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When did it happen?

When did we stop being ashamed of our worst selves?

June 17, 2026

When did greed take over? When did cowardice become the norm? When did hatred become not just acceptable, but something people wear as a badge of honor? These are not rhetorical questions. They are genuine questions that keep surfacing, unbidden, in the middle of an ordinary day, and I find I cannot shake them loose.

I want to be clear about something from the start. I am not naive. I have never believed that America was a paradise of equality and fairness, some golden era we accidentally wandered away from. I know our history. I know it is soaked in racism, in the violent dispossession of Indigenous people, in the brutal machinery of slavery, in the...

Old Man Hippy's latest Substack

An open letter to Donald Trump

Is someone available to read this to him?

June 9, 2026

Hi Donnie. How’s it going? Oh, maybe I shouldn’t ask that question as it is pretty obvious to everyone how poorly things are going. I mean come on. Everyone can see it. The ultra rich are taking more and more of available wealth, leaving little or nothing for everyone else. And that sucks. I mean we all know you don’t care about people suffering, but just something to consider is how badly this reflects on you.

Here is something to consider though. We all know how important people thinking you are something special is to you. We know, all of us, just how big your ego is. We know you want people to think you are a master at making deals and are so smart that you know more than the scientists know, more than the Generals know, hell, even more about Catholicism than the Pope. But we also know, again, all of us, that you are none of these things.

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An Open Letter to Chief Justice John Roberts

What Happens When the Highest Court Abandons Its Highest Purpose

May 3, 2026

Dear Chief Justice Roberts,

History will not be kind to you. That is not a partisan provocation. It is, at this point, simply a reckoning with the record. You arrived at the Supreme Court in 2005 promising to be an umpire, calling balls and strikes with impartial precision. You spoke of your reverence for precedent, for the institution itself, for the ideal that the law must stand above politics. Two decades later, the institution you vowed to protect has become something many Americans no longer recognize, and your hand has been on the wheel for much of the journey...

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An Imperfect Union

Facing the Truth About America So We Can Finally Build the One We Deserve

Mar 30, 2026

There is something important that we, as a people, tend to forget. The history of the United States is filled with atrocities and setbacks, with the wealthy taking advantage of the poor, and with corrupt government. This is our story. This is what our country has looked like from the very beginning. And unless we remember that, and even come to terms with it, there is very little we can truly do to make it what we want it to be, or what we have so often convinced ourselves it already is...

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The Cost of the Lie

A culture of misinformation is eroding America from the inside out, changing how the world sees us, and doing our part.

Mar 25, 2026

There is a reason democracies throughout history have treated truth as a precondition for self-governance. We cannot make informed decisions, hold power accountable, or even trust our institutions if the people running those institutions are habitual liars. What the United States is living through right now is not ordinary political spin or the normal shading of facts that every administration engages in to some degree. It is something completely different, a sustained assault on verifiable reality that is corroding the country from within and destroying our reputation around the world...

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The Nixon Precedent:

It Is Time for the GOP to Choose Country Over Fear

Feb 24, 2026

There is a moment in the life of every political institution when it must decide what it actually stands for. Not in the easy times, not when the popular thing and the right thing happen to be the same, but precisely when they diverge and doing the right thing carries a real cost. The Republican Party of the United States is at such a moment right now. And so far, it is failing the test.

To understand the gravity of that failure, it helps to look back at a moment when Republicans in Congress actually passed that test...

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When the Law Doesn't Matter Anymore

From the Epstein files to deportations to voting rights, this administration has decided the rules don't apply to them.

Feb 11, 2026

So, here's what we need to talk about, and I'm not going to mince words here. This administration, Trump and every single person carrying out his orders, they're just flat out ignoring the law. Not bending it, not interpreting it creatively, just straight up ignoring it. And what really makes me furious, what totally pisses me off, is watching them do it right out in the open while pretending they're the ones protecting law and order.

Look at what the courts have been dealing with. Federal judges...

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We Won’t Be Intimidated!

A Call for Peaceful Unity in the Face of State-Sponsored Violence

Jan 25, 2026

I want to talk to you, not as an activist or a politician, but as your neighbor. As a fellow American who loves our country but is watching something happen to our country that I never thought I would see in my lifetime. I’m speaking with a heavy heart today, because the news isn’t just troubling anymore, it’s terrifying. We need to talk about the reports coming in from all over our nation, about U.S. federal forces, and specifically Customs and Border Patrol, no longer acting as a law enforcement organization but rather carrying out what can only be described as extrajudicial executions of American citizens on our own streets...

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When Soldiers Stop Asking Questions

What Today's Venezuela Invasion Reveals About Military Obedience and Constitutional Limits

Jan 03, 2026

Something happened in the early hours of this morning that should worry every American, regardless of how they feel about Venezuela or Nicolás Maduro. US forces invaded another country, conducted what President Trump called a “large scale strike,” and captured a foreign head of state. And apparently, not one soldier said no.

Think about that for a moment.

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You Don't Have to Apologize for Being White. You Just Have to Pay Attention.

Why JD Vance's framing misses the point about privilege, systems, and what we're actually talking about when we talk about race

Dec 24, 2025

JD Vance at a Turning Point USA appearance on Sunday said, “In the United States of America you don’t have to apologize for being white anymore.” The thing about JD Vance’s comment is that it’s responding to an argument almost nobody is actually making. It’s a bit like showing up to a potluck with a lengthy defense of why you shouldn’t have to bring kale salad when literally no one asked you to bring kale salad. They just asked you to maybe acknowledge that some people had to drive further to get there.

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The Problem Isn't Religion, It's Hypocrisy

Celebrating Diversity in December and Beyond

Dec 17, 2025

The human experience of spirituality is as diverse as humanity itself. Across continents and centuries, people have developed countless ways of understanding the sacred, the divine, and the meaning of existence. From the ancient temples of Hinduism to the soaring cathedrals of Christianity, from the quiet meditation halls of Buddhism to the vibrant synagogues of Judaism, from the beautiful mosques of Islam to the sacred circles of indigenous traditions, and everywhere in between, the world offers a stunning tapestry of belief systems. Each has its own rituals, teachings, and pathways to understanding life’s deepest questions.

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Staying in the Fight

Sustaining Hope and Action When Democracy Feels Under Siege

Dec 02, 2025

The frustration is real and mounting. We watch as GOP members seem to ignore their constitutional oaths, as the Trump administration engages in what appears to be extrajudicial killings, as pardons flow to known swindlers and drug dealers. The institutions we believed would serve as safeguards appear to bend or break. Actions that seem to violate fundamental principles go unchecked. It shakes our sense of how the system is supposed to work, and the anger and disappointment are completely legitimate responses.

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The Problem with Moderation Lists on Bluesky

A tool used primarily for abuse.

Nov 15, 2025

BlueSky’s moderation list feature, while seemingly designed to help users curate their social media experience, has become a significant source of abuse and harassment on the platform. These lists allow users to create and share blocklists that others can subscribe to, automatically blocking everyone on the list. What sounds like a convenient moderation tool has evolved into a weapon for malicious actors to silence, defame, and exclude users without accountability or due process.

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The Epstein Files: What the Fight Tells Us

How Opposition to Transparency Becomes Its Own Confession

Nov 13, 2025

When public figures or institutions resist the release of documents related to Jeffrey Epstein’s activities, two primary motivations stand out as plausible explanations. The first is a legitimate concern for victim protection, shielding those who suffered abuse from further trauma through public exposure. The second is self-preservation, individuals named in the documents seeking to avoid personal, professional, or legal consequences. Once we examine these motivations closely, a clear and somewhat amusing pattern emerges that even a MAGA could follow.

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Refusing to Be Silent

Why Peaceful Protest Matters More Than Ever

Nov 01, 2025

There’s something happening in this country right now that should worry anyone who believes in democracy, and Donald Trump is at the center of it. The president isn’t just pushing policy we might disagree with. He’s actively working to dismantle the checks and balances that keep any leader from becoming too powerful, and he’s doing it systematically, aggressively, and right out in the open.

Start with what Trump is doing to the press.

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The Class War America Won't Talk About

Why Every American Crisis Leads Back to Undertaxing the Rich

Oct 28, 2025

The connection between undertaxing the wealthy and America’s financial crises isn’t just real, it’s the central story of the last fifty years. When you look at the trajectory of this country from the postwar boom through today, what you see is a direct inverse relationship between how much we ask the richest Americans to contribute and how well our systems function for everyone else.

During the Eisenhower years, the top marginal tax rate was over ninety percent. Even accounting for deductions...

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The Case for Nonviolent Resistance

Why violence undermines democracy while peaceful movements succeed

Oct 21, 2025

I understand many are concerned about authoritarian trends in the US and thinking about what forms of resistance are most effective. This is something a lot of people are grappling with right now, so let me share my thoughts on why nonviolent resistance tends to work better than violence and why crossing certain lines can actually undermine the values we’re trying to protect.

First, let’s talk about effectiveness, because that’s really the practical heart of the matter.

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The Importance of Documentation

Don’t let the official version be the only version.

Oct 08, 2025

When Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, or National Guard troops, show up in your community, at your workplace, or in your neighborhood, the instinct might be to look away or feel powerless. But there’s something incredibly important you can do in those moments: document everything. Your phone camera and your attention to detail might be the only things standing between someone’s rights and their complete erasure from the legal record. This isn’t about being confrontational or interfering with law enforcement.

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A Pattern of Constitutional Violations

An Open Letter to all who work for ICE and to those whose job it is to oversee them.

Oct 05, 2025

As a concerned citizen, I write to document what I believe represents a systematic disregard for the constitutional protections that form the bedrock of our democracy. Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations in 2025 have revealed a troubling pattern of violations that should alarm every American who values the rule of law.

The Fourth Amendment guarantees all people in the United States, not just citizens, protection against unreasonable searches and seizures.

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An Open Letter to Speaker Mike Johnson

Questions About Faith and Action

Oct 02, 2025

Speaker Johnson,

I write this not as an attack, but as someone genuinely trying to understand. You have made your Christian faith central to your public identity. You’ve spoken often about your relationship with Jesus Christ and how your faith guides your decisions. I respect that faith is deeply personal, and I don’t usually question the sincerity of someone’s beliefs, but I do have questions about how those beliefs translate into your actions as a public servant. Because from where I sit, there seems to be a troubling disconnect.

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The Republican Shutdown

When You Control Everything, You Own Everything

Sep 30, 2025

As the United States government stands on the precipice of yet another shutdown, the political dynamics surrounding this potential crisis represent a departure from previous funding battles. For the first time in years, Republicans control every level of federal power. They control the House of Representatives, the Senate, and the White House. Any attempt to deflect blame for a government closure becomes an exercise in political gymnastics that defies both logic and precedent.

Old Man Hippy's Substack

An open letter to Republicans

What happened to you?

Sep 29, 2025

I’ve been wanting to talk to you about something that’s been weighing on me, and I hope you’ll hear me out. We’ve known each other for a long time, and I remember when we could disagree about tax policy or the role of government without it feeling like we were living in different realities. But lately, I’ve been struggling to understand what happened to the Republican Party you used to believe in, and more importantly, what happened to the principles you used to tell me it stood for.

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The Real Divide

Extreme Wealth vs. Everyone Else

Sep 27, 2025

America loves a good fight, and lately we’ve been treated to what feels like the ultimate heavyweight championship: Left versus Right, Democrat versus Republican, Red versus Blue. The commentators are breathless, the crowds are rowdy, and everyone’s picking sides. But here’s the thing about this particular prizefight: while we’re all watching the main event with rapt attention, the real action is happening backstage, where a much smaller group is quietly walking away with the prize money.

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Watching Democracy Crumble

A Front Row Seat to Constitutional Vandalism

Sep 26, 2025

I am disgusted. We are watching our democracy be dismantled one piece at a time, and frankly, it’s exhausting to watch. Each time Trump and members of his criminal enterprise try something and get away with it, they escalate and go after something else. It’s like watching someone test how far they can push before anyone pushes back, except the stakes aren’t a playground squabble but the entire foundation of American government.

Old Man Hippy's Substack