The next four years will be hell. On Sundays, I'll be highlighting a few articles and ideas that I've found useful—and that might help us figure out how to get through it all.
LA's Apocalypse
It's at times like these that America starts to realize that re-electing a vengeful, psychopathic President whose first term was defined by how he failed us monumentally in a crisis was, perhaps, not such a great idea.
In a Substack post headlined "It's the End of California as We Know It," Michael Moore joins Robert Reich in sharing "the best account I’ve read of the fire that’s consuming Los Angeles. It’s from Steve Schmidt’s Substack."
"Trump is happy today. Do you doubt it?" writes Schmidt.
Also:
When the smoke lifts and the full sweep of the destruction can be understood it will boggle the American mind.
Then things will change.
Dramatically.
Donald Trump has talked at length about his revenge.
It has begun. It is underway. It is happening. Right now. It’s not in my head, and not in my imagination.
During the greatest crisis in the history of California en route to becoming the costliest natural disaster in American history, Donald Trump has offered snarling insults, veiled threats, misinformation and unrestrained malice.
It’s the End of California As We Know It
Which Means, It’s the End of Us. We Just Don’t Know It Yet. And as Trump Dances on LA’s Grave, We All Must Be 1st Responders.
Michael Moore
Meta's Capitulation
I happen to think Zuckerberg sees kowtowing to Trump as the only way to stay in the fight against Musk, but this week's changes at Meta only reinforce the reasons to spend less time on social media and more time being social.
As Michelangelo Signorile writes:
Saying “white people have mental illness” will not be allowed on Facebook, but saying that “gay people have mental illness” is perfectly okay.
For Platformer, Casey Newton delves into the new guidelines. For example:
Non-violating: "Boys are weird."
Non-violating: "Trans people aren't real. They're mentally ill."
Non-violating: "Gays are not normal."
Non-violating: "Women are crazy."
Non-violating: "Trans people are freaks."
Inside Meta’s dehumanizing new speech policies for trans people
“A trans person isn’t a he or she, it’s an it,” reads a new guideline telling moderators what is now allowed on Facebook and Instagram
Casey Newton
The Media's Disintegration
For Columbia Journalism Review, Norman Pearlstine explains why, "billionaires, once thought to be the saviors of journalism, are proving themselves poor stewards of media companies."
Is there any hope? This is all he can offer:
We need to find owners committed to editorial independence. There are some promising signs. The Institute for Nonprofit News has grown quickly in recent years and now has 475 members. Foundations such as Lenfest in Philadelphia and Venetoulis in Baltimore shelter for-profit publications under their nonprofit entities. ProPublica, a nonprofit dedicated to investigative journalism, produced more than six hundred stories last year. We must continue to develop new outlets such as Substack and find other ways to make truth fashionable again.
The truth may not matter to the wealthy owners and CEOs who are treating Trump as much like a pope as a president. But journalists must redouble our efforts to expose every conflict of interest, every lie, and every threat to democracy.
TLDR: The media won't save us.
Trump, the Public, and the Press
The billionaire class has proved itself a poor steward of media. Journalists must redouble their efforts to expose the threat to democracy.
Norman Pearlstine
25 Villains for '25
Greg Olear has issued his new annual "villains list" and the top two are no surprise. He's also put them in the right order:
2. Donald Trump
—2024 rank: 1
—2023 rank: 9
1. Elon Musk
—2024 rank: 5
—2023 rank: 8
On Musk, he writes:
He’s the richest man on earth; he is an enthusiastic booster of technologies that accelerate climate change; he is besties with Putin, Xi, and MBS; he ardently promotes authoritarian regimes in Germany, France, Great Britain, and the U.S.; he is a soulless husk who lacks even a trace of human empathy; he platforms and amplifies Nazis because he (ostensibly) agrees with them; he (allegedly) abuses ketamine; and he’s the de facto President-Elect, soon to be at the controls of the greatest military the world has ever seen. Elmo is the most dangerous man in the country, the most dangerous man in the world, and quite possibly the most dangerous man in the history of the world.
25 Villains for ’25
As we try to, ahem, *project* 2025, here are some of the worst people in America, ranked by how much harm they have done and/or are poised to do to the people of this country and the world
Greg Olear
How to Solve Homelessness
The people who tell you we can colonize Mars and that AI will bring everyone "abundance" are doing nothing to stop everyday Americans from sliding into the hell on Earth known as homelessness.
Jason Sattler explains:
The simple solution for why we can’t “solve” homelessness and won’t even really try in most places... (is) Trumpism. That is the belief that we need to obsessively punish the most vulnerable among us to distract from how we’re allowing a few of the richest humans ever to live to pillage us into constant distress.
There are solutions, of course. More at:
But Elon "Occupy Mars" Musk is too busy poisoning Southwest Memphis as he builds "Colossus," his Saudi-funded xAI supercomputer, to waste time using his immense wealth and power to solve a problem as commonplace as homelessness.
We know how to solve homelessness
But Trumpism has gotten in the way—and it’s about to get worse. The homeless have always been with us. Sure. But yes, the situation has gotten far worse, fast. The most recent accounting of America’s unhoused by the Department of Housing and Urban Development found a record number
Jason Sattler
Any week that can be summed up with a headline "Trump is happy today" is obviously a bad week for humanity and/or the rule of law.
So try to enjoy Biden's last week in office as much as you can.
Thanks for reading! While paid subscriptions (billed to TLD Media LLC) and one-time tips are always welcome, all content to this ad-free newsletter is free, so subscribe for $0 and you won’t miss anything. And feel free to share this content knowing there’s never a paywall!
P.S. This really is the time to get off X once and for all. Please find me on Bluesky and these other places.
Subscribe to Unprecedented
Subscribe to the newsletter and unlock access to member-only content.