TO THE READER

The importance of trumpeting our victories, the death of an institution, and the key to a meaningful life ...

Sometimes a piece works way too hard to work, and I fear that might have been the case in my most recent offering: The Power of the Inevitable.

Too many people seemed confused by my wordy message in that one, and that’s on me.

Maybe instead of using 1,300 words that only served to confuse I should have just started the meaty piece where I ended it:

“It is our job to continue to get loud, and demand better. It’s our job to do everything we can to make good and damn sure everybody is aware of our successes, and of the Blue Tsunami that is most assuredly coming in November.

Because when Democrats are controlling everything but that rotten White House in nine months, it will have happened because everybody knew good and damn well it was inevitable.”

I was spurred to write the piece after a Democrat flipped a Senate seat deep in the heart of Texas by a whopping 31 points last Saturday.

This of course, followed a string of convincing Democratic victories all over the map in 2025, when the party flipped 21 percent of all the GOP-held legislative seats that were on the ballot, and the Republicans flipped exactly zero Democratically held seats.

This has set the stage for what I believe might be the biggest blowout in midterm history this November.

Nobody knows this better than the gutless Republicans, who once again reacted by attacking our sacred right to vote instead of the ghastly, immoral man who has gotten them (and us) into this bloody mess: the anti-American, Donald Trump.

Within hours of the seismic election in Texas, Republicans were out touting their latest talking points of the rich and fascist and the need to consider federalized midterm elections.

I am heartened by how much blowback this has received, because maybe, just maybe, people on the sidelines will wake up and see what is happening in this country.

Consider where we are:

The crooked party that currently controls the Executive, the House, the Senate and the Supreme Court, is now busy trying to convince America that Democrats cheat, and our elections need to be federalized.

No that’s some nuclear-powered fascist GOP propaganda right there, folks, and needs to be countered with the truth right now, which is precisely why I wrote that herky-jerky piece.

It is all of our jobs to inform the public what is happening in America, and maybe more important in this case: what has happened in one election after another the past 13 months.

It is paramount we continue to fight, spread the word, and for once win the communications battle.

We can’t control what will ultimately happen, but we can control what we are doing right now to get the desired result, and I suggest we continue to stay active, and get good and loud about it.

Let the patriots in Minneapolis inspire you.

And remember: Millions and millions have been through worse than what we’re going through now, and they didn't back down an inch.

“Be hopeful. Be optimistic. Never lose that sense of hope.”

-John Lewis

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Now onto a few other quick-hitters:

I've been hard on The Washington Post the past couple of years because too many of their alleged “leaders” in their newsroom were unable to identify and report on the greatest threat to our democracy in history in the long lead-up to the 2024 elections.

I wrote repeatedly in this space that the paper needed a Democracy Desk in its newsroom that did nothing but report on Republicans’ attack on America.

I gave up on them for good when the paper pulled its endorsement of Kamala Harris for president in Oct. of 2024. It was clear the fix was in.

That said, now that fascism is here, we need more journalism, not less, and Wednesday’s layoffs at the once-great paper will finish it off for good.

Jeff Bezos’ assassination of the The Washington Post was the ultimate catch-and-kill operation on behalf of Trump.

The multi-billionaire bought a newspaper that reported the truth about a ghastly president, who does nothing but lie. So said president awarded the multi-billionaire billions more in government contracts and unfettered access to America’s wallets just so long as he incinerated the paper that told the truth about him.

The grotesque Bezos went along with this, and even threw in a movie about the president’s lifeless wife as a bonus.

The two slime balls then shook their greasy, bruised hands and went off to their respective holes to count their money.

I’ll let the former Washington Post Executive Editor Marty Baron — a man I have great respect for — have the last word on this.

Here was his prescient statement after the paper pulled the Harris endorsement:

"This is cowardice, a moment of darkness that will leave democracy as a casualty. Donald Trump will celebrate this as an invitation to further intimidate The Post’s owner, Jeff Bezos (and other media owners). History will mark a disturbing chapter of spinelessness at an institution famed for courage."

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Unlike many Substackers, I keep my comments section open to both paid and free subscribers. I do this for four reasons:

1. I appreciate your readership.

2. Not everybody can afford a paid subscription. Money is tight for too many under this fascist, billionaires-first administration. (To those of you who do lay some financial support on me, thank you, thank you, thank you. Even though I don’t always ring the bell clearly, I work for you, and try like hell to be worthy of that support.)

3. The more reasonable voices we can get in the room the better. Everybody needs an outlet to reach like-minded people during these scary times. Sometimes, just knowing you aren’t alone with your hounding thoughts can bring needed comfort and affirmation.

4. It allows me to learn. Some of you are very smart. That’s a joke there ... Every one of you has something to say worth listening to, and we are all better for hearing it.

However …

This does not mean people can bomb into the place spouting nonsense and lies. Thankfully, this doesn’t happen often, but when it does, I will politely ask that the comment be removed. If that doesn’t happen, I will ask one more time. If the comment remains, I will remove it and block the offender for good.

Obvious spam gets an automatic block.

Truth has never been more important, and you need to know that you are finding it here. Without truth there is no credibility, and anybody who isn’t credible isn’t worth listening to. Take Trump for example …

I try to read every comment, my friends, because you took the time to write it. I spend hours poring over your comments, because they are worth it.

Because YOU are worth it.

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Finally …

Tomorrow is my birthday.

I hope I am around to type that sentence next year, and many, many years after that.

I was born in Asmara, Eritrea, Ethiopia, in an Army hospital at the end of the Eisenhower presidency. I have had a wonderful life, seen a lot of the world, and been through a lot of stuff.

Like everybody, I’ve had my regrets, but I don’t spend much time with them, because life is too short.

The most important thing to me is being on the right side of a fight. That I can control. Win or lose, I can live with myself.

So thanks for being on the right side of this fight with me, my friends. It means everything.

Forward.

-Earl

(D. Earl Stephens is the author of “Toxic Tales: A Caustic Collection of Donald J. Trump’s Very Important Letters” and finished up a 30-year career in journalism as the Managing Editor of Stars and Stripes. You can find all his work here.)