When Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida addressed a joint meeting of Congress today, he tried to remind lawmakers of who Americans are. “The U.S. shaped the international order in the postwar world through economic, diplomatic, military, and technological power,” he reminded them. “It championed freedom and democracy. It encouraged the stability and prosperity of nations, including Japan. And, when necessary, it made noble sacrifices to fulfill its commitment to a better world.”
When one considers that some of his forebears died at the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, for the Prime Minister to show affection for America and for him to ask that we remain the America he, in part, grew up in makes his oratory some of the most riveting I have heard -- a breath of fresh air amidst the miasma of M.A.G.A.'s bool-sheet.
This is a closely guarded secret so please don’t tell anyone, but every election cycle I trot out my 200 dead ancestors and bus them to the polls to vote 100% blue. Later that evening, we return to the graveyard where we party all night long. That’s the secret to stealing elections. I wouldn’t lie.
I try to remember that they are fairly normal people who really are doing their best, just like me, my family and friends. But the things they say and do! And the harm is not just to themselves, it's on all of us. What happened to sanity and our shared reality? Fox, Rush and their like is a big part of it...and good old fashioned gullibility I guess.
We are a highly addicted society. We buy and buy into all kinds of distractions. In the meantime, our country is systematically being stolen from us.
Thanks to donald trump though for waking millions of us up. It is up to us woke folks. Needless to say, woke is both a good and necessary thing. Let's make woke a movement. I think our survival depends on it. Woke is not weak. I think it takes great courage to be woke.
Sorry, but these people are not normal and are certainly not doing their best. They cannot think critically and therefore cannot ascertain facts from disinformation. Most of them are either poor or uneducated or both and are breathlessly voting for someone that could very likely take their SS and SSI benefits away. Let's see what fun conversation they'll be having then....
I understand and share your anger, but not your conclusions. I know some of these people and have some in my family. The ones I know are good people who have lost their way. I often doubt their intelligence, but that doesn't mean they're not trying or that they are inferior. Not in my view anyway.
And wouldn’t you know, they don’t mind with all the makeup painted on them by various morticians, they’re happy. Just make sure you give them blood. They want blood. Best thing is to pass by a MAGA rally and turn them loose on the MAGAs to suck their blood. Magas do it and what’s good for the goose is good for the gander.
LOL. Bill. My first smile while drinking my coffee this am. Unfortunately, my dead ancestors are all about 2000 or more miles away. My immediate ones were all Rs and so even if I try to summon them from a distance, they insist on staying put rather than voting D.
I give half my dancing dead ancestors blood since many of them were vampires from the old country. I say give ‘em what they want in order to vote BLUE. If they want blood, I stop off at the Red Cross or better, a MAGA event and tell them to just go a suck blood from the living. That’s what the magas do anyway what’s the difference. It’s excuse the expression, getting a taste of their own medicine.
🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 Thank you, Ned. Just when I had felt moved to send the Bulwark piece to a Trump admirer and had written “Mal-a-Lago,” I read your piece. The day is brighter.; work I don’t relish is easier. Thank you again.
Please do. A longtime student of French, I couldn’t resist the inspiration. Please use it freely. When has the change of one letter unveiled a greater truth?🤣
And I pay for the evening graveyard parties. My ancestors are like my house cats; treat them well and they will walk all over ya. It feels good when a cat paws at your arm.
Thank you! I could not agree more and your succinct summation about PM Kishida is what I was also thinking but brain drained from finishing a letter of my own regarding a lousy town zoning decision. I took a peak at email and am now wrestling with the fact that I broke my own rule about reading HCR's Letter in the wee hours vs. with my morning coffee as now I can't get back to sleep!! Sigh!
I too read in the wee hours. Usually there is something positive to take from her words, so I can go to sleep. Not tonight though. I am so angry and discouraged that people can just flat out lie and continually get away with it.
Going through the lying, "back room dealing" etc. at the local town level as well. It is insidious and so frustrating!! Thank goodness I'm able to get into a kayak, on a bicycle, have a great group of fellow pickleball players, and golfing ladies to help maintain a minimum amount of sanity . . . although my golf game is not the best stress buster :)
I do worry about my adult kids who are also so discouraged and depressed with what they see as a very dim future. My eldest said when trump occupied the WH, his craziness and that of his supporters would be a disaster for the rest of their lives. Makes me so sad, angry, and helpless. In all seriousness, I don't know how Biden holds it together but God bless him!
Young minds are developed at an early age. Our toddlers will be indoctrinated like the kidnapped Ukrainian children have been. Children not born yet will never know what we had. They will think it is normal to live in fear of expressing themselves, have an all supreme person who controls every aspect of life and will send out the government military at the least sign of "insurrection." They will think that uniformed children always march with weapons to show loyalty to the state.
And the people pushing trump's levers are to be taken very seriously. They will absolutely implement Project 2025 and overturn the last 100 years of progress, making life miserable for all our families. That people need the threat of Roe being overturned to get out and vote, with fascism breathing down our backs, is terribly sad and infuriating. Americans are sleepwalking into the abyss.
Let us say trump is the sleeping aid for the multitude. About 50-70 million people have sleep problems (about the number of people who voted for trump in the last election). The problem with sleep aids is that are side effects, some of which are unusual thinking patterns and behavior changes. Remember your best longtime friend (who moved south) and will no longer talk to you because you said you didn't like trump? Another symptom could be a slowdown in brain activity. hmmm They are also addicting. Gotta have trump no matter what he says or does.
Janet, I've recently been reminded of a bumper sticker about stress that I saw in an Orlando parking lot in the late 1980s - "Stress - that tension between your head and heart when you want to smack the living $hit out of some a$$hole who richly deserves it" (or words close to that).
"Going through the lying, "back room dealing" etc. at the local town level as well."
Yes. Here in Bar Harbor, Maine, town councillors use executive sessions *and* misinformation campaigns. They use their office to try to shut out residents who challenge them. While praising themselves for openness. One of the council culprits is now running for state office. Against someone who would be worse. It brings home the frustrations of voting for 'the lesser of two evils.' But it does not exempt us from the responsibility to do so.
Unfortunately, it is everywhere. I even subjected myself to participating on different boards to do the business of the residents in public! Ha, what was I thinking?! A small group hounded me relentlessly (threats, nastiness) - what really got them (in addition to a woman sitting at the "head of the table") was when I would state we worked for the residents not for a specific employee or two of the Town! And, the drum beat of nefarious activities continues!
Participation: the double-edged sword. We are encouraged to take an active role in the political process; yet when we do, we are subjected to the garbage that goes along with it, both from our peers and our constituents. My sister has been on the Planning Commission for her small town of Phoenix, OR since the dreadful fires in 2020. My dyslexic, high school grad (just barely), community focused sister has been subjected to some really awful internal and external fighting and is just done.
Here too--so discouraging. Our situation sounds very similar. I have been involved in town government for many years and am still on a committee. The newly elected Council people sound reasonable, or at least some of them do, but their supporters are putting out misinformation and attacking people personally. I have been banned from one of their Facebook pages--so now I can't challenge misinformation, and so many people are tuned into this person. It's bad at all levels!
Janet, we have no children, but I have many nephews and nieces, greats and great greats. One set has ties to Norway where they could go to survive a little longer. The rest of them are stuck in deep ruts in southern Illinois, and Indiana. I would be surprised if they even vote. My nephew's wife however, doesn't know conspiracy theories from the truth. She did tell me recently that she appreciated my commentary, so at least she reads it.
You are supposing they can read and understand. They are too busy having children and working, if they work, in scut jobs. One of my nieces has started a crochet business and kudos to her.
Yes, it's astonishing how the mere repetition of a lie gives it a presence. Then, the media's repetition of the lie amplifies and implants it in the public imagination. And so, this vapor becomes a topic for discussion. It attains a quasi-reality because even a false hypothesis exists.
Yep, no more sleep for me either. I too broke the Letters From and Civil Discourse-with-morning-coffee rule.
That description of how to lie effectively came straight from Mien Kampf; I can believe that chump read one book in his life. The part on telling a “big lie” effectively came straight from the master of lying. Chump is his best student.
Guess we are the chumps, at least those adoring fools. I like Trumpler, the MAGAts need a reminder. Of course, I would love to hear the last of him someday
A majority of the people do not want these draconian bans on abortion, which is healthcare. The people also want to support Ukraine. That tRump has so much influence on our national life currently boggles my mind. Our national politics has deteriorated as tRump has shown more and more signs of dementia. The America that the Japanese prime minister spoke about seems like an America of the 20th century but not the 21st.
What is worse is that it is not the majority of the people who feel that way. A few who vote the way trump wants and not what the people want. Look at the abortion issue. A very few want the draconian measures some states have mandated. The IVF rule, seriously? I suppose not allowing people to use this procedure will force them to go without their own child or force them to adopt a lot of those babies who no one wanted. I guess that is sort of one way to solve a problem.
The IVF thing strikes at the heart of their idiotic "life begins at conception" stance. Given the number of babies that are born from the procedure, the chances are high that they know someone (personally or as their representative) whose children are the result of IVF.
Unfortunately, I have insomnia; I hope this night is a one-off for you. Being agnostic in addition to sleeplessness, I am in a double bind -- stuck up half the night agonizing over whether there really is a dog. 😉
EDIT; corrected version: "Being agnostic and dyslexic in addition to sleeplessness, I am in a double bind -- stuck up half the night agonizing over whether there really is a dog." 🤭
I LOL every time you insert this! I swear to god this single factoid should be on billboards and bumper stickers and inserted everywhere! It says it all.
We do have billboards in Florida. One was sighted in high traffic area in Orlando!
“The effort, which was shared first with The Hill, will include billboards in the Tampa, Orlando, Miami, Fort Lauderdale and Daytona Beach areas. The billboards will run in both English and Spanish, and read,
“Abortion is banned in Florida thanks to Donald Trump. He won’t stop until it’s banned nationwide.”
I generally go to bed before she posts her letters. Today between HCR and Joyce Vance (Civil Discourse) it truly is discouraging. It must have been so depressing for Prime Minister Kishida to look at those Repub LUMPS sitting there with what I'm sure were smirks on their faces & knowing they are responsible for Ukraine being in the fix its in right now! Ned! Bool-sheet indeed!!!
I have to. Every time I see her post early, I'll take a gander to see if it is a photo. If it is, I'll read and maybe comment. If not, I close the laptop. If I know there's a photo, I can sleep late, otherwise, my mind fires up between 0500-0600 (if I'm lucky) and I get up to not just read the Letter, but then to engage with my community here.
PM Kishida demonstrates what is possible when we make real peace with our enemies. After a devastating war, they have become one of our closest allies.
This is a pivotal moment with wars breaking out around the globe: Ukraine, Gaza, Lebanon, Syria, Columbia, Haiti along with civil unrest in many other fragile countries. It will take a joint international effort to prevent these wars from igniting larger wars. There is no time to loose.
Meanwhile DJT is conducting foreign policy from Florida as a private citizen. Congress is his puppet. Netanyahu is an example of what we’ll face if DJT wins the presidency. For people like Donald and Bibi, war is the perfect distraction while they amass power.
I guess I have missed way too many messages to me. Thank you, Diane, and my apologies for the lateness. Judith Smith stated my sentiments perfectly. I pray for the world and thank G-D that I am nowhere near the levers of power. My heart and vote goes out to President Biden. If he departs after he is re-elected, I will welcome a President Harris. I may be more conservative but our country -- all that we hold dear, despite her flaws -- is under moral and mortal threat. We must all set aside differences and hang together and hang tough.
On another note, I noted this from Heather’s letter. “Jeffries said: “If the speaker were to do the right thing and allow the House to work its will with an up or down vote on the national security bill, then I believe there are a reasonable number of Democrats [who] would not want to see the speaker fall as a result of doing the right thing.”
That is the sort of bipartisan, country first, then party, attitude that I need to see. Kudos to Jeffries and I would hope substantial numbers of democrats would line up behind him.
Thank you, Gary. I regret being so slow to answer. You are right on target. Normally, I would be a Republican but future Speaker Jeffries's sentiment is about as patriotic as it gets. Reminiscent of President Johnson's, "Come let us reason together."
Thank you for sharing this link. I did not have the opportunity to listen live. It was so powerful, sincere and spot on for the meaning of democracy. How impressive for a country so devastated in WWII by this country can make an about face and express such support to live side by side in democracy and freedom of oppression by any other nation should be a shiny example to those hypocritical representatives (congress and senate) who pushed forward to shake the PM hand and converse with him. Please, grow a pair and get back to work for the American people, the majority who are NOT MAGA, fund Ukraine, work on a legitimate immigration plan/policy representative of who we are, a nation of immigrants since landing here hundreds of years ago. Vote only Blue to right this ship.
Thank you, Chris! That is the REALLY BIG IDEA that people like you have taught me. Especially when it comes to Ukraine. Hopefully the 'we' in the WEst -- with the 'us' in the U.S. doing our bit -- will nip World War III in the bud and defeat Russia decisively. What will make Japan and Germany critical in the years ahead is the example each has set -- from which the U.S. could use a dose -- of transcending a very dark time to become a great power democracy. The two troubles are that Russia has nuclear weapons and lacks any tradition on any level of democratic governance.
So agree Ned. Putin and TFG are visably 2 very crazy power happy old men who are so self serving they cannot see how easily they could blow up the world, and neither of them will survive either.
I am very hawkish. But a good man sits in the Oval Office and I thank G-D for that, no matter how cranky I may get. President Biden will be re-elected. If he does not live out his second term, this conservative (i.e., me) will be very happy with a President Harris.
Thank you, Professor Richardson. I feel ashamed of the antics by House Republicans. The world is anxious and so are we! There must be a way to get weapons to Ukraine!
The achilles heel of American democracy must be this - everything can be stopped and held up for ransom to the detriment of security and US influence..... by just one nut case.
Johnson, misguided and dangerous ... or that football coach Tommy Tuberville.
They have both done disproportionate damage to world safety and peace.
President Biden should announce that he plans to send troops immediately to Ukraine for field exercises with the Ukrainian Army. He can do that with the D.o.D. training budget and Congress can not do a damn thing about it. That announcement would almost certainly snap Congress to pass that aid; the troops would never need to go.
This would cost him the next election. This head fake would be fodder for Republicans and the FOX and other MAGA media to blast that Biden was putting boots on the ground in Ukraine. Americans are loath to have American soldiers in another war.
It is a time for courage. Watching Ukraine get slaughtered by fretting when a noisy and noisome minority huffs and puffs will more likely cost President Biden the election. Time to stick it to the fat man rather than to appease the gangster régime; time to call a blustery bluff or two. You know what el Señor Emilio Zapata said: better to die on one's feet than live on his or her knees.
I tend to agree with you Ned, but with caution. We needed to get troops on the ground in Gaza, and a way was found by building a new harbor facility. True, they are not directly engaged in the conflict, but they are in the way of IDF, if only a little. Troops went in while saying we were not sending in any troops. Perhaps something similar can be done with some sort of a support mission in the Odessa area. Pushing back the other way is some layer of concern about the oil that is murky at very best, and somehow involves India; and it would seem to be something more than India's skirting of the sanctions to make a quick buck on the price differential. Something would seen to be going on that is not yet visible to the public. I don't think we have the full picture yet.
NOTE: link to Buda Pest Memorandum of 1994 in the essay. Thought before I went to Ukraine June and July 2022. Confirmed in Ukraine. Written out shortly after my return.
Yes, there is the nuclear risk. We will have to face it sooner or later. Better now while fewer lives are lost. The gangster régime, together with the culture of belligerence that will enable the next one, must be crushed so Russia does not think of another war for two generations, during which time, if she does not fall apart, she can follow the example of Germany and Japan.
Great assessment, Karen. I’ll remember that. Especially since that’s the position Frumpy will be in before the end of the year, hopefully, at a federal or state prison.
I have to agree with you, Ned. IF this ‘boots on the ground’ training exercise were done correctly, our troops would be there merely as ‘training officers’ for the Ukrainian army. Just exactly as they were when we sent the fighter jets over. We had pilots go with them to teach the Ukrainian pilots how to fly, and properly use, them.
I can see you weren’t around in the late sixties when we only had ‘advisors’ in Vietnam. It never stops there. As soon as American soldiers are put in harm’s way, the die is cast.
James, I wasn’t fortunate enough to go interview the military. They 4-F’d me when I went to sign in due to spine surgery I had when I was in jr. high school. All I was able to do to serve my country was 26+ years of law enforcement and firefighting.
No, And never was in Vietnam. But I lost good friends over there that never made it back home.
I respectfully suggest a correction to your statement that in the late sixties the United Stqtes « … only had ‘advisors’ in Vietnam.” My turn in the barrel occurred in 1968-69. I can attest to Vietnam’s being a “hot war” during my tour.
History records that America’s involvement in Vietnam was elevated to “Hot War” following and predicated on North Vietnam’s alleged attacks on two U.S. Navy warships—the destroyers USS Turner Joy and USS Mattox—on the high seas of the Gulf of Tonkin on 2 August 1964.
Please see previous response. B.L.U.F.: two very different situations plus we have the lesson-learned from Viêt Nam; plus, we are in World War III, like it not. Hopefully, we have the painful wisdom to nip it in the bud.
They would likely not have to go at all, if the shock value paid off. Personally, I would like to see the troops there -- in a training capacity as you astutely observe -- to send Putin a message by creating a trip-wire. Thank you for a thoughtful answer. Keep the faith.
It seems that Americans always have been isolationists. It took a bomb on our property to get people to say, "Hey, you can't do that! Now we need to protect our boundaries and get involved."
Isolationists? We have a long history of interfering with the internal politics of other sovereign nations, often with long-term disastrous effect. Guatemala, Iran and Vietnam come immediately to mind.
You are right. Busy bodies. We need to pick and choose our battles. In retrospect Vietnam was a major mistake. Didn't the French leave? We should have taken a hint. Now it is a one party Communist regime. Cruise lines are sailing down the Mei Kong. It is becoming more capitalist though. Nothing was accomplished.
Au contraire. There are four McDonald's locations in Hanoi ;-) (I've always said that the stupid stupid stupid blockade of Cuba will end the day the first McDonald's opens in Havana.)
Seriously you want troops to get into this proxy war between the US and Russia? How about WW 3 and nuclear war. This war should not have happened and could have ended quickly leaving much of the land Ukraine has loss and saving so many lives if the US and UK had not blocked peace negotiations.
Please stop it with the falsehoods about Russia's war with Ukraine. In Feb. of 2022 Russia invaded Ukraine - a democratic country that had formerly been one of the Soviet Republics. If you really think that Vladimir Putin will stop with Ukraine, please Google "The Sudetenland, 1938"! After Hitler invaded that small part of Czechoslovakia because he said many German speakers lived there ( sound familiar?) he told the world he would stop there.
Putin wants to recreate the old Soviet Empire. And he wants those old Soviet ports on the Baltic back. Open your atlas & take a look. That means Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia & Poland will be next.
History will not be kind to the US if we abandon Ukraine.
So many thanks for your eloquent and morally nuanced response to Nora. Apologies for missing your insights until now. Thank you for showing Nora the way.
A race of quasi criminals from the U.S. in 1991 started this.
Many were newly-minted M.B.A.s from the Ivy League. They joined with hedge funders, established banks, and the U.S. Department of State and went looking for all the former Soviet Union's nomenklatura -- to pour U.S. investment dollars into them.
So the most corrupt were able to seize all that country's most valuable assets. The new oligarch class arose. As they'd stolen all the public resources, they also defunded the once-proud health care system, and installed sycophant cronies atop all the universities. Epidemics of tuberculosis, alcoholism, and suicide among middle aged men swept the land.
It was the model of U.S. high finance chicanery that infected the new corrupt in Russia to its arrogance -- the same lickspittle allegiance to warmonger Putin as MAGA has for its Trump.
The same hate-filled nationalism tinged with idiot religious zealotry.
I think you are on-target about the pre-corporate rape of Russia. Reminds me of the questionable thinking I encountered in Iraq in setting up a government structure so culturally discordant that it was bound to fail. When other suggestions, more in line with Middle Eastern history (e.g., bringing the sixty largest tribes into a House of Lords proposed by a colleague) these highly educated dummasses laughed and said, "It's just not the way we do it." Unfortunately, the Russian culture of authoritarian belligerence dates back to three centuries of Mongol rule. That is hard to fathom and nullify.
David Halberstam recorded some of its chapters in "The Best and the Brightest."
Mark Twain got more in "Innocents Abroad."
Is it a side-show of democracy -- that we have to accept that rubes, ridge-runners, barbarians, yahoos, flim-flam artists, and fictional families Amberson, Snopes, Hubbard, Kane, Stark and more will also run with their freedom?
And it would not have happened if the US had not poked the bear along with NATO. If anyone who disagrees with Biden’s foreign policy is labeled a Putin supporter what kind of democracy is that. There are many experts who agree this did not have to happen. To support diplomacy over warmongering and the military industrial complex does not make someone a Putin supporter.
Not labelling anyone but it's Putin doing the warmongering and invading a sovereign nation instead of using diplomacy.
Timothy Snyder wrote this post today about the critical situation in Ukraine and why Congress needs to send funds to their aid immediately:
"Russia is carrying out comprehensive missile and drone strikes against Ukrainian energy infrastructure. The idea is to make the entire country cease to function. Imagine what your life would be like if you local power station had just been destroyed by a ballistic missile."
Nora, How do you have diplomacy if Russia will not come to the table seriously? Who is Putin? As a former KGB and Stasi member in East Germany he played both sides against each other from what I have read about him in German. Is this someone that one can negotiate with? What treaty has he stuck to? None as far as I can see. So, how do you negotiate without getting a treaty? How are you envisioning this working?
Good point, Linda. Perhaps Nora does not know that, in her 1991 vote for independence, every oblast / province voted to exit the U.S.S.R. and that six of every seven people (at least) in Donbass wanted out of the evil empire. The open question remains Crimea in which a razor-thin majority favoured independence. That one may need to be negotiated.
There was a peace negotiation between Ukraine and Russia shortly after the war started. The US and the UK pressured Zelensky not to consider it. This is pretty well known. Look up Jeffery Sachs, Code Pink, Useful Idiots, Chris Hedges, Professor John Mearsheimer amd more. Nora is not stupid and just does not follow the PR from the Biden Administration.
Oh. And Trump would have handled it diplomatically? ANY of it? Diplomacy is not in his vocabulary. He is entirely transactional in the way you describe the corporate elite’s relationship with Russia after the wall came down. Money and power are his bottom line and if it takes being Putin’s gigolo he’s fine with it.
I said nothing about Trump in my opinion both choices from the duopoly are absolutely horrible. Biden is probably more of a warmonger than Trump because Trump only cares about Trump. He will swing whatever way he thinks his base wants. Biden on the other hand has been a committed warmonger for decades. Who is more dangerous is anyone’s guess. I will vote for Jill Stein and at least know I voted for a bright women with a commitment to peace and the environment. I truly understand why people don’t vote with choices like this.
WRONG. N.A.T.O. did not move East. After Georgia and, especially, Chechnya in the 1990s when Russia's belligerence not changing broke the good faith efforts of the West, the newly liberated republics and former vassal states moved West.
Field exercises are peace-time activities to prepare the armed forces of different countries to work together. How do you do "exercises" in the midst of a hot war?
The field exercises would be in Western Ukraine. I do not want to get too caught up in the debate because you and I damn well know President Biden will not do it. He is in the big chair and he is a good man. The announcement, however, might shock the good Republicans to do the right thing and shut down the craven quislings bullying them into acquiescence by coalescing with future Speaker Jeffries and sympathetic Democrats. Of course, if the nattering nabobs of narcissism call the President's bluff, that would be a disaster. Sadly, this exchange took place a month ago; the decent Republicans are making noises, not enough noises.
@ Sally Jenks Roth. Last week, Heather pointed out, a bipartisan majority of Representatives (both Dem & GOP) want to sustain aid to Ukraine. The National Security Supplemental Appropriations Act (HR 815) passed in the Senate by a 70 - 29 vote weeks ago.
MAGA Mike has not brought it to the floor of the House, so Democrats are circulating a discharge petition to force it out of committee and be voted on. The petition needs 218 signatures. It currently has 191-- only one Republican.
Everyone reading this can help by calling Republican Representatives and urging them to sign the discharge petition for HR 815 Ukraine Aid Package before it's too late. Call the U S Capitol switchboard (202) 224-3121 to leave a general statement of support, and call Speaker Johnson's office (202) 225-4000 to insist that he bring HR 815 to the floor.
For phone numbers of about about two dozen specific Republicans known to support Ukraine, please click on recent Ukraine-related posts at:
As the founders of Indivisible, former Congressional staffers all, members of Congress do not pay any attention to messages from anyone who is not their constituent. So, if your representative or either of your senators is one of the hold outs, bombard them with calls and letters.
Of course Cameron didn't accomplish much. There is no reasonable argument that will convince Johnson to bring the bill with funding for Ukraine to the House floor. "Sorry, comrade: I need to bring down Ukraine first, and then American democracy - orders from Moscow."
I must say that I am amazed that one single man can hold off a decision of global importance. There seems to be a bug in the system, and Putin played this one out very well... He isn't pinching himself, this is exactly what he planned. The GOP has become the Grand Old Putin party, and the real trouble is: most of the MAGAts won't even see that as a problem - on the contrary. I'm really afraid we'll be fighting off Russian AND American soldiers here in Europe next year.
We seem to be encountering a number of "check and balance" bugs in our system of government. Putin and his toadies are methodically exploiting them all, in an effort to bring down the republic.
The ongoing MAGA Permaputsch has never let up for one moment since the former president's defeat at the polls. Nor will it deflate as long as he walks free.
Like Putin's "little green men" in Crimea ten years ago, Johnson and his other operatives in the House of Representatives are achieving victory for the Kremlin dictator where all else -- action both political and military -- had failed.
CRIME PAYS.
TREASON PAYS.
Nothing, it seems, pays like treason.
Nor, apparently, does the United States possess any antidote.
[As for the notion that the 45th president is being blackmailed by his backer in the Kremlin, there is absolutely no need for that. Here, we see the natural confluence of two criminal minds. Blackmail and direr threats, together with the promise of powerful posts, from Gauleiter all the way down to Blockwart, may well account for the would-be dictator's powerful hold on Speaker Johnson and the members of the GOP caucus...
It may be too much to ask people to turn their minds to what lies behind the absolute self-assurance of Trumputin... A little depth psychology might help.
Putin with the help of Trump and his MAGA Congressional dupes has done extensive damage to the US without firing a shot at us. He has turned us against one another using divide and conquer tactics to weaken us and render us unable to defend ourselves or our allies.
I believe Putin is richly endowed (LOL) with both carrots and sticks when it comes to keeping Trump on leash. I’ll never forget the private meeting they had, early in Trump’s presidency, followed by a press conference. The looks on those two faces as they walked into the press room! Trump: whipped puppy. Putin: cat that just ate the canary. There’s blackmail going on.
Can anyone unearth an image or evidence of DT placing any other being on a pedestal above him? Cohn was his mentor, not his master.
Here, however, fealty was sold to him as the ultimate opportunity. Putin could not have dreamed up a tool better suited to his purpose. Yet, given the forces in play, the sorceror's apprentice may prove even more dangerous than the sorceror.
That said, can anyone explain how it can be licit for the Speaker and Representatives openly to take orders from a private individual that directly sabotage the national commitment to provide material support to an imperilled ally?
Perhaps some jurist can explain this deep mystery to us.
Likewise, any official or politician with even the vaguest experience of national security issues and the tight rules governing highly classified documents will know that any other individual who had played fast and loose with the merest fragment of the papers purloined by DT would have been buried alive in a maximum security hole in the ground long since.
It seems the man has succeeded in "normalizing" the ultimate crimes.
All I can think of as recourse is that each of the folks on this substack should send Trump fifty coupons for a double cheeseburger with bacon. Cholesterol might take care of the problem?
It would surprise me if Trump does not fear the dirt Putin could dish on him, but in any case, Trump seems to have been bought. More than one Trump family member has bragged about unlimited funding from Russia. That alone put Trump's pocket; and it seems he chooses despots for mentors.
"....Those bills are the “Hands Off Our Home Appliances Act,” the “Liberty in Laundry Act,” the “Clothes Dryers Reliability Act,” the “Refrigerator Freedom Act,” the “Affordable Air Conditioning Act,” and the “Stop Unaffordable Dishwasher Standards Act.” .... i am very lucky I had only sipped water just before reading this section of tonight's letter...sinceI spit it out all over my desk. How on earth do these "public servants" look themselves in the mirror or sleep at night.
I think that more than left and right, which I think of as primarily a dispute about the boundaries of ownership, there is a divide between those who glorify predatory violence and those who reject it or see it as a last resort. And I don't just mean direct physical violence. Violence can be indirect, such as limited access to food or healthcare. There is social violence in prejudice, or child abuse or spousal abuse that leaves no visible marks. A "civilized" society stands in solidarity against such assaults and teaches citizens to see the victim's perspective, the perspective of others in general. Growing up male in socially "conservative" Ohio I saw, and even experienced abuse of vulnerable kids by adults in supervisory roles who demanded conformity to their own, arbitrary and narcissistic values, with "road rage" for trivial deviations. As in the story of "1984" I think the reason that largely amiable, and frequently bright and educated people can compulsively regurgitate MAGA talking points despite abundant counter-evidence, is that their thought process is constrained by PTSD. Taught by terror to love Big Brother. The alternative is collaborative liberty and justice of ALL.
JL, what a powerful article. Thank you. I have been having difficult email conversations with a relative who is a Trump supporter. All the things people say about not relying on sharing facts are true. It doesn't help. (It's also not helpful that we communicate through email but we haven't been able to meet in person for some months.) I don't learn what draws him to MAGA.
I would love to know from others in this community of HCR devotees how you respond to the dailykos article here. Dealing with family is tricky because in contrast to the author, the hospice nurse who wrote the article, I already have a long-time relationship with the person I'm trying to understand better. I know a lot about his good side. It doesn't seem to help. His views still alarm me. Maybe that's as it needs to be. Anybody got some ideas?
I'd say that meeting people where they are and just being yourself is a good start.
I met some friends through an on-line motorcycle forum, one of whom was (coincidentally) my Subaru mechanic. He and I have become friends; he's someone who would get up, in foul weather, drive to your location, give you the shirt off his back, and help you with whatever you needed. As we got to know each other through riding, we'd to these "I have to take something to Florence; want to do a loop ride with me?" calls, and go for a ride, which always involved sharing a meal.
At one of those meals, he told me that he had rethought his position on gay marriage based on his getting to know me. He said it caused him to do some deep thinking, and shared with me that what he had really objected to was the privileges that marriage granted for everyone. He was a an enlisted USAF mechanic who, for his 12 years of service, had to live in barracks because he was single, and as a crew chief had E2's who were married that got to live off base. He married after he left the service, and said that he could understand why, as a couple that had been together for 25 years, my wife and I wanted some of the "for granted" married couple advantages; inheritances, decision making at time of death, and spousal medical insurance that marriage gave us.
Back well over a decade ago my wife and I stopped at a place in Florence called the Windward Inn that had the best pecan sticky buns we ever tasted. We were there 4 times, but the last time we were there the place had been sold and the food disappointing.
I find the social justice aspect of law to be generally well intentioned (but not always) and often uneven in the degree of advantage and protections it provides. I am glad to be married, but am aware it is a privileged category. There are many things we that could use a rethink to refine "liberty and justice for all".
I recall when Republicans took over Wisconsin, they made a big thing out of public employees getting benefits that others did not. Their solution was to take those benefits away. Heaven forbid we should consider broadening them. Meanwhile the 1% cried "Feed me!"
Great story of people getting to see the better sides of each other. My favorite for decades has been from a Bill Moyers' book.
Franchot “Fran“ Buhler was one of the most inspiring people Bill Moyers described in his book “Listening to America: A Traveler Rediscovers His Country” He accomplished most by doing what seemed the least.
“…Although Fran served in full time ministry for over two decades as the Associate Pastor/Director of Ministry at First Baptist Church Tallahassee, he was a ministry leader his entire life. His life's mission of "recycling human potential from the field of broken dreams" is woven through his every professional opportunity and personal experience. Fran mentored returning Peace Corp volunteers in Transition Centers and directed a national municipal task force of mayors for the National League of Cities and US Conference of Mayors. He was called a "national asset" by a former White House Press Secretary for launching a transformative community development project in a South Carolina community of 1,100 people in the heated civil rights era of the late 1960's…”
If you get a chance to read Bill Moyers "Listening to America" (which I have a treasured signed copy of) look for the part at the end about his frustration trying to interview Fran Buhler, a community organizer hired by the President of Wellman Industries in Johnsonville South Carolina. Buhler almost never spoke, and always had a way of listening, waiting for anyone and everyone else to talk. Moyers found the secret to his success was more due to opening a community center and getting the wives of Black and White workers to volunteer to make curtains and do other little things to prepare it for the start of the "real" community organizing meetings.
The women had casually come together (with subtle request to each individually as he gathered more helpers), with light enough work that they could talk to people they had never talked to before, forming friendships and eventually getting their husbands to come along. Buhler seemed a "poor" organizer, mostly "wasting" a lot of time during which the men started discussing what they thought the problems were. Buhler never seemed to offer any solutions, instead asking them to discuss what they thought would work. The man who hired him, Wellman, wouldn't offer solutions either, though he did tell his managers that they had to build their homes well distributed in the communities of their workers. They didn't offer solutions either, but did live among them and mingle enough to know what their concerns were. The community members "gave up" on waiting for solutions from the "organizer" or company management, and implemented all their own best solutions.
The book reveals a lot of problems the country was going through back then (1970) and many of the issues were not resolved well if at all, but Johnsonville did a far more acceptable job of allowing people to improve their lives more realistically and peacefully through 4 decades of Wellman's life, keeping an company and the community viable when so many others left that were more loyal to the industries than the industries were to their communities.
Wellman could easily have made far more money moving to Mexico but he seemed a great answer to my daughter's favorite question, "Is he rich or does he just have money"?
I read a very convincing, detailed article (Atlantic?) about the shoddy work that went into the authors’ predetermined thesis. Didn’t consult the experts they claimed, cherry-picked data, etc. It’s a book designed for progressive buyers, but mostly “fake news.”
Pat, I’m sorry to hear about your water shortage. I’m not denigrating the need for water restrictions—I’m decrying the fact that 45 only champions causes that cause him personal discomfort.
The world is crashing down around us. Thousands of people (civilians and soldiers) are being killed, wars on 2 fronts, climate issues, rebuilding of a major bridge necessary for commerce (I understand the reps are giving Biden a hard time about getting money for immediate rebuilding of the bridge). These clowns are concerned about a Refrigerator Freedom Act or renaming an airport after trump? Where is that sick green emoji when you need it?
NYT published a map of all the bridges with either no, outdated or deteriorated protection and there are many many many in TN, MS, LA, TX, OH, PA, WI, FL etc. Again, you would think that just being worried they might one day need such help for their own state would cause them to be supportive. So totally unexplainable the shortsightedness of these knuckleheads. (Attempted to gift the link below in case anyone is interested. These bridges are ticking time bombs...and next time we wont be so lucky to have just 6 tragic deaths.)
Good question. Here in Long Beach CA (where I live) the Port Authority just wrapped up a complete replacement of the Long Beach port bridge and I know they ensured the new bridge can handle the large OGVs (ocean-going vessels) that visit the Port of Long Beach. Next door, the Port of Los Angeles is gearing up for a similar replacement (or upgrade, i am not sure which). Significant local, state and federal funds are being invested, include IRA and IIJA funds (if not directly, then indirectly by those funds covering projects that would have otherwise been covered by the ports. so that port funds could be spent on the bridges). Of course, states with lower taxes likely will have to lean on the feds more. And the Ports have funding from their terminals and tenants that make up their budget so the beneficiaries of the bridges also pay in. Working and safe bridges are an important infrastructure investment and like our highways and other INF, we are trying to catch up from years of neglect. Apologies if this is TMI ;-)
These bogus and ridiculous bills are classic performative politics. They are meant to elicit anger, mislead and distract.
All of my current state and federal representatives are MAGA. My letters are useless. My governor removed a lawfully elected prosecutor who disagreed with him. The removal was deemed illegal, but, the removal stands. Hoping to become President, DeSantis has used performative politics to get attention. It failed nationally, but, we are stuck with his authoritarian style in Florida. After attacking Trump for a year, now DeSantis is fundraising for him. There is no moral center, it’s all about power.
Only because we let King Baby revel in the illusion that he owns the House. Though I do not read liberal journals often, this article from 'Daily Kos' goes a long way toward describing the over-representation of the base M.A.G.A. base as noted before by Dr Richardson.
People need courage and need to break the stalemate as Dr Richardson hinted with the very statesmanlike stance Representative Jefferies has taken. The concern is why Squeaker Mikey Mouse does not grab the opportunity. Maybe he is rooting for genocide after all.
Ned, I’m of firm belief that this Congress is operated by two presidents. I believe this is probably the first time in history that this country has had two presidents at one time. But, WE have the duly elected president, Joe Biden, who is dealing with everything domestic and foreign, running the government as is necessary. The portion of the Senate and House of Representatives who believe that Joe Biden is the President of the United States are sitting on the Democratic side of the aisle, or, IF they are Republican, have already quit.
All others in Congress are under the belief that Trump is still the president, never lost the ejection, and they are doing exactly what he tells them to do. One step further on this ladder of political leadership. Putin is telling Trump what he needs Congress to do, or not do, as the case is now. Putin is hell bent to take over Ukraine so he can begin his march across the other NATO countries.
"I believe this is the first time in US History the US has had two presidents."
In 2008, during the financial crisis where several "too big to fail" institutions were in peril of, well, failing, candidate Obama and candidate McCain attended a session with the Congressional leadership. President Bush wasn't even there, even though his Secretary of the Treasury was. Anyway, Obama was amazing and McCain was devoid of any ideas or suggestions.
To me, that was a watershed moment and Obama truly was the acting President in my opinion.
I sand corrected, Gary. I had forgotten that incident. But, comparing it to this nonsense the Republican Party , should I say the MAGA Trumpublicans, are pulling isn’t in the same ballpark. They are acting like Biden never won the election, and Frumpy never lost. It’s like Biden isn’t in the Oval Office at all.
The mental gymnastics I've seen in some of the MAGAts is gobsmacking. The most recent blow-mind was the woman telling an interviewer that Biden is evil. When he asked in what way is that so she had sort of a stricken look on her face, like she'd never had push back to her claim, then said, "he just is" and walked away.
I, too, laugh my ass off at these people when they are interviewed by someone who actually knows what questions to ask instead of be a commentator from the lines of FOX News. The bunch are n MSNBC cause these MAGA folks to itch where they can’t scratch, and it is hilarious how they get v bc asked into that dark corner and can’t get themselves out if it. I guess they fail to realize the lines of Joe Scarborough, along with the past head of the RNC, and others used to be devout Republicans!
All this MAGA crowd has become is a bunch of blowhards that listen to this rhetoric that Frumpy’s spewing at his ‘rallies’ and trying to make sense of his gibberish. I have yet to hear a speech of his where he actually discusses issues. Most of his comments make me want to puke.
Saying Obama was acting president in 2008 implies that he was making policy which he was not. Nothing compares to the way Trump is making policy in 2024.
MisTBlu. Earlier I posted a column written by Catherine Rampell of the WAPO about the GOP Senators blocking the renewal of the child-tax credit. This is a quote from Senator Chuck Grassley of IA.
“Passing a tax bill that makes the president look good — mailing out checks before the election — means he could be reelected.”
Regardless of whether Obama acted "Presidential" in 2008, the GOP are major hypocrites for forcing women who have been raped or made pregnant through incest (which, of course is also rape) and then refusing to support the children of this unholy union.
The GOP is not only blocking almost all legislation, much of it at the behest of Trump, but they are also devoid of any new ideas whatsoever.
This is one of the reasons I dub them the REPRESSIVE REGRESSIVE party.
Actually, my view was that Senator McCain had a much better approach than Senator Obama toward the melt-down. He understood micro-incentives in the financial services in a manner that President Obama simply did not.
Ned - There was a lot going in during the financial crisis in 2008 and McCain made several missteps which likely cost him votes. Did they cost him the election? I have no idea. The following is a taking from the Guardian o 9/25/2008
However, it was widely noted that McCain did not even arrive in Washington until after Democratic and Republic leaders announced they had the outlines of a rescue package.
McCain admitted as recently as Tuesday that he had not taken the time to even read the bailout plan, according to an NBC interview transcript distributed by the Obama camp.
But that did not stop the Republican from seizing the headlines for two days in a row. McCain first wrongfooted Obama yesterday with his stunning anouncement that he would suspend his campaign and would not attend the debate in Mississippi.
Today, he struck again, appropriating Obama's conditions for the rescue deal - barely 24 hours after rejecting them.
The Democrat had proposed the conditions during discussions with McCain yesterday about a joint statement from the presidential candidates about the financial crisis.
In their proposals the Obama camp had called for an independent oversight board, a mechanism to protect taxpayers, a curb on outsized payments to Wall Street executives, and relief for homeowners faced with losing homes. The proposal for a joint statement also rejected attaching other measures, or earmarks, to the bill.
In his speech today McCain adopted nearly identical language - as well as the essence of four of the five measures: an oversight board, protection for taxpayers, controls on compensation for Wall Street executives and a ban on earmarks. However, McCain made no mention of relief for homeowners.
McCain's newfound sense of urgency for reaching a deal on the rescue package comes after a number of new polls suggesting that the economic crisis was costing the Republican support.
As I recall, the "too big to fail" institutions were grossly undercapitalized due to changes made in banking regulations from 1980 - 2007. Also, few people understood the dangers posed by sub-prime mortgages many of them issued at 100% of a homes value. Literally people could get into a home with virtually no skin in the game. Another cause of the 2008 financial crisis were derivatives as well as the loose money policy of the Fed, which was led by Alan Greenspan.
I'm a big Senator McCain fan, but during that one meeting he appeared lost and devoid of ideas on how to deal with the crisis and frankly Obama didn't.
Thank you for a well thought out response and the newspaper article. This fact is neither explanation nor excuse about what you are saying: I missed this news as I was in Iraq and really pre-occupied; these insights you provide certainly are eye-opening. Gary, I based my thinking on the research I did the week before the election when I was home on leave. So, I was reading more recent statements and found Senator McCain's struck me as being more nuanced and addressing the basic problems in the financial system more directly (based, of course, on my limited experience and more limited mind).
My thank you letter to President Obama on 20jan17. Well, I am nothing if not consistent, Emerson be damned.
😉
Until that final week -- EDIT: in actuality, the night before -- I was undecided between President Obama and Senator McCain. The joint-statement by President Obama was a statesmanlike initiative for sure. Well, one thing I got right: I felt that the 2008 election was one between two really fine men. Though I knew my next-day vote for Senator McCain would be for the runner-up, I was fine with President Obama. ln the end, for me at least, character matters a whole lot more than one's politics because there will always be occasions that come out of nowhere and do not lend themselves to ideology or political preference for guidance; then, we must rely upon the content of the leader's character.
✌️
President Obama may or may not have been a great President; I am too conservative and time is too soon for me or most others to tell you. (But I will never excuse the way my Party treated him when it held majorities; I should have known, by 2010, that Reaganism was exhausted.) One thing I do know: President Obama had in 2008, 2012, and today an unmistakably impeccable character and remains a great man.
We have had shadow presidencies before. Nixon’s sabotage of President Johnson’s peace negotiations in Hanoi, resulting in many more deaths of our GI’s, was one instance. And there was a time early on when the VP was of the opposing party. Imagine that!
President Nixon committed treason in doing per President Johnson as concurred by Senator Dirksen (R-IL). Funny how Presidents seem tongue-tied in the face of treason.
Then we have too many truly stupid members of Congress if they truly believe that Trump lost the last election. And too many truly stupid people who voted for these ignorant power seekers.
These representatives have no idea how to safely lead our country, to work for all of us, instead of playing bully on their path to destroying our true freedom and democracy.
Pa, you’re preaching to the choir! I’ve been harping this since this bunch of baboons were elected. This is the most irresponsible House of Representatives we’ve ever had! It’s a shame they have forgotten their Oath of Office, or who elected them.
Things have got to change. This bunch of MAGA Trumpublicans have got to go, at ALL levels of government.
I did a 5-Y drill on Ukraine to burrow down to the root cause of my (chicken) hawkishness. Found that, when I feel powerless in action, I often resort to hawkishness in speech.
And he also runs the Republicans in the Senate apparently. I am sharing today's column from Catherine Rampell of the Washington Post-
THE MESSAGE FROM GOP SENATORS: SUFFER LITTLE CHILDREN
he modern GOP is supposed to be pro-family, pro-tax-cuts and anti-“waste, fraud and abuse.” So why are Republican senators trying to tank a bill that is all three?
In January, lawmakers hammered out a kids-and-companies tax deal: Congress would extend a few business tax breaks that had recently expired in exchange for expanding the child tax credit. The bipartisan compromise turned out to be a very good bill, painstakingly negotiated by serious lawmakers from both chambers of Congress.
Among other virtues, the legislation would improve the living standards of 16 million low-income kids and lift 400,000 children out of poverty in its first year. It would increase incentives for research and development. And the icing on the cake: The whole thing would be paid for by curbing a pandemic-era tax break that has produced an avalanche of fraudulent claims.
The politics of the bill are also good: It has been endorsed by virtually every relevant stakeholder of nearly every political persuasion imaginable — business groups, pro-life organizations, parents’ alliances, anti-poverty advocates, conservative coalitions and progressive ones. It also offers Republicans a chance to prove their pro-family bona fides after Dobbs.
So when the bill sailed through the House with broad bipartisan support, it renewed hope that our dysfunctional legislature might be able to govern sometimes after all.
Alas, that hope was premature. Today, Republican senators are trying to kill the legislation, with some of its GOP supporters saying it’s on “life support.”
Their colleagues’ objections are all over the place, and none of them particularly compelling. Some worry about handing President Biden a win so close to the election. (I’d argue the 400,000 kids lifted out of poverty would be the real winners, but to each their own.) Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) said this explicitly in January: “Passing a tax bill that makes the president look good — mailing out checks before the election — means he could be reelected.”
A related explanation is that Republicans hope to win control of Congress and the White House this November, after which they could abandon their silly, kid-conscious compromise with Democrats and just push for bigger tax breaks for businesses.
If that’s the strategy, it’s a strange one for many reasons. Among them: The bill includes tax breaks that had lapsed in the past couple of years, and the business community has been adamant about retroactively restoring them now. Not next year, when Republicans might or might not have more power.
“Many employers, especially small businesses, have struggled with the unexpected tax bill created by the lapse in these provisions,” Neil Bradley, chief policy officer at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, told me. “Asking employers to wait until the next Congress is effectively asking them to make a loan to the federal government in the hopes that they might get paid back in 2025 or 2026.”
Some senators allege more substantive concerns. For instance, Mike Crapo (Idaho), the ranking Republican on the Senate Finance Committee, complained that the child tax credit measures might discourage parents from working, even though the bill has an explicit earnings requirement (i.e., it is available only if families work). When Crapo identified the specific provision that bothered him, his Democratic counterpart, Committee Chair Ron Wyden (Ore.) offered to take it out of the bill.
Yet Crapo has not been mollified. He and his Senate colleague Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) have also complained about the bill’s cost.
Specifically — it’s hard to believe I’m actually writing this — they’re mad that it doesn’t cost anything.
Seriously. They have both said they don’t want to set a precedent of paying for tax cuts, since congressional Republicans have a multi-decade-long record of not doing so. As Tillis said in a committee hearing, “We have to have a discussion about whether or not we’re setting a precedent on future tax provisions having a pay-for. We have not normally done that, but we’ve done that in this bill.” He then explained that when it came time to extend the expiring provisions of the Trump tax cuts next year, he was worried Democrats might demand they be paid for (heaven forbid).
As a reminder, the pay-for in this bill is the elimination of a fraud-riddled pandemic program, whose continuation would waste tens of billions of dollars. Usually, ending a program like this is something Republicans would cheer. But not, apparently, if it threatens their ability to add to the debt in the future. (And let’s be honest, this “precedent” of paying for a tax break does not exactly seem binding.)
No matter. If Republicans do retake the Senate majority, Crapo is likely to be the next chair of the Senate Finance Committee; even Republican lawmakers who support this bill are now loath to cross him, Hill staffers have told me.
One thing in common among all these obstacles to the bill’s passage: They have nothing to do with the well-being of poor kids, the original reason so many people of all ideological stripes were excited about this bill.
Perhaps some politicians misheard “Suffer the little children” as simply “Suffer, little children.”
"Perhaps some politicians misheard “Suffer the little children” as simply “Suffer, little children.” True that. They're stance on helping living children gives lie to their claim that they oppose abortion because they're "pro life."
It is axiomatic that foreign policy and treaties that are designed to further and to protect the interest of the United States in its relations with foreign nation states is the sole prerogative of the Executive Branch. Policy, tactics and strategies are set by the President in consultation with the Secretary of State , and his cabinet. Formal treaties must be ratified by the Senate. Foreign policy programs must be funded by the Congress. By this arrangement is balance of powers maintained. Nowhere is a private citizen who happens to be an ex president authorized or empowered to participate or interfere with the relations of the elected government to foreign nations. It is in fact illegal. Why the Justice Department does not use the power of the laws to control private citizen Trump is simply inexplicable.
I can’t for the life of me figure out how Boebert and MTG wield so much power? What is wrong with Republicans? Their base is beginning to think Putin isn’t so bad. They have all lost their minds. MAGA has never done anything to help Trump’s base—and Biden has helped them, but Fox misleads with their “news”. Meanwhile the mainstream press is sitting on their hands and letting this farce continue without any meaningful commentary. I’m disgusted by the lack of patriotism in the Republican ranks. I’m fed up with mainstream media. The peace and security for our country and the world depend on Trump never getting near the White House again! Joe Biden has my vote, and as an independent I plan to vote democratic down ballot. We simply must defeat MAGA—the Republican party is dead. Voters have to let Al know in no uncertain terms—we don’t what MAGA is selling! Throw the bums out!
It’s very painful to tap ‘like’ to your letter tonight. This Trump&comp throwing all of us to Putin.. he’s sleeping now… continuing to decimate Ukraine with the world watching … my head and heart hurt. My prayers are trying to be loud enough to drown out my angry dismay at the FoolsFollowingTrump.
Dear Heather, Thank you for being honest with all of us. Prayer is my only power tonight.
The Prime Minister from Japan gave a remarkable speech. He mentioned how important it is about our Democracy in this country and how vital it is to support and help Ukraine.
It is a national disgrace to the people in this country to see how Trump has manipulated and controlled the Republican Representatives from the house.
Moderate Republicans don't even have the guts to put their country first, like Liz Cheney did. Then House Speaker Johnson is going to Florida to seek advice from a traitor who betrayed our country and our Democracy! Their reversing laws in this country which is wrong! We must vote them out of office in November.
Good to see Kishida at the U.S. Congress on the vital roles many countries still need from the U.S.
So it becomes all the more vexing, as Heather's piece today moves on to how U.S. Republicans have turned as perverse as they have. Servants of Putin. Slaves to the orange or orange-brown paste-encrusted face of the U.S. fat one.
The degree to which Trump is of course a moral leper begs attention even more now, because of how Republicans in Arizona just this week reaffirmed their commitment to legislation dating back to 1864. One aspect of that stands out most -- white men ordering the lives of all women.
But our look at moral leprosy wouldn't be complete if we stopped just as what the patriarchs arrogate over women. Look, too, at the Speaker of that Arizona House then -- one William Claude Jones. Nearing 50 years old at the time, he took as his second wife a local 12-year-old girl. He'd have five wives over his lifetime, two whose ages are unknown, but two more whose ages are known to have been 14 and 15, in addition to the 12-year-old.
Perversity anyone? Remember, that 1864 Arizona code put into law the legal age of consent for girls at ten. Remind anyone of Trump strolling into a beauty contest dressing room for teen girls? Remind anyone of him bragging of his grabbing women in most private of places?
The Clarence court has also grabbed American women in most private of places. Of course it would. Those justices think not in terms of respect for privacy, or freedom -- but in terms that William Claude Jones could grab girls, that Trump could, that Putin could grab whole countries (with mass murder doing that).
Yes, good of Kishida to remind these U.S. Republican thugs, lepers, and perverts of our higher angels. Good of Heather to be as vexed yet as to how far we've fallen.
Now is the time to take up oxygen, as the professor says. Pick a few reps from this list and call or write to persuade them to sign the discharge petition. We have 194 signatures as of April 11. We need 24 more. "I strongly urge you to sign Discharge Petition 815, for the Israel / Ukraine / Taiwan Supplemental bill."
Now THERE'S a headline that tells it straight—"The GOP is the Party of Putin." Dr. Richardson, thank you for sharing Mona Charen's article. Wish the NY Times and Washington Post would get serious and put up a big search light on individual GOP House members in this context. Marjorie Taylor Greene should be scrutinized for ties to Russia. Let the GOP complain of a "witch-hunt" while we question them every day about why they are doing the bidding of Vladimir Putin. They say the economy determines elections. Perhaps treason would be an exception to that rule.
This posting makes me think back to the book "Compromised" by Peter Strzok. It's an in-depth book about Trump, Republicans, Putin and Russia. A must read to understand how compromised Trump and MAGA leadership are and how dangerous it is for us and the free world.
Prime Minister Kishida gave a magnificent speech. What a statesman!
https://www.c-span.org/video/?534733-1/japanese-prime-minister-addresses-joint-meeting-congress
When one considers that some of his forebears died at the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, for the Prime Minister to show affection for America and for him to ask that we remain the America he, in part, grew up in makes his oratory some of the most riveting I have heard -- a breath of fresh air amidst the miasma of M.A.G.A.'s bool-sheet.
This is a closely guarded secret so please don’t tell anyone, but every election cycle I trot out my 200 dead ancestors and bus them to the polls to vote 100% blue. Later that evening, we return to the graveyard where we party all night long. That’s the secret to stealing elections. I wouldn’t lie.
Your family really are a bunch of cool Katz.
Well done
😆
Same! But we all get abortions first.
Shhhh! MAGA might try that!
They already are... they're mostly brain dead.
I try to remember that they are fairly normal people who really are doing their best, just like me, my family and friends. But the things they say and do! And the harm is not just to themselves, it's on all of us. What happened to sanity and our shared reality? Fox, Rush and their like is a big part of it...and good old fashioned gullibility I guess.
We are a highly addicted society. We buy and buy into all kinds of distractions. In the meantime, our country is systematically being stolen from us.
Thanks to donald trump though for waking millions of us up. It is up to us woke folks. Needless to say, woke is both a good and necessary thing. Let's make woke a movement. I think our survival depends on it. Woke is not weak. I think it takes great courage to be woke.
Sorry, but these people are not normal and are certainly not doing their best. They cannot think critically and therefore cannot ascertain facts from disinformation. Most of them are either poor or uneducated or both and are breathlessly voting for someone that could very likely take their SS and SSI benefits away. Let's see what fun conversation they'll be having then....
I understand and share your anger, but not your conclusions. I know some of these people and have some in my family. The ones I know are good people who have lost their way. I often doubt their intelligence, but that doesn't mean they're not trying or that they are inferior. Not in my view anyway.
They already believe it. They will believe any nonsense that confirms their bias.
I dig up a lot of my ancestors too!!
I refuse to dig up my ancestors because they will tell me what I should do all the time. 😉
And we have Democratic surgeons standing by for a quick sex change as soon as we pop them out of their coffins!
And wouldn’t you know, they don’t mind with all the makeup painted on them by various morticians, they’re happy. Just make sure you give them blood. They want blood. Best thing is to pass by a MAGA rally and turn them loose on the MAGAs to suck their blood. Magas do it and what’s good for the goose is good for the gander.
Thank you for a sorely needed laugh. Can you just imagine the day the MAGAts wake up and realize how badly they've been taken?
These posts are giving me fooder for my own blog. I thank everybody.
I smuggle in half a million mail in ballots from Canada to Wisconsin and Michigan. How do you think Biden won last time?
Hope the conspiracy nuts do not see this thread; they will take it seriously! 🙂
We are all ready for laughs as the situation gets worse. Thanks to all of you!
Atta boy… or girl.
LOL. Bill. My first smile while drinking my coffee this am. Unfortunately, my dead ancestors are all about 2000 or more miles away. My immediate ones were all Rs and so even if I try to summon them from a distance, they insist on staying put rather than voting D.
I give half my dancing dead ancestors blood since many of them were vampires from the old country. I say give ‘em what they want in order to vote BLUE. If they want blood, I stop off at the Red Cross or better, a MAGA event and tell them to just go a suck blood from the living. That’s what the magas do anyway what’s the difference. It’s excuse the expression, getting a taste of their own medicine.
Bill, LOL, you are on a roll this am.
Give em what they want they want Bill!!👍I could probably dig up some of mine from Europe-Czech Republic Slovakia ...to help them out!!!
My mom’s side of the family’s last name is Bruha.Apparently it means 🧙♀️ witch !I could have them help your vampire 🧛♂️ ancestors out!!
My Ukrainian grandmother was reportedly a witch bitch. Not really a witch but bitchy and maybe a little vampire.
🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 Thank you, Ned. Just when I had felt moved to send the Bulwark piece to a Trump admirer and had written “Mal-a-Lago,” I read your piece. The day is brighter.; work I don’t relish is easier. Thank you again.
Ooh, I'm stealing, "Mal-a-Lago!" 😁
Please do. A longtime student of French, I couldn’t resist the inspiration. Please use it freely. When has the change of one letter unveiled a greater truth?🤣
Bill -- you pay for the buses? George Soros has been taking care of my expenses for years, including the post-polls parties.
And I pay for the evening graveyard parties. My ancestors are like my house cats; treat them well and they will walk all over ya. It feels good when a cat paws at your arm.
🤣🤣🤣
Bill Katz, ¡best celebration of el día de los muertos I have ever heard!🥳
Ha, ha.
Thank you! I could not agree more and your succinct summation about PM Kishida is what I was also thinking but brain drained from finishing a letter of my own regarding a lousy town zoning decision. I took a peak at email and am now wrestling with the fact that I broke my own rule about reading HCR's Letter in the wee hours vs. with my morning coffee as now I can't get back to sleep!! Sigh!
I too read in the wee hours. Usually there is something positive to take from her words, so I can go to sleep. Not tonight though. I am so angry and discouraged that people can just flat out lie and continually get away with it.
Going through the lying, "back room dealing" etc. at the local town level as well. It is insidious and so frustrating!! Thank goodness I'm able to get into a kayak, on a bicycle, have a great group of fellow pickleball players, and golfing ladies to help maintain a minimum amount of sanity . . . although my golf game is not the best stress buster :)
I do worry about my adult kids who are also so discouraged and depressed with what they see as a very dim future. My eldest said when trump occupied the WH, his craziness and that of his supporters would be a disaster for the rest of their lives. Makes me so sad, angry, and helpless. In all seriousness, I don't know how Biden holds it together but God bless him!
At least your eldest knows the score, so many of the young around me don’t even know that the game is afoot.
I agree! And, it is downright scary.
What an unfortunately sad reality for us … but a [frightening] ignorance for them!
Young minds are developed at an early age. Our toddlers will be indoctrinated like the kidnapped Ukrainian children have been. Children not born yet will never know what we had. They will think it is normal to live in fear of expressing themselves, have an all supreme person who controls every aspect of life and will send out the government military at the least sign of "insurrection." They will think that uniformed children always march with weapons to show loyalty to the state.
Some do.....Gen Z https://dream4america.org/
This is an amazing group of our young.
Send some to Texas. Around here they look like the deer caught in the headlights. At least some do
It is a tough case with many reasons to feel discouraged. "Never confuse a single defeat with a final defeat." — F. Scott Fitzgerald, author.
We must never give up. Posterity is counting on us to stay the course.
And the people pushing trump's levers are to be taken very seriously. They will absolutely implement Project 2025 and overturn the last 100 years of progress, making life miserable for all our families. That people need the threat of Roe being overturned to get out and vote, with fascism breathing down our backs, is terribly sad and infuriating. Americans are sleepwalking into the abyss.
Let us say trump is the sleeping aid for the multitude. About 50-70 million people have sleep problems (about the number of people who voted for trump in the last election). The problem with sleep aids is that are side effects, some of which are unusual thinking patterns and behavior changes. Remember your best longtime friend (who moved south) and will no longer talk to you because you said you didn't like trump? Another symptom could be a slowdown in brain activity. hmmm They are also addicting. Gotta have trump no matter what he says or does.
Janet, I've recently been reminded of a bumper sticker about stress that I saw in an Orlando parking lot in the late 1980s - "Stress - that tension between your head and heart when you want to smack the living $hit out of some a$$hole who richly deserves it" (or words close to that).
One bumper sticker I saw in Oklahoma back then said “Don’t argue with your wife - dicker.”
Thanks for the addition to my collection of bumper stickers. I didn't have that one.
"Going through the lying, "back room dealing" etc. at the local town level as well."
Yes. Here in Bar Harbor, Maine, town councillors use executive sessions *and* misinformation campaigns. They use their office to try to shut out residents who challenge them. While praising themselves for openness. One of the council culprits is now running for state office. Against someone who would be worse. It brings home the frustrations of voting for 'the lesser of two evils.' But it does not exempt us from the responsibility to do so.
Unfortunately, it is everywhere. I even subjected myself to participating on different boards to do the business of the residents in public! Ha, what was I thinking?! A small group hounded me relentlessly (threats, nastiness) - what really got them (in addition to a woman sitting at the "head of the table") was when I would state we worked for the residents not for a specific employee or two of the Town! And, the drum beat of nefarious activities continues!
Participation: the double-edged sword. We are encouraged to take an active role in the political process; yet when we do, we are subjected to the garbage that goes along with it, both from our peers and our constituents. My sister has been on the Planning Commission for her small town of Phoenix, OR since the dreadful fires in 2020. My dyslexic, high school grad (just barely), community focused sister has been subjected to some really awful internal and external fighting and is just done.
Here too--so discouraging. Our situation sounds very similar. I have been involved in town government for many years and am still on a committee. The newly elected Council people sound reasonable, or at least some of them do, but their supporters are putting out misinformation and attacking people personally. I have been banned from one of their Facebook pages--so now I can't challenge misinformation, and so many people are tuned into this person. It's bad at all levels!
Janet, we have no children, but I have many nephews and nieces, greats and great greats. One set has ties to Norway where they could go to survive a little longer. The rest of them are stuck in deep ruts in southern Illinois, and Indiana. I would be surprised if they even vote. My nephew's wife however, doesn't know conspiracy theories from the truth. She did tell me recently that she appreciated my commentary, so at least she reads it.
Send them this link: https://dream4america.org/
They might see what young voters are supporting
You are supposing they can read and understand. They are too busy having children and working, if they work, in scut jobs. One of my nieces has started a crochet business and kudos to her.
Yes, it's astonishing how the mere repetition of a lie gives it a presence. Then, the media's repetition of the lie amplifies and implants it in the public imagination. And so, this vapor becomes a topic for discussion. It attains a quasi-reality because even a false hypothesis exists.
Yep, no more sleep for me either. I too broke the Letters From and Civil Discourse-with-morning-coffee rule.
That description of how to lie effectively came straight from Mien Kampf; I can believe that chump read one book in his life. The part on telling a “big lie” effectively came straight from the master of lying. Chump is his best student.
I believe Stephen Miller read the book and gave cliff notes version to Traitor.
Maybe later, but chump had the idea from way back.
I like chump but unfortunately this guy is not dumb, at least in certain ways. How about Trumpler to remind us that he loves Hitler.
Guess we are the chumps, at least those adoring fools. I like Trumpler, the MAGAts need a reminder. Of course, I would love to hear the last of him someday
Susan, I have stopped reading Heather's Letter in the wee hours. I am finding it harder to read it at any hour.
The reality is that we are in big trouble and have been for a long time.
Fortunately, here in Alaska the letter arrives usually well after bedtime, so I read with morning toast and coffee.
A majority of the people do not want these draconian bans on abortion, which is healthcare. The people also want to support Ukraine. That tRump has so much influence on our national life currently boggles my mind. Our national politics has deteriorated as tRump has shown more and more signs of dementia. The America that the Japanese prime minister spoke about seems like an America of the 20th century but not the 21st.
What is worse is that it is not the majority of the people who feel that way. A few who vote the way trump wants and not what the people want. Look at the abortion issue. A very few want the draconian measures some states have mandated. The IVF rule, seriously? I suppose not allowing people to use this procedure will force them to go without their own child or force them to adopt a lot of those babies who no one wanted. I guess that is sort of one way to solve a problem.
Those that want to rule the rest of us feel that success is theirs. I heartedly disagree
The IVF thing strikes at the heart of their idiotic "life begins at conception" stance. Given the number of babies that are born from the procedure, the chances are high that they know someone (personally or as their representative) whose children are the result of IVF.
J.A. Jance, The A List. Fiction but it goes into the fact that the doctor for IVF used his sperm. A lot of red heads were roaming around.
PO1135809 needs to be gone.
Unfortunately, I have insomnia; I hope this night is a one-off for you. Being agnostic in addition to sleeplessness, I am in a double bind -- stuck up half the night agonizing over whether there really is a dog. 😉
EDIT; corrected version: "Being agnostic and dyslexic in addition to sleeplessness, I am in a double bind -- stuck up half the night agonizing over whether there really is a dog." 🤭
I wish it were a one-off but it isn't. George Carlin sums up my take on religion and "dog" in his usual irreverent way 😆 - RIP!!
Trump hates dogs.
I LOL every time you insert this! I swear to god this single factoid should be on billboards and bumper stickers and inserted everywhere! It says it all.
Thanks. Got me kicked off Twitter X and FB. Accused of spam!
But it works.
I also repeat the mantras "Trump stole from kids" with cancer" and as a Vietnam veteran, "Not suckers or losers."
Proof: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cxqw4wzkGOQ
Me too, Mama Bear! 😡🐾
We do have billboards in Florida. One was sighted in high traffic area in Orlando!
“The effort, which was shared first with The Hill, will include billboards in the Tampa, Orlando, Miami, Fort Lauderdale and Daytona Beach areas. The billboards will run in both English and Spanish, and read,
“Abortion is banned in Florida thanks to Donald Trump. He won’t stop until it’s banned nationwide.”
https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/4576560-dnc-florida-billboards-trump-abortion/
Because dogs see the antichrist?!
Animals know stuff, like who is dangerous. They sniff out evil…
I generally go to bed before she posts her letters. Today between HCR and Joyce Vance (Civil Discourse) it truly is discouraging. It must have been so depressing for Prime Minister Kishida to look at those Repub LUMPS sitting there with what I'm sure were smirks on their faces & knowing they are responsible for Ukraine being in the fix its in right now! Ned! Bool-sheet indeed!!!
The wee hours work for me. Sanity is a plus.
That is a good rule which I do not follow.
I have to. Every time I see her post early, I'll take a gander to see if it is a photo. If it is, I'll read and maybe comment. If not, I close the laptop. If I know there's a photo, I can sleep late, otherwise, my mind fires up between 0500-0600 (if I'm lucky) and I get up to not just read the Letter, but then to engage with my community here.
I wait read these with coffee too, not in the middle of the night!
PM Kishida demonstrates what is possible when we make real peace with our enemies. After a devastating war, they have become one of our closest allies.
This is a pivotal moment with wars breaking out around the globe: Ukraine, Gaza, Lebanon, Syria, Columbia, Haiti along with civil unrest in many other fragile countries. It will take a joint international effort to prevent these wars from igniting larger wars. There is no time to loose.
Meanwhile DJT is conducting foreign policy from Florida as a private citizen. Congress is his puppet. Netanyahu is an example of what we’ll face if DJT wins the presidency. For people like Donald and Bibi, war is the perfect distraction while they amass power.
Diane Love -- perfectly expressed. Thank you.
I guess I have missed way too many messages to me. Thank you, Diane, and my apologies for the lateness. Judith Smith stated my sentiments perfectly. I pray for the world and thank G-D that I am nowhere near the levers of power. My heart and vote goes out to President Biden. If he departs after he is re-elected, I will welcome a President Harris. I may be more conservative but our country -- all that we hold dear, despite her flaws -- is under moral and mortal threat. We must all set aside differences and hang together and hang tough.
I couldn’t agree more strongly with your comment.
On another note, I noted this from Heather’s letter. “Jeffries said: “If the speaker were to do the right thing and allow the House to work its will with an up or down vote on the national security bill, then I believe there are a reasonable number of Democrats [who] would not want to see the speaker fall as a result of doing the right thing.”
That is the sort of bipartisan, country first, then party, attitude that I need to see. Kudos to Jeffries and I would hope substantial numbers of democrats would line up behind him.
Thank you, Gary. I regret being so slow to answer. You are right on target. Normally, I would be a Republican but future Speaker Jeffries's sentiment is about as patriotic as it gets. Reminiscent of President Johnson's, "Come let us reason together."
Yep. Best thing since Villepin's speech to the Security Council - mocked by Dubya.
Hear! Hear! I, too, couldn't help but think about Hiroshima.
Thanks, Sandra; apologies for the late reply. Even with nothing to do, I seem to be too dizzy and busy.
Thank you for sharing this link. I did not have the opportunity to listen live. It was so powerful, sincere and spot on for the meaning of democracy. How impressive for a country so devastated in WWII by this country can make an about face and express such support to live side by side in democracy and freedom of oppression by any other nation should be a shiny example to those hypocritical representatives (congress and senate) who pushed forward to shake the PM hand and converse with him. Please, grow a pair and get back to work for the American people, the majority who are NOT MAGA, fund Ukraine, work on a legitimate immigration plan/policy representative of who we are, a nation of immigrants since landing here hundreds of years ago. Vote only Blue to right this ship.
Thank you, Chris! That is the REALLY BIG IDEA that people like you have taught me. Especially when it comes to Ukraine. Hopefully the 'we' in the WEst -- with the 'us' in the U.S. doing our bit -- will nip World War III in the bud and defeat Russia decisively. What will make Japan and Germany critical in the years ahead is the example each has set -- from which the U.S. could use a dose -- of transcending a very dark time to become a great power democracy. The two troubles are that Russia has nuclear weapons and lacks any tradition on any level of democratic governance.
So agree Ned. Putin and TFG are visably 2 very crazy power happy old men who are so self serving they cannot see how easily they could blow up the world, and neither of them will survive either.
I am very hawkish. But a good man sits in the Oval Office and I thank G-D for that, no matter how cranky I may get. President Biden will be re-elected. If he does not live out his second term, this conservative (i.e., me) will be very happy with a President Harris.
Thank you, Professor Richardson. I feel ashamed of the antics by House Republicans. The world is anxious and so are we! There must be a way to get weapons to Ukraine!
The achilles heel of American democracy must be this - everything can be stopped and held up for ransom to the detriment of security and US influence..... by just one nut case.
Johnson, misguided and dangerous ... or that football coach Tommy Tuberville.
They have both done disproportionate damage to world safety and peace.
Just those two twits.
Or an evil one; McConnell comes to mind.
Or the even more evil one putting words into Trump’s mouth (& head,) Stephen Miller.
I think McConnell is the more evil.
Miller is most definitely evil but he doesn't have a vote in Congress.
President Biden should announce that he plans to send troops immediately to Ukraine for field exercises with the Ukrainian Army. He can do that with the D.o.D. training budget and Congress can not do a damn thing about it. That announcement would almost certainly snap Congress to pass that aid; the troops would never need to go.
This would cost him the next election. This head fake would be fodder for Republicans and the FOX and other MAGA media to blast that Biden was putting boots on the ground in Ukraine. Americans are loath to have American soldiers in another war.
It is a time for courage. Watching Ukraine get slaughtered by fretting when a noisy and noisome minority huffs and puffs will more likely cost President Biden the election. Time to stick it to the fat man rather than to appease the gangster régime; time to call a blustery bluff or two. You know what el Señor Emilio Zapata said: better to die on one's feet than live on his or her knees.
I tend to agree with you Ned, but with caution. We needed to get troops on the ground in Gaza, and a way was found by building a new harbor facility. True, they are not directly engaged in the conflict, but they are in the way of IDF, if only a little. Troops went in while saying we were not sending in any troops. Perhaps something similar can be done with some sort of a support mission in the Odessa area. Pushing back the other way is some layer of concern about the oil that is murky at very best, and somehow involves India; and it would seem to be something more than India's skirting of the sanctions to make a quick buck on the price differential. Something would seen to be going on that is not yet visible to the public. I don't think we have the full picture yet.
Oh what a tangled web we weave. Way past time to confront putin's control over our congress. C'mon Joe.
Can Joe do that.
Not sure if I responded but I would like to say that your insights are really worth chewing the cud on. Thank you.
Courage? You do realize this would be declaring war on Russia.
Which we should have done two years ago.
https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:6963114645016461313/
NOTE: link to Buda Pest Memorandum of 1994 in the essay. Thought before I went to Ukraine June and July 2022. Confirmed in Ukraine. Written out shortly after my return.
https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:6945099109762510849/
Yes, there is the nuclear risk. We will have to face it sooner or later. Better now while fewer lives are lost. The gangster régime, together with the culture of belligerence that will enable the next one, must be crushed so Russia does not think of another war for two generations, during which time, if she does not fall apart, she can follow the example of Germany and Japan.
President Joe Biden, NATO, the National Security Council, our intelligence agencies have the situation well in hand.
I don't think that political republicans can get up off their knees even if they wanted to. They've been on them for so long.
Great assessment, Karen. I’ll remember that. Especially since that’s the position Frumpy will be in before the end of the year, hopefully, at a federal or state prison.
I have to agree with you, Ned. IF this ‘boots on the ground’ training exercise were done correctly, our troops would be there merely as ‘training officers’ for the Ukrainian army. Just exactly as they were when we sent the fighter jets over. We had pilots go with them to teach the Ukrainian pilots how to fly, and properly use, them.
I can see you weren’t around in the late sixties when we only had ‘advisors’ in Vietnam. It never stops there. As soon as American soldiers are put in harm’s way, the die is cast.
James, I wasn’t fortunate enough to go interview the military. They 4-F’d me when I went to sign in due to spine surgery I had when I was in jr. high school. All I was able to do to serve my country was 26+ years of law enforcement and firefighting.
No, And never was in Vietnam. But I lost good friends over there that never made it back home.
I respectfully suggest a correction to your statement that in the late sixties the United Stqtes « … only had ‘advisors’ in Vietnam.” My turn in the barrel occurred in 1968-69. I can attest to Vietnam’s being a “hot war” during my tour.
History records that America’s involvement in Vietnam was elevated to “Hot War” following and predicated on North Vietnam’s alleged attacks on two U.S. Navy warships—the destroyers USS Turner Joy and USS Mattox—on the high seas of the Gulf of Tonkin on 2 August 1964.
FWIW
Training officers?
That’s how Vietnam started. And we all know how that ended.
Please see previous response. B.L.U.F.: two very different situations plus we have the lesson-learned from Viêt Nam; plus, we are in World War III, like it not. Hopefully, we have the painful wisdom to nip it in the bud.
Sounds like VietNam
Daniel,
They would likely not have to go at all, if the shock value paid off. Personally, I would like to see the troops there -- in a training capacity as you astutely observe -- to send Putin a message by creating a trip-wire. Thank you for a thoughtful answer. Keep the faith.
It seems that Americans always have been isolationists. It took a bomb on our property to get people to say, "Hey, you can't do that! Now we need to protect our boundaries and get involved."
Isolationists? We have a long history of interfering with the internal politics of other sovereign nations, often with long-term disastrous effect. Guatemala, Iran and Vietnam come immediately to mind.
You are right. Busy bodies. We need to pick and choose our battles. In retrospect Vietnam was a major mistake. Didn't the French leave? We should have taken a hint. Now it is a one party Communist regime. Cruise lines are sailing down the Mei Kong. It is becoming more capitalist though. Nothing was accomplished.
Au contraire. There are four McDonald's locations in Hanoi ;-) (I've always said that the stupid stupid stupid blockade of Cuba will end the day the first McDonald's opens in Havana.)
Seriously you want troops to get into this proxy war between the US and Russia? How about WW 3 and nuclear war. This war should not have happened and could have ended quickly leaving much of the land Ukraine has loss and saving so many lives if the US and UK had not blocked peace negotiations.
Please stop it with the falsehoods about Russia's war with Ukraine. In Feb. of 2022 Russia invaded Ukraine - a democratic country that had formerly been one of the Soviet Republics. If you really think that Vladimir Putin will stop with Ukraine, please Google "The Sudetenland, 1938"! After Hitler invaded that small part of Czechoslovakia because he said many German speakers lived there ( sound familiar?) he told the world he would stop there.
Putin wants to recreate the old Soviet Empire. And he wants those old Soviet ports on the Baltic back. Open your atlas & take a look. That means Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia & Poland will be next.
History will not be kind to the US if we abandon Ukraine.
KMD,
So many thanks for your eloquent and morally nuanced response to Nora. Apologies for missing your insights until now. Thank you for showing Nora the way.
This war should not have happened because Putin should never have invaded Ukraine in the first place!
A race of quasi criminals from the U.S. in 1991 started this.
Many were newly-minted M.B.A.s from the Ivy League. They joined with hedge funders, established banks, and the U.S. Department of State and went looking for all the former Soviet Union's nomenklatura -- to pour U.S. investment dollars into them.
So the most corrupt were able to seize all that country's most valuable assets. The new oligarch class arose. As they'd stolen all the public resources, they also defunded the once-proud health care system, and installed sycophant cronies atop all the universities. Epidemics of tuberculosis, alcoholism, and suicide among middle aged men swept the land.
It was the model of U.S. high finance chicanery that infected the new corrupt in Russia to its arrogance -- the same lickspittle allegiance to warmonger Putin as MAGA has for its Trump.
The same hate-filled nationalism tinged with idiot religious zealotry.
I think you are on-target about the pre-corporate rape of Russia. Reminds me of the questionable thinking I encountered in Iraq in setting up a government structure so culturally discordant that it was bound to fail. When other suggestions, more in line with Middle Eastern history (e.g., bringing the sixty largest tribes into a House of Lords proposed by a colleague) these highly educated dummasses laughed and said, "It's just not the way we do it." Unfortunately, the Russian culture of authoritarian belligerence dates back to three centuries of Mongol rule. That is hard to fathom and nullify.
It's an old history, Ned.
David Halberstam recorded some of its chapters in "The Best and the Brightest."
Mark Twain got more in "Innocents Abroad."
Is it a side-show of democracy -- that we have to accept that rubes, ridge-runners, barbarians, yahoos, flim-flam artists, and fictional families Amberson, Snopes, Hubbard, Kane, Stark and more will also run with their freedom?
And it would not have happened if the US had not poked the bear along with NATO. If anyone who disagrees with Biden’s foreign policy is labeled a Putin supporter what kind of democracy is that. There are many experts who agree this did not have to happen. To support diplomacy over warmongering and the military industrial complex does not make someone a Putin supporter.
Not labelling anyone but it's Putin doing the warmongering and invading a sovereign nation instead of using diplomacy.
Timothy Snyder wrote this post today about the critical situation in Ukraine and why Congress needs to send funds to their aid immediately:
"Russia is carrying out comprehensive missile and drone strikes against Ukrainian energy infrastructure. The idea is to make the entire country cease to function. Imagine what your life would be like if you local power station had just been destroyed by a ballistic missile."
https://snyder.substack.com/p/an-appeal-to-congress
Nora, How do you have diplomacy if Russia will not come to the table seriously? Who is Putin? As a former KGB and Stasi member in East Germany he played both sides against each other from what I have read about him in German. Is this someone that one can negotiate with? What treaty has he stuck to? None as far as I can see. So, how do you negotiate without getting a treaty? How are you envisioning this working?
Good point, Linda. Perhaps Nora does not know that, in her 1991 vote for independence, every oblast / province voted to exit the U.S.S.R. and that six of every seven people (at least) in Donbass wanted out of the evil empire. The open question remains Crimea in which a razor-thin majority favoured independence. That one may need to be negotiated.
There was a peace negotiation between Ukraine and Russia shortly after the war started. The US and the UK pressured Zelensky not to consider it. This is pretty well known. Look up Jeffery Sachs, Code Pink, Useful Idiots, Chris Hedges, Professor John Mearsheimer amd more. Nora is not stupid and just does not follow the PR from the Biden Administration.
Oh. And Trump would have handled it diplomatically? ANY of it? Diplomacy is not in his vocabulary. He is entirely transactional in the way you describe the corporate elite’s relationship with Russia after the wall came down. Money and power are his bottom line and if it takes being Putin’s gigolo he’s fine with it.
I said nothing about Trump in my opinion both choices from the duopoly are absolutely horrible. Biden is probably more of a warmonger than Trump because Trump only cares about Trump. He will swing whatever way he thinks his base wants. Biden on the other hand has been a committed warmonger for decades. Who is more dangerous is anyone’s guess. I will vote for Jill Stein and at least know I voted for a bright women with a commitment to peace and the environment. I truly understand why people don’t vote with choices like this.
Or it does.
Please say in what way the US "poked the bear."
The U.S. did not. Presidents Bush and Clinton tried to establish the partnership for peace. Russia broke the good faith.
https://www.ukrainer.net/russian-wars/ (leaves out meddling in Ukraine and Georgia)
WRONG. N.A.T.O. did not move East. After Georgia and, especially, Chechnya in the 1990s when Russia's belligerence not changing broke the good faith efforts of the West, the newly liberated republics and former vassal states moved West.
Putin speaks.
Daniel, I am assuming you are referring to someone in this thread. The pseudonym is transparently clever
Not a wise thing to do.
NO‼️
Just NO‼️
Field exercises are peace-time activities to prepare the armed forces of different countries to work together. How do you do "exercises" in the midst of a hot war?
The field exercises would be in Western Ukraine. I do not want to get too caught up in the debate because you and I damn well know President Biden will not do it. He is in the big chair and he is a good man. The announcement, however, might shock the good Republicans to do the right thing and shut down the craven quislings bullying them into acquiescence by coalescing with future Speaker Jeffries and sympathetic Democrats. Of course, if the nattering nabobs of narcissism call the President's bluff, that would be a disaster. Sadly, this exchange took place a month ago; the decent Republicans are making noises, not enough noises.
https://www.c-span.org/video/?c5113597/user-clip-hooray-rep-michael-turner
It would seem the Dem House members hold an amusing set of cards now on Johnson.
"Bend to OUR rules, put aid to Ukraine on the floor, (which you already KNOW will pass,) and we'll keep voting to keep your job.
"And while you're at it, here's another list of our demands."
Imagine MTG's and Gaetz's faces when they realize they no longer hold sway over Johnson, plus it might open up the log jam.
Except for one thing. Johnson is right in line with the MAGAts on most issues so that log jam is going to still be an issue.
I am surprised that Speaker Johnson is not moved by the stories of Russian persecution of Protestant churches in Ukraine https://youtu.be/jh0IdyeiAiQ?si=9P24N7NV_Pl4sk7g
@ Sally Jenks Roth. Last week, Heather pointed out, a bipartisan majority of Representatives (both Dem & GOP) want to sustain aid to Ukraine. The National Security Supplemental Appropriations Act (HR 815) passed in the Senate by a 70 - 29 vote weeks ago.
MAGA Mike has not brought it to the floor of the House, so Democrats are circulating a discharge petition to force it out of committee and be voted on. The petition needs 218 signatures. It currently has 191-- only one Republican.
Everyone reading this can help by calling Republican Representatives and urging them to sign the discharge petition for HR 815 Ukraine Aid Package before it's too late. Call the U S Capitol switchboard (202) 224-3121 to leave a general statement of support, and call Speaker Johnson's office (202) 225-4000 to insist that he bring HR 815 to the floor.
For phone numbers of about about two dozen specific Republicans known to support Ukraine, please click on recent Ukraine-related posts at:
https://www.FeathersOfHope.net
As the founders of Indivisible, former Congressional staffers all, members of Congress do not pay any attention to messages from anyone who is not their constituent. So, if your representative or either of your senators is one of the hold outs, bombard them with calls and letters.
I am wondering what has happened with the discharge petitions. Why have none of them come to pass?
Of course Cameron didn't accomplish much. There is no reasonable argument that will convince Johnson to bring the bill with funding for Ukraine to the House floor. "Sorry, comrade: I need to bring down Ukraine first, and then American democracy - orders from Moscow."
I must say that I am amazed that one single man can hold off a decision of global importance. There seems to be a bug in the system, and Putin played this one out very well... He isn't pinching himself, this is exactly what he planned. The GOP has become the Grand Old Putin party, and the real trouble is: most of the MAGAts won't even see that as a problem - on the contrary. I'm really afraid we'll be fighting off Russian AND American soldiers here in Europe next year.
We seem to be encountering a number of "check and balance" bugs in our system of government. Putin and his toadies are methodically exploiting them all, in an effort to bring down the republic.
The January 6th coup failed.
The ongoing MAGA Permaputsch has never let up for one moment since the former president's defeat at the polls. Nor will it deflate as long as he walks free.
Like Putin's "little green men" in Crimea ten years ago, Johnson and his other operatives in the House of Representatives are achieving victory for the Kremlin dictator where all else -- action both political and military -- had failed.
CRIME PAYS.
TREASON PAYS.
Nothing, it seems, pays like treason.
Nor, apparently, does the United States possess any antidote.
[As for the notion that the 45th president is being blackmailed by his backer in the Kremlin, there is absolutely no need for that. Here, we see the natural confluence of two criminal minds. Blackmail and direr threats, together with the promise of powerful posts, from Gauleiter all the way down to Blockwart, may well account for the would-be dictator's powerful hold on Speaker Johnson and the members of the GOP caucus...
It may be too much to ask people to turn their minds to what lies behind the absolute self-assurance of Trumputin... A little depth psychology might help.
Give it a try.]
Putin with the help of Trump and his MAGA Congressional dupes has done extensive damage to the US without firing a shot at us. He has turned us against one another using divide and conquer tactics to weaken us and render us unable to defend ourselves or our allies.
♡ means I concur.
One would have to be wedded to evil like that pair to take "liking" any further.
I believe Putin is richly endowed (LOL) with both carrots and sticks when it comes to keeping Trump on leash. I’ll never forget the private meeting they had, early in Trump’s presidency, followed by a press conference. The looks on those two faces as they walked into the press room! Trump: whipped puppy. Putin: cat that just ate the canary. There’s blackmail going on.
Not just your belief, Marge.
Can anyone unearth an image or evidence of DT placing any other being on a pedestal above him? Cohn was his mentor, not his master.
Here, however, fealty was sold to him as the ultimate opportunity. Putin could not have dreamed up a tool better suited to his purpose. Yet, given the forces in play, the sorceror's apprentice may prove even more dangerous than the sorceror.
That said, can anyone explain how it can be licit for the Speaker and Representatives openly to take orders from a private individual that directly sabotage the national commitment to provide material support to an imperilled ally?
Perhaps some jurist can explain this deep mystery to us.
Likewise, any official or politician with even the vaguest experience of national security issues and the tight rules governing highly classified documents will know that any other individual who had played fast and loose with the merest fragment of the papers purloined by DT would have been buried alive in a maximum security hole in the ground long since.
It seems the man has succeeded in "normalizing" the ultimate crimes.
What recourse remains?
All I can think of as recourse is that each of the folks on this substack should send Trump fifty coupons for a double cheeseburger with bacon. Cholesterol might take care of the problem?
It would surprise me if Trump does not fear the dirt Putin could dish on him, but in any case, Trump seems to have been bought. More than one Trump family member has bragged about unlimited funding from Russia. That alone put Trump's pocket; and it seems he chooses despots for mentors.
"....Those bills are the “Hands Off Our Home Appliances Act,” the “Liberty in Laundry Act,” the “Clothes Dryers Reliability Act,” the “Refrigerator Freedom Act,” the “Affordable Air Conditioning Act,” and the “Stop Unaffordable Dishwasher Standards Act.” .... i am very lucky I had only sipped water just before reading this section of tonight's letter...sinceI spit it out all over my desk. How on earth do these "public servants" look themselves in the mirror or sleep at night.
They are simply fools exploiting ignorance.
I think the folks doing most of the exploiting are sociopathic opportunists motivated by greed and unaccountable power. I think a lot of the rank and file are trapped in mental malware, many since birth. Here is an interesting perspective: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2024/4/6/2233194/-I-work-with-dying-Trump-supporters-It-s-confusing
Thank you for sharing this article.
JL, that is a powerful article. Thank you for it.
I think that more than left and right, which I think of as primarily a dispute about the boundaries of ownership, there is a divide between those who glorify predatory violence and those who reject it or see it as a last resort. And I don't just mean direct physical violence. Violence can be indirect, such as limited access to food or healthcare. There is social violence in prejudice, or child abuse or spousal abuse that leaves no visible marks. A "civilized" society stands in solidarity against such assaults and teaches citizens to see the victim's perspective, the perspective of others in general. Growing up male in socially "conservative" Ohio I saw, and even experienced abuse of vulnerable kids by adults in supervisory roles who demanded conformity to their own, arbitrary and narcissistic values, with "road rage" for trivial deviations. As in the story of "1984" I think the reason that largely amiable, and frequently bright and educated people can compulsively regurgitate MAGA talking points despite abundant counter-evidence, is that their thought process is constrained by PTSD. Taught by terror to love Big Brother. The alternative is collaborative liberty and justice of ALL.
JL, what a powerful article. Thank you. I have been having difficult email conversations with a relative who is a Trump supporter. All the things people say about not relying on sharing facts are true. It doesn't help. (It's also not helpful that we communicate through email but we haven't been able to meet in person for some months.) I don't learn what draws him to MAGA.
I would love to know from others in this community of HCR devotees how you respond to the dailykos article here. Dealing with family is tricky because in contrast to the author, the hospice nurse who wrote the article, I already have a long-time relationship with the person I'm trying to understand better. I know a lot about his good side. It doesn't seem to help. His views still alarm me. Maybe that's as it needs to be. Anybody got some ideas?
I'd say that meeting people where they are and just being yourself is a good start.
I met some friends through an on-line motorcycle forum, one of whom was (coincidentally) my Subaru mechanic. He and I have become friends; he's someone who would get up, in foul weather, drive to your location, give you the shirt off his back, and help you with whatever you needed. As we got to know each other through riding, we'd to these "I have to take something to Florence; want to do a loop ride with me?" calls, and go for a ride, which always involved sharing a meal.
At one of those meals, he told me that he had rethought his position on gay marriage based on his getting to know me. He said it caused him to do some deep thinking, and shared with me that what he had really objected to was the privileges that marriage granted for everyone. He was a an enlisted USAF mechanic who, for his 12 years of service, had to live in barracks because he was single, and as a crew chief had E2's who were married that got to live off base. He married after he left the service, and said that he could understand why, as a couple that had been together for 25 years, my wife and I wanted some of the "for granted" married couple advantages; inheritances, decision making at time of death, and spousal medical insurance that marriage gave us.
Back well over a decade ago my wife and I stopped at a place in Florence called the Windward Inn that had the best pecan sticky buns we ever tasted. We were there 4 times, but the last time we were there the place had been sold and the food disappointing.
I find the social justice aspect of law to be generally well intentioned (but not always) and often uneven in the degree of advantage and protections it provides. I am glad to be married, but am aware it is a privileged category. There are many things we that could use a rethink to refine "liberty and justice for all".
I recall when Republicans took over Wisconsin, they made a big thing out of public employees getting benefits that others did not. Their solution was to take those benefits away. Heaven forbid we should consider broadening them. Meanwhile the 1% cried "Feed me!"
Thank you for the link to that terrific story.
Great story of people getting to see the better sides of each other. My favorite for decades has been from a Bill Moyers' book.
Franchot “Fran“ Buhler was one of the most inspiring people Bill Moyers described in his book “Listening to America: A Traveler Rediscovers His Country” He accomplished most by doing what seemed the least.
For a bit on the modest Fran Buhler besides what Moyers describes in his book, see: https://www.tallahassee.com/obituaries/tad058120
“…Although Fran served in full time ministry for over two decades as the Associate Pastor/Director of Ministry at First Baptist Church Tallahassee, he was a ministry leader his entire life. His life's mission of "recycling human potential from the field of broken dreams" is woven through his every professional opportunity and personal experience. Fran mentored returning Peace Corp volunteers in Transition Centers and directed a national municipal task force of mayors for the National League of Cities and US Conference of Mayors. He was called a "national asset" by a former White House Press Secretary for launching a transformative community development project in a South Carolina community of 1,100 people in the heated civil rights era of the late 1960's…”
If you get a chance to read Bill Moyers "Listening to America" (which I have a treasured signed copy of) look for the part at the end about his frustration trying to interview Fran Buhler, a community organizer hired by the President of Wellman Industries in Johnsonville South Carolina. Buhler almost never spoke, and always had a way of listening, waiting for anyone and everyone else to talk. Moyers found the secret to his success was more due to opening a community center and getting the wives of Black and White workers to volunteer to make curtains and do other little things to prepare it for the start of the "real" community organizing meetings.
The women had casually come together (with subtle request to each individually as he gathered more helpers), with light enough work that they could talk to people they had never talked to before, forming friendships and eventually getting their husbands to come along. Buhler seemed a "poor" organizer, mostly "wasting" a lot of time during which the men started discussing what they thought the problems were. Buhler never seemed to offer any solutions, instead asking them to discuss what they thought would work. The man who hired him, Wellman, wouldn't offer solutions either, though he did tell his managers that they had to build their homes well distributed in the communities of their workers. They didn't offer solutions either, but did live among them and mingle enough to know what their concerns were. The community members "gave up" on waiting for solutions from the "organizer" or company management, and implemented all their own best solutions.
The book reveals a lot of problems the country was going through back then (1970) and many of the issues were not resolved well if at all, but Johnsonville did a far more acceptable job of allowing people to improve their lives more realistically and peacefully through 4 decades of Wellman's life, keeping an company and the community viable when so many others left that were more loyal to the industries than the industries were to their communities.
Wellman could easily have made far more money moving to Mexico but he seemed a great answer to my daughter's favorite question, "Is he rich or does he just have money"?
I read a very convincing, detailed article (Atlantic?) about the shoddy work that went into the authors’ predetermined thesis. Didn’t consult the experts they claimed, cherry-picked data, etc. It’s a book designed for progressive buyers, but mostly “fake news.”
Indeed!
And cashing their checks from the fossil fuel industry and the appliance lobby.
Lauren, the next two will be the Enough Water to Shower Act and the Enough Water to Flush Act; 45 has griped enough about both conditions.
How about having a "More Gas Powered Golfing Carts Act".That surely would bring this country together.
That’s a good one!!!🤣🤣🤣!!!!!
😂
My Texas city is running out of water so I can't agree at the time--and the extra hot upcoming summer won't help while it dries up our source water.
Pat, I’m sorry to hear about your water shortage. I’m not denigrating the need for water restrictions—I’m decrying the fact that 45 only champions causes that cause him personal discomfort.
The world is crashing down around us. Thousands of people (civilians and soldiers) are being killed, wars on 2 fronts, climate issues, rebuilding of a major bridge necessary for commerce (I understand the reps are giving Biden a hard time about getting money for immediate rebuilding of the bridge). These clowns are concerned about a Refrigerator Freedom Act or renaming an airport after trump? Where is that sick green emoji when you need it?
NYT published a map of all the bridges with either no, outdated or deteriorated protection and there are many many many in TN, MS, LA, TX, OH, PA, WI, FL etc. Again, you would think that just being worried they might one day need such help for their own state would cause them to be supportive. So totally unexplainable the shortsightedness of these knuckleheads. (Attempted to gift the link below in case anyone is interested. These bridges are ticking time bombs...and next time we wont be so lucky to have just 6 tragic deaths.)
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2024/04/06/us/bridge-collapse-protections-baltimore.html?ugrp=m&unlocked_article_code=1.j00.MChr.ZGbpHvwUle8A&smid=url-share
Thanks for the article about the bridges. Where does one begin to fix this problem?
Good question. Here in Long Beach CA (where I live) the Port Authority just wrapped up a complete replacement of the Long Beach port bridge and I know they ensured the new bridge can handle the large OGVs (ocean-going vessels) that visit the Port of Long Beach. Next door, the Port of Los Angeles is gearing up for a similar replacement (or upgrade, i am not sure which). Significant local, state and federal funds are being invested, include IRA and IIJA funds (if not directly, then indirectly by those funds covering projects that would have otherwise been covered by the ports. so that port funds could be spent on the bridges). Of course, states with lower taxes likely will have to lean on the feds more. And the Ports have funding from their terminals and tenants that make up their budget so the beneficiaries of the bridges also pay in. Working and safe bridges are an important infrastructure investment and like our highways and other INF, we are trying to catch up from years of neglect. Apologies if this is TMI ;-)
Information is always appreciated. I don't always remember the fine details, but I get the general gist of what is going on. Thank you
🤢 On my Windows based laptop, a right click gets you to "emoji". On my i-phone, it's right there at the bottom of the "commonly used icons". 😉
👍 Thanks Ally. In Safari, it's Fn E that brings up the icons. You made you look....
I thought perhaps it was a joke, but HCR is not likely to make light of the disaster looming.
Total lack of the encumbrance of conscience and shame is their superpower. It might also be their Achilles' Heel.
Yeah, where's the "Grant Us Our Garbage Disposal Act??" At least that would be apropos to where we're at right about now.
These bogus and ridiculous bills are classic performative politics. They are meant to elicit anger, mislead and distract.
All of my current state and federal representatives are MAGA. My letters are useless. My governor removed a lawfully elected prosecutor who disagreed with him. The removal was deemed illegal, but, the removal stands. Hoping to become President, DeSantis has used performative politics to get attention. It failed nationally, but, we are stuck with his authoritarian style in Florida. After attacking Trump for a year, now DeSantis is fundraising for him. There is no moral center, it’s all about power.
I agree Lauren!!!They are freakin 😜 crazy!!How about doing your job that you are actually paid for-pass the bill to help the Ukraine 🇺🇦!!!
It is horrifying how Trump runs the House.
Only because we let King Baby revel in the illusion that he owns the House. Though I do not read liberal journals often, this article from 'Daily Kos' goes a long way toward describing the over-representation of the base M.A.G.A. base as noted before by Dr Richardson.
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2024/4/10/2234529/-White-rural-rage
People need courage and need to break the stalemate as Dr Richardson hinted with the very statesmanlike stance Representative Jefferies has taken. The concern is why Squeaker Mikey Mouse does not grab the opportunity. Maybe he is rooting for genocide after all.
Ned, I’m of firm belief that this Congress is operated by two presidents. I believe this is probably the first time in history that this country has had two presidents at one time. But, WE have the duly elected president, Joe Biden, who is dealing with everything domestic and foreign, running the government as is necessary. The portion of the Senate and House of Representatives who believe that Joe Biden is the President of the United States are sitting on the Democratic side of the aisle, or, IF they are Republican, have already quit.
All others in Congress are under the belief that Trump is still the president, never lost the ejection, and they are doing exactly what he tells them to do. One step further on this ladder of political leadership. Putin is telling Trump what he needs Congress to do, or not do, as the case is now. Putin is hell bent to take over Ukraine so he can begin his march across the other NATO countries.
"I believe this is the first time in US History the US has had two presidents."
In 2008, during the financial crisis where several "too big to fail" institutions were in peril of, well, failing, candidate Obama and candidate McCain attended a session with the Congressional leadership. President Bush wasn't even there, even though his Secretary of the Treasury was. Anyway, Obama was amazing and McCain was devoid of any ideas or suggestions.
To me, that was a watershed moment and Obama truly was the acting President in my opinion.
I sand corrected, Gary. I had forgotten that incident. But, comparing it to this nonsense the Republican Party , should I say the MAGA Trumpublicans, are pulling isn’t in the same ballpark. They are acting like Biden never won the election, and Frumpy never lost. It’s like Biden isn’t in the Oval Office at all.
The mental gymnastics I've seen in some of the MAGAts is gobsmacking. The most recent blow-mind was the woman telling an interviewer that Biden is evil. When he asked in what way is that so she had sort of a stricken look on her face, like she'd never had push back to her claim, then said, "he just is" and walked away.
I, too, laugh my ass off at these people when they are interviewed by someone who actually knows what questions to ask instead of be a commentator from the lines of FOX News. The bunch are n MSNBC cause these MAGA folks to itch where they can’t scratch, and it is hilarious how they get v bc asked into that dark corner and can’t get themselves out if it. I guess they fail to realize the lines of Joe Scarborough, along with the past head of the RNC, and others used to be devout Republicans!
All this MAGA crowd has become is a bunch of blowhards that listen to this rhetoric that Frumpy’s spewing at his ‘rallies’ and trying to make sense of his gibberish. I have yet to hear a speech of his where he actually discusses issues. Most of his comments make me want to puke.
Saying Obama was acting president in 2008 implies that he was making policy which he was not. Nothing compares to the way Trump is making policy in 2024.
MisTBlu. Earlier I posted a column written by Catherine Rampell of the WAPO about the GOP Senators blocking the renewal of the child-tax credit. This is a quote from Senator Chuck Grassley of IA.
“Passing a tax bill that makes the president look good — mailing out checks before the election — means he could be reelected.”
Regardless of whether Obama acted "Presidential" in 2008, the GOP are major hypocrites for forcing women who have been raped or made pregnant through incest (which, of course is also rape) and then refusing to support the children of this unholy union.
The GOP is not only blocking almost all legislation, much of it at the behest of Trump, but they are also devoid of any new ideas whatsoever.
This is one of the reasons I dub them the REPRESSIVE REGRESSIVE party.
Actually, my view was that Senator McCain had a much better approach than Senator Obama toward the melt-down. He understood micro-incentives in the financial services in a manner that President Obama simply did not.
Ned - There was a lot going in during the financial crisis in 2008 and McCain made several missteps which likely cost him votes. Did they cost him the election? I have no idea. The following is a taking from the Guardian o 9/25/2008
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2008/sep/25/uselections2008.johnmccain
However, it was widely noted that McCain did not even arrive in Washington until after Democratic and Republic leaders announced they had the outlines of a rescue package.
McCain admitted as recently as Tuesday that he had not taken the time to even read the bailout plan, according to an NBC interview transcript distributed by the Obama camp.
But that did not stop the Republican from seizing the headlines for two days in a row. McCain first wrongfooted Obama yesterday with his stunning anouncement that he would suspend his campaign and would not attend the debate in Mississippi.
Today, he struck again, appropriating Obama's conditions for the rescue deal - barely 24 hours after rejecting them.
The Democrat had proposed the conditions during discussions with McCain yesterday about a joint statement from the presidential candidates about the financial crisis.
In their proposals the Obama camp had called for an independent oversight board, a mechanism to protect taxpayers, a curb on outsized payments to Wall Street executives, and relief for homeowners faced with losing homes. The proposal for a joint statement also rejected attaching other measures, or earmarks, to the bill.
In his speech today McCain adopted nearly identical language - as well as the essence of four of the five measures: an oversight board, protection for taxpayers, controls on compensation for Wall Street executives and a ban on earmarks. However, McCain made no mention of relief for homeowners.
McCain's newfound sense of urgency for reaching a deal on the rescue package comes after a number of new polls suggesting that the economic crisis was costing the Republican support.
As I recall, the "too big to fail" institutions were grossly undercapitalized due to changes made in banking regulations from 1980 - 2007. Also, few people understood the dangers posed by sub-prime mortgages many of them issued at 100% of a homes value. Literally people could get into a home with virtually no skin in the game. Another cause of the 2008 financial crisis were derivatives as well as the loose money policy of the Fed, which was led by Alan Greenspan.
I'm a big Senator McCain fan, but during that one meeting he appeared lost and devoid of ideas on how to deal with the crisis and frankly Obama didn't.
Thank you for a well thought out response and the newspaper article. This fact is neither explanation nor excuse about what you are saying: I missed this news as I was in Iraq and really pre-occupied; these insights you provide certainly are eye-opening. Gary, I based my thinking on the research I did the week before the election when I was home on leave. So, I was reading more recent statements and found Senator McCain's struck me as being more nuanced and addressing the basic problems in the financial system more directly (based, of course, on my limited experience and more limited mind).
🫣
https://nedmcdletters.blogspot.com/2017/01/letter-134-thank-you-letter-to.html
My thank you letter to President Obama on 20jan17. Well, I am nothing if not consistent, Emerson be damned.
😉
Until that final week -- EDIT: in actuality, the night before -- I was undecided between President Obama and Senator McCain. The joint-statement by President Obama was a statesmanlike initiative for sure. Well, one thing I got right: I felt that the 2008 election was one between two really fine men. Though I knew my next-day vote for Senator McCain would be for the runner-up, I was fine with President Obama. ln the end, for me at least, character matters a whole lot more than one's politics because there will always be occasions that come out of nowhere and do not lend themselves to ideology or political preference for guidance; then, we must rely upon the content of the leader's character.
✌️
President Obama may or may not have been a great President; I am too conservative and time is too soon for me or most others to tell you. (But I will never excuse the way my Party treated him when it held majorities; I should have known, by 2010, that Reaganism was exhausted.) One thing I do know: President Obama had in 2008, 2012, and today an unmistakably impeccable character and remains a great man.
We have had shadow presidencies before. Nixon’s sabotage of President Johnson’s peace negotiations in Hanoi, resulting in many more deaths of our GI’s, was one instance. And there was a time early on when the VP was of the opposing party. Imagine that!
There was also Reagan’s meddling in the Iranian Hostage crisis to prevent President Carter’s re-election.
President Nixon committed treason in doing per President Johnson as concurred by Senator Dirksen (R-IL). Funny how Presidents seem tongue-tied in the face of treason.
Agree! Russian influence over MAGA elected officials is bringing us to the brink! Great assessment!
Then we have too many truly stupid members of Congress if they truly believe that Trump lost the last election. And too many truly stupid people who voted for these ignorant power seekers.
These representatives have no idea how to safely lead our country, to work for all of us, instead of playing bully on their path to destroying our true freedom and democracy.
Pa, you’re preaching to the choir! I’ve been harping this since this bunch of baboons were elected. This is the most irresponsible House of Representatives we’ve ever had! It’s a shame they have forgotten their Oath of Office, or who elected them.
Things have got to change. This bunch of MAGA Trumpublicans have got to go, at ALL levels of government.
Amazing the power we give to a few macho-mouthed bullies, ¿is it not? 😯
Ned, thx for the link. In a Fishbone diagram, this is certainly a bone of contention
Love that fish-bone reference! Thank you.
The search for root cause is alive
I did a 5-Y drill on Ukraine to burrow down to the root cause of my (chicken) hawkishness. Found that, when I feel powerless in action, I often resort to hawkishness in speech.
And he also runs the Republicans in the Senate apparently. I am sharing today's column from Catherine Rampell of the Washington Post-
THE MESSAGE FROM GOP SENATORS: SUFFER LITTLE CHILDREN
he modern GOP is supposed to be pro-family, pro-tax-cuts and anti-“waste, fraud and abuse.” So why are Republican senators trying to tank a bill that is all three?
In January, lawmakers hammered out a kids-and-companies tax deal: Congress would extend a few business tax breaks that had recently expired in exchange for expanding the child tax credit. The bipartisan compromise turned out to be a very good bill, painstakingly negotiated by serious lawmakers from both chambers of Congress.
Among other virtues, the legislation would improve the living standards of 16 million low-income kids and lift 400,000 children out of poverty in its first year. It would increase incentives for research and development. And the icing on the cake: The whole thing would be paid for by curbing a pandemic-era tax break that has produced an avalanche of fraudulent claims.
The politics of the bill are also good: It has been endorsed by virtually every relevant stakeholder of nearly every political persuasion imaginable — business groups, pro-life organizations, parents’ alliances, anti-poverty advocates, conservative coalitions and progressive ones. It also offers Republicans a chance to prove their pro-family bona fides after Dobbs.
So when the bill sailed through the House with broad bipartisan support, it renewed hope that our dysfunctional legislature might be able to govern sometimes after all.
Alas, that hope was premature. Today, Republican senators are trying to kill the legislation, with some of its GOP supporters saying it’s on “life support.”
Their colleagues’ objections are all over the place, and none of them particularly compelling. Some worry about handing President Biden a win so close to the election. (I’d argue the 400,000 kids lifted out of poverty would be the real winners, but to each their own.) Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) said this explicitly in January: “Passing a tax bill that makes the president look good — mailing out checks before the election — means he could be reelected.”
A related explanation is that Republicans hope to win control of Congress and the White House this November, after which they could abandon their silly, kid-conscious compromise with Democrats and just push for bigger tax breaks for businesses.
If that’s the strategy, it’s a strange one for many reasons. Among them: The bill includes tax breaks that had lapsed in the past couple of years, and the business community has been adamant about retroactively restoring them now. Not next year, when Republicans might or might not have more power.
“Many employers, especially small businesses, have struggled with the unexpected tax bill created by the lapse in these provisions,” Neil Bradley, chief policy officer at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, told me. “Asking employers to wait until the next Congress is effectively asking them to make a loan to the federal government in the hopes that they might get paid back in 2025 or 2026.”
Some senators allege more substantive concerns. For instance, Mike Crapo (Idaho), the ranking Republican on the Senate Finance Committee, complained that the child tax credit measures might discourage parents from working, even though the bill has an explicit earnings requirement (i.e., it is available only if families work). When Crapo identified the specific provision that bothered him, his Democratic counterpart, Committee Chair Ron Wyden (Ore.) offered to take it out of the bill.
Yet Crapo has not been mollified. He and his Senate colleague Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) have also complained about the bill’s cost.
Specifically — it’s hard to believe I’m actually writing this — they’re mad that it doesn’t cost anything.
Seriously. They have both said they don’t want to set a precedent of paying for tax cuts, since congressional Republicans have a multi-decade-long record of not doing so. As Tillis said in a committee hearing, “We have to have a discussion about whether or not we’re setting a precedent on future tax provisions having a pay-for. We have not normally done that, but we’ve done that in this bill.” He then explained that when it came time to extend the expiring provisions of the Trump tax cuts next year, he was worried Democrats might demand they be paid for (heaven forbid).
As a reminder, the pay-for in this bill is the elimination of a fraud-riddled pandemic program, whose continuation would waste tens of billions of dollars. Usually, ending a program like this is something Republicans would cheer. But not, apparently, if it threatens their ability to add to the debt in the future. (And let’s be honest, this “precedent” of paying for a tax break does not exactly seem binding.)
No matter. If Republicans do retake the Senate majority, Crapo is likely to be the next chair of the Senate Finance Committee; even Republican lawmakers who support this bill are now loath to cross him, Hill staffers have told me.
One thing in common among all these obstacles to the bill’s passage: They have nothing to do with the well-being of poor kids, the original reason so many people of all ideological stripes were excited about this bill.
Perhaps some politicians misheard “Suffer the little children” as simply “Suffer, little children.”
"Perhaps some politicians misheard “Suffer the little children” as simply “Suffer, little children.” True that. They're stance on helping living children gives lie to their claim that they oppose abortion because they're "pro life."
Putin. Not Trump.
And Putin.
It is axiomatic that foreign policy and treaties that are designed to further and to protect the interest of the United States in its relations with foreign nation states is the sole prerogative of the Executive Branch. Policy, tactics and strategies are set by the President in consultation with the Secretary of State , and his cabinet. Formal treaties must be ratified by the Senate. Foreign policy programs must be funded by the Congress. By this arrangement is balance of powers maintained. Nowhere is a private citizen who happens to be an ex president authorized or empowered to participate or interfere with the relations of the elected government to foreign nations. It is in fact illegal. Why the Justice Department does not use the power of the laws to control private citizen Trump is simply inexplicable.
Don, I think that semantically, "has not used" is more appropriate. I agree, that controlling fpotus is inexplicable!
Republicans: How proud your grandchildren will be when they learn that, while you let Ukraine fall, you bravely supported the Liberty in Laundry Act.
Nailed it!
Or the Refrigerator Freedom Act.
I can’t for the life of me figure out how Boebert and MTG wield so much power? What is wrong with Republicans? Their base is beginning to think Putin isn’t so bad. They have all lost their minds. MAGA has never done anything to help Trump’s base—and Biden has helped them, but Fox misleads with their “news”. Meanwhile the mainstream press is sitting on their hands and letting this farce continue without any meaningful commentary. I’m disgusted by the lack of patriotism in the Republican ranks. I’m fed up with mainstream media. The peace and security for our country and the world depend on Trump never getting near the White House again! Joe Biden has my vote, and as an independent I plan to vote democratic down ballot. We simply must defeat MAGA—the Republican party is dead. Voters have to let Al know in no uncertain terms—we don’t what MAGA is selling! Throw the bums out!
I'm also surprised that Moderate Republican VOTERS aren't demanding their Representatives break free and DO something. (or ARE they?)
There aren't enough of them, I think. Or they are afraid to speak up.
It’s very painful to tap ‘like’ to your letter tonight. This Trump&comp throwing all of us to Putin.. he’s sleeping now… continuing to decimate Ukraine with the world watching … my head and heart hurt. My prayers are trying to be loud enough to drown out my angry dismay at the FoolsFollowingTrump.
Dear Heather, Thank you for being honest with all of us. Prayer is my only power tonight.
We can win. Millions of unregistered women nationally trend heavily Democratic. Register Democrats -- save Democracy.
https://www.fieldteam6.org/mission
And here is an opportunity today to listen to HCR and learn about other ways to be involved:
https://track-mg.mobilize.us/CL0/https:%2F%2Fwww.mobilize.us%2Fvolunteerblue%2Fevent%2F610650%2F/1/0100018ed236374f-e04c2a48-25e5-4bb1-8c67-abb2c7f7d1fb-000000/v2L9q2I8yKSwiK0UxEwOeUnf8XtWkWPeuGz8CrzTziU=348
The Prime Minister from Japan gave a remarkable speech. He mentioned how important it is about our Democracy in this country and how vital it is to support and help Ukraine.
It is a national disgrace to the people in this country to see how Trump has manipulated and controlled the Republican Representatives from the house.
Moderate Republicans don't even have the guts to put their country first, like Liz Cheney did. Then House Speaker Johnson is going to Florida to seek advice from a traitor who betrayed our country and our Democracy! Their reversing laws in this country which is wrong! We must vote them out of office in November.
Good to see Kishida at the U.S. Congress on the vital roles many countries still need from the U.S.
So it becomes all the more vexing, as Heather's piece today moves on to how U.S. Republicans have turned as perverse as they have. Servants of Putin. Slaves to the orange or orange-brown paste-encrusted face of the U.S. fat one.
The degree to which Trump is of course a moral leper begs attention even more now, because of how Republicans in Arizona just this week reaffirmed their commitment to legislation dating back to 1864. One aspect of that stands out most -- white men ordering the lives of all women.
But our look at moral leprosy wouldn't be complete if we stopped just as what the patriarchs arrogate over women. Look, too, at the Speaker of that Arizona House then -- one William Claude Jones. Nearing 50 years old at the time, he took as his second wife a local 12-year-old girl. He'd have five wives over his lifetime, two whose ages are unknown, but two more whose ages are known to have been 14 and 15, in addition to the 12-year-old.
Perversity anyone? Remember, that 1864 Arizona code put into law the legal age of consent for girls at ten. Remind anyone of Trump strolling into a beauty contest dressing room for teen girls? Remind anyone of him bragging of his grabbing women in most private of places?
The Clarence court has also grabbed American women in most private of places. Of course it would. Those justices think not in terms of respect for privacy, or freedom -- but in terms that William Claude Jones could grab girls, that Trump could, that Putin could grab whole countries (with mass murder doing that).
Yes, good of Kishida to remind these U.S. Republican thugs, lepers, and perverts of our higher angels. Good of Heather to be as vexed yet as to how far we've fallen.
Are we still falling?
Did Congress applaud him?
I'm sure Dems did, Anne-Louise.
Sigh. I deliberately chose the word "Congress", meaning "Duma" as well as "Dems". Together.
How does Putin get Republicans to do whatever he wants? Follow the Russian money and sexpionage with this interactive chart:
https://thedemlabs.org/2024/04/11/putins-puppets-block-ukraine-aid-follow-the-money/
This interactive map shows some of Putin's biggest MAGA cheerleaders who are blocking aid for Ukraine:
https://embed.kumu.io/269ecdb8a1d2b328cef2268016e11063#putins
Call Speaker Mike Johnson at (202) 225-2777 and demand he bring the bipartisan Ukraine funding bill to a vote on the House floor immediately.
Nice idea, but of no use. He won't. If he does, he has to answer to Sauron in Moscow. That won't be pretty...
Will do, Ma'am.
Now is the time to take up oxygen, as the professor says. Pick a few reps from this list and call or write to persuade them to sign the discharge petition. We have 194 signatures as of April 11. We need 24 more. "I strongly urge you to sign Discharge Petition 815, for the Israel / Ukraine / Taiwan Supplemental bill."
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/e/2PACX-1vTaMB3k5Z37OAM8HEMhDtwbLGzwn1wDXSNcoTmXEJbpfbacfp-m0fJGyb36lcNOhgqGO5-bArbibS5a/pubhtml?gid=614612044&single=true
Morning, Lynell, and thanks for the list.
I know I can count on Val Hoyle, but she's going to get one, as is the Republican from a district just north of me.
That's the spirit...morning, Ally!
Great list - thanks!
You're welcome!
I wonder why a lot of the Democrats that have not signed are progressives?
Hey, Sheila. Some people say it is because of the U.S. stance on Gaza. I don't know what else it could be.
Thanks for the information Lynell!!👍!!
You're welcome! I love your name. So much so, years ago I almost changed mine from Lynell to Lynette!
Now THERE'S a headline that tells it straight—"The GOP is the Party of Putin." Dr. Richardson, thank you for sharing Mona Charen's article. Wish the NY Times and Washington Post would get serious and put up a big search light on individual GOP House members in this context. Marjorie Taylor Greene should be scrutinized for ties to Russia. Let the GOP complain of a "witch-hunt" while we question them every day about why they are doing the bidding of Vladimir Putin. They say the economy determines elections. Perhaps treason would be an exception to that rule.
editorial@nytimes.com
This posting makes me think back to the book "Compromised" by Peter Strzok. It's an in-depth book about Trump, Republicans, Putin and Russia. A must read to understand how compromised Trump and MAGA leadership are and how dangerous it is for us and the free world.
Exactly so. That was a heck of a read!