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Suzanne Dunaway's avatar

Am I on another planet, but in the past, wouldn't even the Republicans have aligned with all of those feeling that this madman, this demented and dangerous time-bomb would have found a way immediately to remove him from office and send him to prison long ago? Why haven't the Republicans stood up against this tyrant and become heros to go down in history as saving our democracy, millions of lives, saying no to Putin, Netanyahu, Shi, and restore our place among allies and NATO, to mention just a few...What on earth is going on that a handful of individuals can destroy in a moment the groundwork of a lifetime in our country? Have human beings changed so much that political blindness is our new very serious and possibly fatal affliction? It is breathtaking. So many of us feel that we would never see in our lifetimes the destruction of what we believed to be a society based on the recognition of the human heart beating for our freedom, and now we are witnessing the ragged clothing on the wolf as we behave like sheep...

PlasticFish's avatar

I suspect at least some of them feature in the Epstein files, or something nearly as bad.

Debbie Smith's avatar

So this country is going to hell because certain Republicans believe that personal exposure is way worse than screwing the people who elected them. "To thine own self be true" rings true in this case. They need your vote and your money and will say anything to get it. They are like 21st century vampires. Evil politicians need "sunlight". Expose them! Investigators need to get busy.

Jack Carter's avatar

Nice comment! So true. Thank you

Suzanne Dunaway's avatar

Thank you for your responses.

Dixie Knoebel's avatar

There are obviously no facts in his head.

I love birds and nature too. Thanks for the pictures.

PlasticFish's avatar

Me, too. We share this world with a remarkable variety of beings, and it's a pleasure and an honour to get to know some of them. Heather need not apologise!

Amy B's avatar

Thank you, Heather. Thanks Substack. Without you it would be very difficult to find truth, which is so very crucial right now. Normally, I am a kind and cheerful person. Now, I am angry and worried about my country and the hate and ignorance that continues to ooze up to poison our Nation. I pray that truth and honor will prevail.🙏🏽

Kathleen's avatar

Amy, I can relate to " normally I am a kind and cheerful person". It feels like my usually quiet and peaceful life has been taken hostage by a daily continual barrage of atrocities. It hurts to be a feeling person confronted by so much hate and conflict. Each time I read Heather's columns her hurt speaks to mine. I'm still carrying on, post carding,petitioning,protesting, voting,supporting independent truth tellers, because as hard as this time we are living in is, inaction isn't an option.

Amy B's avatar

Love to photograph neighborhood birds too!

Joe White's avatar

The lunatic is now in total free-fall and his lackies have no idea what to do. Their idol is disintegrating in front of their eyes and in the eyes of the world. Is he dangerous, yes.

Jami Craig's avatar

I think Hope without action is, really, just a word that makes good poetry. I also think so many of us who have had to rely on hope as a coping mechanism since 2016 are scraping the bottom of the barrel. I know midterms are so important for us, but it seems very foolish to pin hope on something that has a very, very real possibility of not happening. I continue to be amazed at your clear and thoughtful reporting. I live in a world of borderline panic every single day and, quite frankly, I don’t think there’s enough of that right now. We are being dismantled from within and it seems everyone is just milling around and watching.

Katy Bolger's avatar

I hear you Jamie, but remember it has feathers and that means hope is not stagnant but able to soar. We will get there even if I have to put the strap in my mouth, the burden on my back and swim twenty miles to the safe shore, we will fn prevail.

Jami Craig's avatar

We don’t talk enough about the incredible emotional and mental toil this has on us. Appreciate your words, and your tenacity! ✌🏻

Mary Ferguson's avatar

Thank you. I read from the UK every day, and I can’t understand why the four former presidents are unable to use their resources and knowledge to get him out of office? I’d love to see at least Obama initiate some backlash. It seems party against party when it comes down to it doesn’t it? I’m not across US politics yet I’m afraid. I’m so sorry for what the US is going through right now, and now most of the planet.

George McCully's avatar

I believe that the moment of truth for the 25th amendment is now at hand—that the needed critical mass of conducives has been reached and we are about to learn how the system works. Let us pray.

Katy Bolger's avatar

Prayer has nothing to do with it. Prayer is passive. If prayer worked we wouldn't be here. What we need is action. But until those around him secure a fortune for themselves, they will not remove him from power.

George McCully's avatar

Katy Bolger: I shouldn't have said it, should have known it would be misunderstood. I do not mean it in the childish sense of asking God for a bicycle, but in the existential sense of focusing, dedicating, committing ourselves to realizing an immense goal.

Joan Tidwell's avatar

Heather, you’re a hero of democracy. I can’t imagine the toll it must take on you to expose the sickness, the madness of Trump and his pack of Flying Sociopaths. Thank God you have the birds.

louis wachsmuth's avatar

Of all the sources I review each day, you do the best in making the craziness of Trump actually come alive as if I was standing in the room in person. To bad the major sources of news won’t relate the actual words and actions of Trump in the way you do. I review all the evangelical sources, but to their shame, they never touch this topic nor the genocide of the Palestine people. These church folk got this man elected but now are silent about current events. Thank you for your words and thoughts.

ronald haring's avatar

not being amarican its hard nowadays to tell the difference being satirical and the truth

Katy Bolger's avatar

There is no satire. Satire closed on Saturday night.

Gin's avatar

I have not seen this reported anywhere else. Did this really happen?

Heather Delaney Reese's avatar

Yes, this really happened. I had to watch the videos myself multiple times to make sure I was really hearing what he said. If you have the stomach for it today, here are both videos directly from the White House YouTube channel so you can hear it for yourself. I'm sure more people will be talking about this today.

President Trump and Vice President JD Vance Participate in Signing Time, Mar. 16, 2026: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S9MXdLYgYkE

President Trump Participates in a Lunch with the Trump Kennedy Center Board Members https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LseQ1ecp-ZM

Gin's avatar
Mar 17Edited

Thanks, Heather. I watched the youtube video. It was painful both in how long it meant listening to Trump and in what he said, including "smart people". Clearly he's projecting, focusing on $$$, nuclear weapons, fraud, blaming others, and telling untruths. Groan... I don't know how you can watch and then rewatch it.

Christina Ronnberg's avatar

I look forward to your excellent work everyday. Thank you!

TD bach's avatar

He has devolved into truly a mad king, surrounded by worshipers and opportunists - sometimes both under the same skin. What is hardest to understand is that there are millions of voting people who simply don't see what's happening. How is that possible?

Katy Bolger's avatar

Don't be embarrassed to love nature, hold onto that wide eyed wonder of it all.

When our descendants are taught this period in school in a hundred years they must know that we the people did not bend, we made sure that we saved our democracy and our freedoms so they could learn about this disruption, and their textbooks will NAME NAMES. The name Trump in history's garbage can with Hitler, Pol Pot, Stalin, etc.. Also: Hegseth, Bondi, Noem, Miller, et al will be in the papers those teenagers write about the traitors to democracy.

And when their teacher asks for their sources, they will be right there, citing Heather Delaney Reese.

Janet's avatar

Every day a new low is reached. Every day I think, like an alcoholic, he will reach rock bottom, but he finds a way to dig even deeper in his sick and twisted fantasy world. I have never been so disappointed and ashamed of our Congressional members. We need a mass intervention and I have to hope it will occur in the midterms. Thank you, once again, for your excellent and thorough reporting of the state of the person sitting in the Oval Office playing with his toys while real human beings are dying for his folly. I enjoy the nature pictures too and we surely need nature as an antidote to this madness.

jane's avatar

Thank you, Ms. Reese.