautiful women as much as I do, and many of them are on the younger side.”"
If true, this is very bad optics for Trump, USA and our (complicit for a foreign state?) Country.
I really do appreciate the humor Jenna finds to add levity to some very dark times. Blessings to her.
Amen again to you Carolyn.
I might add one tiny but mighty point, replace we with I: if 'we/I' each did approach Him, asking for mercy to heal us/me individually, if 'we/I' really believed that His Love can change the way 'we/I' treat others, 'we/I' would do it. It's pretty hard in this culture of American exceptionalism. The nation is filled with people possessing an extraordinary level of self-deception, judgementalness and hypocrisy.
The problem is fairly simple to me, most people want others to change, not themselves. The earliest of Christians called this process 'stenosis'. I have found most people actually are unwilling to put the Bible up to their face as if it was a mirror and make the changes within themselves. 🪞 My experience is they point to a scripture verse they believe I should change in myself. Recall the story of taking the plank out of one's own eye before you remove the splinter from another. 🙏🏼
Peace be with you.🕊️
Side note.
One day in college my friend and I were down at the river, and he got something in his eye. He asked me to help him get it out. Not wanting to poke his eye out, which would have happened, I quoted that bit of scripture instead.
I think there is a lot of wisdom in that verse. First, it's hard to see the spec in someone's eye at all. Second, the person with it and doing the removing can "feel" it, and has much better capacity to know how to get it out than someone else who isn't attached to the eye.
Bravo and well done.🕊️
Excellent point of view, so many angles to each of these 'stories'.
We have a new party and it’s MAGA. And it is trying to change one of the primary parties, because that’s the only way it can work. It takes time. Why reinvent the wheel and start from scratch when we have come this far? Any new party has to travel the same roads we did to get to where we are. We need to keep working on MAGA
Hey Juju, I am the most MAGA man I know. I am literally about to leave for the golf course where I will once again ruffle feathers in my "Trump Was Right About Everything" hat. But sadly, Trump is MAGA, and MAGA is Trump. We got over the line in November (not in a landslide, btw) and I hope this administration keeps working at pace to give the establishment a bloody nose (and more...a couple of shattered kneecaps and a ruptured spleen would be great too), but I hate to be the one to break it to you...in 3.5 years MAGA will be rudderless, and we can choose between neocon warmongering RINOs or the same sad sack of useless wet liberal Democrats. It's a third party all the way, for me.
So much can happen in 3.5 years! Look where we are now vs 3 years ago. Unpredictable- but we need to continue to demand & build on truth & accountability from our government.
The work involved in starting a third party is a next to impossible lift what with 50 states each with their own set of laws protecting against third parties and new parties. It’s never worked before.
Seems a bit defeatist, Mary Ann! I'm glad the founding fathers didn't arrive at the same conclusion.
The founders actually distrusted political parties and predicted disaster should they form, which of course they did anyway. Parties are valuable to a republic because they are the single best way to mobilize and organize voters while also providing stability to the system.
I’m not defeatist, but rather realistic about starting a third party. 1. It hasn’t worked yet. 2. The two major parties have locked in the two party system. 3. Overturning those laws in 50 states would require majority votes from members of the two parties who don’t plan on committing suicide any time soon. 3. Getting third parties on the ballot has higher qualifications than for the majority parties, including significantly larger numbers of signatures on petitions in order to even get on the ballot. The last time a third party rattled the system was when Ross Perot won 19% of the popular vote. Perot was not able to win even the electoral college vote in a single state, which is another major stumbling block for third parties.
Probably why Trump sensed that the quickest way was to take over one of the existing parties. In fact there are ample precedents, the Republican Party being a recent, but also older example.
Reagan took It over too by appealing to voter exasperation.
Regan cleverly appealed to the 'Christian right' if I recall. Destroyed the Democrats in the 'Christian South'.
You make very fair and sensible points, Mary Ann. I agree that it will take serious commitment, a lot of money and an awful lot of public support to make this happen. But *if* I am right and 65-70% of the country wants a complete reset, I think it can happen.
Here's the response to such an effort from the two major parties should such an effort arise to create a third party: both parties will shift positions to accommodate the demands of the new third party. But I still do not see how in 50 states given how diverse those states are in political "personalities," how anything as large as what is needed to get it on the ballot in all 50 states can even happen. Note also that popular uprisings like that tend to be rather short-lived. Look at the Populist movement in the late 19th century. It looked for a while that it was going to set the prairie states and the South on fire with their huge meetings. They even managed to find candidates for president (William Jennings Bryant who was also nominated by the Democrats!) and vice president. But in the end in the 1896 election, lost the election due to opposition from labor. Farmers wanted high crop prices and labor wanted lower food costs, to name just one issue. In the end, the Democrats absorbed much of the Populists' agenda: direct election of senators, graduated income tax, as well as other measures that historians think led to the Progressive Era. After the election of McKinley in 1896, the Populist Party collapsed especially since Democrats co-opted the Populist agenda. And, if you look at the electoral college map of that election, you can see why McKinley won. And then there is the problem of electing majorities in the House and Senate. For such an enterprise to end up succeeding in fighting state laws about the two party system and then prevail in the courts of each state, the movement to create a large and winning coalition (which a third party would also need to do), the movement would wear itself out. They always do. Reform eras in the U.S. are remarkably short.
It also occurred to me that another stumbling block for a new party is that the state legislatures control redistricting making it easy to divide up areas that might be tempted to vote for a party outside of the two party system.
We’re not going to have a viable third party. If Theodore Roosevelt couldn’t do it, it’s not happening.
Trump realized this and instead infiltrated and hijacked the Republicans. Fortunately.
What hasn’t worked for over 50 years is voting for either the Dems or the Republicans. It’s clear to me that we will only get change when 70-80% of the voters who know that neither the Dems nor the Republicans are enacting laws that make any sense actually stop voting for the representatives of those parties, and are instead actually willing to rally around a fresh new approach that really does make sense. If Elon wants to lead such an effort, I’m at least willing to listen to what he has in mind.
In the very long runs of time, the parties really do respond to the voters at least some of the time. Over time, things change and change slowly which is exactly what the founders wanted. That’s why it’s so difficult to amend the Constitution. They knew what they were doing when they divided power between the branches of government, the federal and state governments, among all the other roadblocks they set up to prevent rapid change. Right now it seems as if we’re in a terrible predicament that the system can’t respond to. There have been 3 such pior eras: the ante bellum /Civil War era, the Great Depression, and right now (#4). We really are seeing lots of change happen, all of which is within the framework of the Constitution. Trump won’t get everything he wants, but we’re live through a kind of restoration right now. There will be compromises, partly because each party is itself a coalition of various factions.
Out of curiosity, what is this “new approach “ that we should try? I honestly don’t think Musk has anything particular in mind. He’s just lashing out with nothing constructive to offer.
"He is not wrong in pointing out that 80% (maybe more like 65/70% in my view, but either way a majority) of people do not feel at all represented by either red or blue party."
That doesnʼt mean a "centrist party" could work. Hereʼs why you and Elon are both wrong.
On most of the big issues, Americans are split somewhere between 50-50 and 65-35. No matter how you slice it, that leaves *the Center* not in agreement with itself. The people who don't feel represented by either party, in most cases have little else in common. At least not enough to operate a successful political party. Some are fiscally conservative but socially liberal. Some are socially conservative but favor welfare for the poor, etc., etc.
Even Elon's opposition to the bill based on intelligent opposition to runaway government spending would not be supported by the party he proposes, since it is pretty much only *very* fiscally conservative people who share that concern. Centrist Republicans could not care less about it, unless perhaps they became centrist Democrats.
Things will continue as before: People who don't feel represented by either party will continue to be swing voters who swing to the party they are closest with on the issue that currently concerns them the most.
There is simply no majority in the center on almost any issue, much less the 80% Elon postulates. Even worse, you need to agree on a majority of issues to form a viable party.
While Elon may or may not be a business and/or tech genius, I was really surprised to see him make this politically naive suggestion that just isn't supported by any available evidence.
Let's take one of the biggest and most 'controversial' issues in America today; abortion. By my estimation, 10-15% of people think it should be outlawed. 10-15% of people think it is essential and actively encourage it. But 70-80% of us in the middle think it *should* be legal, but within reasonable time limits (in my opinion, by 12 weeks a woman should be well aware that she is pregnant and has had plenty of time to make the decision). If there was a national referendum on this issue tomorrow, I am very confident the above estimates would be roughly borne out in the result.
We could do the same with guns; 10-15% think we should be able to have semi-autos and real heavy duty weapons of war, capable of killing hundreds of people per minute. 10-15% think there should be no guns for anyone except the government (and AOC's private bodyguards etc). But the vast majority think we should be able to have guns with a decent level of regulation to ensure that they are for self-defense and ensuring they do not get into the hands of children, the mentally ill or indeed Alec Baldwin.
This is the essence of what Elon is talking about. 70-80% of people actually *can* agree on a reasonable path forward.
IMO, what we need to do is get rid of all political parties. It only serves to divide us as a nation and as a people. Just my 2 cents from watching politics since 1961.
How would you do away with parties? How would you mobilize voters? There is no need for parties in authoritarian regimes or where only one party is permitted. Competitive parties have the effect of creating stability and unity which is why it’s so important that the Democrats get their act together. Without leadership and a program, you can see how Democrats are falling into chaos and violence. It would be even worse if both parties fell apart.
There are probably several ways to do away with parties. A bill could be passed in Congress for example, to cancel all political parties. People would need to vote independently and keep abreast of political events, not just routinely/blindly vote for anyone in the party they have joined, without thinking about anything. That's what too many people have been doing and it's brought us to this destructive place in America, IMO. The govt doesn't need to be authoritarian in order to not have parties, a well-run govt doesn't need parties. Political parties aren't mentioned in our constitution and James Madison and Alexander Hamilton didn't think we should have parties. Political party leaders have brought us to the present horrendous place our country is now and it's created much divisiveness as can be seen now. Dem voters have no idea what is really going on in our country because they listen to the Dem party leaders who have lied to We the People for a very long time. Some Repubs are guilty of that, too and at this point both parties are riddled with corruption. That's why I think we don't need parties. Just my 2 cents.
You are right about the founders thinking that parties were a bad idea, a notion that arose from their knowledge of how parties in England had not worked out very well. Parties were a brand new idea at
the time and as an institution that represented the wishes of the people had not had sufficient time to mature at the time when our constitution was being written. As it turns out, though, when Washington took office, our own party system began almost immediately with the president’s administration and Congress becoming divided over how to finance the Revolutionary war debt.
I would ask you, though, how would you expect the members of congress who have party affiliations to vote to end parties? Even if they were able to do so, there is still the problem of the 50 states that all have different laws on their books that support the two party system. The federal government has no constitutional right to interfere with state parties. One deleterious effect would be the end of the primary elections, but they are a state function, so the feds can't touch them.. How would the states determine who can run for office?
Another benefit of our two party system is that there have always been two visions of America: one that tends toward conservative values and a slower pace of change, while another group seeks more progressive policies. We need two parties with competing ideas but right now the Democrats have lost their way. It’s their collapse that is the problem. We should not be wishing for the collapse of the Republican Party as well. If both parties were to disappear, we would dissolve into political chaos and probably violence. There would be no way to organize or even know what the wishes of the voters are.
I have already given an example of how to go about abolishing party system - congress can vote. As well, people can vote in an election in their own state as to whether or not they want to have party system. Each state can determine their own party system or not. That's just one way to do it. I never said I have all the answers and I still stand by what I said - parties are dividing the people in very serious ways and it's destroying our country. That's my main reason. Also, it's too easy for people to vote according to what their party tells them - which has been found to be full of lies from that party - BOTH parties do this - and so people don't bother to do any research to find out what is really going on in our country and what politicians really think and feel. If there's no party, people are forced to think for themselves - something that is absolutely vital to a free republic, which is what we were founded as and are supposed to be.
MAGA is still very much a thing. A third party would really screw things over for those of us that support Trump.
I'm one of the majority non-voting "independents" but I'd never vote for anyone involved with Musk or any of the technocrats. This is a major reason I didn't vote for Trump and chose not to vote for any of the billionaires buying office.
I don't disagree with anything you say here, but at the end of the day, not voting is not going to change anything. Unless we all had a pact not to vote, which would be so cool, watching those slimy politicians weasel their way through a 0-0 dead heat. Sadly just a fantasy.
So, your "solution" is that if someone gives you two pile of crap candidates, you vote for one of them?
I'm not seeing that that makes sense and no, I won't do it. And I grow weary of people assuming I haven't thought this out thoroughly and am somehow ignorant. Actually, I'm leagues and years ahead, as I've known voting is a scam for 25 years.
Agree. American citizens are 'victims' of self-delusion and self-aggrandizement and the criminal government has been literally using the media, corporations and schools (including Hollywood, music, etc) as propaganda tools to create a fake world, including the 'capitalistic' financial system which is literally ripping citizens off through excessive debt, taxes* and inflation. The 'religion' of out of control materialism/consumption (once you realize you are a $ and nothing more, things will make sense), food grown striped of nutrition and distributed by mega-corporations promising ill health, chemicals/pollution throughout the land and water, drugs/vaccines to treat the symptoms of a mentally and physically sick people who are more spiritually corrupt than any nation that has preceded us. And they call this 'freedom'.
*the country is run by those who write the tax laws and the generous handouts with each successive BBB (Diden had Build Back Better, Strump has Big, Beautiful Bill). It's the same party and they hate us at WarpSpeed levels.
Well said. We are delusional.
We live in The Truman Show, and although we get glimpses beyond it and want out, we constantly get pulled back in, because there is nowhere to hide from it.
Forget the new party, make a new country! Reboot!
First, you are hilarious & I love your narration! Second, I think, egos aside, trump didn't cut enough in the bill. Elon, although having a tantrum, is asking for exactly what we were all promised....no more funding of frogs, disco balls and cocaine...but unfortunately that & other craziness is STILL being funded. I am with Ron Johnson and Rand Paul on this bill...the bbb needs to go a diet (without cocaine) lol.
Yes, indeed! You said everything I've been thinking. I'm hoping that Johnson actually achieves a line-by-line evaluation of the BBB and the Senate votes for a much slimmer bill.
Same! And I don't think its some "personal attack" on trump to ask for that. Some ppl seem so personally offended when anyone disagrees with Trump lol. Funny ppl...( maybe those that get so angry are in the cocaine study)
There’s a COCAINE study? Don’t we pretty much know everything about it,already?
I worked in the entertainment industry in the 80s…all they need to do is ask me..😬
Lmao. Same. The studies are on whether the frogs libido is affected haha
Well,of COURSE! Very important information..
Frogs??
Lol...yes. lmao
😂🤣😂
Charlie Kirk @charliekirk11 said it best:
Let me get this straight:
Democrats tried to put Trump in prison for 700 years, take his business empire from him, impeach him twice, take him off the ballot, and censor him on all social media - all while they were sitting on info that Trump was on the Epstein list?
This is total and complete nonsense.
Amen to that
Right!
Two men on their periods during pride month 🤦♀️. This, too, shall pass.
🤣🇺🇸😎
Perfect! 😂
More drama!! Doesn't this all just feel very much orchestrated and staged at this point? Instead of actually going after Epstein's clients that are predominantly government officials, bureaucrats, royalty, and other parasites, there is just more finger pointing and blabbing about it while we continue pretending that the government doesn't know exactly who was boarding those planes and flying to the private pedophile islands.
This new "big beautiful bill" also prevents states from creating policies and laws around AI. Did you all know that? I didn't know until I just watched this recent epic Truthstream Media's rant: https://youtu.be/5FZfkeAdsi0
So yes, Jenna is totally right again! Keep starring at the billionaire drama while the other billionaires continue to architect and build the digital control grid to try and control us even more. But hey, at least we'll all be in the same digital prison together. Yeaa, Happy Friday!! Have a great weekend y'all!! 🤗
I believe I read something about that recently. My ears pricked up. Fed government to control AI? Well, wouldn’t that be hunky dory, since the Feds have been so sterling at that. I believe before the election some tech billionaires (Andreeson?) came out of a Biden meeting where our government planned to take over AI, stifle small companies and just let the Big Ugly Guys run it all under Federal guidance (we know what that is)That’s why Marc left the Dems. So here we are again? Oh, my dear Lord.
Yes! The part about removing the individual state’s right to regulate AI is absolutely astonishing and wrong!
One fact remains unchanged: Trump is still President of the United States; Musk is not. I voted for Trump, and I remain pleased at what he continues to do.
President Trump has never drank alcohol, used drugs or needed to be in the position of being blackmailed for sex especially with minors. It would have already been exposed and prosecuted years ago.
Exactly. If he was listed in those Epstein files, we would have heard about it years ago. And they'd STILL be talking about it.
Margery Taylor Greene is all of a sudden outraged that the states not having any ability to control AI for 10 years is part of the “big beautiful bill” SHE VOTED FOR. And THATS the f’ing problem w/ virtually all of the mental midgets in DC - they pass shit to know what’s in it AFTER. Ass hats
Meanwhile, we have to cross all the Ts and dot all the Is in our lives. Don’t they have lobbyists to read these things and “advise”. I heard there are sickening numbers assigned to each and ever congresscritter. Oh, wait—the lobbyists write the bills. My bad.
Greedy, parasitic lobbyists definitely a huge part of the problem
In her defense, the bill IS over 1000 pages long. Idk abt y'all but the longest book I’ve read in recent memory was THE REAL ANTHONY FAUCI by RFK. It was 469 pages long and took me 2 weeks to slog through— but of course, I was mouth-wide-open, in shock, filled with disgust and
anger, completely AGOG at much of the info I was seeing for the first time.
Long tomes with loads of detail can be hard on the “highlighter hand”. Give MTG some grace- and kudos for admitting she didn’t read all 1000 pages.
Hi KC, but those “bills” are so deliberately long / pork-filled & dropped so close to a vote that it’s obscene & that’s the feature, not the bug. Fix the f’ing feature. I like MTG but I don’t think it’s any badge of honor to fess up to not reading it, thus not knowing what all is in it but voting for it anyway & then being ticked that there are things she doesn’t like. I’d bet there’s plenty more to hate when she gets around to reading it. Just my opinion.
Oh so it's a bait-and-switch. Elon is faking a feud because he likes what's in the bill, which is the AI, and pretending it's about EV, which everyone knows is a non-starter and impossible with our current grid system.
So he really wants it to pass, he's just getting people all fired up about the wrong thing.
Now I understand.
TBH, IDK what the hell is going on w/ anybody these days from the “feud” to MAHA & everything in between. Ultimately, we have to watch what people DO, not what they SAY. Actions speak louder than words & all that.
I can’t vote because I have no clue what or why this is happening and I’m f-ing tired of listening to a couple of billionaires throw their toys around. Or anything coming out of that fetid roach abode in DC. I’ve had it. I’m old. If or when we get out of this, I will be long gone. What’s next? “You’re a big poopy pants, and your mother…..”.
What hurts me: the people like el gato crawling out and shouting about how DJT is a “narcissist” and they always knew it and now is the time to talk third parties 🤦🏻♀️ I prayed for years for him and our Country all during the plague and this tif is not going to stop me🙏🇺🇸😇
And if President Trump is on the list. 1000% the whore dog Elon was running to be the first in line. This is a ploy. To get the Deep State and Media and Leftist to demand the files be exposed. My theory is neither of them are on the list why would either of them risk it??
I don’t have a clue what the pissing contest between Trump and Elon is really about?
I just wish if the Bromance was in a struggle they could’ve kept it behind closed doors PUHLEASE?
Ugh-instead of embarrassing all of us. really name-calling like two little 10-year-old’s fighting over the toys?
Something about the vapid Kardashian type of mindset reminds me of another smoke screen to keep the Attention on idiotic behavior and NOT the needed agenda items to MAGA?
Hilarious take on the BBB. Not sure what to think, actually. But seems sus to me...my initial reaction was that this will make the Dems buy Teslas again. (I doubt MAGA will burn them) And the ones who still hate Elon might vote for the OBBB out of spite. Time will tell.
(Elon, I know you read Jen's column. Here's what you should do to get ahead of the "Tesla-defunding" curve and save that particular company.)
Switch--immediately--to manufacturing hybrids, and drop the "all-EV" lines. Go further and create "conversion kits" to shade-tree mechanics so they can set up side gigs to keep those oldest Teslas on the road for the full 25-30 years while also creating a cottage industry.
Just like "all computer technology" ended up being driven into palm-sized devices, all transportation is going to end up as hybrids.
I'm still working on how to offer "personal rocketry" from SpaceX. What seems most obvious is to set up "Go-Fund-Mes" for rockets to be delivered to fan-chosen destinations.
(Elon, while I have your so-brief attention: please DIAL IT DOWN several thou of notches; we survived the Obidens for heaven's sake, and didn't see a need to TORCH EVERYTHING. Make sure to take ALL your medication. Luv ya bro'...)
🤣 I just want the robots that do my laundry, cook, and clean my house!
I've got my AI set up to tell me things like: "cleaning and cooking are highly over-rated," and "you are now 4.7 minutes past time for another beer."
However, take my advice "Buy Tesla stock after it's been depressed 'enough'[1]" because it WILL move to building hybrids--and Toyota will soil itself--because: OBVIOUS, and it will come roaring back.
[1] 'Enough' means at a price where you won't lose your shirt because it continues to fall further and never recovers to the price you buy it at, causing you to lose most of your investment and want to assassinate whomever put the idea into your head. I do not know WHAT price that is, but I do know that thousands of books have been written explaining how to calculate that point to five decimal places. Sadly all but one of them are wrong, and if you even could find the name of the right one you would then also find it has been out-of-print for over 60 years. I recommend you kiss the money goodbye when you place your guess. It's nicer to be pleasantly surprised.
You're such a big help! I think the stock market is all a big casino run by mobsters that don't let the marks win in any meaningful way. The odds of winning are exactly the same whether you play or not...😂 JMHO
I have to contend with this because--personal experience.
I, believe, while She lives, America will keep becoming more valuable to the world because--innovation and incentive to solve others' problems. Also as an OWNER of stock, you are a REAL part-owner of a company, and there are companies that being an owner of just busts my buttons. I'm PROUD of what they make, or do, and others should be too. (It takes the sting out if the stock pays a dividend/little-quarterly-something-as-a-thank-you.)
"Mutual funds" being bets placed on "collections of stocks" are inherently safer. As "mixes" they will consequently miss the highest of the stratospherors, but will also miss the lowest of the star-crossed-doomed-ones.
I do NOT recommend amateur investing in individual stocks--even though I just did. I am an amateur. I have lost several shirts. And a set of pants. But I've come back to the advice (I think I mentioned before) given by an old stamp dealer, who was not a collector, to "buy what you like, so you'll still love it even if it doesn't increase in value."
Fair points. I have some dividend earning ones, but they were a gift. I don't trust myself to choose properly. But for some reason I bought some crypto and one of them took off and I keep cashing in coins as it keeps rising and I've been using house money for several years. So that was a nice surprise after also losing shirts in other investments. 💖
YUP if the folks with their heads in the clouds could not see this coming from the get go just enjoy the soap opera. Fun to watch
I hope y'all don't mind if I interrupt your regular programming to let you know, especially those of you who said you wanted to hear about our farm (in the comments here a few days ago), that I've launched a substack to tell the story of what we're doing. It's called "aboutthefarm" and tells the serialized story of "how an older landowner connected with young farmers to make everyone's dreams come true."
I hope it can be a refreshing distraction from the dog and pony show known as politics.
Two spoiled rich guys having a “your mother is so ugly that she ______” (fill in the blank). It’s both funny and unbecoming. The news cycle being what it is will soon find something else to hyperventilate over. Even though it’s distracting us from the really important things, a little comic relief once in a while isn’t altogether a bad thing.
Wish I could feel that way.