IT’S NOT JUST “THE ECONOMY, STUPID”

By Ruth A. Sheets

A member of the comment thread for Heather Cox Richardson’s Substack reminded us “It’s the economy, stupid.”  That phrase supposedly shot Bill Clinton into office in 1992 and will fix things for Democrats today.  I thought I should respond, so, here it is.

it is the economy, of course, but we need to make it far more than that!  The protection of our rights as Americans being taken away by Trumplandia, at every turn to make us totally subservient/enslaved to them is in the works.  That is more worrisome than what is happening to our economy and that is pretty bad.

Last week, the Supreme Court Roberts 6 gave the Confederate states the freedom to gerrymander to their heart’s content racially, of course, just don’t call it that.  In other words, bring back Jim Crow, but don’t call it that.  This is directly related to the economy.  It is also deeply tied up with the endemic racism that exists in this nation and only marginally dealt with from the time of the Civil War.  The Roberts 6 knew full well they were permitting a set of racial gerrymanders, but if states “pretend”/lie it isn’t, no problem.  Without proper representation, the people suffer.

I hope Democrats got the word that the old way of doing things, the monied elite in control of the Party will no longer work.  Dems need new, more powerful strategies than supporting the centrist malleable candidates ignoring progressives.  Democrats must jump in and tell those in gerrymandered southern districts that they are being used.  The manipulators are magnifying their positions toward others to assure their compliance with whatever foolish idea Republicans in power come up with.  Dems need to get out the word that once those Republicans get tired of harming the “hated” groups, they will come after the rural and suburban white folks as loafers, illegal landowners, or whatever comes into their addled fascist brains.  Donald Trump is at the center of what is going on even though his dementia won't let him remember any of it and he will lie to say it didn't happen.  

An effective basic Democratic platform must be universal, then added to in each district to meet specific needs of those folks.  Some points I believe should be on the basic platform: 

• universal healthcare
• full bodily autonomy for all
• a living wage for every job, workplace safety, and unions
• end of tariffs and Congress approving all money as the Constitution requires
• automatic voter registration upon citizens turning 18 and fair voting districts

independently drawn

• court and criminal justice reform at all levels
• fair taxation for all without loopholes for the rich
• Effective regulation of the economy with stronger guidelines for consumers
• properly administered Social Security and other retirement programs
• fair regulation of Artificial Intelligence, social media, and other tech
• significant funding for renewable energy and addressing global warming
• clean air and water, with a fully-functioning EPA and related government agencies
• protection of our public lands and National Parks, with very limited mining and logging with guidance from Native Americans and other experts
• strong support for our public schools, early childhood, child care, and free community colleges which care for and educate our precious children
• support programs for struggling Americans:  SNAP, WIC, housing support, etc.
• reinstatement of supports for diversity-equity-inclusion, plus full rights for all populations, immigrants, differently abled and LGBTQ persons 
• rebuilding strong relationships with the world particularly our allies including reinstating US Aid and other international service organizations and stronger ties with the UN
• improvement of public transportation
• and more based on what a committee of strong progressive Democrats see as essentials.  

Americans everywhere need to be encouraged to VOTE in every single election, not just those of high media interest.  We need people to make calls and texts, knock on doors of all sorts of people and actually listen to their issues, get folks registered to vote, put billboards up wherever possible that present parts of the Democratic platform, flood social media with the positives of the platform and the candidates who support it in the district, hold weekly press conferences to let people know what Democrats federal, state,  and local are doing for the people and what they are opposing and why.  Demand better, more honest media coverage of this regime.  Call out the tech bros who are only for themselves and what they can get their AI to do for money and power.  

That is a lot, but we could do it despite the forces arrayed against us.  We have nearly 6 months to get this going!  Skip the stupid infighting among Democrats and make this happen!  Yep, it’s the economy plus! 

CONSERVATIVE FEAR AND LOATHING

By Ruth A. Sheets

May 3, 2026

In Joyce Vance’s “Civil Discourse” Substack of April 30, 2026, she asked a couple of really important questions:  why are conservatives so afraid of democracy? Why are they afraid to let the voters decide elections? 

After this week’s appalling Supreme Court Roberts 6 decision to gut further the Voting Rights Act, this is my enhanced response to Joyce’s questions.  I have been an active political being since I was 14 or 15 years old.  I wrote to my governor, my senators and my Rep, even the president, and still do, concerning issues I see as important.  One thing I noticed is that conservatives than and now, are people who are scared of the future, although more recently, the fear is showing up in ways and intensities that have not been seen for a while.  Conservatives seem also to be scared of life.  They often hide in conservative religion which can trap them in a one-way-of-thinking scenario with "sin" at the center and that everyone is an evil sinner, or everyone but they themselves is (it varies). 

As I see it, conservatives think they got whatever position they have in life through their own unaided natural ability and skill, but possibly down deep, fear that isn't the truth.  Instead of realizing that most people have doubts like that, they put others down, wanting to keep them down, thinking that will somehow raise themselves up. 

Many conservatives don't want to "let voters decide elections" because those less-talented, lower-class voters would never pick the “right” people.  Believing that, those in charge of American conservatism must rig the election in favor of the "good" guys (usually men) or ultra compliant women, and with money, media, and some AI, they do. 

These days, maybe always, conservatives tend to get wealth in a variety of ways and will fight really hard to keep it and use it for themselves to get even more.  It seems wealth begets conservatism; conservatism often fosters wealth for those at the top too. 

Non-conservatives have a range of points of view, and rightly so.  Those often conflict, which can mean a lack of unity.  Each group may have its own goals, its own “critical” issues to fight for, its own style.  Often those non-conservatives don’t take the time to heed each others’ issues, certain theirs is the most important.  Conservatives have had decades, maybe centuries to shape their message, too often involving lying, blaming, deceit, name-calling, gaslighting, etc.  One might correctly think they need these tactics because their message is poor or unpopular.  Conservatives seem to listen to no one and nothing but money and their personal comfort, so they use whatever they can to undermine their opponents, their enemies. 

Our nation and planet are in trouble, all of us.  As far as I can tell, conservatives don’t really care as long as they get theirs.  It is critical that non-conservatives find many different ways to work together to defeat conservatism, or at least put it on a back shelf.  We truly don’t need its efforts to wreck our lives, our democracy.  We can’t stand by and just watch everything destroyed that this nation has worked for as it “progresses” toward forming “a more perfect union.”

We can decide on, as many have recommended, a set of positions, issues that non-conservatives can hold in common and can stand on no matter what is thrown at us, like: 

• valuing diversity and the histories of all groups;
• stopping divisions stoked by conservatives and others;
• ending violence against immigrants, closing concentration camp prisons, abolishing ICE and limiting Border Patrol to the borders;
• developing ethical requirements for our Supreme Court, term limits to 18 years and limiting the number of justices any one president can appoint, increasing the court to 13 justices to cover all districts with 1 justice each;
• ending gerrymandering of all kinds while making sure minority voters actually have proper representation;
• reforming our tax code to make taxation fair for everyone, everyone pays at least a bit and those who have more pay a whole lot more,  including corporations;
• limiting shareholder power in corporations;;
• bodily autonomy for all people, not just men;
• enhancing support programs for all Americans:  SNAP, WIC, FEMA, whatever is needed;
• universal healthcare;
• nominees for judgeships/justices approved by at least 3 independent legal organizations, with candidates who have  experience on the bench or quality legal cases they have handled;
• regulating AI while at the same time valuing and supporting science and research;
• working harder for renewable energy and restoring our environment as global warming is seriously addressed. 

I bet there are a few others, but those would be a start that all non-conservative candidates could support.  It's time to come together to stand against the scared white conservatives who would destroy everything we have so they can feel safe and in control of those scary others, rather than try to improve life for all.

LETTER TO OUR PA SENATORS

By Ruth A. Sheets

April 29, 2026

This is my most recent plea to our Pennsylvania senators concerning immigration.  

Dear Senators,

As your concerned constituent, I’m writing to ask you to vote YES on S.J. Res. 99.  Stop the cruelty directed at immigrants living and working hard in this country, harder than most citizens work, including the entire membership of this Trump regime!

As you know, Last October, the Trump administration eliminated automatic extensions for work permits of immigrants – a policy that had been in place for over a decade, and for no reason other than racism and simple cruelty!  They and any of you who go along with this should be ashamed, but it seems shame has no place in Trumplandia, which has permitted members of their Klan to do enormous harm to people who have not deserved it. 

Trump lied that he and his “team” only wanted to arrest and deport serious criminals who are immigrants,  but, that is not who they are going after.  They have ordered and Congress has approved with its inaction, separating families, arresting and imprisoning families with children, deporting parents from their American children and spouses, murdered American citizens as well as immigrants, allowed armed masked thugs loose on the streets of our communities.  There are no excuses that will make up for what has been done and it appears racism, fear of the other, and a drive for personal power have been at work. 

Huge amounts of  money have been paid from our taxes to rich corporations who run concentration camp prisons where the incarcerated people have been forced to live in conditions no one should want anyone to endure:  severe overcrowding, given garbage to eat they called food, been denied medical care, been beaten, tortured, and more, and for what!

Under this immigration work permit policy, workers who filed their renewal paperwork on time were protected from losing their jobs while they waited on government processing. It was straightforward: if you did your part, the government wouldn't punish you for its own delays.  Trump's/Musk's DOGE and Dept. of Homeland Security Noem fired so many people that of course, there were government-produced delays, so Trumplandia permitted ICE to start arresting those waiting-folks then imprisoning them, and more, and for what!

That protection is now gone, with no honest justification from this administration. An estimated 3.8 million immigrant workers can now be legally fired and deported through no fault of their own, simply because federal processing backlogs are slow, deliberately slow. These are people who followed every rule, filed every form on time, and built their lives here. They don't deserve to lose their livelihoods, their families, and their community because of a bureaucratic backlog they have no control over, but a group of men in charge who hate people of color do. It’s neither fair nor right and you should know that. 

Congress has done little to nothing to help these hard-working people who trusted this nation to help.  Congress has been participating in the evil being done mostly by doing nothing and just tacitly agreeing to whatever Trump and his clown car of evil demand.

S.J. Res. 99 would restore the protections those immigrants deserve. That’s why I’m asking you to vote yes, so that 3.8 million people’s lives are not needlessly harmed. We are watching to see whose side you are on, the evil and ignorance of this current regime or the side of human beings who are being brutalized so a bunch of scared white folks can practice their racism unimpeded.  Thanks for what I hope is your attention.   Sincerely, Ruth Sheets

Feel free to use this as a template for contacting your senators.

OPEN LETTER TO TRUMP’S SYCOPHANTS

By Ruth A. Sheets

April 9, 2026

Dear “Friends,”

I have decided it is imperative I finally write to you all.  It seems you have fallen off the path of true public service into the ditch filled with slime coming off the lie and disinformation factory up the road, owned and operated by rich white men for their benefit and that of Donald Trump. 

Do you realize you have chosen to follow a man who was never what he claimed to be.  For some reason our media just loved projecting him as a great businessman when he was not nearly that, you know, bankrupting 6 times.  I know he called those bankruptcies being “smart.”  Would you have considered yourself “smart” had you bankrupted even once, OK, twice?

In order to follow Trump a man with failing mental capacities for years, you chose to sacrifice whatever decency you may once have had, possibly for personal gain, possibly to get revenge on someone.  Neither of these is what one would think of as the action of a decent human being.

When I hear of your antics, it reminds me of a Toddler (Trump), playing with his toys, making them participate in his fantasy, being wherever told to stand, spouting whatever nonsense comes from Trump’s dementia-laden mouth.  You are expected to treat the beings around you as though not worthy of care, actually, worthy of abuse.  All of this on the command of your toddler-in-chief.  How does it feel to be a toy in the hands of someone unable to think clearly, has no compassion for you or anyone else, and feels no allegiance to our Constitution?  It can’t be fun!

I feel some sympathy for women in the sycophantic sphere because you have decided the Mar-a-Lago Barbie face is your best look and perfecting the perfect pout works well for you.  You insult everyone around you who recognizes you as the sycophant you are.  I thought you were proud of your role.  You should be telling everyone just how much you love being a toy in Trumplandia.  I feel your lack of pain when two of the best of you in your sycophancy, Pam Bondi (Trump’s Pseudomommy) and Kristi Noem (Trump’s Enforcer) were dumped, Pam in favor of someone Trump considers a better Pseudomommy and Noem tossed away because she got more attention than Trump himself.  Yo Ladies, consider what you are sacrificing for this particular honor as members of Trump’s Bimbo Squad.

Pete Hegseth, you know you are participating in criminal activities with that little war you and your toddler boss started, well, just because.  It didn’t work, you know.  Despite Trump’s words to the public, none of your goals were met and “destroying an entire civilization” is not a path to righteousness or Heaven, however you define them.  I bet your generals tried to tell you that.  Ooops, that’s probably why you tried to fire them.  And, your racism and misogyny are showing, not properly promoting women and men of color.  Shame Shame!!  You’re supposed to do it quietly and pretend you didn’t do it; they just resigned or chose not to be promoted, or something like that.

And, DOJ sycophants, you all are not supposed to push crimes under the rug, like the murders of Good and Pretty in Minneapolis, and the 26 or so people who died in your concentration camp prisons.  Oh I know, that is supposed to be under the Department of Homeland Security, but you have quickly tried to hide the facts on those cases, which is not your job.  Honesty no longer reigns in DOJ and that is sad, but expected when sycophants are in charge.

Then, you let your toddler-boss force you to claim global warming/climate change is not happening.  That is beyond stupid.  You, yes even you can see it is happening and that fossil fuels and poor farming practices are causing it.  You forget that you live on this planet too and will suffer along with the rest of us when the warming becomes too intense.  I suspect you are planning to be dead by then, but what about your children and grandchildren or don’t you care about them either?  We had a good program of renewable energy going before Trump’s rule, but alas, I know, sycophancy does not permit science or common sense, just obedience, even if the one to be obeyed is making pronouncements in the throes of dementia.

Trashing immigrants, asylum-seekers, and refugees makes you all look like hypocrites since you had parents or grandparents who immigrated here.  I know, I know, your people came here “the right way.”  You know that is BS.  They came here the same way everyone else who is not Native American came here.

So, I just want you to know that sycophancy is not a good career choice beyond the here and now.  Consider finding a new career, maybe in the private sector you all have been working so hard to protect, to finance, and to confiscate our hard earned tax money for.  Maybe they will be OK if you take the job of sycophant for them too.  Just sayin’.

Peace, Ruth Sheets

  

 

 

BREAKING THE MOLD

By Ruth A. Sheets

In a Substack piece, Robert Reich, Professor Emeritus at UC Berkley, wrote about getting voters to vote for candidates who have their interests at heart.  I started thinking about how hard that is going to be for Republicans, maybe some Democrats too.  This is what I came up with in response. 

Over the years, we Americans, and people of other nations too, have been carefully groomed by the rich and powerful to go for the loud-mouthed white male as having the "best" answers to every question of importance, the “mold.”  Those loud-mouthed white men decided what is natural among the beasts of the field and birds of the air and among human beings too.  They told us what to buy and what makes us beautiful/handsome.  They told us they knew how to rule and that it was right for loud-mouthed white men to rule the world.  Well, those same loud-mouthed white men took us into Holocaust, into endless wars, enhanced significantly the wealth gap, have blamed poor people for being poor, have used the taxes paid by working people all over the world to produce and buy war machines that have no other purpose than killing our fellow human beings and any other creatures that get in the way. 

Here, the Republican Party has made recruiting those loud-mouthed white men into their ranks critical, and put a lot of money behind them.  What those in charge of the party recruitment knew is that in the position of "president" you can put the not-so-loud and definitely not very competent, but behind them must be a loud-mouthed white man.  If you can't manage that, go with the loud-mouthed guy for president who can lie like a rug and the guys in charge can make the public believe every word. 

If one looks at Republicans say from 1960 onward, every victorious Republican presidential candidate has fit one of the molds or other.  Nixon could be a loud-mouth, but he depended on others like his VPs Lodge and Agnew to do the shouting while Nixon pretended he was just like a thoughtful judge.  Goldwater fit the mold perfectly, threatening all sorts of people and groups with American might.  Ford was the least like the mold, but he was only needed to pardon Nixon of his crimes.  He did it and was gone.  Reagan was portrayed as everyone's grandpa, but he had no clue.  His VP was rich and knew how to manipulate folks behind the scene and did, Bush,Sr.  As president Bush,Sr. had all the words, but also had racism and misogyny to keep him in favor.  Bush,Jr. was incompetent, but I think, wanted to do a good job, at least some of the time.  His VP Cheyney was the needed loud-mouth. 

Trump was the perfect creation that fit the mold sufficiently to be carefully shaped using Trump's own loud-mouthed white man tendencies to believe himself better than everyone else when in reality, he was not smart, a bad businessman, a cheat, a liar, a rapist, and more.  That could easily be covered by a lying media and his loud-mouthed hatred of everyone he chose to or was directed to hate.  With the Republican Party cheating in elections, Trump was elected, then re-elected.  He gives the rich white men in corporate power nearly everything they want while enriching his family (well, the corporations enrich them so their patriarch won't get out of line during the takeover of our democracy). 

Republican voters are drawn to this kind of loud-mouthed bullying that Trump portrayed so well before his dementia made it harder for him to know what is going on.  How do we convince Republican voters that they are focusing on the wrong hand.  The corporate magicians are doing them immense harm while they watch their Trumpian puppet lie his way through this corporate destruction machine.  It will be hard for them to break out because their loyalty has been so carefully groomed and tended.

On Saturday, March 28, 2026, people all over the country rallied to try to draw attention to and stop the loud-mouthed bully in the white house.  In our tristate area, the media practically ignored the whole day’s activities, giving no more than a minute to the event while covering Tiger Woods’ car crash in Florida for a far longer report.  That truly is what we are dealing with, a corporate media that props up an old man with dementia while ignoring the American people.

It’s time We the People work harder to “break the mold” and find more ways to get information to people who are stuck in their perceived need for loyalty to a party that left them behind long ago.  The people and corporations in power want to drain them of their will to act, and to distract them from making good decisions for their lives; it’s working.

I didn’t mention the Republicans who lost the presidency, except for Goldwater because for the most part, they were white men who did not fit the corporate/conservative uncaring mold:  Dole, McCain, and Romney.  And, they didn’t have the VP back-ups to counter their decency.  The Democrats who ran against them had ideas that were more powerful to capture Democratic voters.  Remember, when Democrats get out to vote in their greater numbers, unless there is  AI or media-based  fraud, Democrats win. 

AN ILLEGAL UNNECESSARY WAR

By Ruth A. Sheets

March 26, 2026

We are in a war with Iran.  That sounds unbelievable!  There was no vote in Congress.  There was a minor build-up, but little notion of what a conflict with Iran would look like, no strong purpose for this war, and it is being called a war by Donald Trump and the media that are tied to his every word.

It does work to put Baby Donnie's name on this war insanity, but he did not orchestrate this.  He ordered the attacks, so has, as “commander-in-chief,” ultimate responsibility.  But, he had enormous help because he is not smart enough about war to do much.  He blathers a lot, lies a lot, blames everyone when something doesn't work, and cannot plan anything that makes sense.  Trump threatens anyone, with backup from ensnared lawyers, Elon Musk, and the other oligarchs if they don't do exactly as they are told.  His current "helpers" are just about as stupid as he is:  Miller, Vought, Vance, and especially Hegseth.  None of them know anything about conducting a war, even the two who supposedly served in some capacity or other, but not in command of active troops. 

Hegseth fired many among the military leadership that would have been aware of how to plan for conflict, particularly the women because, well, misogyny works so well for our Baby Donnie.  Then the generals, admirals, and whoever else was in charge followed illegal orders as the veterans in our Congress reminded them they shouldn't do. 

I just read recently that there is a whole cadre of US military fools who are trying to bring about Armageddon, thinking that killing a lot of people through starting a nuclear war will send them to "heaven" or something.  It seems to me they are crazy, but crazy is what is present and welcome throughout this entire Trumpian regime!  That is shameful, but also terrifying!

A majority of Americans do not want this war and have made that known, but it seems Trump is so wrapped up in his own fantasy world, he does not care.  He thinks he has “obliterated” the Iranian military and whatever else his brain soaked in dementia thinks has been “obliterated.”  I think our Baby Donnie has fixated on the word “obliterated” and is running with it because it sounds so powerful.  It is not true that our military has obliterated anything in this war except maybe, our positive reputation with our allies.

We the People do need to make known how we feel about this war through signing petitions, writing directly to our representatives and senators, calling them, and attending a “no Kings” rally on Saturday.  Donald Trump and his white house toddler pool think we are all stupid, with him as the smartest guy anywhere, worthy of being king of the world.  We need to find ways to prove he and his handlers are wrong about that, and everything else too.  

ST. PATRICK’S DAY THOUGHTS

By Ruth A. Sheets

March 17, 2026

This morning I was “watching” the St. Patrick’s Day Parade” rerun on CBS Philly.  The parade has been held in Philadelphia since 1771.  That surprises people because we think that the Irish only came here in the 19^th century to build our railroads and because of the potato famine AFTER 1846.  That there was an active Irish community in Philadelphia before the signing of the Declaration of Independence is not usually part of our history lessons. 

We seem to like to put people and events into boxes that we can readily identify and fit those boxes on a timeline that we can easily follow, that is if we care at all. 

William Pen envisioned a colony, Pennsylvania where people of all backgrounds could come and live in peace.  He didn’t understand the Native peoples, but thought they should have a place too, as well as people from all over Europe.  He welcomed the first Germans in 1683 which opened the door to many future arrivals. 

The English came and settled all over Eastern North America, but they were joined almost from the beginning with Scots, Irish, French, and Swedes.

Enslaved peoples from Africa were brought here assumed to be illiterate “savages.”  In reality, many were Muslims who held an important world faith.  Others shared the faith of the peoples from which they came.  They may have been unaware of the ways of English people, but it became clear to anyone who paid attention that Black people were enormously talented, but their talents were used in service to white people whose faith not only permitted enslavement, but even promoted it. 

The white Christian faith of the time also permitted judgment of other people by their color, language, faith, country of origin, and other attributes which were categorized related to which were most relevant to the folks doing the judging. 

Despite the judgments, it is clear Philadelphia had an Irish community large enough to have a parade in the city 5 years before our attempt at independence.  I suspect at that time there were no signs that said “No Irish Need Apply” as one would find   75 or so years later.  I would imagine there were Black people watching the parade and appreciating the marchers too.  There was a significant free Black community in the city due to emancipation by former owners and sailors from ships docked in the harbor.  I suspect if we could check old records, we could find all sorts of other folks who settled here and helped shape this land even before our independence from Britain. 

For me it is tremendously sad that this nation’s people have decided to regularly elect people who do not appreciate our real history of diversity.  They prefer the white history that says since the founders were all white men this nation is just white men with the rest of us inferior to them because we have no history here that is worthy of mention. 

Nearly an entire political party, Republican, has chosen this “reasoning” and is sticking to it no matter the evidence to the contrary.  They see those who are not rich, white, and male as those to be used by themselves in whatever capacity they choose for us. 

• They want immigrants of color kicked out of the country.  They don’t realize just how much of the work those folks do and how much a part of our communities, even Philadelphia they are. 
• They want women to be in the home taking care of their hubby and popping babies as fast as possible to “replenish the white race” or something equally outrageous and insulting.  It’s fine to choose staying at home to do that,  but to be forced is criminal!  They have decided that teaching and nursing are not real “professions” of course, because the majority of those professinals are women.
• They want people of color to give up their high-level jobs to white men whenever white men come calling for that job.  We have seen what happens when such a scenario plays out.  The current Trumpian Regime has nominated and the Senate Republicans have approved the most incompetent set of white men in official government roles in our history.  The women they have approved are equally incompetent, but must look like Barbies and act like the inanimate doll too, and they do. 
• They want our “free press” to blurt out constant lies given to them by those incompetent white men and women in charge, I guess to make those ignoramuses seem somehow worthy of their positions.  They pretend the truth is not worth paying attention to, even when it involves the lives of our fellow Americans and immigrants who are our neighbors.  They arrest Black journalists, well, maybe just because they can, hoping no one will care.
• They give huge sums of money to anyone who will do their bidding and use their money and influence to bring more power and money to Trump and his entourage and toddler pool of white folks in government who have no clue.

So, this St. Patrick’s Day, we need to think about the rich heritage this nation holds and the many advances we have because of that great diversity.  Making enemies of those more talented than themselves means this Trumpian Regime is settling for what is often the worst of us instead of the rich talented diversity that is America.  If we don’t stop them, we all lose.  Happy St. Patrick’s Day!  See you next week at “No Kings 3.”