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Readers! A November fund-raising drive!

 

It is unfortunately time for another November fund-raising campaign to support my work here at Behind the Black. I really dislike doing these, but 2025 is so far turning out to be a very poor year for donations and subscriptions, the worst since 2020. I very much need your support for this webpage to survive.

 

And I think I provide real value. Fifteen years ago I said SLS was garbage and should be cancelled. Almost a decade ago I said Orion was a lie and a bad idea. As early as 1998, long before almost anyone else, I predicted in my first book, Genesis: The Story of Apollo 8, that private enterprise and freedom would conquer the solar system, not government. Very early in the COVID panic and continuing throughout I noted that every policy put forth by the government (masks, social distancing, lockdowns, jab mandates) was wrong, misguided, and did more harm than good. In planetary science, while everyone else in the media still thinks Mars has no water, I have been reporting the real results from the orbiters now for more than five years, that Mars is in fact a planet largely covered with ice.

 

I could continue with numerous other examples. If you want to know what others will discover a decade hence, read what I write here at Behind the Black. And if you read my most recent book, Conscious Choice, you will find out what is going to happen in space in the next century.

 

 

This last claim might sound like hubris on my part, but I base it on my overall track record.

 

So please consider donating or subscribing to Behind the Black, either by giving a one-time contribution or a regular subscription. I could really use the support at this time. There are five ways of doing so:

 

1. Zelle: This is the only internet method that charges no fees. All you have to do is use the Zelle link at your internet bank and give my name and email address (zimmerman at nasw dot org). What you donate is what I get.

 

2. Patreon: Go to my website there and pick one of five monthly subscription amounts, or by making a one-time donation. Takes about a 10% cut.
 

3. A Paypal Donation or subscription, which takes about a 15% cut:

 

4. Donate by check. I get whatever you donate. Make the check payable to Robert Zimmerman and mail it to
 
Behind The Black
c/o Robert Zimmerman
P.O.Box 1262
Cortaro, AZ 85652

 

You can also support me by buying one of my books, as noted in the boxes interspersed throughout the webpage or shown in the menu above.


“The Republican Establishment is Worse Than Trump.”

Link here. This article is a nice bookend to my previous post, as it outlines quite nicely the reasons why Donald Trump is doing so well. As the author says,

Donald Trump is not the candidate I want to see Republican voters select, but I do love the fact that he’s raised a giant middle finger two inches from the face of the Republicans who prefer to mock, ignore and alienate those of us who put them into power rather than fight for God, country and conservatism.

The author also does a nice job of reviewing the history of the past six years, starting with the 2010 election when the voters gave the Republicans control of the House in one of the biggest landslides in decades, followed four years later by an even bigger landslide to give them the Senate. What did that Republican leadership do with those victories? Nothing. And when a handful of Senators and Congressmen (included Ted Cruz) tried to fight back against the Democratic Party’s agenda, the Republican leadership in Congress acted horrified and appalled.

The article at the link is also interesting in that it opens with a very telling quote from Cruz, noting how that Republican leadership only has outrage against anyone who tries to give the voters what they were promised.

What’s considered unpleasant in the Senate is not lack of civility – you can insult the heck out of each other although I don’t engage in that. What’s considered unpardonable is actually speaking the truth and doing what you said you would do and even worse making clear, shining the light on the fact that there are a whole lot of other people willing to do exactly the opposite of what they said they would do. That’s treated as the unpardonable sin, how dare you be so selfish – and it’s funny they use the term selfish – as to actually honor the commitments to your constituents.

Which is why it doesn’t bother me in slightest that Cruz is rumored to be hated in the Senate. He should be hated in the Senate. He hasn’t been playing their corrupt game.

Genesis cover

On Christmas Eve 1968 three Americans became the first humans to visit another world. What they did to celebrate was unexpected and profound, and will be remembered throughout all human history. Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8, Robert Zimmerman's classic history of humanity's first journey to another world, tells that story, and it is now available as both an ebook and an audiobook, both with a foreword by Valerie Anders and a new introduction by Robert Zimmerman.

 

The print edition can be purchased at Amazon or from any other book seller. If you want an autographed copy the price is $60 for the hardback and $45 for the paperback, plus $8 shipping for each. Go here for purchasing details. The ebook is available everywhere for $5.99 (before discount) at amazon, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. If you buy it from ebookit you don't support the big tech companies and the author gets a bigger cut much sooner.


The audiobook is also available at all these vendors, and is also free with a 30-day trial membership to Audible.
 

"Not simply about one mission, [Genesis] is also the history of America's quest for the moon... Zimmerman has done a masterful job of tying disparate events together into a solid account of one of America's greatest human triumphs."--San Antonio Express-News

4 comments

  • Wayne

    Mr. Z:

    Right on!

    “The usual suspects”-> The political elite.

    “Mitch McConnell, John Cornyn, John Boehner, Eric Cantor, Bob Dole, Mitt Romney, Paul Ryan, Kevin McCarthy, Cathy McMorris Rodgers, Karl Rove, Jennifer Rubin, David Brooks, George Will, Jon Kyl, John McCain, Lindsey Graham, Jeb Bush, Peter King and the whole damn NRSC.”

    (Let’s not forget the US Chamber of Crony Capitalism & the Editorial Board of the WSJ.)

    These people would rather have ANY democrat elected, than support Cruz.

  • Steve Earle

    “….Which is why it doesn’t bother me in slightest that Cruz is rumored to be hated in the Senate. He should be hated in the Senate. He hasn’t been playing their corrupt game….”

    Couldn’t agree more!

  • Mitch S.

    This article perfectly sums up my feelings.
    And clearly I’m not alone – it’s why the more the establishment attack Trump, the stronger he gets.
    Romney would have done more damage to Trump if he had endorsed Trump rather than attacked him!

    I also discounted the reports that everyone in the Senate hated Cruz, but speaking to people (I know someone who was on the college debating circuit with him) and seeing him in the debates I have concerns about his electability.
    True Trump has high negatives, but I suspect the hysterical level of attacks on Trump are more due to fear he can succeed than dislike of the man.
    Cruz hasn’t faced the blasts aimed against Trump, I wonder how he’ll come through.
    And I wonder if Cruz can pull people into the voting booths the way Trump has.
    Roger Stone’s attacks may be an over extrapolation (claiming Cruz is a Trojan establishment pol) but he has some real points.
    And I think the Dems will use Cruz’s Christian conservative positions to energize their base (He’ll take away abortion, put gays back in the closet etc)

    OK, Wayne etc, convince me I’m wrong! (I do want to be wrong, I want an honest, likable, competent Cruz).
    I can see Cruz as an excellent AG for Pres Trump…

  • wayne

    Mitch–
    You are not necessarily “wrong.” Fully understand.

    I wish Cruz had Reagan’s acting background. He’s trained to construct/conduct logical arguments rather than be “theatrical.”

    Just do not trust Trump, at all. He’s perhaps Wilson, as well, but without the educational background. “Used Car Salesman, + Hoover + Wilson,” mixed together, just can’t consent to that happening again in America.

    Are we totally “f-ed?”

    Good input by all!

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