I Didn't Say It ...

Bruce Springsteen, on tour in Manchester, speaking truth to power about The Felon:

“In my home, the America I love, the America I’ve written about, that has been a beacon of hope and liberty for 250 years, is currently in the hands of a corrupt, incompetent and treasonous administration. Tonight, we ask all who believe in democracy and the best of our American experiment to rise with us, raise your voices against authoritarianism and let freedom ring! The last check, the last check on power after the checks and balances of government have failed are the people, you and me. It’s in the union of people around a common set of values now that’s all that stands between a democracy and authoritarianism. So at the end of the day, all we’ve got is each other. There’s some very weird, strange and dangerous shit going on out there right now. In America, they are persecuting people for using their right to free speech and voicing their dissent. This is happening now. In America, the richest men are taking satisfaction in abandoning the world’s poorest children to sickness and death. This is happening now. In my country, they’re taking sadistic pleasure in the pain they inflict on loyal American workers. They’re rolling back historic civil rights legislation that led to a more just and plural society. They are abandoning our great allies and siding with dictators against those struggling for their freedom. They are defunding American universities that won’t bow down to their ideological demands. They are removing residents off American streets and, without due process of law, are deporting them to foreign detention centers and prisons. This is all happening now. A majority of our elected representatives have failed to protect the American people from the abuses of an unfit president and a rogue government. They have no concern or idea of what it means to be deeply American. The America l’ve sung to you about for 50 years is real and regardless of its faults is a great country with a great people. So we’ll survive this moment. Now, I have hope, because I believe in the truth of what the great American writer James Baldwin said. He said, ‘In this world, there isn’t as much humanity as one would like, but there’s enough.’ Let’s pray.”

Let’s pray.

Let’s vote.

Let’s protest.

Let’s speak up.

Let’s resist.

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Pete Buttigieg, former Transportation Secretary and future president, at an Iowa town hall taking on this fascist regime:

“Right now, I'm not running for anything and part of what's exciting and compelling about an opportunity like this is to be campaigning for values and for ideas, rather than a specific electoral campaign. We are being tested on nothing less than whether the United States of America is in fact the freedom-loving people that we believe and know ourselves to be. Even in this moment, when opposition to the abuses coming out of Washington has never mattered more, this isn't just about what we are trying to block, it's about what we are determined to build. It's about what could be better—what will be better if we follow the guiding lights of this country. When the president of the United States thinks he could send you to another country, or shut down the broadcast license of a TV station, if he doesn’t like what it has to say—that is not freedom. I am convinced that members of Congress and the president’s party know that this is wrong. No one person, least of all, no one politician, gets to decide that you’re a criminal. There’s this theory out there that if we just kind of hang back, don’t do much, then the people in charge today will screw it up, and then they’ll get blamed for it and then we’ll win. I disagree. First of all, while I agree that they will screw it up, I disagree that we should let them. And I also disagree that they will be blamed for it. They may not be good at governing but they are really good at allocating blame. We need to be in touch with our first principles, what we would be doing if we were in charge. What makes America great is its ability to wrestle with its darkest demons and come out stronger and better for it.”

The best part of the speech for me was when a man stood up and said he appreciated Pete’s speech and liked that he was a man who spoke in complete sentences. The crowd cheered that man.

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Robert De Niro, at the Cannes Film Festival, taking on The Felon:

"In my country, we’re fighting like hell for the democracy we once took for granted. And that affects all of us here because the arts are democratic. Art is inclusive. It brings people together, like tonight. Art looks for truth, art embraces diversity and that’s why art is a threat — that’s why we are a threat — to autocrats and fascists. Let that sink in for a minute. You can’t put a price on creativity, but apparently you can put a tariff on it. Of course, this is unacceptable. All these attacks are unacceptable, and this isn’t just an American problem. It’s a global one. And like a film, we can’t just all sit back and watch. We have to act now. Without violence, but with great passion and determination. It’s time for everyone who cares about liberty to organize, to protest, and when there are elections, of course to vote. Tonight, and for the next eleven days, we show our strength and commitment by celebrating art in this glorious festival.”

The best part about De Niro's outspoken criticisms of The Felon is that we know how deeply they bother the so-called president who has always wanted acceptance from Hollywood. He loves the glitz and glamour and resents that they despise him.

But they see him for the lying, cheating, rapist, racist, grifter, liar, loser that he’s been his entire life.

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Harold Ford, Fox News host, telling the truth on that lying network:

“Tax cuts—as much as the president and Republicans want to say this tax bill extending things are going to help middle-class Americans, the vast majority of people who are going to be helped by the tax cuts are the wealthiest, because there’s one other number. Over the last 12 years, the S&P has gone up almost 400%, and the only way to benefit from the stock market is if you have money invested in the stock market and you have to have a lot for that to benefit you. So, I say to Democrats: you have to cut spending. I say to Republicans: stop kidding Americans that you’re not … cutting taxes for the richest Americans. Why not raise taxes on those earning two and half million or more to pay for these things? So, we may differ a little bit, but one thing we agree on, the debt is not going to go down because of this and the people that are going to benefit the most are not middle-class, working-class Americans, it’s going to be some people around this table and people much richer than this.”

Another Fox host speaking truth on the Lying Channel.

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Bruce Springsteen, again in concert, responding to The Felon warning him that he’d better “keep his mouth shut”:

“In my country, they’re taking sadistic pleasure in the pain they inflict on loyal American workers. They’re rolling back historic civil rights legislation that led to a more just society. They’re abandoning our great allies and siding with dictators against those who are struggling for their freedom. That’s happening now. They are defunding American universities that won’t bow down to their ideological demands. And they are removing residents off American streets without due process of law and deploying them to foreign detention centers and prisons. That’s happening now. They have utterly failed to protect the American people from the abuses of an unfit president and a rogue government. That’s happening now.”

The idea that The Felon thinks he can intimidate The Boss is astounding; he could even intimidate a porn star.

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