“During COVID, some administrators would move the desks around in my classroom to make sure the kids who were playing sports were least likely to be quarantined. They would move the desk of a non-athlete to the center of the room and move the athlete to a corner to minimize exposure to COVID.”
That is Auschwitz-level evil.
Everyday people capable of perpetrating that abuse on not only our children, but their own, too!
That has been the biggest revelation for me. Some think MAGA is being duped, but MAGA knows what they support and like it. News is readily available from many sources. People knowingly choose what to listen to.
At its core, MAGA is a permission structure created to endorse bigotry, ignorance, and sloth. It allows people to believe they're "great" -by doing nothing and achieving nothing.
They don't have to learn anything, they don't have to quit smoking, they don't have to be fair and reasonable. They are wonderful for simply being lazy and stupid.
Being able to admit they were wrong would require the strength of self-esteem, and self-esteem is a quality they do not possess.
Many never "cracked a book" on the 2025 mandate. They had NOT a clue!!
Many have never read a whole book before. Basically, poor readers. And too lazy to do their due diligence about researching politicians and their views. One doesn't have to listen to a news station to know what Trump stands for. Just listen to him and CK out all the lies, hate and blame and vitriol he spews out CONSTANTLY; Jesus, it's never-ending!! Are we great yet???? Cuz I just feel EMBARRASSED to no end!!!! Our poor country. Please, stand up, people!! Many finally are and we cannot quit Speaking Truth to Power!!!
Joe, a lot of them know what they are voting for but I think a lot of them don't know, either because they don't really do their due diligence, therefore they don't know how it's going to affect THEM.
So what this tells me is that they KNEW COVID was highly infectious and that it could make you very sick — they just didn’t care, unless they had a kid who was an athlete, of course. But not enough to wear a mask for Grandma and Grandpa or for their neighbors. This brought back (and added to) the anger I felt toward these people during the pandemic. They were selfish then, and they’re still at it today.
Susie, the dumbing-down started in about 1975 or so; at that time I was just out of college and working my first jobs.
But the signs started to appear to me peripherally in the nature of the "entertainment" media and then even worse, in the what-used-to-was-news. The ending was brought about by gutting school curricula and killing competitive teacher salaries.
By 1985 when Linda Ellerbee and Tom Snyder were on their way out of the popular eye, it fell off a cliff.
Saint Ronald Reagan helped kill off education along with labor unions, then the Idiocracy got on a rocket sled with underfunded schools and compromised corporate media propaganda's 24-hour turning news-into info-tainment- soley for profit.
By this time schools were not teaching civics, history, spelling, english or critical thinking.
I don't know WTF they were teaching, but the manifestation of writing on the internet belied a serious lack of anything.
When people started writing "taken for granite" instead of "for granted" that was the signpost at the End Of The United States as an intelligent entity.
Not only CAN they be that stupid, they ARE, and deliberately that stupid.
Yes, Don, I really have to wonder about adults who are eating-up-with-a-spoon these crazy Marvel movies???? WTF is with THAT?? Give me a classic with a great story line, FFS.
Mary beth, you have expressed exactly how I felt when covid was big. Plus, they were blatant about not wearing a mask, haughty, actually. I'm sorry, but that's just an a****** in my book. And selfish, yes, selfish..... just like their " leader ".
I’m missing my HS 55 year reunion this weekend in Nebraska for several reasons-but for one, 9/10 of them are Trumpers. I just don’t have the energy to confront nor do I want to sit around and pretend everything is ok. My 3-4 friends who are liberal will be there. I loved growing up in my small town (Ravenna, population 1300) in the 50’s. But it too has died out. The hometown has many vacancies, no doc or dentist. Everyone moved to Kearney or Grand Island 30 miles away. Homes that were lovely look decrepit. It’s sad.
I share everyone’s praise for you Jess. You are my heroine!🦸♀️
My 50th reunion is coming soon and I have the same misgivings. Am actually moving to a liberal city 2 hours from home and have already connected with like-minded folks. I realize there are red hats all over, but there, they are more thinly spread.
Oh Jess, I know that feeling with running into someone and seeing the red hat. I tell people I retired from midwifery in 2020 because of covid, but the truth is that after spending 4 years taking care of people - caring FOR them and ABOUT them - in spite of their fervent support of Trump, I just was done. In the event he won again, I knew I was literally unable to muster up the emotional strength to pretend to care about people who could support him. In light of their anger after he lost, I don't regret retiring early.
2 of my kids and their families live in Joplin, so I am often down there. I found a couple Meet Up groups and I attend every protest. There are more anti-trumps than we realize. But they are quiet because the red hats are mean.
"They are quiet because the red hats are mean." Lindy, that felt like a gut punch. You've inspired me to start an essay. Because our 45 and 47 made being mean OK. Causing suffering OK. Being creepy OK. Hating "the other" OK. Being a bully OK. And more. We've got to start saying NO!!!!!! Thank you!
Right on, Terry!! You sound like you need to join a local grassroots group. I have and it helps me cope, plus we can't be silent like so many Dems! Come on, people!! We have to be activists!? The only people who can save this country is us, your everyday citizen!! That is the only thing that's going to save us, not politicians, not Congress, FFS!!
Thanks, Susie! I know what you mean about havng to be activists. I already belong to Markers for Democracy which has been all online. My local church is active. I've been thinking of looking for the local Indivisible group next. Blessings to us all!!
I am part of a Tesla takedown group of 5 to 7 standing on the sidewalk in front of the dealership on State Line. We get tons of traffic and our biggest sign says "HONK 4 DEMOCRACY". Lots of drivers honk. The MAGAs are few but the young men are mean, hollering at us. The few women usually just show a thumbs down. This is in KCMO so we get Kansans and Missourians. 3 to 5 Monday, Wednesday. and Friday. I go to a different one on Saturdays but they have had 100 to 200 at Tesla.
It's a very long sidewalk so there's room for whoever shows up.
How sad about giving up such a worthwhile profession. I also am a retired RN and left just before Covid to care for my elderly mom. It turned out to be a blessing in disguise as I did home health and I could not afford to Bring anything home to my mom or immune compromised spouse. I have a son that is MAGA and former Marine. I will never understand it. I just figure some never read the truth and follow FOX and all the other hateful lying media. Very sad.
I know how painful it is to have MAGA relatives. I can only imagine what it must be when it's your son. I have often wondered what effect military service might have on our young folks and whether or not there is a connection. Blessings to you and your family.
I try to get those people who happen to be friends to watch other news stations, but they're just so indoctrinated....... propagandaized to the point of being zombies, who will fall for anything the orange blimp says! How can people be that simple?? 😳. 😱. OMG
On https://www.meetup.com/ one is called "Left in Joplin" and the other is for atheists and free thinkers - everyone is a Dem and we just get together and talk and laugh and eat, and are safe.
Lindy, WE ARE NOT QUIET ANYMORE, ARE WE!?!? I BELONG TO WE STAND UNITED MISSOURI AND WE'VE HAD QUITE A FEW PROTESTS WITH EXCELLENT TURNOUTS AND IT SEEMS LIKE MORE AND MORE ARE JOINING US ALL THE TIME!! THE ONLY THING WE CAN'T DO..... IS LET UP!! KEEP HOLDING THEIR FEET TO THE FIRE!!! DON'T LET UP....DON'T LET UP...... DON'T LET UP!!!
I lost a marriage in 2017 because she changed fast starting the summer of 2016. She was a school administrator. I lost my friends from a fantasy football league of 25 years; the other guys actually believed that schools were putting kitty litter boxes in classrooms for children that identified as cats. I have a very small circle of friends now. I have been to 3 protests and being around like minded people charges me up. I moved to a blue state; Governor, Senators and Congressional Reps are all blue. I love all your platforms Jess. Please keep up the great work!
And don't give up, Mike. Your story breaks my heart. Already you have sacrificed much. I lost one of my closest lifelong friends when he supported the Jan 6, rioters and became an election denier, but what you have done is like an internal exile. I hope your life and work bring you much love and comfort and that we all can find courage and wherewithal to support change even in red states, like my current home in Indiana.
You brought out the largest group of progressives I've seen in Franklin Co (Union Mtg.). That feeling of solidarity when you know you're in the minority is invaluable. Thanks for your boost! Hope your health and energy hold out for many years!
The work you do is so important, and I am glad that you had a validating day. I don't think for one minute you would slow down or stop what you do had it been otherwise, a good day is worth acknowledging.
On another note, I wonder if Senator Hawley is feeling some pressure based on the grass root activism you are doing in the state?
Josh Hawley is certainly feeling the heat. See his Opinion piece in yesterday's New York Times! begging his fellow Republicans not to decrease Medicaid. Most want it cut by $715 billion, and that is in the current bill. But some of the "true" conservatives want it cut even more. Your acquaintance in the MAGA hat has no idea what this budget bill will do to his health and the life of his community. Hospitals and nursing homes will close if this passes.
Robert Hubbell today listed these three points that should be on all our lips and messages and letters to editors, and conversations with friends and opponents.
Republicans want to
-- Cut $715 billion from Medicaid and
-- Take away health coverage from 8 million Americans,
-- To pay for billionaire tax cuts that will cost $5 trillion.
Please everyone read this and share with your friends: I hope this comes through. without a paywall? Let me know if it doesn't and I'll try a workaround.
Please, all of you in small town and rural Missouri, Iowa (I lived in Le Mars, for 8 years, teaching English at the late great Westmar College), Illinois (I grew up in Dixon), and lived in small town Indiana (Crawfordsville) for seven years, keep up the fight. As we saw in Wisconsin and North Carolina, swinging votes, giving others the courage to speak out at meetings and hold one another in solidarity can make a difference.
Thank you, thank you, Jess for your often lonely work. Rural women and men can make a difference.
Appreciate being able to read Hawley’s full editorial, Patrick.
Hawley speaks out but still kisses the ring, wanting Americans to believe 47 is somehow benevolent… Sure he is, but only to himself, his family, & the ultra wealthy.
I disagree with the quote from 47:
“We are doing absolutely nothing to hurt Medicare, Medicaid or Social Security. Nothing at all.”
47, his “admins”, his shadow cabinet members, & complicit Republican Congress are doing everything to gut those programs & benefits to enrich the wealthy while lying to Americans they are doing so.
Hawley is merely trying to appease his angry constituents, stay on 47’s good side, and save his job.
I agree. Didn't think Josh was changing his spots. This does show that he is under some pressure from his constituents, though. I just sent off emails to my two Republican senators one of which might have some conscience and my Republican representative, second termer, Rudy Yakym, who has been a Trump Toady since first in office, mouthing nonsense about Trump's Golden Age. I don't hope to change minds, but I want them to know that there's an opposition there. Hawley is feeling some heat. That's good news. Most of us in red states feel a huge futility some days. But we have to keep knocking on the doors.
And Jess Piper's focus on rural voters deserves some attention and support from the DNC.
One of the letters I received today said Hawley is against it because it would be "politically suicidal". I screen shot it and used it to make my Facebook post
So whatever he said in the NYTIMES may be..? I remember seeing him on January 6 and I doubt if he's changed.
Thank you from York Pa. You have opened my eyes to the plight of rural red states. You are the warning light for all of America. I recommend your Substack to everyone. Continue to open eyes and minds! You are appreciated 💙
Thank you as always, Jess. I was shocked at the actions to protect select individuals (athletes) during the COVID epidemic. At the same time, I was not surprised. In a way that typifies the entire MAGA movement.
Missouri is my home although I do not live there anymore…honestly, I can barely visit at this point given the political climate. I admire you and all my friends standing up to morality and truth and kindness in the state. I honestly left a beautiful home in rural Missouri, in part, because I could not do it anymore- it was 2014- and already I was seeing hatred and fear of things people had never experienced taint their views of people who looked and thought different. As a developmental disability advocate I was getting tired of explaining the worth of vaccines, the beauty of neurodiversity, the role of myths in stigma to people who I knew knew better, to people I knew were never going to listen to me because I was a woman with ideas different than theirs, to people who had every privilege in the world and were choosing to teaseand accuse instead of love and accept. Mentally, I just couldn’t at that time. Thank you for doing it for those of us who couldn’t get ourselves there ourselves. I would love to support you in any way!
Amen to THAT. I truly believe that - over the length and breadth of our America - it is WE who maintain a majority.
We must make Good Noise, and if presented opportunity get into Good Trouble. Our beloved Nation must be fought for, not much differently now than was in 1775 - a year before the Declaration.
Yes, a year before the Declaration, and as you know, Bill, the fight and the sacrificing has already begun. Lexington and Concord were in 1775. We are curiously in such a better place. We've had 250 years of success and the rule of law and almost as many years of the Constitution. We are not going to let some rich, cruel, arrogant, and profoundly stupid President throw that away.
I concur with your statement. Now, how are we going to prevail?
There are maybe 3 or 4 hundred thousand Americans protesting The trump and his wild eyed psychopathic followers that are out and about almost every week since January.
We require MILLIONS to make the difference to be reckoned with. If everyone waits until it gets even worse, it will be too late.
I won't dispute your numbers, Bill, but it would be interesting to have an count of how many people have been to at least one demonstration. That might put us over 1 million. But the key is to keep the pressure on. It's coming in a lot of different ways: demonstrations, donations, growing memberships in ACLU, etc -- if that is indeed happening. The proliferation of groups and organizations, and Substack writers is sometimes impressive and sometimes just boggling. Sometimes I feel we are talking to one another and repeating ourselves -- Trump is a terrible person and a force for evil in America to the nth power. And every once in a while we land a punch or people get fed up. But he plays defense by constantly attacking and the citizen with low interest in "politics,"who's had it with Trump may conclude that there is nothing one person can do about that. Empowerment is important and not just us running around and telling other people who oppose Trump how great we are. Then we run the risk of devolving into a fringe opposition in which we are all in agreement that Trump is a tyrant, but there's not much we can do about. Then we fall apart. Don't have an answer except to strategize off the victories -- Wisconsin Supreme Court, North Carolina supreme court and to praise and encourage the new opposition we are seeing.
It would be great if The Courts successfully thwarted Donnie DoWrong and his wild eyed followers. But at this juncture I’m not convinced. With ZERO support from the republican traitors our courts may well be rendered irrelevant by the trump cabal. Then it becomes up to “us”, you and me. Including everybody willing to fight for righteousness. We may already be there.
“During COVID, some administrators would move the desks around in my classroom to make sure the kids who were playing sports were least likely to be quarantined. They would move the desk of a non-athlete to the center of the room and move the athlete to a corner to minimize exposure to COVID.”
That is Auschwitz-level evil.
Everyday people capable of perpetrating that abuse on not only our children, but their own, too!
That disgusted me too, Gina. "Some are more equal than others" on full-blown display.
They’ve told us who they are. Believe them, and respond/act accordingly.
That has been the biggest revelation for me. Some think MAGA is being duped, but MAGA knows what they support and like it. News is readily available from many sources. People knowingly choose what to listen to.
Thank you, Joe. If they are ignorant, it’s because they are willfully ignorant.
That is equally damning.
And they choose to stay that way because they agree with the message, that’s who they are.
Have you noticed?? Tthey also can't admit they're wrong.
That's how they got there in the first place.
At its core, MAGA is a permission structure created to endorse bigotry, ignorance, and sloth. It allows people to believe they're "great" -by doing nothing and achieving nothing.
They don't have to learn anything, they don't have to quit smoking, they don't have to be fair and reasonable. They are wonderful for simply being lazy and stupid.
Being able to admit they were wrong would require the strength of self-esteem, and self-esteem is a quality they do not possess.
Many never "cracked a book" on the 2025 mandate. They had NOT a clue!!
Many have never read a whole book before. Basically, poor readers. And too lazy to do their due diligence about researching politicians and their views. One doesn't have to listen to a news station to know what Trump stands for. Just listen to him and CK out all the lies, hate and blame and vitriol he spews out CONSTANTLY; Jesus, it's never-ending!! Are we great yet???? Cuz I just feel EMBARRASSED to no end!!!! Our poor country. Please, stand up, people!! Many finally are and we cannot quit Speaking Truth to Power!!!
That's right. They can't possibly claim that they "didn't know" after all of this. They like him because they are just like him.
They like him because he does their dirty work for them. Some Christians, huh. They're a joke.
Joe, a lot of them know what they are voting for but I think a lot of them don't know, either because they don't really do their due diligence, therefore they don't know how it's going to affect THEM.
So what this tells me is that they KNEW COVID was highly infectious and that it could make you very sick — they just didn’t care, unless they had a kid who was an athlete, of course. But not enough to wear a mask for Grandma and Grandpa or for their neighbors. This brought back (and added to) the anger I felt toward these people during the pandemic. They were selfish then, and they’re still at it today.
Selfish and Dangerous
Actually, idiots. So many people can't actually be that stupid, can they?!?! Would somebody PLEASE explain that to me like I'm a five-year-old!?!?!?
Susie, the dumbing-down started in about 1975 or so; at that time I was just out of college and working my first jobs.
But the signs started to appear to me peripherally in the nature of the "entertainment" media and then even worse, in the what-used-to-was-news. The ending was brought about by gutting school curricula and killing competitive teacher salaries.
By 1985 when Linda Ellerbee and Tom Snyder were on their way out of the popular eye, it fell off a cliff.
Saint Ronald Reagan helped kill off education along with labor unions, then the Idiocracy got on a rocket sled with underfunded schools and compromised corporate media propaganda's 24-hour turning news-into info-tainment- soley for profit.
By this time schools were not teaching civics, history, spelling, english or critical thinking.
I don't know WTF they were teaching, but the manifestation of writing on the internet belied a serious lack of anything.
When people started writing "taken for granite" instead of "for granted" that was the signpost at the End Of The United States as an intelligent entity.
Not only CAN they be that stupid, they ARE, and deliberately that stupid.
Yes, Don, I really have to wonder about adults who are eating-up-with-a-spoon these crazy Marvel movies???? WTF is with THAT?? Give me a classic with a great story line, FFS.
Mary beth, you have expressed exactly how I felt when covid was big. Plus, they were blatant about not wearing a mask, haughty, actually. I'm sorry, but that's just an a****** in my book. And selfish, yes, selfish..... just like their " leader ".
I would like to give you some time donation of $40… how can I do that?
I’m missing my HS 55 year reunion this weekend in Nebraska for several reasons-but for one, 9/10 of them are Trumpers. I just don’t have the energy to confront nor do I want to sit around and pretend everything is ok. My 3-4 friends who are liberal will be there. I loved growing up in my small town (Ravenna, population 1300) in the 50’s. But it too has died out. The hometown has many vacancies, no doc or dentist. Everyone moved to Kearney or Grand Island 30 miles away. Homes that were lovely look decrepit. It’s sad.
I share everyone’s praise for you Jess. You are my heroine!🦸♀️
My 50th reunion is coming soon and I have the same misgivings. Am actually moving to a liberal city 2 hours from home and have already connected with like-minded folks. I realize there are red hats all over, but there, they are more thinly spread.
Yes, I'd like to do that too. I am heartened by Jess's passion and smarts.
Thanks, Peggy!!
Thank you--you are doing the WORK, and I do SO appreciate you!
Oh Jess, I know that feeling with running into someone and seeing the red hat. I tell people I retired from midwifery in 2020 because of covid, but the truth is that after spending 4 years taking care of people - caring FOR them and ABOUT them - in spite of their fervent support of Trump, I just was done. In the event he won again, I knew I was literally unable to muster up the emotional strength to pretend to care about people who could support him. In light of their anger after he lost, I don't regret retiring early.
2 of my kids and their families live in Joplin, so I am often down there. I found a couple Meet Up groups and I attend every protest. There are more anti-trumps than we realize. But they are quiet because the red hats are mean.
Thank you for what you do.
"They are quiet because the red hats are mean." Lindy, that felt like a gut punch. You've inspired me to start an essay. Because our 45 and 47 made being mean OK. Causing suffering OK. Being creepy OK. Hating "the other" OK. Being a bully OK. And more. We've got to start saying NO!!!!!! Thank you!
Right on, Terry!! You sound like you need to join a local grassroots group. I have and it helps me cope, plus we can't be silent like so many Dems! Come on, people!! We have to be activists!? The only people who can save this country is us, your everyday citizen!! That is the only thing that's going to save us, not politicians, not Congress, FFS!!
Thanks, Susie! I know what you mean about havng to be activists. I already belong to Markers for Democracy which has been all online. My local church is active. I've been thinking of looking for the local Indivisible group next. Blessings to us all!!
They ARE mean. It used to confuse me, but not anymore.
I am part of a Tesla takedown group of 5 to 7 standing on the sidewalk in front of the dealership on State Line. We get tons of traffic and our biggest sign says "HONK 4 DEMOCRACY". Lots of drivers honk. The MAGAs are few but the young men are mean, hollering at us. The few women usually just show a thumbs down. This is in KCMO so we get Kansans and Missourians. 3 to 5 Monday, Wednesday. and Friday. I go to a different one on Saturdays but they have had 100 to 200 at Tesla.
It's a very long sidewalk so there's room for whoever shows up.
How sad about giving up such a worthwhile profession. I also am a retired RN and left just before Covid to care for my elderly mom. It turned out to be a blessing in disguise as I did home health and I could not afford to Bring anything home to my mom or immune compromised spouse. I have a son that is MAGA and former Marine. I will never understand it. I just figure some never read the truth and follow FOX and all the other hateful lying media. Very sad.
I know how painful it is to have MAGA relatives. I can only imagine what it must be when it's your son. I have often wondered what effect military service might have on our young folks and whether or not there is a connection. Blessings to you and your family.
I try to get those people who happen to be friends to watch other news stations, but they're just so indoctrinated....... propagandaized to the point of being zombies, who will fall for anything the orange blimp says! How can people be that simple?? 😳. 😱. OMG
I live near the Joplin area, and would love to connect with some of these folks. Do you have contact information?
On https://www.meetup.com/ one is called "Left in Joplin" and the other is for atheists and free thinkers - everyone is a Dem and we just get together and talk and laugh and eat, and are safe.
Lindy, WE ARE NOT QUIET ANYMORE, ARE WE!?!? I BELONG TO WE STAND UNITED MISSOURI AND WE'VE HAD QUITE A FEW PROTESTS WITH EXCELLENT TURNOUTS AND IT SEEMS LIKE MORE AND MORE ARE JOINING US ALL THE TIME!! THE ONLY THING WE CAN'T DO..... IS LET UP!! KEEP HOLDING THEIR FEET TO THE FIRE!!! DON'T LET UP....DON'T LET UP...... DON'T LET UP!!!
I lost a marriage in 2017 because she changed fast starting the summer of 2016. She was a school administrator. I lost my friends from a fantasy football league of 25 years; the other guys actually believed that schools were putting kitty litter boxes in classrooms for children that identified as cats. I have a very small circle of friends now. I have been to 3 protests and being around like minded people charges me up. I moved to a blue state; Governor, Senators and Congressional Reps are all blue. I love all your platforms Jess. Please keep up the great work!
And don't give up, Mike. Your story breaks my heart. Already you have sacrificed much. I lost one of my closest lifelong friends when he supported the Jan 6, rioters and became an election denier, but what you have done is like an internal exile. I hope your life and work bring you much love and comfort and that we all can find courage and wherewithal to support change even in red states, like my current home in Indiana.
Gods, Mike, I have former coworkers who believe that crap. You cannot tell them that they are feeding on propaganda, it is so tasty to them.
Hi Ally !
My daughter was talking about re: schools in our area. What the heck was that?! Never heard of such a thing.
You brought out the largest group of progressives I've seen in Franklin Co (Union Mtg.). That feeling of solidarity when you know you're in the minority is invaluable. Thanks for your boost! Hope your health and energy hold out for many years!
❤️❤️❤️
So very proud of you, Jess!! Keep up the good hard work!
You are a strong woman and you do great things speaking to people.
The plane load of Afrikaners landing as "refugees" just hit me, sickened me. I don't know why that when every day is....
But, your writing today helped immensely. You do such good work.
You are not alone!
The work you do is so important, and I am glad that you had a validating day. I don't think for one minute you would slow down or stop what you do had it been otherwise, a good day is worth acknowledging.
On another note, I wonder if Senator Hawley is feeling some pressure based on the grass root activism you are doing in the state?
Renee and Jess,
Josh Hawley is certainly feeling the heat. See his Opinion piece in yesterday's New York Times! begging his fellow Republicans not to decrease Medicaid. Most want it cut by $715 billion, and that is in the current bill. But some of the "true" conservatives want it cut even more. Your acquaintance in the MAGA hat has no idea what this budget bill will do to his health and the life of his community. Hospitals and nursing homes will close if this passes.
Robert Hubbell today listed these three points that should be on all our lips and messages and letters to editors, and conversations with friends and opponents.
Republicans want to
-- Cut $715 billion from Medicaid and
-- Take away health coverage from 8 million Americans,
-- To pay for billionaire tax cuts that will cost $5 trillion.
Please everyone read this and share with your friends: I hope this comes through. without a paywall? Let me know if it doesn't and I'll try a workaround.
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/05/12/opinion/josh-hawley-dont-cut-medicaid.html?unlocked_article_code=1.G08.FQog.c7SluxdBHJGR&smid=em-share
Please, all of you in small town and rural Missouri, Iowa (I lived in Le Mars, for 8 years, teaching English at the late great Westmar College), Illinois (I grew up in Dixon), and lived in small town Indiana (Crawfordsville) for seven years, keep up the fight. As we saw in Wisconsin and North Carolina, swinging votes, giving others the courage to speak out at meetings and hold one another in solidarity can make a difference.
Thank you, thank you, Jess for your often lonely work. Rural women and men can make a difference.
No paywall, thank you.
Kind of you to let me know. Thanks, Kim.
Appreciate being able to read Hawley’s full editorial, Patrick.
Hawley speaks out but still kisses the ring, wanting Americans to believe 47 is somehow benevolent… Sure he is, but only to himself, his family, & the ultra wealthy.
I disagree with the quote from 47:
“We are doing absolutely nothing to hurt Medicare, Medicaid or Social Security. Nothing at all.”
47, his “admins”, his shadow cabinet members, & complicit Republican Congress are doing everything to gut those programs & benefits to enrich the wealthy while lying to Americans they are doing so.
Hawley is merely trying to appease his angry constituents, stay on 47’s good side, and save his job.
I agree. Didn't think Josh was changing his spots. This does show that he is under some pressure from his constituents, though. I just sent off emails to my two Republican senators one of which might have some conscience and my Republican representative, second termer, Rudy Yakym, who has been a Trump Toady since first in office, mouthing nonsense about Trump's Golden Age. I don't hope to change minds, but I want them to know that there's an opposition there. Hawley is feeling some heat. That's good news. Most of us in red states feel a huge futility some days. But we have to keep knocking on the doors.
And Jess Piper's focus on rural voters deserves some attention and support from the DNC.
Nice talking with you.
Totally agree with your comment about the DNC paying some attention and supporting what Jess is doing!
One of the letters I received today said Hawley is against it because it would be "politically suicidal". I screen shot it and used it to make my Facebook post
So whatever he said in the NYTIMES may be..? I remember seeing him on January 6 and I doubt if he's changed.
Thank you from York Pa. You have opened my eyes to the plight of rural red states. You are the warning light for all of America. I recommend your Substack to everyone. Continue to open eyes and minds! You are appreciated 💙
Thanks for including the note about the 70-year-old who has picked up the gauntlet, so to speak, and is running for office. Go, baby, go!
It is encouraging to know that there are other people who think like you do and who care about the common good. Keep up your good work, Jess.
Thank you as always, Jess. I was shocked at the actions to protect select individuals (athletes) during the COVID epidemic. At the same time, I was not surprised. In a way that typifies the entire MAGA movement.
Missouri is my home although I do not live there anymore…honestly, I can barely visit at this point given the political climate. I admire you and all my friends standing up to morality and truth and kindness in the state. I honestly left a beautiful home in rural Missouri, in part, because I could not do it anymore- it was 2014- and already I was seeing hatred and fear of things people had never experienced taint their views of people who looked and thought different. As a developmental disability advocate I was getting tired of explaining the worth of vaccines, the beauty of neurodiversity, the role of myths in stigma to people who I knew knew better, to people I knew were never going to listen to me because I was a woman with ideas different than theirs, to people who had every privilege in the world and were choosing to teaseand accuse instead of love and accept. Mentally, I just couldn’t at that time. Thank you for doing it for those of us who couldn’t get ourselves there ourselves. I would love to support you in any way!
Thanks for the encouraging post, Jess. It's nice to wake up and read something hopeful to start the day.
You are a warrior! Fighting for others and leading us out of the darkness and fear. Thank you.
We are not the only ones validated by listening to someone else say the things we wish we could say out loud.
I’ve told the story about my dad exclaiming the same thing the first time he heard candidate Trump.
It works both ways.
It’s who we are, and who they are.
Believe them when they tell you.
It’s also why it’s so important for us to say it out loud to as many people as possible and as often as possible.
We cannot allow them to be the only ones feeling validated.
Amen to THAT. I truly believe that - over the length and breadth of our America - it is WE who maintain a majority.
We must make Good Noise, and if presented opportunity get into Good Trouble. Our beloved Nation must be fought for, not much differently now than was in 1775 - a year before the Declaration.
Yes, a year before the Declaration, and as you know, Bill, the fight and the sacrificing has already begun. Lexington and Concord were in 1775. We are curiously in such a better place. We've had 250 years of success and the rule of law and almost as many years of the Constitution. We are not going to let some rich, cruel, arrogant, and profoundly stupid President throw that away.
I concur with your statement. Now, how are we going to prevail?
There are maybe 3 or 4 hundred thousand Americans protesting The trump and his wild eyed psychopathic followers that are out and about almost every week since January.
We require MILLIONS to make the difference to be reckoned with. If everyone waits until it gets even worse, it will be too late.
I won't dispute your numbers, Bill, but it would be interesting to have an count of how many people have been to at least one demonstration. That might put us over 1 million. But the key is to keep the pressure on. It's coming in a lot of different ways: demonstrations, donations, growing memberships in ACLU, etc -- if that is indeed happening. The proliferation of groups and organizations, and Substack writers is sometimes impressive and sometimes just boggling. Sometimes I feel we are talking to one another and repeating ourselves -- Trump is a terrible person and a force for evil in America to the nth power. And every once in a while we land a punch or people get fed up. But he plays defense by constantly attacking and the citizen with low interest in "politics,"who's had it with Trump may conclude that there is nothing one person can do about that. Empowerment is important and not just us running around and telling other people who oppose Trump how great we are. Then we run the risk of devolving into a fringe opposition in which we are all in agreement that Trump is a tyrant, but there's not much we can do about. Then we fall apart. Don't have an answer except to strategize off the victories -- Wisconsin Supreme Court, North Carolina supreme court and to praise and encourage the new opposition we are seeing.
It would be great if The Courts successfully thwarted Donnie DoWrong and his wild eyed followers. But at this juncture I’m not convinced. With ZERO support from the republican traitors our courts may well be rendered irrelevant by the trump cabal. Then it becomes up to “us”, you and me. Including everybody willing to fight for righteousness. We may already be there.
Yes, make Good Noise without ceasing.
Yes, take every opportunity to make Good Trouble. Make your own opportunity, if necessary.