I Think We're Through And I Don't Know What To Do, Plus
Some light entertainment, plus music
First, the light stuff
If you’ve not heard, Elon Musk has accepted Jon Stewart’s Daily Show invitation on condition that the interview airs unedited in its entirety, presumably because he thinks he can match wits with Stewart for however long the interview lasts. Pro tip: he cannot match wits with Stewart even if Stewart goes out of his way not to humiliate him. Plus he’s going to show up high.
My guess is he’ll cancel.
Also somebody needs to inspect his hair plugs for contraband.
Maybe a year ago, the psychiatrist who runs my ketamine clinic told me about an app he intended to design that would map cemeteries and help people find their loved ones or other graves of interest. I gotta ask him if he was in Munich recently.
BERLIN (AP) — Police in Munich are investigating a mystery: More than 1,000 stickers were put on gravestones and wooden crosses at three cemeteries in the German city, without any indication of where they came from or why.
The 5x3.5-centimeter (1.95x1.2-inch) stickers are printed with a QR code, that, when scanned, shows the name of the person buried in the grave and its location in the cemetery — but nothing else.
I Think We're Through And I Don't Know What To Do
So, down to it: I have held two opposing thoughts in mind for a while, both of which I’ve written about.
One is that, because they have no intention of allowing free elections in 2026, the regime can only be derailed by mass (peaceful) uprisings which include Trump faithful disillusioned by the coming assaults on their jobs and social welfare benefits, which is what I think Bernie Sanders has in the back of his mind with his town halls out in the wilderness.
Two is that this is an accelerationist regime, some of the most important members of which came into power with the idea of provoking a backlash sufficient to warrant, in their view, a democracy-ending response.
Domestic repression is the obvious purpose behind removing the existing judges advocate general, whose jobs are to determine what orders to the military are lawful under the constitution and the uniform code of military justice. Trump is still steamed that his military refused to suppress domestic protests of various stripes during the his first term, and by replacing the JAGs and top military officers with toadies, he’s hoping to do better this time around.
(I wrote about that somewhere too, but can’t find it because substack’s search function sucks.)
It’s the purpose behind loading up the FBI, the justice depart and homeland security with the most vicious, bootlicking leaders available.
It’s the purpose behind the assaults on language and the singling out of trans people, Black people, immigrants and others as enemies of all that is right and good. It’s the purpose (one of them, anyway) behind the relentless assaults on the press.
And it’s the purpose behind installing toadies atop the intelligence services. I mean, Tulsi Gabbard, jaysus. She’s warped, although I can’t ding her support for Snowden.
So we need our own color revolution, with sub rosa assistance perhaps from the Norwegian Etterretningstjenesten and our own dissident military and intelligence units.
I’m not optimistic and I hate to be a downer, but everybody should be thinking about how to estimate our prospects, and how to participate in keeping themselves and most especially the regime’s named scapegoats as safe as possible.
As I mentioned a few days ago, I’m hoping to bug out because I can’t handle the prospect of losing my home and medical care, and I feel bad about that but I can’t not disclose it, and I’ll be asking for your help at some point.
I expect the press to have their hair on fire moments when it’s exactly too late. If then.
Music
Mekons, Journey to the End of the Night, “Tina;”
Sallie Ford & The Sound Outside, Untamed Beast, “Paris” live;
Two from Shuggie Otis: “12:15 Slow Goonbash Blues,”
and “I Can Stand To See You Die”
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Be well; take care.
The difficulty with your brand of pessimism is that given events of the past month, it may not be pessimistic enough. I have no idea how to protect myself and Mrs. Arch, let alone other people and things that I care about. I’m watching a not-so-slow moving train wreck, unable to step off the tracks.
More booze is clearly the answer.
I think it remains to be seen whether the courts slow things down and, ultimately, reject the coup. If the courts accede to the coup, or the police and military refuse to obey the courts, unrest may be necessary but I wouldn't concede their power yet.