Give Us Some Truth
Up and down, not left and right: class, courage, and the myth of populist rebellion.
If you’ve never come across the (satirical) New York Times Pitchbot, here’s a taste:
Who is to blame for the government shutdown? We asked three unvaccinated Kid Rock fans at a cage-fighting match in Fort Walton Beach.
That’s the joke—and the point. The anonymous math professor behind the account makes media criticism funny by parodying the Times’ reflex for false balance and its obsession with the most colorful, least representative anecdote in America. It’s funny until it isn’t, because sometimes the real headlines sound just like the parody.
The Times recently ran a long interview with Senator Alex Padilla under the headline, “Democrats Have Lost the Debate on Immigration.”
That framing is the sickness. When masked federal agents raid homes and troops deploy under the banner of immigration enforcement, that’s not a debate; it’s an expansion of state power. You don’t lose a debate when the government starts playing soldier in the suburbs.
You lose a republic.
And look, I’m not carrying water for the Democrats. Chuck Schumer has the moral gravity of a damp sponge, and Hakeem Jeffries couldn’t inspire a toddler to eat dessert. The party lost the plot. But that doesn’t make the other option sane. The pro-Trump movement is out of its damn mind. You can hate bureaucracy and taxes all you want, but masked agents staging Rambo fantasies in subsidized housing isn’t freedom—it’s state-funded cosplay. The same people who made Don’t Tread on Me a lifestyle brand are now cheering on the tread.
A lot of folks don’t like to admit it, but there’s overlap between the “left and right” because it’s not about left and right at all. It’s up and down. People voted for Bernie and then for Trump. AOC and then Trump. It wasn’t about ideology; it was about someone kicking the damn door down. You wanted to burn out the rot. Fair. But destruction isn’t liberation. Elon was supposed to save free speech—now he bans journalists and boosts fascists. Trump was supposed to drain the swamp; instead, he swims in it: fraud verdicts, E. Jean Carroll, Epstein, crypto coins, and Trump Bibles?!
We’re all getting played. Everyone’s selling rebellion like it’s merch. That’s why I keep coming back to punk rock—the kind that grew out of factory towns and dead-end jobs, not brand campaigns. Joe Strummer said punk is not something you grow out of; it’s an attitude. The essence of that attitude is give us some truth. The Descendants sang facetiously, “I wanna be stereotyped, I wanna be classified.” That’s us now—algorithmically sorted, fighting each other while power consolidates overhead.
The rebellion’s been packaged and sold back to us as content. But most Americans aren’t buying it. Pew puts Trump’s approval around 38 percent; AP-NORC says only one-quarter think his policies helped them. A YouGov/Economist poll shows his net support among middle-income voters at –14. Majorities oppose mass deportations, family separations, and using the military for domestic enforcement. Even Fox polling is showing his unfavorability. If this were really a populist uprising, it wouldn’t need so much spin.
That’s what makes it obscene. The loudest voices shouting freedom are cheering the most heavy-handed state actions in a generation. Americans should be recoiling, not rallying. Don’t Tread on Me wasn’t meant to be a slogan for the boot.
Give us some truth. That’s all Strummer ever asked for. That’s still the job.
I wrote earlier this year about Midwest Class Consciousness—about beer-koozie politics, bowling leagues, and how most of us still see the same parents at school pickup. That hasn’t changed. What’s changed is how dangerous it’s become to say out loud that we still believe in each other.
And seriously—what the hell is with Stephen Miller? Every time that guy opens his mouth, you can feel the chill of someone who studied history just to rerun its worst chapters. Our grandparents risked their lives to fight fascism. They stormed beaches to stop governments that disappeared people in the name of national purity. Now we’ve got a White House alumnus repackaging the same poison, and the press asks if Democrats have “lost the debate.” That’s not a debate; it’s a moral collapse.
What kind of politics is this—demonizing people who are different, handing out signing bonuses to overweight uncles living their Jack Bauer dreams, and sitting through a Fox host lecturing our decorated service members? Are you really going to tell me that because I won’t demonize the trans community—barely a percent of the population—that makes me some coastal elitist? Meanwhile, both of us are punching clocks and cutting the grocery budget because of tariffs and a defanged CDC that can’t even manage a bird-flu outbreak.
Working class, my ass. Give us some truth.
Because beneath the noise, the line that matters isn’t left or right—it’s up and down. It’s who works and who profits from the work. It’s who’s breaking their back and who’s selling outrage on TV between ads for arthritis cream and luxury trucks.
You don’t have to like the Democrats to know a union contract is worth more than a campaign hat. You don’t have to love Bernie or AOC to know the people who make this country run aren’t the ones getting tax breaks.
Ironically, a lot of y’all do like Bernie, AOC, and Trump!
It’s the same people who used to wear Feel the Bern buttons and now don “Trump was Right About Everything” hats because both Bernie and Trump promised someone would finally listen. Shit, there are voters who split their tickets between Bernie and Trump or AOC and Trump. When AOC asked these voters to explain their views, the truth, not fake news, emerges. Here’s one:
“It’s real simple … Trump and you care about the working class,” one comment said.
And another:
“I feel like you are both outsiders compared to the rest of DC, and less establishment.”
We’ve all had enough of politicians quoting Springsteen while gutting labor rights, and billionaires wrapping themselves in the flag while they ship the jobs overseas.
And “Alligator Alcatraz”?! The only foreigner I want in Alcatraz is Sean Connery, with Nic Cage, busting out.
So yeah, bring back a little punk, a little union grit. Organize your shop.
Show up at the town hall or the school board meeting. Stop letting billionaires and strongmen tell you who your enemy is. You already know better—and if we act like it, we can do better.
That’s not ideology. That’s solidarity, etched into every tool, every song, and every hand that still builds this place.
I’ve said it before: I come from a family of union laborers, farmers, civil servants, and public educators. I’ll be god damned if I let someone disparage my proud legacy of family members who dedicated their lives to building and improving this country because they are justice-minded.
But together, that’s when we’re our best, and that really is America. And that really is the truth.