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A Facebook reader asked if there has ever in our history been a U.S. president so corrupt and amoral as this one, and our resident American history expert and presidential connoisseur, HCR, answered, “No.”

In a video talk, HCR described how Joe McCarthy invented the political tactic of dispensing with debate about facts, and instead just kept pumping out lie after lie, forcing the rule followers and media to spin their wheels defending against them, so all he had to do was stay one lie/accusation ahead. It seems that trump and the Republican sycophants have upped the game to a multitude of attacks that are actions, not just words, with Executive Orders, DOJ executive advocacy and protection, and disabling federal functions by not filling job positions, as for the Census, USPS, diplomat corps, etc. This keeps the media, the public, any semblance of oversight authorities, DOJ, ACLU, state and local officials, and watchdog organizations all constantly scrambling to keep up.

It would be good for the voices of reason, us rule followers, to be proactive in setting the rules of engagement instead of responding to the barrage of attacks. I guess that’s called the Vote. A vote to definitively terminate this administration of corruption and amorality. While staying ever vigilant, with perseverance, and supporting each other. 🇺🇸

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And let's not forget Roy Cohn, McCarthy's (and Trump's) fixer. Websters' dictionary has a picture of Roy Cohn where it says, "Scumbag". Or it should.

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Mafia is as Mafia does! Fraud in New York, extortion over Tik-Tok, pimping with Epstein/Maxwell, elimination of inconvenient rules, regulations and people, abuse of the weak, gambling with lives, theft of elections, gun-running to Saudi Arabia, threats of harm to opponents, bullying of underlings, hacking of private computer files, lies, lies and more lies We only now need to find out that he runs an illicit still in the backwoods and bootlegs the moonshine it produces to complete the picture of the very modern gangster. Time to give him the criminal record he truly deserves.

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I've been reading Mary Trump's book, and everything you say here tRump learned before he was 15. A very sick man who has never had to answer for anything. I believe that's about to change!

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I've just finished HCR's "How the South...." It only came out in Europe in the last week or so. Trump was the right man in the right place at the right time as far as the Goldwater Republicans are concerned. A totally ammoral, psychological cripple with outsized TV presentation skills whom they could point in the direction Of each wall they wanted to knock down...or build without too much fear that he would escape their clutches and act entirely for himself...however on the latter at least they were wrong. Trump, till his dying day, will try to kill off anyone....including Mitch McConnell....who tries to get in his way. Imagine the horror of the internal workings of the family! What better "case study" for the budding pyschologist! What a horrendous chilhood.

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Mary Trump's book is very illuminating!

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Moonshine? Nah. A meth lab. Meth has a much higher profit margin. And for Donald, it's all about the money.

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True! Much more modern and lucrative.

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Excellent detailed letter summarizing the horror that is the trump administration. Living in PA, yes we do have slow, failing USPS mail delivery including prescriptions. Dorothy Parker lives on for many reasons, but currently mostly because she said, "What fresh hell is this?"

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The mail slow-down is being felt in Virginia as well. It's bad enough that bills don't arrive timely, but people who get their medications by mail are being affected. This really has to stop. Doesn't seem that the Senate will do anything about it, and Congress is hog-tied at the moment. I write to my senators, but haven't seen any action. I am disgusted by these antics and how powerless we seem to be against them. Waiting for the vote in November just drags this out even longer. It is August; even if we defeat this crazy man, he will be in office until almost the end of January. That is way too much time for him to pour more misery on this country. Thanks for your daily letters, Dr. Richardson, and for your insight.

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The impact is being felt in MA, also - bills and packages not arriving on time. And, of course, there is the impact of the sudden loss of $600 in weekly income due to the expiration of the federal Covid unemployment bonus. I now receive in monthly unemployment compensation less than I used to receive in my weekly paycheck. But those people in congress want to believe that I don’t want to work because I make more on unemployment. Sure. Even with the “bonus” it was less than my weekly paycheck. Yes, I am bitter. And, today, quite overwhelmed and disgusted by it all. Don’t mean to be so negative, just having a hard day today.

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Hang in there ❤️Everybody has hard days, don't let it defeat you......we are all in this with you

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I think that is my daily mantra......What fresh hell is this???!!!

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I just watched the Axios Jonathan Swan interview with Trump. At this point, the only purpose any interview or Q&A with Trump serves is to illustrate that he is delusional about absolutely everything.

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(The site is getting squirrely with posting comments...it showed my reply posted twice and when I tried to delete one of them, both disappeared!) I just saw where in this interview (I have to rely on reading about it as I simply cannot endure listening to the man.), after repeatedly being queried about Rep. John Lewis, he finally said he had done more for African Americans than Lewis. Isn't that rich? His delusions are getting wackier and wackier.

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I agree with you Bruce, I can longer listen to 45 speak - it makes my head want to explode. I will read the interview instead

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Let's look on the bright side: if we have to fight and survive a nascent dictator, it's better to be someone as incompetent as Trump than someone like his pal, Vlad Putin. If Trump were actually sane and skilled at governance, we would never get rid of him.

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It's the people around Trump that concern me. They are very cunning and know exactly how to play him. Trump is dumb as a box of hammers ("YO-Semite"???) and easily malleable, especially if his ego is ultimately flattered in some way.

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🤣🤣🤣 How true. Now if I could only stop laughing!

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It was unbelievable. Swan dug his heels in. He seems a lot more willing to push the envelope than most interviewers. The John Lewis exchange was insane; there was, if course, the mention of Lincoln maybe doing more than trump. He is a lunatic.

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https://youtu.be/zaaTZkqsaxY

Easy link to the complete interview for convenience.

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Link also at top of HCR's Notes.

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Thanks for the reminder! I have to watch that.

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Sharon, you will just shake your head the entire time. He is unbelievably vapid (as usual). It's as though he has a tape looping in his brain, from which he never deviates. Once a talking point is inserted it stays there forever regardless of how absurd it is.

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He now has tweets that say nothing other than "Make America Great Again." And others where he insists that our high number of COVID cases is due to increased testing. (I have a copy/paste previous tweet that I now insert for that one). His brain is a copy/paste loop. Loopy?

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At this point I think that’s pretty much a given. However I do appreciate his digging a deeper and deeper hole in which to lie his way out of. Unfortunately there’s an awful lot of people out there who just nod their heads in agreement with his inanities like zombies. If he’s what making things great looks like, I’ll be sticking with mediocrity thank you very much.

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It's worse than a one-man delusion. Polls consistently show that a significant number of people in this country still believe anything 45 says, updated to whatever his latest version of reality may be. If he/they have to admit that the virus is killing a lot of people, they still believe it when he says this country is doing better than most others.

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Or that his malignant narcissism is shining through.

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We need to not focus on what Trump says, but what he and is administration are doing. Most of what he says is BS designed to distract from what he is doing.

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Yes. The noise is attention attracting but distracts from what is important in terms of identifying the problems and what to do about them.

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“ It is notable that, as a country, we are not talking about policies or winning majorities. We are talking about how Trump can win by gaming the Electoral College, or by cheating.”

This is what we’ve come to.

I’m waiting for the Trump regime to advertise in foreign countries: America and favors for sale.

What do you want to bet they’re going to declare martial law in November and that citizens must stay home to get the virus under control. This after scaring people away from mail-in ballots.

Note to self: Look into mail-in ballots in my state and all the rules around it as well as emergency rules regarding election day.

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I’m scared to think about martial law, but we do have to make ourselves consider the possibilities and how to best prevent it, or worst case, how to prepare, both as individuals and to preserve the election. Ideas?

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I’m talking about stopping covid. I’m scared not to shut down. We’ll never get rid of it at this point. I just don’t want to wait until fall.

NY’s Governor is probably right about having to fo just that.

https://twitter.com/nygovcuomo/status/1290332937351647232?s=21

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Scared but totally possible. This is the biggest Trump scam to date. He has already funneled huge sums of our treasury into his own pockets and those of his collaborators. They will not let go of that quietly. I predict there will be a frenzy of stealing and pork in bills and deals between now and January 20.

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I am currently texting registered Dems in my territory, via my local Dems group, with pertinent information about requesting their absentee ballot and voting early. 20 October is ‘election day’ as far as we’re concerned.

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I have been saying this since 2016. Getting out the vote is important, but how will we know if we hVe won or not if the election is so corrupted? How can we invite Amnesty International and other teams to monitor it?

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I don’t know anyone at Amnesty International, but maybe someone can call?

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Great idea that warrants more attention. Quick google search to start about international election observers or monitors, per Wikipedia:

Standard international election observation missions, as deployed by, for the example, the European Commission or the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR), monitor the entire electoral process. Election experts and long-term observers begin their work weeks before the actual election day, looking at candidate registration, the legal framework, the media situation, the work of the election administration, and the campaign environment. On election day, short-term observers monitor the opening of polling stations, the vote cast, and the counting and tabulation of results. After election day, observers remain in the country for another few weeks to monitor how possible election-related shortcomings and complaints are dealt with by the election administration and the judiciary. The findings of the observers are made public in reports issued after election day.

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Definitely get a mail-in ballot if you can, and mail it at least two weeks before November 3.

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My community is part of a very conservative U.S. congressional district. Yesterday, I happened to be home when I got a call from my Congressman. He was holding a townhall on COVID-19. I was invited to participate. I elected too. We got the talking point about businesses who were wanting to open back up not being able to, because their employees did not want to return to work. Their employees were making more on unemployment than they would if they worked. The questions from the constituents were why congress wasn't doing more for regular people. Of course, it was Nancy Pelosi's fault. That said, I was just angry. I was next to ask a question. I told the moderator I wanted to ask the Congressman about his support for tax cuts and suggested that taxes be raised on business and higher income people. Granted it was towards the end of the Town Hall, but I have to wonder if he did not want to take my question. That said, I plan to write him today and this letter has given me a "few" talking points.

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At least he holds town halls, however much they may be for show ...

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Kudos to you for participating!

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Trump is poorly served by those around him who only compound his already worst tendencies. They are clearly sycophants who feed him distorted and selective information and statistics designed to only reinforce his dystopian view of reality. His statement that he only selects “the best people” could not be further from the truth. He refuses to make any attempt to comprehend any information that does not reinforce his already held views or beliefs. He displays no intellectual curiosity or ability to do any critical thinking. He has no situational awareness and in any crisis situation demanding personal action or responsibility, he is immediately only a casualty. Unfortunately, as he is presently our President and Commander in Chief, he has turned all of us into casualties as well. I cannot imagine a worse person to have been placed into a leadership role of any kind, let alone the leader of one of the largest, most populous, and powerful nations on earth. We remain in serious and mortal danger as long as he remains in the White House. There is absolutely no hope things will get better in any way as long as he remains in power. Shame on those who put him there and those who continue to enable and support him.

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Look up the definition of treason.

18 U.S. Code § 2381 - Treason

Whoever, owing allegiance to the United States, levies war against them or adheres to their enemies, giving them aid and comfort within the United States or elsewhere, is guilty of treason and shall suffer death, or shall be imprisoned not less than five years and fined under this title but not less than $10,000; and shall be incapable of holding any office under the United States.

The only criteria he lacks to put forward an indictment on a charge of treason is that we are not presently in a declared war or conflict with Russia. If Congress were to officially declare Russia an enemy or declare war on Russia, he would meet every criteria for a charge of treason. There are many who believe Russia's interference in our 2016 election could be classified as an act of war, let alone offering bounties on the lives of US soldiers in Afghanistan.

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Dr. Birx can’t catch a break. Many of us were critical of her for not jumping up on April 23rd when the idiot in the White House was yammering about his gut feeling being better than science and that he had “heard” that you could inject disinfectants and do internal UV light, along with pushing untested hydroxychloroquine (in which he may have financial ties). Instead, she was on the sidelines nodding. I even did a meme with her standing at the podium with the idiot next to her, captioned: “Hello, I’m Dr. Deborah Birx, once a renowned immunologist. However, I have since abandoned all of that to bask in the glow of a Pathological Narcissist and become one of his Official Lying Sycophants.”

I was not alone in this observation and perhaps she has decided to protect her credibility and call out the idiot’s idiocy. Especially since July when the idiot retweeted a video of “Dr.” Immanuel who confirmed hydroxychloroquine, told ppl masks were not necessary and mentioned “demon sperm,” and “alien DNA, which immediately ended any sane person from listening further. So, like Dr. Fauci, she is now going to incur the wrath of the idiot for telling the truth instead of “alternate truth.”

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She has learned the lesson that others before her have. Loyalty is a one way street with tRump and no matter how much you may have done for him, “it is never enough”.

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Wouldn't it be marvelous if at the next briefing Dr. Birx threw caution to the wind and let president know she was NOT intimidated by his name calling and bullying and preferred to tell the people of America the truth about the situation? I can dream, can't I?

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Along with yesterday’s reader’s dream that the secret Republican convention nominates Joe Biden!

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Every day I have this same dream . . .

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I think you may be right about Birx finally standing up to Trump as a result of his praise Immanuel's nonsense and his renewed support of hydroxychloroquine.

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You can't make this crap up! No one would believe it! We're caught in some kind of vortex of total insanity. Mitch McConnell has a LOT to answer for, since he's enabling this entire disaster.

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In the early days of the Trump regime, we learned that The Resistance can take unusual forms and come from unusual places (#AltNPS, for example). In this case, I wonder if there's a way to encourage postal workers to break the rules and return to previous protocols, in order to ensure a fair election.

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I thought of this too. Are they willing to work overtime anyway? Can local communities start a fund to support the workers?

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Sorry, but that sounds like a good way for them to be fired, do t forget.

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He learned everything he knows at his daddy's knee. Here is a link to a short piece (How the Trumps Brought Death and Destruction to Coney Island) by a Coney Island resident who grew up watching the Trump family in action.

https://youtu.be/r6XCs652VDY

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Thank you for linking to that. The trumps have no concern for what they break as long as they make money.

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I had no idea. Very sad.

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Truly heartbreaking. Looks like 45 learned from the “master”.

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All of this is deeply concerning. I voted by mail in the GA primary on June 9th and made sure I mailed it in really early. It worked well for me because my mobility is sorely limited these days because of a bum spine, and I also am primary care-giver for my 96-soon-to-be-97 year-old mom so I take extra precautions with regard to Covid-19. I would prefer to vote absentee once again, but with all this kerfuffle about the USPS, I'm having second thoughts. I will walk barefoot over friggin' molten lead and broken glass to vote in November if I have to. Safe to say, we ALL may need to go to extra lengths to vote this year. By making it more inconvenient to vote, they're hoping people won't want to bother. We MUST show them otherwise!

In other matters...did all y'all see where HCR was interviewed by Bill Moyers recently? Having 2 of my favourite voices talking together in the same space is like Christmas and birthday all rolled into one! I'd post the link, but I didn't know if that would be okay. (It may be further down the comments somewhere...) HCR doesn't strike me as the type to toot her own horn, though I think we're all too aware on here we could use her reasoned and clear voice these days all the more.

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Bruce, not sure how far your local Board of Elections office is from you but you can drop your absentee ballot, along with your 96-soon-to-be-97 year old Mom's ballot, directly to the BOE. This way you bypass the USPS - not ideal but will make sure it gets there in time. Also vote EARLY!!! even if voting by absentee ballot

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There are usually ballot drop off boxes at city hall and libraries too. Mine is a drive up ballot box in front of the library.

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Great interview with Bill Moyers!

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Perhaps off topic, but here’s a bit of good news *and* history: Advice from a woman who survived covid-19, the 1918 flu — and cancer

What is her secret to longevity? Her ongoing joke is that she slipped through the cracks somewhere in the Grim Reaper’s book.
But when she’s being introspective, she credits a strong immune system, avoidance of excessive worry and even her love of red wine. She was known to say, “Jesus did not change water into wine so that I could look at it.”

https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/2020/08/03/covid-spanish-flu-gerri-schappals/

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Let's hope this will help some.

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/house-panel-calls-new-postal-chief-to-explain-mail-delays?fbclid=IwAR1e3aR1Z-RXGd1jxnw7qRlvzgS0SsMSCTfwFZhWq4j1CZMZ6zuycLwkGTM

But in case you are not feeling good about mailing your ballot, find out where your local Board of Elections office is.....you can always delivery it there yourself. Also vote EARLY!!!!!! Even if by absentee/mail-in ballot. The earlier the better.

I cannot accept this is a lost cause even if 45 is cheating, we MUST remove him from office. We cannot accept anything less!

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Thank you for this really helpful information! I didn't know we could drop off our mail-in-ballot to the local Board of Elections office. People need to know about this!!!

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After watching the full Johnathan Swan interview of Donald Trump, my first thoughts were advice for Johnathan Swan from Mark Twain ... "Never argue with stupid people, they will drag you down to their level and then beat you with experience." I feel this particularly applies to anyone trying to interview Donald Trump.

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