This is how Democracy dies! Trump and his enablers know exactly what they are doing. They have been attacking the press for eight years now and have succeeded in destroying “truth”, and “facts”. With the help of their enablers in Red states and in the dysfunctional Congress they have disenfranchised millions. They have succeeded in creating distrust in free elections (except for when they win, then they love the system), they have corrupted the highest court in the land and have fooled enough wilful ignorant people into voting for them and to believe that they are for the common person when in fact they are almost to a white man filthy rich with fever dreams of becoming even richer. All of this was based on lies on an Olympian scale. The main press like the NYT and WaPo sold their souls long ago and pretended to be giving equal time to both candidates in the last election, but in fact they were hedging their bets. Now, after the election, they are running like scared rats to kiss the feet of Trump because they fear him and believe that he is capable of shutting them down like he has threatened to do to. They are cowards! They are also all too late. I for one have abandoned the NYT, WaPo, I refuse to watch NBC (with exception of Lawrence O’Donnell), ABC, or CNN. I refuse to use FT, or X. I rely on Brian, Heather Cox Richardson, Joyce Vance, Robert Reich, and - for the time being - the Atlantic and New Yorker - for accurate and fact-based reporting. I am no pessimist, but I think that we are going to be hit with so much chaos and damage, that the US will never recover! I hope I am wrong, but . . .
Your suggestive comparison is interesting and providing that all else becomes manageable (Putin, Israel, Iran, and climate change) time “will” allow a recovery. But it does require pointing out that the fascism that over took Germany in the 30s was fuelled by severe and wide-spread economic chaos much of which was caused by the draconian Treaty of Versailles. The current state in the US is quite different. There is severe disparity of income between the have and have nots, and there is a rural and urban divide, but the driver of authoritarianism today and the support given to MAGA seems to be overwhelmingly driven by so-called leaders who lie, gaslight, break the law without impunity, and never take responsibility for anything bad. It is always the fault of them, him, or she. They encourage wilful ignorance and encourage irresponsibility! The economy is good, unemployment is low, and there was strong legislation that will improve people’s lives but many of these developments will not kick in immediately and so those issues that affect everyday cost of living, the lack of reasonable mortgages and lack of affordable housing overshadowed a mostly positive outlook. Too many people believe simple explanations for complex issues and they believe a lot of the nonsense from what social media tells them or they only listen to the well-funded right-wing media machine and believe first, and never verify. The miss-information today is staggering, as is the irresponsibility of many of our fellow citizens. The Big Lie can only succeed in an environment that discourages facts, truth, and responsibility. That is where we are now, and to recover will take a long time if ever!
Your points and differentiations are well made and I get you. But still: look at what the „man on the street“ cares about (and doesn‘t) and why and you find similarities that make me shiver. The media landscape in Germany in the 30s and what Brian describes in the US today lead, I fear, to the same end. I remain amazed at the lack of historic sensibility.
I almost unsubscribed there! I thought you'd flipped to the dark side, Brian, claiming that fat lad was now telling the truth!
No, we need independent reporters more than ever now. I see articles posted on SM and a glance at the publication house can immediately lose my interest. Not all articles will be ingratiating to the orange despot-in-chief, but I simply don't want them to have an audience. There are so many independent journalists out there trying to bring us the truth, so that's where my attention has been diverted.
There's no both-siding this. Imagine selling yourself to that nauseating crook! I think someone wrote a book on how this whole charade is simply "Shameless"...
Might I suggest that every Democrat reading this article forward it to 1) their Representative in the House and 2) their Senator. I watch all this from Germany and cannot believe I‘m seeing history repeat itself (guess which history if you may). - Thank you, Brian, once again.
I have long referred to newspapers as"All the news that's unfit to print"and nowadays my prediction has came true.Other than the sports pages,comics and advice columns,I don't read much of what anyone's papers say.Some of it is so obviously slanted and/or fake.
I refuse to kneel to tfg,or his sordid minions,and they can all go back to Hell where they came from.
I am happy to support BTC,and several other substackers, because this is where we learn the actual truth that tfg wants hidden.They are well worth the few $$ I manage to spare to them.
It's more important now than it ever was to support independent journalism. The billionaire media moguls are just propaganda for trump. Never again to be trusted. I've convinced my news junkie husband to tune it out.
I'm so glad you're here, Brian. I'm grateful to Substack for giving us a reliable platform, which has enabled me to disconnect from MSM entirely. I spend my mornings here, reading you, Heather Cox Richardson, Robert Reich, Joyce Vance, and Andy Borowitz. My afternoons and evenings are spent in fictional worlds - my alternative universe. Sometimes I check back in to reality before bed, but that tends to make falling asleep more difficult.
Here's the weird thing though.....the stuff I read in the morning feels much more like fiction than the strangest books I read at night. I wish it WAS fiction. 😪
Brian - I'm appalled and very concerned about this too. I think these events mean that, even more - much more, Dems need to turn to new independent media outlets for messaging that will reach the people we want to reach. I depend on you, Harry, Meidas Touch, Marc Elias, and all of our Senators and Congresspeople to push back hard against these now-complicit legacy media outlets. Every time they bow the knee, we need to call them out. Thanks for the good work.
We're tired...tired already, and the orange menace hasn't even been inaugurated. We might have railed against MSM during his first term, but we had no idea how subservient they would become as we face his second. Choose your sources wisely. It's cruelly sad that the NYT and WaPo each have dedicated reporters and columnists who do an excellent job of presenting the truth; their work is worth supporting. It's the owners and editorial boards--who increasingly are throwing up barriers and misleading their subscribers. Read the ones you know and trust, and ignore the rest. Then follow up with more diverse sources like The Guardian and Substack contributors like Brian Tyler Cohen, Heather Cox Richardson, Jay Kuo and others. We must not tune out...but we also must not accept misinformation from sources that have shown they are beholden--obeying in advance--to trump.
I'm with you, Brian. I've thought for long while that the media (ABC,NBC,CBS) has not helped with getting the truth out and even more so lately since he was elected. We need independent Journalist to tell the truth and to make some sense of it all. I can't watch them anymore these main media networks are obviously Kowtowing to his majesty UGH! I was watching your videos for free but now it's so important you and your friends continue. I'm happy to update to Paid subscription. I'm retired CMSgt USAF and any vet that supports this treasonist criminal should be ashamed.
I am in great fear as to where this country is headed. With all of the news orgs giving up and sending cash to trump we are fucked. Next will be the democratic congress and senate giving trump support and money, or for that matter any kind of support we know all of the christians are committed to trump we saw it in the last, and I do mean last, election. Bannon is already talking about trumpo running to be reelected in 2028. I have stopped spending any money, not knowing what is going to happen in January with soc sec and medicare. If that money is cut by these fools, I will be dead or just on the street, (same thing to me).I have served in government for many of my years, that of course will not help me, no matter how many times I have sworn the oath to defend our constitution. As your reading this, your thinking why did I write this. This is more or less to get it off my mind and to craft to others what is coming to anyone not supporting trump and his people, yes, he won the election. But how? Who helped him, I don't know but I have a sneaking suspicion, I think we all do. I wish all the best to the real people out there who are just as worried as I am, be good to yourself......
Just a follow on earlier post. We on the progressive side have been told over and over that we use the word “fascism” too much, and perhaps so. Reminds me of when Hilary referred to some on the right as “deplorables”. We were told then that we should never to say such things! We have since been told that calling many of the grievance-filled right wilfully ignorant, or stupid is also not nice! Well, seems there was actually something to these claims of calling it for what it is.
But I ran across a list of steps that authoritarianism wannabes - regardless of what you want to call them - that made me shudder. Comparing the list to where we are seems to justify the fear and anxiety that I and many others feel. Seems that no matter what you want to call these people, they are not responsible, they are not supporters of Democracy or our Constitution and they seem to be well down the road to authoritarianism and perhaps something even worse than that!
Road to Authoritarianism & Possibly Something Worse
1. Divide and rule: Foment mistrust and fear in the population.
2. Spread lies and conspiracies: Undermine the public’s belief in truth.
3. Destroy checks and balances: Quietly use legal or pseudo-legal rationales to gut institutions, weaken opposition, and/or declare national emergencies to seize unconstitutional powers.
4. Demonize opponents and independent media: Undermine the public’s trust in those actors and institutions that hold the state accountable.
5. Undermine civil and political rights for the unaligned: Actively suppress free speech, the right to assembly and protest and the rights of women and minority groups.
6. Blame minorities, immigrants, and “outsiders” for a country’s problems: Exploit national humiliation while promising to restore national glory.
7. Reward loyalists and punish defectors: Make in-group members fearful to voice dissension.
8. Encourage or condone violence to advance political goals: Dehumanize opposition and/or out-groups to justify violence against them.
9. Organize mass rallies to keep supporters mobilized against made-up threats: Use fearmongering and hate speech to consolidate in-group identity and solidarity.
10. Make people feel like they are powerless to change things: Solutions will only come from the top.
So, if Trump wins with his stupid suit of the Iowa pollster, should we all join together in a class action suit against the CNN poll and all of the right wing polls that kept trying to convince us we had no hope? I mean once there is precedent……
Perhaps the most threatening part of what is happening to legacy media will be their withdrawal of support for legions of investigative reporters. And when the Trump administration starts to deny members of the administration (agency heads etc.) the chance to provide information to the public through press conferences or press releases we will have no way of knowing what is going on in our government. Leaks will maybe work until Trump's henchmen find and crack down on the leakers. How will you, Brian, and others find the truths to pass on to us?
This is how Democracy dies! Trump and his enablers know exactly what they are doing. They have been attacking the press for eight years now and have succeeded in destroying “truth”, and “facts”. With the help of their enablers in Red states and in the dysfunctional Congress they have disenfranchised millions. They have succeeded in creating distrust in free elections (except for when they win, then they love the system), they have corrupted the highest court in the land and have fooled enough wilful ignorant people into voting for them and to believe that they are for the common person when in fact they are almost to a white man filthy rich with fever dreams of becoming even richer. All of this was based on lies on an Olympian scale. The main press like the NYT and WaPo sold their souls long ago and pretended to be giving equal time to both candidates in the last election, but in fact they were hedging their bets. Now, after the election, they are running like scared rats to kiss the feet of Trump because they fear him and believe that he is capable of shutting them down like he has threatened to do to. They are cowards! They are also all too late. I for one have abandoned the NYT, WaPo, I refuse to watch NBC (with exception of Lawrence O’Donnell), ABC, or CNN. I refuse to use FT, or X. I rely on Brian, Heather Cox Richardson, Joyce Vance, Robert Reich, and - for the time being - the Atlantic and New Yorker - for accurate and fact-based reporting. I am no pessimist, but I think that we are going to be hit with so much chaos and damage, that the US will never recover! I hope I am wrong, but . . .
Greetings from Germany: recovery is possible but it takes a long time and is constantly at risk. Hang in there!
Your suggestive comparison is interesting and providing that all else becomes manageable (Putin, Israel, Iran, and climate change) time “will” allow a recovery. But it does require pointing out that the fascism that over took Germany in the 30s was fuelled by severe and wide-spread economic chaos much of which was caused by the draconian Treaty of Versailles. The current state in the US is quite different. There is severe disparity of income between the have and have nots, and there is a rural and urban divide, but the driver of authoritarianism today and the support given to MAGA seems to be overwhelmingly driven by so-called leaders who lie, gaslight, break the law without impunity, and never take responsibility for anything bad. It is always the fault of them, him, or she. They encourage wilful ignorance and encourage irresponsibility! The economy is good, unemployment is low, and there was strong legislation that will improve people’s lives but many of these developments will not kick in immediately and so those issues that affect everyday cost of living, the lack of reasonable mortgages and lack of affordable housing overshadowed a mostly positive outlook. Too many people believe simple explanations for complex issues and they believe a lot of the nonsense from what social media tells them or they only listen to the well-funded right-wing media machine and believe first, and never verify. The miss-information today is staggering, as is the irresponsibility of many of our fellow citizens. The Big Lie can only succeed in an environment that discourages facts, truth, and responsibility. That is where we are now, and to recover will take a long time if ever!
Your points and differentiations are well made and I get you. But still: look at what the „man on the street“ cares about (and doesn‘t) and why and you find similarities that make me shiver. The media landscape in Germany in the 30s and what Brian describes in the US today lead, I fear, to the same end. I remain amazed at the lack of historic sensibility.
It looks like we didn't stamp out Nazism hard enough the last time.
We're sorry we didn't deal with the Nazis in our own countries.
I almost unsubscribed there! I thought you'd flipped to the dark side, Brian, claiming that fat lad was now telling the truth!
No, we need independent reporters more than ever now. I see articles posted on SM and a glance at the publication house can immediately lose my interest. Not all articles will be ingratiating to the orange despot-in-chief, but I simply don't want them to have an audience. There are so many independent journalists out there trying to bring us the truth, so that's where my attention has been diverted.
There's no both-siding this. Imagine selling yourself to that nauseating crook! I think someone wrote a book on how this whole charade is simply "Shameless"...
Might I suggest that every Democrat reading this article forward it to 1) their Representative in the House and 2) their Senator. I watch all this from Germany and cannot believe I‘m seeing history repeat itself (guess which history if you may). - Thank you, Brian, once again.
Just know Brian there are millions of us who won’t bow down. Thanks for your stalwart commitment to bringing us the truth and saying it out loud.
I have long referred to newspapers as"All the news that's unfit to print"and nowadays my prediction has came true.Other than the sports pages,comics and advice columns,I don't read much of what anyone's papers say.Some of it is so obviously slanted and/or fake.
I refuse to kneel to tfg,or his sordid minions,and they can all go back to Hell where they came from.
I am happy to support BTC,and several other substackers, because this is where we learn the actual truth that tfg wants hidden.They are well worth the few $$ I manage to spare to them.
It's more important now than it ever was to support independent journalism. The billionaire media moguls are just propaganda for trump. Never again to be trusted. I've convinced my news junkie husband to tune it out.
Simply put, you give this 74 year old HOPE! I'm in this fight as long as I am able.
Same here. 75 yo
I'm so glad you're here, Brian. I'm grateful to Substack for giving us a reliable platform, which has enabled me to disconnect from MSM entirely. I spend my mornings here, reading you, Heather Cox Richardson, Robert Reich, Joyce Vance, and Andy Borowitz. My afternoons and evenings are spent in fictional worlds - my alternative universe. Sometimes I check back in to reality before bed, but that tends to make falling asleep more difficult.
Here's the weird thing though.....the stuff I read in the morning feels much more like fiction than the strangest books I read at night. I wish it WAS fiction. 😪
Brian - I'm appalled and very concerned about this too. I think these events mean that, even more - much more, Dems need to turn to new independent media outlets for messaging that will reach the people we want to reach. I depend on you, Harry, Meidas Touch, Marc Elias, and all of our Senators and Congresspeople to push back hard against these now-complicit legacy media outlets. Every time they bow the knee, we need to call them out. Thanks for the good work.
We're tired...tired already, and the orange menace hasn't even been inaugurated. We might have railed against MSM during his first term, but we had no idea how subservient they would become as we face his second. Choose your sources wisely. It's cruelly sad that the NYT and WaPo each have dedicated reporters and columnists who do an excellent job of presenting the truth; their work is worth supporting. It's the owners and editorial boards--who increasingly are throwing up barriers and misleading their subscribers. Read the ones you know and trust, and ignore the rest. Then follow up with more diverse sources like The Guardian and Substack contributors like Brian Tyler Cohen, Heather Cox Richardson, Jay Kuo and others. We must not tune out...but we also must not accept misinformation from sources that have shown they are beholden--obeying in advance--to trump.
I'm with you, Brian. I've thought for long while that the media (ABC,NBC,CBS) has not helped with getting the truth out and even more so lately since he was elected. We need independent Journalist to tell the truth and to make some sense of it all. I can't watch them anymore these main media networks are obviously Kowtowing to his majesty UGH! I was watching your videos for free but now it's so important you and your friends continue. I'm happy to update to Paid subscription. I'm retired CMSgt USAF and any vet that supports this treasonist criminal should be ashamed.
What will become of PBS and NPR?
He is appointing Liar Lake to Voice of America...there's a clue.
I am in great fear as to where this country is headed. With all of the news orgs giving up and sending cash to trump we are fucked. Next will be the democratic congress and senate giving trump support and money, or for that matter any kind of support we know all of the christians are committed to trump we saw it in the last, and I do mean last, election. Bannon is already talking about trumpo running to be reelected in 2028. I have stopped spending any money, not knowing what is going to happen in January with soc sec and medicare. If that money is cut by these fools, I will be dead or just on the street, (same thing to me).I have served in government for many of my years, that of course will not help me, no matter how many times I have sworn the oath to defend our constitution. As your reading this, your thinking why did I write this. This is more or less to get it off my mind and to craft to others what is coming to anyone not supporting trump and his people, yes, he won the election. But how? Who helped him, I don't know but I have a sneaking suspicion, I think we all do. I wish all the best to the real people out there who are just as worried as I am, be good to yourself......
Just a follow on earlier post. We on the progressive side have been told over and over that we use the word “fascism” too much, and perhaps so. Reminds me of when Hilary referred to some on the right as “deplorables”. We were told then that we should never to say such things! We have since been told that calling many of the grievance-filled right wilfully ignorant, or stupid is also not nice! Well, seems there was actually something to these claims of calling it for what it is.
But I ran across a list of steps that authoritarianism wannabes - regardless of what you want to call them - that made me shudder. Comparing the list to where we are seems to justify the fear and anxiety that I and many others feel. Seems that no matter what you want to call these people, they are not responsible, they are not supporters of Democracy or our Constitution and they seem to be well down the road to authoritarianism and perhaps something even worse than that!
Road to Authoritarianism & Possibly Something Worse
1. Divide and rule: Foment mistrust and fear in the population.
2. Spread lies and conspiracies: Undermine the public’s belief in truth.
3. Destroy checks and balances: Quietly use legal or pseudo-legal rationales to gut institutions, weaken opposition, and/or declare national emergencies to seize unconstitutional powers.
4. Demonize opponents and independent media: Undermine the public’s trust in those actors and institutions that hold the state accountable.
5. Undermine civil and political rights for the unaligned: Actively suppress free speech, the right to assembly and protest and the rights of women and minority groups.
6. Blame minorities, immigrants, and “outsiders” for a country’s problems: Exploit national humiliation while promising to restore national glory.
7. Reward loyalists and punish defectors: Make in-group members fearful to voice dissension.
8. Encourage or condone violence to advance political goals: Dehumanize opposition and/or out-groups to justify violence against them.
9. Organize mass rallies to keep supporters mobilized against made-up threats: Use fearmongering and hate speech to consolidate in-group identity and solidarity.
10. Make people feel like they are powerless to change things: Solutions will only come from the top.
So, if Trump wins with his stupid suit of the Iowa pollster, should we all join together in a class action suit against the CNN poll and all of the right wing polls that kept trying to convince us we had no hope? I mean once there is precedent……
Perhaps the most threatening part of what is happening to legacy media will be their withdrawal of support for legions of investigative reporters. And when the Trump administration starts to deny members of the administration (agency heads etc.) the chance to provide information to the public through press conferences or press releases we will have no way of knowing what is going on in our government. Leaks will maybe work until Trump's henchmen find and crack down on the leakers. How will you, Brian, and others find the truths to pass on to us?