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Posts by Jonathan Alter

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THEN and NOW: Moratorium to End the War in Vietnam (1969) and No Kings Day (2026) Julian Zelizer and I put the March 28 No Kings rallies in historical context. Be a part of the largest mass movement in all of American history!!!

Here's a little historical context for No Kings Day. Hope to see you out there tomorrow in your community. Please subscribe--free or paid.
oldgoats.substack.com/p/then-and-n...

3 weeks ago 3 0 0 0

Speaker Johnson doesn't want Gonzalez to resign despite office affair. The Bible-thumping speaker is willing to turn the other cheek to protect his slim House margin. He's a type-A hypocrite.

1 month ago 1374 289 106 14

The American president is more insulated from accountability than a British royal.

Our political system provides the elite with immunity. It has to change.

2 months ago 25960 5877 792 270
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OLD GOATS with Jonathan Alter | Substack Ruminating with friends. Click to read OLD GOATS with Jonathan Alter, a Substack publication with tens of thousands of subscribers.

Breaking: @NickMiroff of Atlantic has THREE sources saying the original training period of 13-16 weeks for ICE recruits was originally reduced to 47 days because Trump is the 47th president. This is worse than Caligula making his horse the consul of Rome. Oldgoats.substack.com

2 months ago 5 1 0 0
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Greenland and the Benjamins There’s a method behind Trump’s madness and it’s colored green.

The REAL story behind Trump’s unhinged take on Greenland share.google/raTjLN42KPno...

3 months ago 3 3 1 1
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How the Murder of Good Changes the Stakes for Good ICE won’t melt, but traumatic events of this kind create their own force fields that bring change

The Renee Good case in historical perspective. oldgoats.substack.com/p/how-the-mu...

3 months ago 4 3 0 0

If this happened to a conservative organizer, Republicans would make her a hero, a household name and a congressional candidate.

Elected Democrats just pretend it isn't happening.

3 months ago 6854 871 115 37

Thanks, @patti4040.bsky.social !!

3 months ago 3 0 2 0

"No Kings is brilliant because it's so capacious":

You need only believe in ​A​merica's founding principles​ to be a part of it.

— Historian @jonathanalter.bsky.social, discussing #NoKings with @jenrubin.bsky.social and @normeisen.bsky.social of @contrariannews.org

6 months ago 10 3 1 0
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Nicholas Rockefeller's 40-Year Con: Part III Beneath the “wonderful man” described by a Yale Law School classmate lurked a dark, abusive Mr. Hyde.

Here’s the final chapter of the wildest story I’ve ever written. “Nick Rockefeller,” who died with his secret intact, may be the most successful imposter in US history. share.google/K0qYhyU1HbbM...

6 months ago 8 1 0 0
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Hey, @susanchumsky.bsky.social you may be right! But my people were in the Pale of Settlement then.

6 months ago 1 0 0 0
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Nicholas Rockefeller's 40-Year Con: Part II After faking his way into Harvard Law School—twice—Spiro Pavlovich turns up at Yale Law School with a new name: Nicholas Rockefeller.

Here's Part II of the most bizarre story I've ever written.
airmail.news/issues/2025-...

6 months ago 5 0 0 0

I'm so saddened by the death of Bob Barnett, who represented me (for 27 years) and so many others on both sides in politics and journalism. It's cool to deride "insiders" and "elitists" and they have their faults. But they (we) have brought continuity and decency to the system. RIP, Bob.

6 months ago 145 10 2 0
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Chicagoans Avoided Their ‘Filthy’ River for Years. On Sunday, They Swam in It. Decades of work to clean the Chicago River culminated with the first swim in almost 100 years. It was the latest sign of how the city’s relationship with its river has changed.

They're swimming in the Chicago River! This is the fulfillment of the vision of my late mother, Joanne Alter, who in 1972 was elected to the Sanitary District on a "Clean Water" platform. Thanks to all who helped her. www.nytimes.com/card/2025/09...

6 months ago 14 2 0 0

Bill Pulte, wo has been sliming the Fed's Lisa Cook, should look inside his own family. His parents have committed what he calls "mortgage fraud." www.reuters.com/world/us/bil...

7 months ago 6 0 1 0
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Can Spencer Cox Prevent a Civil War? Amid all the hypocrisy and projection, focusing on social media might help us avoid becoming the Donner Party

Vance lied. The very conservative Cato Institute reports that since 1975 (excluding 9/11), 10 percent of political murders have been from the left, 23 percent from Islamicists, and 63 percent from the right.
My latest Old Goats. Please subscribe--free or paid. oldgoats.substack.com/p/can-spence...

7 months ago 21 7 2 1
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Opinion | Clinton-Era Lessons for Democrats Confronting Trump

My take on shutdown: Clinton-Era Lessons for Democrats Confronting Trump www.nytimes.com/2025/09/12/o...

7 months ago 4 0 1 1

Just out of curiosity—why?

7 months ago 0 0 1 0
I’m not panicking. I’m outraged.

Please read @marcelias.bsky.social here for a fuller understanding of the
thugs, creeps and liars now running our government.

8 months ago 21 7 1 0
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Then and Now: Right-Wing Conspiracy Politics Julian Zelizer and I discuss the John Birch Society calling Ike a commie and Trump’s conspiracies boomeranging.

Then and Now: Right-Wing Conspiracy Politics
We discuss the John Birch Society, Dr. Strangelove and how much worse and more mainstream conspiracy theories are today. Five minutes only! Please subscribe to Old Goats, free or paid.
open.substack.com/pub/oldgoats...

9 months ago 14 5 1 0
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As Congress gets set to approve THE BIG UGLY BILL, it's essential that it be called that in EVERY reference to it--over and over again through the midterms. Americans are already overwhelmingly against THE BIG UGLY BILL, but need to call it by one name so the stigma sticks.

9 months ago 11 2 1 0
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The Police State is the Point We’re rapidly moving toward one. Believe it.

The Police State is the Point.
We're headed for one. Believe it. open.substack.com/pub/oldgoats...

10 months ago 23 12 2 1
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Shari Redstone Might Be Headed for Jail If Paramount's heiress chief settles with Trump, it will be seen as extortion and bribery. Plus: A new "Past and Presidency" video on Elon Musk and Joe McCarthy.

CBS Prez George Cheeks can resign and be an American hero—or be condemned by history. What’ll it be, George?

10 months ago 10 4 0 0

Watch “Past and Presidency” with me and Prof. Julian Zelizer today at 11 am est. We’ll discuss the Big Ugly Bill.

10 months ago 2 1 1 0

@jonathanalter.bsky.social a 21 year survivor of a stage 4 cancer, says Biden’s cancer prognosis is 30% at 5 years. He says “someone has to be in the good percentages It might as well be Joe Biden. He’s a man of great decency & integrity & an awful lot of people in this country are rooting for him”❤️

11 months ago 17 4 0 0
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Seth Abramson on X: "RETWEET https://t.co/FPkrnlXIeT" / X RETWEET https://t.co/FPkrnlXIeT

Tank vs. Tesla x.com/SethAbramson...

11 months ago 0 0 0 0
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Past and Presidency with Jonathan Alter and Julian Zelizer A recording from Jonathan Alter and Julian Zelizer's live video

Our new show debuts: Past and Presidency with Jonathan Alter and Julian Zelizer open.substack.com/pub/oldgoats...

11 months ago 7 1 0 0
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Good News! Bezos Screws Trump Even though he backed off on breaking out the Trump Tariff on Amazon products, the cat is out of the bag

Good news! Bezos backed off his idea to break out tariffs on Amazon products but the cat is out of the bag. When the toys parents buy (almost all from China) are more than twice as expensive, they will know to blame Trump open.substack.com/pub/oldgoats...

11 months ago 22 7 0 0

FDR calmed and unified the country; Trump has terrified and further divided us

11 months ago 37 10 2 0
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Not sure what you mean, @jabbanobadda.bsky.social

11 months ago 1 0 1 0