In years past, the warnings we hear from historians, experts on tyranny and from the Biden-Harris campaign might have been mere musings but today we face the very real threat in the form of the perfect storm:
1. The right candidate who has no shame, has a lust for power, is abusive and psychopathic, and has a charismatic effect on his loyal cult followers
2. Meets decades of Right wing effort to return to a form of imperialism via an imperial presidency
3. Meets a time of billionaire corporate takeover of media from local news to the largest legacy papers we all used to read with reverence, one of which — in an act that would be too on the nose were this fiction — has installed a team led by a British Murdoch trained man who has been accused of coverups for the conservative Tories and of a cover up of illegal activities in the newsroom. Instead of protecting American values of an independent free press, some of the nation’s major corporate media institutions are heading in the opposite direction.
Independent news sites like PoliticusUSA have been under siege for the last 7 years, site after site shuttering its doors. Even those with dark money and hedge fund money are struggling, and we accept neither. We started this site out of a desire to inform voters about the issues from the perspective of The People, centering the impact of policy on working families rather than Wall Street.
In the days of social media, we could reach voters easily but today most of those avenues have been taken over by corporate and big money outlets. Things change. We are lucky to still have a loyal audience, but with a lot of behind the scenes changes to Google search, Google ad payouts being cut sometimes up to 75% without warning, SEO writing and AI writing being rewarded, the ending under Trump of Net Neutrality, and corporate media working with social media billionaires to own the “news” space, this is a venture that cannot sustain itself. We have sustained it with our own money. It is our way of protecting this democracy and her institutions.
Please support PoliitcusUSA by making a donation today:
We are out here with our somewhat frayed but valiant flag and our faith in you, the voters. We ask in return that you take heart in our efforts to continue offering free news (until the election) under exceptionally challenging circumstances as a sign of hope. Because without hope, there can be no change.
Use your anger to peacefully fight back and defend this imperfect but great experiment. You are not alone, wherever you are and however low you are feeling about all of this. Remember, they want you demoralized. Don’t let them win the easiest battle of all: Your will.
If you want to speak with other true patriots who value our institutions and democracy, consider joining us on our Substack where we will be discussing a variety of ways to lawfully fight back against encroaching autocratic impulses of the Republican Party.
Sarah has been credentialed to cover President Barack Obama, then VP Joe Biden, 2016 Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, and exclusively interviewed Speaker Nancy Pelosi multiple times and exclusively covered her first home appearance after the first impeachment of then President Donald Trump.
Sarah is two-time Telly award winning video producer and a member of the Society of Professional Journalists.
Connect with Sarah on Post, Mastodon @PoliticusSarah@Journa.Host, & Twitter.