With the passage of the national security supplemental bill through the House of Representatives on Saturday, Punchbowl News noted today, President Joe Biden became the winner of this Congress.
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.
Agree with your statement that Biden is the winner of the Congress, but on behalf of programs that benefit the American people, the middle class, the environment, the economy, jobs, student debt, and the firewall against authoritarianism and Russian aggression that is Ukraine’s fight.
He’s winning, but for the team. Trump only likes winners, he has said. His heroes don’t get captured, unlike war hero John McCain.
I feel a moment of severe reckoning coming for DJT, as his stock plummets and the courtroom fills with a symbolic fetid air.
He’s going to look up and see he’s been defeated yet again by an actual winner, a man who pulled through personal tragedies to keep serving his country, to remind us of the greater generations from whence we came.
Unfortunately, Ryan...the stock is not plummeting...And I have been hopefully watching. Yesterday it closed at $35.50, still $18.00 over the bonus switch which would give A-hole another $2billion in paper value. It is up $13.00 from early last week, when I was starting to hope. Putting yourself into a possible short squeeze against such powerful money takes guts and a bigger wallet than most of us have, even together. DJT Stock is being upheld by the folks supporting tRump...Those $$$ should have been paid in taxes to the USA, rather than shoring up this fantasy stock. Yes, we can beat the Muffin, and it will be in court and the polls.
I’m thinking the tRump-Kushner team shorted their own stock . . .they knew it was failing at $5Mil and merging with an empty shell wouldn’t magically make it worth $5Bil! The entire thing is suspect on a criminal level. And somewhere in this, I suspect there is money laundering.
I don't think so Dawna, why would they short last week, when tRump was close to the $17.00 mark for DJT...that means he was ready to throw away $2Bill. There are definitely upcoming processes on this whole thing (in my view), and hopefully he'll loses it all.
It's a pretty stark choice, isn't it? President Biden, who has been responsible for meaningful change that benefits the majority of Americans now and moving into the future, versus a man who is sitting at a defendant's table in New York in the first of several trials. It's also a choice between Democratic Congress, which not only has sent much-needed legislation to Biden for his signature AND has helped Speaker Johnson -- a unique moment in history -- versus a do-nothing Republican House of Dysfunction.
Most of the things that folks think fondly of re the Drumpf time were the results of Pelosis House. The direct payments to people during the pandemic, for example. Eviction moratoria.
And the Fed holding interest rates at zero long after it ceased to do any good.
Imo the best thing that could happen for the economy is for the fed to stop pretending their interest rate policy does what they think it does.
They're still trying to suppress wages and increase unemployment.
Any idea how and why Johnson let the aid package for Ukraine up for a vote? His mission was to stall it so long until the Sauron in the Kremlin could take Ukraine. Johnson will have to answer to his wealthy Russian donors and to Rump for this, which could mean that he is more afraid of something else…. Getting ousted as Speaker, perhaps?
Dutch Mike, from what I had read he gets high-level classified briefings, as Speaker. They brought Pompeo in to explain to him the situation, and what would happen should Ukraine fall. That was sobering, and convincing enough to make him change his mind.
I must say I'm really surprised. I thought that Putin had, via Rump and his donors, grabbed Johnson by the balls, and made very clear that he had to do everything in his power to keep Zelensky from getting aid, which would effectively mean delivering Ukraine to Putin. Plus, I thought that Johnson didn't care one rat's posterior about what that would mean to Ukraine, and by extension, to Europe.
I'd say that was the common assumption. I'd also say that Johnson is probably a fan boy of fellow outspoken Christian Pompeo, and that's what got him to see the light, but that's only speculation on my part.
This is pure speculation, but perhaps a deal was struck behind the scenes that Dems would back him if he is up for a vote in exchange for being reasonable.
Yes Matt, I think that's exactly what happened. I think he got fed up with his caucus of chaos dangling their threat of removing him. Now the Dems are needed even more, as with Gallagher's resignation he only has a single vote to spare, as the count is now 218 Rs to 214 Ds.
The fact that the US has funded Israel and their military for the last 70+ years?
Joe Biden has been President for 3 a half of those.
The US relationship with Israel is fraught with poor choices and worse outcomes, but it cannot all be hung on Joe Biden with a snide moniker worthy of an impudent teenager.
I hope you can do better, but it may require thinking first.
One reason the Gaza massacre hangs heavy on Joe is due to his deep connection to AIPAC. It makes him more suspect in his condoning and financing the Israeli obliteration of Gaza and Palestinians. Biden has taken more money from AIPAC than any other U.S. politician. Per opensecrets.org, the amount is: $3.45 Million+. Of course, Biden is far from being alone in U.S. Politicians taking money from AIPAC. (Didn't Trump get $87 Million from Sheldon Adelson for moving the U.S. Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem?) Big money in politics. It seems like the end of us.
You are implying that President Biden could turn the bottomless (and I do mean bottomless) hatred between the Palestinian People (and I don't mean some enlightened individuals) and the Israeli People around? and, in doing so would abandon a group of countries in the region who have become allies (or have been allies). If there is genocide playing out in Gaza and the West Bank, then the single prime person at fault is Bibi Netanyahu. Yes the US Military/Industrial complex supplies weapons, but it has a long term obligation with Israel to do so...and US needs to be ever so careful about abandoning any ally at this time, or any time. Michele, I do hear your frustration in this...take heart in the 100,000 of Israelis demonstrating against Bibi. Maybe he will finally go to jail.
Michele. Please provide your alternative. Keeping in mind that Donald Trump has a settlement named after him in occupied territory. Trump's moving the US embassy to contested Jerusalem and his Abrahamic Accords - leaving out the Palestinians - worsened the situation. Now the Trump faction is speaking of bulldozing the Negev desert to build camps for displaced Palestinians, while developing waterfront property in Gaza.
The Hamas atrocities and the Netanyahu regime's disproportionate response are bringing out the worst on both sides. So Biden is navigating between those who cry antisemitism at any criticism of Israeli policy and those who cry genocide at any support of Israel.
The Biden administration can be rightly faulted on some of the arms shipments to Israel - but even without those the Netanyahu regime has no shortage of weapons nor does Iranian backed Hamas.
Biden has always been a strong supporter of Israel and an outspoken critic of Israeli policy in the Occupied Territories. For decades. He has never been a fan of Netanyahu. While diplomatic efforts are struggling to find a workable response to belligerents who don't want to stop fighting.
This is an outstanding summary of the rock and hard place of the current mid-east situation. As a WASP I have been pro-Jewish since early teens (mine, not the 2000’s:-) I’m only a bit older than Israel and have been pro-Israel since I knew what that meant. I believe that Hamas’ stated aim of “killing all the Jews” is *monstrously* vile and inhumane. Jews believe and know that people saying that really mean it.
AND. I also think that Israel’s response has been completely disproportionate. Their killing of children and other noncombatants would make them a pariah state were they any other country.
AND, I don’t have any pat solution, other than getting rid (politically) of Netanyahu. I’m neither a political scientist nor diplomat nor foreign service officer. My simple request is that *neither* Israel nor Palestine be wiped off the earth. Why can’t people see the simple truth (to me anyhow) that if I go to all the houses in my town and kill 80% of the people with black hair who eat beef, all their children and relatives will be heading to my neighborhood to kill all the people with white hair who eat fish. And shortly thereafter the redheads (vegetarians) and brunettes (omnivores) will be weighing in, and we’ll have no town, no county, no state or country. That’s what the Middle East looks like to me.
Israel behaves this way because Jewish lobby has bought political leadership on both sides of the isle and we have given Israel (and yes I said “ given”) a green light to ethnicity cleanse Arabs from their lands through the decades. It’s a sad and sorry historical fact that most American Jews can’t reconcile themselves to understand. But it’s so.
Your focus on Jewish lobbies is misleading, at best. Your assertions are misinformed. The Netanyahu regime acts this way in part because they have the support of right wing American Jews and Christians
Despite the fact that significant numbers of Israeli and American Jews actively oppose it. And in context of state actors and terrorist organizations determined to destroy the Jewish state.
Heather here well captures the momentum Dems have -- which the adults in the room have.
But two-thirds in, she also notes many of the ways the children have for continuing their hysteria -- at the state level, at the level of universities. And it's here, locally, across the U.S., that we can see it's really the dark money billionaires still nefariously at work. Heritage. ALEC. Claremont. And many more of the also dark money far-right foundations also colluding to destroy democracy, to take away women's and others' rights, to push for petty theocrats who push tyrannical packaging wholesale.
Heather's got it correct, on target, how Republicans in Washington are in disarray, led by white trash idiots like Marble Mouth Marge and philanderer of young girls Matt Gaetz.
But she also well concludes with the beginning of the trial of the fat orange guy trying crookedly to steal an earlier election. And good for Heather here, because she fingers again, exactly, perfectly, how it's the adults in the room we can count on.
Phil, It feels like momentum is shifting and supporting those who are actually attempting to govern on behalf of a broad spectrum of Americans not just those with money, power, and loud voices. You’ve called some of the offending parties out by name and I’m in agreement with you. I refuse to become complacent about the election because of the attempt to steal voting rights in some states. Vigilance on all of our parts will be required to ensure the proper outcome. Kudos to HCR for yet another good letter!
OK, Gary, what do I do now with the term I'd been using for the Speaker of the House?
I had been referring to Mike Johnson as Howdy Doody -- for his clownish attempts to curry favor with Marble Mouth Marge, girl philanderer Matt Gaetz, and all the other white trash allies of Putin in the U.S. Congress.
Are some of these cultists for the rapist, King of Comedy Trump now becoming adults?
Good question. My suspicion is that some of them are capable of figuring out when significant opposition to their stands forces a change in stance. I don’t think maturity is part of the calculus. Of course, I’m often wrong. Cheers!
Joe Biden is being blamed for something he did not cause nor control. INFLATION. That is the economy people see at the food store, each week. If he makes any moves to contain it, he will be criticized for that. Facts don’t matter about inflation, other than the fact that it is hurting all workers, all the time.
Agree a huge part of the price hikes are exactly that, pure greed. As for monopolies, it is the existence of them that makes a joke out of free markets being self regulating.
“…despite a letter from the Republican governors of six southern states—Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Texas—warning the workers that unionization would stop auto manufacturers from expanding in their states.”
It would be interesting to see how many $ billions of federal funding from Biden’s programs are flowing into these states. I’m sure all these governors are taking credit for that as well. This needs to be called out daily.
It is so refreshing to hear news about a president who gets things done for Americans instead of one who can’t help but get caught with his big mouth open and his pants down . Thank you 🙏
I don't remember any other POTUS speaking so clearly and plainly in support of unions. Maybe I missed it, but I don't recall anything so unambiguous.
Presidents always talk about being 'on teh side of Americans' in some way, but to be so clear about the role that unions play in national economic health as well as local and individual health, is so....healthy!
Conservatism is exhausted. The new New Deal coalition is coming together. The pain right now will prove to *be the political parturition of a new liberal era.
I think Jay Leno suggested Operation Iraqi Liberation (OIL) was the more obvious name for Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF), but there was the Iraq Liberation Act of 1988. Perhaps just making the later joke so much easier set up.
It isn't very easy, Rowshan. Not that he shouldn't, but there are so many contingencies in the US's relationship with Israel. Most of all, Israel is a buffer to Iran in the Middle East. Pres Biden is castigating Netanyahu, but that hasn't helped much. IMHO, Netanyahu is the real culprit. Many Israelis wish for his removal, and for peace.
I find it helpful to look at a map of democratic countries in the Middle East. It kinda lays bare what the U.S. is up against as they continue to support Israel.
The US has worked with autocracies since forever and must continue to do so. That’s not a problem. What is a problem is when the US replaces democracies with autocracies, as it has done many times, as in Iran, for example, and many countries in Latin America.
In my not-always-accurate memory, most of that "replacement" took place during Republican administrations under the rubric of fighting communism and socialism...or feeding the petro-oil monster. Our (the US) international relations bear some shameful and willful histories. In part, as with the Bush administrations, wars or crises are declared by the men in charge, and it all sails past the common folk who could care less.
The tiny country of Israel is surrounded by all of those neighboring countries in which makes it difficult for the US to successfully navigate. I know that that is what you are showing, Lynell, and you are right to do so.
Thank you once again, Fern, for providing information many of us don't have time to seek out. I know I am not alone in this gratitude. Much grace to you dear lady.
Can we say, instead, Hope, that Netanyahu is a real culprit.
"The" real culprit, let's say, are the far-right Israeli settlers, constantly stealing West Bank land, constantly goading, provoking, murdering Palestinians there.
Let the West Bank Palestinians create a real state, and Hamas has its main reason for being ended. But which Arab state, or collection of Arab states, might underwrite funds and security for an independent Palestine?
Biden shows no effort to achieve peace that way -- or am I missing something?
It is very clear, President Biden is able to do a lot of things in rebuilding America after the four years of the ex-president but no one, all the way back to 1948 has been able to get a handle on the Palestine/Israeli problem. That's when that part of the world went to hell... or became hell.
Phil, the West Bank has always been a thorn in my side because the religious extremists, the ultra Orthodox Jews, forced themselves upon the land, pushing Palestinians out. These are the same people who are running Israel’s government through the Likud party, of which Netanyahu is a member. I may piss a lot of other Jews off here but it was simply wrong many years ago and still is today which I find crazy. Yes, they’re crazy and crazed for power and greed. Much like the R party we have here and the billionaires who support it.
And may I slip in a word here that “this is what happens when you have a theocratic government”. Of any brand. Likud, Christofascist, Hindu under Modi, Islam when some places much that is taught is martial jihad and not the personal struggle. I could go on, but out of caritas, I’ll spare you.
One alleged reason that Netanyahu declared war on Palestine was that he was close to being removed from office, in part due to his failure to protect Israelis or detect the Oct 7 fiasco. Large protests and marches were and are held to remove him from power. Alas, he continues his brutal war because 1) Rarely is a leader removed during an ongoing battle. 2) He appears to have joined the league of greedy oligarchs who are self-serving and bow to Putin (notice how similarly he treats Gaza to Putin's Ukraine assault.) 3) LBNL, Netanyahu visited with Putin just before Oct 7. Do not underestimate Putin's role as a shit-stirrer. He wants nothing more than to see Democracies fail, especially the US.
Hope, let me take the gloves off. It’s about money and always is about money. The newish lobby is probably the most successful lobby in this country. They control both parties. Believe me, neither party wants to lose Jewish money. And this money has made our leadership give Israel everything it has wanted including ethnic cleansing. It’s a hard truth but true. Just read the history.
Well, change the name to “the Saudi lobby” and what do you get? If there was a small country in say, Latin America that had lots of the the world’s supply of “shripul” (made up:-) which cured cancer and heart disease plus extended vigorous life into the 200’s, they could name their price, terms, and get the support/protection of any country in the world. The nearby places that have some shripul would have their protectors.
If the state of Israel had been connected historically to a vast unproductive desert land (say, the Arabian Desert) instead of a major trade route that today is a center of petroleum production, setting up a (returning) homeland might have been considerably less fraught, and the Middle East a slightly more peaceful place. No vast sums of money involved in Israel.
I agree on the positive ‘moves’ that Heather identifies..but in that Supplemental there is a 26 billion dollar piece for aid to Israel…a huge amount of money to a country that appears to be consistently behaving very aggressively in the West Bank in violation of UN rules, that has just killed almost 34,000 Palestinian women, children et al and essentially turned Gaza into a concrete wasteland filled with starving and brutally displaced folks.
My guess is that there’s no serious ‘adjustments’ of this 26 billion dollar aid piece to reflect an out of control Netanyahu…either.
And yes I used to be pro Israeli …but the more I learn, the less I like the current ‘management’ style behavior et al.
And I too was horrified on October 6th…
But I researched the Geneva Conventions especially the 4th dealing with non combatants and looked at the 159 specific articles, many dealing with medical and hospital care for these non combatants and then finally completely lost it with the view of those 7 preemies wrapped in tin foil with warm water in bowls beside them to provide some warmth as the ICU and the whole hospital was without power.
I’ve said this many times. President Biden is not the Prime Minster of Israel. Israel is a sovereign nation. Many countries, including some Arab ones are working on some kind of peaceful solution. While I’m at it, why is there never any kind of demand on the Hamas leaders to surrender? Of course, they are living safely in Qatar, where there is no war, and sacrificing their own people for their violent Jihadist beliefs.
Why should they when they are the one ace remaining. The hostages will all be killed since there will be no end survival game for Hamas. They knew it from the start. The predicted this would change the body politics of the world and make Israel an international pariah.
Being president is having to absorb and process huge amounts of information in a way that's comparable to drinking from a firehose. It's hard to do everything at once. And I personally do'nt like his immigration policy. I think the US is overpopulated, and that that overpopulation is killing nature--the numbers of insects (the bottom rung of the food chain and thus very important--are probably around half of what they were when I was a kid; mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, and fish are being similarly decimated, and the sheer numbers of people are reducing the quality of life in our country. Yet, we're adding about 20 million a decade, equivalent a New York State every ten years--90% of that from immigration. I worry about the country my brother's grandchildren will inherit.
Nonetheless, President Biden has done a helluva lot of good for our country. He's the best president of my lifetime, which began the first summer of the Eisenhower Administration. Despite my few but important disagreements with Biden, he makes me feel like I did when I rode my bicycle from Seattle to Boston, on days when the wind was at my back.
I do suspect that Biden is probably working behind the scenes to help the Palestinians. And, as a Jew, I strongly object to the use of the word, genocide with respect to the Palestinians. Genocide is gassing people from a group unwanted (by those in power), and using industrial techniques to make it as efficient as possible.
But I do wish the Israelis would get rid of Netanyahu, who is a horrible man.
Hey, David. I agree in the main with your comments. I do admit to total ignorance about our immigration policy, though I've read that Biden is following the law. If he was an authoritarian, I suppose we could fix the broken immigration system, as it has been called. I also have no understanding of what the agreement was the U.S. entered into to support Israel financially and otherwise when it became a state. I suppose that, too, would need
congressional action if we wanted to change it.
Anyway, I posted elsewhere a map of the democratic countries of the Middle East. It shows how tiny Israel is compared to the countries that surround it.
Biden has encouraged more immigration with some of his statements, and so we are getting a huge amount of illegal immigration. The simplest way to deal with that would be for Congress to pass a national, mandatory E-Verify. If they couldn't get jobs, those here would leave, and others would not come. E-Verify would also prevent those who overstay visas from getting jobs. Legal immigration needs to be cut from the current 1 million plus down to something that would equal average annual emigration, which is probably somewhere around 100-200 thousand. The ability of immigrants to bring in multiple family members--chain migration--needs to be ended.
Your comment about how tiny Israel is compared to the surrounding countries is quite apt!
Absolutely agree with you on the use of the word “genocide”. It’s meant to be a slap in the face to all Jews. I will say that Hamas and all its supporters have done a masterful job of PR. And make no mistake, its a well-funded terrorist organization.
I keep coming back around to the fact that Israel will be here after Netenyahu and the Palestinians will be here after Hamas. This is a terrible, painful and inhumane chapter in Israel's history. Maintaining Israel's military arsenal in the long run is about bigger issues than the Palestinians and a political resolution between two peoples. It is also about Israel's continued existence amongst Islamic states all around it. If Israel, with or without Netenyahu, did not maintain the strongest military in the region, how long do you think it would be before Egypt, Jordan, Syria and Lebanon all marched in and eliminated the Israeli state?
I ask myself how we spectators in the world would feel if it were the Palestinian people trying to rid themselves of Hamas from amongst and beneath themselves. How would we feel then about a 5% casualty rate in their population as the price for eradicating an powerful Iranian-backed, deeply dug in militia in their midst in favor of a civilian government? It would be a high price to pay for a just cause. It's far too simplistic to compare body counts in the conflict. There are no clean hands and the realities are harsh, but a well armed and deeply entrenched terrorist military organization will not go quietly irrespective of it's adversary.
Just as we of the voters ,must reject extremism here in the US, so must the voters in Israel reject extremism of Netanyahu. He came to power by way of an election and an election shall remove him, or not. Strong condemnations from US leadership won’t change much.
When Biden hugged Bibi I felt nauseous then cried. Such a wrong turn that only now is diverting slightly. To me it is dumbfounding he would shoot himself in the face like this.
If actual Republicans had any honor they would form their own caucus in Congress, refuse to work with the MAGA extremists, and instead work with the Democrats to draft and pass centrist legislation. Oh, wait a minute, they just did that with the Security Supplemental. Now it's time to do it with everything else.
Which raises the question as to where these "non MAGA" Republicans have been hiding all this time. Have they been mouthing Trumpian b.s. all this time while secretly passing memos from Liz Cheney and op eds from David French amongst themselves like so much samizdat?!?
Liz Cheney voted for Trump in 2016 and supported his policies throughout his term. And, she is not campaigning for Biden. She’s pro-democracy. Good for her. But that’s a low bar.
[Chip Roy] demanded one of them “explain to me one material, meaningful, significant thing the Republican majority has done.”
Um, made the entire Republican majority look like a bunch of blithering fools who care more about Fox News sound bites, space lasers, and dating underage girls than they do about legislating? Oh, and kissing the butt of a criminally prosecuted former guy.
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!
Agree with your statement that Biden is the winner of the Congress, but on behalf of programs that benefit the American people, the middle class, the environment, the economy, jobs, student debt, and the firewall against authoritarianism and Russian aggression that is Ukraine’s fight.
He’s winning, but for the team. Trump only likes winners, he has said. His heroes don’t get captured, unlike war hero John McCain.
I feel a moment of severe reckoning coming for DJT, as his stock plummets and the courtroom fills with a symbolic fetid air.
He’s going to look up and see he’s been defeated yet again by an actual winner, a man who pulled through personal tragedies to keep serving his country, to remind us of the greater generations from whence we came.
Unfortunately, Ryan...the stock is not plummeting...And I have been hopefully watching. Yesterday it closed at $35.50, still $18.00 over the bonus switch which would give A-hole another $2billion in paper value. It is up $13.00 from early last week, when I was starting to hope. Putting yourself into a possible short squeeze against such powerful money takes guts and a bigger wallet than most of us have, even together. DJT Stock is being upheld by the folks supporting tRump...Those $$$ should have been paid in taxes to the USA, rather than shoring up this fantasy stock. Yes, we can beat the Muffin, and it will be in court and the polls.
Pump and dump. There aren't that many shares, and the short sellers will wait for the go-to-zero moment.
The markets move on emotion, except for the scheming. They haven't stopped. Licking their fat chops.
I’m thinking the tRump-Kushner team shorted their own stock . . .they knew it was failing at $5Mil and merging with an empty shell wouldn’t magically make it worth $5Bil! The entire thing is suspect on a criminal level. And somewhere in this, I suspect there is money laundering.
Yup. And the scamming way it was brought to market..
In 12 years we nights see an SEC investigation.
I don't think so Dawna, why would they short last week, when tRump was close to the $17.00 mark for DJT...that means he was ready to throw away $2Bill. There are definitely upcoming processes on this whole thing (in my view), and hopefully he'll loses it all.
I hope so, Jen. It's BIG $$$$ shoring this abomination up, though.
Well said, Dr McC!
I so like this vision.
Yes! Thank you for stating it so well, Dr. McCormick.
I agree with you Ryan!!👍👍!!
I hope you’re right, but it’s a long road with many potholes.
I sure hope you're right, Doc.
It's a pretty stark choice, isn't it? President Biden, who has been responsible for meaningful change that benefits the majority of Americans now and moving into the future, versus a man who is sitting at a defendant's table in New York in the first of several trials. It's also a choice between Democratic Congress, which not only has sent much-needed legislation to Biden for his signature AND has helped Speaker Johnson -- a unique moment in history -- versus a do-nothing Republican House of Dysfunction.
Vote Blue.
Most of the things that folks think fondly of re the Drumpf time were the results of Pelosis House. The direct payments to people during the pandemic, for example. Eviction moratoria.
And the Fed holding interest rates at zero long after it ceased to do any good.
Imo the best thing that could happen for the economy is for the fed to stop pretending their interest rate policy does what they think it does.
They're still trying to suppress wages and increase unemployment.
Any idea how and why Johnson let the aid package for Ukraine up for a vote? His mission was to stall it so long until the Sauron in the Kremlin could take Ukraine. Johnson will have to answer to his wealthy Russian donors and to Rump for this, which could mean that he is more afraid of something else…. Getting ousted as Speaker, perhaps?
Dutch Mike, from what I had read he gets high-level classified briefings, as Speaker. They brought Pompeo in to explain to him the situation, and what would happen should Ukraine fall. That was sobering, and convincing enough to make him change his mind.
I must say I'm really surprised. I thought that Putin had, via Rump and his donors, grabbed Johnson by the balls, and made very clear that he had to do everything in his power to keep Zelensky from getting aid, which would effectively mean delivering Ukraine to Putin. Plus, I thought that Johnson didn't care one rat's posterior about what that would mean to Ukraine, and by extension, to Europe.
I'd say that was the common assumption. I'd also say that Johnson is probably a fan boy of fellow outspoken Christian Pompeo, and that's what got him to see the light, but that's only speculation on my part.
Who knows... But it's a plausible speculation, I'd say.
This is pure speculation, but perhaps a deal was struck behind the scenes that Dems would back him if he is up for a vote in exchange for being reasonable.
Never thought of the possibility that there could be an inkling of reason in Johnson's head...
Yes Matt, I think that's exactly what happened. I think he got fed up with his caucus of chaos dangling their threat of removing him. Now the Dems are needed even more, as with Gallagher's resignation he only has a single vote to spare, as the count is now 218 Rs to 214 Ds.
💙🩵💙🩵💙
Go Professor. Go Joe! Go America. Happy Earth Day. We love you.
You say, based on what?
The fact that the US has funded Israel and their military for the last 70+ years?
Joe Biden has been President for 3 a half of those.
The US relationship with Israel is fraught with poor choices and worse outcomes, but it cannot all be hung on Joe Biden with a snide moniker worthy of an impudent teenager.
I hope you can do better, but it may require thinking first.
ThankYou.
One reason the Gaza massacre hangs heavy on Joe is due to his deep connection to AIPAC. It makes him more suspect in his condoning and financing the Israeli obliteration of Gaza and Palestinians. Biden has taken more money from AIPAC than any other U.S. politician. Per opensecrets.org, the amount is: $3.45 Million+. Of course, Biden is far from being alone in U.S. Politicians taking money from AIPAC. (Didn't Trump get $87 Million from Sheldon Adelson for moving the U.S. Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem?) Big money in politics. It seems like the end of us.
Is Biden older than many politicians and has he been in Congress longer than any?
Probably so. If not, he must be in the top half dozen.
President Biden is not, repeat not, the Prime Minister of Israel.
You are implying that President Biden could turn the bottomless (and I do mean bottomless) hatred between the Palestinian People (and I don't mean some enlightened individuals) and the Israeli People around? and, in doing so would abandon a group of countries in the region who have become allies (or have been allies). If there is genocide playing out in Gaza and the West Bank, then the single prime person at fault is Bibi Netanyahu. Yes the US Military/Industrial complex supplies weapons, but it has a long term obligation with Israel to do so...and US needs to be ever so careful about abandoning any ally at this time, or any time. Michele, I do hear your frustration in this...take heart in the 100,000 of Israelis demonstrating against Bibi. Maybe he will finally go to jail.
No.
Michele. Please provide your alternative. Keeping in mind that Donald Trump has a settlement named after him in occupied territory. Trump's moving the US embassy to contested Jerusalem and his Abrahamic Accords - leaving out the Palestinians - worsened the situation. Now the Trump faction is speaking of bulldozing the Negev desert to build camps for displaced Palestinians, while developing waterfront property in Gaza.
The Hamas atrocities and the Netanyahu regime's disproportionate response are bringing out the worst on both sides. So Biden is navigating between those who cry antisemitism at any criticism of Israeli policy and those who cry genocide at any support of Israel.
The Biden administration can be rightly faulted on some of the arms shipments to Israel - but even without those the Netanyahu regime has no shortage of weapons nor does Iranian backed Hamas.
Biden has always been a strong supporter of Israel and an outspoken critic of Israeli policy in the Occupied Territories. For decades. He has never been a fan of Netanyahu. While diplomatic efforts are struggling to find a workable response to belligerents who don't want to stop fighting.
This is an outstanding summary of the rock and hard place of the current mid-east situation. As a WASP I have been pro-Jewish since early teens (mine, not the 2000’s:-) I’m only a bit older than Israel and have been pro-Israel since I knew what that meant. I believe that Hamas’ stated aim of “killing all the Jews” is *monstrously* vile and inhumane. Jews believe and know that people saying that really mean it.
AND. I also think that Israel’s response has been completely disproportionate. Their killing of children and other noncombatants would make them a pariah state were they any other country.
AND, I don’t have any pat solution, other than getting rid (politically) of Netanyahu. I’m neither a political scientist nor diplomat nor foreign service officer. My simple request is that *neither* Israel nor Palestine be wiped off the earth. Why can’t people see the simple truth (to me anyhow) that if I go to all the houses in my town and kill 80% of the people with black hair who eat beef, all their children and relatives will be heading to my neighborhood to kill all the people with white hair who eat fish. And shortly thereafter the redheads (vegetarians) and brunettes (omnivores) will be weighing in, and we’ll have no town, no county, no state or country. That’s what the Middle East looks like to me.
SERMON: >off
Israel behaves this way because Jewish lobby has bought political leadership on both sides of the isle and we have given Israel (and yes I said “ given”) a green light to ethnicity cleanse Arabs from their lands through the decades. It’s a sad and sorry historical fact that most American Jews can’t reconcile themselves to understand. But it’s so.
Your focus on Jewish lobbies is misleading, at best. Your assertions are misinformed. The Netanyahu regime acts this way in part because they have the support of right wing American Jews and Christians
Despite the fact that significant numbers of Israeli and American Jews actively oppose it. And in context of state actors and terrorist organizations determined to destroy the Jewish state.
Heather here well captures the momentum Dems have -- which the adults in the room have.
But two-thirds in, she also notes many of the ways the children have for continuing their hysteria -- at the state level, at the level of universities. And it's here, locally, across the U.S., that we can see it's really the dark money billionaires still nefariously at work. Heritage. ALEC. Claremont. And many more of the also dark money far-right foundations also colluding to destroy democracy, to take away women's and others' rights, to push for petty theocrats who push tyrannical packaging wholesale.
Heather's got it correct, on target, how Republicans in Washington are in disarray, led by white trash idiots like Marble Mouth Marge and philanderer of young girls Matt Gaetz.
But she also well concludes with the beginning of the trial of the fat orange guy trying crookedly to steal an earlier election. And good for Heather here, because she fingers again, exactly, perfectly, how it's the adults in the room we can count on.
Phil, It feels like momentum is shifting and supporting those who are actually attempting to govern on behalf of a broad spectrum of Americans not just those with money, power, and loud voices. You’ve called some of the offending parties out by name and I’m in agreement with you. I refuse to become complacent about the election because of the attempt to steal voting rights in some states. Vigilance on all of our parts will be required to ensure the proper outcome. Kudos to HCR for yet another good letter!
OK, Gary, what do I do now with the term I'd been using for the Speaker of the House?
I had been referring to Mike Johnson as Howdy Doody -- for his clownish attempts to curry favor with Marble Mouth Marge, girl philanderer Matt Gaetz, and all the other white trash allies of Putin in the U.S. Congress.
Are some of these cultists for the rapist, King of Comedy Trump now becoming adults?
Good question. My suspicion is that some of them are capable of figuring out when significant opposition to their stands forces a change in stance. I don’t think maturity is part of the calculus. Of course, I’m often wrong. Cheers!
John Fugelsang of Progressive radio and numerous podcasts calls him Trump's flaccid little Johnson.
He's not wrong.
“All politics is local” - Tip O’Neal
Joe Biden is being blamed for something he did not cause nor control. INFLATION. That is the economy people see at the food store, each week. If he makes any moves to contain it, he will be criticized for that. Facts don’t matter about inflation, other than the fact that it is hurting all workers, all the time.
Not sure, Jack, we should call it inflation.
Maybe "greed-flation," for how near-monopoly corporations up their prices (and shrink product size: shrink-flation) to gouge the public.
Agree a huge part of the price hikes are exactly that, pure greed. As for monopolies, it is the existence of them that makes a joke out of free markets being self regulating.
“…despite a letter from the Republican governors of six southern states—Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Texas—warning the workers that unionization would stop auto manufacturers from expanding in their states.”
It would be interesting to see how many $ billions of federal funding from Biden’s programs are flowing into these states. I’m sure all these governors are taking credit for that as well. This needs to be called out daily.
Here’s a start: https://www.whitehouse.gov/build/resources/state-fact-sheets/
It is so refreshing to hear news about a president who gets things done for Americans instead of one who can’t help but get caught with his big mouth open and his pants down . Thank you 🙏
God bless Earth Day, Heather Clark Richardson, Joe Biden, all the subscribers here and the United States of America.
Ms Wilson: If that’s a Motion … I Second it.
Bad news for Republicans = Good News for America.
I don't remember any other POTUS speaking so clearly and plainly in support of unions. Maybe I missed it, but I don't recall anything so unambiguous.
Presidents always talk about being 'on teh side of Americans' in some way, but to be so clear about the role that unions play in national economic health as well as local and individual health, is so....healthy!
When Biden was VEEP he supported the unions. Obama never really did. Not sure why.
I also don’t recall any POTUS talking about a two State solution in the Mid East.
Conservatism is exhausted. The new New Deal coalition is coming together. The pain right now will prove to *be the political parturition of a new liberal era.
Viva la New Deal!
one can hope, truly...labor pains of monumental proportion.
Pecker? (thinking in Wayne's World voice)....
The jokes write themselves . . .
Republicans are stealing jobs from satirists.
Indeed. What wizard came up with the F. A. R. T. Concept?
It shows a certain lack of foresight.
I think Jay Leno suggested Operation Iraqi Liberation (OIL) was the more obvious name for Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF), but there was the Iraq Liberation Act of 1988. Perhaps just making the later joke so much easier set up.
With all these positive moves, why can’t President Biden see how wrong his policy is with respect to the Palestinians? When will the genocide cease?
It isn't very easy, Rowshan. Not that he shouldn't, but there are so many contingencies in the US's relationship with Israel. Most of all, Israel is a buffer to Iran in the Middle East. Pres Biden is castigating Netanyahu, but that hasn't helped much. IMHO, Netanyahu is the real culprit. Many Israelis wish for his removal, and for peace.
Well said!
I find it helpful to look at a map of democratic countries in the Middle East. It kinda lays bare what the U.S. is up against as they continue to support Israel.
https://www.bing.com/images/search?view=detailV2&ccid=NeZGTkAc&id=9FCB3134E929AC98C69FE1824E2271C1A3CDAA10&thid=OIP.NeZGTkAcnEFxg2suxrFSngHaIp&mediaurl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.visualcapitalist.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2022%2F04%2Fdemocracy-index-2022-middle-east.jpg&cdnurl=https%3A%2F%2Fth.bing.com%2Fth%2Fid%2FR.35e6464e401c9c4171836b2ec6b1529e%3Frik%3DEKrNo8FxIk6C4Q%26pid%3DImgRaw%26r%3D0&exph=958&expw=820&q=democratic+countries+in+the+middle+east&simid=608010122471544415&form=IRPRST&ck=C75F61B0586C6C6A7EA5B83661E8C106&selectedindex=0&itb=0&ajaxhist=0&ajaxserp=0&vt=0&sim=11
The US has worked with autocracies since forever and must continue to do so. That’s not a problem. What is a problem is when the US replaces democracies with autocracies, as it has done many times, as in Iran, for example, and many countries in Latin America.
Thanks, Rex, for pointing this out.
In my not-always-accurate memory, most of that "replacement" took place during Republican administrations under the rubric of fighting communism and socialism...or feeding the petro-oil monster. Our (the US) international relations bear some shameful and willful histories. In part, as with the Bush administrations, wars or crises are declared by the men in charge, and it all sails past the common folk who could care less.
It’s worse. The common folk loved it.
The tiny country of Israel is surrounded by all of those neighboring countries in which makes it difficult for the US to successfully navigate. I know that that is what you are showing, Lynell, and you are right to do so.
Whether or not it makes a difference, that is what I was trying to show. Thanks, Marlene.
Thank you once again, Fern, for providing information many of us don't have time to seek out. I know I am not alone in this gratitude. Much grace to you dear lady.
Can we say, instead, Hope, that Netanyahu is a real culprit.
"The" real culprit, let's say, are the far-right Israeli settlers, constantly stealing West Bank land, constantly goading, provoking, murdering Palestinians there.
Let the West Bank Palestinians create a real state, and Hamas has its main reason for being ended. But which Arab state, or collection of Arab states, might underwrite funds and security for an independent Palestine?
Biden shows no effort to achieve peace that way -- or am I missing something?
It is very clear, President Biden is able to do a lot of things in rebuilding America after the four years of the ex-president but no one, all the way back to 1948 has been able to get a handle on the Palestine/Israeli problem. That's when that part of the world went to hell... or became hell.
That is oh so true, Bill! Many years ago I asked my father if he thought there would ever be peace in the Middle East. He said no.
Phil, the West Bank has always been a thorn in my side because the religious extremists, the ultra Orthodox Jews, forced themselves upon the land, pushing Palestinians out. These are the same people who are running Israel’s government through the Likud party, of which Netanyahu is a member. I may piss a lot of other Jews off here but it was simply wrong many years ago and still is today which I find crazy. Yes, they’re crazy and crazed for power and greed. Much like the R party we have here and the billionaires who support it.
And may I slip in a word here that “this is what happens when you have a theocratic government”. Of any brand. Likud, Christofascist, Hindu under Modi, Islam when some places much that is taught is martial jihad and not the personal struggle. I could go on, but out of caritas, I’ll spare you.
Caritas?
Disinterested love of humankind. Sometimes described as selfless love or “charity” in the old sense. It is the root of the word charity.
You are not pissing off this Jew.
I do recall Bill Clinton trying to do the same, and even seemingly succeeding, only to have the whole peace plan fall apart.
Yes! And Jimmy Carter.
I wonder why the people of Isreal can not or will not remove Bibi?
They will have to wait just as we all do in a democracy for an election to be called.
One alleged reason that Netanyahu declared war on Palestine was that he was close to being removed from office, in part due to his failure to protect Israelis or detect the Oct 7 fiasco. Large protests and marches were and are held to remove him from power. Alas, he continues his brutal war because 1) Rarely is a leader removed during an ongoing battle. 2) He appears to have joined the league of greedy oligarchs who are self-serving and bow to Putin (notice how similarly he treats Gaza to Putin's Ukraine assault.) 3) LBNL, Netanyahu visited with Putin just before Oct 7. Do not underestimate Putin's role as a shit-stirrer. He wants nothing more than to see Democracies fail, especially the US.
Thank you
The ultra orthodox have discovered that making their women into baby factories can change demographics within a few generations. Thank about that.
Hope, let me take the gloves off. It’s about money and always is about money. The newish lobby is probably the most successful lobby in this country. They control both parties. Believe me, neither party wants to lose Jewish money. And this money has made our leadership give Israel everything it has wanted including ethnic cleansing. It’s a hard truth but true. Just read the history.
Wow. That post has quite a familiar ring to it. The 1930s perhaps?
Well, change the name to “the Saudi lobby” and what do you get? If there was a small country in say, Latin America that had lots of the the world’s supply of “shripul” (made up:-) which cured cancer and heart disease plus extended vigorous life into the 200’s, they could name their price, terms, and get the support/protection of any country in the world. The nearby places that have some shripul would have their protectors.
If the state of Israel had been connected historically to a vast unproductive desert land (say, the Arabian Desert) instead of a major trade route that today is a center of petroleum production, setting up a (returning) homeland might have been considerably less fraught, and the Middle East a slightly more peaceful place. No vast sums of money involved in Israel.
Yes, I know.😉
I agree on the positive ‘moves’ that Heather identifies..but in that Supplemental there is a 26 billion dollar piece for aid to Israel…a huge amount of money to a country that appears to be consistently behaving very aggressively in the West Bank in violation of UN rules, that has just killed almost 34,000 Palestinian women, children et al and essentially turned Gaza into a concrete wasteland filled with starving and brutally displaced folks.
My guess is that there’s no serious ‘adjustments’ of this 26 billion dollar aid piece to reflect an out of control Netanyahu…either.
And yes I used to be pro Israeli …but the more I learn, the less I like the current ‘management’ style behavior et al.
And I too was horrified on October 6th…
But I researched the Geneva Conventions especially the 4th dealing with non combatants and looked at the 159 specific articles, many dealing with medical and hospital care for these non combatants and then finally completely lost it with the view of those 7 preemies wrapped in tin foil with warm water in bowls beside them to provide some warmth as the ICU and the whole hospital was without power.
There is no adequate excuse for such behavior.
Money is also slated for Sudan, Ethiopia and other places where famine, murder, rape and other genocide are occurring.
And not nearly enough imho. Sudan has been breaking my heart for decades.
None whatsoever, Joan
I’ve said this many times. President Biden is not the Prime Minster of Israel. Israel is a sovereign nation. Many countries, including some Arab ones are working on some kind of peaceful solution. While I’m at it, why is there never any kind of demand on the Hamas leaders to surrender? Of course, they are living safely in Qatar, where there is no war, and sacrificing their own people for their violent Jihadist beliefs.
Yes, WHERE ARE THE HOSTAGES? Are they still alive? It is unconscionable that Hamas leaders are not revealing anything!
Why should they when they are the one ace remaining. The hostages will all be killed since there will be no end survival game for Hamas. They knew it from the start. The predicted this would change the body politics of the world and make Israel an international pariah.
Well said, Annie, 1000%!
Being president is having to absorb and process huge amounts of information in a way that's comparable to drinking from a firehose. It's hard to do everything at once. And I personally do'nt like his immigration policy. I think the US is overpopulated, and that that overpopulation is killing nature--the numbers of insects (the bottom rung of the food chain and thus very important--are probably around half of what they were when I was a kid; mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, and fish are being similarly decimated, and the sheer numbers of people are reducing the quality of life in our country. Yet, we're adding about 20 million a decade, equivalent a New York State every ten years--90% of that from immigration. I worry about the country my brother's grandchildren will inherit.
Nonetheless, President Biden has done a helluva lot of good for our country. He's the best president of my lifetime, which began the first summer of the Eisenhower Administration. Despite my few but important disagreements with Biden, he makes me feel like I did when I rode my bicycle from Seattle to Boston, on days when the wind was at my back.
I do suspect that Biden is probably working behind the scenes to help the Palestinians. And, as a Jew, I strongly object to the use of the word, genocide with respect to the Palestinians. Genocide is gassing people from a group unwanted (by those in power), and using industrial techniques to make it as efficient as possible.
But I do wish the Israelis would get rid of Netanyahu, who is a horrible man.
I too, dislike the term, David. It is demeaning to all of us Jews who had relatives killed in the gas chambers.
Marlene, please read my response to David.
Hey, David. I agree in the main with your comments. I do admit to total ignorance about our immigration policy, though I've read that Biden is following the law. If he was an authoritarian, I suppose we could fix the broken immigration system, as it has been called. I also have no understanding of what the agreement was the U.S. entered into to support Israel financially and otherwise when it became a state. I suppose that, too, would need
congressional action if we wanted to change it.
Anyway, I posted elsewhere a map of the democratic countries of the Middle East. It shows how tiny Israel is compared to the countries that surround it.
There are no democratic Arab countries. Iran is also not democratic. They are all either kingdoms or Theocracies.
I was sorta aware of that, Annie; but the map makes it strikingly so IMO!
Glad you brought it up anyway. I think it’s so so important for folks to start educating themselves on the history of the region.
Biden has encouraged more immigration with some of his statements, and so we are getting a huge amount of illegal immigration. The simplest way to deal with that would be for Congress to pass a national, mandatory E-Verify. If they couldn't get jobs, those here would leave, and others would not come. E-Verify would also prevent those who overstay visas from getting jobs. Legal immigration needs to be cut from the current 1 million plus down to something that would equal average annual emigration, which is probably somewhere around 100-200 thousand. The ability of immigrants to bring in multiple family members--chain migration--needs to be ended.
Your comment about how tiny Israel is compared to the surrounding countries is quite apt!
Absolutely agree with you on the use of the word “genocide”. It’s meant to be a slap in the face to all Jews. I will say that Hamas and all its supporters have done a masterful job of PR. And make no mistake, its a well-funded terrorist organization.
Annie, please read my response to David regarding the word “genocide.”
Your response is no where to be found, unfortunately! Feel free to repost here.
I keep coming back around to the fact that Israel will be here after Netenyahu and the Palestinians will be here after Hamas. This is a terrible, painful and inhumane chapter in Israel's history. Maintaining Israel's military arsenal in the long run is about bigger issues than the Palestinians and a political resolution between two peoples. It is also about Israel's continued existence amongst Islamic states all around it. If Israel, with or without Netenyahu, did not maintain the strongest military in the region, how long do you think it would be before Egypt, Jordan, Syria and Lebanon all marched in and eliminated the Israeli state?
I ask myself how we spectators in the world would feel if it were the Palestinian people trying to rid themselves of Hamas from amongst and beneath themselves. How would we feel then about a 5% casualty rate in their population as the price for eradicating an powerful Iranian-backed, deeply dug in militia in their midst in favor of a civilian government? It would be a high price to pay for a just cause. It's far too simplistic to compare body counts in the conflict. There are no clean hands and the realities are harsh, but a well armed and deeply entrenched terrorist military organization will not go quietly irrespective of it's adversary.
Just as we of the voters ,must reject extremism here in the US, so must the voters in Israel reject extremism of Netanyahu. He came to power by way of an election and an election shall remove him, or not. Strong condemnations from US leadership won’t change much.
And the Palestinians must reject the extremism of Hamas.
The truth is simple; it’s called massive amounts of Jewish lobby money. Don’t you know money not only always talks, it also always screams?
Helluva good question, Rowahan!
When Biden hugged Bibi I felt nauseous then cried. Such a wrong turn that only now is diverting slightly. To me it is dumbfounding he would shoot himself in the face like this.
If actual Republicans had any honor they would form their own caucus in Congress, refuse to work with the MAGA extremists, and instead work with the Democrats to draft and pass centrist legislation. Oh, wait a minute, they just did that with the Security Supplemental. Now it's time to do it with everything else.
Good point, James.
Which raises the question as to where these "non MAGA" Republicans have been hiding all this time. Have they been mouthing Trumpian b.s. all this time while secretly passing memos from Liz Cheney and op eds from David French amongst themselves like so much samizdat?!?
Inquiring minds want to know!
Liz Cheney voted for Trump in 2016 and supported his policies throughout his term. And, she is not campaigning for Biden. She’s pro-democracy. Good for her. But that’s a low bar.
Indeed, Daniel!
[Chip Roy] demanded one of them “explain to me one material, meaningful, significant thing the Republican majority has done.”
Um, made the entire Republican majority look like a bunch of blithering fools who care more about Fox News sound bites, space lasers, and dating underage girls than they do about legislating? Oh, and kissing the butt of a criminally prosecuted former guy.
That is a lot of s**t to absorb. Spot on. Spot on. Spot on…