Whew. Wonderful work here, Sasha. Much needed, I think.
I haven’t seen or read President Trump’s RNC speech yet, and it’s most likely I will only read it, but the following two things rang very true to me, the first from Sasha, and the second from Walter Kirn.
1) “I watched Trump’s speech holding my breath because I knew the cold, vicious eye of the Left and their propaganda press was upon him, waiting to see him fail, waiting for that moment when they could call the night a win for themselves. But like most witnesses to history, the importance of the moment sailed right over their heads.
Leave it to Walter Kirn from Racket News to describe it best:”
2) “He’s like, to me…as a writer, as a creator of human situations on the page, I was like, this is a guy who doesn’t want to go down and lay down in the dark alone again.
He’s with a crowd. He’s kind of not on our time schedule anymore. I mean, he’s on dream time. He’s on post-assassination time. He’s looking out, mesmerized into a crowd of people going—and his subconscious is going—a bullet’s coming. And his conscious is going ‘no, that was Saturday.
And so, I feel that these metrics about what he needs to do, and did he do it, are all wrong. I just think they are all wrong.”
Walter Kirn was on fire with his commentary on the wrap-up of the convention! He had one great insight after another. He seemed to be transformed. He and Matt Taibbi's coverage of the RNC all week was just what I needed to make sense of just how historic it was.
You're right that Sasha's take along with theirs made things clear. She always has great thoughts and writes so passionately. My two favorite substacks.
I’m supposed to be sleeping but dagnabbit you had to post something right before I turn off my phone that was so lovely to read through. ❤️
One thing I realized is when Trump ran in 2016 it was the Republican’s party, and they “let” him come in, and as we all saw it was on their terms. But this year, it has become HIS party. And it will be on HIS terms. And that gives me hope that the reasons we wanted him in the first place years ago will finally come to fruition. That’s how I felt watching the convention last night. Relief that this time he’s got this. This time he will be I’m control. And wow what a ride it will be.
Precisely! Well said. This time it is Trump’s party and he knows it. A heavy burden to bear, no better leader on this planet to start unraveling the egregious mess created by the uniparty.
Think of ALL the crap both parties have put him through!! ALL OF IT.
Could you handle it? I am a soldier and firefighter and I couldn't without decking someone first starting with James Comey and Anrew McCabe - the assholes who fomented all of it.
I think Melania is just so classy and lovely, she's had to endure inexcusable treatment over the years. If she's ever on a magazine cover, I'll run out to buy it, and I never do that sort of thing!
Thank you Sasha for including the two clips of Matt and Walter! I have come to love these guys for speaking truth. I don't agree with them a lot, but there is no fecking BS!
They are the best! I subscribe and get their "America This Week" podcast on Fridays. Always a treat. The first half of the podcast pertains to something specific in the news. The second half is a discussion of an obscure short story that is somehow connected to the first half. You come out a smarter person.
Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and others have greatness thrust upon them. I wonder which one(s) Shakespeare would have attributed to President Trump.
Beautiful, Paul. I believe Trump is a bit of all three. Having said this, Trump is achieving greatness and it's being thrust upon him at this moment in time.
God is here with him and us because we need a loving hand to guide us into a new and better chapter.
I agree that Walter's commentary was brilliant & deeply insightful. And thank you for the collection of stufff here. it superbly documents this bizarre and exceptional moment.
Thank you for this beautiful piece. Just the antidote I needed after reading vile comments from "friends" on Facebook, mocking the assassination attempt and continuing to use stupid names for Trump ("the orange one"). What has he ever done to them to warrant the kind of vitriol he has been subjected to for 8 years? The overwhelming hatred for Trump from left-wing media is just so pervasive. Where is people's humanity? It just makes me feel sick to hear these comments. Thankfully your column always restores hope.
Mass media has effectively poisoned the minds of millions against Trump with their 8-year campaign of insane vitriol, a campaign that in my opinion directly led to the attempt on his life. I knew it was just a matter of time until some believer in the news media's filth would try to murder him.
It is mind-boggling to realize that all the evil shit coming down on us since 2016 is due to a vendetta fueled by Trump's total humiliation of the establishment, a repudiation of their stupid smug assurances that he could never defeat that evil hag Clinton. This situation is what led me to vote for him in 2016 and 2020, and is the main reason I will vote Trump again this November.
It would be so sweet if that Pig in a Pantsuit took over from our doddering asshat in chief at the anointment everyone says is coming once Doddering Joe claims a campaign-ending coof injury. Then Trump could whip her ass again, this time in a landslide.
"It is mind-boggling to realize that all the evil shit coming down on us since 2016 is due to a vendetta fueled by Trump's total humiliation of the establishment,..."
By spending every waking moment dehumanizing Trump, the Left has dehumanized themselves. They can't see it and it is not by accident.
“Beware that, when fighting monsters, you yourself do not become a monster... for when you gaze long into the abyss. The abyss gazes also into you.” ― Friedrich W. Nietzsche
Amazing work here, Sasha. I was looking forward to your piece. Thank you for sharing your talent and your voice. Last night was amazing. You pieced together the perfect highlights and intertwined them with some really insightful commentary and quotes. Such a rich podcast. I’m going to listen to this again with my teenaged boys. There are some really great lessons to learn about history, courage (thanks to our amazing leader President Trump), and American greatness that I don’t want them miss.
I have to say, Hulk Hogan was a big part of my childhood. One of my earliest hero’s. I was so excited to see him speak and passionately rip that shirt open. I was like a little girl again!! Haha
Sasha - Thank you for your poignant and poetic words. Having lost a friend on the same day our great president was nearly taken from us - I want to say, your podcast has been like an angel -soothing my pain and giving me even more hope that we are turning the corner, and well on our way to making America Great again. In gratitude, from a fellow red hat wearing patriot and Author of GET Trump - You Either Get Trump or You want to Get Trump. I appreciate your ode to Hollywood -old Hollywood, as I'm a big Capra and Jimmy Stewart fan. We in MAGA nation are glad you sought us out and glad you get him, as we do- in every good, holy and righteous way. Thank you for the courage of your convictions and your authentic voice.
As an almost lifelong Republican who can remember wondering why Republicans always railed against Roe v Wade but kept funding Planned Parenthood, and who often had frustration at the fact they were making China rich at our expense, I am very grateful to Trump for changing our party to MAGA - a party that loves America and Americans.
Thanks Sasha. Your best Substack yet. Walter Kirn’s comment that the trauma Trump is facing is not so much that he almost died, but that someone else died on his account, was very profound.
I'm not sure if I saw the assassination attempt in real time or a few minutes later. I live in very blue Marin County and have one Republican buddy - I texted him: "Trump's been shot. He's fine. He's up. It looks like it grazed his right ear. Unfolding..." A couple hours later we were talking. I said, "Just damn - how close were we to total chaos? But, I hate to say this, I feel strangely invigorated."
It's a good thing we know, because the Far Lefties keep telling us so, that they are so morally superior to the rest of us. Otherwise, we might have a hard time telling!
I'm all for Trump emerging victorious on 11/5 but on a cultural and esthetic level I have zero interest in Kid Rock, Hulk Hogan or Dana White. The cultural figures I enjoy, and I'm talking mostly musicians, are all on the left. It's weird but I've straddled two worlds for a long time.
Me too. I like the hippy music of the 60s and conservative politics. Many people have pointed out the apparent contradiction. I tell them I make my own decisions, am a free thinker and don’t follow the herd. I don’t see any contradiction whatsoever.
The best "hippie music of the 60s" was apolitical, hence no contradiction. The heads (dubbed "hippies" by the mass media, naturally) cared nothing about politics beyond a fear and loathing of the cops for fucking up our highs. The tunes with overtly political lyrics tended to be silly, but some had good music behind them. A couple of examples come to mind: Lennon's "Power to the People" was naieve Mao worship and became an embarrassing radio hit simply because he was an ex-Beatle; "For What It's Worth" was generically anti-establishment, as was the Airplane's "Volunteers"; the former is musically interesting tho the latter is one of the JA's weaker efforts; Bonus points for anyone who remembers "The Shape of Things to Come" from the weird film "Wild in the Streets" (I believe it actually charted) or the anthem promoting the Constitutional amendment to give the vote to 18-year-olds, "LUV" (Let Us Vote) by Boyce and Hart, a shitty bit of bubblegum. Dylan's '60s political lyrics don't count as he was a folkie in his early, overtly polemical period (tho, ever the enigmatic poet, he never copped to being political).
Of the three, I like the McGuire number. "Fortunate Son" has become a sort of anthem to the Vietnam War, one of those songs that's laid over Hueys flying out of the sunrise. As usual, the Lennon/Ono duo gave us a dumb bit of antiwar PR with that one. I haven't thought about why, but John and Yoko's public political statements always irritated me, even though I've pretty much always been a Dove.
Whew. Wonderful work here, Sasha. Much needed, I think.
I haven’t seen or read President Trump’s RNC speech yet, and it’s most likely I will only read it, but the following two things rang very true to me, the first from Sasha, and the second from Walter Kirn.
1) “I watched Trump’s speech holding my breath because I knew the cold, vicious eye of the Left and their propaganda press was upon him, waiting to see him fail, waiting for that moment when they could call the night a win for themselves. But like most witnesses to history, the importance of the moment sailed right over their heads.
Leave it to Walter Kirn from Racket News to describe it best:”
2) “He’s like, to me…as a writer, as a creator of human situations on the page, I was like, this is a guy who doesn’t want to go down and lay down in the dark alone again.
He’s with a crowd. He’s kind of not on our time schedule anymore. I mean, he’s on dream time. He’s on post-assassination time. He’s looking out, mesmerized into a crowd of people going—and his subconscious is going—a bullet’s coming. And his conscious is going ‘no, that was Saturday.
And so, I feel that these metrics about what he needs to do, and did he do it, are all wrong. I just think they are all wrong.”
Walter Kirn was on fire with his commentary on the wrap-up of the convention! He had one great insight after another. He seemed to be transformed. He and Matt Taibbi's coverage of the RNC all week was just what I needed to make sense of just how historic it was.
You're right that Sasha's take along with theirs made things clear. She always has great thoughts and writes so passionately. My two favorite substacks.
I’m supposed to be sleeping but dagnabbit you had to post something right before I turn off my phone that was so lovely to read through. ❤️
One thing I realized is when Trump ran in 2016 it was the Republican’s party, and they “let” him come in, and as we all saw it was on their terms. But this year, it has become HIS party. And it will be on HIS terms. And that gives me hope that the reasons we wanted him in the first place years ago will finally come to fruition. That’s how I felt watching the convention last night. Relief that this time he’s got this. This time he will be I’m control. And wow what a ride it will be.
I hope you are right about his terms because the uniparty is powerful.
…and rabid.
YES, BB, and rabies is not curable once the symptoms start.
Precisely! Well said. This time it is Trump’s party and he knows it. A heavy burden to bear, no better leader on this planet to start unraveling the egregious mess created by the uniparty.
Think of ALL the crap both parties have put him through!! ALL OF IT.
Could you handle it? I am a soldier and firefighter and I couldn't without decking someone first starting with James Comey and Anrew McCabe - the assholes who fomented all of it.
I think Melania is just so classy and lovely, she's had to endure inexcusable treatment over the years. If she's ever on a magazine cover, I'll run out to buy it, and I never do that sort of thing!
Same!
She doesn't need magazine covers. Anymore than the cool kid even thinks about being "cool".
She just is Melania.
Thank you Sasha for including the two clips of Matt and Walter! I have come to love these guys for speaking truth. I don't agree with them a lot, but there is no fecking BS!
They are the best! I subscribe and get their "America This Week" podcast on Fridays. Always a treat. The first half of the podcast pertains to something specific in the news. The second half is a discussion of an obscure short story that is somehow connected to the first half. You come out a smarter person.
Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and others have greatness thrust upon them. I wonder which one(s) Shakespeare would have attributed to President Trump.
Beautiful, Paul. I believe Trump is a bit of all three. Having said this, Trump is achieving greatness and it's being thrust upon him at this moment in time.
God is here with him and us because we need a loving hand to guide us into a new and better chapter.
Gracias, KatWarrior. I think you are right on both counts.
I woke up this morning thinking about how lucky we are to be living in the age of Trump. As someone once said
And gentlemen in England now a-bed
Shall think themselves accursed they were not here,
And hold their manhoods cheap whiles any speaks
That fought with us upon Saint Crispin’s day.
Great summation, have been waiting for this review here in Australia. even a non voter here in Oz was inspired. Amr
I agree that Walter's commentary was brilliant & deeply insightful. And thank you for the collection of stufff here. it superbly documents this bizarre and exceptional moment.
Thank you for this beautiful piece. Just the antidote I needed after reading vile comments from "friends" on Facebook, mocking the assassination attempt and continuing to use stupid names for Trump ("the orange one"). What has he ever done to them to warrant the kind of vitriol he has been subjected to for 8 years? The overwhelming hatred for Trump from left-wing media is just so pervasive. Where is people's humanity? It just makes me feel sick to hear these comments. Thankfully your column always restores hope.
Mass media has effectively poisoned the minds of millions against Trump with their 8-year campaign of insane vitriol, a campaign that in my opinion directly led to the attempt on his life. I knew it was just a matter of time until some believer in the news media's filth would try to murder him.
It is mind-boggling to realize that all the evil shit coming down on us since 2016 is due to a vendetta fueled by Trump's total humiliation of the establishment, a repudiation of their stupid smug assurances that he could never defeat that evil hag Clinton. This situation is what led me to vote for him in 2016 and 2020, and is the main reason I will vote Trump again this November.
It would be so sweet if that Pig in a Pantsuit took over from our doddering asshat in chief at the anointment everyone says is coming once Doddering Joe claims a campaign-ending coof injury. Then Trump could whip her ass again, this time in a landslide.
"It is mind-boggling to realize that all the evil shit coming down on us since 2016 is due to a vendetta fueled by Trump's total humiliation of the establishment,..."
Narcissistic injury always results in rage.
Well said.
Welcome to the media that is how our media how worked left and right for the past 20 years.
By spending every waking moment dehumanizing Trump, the Left has dehumanized themselves. They can't see it and it is not by accident.
“Beware that, when fighting monsters, you yourself do not become a monster... for when you gaze long into the abyss. The abyss gazes also into you.” ― Friedrich W. Nietzsche
Amazing work here, Sasha. I was looking forward to your piece. Thank you for sharing your talent and your voice. Last night was amazing. You pieced together the perfect highlights and intertwined them with some really insightful commentary and quotes. Such a rich podcast. I’m going to listen to this again with my teenaged boys. There are some really great lessons to learn about history, courage (thanks to our amazing leader President Trump), and American greatness that I don’t want them miss.
I have to say, Hulk Hogan was a big part of my childhood. One of my earliest hero’s. I was so excited to see him speak and passionately rip that shirt open. I was like a little girl again!! Haha
Sasha - Thank you for your poignant and poetic words. Having lost a friend on the same day our great president was nearly taken from us - I want to say, your podcast has been like an angel -soothing my pain and giving me even more hope that we are turning the corner, and well on our way to making America Great again. In gratitude, from a fellow red hat wearing patriot and Author of GET Trump - You Either Get Trump or You want to Get Trump. I appreciate your ode to Hollywood -old Hollywood, as I'm a big Capra and Jimmy Stewart fan. We in MAGA nation are glad you sought us out and glad you get him, as we do- in every good, holy and righteous way. Thank you for the courage of your convictions and your authentic voice.
I'm so sorry for your loss Gus. Such paradoxes of a day to show that with all suffering there is also hope. My heart is with you.
As an almost lifelong Republican who can remember wondering why Republicans always railed against Roe v Wade but kept funding Planned Parenthood, and who often had frustration at the fact they were making China rich at our expense, I am very grateful to Trump for changing our party to MAGA - a party that loves America and Americans.
Thanks Sasha. Your best Substack yet. Walter Kirn’s comment that the trauma Trump is facing is not so much that he almost died, but that someone else died on his account, was very profound.
I'm not sure if I saw the assassination attempt in real time or a few minutes later. I live in very blue Marin County and have one Republican buddy - I texted him: "Trump's been shot. He's fine. He's up. It looks like it grazed his right ear. Unfolding..." A couple hours later we were talking. I said, "Just damn - how close were we to total chaos? But, I hate to say this, I feel strangely invigorated."
It's a good thing we know, because the Far Lefties keep telling us so, that they are so morally superior to the rest of us. Otherwise, we might have a hard time telling!
I'm all for Trump emerging victorious on 11/5 but on a cultural and esthetic level I have zero interest in Kid Rock, Hulk Hogan or Dana White. The cultural figures I enjoy, and I'm talking mostly musicians, are all on the left. It's weird but I've straddled two worlds for a long time.
Me too. I like the hippy music of the 60s and conservative politics. Many people have pointed out the apparent contradiction. I tell them I make my own decisions, am a free thinker and don’t follow the herd. I don’t see any contradiction whatsoever.
The best "hippie music of the 60s" was apolitical, hence no contradiction. The heads (dubbed "hippies" by the mass media, naturally) cared nothing about politics beyond a fear and loathing of the cops for fucking up our highs. The tunes with overtly political lyrics tended to be silly, but some had good music behind them. A couple of examples come to mind: Lennon's "Power to the People" was naieve Mao worship and became an embarrassing radio hit simply because he was an ex-Beatle; "For What It's Worth" was generically anti-establishment, as was the Airplane's "Volunteers"; the former is musically interesting tho the latter is one of the JA's weaker efforts; Bonus points for anyone who remembers "The Shape of Things to Come" from the weird film "Wild in the Streets" (I believe it actually charted) or the anthem promoting the Constitutional amendment to give the vote to 18-year-olds, "LUV" (Let Us Vote) by Boyce and Hart, a shitty bit of bubblegum. Dylan's '60s political lyrics don't count as he was a folkie in his early, overtly polemical period (tho, ever the enigmatic poet, he never copped to being political).
Taxman
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kurdxfWMaF0
Never thought of this as "political" since it's just such a great song, but it is, of course. Never heard this version, either. Interesting.
Barry McGuire’s “Eve of Destruction” 1965
CCR “Fortunate Son” 1969
Plastic Ono Band’s “Give Peace a Chance” 1969
Of the three, I like the McGuire number. "Fortunate Son" has become a sort of anthem to the Vietnam War, one of those songs that's laid over Hueys flying out of the sunrise. As usual, the Lennon/Ono duo gave us a dumb bit of antiwar PR with that one. I haven't thought about why, but John and Yoko's public political statements always irritated me, even though I've pretty much always been a Dove.
Though the opera singer at the end was magnificent.
Sasha
WOW…..Just WOW.
You have put a lot of great podcasts out over the last several months.
BUT you entered a newer and higher galaxy on this one.