Time for a Constitutional Convention, if you will. We clearly need a new, stronger ecosystem for pro-democracy media and activism. What do we want to see in the world? How do we build it together?
Two suggestions I have seen put forward by others that resonate:
1) Somehow elect a shadow cabinet of Democrats, including a leader of the opposition. One requirement should be the ability to take it to R.s on Fox, Rogan, etc. This is more than just a DNC chair and subchairs.
2) Start a "fighting PAC" to donate $ to Dems who do a particularly good job of fighting the Trump 2.0 agenda, and so encourage others to join the fight.
Main changes to government: an end to gerrymandering, an end to dark money in politics, full transparency of donors, enforcement of ethics, and term limits. I kinda wish passing a basic US civics test were a requirement for state/federal office.
For media - I'd like to see something done about deliberate spreading of misinformation/disinformation but I'm not sure how or what. While we have free speech, there are limits - you don't yell "Fire!" in a movie theater. Similarly, there should be penalties for blatant lies, such as claiming that immigrants are eating pets (allegations that resulted in business and school closures and death threats).
I agree with and like your comment, but in order to accomplish those things, which would require approval from Congress, there would have to be at least 60% of them to have integrity, a spine, strong ethics, and who value democracy over power and money. Those people don’t exist in the MAGA party.
I agree. It's the things we used to have until a few court cases overruled (Citizens United, Fairness Doctrine). The conservatives figured out that all you need is to control the courts.
They can even use courts against the people by making bad laws, knowing it will be awhile before it's overturned, but they get their payoff from their sponsor.
The focus needs to be on getting the money and special treatment out of government.
Money dictates media also, since advertisers don't want to pay for stories that show them in a bad light. Media is reduced to whatever extreme thing will get attention.
And it's so so important to have fair districting. We have more Democrats in my state, but Republicans are in control thanks to gerrymandering. And it's so bad that most races are decided in the primary, yet another factor for why things have gotten more extreme. Primaries tend to have lower turnout, so the nutjob with the most engaged base wins, and then there's no real competition in the general. (In multiple districts, there's sometimes no opponent.)
I don't know how to engage people though. We have maybe 65% voter turnout, meaning 35% of those registered don't show up at the polls. And I'm not sure what the fraction is of people eligible to vote but not registered.
You may like to check out the newish social media site, Spoutible. Spoutible has an impressive AI accuracy checker. The site was founded by Christopher Bouzy, founder of Bot Sentinel. He has figured out how to address mis/disinformation. I consider Spoutible the true future of social media, if only it could get a stronger membership.
I totally get that, I don't trust it either. Since you have relevant experience, it would be great if you could check out how the accuracy checking works for Spoutible. All the checks I've seen are really incredible, and I'm not easily impressed. Something needs to change in the information space, and Spoutible is the only place I see that is taking it very seriously.
It doesn't matter how it works at the time someone inspects it, because it can be changed (or eventually, change itself). This is in addition to the fact that it's only as good as its inputs, and the more prevalent AI becomes, the more it will be generating the content that is then used as input. (There is a study showing that AI gets kinda crazy when using AI output as input.)
Using AI doesn't help when all the humans are generating lies in the same way that they are generating truths. What we need is to reward truth and have some consequences for lies.
You need strong, experienced diplomatic guest speakers. I can think of 10 crackerjacks who deal in facts, not drama. I’m on Blue Sky but I see far too many drama kings and queens who rely on memes and ridicule to increase followers. We need smart, not cutesy press people. We also need to be aware that some Democrats are playing into the Trump-games by acting just like the cruder maga element. We need not to share everything we are doing to win 2026 because the Republicans are reading and plotting in advance.
P.s. I’m am not referring to quality political cartoons —just memes. Political cartoons are by smart, politically savvy artists.
Meetup is a good tool for local stuff, but nextdoor not so much. Facebook's no more factchecking will be terribly destructive-- and looks like WaPo is going down. Tech bros are really fucking everything up.
there is great need for new media that is Not behind paywalls - requires deep pockets of pro-democracy supporters - for the millions who are unable to purchase truth. [i am lucky to have internet access to receive substack and some curated youtube, unfortunately disability/ssi is 810/month and cannot pay subscription fees, i am but a representative of sooooo many.
We need to take back the narrative by having strong, cohesive, simple messaging about the core issues that are consistently distorted by the right: the role immigrants play in making our country strong, the impacts of climate change, science, education etc. Counterbalancing Fox, Breitbart, Truth social etc will be crucial to stopping the train wreck.
Build upon our Institutions and follow the rules. Joyce Vance suggested bring back Civic classes which is a great idea. Everyone must suffer consequences. Who you are doesn't matter.
Tristan, thank you for asking great questions and seeking our suggestions.
Four suggestions come to mind:
1) Youth Outreach -- We need to engage and energize our youth. I'm seeing a lot of smart, young, savvy pro-democracy influencers on TikTok. We should harness their energy, bring them in, and listen to them!
2) Reward Meritocrcy -- Dems must stop rewarding tenure and instead take a meritocracy approach. The best ideas win, whether from somebody young who is just coming on the scene or somebody old with years of tenure! This is coming from somebody in her late 50s!
3) Be Present Where the People Are -- Viewership of mainstream media is declining. Most people get their news from social media, podcasts, and other alternative media. Dems need a diversified approach to outreach and have a presence in alternative media, even if it means showing up on a podcast with only a thousand viewers. Those thousands are each connected to another thousand to spread the word.
4) We need our version of CPAC- a venue where we can come together. The ultra-right has the annual CPAC conference, and I'm amazed at how much press coverage this event gets. We need an annual conference where we can join hands, hearts and minds.
One of the problems with our unwieldy system of government is that there isn't any formal opposition as such to counter the deluge of lies and falsehoods which Trump has been unleashing, and will continue to do, in his attempt to conflate reality with propaganda. In practical terms, that boils down to journalists having to seek out individuals for their responses to Trump's lies. However, there is no "official" body that could regularly be consulted in order to provide a factual consensus of opinion.
In the normal course of events, there would be no such formal body to state the opposition case until the Democrats hold primaries to select a candidate prior to the next presidential election (if it were ever to take place).
Well, Professor Timothy Snyder offered a wonderful suggestion in his Substack post yesterday, namely, that the Democratic Party - in reflecting what is parliamentary practice in Britain - should form a shadow cabinet to counter all the MAGA lies and to provide a balanced and truthful perspective on a continual basis: https://open.substack.com/pub/snyder/p/shadow-cabinet?r=dkq3&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=email.
I believe that this is something that we should all get behind and demand of our Democratic leaders. The shadow cabinet could comprise of people, both, in and out of Congress, but each member should be an expert in his or her field. For example, the shadow cabinet could have Professor Robert Reich as the shadow secretary of labor, and Tristan Snell as the shadow AG.
What we need is a way to get the bad eggs out of office (and off the court). Other governments have recall votes or vote of confidence. We need something similar, because impeachment relies on politics instead of the people.
Education should include the basic concepts of truth, facts, respect, decency and what it means to have personal integrity. Lots of great examples throughout history.
There are lots of examples of the opposite also, and we've already gone through this whole Critical Race Theory thing and New Math and Common Core and lots of "systems" of education that are leaning one way or the other, depending on who is in office.
There are 2 things that are imperative (for me, anyway) to build a good foundation for this ‘resistance’/movement.
1) We need to protect important history in some form of a protective ‘vault’. My suspicion is much of the ‘truth’ about present & our history WILL be erased. You can burn books and all physical documents. The tech bros will erase the internet records. This is extremely important for future generations.
2) Please check out Malcolm Nance about how to protest. He was an actual spy & even served in Ukraine’s foreign legion. Below is his ‘advice’ about resistance.
To put it bluntly, we need experts to help us achieve our goal (our best chance to, anyhow).
Since mainstream media is failing the public by not reporting the ugly facts, it’s going to be difficult to keep the public well informed. Many of them, like Jeff Bezos, are avoiding any negative reporting on Trump and are obeying in advance. They place the almighty dollar over fighting for democracy and their greed is insatiable.
Far too many people take our democracy for granted and believe “it can’t happen here”. It can and it is. It’s unfortunate that right wing media is allowed to spread lies, propaganda and conspiracy theories. If that weren’t the case, we’d likely have a different president elect.
We have quite a fight on our hands with MSM throwing stumbling blocks in our way. People who are well informed with facts and not bullshit might make them see democracy as something we don’t ever want to lose.
Political parties are the worst scourge. There is no way that everyone in a party agrees with everything on every issue, so it's just a few issues driving all of the money and actions.
The rules of the Congress are set by vote, so it goes along party lines. In our elections, and in those rules, we need a more flexible system. I would say Ranked Choice Voting, but even that has its issues. (see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qf7ws2DF-zk )
Two suggestions I have seen put forward by others that resonate:
1) Somehow elect a shadow cabinet of Democrats, including a leader of the opposition. One requirement should be the ability to take it to R.s on Fox, Rogan, etc. This is more than just a DNC chair and subchairs.
2) Start a "fighting PAC" to donate $ to Dems who do a particularly good job of fighting the Trump 2.0 agenda, and so encourage others to join the fight.
Yes to 1) a Shadow Cabinet of Democrats, the UK concept that was shared widely yesterday!
Main changes to government: an end to gerrymandering, an end to dark money in politics, full transparency of donors, enforcement of ethics, and term limits. I kinda wish passing a basic US civics test were a requirement for state/federal office.
For media - I'd like to see something done about deliberate spreading of misinformation/disinformation but I'm not sure how or what. While we have free speech, there are limits - you don't yell "Fire!" in a movie theater. Similarly, there should be penalties for blatant lies, such as claiming that immigrants are eating pets (allegations that resulted in business and school closures and death threats).
I agree with and like your comment, but in order to accomplish those things, which would require approval from Congress, there would have to be at least 60% of them to have integrity, a spine, strong ethics, and who value democracy over power and money. Those people don’t exist in the MAGA party.
I agree. It's the things we used to have until a few court cases overruled (Citizens United, Fairness Doctrine). The conservatives figured out that all you need is to control the courts.
They can even use courts against the people by making bad laws, knowing it will be awhile before it's overturned, but they get their payoff from their sponsor.
The focus needs to be on getting the money and special treatment out of government.
Money dictates media also, since advertisers don't want to pay for stories that show them in a bad light. Media is reduced to whatever extreme thing will get attention.
And it's so so important to have fair districting. We have more Democrats in my state, but Republicans are in control thanks to gerrymandering. And it's so bad that most races are decided in the primary, yet another factor for why things have gotten more extreme. Primaries tend to have lower turnout, so the nutjob with the most engaged base wins, and then there's no real competition in the general. (In multiple districts, there's sometimes no opponent.)
I don't know how to engage people though. We have maybe 65% voter turnout, meaning 35% of those registered don't show up at the polls. And I'm not sure what the fraction is of people eligible to vote but not registered.
Esp now that in addition to 3 branches of government, we have largely lost the press as well.
Ditch electoral college.
You may like to check out the newish social media site, Spoutible. Spoutible has an impressive AI accuracy checker. The site was founded by Christopher Bouzy, founder of Bot Sentinel. He has figured out how to address mis/disinformation. I consider Spoutible the true future of social media, if only it could get a stronger membership.
I don't trust AI, since it's programmable. (I'm a programmer...)
I totally get that, I don't trust it either. Since you have relevant experience, it would be great if you could check out how the accuracy checking works for Spoutible. All the checks I've seen are really incredible, and I'm not easily impressed. Something needs to change in the information space, and Spoutible is the only place I see that is taking it very seriously.
It doesn't matter how it works at the time someone inspects it, because it can be changed (or eventually, change itself). This is in addition to the fact that it's only as good as its inputs, and the more prevalent AI becomes, the more it will be generating the content that is then used as input. (There is a study showing that AI gets kinda crazy when using AI output as input.)
Using AI doesn't help when all the humans are generating lies in the same way that they are generating truths. What we need is to reward truth and have some consequences for lies.
I dunno, $245 million contribution.in sunshine negates that. We are now owned by techbros, up and down.
You need strong, experienced diplomatic guest speakers. I can think of 10 crackerjacks who deal in facts, not drama. I’m on Blue Sky but I see far too many drama kings and queens who rely on memes and ridicule to increase followers. We need smart, not cutesy press people. We also need to be aware that some Democrats are playing into the Trump-games by acting just like the cruder maga element. We need not to share everything we are doing to win 2026 because the Republicans are reading and plotting in advance.
P.s. I’m am not referring to quality political cartoons —just memes. Political cartoons are by smart, politically savvy artists.
Meetup is a good tool for local stuff, but nextdoor not so much. Facebook's no more factchecking will be terribly destructive-- and looks like WaPo is going down. Tech bros are really fucking everything up.
The safeguards that once supported our democracy need major (legal) reinforcements. Fill the loopholes that MAGA has chipped away at.
I’ll bring my hammer.
there is great need for new media that is Not behind paywalls - requires deep pockets of pro-democracy supporters - for the millions who are unable to purchase truth. [i am lucky to have internet access to receive substack and some curated youtube, unfortunately disability/ssi is 810/month and cannot pay subscription fees, i am but a representative of sooooo many.
We need to take back the narrative by having strong, cohesive, simple messaging about the core issues that are consistently distorted by the right: the role immigrants play in making our country strong, the impacts of climate change, science, education etc. Counterbalancing Fox, Breitbart, Truth social etc will be crucial to stopping the train wreck.
Build upon our Institutions and follow the rules. Joyce Vance suggested bring back Civic classes which is a great idea. Everyone must suffer consequences. Who you are doesn't matter.
Tristan, thank you for asking great questions and seeking our suggestions.
Four suggestions come to mind:
1) Youth Outreach -- We need to engage and energize our youth. I'm seeing a lot of smart, young, savvy pro-democracy influencers on TikTok. We should harness their energy, bring them in, and listen to them!
2) Reward Meritocrcy -- Dems must stop rewarding tenure and instead take a meritocracy approach. The best ideas win, whether from somebody young who is just coming on the scene or somebody old with years of tenure! This is coming from somebody in her late 50s!
3) Be Present Where the People Are -- Viewership of mainstream media is declining. Most people get their news from social media, podcasts, and other alternative media. Dems need a diversified approach to outreach and have a presence in alternative media, even if it means showing up on a podcast with only a thousand viewers. Those thousands are each connected to another thousand to spread the word.
4) We need our version of CPAC- a venue where we can come together. The ultra-right has the annual CPAC conference, and I'm amazed at how much press coverage this event gets. We need an annual conference where we can join hands, hearts and minds.
One of the problems with our unwieldy system of government is that there isn't any formal opposition as such to counter the deluge of lies and falsehoods which Trump has been unleashing, and will continue to do, in his attempt to conflate reality with propaganda. In practical terms, that boils down to journalists having to seek out individuals for their responses to Trump's lies. However, there is no "official" body that could regularly be consulted in order to provide a factual consensus of opinion.
In the normal course of events, there would be no such formal body to state the opposition case until the Democrats hold primaries to select a candidate prior to the next presidential election (if it were ever to take place).
Well, Professor Timothy Snyder offered a wonderful suggestion in his Substack post yesterday, namely, that the Democratic Party - in reflecting what is parliamentary practice in Britain - should form a shadow cabinet to counter all the MAGA lies and to provide a balanced and truthful perspective on a continual basis: https://open.substack.com/pub/snyder/p/shadow-cabinet?r=dkq3&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=email.
I believe that this is something that we should all get behind and demand of our Democratic leaders. The shadow cabinet could comprise of people, both, in and out of Congress, but each member should be an expert in his or her field. For example, the shadow cabinet could have Professor Robert Reich as the shadow secretary of labor, and Tristan Snell as the shadow AG.
What we need is a way to get the bad eggs out of office (and off the court). Other governments have recall votes or vote of confidence. We need something similar, because impeachment relies on politics instead of the people.
I think surety bonds are related to this concept, but it's too weak: https://bondsforthewin.com/
Education should include the basic concepts of truth, facts, respect, decency and what it means to have personal integrity. Lots of great examples throughout history.
There are lots of examples of the opposite also, and we've already gone through this whole Critical Race Theory thing and New Math and Common Core and lots of "systems" of education that are leaning one way or the other, depending on who is in office.
There are 2 things that are imperative (for me, anyway) to build a good foundation for this ‘resistance’/movement.
1) We need to protect important history in some form of a protective ‘vault’. My suspicion is much of the ‘truth’ about present & our history WILL be erased. You can burn books and all physical documents. The tech bros will erase the internet records. This is extremely important for future generations.
2) Please check out Malcolm Nance about how to protest. He was an actual spy & even served in Ukraine’s foreign legion. Below is his ‘advice’ about resistance.
To put it bluntly, we need experts to help us achieve our goal (our best chance to, anyhow).
https://substack.com/@malcolmnance/note/c-82072445?r=31zvhm&utm_medium=ios&utm_source=notes-share-action
Zuck Products Exodus.
Hit the Fascists in their pocketbooks.
I, for one, am leaving FB & Instagram on 1-19-2025.
I am on Bluesky to Organize & stay informed.
Godspeed to The Resistance.
Since mainstream media is failing the public by not reporting the ugly facts, it’s going to be difficult to keep the public well informed. Many of them, like Jeff Bezos, are avoiding any negative reporting on Trump and are obeying in advance. They place the almighty dollar over fighting for democracy and their greed is insatiable.
Far too many people take our democracy for granted and believe “it can’t happen here”. It can and it is. It’s unfortunate that right wing media is allowed to spread lies, propaganda and conspiracy theories. If that weren’t the case, we’d likely have a different president elect.
We have quite a fight on our hands with MSM throwing stumbling blocks in our way. People who are well informed with facts and not bullshit might make them see democracy as something we don’t ever want to lose.
Political parties are the worst scourge. There is no way that everyone in a party agrees with everything on every issue, so it's just a few issues driving all of the money and actions.
The rules of the Congress are set by vote, so it goes along party lines. In our elections, and in those rules, we need a more flexible system. I would say Ranked Choice Voting, but even that has its issues. (see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qf7ws2DF-zk )