Thanks, Dan. I plan to spend the next four years ignoring everything Trump says and focus only on what he does. I have been doing that since the election and I already feel a very positive difference compared to eight years sgo.
Good advice. He's all over the map with what he says (in large part because he is always saying what he thinks who he considers he can gain the most from want to hear). So, right, focus on what he actually does.
And to Dan’s point - if you havent already make sure to subscribe to the Meidas Touch on Substack/YouTube as those guys are ramping up their infrastructure and flooding the zone at breakneck speed even outperforming Fox News
Thanks, Dan. And, solidarity to everyone feeling like utter shit today. I'll be wearing my Kamala t-shirt with sequins today. Proudly. Hold on to hope, y'all. And, to one another. x
Electing Ben Wikler to Chair the DNC is a great place to start. I hope the party isn't so calcified that it doesn't recognize the opportunity to get back to what it should again — the party of working Americans and the guardian of every American's civil rights.
We do need to do a better job as a party and as individuals in getting our messages out. But what hit me in the face today, reading the list of who is on stage today (Musk, Zuck, Google’s Sundar Pichai, etc.) is that these are the men who control the algorithms that dictate what millions of American eyeballs will absorb. Here in this Substack chat, we can connect, because we’ve paid to be here and care enough to interact. But if I post something on Meta, whether it gets seen or not depends on how the dial on political posts has been twisted. That feels like the baseline issue we have to deal with now.
Thanks Dan. I do want to focus on one excerpt, "But we don't have to follow him down every rabbit hole. We don;t have to react to every outrage. In this era, our attention is our most valuable resource. We don’t have to give it to Donald Trump every time he demands."
As a supporter of PSA I hope this is the direction you all take the podcast too. Candidly it feels like the last few months of pods have been working through the transition from "here's the dumb shit Trump said/did today" to what you say in this piece is the way forward. I really am optimistic that the PSA folks will find a way to thread that needle as you suggest and will continue to listen if that's the way forward.
On the legacy media front, why is AOC the only one I have seen so far sounding the alarm over tiktok - that they cut a deal with trump/thanked him specifically even when he had no power to actually do anything at the time, meaning that now every major social media platform has been taken over by the right wring or in bed with the right wing, all to adjust their algorithms accordingly. while democrats in office are too focussed on thinking maybe if they just compromise a little more with the right, voters will like them more
Very true. And most of the new voters that went for Trump (mainly younger white, black, and Hispanic men) are not bound by ideology. They're more "practical" or "in the moment". This is another reality I'm not sure Dems have come to grips with. You just can't count voters in the D column because of demographics. You really have no built-in advantage with them. You have to make the effort 24/7 365.
Thanks Dan. What A Day. Things I ask you to address in more detail: door knocking did not seem to work, sending post cards etc. did not, money did not (!!) and yes diff media but how do we as average citizens know what is really worth doing? I have friends who have spent the last six months to a year sending me things that are too long, I will not read, because I know most of it, and I am not going to be doing same, sending messages to family and friends about what to read. Most of them know. So I do not really know where to begin.
To all: I also highly, highly recommend our fellow Message Box reader and writer's substack, Tony Brunello.
I am really struggling with the Pod of late. Like other commenters, I’m weary of all the shitting on Biden. I’m frustrated particularly by the discussion of the pardon for Hunter, the other pardons, all of it. It feels like you all make a false equivalency with Trump’s pardons and the other side just never does that. They defend their stances, they say they’re right and we are wrong. Their stance is abhorrent, but they take one and support one another which is a problem for Dems. I also don’t want to hear about the politics of Trump’s speech or actions. He is reshaping politics as we know it. Respectability and electability are out the window. I just want to hear what he’s done and how it will affect my life and those I love. I want to hear what we can do about it. It feels like we are talking about this stuff like it’s a game we can win, instead of something that has real consequences for real people. Lastly, as a Black woman, I am very disappointed with the lack of discussion of the racism and sexism that drove this outcome. It’s been discussed on Hysteria but not on the Pod. Given that all of you are white men, I have found that deeply disappointing and a bit of a slap in the face. Never have you all acknowledge this election has made Black women, the most loyal base of the party feel in this country. And think that was a huge missed opportunity and it’s part of why people don’t feel all the way invested in liberal media.
Friends: I think that the Democratic Party must get a candidate for 2028 out there ASAP. If we don’t, the current president will spend the next 2 years conditioning the American people to the idea that it will be just fine if he stays in office past 4 years. It will be harder to do that if we get our candidate out there and in place early. For once, let us NOT leave an open vacuum for him to fill with his bile.
Totally agree! I've heard some people suggesting the Dems get together a "shadow cabinet" like in the UK and this is a great idea. For example, every time a drunk, incompetent Hegseth puts us at risk, an opposition leader who would have been, for example, Harris's choice for DOD head is out there talking to the press, loudly explaining why Hegseth is a dangerous ass. And we do that for all the other significant cabinet posts for the next 2, then 4, years.
Dan, one more. You have not put out an "Ask me questions" MB for a while. Let me restate my question, also to ask you to keep putting those out again. My question is really, for you here and for PSA: none of the normal things worked. Yet that is mainly what is being asked of us. Please keep this problem front and center. I am so frustrated and apart from running for office, which cannot happen with personal issues on now, not an excuse but really, I don't get how we fight. For sure not by talking amongst ourselves and writing each other. And my Trump family an d friends for sure not going to listen. It almost all adds to the tribalism. Add one more substack when there are many good ones? I don't think so. "Call them out?" Where? On the social media I barely engage in? I really do not get "the fight."
I have this question too. I marched, sent postcards, donated... a lot of us did. I'm not in the mood to donate any more money unless it's for a strategy that actually sounds workable.
It does seem to me that the biggest obstacle we face is the tsunami of disinformation out there, and the lack of any Dem equivalent to Fox News, et al. Should we be trying to get some Dem billionaire to create a good leftwing equivalent to Fox? Or actually BUY Fox, and have it begin to reflect saner conservative voices and be more actually fair and balanced? Aren't there ANY never-Trumper R's and/or D's who could afford to do something along those lines? Musk bought Twitter, why can't some wealthy person on our side buy Fox -- or at least buy up a ton of AM radio stations that broadcast right-wing propaganda 24/7?
Thank you, Dan. I started my intention to not be sucked in my Trump and his zany world by ignoring the news today and reflecting on an American who we are honoring today. I listened to James Taylor's "Shed a little Light," his homage to MLK. I went for a walk in nature. I read your posting and a few others by people I trust. I'll follow your lead. Thank you.
Thanks, Dan. I plan to spend the next four years ignoring everything Trump says and focus only on what he does. I have been doing that since the election and I already feel a very positive difference compared to eight years sgo.
Good advice. He's all over the map with what he says (in large part because he is always saying what he thinks who he considers he can gain the most from want to hear). So, right, focus on what he actually does.
And to Dan’s point - if you havent already make sure to subscribe to the Meidas Touch on Substack/YouTube as those guys are ramping up their infrastructure and flooding the zone at breakneck speed even outperforming Fox News
Doing this today
Thanks, Dan. And, solidarity to everyone feeling like utter shit today. I'll be wearing my Kamala t-shirt with sequins today. Proudly. Hold on to hope, y'all. And, to one another. x
And do not forget to wear your pink pussy hat if you have one.
Thanks Dan. And thanks to Substack for being a place for progressive voices.
Electing Ben Wikler to Chair the DNC is a great place to start. I hope the party isn't so calcified that it doesn't recognize the opportunity to get back to what it should again — the party of working Americans and the guardian of every American's civil rights.
Ben had a great interview with Jon F on PSA, I thought.
Progressive media can start by not shitting on Democrats on the regular like you did with Biden and Harris.
We do need to do a better job as a party and as individuals in getting our messages out. But what hit me in the face today, reading the list of who is on stage today (Musk, Zuck, Google’s Sundar Pichai, etc.) is that these are the men who control the algorithms that dictate what millions of American eyeballs will absorb. Here in this Substack chat, we can connect, because we’ve paid to be here and care enough to interact. But if I post something on Meta, whether it gets seen or not depends on how the dial on political posts has been twisted. That feels like the baseline issue we have to deal with now.
Thanks Dan. I do want to focus on one excerpt, "But we don't have to follow him down every rabbit hole. We don;t have to react to every outrage. In this era, our attention is our most valuable resource. We don’t have to give it to Donald Trump every time he demands."
As a supporter of PSA I hope this is the direction you all take the podcast too. Candidly it feels like the last few months of pods have been working through the transition from "here's the dumb shit Trump said/did today" to what you say in this piece is the way forward. I really am optimistic that the PSA folks will find a way to thread that needle as you suggest and will continue to listen if that's the way forward.
I would love to have a reason to come back to the Pod, honestly. Hope they do this. I wish there was a Tommy and Dan only spinoff!
On the legacy media front, why is AOC the only one I have seen so far sounding the alarm over tiktok - that they cut a deal with trump/thanked him specifically even when he had no power to actually do anything at the time, meaning that now every major social media platform has been taken over by the right wring or in bed with the right wing, all to adjust their algorithms accordingly. while democrats in office are too focussed on thinking maybe if they just compromise a little more with the right, voters will like them more
All you read is who gets credit/blame, nothing about the national security concern.
The 2024 US Presidential Election was razor thin. Lots of room for Opposition against authoritarianism and towards democracy.
Very true. And most of the new voters that went for Trump (mainly younger white, black, and Hispanic men) are not bound by ideology. They're more "practical" or "in the moment". This is another reality I'm not sure Dems have come to grips with. You just can't count voters in the D column because of demographics. You really have no built-in advantage with them. You have to make the effort 24/7 365.
Thanks Dan. What A Day. Things I ask you to address in more detail: door knocking did not seem to work, sending post cards etc. did not, money did not (!!) and yes diff media but how do we as average citizens know what is really worth doing? I have friends who have spent the last six months to a year sending me things that are too long, I will not read, because I know most of it, and I am not going to be doing same, sending messages to family and friends about what to read. Most of them know. So I do not really know where to begin.
To all: I also highly, highly recommend our fellow Message Box reader and writer's substack, Tony Brunello.
Yes! Keeping a Republic by Tony Brunello. Very thought provoking writing.
Thanks, Dan. I also recommend Ezra Klein’s recent interview with Chris Hayes about Attention.
I am really struggling with the Pod of late. Like other commenters, I’m weary of all the shitting on Biden. I’m frustrated particularly by the discussion of the pardon for Hunter, the other pardons, all of it. It feels like you all make a false equivalency with Trump’s pardons and the other side just never does that. They defend their stances, they say they’re right and we are wrong. Their stance is abhorrent, but they take one and support one another which is a problem for Dems. I also don’t want to hear about the politics of Trump’s speech or actions. He is reshaping politics as we know it. Respectability and electability are out the window. I just want to hear what he’s done and how it will affect my life and those I love. I want to hear what we can do about it. It feels like we are talking about this stuff like it’s a game we can win, instead of something that has real consequences for real people. Lastly, as a Black woman, I am very disappointed with the lack of discussion of the racism and sexism that drove this outcome. It’s been discussed on Hysteria but not on the Pod. Given that all of you are white men, I have found that deeply disappointing and a bit of a slap in the face. Never have you all acknowledge this election has made Black women, the most loyal base of the party feel in this country. And think that was a huge missed opportunity and it’s part of why people don’t feel all the way invested in liberal media.
Women moved towards Trump and Blacks moved towards Trump in this election?
Friends: I think that the Democratic Party must get a candidate for 2028 out there ASAP. If we don’t, the current president will spend the next 2 years conditioning the American people to the idea that it will be just fine if he stays in office past 4 years. It will be harder to do that if we get our candidate out there and in place early. For once, let us NOT leave an open vacuum for him to fill with his bile.
Totally agree! I've heard some people suggesting the Dems get together a "shadow cabinet" like in the UK and this is a great idea. For example, every time a drunk, incompetent Hegseth puts us at risk, an opposition leader who would have been, for example, Harris's choice for DOD head is out there talking to the press, loudly explaining why Hegseth is a dangerous ass. And we do that for all the other significant cabinet posts for the next 2, then 4, years.
Dan, one more. You have not put out an "Ask me questions" MB for a while. Let me restate my question, also to ask you to keep putting those out again. My question is really, for you here and for PSA: none of the normal things worked. Yet that is mainly what is being asked of us. Please keep this problem front and center. I am so frustrated and apart from running for office, which cannot happen with personal issues on now, not an excuse but really, I don't get how we fight. For sure not by talking amongst ourselves and writing each other. And my Trump family an d friends for sure not going to listen. It almost all adds to the tribalism. Add one more substack when there are many good ones? I don't think so. "Call them out?" Where? On the social media I barely engage in? I really do not get "the fight."
I have this question too. I marched, sent postcards, donated... a lot of us did. I'm not in the mood to donate any more money unless it's for a strategy that actually sounds workable.
It does seem to me that the biggest obstacle we face is the tsunami of disinformation out there, and the lack of any Dem equivalent to Fox News, et al. Should we be trying to get some Dem billionaire to create a good leftwing equivalent to Fox? Or actually BUY Fox, and have it begin to reflect saner conservative voices and be more actually fair and balanced? Aren't there ANY never-Trumper R's and/or D's who could afford to do something along those lines? Musk bought Twitter, why can't some wealthy person on our side buy Fox -- or at least buy up a ton of AM radio stations that broadcast right-wing propaganda 24/7?
Thank you, Dan. I started my intention to not be sucked in my Trump and his zany world by ignoring the news today and reflecting on an American who we are honoring today. I listened to James Taylor's "Shed a little Light," his homage to MLK. I went for a walk in nature. I read your posting and a few others by people I trust. I'll follow your lead. Thank you.