Adam, it is my prayer also. I know of many otherwise sensible people (not all seniors such as myself) who are drug along by the constant MAGA drama. I was in the 5th grade in 1960. I did not care what the schoolyard bully said about me or who he was going to beat up next. I knew even then that the bully act was just that. An act to cover up the hurt inside of him.
I had enough interest in politics to watch the Nixon and JFK debates. Nixon looked dirty and desperate, sadly. Like the 1950s did in general. When JFK won, the whole world burst into living color. For a short time, there was joy and enthusiasm in most peoples.
Trump has empowered all the other fascists in the world and the defective here. He holds us all hostage in a world like the 50s.
I repeat that I hope to live to see the color come back into the world. I hope to see freedom's children live lives of happiness and security.
The parallels to the rise of the NAZIsm is frightening. I never could understand how good people could be driven to support a monster. Now I know. A complicit media, a population of angry and uneducated people and a small, amoral army of power hungry beaureaucrats and sleazy business people and con men. Too bad there is no foreign United States of America and FDR to combat them.
Well I can say with all seriousness that a year or so before Mike Lindell teamed up w/ the Dumpster I was looking for a new pillow and I actually succumbed and bought the "my pillow" and it was just awful. So you also have a lot of seniors who are also suffering from a lack of sleep using that thing to toss their support Mike's way. No sleep makes me angry too! Seriously, that pillow is elder abuse and just plain abuse. Have a good one. Stay safe.
That would be us; my husband and I have lived through so many tough times as America was growing. And now this, and watching the destruction of the Democratic process that was in place to keep the wheels turning, is now on the verge of destruction is breaking our hearts.
Adam this was so well said. I must admit I am losing faith. Unless there is a major effort to spend large dollars to reach the large Fox media audience the possibility of a Trump victory makes me fear we could see the end of the country I love. I worked with members of Congress and their staffs on healthcare issues before retirement and found cooperation between both parties. I am thankful I don’t have to do that now. Trump has caused more harm damage than any foreign advisory ever could.
As someone who has been retired for 5 years now, I can attest to the grifting of seniors by everyone and anyone maga. I get anywhere from a minimum of one to at least 3 texts every day of the week from Trump, Don Jr, Lara, Kevin McCarthy (although not since he left the House), Scalise and many other maggats. I have NEVER given a penny to any of them and never will. I don't know how they got my phone number, although as a registered Republican I suspect they got it from the local County Clerk's office. I report every one of these texts as spam and block every number that originates them. I currently have about 350 numbers on my blocked number list. Thankfully I have enough functioning brain cells to avoid the grift. How many other seniors are swindled by the maga BS? It's a real problem... Especially if the victims of this Trump's BS vote for him in November.
I get numerous texts from various Republican officials and candidates. I notice when I hit the opt-out button I am taken to the same opt-out webpage. Which leads me to believe that my contact information is being shared within the RNC without my permission. Does anyone else see a potential class action suit here? Does anyone know a class action attorney that might be interested in investigating?
For iphone: click the circle picture at top of text. then to the right click the square that says 'info'. Scroll to bottom and you will see- 'block this caller'
For Android phone: From the text conversation screen, click on the contact or number above the conversation. Select the three dots at the top right of the screen, where you'll see the “Block numbers” option.
The vast majority of the texts I get are from "secure.winred.com" . I believe that this winred.com is a campaign fundraising website for ANY and ALL Republican candidates. I may be mistaken but IIRC political messages are exempt from Federal Spam laws. I don't reply to any of them to "stop" or opt-out because, according to fraud experts, it rarely works and only confirms that the recipient is a valid number which will likely only increase the amount of texts received
I have replied STOP for political messaging from both parties because I don’t want them cluttering up my texts. It has helped but I think they have many numbers so I have to keep on it.
My parents passed away last fall and unfortunately took this dogma to their grave. Outliving their life's savings and left frightened, blaming minorities for their plight. The same politicians and their news medias that advance their ridiculous theories also took away unions that in the past, provided a decent pension for seniors. More importantly, they took their identities from the previously proud blue-collar professions. Hard work, honesty and American ideals tossed away like old furniture. Now this generation is left with nothing but fear and loathing. Worse, they are also a powerful voting bloc, wasting their votes on politicians that use them for financial gain at their loss.
Adam, keep up the good work, it's great to see a fellow ISU grade so prominent as a thought leader! Fred ISU '82
My father-in-law is as laid back as they get so I was surprised when, at a family birthday party, he started spewing Fox News garbage. I went back at him, and it's never come up again, but Fox News is brain poison and Rupert Murdoch is an enemy of the state.
When I watch Trump rallies, I see masses of people, young and old, who rejoice in the racism, xenophobia, misogyny, homophobia, cruelty, and anti-semitism of their leader. They’ve been forced by polite society to keep their prejudices under wraps until now, when Donald J Trump has made it politically correct for them to proudly fly their hate. The very idea of anyone who is not a white evangelical living a good life with equality and dignity, makes spittle fly from their snarling lips. They cheer when Trump calls immigrants “animals”( as a person with immigrant grandparents I find this one particularly offensive). They cheer when he mocks the disabled. They go wild for the idea of hating their fellow Americans for having a different worldview. It is not a function of being old, it is a function of being under-educated and overly prejudiced that makes these folks what they are. And the current attacks on are educational system guarantee that this ignorance will be perpetuated. Someday, Donald J Trump will be gone, but the hatred will live on. Principled Conservatives and Republicans can help reverse the tide, if they will. Thanks, Adam, for being a voice for reason.
Now you see how propaganda and mind control work: 1) you convince people that their life is not good and it’s someone else’s fault (name the scapegoat- Jews, Blacks, Asians, Martian’s. 2) you convince them that only you can save them from these non-human intruders. 3) you lambast, intimidate, threaten anyone who disagrees with you. 4 you take over all communications, government agencies, the military, and other organizations to tow your line. 5 Bingo, you are dictator for life. Just ask Vlady. He will show you. For god’s sake, NBC, hired Ronna Mc Daniel as a political consultant, the former RNC Chair and election denier. After much pushback they fired her today, but they will still get my letter saying that T’s early move if elected would be take make themTNBC, Trump National Broadcasting Company., and they can’t even see that. This is one of those times when evil can and will prevail if good people do nothing!
All of this is very true Adam!!I have very very angry 😡 relatives who are MAGA Republicans and Trumpie makes it worse with all the hateful things he says !!!He and his Maga clan don’t make things better!!We need to make sure Don the Orange 🍊 Con stays out of the White House!!!💙💙💙!!!
Thanks for bringing up this very important and insightful perspective -- one that is often overlooked. When my elderly mother was still alive, she was bombarded almost daily by mailings from organizations begging for donations. They did a great job of presenting photos and narratives that tore at one's heart -- almost guilting someone in making a donation. And don't get me wrong -- many organizations are very worthy of receiving financial support. But many are not -- and they are experts at knowing how to siphon money from the elderly, under the guise of providing a better world for future generations.
I agree that they do that, but the closer I get to being elderly, I don't understand it. Even as you age you are still capable of critical thinking and getting info from reliable sources.
I'm not sure I understand it either. Yet I've heard so many stories of people in their 70s and 80s (and beyond) falling for scams through mailings, and even worse, through fake emails. Some have even lost a significant part of their savings. It's a sad state we are in when the elderly are taken advantage of, instead of respected and honored for their knowledge and experience.
I think its always been like that and I don't get it. I was raised by my grandmother and a tighter fisted more cantankerous woman you never met. Although she might have been a Trump supporter because she hated everyone, but she would not have given him a dime.
I have often wondered how much more money they would all have if they could just coordinate their fundraising efforts. On top of that, we own have bogus email fundraisers that purport to be in support of A when they are actually collecting from B. Don’t know how much, but still — lack of morality is everywhere and this is the result.
1. Hate and anger seem to be a drug that people get addicted to. Someone has probably studied this, but it must initiate a chemical response in the body that is addicting.
2. I think for thousands of years, humans have had legitimate "big" things to be scared of. If you didn't store up enough food and firewood for the winter, you and your family could literally die. Natural predators (lions, tigers, bears). Human predators (other tribes, other countries, etc). You could die from a simple infection like a tooth infection.
Today we don't have many real problems that are life and death, but through 1000's of years of evolution, we are conditioned to have something to be scared of. Our politicians and media are tapping into this.
Growing up in the 70's and 80's, there was basically one hours worth of news you could watch. There was 30 minutes of local news and there was 30 minutes of the national news (Cronkite, Rather, Jennings, etc).
Then the 24 hour news network came around and they needed people to watch more. Most of waht is on CNN, FOX, Newsmax, etc. is not news, it's editorial and it's taping in the the anger and rage element to get eyes on the screen for much longer.
At least the newspapers used to clearly label the editorial section. The actual news section was governed by standards such as fact checking, multiple sources, etc.
Adam thank you. This describes my 92 yr old newsmax-addicted mother to a ‘T’. My favorite line of yours: “governance is all about one thing: living together as very different people as best we can”. Thank you.
Yup …gotta call the sociopaths out … don’t be afraid of the rage &don’t counter-aggress just call them out, expose them &hold them to account at *every* opportunity … certainly legally when it applies but also interpersonally &socially. They require boundaries &tethering to meaningful consequences. Take their money, their status, their power … it’s all they care about. Bankrupt them, isolate them, put them behind bars when they break the law. Enough is enough already.
I could not talk to my father very much in his last days due to Maga. You described the situation perfectly. I thought the old man was smarter than that. At the start of trumpism I could live with it. It just became worse with time & each visit was not fun. Knowing the old man had cancer, the end was coming and both the cancer and Maga were destroying his body and mind. He passes in Dec 2022 believing the BS. It's a terrible thing to watch. I'd pick cancer over trumpism any day.
I was 62 when he passed, the eldest child of 3. I live 3 hrs away, my brother 3 blocks. My bros. would tell me their discussions (arguments) over trump/fox. until trump, the old man was very quiet person, when he did say something, you'd better take heed because he didn't talk unless it was very important to him. In 1968 dad bought a 2 door car. We went to a store, the door was so big and heavy I had to push the door with my foot to open it. It hit the car next to us, The old man came around, saw no dent in the other car and proceeded to tell me "Respect other people and their property." Then proceeded to kick me with his pointed cowboy boot. Direct hit to the bung hole. Hurt like hell. I was 8 at the time and between then and age 18 I received 4 more encouraging words in the same fashion. To this day I strictly follow his 5 words of wisdom.
Adam that is so true. I can't understand why people are so angry. I don't watch Fox News or NewsMax or MSNBC or NBC or ABC or actually any TV news. Get most of my news from news papers, magazines and people like you. When I hear the way people describe schools, I'm appalled. I know teachers. My son is a teacher. Those things they are saying that are happening in publuc schools are not happening. No wonder maniacs go into school and shoot kids. Why do these people who say they want to protect kids doing everything they can to harm them?
Thank you Adam for bringing up Fox News!My mother watches it all the time-So do my other relatives from Nebraska!It’s very enjoying to have to listen to them spew their hatred towards other people!!They do seem angrier than they should.I don’t believe stations like Fox are helping!!!
Adam, it is my prayer also. I know of many otherwise sensible people (not all seniors such as myself) who are drug along by the constant MAGA drama. I was in the 5th grade in 1960. I did not care what the schoolyard bully said about me or who he was going to beat up next. I knew even then that the bully act was just that. An act to cover up the hurt inside of him.
I had enough interest in politics to watch the Nixon and JFK debates. Nixon looked dirty and desperate, sadly. Like the 1950s did in general. When JFK won, the whole world burst into living color. For a short time, there was joy and enthusiasm in most peoples.
Trump has empowered all the other fascists in the world and the defective here. He holds us all hostage in a world like the 50s.
I repeat that I hope to live to see the color come back into the world. I hope to see freedom's children live lives of happiness and security.
I believe you will. I hope (and pray)
The parallels to the rise of the NAZIsm is frightening. I never could understand how good people could be driven to support a monster. Now I know. A complicit media, a population of angry and uneducated people and a small, amoral army of power hungry beaureaucrats and sleazy business people and con men. Too bad there is no foreign United States of America and FDR to combat them.
Us humans are capable of amazing things, some of them good.
Yes and I'm old enough to have seen them. But malevolent greed is always there.
Really beautifully written
Reading your words Gave me goosebumps and hope thank you.
Well I can say with all seriousness that a year or so before Mike Lindell teamed up w/ the Dumpster I was looking for a new pillow and I actually succumbed and bought the "my pillow" and it was just awful. So you also have a lot of seniors who are also suffering from a lack of sleep using that thing to toss their support Mike's way. No sleep makes me angry too! Seriously, that pillow is elder abuse and just plain abuse. Have a good one. Stay safe.
Ha good point
Me too. I returned it.
Right?? It was so lumpy and flat!! It was a literal pain in my neck! LOL
Too funny...not funny tho
Truly trying you are truly hilarious!!!! 😂 😃 😄 😁
Hahaha thank you!
Great analogy!!
That would be us; my husband and I have lived through so many tough times as America was growing. And now this, and watching the destruction of the Democratic process that was in place to keep the wheels turning, is now on the verge of destruction is breaking our hearts.
Keep hope and faith. I think we pull through, but there will be some pain along the way
Adam this was so well said. I must admit I am losing faith. Unless there is a major effort to spend large dollars to reach the large Fox media audience the possibility of a Trump victory makes me fear we could see the end of the country I love. I worked with members of Congress and their staffs on healthcare issues before retirement and found cooperation between both parties. I am thankful I don’t have to do that now. Trump has caused more harm damage than any foreign advisory ever could.
Keep the faith, Russell.
Thanks. It is hard. I have read too much of the history of Hitler’s rise to power and see the similarities.
My mom survived Auschwitz. There’s always hope!
I lost family members. It is indeed scary.
Have you read any of Simon Rosenberg’s Hopium Chronicles on Substack? It’s great when I need a shot of optimism.
As someone who has been retired for 5 years now, I can attest to the grifting of seniors by everyone and anyone maga. I get anywhere from a minimum of one to at least 3 texts every day of the week from Trump, Don Jr, Lara, Kevin McCarthy (although not since he left the House), Scalise and many other maggats. I have NEVER given a penny to any of them and never will. I don't know how they got my phone number, although as a registered Republican I suspect they got it from the local County Clerk's office. I report every one of these texts as spam and block every number that originates them. I currently have about 350 numbers on my blocked number list. Thankfully I have enough functioning brain cells to avoid the grift. How many other seniors are swindled by the maga BS? It's a real problem... Especially if the victims of this Trump's BS vote for him in November.
I get numerous texts from various Republican officials and candidates. I notice when I hit the opt-out button I am taken to the same opt-out webpage. Which leads me to believe that my contact information is being shared within the RNC without my permission. Does anyone else see a potential class action suit here? Does anyone know a class action attorney that might be interested in investigating?
for texts you can click delete and report as spam button. for emails you can unsubscribe.
This is what I do, but it's becoming such a hassle to do it every day that I'm thinking about changing my phone number.
For iphone: click the circle picture at top of text. then to the right click the square that says 'info'. Scroll to bottom and you will see- 'block this caller'
For Android phone: From the text conversation screen, click on the contact or number above the conversation. Select the three dots at the top right of the screen, where you'll see the “Block numbers” option.
Yes .. I do this multiple times every day. 😔
But hopefully your post will help others who might be unfamiliar with how to do it.
The vast majority of the texts I get are from "secure.winred.com" . I believe that this winred.com is a campaign fundraising website for ANY and ALL Republican candidates. I may be mistaken but IIRC political messages are exempt from Federal Spam laws. I don't reply to any of them to "stop" or opt-out because, according to fraud experts, it rarely works and only confirms that the recipient is a valid number which will likely only increase the amount of texts received
I have replied STOP for political messaging from both parties because I don’t want them cluttering up my texts. It has helped but I think they have many numbers so I have to keep on it.
Check out the CAN-SPAM Act.
Thanks for the suggestion. Unfortunately political texts and emails are protected under the 1st amendment and therefore not prohibited under the Can-Spam Act. You'll find this by reading the Q&A on this FTC website: https://www.ftc.gov/business-guidance/blog/2015/08/candid-answers-can-spam-questions.
I had hoped to read how to stop these texts, but sadly I found out that I cannot.
My parents passed away last fall and unfortunately took this dogma to their grave. Outliving their life's savings and left frightened, blaming minorities for their plight. The same politicians and their news medias that advance their ridiculous theories also took away unions that in the past, provided a decent pension for seniors. More importantly, they took their identities from the previously proud blue-collar professions. Hard work, honesty and American ideals tossed away like old furniture. Now this generation is left with nothing but fear and loathing. Worse, they are also a powerful voting bloc, wasting their votes on politicians that use them for financial gain at their loss.
Adam, keep up the good work, it's great to see a fellow ISU grade so prominent as a thought leader! Fred ISU '82
My father-in-law is as laid back as they get so I was surprised when, at a family birthday party, he started spewing Fox News garbage. I went back at him, and it's never come up again, but Fox News is brain poison and Rupert Murdoch is an enemy of the state.
When I watch Trump rallies, I see masses of people, young and old, who rejoice in the racism, xenophobia, misogyny, homophobia, cruelty, and anti-semitism of their leader. They’ve been forced by polite society to keep their prejudices under wraps until now, when Donald J Trump has made it politically correct for them to proudly fly their hate. The very idea of anyone who is not a white evangelical living a good life with equality and dignity, makes spittle fly from their snarling lips. They cheer when Trump calls immigrants “animals”( as a person with immigrant grandparents I find this one particularly offensive). They cheer when he mocks the disabled. They go wild for the idea of hating their fellow Americans for having a different worldview. It is not a function of being old, it is a function of being under-educated and overly prejudiced that makes these folks what they are. And the current attacks on are educational system guarantee that this ignorance will be perpetuated. Someday, Donald J Trump will be gone, but the hatred will live on. Principled Conservatives and Republicans can help reverse the tide, if they will. Thanks, Adam, for being a voice for reason.
Now you see how propaganda and mind control work: 1) you convince people that their life is not good and it’s someone else’s fault (name the scapegoat- Jews, Blacks, Asians, Martian’s. 2) you convince them that only you can save them from these non-human intruders. 3) you lambast, intimidate, threaten anyone who disagrees with you. 4 you take over all communications, government agencies, the military, and other organizations to tow your line. 5 Bingo, you are dictator for life. Just ask Vlady. He will show you. For god’s sake, NBC, hired Ronna Mc Daniel as a political consultant, the former RNC Chair and election denier. After much pushback they fired her today, but they will still get my letter saying that T’s early move if elected would be take make themTNBC, Trump National Broadcasting Company., and they can’t even see that. This is one of those times when evil can and will prevail if good people do nothing!
All of this is very true Adam!!I have very very angry 😡 relatives who are MAGA Republicans and Trumpie makes it worse with all the hateful things he says !!!He and his Maga clan don’t make things better!!We need to make sure Don the Orange 🍊 Con stays out of the White House!!!💙💙💙!!!
Ditto
Thanks for bringing up this very important and insightful perspective -- one that is often overlooked. When my elderly mother was still alive, she was bombarded almost daily by mailings from organizations begging for donations. They did a great job of presenting photos and narratives that tore at one's heart -- almost guilting someone in making a donation. And don't get me wrong -- many organizations are very worthy of receiving financial support. But many are not -- and they are experts at knowing how to siphon money from the elderly, under the guise of providing a better world for future generations.
I agree that they do that, but the closer I get to being elderly, I don't understand it. Even as you age you are still capable of critical thinking and getting info from reliable sources.
I'm not sure I understand it either. Yet I've heard so many stories of people in their 70s and 80s (and beyond) falling for scams through mailings, and even worse, through fake emails. Some have even lost a significant part of their savings. It's a sad state we are in when the elderly are taken advantage of, instead of respected and honored for their knowledge and experience.
I think its always been like that and I don't get it. I was raised by my grandmother and a tighter fisted more cantankerous woman you never met. Although she might have been a Trump supporter because she hated everyone, but she would not have given him a dime.
I have often wondered how much more money they would all have if they could just coordinate their fundraising efforts. On top of that, we own have bogus email fundraisers that purport to be in support of A when they are actually collecting from B. Don’t know how much, but still — lack of morality is everywhere and this is the result.
I have 2 thoughts:
1. Hate and anger seem to be a drug that people get addicted to. Someone has probably studied this, but it must initiate a chemical response in the body that is addicting.
2. I think for thousands of years, humans have had legitimate "big" things to be scared of. If you didn't store up enough food and firewood for the winter, you and your family could literally die. Natural predators (lions, tigers, bears). Human predators (other tribes, other countries, etc). You could die from a simple infection like a tooth infection.
Today we don't have many real problems that are life and death, but through 1000's of years of evolution, we are conditioned to have something to be scared of. Our politicians and media are tapping into this.
Growing up in the 70's and 80's, there was basically one hours worth of news you could watch. There was 30 minutes of local news and there was 30 minutes of the national news (Cronkite, Rather, Jennings, etc).
Then the 24 hour news network came around and they needed people to watch more. Most of waht is on CNN, FOX, Newsmax, etc. is not news, it's editorial and it's taping in the the anger and rage element to get eyes on the screen for much longer.
At least the newspapers used to clearly label the editorial section. The actual news section was governed by standards such as fact checking, multiple sources, etc.
Adam thank you. This describes my 92 yr old newsmax-addicted mother to a ‘T’. My favorite line of yours: “governance is all about one thing: living together as very different people as best we can”. Thank you.
Yup …gotta call the sociopaths out … don’t be afraid of the rage &don’t counter-aggress just call them out, expose them &hold them to account at *every* opportunity … certainly legally when it applies but also interpersonally &socially. They require boundaries &tethering to meaningful consequences. Take their money, their status, their power … it’s all they care about. Bankrupt them, isolate them, put them behind bars when they break the law. Enough is enough already.
I could not talk to my father very much in his last days due to Maga. You described the situation perfectly. I thought the old man was smarter than that. At the start of trumpism I could live with it. It just became worse with time & each visit was not fun. Knowing the old man had cancer, the end was coming and both the cancer and Maga were destroying his body and mind. He passes in Dec 2022 believing the BS. It's a terrible thing to watch. I'd pick cancer over trumpism any day.
I'm so sorry. That must have been hard. Maybe the angry dialog kept him from thinking about his illness.
I was 62 when he passed, the eldest child of 3. I live 3 hrs away, my brother 3 blocks. My bros. would tell me their discussions (arguments) over trump/fox. until trump, the old man was very quiet person, when he did say something, you'd better take heed because he didn't talk unless it was very important to him. In 1968 dad bought a 2 door car. We went to a store, the door was so big and heavy I had to push the door with my foot to open it. It hit the car next to us, The old man came around, saw no dent in the other car and proceeded to tell me "Respect other people and their property." Then proceeded to kick me with his pointed cowboy boot. Direct hit to the bung hole. Hurt like hell. I was 8 at the time and between then and age 18 I received 4 more encouraging words in the same fashion. To this day I strictly follow his 5 words of wisdom.
My Grandmother who pretty much raised me also felt lessons were better learned when accompanied by physical punishment. Those were the days.
Adam that is so true. I can't understand why people are so angry. I don't watch Fox News or NewsMax or MSNBC or NBC or ABC or actually any TV news. Get most of my news from news papers, magazines and people like you. When I hear the way people describe schools, I'm appalled. I know teachers. My son is a teacher. Those things they are saying that are happening in publuc schools are not happening. No wonder maniacs go into school and shoot kids. Why do these people who say they want to protect kids doing everything they can to harm them?
Thank you Adam for bringing up Fox News!My mother watches it all the time-So do my other relatives from Nebraska!It’s very enjoying to have to listen to them spew their hatred towards other people!!They do seem angrier than they should.I don’t believe stations like Fox are helping!!!
I meant that I get annoyedl listening to to them !!It’s definitely not an enjoyable thing-sorry about that!!
That darn autocorrect 😂!
We knew what you meant 😉!
Sorry about your mother 😒