This Is The Year of Progressive Candidates--But Only If We Make it So

Before PACs Could Purchase Politicians, They Had to Buy the Legacy Media

I’m 100% grassroots and I need your support! Thanks for your support: 30% off [https://walterrhein.substack.com/b66e5c2e] 💙 40% off [https://walterrhein.substack.com/01f1b0e8] 💙 50% off [https://walterrhein.substack.com/0d3e6643] 💙 60% off [https://walterrhein.substack.com/6a8f4788] Authoritarian systems always require the control of information. You see that in narcissistic relationships when your abuser cuts you off from friends and family. Abusive people want to establish themselves as the only source of information. When somebody you trust comes up to you and offers a warning, it’s easy to take the words to heart. When they say, “that person is a racist,” or “that person is an antisemite,” it makes you predisposed to not give that individual a fair chance. We live in a media cycle where a lot of vague accusations are being printed as fact. We need to show more respect to powerful words like “racist” and “antisemite.” Above all else, we should have learned by now that we’re living in an era where transparency is required. It doesn’t matter who the information comes from, before you assign a label to somebody you know virtually nothing about, you should go and do the research. For the last year, I’ve been interviewing progressive candidates [https://walterrhein.substack.com/p/check-out-this-list-of-amazing-political]. I wanted to give voters the opportunity to see candidates speak for themselves and make their own decisions. What I’ve found is that these interviews are deliberately suppressed. Stop for a moment and consider the candidates that you’ve heard bad things about. Now, reflect on whether you saw a video of those candidates speaking the words that were attributed to them, or was it some sort of an interpretation of their stance that was published by legacy media? In this era of constant lies and propaganda, you have to be deliberate about checking the source of everything you hear. We’re still living in the backlash of the earthquake that just struck our political system. In two straight primaries, grassroots candidates have defeated corporate owned incumbents. There has been more outrage about these two primaries in the last week than we’ve seen in a year of cover-ups for men accused of sex crimes against children. There’s been a lot of name calling in the media. They’ve been making terrible accusations that need to be taken seriously. But it’s also important to recognize that the legacy media can find nothing wrong with corporate owned candidates. Please connect the dots. It really feels as if taking PAC money is a license to be free of internet smear campaigns. A few days ago, I received an email from a PR firm that made unfounded accusations against Melat Kiros. Again, the legacy media is not publishing interviews of Melat. But I interviewed her a few months ago and found her to be brilliant, compassionate, and a fierce advocate for human rights. In this clip, she denounces the antisemitism of Marjorie Taylor Green: This video shows why the media deliberately suppresses video of non-corporate candidates. The moment you see them speak, you recognize the smear campaign for what it is. The legacy media wants to control all narratives. They want to predispose the voting public to not even give these wonderful candidates a chance. We saw the same thing with the Islamophobic slurs that were directed at Mamdani. The legacy media wants you scared and angry and fighting with your friends. They want you to say, “I don’t care what that person has to say because I already know everything I need to know.” What’s become clear to me over the last 2 years is the extent to which the legacy media is completely corrupt. To be clear, I’m not talking about my group of independent creator friends who I love dearly. That group is the resistance and I appreciate the work they do. What concerns me are all these seemingly powerful, celebrity journalists who have millions of subscribers and more money than they can ever spend, but who never seem to have enough money to pay the people who work for them. Writers are constantly exploited. I too have fallen for this scam. It’s easy to be dazzled by the celebrity and power of an industry gatekeeper. They come to you and take you on as an apprentice. They promise to teach you everything you need to know. All you have to do is work for them for free for years and years and years. You trust them because you assume they achieved their position through hard work and ability. But in this era of transparency, we should always remember not to trust anyone. Then, one day, when they’ve earned your trust, they tell you that some independent candidate that refuses to take PAC money is guilty of something. They take advantage of the trust in order to manipulate you. I’ve seen this again and again too. There is a major difference between both politicians and writers that are truly grassroots, and those that are corporate owned. It’s the difference between the flashy ships of the empire in Star Wars, and Yoda’s mud hut. I get it. We’re all the targets of economic terrorism. That’s by design. The forces that manipulate us want us to be so desperate and busy that we don’t have time to second guess the various ways we’re being exploited. They dangle the promise of reward and insist all you have to do is turn over all your labor for free. Friends, I need you to understand that the reward will never come. You can listen to these big creators all you want and you’ll never be as rich or as influential as they are. The reason is that their power and influence didn’t come to them through merit. Instead, they were anointed by the same money that brings us corporate owned candidates. In order to take over a society, you must first take over the media. The more we are forced to endure economic hardship, the cheaper the takeover becomes. Naturally I’m not saying it’s everybody, but there are plenty of publications that do not need your support. They’re already the beneficiaries of dark money that comes to them through a variety of venues. It’s important to prioritize publications like mine that truly only survive on small donations. That allows me to maintain my loyalty to truth over the influence of corporate sponsors that don’t want to see interviews with compassionate people published anywhere. Please consider subscribing if you can, the corporate money really, really, really wants me to go away. Will you help me resist that? For the last year, I’ve been pleading with big publications to interview the new generation of candidates, or to at least share the interviews I’ve done already. They ignore me. The reason is that offering the general public the truth about these candidates threatens the corporate stranglehold on our media and political systems. We are experiencing a seismic shift in our country. The radical right and the corporate democrats are in full-on panic mode. They did everything they could to prevent the rise of Mamdani because they knew that if a candidate of integrity was allowed behind the levers of power he’d set an example that would turn into a trend. It’s happening. All across the country, grassroots candidates are winning elections. These candidates are a threat to corporate power. Naturally corporate donors aren’t going to sit back and watch their power evaporate. They’re going on the offensive and launching smear campaigns against good people. Stop for a moment and ask yourself why the scandals the legacy media reports are always directed at new candidates? Ask yourself why these scandals never contain videos of the candidate, and are instead interpretations of something they said which was paraphrased or taken out of context? Are you seriously telling me that the corporate sponsored candidates are all “perfect” and there’s nothing in their past to warrant investigation? The media is currently attacking Melat Kiros and completely ignoring Ken Paxton? Why isn’t there any coverage of the congressional investigation into the crimes of Matt Gaetz? Why aren’t we talking about how our corporate democrats refuse to discuss police reform even though there’s evidence neo-nazi groups have infiltrated law enforcement? Isn’t it obvious that we’re being manipulated and coerced into dismissing new voices before we even give them a chance? Why are we so willing to listen to an accusation and take it at face value instead of even considering giving somebody the benefit of the doubt? The legacy media is attempting to condition us to reject grassroots candidates while also hiding them from us. That’s corruption in action. Over the next few months, every citizen of this country is going to have to take a hard look in the mirror and determine what kind of a future we want. Over the last ten years, I’ve been cutting off contact with a lot of people I used to trust but who revealed themselves as false. Look at the legacy media. They never hold republicans to any standard at all. They never hold corporate democrats to any standard either. But when a young woman stands up and makes a courageous speech about basic humanity, the legacy media attempts to bury her in lies and false accusations. The legacy media is corrupt, and that includes many of the big publications with millions of “sponsors” with no name, profile picture, posts, or followers of their own. Please connect the dots for yourself. All I’m asking is that everyone keep an open mind. I have video of Melat Kiros denouncing antisemitism. I shared it above. Remember that the next time you come across some vague article with a vague headline written by somebody you have been conditioned by celebrity worship to admire. Many of the former big media journalists that are reaching out to us now are not our friends. They could very easily interview Melat and ask her these questions directly. Instead, they’re content to publish poorly supported innuendo. They should know better. They do know better. The reason they’re doing this is because their allegiance is to their corporate support and not the truth. It breaks my heart when these entities manipulate the great, hardworking people who are sincerely trying to do good. The most terrible weapon of our enemy is their ability to divide us. We always have to maintain our first loyalty to the friends and allies within our sphere. Rich people pretend to be your friend, but at the end of the day they’re just going to use you and cast you aside. I absolutely and without question trust Melat Kiros to work to end racism and antisemitism. I trust her to bring powerful men who are guilty of child abuse to justice. I do not trust the legacy media or our current generation of politicians (with a few exceptions) to do the same. The people in office are the ones that need to be held accountable for the injustices of our time. Don’t believe the smear campaigns of the corrupt entities that feel their power slipping away. They’re lying to us. They’re manipulating us. They’re trying to turn us against each other. Our strength is in truth. Our strength is in community. Remember who your allies are. Above all else, listen to the words of the candidates directly and make up your own mind. Don’t let an unfounded accusation prevent you from giving a good person the benefit of the doubt. Here’s my list of candidates the legacy media doesn’t want you to see because it will expose their lies: Thanks for your support: 30% off [https://walterrhein.substack.com/b66e5c2e] 💙 40% off [https://walterrhein.substack.com/01f1b0e8] 💙 50% off [https://walterrhein.substack.com/0d3e6643] 💙 60% off [https://walterrhein.substack.com/6a8f4788] I'd Rather Be Writing is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Get full access to I'd Rather Be Writing at walterrhein.substack.com/subscribe [https://walterrhein.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_4]

Progressives Are Listening to the People and Winning

I love Egberto and Liza! They’re both located in Texas and it was my privilege to bring them together. Things are changing throughout the country but especially in Texas. State Democratic party Chairman Kendall Scudder is bringing a new progressive energy to the state, and for the first time in many years Democrats are challenging in every single race. That’s big. In this conversation, we discuss ways to keep building our momentum. We have to resist the nefarious efforts of the right to sow the seeds of division. We are allies. We are working to defend human dignity! I love the energy of talking with these two. We’re going to win our country back. I hope you all feel inspired! Thank you A. Eevie Bateman [https://substack.com/profile/443649430-a-eevie-bateman], Mandy Ohman [https://substack.com/profile/183065704-mandy-ohman], Jason Gael [https://substack.com/profile/565121-jason-gael], Diana Chapman [https://substack.com/profile/260824097-diana-chapman], MLR [https://substack.com/profile/18114417-mlr], and many others for tuning into my live video with Liza Hameline [https://substack.com/profile/5798468-liza-hameline] and Egberto Willies [https://substack.com/profile/18944793-egberto-willies]! Join me for my next live video in the app. Thanks for your support: 30% off [https://walterrhein.substack.com/b66e5c2e] 💙 40% off [https://walterrhein.substack.com/01f1b0e8] 💙 50% off [https://walterrhein.substack.com/0d3e6643] 💙 60% off [https://walterrhein.substack.com/6a8f4788] I'd Rather Be Writing is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Get full access to I'd Rather Be Writing at walterrhein.substack.com/subscribe [https://walterrhein.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_4]

Who Decided Only Evil People Can Have Nice Things?

You all make this newsletter happen! Thanks for your sponsorship! I have payment tiers starting at as little as twenty dollars a year [https://walterrhein.substack.com/bf8564a4]. Upgrade at 30% off [https://walterrhein.substack.com/b66e5c2e] Upgrade at 40% off [https://walterrhein.substack.com/01f1b0e8] Upgrade at 50% off [https://walterrhein.substack.com/0d3e6643] Upgrade at 60% off [https://walterrhein.substack.com/6a8f4788] I’m so happy you’re here, and I’m looking forward to sharing more thoughts with you tomorrow. My CoSchedule referral link Here’s my referral link [http://coschedule.com/i/walter-rhein] to my preferred headline analyzer tool. If you sign up through this [http://coschedule.com/i/walter-rhein], it’s another way to support this newsletter (thank you). I'd Rather Be Writing is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Get full access to I'd Rather Be Writing at walterrhein.substack.com/subscribe [https://walterrhein.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_4]

Don't Let Corrupt Centrist Politicians and Media Divide Us With False Accusations

Thanks for your support: 30% off [https://walterrhein.substack.com/b66e5c2e] 💙 40% off [https://walterrhein.substack.com/01f1b0e8] 💙 50% off [https://walterrhein.substack.com/0d3e6643] 💙 60% off [https://walterrhein.substack.com/6a8f4788] We need to be clear about what’s happening. The status quo Democratic party that failed to prevent the rise of fascism in the United States is feeling very threatened by progressive wins. This is the same group that always finds enough members to defect to the Republicans to fund their cruel and authoritarian initiatives. This is the same group that votes to confirm people like Markwayne Mullin and Brett Kavanaugh with the argument that we “should give them a chance.” This is what they say even as they suggest we should expel Democratic socialists who win primaries from the party. Corporate Democrats were willing to risk an election by running an independent candidate in New York because they were so afraid of Mamdani. Corporate Democrats are why we lose. Corporate Democrats have done nothing to stop the rise of authoritarianism in the USA. Unfortunately, they have access to corruption money and they’ve bought up plenty of publications to spew their propaganda. For the last 10 years, the MAGA movement has made a misery out of our lives. At every turn, the establishment Democrats have refused to take appropriate action to hold the criminals and lawbreakers of the right accountable. Remember that the Biden administration sat on the Epstein files for four years. A little bit of accountability there would have saved countless lives. But now, the people are fed up. Progressives and Democratic socialists are winning elections all across the country. We’re seeing campaigns that are funded with just a few thousand dollars take down candidates with multi-million dollar war chests. It’s happening, and the do-nothing center is not happy about it. So what’s their response? Naturally, they’re going to use the same tactics of misinformation, denial, and division to attempt to steal the momentum of their progressive challengers. Last night, one of the candidates I interviewed, Melat Kiros, won her primary in Colorado. She’s an absolutely fantastic person. She’s brilliant. She is compassionate. Most importantly, she will work for the people and not the corporations. This morning I expected to find people celebrating this win. Instead, I was blindsided by how many people are fretting this development. There is also a lot of panic and name calling going on. I only ask that everyone take a deep breath and assess the facts rather than the establishment narrative. In your hearts you know that the establishment is lying to you. Our politicians lie. The media members who are loyal to our sitting representatives never challenge those politicians when they spew their corporate talking points. There are multiple campaigns going on right now from both the center and the right to besmirch the candidates of integrity. False accusations are flying, and the way our corporate media is structured, many good people are unknowingly adding fuel to that fire. There’s a reason that I made the deliberate decision to detach myself from so many corporate media entities. I don’t sit here doing reaction pieces to awful things MAGA has done. We know they’re bad. I don’t platform white supremacists. Instead, I use my small platform to elevate candidates of integrity like Melat Kiros. For the last year, it was most efficient to just ignore me. But now that Melat has actually flexed her power by unseating an incumbent Democrat, I guess I’m being seen as a threat. Here come the attacks. I recognize that the corrupt center uses effective tactics, but I just hope that people who I’ve known for years stop for a second and recognize how we’re looking at another manifestation of this country’s abuse mechanism. Here is an absolute: genocide is an ideology of the political right. The left is opposed to genocide. The left is opposed to antisemitism. The left is opposed to racism. That’s by definition. I find it offensive when quality candidates who radiate integrity are falsely accused of racism and antisemitism. These are messages that are being deployed by the panicking center, and they’re being distributed by centrist media. This is the same media that has refused my frequent appeals to elevate progressive candidates. THEY ARE NOT ON OUR SIDE! These huge media entities are the grifters who have no interest in establishing a functional government. These are people who live in gated communities who see access to power as a means of getting paid. They’re waking up to the fact that our current political movement is a rejection of corporate capitalism, and they’re panicking. First they ignored me. Now they’re attacking me. Their last step will be to attempt to join me and then take credit for all the ideas the people of integrity have been working for this whole time. Don’t let them. We all have to keep in mind that it’s the corporate Democrats that have failed to hold neo nazi groups accountable. They’re the same ones that refused to codify Roe. They had all the power they needed to stop MAGA in 2020, and they did nothing. Now they’re launching a smear campaign against the new progressive candidates who actually listen to voters and treat them with respect. The panic is full on. I just hope that people will finally realize they should withdraw their support from publications that are printing false accusations, and instead offer their support to people who have always stood for integrity and decency. We need to stop antisemitism in the USA. We need to stop racism. Corporate Democrats have had the power to do that and they’ve failed over and over again. Now they’re making false accusations against the new generation of representatives that has actually shown the resolve to act with integrity. Please, do not allow the lies of our propaganda media mechanism to destroy the relationships you’ve built up. The false actors are revealing themselves. The people you can trust are those that are attempting to help women and men of integrity rise to power. Do not be fooled. Go forward confidently in the direction of your values. Don’t listen to the lies and the accusations of the grifters who are truly only interested in maintaining their own power. Thanks for your support: 30% off [https://walterrhein.substack.com/b66e5c2e] 💙 40% off [https://walterrhein.substack.com/01f1b0e8] 💙 50% off [https://walterrhein.substack.com/0d3e6643] 💙 60% off [https://walterrhein.substack.com/6a8f4788] I'd Rather Be Writing is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Get full access to I'd Rather Be Writing at walterrhein.substack.com/subscribe [https://walterrhein.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_4]

Justice for Women and Accountability for Predators

What a wonderful conversation! Decent people all across the world are still reeling from the atrocities of the “rape academy.” As far as I know, no arrests have been made in relationship to that. That’s unacceptable. I appreciate people expressing their support online, but we need to do more. The fact is that our elected representatives are not helping us. The police are not helping us. We need to clean house and put people in charge who are willing to use the power of their office to protect the innocent and hold abusers accountable. Shelby Campbell [https://substack.com/profile/333988768-shelby-campbell] is running for Congress in Michigan. She’s been out knocking on doors and getting signatures. She’s got a legal background, but more importantly, she’s willing to fight and to call people out. That’s what we need. We have to stop being content to allow decisions to be made behind closed doors. We have to stop covering up for awful people, who become enraged when we reveal their actions to the world. If they’re proud of their actions, then why do they get so angry when we talk about them. I do apologize because there appears to be some kind of voice interference in this recording. Who knows, maybe I’m being targeted because the powers that be are becoming afraid of me. Good. Here’s Shelby’s webpage. [https://www.soup4change.com/] Please support me if you can to make sure we can keep doing this good work. Also, you can support Shelby and Eevie here: Thank you Ms.Yuse [https://substack.com/profile/322112054-msyuse], Mama K [https://substack.com/profile/539059-mama-k], Lynette [https://substack.com/profile/284294355-lynette], THE TRAJECTORY [https://substack.com/profile/126135419-the-trajectory], Elizabeth Van Alstine [https://substack.com/profile/324595077-elizabeth-van-alstine], and many others for tuning into my live video with Shelby Campbell [https://substack.com/profile/333988768-shelby-campbell] and A. Eevie Bateman [https://substack.com/profile/443649430-a-eevie-bateman]! Join me for my next live video in the app. Pay what you can: 30% off [https://walterrhein.substack.com/b66e5c2e] 💙 40% off [https://walterrhein.substack.com/01f1b0e8] 💙 50% off [https://walterrhein.substack.com/0d3e6643] 💙 60% off [https://walterrhein.substack.com/6a8f4788] I'd Rather Be Writing is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Get full access to I'd Rather Be Writing at walterrhein.substack.com/subscribe [https://walterrhein.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_4]