As always, you offer us eloquent descriptions, sad, funny, ugly, hopeful and even inspiring of moments in our times. When the time comes, when these soulless creatures are finally pried away from power with which they never should have been entrusted, will we be ready to restore, honor and improve all that they tried to destroy?
I am always impacted by the pictures you paint from your unique life experience and perspective.
Seeing you stand on a bench practicing what you believe will make a difference: giving your words and thoughts in an effort to teach strangers what is happening now; and what they need to understand, struck a deep chord with me.
As I was finishing my No Kings Day sign, and getting ready to leave for the protest in Dana Point, CA, my 24 year old college graduate grandson said “Let me know when Trump actually becomes King, and then I’ll worry.” When I said that isn’t the issue, or what this protest is about, he said, “ask your fellow protestors, they believe and are afraid Trump is going to become a King next.” As I attempted to respond from a position of disbelief that those words might have come out of his mouth; I realized again that he largely gets his “news” from online soundbites. No deep dives into issues, and lots of fast verbal confrontational canned responses.
I was deeply appalled, but also striving to figure out what I could say in that moment that would reach a deeper place in his growing humanity.
I ended up writing to him that night, with input about the constitutional rights we enjoy, and that some of those rights are extended to everyone who comes here, despite their immigration status. This led into the fact that this country was conceived and designed by the original immigrants who were fleeing government by kings and all the personal freedoms that were not available under such a government.
So much to say. So little time. Who might even be listening? I was pretty sure my words might not resonate or compete with sound bites. But I said them any way.
Then I see you participating in a Teach-In! Ever a step ahead. I love this approach and look forward to hearing more. Who is listening? What are you saying? God bless you Jimmy Fallows. You have always made a difference
One last thought. As you showed a sadly quiet Washington DC, on No Kings Day, I was listening to a bizarre military show of power from Camp Pendleton. Warships, fighter jets, helicopters and a first, displays of live artillery fire over the I-5 freeway. The CHP made the decision to shut down the freeway with absolutely no prior warning. A patrol car was hit with shrapnel. As I was observing with disbelief, I wondered if our Commander In Chief understood that there are 3.5 million pounds of spent radioactive material buried in steel canisters on the bluffs they were performing over.
Teach us what you are teaching. Pray that people listen, and in your example, respond.
Someone needs to petition for your sainthood. Life well lived.
"Hypothesis: Trump has been played as an absolute pawn, fool, chump, and patsy by XJP. Anyone disagree? If so, what's strongest counter-case?"
No counter-case, but the question doesn't feel right; "played as an absolute pawn" - a pawn of XJP?
Seems more like a socialist engineer who hasn't lost his marbles being very realistic about a president sinking into dementia. T is a fool, spiraling into his core id, and XJP is being realistic at laying out a path towards his goals for China. XJP has a lot to manage; T is another problem to manage.
I think the gold crown in South Korea and gold bars from Tim Apple are better examples of trying to "play" Trump; wouldn't describe what I'm seeing of XJP as in the same category.
Prefer to answer here than on the more public forum... sorry to divert.
Thanks — and I agree on the distinction between "grossly obvious flattery and bribery," as with South Korea and the gold crown, and the Emirates with the jet, and so on. The PRC's "king of king" gala welcome for Trump in Beijing, the first time around, is also in this category IMO.
I guess the more precise version of what I meant here is much like what you are saying. The Chinese side knew what it was doing — and got much more of what it wanted. Trump was all too easily distracted, out witted, and out maneuvered.
So, is there a way to redo a person’s sign-in name so as not to create a roadmap to one’s identity? And how does sub stack protect the data that accrues on its server?
Changing the username is all well and good, but the account is tied to your credit card, which is in your name.
I suppose you could buy a Visa gift card and use that for your substack subscriptions and buy a new one every year. But if you're that careful you're already posting under a nom de plume.
My username is "wiredog" because that's the name I use when I sign up for accounts anywhere... Been using it for decades. I've never used my full name online, and the versions of it I do use are common enough to make me hard to google. So I'm reasonably well protected against cyberstalkers, but not at all against governments.
trying to be semi-discreet here, I sent you a note Nov 3rd to your gmail address that was used way back when during your Atlantic days, if possible, really would like to change my username ... can anything be done (I guess another option is to cancel this subscription and make a new one).
A good friend of mine, good Democrat, ran for the House, was commander of the local National Guard. Retired now, he said that as a Guardsman of course he’d go wherever, if asked. He said, “It’s not illegal. But if they asked me to do something illegal, I’d sit down.” Let’s hope these Guards do not have to make that choice.
The Nat Guard [NG] people we've seen — and we've now seen a lot of them, in DC — strike us in these various ways:
- Of course they're all practically kids. Yes, I know, everyone is a "kid" to me these days. But these are young people, away from their day jobs and young families.
- One by one, we have not seen *any* of the NG people showing the kind of vengeful zeal captured in many ICE/CBP videos. They mainly seem bored, killing time, checking their phones when they think their superiors aren't noticing, just waiting to get through this.
- Those "superiors," to their credit, seem to have made decisions the oppose of ICE/CBP choices. That is to de-escalate, to keep NG away from places where they might cause friction, to obey the letter-of-the-law in being "deployed" to DC but under- rather than over-play their presence. The opposite of Pete Hegseth, let's say.
- I would bet that most of these NG people voted for Trump last year. But that's purely probability-based: They're mostly young white males, from states (SC, WV, etc) that went for Trump. I've heard zero politics talk from any of them.
FORTUNATELY, it appears that so far Trump has not tried to make the NG the "tip of the spear" in carrying out his vengeance. He's left that to ICE and CBP. I hope the NG can keep avoiding getting into that position. You and I both remembered when they did end up that way, in Ohio.
Jim, I am reminded of when I saw Army vehicles in. D. C. I was working at the State Department. There was a heavy snow storm on January 19, 1961.
Driving home I couldn’t get beyond M street. I returned to State and volunteered to be the Communications Intelligence Office watch officer for the 20th.
The morning of JFK’s inauguration, I discovered that the top secret phone connecting State, CIA, and the White House was not working. Then I glanced out the window and saw large Army vehicles on the streets.
Momentarily, I thought OH MY GOD (I had spent years in Egypt and was familiar with military coups). Not to worry. The Ike administration had ordered tank carriers to come remove all stalled vehicles before JFK’s inauguration.
It was such a sunny day that Robert Frost, who had written an inaugural poem, had to recite another poem from memory. I was able to dig my car out by late afternoon. D. C. Was beautiful and totally safe.
I remember watch Robert Frost, in my school classroom in Redlands, California — and a time in my life when I had not actually experienced snow. It was three hours earlier, so in our first class of the day. I remember seeing his breath form clouds in the air as he spoke, because it was so cold. (Also a phenomenon I had never seen before.) And the ferocious wind that appeared to blow his papers away. It is very interesting to hear how it looked from the other side of the continent in those moments.
Merci! And we'll be in further touch with the teach-in people. They are intentionally trying to build something like the teach-in movement of the Vietnam era. This was an early proof-of-concept run.
Jim - Thanks for this. As someone who loves the city, it makes me profoundly sad - especially with the backdrop of the incredible sky, a metaphor for what might have been.
On a happier note I want to give a shout-out to your incredible photographer. The photos are awesome.
Thank you for this photo essay, Jim, and for showing how cut off people are from the White House construction. My husband and I went down there on Sunday, and couldn’t help but notice the (presumably moveable) stone wall erected around part of the White House. That’s in addition to the layers of fencing that control the flow of traffic so that there’s only one entrance and exit to Lafayette Park. You can still access the sidewalk closest to the building, but they’ve shut down a whole street on the east side to widen the perimeter. We went to the south side where a group of citizens had congregated, hoping for a better view, but were frustrated by the trees blocking the site. Everyone should be aware of this aspect of the plan. To deliberately shut out the public.
Yes, thanks for adding these details about the walled-off-ness of both the White House itself and Lafeyette Square. Both of which came as total surprises to us — or, more precisely, as different from anything we'd experienced in our previous decades of visiting those sites.
Same here! You're the only reporter I've seen (there may be others) who's commented on this obvious message to us all, but it's an important one, so thank you again!
When I went to the No Kings in D.C. I spoke to two national guards from Louisiana. They were not hurting financially, since their rent was deferred, they got free food and shelter, etc. They were nice people. They were also unarmed. I suppose if things persist for quite a while, they'll have less of a vacation vibe.
Everyone who comments here and whose name appears in full becomes an easy target for such a scenario. And depending on substack’s security protocols, perhaps all are easy targets. I am curious if there is a way to guarantee anonymity.
You raise an interesting point (in reference to the Bergman 'Shame')
I, personally, live my writing life 100% in public, just because in journalism it's crazy to try to hide anything you say, think, or write. Over the decades, that has gotten us in trouble a few times. Once with the authorities in Malaysia, because of something Deb wrote, in the then-International Herald Tribune. A few times in China, and more and more as things tightened up there. But not — so far — in the US.
My very callous risk-assessment for writing and writers in the US now: If you're a US citizen, and if you're white, and if you're not working for some public institution (like a public university etc) really the MAGA authorities only care about what you say or do *on TV*. Things you write — in books, on Xitter/Bsky, on blogs or Substack — they don't bother with. Or even what you say in podcasts. TV is what they watch, and notice. (I know the whole Charlie Kirk situation was a special case.)
But I realize that if any of those conditions *don't* apply — if you have to worry about visa, or if you look "foreign" to ICE/CBP, or if you're answering to a public-university aboard, etc — then things are different.
I don't think that Substack, or any online medium, can ensure anonymity. Again for me personally it's not an issue, because I assume that everything I write or say is "on the record." I behaved differently when I was living in China. And I realize that many people need to consider US authorities the way I considered Chinese authorities back then.
When I was on the Nixon White House Enemies List, I never feared that the government would try to ‘get me.’
At 92, posting fearless commentaries on the NYT and various Substacks, including Jim Fallows’, I wonder if a nameless, sun glassed individual might appear at my door. Without a judicial warrant, he would not be permitted in my house. The Magna Carta still reflects that one’s house is their castle.
One other important note: in the demolition of the East Wing, there apparently was no demolition plan, no abatement of asbestos, lead, or other hazmats. The demolition contractor needs to realize that it cannot offload its liability for the emission of those poisons into the environment and into the White House itself. The Clean Air Act and the Clean Water Act mandate that all, even the White House, follow its provisions and regulations.
such an eerie scene… familiar and yet bizarre. I loved our years of living in DC and remember the beautiful fall days. Thank you Deb and Jim for the photos and write-up. And the porta potties, eek
As always, you offer us eloquent descriptions, sad, funny, ugly, hopeful and even inspiring of moments in our times. When the time comes, when these soulless creatures are finally pried away from power with which they never should have been entrusted, will we be ready to restore, honor and improve all that they tried to destroy?
I am always impacted by the pictures you paint from your unique life experience and perspective.
Seeing you stand on a bench practicing what you believe will make a difference: giving your words and thoughts in an effort to teach strangers what is happening now; and what they need to understand, struck a deep chord with me.
As I was finishing my No Kings Day sign, and getting ready to leave for the protest in Dana Point, CA, my 24 year old college graduate grandson said “Let me know when Trump actually becomes King, and then I’ll worry.” When I said that isn’t the issue, or what this protest is about, he said, “ask your fellow protestors, they believe and are afraid Trump is going to become a King next.” As I attempted to respond from a position of disbelief that those words might have come out of his mouth; I realized again that he largely gets his “news” from online soundbites. No deep dives into issues, and lots of fast verbal confrontational canned responses.
I was deeply appalled, but also striving to figure out what I could say in that moment that would reach a deeper place in his growing humanity.
I ended up writing to him that night, with input about the constitutional rights we enjoy, and that some of those rights are extended to everyone who comes here, despite their immigration status. This led into the fact that this country was conceived and designed by the original immigrants who were fleeing government by kings and all the personal freedoms that were not available under such a government.
So much to say. So little time. Who might even be listening? I was pretty sure my words might not resonate or compete with sound bites. But I said them any way.
Then I see you participating in a Teach-In! Ever a step ahead. I love this approach and look forward to hearing more. Who is listening? What are you saying? God bless you Jimmy Fallows. You have always made a difference
One last thought. As you showed a sadly quiet Washington DC, on No Kings Day, I was listening to a bizarre military show of power from Camp Pendleton. Warships, fighter jets, helicopters and a first, displays of live artillery fire over the I-5 freeway. The CHP made the decision to shut down the freeway with absolutely no prior warning. A patrol car was hit with shrapnel. As I was observing with disbelief, I wondered if our Commander In Chief understood that there are 3.5 million pounds of spent radioactive material buried in steel canisters on the bluffs they were performing over.
Teach us what you are teaching. Pray that people listen, and in your example, respond.
Someone needs to petition for your sainthood. Life well lived.
Off topic, but I see on BlueSky you ask:
"Hypothesis: Trump has been played as an absolute pawn, fool, chump, and patsy by XJP. Anyone disagree? If so, what's strongest counter-case?"
No counter-case, but the question doesn't feel right; "played as an absolute pawn" - a pawn of XJP?
Seems more like a socialist engineer who hasn't lost his marbles being very realistic about a president sinking into dementia. T is a fool, spiraling into his core id, and XJP is being realistic at laying out a path towards his goals for China. XJP has a lot to manage; T is another problem to manage.
I think the gold crown in South Korea and gold bars from Tim Apple are better examples of trying to "play" Trump; wouldn't describe what I'm seeing of XJP as in the same category.
Prefer to answer here than on the more public forum... sorry to divert.
Thanks — and I agree on the distinction between "grossly obvious flattery and bribery," as with South Korea and the gold crown, and the Emirates with the jet, and so on. The PRC's "king of king" gala welcome for Trump in Beijing, the first time around, is also in this category IMO.
I guess the more precise version of what I meant here is much like what you are saying. The Chinese side knew what it was doing — and got much more of what it wanted. Trump was all too easily distracted, out witted, and out maneuvered.
So, is there a way to redo a person’s sign-in name so as not to create a roadmap to one’s identity? And how does sub stack protect the data that accrues on its server?
Changing the username is all well and good, but the account is tied to your credit card, which is in your name.
I suppose you could buy a Visa gift card and use that for your substack subscriptions and buy a new one every year. But if you're that careful you're already posting under a nom de plume.
My username is "wiredog" because that's the name I use when I sign up for accounts anywhere... Been using it for decades. I've never used my full name online, and the versions of it I do use are common enough to make me hard to google. So I'm reasonably well protected against cyberstalkers, but not at all against governments.
I honestly don't know.
If you send an email to my "normal" email address, which I believe you have, I can forward the question (minus your info) to Substack HQ.
trying to be semi-discreet here, I sent you a note Nov 3rd to your gmail address that was used way back when during your Atlantic days, if possible, really would like to change my username ... can anything be done (I guess another option is to cancel this subscription and make a new one).
The ICE thugs wear masks, Hamas wear masks, robbers wear masks. Should upstanding citizens really do, too?
Vielen Dank, lieber Junge!
Thanks, as always, Jim.
A good friend of mine, good Democrat, ran for the House, was commander of the local National Guard. Retired now, he said that as a Guardsman of course he’d go wherever, if asked. He said, “It’s not illegal. But if they asked me to do something illegal, I’d sit down.” Let’s hope these Guards do not have to make that choice.
Phil, thank you.
The Nat Guard [NG] people we've seen — and we've now seen a lot of them, in DC — strike us in these various ways:
- Of course they're all practically kids. Yes, I know, everyone is a "kid" to me these days. But these are young people, away from their day jobs and young families.
- One by one, we have not seen *any* of the NG people showing the kind of vengeful zeal captured in many ICE/CBP videos. They mainly seem bored, killing time, checking their phones when they think their superiors aren't noticing, just waiting to get through this.
- Those "superiors," to their credit, seem to have made decisions the oppose of ICE/CBP choices. That is to de-escalate, to keep NG away from places where they might cause friction, to obey the letter-of-the-law in being "deployed" to DC but under- rather than over-play their presence. The opposite of Pete Hegseth, let's say.
- I would bet that most of these NG people voted for Trump last year. But that's purely probability-based: They're mostly young white males, from states (SC, WV, etc) that went for Trump. I've heard zero politics talk from any of them.
FORTUNATELY, it appears that so far Trump has not tried to make the NG the "tip of the spear" in carrying out his vengeance. He's left that to ICE and CBP. I hope the NG can keep avoiding getting into that position. You and I both remembered when they did end up that way, in Ohio.
Jim, I am reminded of when I saw Army vehicles in. D. C. I was working at the State Department. There was a heavy snow storm on January 19, 1961.
Driving home I couldn’t get beyond M street. I returned to State and volunteered to be the Communications Intelligence Office watch officer for the 20th.
The morning of JFK’s inauguration, I discovered that the top secret phone connecting State, CIA, and the White House was not working. Then I glanced out the window and saw large Army vehicles on the streets.
Momentarily, I thought OH MY GOD (I had spent years in Egypt and was familiar with military coups). Not to worry. The Ike administration had ordered tank carriers to come remove all stalled vehicles before JFK’s inauguration.
It was such a sunny day that Robert Frost, who had written an inaugural poem, had to recite another poem from memory. I was able to dig my car out by late afternoon. D. C. Was beautiful and totally safe.
Keith, thank you for this story.
I remember watch Robert Frost, in my school classroom in Redlands, California — and a time in my life when I had not actually experienced snow. It was three hours earlier, so in our first class of the day. I remember seeing his breath form clouds in the air as he spoke, because it was so cold. (Also a phenomenon I had never seen before.) And the ferocious wind that appeared to blow his papers away. It is very interesting to hear how it looked from the other side of the continent in those moments.
That's a great retrospective on a beautiful if sad autumn weekend. Kudos to the photographer...
It would be interesting to hear more about the teach-in. Maybe the next time that is surely to come...
Thank you, Jim and Deb
Merci! And we'll be in further touch with the teach-in people. They are intentionally trying to build something like the teach-in movement of the Vietnam era. This was an early proof-of-concept run.
Jim - Thanks for this. As someone who loves the city, it makes me profoundly sad - especially with the backdrop of the incredible sky, a metaphor for what might have been.
On a happier note I want to give a shout-out to your incredible photographer. The photos are awesome.
Rita, thank you!
I will pass your congrats on directly to the gifted photographer. One of her many skills.
Thank you for this photo essay, Jim, and for showing how cut off people are from the White House construction. My husband and I went down there on Sunday, and couldn’t help but notice the (presumably moveable) stone wall erected around part of the White House. That’s in addition to the layers of fencing that control the flow of traffic so that there’s only one entrance and exit to Lafayette Park. You can still access the sidewalk closest to the building, but they’ve shut down a whole street on the east side to widen the perimeter. We went to the south side where a group of citizens had congregated, hoping for a better view, but were frustrated by the trees blocking the site. Everyone should be aware of this aspect of the plan. To deliberately shut out the public.
Yes, thanks for adding these details about the walled-off-ness of both the White House itself and Lafeyette Square. Both of which came as total surprises to us — or, more precisely, as different from anything we'd experienced in our previous decades of visiting those sites.
Same here! You're the only reporter I've seen (there may be others) who's commented on this obvious message to us all, but it's an important one, so thank you again!
It is a wonder my life is mostly unimpeded by the grift, ignorance and crime that in some part has existed in our government since the beginning.
When I went to the No Kings in D.C. I spoke to two national guards from Louisiana. They were not hurting financially, since their rent was deferred, they got free food and shelter, etc. They were nice people. They were also unarmed. I suppose if things persist for quite a while, they'll have less of a vacation vibe.
Yes, good point. We haven't run into any LA troops yet. But I agree that this will become less novel / amusing / tolerable for them as time grinds on.
Everyone who comments here and whose name appears in full becomes an easy target for such a scenario. And depending on substack’s security protocols, perhaps all are easy targets. I am curious if there is a way to guarantee anonymity.
You raise an interesting point (in reference to the Bergman 'Shame')
I, personally, live my writing life 100% in public, just because in journalism it's crazy to try to hide anything you say, think, or write. Over the decades, that has gotten us in trouble a few times. Once with the authorities in Malaysia, because of something Deb wrote, in the then-International Herald Tribune. A few times in China, and more and more as things tightened up there. But not — so far — in the US.
My very callous risk-assessment for writing and writers in the US now: If you're a US citizen, and if you're white, and if you're not working for some public institution (like a public university etc) really the MAGA authorities only care about what you say or do *on TV*. Things you write — in books, on Xitter/Bsky, on blogs or Substack — they don't bother with. Or even what you say in podcasts. TV is what they watch, and notice. (I know the whole Charlie Kirk situation was a special case.)
But I realize that if any of those conditions *don't* apply — if you have to worry about visa, or if you look "foreign" to ICE/CBP, or if you're answering to a public-university aboard, etc — then things are different.
I don't think that Substack, or any online medium, can ensure anonymity. Again for me personally it's not an issue, because I assume that everything I write or say is "on the record." I behaved differently when I was living in China. And I realize that many people need to consider US authorities the way I considered Chinese authorities back then.
When I was on the Nixon White House Enemies List, I never feared that the government would try to ‘get me.’
At 92, posting fearless commentaries on the NYT and various Substacks, including Jim Fallows’, I wonder if a nameless, sun glassed individual might appear at my door. Without a judicial warrant, he would not be permitted in my house. The Magna Carta still reflects that one’s house is their castle.
This was written in response to Seth K.comment on Bergman’s film Shame.
One other important note: in the demolition of the East Wing, there apparently was no demolition plan, no abatement of asbestos, lead, or other hazmats. The demolition contractor needs to realize that it cannot offload its liability for the emission of those poisons into the environment and into the White House itself. The Clean Air Act and the Clean Water Act mandate that all, even the White House, follow its provisions and regulations.
Oh, very interesting. I had not thought of that.
Thanks for your souvenir of the Teach-In. In fairness to Albert Speer, I do would have had better taste.
Indeed! Speer was not without talent, although ....
such an eerie scene… familiar and yet bizarre. I loved our years of living in DC and remember the beautiful fall days. Thank you Deb and Jim for the photos and write-up. And the porta potties, eek
Debbie, thank you. You know this area very well. And thanks for noticing the, ummm, public sanitation reference!