(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . Aftermath [1] ['Grey Panther', 'Chitown Kev', 'Belinda Ridgewood', 'Puck Goodfellow', 'Bill In Portland Maine'] Date: 2026-09-29 From Arlington to Lincoln Memorial shiresteve We are now engaged in a great civil war. It will determine whether we live in the nation we pledged and sacrificed to support, or will we live in an elite ruled hierarchical society. Will the Epstein class corrupt and enslave the masses? I shared the above photo on Facebook. I took it from Arlington House looking back to DC. My post text, ‘I took this photo from the Custis mansion – now Arlington House. It was the home of Robert E. Lee. Notice how it connects Arlington Cemetery to the Lincoln Memorial – tying the honored dead to the New Birth of Freedom – no need for snipers, drones, or a vanity arch.’ It received over 1600 reactions and it was shared over three hundred times. My posts are for family and friends, but I don’t restrict. I am convinced there is no hiding; a private life can be exposed at anytime. The majority of our people are opposed to the Trump Arch, but the will of the people is of little concern to the Golden Potato. A democratic government requires people participate and determine the course of the nation. The United States is not a pure democracy. We are a representative democracy. The guy, waving and screaming over there we are a republic, put a sack over his head. We are a democratic republic. The majority of our founders feared democracy, therefore the constitution thwarts the will of the majority. The House of Representatives directly elected, by the registered and the eligible. The Senate originally chosen by state legislatures. The President elected by electors. The three-fifths had no say, simply added power to the plantation oppressors. In Europe we label parties as far right extremists, but here they are called conservative Republicans. Many conservatives want to move away from democracy. They want to reverse the trend to increase the voice of people. The power of money is actively trying to steal back the rights of citizens. The Democratic Party needs to incorporate more democracy and less money. Money corrupts both parties, but the current Republican Party is the most corrupt in American history. Willing pawns of foreign powers, the Trump agenda is up for auction. How could people vote for this? The question echoes around the world. In truth, the people didn’t vote for this. The Senate has great power in our system, apparently not in this toady congress. Forty percent of the Senate represents ten percent of the population. Alaska, Montana, the two Dakotas, all big states with few people. California has a larger population than the total population in twenty of the least populous states. Two senators for forty million contrasted with forty senators for thirty-five million. Even MAGA hates corporations, but MAGA is manipulated in our hyper partisan politics. Corporate power loves less democracy. Putting hubris out for all to see, Dan Scavino posted this image. One would call it an AI generated attack from the DNC but Trump WH put it out. https://www.huffpost.com/entry/dan-scavino-trump-ai-pitbull-post_n_6ab951a8e4b07795582ca2f9?origin=home-latest-news-unit When I was a student of political science, we discussed the rising power of the multi-national corporation. We debated how it would compete with the nation state. A future where our government was supplanted by multi-national corporations seemed unlikely. Now, it is a struggle our government of the people may lose. The prediction markets probably would give odds of our government regulating corporate power and wealth at thirty percent. A number in line with Trump’s popularity. The Copper Kings believed every man had his price. Modern people come cheap; lessons of things priceless are forgotten. Many people would sign up for a cruise to view the extinction of the world, if given a luxury suite. Oligarchs act as if they can avoid the fate of us mere commons. They count meaningless points in their imaginary game. Sure they can buy salvation as the world becomes unlivable. The elite hoard empty wealth; this fuels hallucinations, a dopamine high. Our Epstein Class fail to understand there is no planet B, no one can ignore the reality of science. They fear the mob, the rabble, but AI robots could be the threat. AI is a threat because it has the same tech-bro morality of its creators. The logic of necessity, complete by any means, all done absent empathy, creativity, or awe. Our world is cheapened by the market economy. Our news must sell. Our profit margins must increase. Profits are accomplished at the expense of workers, environment, or the quality of the product. What if our society valued a healthy life, a healthy environment, and healthy relationships? The real wealth of our economy would grow. We can legislate a downward spiral (our current policy), or we can lift everyone. One corporation may profit by impoverishing their workforce, but in the long run the total economy takes a hit. Senator Collins, the most reasonable of the kowtow-ers, latest scandal is campaign money extortion. She wouldn’t have this problem, if she and her fellow senators had fought the influence of money. Estimated spending on this election is over eleven billion dollars. There are ways to stop the money game in spite of a corrupt SCOTUS. The aftermath of Trump is a toxic waste dump, but disasters, natural or manmade, must be remedied step by step. Policy debates instead of gamesmanship to achieve more power would be a welcome change. The fewer GOP/MAGA left the faster we can move towards people governed by rational debate. The founders did believe in reasoned debate, even if excluding a majority of people from the debate. In 1789, our government of MAGA dreams, included no women, no people of color, whether Indigenous, Hispanic, Asian, or African. Traditional America mostly focused on passing the tobacco and the whiskey assured of their manifest destiny. This week’s turn to the personal Smithshire house update: Trying to fix a basement built in a prairie swamp takes time and money, workers time and our money. I cannot really help. They jack hammered trenches that carry water to pits to pump out. Carried out buckets of concrete pieces, then carried in rock and concrete in. I posted earlier, photos of the water level this spring. Here are some photos of the progress towards a solution. I say solution, at this point I won’t allow my self to imagine we’ve wasted the money invested. shiresteve shiresteve The house is one hundred years old. The water table gets high in the prairie. Water is clear like a well. Water is not an asset to a usable basement. Moving house was an expensive option, too expensive. It was my first thought, but financial reality over ruled. — Nancy photographed me hiking off into the mists shiresteveshiresteveshiresteve shiresteve I hope people will find Tuesday morning on Street Prophets a step back from the abyss. ShireSteve.Substack.com I write short stories and have written three novels. The latest Will It Require Pants may soon be fit to earn the title, a novel. My life goal is to preserve my timber and the land surrounding. 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