Yes. I would like to see the House and Senate dominated by Democrats who can turn their attention to the Supreme Court and impeachment of those deemed to have violated the laws. Let Biden replace them.
I’m beginning to breathe deeper, and relax a little. Thank you again, as always in your Letters, for succinct ‘reporting’ on the “whole picture” of this day’s events which will continue to be passed along & discussed for many days to come at kitchen tables, office coffee klatches, in board meetings, and school classrooms.
“Truth wins out” is what I’m relieved, again, to experience in my lifetime!
Not yet Carol!! The polls still indicate a close race. Johnson's capitulation is a big victory, but more peril remains. What if Trump gets off with a hung jury? What if Judge Cannon gets her trial delayed until next year? What if SCOTUS surprises us on the immunity issue, and gets Chutkin's trial delayed or worse dismissed? SCOTUS is not our friend here.
I'm with you, Carol, because breathing deeper and relaxing a little allows me to sustain energy for the long haul. To those who are saying "not yet," I would like to suggest that this is not an "either, or" situation, but rather "both, and."
I can be both vigilant and aware of the actual challenges we are facing, AND at the same time nurture the positive energy needed to do my work (postcarding, phone banking etc.) by being in community with like-minded people. I try to be careful about "what if's," as they can drain energy from that which we need to deal with "what is."
I like Robert Hubbell's approach, "We have every reason to be hopeful, but no reason to be complacent." Here's a letter from him from October 2022 that I think expresses this approach clearly.
Hubbell's approach=excellence. May I add that we can, if we choose, act strategically and restrain our outrage. The outrage and emotionalism is exactly what the less loony MAGAs want to provoke - they call it owning the libs. The hope is that we'll go overboard and turn off some indies and undies. We can be and do better than that. Stay focused and vote out the 112 that were against Ukraine, Israel, Taiwan, and Palestine.
Indeed! And they also use "outrage and emotionalism" to rile up their own base.
Also, besides voting out the 112, we need to pay more attention to voting up and down ballots. No matter how good the federal administration, the GOP has gotten very smart about taking over state and local governments. Onward!
We can never breathe deeper and relax a little until the election is over. We have a real fight here in Indiana. I have so many friends and family members that have fallen under tfg's spell. We have to continue to get the word out...no matter how tired we are. It worked for 2020 and we gotta make it work again for 2024 and the future!
So true. We are unfortunately in a political civil war. Bill Barr's words the other day reinforced that to me - as he said that despite all things Trump, things he realizes, he will still vote the Republican ticket because in his view a second Biden administration is far worse than a second Trump administration. Most Republicans I think have that same view. Those are fighting words. Those words make it personal. That kind of view takes friendly discourse out of the equation. It's us versus them.
What I find interesting is that virtually all of the money allocated to Ukraine will go to American companies that produce the weapons. It is a boost to our own economy, at the very least. The MAGAs are stupid and rudderless.
nice try... but something is wrong with that site. I was unable to write a letter.
It looks like these comments are back to avoiding the elephant in the room. Pres. Biden is complicit with genocide. And do we want AIPAC running our government from NOW ON??? Ceasefire please.
Beverly, I wish we could get a ceasefire, but it is not possible with Bibi in charge with the help of extremists in Israel. While I think the Palestinians have suffered for too long and we should not send weapons to Israel, it does not help when I see college students here holding up pro Hamas signs and Jewish students at many universities fearing that they will be or are already targets. Universities ought to be a place where opposing groups can work together and try to solve the problem. Instead, we are seeing utter chaos. I would also say that those who are voting uncommitted should give that some thought in terms of the general election. If death star prevails, no immigrant, including those from Muslim countries, will be safe from deportation. Any one who is liberal or progressive can kiss those ideas goodbye. As we have seen hard worked for progress will go by the wayside.
We all want that, but a two-state solution is what Biden is holding out for while trying for a return to democracy in Israel. (Just like here where it’s equally as complicated.)
Michele, i think you're preaching mostly to the wrong crowd. I agree on Israel's military overreaction, but Hamas did slaughter over 1200 Israeli civilians. Remember, too, it has been Russia invading Ukraine, beginning since 2014, vastly outnumbering and outgunning Ukraine, an emergent nation in the wake of the breakup of Soviet Union. Only Russian ineptitude and western support have prevented a wholesale overrunning of a major ethnic group which had laboured under Russian domination for so very long.
While I want an all blue government as much as anyone, I would be cautious about cleaning house like that in the SCOTUS. Let's limit it to Thomas. That one is a no-duh.
I think we can look at the list of Republican appointees on the Supreme Court and see graft and deception abound. How many lied when questioned about Roe v. Wade saying they considered it established precedent?
How many have stood for original constitution interpretation when their funders want something, and against it when those same funders want something that goes against it? What about those who have engaged in criminal behavior besides Clarance Thomas?
So, no! I do not agree that we should only go after Thomas. I would agree to going after him first, and to establishing rules for conduct and consequences for not following them, and who is in charge of implementing the consequences who is not on the Supreme Court.
I think the discreet way to get rid of Thomas and Alito is to put term limits on all supreme court justices, say 18 years. It just happens to apply to Alito, Thomas, and Roberts in this current bench. That leaves 3 libs and 3 tards and 3 picks for Biden. By seniority, Sotomayor would become the next Chief Justice - a woman of color!
What we need is for Thomas to resign or die. His wife graduated from my high school in '75. Not surprisingly she was in the Republican club in high school.
Yes - that would be good - and maybe this time when they have (hopefully) all three branches they get on the stick and DO it! That appears to be the tough part - judging from the past.
Congress and Biden should have tried harder to stop Israel from the colossal overreaction; but you dream if you think TFG would do better. In fact, he would encourage Bibi, who is very like what TFG is and wants to be.
How hard won it all was. And how hard it will be to win in 2024. These are parlous times. Despite
remarkable accomplishments,
Pres. Biden and his administration have significant challenges and will be under legitimate serious scrutiny.
I don't know whether it is fallout from the pandemic, unprecedented national politics, and international instability - but I am sensing more irrationality than usual in the electorate. I feel it translating into support for Trump and for his enablers - the Bannon funded RFKJR, Putin flack Jill Stein, inexplicable Cornell West et al up to no good.
Republicans could still win the House, Senate, and Executive Branch. Fossil fuel billionaire Charles Koch's Heritage Foundation Project 2025 could still dismantle the entire Executive Branch - repeople it and repurpose it to administer a corporate-clerical fascist state in the Hungarian model.
So confounding and depressing to see Biden's achievements, esp on behalf of the middle class, fail to resonate -- esp. with the middle class. Is it because Fox has such a hold on them?
Remember, Fox News has a viewership of under 5 million people, at every and any given moment. That is all, and LESS than 1.5% of the US population. Similarly, every other cable and legacy news outlet has less viewers, but totaled together, far outnumber the viewership of Fox.
Every major poll shows Biden moving forward, though often still in the so-called margin-of-error. But the key is this: Democrats have the recent history of winning EVERY statewide vote in ALL of the vital states, except for one. ONLY in GA., have Republicans won the latest Governor election. All others have voted Democratic for the since 2018 in AZ, WI, MI, MN, PA, and FOUR elections for Senate in GA., (all won by Dems)
This is true for more than a DECADE in WI., MN., MI and PA - all of the so-called "swing states" - but the fact is that these states are not at all "swingy."
Then, we look at the quality of campaigns within EVERY vital state, and Democrats have advantages in ALL aspects of elections: fundraising; statewide political party cohesion; quality of candidates for the Presidency AND the US Senate. In fact, in every one of these key states, the incumbent Democratic Senators ALL have advantages of experience and money and campaign apparatus. For example, in PA., the Republican candidate for Senate is a resident of .... Westport, CT. !!! Dem Sen Bob Casey is very well liked in PA. In AZ, Republican Kerry Lake faces legal challenges and is despised by a large swath of ... Republican voters. While AZ voters are facing the legal onslaught on an 1850s law regarding their reproductive freedom! WHICH side has the anger and the money of women and allies on their side??? WE DO!
Voters will have the opportunity to vote IN FAVOR of reproductive freedom in AZ, FL, AND OH. The turnout and energy of the women's "and allies" vote will be HISTORIC for these referendum votes, because they have been since the fall of abortion rights.
Rather than worry and be fearful of the dwindling conservative authoritarian movement, the fear is on the right - fear of losing FL AND NC, as well as the recent Democratic Party victories in GA., AZ., PA., WI., MN., and MI.
Were one to look at recent history and current campaigns, we ought to be celebrating and active in every way possible - and not lose sleep. Sleep well, my friends - and then stay active
The GOP has been fighting to win the abortion fight for so long they don't know how to take the win and run with it.
Their solutions are ridiculously extreme like total abortion bans including rape and incest. They then refuse to pass the child care extension credit which has already resulted in tens of thousands of children to fall into poverty. They have tried to enlist far right judges to outlaw mifepristone and have been trying to figure out how to outlaw contraceptives as well.
They have essentially legalized rape in TX by refusing to even process rape kits. Under the current governor rape prosecutions are 1/3 of what they were before he took office.
Women have had to travel hundreds of miles to receive health care and OB/GYN residencies have dropped like a rock in these states.
The Democrats need to go after the state legislative positions replacing the dead beat dim-bulb Republicans.
This issue will turn the tide. Women of all parties and religions are terrified and freaking pissed off. The "Party of Small Government" has jettisoned whatever libertarian elements it held and is forcing an extreme fringe religious attitude on all American families. It is as invasive as it gets. American women have proven in several contests in several states since Dobbs that they won't let this stand.
In my happiest of dreams the referendums in FL and AZ will help turn these states another color. May the dreams become reality.
Bill, thanks for writing this. WHEN the damn US govt gets over its obsession to CONTROL female bodies AND pay attention to the country’s actual BUSINESS, we will ALL be a lot better off. And then maybe incest and rape will ALSO become less if an obsession for stupid men and male family members. As an incest survivor, IM JUST PISSED OFF with the male attention all females get - including the ENTIRE Supreme Court - Shame on them! We the women HAD IT figured out in 1973. SO just leave us alone!!!
There are so many reasons to dislike Abbott - why not add rape to the list? Texans are irrationally locked onto the R by his name... surely they could find a better candidate. Maybe not - these are the folks that brought us W and Rick Perry... wow. What happened to the kind of Texans that elected Ann Richards and LBJ? Will they show up for Allred?
The abortion issue is so bi-laterally popular, I suggest a coalition of everyone who wants personal freedom and autonomy to vote out authoritarians, extremists, and butt heads at every level of gummint.
Gary Loft, I don't think the GOP ever actually wanted to get rid of legal abortion. The real Republicans saw the reality that anti-abortion activists in the religious right were a tiny minority. Republicans were warned that they were playing with fire when they started making campaign promises to attract those people; campaign promises they had no intention of fulfilling.
2020 presidential margins and 2022 House and Senate margins, refute Frederick's misleading assemblage.* His irrational exuberance recalls the lulling, gulling, and ultimately devastating 2016 "He can't win. She can't lose." Fortunately neither the Biden campaign nor the Democratic party seem inclined to repeat that mistake. Neither should disgruntled potential Democratic voters sit on their hands or indulge in purity tests, pipe dreams, or Pied Pipers. Republican voters will be united. RFKJR, Stein et al and the voters who love them are ready to reelect Trump.
*In 2020, for instance: Wisconsin was ultimately won by Biden by a narrow 0.63% margin over Trump, a far closer margin than expected; Biden ultimately won Arizona by some 10,000 votes over Trump, a 0.3% margin; Biden ultimately carried Michigan by 2.78%, a far closer margin than expected; in Pennsylvania although Trump had won the state in 2016 by a narrow margin of 0.72%, Biden was able to reclaim the state, winning it by a similarly narrow 1.17% margin; and Biden ultimately carried Minnesota by a 7.12% margin, improving over Hillary Clinton's narrow 1.52% margin in 2016. 1 out of 4.
In 2022, *NY* helped give Republicans the House.
I really can't refute each of Frederick's misstatements. There are too many.
"The remarkable staying power of populist governments—thanks in part to their willingness to bend the rule of law—is a warning to America." (Yascha Mounk)
We are wise to heed your warnings. This is no time to be complacent and we should never forget that polls told us that Hillary was going to win by margins greater than a few points. But...
Frederick's optimism has a basis. Sentiment is shifting. The first shift was seismic. Dobbs. The country is in a state of outrage over the loss of reproductive rights and the continuing stories of women's health (and babies) nightmares as a result of Dobbs and the horrific laws it enabled.
The second shift is the hobbling of Trump. There is no way that the hard core MAGA robots will change their minds - even if he took an AK-47 to Fifth Avenue and unleashed it's terror. But there are millions of Americans who are witnessing the decomposition of a demagogue. Millions of Independents (the largest group of voters) and "moderate" Republicans are either disillusioned or disgusted by a sleepy, farting old Jabba the Hut who can't make a speech that makes any sense. I have a neighbor who can't vote for Biden. But he can't vote for Trump either. And he has no information or interest in a third party fool. He will probably leave those boxes blank or just stay home. I predict the "stay home" factor will be significant.
My optimism is based on the power of women and those of us who support them. My optimism is based on the fact that every figure in history like Trump has found his demise. And Trump's self destructive tendencies will outweigh his tactical appeal to the nutcases and bigots.
But we certainly should be setting off the alarm bells about what a Trump 2.0 would mean. We certainly should not relax. We certainly should be spreading the word to those "persuadables" what Project 2025 would mean for this nation and the world.
As Hubbell always says: "We have every reason to be optimistic - but not complacent." Much work to do.
No. They have a hold on Fox. If Fox doesn’t say things they like, they will switch to something even worse. Breitbart, Newsmax, etc. MAGA voters know what they want: a government that will preserve the systemic advantages of white Americans. They know Republicans will do everything they can to preserve those systemic advantages, and Democrats won’t. This is not a matter of nefarious media or nefarious candidates, though Fox and Republican politicians certainly fill that bill. It is a matter of upwards 74 million Americans that the world would be a better place without. We can outvote them, just barely, but it will require all hands to be on deck.
I don't think that body of American conservative, somewhat white evangelical nationalist, has been the driving force of Fox. Fox has and is run by well heeled political influencers. they have long had a symbiotic relationship with the body of opinion they've cultivated. (spelling edits)
Yes. But Fox cannot make a profit without the bulk of white Americans watching them day and night. The Republican Party works the same way. They use racist campaigns to get elected, and they deliver racist legislation, but they are controlled by oligarchs who get tax cuts and business deregulation. Those are their primary mission. The racism is just marketing.
I follow Simon Rosenberg, a data-driven,long-term Dem strategist who accurately predicted the GOP would not have a red wave in 2022. Simon provides(increasingly optimistic) data while suggesting action items so we can “do more, worry less.”
I live in a red, Florida county.Every single one of my elected officials is GOP.
I’ve been wearing a Biden/Harris t-shirt ( I’ll soon be alternating with Vote Yes on Amendment 4 t)when I do grocery shopping/errands since February.I’ve not had a single negative commemt or conversation! Wear a t-shirt, start a conversation…and of course, always be kind.👕🛒
Susan, Though my intent is to understand and not to judge, were I among the substantial swath of the population who for generations had voted for Democrats all the while not seeing substantial changes taking place in my community, I likely would not relate to a recitation of Biden’s achievements. My point is that I question whether Democratic leadership effectively has reached out to where the trouble is in this country, trouble that MAGA Republicans are stoking, and show, particularly for those who doubt Democrats care about their struggles, that they (Democrats) can work on legitimate issues and grievances.
MAGA are visceral. Nothing more ironic than a MAGA on SSI. Republicans want to kill it. Nothing like SSA retirement beneficiaries voting to "sunset" their own income. Same for Medicare. Food stamps. VA benefits. Black Lung.
Daniel, My reply to Susan is unrelated to the MAGA cult. I was trying to make sense of her understandable dismay as to why Biden’s achievements are not connecting with a swath of America’s “ middle class.”
President Obama started thinking about his second term from his first day in office. He was determined to not be a one term president. W did as well given the fact that his dad suffered that fate.
We are now playing catch up because President Biden has just recently focused on his second term. Joe has always had the connection with unions but Democrats had yielded too much ground there in prior years perhaps underestimating their future impact.
We are now behind in campaigning and campaigning to the demographic of everyday people. We need to engage but not waste time on the hardest minds to change.
Talk and listen to independents in states like NC and FL as well as all the usual swing state suspects. Find out their objections and use these Letters from professor HCR as reference material.
Citizens are busy but they care. They have not been given point by point arguments. In that absence, the vacuum has been filled. If every reader of these letters does this multiple times it will result in the 500,000 swing vote margin needed for a substantial win. Expect a 15 percent success rate and talk to seven potential voters. We still have time to catch up but it will be neither easy nor automatic but it will be worth the effort.
Huff, Please note my reply to Susan was my attempt better to understand why Biden has not adequately connected with a broader range of everyday Americans. If there is any merit to my thinking, I suggest we sit with it for a bit before rushing to remedies.
Democrats are as good at messaging as Republicans. The difference is that the Democratic message requires subtlety and nuance while the Republican message only requires dog whistles like “woke.”
You are so right. I remember my former (sigh) senator Al Franken saying, when asked why Dems are lousy at messaging, "Because Dems are hampered by little things like facts, which are nuanced and boring." However, some do manage better than others. Bill Clinton was pretty good, and even though I didn't support him, Bernie Sanders could and did put out good sound bytes.
Ask yourself why you didn't support Bernie Sanders. He's been speaking truths for a long time now, including on the Gaza war, which, unfortunately, is dragging Democrats down. He spent the best years of his life attacking our drift toward corporatism, and I think he was correct.
Bernie's spokespeople were just awful though. I could never understand why he surrounded himself with some of the worst people like Briahna Joy Gray. Even Dave Sirota who ironically made a movie about people looking everywhere but up has spent the entirety of his career focusing his gaze on those "awful" Democrats instead of on the fascists and new confederates in the Republican party.
First, let me say that I love the Don Snoreleone moniker. Next to OJ (short for Orange Jesus), it's my favorite. Keep hammering, Gary. Could help, can't hurt. Easy to get Magas worked into a blind rage. They like to talk about owning liberals, but it's just another aspect of their most common behavior trait: projection.
President Biden doesn’t communicate well, especially surprising given his folksy, down-to-earth image. He should get away from campaign speeches. Talk to people as people. Use a FDR-esque fireside chat approach. Start with the Right’s biggest issues: the economy, nagging inflation, and the border. Explain where we are, why the problems continue, and what he’s trying to do about them. I, for example, don’t know what he’s trying to do about the continuing massive wave of immigrants beyond wanting Congress to enact legislation rather than the White House issuing EOs (an idea I most heartily endorse, but which isn’t going to happen with the likes of this Congress) and wanting more judges to handle the impossible case load (what about taming that case load itself?).
President Biden was born left handed, The nuns made him learn to write right handed. Therefore he was using the wrongside of his brain and developed a stutter. His mother held him back a grade as she says in her book when he was VP. Obama was born left handed. The nuns also taught him . They did not change his hand. He is a great orator.
If you go to a public place you will most often see FOX news being played on the TV. When I see that I usually ask for another channel. Many TV’s are set up with FOX as the default channel when it is turned on.
I do too! No one seems to be watching it half the time, but the chyron keeps on scrolling across the bottom, so even in a noisy airport bar there is a kind of brainwashing going on. The chyron often doesn't reflect what is being said in the interview. I remember some Fox person interviewing Dick Cheney, early in the Biden presidency, and he was blaming Biden for something he didn't do. Maybe the failure in Afghanistan. The interviewer was pushing back (for a change) saying, "all due respect, it was your administration that took us into Afghanistan . . . " and Cheney ignored her. Several times she repeated that he, not Biden, had gotten us into that unwinnable war . But the chyron scrolled over and over -- Cheney: Biden responsible for war in Afghanistan . . .
Let’s not go there, lin. I think we are on a roll right now and people are paying attention. We finally got the 3 foreign country aid we were seeking. We, at least, have Trump in trial now. Hoping that the prosecution brings the results we all seek and that the jury pays attention. You are the expert on all things Leonard Leo and I believe wholeheartedly that along with these trials, we will see his exposure and these billionaires shenanigans more frequently. We cannot go down that rabbit hole. I can’t let you.
Lin, could you please tell me/us how you knew Trump was going to win? I was just so gob-smacked when it happened, that I'm still not over it. Maybe it was my long held opinion of Trump which blinded me: "a habitual Loser". I hate being so darned wrong. Help me out, please.
People don’t require facts to place a vote, propaganda via TV works just fine. Trump won because of Fox News voters, James Comey’s last minute interference and Hilary’s failure to connect with those not already solidly in her base
You're giving me a rash! Just when I was starting to develop a shred of hope and optimism with positive momentum towards blue in the polls, you quench it with the vision of a red trifecta in November. Shame on you for speaking the cold, hard truth of potential disaster. With the springing of spring, I want hope to spring anew and eternal! My poor shriveled spirit can hardly take the tug-of-war that promises to be our whole political season of 2024. It'll be the height of irony if the most dysfunctional congress in history in parallel with one of the most productive and successful presidential terms in modern history would produce a red wave, but this is the time of unforeseen consequences, so being strung out between hope and terror may be the most appropriate place to be.
I listened to "Til I Go Down" by one of my very favorites, Jackson Brown...THANK YOU!!!!! It is a great anthem to encourage us never to stop. I love this country with all the good and all the opportunities ....to embrace the challenges before us!!!
Biden's problems are not only from the right, they are from America's youth, from the left and Climate activists.
'The so-called Finish the Job Youth Agenda is a laundry list of liberal causes. Devised by the leaders of prominent progressive groups like the Sunrise Movement, March for Our Lives, United We Dream Action and Gen-Z for Change, it calls for a permanent and immediate ceasefire in Gaza and the West Bank; rejecting new oil, gas and coal projects and ensuring the U.S. reaches 100% clean energy by 2035; and providing free healthcare and affordable housing to people affected by climate disasters, among other Democratic priorities like increasing standards for gun ownership, expanding DACA and stopping construction on a border wall.'
'The agenda is both an olive branch and an ultimatum for the embattled Democratic President. The activists’ message to Biden was clear: take the concerns of young voters seriously, or risk losing their votes in 2024.'
“This is a literal roadmap to how you build trust and energy among our generation in a critical election year,” said Michele Weindling, political director of the Sunrise Movement, which advocates for action on climate change. “Let us help you, dude.” (Time) See link below.
'Biden’s Biggest Challenges to Reelection—Immigration, Gaza, and Even the Economy
Age isn’t the only hurdle for him to avoid becoming the 12th president to fail to win a second term' (BostonUniversityToday)
Tops among the issues he has to tackle: immigration, Gaza, and the economy, all of which have shown up in the results of several early primaries.
With immigration and the war in Gaza, Biden appears to be caught in damned-if-he-does, damned-if-he-doesn’t scenarios, taking hits from both Republicans and many on the more liberal side of his own party. The robust economy is less of an issue for what may be wrong with it—not much, in most experts’ views—than for the fact that many Americans think it’s bad and refuse to give his administration any credit for its actual strength.
An incumbent (or previous) president has failed to win reelection 11 times in history, the last in 2020 when Trump lost to Biden. We asked some Boston University faculty experts in American politics and the presidency, foreign policy, and government affairs to assess how Biden can deal with these three key issues to avoid becoming the 12th.
Immigration
Trump and his minions are making plenty of hay out of what is, from any perspective, a big mess at our southern border, with thousands of migrants arriving every week from Central America and elsewhere.
Although Republican rhetoric is laced with racism and lies about the criminal character of the migrants, the sheer numbers of arrivals spreading out across the United States makes this a legit issue, and Biden seems to be hardening his approach. Many on the left, on the other hand, think asylum seekers deserve a more sympathetic response.
Thomas Whalen, a College of General Studies associate professor of social sciences, who specializes in 19th- and 20th-century American social and political history, says Biden isn’t the one to blame.
“I think here we see where the paralysis in Congress is having its greatest impact, because presidents can’t do everything under our constitutional order,” says Whalen, who has written several books on sports and society. “We don’t elect kings every four years. Biden is constrained by the rule of law, and Congress has shown a decided inability [or unwillingness] to act on this issue, at least on the Republican side. This is, from their point of view, a winning issue.”
Whalen notes that Republicans in both houses of Congress abandoned a bipartisan deal that was brokered earlier, because politically it would be damaging to their base, or at least cost the support of the base.
“To me this is the problem with American government right now,” Whalen says. “We are living in an ungovernable country, and it’s at a crisis point. He needs congressional action and he’s not gonna get it.”
The president might take extraordinary measures through executive order to close the border, he says, “but then he will be seen as desperate—it will be seen as a pure political move, and he’ll lose a good part of his liberal democratic base. So it’s a lose-lose on Biden’s part.”
The one thing he can do on the issue, Whalen says, is to follow President Harry Truman’s playbook from 1948 and run against a “do-nothing Congress.” (BUToday) See link below.
College/University students, progressive organizations and Arab Americans...are not the only voters to protest Biden's ironclad support for Israel's war against Hamas in Gaza.
'A spokesperson for Google confirmed it had fired more workers after continuing its investigation into the April 16 protests, which included sit-ins at Google’s offices in New York City and Sunnyvale, Calif.'
'The firings come several days after chief executive Sundar Pichai told employees in a companywide memo that they should not use the company as a “personal platform” or “fight over disruptive issues or debate politics.”
“The corporation is attempting to quash dissent, silence its workers and reassert its power over them,” said Jane Chung, a spokesperson for No Tech for Apartheid, a group that has protested Google’s and Amazon’s contracts with the Israeli government since 2021.'
Police arrest pro-Palestinian protesters at NYU, Yale
'On April 22, dozens were arrested at New York University and Yale as tensions flared again on campuses over the Israel-Gaza war.'
'The protests at Google are among a wave of opposition to the U.S. government and corporations working with the Israeli government and military. Pro-Palestinian protesters have been arrested in recent days at Yale and Columbia universities, spurring accusations of heavy-handedness by university officials and inspiring another wave of demonstrations at other colleges around the country. The day before the Google sit-ins, activists blocked highways, bridges and airport entrances across the United States to protest the war in Gaza.'
'At Google, the situation has become a public fight between Google managers and the fired employees. Google says that each worker it fired actively disrupted its offices, while the workers dispute the claims, saying some of those fired did not even enter the company’s office on the day of coordinated demonstrations against the company.' (WAPO) See link below. Sorry that I have run out of the gifted option.
Netanyahu is using our complicated relationship with Israel. As long as he can stay in office, by any means...he holds off his problems of being made accountable for his own crimes....he serves himself above all else! (like someone else we know within our own country)
I am very grateful for all we can do for the Palestinians. The destruction of my fellow human beings ....no matter color of skin, or faith ...or no faith...as they are simply trying to survive....is wrong!!!!
President Biden is a good man with this huge issue he and his team are working on....of course those who want to see our country taken over by a very weak person, who wants to make himself dictator of the USA to please his mentor, PUTIN.....are watching and waiting. Wisdom has never been needed more to deal wisely and thoughtfully regarding this issue.
Google needs to "cool off" and be reminded that it has been offered great opportunities and success due to starting out in "the land of the free and the home of the brave".
We should be able to deal civilly with this issue. We must not let our enemies destroy us.
Thank you for your response, Emily. I am familiar with Bibi Netanyahu, his father's political history and B. Netanyahu's support for Hamas before, October 7, as well as his policies with reference to the Palestinians, the settlers and the West Bank. Biden is in a difficult position with reference to continuing military funding to Israel without conditions at this time. Respect for Biden and his many important accomplishments does eliminate areas where analysis of some of his polices results in criticism.
What Biden has done in trying to reverse trickledown, increase union membership (revive the middle class), try to keep BIBI on a leash until Israelis can vote him out, try to keep engines turning while weaning US off oil, keeping an excellent team together, and reminding me of Der Alte, and walking us out of the pandemic should be enough to get him re-elected. He is a good human being with, quite literally, the weight of the world on his shoulders. How to explain to “the young” that presidents are human beings and that presidents of democracies (remember, most have had no history or civics classes and too many have never had a vacation with pay) are no stronger than their representatives?
But I do hope Biden and Buttigieg will learn about trains from France and do some for US!
First of all, thanks for the gentle backhanded rebuke. I know you meant it kindly
My comment addresses those special interest “single issue” groups (that may have legitimate concerns) creating an atmosphere of opposition to an otherwise capable leader, holding their overall support hostage until they (each individual group) gets their own way; as their myopia prevents them from addressing the remaining myriad of issues that created hundreds of other problems
They dismiss the cause and effect of implementing “their”agenda, as if once they get their way, everything becomes “settled”
I'm not a big fan of polls, but the latest Marist poll has Biden leading Trump 43% - 38%. It also include RFK Jr, Jill Stein et.al.
As long as things keep trending in this direction and Don Snoreleone spends his days in court (and then in jail for contempt) momentum should stay in Biden's direction.
If Biden could push the Senate’s bipartisan border bill it would take away one last GOP talking (actually, shouting) point. It had/has strong backing from a broad ideological swath of legislators, organizations and the electorate. Hard to know what Trump would talk about if it passed and resources started flowing to the border.
A good example of Biden ineptitude is his refusal to take executive action at the border. When homeland secretary Myorkas was asked why Biden has not taken executive action, he responded that it wouldn’t hold up in court. That, my friends is failed leadership of Joe Biden and that one single issue may cost hm the election. Amazing how stupid and thickheaded a person can an be.
lin, Often when I read you accurately portraying a perennial struggle with far-right Republicans over big issues likely never to be fixed or to go away, my mind turns to the metaphor of a hole inside a boat. The hole, likewise, never is going to be fixed nor is it ever going away.
If I may, I presume, as part of this thread, where you write, “Get over it and get to work,” I imagine you’re saying that what we have to do is bail water out faster than it’s coming in.
. . . "while Republicans have repeatedly been caught touting the internal improvements they voted against." "More irrationality than usual" for sure. Crazy is more like it.
I’m all for bi-partisanship so long as we don’t lose what helped President Biden win: the continuation of New Deal progressive policies which are popular with most Americans and aimed toward restoring the balance of wealth and power between the wealthy people & their corporations and of regular citizens. It’s the imbalance which destabilizes democracy.
We have a lot of Conservative Republican Never Trumper voices influencing people away from extremism, but their unpopular legislations which were designed to help the wealthy, their greedy corporations, and their supportive religions gain control over government and mainstream society which caused this imbalance of power that currently threatens Democracy. It was their greed and desperation which lead them to use dirty tactics like creating these culture wars to begin and which are destroying lives.
Many young people from all walks of life are being lead towards Conservatism - pro force birth, pro defined gender roles, etc but don’t see the unpopular goals hiding behind the influencers pushing the movement.
For example, men want women to stay home and take care of them, their children, and their aging parents, their home, and be the “masters of their castle”. This was the norm for generations until women got sick of being powerless socially, legally, politically etc because they were often forced to remain in unhappy, vulnerable, and downright abusive situations. There were a number of ways men and women could both have gotten what they wanted without causing such dramatic social changes, but thanks to power hungry wealthy white men forbidding women to vote and have legal & social protections, etc, women were forced to fight for change and gain independence. This one-sided change made it dangerous for today’s women who choose to stay home and raise families, because it makes them vulnerable if something goes wrong and they need to leave a marriage and work outside the home. This is Conservativism - the conservation of the socioeconomic hierarchy which keeps Wealthy White men at the top at any cost.
This is why racism still has a stronghold in America. This is why religions are allowed to interfere in politics and not pay taxes. This is why people who don’t fit into the narrow and suffocating roles in Conservative society get ostracized and worse.
Liberalism never forced people into roles they didn’t choose. It only allowed tolerant breathing room for people who couldn’t fit into “traditional” roles or who found themselves outside those roles due to circumstances outside their control - like women suddenly needing to support themselves and their families.
We must still be careful about who we choose to support during these challenging & changing times.
When Homeland secretary Mayorkas was recently interviewed and asked why Biden didn’t take executive action on the border he responded that it wouldn’t hold up in court. That was a failed response and unfortunately Biden may pay an extreme price for his folly.
It is nice to hear that some Republicans realize how impotent Congress is. Some ar acknowledging the fact that some are scumbags with little morals. Now if they only would vote by facts and not by pressure. They need to vote for what their constituents would want and benefit by and not just for being accepted as "one of the guys."
I cannot imagine any politician at the federal level other than Biden having the skill, savvy, experience and maturity to pull off what he has. And I strongly disagree with the man on many issues, fortunately I am not seeking a hero or messiah. Vote Biden 2024.
that, and gaining large majorities in Congress this fall. The next step needs to be fixing the Supreme Court. Either expulsion for severe ethics violations and accepting money for favorable outcomes (bribes), or packing or un-packing the court, depending on how you view it.
Joe Biden was the right person for the job in 2020 and remains the right person in 2024.
The GOP’s hold on the house is weak at best and all the democrats need is a very few old school republicans to create a bi-partisan majority.
Voting Blue everywhere is the answer!
Yes. I would like to see the House and Senate dominated by Democrats who can turn their attention to the Supreme Court and impeachment of those deemed to have violated the laws. Let Biden replace them.
I’m beginning to breathe deeper, and relax a little. Thank you again, as always in your Letters, for succinct ‘reporting’ on the “whole picture” of this day’s events which will continue to be passed along & discussed for many days to come at kitchen tables, office coffee klatches, in board meetings, and school classrooms.
“Truth wins out” is what I’m relieved, again, to experience in my lifetime!
Not yet Carol!! The polls still indicate a close race. Johnson's capitulation is a big victory, but more peril remains. What if Trump gets off with a hung jury? What if Judge Cannon gets her trial delayed until next year? What if SCOTUS surprises us on the immunity issue, and gets Chutkin's trial delayed or worse dismissed? SCOTUS is not our friend here.
I'm with you, Carol, because breathing deeper and relaxing a little allows me to sustain energy for the long haul. To those who are saying "not yet," I would like to suggest that this is not an "either, or" situation, but rather "both, and."
I can be both vigilant and aware of the actual challenges we are facing, AND at the same time nurture the positive energy needed to do my work (postcarding, phone banking etc.) by being in community with like-minded people. I try to be careful about "what if's," as they can drain energy from that which we need to deal with "what is."
I like Robert Hubbell's approach, "We have every reason to be hopeful, but no reason to be complacent." Here's a letter from him from October 2022 that I think expresses this approach clearly.
https://open.substack.com/pub/roberthubbell/p/saturday-therapy?r=eznl2&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web
I am so grateful to be a member of Heather and Robert's communities, as well as some others that I am now a part of. We are not alone!
Hubbell's approach=excellence. May I add that we can, if we choose, act strategically and restrain our outrage. The outrage and emotionalism is exactly what the less loony MAGAs want to provoke - they call it owning the libs. The hope is that we'll go overboard and turn off some indies and undies. We can be and do better than that. Stay focused and vote out the 112 that were against Ukraine, Israel, Taiwan, and Palestine.
Indeed! And they also use "outrage and emotionalism" to rile up their own base.
Also, besides voting out the 112, we need to pay more attention to voting up and down ballots. No matter how good the federal administration, the GOP has gotten very smart about taking over state and local governments. Onward!
We can never breathe deeper and relax a little until the election is over. We have a real fight here in Indiana. I have so many friends and family members that have fallen under tfg's spell. We have to continue to get the word out...no matter how tired we are. It worked for 2020 and we gotta make it work again for 2024 and the future!
So true. We are unfortunately in a political civil war. Bill Barr's words the other day reinforced that to me - as he said that despite all things Trump, things he realizes, he will still vote the Republican ticket because in his view a second Biden administration is far worse than a second Trump administration. Most Republicans I think have that same view. Those are fighting words. Those words make it personal. That kind of view takes friendly discourse out of the equation. It's us versus them.
I agree regarding Israel's bonus BUT Ukraine NEEDS this!
What I find interesting is that virtually all of the money allocated to Ukraine will go to American companies that produce the weapons. It is a boost to our own economy, at the very least. The MAGAs are stupid and rudderless.
nice try... but something is wrong with that site. I was unable to write a letter.
It looks like these comments are back to avoiding the elephant in the room. Pres. Biden is complicit with genocide. And do we want AIPAC running our government from NOW ON??? Ceasefire please.
Beverly, I wish we could get a ceasefire, but it is not possible with Bibi in charge with the help of extremists in Israel. While I think the Palestinians have suffered for too long and we should not send weapons to Israel, it does not help when I see college students here holding up pro Hamas signs and Jewish students at many universities fearing that they will be or are already targets. Universities ought to be a place where opposing groups can work together and try to solve the problem. Instead, we are seeing utter chaos. I would also say that those who are voting uncommitted should give that some thought in terms of the general election. If death star prevails, no immigrant, including those from Muslim countries, will be safe from deportation. Any one who is liberal or progressive can kiss those ideas goodbye. As we have seen hard worked for progress will go by the wayside.
We all want that, but a two-state solution is what Biden is holding out for while trying for a return to democracy in Israel. (Just like here where it’s equally as complicated.)
To do that, register more Democrats -- save democracy.
https://www.fieldteam6.org/actions
Lobby Taylor Swift to encourage the Gen Z, Gen X and Millenials to register to vote.
The under 35's served the Democrats very well in 2018, 2020 & 2022. Keep the momentum going.
@Gary, for "Swifties" who follow her on Instagram and Twitter, they can comment, and hopefully link to FT6.
https://www.fieldteam6.org/voterizer
Daniel, Taylor is helping us in Florida !😎
“Taylor Swift might now know how topical her song "Florida!!!" is when it comes to the state's political scene.”
https://www.tallahassee.com/story/news/politics/2024/04/19/taylor-swift-florida-desantis-tortured-poets-department/73384526007/
Michele, i think you're preaching mostly to the wrong crowd. I agree on Israel's military overreaction, but Hamas did slaughter over 1200 Israeli civilians. Remember, too, it has been Russia invading Ukraine, beginning since 2014, vastly outnumbering and outgunning Ukraine, an emergent nation in the wake of the breakup of Soviet Union. Only Russian ineptitude and western support have prevented a wholesale overrunning of a major ethnic group which had laboured under Russian domination for so very long.
Democrats Abroad for all your family and friends who live outside of country. https://www.democratsabroad.org/
Please stop spamming the comments, Ms Miller!
While I want an all blue government as much as anyone, I would be cautious about cleaning house like that in the SCOTUS. Let's limit it to Thomas. That one is a no-duh.
I disagree. Do you think Alito's gift acceptances are a nice party gift?
https://www.theguardian.com/law/2023/jun/21/samuel-alito-undisclosed-gifts-billionaire-paul-singer-supreme-court
I think we can look at the list of Republican appointees on the Supreme Court and see graft and deception abound. How many lied when questioned about Roe v. Wade saying they considered it established precedent?
https://www.factcheck.org/2022/05/what-gorsuch-kavanaugh-and-barrett-said-about-roe-at-confirmation-hearings/
https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/analysis-opinion/congress-has-authority-regulate-supreme-court-ethics-and-duty
How many have stood for original constitution interpretation when their funders want something, and against it when those same funders want something that goes against it? What about those who have engaged in criminal behavior besides Clarance Thomas?
https://www.npr.org/2019/09/16/761191576/reporters-dig-into-justice-kavanaughs-past-allegations-of-misconduct-against-him
Why is Justice Robert's wife allowed to earn millions off of recruiting for law firms? https://thedaily.case.edu/laws-jonathan-entin-weighs-in-on-report-about-supreme-court-chief-justice-john-roberts-wife/
So, no! I do not agree that we should only go after Thomas. I would agree to going after him first, and to establishing rules for conduct and consequences for not following them, and who is in charge of implementing the consequences who is not on the Supreme Court.
OK, Thomas and Alito!
I think the discreet way to get rid of Thomas and Alito is to put term limits on all supreme court justices, say 18 years. It just happens to apply to Alito, Thomas, and Roberts in this current bench. That leaves 3 libs and 3 tards and 3 picks for Biden. By seniority, Sotomayor would become the next Chief Justice - a woman of color!
What we need is for Biden to put four more on SCOTUS. That way Thomas et al can be outvoted regularly.
What we need is for Thomas to resign or die. His wife graduated from my high school in '75. Not surprisingly she was in the Republican club in high school.
Yes - that would be good - and maybe this time when they have (hopefully) all three branches they get on the stick and DO it! That appears to be the tough part - judging from the past.
Whatever is possible with the SC, for sure.
Congress and Biden should have tried harder to stop Israel from the colossal overreaction; but you dream if you think TFG would do better. In fact, he would encourage Bibi, who is very like what TFG is and wants to be.
talk to bibi & hamas. You think trump will do anything differently?
It's good to have heartening news.
How hard won it all was. And how hard it will be to win in 2024. These are parlous times. Despite
remarkable accomplishments,
Pres. Biden and his administration have significant challenges and will be under legitimate serious scrutiny.
I don't know whether it is fallout from the pandemic, unprecedented national politics, and international instability - but I am sensing more irrationality than usual in the electorate. I feel it translating into support for Trump and for his enablers - the Bannon funded RFKJR, Putin flack Jill Stein, inexplicable Cornell West et al up to no good.
Republicans could still win the House, Senate, and Executive Branch. Fossil fuel billionaire Charles Koch's Heritage Foundation Project 2025 could still dismantle the entire Executive Branch - repeople it and repurpose it to administer a corporate-clerical fascist state in the Hungarian model.
So confounding and depressing to see Biden's achievements, esp on behalf of the middle class, fail to resonate -- esp. with the middle class. Is it because Fox has such a hold on them?
Remember, Fox News has a viewership of under 5 million people, at every and any given moment. That is all, and LESS than 1.5% of the US population. Similarly, every other cable and legacy news outlet has less viewers, but totaled together, far outnumber the viewership of Fox.
Every major poll shows Biden moving forward, though often still in the so-called margin-of-error. But the key is this: Democrats have the recent history of winning EVERY statewide vote in ALL of the vital states, except for one. ONLY in GA., have Republicans won the latest Governor election. All others have voted Democratic for the since 2018 in AZ, WI, MI, MN, PA, and FOUR elections for Senate in GA., (all won by Dems)
This is true for more than a DECADE in WI., MN., MI and PA - all of the so-called "swing states" - but the fact is that these states are not at all "swingy."
Then, we look at the quality of campaigns within EVERY vital state, and Democrats have advantages in ALL aspects of elections: fundraising; statewide political party cohesion; quality of candidates for the Presidency AND the US Senate. In fact, in every one of these key states, the incumbent Democratic Senators ALL have advantages of experience and money and campaign apparatus. For example, in PA., the Republican candidate for Senate is a resident of .... Westport, CT. !!! Dem Sen Bob Casey is very well liked in PA. In AZ, Republican Kerry Lake faces legal challenges and is despised by a large swath of ... Republican voters. While AZ voters are facing the legal onslaught on an 1850s law regarding their reproductive freedom! WHICH side has the anger and the money of women and allies on their side??? WE DO!
Voters will have the opportunity to vote IN FAVOR of reproductive freedom in AZ, FL, AND OH. The turnout and energy of the women's "and allies" vote will be HISTORIC for these referendum votes, because they have been since the fall of abortion rights.
Rather than worry and be fearful of the dwindling conservative authoritarian movement, the fear is on the right - fear of losing FL AND NC, as well as the recent Democratic Party victories in GA., AZ., PA., WI., MN., and MI.
Were one to look at recent history and current campaigns, we ought to be celebrating and active in every way possible - and not lose sleep. Sleep well, my friends - and then stay active
13 million unregistered women trend heavily Democratic. Register them and save democracy.
https://www.fieldteam6.org/actions
By the people
https://yadontknow.blogspot.com/2021/01/by-people.html
The GOP has been fighting to win the abortion fight for so long they don't know how to take the win and run with it.
Their solutions are ridiculously extreme like total abortion bans including rape and incest. They then refuse to pass the child care extension credit which has already resulted in tens of thousands of children to fall into poverty. They have tried to enlist far right judges to outlaw mifepristone and have been trying to figure out how to outlaw contraceptives as well.
They have essentially legalized rape in TX by refusing to even process rape kits. Under the current governor rape prosecutions are 1/3 of what they were before he took office.
Women have had to travel hundreds of miles to receive health care and OB/GYN residencies have dropped like a rock in these states.
The Democrats need to go after the state legislative positions replacing the dead beat dim-bulb Republicans.
This issue will turn the tide. Women of all parties and religions are terrified and freaking pissed off. The "Party of Small Government" has jettisoned whatever libertarian elements it held and is forcing an extreme fringe religious attitude on all American families. It is as invasive as it gets. American women have proven in several contests in several states since Dobbs that they won't let this stand.
In my happiest of dreams the referendums in FL and AZ will help turn these states another color. May the dreams become reality.
Bill, thanks for writing this. WHEN the damn US govt gets over its obsession to CONTROL female bodies AND pay attention to the country’s actual BUSINESS, we will ALL be a lot better off. And then maybe incest and rape will ALSO become less if an obsession for stupid men and male family members. As an incest survivor, IM JUST PISSED OFF with the male attention all females get - including the ENTIRE Supreme Court - Shame on them! We the women HAD IT figured out in 1973. SO just leave us alone!!!
https://www.grapevine.org/giving-circle/1XQhnyD/Tending-to-Democracy
The above is a Giving Circle started by a group from this community and a part of The States Project. Please consider joining.
There are so many reasons to dislike Abbott - why not add rape to the list? Texans are irrationally locked onto the R by his name... surely they could find a better candidate. Maybe not - these are the folks that brought us W and Rick Perry... wow. What happened to the kind of Texans that elected Ann Richards and LBJ? Will they show up for Allred?
The abortion issue is so bi-laterally popular, I suggest a coalition of everyone who wants personal freedom and autonomy to vote out authoritarians, extremists, and butt heads at every level of gummint.
Gary Loft, I don't think the GOP ever actually wanted to get rid of legal abortion. The real Republicans saw the reality that anti-abortion activists in the religious right were a tiny minority. Republicans were warned that they were playing with fire when they started making campaign promises to attract those people; campaign promises they had no intention of fulfilling.
Then they lost control of the crazies.
I don't disagree Mary Ellen.
2020 presidential margins and 2022 House and Senate margins, refute Frederick's misleading assemblage.* His irrational exuberance recalls the lulling, gulling, and ultimately devastating 2016 "He can't win. She can't lose." Fortunately neither the Biden campaign nor the Democratic party seem inclined to repeat that mistake. Neither should disgruntled potential Democratic voters sit on their hands or indulge in purity tests, pipe dreams, or Pied Pipers. Republican voters will be united. RFKJR, Stein et al and the voters who love them are ready to reelect Trump.
*In 2020, for instance: Wisconsin was ultimately won by Biden by a narrow 0.63% margin over Trump, a far closer margin than expected; Biden ultimately won Arizona by some 10,000 votes over Trump, a 0.3% margin; Biden ultimately carried Michigan by 2.78%, a far closer margin than expected; in Pennsylvania although Trump had won the state in 2016 by a narrow margin of 0.72%, Biden was able to reclaim the state, winning it by a similarly narrow 1.17% margin; and Biden ultimately carried Minnesota by a 7.12% margin, improving over Hillary Clinton's narrow 1.52% margin in 2016. 1 out of 4.
In 2022, *NY* helped give Republicans the House.
I really can't refute each of Frederick's misstatements. There are too many.
"The remarkable staying power of populist governments—thanks in part to their willingness to bend the rule of law—is a warning to America." (Yascha Mounk)
We are wise to heed your warnings. This is no time to be complacent and we should never forget that polls told us that Hillary was going to win by margins greater than a few points. But...
Frederick's optimism has a basis. Sentiment is shifting. The first shift was seismic. Dobbs. The country is in a state of outrage over the loss of reproductive rights and the continuing stories of women's health (and babies) nightmares as a result of Dobbs and the horrific laws it enabled.
The second shift is the hobbling of Trump. There is no way that the hard core MAGA robots will change their minds - even if he took an AK-47 to Fifth Avenue and unleashed it's terror. But there are millions of Americans who are witnessing the decomposition of a demagogue. Millions of Independents (the largest group of voters) and "moderate" Republicans are either disillusioned or disgusted by a sleepy, farting old Jabba the Hut who can't make a speech that makes any sense. I have a neighbor who can't vote for Biden. But he can't vote for Trump either. And he has no information or interest in a third party fool. He will probably leave those boxes blank or just stay home. I predict the "stay home" factor will be significant.
My optimism is based on the power of women and those of us who support them. My optimism is based on the fact that every figure in history like Trump has found his demise. And Trump's self destructive tendencies will outweigh his tactical appeal to the nutcases and bigots.
But we certainly should be setting off the alarm bells about what a Trump 2.0 would mean. We certainly should not relax. We certainly should be spreading the word to those "persuadables" what Project 2025 would mean for this nation and the world.
As Hubbell always says: "We have every reason to be optimistic - but not complacent." Much work to do.
Kudos! You are almost sounding like Simon Rosenberg!
Simon gets it!
The numbers are ... the facts
No. They have a hold on Fox. If Fox doesn’t say things they like, they will switch to something even worse. Breitbart, Newsmax, etc. MAGA voters know what they want: a government that will preserve the systemic advantages of white Americans. They know Republicans will do everything they can to preserve those systemic advantages, and Democrats won’t. This is not a matter of nefarious media or nefarious candidates, though Fox and Republican politicians certainly fill that bill. It is a matter of upwards 74 million Americans that the world would be a better place without. We can outvote them, just barely, but it will require all hands to be on deck.
I don't think that body of American conservative, somewhat white evangelical nationalist, has been the driving force of Fox. Fox has and is run by well heeled political influencers. they have long had a symbiotic relationship with the body of opinion they've cultivated. (spelling edits)
Yes. But Fox cannot make a profit without the bulk of white Americans watching them day and night. The Republican Party works the same way. They use racist campaigns to get elected, and they deliver racist legislation, but they are controlled by oligarchs who get tax cuts and business deregulation. Those are their primary mission. The racism is just marketing.
I follow Simon Rosenberg, a data-driven,long-term Dem strategist who accurately predicted the GOP would not have a red wave in 2022. Simon provides(increasingly optimistic) data while suggesting action items so we can “do more, worry less.”
https://www.hopiumchronicles.com/p/keep-making-calls-for-ukraine-more?r=fqsxl&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web
I live in a red, Florida county.Every single one of my elected officials is GOP.
I’ve been wearing a Biden/Harris t-shirt ( I’ll soon be alternating with Vote Yes on Amendment 4 t)when I do grocery shopping/errands since February.I’ve not had a single negative commemt or conversation! Wear a t-shirt, start a conversation…and of course, always be kind.👕🛒
🌊🌊🌊
Susan, Though my intent is to understand and not to judge, were I among the substantial swath of the population who for generations had voted for Democrats all the while not seeing substantial changes taking place in my community, I likely would not relate to a recitation of Biden’s achievements. My point is that I question whether Democratic leadership effectively has reached out to where the trouble is in this country, trouble that MAGA Republicans are stoking, and show, particularly for those who doubt Democrats care about their struggles, that they (Democrats) can work on legitimate issues and grievances.
MAGA are visceral. Nothing more ironic than a MAGA on SSI. Republicans want to kill it. Nothing like SSA retirement beneficiaries voting to "sunset" their own income. Same for Medicare. Food stamps. VA benefits. Black Lung.
Daniel, My reply to Susan is unrelated to the MAGA cult. I was trying to make sense of her understandable dismay as to why Biden’s achievements are not connecting with a swath of America’s “ middle class.”
It’s important to LISTEN to each of those voters and HEAR their issues before telling them how/if they are benefiting from Biden’s great achievements.
President Obama started thinking about his second term from his first day in office. He was determined to not be a one term president. W did as well given the fact that his dad suffered that fate.
We are now playing catch up because President Biden has just recently focused on his second term. Joe has always had the connection with unions but Democrats had yielded too much ground there in prior years perhaps underestimating their future impact.
We are now behind in campaigning and campaigning to the demographic of everyday people. We need to engage but not waste time on the hardest minds to change.
Talk and listen to independents in states like NC and FL as well as all the usual swing state suspects. Find out their objections and use these Letters from professor HCR as reference material.
Citizens are busy but they care. They have not been given point by point arguments. In that absence, the vacuum has been filled. If every reader of these letters does this multiple times it will result in the 500,000 swing vote margin needed for a substantial win. Expect a 15 percent success rate and talk to seven potential voters. We still have time to catch up but it will be neither easy nor automatic but it will be worth the effort.
Huff, Please note my reply to Susan was my attempt better to understand why Biden has not adequately connected with a broader range of everyday Americans. If there is any merit to my thinking, I suggest we sit with it for a bit before rushing to remedies.
Lies are easier to spread.
Democrats are not great at messaging.
Democrats are as good at messaging as Republicans. The difference is that the Democratic message requires subtlety and nuance while the Republican message only requires dog whistles like “woke.”
You are so right. I remember my former (sigh) senator Al Franken saying, when asked why Dems are lousy at messaging, "Because Dems are hampered by little things like facts, which are nuanced and boring." However, some do manage better than others. Bill Clinton was pretty good, and even though I didn't support him, Bernie Sanders could and did put out good sound bytes.
Ask yourself why you didn't support Bernie Sanders. He's been speaking truths for a long time now, including on the Gaza war, which, unfortunately, is dragging Democrats down. He spent the best years of his life attacking our drift toward corporatism, and I think he was correct.
I miss Al Franken.
Bernie's spokespeople were just awful though. I could never understand why he surrounded himself with some of the worst people like Briahna Joy Gray. Even Dave Sirota who ironically made a movie about people looking everywhere but up has spent the entirety of his career focusing his gaze on those "awful" Democrats instead of on the fascists and new confederates in the Republican party.
Rex- The Marist poll released today has Biden = 43% and Trump = 38%. The rest are for RFK JR, Jill Stein and a couple onhers.
I have been commenting on all of the Trump stories in Newsweek and AOL about Don Snoreleone and the Marist poll.
Many other libs are also commenting. Don Snoreleone, the poll and 22 million unemployed under Trump are my dog whistles.
The Magas are so thinned skinned.
First, let me say that I love the Don Snoreleone moniker. Next to OJ (short for Orange Jesus), it's my favorite. Keep hammering, Gary. Could help, can't hurt. Easy to get Magas worked into a blind rage. They like to talk about owning liberals, but it's just another aspect of their most common behavior trait: projection.
Exactly!!
You can't fit a moral argument on a bumper sticker.
This has been my song for 8 years. The messaging was so good in the Obama campaign -- I can't figure out why it's not better now.
President Biden doesn’t communicate well, especially surprising given his folksy, down-to-earth image. He should get away from campaign speeches. Talk to people as people. Use a FDR-esque fireside chat approach. Start with the Right’s biggest issues: the economy, nagging inflation, and the border. Explain where we are, why the problems continue, and what he’s trying to do about them. I, for example, don’t know what he’s trying to do about the continuing massive wave of immigrants beyond wanting Congress to enact legislation rather than the White House issuing EOs (an idea I most heartily endorse, but which isn’t going to happen with the likes of this Congress) and wanting more judges to handle the impossible case load (what about taming that case load itself?).
President Biden was born left handed, The nuns made him learn to write right handed. Therefore he was using the wrongside of his brain and developed a stutter. His mother held him back a grade as she says in her book when he was VP. Obama was born left handed. The nuns also taught him . They did not change his hand. He is a great orator.
If you go to a public place you will most often see FOX news being played on the TV. When I see that I usually ask for another channel. Many TV’s are set up with FOX as the default channel when it is turned on.
I do too! No one seems to be watching it half the time, but the chyron keeps on scrolling across the bottom, so even in a noisy airport bar there is a kind of brainwashing going on. The chyron often doesn't reflect what is being said in the interview. I remember some Fox person interviewing Dick Cheney, early in the Biden presidency, and he was blaming Biden for something he didn't do. Maybe the failure in Afghanistan. The interviewer was pushing back (for a change) saying, "all due respect, it was your administration that took us into Afghanistan . . . " and Cheney ignored her. Several times she repeated that he, not Biden, had gotten us into that unwinnable war . But the chyron scrolled over and over -- Cheney: Biden responsible for war in Afghanistan . . .
If you are looking for a good republicans, good luck. Also FOX is on the TV screen all the time in military bases.
Yes Susan I believe Fox has a very strong grip on middle age and older people. Sadly it is their only news source
Let’s not go there, lin. I think we are on a roll right now and people are paying attention. We finally got the 3 foreign country aid we were seeking. We, at least, have Trump in trial now. Hoping that the prosecution brings the results we all seek and that the jury pays attention. You are the expert on all things Leonard Leo and I believe wholeheartedly that along with these trials, we will see his exposure and these billionaires shenanigans more frequently. We cannot go down that rabbit hole. I can’t let you.
ThankYou. To me the facts are a spur not a weight. I knew Trump was going to win in 2016. I don't want a replay.
Lin, could you please tell me/us how you knew Trump was going to win? I was just so gob-smacked when it happened, that I'm still not over it. Maybe it was my long held opinion of Trump which blinded me: "a habitual Loser". I hate being so darned wrong. Help me out, please.
People don’t require facts to place a vote, propaganda via TV works just fine. Trump won because of Fox News voters, James Comey’s last minute interference and Hilary’s failure to connect with those not already solidly in her base
and Putin...
I was comatose for 3 full days. Didn’t get out of bed until my husband literally had to convince me to do so.
You're giving me a rash! Just when I was starting to develop a shred of hope and optimism with positive momentum towards blue in the polls, you quench it with the vision of a red trifecta in November. Shame on you for speaking the cold, hard truth of potential disaster. With the springing of spring, I want hope to spring anew and eternal! My poor shriveled spirit can hardly take the tug-of-war that promises to be our whole political season of 2024. It'll be the height of irony if the most dysfunctional congress in history in parallel with one of the most productive and successful presidential terms in modern history would produce a red wave, but this is the time of unforeseen consequences, so being strung out between hope and terror may be the most appropriate place to be.
Get over it and get to work.
Lin, I have posted here a number of times my anthem that keeps me going:
Jackson Browne’s Til I Go Down: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bmzimxfqgfw
The Great Jackson Browne, the social conscience of the last several generations!
Barbara Keating,
I listened to "Til I Go Down" by one of my very favorites, Jackson Brown...THANK YOU!!!!! It is a great anthem to encourage us never to stop. I love this country with all the good and all the opportunities ....to embrace the challenges before us!!!
"I'm still standin!!!"
We should not rest laurels, in other words, right?
Hard to read/think all these words… and yet I’m not wishing for surprises from the trumpian/purchased by billionaires w set pieces paid for …
"Was you ever bit by a dead bee?" (Eddie (Walter Brennan), To Have and Have Not)
Biden's problems are not only from the right, they are from America's youth, from the left and Climate activists.
'The so-called Finish the Job Youth Agenda is a laundry list of liberal causes. Devised by the leaders of prominent progressive groups like the Sunrise Movement, March for Our Lives, United We Dream Action and Gen-Z for Change, it calls for a permanent and immediate ceasefire in Gaza and the West Bank; rejecting new oil, gas and coal projects and ensuring the U.S. reaches 100% clean energy by 2035; and providing free healthcare and affordable housing to people affected by climate disasters, among other Democratic priorities like increasing standards for gun ownership, expanding DACA and stopping construction on a border wall.'
'The agenda is both an olive branch and an ultimatum for the embattled Democratic President. The activists’ message to Biden was clear: take the concerns of young voters seriously, or risk losing their votes in 2024.'
“This is a literal roadmap to how you build trust and energy among our generation in a critical election year,” said Michele Weindling, political director of the Sunrise Movement, which advocates for action on climate change. “Let us help you, dude.” (Time) See link below.
https://time.com/6852859/finish-the-job-agenda-biden-youth-activists/
'Biden’s Biggest Challenges to Reelection—Immigration, Gaza, and Even the Economy
Age isn’t the only hurdle for him to avoid becoming the 12th president to fail to win a second term' (BostonUniversityToday)
Tops among the issues he has to tackle: immigration, Gaza, and the economy, all of which have shown up in the results of several early primaries.
With immigration and the war in Gaza, Biden appears to be caught in damned-if-he-does, damned-if-he-doesn’t scenarios, taking hits from both Republicans and many on the more liberal side of his own party. The robust economy is less of an issue for what may be wrong with it—not much, in most experts’ views—than for the fact that many Americans think it’s bad and refuse to give his administration any credit for its actual strength.
An incumbent (or previous) president has failed to win reelection 11 times in history, the last in 2020 when Trump lost to Biden. We asked some Boston University faculty experts in American politics and the presidency, foreign policy, and government affairs to assess how Biden can deal with these three key issues to avoid becoming the 12th.
Immigration
Trump and his minions are making plenty of hay out of what is, from any perspective, a big mess at our southern border, with thousands of migrants arriving every week from Central America and elsewhere.
Although Republican rhetoric is laced with racism and lies about the criminal character of the migrants, the sheer numbers of arrivals spreading out across the United States makes this a legit issue, and Biden seems to be hardening his approach. Many on the left, on the other hand, think asylum seekers deserve a more sympathetic response.
Thomas Whalen, a College of General Studies associate professor of social sciences, who specializes in 19th- and 20th-century American social and political history, says Biden isn’t the one to blame.
“I think here we see where the paralysis in Congress is having its greatest impact, because presidents can’t do everything under our constitutional order,” says Whalen, who has written several books on sports and society. “We don’t elect kings every four years. Biden is constrained by the rule of law, and Congress has shown a decided inability [or unwillingness] to act on this issue, at least on the Republican side. This is, from their point of view, a winning issue.”
Whalen notes that Republicans in both houses of Congress abandoned a bipartisan deal that was brokered earlier, because politically it would be damaging to their base, or at least cost the support of the base.
“To me this is the problem with American government right now,” Whalen says. “We are living in an ungovernable country, and it’s at a crisis point. He needs congressional action and he’s not gonna get it.”
The president might take extraordinary measures through executive order to close the border, he says, “but then he will be seen as desperate—it will be seen as a pure political move, and he’ll lose a good part of his liberal democratic base. So it’s a lose-lose on Biden’s part.”
The one thing he can do on the issue, Whalen says, is to follow President Harry Truman’s playbook from 1948 and run against a “do-nothing Congress.” (BUToday) See link below.
https://www.bu.edu/articles/2024/bidens-biggest-challenges-to-reelection/
College/University students, progressive organizations and Arab Americans...are not the only voters to protest Biden's ironclad support for Israel's war against Hamas in Gaza.
'A spokesperson for Google confirmed it had fired more workers after continuing its investigation into the April 16 protests, which included sit-ins at Google’s offices in New York City and Sunnyvale, Calif.'
'The firings come several days after chief executive Sundar Pichai told employees in a companywide memo that they should not use the company as a “personal platform” or “fight over disruptive issues or debate politics.”
“The corporation is attempting to quash dissent, silence its workers and reassert its power over them,” said Jane Chung, a spokesperson for No Tech for Apartheid, a group that has protested Google’s and Amazon’s contracts with the Israeli government since 2021.'
Police arrest pro-Palestinian protesters at NYU, Yale
'On April 22, dozens were arrested at New York University and Yale as tensions flared again on campuses over the Israel-Gaza war.'
'The protests at Google are among a wave of opposition to the U.S. government and corporations working with the Israeli government and military. Pro-Palestinian protesters have been arrested in recent days at Yale and Columbia universities, spurring accusations of heavy-handedness by university officials and inspiring another wave of demonstrations at other colleges around the country. The day before the Google sit-ins, activists blocked highways, bridges and airport entrances across the United States to protest the war in Gaza.'
'At Google, the situation has become a public fight between Google managers and the fired employees. Google says that each worker it fired actively disrupted its offices, while the workers dispute the claims, saying some of those fired did not even enter the company’s office on the day of coordinated demonstrations against the company.' (WAPO) See link below. Sorry that I have run out of the gifted option.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2024/04/18/google-fired-nimbus-israel-palestine?itid=sr_1_00d0c84a-61fe-487d-8f73-5ec8732cd6b2
Fern,
Netanyahu is using our complicated relationship with Israel. As long as he can stay in office, by any means...he holds off his problems of being made accountable for his own crimes....he serves himself above all else! (like someone else we know within our own country)
I am very grateful for all we can do for the Palestinians. The destruction of my fellow human beings ....no matter color of skin, or faith ...or no faith...as they are simply trying to survive....is wrong!!!!
President Biden is a good man with this huge issue he and his team are working on....of course those who want to see our country taken over by a very weak person, who wants to make himself dictator of the USA to please his mentor, PUTIN.....are watching and waiting. Wisdom has never been needed more to deal wisely and thoughtfully regarding this issue.
Google needs to "cool off" and be reminded that it has been offered great opportunities and success due to starting out in "the land of the free and the home of the brave".
We should be able to deal civilly with this issue. We must not let our enemies destroy us.
Thank you for your response, Emily. I am familiar with Bibi Netanyahu, his father's political history and B. Netanyahu's support for Hamas before, October 7, as well as his policies with reference to the Palestinians, the settlers and the West Bank. Biden is in a difficult position with reference to continuing military funding to Israel without conditions at this time. Respect for Biden and his many important accomplishments does eliminate areas where analysis of some of his polices results in criticism.
What Biden has done in trying to reverse trickledown, increase union membership (revive the middle class), try to keep BIBI on a leash until Israelis can vote him out, try to keep engines turning while weaning US off oil, keeping an excellent team together, and reminding me of Der Alte, and walking us out of the pandemic should be enough to get him re-elected. He is a good human being with, quite literally, the weight of the world on his shoulders. How to explain to “the young” that presidents are human beings and that presidents of democracies (remember, most have had no history or civics classes and too many have never had a vacation with pay) are no stronger than their representatives?
But I do hope Biden and Buttigieg will learn about trains from France and do some for US!
In other words, “if you don’t support OUR (impossible to achieve in Congress) agenda, WE’LL make sure that the alternative takes the job
I do not understand your comment Dave Dalton. It cannot be as simpleminded as it sounds.
First of all, thanks for the gentle backhanded rebuke. I know you meant it kindly
My comment addresses those special interest “single issue” groups (that may have legitimate concerns) creating an atmosphere of opposition to an otherwise capable leader, holding their overall support hostage until they (each individual group) gets their own way; as their myopia prevents them from addressing the remaining myriad of issues that created hundreds of other problems
They dismiss the cause and effect of implementing “their”agenda, as if once they get their way, everything becomes “settled”
Does that help you better understand?
Ah, so you speak for 'them', all of 'them', Dave Dalton, and 'they' all think alike.
Good morning lin-
I'm not a big fan of polls, but the latest Marist poll has Biden leading Trump 43% - 38%. It also include RFK Jr, Jill Stein et.al.
As long as things keep trending in this direction and Don Snoreleone spends his days in court (and then in jail for contempt) momentum should stay in Biden's direction.
If Biden could push the Senate’s bipartisan border bill it would take away one last GOP talking (actually, shouting) point. It had/has strong backing from a broad ideological swath of legislators, organizations and the electorate. Hard to know what Trump would talk about if it passed and resources started flowing to the border.
A good example of Biden ineptitude is his refusal to take executive action at the border. When homeland secretary Myorkas was asked why Biden has not taken executive action, he responded that it wouldn’t hold up in court. That, my friends is failed leadership of Joe Biden and that one single issue may cost hm the election. Amazing how stupid and thickheaded a person can an be.
What Ex O’s do you believe would work and hold up with the Gang of Six
Not the point. Just do it so it can’t be used against him. That’s how politics works.
Do what, exactly?
It was directly to your statement above
lin, Often when I read you accurately portraying a perennial struggle with far-right Republicans over big issues likely never to be fixed or to go away, my mind turns to the metaphor of a hole inside a boat. The hole, likewise, never is going to be fixed nor is it ever going away.
If I may, I presume, as part of this thread, where you write, “Get over it and get to work,” I imagine you’re saying that what we have to do is bail water out faster than it’s coming in.
What leak?
Daniel, The hole in the boat is a metaphor akin, in my view, both to lin’s original comment and to certain of his replies throughout this thread.
Incorporation by reference to an allegation minus facts. An inference based on an inference is a nullity.
Need the stars to be in line to completely resolve most political problems. This is the time to unite to kill the dragon.
Daniel, I believe we “resolve most political problems” by showing a willingness to work jointly on legitimate issues and grievances.
. . . "while Republicans have repeatedly been caught touting the internal improvements they voted against." "More irrationality than usual" for sure. Crazy is more like it.
I'm hoping your are overly pessimistic.
Yes I agree Annabel!!Joe Biden is a great president!!Vote👍💙💙💙!!!
✅️✅️✅️
I’m all for bi-partisanship so long as we don’t lose what helped President Biden win: the continuation of New Deal progressive policies which are popular with most Americans and aimed toward restoring the balance of wealth and power between the wealthy people & their corporations and of regular citizens. It’s the imbalance which destabilizes democracy.
We have a lot of Conservative Republican Never Trumper voices influencing people away from extremism, but their unpopular legislations which were designed to help the wealthy, their greedy corporations, and their supportive religions gain control over government and mainstream society which caused this imbalance of power that currently threatens Democracy. It was their greed and desperation which lead them to use dirty tactics like creating these culture wars to begin and which are destroying lives.
Many young people from all walks of life are being lead towards Conservatism - pro force birth, pro defined gender roles, etc but don’t see the unpopular goals hiding behind the influencers pushing the movement.
For example, men want women to stay home and take care of them, their children, and their aging parents, their home, and be the “masters of their castle”. This was the norm for generations until women got sick of being powerless socially, legally, politically etc because they were often forced to remain in unhappy, vulnerable, and downright abusive situations. There were a number of ways men and women could both have gotten what they wanted without causing such dramatic social changes, but thanks to power hungry wealthy white men forbidding women to vote and have legal & social protections, etc, women were forced to fight for change and gain independence. This one-sided change made it dangerous for today’s women who choose to stay home and raise families, because it makes them vulnerable if something goes wrong and they need to leave a marriage and work outside the home. This is Conservativism - the conservation of the socioeconomic hierarchy which keeps Wealthy White men at the top at any cost.
This is why racism still has a stronghold in America. This is why religions are allowed to interfere in politics and not pay taxes. This is why people who don’t fit into the narrow and suffocating roles in Conservative society get ostracized and worse.
Liberalism never forced people into roles they didn’t choose. It only allowed tolerant breathing room for people who couldn’t fit into “traditional” roles or who found themselves outside those roles due to circumstances outside their control - like women suddenly needing to support themselves and their families.
We must still be careful about who we choose to support during these challenging & changing times.
https://www.oliverexplains.com/p/never-never-trump-fascism-architects?r=73vlo&utm_medium=ios&triedRedirect=true
When Homeland secretary Mayorkas was recently interviewed and asked why Biden didn’t take executive action on the border he responded that it wouldn’t hold up in court. That was a failed response and unfortunately Biden may pay an extreme price for his folly.
It is nice to hear that some Republicans realize how impotent Congress is. Some ar acknowledging the fact that some are scumbags with little morals. Now if they only would vote by facts and not by pressure. They need to vote for what their constituents would want and benefit by and not just for being accepted as "one of the guys."
I cannot imagine any politician at the federal level other than Biden having the skill, savvy, experience and maturity to pull off what he has. And I strongly disagree with the man on many issues, fortunately I am not seeking a hero or messiah. Vote Biden 2024.
that, and gaining large majorities in Congress this fall. The next step needs to be fixing the Supreme Court. Either expulsion for severe ethics violations and accepting money for favorable outcomes (bribes), or packing or un-packing the court, depending on how you view it.
Perfectly said!