Deborah Jacobson...that sadness you feel isn’t a weakness...it’s proof that you’re still human in a moment designed to grind the humanity out of people. The day you stop feeling it...is the day they’ve won.
Nobody can carry this much suffering in the world...and not feel the weight. What matters.. is exactly what you’re doing...you refuse to go numb...you refuse to look away... and... you refuse to let sadness...turn into surrender.
That’s what strength looks like in a time like this.
Being sad...doesn’t mean you’re breaking.
Being sad...means you’re still alive...still connected...still fighting.
And people like you...are the reason this country hasn’t completely gone dark.
I had to thank you for your comment. Just a short time ago I had a friend tell me that always being upset about the ugliness that is occurring is a useless thing to do. So why do it she asked me I told her because if I turn a blind eye what kind of human being would that make me and surrendering to that ugliness just isn't me. Again thank you for making me feel my small efforts are important.
Jack, I don't think that there has ever been a sentence that more clearly encapsulates what is happening. "A society that stops valuing human life…cannot sustain a democracy."
So, they are dehumanizing us, or trying to, not just by calling us the enemy or vermin, but by deadening our emotions, as you so clearly discuss.
I am trying to fight against them with every fiber of my being. Every time I see those boats destroyed I make myself see the victims being murdered under the smoke, and my tears for them and their families are very real, and my hate and disgust by those orchestrating the slaughter ratchet up. Every time I see the ICE goons treating people like they don't deserve compassion, that they have been convicted by trump, I remind myself that they do and are just like me: Mothers being dragged from their children, pastors being shot with "less lethal" bullets, fathers and grandfathers being beaten for the crime of daring to want a better life. Every time I see the people of Gaza being treated like an infestation and the atrocities being carried out by a people who should damn well know better, I see the Palestinians' humanity and their right to life. Every time I see the destruction of Ukraine and the pride of its people as they fight for their nation, my heart goes out to them. AND this is just this week.
It isn't by chance that we are being bombarded with so much pain and suffering.
Sue… what you just wrote here...is the antidote to authoritarianism in its purest form: the refusal to let your humanity be anesthetized.
You’re exactly right...none of this overload is accidental.
A population that feels too much... is hard to control. A population that still reacts with empathy...outrage...sorrow...and moral clarity...is impossible for authoritarians to fully capture.
So...the strategy is simple: numb us. Flood us. Exhaust us. Turn real human beings into abstractions...and then into “threats,” ..and then into “vermin.”
Because once people stop feeling...they stop fighting.
And..what you’re doing...what you described so vividly...is the exact opposite.
You are choosing to see the human beings under the rubble...under the smoke...under the headlines. You are choosing not to let ICE’s dehumanization campaigns rewrite your instincts.
You are choosing to remember...that families ripped apart aren’t “cases,” they’re lives. You are choosing to feel the Palestinian child’s terror...the Ukrainian defender’s pride...
the immigrant mother’s desperation.
Authoritarians rely on one thing above all: emotional collapse.
You’re refusing to collapse.
You are staying awake in a moment designed to put millions to sleep.
And...here’s the deeper truth...the one nobody on the Sunday shows ever says out loud:
The people orchestrating this cruelty NEED you to stop caring.
Your heartbreak is a threat to them.
Your empathy is disobedience.
Your refusal to look away...is resistance.
A society that still feels...deeply...inconveniently...relentlessly...cannot be fully controlled.
And you’re part of the reason why. You’re proving...that the human spirit still kicks back..still rejects the poison...still recognizes the sacredness of a stranger’s life.
-Jack
So...don’t underestimate the power of what you’re doing here.
This is how democratic muscles stay alive in a moment designed to atrophy them.
Hold fast, Sue.
Your heart is doing more good than you can possibly see.
Jack, only problem I see is my physical strength is waning while my rage is waxing. I turn 77 next week, and am bloody well unable to do my part. I am going to mention my past so you might understand.
In early 2001, I was helping at a friend's church by teaching computer skills to refugees. Two of them were from an airlift out of Kenya, part of what 60 Minutes had dubbed The Lost Boys of the Sudan. I became Mama Sue over time to the 150 young men who were settled in the Salt Lake Valley. I was only in my fifties and had much more energy. And, luckily, they had government and community support, the very thing being stripped from refugees today. I helped find them jobs, helped arrange college enrollment, took many to doctors' appointments, stood up for them with local police when they were targeted for the color of their skin, and gave rides to upwards of twenty or more every day to and from their jobs and even church on Sunday, helped dozens move to new apartments and for five, opened my home to them until they got more secure. All the while working full time.
And now they are at risk these many years later, not from starvation, marauding slavers and wild lions, but from our government. They are citizens, but we know that means nothing right now. So I am scared for my sons and I can no longer protect them.
Jack - Senator Patty Murray published graphic photos of Wilmer, her constituent (as am I), the man who was deeply, horribly injured when an ICE attack dog mauled him horribly though he was not running or resisting - and then did not take him to a hospital. Pure cruelty and evil. Still in custody? Think so. One thing to read it and entirely another to see it.
And then it seems our politicians saw the raw version of Sept 2 massacre - saw the 2 men trying to right the hull for about 40 minutes, then wave their arms toward our plane/helicopter/ship, then the 2 men being 'blown apart leaving nothing but a big red smear on the water' (paraphrased) , and then 2 more bombs shot at the hull to be sure it sank. Many were sickened, almost threw up.
We ALL need to see that. Makes me gag to think about it. Sen Murray is still writing about it. We all need to post and repost authentic pictures of injuries caused by this regime.
So glad for this posting. Final note:
at apparently $250,000 a pop Hegseth spent a million $ blowing up one fishing boat and brutally turning 11 people into body parts. (I find using the proper descriptive words to myself - and others when I can - keeps my blood boiling.
Toni...what you’ve just laid out here...is exactly why the regime tries so hard to keep the public anesthetized...distracted...and blindfolded. Because once people see the consequences of this cruelty...I mean REALLY see it...the moral center of the country shakes awake.
Wilmer’s injuries aren’t “an incident.”
They’re a crime scene.
They’re a testament to what happens when you hand federal power to people who view compassion...as weakness...and human beings as objects of domination.
And yes...the difference between reading about it...and seeing it...is like the difference between reading about a hurricane...and standing in the middle of one.
Graphic truth...forces the mind to process what the propaganda machine begs us to ignore.
As for the raw Sept 2 footage… you’re right. That’s the moment the political class had the curtain yanked open. Forty minutes of struggling survivors...signaling for help..and then being obliterated.
More rounds fired...just to erase what remained. No euphemisms. No “operational necessity.” No “fog of war.”
Just slaughter.
Deliberate...cold...and expensive.
Your instinct to use plain...unvarnished language is the correct one. Sanitized vocabulary is how atrocities get smuggled past the conscience.
When we call things what they are...we strip away the illusion of normalcy these men depend on.
And...you’re absolutely right:
The public...needs to see the reality.
Not because we want to traumatize people...but because democracy cannot defend itself ...if the people inside it...don’t understand what’s being done in their name.
The price tag you mentioned...roughly a million dollars to turn a single fishing boat full of human beings into body parts...is its own indictment.
It shows the grotesque disconnect...between the justifications they offer...and the reality of what they order.
Several independent media outlets are showing the pictures.. Aaron Parnas is one and I think MeidasTouch did too.. Ben Meiselas I believe. I’ve seen others here on SubStack but don’t recall names. Some I’ve shared across social media platforms. Unfortunately, very few read the article and look at the photos. I’m seeing more and more signs of this. I’m worried.
Cable TV, Computer games, streaming and the movies all give us a clue as to the preferences in viewing of the US audience. What with the Sopranos, Breaking Bad, NCIS, FBI, Game of Thrones, Walking Dead just to list a few. Ask yourself if you would rather watch the Godfather Series or Toy Story (without the kids along). Hollywood has preconditioned us to violence. In the Submarine force we used to rate how good a movie was by the expenditure of ordinance. The more ordinance expended, the better. So we are half way to Jacks warning before the Trump Administration even starts.
This strategy is not Trump's. He is simply not smart enough or able to stay focused long enough to carry out this plan. The puppeteer working Trump's strings are Russel Vought and Steven Miller. As long as these two are in charge, Trump is expendable. In fact, Vought and Miller smile whenever Trump goes into a rage - viewers like it and it acts as a distraction for Vought and Miller.
I will read this article over several times. It is an excellent analysis of what we are seeing happening.
It has been at least 2 MONTHS since they assembled the Armada. It is just sitting there waiting for someone to lose patience. I don't think they care "who."
There is enough firepower there to start WWIII,
and probably to finish it.
We saw what happened with
"kill them all".
They want us to miss the point: the people are dead and they killed them.
The Admiral was wise to resign.
He refused to take further orders from Cowboys, and he understands what is going on.
They had him testify behind closed doors.
Damn straight.
They didn't want to be accountable for everyone hearing the truth?
We have seen this so many times. Korea,
Vietnam,
Desert Storm,
Iraq, Afghanistan.
The "reasons" are different, the results the same.
Not having cameras on the plane as they remove the dead.
They drape the coffins in flags, as if they "died for their country."
I wish like hell that Every person in the country could read your essay this evening ✨ Jack. You've nailed it once again 🎯 outstanding. I'll never be brainwashed into not caring for All Humans and our Planet 🌎 Thank you, always, for your passion and will reStack ASAP 🙏
Yes. Yes. Yes. The numbing of our collective conscience and tolerance of violence has already happened to us regarding school shootings. For years I have thought that the bloody aftermath of school shootings should have been shown to the public from the time of Columbine. Perhaps then we wouldn't shrug at all of the carnage that has followed. Maybe we need counter-footage showing the terror of the situation.
Oddly, while reading this piece, I remember, “Broca's Brain: Reflections on the Romance of Science” (1979) by Carl Sagan, and then realizing the effects of ‘Broca’s Aphasia’, awakening from past readings. Well stated. Thank you Jack. Steady as we go.
Jack I’m seeing this all over social media. They’re buying into the drug smuggling narrative and literally cheering them on. A former friend who I just can’t engage with anymore posted a photo of one of the boats being blown up. Caption simply “YES!!!” Yesterday I was scrolling a thread also about the boats. I couldn’t read for long but one comment stuck… “I don’t feel a bit sorry for them.” It’s the same regarding ICE. The shock and outrage is lessening. Even where small children are involved. It tears me up and I have certain images that I can’t get rid of. A young woman… early 20’s at most.. her friend screaming she’s an American citizen! Didn’t matter of course. Her skin was brown. She held onto a tree trunk which of course did her no good against several men. As they forced her into an unmarked van she looked back at the last second. The terror in her face will be with me forever. A small boy… 5 at most.. wearing only shorts, no shirt or shoes and a thug zip tying his hands behind his back. How do they do this and sleep or maybe in some cases go home to their own children. How do they look them in the face knowing what they’ve done that day? I fully understand what you’re saying and I see it. I’ve been seeing it. There’s even someone VERY close to me who already seems numb to it. He says no but his reactions… or lack thereof.. say otherwise. Maybe when you give us the actions to take I’ll feel less helpless to stop it. I hope so because for me… I just don’t understand. What is happening is more than terrifying. It’s soul crushing. I’ll see you in other comments as I try to catch up on my reading. Between the migraines…. the supplements you recommended are on the way and doctor approved… thank you… and some personal issues I haven’t kept up with reading. Trying to get caught up. I need this… desperately!
Jack, thank you for this valuable step by step description which I needed to understand more clearly than I already did. The shock of learning that a much loved person has fallen victim to the brainwashing, something totally out of character for the kind soul that person is deep down and always has been, has consumed much of my thinking recently. It is a tragic sort of pain that hurts when the quiet times come, a feeling of great loss and of not understanding how to help the person see himself and pull himself out to fresh air and realization of the truth. I find myself thinking what I might be able to say or do, at an unavoidable distance, to help him see reality and step back into being the good person he always was.
That person believes and spouts some preposterous statements that indicate some very deep brainwashing, because those far reaching statements, in the world of politics, are not true whatsoever. They are propaganda. For anyone to have fallen for the brainwashing at any point is tragic.
As we know, and as you thoroughly have pointed out as exemplified in your listing of specific details, we are at an extremely crucial point. I plan to share this newsletter with a friend who sees the situation as I do. However, I am wondering whether my sharing it with the dear person who is reading and falling for lies now, will help him see himself and what has happened to him, as well as recognize the seriousness of his situation sufficiently to jolt, or even ease, him back into reality, or whether he would scoff and simply believe I do not know what I am talking about.
I also am wondering whether my sharing of this advice with the brainwashed person would harm any plan Democrats might make to succeed in 2026, by using your well stipulated necessary steps. I do not want to hinder any success. I remain hopeful that we will have the election and that it will be totally fair and counted correctly in 2026, 2028, and beyond.
So my main question is should I share this particular newsletter with the brainwashed person, or is there a reason not to share it in that instance? I see it as a chance for him to recognize himself, but I see many things with a different perspective than people who have been brainwashed.
(This is a pasting of my message above because it appears that it did not show completely above.)
Jack, thank you for this valuable step by step description which I needed to understand more clearly than I already did. The shock of learning that a much loved person has fallen victim to the brainwashing, something totally out of character for the kind soul that person is deep down and always has been, has consumed much of my thinking recently. It is a tragic sort of pain that hurts when the quiet times come, a feeling of great loss and of not understanding how to help the person see himself and pull himself out to fresh air and realization of the truth. I find myself thinking what I might be able to say or do, at an unavoidable distance, to help him see reality and step back into being the good person he always was.
That person believes and spouts some preposterous statements that indicate some very deep brainwashing, because those far reaching statements, in the world of politics, are not true whatsoever. They are propaganda. For anyone to have fallen for the brainwashing at any point is tragic.
As we know, and as you thoroughly have pointed out as exemplified in your listing of specific details, we are at an extremely crucial point. I plan to share this newsletter with a friend who sees the situation as I do. However, I am wondering whether my sharing it with the dear person who is reading and falling for lies now, will help him see himself and what has happened to him, as well as recognize the seriousness of his situation sufficiently to jolt, or even ease, him back into reality, or whether he would scoff and simply believe I do not know what I am talking about.
I also am wondering whether my sharing of this advice with the brainwashed person would harm any plan Democrats might make to succeed in 2026, by using your well stipulated necessary steps. I do not want to hinder any success. I remain hopeful that we will have the election and that it will be totally fair and counted correctly in 2026, 2028, and beyond.
So my main question is should I share this particular newsletter with the brainwashed person, or is there a reason not to share it in that instance? I see it as a chance for him to recognize himself, but I see many things with a different perspective than people who have been brainwashed.
Trump DGAF about drug smuggling. He just pardoned two big drug dealers. The key is that they paid him off. I don't know if blowing up boats was Trump's idea or Hegseth's, but when the Dems take back the House, we need public hearings.
Trump is in his final days, can't stay awake, and is in the throes of dementia. To a malignant narcissist like him, this is like a movie, and he doesn't consider the men on the boats to be humans with families who are just trying to make a living.
Soon, Vance will be President and will get rid of Hegseth, Bondi, and the other more problematic Cabinet members and minions, not because he cares about what is the right thing to do, but because he wants to run in 2028. He'll replace them with unknowns that can pass for "normal," unlike the cartoon villains that are in charge now.
Jack, I have no intention of becoming numb to what is happening. I just sometimes get supremely sad that this is happening. #HOLDFAST
Deborah Jacobson...that sadness you feel isn’t a weakness...it’s proof that you’re still human in a moment designed to grind the humanity out of people. The day you stop feeling it...is the day they’ve won.
Nobody can carry this much suffering in the world...and not feel the weight. What matters.. is exactly what you’re doing...you refuse to go numb...you refuse to look away... and... you refuse to let sadness...turn into surrender.
That’s what strength looks like in a time like this.
Being sad...doesn’t mean you’re breaking.
Being sad...means you’re still alive...still connected...still fighting.
And people like you...are the reason this country hasn’t completely gone dark.
#HoldFast
-Jack
I had to thank you for your comment. Just a short time ago I had a friend tell me that always being upset about the ugliness that is occurring is a useless thing to do. So why do it she asked me I told her because if I turn a blind eye what kind of human being would that make me and surrendering to that ugliness just isn't me. Again thank you for making me feel my small efforts are important.
Jack, I don't think that there has ever been a sentence that more clearly encapsulates what is happening. "A society that stops valuing human life…cannot sustain a democracy."
So, they are dehumanizing us, or trying to, not just by calling us the enemy or vermin, but by deadening our emotions, as you so clearly discuss.
I am trying to fight against them with every fiber of my being. Every time I see those boats destroyed I make myself see the victims being murdered under the smoke, and my tears for them and their families are very real, and my hate and disgust by those orchestrating the slaughter ratchet up. Every time I see the ICE goons treating people like they don't deserve compassion, that they have been convicted by trump, I remind myself that they do and are just like me: Mothers being dragged from their children, pastors being shot with "less lethal" bullets, fathers and grandfathers being beaten for the crime of daring to want a better life. Every time I see the people of Gaza being treated like an infestation and the atrocities being carried out by a people who should damn well know better, I see the Palestinians' humanity and their right to life. Every time I see the destruction of Ukraine and the pride of its people as they fight for their nation, my heart goes out to them. AND this is just this week.
It isn't by chance that we are being bombarded with so much pain and suffering.
Sue
#HoldFast
Sue… what you just wrote here...is the antidote to authoritarianism in its purest form: the refusal to let your humanity be anesthetized.
You’re exactly right...none of this overload is accidental.
A population that feels too much... is hard to control. A population that still reacts with empathy...outrage...sorrow...and moral clarity...is impossible for authoritarians to fully capture.
So...the strategy is simple: numb us. Flood us. Exhaust us. Turn real human beings into abstractions...and then into “threats,” ..and then into “vermin.”
Because once people stop feeling...they stop fighting.
And..what you’re doing...what you described so vividly...is the exact opposite.
You are choosing to see the human beings under the rubble...under the smoke...under the headlines. You are choosing not to let ICE’s dehumanization campaigns rewrite your instincts.
You are choosing to remember...that families ripped apart aren’t “cases,” they’re lives. You are choosing to feel the Palestinian child’s terror...the Ukrainian defender’s pride...
the immigrant mother’s desperation.
Authoritarians rely on one thing above all: emotional collapse.
You’re refusing to collapse.
You are staying awake in a moment designed to put millions to sleep.
And...here’s the deeper truth...the one nobody on the Sunday shows ever says out loud:
The people orchestrating this cruelty NEED you to stop caring.
Your heartbreak is a threat to them.
Your empathy is disobedience.
Your refusal to look away...is resistance.
A society that still feels...deeply...inconveniently...relentlessly...cannot be fully controlled.
And you’re part of the reason why. You’re proving...that the human spirit still kicks back..still rejects the poison...still recognizes the sacredness of a stranger’s life.
-Jack
So...don’t underestimate the power of what you’re doing here.
This is how democratic muscles stay alive in a moment designed to atrophy them.
Hold fast, Sue.
Your heart is doing more good than you can possibly see.
Jack, only problem I see is my physical strength is waning while my rage is waxing. I turn 77 next week, and am bloody well unable to do my part. I am going to mention my past so you might understand.
In early 2001, I was helping at a friend's church by teaching computer skills to refugees. Two of them were from an airlift out of Kenya, part of what 60 Minutes had dubbed The Lost Boys of the Sudan. I became Mama Sue over time to the 150 young men who were settled in the Salt Lake Valley. I was only in my fifties and had much more energy. And, luckily, they had government and community support, the very thing being stripped from refugees today. I helped find them jobs, helped arrange college enrollment, took many to doctors' appointments, stood up for them with local police when they were targeted for the color of their skin, and gave rides to upwards of twenty or more every day to and from their jobs and even church on Sunday, helped dozens move to new apartments and for five, opened my home to them until they got more secure. All the while working full time.
And now they are at risk these many years later, not from starvation, marauding slavers and wild lions, but from our government. They are citizens, but we know that means nothing right now. So I am scared for my sons and I can no longer protect them.
I know, #HoldFast.
Sue
Jack - Senator Patty Murray published graphic photos of Wilmer, her constituent (as am I), the man who was deeply, horribly injured when an ICE attack dog mauled him horribly though he was not running or resisting - and then did not take him to a hospital. Pure cruelty and evil. Still in custody? Think so. One thing to read it and entirely another to see it.
And then it seems our politicians saw the raw version of Sept 2 massacre - saw the 2 men trying to right the hull for about 40 minutes, then wave their arms toward our plane/helicopter/ship, then the 2 men being 'blown apart leaving nothing but a big red smear on the water' (paraphrased) , and then 2 more bombs shot at the hull to be sure it sank. Many were sickened, almost threw up.
We ALL need to see that. Makes me gag to think about it. Sen Murray is still writing about it. We all need to post and repost authentic pictures of injuries caused by this regime.
So glad for this posting. Final note:
at apparently $250,000 a pop Hegseth spent a million $ blowing up one fishing boat and brutally turning 11 people into body parts. (I find using the proper descriptive words to myself - and others when I can - keeps my blood boiling.
#Hold Fast
Toni...what you’ve just laid out here...is exactly why the regime tries so hard to keep the public anesthetized...distracted...and blindfolded. Because once people see the consequences of this cruelty...I mean REALLY see it...the moral center of the country shakes awake.
Wilmer’s injuries aren’t “an incident.”
They’re a crime scene.
They’re a testament to what happens when you hand federal power to people who view compassion...as weakness...and human beings as objects of domination.
And yes...the difference between reading about it...and seeing it...is like the difference between reading about a hurricane...and standing in the middle of one.
Graphic truth...forces the mind to process what the propaganda machine begs us to ignore.
As for the raw Sept 2 footage… you’re right. That’s the moment the political class had the curtain yanked open. Forty minutes of struggling survivors...signaling for help..and then being obliterated.
More rounds fired...just to erase what remained. No euphemisms. No “operational necessity.” No “fog of war.”
Just slaughter.
Deliberate...cold...and expensive.
Your instinct to use plain...unvarnished language is the correct one. Sanitized vocabulary is how atrocities get smuggled past the conscience.
When we call things what they are...we strip away the illusion of normalcy these men depend on.
And...you’re absolutely right:
The public...needs to see the reality.
Not because we want to traumatize people...but because democracy cannot defend itself ...if the people inside it...don’t understand what’s being done in their name.
The price tag you mentioned...roughly a million dollars to turn a single fishing boat full of human beings into body parts...is its own indictment.
It shows the grotesque disconnect...between the justifications they offer...and the reality of what they order.
You keeping your blood boiling?
That’s not anger for its own sake.
That’s a survival instinct.
That’s your humanity...defending itself.
Toni Denton, I like how you think.
Stay awake. Stay aware. Stay human.
#HoldFast
-Jack
Thanks Jack for your words. Means a lot. #HoldFast
Several independent media outlets are showing the pictures.. Aaron Parnas is one and I think MeidasTouch did too.. Ben Meiselas I believe. I’ve seen others here on SubStack but don’t recall names. Some I’ve shared across social media platforms. Unfortunately, very few read the article and look at the photos. I’m seeing more and more signs of this. I’m worried.
Me too.
Bingo!
Cable TV, Computer games, streaming and the movies all give us a clue as to the preferences in viewing of the US audience. What with the Sopranos, Breaking Bad, NCIS, FBI, Game of Thrones, Walking Dead just to list a few. Ask yourself if you would rather watch the Godfather Series or Toy Story (without the kids along). Hollywood has preconditioned us to violence. In the Submarine force we used to rate how good a movie was by the expenditure of ordinance. The more ordinance expended, the better. So we are half way to Jacks warning before the Trump Administration even starts.
This strategy is not Trump's. He is simply not smart enough or able to stay focused long enough to carry out this plan. The puppeteer working Trump's strings are Russel Vought and Steven Miller. As long as these two are in charge, Trump is expendable. In fact, Vought and Miller smile whenever Trump goes into a rage - viewers like it and it acts as a distraction for Vought and Miller.
I will read this article over several times. It is an excellent analysis of what we are seeing happening.
Thank you. Explains continuing the murders.
It has been at least 2 MONTHS since they assembled the Armada. It is just sitting there waiting for someone to lose patience. I don't think they care "who."
There is enough firepower there to start WWIII,
and probably to finish it.
We saw what happened with
"kill them all".
They want us to miss the point: the people are dead and they killed them.
The Admiral was wise to resign.
He refused to take further orders from Cowboys, and he understands what is going on.
They had him testify behind closed doors.
Damn straight.
They didn't want to be accountable for everyone hearing the truth?
We have seen this so many times. Korea,
Vietnam,
Desert Storm,
Iraq, Afghanistan.
The "reasons" are different, the results the same.
Not having cameras on the plane as they remove the dead.
They drape the coffins in flags, as if they "died for their country."
Note: Admiral Bradley, the one who testified, is not the one who resigned. That was Navy Admiral Alvin Holsey.
I wish like hell that Every person in the country could read your essay this evening ✨ Jack. You've nailed it once again 🎯 outstanding. I'll never be brainwashed into not caring for All Humans and our Planet 🌎 Thank you, always, for your passion and will reStack ASAP 🙏
Yes. Yes. Yes. The numbing of our collective conscience and tolerance of violence has already happened to us regarding school shootings. For years I have thought that the bloody aftermath of school shootings should have been shown to the public from the time of Columbine. Perhaps then we wouldn't shrug at all of the carnage that has followed. Maybe we need counter-footage showing the terror of the situation.
Filling Dem political offices, in boxes, message boards, voicemails. Right? Them with some power are the recipients. We’re the victims.
Oddly, while reading this piece, I remember, “Broca's Brain: Reflections on the Romance of Science” (1979) by Carl Sagan, and then realizing the effects of ‘Broca’s Aphasia’, awakening from past readings. Well stated. Thank you Jack. Steady as we go.
Jack I’m seeing this all over social media. They’re buying into the drug smuggling narrative and literally cheering them on. A former friend who I just can’t engage with anymore posted a photo of one of the boats being blown up. Caption simply “YES!!!” Yesterday I was scrolling a thread also about the boats. I couldn’t read for long but one comment stuck… “I don’t feel a bit sorry for them.” It’s the same regarding ICE. The shock and outrage is lessening. Even where small children are involved. It tears me up and I have certain images that I can’t get rid of. A young woman… early 20’s at most.. her friend screaming she’s an American citizen! Didn’t matter of course. Her skin was brown. She held onto a tree trunk which of course did her no good against several men. As they forced her into an unmarked van she looked back at the last second. The terror in her face will be with me forever. A small boy… 5 at most.. wearing only shorts, no shirt or shoes and a thug zip tying his hands behind his back. How do they do this and sleep or maybe in some cases go home to their own children. How do they look them in the face knowing what they’ve done that day? I fully understand what you’re saying and I see it. I’ve been seeing it. There’s even someone VERY close to me who already seems numb to it. He says no but his reactions… or lack thereof.. say otherwise. Maybe when you give us the actions to take I’ll feel less helpless to stop it. I hope so because for me… I just don’t understand. What is happening is more than terrifying. It’s soul crushing. I’ll see you in other comments as I try to catch up on my reading. Between the migraines…. the supplements you recommended are on the way and doctor approved… thank you… and some personal issues I haven’t kept up with reading. Trying to get caught up. I need this… desperately!
Thank you Jack!
~Susan
Jack, thank you for this valuable step by step description which I needed to understand more clearly than I already did. The shock of learning that a much loved person has fallen victim to the brainwashing, something totally out of character for the kind soul that person is deep down and always has been, has consumed much of my thinking recently. It is a tragic sort of pain that hurts when the quiet times come, a feeling of great loss and of not understanding how to help the person see himself and pull himself out to fresh air and realization of the truth. I find myself thinking what I might be able to say or do, at an unavoidable distance, to help him see reality and step back into being the good person he always was.
That person believes and spouts some preposterous statements that indicate some very deep brainwashing, because those far reaching statements, in the world of politics, are not true whatsoever. They are propaganda. For anyone to have fallen for the brainwashing at any point is tragic.
As we know, and as you thoroughly have pointed out as exemplified in your listing of specific details, we are at an extremely crucial point. I plan to share this newsletter with a friend who sees the situation as I do. However, I am wondering whether my sharing it with the dear person who is reading and falling for lies now, will help him see himself and what has happened to him, as well as recognize the seriousness of his situation sufficiently to jolt, or even ease, him back into reality, or whether he would scoff and simply believe I do not know what I am talking about.
I also am wondering whether my sharing of this advice with the brainwashed person would harm any plan Democrats might make to succeed in 2026, by using your well stipulated necessary steps. I do not want to hinder any success. I remain hopeful that we will have the election and that it will be totally fair and counted correctly in 2026, 2028, and beyond.
So my main question is should I share this particular newsletter with the brainwashed person, or is there a reason not to share it in that instance? I see it as a chance for him to recognize himself, but I see many things with a different perspective than people who have been brainwashed.
#HOLD FAST!
(This is a pasting of my message above because it appears that it did not show completely above.)
Jack, thank you for this valuable step by step description which I needed to understand more clearly than I already did. The shock of learning that a much loved person has fallen victim to the brainwashing, something totally out of character for the kind soul that person is deep down and always has been, has consumed much of my thinking recently. It is a tragic sort of pain that hurts when the quiet times come, a feeling of great loss and of not understanding how to help the person see himself and pull himself out to fresh air and realization of the truth. I find myself thinking what I might be able to say or do, at an unavoidable distance, to help him see reality and step back into being the good person he always was.
That person believes and spouts some preposterous statements that indicate some very deep brainwashing, because those far reaching statements, in the world of politics, are not true whatsoever. They are propaganda. For anyone to have fallen for the brainwashing at any point is tragic.
As we know, and as you thoroughly have pointed out as exemplified in your listing of specific details, we are at an extremely crucial point. I plan to share this newsletter with a friend who sees the situation as I do. However, I am wondering whether my sharing it with the dear person who is reading and falling for lies now, will help him see himself and what has happened to him, as well as recognize the seriousness of his situation sufficiently to jolt, or even ease, him back into reality, or whether he would scoff and simply believe I do not know what I am talking about.
I also am wondering whether my sharing of this advice with the brainwashed person would harm any plan Democrats might make to succeed in 2026, by using your well stipulated necessary steps. I do not want to hinder any success. I remain hopeful that we will have the election and that it will be totally fair and counted correctly in 2026, 2028, and beyond.
So my main question is should I share this particular newsletter with the brainwashed person, or is there a reason not to share it in that instance? I see it as a chance for him to recognize himself, but I see many things with a different perspective than people who have been brainwashed.
#HOLD FAST!
Trump DGAF about drug smuggling. He just pardoned two big drug dealers. The key is that they paid him off. I don't know if blowing up boats was Trump's idea or Hegseth's, but when the Dems take back the House, we need public hearings.
Trump is in his final days, can't stay awake, and is in the throes of dementia. To a malignant narcissist like him, this is like a movie, and he doesn't consider the men on the boats to be humans with families who are just trying to make a living.
Soon, Vance will be President and will get rid of Hegseth, Bondi, and the other more problematic Cabinet members and minions, not because he cares about what is the right thing to do, but because he wants to run in 2028. He'll replace them with unknowns that can pass for "normal," unlike the cartoon villains that are in charge now.