As we begin a new week, hope is, for the first time in what feels like forever, appearing on the distant horizon. I think it’s fair to say that this time last week, I, like many, was anxious to say the least about what the midterms would deliver. History and reporting suggested it would be yet another close election, and that little might change. It was a perfectly reasonable assessment, but the assessment was VERY wrong. Few could have imagined the scale of defeat Trump would suffer, even though he wasn’t on the ballot.
The American people didn’t just speak; they screamed, and they shouted with a clear voice, ENOUGH IS ENOUGH. We can sit and debate why, and the hard right is certainly shocked by the result. It would seem that not since the fall of Richard Nixon has there been such a total repudiation of a US president. You know that when Texas falls to the Democrats, a political earthquake has taken place, but it went way beyond Texas. As I write this, in Mississippi, Scott Colom (D) leads Hyde-Smith (R) by 2,574 votes with 97% counted (AP, Sat 7 Nov).
For those of us who have witnessed democracy in America slipping away, she had the last word: ‘not so fast’. It’s hard to articulate how I felt as I stayed up through the night to watch the whole glorious electoral map turn blue. For someone who has been in the trenches for over six years fighting the good fight, it was a very emotional moment, and one that has taken more than a few days to sink in.
Once the headlines and the euphoria struck home, two important facts emerged from the dopamine rush that had held me hostage for a few days. Trump is still in the White House, and Democrats can’t apply the brakes for another couple of months. If it’s one thing we know about Trump, it’s that he’s a bad loser. This is a man who still can’t accept that he lost the 2020 election, so thinking he’ll just take this absolute drubbing lying down is frankly fanciful.
Over the weekend, I’ve had time to think carefully about where I think we are and why the danger is far from over. The Sunday morning political shows found a shell-shocked Republican Party having difficulty coming to terms with the scale of the drubbing they have suffered, but still largely refusing to blame Trump for the damage caused. Instead, they’re searching for a scapegoat, and it seems the top of the list is Whiskey Pete.
I’m all for settling down with a bucket of popcorn and watching the Republicans eat their own young. After all the anxiety we have all been subjected to over the past two years, we need some light entertainment. What’s better than watching those who have caused so much suffering feel pain themselves for once? But as you watch them scramble to regroup, your mind starts to wander, and you begin to think about what’s next. Only then does the anxiety return with a vengeance.
This week, I’d like to explore the challenges ahead and outline a strategy I’m convinced is required to avoid snatching defeat from the jaws of victory in 2028. In this warm, fuzzy moment when we have submerged ourselves in the comfort of what we perceive as victory over tyranny, 2028 might seem far off, but take it from me: a lot can happen in two weeks in politics, let alone two years. The key is to STAY FOCUSED. Of course, we should take a moment to enjoy the perceived restoration of sanity, but I hate to tell you, there’s a mountain ahead to climb, and it’s fraught with danger and not all of it comes from Trump.
We inhabit a world of soundbites and propaganda. Social media is the new opiate of the masses, and AI will become the new weapon of choice for those who WILL attempt to stand in the way of our quest to reach the promised land. One of the primary reasons I am stepping out from behind the Truth Matters brand is to provide a human face, albeit a face for radio, that people can relate to as we move forward together to try and deliver a fairer, more just society in which no family is left behind, and no child goes to bed hungry.
I absolutely believe that if we gather together under a banner of hope with a bold vision for change, we can and will prevail. I have decided to dedicate the next 10 years to this mission (assuming I live that long), because I’ve long held that determination and commitment can and do deliver opportunity for change. The secret is NOT to think change can happen overnight, because it can’t. I’m lucky to have lived my adult life during probably the most prosperous moments in history. This has allowed me to live a generally comfortable life without needing inherited wealth. It hasn’t come without challenges and moments of deep despair, but I sit here before the sun comes up, confident that together we can make a meaningful contribution to this fight.
I don’t, for one moment, doubt the challenges ahead for all of us, but nobody ever wins by giving up when things get tough. So today, I’d like to set the stage for a series of posts to examine the HUGE opportunity that, as I see it, has presented itself to deliver the transformative change so desperately needed not just in the US, but around the world.
I’ve spoken often in recent weeks about my new Truth Matters Project, and while I’m not going to witter on again about it much in this piece, I want you to understand that I’m confident it can play an important role in the next two years. It’s not the type of project one would instinctively seek in a time of performative politics and the demand for quick fixes. It’s not a populist tool pretending to change the world; it’s a new method to help educate and promote critical thinking at a time when the truth is what we are told it is, rather than the truth we have spent time finding for ourselves through fact-checked research.
I’ve long understood that Trump is transient; for all his madness and destructive intent, he has a limited shelf life, and what he’s selling is already rotting in the bright, shiny wrapper he and those who would do us harm came up with to sell us this snake oil. Close to six weeks ago, I decided to bring a primary data source to life: Matter of Record, a nonpartisan civic information hub. It combines years of social activism with the technical understanding of how to deliver a solution that empowers people to become better informed and make better decisions about politics and the people we elect to represent us.
The Project democratises knowledge and presents it in a way that makes it engaging and accessible in a world of mandatory instant gratification. Delivering the truth has likely become one of the greatest challenges of our time, but I happen to believe it’s possible. Often, such projects exist only on paper and are still searching for funding to make them happen. This is NOT one of those projects. The framework is already built and funded by me, my paid subscriber community, and those who bought me a drink during the development phase. So if you’ve invested in my work, you are now a stakeholder in what has the potential to become an important FREE public service over the next two years and beyond.
If you’d like to join this small army of truth seekers who believe in the power of collective effort:
You can join this journey and help deliver change. If you’d like to take a closer look at what I’m doing, feel free to visit the new Matter of Record site and my new social advocacy site, Truth Matters. I built both with assistance from Anthropic’s Claude. This project is a great example of using AI for the common good, as it was originally intended. To be clear, these sites currently preview the foundations for a final release scheduled to coincide with the seating of the 120th Congress in January 2027.
It represents my vision for how I can help people find information, facts, and messaging throughout the 2028 election cycle. It’s a totally FREE, public-facing service built from millions of primary source records. It’s designed to be a one-stop shop for facts and information not only on the work of federal elected representatives, but also on economic and other important social data.
The second part of the project extends my social advocacy work with the Truth Matters writing many of you have become familiar with. The new website is designed to build fact-based sociopolitical arguments to deliver a fairer society in a world of disinformation and misdirection. It will contain a wealth of carefully curated content designed to inform and challenge your thinking, in a safe space. A home for opinion pieces, links to academic papers, studies and reports, as well as documentaries, films and visual content.
The project will live or die by the support it receives. I have no intention of seeking big investors or anyone who would impose an agenda. It will simply be a people-powered project. There’s no profit objective, simply a desire to be self-sustaining. I’ve done the heavy lifting and funded the project to this stage with my own money and Substack revenue; the rest will come down to whether people believe it has value in the political space.
In the next episode, I’ll explore the challenges ahead. I intend to examine all the angles and the routes to failure or success. I hope you’ll join me for what promises to be a hell of a bumpy ride.
The author of the Substack newsletter "Leadership Matters", George A. Polisner's civ.works -https://civ.works/, is working on the same idea, perhaps a collaboration can be established.
I've always felt if all the organizations separately working toward the same progressive goals joined forces, then billionaire money would matter not.
In a breath we feel conviction; truth, in the moment, unbridled wisdom that may at once be squandered.
To lash out, through fear in the face of our own breath, knowing in the next we die….
That is the way of those who are out to prove they are enough, to gain that which they hope might save them.
To die, in the face of truth, is to die unloved; in truth we breath in love and out the same.
Truth Matters!
You’ve got this Martin.
Steady as she blows;0)