Great post. I don’t know how the blue states can stop supporting the red states without some form of partition. The whole idea of the USA was to band together for mutual support and fair trade. With Texas now prepared to send its national guard to Illinois the entire rationale behind uniting the states disappears.
The seeds of our dissolution are sprouting in the pacts democratic states are creating for public health. Will they want unvaccinated idiots from Florida infecting their citizens? Will the blue states want ICE goons keeping the best and brightest foreign students from their great institutions of higher learning? Who will want anything to do with the US Military invading their cities? I spent four years in the military with a stint in Vietnam. I wouldn’t have joined if a an incompetent like Hegseth had been in charge. He is slowly souring public support for what had once been a highly respected American organization.
Trump has eviscerated the best parts of our government with the joyful participation of legislators from the red states. I don’t want anything further to do with states like Florida and Texas. They have no respect for the constitution and I have no respect for them.
The current system seems unsustainable without radical transformation in either the form of our governance or the division of our nation. Some say that we are headed for a USSR type split.
European Parliamentary governments have far less problems than the US system because the additional power players keep each other in check, and so far, seem to be holding. As more and more people are fleeing Emilia Romagna due to the ignorance of the Meloni regime in investing in climate change and entire communities are being washed away by rainfall, the money center is now shifting to Southern Italy where local Provinces are increasingly being more and more independent. Talk to most people in Sardinia and Apulia about the federal government and all you hear is it's one big tax grab for the wealthy, just like in the US.
The same is happening in the US where recent population shifts are shedding a light onto how more and more college grads and retirees are leaving red states for bigger cities and their immediate surroundings where employment opportunities are much more plentiful, lifestyles are progressive and welcoming and healthcare is A+ as opposed to rural doctors who align themselves with conspiracy theories and life threatening lack of treatments.
Backlash to the recent anarchic status quo is a necessary thing everywhere.
Just accept that you will HAVE to have the tax revenues of Europe and redistribute so the poorest and their Champion dont have to rebel to survive....and you will be green! Its a matter of having the margins, representation, and opportuinities to feel safe and be able to THINK again. :( Fact: constant economc uncertainty ROBS YOU OF 10-20 IQ points (Ive felt it myself, not fun!) So, if you think MAGA is stupid - know that you can fix that instantly! :O
I don’t want to see a split of the United States. Marjorie Taylor Green also recommended a spilt. Come on!
What does a spilt do?
(1) It creates two nations that are hostile to each other. What a great way for Russia, China, North Korea, and Iran to conquer both of them. In dividing and conquering, we shall have done half the work for them!
(2) One of the nations will turn into a MAGA dictatorship. However, given how small the Democratic Party’s tent became under the Clintons, the best VP we can expect for the other nation will be a Clintonist autocracy. I was a Democrat until late 1992. When that party turned from listening to “shut up and get with the program”, I realized my voice mattered not. I have since left the Republicans as well and their MAGA cult beliefs are far worse than the arrogant limousine liberalism of the Democrats. if you try to justify the current approach of the Democrats, I have to conclude you display partisan hypocrisy.
I am an active member of the Forward Party because it is based on _principles, not positions_, it listens to all the people, thus is a large tent.
Oh, so whenever someone says anything negative about the modern Democratic Party, the current buzzword in limousine liberal circles is “bothsidesism”? Never mind the Bidens ensured Trump’s re-election! We’re supposed to pretend that didn’t happen!
You staunch Democrats can’t handle criticism much better than MAGA. You’re just not violent about it.
When you’re a hypocritical diehard partisan who runs out of facts and logic you descend to playground level insults, exactly as the MAGA do in another forum. Your childish response demonstrates what I said about you is on target. You really can’t handle adult level discourse, just as most MAGA can’t. Good night.
Excuse me?? So you criticize me for name calling then call me “jingoistic”??? How is that not hypocritical? What exactly did I post that you consider “spiteful”? Did you criticize the other person? I’m not the only one who’s reported that person’s posts.
MAGA and hyper-patriots are jingoistic. I have a bumper sticker on my car that says “VETERANS AGAINST TRUMP”. The only reason I can see for you calling me jingoistic is because I dared to criticize the Democratic Party and its leaders. Before you label others inaccurately you should practice what you preach and use the backspace key yourself.
That was exactly the same time I left the Democratic Party and announced to my friends that the US was now a fascist system. I stand by that. It was because of the DNC.
I wouldn’t use “fascist about the system in America, be sued fascism has certain political and economic beliefs, such as workers’ syndicates and forced collectivism, that aren’t seen here. Not every non-communist autocracy or dictatorship is fascist by definition. HOWEVER, the Clinton’s’ suppression of alternate views and the “shut up and get with the program” worldview IS characteristic of an intolerant, self-serving oligarchy with an exaggerated sense of entitlement.
That sense of entitlement showed in Al Gore’s challenge of the 2000 election. the media forgot that the three counties in the _then Republican-favoring_ panhandle are on _Central Time, not Eastern Time_. At least three major networks called the vote an hour early so some voters there stayed home. Gore didn’t even mention that because I’m certain he knew they voted more Republican. He focused on the “hanging chads”, mainly in the Miami area because voter error was large. The major Florida newspapers liked at the chads after the SCOTUS decision. Five or six concluded Bush won; only one concluded Gore won.
Well, guess who seemed to copy the Clinton-Gore roadmap of suppressing internal dissent, ignoring opposition votes, and challenging elections? Donald Trump.
Yes. Putin would like that - that’s probably what he’s been working toward for decades. Putin knows that was a downfall for Russia, and they have not recovered their strength as a nation.
Anti-fascist and anti-biblical worldview theocracy is the majority in the country; somewhere around 55 to 45 based on state amendment votes to preserve reproductive rights for women.
For that reason we can vote our way out of this with 100 million blue voters operating with one purpose to produce a 49 state blue election map in 2028 will put an end to the Republican Party. It will be a natural death because the only people they will have left believing in made up reality will be those with a biblical worldview. Their maximum number is about 50 million as far as I can tell. I am.
An emergency 2026 Continental Congress operating through at least 2028 is the means to put an end into the Republican Party and it’s bullshit tyranny
Search E2026CC or. Rational 1776 Revival on Substack her how to get it done.
AAAAHHHHHHH!!! Give me 18 months, I can't get out of TX any faster!!!!...seriously considering CO, seems to be one of the few that aren't entirely drowning in stupid red hat people. 🤬🤬🤬
Colorado is beautiful but there is a lot of ignorance from the older generations that vote for people like ex-pole dancer and brothel owner Lauren Boebert. Some of the state is a red wasteland.
*I don’t know how the blue states can stop supporting the red states without some form of partition*
Dems can work with some Republicans to disempower the federal government and let states fill the void--except so many Dems won't do that, because they're in denial.
I think that blue states need to stop saving red states with blue state monies. It all comes down to money since that is the only language we have in common. 90 % hold wealth and 10% sustain the country with sweat, blood and tears. How is that sustainable?
Individuals pay taxes to the federal government, not states, so this oft repeated strategy falls right on its face. Since your taxes are deducted and paid by your employer, there’s not a thing a blue state government can do about it, at least not that I’ve heard.
This is spot on. My own brother lives in that alternative reality. I recently shared facts with him about red states having the highest crime rates. At first he texted "Lies!" Then I suspect he did a bit of research. He explained Mississippi's high crime rate was due to a large black population that was more violent than whites. This, despite the fact that nearly all mass shootings are conducted by white men. I think history will prove that the most evil players right now are the media liars and disinformationists.
Closed minds that will never open. And, mainstream media followed right along like a lemming. However, will they survive with ads that may never be seen?
I have to agree that we are wasting our breath trying to persuade. Would ignoring their voices completely be the answer and let them talk to the wind. Blink and move on!
Guess when their children and grandchildren end up in iron lungs, die from measles, etc. and large numbers of family members and neighbors die from Covid. Maybe they’ll stop living in Fantasyland. Won’t hold my breath.
I agree with you. I don’t think MAGA and the fascist take over of the US could have happened without Fox “News” spinning false narratives for years. They at one time (maybe still do) had the highest number of viewers of all news networks. When faced with the Dominion lawsuit they rightfully claimed that they were not a news agency, rather an entertainment agency. If any news agency is spreading disinformation to the level that Fox does, they should have their licenses pulled. Fox is a disinformation machine.
They should all have to pay big fines for their free speech that is purposefully destroying our national sanity. We should begin simultaneously fact checking speeches and interviews and run the facts next to the event in real time. Jobs for the unemployed! A win win!
This is a variation of Hillary’s “deplorables” and a poor one at it. Dude, your Party managed to lose in short order the three branches of our Government. Meanwhile keep flying over the real America from Left Coast to Mandami’s NYC with a pit stop to see how Pritzger’s Weigh watchers diet is doing. FAIL.
This is exactly right - succinctly and explicitly stated. This is a road map for how the rational of us need to partition the non-reality based from influencing government, culture and politics. I live in a blood-red state with a MAGA- dominated government. That 90% of citizens here believe as you described is a testament to the 50 year gop program to destroy public education and critical thinking. This will not be fixed easily, quickly or painlessly - I am hoping it will not need to be fixed violently...
I'm in MO. Our governor just totally capitulated to Dump & redistricted MO. Gee, such a surprise! A whole ( 1) seat ( which I realize every one counts, in large amounts), but actually tossing the constitution, etc....over 1 seat. Of course, an African American held seat ( go figure, right?) That's how you know, they know they suck. Clawing & law bending/ breaking over 1 seat. You guys can't overcome that? What about all your great policies?!?! 😅😭
While reading I'm nodding my head, thinking how very true and well written. It's factual without all the emotional baggage attached. A call to action that is reasonable.
None of us can reason with insanity so it's best we do what we can to prevail.
Comment before reading: “Have a multiparty democracy that gives the people more degrees of freedom over policy differences, and helps box out authoritarian takeovers”.
We are a transitional species with a rational cortex grafted onto an earlier nonverbal method of surviving in the world. The two are often at odds, and the more so as we understand more about how the world and humans work.
Which side do we choose to believe? It takes education to contradict our emotions when the facts don't agree with our feelings. We have Murdoch et alia to thank for the juicing of emotions and the denial of facts, e.g. the $787m Dominion settlement.
I have written recently that, unfortunately, you cannot offer facts to an emotionally-oriented person and expect them to change; they must be approached at an emotional level. Given their lack of empathy, their joy at sadism, even, I do not know what form this approach must take. I do know that it cannot be confrontational, because that strengthens their them/us belief.
Trump followers continue with their alternative reality because they are so deep in the rabbit hole of imaginary facts that if they took the time to question any of their untruths, their hole house of cards would collapse. This is why genuine science and objective reality is given no credence by them. Questioning any of these “facts” would show just how incredibly stupid they have been.
Excuse me? I got interested in Trump because I already knew anthropogenic climate change is a hoax and vaccines kill. I didn't decide climate change is a hoax and vaccines kill because I supported Trump.
The thing is, I was dead against oil and CO2 and had every vaccine going. The more I learned, the more I changed my mind. I may now be wrong, but I am able to change my mind. And isn't that the point of the article? Can YOU do that?
Certs not. I can't tell if the author's point is, he thinks he holds the right opinions, therefore he COULD change his mind, but doesn't need to: or if he doesn't need to change his mind therefore he's right, unlike those he disagrees with, who are wrong, and should.
I agree with one of your ideas. A blue country with its respect for the Constitution, the rule of law, everyone’s equal rights, women controlling their own bodies and reality. Elections are safe and fair. Taxes go to run the government of blue states.
Then a separate red state country where a king exists, lies are truth, their version of reality and taking away rights of every citizen, that’s what authoritarianism is. Rigged elections and no one controls the King no matter how fucking crazy and criminal he is. Let red states government work with what taxes they pay (and go bankrupt) No more blue states bailing them out.
We’ll see which country not only survives but thrives.
Good idea until the king of red states decides to invade the blue states. Russia wins. Russia found their useful idiot in trump & they are doing what they promised all those years ago: they will destroy us from within IF WE LET THEM.
That’s not a forgone conclusion. Not even close. Without money what can he do? Call up an army that won’t be paid? That can defect to blue states where there’s money to pay them. And there aren’t personnel to fight for blue states? And you’re already resigned to blue states losing and Russia “winning?”
Russia needed help from other countries just to keep up the fight to steal Ukraine’s land. How could they take on the U.S.?
So we just sit here and hand over this country to Russia without even putting up a fight?? WOW.
Oh, you totally misunderstand me. I’m a fighter. I say we resist. I say we fight but the reality is what’s happening right now is exactly what Russia’s been trying to do to us for nearly 50 years: destroy us from within. Trump has plenty of money behind him. It’s more lucrative for billionaires to divide us and keep us stupid because then we’re easier to control. Don’t you think it’s counterproductive to attack someone who’s just playing “devil’s advocate” in the conversation? If you can’t see the big picture before you make a move, how can you predict whether or not that move will succeed? If a soft secession is required to get rid of the trump regime, I’m all for it-sign me up! Let’s be real and not underestimate our opponent.
Don’t blame me for what you said. You shot down my comment, you wrote as if don’t bother doing anything about the situation we’re in because Putin’s going to win anyway, he’s been plotting this for 50 years.
You can’t predict either but you did.
Who said I underestimated the opponent?? Not me.
Without money there’s not a damn thing the traitor can do. One huge Republican donor has already been exposed as being in the Epstein files and the victims are just getting started. This could easily blow this regime apart. He’s lost part of MAGA when they wanted the Epstein files released and he called them stupid. Even they are catching on that he’s protecting himself. I won’t be surprised if Clinton was one that raped girls but Dems aren’t the party in power.
There’s so many ways this could go and speculating Putin will win just because he’s been plotting it forever doesn’t mean that will happen and the Republican Party could easily implode on their own once the truth comes out.
At this point I don’t care what it takes to bring this fascist regime down. Democrats will be there to pick up the pieces.
No one shot down your argument. No one blamed you for anything. You are clearly some one who likes to argue with everyone-even those who share your beliefs. Please channel that negative energy toward the MAGATS who brought us here. Wish you well.
The southern states learned a tough lesson in Civil War #1 when their lack of money and resources caused them to lose the war in the long term. In Civil War #2, the same thing would happen. Red states just don't have the economic resources to outlast the blues in a stand off. Plus, the rest of the world (with exception of shitholes like Russia and Hungary) would lean in to support the blues, whether for moral reasoning or economic benefit. Besides, remember which sides wore what colors in The Revolutionary War... it's come full circle.
Obviously this regime doesn’t know history. The traitor idolizes Hitler, look how that ended for him and his SS. And Mussolini and Ceausescu. Or even the Rosenbergs for betraying this country.
This is an amazing post and one that has made me feel better than I have in a long time. But what do states like NC, where I live, do when we have democratic state government officials, republican legislature and gerrymandering all over the state. I guess this is where our mostly progressive large cities, Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill, Charlotte must create their own local governments and policies to help its citizens.
Given the ongoing environmental degradation from red states that think the EPA is a mistake and that any business is better than no business, no matter how badly their citizenry gets poisoned, I can only envision property values going down not up at least compared to the rest of the country. Some of the many issues facing deep red states.I suspect are caused by the pollution and led and other heavy metal poisons their population endures. If you want to fight it, that's a good place to start. If you want to flee it, sooner is probably better than later.
Yup, once the Rational States of America Alliance is created, they must reach out to the rational cities with support. Cities have a certain autonomy, but may need help when it comes to breaking illegal (irrational, unjust laws). Emergency evacuations for women needing rational reproductive medical care or clandestine women’s health cells. Clandestine vaccination programs…. The needs will be real.
That sounds a lot like Pennsylvania, except that we now have a 1-seat Dem majority in the PA House, which is tenuous, but has saved us from some really bad legislation. The budget battles are a prolonged bloodbath that are often long overdue. We have achieved some modest success in improving the fairness of redistricting on the Congressional level, but much less success on the state level. We were moving toward an independent citizens' commission, but now with the Trump-Republican power grab in Texas, that's probably not going anywhere too soon.
Same issue in Arizona. I’m not even sure how we determine what is a Blue state and what is a Red state. We co-exist side by side no matter where we are.
Exactly! Also, getting a few more states to join the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact would be a huge help, until something can be done about the Electoral College and the abuses that have stemmed from that, like the current state level "winner take all" laws that award that award all of a state’s electoral votes to the candidate receiving the most popular votes in that particular state.
The National Popular Vote law will guarantee the Presidency to the candidate who receives the most popular votes in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. It will apply the one-person-one-vote principle to presidential elections and make every vote equal.
We need proportional representation across all states in voting for national elections. Only states totaling 61 more EC votes are needed to reach 270. If Nevada (passed in both state houses) N. Carolina, Virginia, Michigan and Arizona (passed in one legislative chamber) are added, there will be enough EC votes for a majority. https://www.nationalpopularvote.com/state-status
1. “This is the future: Two Americas, each governing according to their own version of reality.”
2. “Reality has a way of asserting itself through money.”
It’s a shame that blue states have to spend its resources fending off these knuckle dragging fascists in the federal government and the red states but they will and the smart money will follow. Statement 1 and Statement 2 are mutually reinforcing because the federal government and red states are hell bent on adopting economically destructive policies and practices leaving only blue states as a safer haven for markets to function. We are already seeing blue states cooperating and coordinating, most notably California, Oregon, Washington and Hawaii on vaccinations acknowledging that the CDC is no longer functioning from the man with the tape worm brain. This is just the beginning in my opinion. There’s too much wealth in this country for the wealthy to simply watch these baboons burn it to the ground. Markets find fertile ground.
Great points. And a group of northeastern states are also now planning to collaborate on vaccines/vaccination policy which could be expanded to cover other essential health and healthcare policy. We know what to do, we just need to get on with it.
Yes. It takes time to sort things out when you find out your dad’s a pedo rapist and it’s no longer safe to live in the house you’ve called home your entire life.
Great post. I don’t know how the blue states can stop supporting the red states without some form of partition. The whole idea of the USA was to band together for mutual support and fair trade. With Texas now prepared to send its national guard to Illinois the entire rationale behind uniting the states disappears.
The seeds of our dissolution are sprouting in the pacts democratic states are creating for public health. Will they want unvaccinated idiots from Florida infecting their citizens? Will the blue states want ICE goons keeping the best and brightest foreign students from their great institutions of higher learning? Who will want anything to do with the US Military invading their cities? I spent four years in the military with a stint in Vietnam. I wouldn’t have joined if a an incompetent like Hegseth had been in charge. He is slowly souring public support for what had once been a highly respected American organization.
Trump has eviscerated the best parts of our government with the joyful participation of legislators from the red states. I don’t want anything further to do with states like Florida and Texas. They have no respect for the constitution and I have no respect for them.
The current system seems unsustainable without radical transformation in either the form of our governance or the division of our nation. Some say that we are headed for a USSR type split.
European Parliamentary governments have far less problems than the US system because the additional power players keep each other in check, and so far, seem to be holding. As more and more people are fleeing Emilia Romagna due to the ignorance of the Meloni regime in investing in climate change and entire communities are being washed away by rainfall, the money center is now shifting to Southern Italy where local Provinces are increasingly being more and more independent. Talk to most people in Sardinia and Apulia about the federal government and all you hear is it's one big tax grab for the wealthy, just like in the US.
The same is happening in the US where recent population shifts are shedding a light onto how more and more college grads and retirees are leaving red states for bigger cities and their immediate surroundings where employment opportunities are much more plentiful, lifestyles are progressive and welcoming and healthcare is A+ as opposed to rural doctors who align themselves with conspiracy theories and life threatening lack of treatments.
Backlash to the recent anarchic status quo is a necessary thing everywhere.
Just accept that you will HAVE to have the tax revenues of Europe and redistribute so the poorest and their Champion dont have to rebel to survive....and you will be green! Its a matter of having the margins, representation, and opportuinities to feel safe and be able to THINK again. :( Fact: constant economc uncertainty ROBS YOU OF 10-20 IQ points (Ive felt it myself, not fun!) So, if you think MAGA is stupid - know that you can fix that instantly! :O
I don’t want to see a split of the United States. Marjorie Taylor Green also recommended a spilt. Come on!
What does a spilt do?
(1) It creates two nations that are hostile to each other. What a great way for Russia, China, North Korea, and Iran to conquer both of them. In dividing and conquering, we shall have done half the work for them!
(2) One of the nations will turn into a MAGA dictatorship. However, given how small the Democratic Party’s tent became under the Clintons, the best VP we can expect for the other nation will be a Clintonist autocracy. I was a Democrat until late 1992. When that party turned from listening to “shut up and get with the program”, I realized my voice mattered not. I have since left the Republicans as well and their MAGA cult beliefs are far worse than the arrogant limousine liberalism of the Democrats. if you try to justify the current approach of the Democrats, I have to conclude you display partisan hypocrisy.
I am an active member of the Forward Party because it is based on _principles, not positions_, it listens to all the people, thus is a large tent.
Awaiting your reply, Mr. Armitage.
"Clintonist autocracy"
That's preposterous bothsidesism
Oh, so whenever someone says anything negative about the modern Democratic Party, the current buzzword in limousine liberal circles is “bothsidesism”? Never mind the Bidens ensured Trump’s re-election! We’re supposed to pretend that didn’t happen!
You staunch Democrats can’t handle criticism much better than MAGA. You’re just not violent about it.
Nice try, Strawman.
When you’re a hypocritical diehard partisan who runs out of facts and logic you descend to playground level insults, exactly as the MAGA do in another forum. Your childish response demonstrates what I said about you is on target. You really can’t handle adult level discourse, just as most MAGA can’t. Good night.
Agreed Wales! Sadly too many people are still stuck, believing dems care about them
Policy not party please. Name calling makes people who believe in facts as bad as those who don't.
Every time you type something spiteful and jingoistic, stop, think again, and use the backspace key please
Excuse me?? So you criticize me for name calling then call me “jingoistic”??? How is that not hypocritical? What exactly did I post that you consider “spiteful”? Did you criticize the other person? I’m not the only one who’s reported that person’s posts.
MAGA and hyper-patriots are jingoistic. I have a bumper sticker on my car that says “VETERANS AGAINST TRUMP”. The only reason I can see for you calling me jingoistic is because I dared to criticize the Democratic Party and its leaders. Before you label others inaccurately you should practice what you preach and use the backspace key yourself.
Never mind that it is accurate? I’m tired of those who would defend such behavior from the DNC - it’s a big part of what brought us to this point.
Which behavior are you referring to? What have I condoned?
Blue states join Canada
Great! :D
I feel the first thing you neef to do is to replace media. It no longer functions as a debate platform
Use YouTube to keep constant spotlight on the book the spirit level - that explains EXACTLY why the US falls apart now.
Ill be in contact with you!
That was exactly the same time I left the Democratic Party and announced to my friends that the US was now a fascist system. I stand by that. It was because of the DNC.
I wouldn’t use “fascist about the system in America, be sued fascism has certain political and economic beliefs, such as workers’ syndicates and forced collectivism, that aren’t seen here. Not every non-communist autocracy or dictatorship is fascist by definition. HOWEVER, the Clinton’s’ suppression of alternate views and the “shut up and get with the program” worldview IS characteristic of an intolerant, self-serving oligarchy with an exaggerated sense of entitlement.
That sense of entitlement showed in Al Gore’s challenge of the 2000 election. the media forgot that the three counties in the _then Republican-favoring_ panhandle are on _Central Time, not Eastern Time_. At least three major networks called the vote an hour early so some voters there stayed home. Gore didn’t even mention that because I’m certain he knew they voted more Republican. He focused on the “hanging chads”, mainly in the Miami area because voter error was large. The major Florida newspapers liked at the chads after the SCOTUS decision. Five or six concluded Bush won; only one concluded Gore won.
Well, guess who seemed to copy the Clinton-Gore roadmap of suppressing internal dissent, ignoring opposition votes, and challenging elections? Donald Trump.
Still no response, Mr. Armitage. You’re definitely not Viktor Kravchuk or Garry Kasparov.
Yes. Putin would like that - that’s probably what he’s been working toward for decades. Putin knows that was a downfall for Russia, and they have not recovered their strength as a nation.
Anti-fascist and anti-biblical worldview theocracy is the majority in the country; somewhere around 55 to 45 based on state amendment votes to preserve reproductive rights for women.
For that reason we can vote our way out of this with 100 million blue voters operating with one purpose to produce a 49 state blue election map in 2028 will put an end to the Republican Party. It will be a natural death because the only people they will have left believing in made up reality will be those with a biblical worldview. Their maximum number is about 50 million as far as I can tell. I am.
An emergency 2026 Continental Congress operating through at least 2028 is the means to put an end into the Republican Party and it’s bullshit tyranny
Search E2026CC or. Rational 1776 Revival on Substack her how to get it done.
AAAAHHHHHHH!!! Give me 18 months, I can't get out of TX any faster!!!!...seriously considering CO, seems to be one of the few that aren't entirely drowning in stupid red hat people. 🤬🤬🤬
Colorado is beautiful but there is a lot of ignorance from the older generations that vote for people like ex-pole dancer and brothel owner Lauren Boebert. Some of the state is a red wasteland.
Avoid Boebert’s district
Wait to go to Colorado, the housing market will soften when Sp@ce Force leaves.
Same.
What if Chicagoans massed outside the Great Lakes Naval Center and blocked ICEmen from leaving? Take a stand, Chicago!
*I don’t know how the blue states can stop supporting the red states without some form of partition*
Dems can work with some Republicans to disempower the federal government and let states fill the void--except so many Dems won't do that, because they're in denial.
Name "some Republicans" they could work with?
Freshman Utah Sen. John Curtis, perhaps Rep. Thomas Massie…
Dems are in denial and repugnants are lost
I think that blue states need to stop saving red states with blue state monies. It all comes down to money since that is the only language we have in common. 90 % hold wealth and 10% sustain the country with sweat, blood and tears. How is that sustainable?
Individuals pay taxes to the federal government, not states, so this oft repeated strategy falls right on its face. Since your taxes are deducted and paid by your employer, there’s not a thing a blue state government can do about it, at least not that I’ve heard.
So, why isn't the military stopping this carnage? Surely, they're not ALL sycophants?
Yes…
I share your view Buzz Roberts.
This is spot on. My own brother lives in that alternative reality. I recently shared facts with him about red states having the highest crime rates. At first he texted "Lies!" Then I suspect he did a bit of research. He explained Mississippi's high crime rate was due to a large black population that was more violent than whites. This, despite the fact that nearly all mass shootings are conducted by white men. I think history will prove that the most evil players right now are the media liars and disinformationists.
sad for your family. Similar disinformation in mine
Closed minds that will never open. And, mainstream media followed right along like a lemming. However, will they survive with ads that may never be seen?
I have to agree that we are wasting our breath trying to persuade. Would ignoring their voices completely be the answer and let them talk to the wind. Blink and move on!
Listening to words can become our cage. Observing following and understanding actions can be our freedom.
Guess when their children and grandchildren end up in iron lungs, die from measles, etc. and large numbers of family members and neighbors die from Covid. Maybe they’ll stop living in Fantasyland. Won’t hold my breath.
I agree with you. I don’t think MAGA and the fascist take over of the US could have happened without Fox “News” spinning false narratives for years. They at one time (maybe still do) had the highest number of viewers of all news networks. When faced with the Dominion lawsuit they rightfully claimed that they were not a news agency, rather an entertainment agency. If any news agency is spreading disinformation to the level that Fox does, they should have their licenses pulled. Fox is a disinformation machine.
They should all have to pay big fines for their free speech that is purposefully destroying our national sanity. We should begin simultaneously fact checking speeches and interviews and run the facts next to the event in real time. Jobs for the unemployed! A win win!
Wish you well.
You too certainly. Affirming we make it through this insanity to better times.
And people who feel smart because the internet told them so.
This is a variation of Hillary’s “deplorables” and a poor one at it. Dude, your Party managed to lose in short order the three branches of our Government. Meanwhile keep flying over the real America from Left Coast to Mandami’s NYC with a pit stop to see how Pritzger’s Weigh watchers diet is doing. FAIL.
This is exactly right - succinctly and explicitly stated. This is a road map for how the rational of us need to partition the non-reality based from influencing government, culture and politics. I live in a blood-red state with a MAGA- dominated government. That 90% of citizens here believe as you described is a testament to the 50 year gop program to destroy public education and critical thinking. This will not be fixed easily, quickly or painlessly - I am hoping it will not need to be fixed violently...
This is great. I think it may never be fixed in this generation but maybe the next generation.
I’m just hoping John Brown is wrong this time because our sins have not been cleansed yet and I hope it’s not by yet more blood. ✊✌️🫶
I live in a state like you describe. MAGA is so entrenched here I cannot see any hope. Everyone watches Fox like it’s the gospel hour. So frustrating!
same here - on steroids...I'm in TN
OK here. Awful!
I can sympathize. I wish there was a way to de-program the cult.
I'm in MO. Our governor just totally capitulated to Dump & redistricted MO. Gee, such a surprise! A whole ( 1) seat ( which I realize every one counts, in large amounts), but actually tossing the constitution, etc....over 1 seat. Of course, an African American held seat ( go figure, right?) That's how you know, they know they suck. Clawing & law bending/ breaking over 1 seat. You guys can't overcome that? What about all your great policies?!?! 😅😭
Not as long as we have Fox and other RW news!
I was in the hospital recently and therapists loved my room cause I was only one who didn’t have Fox on!
I avoid retail establishments assiduously as I refuse to be bombarded with r/w propaganda. Thank goodness for curbside pickup!!
Thank you for another excellent post.
While reading I'm nodding my head, thinking how very true and well written. It's factual without all the emotional baggage attached. A call to action that is reasonable.
None of us can reason with insanity so it's best we do what we can to prevail.
Glad you enjoyed!
Comment before reading: “Have a multiparty democracy that gives the people more degrees of freedom over policy differences, and helps box out authoritarian takeovers”.
All great ideas
We are a transitional species with a rational cortex grafted onto an earlier nonverbal method of surviving in the world. The two are often at odds, and the more so as we understand more about how the world and humans work.
Which side do we choose to believe? It takes education to contradict our emotions when the facts don't agree with our feelings. We have Murdoch et alia to thank for the juicing of emotions and the denial of facts, e.g. the $787m Dominion settlement.
I have written recently that, unfortunately, you cannot offer facts to an emotionally-oriented person and expect them to change; they must be approached at an emotional level. Given their lack of empathy, their joy at sadism, even, I do not know what form this approach must take. I do know that it cannot be confrontational, because that strengthens their them/us belief.
Trump followers continue with their alternative reality because they are so deep in the rabbit hole of imaginary facts that if they took the time to question any of their untruths, their hole house of cards would collapse. This is why genuine science and objective reality is given no credence by them. Questioning any of these “facts” would show just how incredibly stupid they have been.
They do make it really difficult for us to believe they aren’t stupid.
That explains their sudden reluctance to see the Epstein files.
Excuse me? I got interested in Trump because I already knew anthropogenic climate change is a hoax and vaccines kill. I didn't decide climate change is a hoax and vaccines kill because I supported Trump.
As stated in the article, facts matter.
You are a certifiable idiot
The thing is, I was dead against oil and CO2 and had every vaccine going. The more I learned, the more I changed my mind. I may now be wrong, but I am able to change my mind. And isn't that the point of the article? Can YOU do that?
Sarcasm !
Snark, amirite?
Certs not. I can't tell if the author's point is, he thinks he holds the right opinions, therefore he COULD change his mind, but doesn't need to: or if he doesn't need to change his mind therefore he's right, unlike those he disagrees with, who are wrong, and should.
I agree with one of your ideas. A blue country with its respect for the Constitution, the rule of law, everyone’s equal rights, women controlling their own bodies and reality. Elections are safe and fair. Taxes go to run the government of blue states.
Then a separate red state country where a king exists, lies are truth, their version of reality and taking away rights of every citizen, that’s what authoritarianism is. Rigged elections and no one controls the King no matter how fucking crazy and criminal he is. Let red states government work with what taxes they pay (and go bankrupt) No more blue states bailing them out.
We’ll see which country not only survives but thrives.
We’ll see which country goes down in flames.
Good idea until the king of red states decides to invade the blue states. Russia wins. Russia found their useful idiot in trump & they are doing what they promised all those years ago: they will destroy us from within IF WE LET THEM.
That’s not a forgone conclusion. Not even close. Without money what can he do? Call up an army that won’t be paid? That can defect to blue states where there’s money to pay them. And there aren’t personnel to fight for blue states? And you’re already resigned to blue states losing and Russia “winning?”
Russia needed help from other countries just to keep up the fight to steal Ukraine’s land. How could they take on the U.S.?
So we just sit here and hand over this country to Russia without even putting up a fight?? WOW.
Oh, you totally misunderstand me. I’m a fighter. I say we resist. I say we fight but the reality is what’s happening right now is exactly what Russia’s been trying to do to us for nearly 50 years: destroy us from within. Trump has plenty of money behind him. It’s more lucrative for billionaires to divide us and keep us stupid because then we’re easier to control. Don’t you think it’s counterproductive to attack someone who’s just playing “devil’s advocate” in the conversation? If you can’t see the big picture before you make a move, how can you predict whether or not that move will succeed? If a soft secession is required to get rid of the trump regime, I’m all for it-sign me up! Let’s be real and not underestimate our opponent.
Don’t blame me for what you said. You shot down my comment, you wrote as if don’t bother doing anything about the situation we’re in because Putin’s going to win anyway, he’s been plotting this for 50 years.
You can’t predict either but you did.
Who said I underestimated the opponent?? Not me.
Without money there’s not a damn thing the traitor can do. One huge Republican donor has already been exposed as being in the Epstein files and the victims are just getting started. This could easily blow this regime apart. He’s lost part of MAGA when they wanted the Epstein files released and he called them stupid. Even they are catching on that he’s protecting himself. I won’t be surprised if Clinton was one that raped girls but Dems aren’t the party in power.
There’s so many ways this could go and speculating Putin will win just because he’s been plotting it forever doesn’t mean that will happen and the Republican Party could easily implode on their own once the truth comes out.
At this point I don’t care what it takes to bring this fascist regime down. Democrats will be there to pick up the pieces.
No one shot down your argument. No one blamed you for anything. You are clearly some one who likes to argue with everyone-even those who share your beliefs. Please channel that negative energy toward the MAGATS who brought us here. Wish you well.
The southern states learned a tough lesson in Civil War #1 when their lack of money and resources caused them to lose the war in the long term. In Civil War #2, the same thing would happen. Red states just don't have the economic resources to outlast the blues in a stand off. Plus, the rest of the world (with exception of shitholes like Russia and Hungary) would lean in to support the blues, whether for moral reasoning or economic benefit. Besides, remember which sides wore what colors in The Revolutionary War... it's come full circle.
Absolutely! We have the advantage, it's time to use it!
Obviously this regime doesn’t know history. The traitor idolizes Hitler, look how that ended for him and his SS. And Mussolini and Ceausescu. Or even the Rosenbergs for betraying this country.
But did the South learn their lesson ?
"We don't vote on whether gravity exists."
I already love this saying.
This is an amazing post and one that has made me feel better than I have in a long time. But what do states like NC, where I live, do when we have democratic state government officials, republican legislature and gerrymandering all over the state. I guess this is where our mostly progressive large cities, Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill, Charlotte must create their own local governments and policies to help its citizens.
I'm working on a sort of "Red State Resistance Blueprint"
Don’t forget a plan for those of us who own property & have families in a red state but think like we should live in a blue state.
Given the ongoing environmental degradation from red states that think the EPA is a mistake and that any business is better than no business, no matter how badly their citizenry gets poisoned, I can only envision property values going down not up at least compared to the rest of the country. Some of the many issues facing deep red states.I suspect are caused by the pollution and led and other heavy metal poisons their population endures. If you want to fight it, that's a good place to start. If you want to flee it, sooner is probably better than later.
Thank you Elena. I needed to revisit this piece again.
Thank you! That would be so helpful! You and Heather Cox Richardson keep me going!
And Jonathan Larsen
Yup, once the Rational States of America Alliance is created, they must reach out to the rational cities with support. Cities have a certain autonomy, but may need help when it comes to breaking illegal (irrational, unjust laws). Emergency evacuations for women needing rational reproductive medical care or clandestine women’s health cells. Clandestine vaccination programs…. The needs will be real.
Great. I need very clear, specific To Do list.
Hurry
That sounds a lot like Pennsylvania, except that we now have a 1-seat Dem majority in the PA House, which is tenuous, but has saved us from some really bad legislation. The budget battles are a prolonged bloodbath that are often long overdue. We have achieved some modest success in improving the fairness of redistricting on the Congressional level, but much less success on the state level. We were moving toward an independent citizens' commission, but now with the Trump-Republican power grab in Texas, that's probably not going anywhere too soon.
And Asheville.
Same issue in Arizona. I’m not even sure how we determine what is a Blue state and what is a Red state. We co-exist side by side no matter where we are.
Ranked Choice Voting would help. A candidate supported by only one third of the voters would never win.
YES! We need ranked-choice voting.
Exactly! Also, getting a few more states to join the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact would be a huge help, until something can be done about the Electoral College and the abuses that have stemmed from that, like the current state level "winner take all" laws that award that award all of a state’s electoral votes to the candidate receiving the most popular votes in that particular state.
The National Popular Vote law will guarantee the Presidency to the candidate who receives the most popular votes in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. It will apply the one-person-one-vote principle to presidential elections and make every vote equal.
We need proportional representation across all states in voting for national elections. Only states totaling 61 more EC votes are needed to reach 270. If Nevada (passed in both state houses) N. Carolina, Virginia, Michigan and Arizona (passed in one legislative chamber) are added, there will be enough EC votes for a majority. https://www.nationalpopularvote.com/state-status
I believe there’s a subset of this 35% who want to admit they were wrong, but can’t. Their brains haven’t fully
atrophied. Maybe there need to be 10-step support programs to help them extricate themselves from MAGA World.
Just like any other cult.
This cult is destroying America as we knew it
Sooooooo good, Christopher! Sharing this everywhere.
Thank you so much 😊
Every word of this post is true. And it's frightening.
I never imagined that 25 years into the 21st century, we'd actually be evolving in reverse.
D-E-V-O
Indeed.
Two of the wisest statements in this post:
1. “This is the future: Two Americas, each governing according to their own version of reality.”
2. “Reality has a way of asserting itself through money.”
It’s a shame that blue states have to spend its resources fending off these knuckle dragging fascists in the federal government and the red states but they will and the smart money will follow. Statement 1 and Statement 2 are mutually reinforcing because the federal government and red states are hell bent on adopting economically destructive policies and practices leaving only blue states as a safer haven for markets to function. We are already seeing blue states cooperating and coordinating, most notably California, Oregon, Washington and Hawaii on vaccinations acknowledging that the CDC is no longer functioning from the man with the tape worm brain. This is just the beginning in my opinion. There’s too much wealth in this country for the wealthy to simply watch these baboons burn it to the ground. Markets find fertile ground.
Great points. And a group of northeastern states are also now planning to collaborate on vaccines/vaccination policy which could be expanded to cover other essential health and healthcare policy. We know what to do, we just need to get on with it.
Yes. It takes time to sort things out when you find out your dad’s a pedo rapist and it’s no longer safe to live in the house you’ve called home your entire life.
Thank you! You inspired me to create an image for when I re-share your excellent article.
Appreciate it!