A laundry list of things for Democrats to keep and to dump if they ever want to win again nationwide.
Keep a woman’s right to choose for the first trimester. Dump abortion until birth unless the mother’s health is at risk.
Keep a concern for climate change and grow nuclear power. Dump intermittent, unreliable renewable energy.
Keep and develop new effective vaccines. Dump vaccine mandates.
Keep equality of opportunity for all. Dump equity of results based on discriminating against men, whites and Asians (aka D.E.I.). Recognize that D.E.I. Is unconstitutional.
Keep the protection of gay and lesbian rights. Dump men in women’s sports, private spaces and prisons. Oh, and mutilating children who might grow up to be gay.
Keep an opportunity for selective high value immigration. Dump sanctuary cities and open borders.
Keep helping the homeless find jobs and a place to live. Dump camping in cities and allowing open drug use.
Keep a concern for due process in criminal justice. Dump letting shoplifters and other petty thieves off the hook.
Do all of the above and they might find their way back to power.
What are "high value immigrants"? We are in desperate need of caregivers for the elderly and disabled, and that need is only growing as Boomers age. There are cultures where caring for the elderly with respect and dignity is a much stronger value than in the US. We don't need immigrants with tech Ph.D.s, we need people who can make sure our vulnerable elderly are properly fed, bathed, clothed, and provided with companionship and engagement.
We need people with diverse language abilities because even immigrants who came to America decades ago can lose their knowledge of English as dementia progresses and revert to primarily communicating in their first language. Families often are not in a position to provide full time care, women bear the economic brunt of cutting back on work, if not leaving the workforce entirely, to care for aging parents, leaving themselves in precarious financial condition. And then there are people who simply do not have family to care for them, particularly elderly LGB who could not marry or adopt children. They often formed supportive communities and strong friend groups, but as they age, they lose the ability to care for themselves, much less other people in their social group. Even people who did marry and have children can end up outliving their spouses/partners, siblings, and children. Immigrants who want to take on caregivers jobs are high value, whether they come with the skills or are willing to go through the training to cer certified or licensed.
Elizabeth: I liked and am in general agreement with what you said but how about training some of our unemployed or underemployed (especially minority workers) for these jobs? Must we always rush to bring in people who will work for next to nothing just to be here? Don’t we owe something to our own citizens?
I don't think the assumption that they will work for "next to nothing" is accurate. We still have minimum wage laws, and from what I see in my area, CNAs and HHAs, not to mention LPNs, make well above minimum wage. If the unemployed/under employed wanted these jobs, they would be doing them. If you deal with people who work in this industry, you'll learn there really is a difference in quality of care provided by immigrant caregivers. To be blunt, Americans don't value caregiving, and we don't value the elderly suffering with physical and cognitive disabilities. Would you rather have an immigrant caring for a loved one who comes from a culture where they consider it an honor to care for the elderly vs. an American who was forced into a training program to get off unemployment but thinks it is beneith them to have to change an old person's diaper?
I think we owe our own citizens quality care. No one is stopping any American from getting certified and becoming a CNA or HHA. They're just not doing it.
kids: Many states have no end point for abortion in their laws. I don’t think many would be done. Maybe a few to protect the life of the mother or if the fetus was not viable.
What morally significant threshold in foetal development is crossed at the end of first trimester?
There is a good argument that the morally significant threshold is crossed at about the end of second trimester (24 weeks) when the cerebral synapses begin functioning and the foetus becomes capable (at least in principle) of consciousness and personhood. Whether this should simply be mapped onto the criminal law is another matter.
No morally significant threshold just what the Supreme Court used to use. At some point most people believe that the development of a single cell ( . ) to a 👶 has occurred. It’s arbitrary.
I would add: Dump anyone in the highest levels of party leadership anytime between 2016 and 2024 and anyone who endorsed the Green New Deal.
Also, a thought that has occurred to me recently: I remember after Obama was first elected Republicans were fretting that they could be locked out of power for the foreseeable future, and that the path back to power GOP leadership proposed after 2012 election was almost nothing like what actually happened. And here we are now. Things have a funny way of moving fast in ways it's hard to predict.
Very dark chocolate? 😧 I only like milk chocolate, a preference frowned upon by Dissident Liberals, regular liberals, conservatives...and pretty much everyone over the age of ten. Now *that's* what I call politically homeless! 😄
Self-care all the way! Relax on the couch with a good book. This may be old-fashioned self-care but it still works! Take a walk, get a puppy or kitten, bake cookies, listen to quiet music and meditate/pray for this world. Why is this happening you ask? Perhaps it's because we have watched too many science fiction movies? Maybe we are all dreaming that we're living in a science fiction movie? Like the old commercial, "Is it live or is it Memorex?" Sorry, folks.......it's live!
I think I may enjoy you even more when you are angry. I never thought this line would come from you, and it did make me laugh: “After all, the autogynephiles at Twitter Safety made sure to boot anyone who uttered such heresy back in the pre-Elon days.” I add to the list:
A “slow read” guided by a Substacker, of Dante’s Divine Comedy (we are right now on the Inferno, so apt for 2025)
A trip to the Met Museum to see the Caspar Friedrich exhibit. Truly Sublime.
And for me, today, a special treat: having lunch with Hippiesq!
Living in Canada, although that may not be a pleasure forever.
Watching woke progressives subjected to censorship, fear of job loss and unqualified people running the government (prog based on DEI, MAGA based on political loyalty) the way they made us suffer for many, many years: Trumpenfreude.
Bathing in his voters' remorseful tears (more Trumpenfreude).
Listening to Canadians boo the American national anthem, even as it pains me and made me cry last week. But...they chose totalitarianism. This is called Resistance, children.
Listening to a Canadian hockey game national anthem singer change one line the song...from "in all of us command," to "that only we command." Suck it, Donnyboy!
Frozen grapes. (They're delicious!)
Bad Movie Nights with my friends. Last night: Cannibalistic Humanoid Underground Dwellers and Crack Coon. (Oh stop it! The coon is an ANIMAL!!! :) )
Martinis.
Double martinis.
'80s movies.
My tempkitty who I'm taking care of until her mama gets back from Thailand.
There's already a coup in plain sight: Elon Musk is puppeteering our new cognitively-impaired president. And worse than the last guy, the new one is constitutionally incapable of giving a shit even before he sundowns.
Neither the old MAGA crew, nor the traditional Republicans, nor the libertarians are happy about this -- and unlike most liberals, those folks tend to act before they march.
I also heard it through the grapevine that everyone who ever wielded a scalpel against the body of a child in the name of "gender" is getting Brian Thompson'd, one by one, before too long. You know that old grapevine, though - never can take it with enough salt.
Learn to knit. And if you already know how to knit, learn new skills and techniques. Make toe-up socks two at a time. Make double-layered sock yarn hats (Musselburgh Hat pattern by Ysolde Teague is perfect). Learn how to do Brioche knitting (it’s addicting!), and make gorgeous Estonian Lace. There’s no feeling quite like creating something beautiful one stitch at a time.
: ) Yes, we need sane people to figure out what is worth fighting for, who don't automatically protest or support without understanding what's happening.
I see a lot of reasons to hope, especially with Robert F Kennedy, Jr at head of HHS. (As will come to light soon, he has been right all along about vaccines, the "science" saying they have no relation to autism is fraudulent science, and there is as much lack of informed consent with vaccines as with gender "medicine".)
But I worry that if actually lifesaving programs like Medicaid, Medicare, Social Security are cut, that the groups / politicians sounding the alarm on that have lost their credibility long ago.
And the digital control grid (which would have proceeded under whoever puppets Harris, just branded differently), is still being built ... (perhaps a solution is an unlikely union of sane people willing to criticize Trump / Musk objectively, not from TDS, with those who have been warning about digital prisons for years while the Trump-haters called them conspiracy theorists(?)
I'm seeking out, and, as I can, will be part of, TDS-free media who is willing to criticize when it's deserved, and not stuck in a loop of despising or cheering every single thing that happens.
** Question about the exec orders on chemical and surgical mutilation of children - Do they apply to kids who have already started the process of attempting to transition, who are already taking hormones, or are post-surgery and their bodies are dependent on continued medical interventions?
I'm all for making it harder for confused, likely gay children to poison themselves with no informed consent. But if this leaves people already taking hormones needing to just stop, that's a completely different situation. I'd really like to know more about this. Thanks so much!!!
These are fantastic, super-awesome articles about pattern recognition, media manipulation, and the importance of holding multiple truths at the same time. I think you'd appreciate these, as you're a beautiful example of depth and nuance in a polarized world. Joshua Stylman was co-founder of Three's Brewing in Brooklyn, and left during the "vaccine" mandate insanity.
Hold power accountable regardless of who wields it
I'm deeply concerned that some in the resistance are growing complacent, believing 'the good guys are now in power.' Nothing could be more dangerous. Yes, we can welcome corruption being exposed while staying vigilant about what follows - especially the risks outlined by journalists including Catherine Austin Fitts, Naomi Wolf, and Whitney Webb. They’ve warned about the emerging control grid, the unchecked power of tech oligarchs, and how financial and digital systems are being quietly restructured under the guise of reform. These warnings deserve as much scrutiny as the corruption now being dismantled." -
A laundry list of things for Democrats to keep and to dump if they ever want to win again nationwide.
Keep a woman’s right to choose for the first trimester. Dump abortion until birth unless the mother’s health is at risk.
Keep a concern for climate change and grow nuclear power. Dump intermittent, unreliable renewable energy.
Keep and develop new effective vaccines. Dump vaccine mandates.
Keep equality of opportunity for all. Dump equity of results based on discriminating against men, whites and Asians (aka D.E.I.). Recognize that D.E.I. Is unconstitutional.
Keep the protection of gay and lesbian rights. Dump men in women’s sports, private spaces and prisons. Oh, and mutilating children who might grow up to be gay.
Keep an opportunity for selective high value immigration. Dump sanctuary cities and open borders.
Keep helping the homeless find jobs and a place to live. Dump camping in cities and allowing open drug use.
Keep a concern for due process in criminal justice. Dump letting shoplifters and other petty thieves off the hook.
Do all of the above and they might find their way back to power.
Sounds like classic liberal beliefs before they went off the rails and what most moderates want.
Great list! Wonderful suggestions! Too bad the Democrats won’t do it.
Are you running for an election, Dave?
I wouldn't have thought up this particular list.
I agree with you!
What are "high value immigrants"? We are in desperate need of caregivers for the elderly and disabled, and that need is only growing as Boomers age. There are cultures where caring for the elderly with respect and dignity is a much stronger value than in the US. We don't need immigrants with tech Ph.D.s, we need people who can make sure our vulnerable elderly are properly fed, bathed, clothed, and provided with companionship and engagement.
We need people with diverse language abilities because even immigrants who came to America decades ago can lose their knowledge of English as dementia progresses and revert to primarily communicating in their first language. Families often are not in a position to provide full time care, women bear the economic brunt of cutting back on work, if not leaving the workforce entirely, to care for aging parents, leaving themselves in precarious financial condition. And then there are people who simply do not have family to care for them, particularly elderly LGB who could not marry or adopt children. They often formed supportive communities and strong friend groups, but as they age, they lose the ability to care for themselves, much less other people in their social group. Even people who did marry and have children can end up outliving their spouses/partners, siblings, and children. Immigrants who want to take on caregivers jobs are high value, whether they come with the skills or are willing to go through the training to cer certified or licensed.
Elizabeth: I liked and am in general agreement with what you said but how about training some of our unemployed or underemployed (especially minority workers) for these jobs? Must we always rush to bring in people who will work for next to nothing just to be here? Don’t we owe something to our own citizens?
I don't think the assumption that they will work for "next to nothing" is accurate. We still have minimum wage laws, and from what I see in my area, CNAs and HHAs, not to mention LPNs, make well above minimum wage. If the unemployed/under employed wanted these jobs, they would be doing them. If you deal with people who work in this industry, you'll learn there really is a difference in quality of care provided by immigrant caregivers. To be blunt, Americans don't value caregiving, and we don't value the elderly suffering with physical and cognitive disabilities. Would you rather have an immigrant caring for a loved one who comes from a culture where they consider it an honor to care for the elderly vs. an American who was forced into a training program to get off unemployment but thinks it is beneith them to have to change an old person's diaper?
I think we owe our own citizens quality care. No one is stopping any American from getting certified and becoming a CNA or HHA. They're just not doing it.
Is anyone doing abortion at birth? That sounds completely wrong, if it's happening. I don't know anyone who would support that.
kids: Many states have no end point for abortion in their laws. I don’t think many would be done. Maybe a few to protect the life of the mother or if the fetus was not viable.
What morally significant threshold in foetal development is crossed at the end of first trimester?
There is a good argument that the morally significant threshold is crossed at about the end of second trimester (24 weeks) when the cerebral synapses begin functioning and the foetus becomes capable (at least in principle) of consciousness and personhood. Whether this should simply be mapped onto the criminal law is another matter.
No morally significant threshold just what the Supreme Court used to use. At some point most people believe that the development of a single cell ( . ) to a 👶 has occurred. It’s arbitrary.
I would add: Dump anyone in the highest levels of party leadership anytime between 2016 and 2024 and anyone who endorsed the Green New Deal.
Also, a thought that has occurred to me recently: I remember after Obama was first elected Republicans were fretting that they could be locked out of power for the foreseeable future, and that the path back to power GOP leadership proposed after 2012 election was almost nothing like what actually happened. And here we are now. Things have a funny way of moving fast in ways it's hard to predict.
Very dark chocolate? 😧 I only like milk chocolate, a preference frowned upon by Dissident Liberals, regular liberals, conservatives...and pretty much everyone over the age of ten. Now *that's* what I call politically homeless! 😄
I only like white chocolate, talk about homeless. I fear I will be sent to Mars once SpaceX is up and running? Thanks Elon.
I'm not sure that my big tent can accommodate this. That's really a big ask.
Okay, fine, you're still allowed.
:)
I like both… which either makes me wish washy or really smart. Choices are always good! Love the list(s).
Makes you easy to please and so it's easier for you to be happy. Hooray!
Nailed it. Again. I will add ukelele lessons, watercolor, potato-leek soup and occasional primal screaming.
I will admit that the mass firings and aid cuts *are* taking a pretty horrific toll in my realm.
Self-care all the way! Relax on the couch with a good book. This may be old-fashioned self-care but it still works! Take a walk, get a puppy or kitten, bake cookies, listen to quiet music and meditate/pray for this world. Why is this happening you ask? Perhaps it's because we have watched too many science fiction movies? Maybe we are all dreaming that we're living in a science fiction movie? Like the old commercial, "Is it live or is it Memorex?" Sorry, folks.......it's live!
Sunscreen is a scam. Sun exposure does not cause cancer. Sunglasses are a scam. So grateful for the plethora of scams.
I think I may enjoy you even more when you are angry. I never thought this line would come from you, and it did make me laugh: “After all, the autogynephiles at Twitter Safety made sure to boot anyone who uttered such heresy back in the pre-Elon days.” I add to the list:
A “slow read” guided by a Substacker, of Dante’s Divine Comedy (we are right now on the Inferno, so apt for 2025)
A trip to the Met Museum to see the Caspar Friedrich exhibit. Truly Sublime.
And for me, today, a special treat: having lunch with Hippiesq!
Thank you, Lisa, for all you do!
Finding a horse with a saddle in Minecraft and roaming with freedom !
This is the best! I laughed so hard! Thank you!
Well turned out it was my kids, so he took it back. But an hour glorious riding!
You should do comedy more often. You're really quite good at it.
Thanks for the chuckles.
Ha! Thank you for a good laugh. 😂
I think I’m due for some dark chocolate and a bath with epsom salt. Thank you, Lisa!
Living in Canada, although that may not be a pleasure forever.
Watching woke progressives subjected to censorship, fear of job loss and unqualified people running the government (prog based on DEI, MAGA based on political loyalty) the way they made us suffer for many, many years: Trumpenfreude.
Bathing in his voters' remorseful tears (more Trumpenfreude).
Listening to Canadians boo the American national anthem, even as it pains me and made me cry last week. But...they chose totalitarianism. This is called Resistance, children.
Listening to a Canadian hockey game national anthem singer change one line the song...from "in all of us command," to "that only we command." Suck it, Donnyboy!
Frozen grapes. (They're delicious!)
Bad Movie Nights with my friends. Last night: Cannibalistic Humanoid Underground Dwellers and Crack Coon. (Oh stop it! The coon is an ANIMAL!!! :) )
Martinis.
Double martinis.
'80s movies.
My tempkitty who I'm taking care of until her mama gets back from Thailand.
Friends who know how to make me laugh!
Color.
There's already a coup in plain sight: Elon Musk is puppeteering our new cognitively-impaired president. And worse than the last guy, the new one is constitutionally incapable of giving a shit even before he sundowns.
Neither the old MAGA crew, nor the traditional Republicans, nor the libertarians are happy about this -- and unlike most liberals, those folks tend to act before they march.
I also heard it through the grapevine that everyone who ever wielded a scalpel against the body of a child in the name of "gender" is getting Brian Thompson'd, one by one, before too long. You know that old grapevine, though - never can take it with enough salt.
https://www.cnn.com/2025/02/22/us/pennsylvania-upmc-memorial-hospital-active-shooter/index.html - that one doesn't seem to have gone as planned, but c'est la vie.
Bang, bang.
Learn to knit. And if you already know how to knit, learn new skills and techniques. Make toe-up socks two at a time. Make double-layered sock yarn hats (Musselburgh Hat pattern by Ysolde Teague is perfect). Learn how to do Brioche knitting (it’s addicting!), and make gorgeous Estonian Lace. There’s no feeling quite like creating something beautiful one stitch at a time.
: ) Yes, we need sane people to figure out what is worth fighting for, who don't automatically protest or support without understanding what's happening.
I see a lot of reasons to hope, especially with Robert F Kennedy, Jr at head of HHS. (As will come to light soon, he has been right all along about vaccines, the "science" saying they have no relation to autism is fraudulent science, and there is as much lack of informed consent with vaccines as with gender "medicine".)
But I worry that if actually lifesaving programs like Medicaid, Medicare, Social Security are cut, that the groups / politicians sounding the alarm on that have lost their credibility long ago.
And the digital control grid (which would have proceeded under whoever puppets Harris, just branded differently), is still being built ... (perhaps a solution is an unlikely union of sane people willing to criticize Trump / Musk objectively, not from TDS, with those who have been warning about digital prisons for years while the Trump-haters called them conspiracy theorists(?)
I'm seeking out, and, as I can, will be part of, TDS-free media who is willing to criticize when it's deserved, and not stuck in a loop of despising or cheering every single thing that happens.
** Question about the exec orders on chemical and surgical mutilation of children - Do they apply to kids who have already started the process of attempting to transition, who are already taking hormones, or are post-surgery and their bodies are dependent on continued medical interventions?
I'm all for making it harder for confused, likely gay children to poison themselves with no informed consent. But if this leaves people already taking hormones needing to just stop, that's a completely different situation. I'd really like to know more about this. Thanks so much!!!
These are fantastic, super-awesome articles about pattern recognition, media manipulation, and the importance of holding multiple truths at the same time. I think you'd appreciate these, as you're a beautiful example of depth and nuance in a polarized world. Joshua Stylman was co-founder of Three's Brewing in Brooklyn, and left during the "vaccine" mandate insanity.
https://stylman.substack.com/p/the-pattern-beneath
"We can simultaneously:
Welcome truth coming to light
Question the timing and mechanism of disclosure
Maintain awareness of new control systems
Hold power accountable regardless of who wields it
I'm deeply concerned that some in the resistance are growing complacent, believing 'the good guys are now in power.' Nothing could be more dangerous. Yes, we can welcome corruption being exposed while staying vigilant about what follows - especially the risks outlined by journalists including Catherine Austin Fitts, Naomi Wolf, and Whitney Webb. They’ve warned about the emerging control grid, the unchecked power of tech oligarchs, and how financial and digital systems are being quietly restructured under the guise of reform. These warnings deserve as much scrutiny as the corruption now being dismantled." -
https://stylman.substack.com/p/the-pattern-beneath-continued
(& I'm almost done with a first Substack article about the importance of roots and track records for trusting media sources. ( https://anotherbetrayedliberal.substack.com/ )