Why subscribe?

First, thanks for joining my Substack community, whether you’re on the free side or as a paid subscriber. Your engagement, encouragement, and support mean more than I can express.

You might be wondering why I've chosen to launch this Substack, and the answer is simple: eight years ago — yes, the moment Donald Trump slithered down that damn escalator — I embarked on a deeply personal and transformative journey from my former Republican roots.

I’d spent a lifetime in professional politics, and on that day in 2015, my conscience stirred. I couldn’t take another minute of pretending Trump was anything but a disaster for this nation and the world. So I spoke out.

It didn’t go as I expected. I lost everything I’d built, but found something liberating and powerful; the gift of speaking the truth about what was happening in this dark moment.

I wrote seemingly hundreds of columns about it. I wrote Everything Trump Touches Dies and Running Against The Devil. I helped found and still help run the Lincoln Project. I host The Enemies List podcast.

Now, I’m consolidating all that work and energy into a community here at Substack.

The truth is obvious now; my old party has no place for democracy, the rule of law, the Constitution, or basic decency; it’s a party of authoritarianism, cruelty, and chaos.

And for the rest of my life, I will fight back against it.

It’s not because I’m a progressive, or even a liberal. I’m an American who refuses to watch the struggles and sacrifices of this nation be undone by statists, authoritarians, and their mobs.

I’ve studied authoritarianism. It relies on silence, weakness, and fear.

I hope you’ll find ideas and opinions here that give you a voice, strength, and courage.

Join the conversation

I see Substack as a venue in which to build a new community of informed, engaged, and (I hope) enlightened folks who are on the front lines in the fight to preserve and protect American democracy and our fragile Republic.

We’re all here for smart, fun, and compelling conversations. This isn’t a place for MAGA trolls; I’ll relentlessly block anyone bringing that flavor of crazy here. I’ll be posting frequently, commenting, and interacting with y’all on a regular basis.

For Paid Subscribers

This Substack is entirely reader-supported, and wouldn’t be possible without the support of paid subscribers. If you value the writing, videos, and community here, I’m hopeful that you’ll consider becoming a paid supporter.

Paid Subscriber Content

Most posts, essays, and videos will be free and in front of the paywall for the foreseeable future. Some will be paywalled for a period of time, then available on the free side.

This is a work in progress, and I’m eager to work with you all to make the balance right.

The Friday Brief

Each week, I’ll give subscribers a rapid-fire, smart, and sometimes amusing analysis of the week's big issues, and my take on what’s coming next.

The Florida Project

In the coming months, I’ll be posting excerpts and ideas from a coming book on how Florida is America’s strange and terrible laboratory for bad ideas. I may do this as a Substack-only podcast experience. Tell me what you think.

Sick of Being Right

This will be an occasional feature from a set of notes I’ve kept of my experience as the Cassandra of the Republican Party. No matter how often I warn them, they keep touching the hot stove.

Thanks so much for all your support and interest.

Let’s get to work.

Rick