In the past two days, stories in major papers have focused on the president’s deteriorating mental state. The Atlantic ran a story by Peter Wehner titled “Trump is Losing His Mind.” It describes “Trump’s descent into madness.” Politico ran Michael Kruse’s story titled “Is Trump Cracking Under the Weight of Losing?””[T]he actual fact of the matter,” it said, is that “Trump is a loser.” Kruse points to Trump’s uncharacteristic absence from the public eye to wonder if he is breaking down mentally.
Too little, too late. I'm feeling very sad about the relief package that was passed in the Senate last night. I think of all the lives lost, and all the food insecurity, and all the people distraught with figuring how to hold onto their homes. And, it only happened because McConnell felt he had to do it so he would not lose his power position of obstruction. Seven months since the House passed their bill. And, the checks which McConnell didn't want won't even arrive before Christmas. We can't have anyone have such unilateral power in the government of the People. Nor should we tolerate one party take all power. If a party gets 51% of the vote, they shouldn't get 100% of the committee chairs; this winner take all stuff has to stop. And, term limits have to start for members of Congress and the Justices and Judges of the courts. But then it isn't a government of the People most of the time, is it? Patron and Party over Country and Constituents. No. It won't do. So sad.
The Republicans in Congress, especially Mr. McConnell, own all of this. Every action or inaction of the Trump Administration since the Senate voted to acquit on impeachment, through to inauguration, hangs around the necks of congressional Republicans, especially Mr. McConnell.
Since McConnell and many other Republicans were recently re-elected, we have a picture of how many of our fellow citizens, often waving an American flag, feel about democratic governance.
"Democracy for me, not for you."
To the former public supporters of Trump now seeking to "put some water" between themselves and the President, you're many days late and many dollars short.
When panicking over an infestation of "rats" the citizens of hamelin called upon a "magic" minstrel to play a melody that would entrance the rats and he would lead them to the river to drown. The "honest burgers" reneged on their vow to pay for services rendered and you all know where the children went.
How you deal with the denoument and aftermath of a crisis says a lot about who we are. We have to be careful of what we wish for and who we follow to get there. Biden's cautious approach is part of the answer but a truth commission in which nothing is hidden is also required and this cannot be driven unilaterally by the incoming President or the existing Congress. Such a "court" must have a power of forgiveness.... but also the possibility of inflicting the punishment of disbarment from public office/legal practice and of prohibition of administrative or other forms of control of business, NGOs, finance or socio-political funds etc. This should not however preclude criminal investigation and punishment either of serious crimes under current statutes.
While I worry about what a mentally unstable Trump might do as his administration finally starts circling the bowl, in the long term it is his supporters that concern me. No matter what policies one might support, I just don't understand how anyone can not recognize that Trump has been a total disaster as president. It's as if his supporters live in an alternate reality, one in which our friends are our enemies, our enemies are our friends, corruption is wholesome, hate is love, failure is competence, lies are facts, truth is suspicious. In other words, they are deranged. Somehow, someway we need to convince a good number of them that they have been off the mark... far off the mark. That is a difficult challenge. Sadly, I think that it will require Republican leaders to denounce Trump. It seems, however, that too many of them are also deranged.
These reporters investigated how Moscow Mitch, deeply unpopular in his state, continues to win elections by landslides, even in counties that have voted Democratic again and again. A particular voting machine type is used in Kentucky, not the Dominion machines Trump is complaining about. Maybe Amy McGrath’s recent loss to Mitch in Kentucky was not in a free and fair election!
Dear HCR, bearer of the flame of sanity lighting a path through the madness of 2020, I'm sure all your readers will be wishing you a safe, happy and hopeful holiday and 2021. You have truly made each day better.
Important for all to remember that no matter what happens in the next 29 days, the sun will rise on 21 January 2021, Joe Biden will be President and Kamala Harris Vice President, the pandemic will continue to rage, hospitals and healthcare workers will be overwhelmed, the economy will be in a shambles, the just passed relief bill while of some help was far short of what was needed; DJT while no longer President will remain a threat as his supporters will continue to constitute tens of millions of deranged, fact- and truth denying miscreants living amongst us, and the work of governing well, competently, and compassionately will have begun once again in the face of massive challenges.
Do not think that on the 21st of January all will be well simply because the malevolent crazy captain who has been in charge of our ship of state has relinquished the wheel. The seas will still roil and the winds will rage as the storm continues. I am and will be somewhat comforted by competence, experience, and compassion at the helm, but remain terrified by the continuing storm until the seas are calmed. Biden is a good captain but he is not Jesus standing up in the boat and becalming the seas and reassuring his deciples that all will be well, he is just a better captain in the midst of a continuing storm.
We will all need to continue to work HARD and support the new administration and their efforts to restore the soul of America. Biden and his entire administration will need the collective efforts and good work of us all. We the People govern. So get ready, the job will just have begun on 1/21/2021. It is not nearly time get to declare “Mission Accomplished.”
What a mess! I’d love to see him truly crack up and have to be taken out in that nice white coat with the really long sleeves. However, I think it’s unlikely. In fact, it has occurred to me that it is quite possible that this is an act, a ploy for him to avoid the legal issues looming on the horizon. He is just shrewd enough and arrogant enough to try it. Time will tell.
Everyone needs to remember and be continuously reminded that those “former loyalists” who are desperately trying to separate themselves from him were COMPLICIT. They must be removed from office and never trusted again. Period. Keep beating that drum for as long as it takes.
Redfield should have quit when he was advised to and still had a chance. Now he is just as complicit as the rest. No mercy for cowards. He knew that what was happening was wrong but all he could do was wring his hands. He should have at least told the truth to the public and taken his chances. There are worse things than being unemployed. Like aiding and abetting a murderous administration with your silence and inaction. Shame on him.
Outrage over Alexander’s encouragement of pursuing herd immunity is understood but we really shouldn’t be surprised. For those who were listening carefully this strategy was both obvious and also admitted publicly by this regime, almost from the very beginning. Despicable, yes. A surprise? No.
I know there really isn’t but there should be a way to remove him and inaugurate Biden and Harris immediately. He has completely abdicated his responsibilities to this nation and its people. There is much damage he can still do. We should be able to protect ourselves from this.
Lastly, it heartens me somewhat to know that the “faux media” have started to backpedal and retract some of their lying and incendiary stories about the election. I can only imagine the wailing, confusion, and gnashing of teeth by “the base” as more and more of “their” trusted public entities (news, politicians, etc) reverse course and admit they weren’t telling the truth. I hope it becomes a deafening crescendo that finally wakes them from their ignorance induced trance. Maybe then we can move forward as one.
Taking a deep breath and hanging on for the duration. Thank you all, once again, for your support and community. Stay safe and be well, everyone.
Kudos to the Kansas City Star who did a deep dive into their decades of reporting and figuring out how they were disenfranchising the Black community and citizens. It will be refreshing to see this journalistic endeavor take shape. Certainly a step in the right direction for a new age of social justice.
So much here to report, yet somehow you do that so well Dr. Richardson. Pat Robertson thinks he can be impactful by finally stating the obvious, yet he is a key part of the foundation of insanity that inflicted trump upon us all.
The stimulus passed last night did one thing. It brought back the tax deductible, three-martini, lunch. Of course, we'll have to drink them at home, since restaurants and bars are still too dangerous. I'm ashamed of what the legislative process has become. And just now, Trump goes on a middle of the night Twitter rampage. Did he congratulate the Congress for doing what the should have done nine months ago? No. Did he congratulate the FDA on approving the Moderna vaccine? No. Rather he re-tweeted comments by Sen. Ron Johnson, R-WI from his committee's investigation of voting fraud. Pete Wehner is right. Trump is losing his mind.
I don't know when we can stop worrying about the efforts by Trump and his Republican lackeys to overturn the election and subvert democracy. We can't yet move on, because Trump won’t stop trying to steal the election, and there are plenty of Republicans who will happily go along if they think he can find a way to succeed (they care nothing about the Constitution, the tradition of peaceful transfer of power or actual democracy - they just want power).
I thought we could stop worrying about this when the AP called the election for Biden. Then I thought we could stop worrying when the various state supreme courts threw out Trump’s lawsuits in the weeks following the election. Then I thought we could stop worrying when the states certified their election results. Then I thought we could stop worrying when SCOTUS threw out the Texas lawsuit. Then I thought we could stop worrying when the electoral college certified the results. Then I thought we could stop worrying when McConnell acknowledged that Biden is the president elect.
But no, still Trump and Republicans grasp and claw. Now I’m worried about Trump declaring martial law, and running new elections. Now I’m also worried about Trump appointing Sidney Powell as Special Prosecutor, seizing voting machines, and throwing out state results. And I'm worried about Congress rejecting the electoral college results on January 6th and insisting that the Republican legislatures in Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin send a new slate of Trump electors to Congress.
These attempts to steal an election should be illegal. This is sedition - overthrowing democracy. No matter - there’s no punishment, no downside. Trump and his band of GOPers persist because they might win, they lose nothing for trying.
We can’t relax, can’t stop worrying. Not until January 20th, if Biden is sworn in. If.
I understand that none of this is likely. But it’s not impossible. Our system of government is full of holes for petty tyrants like Trump to exploit. We need to rewrite our laws so that men like Trump would be going to prison for what he’s done, and is doing. Because the next tyrant-wannabe - Cruz or Cotton or Hawley or whomever - has learned from Trump, and won’t fail.
Ms. Newland’s actions while in the Office of Legal Counsel served only to show Mr. Trump how to do outrageous, undemocratic things legally. Instead of serving as a guardrail for our democracy, she and others actively weakened our democracy. Her apology for the several years of damage she actively facilitated for several years falls in the category of “too little, too late.” Her apology strikes me as a feeble attempt to salvage what is left of a tattered reputation.
The op-ed by Ms Newland in the NYT makes a very interesting point, as HCR mentions: she admits to being complicit in the horror show because competent lawyers--herself included--decided to stay on in order to protect the government from the worst excesses of the addled mind of Trump. If she and others had simply quit or said no, and been fired, then the court arguments would have been conducted by the likes of Giuliani and Powell--neither of them credible as lawyers or litigators--and so the courts would have thrown everything out that much sooner.
The fallacy in this argument is this: Trump doesn't care if he has lost in the courts, as endless series of subpoenas, court decisions, and charges of obstruction and contempt have proven. He simply ignores what he doesn't like to hear. How many times have his minions been subpoenaed to appear in Congress but never showed up because he "forbade" it? How many times have his tax records been subpoenaed but he has ignored the threat of being held in contempt of court?
Trump claims executive privilege for everything from his myriad lies over the last four years to sexual assault charges that occurred more than a decade ago. No lawyer in the Justice Department has dented that perfect record of obstruction and refusal. They really were not that complicit (although it is nice to get the apology). The real criminals are those who have enabled this sick bastard to act with utter impunity because it suited their purposes and they thought he was merely a performing bear they could control with a chain and a whip. Well they can't. And they are now frantically trying to dig their way out of the excrement they very happily jumped into 4 years ago in order to save the fantasy that anyone--anyone--holds them in esteem or respect.
This is what I call a proverbial (pardon my vernacular) shit show! I guess I could say that the dominoes are finally falling. The loyalists are separating themselves from Fake 45 except for those who are as crazy as he is. In Rudy’s case, that hair dye really fried his brain. It is truly sad to watch someone who was so effective in one of the most horrific events we have ever witnessed, to fall from grace.
Thank goodness for Clyburn and his persistency to demand discovery about the virus. Barr Nun is just now telling the truth but don’t you wonder why he decided to do that? You think an alien spaceship may whisk him away? Sorry, at this point, I am delirious.
What an absolutely horrendous wild ride we all have been on! Tell you what, I really miss some sort of normalcy. Don’t think we will see that for awhile.
Too little, too late. I'm feeling very sad about the relief package that was passed in the Senate last night. I think of all the lives lost, and all the food insecurity, and all the people distraught with figuring how to hold onto their homes. And, it only happened because McConnell felt he had to do it so he would not lose his power position of obstruction. Seven months since the House passed their bill. And, the checks which McConnell didn't want won't even arrive before Christmas. We can't have anyone have such unilateral power in the government of the People. Nor should we tolerate one party take all power. If a party gets 51% of the vote, they shouldn't get 100% of the committee chairs; this winner take all stuff has to stop. And, term limits have to start for members of Congress and the Justices and Judges of the courts. But then it isn't a government of the People most of the time, is it? Patron and Party over Country and Constituents. No. It won't do. So sad.
The Republicans in Congress, especially Mr. McConnell, own all of this. Every action or inaction of the Trump Administration since the Senate voted to acquit on impeachment, through to inauguration, hangs around the necks of congressional Republicans, especially Mr. McConnell.
Since McConnell and many other Republicans were recently re-elected, we have a picture of how many of our fellow citizens, often waving an American flag, feel about democratic governance.
"Democracy for me, not for you."
To the former public supporters of Trump now seeking to "put some water" between themselves and the President, you're many days late and many dollars short.
When panicking over an infestation of "rats" the citizens of hamelin called upon a "magic" minstrel to play a melody that would entrance the rats and he would lead them to the river to drown. The "honest burgers" reneged on their vow to pay for services rendered and you all know where the children went.
How you deal with the denoument and aftermath of a crisis says a lot about who we are. We have to be careful of what we wish for and who we follow to get there. Biden's cautious approach is part of the answer but a truth commission in which nothing is hidden is also required and this cannot be driven unilaterally by the incoming President or the existing Congress. Such a "court" must have a power of forgiveness.... but also the possibility of inflicting the punishment of disbarment from public office/legal practice and of prohibition of administrative or other forms of control of business, NGOs, finance or socio-political funds etc. This should not however preclude criminal investigation and punishment either of serious crimes under current statutes.
While I worry about what a mentally unstable Trump might do as his administration finally starts circling the bowl, in the long term it is his supporters that concern me. No matter what policies one might support, I just don't understand how anyone can not recognize that Trump has been a total disaster as president. It's as if his supporters live in an alternate reality, one in which our friends are our enemies, our enemies are our friends, corruption is wholesome, hate is love, failure is competence, lies are facts, truth is suspicious. In other words, they are deranged. Somehow, someway we need to convince a good number of them that they have been off the mark... far off the mark. That is a difficult challenge. Sadly, I think that it will require Republican leaders to denounce Trump. It seems, however, that too many of them are also deranged.
Maybe all this ranting about voting machines and stealing elections derives from the reality that Republicans themselves have done this. Have you seen: https://www.dcreport.org/2020/12/19/mitch-mcconnells-re-election-the-numbers-dont-add-up/
These reporters investigated how Moscow Mitch, deeply unpopular in his state, continues to win elections by landslides, even in counties that have voted Democratic again and again. A particular voting machine type is used in Kentucky, not the Dominion machines Trump is complaining about. Maybe Amy McGrath’s recent loss to Mitch in Kentucky was not in a free and fair election!
Dear HCR, bearer of the flame of sanity lighting a path through the madness of 2020, I'm sure all your readers will be wishing you a safe, happy and hopeful holiday and 2021. You have truly made each day better.
Important for all to remember that no matter what happens in the next 29 days, the sun will rise on 21 January 2021, Joe Biden will be President and Kamala Harris Vice President, the pandemic will continue to rage, hospitals and healthcare workers will be overwhelmed, the economy will be in a shambles, the just passed relief bill while of some help was far short of what was needed; DJT while no longer President will remain a threat as his supporters will continue to constitute tens of millions of deranged, fact- and truth denying miscreants living amongst us, and the work of governing well, competently, and compassionately will have begun once again in the face of massive challenges.
Do not think that on the 21st of January all will be well simply because the malevolent crazy captain who has been in charge of our ship of state has relinquished the wheel. The seas will still roil and the winds will rage as the storm continues. I am and will be somewhat comforted by competence, experience, and compassion at the helm, but remain terrified by the continuing storm until the seas are calmed. Biden is a good captain but he is not Jesus standing up in the boat and becalming the seas and reassuring his deciples that all will be well, he is just a better captain in the midst of a continuing storm.
We will all need to continue to work HARD and support the new administration and their efforts to restore the soul of America. Biden and his entire administration will need the collective efforts and good work of us all. We the People govern. So get ready, the job will just have begun on 1/21/2021. It is not nearly time get to declare “Mission Accomplished.”
What a mess! I’d love to see him truly crack up and have to be taken out in that nice white coat with the really long sleeves. However, I think it’s unlikely. In fact, it has occurred to me that it is quite possible that this is an act, a ploy for him to avoid the legal issues looming on the horizon. He is just shrewd enough and arrogant enough to try it. Time will tell.
Everyone needs to remember and be continuously reminded that those “former loyalists” who are desperately trying to separate themselves from him were COMPLICIT. They must be removed from office and never trusted again. Period. Keep beating that drum for as long as it takes.
Redfield should have quit when he was advised to and still had a chance. Now he is just as complicit as the rest. No mercy for cowards. He knew that what was happening was wrong but all he could do was wring his hands. He should have at least told the truth to the public and taken his chances. There are worse things than being unemployed. Like aiding and abetting a murderous administration with your silence and inaction. Shame on him.
Outrage over Alexander’s encouragement of pursuing herd immunity is understood but we really shouldn’t be surprised. For those who were listening carefully this strategy was both obvious and also admitted publicly by this regime, almost from the very beginning. Despicable, yes. A surprise? No.
I know there really isn’t but there should be a way to remove him and inaugurate Biden and Harris immediately. He has completely abdicated his responsibilities to this nation and its people. There is much damage he can still do. We should be able to protect ourselves from this.
Lastly, it heartens me somewhat to know that the “faux media” have started to backpedal and retract some of their lying and incendiary stories about the election. I can only imagine the wailing, confusion, and gnashing of teeth by “the base” as more and more of “their” trusted public entities (news, politicians, etc) reverse course and admit they weren’t telling the truth. I hope it becomes a deafening crescendo that finally wakes them from their ignorance induced trance. Maybe then we can move forward as one.
Taking a deep breath and hanging on for the duration. Thank you all, once again, for your support and community. Stay safe and be well, everyone.
Kudos to the Kansas City Star who did a deep dive into their decades of reporting and figuring out how they were disenfranchising the Black community and citizens. It will be refreshing to see this journalistic endeavor take shape. Certainly a step in the right direction for a new age of social justice.
So much here to report, yet somehow you do that so well Dr. Richardson. Pat Robertson thinks he can be impactful by finally stating the obvious, yet he is a key part of the foundation of insanity that inflicted trump upon us all.
The stimulus passed last night did one thing. It brought back the tax deductible, three-martini, lunch. Of course, we'll have to drink them at home, since restaurants and bars are still too dangerous. I'm ashamed of what the legislative process has become. And just now, Trump goes on a middle of the night Twitter rampage. Did he congratulate the Congress for doing what the should have done nine months ago? No. Did he congratulate the FDA on approving the Moderna vaccine? No. Rather he re-tweeted comments by Sen. Ron Johnson, R-WI from his committee's investigation of voting fraud. Pete Wehner is right. Trump is losing his mind.
I don't know when we can stop worrying about the efforts by Trump and his Republican lackeys to overturn the election and subvert democracy. We can't yet move on, because Trump won’t stop trying to steal the election, and there are plenty of Republicans who will happily go along if they think he can find a way to succeed (they care nothing about the Constitution, the tradition of peaceful transfer of power or actual democracy - they just want power).
I thought we could stop worrying about this when the AP called the election for Biden. Then I thought we could stop worrying when the various state supreme courts threw out Trump’s lawsuits in the weeks following the election. Then I thought we could stop worrying when the states certified their election results. Then I thought we could stop worrying when SCOTUS threw out the Texas lawsuit. Then I thought we could stop worrying when the electoral college certified the results. Then I thought we could stop worrying when McConnell acknowledged that Biden is the president elect.
But no, still Trump and Republicans grasp and claw. Now I’m worried about Trump declaring martial law, and running new elections. Now I’m also worried about Trump appointing Sidney Powell as Special Prosecutor, seizing voting machines, and throwing out state results. And I'm worried about Congress rejecting the electoral college results on January 6th and insisting that the Republican legislatures in Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin send a new slate of Trump electors to Congress.
These attempts to steal an election should be illegal. This is sedition - overthrowing democracy. No matter - there’s no punishment, no downside. Trump and his band of GOPers persist because they might win, they lose nothing for trying.
We can’t relax, can’t stop worrying. Not until January 20th, if Biden is sworn in. If.
I understand that none of this is likely. But it’s not impossible. Our system of government is full of holes for petty tyrants like Trump to exploit. We need to rewrite our laws so that men like Trump would be going to prison for what he’s done, and is doing. Because the next tyrant-wannabe - Cruz or Cotton or Hawley or whomever - has learned from Trump, and won’t fail.
Ho, ho, holy cow! This is all so elfed up.
Merry Christmas to all and may 2021 see Trump prosecuted and Biden restoring order to our nation.
Stay safe!
Ms. Newland’s actions while in the Office of Legal Counsel served only to show Mr. Trump how to do outrageous, undemocratic things legally. Instead of serving as a guardrail for our democracy, she and others actively weakened our democracy. Her apology for the several years of damage she actively facilitated for several years falls in the category of “too little, too late.” Her apology strikes me as a feeble attempt to salvage what is left of a tattered reputation.
The op-ed by Ms Newland in the NYT makes a very interesting point, as HCR mentions: she admits to being complicit in the horror show because competent lawyers--herself included--decided to stay on in order to protect the government from the worst excesses of the addled mind of Trump. If she and others had simply quit or said no, and been fired, then the court arguments would have been conducted by the likes of Giuliani and Powell--neither of them credible as lawyers or litigators--and so the courts would have thrown everything out that much sooner.
The fallacy in this argument is this: Trump doesn't care if he has lost in the courts, as endless series of subpoenas, court decisions, and charges of obstruction and contempt have proven. He simply ignores what he doesn't like to hear. How many times have his minions been subpoenaed to appear in Congress but never showed up because he "forbade" it? How many times have his tax records been subpoenaed but he has ignored the threat of being held in contempt of court?
Trump claims executive privilege for everything from his myriad lies over the last four years to sexual assault charges that occurred more than a decade ago. No lawyer in the Justice Department has dented that perfect record of obstruction and refusal. They really were not that complicit (although it is nice to get the apology). The real criminals are those who have enabled this sick bastard to act with utter impunity because it suited their purposes and they thought he was merely a performing bear they could control with a chain and a whip. Well they can't. And they are now frantically trying to dig their way out of the excrement they very happily jumped into 4 years ago in order to save the fantasy that anyone--anyone--holds them in esteem or respect.
Lock them all up.
This is what I call a proverbial (pardon my vernacular) shit show! I guess I could say that the dominoes are finally falling. The loyalists are separating themselves from Fake 45 except for those who are as crazy as he is. In Rudy’s case, that hair dye really fried his brain. It is truly sad to watch someone who was so effective in one of the most horrific events we have ever witnessed, to fall from grace.
Thank goodness for Clyburn and his persistency to demand discovery about the virus. Barr Nun is just now telling the truth but don’t you wonder why he decided to do that? You think an alien spaceship may whisk him away? Sorry, at this point, I am delirious.
What an absolutely horrendous wild ride we all have been on! Tell you what, I really miss some sort of normalcy. Don’t think we will see that for awhile.