What we need from you in this moment

The antidote for fear and uncertainty is action.

If you’re anything like me, you’re wondering what can be done in this troubling moment. As a journalist, I know what I need to do to hold power to account and expose the various crimes, corruption, wrongdoing and oppression of the next and former president. But I can’t do that alone, so I’m asking for your support.

We have three months to get it together. I had been anticipating that the period between Election Day and January 6, 2025 would be one of extreme tumult. If you’re interested in understanding why that is, you can go back in the Doom archives to just last week if you want. But I am not interested in talking about what I had thought would happen.

Nor am I interested in discussing how the election denial movement and the lies about election fraud that the officials I’ve been investigating for the last three years are now completely dead, for the moment at least. Apparently all the supposed fraud that existed was solved, not by rooting it out but by nature of the fact that their guy won. No, what I’m interested in talking about today is what we do going forward, because the only way out is through, as they say. 

The policies of Project 2025 are coming. Dismantling of the administrative and regulatory state is coming. Oppression of minorities and women are coming — more than they already have. My only priority for the next four years is to hold this administration to account in the only way I know how: tough but fair, hardcore and adversarial journalism. In the hours after his victory on Tuesday, Donald Trump called journalists and the press the “enemy camp.” He and his people are no doubt coming for people like me. People like the election deniers I’ve been covering for three years here at American Doom are emboldened by Trump’s win. They and others will become more litigious in the coming years, suing media outlets and journalists in an attempt to silence them.

This is one of the reasons I’m asking for your support.

Another reason I’m asking for your support is because of the extreme nature of what we just witnessed. The conventional Beltway wisdom is coalescing around the idea that this was more of a Kamala Harris loss than it was a Donald Trump win. That’s partly true. But another way to look at it is that Trump and Republicans have handed down a stunning rebuke not just of Harris, but of progressive ideals. I don’t think there’s any way to look at what occurred on Tuesday other than a hard rightward shift in political ideology of much of the country. For a long time I’ve believed that most Americans — if they were to actually consider the policies and ideals of the American right in an educated manner — would not identify as conservative. Now I have to question that. 

This week, a wide swath of Americans from virtually all backgrounds lined up in support of what may be a new American authoritarianism that is only lightly concealed under the guise of economic prosperity and border security. Unlike 2016, this was not a mandate from the white working class base of Donald Trump. Across racial and socioeconomic groups, Americans voted for Trump in troubling numbers. Many of them incorrectly believe that he will usher in a more affordable era of American life, looking past his increasingly obvious cognitive decline as well as the authoritarian leanings he’s made abundantly clear over the last eight years of his political rise. 

Almost a decade, folks. This is not an aberration. 

We can and will get into the incoming administration’s policies — for now I’ll just say that, considering the involvement of Elon Musk in all of this, what we’re witnessing is essentially a new version of the nationalist corporatism that evolved into outright fascism under dictators like Benito Mussolini — but for now I need to ask for your support.

I have faith that our journalistic institutions will hold the new Trump administration accountable, and I certainly plan to do my part by continuing to write for excellent outlets like Rolling Stone, the Guardian, Mother Jones and others, but in this time of great ideological shift, it’s imperative that we support independent voices that will stand up to the rising threat of an authoritarian right. (If you don’t believe me, just look at the recent decision by the Washington Post to forego endorsing a presidential candidate, clearly done for economic reasons by its owner, Jeff Bezos.) 

This does not mean that all you’ll be getting from me here at American Doom are columns and rants about how Trump is a fascist. Frankly, I don’t really care whether or not he fits that definition. I’m more interested in the effects his policies will have on the American people, as well as our institutions and our standing around the globe. For all that this country has done wrong, I still believe that the world is a better place when we’re running the show. My biggest concern about Trump and the ideological shift he represents is that the global order of the United States as the leader of the free world may be coming to an end. 

I don’t think it’s a good thing to allow anti-democratic powers like Russia, China, Iran and others to step into a vacuum that opens up thanks to a disastrous combination of incompetence, isolationism and greed that I expect to see from the incoming administration. I have no interest in having anyone tell me how to live my life. 

Whether it’s Trump, Republicans, Democrats, or a new global order — like the one Vladimir Putin described this week — I have no interest in living in a world where the United States is anything but the last, best hope for a free future. 

What you’ll get from me here is not just pieces like this that might make you feel a little better — that you’re not alone — but hardcore journalism that holds the Trump administration to account. 

This is what I’m asking for:

First, American Doom currently has 3,834 subscribers. I’d like to see that reach 4,000 by the end of next week. As such, I’m offering a discount for current paid subscribers to bring in their friends. As thanks for your support, the more referrals you bring in, the more months of paywalled Doom content you’ll receive for free.

• 5 referrals - 3 months comp for paid AD content

• 10 referrals - 6 months comp for paid AD content

• 25 referrals - 9 months comp for paid AD content

Click the button below to refer a friend to American Doom.

You can also give a gift subscription by clicking this button:

Secondly, I’d like to see an influx of 100 paid subscribers to American Doom. Considering there are already almost 4,000 subscribers — and, on average, about 3,000 of you will read this post and others — that means only about 4%of you need to take the plunge and support my work. You can choose a paid subscription for as little as $5 a month. Here’s our subscription options and what you’ll get with each one.

Monthly paid - $5/month

• Access to all paywalled posts containing exclusive information that you won’t find anywhere — emails, records, and other information about threats to democracy like the information I’ve been providing about the election denial movement for the last three years. Except now, my focus will be primarily directed at the Trump administration and its policies.

• Audio versions of each post - There will be a ton of information to take in over the next four years. One thing you can say about the incoming administration is that it won’t be boring. Trump is a vector of chaos. So I get it if you don’t have time to read and want to listen to stories while you do other stuff. I do this all the time. With a paid subscription you’ll get access to audio versions of every American Doom post.

• Live chats - For major news events and other developments I’ll occasionally host live chats. These are available only to paid subscribers.

• Full Doom archive - Wondering if a state or local official rising in the ranks has a past in election denialism? You’ll be able to find out in Doom’s expansive archives, which are automatically paywalled a month after stories are posted.

Annual paid - $50/year ($4.17/month)

• You get a bit of a discount if you choose an annual subscription. You also get access to all the benefits of a monthly subscription — paywalled posts, audio versions of posts, full Doom archive, comments, and live chats.

Founding member - $100/year

• This just means you really appreciate my work and want to show your support. You’ll get access to all the benefits for paid subscribers laid out above as well as a signed copy of my forthcoming book, If I am Coming to Your Town, Something Terrible Has Happened. It’s a ground-up examination of the last decade-plus of American life, from the crime scene to the White House. This memoir is told through my eyes as a reporter writing about stories all across the country, exposing the raw and often troubling truth of American life. 

That’s all for now. I’ve said enough about this for the moment. Now, it’s time to get to work. I hope you’ll join me.

***