The GOP is behind the election of a man so corrupt that he has been found guilty of numerous felonies related to his first campaign for president, a man who violated national security, stealing secret documents and sharing them with we don't know who, a adjudicated rapist who associated with Jeffery Epstein and whose lawsuit - by a woman…
The GOP is behind the election of a man so corrupt that he has been found guilty of numerous felonies related to his first campaign for president, a man who violated national security, stealing secret documents and sharing them with we don't know who, a adjudicated rapist who associated with Jeffery Epstein and whose lawsuit - by a woman who was 13 years old when she says he and Epstein raped her - ended when he became President last time, a man who organized a violent uprising against the US government which lead to the deaths of five people... do I need to go on? The GOP nominated this man for President, and since they got what they wanted, and he has once again won election to the highest position in the country, none of them should ever again complain about corruption. It's what they voted for. It's what they and the rest of us are going to get. Listening to them whine about Biden pardoning his son is not very convincing.
Grover Norquist said he wanted to shrink the federal government until it would be small enough to drown in a bathtub. And isn't the whole point of the neoliberal movement to shrink the federal government? "And don't it always seem to go that we don't know what we've got 'til it's gone?!"
Barbara, exactly. Does anybody seriously believe that Musk's aggressive approach to make government more "efficient" will call for an end to both NASA and U.S. space endeavors? Of course not.
But his conflicts of interest may kill his competitor Blue Horizon -- because you know - monopoly to the taxpayer treasury and unlimited contracts from NASA to Space X. The stock price is already gaining on the idea of influenced corruption giving a windfall.
I am really beyond my wits at how brazenly corrupt they are - IN OUR FACES about it.
I'm at my wits end at how brazenly IN OUR FACES they are and yet some people STILL DON'T RECOGNIZE what they're seeing. It totally blows me away. Ignorance? Stupidity? Brainwashed? Or could there really be that many evil people in our country?
It's not just Mars. There is much we do not know about this universe wherein we dwell. Socrates said something like "The more I learn, the more I realize how little I know." And in Jurassic Park we heard the refrain "Life finds a way". We need to learn about the big universe beyond our little birthplace. I would not entrust Elon alone with that task. But Prudence whispers to us, to avoid frightening the children, that we need to find out what is heading our way, long before it arrives, long before it is too late to react appropriately.
Like the people I heard in a local grocery store (a VERY red community) Standing around complaining about Biden and the government. 4 out of the 5 were obese and couldn't understand why their "disability" checks hadn't arrived yet.
"When President Trump took office in 2017, the White House’s National Security Council Directorate for Global Health Security and Biodefense survived the transition intact. Its mission was the same as when I was asked to lead the office, established after the Ebola epidemic of 2014: to do everything possible within the vast powers and resources of the U.S. government to prepare for the next disease outbreak and prevent it from becoming an epidemic or pandemic.
One year later, I was mystified when the White House dissolved the office, leaving the country less prepared for pandemics like covid-19.
The U.S. government’s slow and inadequate response to the new coronavirus underscores the need for organized, accountable leadership to prepare for and respond to pandemic threats.
In a health security crisis, speed is essential. When this new coronavirus emerged, there was no clear White House-led structure to oversee our response, and we lost valuable time."
The 'mis' leaders know what they mean and why, and also separately, a special narrative story for followers is my thought. My tact is to keep them talking and explaining - as though I'm perhaps interested in joining up if they can convince me. I get to learn that way.
It is the perceived “prize” that is the motivating engine behind corruption. That ancient disease of “insatiable need”,(greed for money, power, attention, etc.). Such affected players can never win by the established rules. Thus follows the rule-of-lies, buying up media and distorting reality. Didn’t we see this coming? We failed to protect against Big Money, we honored “free”speech— and are paying dearly.
How does our present culture now capture a system that upholds facts, allows “opinion and entertainment” when identified as such? The now required dire warning on tobacco products only followed the many decades fight against moneyed interests and millions of needless early deaths. Fake news is just as lethal— if not more so. Yes?
Barry, as a woman, it isn't just corruption that worries me and many other women who are posting about it, but the misogyny and its appeal to rape culture, plus the demeaning of anyone who is not white, male, hetero, and a certain brand of "Christian." Also this may be the nail in the coffin for doing anything about climate change and making it worse.
Indeed, this simmers for me all the time. I am a long time gardener and so i pay attention to these type of changes. I notice all the natural disasters happening all over the world. We have been making tiny steps, not nearly enough though, which will be reversed by the incoming greed and power administration. It won't be just the price of eggs that will be the problem.
Just yesterday a relative posted a chilling account of harassment on public transit, pointed at him for being an 'effing fag'. Bystanders stood by while the aggressor verbally abused him from stepping onto the train until he stepped off at the next stop to escape the harassment. I fear this will become much more frequent. This cousin is queer looking but not over the top. I haven't been harassed in years for my appearance (and what people see in me), but I expect it to begin again. And that's just the queer part, not the female part... Not excited for that to come around either.
Misogyny and "rape culture" is just one form of that "power-hungry" insatiable vacuum. I think of Gabor Mate, MD and his theories of early trauma and irreparable "holes" in the psyche. All that I speak of originates in trauma -- the perpetrators were also likely victims. Not an excuse for, just understanding of etiology.
I am not familiar with this person; however, I have thought something like this for a long time. I would say, based on my work in education, that family dynamics can be hard to overcome. I am not sure all perpetrators are victims, but they probably did grow up in a cultural milieu that mirrored that behavior.
Yes, climate change is the big big problem which renders all others almost moot. I sometime wonder when people talk about something happening years from now what they are thinking.
I often believe that the realisation that we are headed toward extinction is influencing the current trama manifest in the populace. Almost everything we do in our daily lives contributes and hastens our demise. You can choose to deny and double down in that negative culture or struggle against it . I think maga knows human nature and are grabbing all they can before the bill comes due. The dems knows human nature and chooses to work for a managed future.
I’m beginning to think the “shrinking the federal government”is, indeed, a smokescreen. The same goes for “turn it back to the states.” Trump wants POWER, and when you “shrink” something, it becomes less powerful.
I always got the feeling Grover had no idea what he was talking about. Shrink the Government is indeed a smokescreen. It really means take over the government.
Norquist hasn't made a peep about the government's expansion into women's health care. Catch phrases from the right like "drain the swamp" or "shrink the government" or "get rid of fraud and waste" are pure doublespeak. They mean the opposite.
Make America Great Again (MAGA) means Burn It Down (BID), and a criminal lunatic has won the bid.
Nancy, Yes! And the next phrase is "Pave Paradise, put up a parking lot", which I decided not to include, because the example of bulldozing Paradise is not really necessary.
Hey, Ned. Thank You! A day or two ago I spent some time looking at the pictures of the places you visited, and I read your stories. I've never been near any of those places. Fascinating. I am deeply grateful for the diversity we enjoy here in the USA. I think the best antidote to all the prejudicial talk about illegal immigration and deportation is for us to express what is in our hearts, that we love and cherish diversity among our friends and neighbors. The bigots are wrong. They are spiritually malnourished. They try to put prejudice and Christianity in the same sentence. And thank you for mentioning Mr. Douglass! Cheers!
Wow, David. Thank you for honouring me. A compliment like yours from a gentleman of your evident calibre leaves me speechless. And thank you for the reminder of Frederick Douglass who still had a capacity for love despite enduring so much physical torture and hatred. You inspire me.
If polite society were to devolve into chaos, we would all be dancing on the edge of a slippery slope, with a high wind from the wrong direction. They think they can manage chaos. Hah! "Things fall apart; the center cannot hold".
Jane Meyer wrote all about this in Dark Money.........I have been telling everyone for years about it the book........nobody really listened.........now the gates of hell have opened wide.......Malcolm Nance has been yelling from the mountain top for years!!! Zero reaction
Because by then it was already too late. The financial system, media and government were already infiltrated. I believe that one day if we are lucky enough to survive this coup intact as a Democracy we will learn how complicit the media has been on a deep level.
Heather, that's an excellent account of the Hunter Biden case! The media's presentation of it is outrageous. We are lucky to have you to set the facts straight.
Dr. Richardson has over a million subscribers. She is a graduate of Harvard with multiple degrees, has taught at MIT and is currently a Professor at Boston College. She has authored 7 books, interviewed President Biden twice. She has risen to acclaim as an accomplished voice in America.
Much of the media is owned by the villains. So you know what the outcomes will be. Look at Bezos (and other fat cats) pulling WAPO's potential endorsement of Kamala.
There is a growing cache of writing post this election examining the role the media played in the is election. It is a disaster. We have been drenched in a toxic brew of hatred, lies and disinformation.
The media created a false reality aimed at electing fascists.
Bought and paid for. Bezos refusal for WAPO to post its editorial position before Nov 5th was abjugated responsibility and "obeying in advance" to the perceived threat of DJT and ilk's returns.
I could never have believed how lethal to our Democracy they have become - especially to the buffoon.
Think about it though, we have never really had true “democracy” for all. People of color, other than white, have been denied of their rights as citizens for over 200+ years. Women of all ages, sizes, and color, have bern sexually trampled on and denied places at the table until recently. But hey, Kamala’s failed, they say! I think not. She scared the machismo right outta men so they had to deny her the right to govern a sane society.
When I screamed, T and FB banned me and people in my orbit just thought I was too radical. One very dear friend even said I sounded like his Fox nut friends. He had ex-military buddies who had already been foxified. Guess he was too.
JD, I, for one, do not think you are too radical. A lot of people I know, most of them old, have decided they are not going to shut up and are going to say what they think. I say to you, bravo.
I hope I’m too old to be intimidated. But this is not how I hoped to spend my dotage. Must still care for my grands and other young people, but sometimes energy is as depleted as finances…. Thank you, fellow radical
And I've been posting a lot, with links, about "Democracy in Chains", "The deep history of radical right's stealth plan for America", Nancy MacLean,
a factual historical troll through the RW apparatus since the 80's (at least) to implement Milton Freeman "Profit above ALL things" including voting by the general public which they decry as taking from them by Gov't taxation for voted programs. Norquest on steroids - very fascist.
It's the most heinous version of the gilded lot wanting power to rule and lock out the general public from their ill-gotten gains and rights in political freedoms by voting. Hence, all the voting suppression tactics. they know they don't have public support. Lies steal the votes of the naive MAGA.
Malcolm? Malcolm Gladwell? Why, he's at the Tipping Point, as are all the rest of us. The Great 2025 American Tipping Point, coming right up! Buckle up, and let us work, and hope, that sanity prevails as history waits for no one.
JD, nicely put as surely this will come back to harm ordinary people no matter who they are. I know we will all suffer, but I am probably going to take some pleasure from the R voters who start complaining about higher prices, etc.
I think it's valid for some people to complain about higher prices or the price of eggs. Some can truly not afford those higher prices. I was astounded last year when I went into a supermarket in Phoenix and the eggs were $10/dozen. Wowza! But to choose a president based on the price of eggs and food prices when one hasn't done one's homework? That's a whole other ballgame.
Revolution/takeover is much easier than governing. The more they destroy, the more they engender hatred from the "governed." This nation will become much weaker in all senses as they destroy the Federal government. I wonder how long big business will put up with the resulting chaos?
Someone wise once said, 'You can't fight the system, you need to create a new system which makes the old one redundant.' The old system is legacy media, fake news generators like Fox, social media platforms owned by billionaires. The resistance, the new system, has begun with platforms like Bluesky and Substack. People need to vote with their feet and their wallets - abandon anything that serves the incoming govt and it's profiteers.
Is there anyone here who, having observed what Trump has done and is doing, is not convinced that Trump is now a lunatic? This is lunacy. Trump is not of sound mind.
The false equivalencies are outlandish. The Faux outrage over Hunter is ridiculous. In the first case, Trump would have done precisely the same for one of his kids. In the second, Trump pardoned far, far worse miscreants: Manafort, Stone, and Jared's Dad, Charles. Give me a F**king Break!
I tried to figure out Trump, over and over, and finally became resigned to his being mentally ill. Thank you, courageous psychiatrist Bandy Lee.
But, as you say here, what's with the media piling on Biden over the pardon? It's partly immaturity, I guess. Going with the crowd. Biden's such an easy target for them. And some of it has to be fear of the MAGA machine. "Obeying in advance." I'm grateful for this group.
Yes, hypocrisy and revenge. The "clutching of the pearls" reactions that Biden changed his mind, and thus lied, seems to be the opposite reaction to all those Republicans who vehemently criticized Trump in 2016, calling him a Nazi, etc.,but now are bowing down to him.
Lindsey Graham, Ted Cruz, and the future vice-president, JD Vance cannot justify their loss of integrity, but that's okay. No, the critics of Biden's pardon of his son, not only "clutched their pearls", but added another strand.
I truly believe that Biden was sincere in saying that he would not pardon Hunter and let it play out with the DOJ when he believed that Harris would win. But with an obviously corrupt DOJ percolating and having his son sentenced to prison when trump, a convicted felon of multiple crimes, not only has evaded prison but will become US president again was too hard to swallow....
This was all in “the plan”. The seeds were set in the ground in the 80’s when Reagan was prez. Putin realized that he needed compliant agents to do his bidding. He waited over 30 years to unleash them and now they have taken over Congress, the media, and now the presidency. Like Jasmine Crockett said, Democrats always bring a butter knife to the fight. We need cannons.
Sharing documents in terrible, but sharing who our operatives are in Europe and Asia with Putin and others is despicable. Once he is back in office, he will do it again in a heart beat.
It's not just a case of the pot calling the kettle black—it's more like an entire pantry calling a tiny speck of dust on a kettle black. We're living in a dystopia fueled by the relentless nonsense of right-wing media. If their audience weren't so massive, their absurdity could be dismissed. But the new civil war is here, and it's a media war. The Democrats need to bring out their heavy artillery to counter the flood of right-wing misinformation.
The GOP backed a man guilty of felonies, endangering national security, and inciting deadly violence. Their hypocrisy on corruption while supporting him is staggering. They own this chaos—and the consequences are on their hands.
Biden's pardon of his son is the beginning of the civil war, unexpectedly but a war always begin like this. Medias are with the Trump side for the obvious reason of their survival. Mr. Biden has one month to win. What strategy should he take? This is the topic we need to discuss, no more criticism of Trump and MAGA.
Interesting (and scary) idea about this being the beginning of the civil war. And good point - we should be talking about what Biden should do. I think he should repeat and repeat his clear and concise reasoning for why the pardon.
Angela, they are hypocrites on steroids. Hunter's problems came from addiction. He has paid the taxes and penalties. It is clear to anyone who knows what is coming why Biden pardoned his son. Rs will go on a witch hunt anyway and their targets will not just be the Bidens. Death star is a criminal and a traitor, the worst president ever and is without one redeeming characteristic. I agree that they should never complain about corruption. They are the party of death.
Well, if there were ever an opportunity to re-balance the powers of the Congress and the Executive, this rogues gallery of senior U.S.G. nominees is it. 🤞
Messrs Hunter Biden and Hegseth are alcoholics and substance abusers. They need help. Mr Biden is getting help and making amends, both in righting past wrongs and remaining clean for five years this far. Mr Hegseth has not. ⚖️
Mr Hegseth may get the help he needs and should be supported in doing so. Yet he still has to face up to the consequences of his behavior and certainly should NOT be SecDef. 🤔
Last evening, Deutsche Welle, a former Assistant Special Prosecutor on Watergate said that, had Vice President Harris won, Mr Biden would not have been pardoned. I quite agree. 💔
P.S., this statement, from Joyce Vance in yesterday's 'Week Ahead' essay, says it all: "Look at how quickly MAGA dropped its focus on Hunter Biden once Joe Biden left the ticket."
Not only did the GOP nominate him, enough people in this country supported him to get him elected, KNOWING the chaos he brings. A bigger question is what is wrong with US, collectively
After flipping thru the MSM "news" sites at lunch today, it seems that most of them are stridently expressing outrage that "Binden said, many times, he would not pardon Hunter" . None of the talking heads said anything about the fact that the conditions have changed since President Binden made those remarks, namely the appointment of the radical Kash Patel to head the FBI. Patel has vowed to use that office as a weapon to press criminal charges against journalists, reporters, and specifically Hunter Biden.
Where are the voices of reason, like Brinkley, Brokaw, Cronkite, Koppel, ...
Trump is responsible for the security of all Americans. His nomination of Secretary of Defense is contrary to this principle. Hopefully the Senate can stop, but if they give him a free pass, Biden should declare a martial law. Take a lesson from South Korea.
No way. I live in Trump territory. These people have guns. Some are paranoid, and suspect the government has been wanting to fight them all along. Declaring martial law would certainly start a civil war, in my opinion.
The GOP is behind the election of a man so corrupt that he has been found guilty of numerous felonies related to his first campaign for president, a man who violated national security, stealing secret documents and sharing them with we don't know who, a adjudicated rapist who associated with Jeffery Epstein and whose lawsuit - by a woman who was 13 years old when she says he and Epstein raped her - ended when he became President last time, a man who organized a violent uprising against the US government which lead to the deaths of five people... do I need to go on? The GOP nominated this man for President, and since they got what they wanted, and he has once again won election to the highest position in the country, none of them should ever again complain about corruption. It's what they voted for. It's what they and the rest of us are going to get. Listening to them whine about Biden pardoning his son is not very convincing.
The whole point is to burn down the federal government.
Grover Norquist said he wanted to shrink the federal government until it would be small enough to drown in a bathtub. And isn't the whole point of the neoliberal movement to shrink the federal government? "And don't it always seem to go that we don't know what we've got 'til it's gone?!"
"Shrink the Government" is one of those phrases like "woke" and "the economy". No one has any idea what it really means.
Shrink the government? "Sure! As long as it doesn't impact me!" say all the voters.
Barbara, exactly. Does anybody seriously believe that Musk's aggressive approach to make government more "efficient" will call for an end to both NASA and U.S. space endeavors? Of course not.
But his conflicts of interest may kill his competitor Blue Horizon -- because you know - monopoly to the taxpayer treasury and unlimited contracts from NASA to Space X. The stock price is already gaining on the idea of influenced corruption giving a windfall.
I am really beyond my wits at how brazenly corrupt they are - IN OUR FACES about it.
I'm at my wits end at how brazenly IN OUR FACES they are and yet some people STILL DON'T RECOGNIZE what they're seeing. It totally blows me away. Ignorance? Stupidity? Brainwashed? Or could there really be that many evil people in our country?
Amazing arrogance for sure.
Who needs to end poverty and hunger when we can spend billions of dollars flying to Mars?
100Panthers: I believe we can do both, if we had the will.
It's not just Mars. There is much we do not know about this universe wherein we dwell. Socrates said something like "The more I learn, the more I realize how little I know." And in Jurassic Park we heard the refrain "Life finds a way". We need to learn about the big universe beyond our little birthplace. I would not entrust Elon alone with that task. But Prudence whispers to us, to avoid frightening the children, that we need to find out what is heading our way, long before it arrives, long before it is too late to react appropriately.
Like the people I heard in a local grocery store (a VERY red community) Standing around complaining about Biden and the government. 4 out of the 5 were obese and couldn't understand why their "disability" checks hadn't arrived yet.
Wonder how they will feel if soon they never get a disability check or a dramatically reduced check.
WOW...LMAO! Gobsmacking!
How did this 'shrinkage' work out for you? Us?!
"When President Trump took office in 2017, the White House’s National Security Council Directorate for Global Health Security and Biodefense survived the transition intact. Its mission was the same as when I was asked to lead the office, established after the Ebola epidemic of 2014: to do everything possible within the vast powers and resources of the U.S. government to prepare for the next disease outbreak and prevent it from becoming an epidemic or pandemic.
One year later, I was mystified when the White House dissolved the office, leaving the country less prepared for pandemics like covid-19.
The U.S. government’s slow and inadequate response to the new coronavirus underscores the need for organized, accountable leadership to prepare for and respond to pandemic threats.
In a health security crisis, speed is essential. When this new coronavirus emerged, there was no clear White House-led structure to oversee our response, and we lost valuable time."
https://wapo.st/3VmBiN0
Yes. I know.
The 'mis' leaders know what they mean and why, and also separately, a special narrative story for followers is my thought. My tact is to keep them talking and explaining - as though I'm perhaps interested in joining up if they can convince me. I get to learn that way.
They won’t shrink it, they will redirect it. In ways that are familiar in places like Germany, Cambodia, Rwanda…
It is the perceived “prize” that is the motivating engine behind corruption. That ancient disease of “insatiable need”,(greed for money, power, attention, etc.). Such affected players can never win by the established rules. Thus follows the rule-of-lies, buying up media and distorting reality. Didn’t we see this coming? We failed to protect against Big Money, we honored “free”speech— and are paying dearly.
How does our present culture now capture a system that upholds facts, allows “opinion and entertainment” when identified as such? The now required dire warning on tobacco products only followed the many decades fight against moneyed interests and millions of needless early deaths. Fake news is just as lethal— if not more so. Yes?
Barry, as a woman, it isn't just corruption that worries me and many other women who are posting about it, but the misogyny and its appeal to rape culture, plus the demeaning of anyone who is not white, male, hetero, and a certain brand of "Christian." Also this may be the nail in the coffin for doing anything about climate change and making it worse.
Makes me more concerned than ever about an unimaginable Climate Catastrophe, as far as humans are concerned.
Indeed, this simmers for me all the time. I am a long time gardener and so i pay attention to these type of changes. I notice all the natural disasters happening all over the world. We have been making tiny steps, not nearly enough though, which will be reversed by the incoming greed and power administration. It won't be just the price of eggs that will be the problem.
I think we should all be concerned. Climate catastrophes are already happening. Just ask North Carolina.
Just yesterday a relative posted a chilling account of harassment on public transit, pointed at him for being an 'effing fag'. Bystanders stood by while the aggressor verbally abused him from stepping onto the train until he stepped off at the next stop to escape the harassment. I fear this will become much more frequent. This cousin is queer looking but not over the top. I haven't been harassed in years for my appearance (and what people see in me), but I expect it to begin again. And that's just the queer part, not the female part... Not excited for that to come around either.
Ohhh Steph I’m so sorry you relative had to experience that. 😢What saddens me more is no one called out the bully.
That's terrible. I don't even know what to say, except that I am disgusted with the direction this country is going in!
Horrible. We all have to be fierce allies. I would NEVER sit still for this happening to anyone.
Misogyny and "rape culture" is just one form of that "power-hungry" insatiable vacuum. I think of Gabor Mate, MD and his theories of early trauma and irreparable "holes" in the psyche. All that I speak of originates in trauma -- the perpetrators were also likely victims. Not an excuse for, just understanding of etiology.
I am not familiar with this person; however, I have thought something like this for a long time. I would say, based on my work in education, that family dynamics can be hard to overcome. I am not sure all perpetrators are victims, but they probably did grow up in a cultural milieu that mirrored that behavior.
Yes, climate change is the big big problem which renders all others almost moot. I sometime wonder when people talk about something happening years from now what they are thinking.
I often believe that the realisation that we are headed toward extinction is influencing the current trama manifest in the populace. Almost everything we do in our daily lives contributes and hastens our demise. You can choose to deny and double down in that negative culture or struggle against it . I think maga knows human nature and are grabbing all they can before the bill comes due. The dems knows human nature and chooses to work for a managed future.
Spot on Michele. And if you are a woman and work in the sciences, double whammy!!
I don't and I am retired. However, I can imagine.
I’m beginning to think the “shrinking the federal government”is, indeed, a smokescreen. The same goes for “turn it back to the states.” Trump wants POWER, and when you “shrink” something, it becomes less powerful.
Is Grover’s notion the same as Donald’s?
I always got the feeling Grover had no idea what he was talking about. Shrink the Government is indeed a smokescreen. It really means take over the government.
Norquist hasn't made a peep about the government's expansion into women's health care. Catch phrases from the right like "drain the swamp" or "shrink the government" or "get rid of fraud and waste" are pure doublespeak. They mean the opposite.
Make America Great Again (MAGA) means Burn It Down (BID), and a criminal lunatic has won the bid.
David, all that.
I was just humming that song last night - it fits the times.
Volga Boatman is more appropriate, Tovarich.
😏
Except for the military! Its primary role is the defense of American capitalism, pretty much period.
I am not sure the military is at the top of the hit list. That money is now targeted to spaceX
The quote is from Big Yellow Taxi by Joni Mitchell. https://jonimitchell.com 🙏🏽
Nancy, Yes! And the next phrase is "Pave Paradise, put up a parking lot", which I decided not to include, because the example of bulldozing Paradise is not really necessary.
That Norquist imagined drowning anyone in a bathtub speaks volumes about his own character.
That was my first thought the first time I heard that quote from Norquist. Murderer! Psychopath!
Norquist was one of the earliest grifters, and one of the slimiest ones at that.
What is politics? Defined = Who gets the money!!!!!!!
Wondered when his name would be mentioned 🤦
Grover is likely orgasmic, but he will likely just take his cut and run. Unless the Heritage folks win over Putin and the magat crazies
hahaha. Shrink the government. Well, don't count on the taxes shrinking. The greedy will pocket it all and use it to fill their massive egos.
Really fine point there, David. Great to *read your Douglassesque pragmatism again! 🤝⚖️✌🏽
Hey, Ned. Thank You! A day or two ago I spent some time looking at the pictures of the places you visited, and I read your stories. I've never been near any of those places. Fascinating. I am deeply grateful for the diversity we enjoy here in the USA. I think the best antidote to all the prejudicial talk about illegal immigration and deportation is for us to express what is in our hearts, that we love and cherish diversity among our friends and neighbors. The bigots are wrong. They are spiritually malnourished. They try to put prejudice and Christianity in the same sentence. And thank you for mentioning Mr. Douglass! Cheers!
Wow, David. Thank you for honouring me. A compliment like yours from a gentleman of your evident calibre leaves me speechless. And thank you for the reminder of Frederick Douglass who still had a capacity for love despite enduring so much physical torture and hatred. You inspire me.
Thank You, Ned. I appreciate your kindness and generosity.
Not sure this will happen. Musk will still get funds.
If polite society were to devolve into chaos, we would all be dancing on the edge of a slippery slope, with a high wind from the wrong direction. They think they can manage chaos. Hah! "Things fall apart; the center cannot hold".
Fascism comes to the United States.
Jane Meyer wrote all about this in Dark Money.........I have been telling everyone for years about it the book........nobody really listened.........now the gates of hell have opened wide.......Malcolm Nance has been yelling from the mountain top for years!!! Zero reaction
Because by then it was already too late. The financial system, media and government were already infiltrated. I believe that one day if we are lucky enough to survive this coup intact as a Democracy we will learn how complicit the media has been on a deep level.
Heather, that's an excellent account of the Hunter Biden case! The media's presentation of it is outrageous. We are lucky to have you to set the facts straight.
Dr. Richardson has over a million subscribers. She is a graduate of Harvard with multiple degrees, has taught at MIT and is currently a Professor at Boston College. She has authored 7 books, interviewed President Biden twice. She has risen to acclaim as an accomplished voice in America.
Much of the media is owned by the villains. So you know what the outcomes will be. Look at Bezos (and other fat cats) pulling WAPO's potential endorsement of Kamala.
Yes, I know.
There is a growing cache of writing post this election examining the role the media played in the is election. It is a disaster. We have been drenched in a toxic brew of hatred, lies and disinformation.
The media created a false reality aimed at electing fascists.
Bought and paid for. Bezos refusal for WAPO to post its editorial position before Nov 5th was abjugated responsibility and "obeying in advance" to the perceived threat of DJT and ilk's returns.
I could never have believed how lethal to our Democracy they have become - especially to the buffoon.
Think about it though, we have never really had true “democracy” for all. People of color, other than white, have been denied of their rights as citizens for over 200+ years. Women of all ages, sizes, and color, have bern sexually trampled on and denied places at the table until recently. But hey, Kamala’s failed, they say! I think not. She scared the machismo right outta men so they had to deny her the right to govern a sane society.
Agree. This complicity of the media has been brewing since the oligarchs gobbled up local news, local papers and national news sources.
Because the zone has been flooded with so much sh@t. It’s hard to know which disaster needs attention.
I don't think we'll recover in my lifetime. People don't seem to care if they are good people or not.
When I screamed, T and FB banned me and people in my orbit just thought I was too radical. One very dear friend even said I sounded like his Fox nut friends. He had ex-military buddies who had already been foxified. Guess he was too.
JD, I, for one, do not think you are too radical. A lot of people I know, most of them old, have decided they are not going to shut up and are going to say what they think. I say to you, bravo.
I hope I’m too old to be intimidated. But this is not how I hoped to spend my dotage. Must still care for my grands and other young people, but sometimes energy is as depleted as finances…. Thank you, fellow radical
And I've been posting a lot, with links, about "Democracy in Chains", "The deep history of radical right's stealth plan for America", Nancy MacLean,
a factual historical troll through the RW apparatus since the 80's (at least) to implement Milton Freeman "Profit above ALL things" including voting by the general public which they decry as taking from them by Gov't taxation for voted programs. Norquest on steroids - very fascist.
It's the most heinous version of the gilded lot wanting power to rule and lock out the general public from their ill-gotten gains and rights in political freedoms by voting. Hence, all the voting suppression tactics. they know they don't have public support. Lies steal the votes of the naive MAGA.
WJB, “Dark Money” is a primer so sure
Agree, Dark Money should have been assigned reading for all.
Where is Malcolm?
Malcolm? Malcolm Gladwell? Why, he's at the Tipping Point, as are all the rest of us. The Great 2025 American Tipping Point, coming right up! Buckle up, and let us work, and hope, that sanity prevails as history waits for no one.
I was referring to Malcolm Nance. I’m surprised he’s not screaming from the rooftops.
They said it out loud, and people shrugged….
Or cheered.
Yep, sticking it to the libs. Hope some realize that all the epithets they aimed at Dems were really boomerangs…
JD, nicely put as surely this will come back to harm ordinary people no matter who they are. I know we will all suffer, but I am probably going to take some pleasure from the R voters who start complaining about higher prices, etc.
I think it's valid for some people to complain about higher prices or the price of eggs. Some can truly not afford those higher prices. I was astounded last year when I went into a supermarket in Phoenix and the eggs were $10/dozen. Wowza! But to choose a president based on the price of eggs and food prices when one hasn't done one's homework? That's a whole other ballgame.
A gay friend at my UU church is already enjoying family having regrets. Not so with my MAGAts. - yet…
And the rest of the country with it.
It will.
So the big corporations and robber barons can rob the country blind. They want to loot the country, like Putin, et. al. did to Russia.
Yes, and while everyone will be affected, the people who most need the protections our government affords us will suffer the most.
Revolution/takeover is much easier than governing. The more they destroy, the more they engender hatred from the "governed." This nation will become much weaker in all senses as they destroy the Federal government. I wonder how long big business will put up with the resulting chaos?
And then who's gonna run it after it's burned down? The guy with the buffalo horns on his head????
Someone wise once said, 'You can't fight the system, you need to create a new system which makes the old one redundant.' The old system is legacy media, fake news generators like Fox, social media platforms owned by billionaires. The resistance, the new system, has begun with platforms like Bluesky and Substack. People need to vote with their feet and their wallets - abandon anything that serves the incoming govt and it's profiteers.
Is there anyone here who, having observed what Trump has done and is doing, is not convinced that Trump is now a lunatic? This is lunacy. Trump is not of sound mind.
I'd say it's more like they'll chop it up and sell it for parts. Russia style.
And take the rest of us with it.
Oh, and also to enrich Trump and his cronies.
"Listening to them whine about Biden pardoning his son is not very convincing."
Keep track of who does the whining. It's very revealing.
The false equivalencies are outlandish. The Faux outrage over Hunter is ridiculous. In the first case, Trump would have done precisely the same for one of his kids. In the second, Trump pardoned far, far worse miscreants: Manafort, Stone, and Jared's Dad, Charles. Give me a F**king Break!
And he said he will pardon ALL of the Jan 6 insurrectionists.
I tried to figure out Trump, over and over, and finally became resigned to his being mentally ill. Thank you, courageous psychiatrist Bandy Lee.
But, as you say here, what's with the media piling on Biden over the pardon? It's partly immaturity, I guess. Going with the crowd. Biden's such an easy target for them. And some of it has to be fear of the MAGA machine. "Obeying in advance." I'm grateful for this group.
https://williambowles.info/2024/12/03/the-pardoning-of-hunter-bidens-crimes-in-ukraine/
Chump has been the master whiner all his life, who could come close
Hypocricy and revenge flow through their veins.
Yes, hypocrisy and revenge. The "clutching of the pearls" reactions that Biden changed his mind, and thus lied, seems to be the opposite reaction to all those Republicans who vehemently criticized Trump in 2016, calling him a Nazi, etc.,but now are bowing down to him.
Lindsey Graham, Ted Cruz, and the future vice-president, JD Vance cannot justify their loss of integrity, but that's okay. No, the critics of Biden's pardon of his son, not only "clutched their pearls", but added another strand.
I truly believe that Biden was sincere in saying that he would not pardon Hunter and let it play out with the DOJ when he believed that Harris would win. But with an obviously corrupt DOJ percolating and having his son sentenced to prison when trump, a convicted felon of multiple crimes, not only has evaded prison but will become US president again was too hard to swallow....
Thank you. That is exactly the situation
This was all in “the plan”. The seeds were set in the ground in the 80’s when Reagan was prez. Putin realized that he needed compliant agents to do his bidding. He waited over 30 years to unleash them and now they have taken over Congress, the media, and now the presidency. Like Jasmine Crockett said, Democrats always bring a butter knife to the fight. We need cannons.
We should know he probably shared all of the most important docs with Putin, second hand.
Sharing documents in terrible, but sharing who our operatives are in Europe and Asia with Putin and others is despicable. Once he is back in office, he will do it again in a heart beat.
We will be isolated, with his paws on the nukes. But his pal, Putin will take over.
will conscientious lower echelons keep critical information from TRump to prevent losing all our agents in the field?
Yes, and I also believe that trump and putin have already agreed on what happens to Ukraine....
I really fear for Ukraine.
It's not just a case of the pot calling the kettle black—it's more like an entire pantry calling a tiny speck of dust on a kettle black. We're living in a dystopia fueled by the relentless nonsense of right-wing media. If their audience weren't so massive, their absurdity could be dismissed. But the new civil war is here, and it's a media war. The Democrats need to bring out their heavy artillery to counter the flood of right-wing misinformation.
A good history of this on On the Media podcast The Divided Dial and podcast from Friday How Conservative Talk Radio Came to Dominate the Airwaves NPR.
The GOP backed a man guilty of felonies, endangering national security, and inciting deadly violence. Their hypocrisy on corruption while supporting him is staggering. They own this chaos—and the consequences are on their hands.
Top priority should be that Russia attacked us, using psy ops. But for that Trump wudda lost bigly. Are we still a sovereign nation?
What are psy ops? I keep reading the term but not sure of what it precisely means, Daniel.
https://www.goarmy.com/careers-and-jobs/specialty-careers/special-ops/psychological-operations
Biden's pardon of his son is the beginning of the civil war, unexpectedly but a war always begin like this. Medias are with the Trump side for the obvious reason of their survival. Mr. Biden has one month to win. What strategy should he take? This is the topic we need to discuss, no more criticism of Trump and MAGA.
Interesting (and scary) idea about this being the beginning of the civil war. And good point - we should be talking about what Biden should do. I think he should repeat and repeat his clear and concise reasoning for why the pardon.
Angela, they are hypocrites on steroids. Hunter's problems came from addiction. He has paid the taxes and penalties. It is clear to anyone who knows what is coming why Biden pardoned his son. Rs will go on a witch hunt anyway and their targets will not just be the Bidens. Death star is a criminal and a traitor, the worst president ever and is without one redeeming characteristic. I agree that they should never complain about corruption. They are the party of death.
"is not very convincing"
They are not interested in convincing us. Their only interest is in confirming their own toady loyalty to the Groper-in-Chief.
So how to we stop this?
Well, if there were ever an opportunity to re-balance the powers of the Congress and the Executive, this rogues gallery of senior U.S.G. nominees is it. 🤞
Messrs Hunter Biden and Hegseth are alcoholics and substance abusers. They need help. Mr Biden is getting help and making amends, both in righting past wrongs and remaining clean for five years this far. Mr Hegseth has not. ⚖️
Mr Hegseth may get the help he needs and should be supported in doing so. Yet he still has to face up to the consequences of his behavior and certainly should NOT be SecDef. 🤔
Last evening, Deutsche Welle, a former Assistant Special Prosecutor on Watergate said that, had Vice President Harris won, Mr Biden would not have been pardoned. I quite agree. 💔
P.S., this statement, from Joyce Vance in yesterday's 'Week Ahead' essay, says it all: "Look at how quickly MAGA dropped its focus on Hunter Biden once Joe Biden left the ticket."
Not only did the GOP nominate him, enough people in this country supported him to get him elected, KNOWING the chaos he brings. A bigger question is what is wrong with US, collectively
The most powerful man in the world. The whole earth shutters
After flipping thru the MSM "news" sites at lunch today, it seems that most of them are stridently expressing outrage that "Binden said, many times, he would not pardon Hunter" . None of the talking heads said anything about the fact that the conditions have changed since President Binden made those remarks, namely the appointment of the radical Kash Patel to head the FBI. Patel has vowed to use that office as a weapon to press criminal charges against journalists, reporters, and specifically Hunter Biden.
Where are the voices of reason, like Brinkley, Brokaw, Cronkite, Koppel, ...
Trump is responsible for the security of all Americans. His nomination of Secretary of Defense is contrary to this principle. Hopefully the Senate can stop, but if they give him a free pass, Biden should declare a martial law. Take a lesson from South Korea.
No way. I live in Trump territory. These people have guns. Some are paranoid, and suspect the government has been wanting to fight them all along. Declaring martial law would certainly start a civil war, in my opinion.