The Wild Reed: 2025

Monday, February 03, 2025

“This Is Essentially Viktor Orbán’s Playbook”

Waleed Shahid is a political strategist who has worked as spokesperson for Justice Democrats and adviser for the campaigns of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Jamaal Bowman.

Earlier today Shahid was interviewed by Amy Goodman of Democracy Now about his latest piece on Substack entitled “Elon Musk Is Staging a Coup.”

Following is some of what Shahid shared.

If this story was taking place somewhere in Central Asia or in Africa [then] the United States media, the United States State Department, and international institutions would likely refer to it as a coup. [Elon Musk] a billionaire industrialist who donated $300 million to [Trump’s presidential] campaign is installing his personal loyalists in key parts of the federal bureaucracy. This is essentially Viktor Orbán’s playbook.

And we need to know: Why does a billionaire industrialist, with millions in government contracts and military contracts for his private companies, need the Social Security numbers of every American, needs to know every single check that the U.S. government gives out to businesses and to charities? Why does this billionaire need to know this information?

He was not vetted or approved by the U.S. Senate. He has a history of corruption, for using public resources for private gain. He’s one of the wealthiest men in the world. In any other situation this would be called state capture, and people around the world would be condemning it. But in the United States we are not used to this kind of level of creeping authoritarianism, of plutocracy, of oligarchy so explicit.

. . . The Democratic Party in Washington is largely asleep at the wheel. They are acting as if they’re kind of a librarian shushing noise in a crowded room. They are still believing in the normal procedures, normal decorum; [still believing] that everything here is the normal transition of power. And they still believe that what Elon Musk and Donald Trump are doing is just a libertarian reform of the government, not an oligarchic, plutocratic takeover by a private billionaire who is potentially seeking to know what his competitors might be doing with government contracts. . . . But the Democratic Party is not able to put forward an opposition message right now, because they feel like this is normal.

And that’s why it’s so important for concerned citizens all across the country to twist the arm of your Senate Democrat. Go to their office. If you go to Indivisible.org today, you can find a way to join your local chapter all around the country, whether your senators are Republican or Democrat or independent. They need to hear from concerned citizens, because the Democratic Party doesn’t move on issues of oligarchy, of plutocracy, of taking action, unless their constituents show up in person and demand that they hold hearings . . . [and] grind the Senate to a halt until we know why Elon Musk, someone who was not elected, has this information.

– Waleed Shahid
Excerpted from “Is Elon Musk Staging a Coup?
Unelected Billionaire Seizes Control at
Treasury Department and Other Agencies”
Democracy Now!
February 3, 2025

Related Off-site Links:
“It’s a Coup”: Musk’s DOGE Granted Access to Treasury System That Pays Out Social Security – Olivia Rosane (Common Dreams, February 2, 2025).
Trump and Musk Have All of Washington on Edge – Just Like They Wanted – Philip Elliott (TIME, February 3, 2025).
“Americans Were Sleep-Marched Into Fascism”: Signs of Creeping Authoritarianism We Can’t Miss Again – Chauncey DeVega (Salon, February 3, 2025).
Musk’s DOGE Blitzkrieg Should Infuriate the Nation – Ann Wright (Common Dreams, February 3, 2025).
“Solidarity Is the Antidote to Fascism”: Progressives Organize Treasury Protest Over Musk Takeover – Charles R. Davis (Salon, February 3, 2025).
The Fu*king Nightmare – Robert Reich (RobertReich.com, February 2, 2025).
We Must Create a Broad Anti-Fascist Movement to Fight Back Against Trump 2.0 – C.J. Polychroniou (Common Dreams, February 2, 2025).
Fighting for Justice Doesn’t Have to Be a Big Dramatic Act. It Can Be Small – Rebecca Solnit (The Guardian, February 2, 2025).
Did You Hear About the Friday Coup? – Marisa Kabas (The Handbasket, February 1, 2025).
Call It by Its Name: A Coup – Robert B. Hubbell (Today’s Edition Newsletter, February 1, 2025).
Dictator Donald Thinks He’s Invincible; He’s Not – Ralph Nader (Common Dreams, February 1, 2025).
Top Treasury Official Out as Musk Cronies Demand Access to Payment System That Funnels Trillions in U.S. Funds – Julia Conley (Common Dreams, January 31, 2025).
“DOGE-Affiliated Goons” Accused of Locking Career Civil Servants Out of Key Databases – Brett Wilkins (Common Dreams, January 31, 2025).
Trump’s First Week: “Designed to Destroy the United States From Within" – Chauncey DeVega (Salon, January 30, 2025).
How to Organize Under Authoritarian Creep in a Closing Civil Society – Nadine Bloch (Waging Nonviolence, January 30, 2025).
Trump’s Neofascism Is Here Now. Here Are 10 Things You Can Do to Resist – Robert Reich (The Guardian, January 24, 2025).
Can Nonviolent Struggle Defeat a Dictator? This Database Emphatically Says Yes – George Lakey (Waging Nonviolence, January 8, 2025).
The Hungaryfication of the USA – Thomas Klikauer (Other News, January 9, 2025).
I Watched Orbán Destroy Hungary’s Democracy. Here’s My Advice for the Trump Era – Gábor Scheiring (Politico, November 23, 2024).

See also the previous Wild Reed posts:
• Timothy Snyder on Resisting the Oligarchs’ “Logic of Destruction”
• Marisa Kabas: “We’re Witnessing a Coup by an Unelected Billionaire Propped Up by a Felonious President”
• Inauguration Day Thoughts
• Democrat Talk on the Eve of Trump’s Return
• Signs of the Times: The 2025 People’s March
• How Empires Are Built and Rebellions Are Born
• Neoliberalism vs Neofascism: Cornel West on the State of U.S. Politics
• Progressive Perspectives on Where Democrats Went Wrong in the 2024 Election
• What the Republican Party Now Stands For
• Venice Williams on How We Get Through the Next Four Years
• Progressive Perspectives on Kamala Harris’ Faltering Presidential Campaign
• Marianne Williamson: “We’re Living in Very Serious Times and We Need to Be Very Serious People”
• Chris Hedges on the End of the American Empire
• History Matters
• Progressive Perspectives on the Crisis in U.S. Electoral Politics
• Will We Let Fascism Come to America?

Image: Artist unknown.

Sunday, February 02, 2025

Timothy Snyder on Resisting the Oligarchs’ “Logic of Destruction”

The federal government has immense capacity and control over trillions of dollars. That power was a co-creation of the American people. It belongs to them. The oligarchs around Trump are working now to take it for themselves.

Theirs is a logic of destruction. It is very hard to create a large, legitimate, functioning government. The oligarchs have no plan to govern. They will take what they can, and disable the rest. The destruction is the point. They don’t want to control the existing order. They want disorder in which their relative power will grow.

. . . The gap between the oligarchs’ wealth and everyone else’s will grow. Knowing what they themselves will do and when, they will have bet against the stock market in advance of Trump’s deliberately destructive tariffs, and will be ready to tell everyone to buy the crypto they already own. But that is just tomorrow and the day after.

In general, the economic collapse they plan is more like a reverse flood from the Book of Genesis, in which the righteous will all be submerged while the very worst ride Satan’s ark. The self-chosen few will ride out the forty days and forty night. When the waters subside, they will be alone to dominate.

. . . In [this] logic of destruction, there is no need to rebuild afterwards. In this chaos, the oligarchs will tell us that there is no choice but to have a strong man in charge. It can be a befuddled Trump signing ever larger pieces of paper for the cameras, or a conniving Vance who, unlike Trump, has always known the plot. Or someone else.

. . . [T]the men currently pillaging the federal government . . . see themselves as the servants of the freedom of the chosen few, but in fact they are possessed, like millennia of tyrants before them, of fantastic dreams: they will live forever, they will go to Mars. None of that will happen; they will die here on Earth, with the rest of us, their only legacy, if we let it happen, one of ruins. . . . The attempt by the oligarchs to destroy our government is illegal, unconstitutional, and more than a little mad. The people in charge, though, are very intelligent politically, and have a plan. I describe it not because it must succeed but because it must be described so that we can make it fail. This will require clarity, and speed, and coalitions.

. . . The logic of “move fast and break things,” like the logic of all coups, is to gain quick dramatic successes that deter and demoralize and create the impression of inevitability. Nothing is inevitable. Do not be alone and do not be dismayed. Find someone who is doing something you admire and join them.

What is a country? The way its people govern themselves. Sometimes self-government just means elections. And sometimes it means recognizing the deeper dignity and meaning of what it means to be a people. That means speaking up, standing out, and protesting. We can only be free together.

– Timothy Snyder
Excerpted from "The Logic of Destruction
. . . And How to Resist It
Thinking About
February 2, 2025

Related Off-site Links:
“It’s a Coup”: Musk’s DOGE Granted Access to Treasury System That Pays Out Social Security – Olivia Rosane (Common Dreams, February 2, 2025).
The Fu*king Nightmare – Robert Reich (RobertReich.com, February 2, 2025).
We Must Create a Broad Anti-Fascist Movement to Fight Back Against Trump 2.0 – C.J. Polychroniou (Common Dreams, February 2, 2025).
Fighting for Justice Doesn’t Have to Be a Big Dramatic Act. It Can Be Small – Rebecca Solnit (The Guardian, February 2, 2025).
Did You Hear About the Friday Coup? – Marisa Kabas (The Handbasket, February 1, 2025).
Call It by Its Name: A Coup – Robert B. Hubbell (Today’s Edition Newsletter, February 1, 2025).
Dictator Donald Thinks He’s Invincible; He’s Not – Ralph Nader (Common Dreams, February 1, 2025).
Top Treasury Official Out as Musk Cronies Demand Access to Payment System That Funnels Trillions in U.S. Funds – Julia Conley (Common Dreams, January 31, 2025).
“DOGE-Affiliated Goons” Accused of Locking Career Civil Servants Out of Key Databases – Brett Wilkins (Common Dreams, January 31, 2025).
Trump’s First Week: “Designed to Destroy the United States From Within" – Chauncey DeVega (Salon, January 30, 2025).
How to Organize Under Authoritarian Creep in a Closing Civil Society – Nadine Bloch (Waging Nonviolence, January 30, 2025).
Amid Confusion, Panic and Backlash, Trump’s White House Rescinds Funding “Freeze” on Grants and Programs – Chris Walker (TruthOut, January 29, 2025).
Think Trump’s Tyranny Can’t Be Opposed or Stopped? Think Again – Jeremy Brecher (Common Dreams, January 29, 2025).
In High-Speed Power Grab, Trump Seeks to Remake the Federal Government – Don Kettl (The Bulwark, January 29, 2025).
The Hostile Takeover of the United States by Corporate Raiders Has Arrived in Full – Thom Hartmann (Common Dreams, January 29, 2025).
Trump Is Clearly Moving in an Authoritarian and Potentially Fascist Direction – John Ripton (Common Dreams, January 29, 2025).
What Trump’s Pardons and Retribution Say About His Fascist Threat – Chuck Idelson (Common Dreams, January 29, 2025).
“Trump Is Trying to Collapse Our Economy”: War on “Woke” Revealed as a War on All Americans – Amanda Marcotte (Salon, January 29, 2025).
“We Do Not Consent” Says Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Illegal “Power Grab” as Judge Halts Trump Order – Jessica Corbett (Common Dreams, January 28, 2025).
Trump Tries a January Coup – Again: The President Wages War on the Separation of Powers – The Ink (January 28, 2025).
Trump’s Most Lawless Action Yet – David Dayen (The American Prospect, January 28, 2025).
Energized Neo-Nazis Feel Their Moment Has Come as Trump Changes Everything – Ben Makuch (The Guardian, January 26, 2025).
Donald Trump Is the Empire Unmasked – Caitlin Johnstone (CaitlinJohnstone.com, January 21, 2025).
Can Nonviolent Struggle Defeat a Dictator? This Database Emphatically Says Yes – George Lakey (Waging Nonviolence, January 8, 2025).

UPDATES: Is Elon Musk Staging a Coup? Unelected Billionaire Seizes Control at Treasury Department and Other Agencies – Democracy Now! (February 3, 2025).
Trump’s Trade War, Authoritarian Power, and the Oligarchs – Robert Reich (Common Dreams, February 3, 2025).

See also the previous Wild Reed posts:
• Marisa Kabas: “We’re Witnessing a Coup by an Unelected Billionaire Propped Up by a Felonious President”
• Inauguration Day Thoughts
• Democrat Talk on the Eve of Trump’s Return
• Signs of the Times: The 2025 People’s March
• How Empires Are Built and Rebellions Are Born
• Neoliberalism vs Neofascism: Cornel West on the State of U.S. Politics
• Progressive Perspectives on Where Democrats Went Wrong in the 2024 Election
• What the Republican Party Now Stands For
• Venice Williams on How We Get Through the Next Four Years
• Progressive Perspectives on Kamala Harris’ Faltering Presidential Campaign
• Marianne Williamson: “We’re Living in Very Serious Times and We Need to Be Very Serious People”
• Chris Hedges on the End of the American Empire
• History Matters
• Progressive Perspectives on the Crisis in U.S. Electoral Politics
• Will We Let Fascism Come to America?

Image: Artist unknown.

Protesting Trump’s “Dystopian” Immigration Policies

Yesterday I joined with hundreds of others in taking to the streets of south Minneapolis to protest the Trump administration’s racist and inhumane immigration polices, including raids by ICE and immigrant deportations. Our core message was a simple one: Immigrants are welcome here.

The rally and march was organized by the Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Committee (MIRAC).

Following are a few of my photographs from yesterday, accompanied by an excerpt from Feven Gerezgiher’s MPR News article about the event.

Since Donald Trump returned to the White House last month, America hasn’t felt the same to Antonio Hernandez.

“I cannot believe it,” he said. “It feels very dystopian.”

Hernandez, a sophomore at the University of Minnesota, joined the ranks of demonstrators in Minneapolis on Saturday to protest President Trump's immigration policies.

Trump, on entering office last month, signed scores of executive orders reversing Biden-era policies and reinstituting plans he set in place during his first term. At least 20 executive orders are aimed at blocking immigration, including directives to stop refugee arrivals, redefine who can become a U.S. citizen at birth, continue building a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border, and bolstering the ranks of federal immigration officers.

Supporters rallied on Minneapolis’ East Lake Street – a vibrant corridor of Mexican, Somali and other immigrant-owned businesses – packing the area on a grey and cold winter afternoon. They carried signs reading “All are welcome here” and “Immigrants Make America Great.”

. . . While “sanctuary cities” like Minneapolis and St. Paul limit cooperation with federal immigration enforcement and have ordinances in place to prioritize local trust and safety, sanctuary cities have also been targeted by Trump. In January, the president signed an executive order denying federal funding to sanctuary cities and directing his administration to pursue action “to the maximum extent possible under the law.”

The Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Committee organized the protest. “We want to show that we are in solidarity with our immigrant community . . . and tell Trump that we’re not going anywhere,” said Latifah Moss, a MIRAC spokesperson.

Moss said people now know what Trump is capable of and are more prepared to act.

She said MIRAC has ramped up its activism since Trump’s inauguration, offering more “Know Your Rights” trainings aimed at supporting immigrant communities and their neighbors.

– Feven Gerezgiher
Excerpted from “Demonstrators Protest Trump’s
‘Dystopian’ Immigration Policies
and Promise to Fight Back”
Minnesota Public Radio News
February 1, 2025

Saturday, February 01, 2025

Marisa Kabas: “We’re Witnessing a Coup by an Unelected Billionaire Propped Up by a Felonious President”

Marisa Kabas is a Brooklyn-based independent writer and reporter. In June of 2022 she launched her blog The Handbasket “after watching the journalism infrastructure crumble over the last decade.”

Following (with added links) is an excerpt from her latest post, “Did You Hear About the Friday Coup?”

This week felt like the first battle of a long war — and that’s because it was. On Monday the White House Office of Management and Budget announced a freeze on all federal funding, and — aside from that order being blocked by a judge later in the week — it was all downhill from there. The enormity of the week culminated in a deluge of distressing developments on Friday that you may or may not have heard about.

Elon Musk has, for all intents and purposes, taken control of the inner-workings of the federal government. As the head of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), he’s been given a mandate by President Trump to severely cut the number of federal government workers by whatever means he sees fit, like pressuring them to retire early or accept a deferred resignation. He’s also been tasked with slashing spending — and if it benefits him personally as well, that’s fine, too.

Friday began with the news that the highest ranking nonpolitical staffer and acting director at the U.S. Department of Treasury was retiring after a dispute with Musk’s henchmen. They wanted access to the payment system that the government uses to disburse trillions of dollars, and David Lebryk, a career civil servant, was not having it.

Lebryk was the only thing standing between DOGE taking control of the system that pays out Social Security and Medicare benefits, federal salaries, tax refunds, among many other crucial systems. And on Saturday, we learned DOGE has, in fact, been handed full access to the nation’s wallet by newly-confirmed Department of Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent.

“Mr. Musk, who has been given wide latitude by President Trump to find ways to slash government spending, has recently fixated on Treasury’s payment processes, criticizing the department in a social media post on Saturday for not rejecting more payments as fraudulent or improper,” the New York Times wrote. “It is not clear whether the team led by Mr. Musk, the world’s wealthiest man, has blocked any payments since gaining access to the system.

“It’s like a bank heist and the bank is America,” a source in the federal government told me. “Not really being hyperbolic to say control of those systems would allow an extremely fast collapse of the economy. Imagine it’s a plumbing system and someone takes a sledgehammer to the central pipe.”

. . . It’s essential to reiterate that all of this is illegal. What remains to be seen is how broadly the legality of it will be challenged, and whether Trump-appointed judges will rubber stamp Musk’s actions anyway.

At the end of a historically hellish Friday, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer could only offer toothless posts on Bluesky. Democratic Senator Amy Klobuchar told the New York Times, “If there is a middle of all of this hot mess of division, Americans want us to work together when we can and find common ground.”

The impotence is as staggering as the abdication is sickening. But the current message from elected Democrats is loud and clear: You’re on your own. And the message from the Musk/Trump administration is even clearer: You’re next.

As someone wrote to me today, “The first coup was violent insurrection. The second coup is administrative. We failed to ensure Donald Trump could never return to power again after the first coup; our job right now in this moment is to acknowledge reality and halt the second.”

Organizers are trying to get the wheels in motion for a real opposition. Sunday night at 8pm ET there will be a virtual call hosted by Indivisible, a group that rose to national prominence during the first Trump administration. RSVP here if you’d like to join.

. . . It’s not even two weeks into the second Trump administration, but the breadth of the destruction is clear. I don’t think it’s hyperbole to say we’re witnessing a coup by an unelected billionaire propped up by a felonious president, and we must treat it as such. Even if, as some have reported, it wasn’t even featured on Friday’s nightly news.

– Marisa Kabas
Excerpted from “Did You Hear About the Friday Coup?”
The Handbasket
February 1, 2025

Related Off-site Links:
Call It by Its Name: A Coup – Robert B. Hubbell (Today’s Edition Newsletter, February 1, 2025).
The Logic of Destruction . . . And How to Resist It – Timothy Snyder (Thinking About, February 2, 2025).
Dictator Donald Thinks He’s Invincible; He’s Not – Ralph Nader (Common Dreams, February 1, 2025).
We Must Create a Broad Anti-Fascist Movement to Fight Back Against Trump 2.0 – C.J. Polychroniou (Common Dreams, February 2, 2025).
Top Treasury Official Out as Musk Cronies Demand Access to Payment System That Funnels Trillions in U.S. Funds – Julia Conley (Common Dreams, January 31, 2025).
“DOGE-Affiliated Goons” Accused of Locking Career Civil Servants Out of Key Databases – Brett Wilkins (Common Dreams, January 31, 2025).
Trump’s First Week: “Designed to Destroy the United States From Within" – Chauncey DeVega (Salon, January 30, 2025).
How to Organize Under Authoritarian Creep in a Closing Civil Society – Nadine Bloch (Waging Nonviolence, January 30, 2025).
In High-Speed Power Grab, Trump Seeks to Remake the Federal Government – Don Kettl (The Bulwark, January 29, 2025).
Amid Confusion, Panic and Backlash, Trump’s White House Rescinds Funding “Freeze” on Grants and Programs – Chris Walker (TruthOut, January 29, 2025).
Think Trump’s Tyranny Can’t Be Opposed or Stopped? Think Again – Jeremy Brecher (Common Dreams, January 29, 2025).
The Hostile Takeover of the United States by Corporate Raiders Has Arrived in Full – Thom Hartmann (Common Dreams, January 29, 2025).
Trump Is Clearly Moving in an Authoritarian and Potentially Fascist Direction – John Ripton (Common Dreams, January 29, 2025).
What Trump’s Pardons and Retribution Say About His Fascist Threat – Chuck Idelson (Common Dreams, January 29, 2025).
“Trump Is Trying to Collapse Our Economy”: War on “Woke” Revealed as a War on All Americans – Amanda Marcotte (Salon, January 29, 2025).
“We Do Not Consent” Says Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Illegal “Power Grab” as Judge Halts Trump Order – Jessica Corbett (Common Dreams, January 28, 2025).
Trump Tries a January Coup – Again: The President Wages War on the Separation of Powers – The Ink (January 28, 2025).
Trump’s Most Lawless Action Yet – David Dayen (The American Prospect, January 28, 2025).
Energized Neo-Nazis Feel Their Moment Has Come as Trump Changes Everything – Ben Makuch (The Guardian, January 26, 2025).
Donald Trump Is the Empire Unmasked – Caitlin Johnstone (CaitlinJohnstone.com, January 21, 2025).
Can Nonviolent Struggle Defeat a Dictator? This Database Emphatically Says Yes – George Lakey (Waging Nonviolence, January 8, 2025).

UPDATE: Is Elon Musk Staging a Coup? Unelected Billionaire Seizes Control at Treasury Department and Other Agencies – Democracy Now! (February 3, 2025).

See also the previous Wild Reed posts:
• Signs of the Times: The 2025 People’s March
• Democrat Talk on the Eve of Trump’s Return
• Inauguration Day Thoughts
• Neoliberalism vs Neofascism: Cornel West on the State of U.S. Politics
• How Empires Are Built and Rebellions Are Born
• Progressive Perspectives on Where Democrats Went Wrong in the 2024 Election
• What the Republican Party Now Stands For
• Venice Williams on How We Get Through the Next Four Years
• Progressive Perspectives on Kamala Harris’ Faltering Presidential Campaign
• Marianne Williamson: “We’re Living in Very Serious Times and We Need to Be Very Serious People”
• Chris Hedges on the End of the American Empire
• History Matters
• Progressive Perspectives on the Crisis in U.S. Electoral Politics
• Will We Let Fascism Come to America?

Image: Artist unknown.

Friday, January 31, 2025

January Vignettes

Speaking Truth to Power

Last night MSNBC hosted a DNC Leadership Forum at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. Part of this forum involved a discussion featuring the candidates for DNC Chair.

Among those vying to be the next chair of the DNC is author, activist, and former presidential candidate Marianne Williamson (pictured at right with supporters at last night’s forum).

If you’re a regular visitor to The Wild Reed, you would know that I supported Marianne’s 2020 presidential run as well as her 2024 bid. It should come as no surprise then that I’m supporting her campaign to be the next DNC chair.

Indeed, out of all of the candidates, I believe Marianne has the passion, grit, and progressive vision to best help transform the Democratic Party into a winning political party. She’ll do this by facilitating much needed truth-telling and a return to the party’s modern roots – that of being an unequivocal advocate for the working people of the United States.

The DNC membership will be voting on its new leadership tomorrow in National Harbor, Maryland.

Following is a short video of Marianne at last night’s DNC Leadership Forum.

Anthony Pelletier is a young supporter of Marianne. He recently shared the following on social media.

One year ago today, I was campaigning with the Marianne Williamson for President campaign in the New Hampshire primaries [as was I!]. I was out knocking on doors, making phone calls, and attending events. At that time, nobody knew where this election would lead. The Republican Party was pushing Donald Trump to be their nominee, and the Democratic Party was pushing Joe Biden to be their nominee.

I have always admired Joe Biden’s work as president and respected him for beating Trump in 2020, but I also knew it was time for him to step down. That’s why I supported Marianne for president. Her campaign gave me hope for the future, with its focus on climate action, healthcare, education, and so much more.

I’ve had the privilege of speaking with Marianne on many occasions, including tonight, when I participated in an inclusive interview with her and a few other supporters. During this meeting, I had about five minutes to talk with Marianne about where the DNC went wrong in [the 2024] election and how she would change the party if she were elected DNC chair.

Marianne Williamson is someone who truly cares about people and listens to what they have to say. I felt that during my interview with her and while watching the other supporters’ interviews. I am deeply disappointed with how the DNC handled this election – from their funding strategies to their failure to connect with voters. The Democratic Party let us down, and now we will all face Trump 2.0.

After weeks of considering who I want to support for DNC chair, I’ve chosen Marianne Williamson. She will ensure that Democrats are elected up and down the ballot in 2026 and beyond. I truly hope that the 447 voting members agree with me. I know Marianne is the underdog in this race, but I would rather support someone I fully agree with than a frontrunner I only partially agree with.

– Anthony Pelletier
via social media
January 18, 2025

Tuesday, January 28, 2025

How Empires Are Built and Rebellions Are Born

I continue this evening with my series of posts celebrating what many consider one of the best TV shows ever made; and one that given recent events here in the U.S., powerfully highlights the need for resistance to the rise of auhoritarianism.

The show I’m referring to is Andor, the second season of which returns to Disney+ on Tuesday, April 22.

Andor is a prequel to the 2016 film Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, which in turn serves as a prequel to Star Wars: A New Hope (1977).

Andor stars Diego Luna (left), reprising his role as Cassian Andor in Rogue One. Like Rogue One, Andor has a much grittier look and feel, and far more complex characters than any other movie or TV series in the Star Wars franchise. This definitely goes a long way in accounting for my interest in – and appreciation for – both Rogue One and Andor.

I also appreciate the show’s contemporary political resonance. Andor actress Fiona Shaw (right) highlights this resonance when she notes that the show’s writer Tony Gilroy has written “a great, scurrilous [take] on the Trumpian world.”

Shaw goes on to say: “Our world is exploding in different places right now, people’s rights are disappearing, and Andor reflects that. [In the show] the Empire is taking over, and it feels like the same thing is happening in reality, too. . . . I was impressed by Tony’s social-realist intentions. He’s created a whole new morality. It’s very deep and humane – there is grief, mourning, hope, fear. It’s not just primary colours here.”

The first season of Andor was released on the Disney+ streaming platform in 2022, and as I note above, the second (and final) season is scheduled for release three months from now, on April 22.

In the lead-up to season two I’m sharing a series of posts celebrating Andor. Tonight’s installment features an insightful video commentary, the conclusion of which I don’t completely agree with. (Perhops more on this in a later post.) Still, the video as a whole is definitely worth viewing. It’s put together by “Kapil” of the Show Me the Meaning YouTube channel, and in introducing his commentary, Kapil says the following.

Andor is so captivating because it reflects the 2020s in the same way the original Star Wars trilogy reflected the 1970s and ’80s. It’s a product of its age, and not trying to be something from the past. Showrunner Tony Gilroy – famously not a huge Star Wars fan – knew exactly what he was doing in telling a deeply human story that just happened to be set in the Star Wars universe. And in doing so, he explored how a rebellion rooted in hope is created through darkness – and how a tyrannical Empire is actually built by ordinary people. So today, I want to explore the journeys of Cassian Andor, Luthen, Mon Mothma, Dedra and Syril, and what it means to bring Star Wars into the 2020s. I hope you enjoy.

For more about Andor at The Wild Reed, see:
• The Revolution Will Be Televised
• Andor: The Star Wars Franchise’s “First Piece of Universally Excellent Television”
• The Brilliance of Andor
• Andor: “A Staggering, Unyielding Masterpiece”

Related Off-site Links:

TRUMP’S ATTEMPTS AT FORGING AN IMPERIAL PRESIDENCY
Donald Trump Is the Empire Unmasked – Caitlin Johnstone (CaitlinJohnstone.com, January 21, 2025).
Energized Neo-Nazis Feel Their Moment Has Come as Trump Changes Everything – Ben Makuch (The Guardian, January 26, 2025).
“Just as Bad as We Feared”: Experts on the Chaos of Trump’s First Week – Chauncey DeVega (Salon, January 28, 2025).
Trump’s Most Lawless Action Yet – David Dayen (The American Prospect, January 28, 2025).
Trump Tries a January Coup – Again: The President Wages War on the Separation of Powers – The Ink (January 28, 2025).
“We Do Not Consent” Says Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Illegal “Power Grab” as Judge Halts Trump Order – Jessica Corbett (Common Dreams, January 28, 2025).
“Trump Is Trying to Collapse Our Economy”: War on “Woke” Revealed as a War on All Americans – Amanda Marcotte (Salon, January 29, 2025).
What Trump’s Pardons and Retribution Say About His Fascist Threat – Chuck Idelson (Common Dreams, January 29, 2025).
Trump Is Clearly Moving in an Authoritarian and Potentially Fascist Direction – John Ripton (Common Dreams, January 29, 2025).
The Hostile Takeover of the United States by Corporate Raiders Has Arrived in Full – Thom Hartmann (Common Dreams, January 29, 2025).
Think Trump’s Tyranny Can’t Be Opposed or Stopped? Think Again – Jeremy Brecher (Common Dreams, January 29, 2025).
Amid Confusion, Panic and Backlash, Trump’s White House Rescinds Funding “Freeze” on Grants and Programs – Chris Walker (TruthOut, January 29, 2025).
Trump’s First Week: “Designed to Destroy the United States From Within" – Chauncey DeVega (Salon, January 30, 2025).
Trump’s Big, Bad, Destructive, and Unpeaceful Imperialism – Phyllis Bennis (Common Dreams, January 31, 2025).

ANDOR
There’s No Hiding From It: The Politics of Andor Look a Lot Like the Type Troubling Our World – Melanie McFarland (Salon, September 23, 2022).
Andor Is Star Wars’ “Scurrilous Take on the Trumpian World,” Says Fiona Shaw – Ben Travis (Empire, August 2, 2022).
The Politics of Andor – The Mehdi Hasan Show (May 4, 2023).
How Andor Redeemed Politics in Star Wars – Andrew McGowan (Collider, November 30, 2022).
There Were No Jedi, and Other Reasons Andor Was Great – Tracy Brown, Matt Pearce and Jamil Smith (Los Angeles Times, November 30, 2022).
Andor: A Marxist Allegory Brought to You by Disney – Damien Walter (Science Fiction with Damien Walter, December 8, 2022).
Evil in Andor: The Banality of Evil – The Canvas (November 27, 2024).
Why Andor Is So Important for Star Wars – Kirk Mihelakos (Designed by Kirk, November 23, 2022).
Andor Is the Best Star Wars Has Been in 40 Years – Cleaver Rebooted (November 23, 2022).
Why Andor Feels So Real – Thomas Flight (November 23, 2022).
Why Andor Boldly Goes the Distance While Most High Profile Star Wars Adaptations Fell Short – Melanie McFarland (Salon, November 25, 2022).
Is Andor Actually THAT Good? (Yes, and Here’s Why) – Ben Arndt (A.M. Cinematics, November 28, 2022).
Just Go Watch Andor – CameroN xM (December 28, 2022).
How Andor Became My Favorite Star Wars Show – A Short Ginger (January 2, 2023).
Andor Is Star Wars Perfection – Caprisanh (January 6, 2023).
Why Is Andor’s Dialogue So Much Better? – The Writer’s Block (January 14, 2023).
The Poetry, Power, and Philosophy of Andor’s Monologues – Master Samwise (February 21, 2023).
Andor Season 2: Everything We Know – Josh Rosenberg (Esquire, August 12, 2024).
Diego Luna Says Andor Season 2 Turns Rogue One Into a “Different Film” – Dalton Ross (Entertainment Weekly, August 15, 2024).
Everything We Know About Andor Season 2: Release Window, Plot, Cast, and More – Fran Ruiz (Space, October 16, 2024).
Rumor: Andor Season 2 to Bring Back Andy Serkis as Kino Loy – Ishita Verma (Super Hero Hype, October 28, 2024).
Andor Is a Message for the Future – Spaceman (November 21, 2024).
Andor’s Luthen Rael Is Basically the Rebellion’s Emperor Palpatine – Allen Xies (Generation Tech, November 22, 2024).
Andor Season 2 Is About to Break Records – Nyft (November 23, 2024).

Sunday, January 26, 2025

“Ice Luminaries” on the Northside

Last night my friend and downstairs neighbor Joseph and I visited the inaugural “Northside Luminary Light Up!” at the Old Highland Peace Garden at 18th and Emerson Avenues North in Minneapolis.

It was a one night only event, and my friend Brian (pictured below) who lives on the northside was instrumental in making it a reality. And what a beautiful and magical reality it was!

I should also say that taking in the magical beauty of the many ice luminaries last night was just what I needed to revive my spirits after the first week of the second Trump presidency and all it’s ushering in. Perhaps you feel the same way about what’s unfolding in the U.S. If so, I hope my photos from last night will, well, light up and lift your spirits as they did mine.