REPULSIVE!!!

This is the first Around the Block post in a month. My Substack posting gap is not due to a lack of subject matter; there’s been plenty to opine about. But truth be told, the daily (hourly?) Trump and Company outrages, their injustices, have been so repulsive, so disgusting, repugnant, odious and unspeakably obscene, that adding my voice seemed pointless; my words are unfortunately, like even commentators I respect, just words with no real actions, no actual, tangible, solutions.

Using real headlines (and one or two made up ones), and in no particular order, here’s a partial summary of the last month or so of the Trumpian horror show.

Whether in headlines or in the stories themselves. Whether in reporting or in opinion pieces, the words flow, but the solutions, the answers to Trump’s assault on democracy, his astonishingly fast road to American autocracy, are missing.

What do I mean?

Here’s an example I sent in an email to fellow “frustrateds” commenting on a recent Nicholas Kristof Times’ op-ed.

I've always been fond of Kristof but this seems more like lots of bromides and not many real calls to action.

Yes, we know Trump is corrupt. But what should be done about his corruption?

Yes, we know Trump is hurting most of us in the pocketbook…including businesses big and small with his tariff roll-a-coaster ride. But how do we fix that? It's certainly not by passing the "big beautiful bill."

Yes, we know Trump's manipulating many of us, gaslighting us, lying to us (and foreign leaders in the Oval as well). But is Kristof's solution to "personalize" his injustices going to change things?

In the musical, "My Fair Lady," Eliza Doolittle, the Cockney subject of Professor Higgins' elocution experiment, sings a song called "Show Me." It goes like this:

Words!
Words! Words! I'm so sick of words!
I get words all day through;
First from him, now from you! Is that all you blighters can do?
SHOW ME!

If smart, serious, respected observers like Nick Kristof can't "show me," I guess someone else has to.

Who is that someone else?

That someone else might be me; not me alone, but with a smart, savvy, aggressive partner brimming with ideas. And supported by like-minded people who are appalled at what’s happening to the country, to the world, and can’t, or more properly, won’t wait until 2026 or 2028 to do something about it. Let’s be clear, no matter what “side” you’re on, America as we’ve known it might be just a memory by 2028. Of course, depending on your “side” that might be, for some convoluted reason, a good thing. But I’ll deal with that in another post.

While we’re not ready to go public with all the details of the movement we’re creating, I would like to give you a preliminary peek:

• We are a movement, not a third-Party. A new home for people who want action, not just words. Action that goes beyond the words you’re being inundated with: unending money asks with no clue how that money, your money, will be used.

• We will, using all the social media tools available, unite the people, through powerful messaging, real conversations and most importantly, creative, powerful action.

• We will work in a no-gaslighting zone where facts matter and lies are exposed and not tolerated.

• We will work to bring power to the people, power that leads to solutions, solutions that stimulate action. Actions that recognize…

• Or, as Rep Maxwell Frost puts it,

  

  Our movement will focus on three bold strategies:

  • Messaging. Media. Action.

• We will have one mission: Real Power to the People. Organizing to take back our democracy. Recognizing, WE ARE DONE WAITING!

Whew!

Hopefully, if you’ve gotten this far, you’ll understand why I haven’t posted in a while. I’ve been busy.

But there’s more to come. And, I promise, as we go forward I will not only keep you informed, I’ll look forward to your support.

In the meantime, for questions and/or comments, use the Comment section or send me an email: ted.block@gmail.com.