On This Difficult Fourth
Please read all the way through
I started writing today’s newsletter many times and could not quite come up with what to say until I sat with it quietly for a few hours.
There is the positive, which is that this is our country and no one can take it away from us. Not Donald Trump, not MAGA, no one. I truly believe, with every fiber of my being, that we are that shining city upon a hill. I know this because my family fled here for that reason forty-five years ago. And no one, not even Trump, can destroy 249 years of the greatest democratic experiment in history in fewer than six months.
There is the negative, which is that every branch of our government has bent the knee to Trump by turning this nation into a surveillance state, stress testing the American experiment in ways it has not been tested in 160 years.
Today, we are one year shy of our nation’s 250th birthday. There is nothing magical about a quarter-millennium, other than it is a round number. But, like you, I wonder what our nation and the rest of the world will look like when we reach that milestone next year. If Trump can alter the character of our country so deeply in fewer than six months, I shudder to think what the next twelve months will bring with a compliant Congress and a feckless opposition.
I launched this newsletter less than a year ago. A lot has changed since then but several themes have been consistent: the legacy media has been subsumed by corporate overlords who will not allow it to do its job. Our Democratic leaders are not meeting the moment. The courts, the last bulwark of democracy, move slowly, while Trump moves quickly. (When they finally do move, their decisions are often subverted by a MAGA majority on Supreme Court.)
And one more, which I believe more than anything else: it is up to us. No one is coming to save us.
For weeks, I have been privately begging Democratic leaders to personalize the horror of the so-called Big Beautiful Bill, to show real life examples of whom this brutality will hurt. Either because they will not or because they cannot, they have failed to do that. Instead, they have given floor speeches and have rushed to cable news shows and podcasts to rail against it. That’s all fine, but it is not nearly enough.
So, I have to put my money where my mouth is. It’s up to us to do it ourselves.
All week, I have been running a sale on annual subscriptions to Salty Politics. It is not just so I can keep this newsletter going, although that is a part of it. It is so we can do what our leaders in Washington are not doing, which is to find stories of people harmed by Trump’s policies, which we can repackage into a digital, easily digestible clips.
It is the storytelling that needs to happen if we are to get our country back. We have to tell our own stories that bring to light the atrocities that Republicans are visiting upon us every single day. I believe with every fiber of my being that if we do it right, Americans will pay attention because we are better than this abject cruelty.
I have two asks of you:
If you are or will be affected by Trump’s policies — reliant on Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security or food assistance, live near a rural hospital or use Planned Parenthood for cancer screenings and basic healthcare — please let me know if you want to tell your story publicly. Share it in the comments, direct message me here or on social media or contact me any way you would like.
If you can afford to become a paid subscriber, please do. We would like to raise enough money to tell the stories of people who have been or will be harmed by Trump’s policies and get them out into the world in easily digestible ways. We need to put regular Americans forward — not the politicians who act as our interlocutors but the very people whose lives are affected by this brutality. That’s the only way we begin to change the hearts and minds of voters and take our country back.
Thank you for building this community with me. This is still our country, no matter what. Celebrate it.
Julie
Julie, I am one of many retirees who are dependent upon Social Security as my only income. I am deeply concerned as to what may happen with my Medicare coverage. I currently receive assistance in payment for my prescriptions and my health insurance. If either of those disappear, I don't believe that I will be able to afford either. It may be July 4th, but what we have witnessed is so un-American. Thank you for your writing and, it is up to us. Blessings, Maxine E Marak
It´s time for round two.
When a hospital closes, we should be there to inform the people who are affected by its closure. The congressperson of that district who voted to close it, and the congressperson who voted to keep it open.
When a nursing home closes, we should be there to inform the people who are affected by it. The congressperson of that district who voted to close it, and the congressperson who voted to keep it open.
When a health facility exists and is funded by Medicaid, we should be there to tell the people who closed it. The congressperson of that district who voted to close it, and the congressperson who voted to keep it open.
When (fill in the blanks) closes, we should be there to tell the people who closed it. The congressperson who closed it and the congressperson who voted to keep it open.
The question should always be: WHO BENEFITED?