The Mason Moment with John Oliver Mason, August 18, 2025

I speak on social and political issues, calling them as I see them. I speak today on funding public transit in Philadelphia, and how people are affected by legislators' poor decisions.

The Mason Moment, August 15, 2025

Greetings, Americans! The Labor Department’s Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) released its report about job growth on the first of the month—job growth in the United States in June was merely 73,000. Revised statistics from May and June showed job growth at 19,000 and 14,000, respectively. These dismal job numbers have been attributed to trump’s crazy trade and tariff policies (assuming they deserve that name). He’s always in the habit of raising tariff rates, depending on the nation, or group of nations, they’re aimed at. These up-and-down tariffs create anxiety among the Wall Street crowd, not knowing when and where it’s safe to invest. Personally, I’m not happy about our economic well-being being dependent on the spasms of tariffs or anything else; people’s livelihoods are affected by this. In spite of what tRump tells us, the exporting country doesn’t pay the tariff on its products—the company receiving the product pays the tariff, and passes the cost onto the consumer. Thus, when we go to the store, WE have to pay the higher costs for our coffee, meats, produce, gas, etc. It’s common economic sense, of which this regime knows nothing. (https://www.nytimes.com/live/2025/08/12/business/cpi-inflation-tariffs-fed) (https://finance.yahoo.com/news/u-producer-prices-surge-july-123748185.html?fr=sycsrp_catchall) (https://www.npr.org/2025/08/01/nx-s1-5488807/jobs-employment-labor-trump-tariffs) (https://thehill.com/business/5431692-labor-market-stalls-july/) (https://www.nbcnews.com/business/economy/us-jobs-report-july-downward-revisions-worse-than-thought-rcna222442) So what is behind trump’s exorbitant tariffs? It’s not clear economic theory; trump’s slogan has been “America First,” never mind the rest of the world, the other nations use us and do nothing back for us when WE’RE in trouble, we must not bother with the impure world outside, we’re a pure noble nation and they’re not—I heard a lot of that as a kid. This nation had its origins in people escaping the wars and poverty of their homelands, hoping to get a fresh start. But our country’s history (which trump and his lackeys have been trying to edit) has not been so pure. The nation’s imperial power was advertised as being for bringing “freedom” and “liberty” to impoverished nations, while in reality these nations we’re trying to “liberate” have valuable resources—foodstuffs, ores— for our large corporations to enter the country and develop (for their sakes, not the country’s) these products for sale to the United States; and in turn, the country we’ve “liberated” becomes a market for the finished products, made from THEIR resources. And WE’RE the nation that’s used and abused? Racism (Yes, I WILL use that term!) is the gasoline fueling trump’s tariff follies (not a policy), along with other decisions he had made, along with his megalomania in wanting to be a DICtator, trying to be a “strong man” like Orban, Xi, and Putin. Trump, knowing that the Republicans would be beaten handily by Democrats in the 2026 Midterm elections, had ordered National Guard troops—yes, our fellow Americans, our friends and neighbors— to be mobilized in the District of Columbia, just like he did in Los Angeles, and has ordered the DC Metropolitan Police to be placed under federal control. Trump has complained about DC as being a crime-ridden hellhole, even though crime has been going far down. He had indicated that he would deploy the military also to New York, Oakland, Baltimore, and Chicago—all cities governed by African-American mayors, by the way—and place THEIR police forces under federal control. (They’re now just getting around to invading Philadelphia—YOUR city is next.) (https://www.cnn.com/2025/08/12/politics/trump-generals-national-guard-analysis) (https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/analysis-opinion/unpacking-trumps-order-authorizing-domestic-deployment-military) (https://phillyda.org/news/philadelphia-district-attorney-larry-krasner-faith-leaders-denounce-trump-threat-to-deploy-national-guard-to-american-cities/) Trump, just like in 2020 during the George Floyd protests, would order the troops (again, OUR fellow Americans) to shoot at protestors; so we must remind ourselves, and our fellow Americans in uniform, that the took an oath to defend the Constitution, not to the Commander-In-Chief, DAMN sure not to Donald trump; so we must remind our military siblings to remember to NOT obey an illegal order. (https://www.latimes.com/opinion/story/2024-12-15/trump-military-enforcement-service-oath) (https://www.military.com/daily-news/opinions/2024/04/04/military-personnel-swear-allegiance-constitution-and-serve-american-people-not-one-leader-or-party.html) SO, my military brothers and sisters, I leave you with some information in case the smelly fascist blob order you do declare war on your fellow Americans: (https://www.militaryandveteranslaw.com/blog/2024/02/lawful-and-unlawful-orders-can-you-tell-the-difference/) (https://www.justanswer.com/sip/military-law?r=ppc|ms|1|US%20-%20Law%20-%20SQR%20-%20All%20Device%20-%20Search%20-%20BMM|Law-Military-Law|&JPKW=legal%20advice%20military%20hotline&JPDC=S&JPST=&JPAD=&JPMT=b&JPNW=o&JPAF=txt&JPRC=1&JPCD=&JPOP=&pmt=bb&cmpid=283455688&agid=1247946066686117&pcrid=77996762610287&fiid=&tgtid=kwd-77997072237654:loc-190&dvc=c&msclkid=2192296364731c9fa11141fce6b86c07) And, I thank you for your service. Again, this military occupation of our cities is part of the “America First” mentality of trump; to him and his ilk, cities are full of impure ideas and peoples from foreign lands, and they must not infect the “pure,” “real” Americans that like in the countryside, which, as we have been taught, are “wholesome” and “virtuous—and just happen to be white, and therefore, is not part of THEIR concept of “America.” Organizing at the grassroots level—protests in front of ICE bases, mass demonstrations in our cities, arts ridiculing the Dear Leader (ahem!) and his minions— has been super-effective in pushing back against the regime’s push towards autocracy; they have shown that there are other who despise the regime as much as they do, and, as the saying goes, courage is contagious. SO, Americans, let’s start an epidemic of courage! Stay safe, stay strong, and stay together! Slava Ukraini! Am Yisrael Chai! Fuck Trump! America will be free! Bye!

The Mason Moment with John Oliver Mason, August 11, 2025

I speak on social and political issues, calling them as I see them.I speak today on the increased law-enforcement presence in DC, and trum[ trying to play tough-guy ahead of his meeting with Putin.

The Mason Moment with John Oliver Mason, August 4, 2025

I speak on social and political issues, calling them as I see them. I speak about the attemps at gerrymandering congressional districts by Greg Abbott, and of the need to fight back against the slide to fascism.

The Mason Moment with John Oliver Mason, July 21, 2025

I speak on social and political issues, calling them as I see them. I speak about the gutlessness of institutions caving in to trump, and how it backfires against them.

The Mason Missile, July 14, 2025

Greetings, Americans! They done did it! The Republicans in the House had enough votes (barely) to pass trump’s Big, Butt-Ugly, Bitch of a Budget Bill. In this bill are proposed cuts in Medicaid; that’s been the target that we’re been focusing on. We have to: Medicaid is a lifeline for rural hospitals (some of which have already closed down), people with disabilities both physical and mental, elderly people, the list goes on. But don’t worry, they’ll be coming after Medicare, Social Security, and veterans’ benefits, among other things. What is their phobia against such programs about? For Medicaid, there are work requirements, that you have to work X number of hours a month to qualify. How much work can you get from an Alzheimer’s patient, or a person in a wheelchair, or a mentally-challenged person? That’s has been conservatives’ favorite whine, “People on welfare are lazy, we must bully them to get back to work!” Work where? Many regions of the country are economically depressed, with factories moving to low-wage countries with repressive, union-bashing governments. You have to wonder about trump’s disciples; they range from low-income to stone-poor, and yet they keep voting for this guy who’s ruining the economy, thus losing them jobs at good wages. Why? It’s the oldest story of American politics: white voters voting according to their hates and bigotries, for someone who doesn’t give jack-shit about them, but he’ll the (name your racial slur) in their place. It’s a long haul to get through to them, to deprogram them out of their racism and xenophobia. (I use the word “deprogram” deliberately; it’s a word used to describe helping a person in a cult UN-learn whatever nonsense the cult leader taught them. trump’s movement has long been described as a cult, with the followers believing what the Dear Leader spews.) “Own the libs” has been an ongoing theme among the MAGAs; they are perfectly happy to forego Social Security, education, health care, etc. so they can insult and humiliate minorities and activists who advocate these programs. They’re like school bullies, who want to humiliate the “weaker” kids rather than deal with them as fellow human beings. These are not serious people, you can’t engage in serious discussion with them. Plus, like the bully, they’re not averse to using physical force to beat down their victims. (https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2020/09/kyle-rittenhouse-trump-own-the-libs-kill-the-libs.html) Just as the bully tries to dominate the “weak, nerdy” kids, so conservatives work to attain and retain dominance over the less empowered elements in society, like minorities, workers, LGBTQ people—and immigrants, with or without documents, trying to attain some portion of the “American dream.” I love it when I see, in my social media, people in neighborhoods standing up to ICE, as they nab innocent people, just going about their jobs and lives, and detain them for no good reason, other than to fulfill Stephen Miller’s quota of 3,000 people a day. There are cases of immigrants going to the federal courthouse to clarify their status and plead their case, as they have every right to—and ICE agents kidnap them right in the hallway. (I use “kidnap” on purpose too.) Tom Homan, trump’s “border czar” (whatever that means), was interviewed by a Fox News “reporter;” Homan said that ICE agents did not need “probable cause” to arrest someone; they could just detain them due to “physical appearance.” This is otherwise known as “racial profiling,” which gives law-enforcement agencies carte blanche to go up to any person of color and arrest them, for any excuse they can think of, and the racism prevalent in US society plays a factor. (https://www.nbcnews.com/nightly-news/video/top-trump-aide-sets-quota-of-3-000-undocumented-migrant-arrests-per-day-240743493828) (https://www.reuters.com/world/us/ices-tactics-draw-criticism-it-triples-daily-arrest-targets-2025-06-10/) (https://www.reuters.com/world/us/ice-arrests-migrants-courthouses-opens-door-fast-track-deportations-2025-05-23/) (https://www.alternet.org/trump-homan-ice/) (https://www.huffpost.com/entry/tom-homan-trump-border-czar-claims-ice-can-detain-based-on-looks_n_68715e1de4b00de383c1028a) I’m not going to be polite about it; trump, and all his lackeys and disciples, display the WORST elements in American society—the racism, the religious quackery, and the willful ignorance—and trump et al. have permitted it and called it acceptable, organized it, and monetized it. Never mind it causes ruptures between people, never mind it prevents any meaningful change in our communities, never mind it leaves all workers, of all races, still down at the bottom; they are a voting block that the Republicans have relied on for decades, and trump is its current manifestation. SO, let us manifest the POSITIVE elements of our country, like our LONG history of struggle for rights and dignity. By banding together, we WILL defeat trump, and set it back on a positive course. Stay safe, stay strong, and stay together! Slava Ukraini! Am Yisrael chai! fuck trump! America will be free! Bye!

The Mason Moment with John Oliver Mason, July 14, 2025

I speak about the Jeffery Epstein case and its effect on trump's followers.