Longtime readers of this newsletter will remember that I used to do Q&A threads with paid subscribers. Substack took that feature away a few years ago. In 2024, I tried using the chat function to bring them back, but the Substack chat is pretty janky. It was hard to follow the conversation, and we kept getting invaded by trolls. And to be honest, every time I open the Message Box chat on the Substack app, the first thing I see is the Election Night Thread from 2024 — and it gives me a stomachache every single time.
Since then, I’ve been looking for a better way to interact with the Message Box community. So, I’m introducing weekly mailbags.
Here’s how it will work: Paid subscribers can post their questions in the comments of this post. Then, on Saturday, I’ll send out a separate post with my answers.
I won’t be able to answer every question each week, but I’ll try to address as many issues and areas of interest as possible. I want to offer longer, more thoughtful answers than I could in the fast-moving chat format from last year.
I’m excited about this new project for two reasons. First, I’m looking forward to more engagement with this incredible community. Second, I think this format will give me a chance to weigh in on topics that matter to all of us — but that might not quite merit a full post on their own.
Okay — start firing away with your questions about anything and everything (fun questions are allowed and encouraged).
To participate in these mailbags, become a paid subscriber.
It seems that mass peaceful community action - the 3.5% thing - will be the only effective response against the trump authoritarian government. It also seems there is a reluctance to roll this out. What do you think about a general strike with optional peaceful protest (to avoid the incitement of violence by Trump we are already seeing) as the means to capture the attention of both the rest of the public as well as lawmakers who could do - and in response would do - something to stop Trump, but are in his thrall? Because if we all just keep going about our business, nothing will change.
Is it time for the Democratic Party to stop worrying about winning the presidency in 2028 and start focusing on winning state and local elections now? It feels like half the reason we're in the situation we're in is because the DNC gave up on the down-ballot races years ago and conceded state control to the Republicans.