Just a morning jab, and a plug for my FORGET EPSTEIN series. Jab: "King Charles in Trump's tailwind." The rest follows.

[usonian]

I've got a busy day planned, so I will catch up later.

FORGET ABOUT EPSTEIN series.

https://www.democraticunderground.com/100220610120 Sep 4. 2025
Posing with the Statue of Liberty.


https://www.democraticunderground.com/100220612526 Sep 5
Mideast truth-debunking tour.


https://www.democraticunderground.com/100220616626 Sep. 6
"My Prize Has Arrived"


https://www.democraticunderground.com/100220618363 Sep 7
Rose Garden Sucktacular gathering of tech leaders


https://www.democraticunderground.com/100220619009 Sep. 8
OOPS! Wrong distraction.


https://www.democraticunderground.com/100220621162 Sep. 9
Announcing a cure for cancer.


https://www.democraticunderground.com/100220623679 Sep. 10
UUUGE improvement to White (only) House Lawn


https://www.democraticunderground.com/100220627507 Sep 11 (came out early.)
I TRADED IN THE TESLA ON A NEW GAS GUZZLER.


https://www.democraticunderground.com/100220634338 Sep. 12 #9
The illegal immigrant Utah shooter left the gun and took a cannoli.


https://www.democraticunderground.com/100220638648 Sep. 13
Your leader has successfully been cloned and will live on forever.


https://www.democraticunderground.com/100220640412 Sep 14
I'm releasing all the Epstein Files. Done. Nothing more to see”.



https://www.democraticunderground.com/100220643803 Sep 15
"I'm starring in a movie. Bring on the Awards!"


https://www.democraticunderground.com/100220647114 Sep 16
"I know rifles!"


https://www.democraticunderground.com/100220649158 Sep 17 early edition.
I bought a chess set!!!

Cheap!

[Bluetus]

1. Seriously, I think memes like breaking kingly protocol are planted by the RW

Last edited Wed Sep 17, 2025, 02:37 PM - Edit history (1)

to distract us. Trump thrives on chaos. Every minute we are talking about how inappropriate or disgusting Trump is, is a minute when we are not talking about CONSTRUCTIVE things we can to to HELP the American people if they will put us back in power.

Attacking Trump moves nobody. His supporters are already dug in. We need to tell the positive story of what American lives would be like if we can return to power. If we cannot tell that story, then we don't deserve to be in power.

It isn't that hard. The easiest place to start is by proposing a very specific Billionaire Clawback Tax that will raise $250 Billion a year. And what will we use that $250 billion on? We can do a whole lot of good with $250 billion. Why are we not selling these ideas?

[AZJonnie]

2. First our side must convince the public that such a massive wealth distribution is fair/deserved

The rich have spent billions on propaganda convincing the public that they deserve their wealth "as long as they're not breaking the law". It's presented to us as something we could all accomplish "with hard work" so you have a lot of people thinking "Well, when *I* get rich I don't want half of what I earned paid in taxes". They are generally smart people, and also shamelessly predatory and manipulative. This is why they've bought up the media and social media, and populate our government and the judiciary with their own. Plus the public is woefully uneducated about how, well, just about everything, actually works. They either don't understand how the rich have rigged the system in their favor, or they admire how they've done so and just want "in". We need to explain to people how the rich have rigged the system, and made sure "the laws" they've "not broken" were (or were not) created by their forces in the first place, on their behalf, and to the detriment of the common citizen.

If Dems just go out and run on taking money away from the very rich without convincing a significant number (who are not already convinced) why it's "deserved", we will lose. The rich have a MUCH louder megaphone than we do, and they will scream "socialist" from their own bully pulpit. And our side just doesn't seem very good at fighting them on the points they make is the truth, and we get outplayed at every turn. The whole "Medicare for All" nomenclature is one of the dumbest ones. Not the general idea, just the naming. Fighting for a Public Option was and is still the much better angle.

If we can convince the public that it's bullshit that our government should disallow itself from "competing" to provide services/products with these mega-corporations backed by so much money, that may be the best angle. But the way we're heading now is backsliding on We The People even keeping the services we do (or did) get direct from the government, such as the USPS (which I think may not survive this regime), Social Security, and Medicare (that has been hugely eroded by for-profit corporations interjecting themselves into the revenue stream). Democrats being seen as strongly advocating against the cutting of government services/funds people depend on, just so the billionaires get tax breaks, is among the best angles we can take to return to our rightful place as helpers of the common citizen.

And then we have to convince many more of the country, that the very wealthy are NOT our friends, they are our COMPETITORS with a very unfair advantage over regular people, and a deeply predacious mindset. The public are conditioned to fear "predators" (in fact it's part of our genome), so this is the angle to work. The right leverage it ALL the time, to great success. They understand base human nature much better that our side, it seems.

[Bluetus]

4. Excellent points. Why do I get the feeling that the consultants to the Party never have this discussion?

[usonian]

3. My opinion: He's a troll in two ways.

A: a troll as in internet troll. Only purpose is to scatter shit and raise hell -- that is, a huge distraction from ...
B: a troll as in a troll collecting a toll for crossing a necessary bridge.
Whatever you want or need to do: PAY ME.

Getting the story across?
I've posted tirelessly about this.
In between elections, THERE IS NO PRESENCE to convey our enduring GREAT values.
The party seems to be a money-collecting and spending machine, and platform values cooked up at the last minute by whoever wins the primaries. HOLY SHIT, BATMAN

The opposition is pounding its lies, threats and hate 24 by 7 by 365.

And that's as terse as I can be right now.
I think this one post (copied below) speaks what I want to say.
And that since very few are countering the death threats and lies, and conveying our positive values,
IT'S ON US
• Demonstrations, mainly to awaken leaders who can marshal forces and counter the lies, and
• Creating and promoting our own "DU" platform, when others are doing "who the hell knows what"
How? Let's just do it. Don't wait for fancy software to be implemented.
Our emeriti won't "take internal sides" or take command.
https://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=20649225
I'll expand on this as an OP (should be a forum) later. Others are invited to take the lead.

Getting the rich to pay their fair share and how about one goddam vote per person, not one per dollar?
We have to pound that message (Bernie and AOC lead the way). Because the party is beholden to the rich, since they seem to be a money collecting and ad-buying machine, at the latest date, the worst possible time, because minds are influenced TODAY (or not)

And F your "focus groups" which are swayed back and forth by constantly changing repub lies and the Emperor's DAILY shit-spewing and bomb-tossing. THEY set the agenda and it shows. We lose by tailgating "Trump's Tailwind" 💨💨💨💨💨💨💨 instead of eyes on the prize.

A repeated message. And that's how they win.


From:
https://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=20648934
here is no permanent presence between elections.
I plead, but knock, knock, who's there.

An open letter to Democratic leaders. This is our Normandy. Marshall all our forces or lose to fascist rule.
https://www.democraticunderground.com/10114421

At this point it's ON US.
Please follow Activist Headquarters.

The "Sound of Silence" from leaders is going to get us all killed.
https://www.democraticunderground.com/13244034

A grassroots revolution is needed for the party to win.
https://www.democraticunderground.com/13244015

The short of it is that AOC and Bernie Sanders (lately, just Bernie) have been barnstorming the county, including deep red districts, with resounding applause of their message, the short of which is:

The rich own 90% of the country, and are killing us. We need to put an end to rule by the wealthy, of the wealthy and for the wealthy.

And the party (well, you know) the party ain't going to take on the oligarchs, meaning they aren't going to take on the problem. And people focus on hot-button "rage" issues instead. Nothing gets solved. It only gets worse.

Details are at the above links.

Short version of our situation. GOP focuses on hit button rage issues and their colossal grand felony gets a pass.



The "TOUR" message is getting great response.
But, you know .....

[Bluetus]

5. It is true that the RW has huge resources for the 24x7 gaslight industry

It is hard to imagine ever being able to match that.

BUT ...

1) We have truth on our side.

2) As idealistic as we may sometimes appear, we are truly committed to the wellbeing of the masses, not the few privileged.

3) To the extent that we occasionally, even accidentally mention our core values and the policy ideals, the public strongly aligns with our positions.

The problem is that, as you say, platforming ideas is treated by the Party and most candidates as a quadrennial necessity -- an undesirable task like filing a tax return, that we wish to get over as quickly as possible. But the people feel the pain 265 x 24 every year. The people don't think in election cycles. They think more like paycheck to paycheck, one job to the next job, and major life events (having children, kids entering college, marriage/divorce, major illness, saving for retirement, caring for aging parents, etc.)

We need to a) HAVE good ideas, b) package the most powerful ideas such that we don't weaken our message with lesser splinter issues, and c) sell them EVERY SINGLE DAY.

[malaise]

6. K & R

Nice