712 Comments

Since when is attacking our neighbors and allies with a tweet acceptable? What is going on? He’s set his sights on Greenland, Canada, Mexico and Panama. Is this even real? What is wrong with Republicans? For a good listen, Rachel Maddow did a podcast about the fall of Spiro Agnew… called Bag Man. That was an earlier iteration of this fiasco. Same playbook.

Merry Christmas Professor and all readers.

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Mad King Muskrump.

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JL, I am thinking about Lear's family & looked up the Bard's King Lear, Act 1, Scene 1 dialog. Many of William's cognitive observations resonate:

"Old fools are babes again."

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But don’t all of us know that we are dealing with a small child who broke White House porcelain plates throwing them at the dining room wall, splattering the wall with catsup? Have we forgotten that? Or the diapered balloon the Brits gifted US with?

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Trump’s voters don’t seem to care that he is a spoiled child mentally. They seem to thrive on it.

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Well, of course, because they are as emotionally immature as he is.

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It would seem so. How frightening for our future, and for that of my grandchildren.

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Let's annex Canada, Mexico, Panama,and Greenland, for starters. After all, isn't Mexico and Canada part of North America? Go for tRump they would be a pushover, their military won't match up. And we have nuclear weapons they don't. It would be a great legacy for President tRump. With gobal warming Canada real estate will be in great demand.

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Keeping up with the Putins

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Although, I can imagine breaking anything at the White House, or ever seeing the Oval. I must admit, what bothered me most about the “catsup” incident was the fact that he gave no thought to the staff having to clean up after him. I guess that’s just my middle class upbringing. If YOU, made a mess YOU cleaned up after yourself. Even if the mess was caused by a fit of anger. It always made me think twice before throwing anything but a snowball. Just my thoughts, not necessarily the norm.

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Here’s what the GOP has accomplished and what it insists upon: ithas weaponized racial divides in my nation. It has played to the basest elements of American racial issues. It has made it acceptable to be anti-just-about-everything that reasonable people treat as “work in progress” or “we gotta do better” or … well, you get the picture. It’s a calling to debased ideas. It’s a calling to debased people.

Here it is Christmas Eve and I’m feeling deep-seated impatience toward a readily identifiable segment of fellow Americans. I’m trying to work on that, but I just turned 80 a week ago … time is not on my side.

To all of you … and especially to Professor Richardson: I sincerely wish you all the very merriest of Christmases and a New Year full of Faith, Hope, Charity, Goodwill, and Peace.

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Mump

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Timothy Snyder accurately coined the name Mump to describe Musk and Trump’s unholy incoming maladministration. It is especially appropriate when you consider that Trump plans to make the antivax crackpot RFK Jr. his secretary of Health and Human Services. RFK Jr. and Trump’s antivax policies will make vaccine preventable communicable diseases prevalent again, and people will die unnecessarily. This is especially ominous when you consider that it is only a matter of time when (not if) the H5N1 bird flu becomes transmissible between humans. As it is now, 50% percent people who contract this flu die of it. It is even more lethal than COVID and people like myself who have CLL/SLL have compromised immunity that puts us at even higher risk. I do not want to become one of their fatality statistics.

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I suspect that making deadly communicable diseases more prevalent is part of the Incoming Idiots’ strategy, rather than a byproduct of their stupidity. I think they actually want more deaths, because the people whose jobs cannot be performed remotely, and the elderly, historically tend to be. majority people of color, immigrants, and/or tend to vote Democratic atic.

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We should be doing far more than we have been to develop an effective vaccine against this flu.

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Vaccines are available for poultry & humans but, not humasn in the United States.

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Yes.

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11/22/24 CDC confirms H5N1 Flu infection in a child in California. Exposure occurred in Los Angeles County. Vaccines are available for poultry & humans but. not for humans in the United States.

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Perfect title! Can I steal it? I would like to use it on my placard for the Jan 18 march in DC because my protest is the rising oligarchy.

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Joyce, if your question was aimed at my Shakespeare quote, the Bard's quotes are in the public domain. We need more Shakes' in marches these days anyway.

Particularly so if Trump can remove the Welch Family, the O'briens, UK authorized Welch Coat-of-Arms off the fireplace at their old beloved home in Florida called "Mar-a-Lago".

Caution: Trump removed the latin word for "Integrity" from the O'brien's Coat-of-Arms, then trademarked the symbol and & plastered it on all Trump Properties. Take a look -- the word "INTEGRITAS" is not there. Can't make this wacko up.

See, Rachel Maddows opening 12/23 dialog. The O'briens did not want sue otherwise they thought theywould be in court for "years, years & years."

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And herein lay the trump truth - he bulldozes through life and uses illicit funds of all sorts to tie everyone up in court and drain time and money that his lawyers love billing for.

If that doesn’t work it’s extortion, blackmail, or other threats. All designed to keep ALL on defense. We have seen this D-listed movie and aren’t buying a ticket.

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Is it a coincidence that Panama has been suing Trump's company for not paying Panamanian income taxes? Trump managed a property in Panama but was thrown out by the owners because of Trump's poor management practices. Apparently, in addition, Trump did not pay Panamanian income taxes on the money they earned. Trump's "go to" is to attack anyone who attacks him. Now he wants the Panama Canal. Greenland is because Denmark made fun of him when he was President last time and wanted Greenland and didn't know it was part of Denmark. That embarrassed Trump globally. Trump is a child---to explain his behavior, just look to past embarrassments.

Nancy Pelosi, when asked how she knew how to handle Trump so well, replied "Because I have four children."

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We deserve better than to have such an immature, malignantly narcissistic, sociopathic, bigoted and misogynistic person as president. The only things about which he doesn’t lie are his desires to break the law and do evil things to other people.

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An embarrassment every day. Foreigners must think, what happened to the United States of American, we use to look up to them, now we feel embarrassed for them to have a tRump as their president. It is like having cartoon character pretending to be the president.

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Bill, this is death star, aka mafia don, in a nutshell. Our house cleaner lived for many years in Brooklyn and she had seen the movie for too long first hand.

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Perhaps appropriate, as Trump doesn’t appear to have the faintest idea as to the meaning of the word “integrity.”

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Or truth

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Absolutely true. Trump wouldn’t know truth if he stumbled over it!

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Lack of integrity is what tRump and all his sycophants are about. tRump has gotten away with breaking the law his whole life, why would he stop now? As president, he is officially immune from prosecution. He should be a happy camper; he can do whatever he wants - law be damned. Just in case we lose sight of what tRump is all about, it is enriching himself - he cares for no one or anything else - MONEY is what he worships.

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Bingo! Thank you Kathy!

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Rachel Maddow’s recounting of the whole, totally trumpian theft was simply as hilarious as it is horrifying. Betting it’s on YouTube, though hearing it twice on MSNBC, I haven’t checked. May I live long enough to see the Trump Crime Family sitcom, which must be an Aristophanes-Gilbert and Sullivan triumph!

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Bryan, this is new to me. Thanks for posting it. Why am I not surprised he did this.

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I too wonder at what point wealth corrupts one? How many 600+ millionaires , just curious how many Russia has? Any correlation ya think? Inquiring minds need to know…

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In Washington’s day, land was wealth. The farther we get from treasuring farmers and land, the more corrupt the wealthy become. But your question is very important. Is all great wealth tainted?

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As a farmer…old farmer… I appreciate this answer . The stats elude to ..too. It’s all rather fascinating ..somewhat on the mentality of driving past a wreck on the highway ..for hopefully not many seconds gawking…as if drawn magnetically to the perhaps blood and guts scene… I have to mentally stay focused ..but perhaps a laugh is OK?briefly?

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Gallows humor counts.

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Quite a bit of it is, I’d say.

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There is a movement among millionaires to pay more, to distribute their excess wealth (WIRED today).

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What is "excess" to oligarchs?

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not oligarchs, millionaires:

"…a wave of activist millionaires is asking for higher taxes."

(https://www.wired.com/story/people-with-extreme-wealth-should-give-it-away-or-be-penalized/)

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A quick search shows "There are now 801 billionaires based in the United States with a combined wealth totaling $6.22 trillion." The US federal budget - in 2024 we spent $6.8 trillion, with a total deficit of $1.83 trillion.

So basically, the Billionaires rival our entire national budget...but it will never be enough for them. Most will do anything in their power to avoid paying any taxes.

The selfishness and lack of any social conscious on the part of these citizens is beyond understanding. That they want to dip into Social Security funds just says it all to me.

From the French Revolution: "When the people shall have nothing more to eat, they will eat the rich." Well, as my husband used to say "stick a fork in it, I'm done."

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Please!

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👏🏻🤣🩷😆🙏🏼💗

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J L, Nice name for the unholy joining of death star and muskrat.

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My favorites are Mump and Trusk!

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Good ones, but Mad King Muskrump offers some pretty good visuals, and I think it would piss him off the most, which is why I like it so much

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Will follow Rachel's podcast. If nothing else, to increase its visibility. We need to support as many alternatives to mainstream and "legacy" media as possible. Sounds like "Bag Man" is worth a listen.

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I highly recommend listening to Progress Radio on Sirius XM and broadcast over the Internet as well I believe. It's channel 127.

Hosts include Thom Hartmann, John Fugelseng, Zerlina, Stephanie Miller, Dean Obeidallah, Doug Jones, Michaelangelo Signorile and Dylan Douglas.

Thom Hartmann has a daily column on Substack and many of the others have regular podcasts.

The MAGAs spew their daily message of hate, fear and cruelty. Progressives have an alternative on Sirius/XM.

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I’m driving 3 hours today. Thanks for the tip.

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Have a safe drive. Merry Christmas.

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No one listens to satellite radio, sadly. I loved Pearl Jam Radio, but couldn’t justify the subscription price.

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At least one person does.

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I do.

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Guess I’m no one.

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Sorry.. that’s not what I meant. I just meant that it doesn’t have the uptake that other media does, probably because it asks for payment. As I said earlier, I really enjoyed the service, when it was free with my purchase of a new F-150. I was however, reluctant to sign on to another monthly subscription.

I know the value of paying for high quality media content.. I pay for HCRs newsletter.

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Thanks for the apology and I apologize in return for pretending to take it personally. It’s hard for me to resist calling out generalizations.

Your point about people not paying for access to information is well made. For what it’s worth, if you call Sirius XM for a trial subscription then call to cancel after the trial (or years later when you finally get around to it like me) they’ll offer you lower and lower rates to keep you.

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So do I. Reading her columns is like getting an advanced seminar on American history and what people should know about our history and often never learn.

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I do, Mike! I'll look for 127 to ad to my playlist.

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Check out Pearl Jam Radio too.. it’s really great

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I can’t really justify the expense, and when I take longer road trips, I have a very large collection of CDs to listen to. I am weird in that I love having a collection of physical media like paper books and CDs.

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New cars don’t come with a cd player anyway, at least my 2022 didn’t.

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Some don’t, but if I had to get a new car, I would insist on getting one with a cd player. It is still possible.

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Weird is wonderful ,plan B , 🫶

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If you cancel SirrusXM they will continue to lower their price, eventually to $4 per month. Takes a few months but I refuse to pay $300 a year.

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The other problem is that if you want to listen to it at home, you have to buy a satellite radio receiver. I can listen to Internet radio on my computer and on my Como Audio Musicas (I wasn’t happy they closed due to supply chain problems.)

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I do

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Really. We subscribe to Sirius/XM. Do I just ask for "Progress Radio"? Like I ask for BBC and/or NPRNow ?? I'll try it. We paid for it when we were driving back and forth from California to Wisconsin and have continued the subscription.

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Yes, it’s that easy if you subscribe…comes into your car and your TV. Progressive radio channel 127 will keep you wide awake on a long road trip for sure!

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Just say tune to Progress.

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Gary, I know your recommendation is well-meant, so I'm not criticizing it or you. I've subscribed to SiriusXM for years, but recently ended it and do not expect to renew at any time in the future. Although the service carries several channels I've enjoyed, it also carries several channels that broadcast repugnant content that contributes to today's atmosphere of hatred and disinformation. I am unwilling to support an accomplice to the destruction of our democracy for access to content I enjoy.

Secondly, I object to SiriusXM's predatory pricing scheme. The service's standard subscription prices are outrageously expensive, and only pathetically uninformed subscribers pay those rates. It is well known that subscribers can "negotiate" rates that are small fractions of the published rates. In fact, negotiating scripts have been widely shared on the internet. I used such a script every year to reduce the price I paid by as much as 70% or more. When I spoke to SiriusXM's representatives, I got the distinct impression they were aware that I was following the script and played along, sometimes skipping the negotiating dialog and going directly to the price I intended to pay. That was great for me, but disgusting that I had to play this game every year. Also, my success was tarnished by the knowledge that my "savings" was being paid for by a naive subscriber who pays full price.

Now that I have disconnected from SiriusXM, my car automatically connects to my iPhone using Apple CarPlay and plays content that I've acquired by paying the same price every other Apple customer pays. My drives are just as enjoyable without the guilt.

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I don’t disagree with your comment at all. I hate having to pay for FOX and the Catholic channel etc. But I spend a lot of windshield time and the local radio stations are awful. But I listen to my own music quite a bit in the car.

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I am one Catholic who doesn’t care for EWTN. It represents a small group of right wing Catholics who have spent far too much money trying to steer the church into the direction of right wing politics, and it is rather dismissive of Pope Francis. I don’t care for many of its commentators like Raymond Arroyo, who sometimes guest hosts the rebarbative Laura Ingraham’s show on Fox News. America Magazine and Commonweal sometimes offer good insights, and I subscribe to National Catholic Reporter because it’s independent and reports on things other Catholic media outlets deliberately ignore.

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I have never told anyone outside of family and friends this Kathy, but I have worked for the Knights of Columbus as a computer consultant since 2008.

They are an incredibly tolerant organization in regards to what religion their employees are. Many of the people I work with are Muslim, Hindus, Buddhists, Protestants and even atheists. I just turned 70 so I will be retiring soon, but it's been a really nice place to work.

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Thanks! I’d gone back to music stations having been revolted by CNN & MSNBC. I’ll find it.

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I quit CNN long ago. MSNBC is great on Monday night with Rachel Maddow. Only time I watch. Lawrence O'Donnell is very liberal and has interesting guests, but he is often over enthusiastic about bringing Trump to task. He really believes in the "West Wing" saga he wrote for.

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I don’t listen to TV news, I gave it up long ago because I found it shallow and uninformed.

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I never watch on TV, but used to be a captive audience in the car. That’s why I switched to music instead. Glad there’s a progressive alternative!

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That’s good. At some point, I became an NPR listener. I listen to WYSO locally in the Dayton area, as they are eclectic in their programs and located in Dayton, and I also listen to Cincinnati’s WGUC classical radio. I like classical music, and also have rather eclectic musical taste. I had to quit listening to WYSO’s Alpha Rhythms Sunday night program because I was buying a ton of music from their show. The program features ambient and New Age music.

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Check out FREE Spotify. My Best of Aimee Mann & also Beth Orton has triggered the my personal algo connecting to Sierra Eagelson's covers & FIONA APPLE who is a mini-film Director.

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Thanks Brian. I guess it's time to read the Toyota's owners manual.. 😆

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Mike, I’ve been getting the basic service for $6.99 a month. Every time the “promo” goes off, I cancel. The last time, I got a year at 6.99. I’ll give 127 a listen.

I was so glad to have it when Jimmy Buffett died. I remember sitting in the truck with a load of lumber crying my eyes out listening to Mack MacAnally talk about learning how to play a Fado guitar in a couple days for the sone “Portugal or PEI”. I’ve been to “a beach bar in Sagres” (even if he did mispronounce it) and listened to Fado sung by a native Portuguese.

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Love that story Ally. Jimmy Buffett was very special.

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Thanks Gary. Sirrius Potus channel has become Right Wing Propaganda. Love Thom Hartmann

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Most of the people you mentioned, have a free podcast via Apple. Thom Hartmann also has a standalone app that you can download for free and listen from there.

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Just for clarification, Bag Man was a seven-part series, not an ongoing project. It is truly well-worth the time. The same praise applies to her other two podcast series: Déjà News and Ultra.

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her work is excellent

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Ultra was riveting! Can’t wait to listen to Bag Man.

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The book was pretty good as well.

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David, if the "legacy " media keeps falling into the hands of billionaires it won't be any healthy discussion about the path our country should follow internally and internationally. It will be the end of the Pax Americana and the American Century, all for the benefit of a few oligarchs, billionaires for whom its never enough.

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Check out this article about Cara Swisher buying WaPo and see what she says about rich people:

https://www.washingtonian.com/2024/12/23/kara-swisher-just-wants-a-meeting-with-jeff-bezos/

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Hi again. Just read article and I have to confess that I didn't know there were good billionaires. Maybe not everything is lost. Thanks for the hope Emily 😀

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That article and the one someone else posted about the Lunch on the Mall have lifted my spirits for Christmas even better than Dickens’s Christmas Carol!

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Sky high Emily. Good for you 👍!!!

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@R Dooley (NY) shared the WaPo article. Here it is again:

https://wapo.st/41Q6Fn8

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From the article, Swisher: "To me, that essay he wrote—number one, get an editor. And I mean this in the nicest way. I know he doesn’t write for a living, but oh, for fuck’s sake, get a writer, get an editor."

I was thinking the same thing as I read Beaujon's article in the Washingtonian. The story was interesting, but whew! The writing/editing left a lot to be desired.

Also, I realize conversation is typically not as grammatically correct as the written word, but the Swisher interview didn't portray her as especially literate. Still, as an ex-WaPo subscriber, I would consider resubscribing if she's able to put a purchase deal together.

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Bezos refused to endorse Kamala Harris out of his cowardly desire to appease Donald Trump. The new staff has also placed in an AI commenting tool that readers universally hate.

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I hated the lack of subject verb agreement!

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I'd say that ship has already sailed.

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Maybe a recall Gergg? 🤔

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It’s outstanding. I was alive then (as now:-) and a flaming legacy Republican. (That’s one who is brought up by John Birch-type parents, and had not yet figured out my beliefs did NOT align in any way with the Republicans.) Anyhow, I firmly believe that Agnew was railroaded because that’s what I was told, and the newspaper I read said that.

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The legacy of both major parties is mixed. and both have changed. Democrats had the weird Southern wing that their historical enemies, the Republicans, adopted and elevated. Elizabeth Warren began her career as a Republican, but left when, as a scholar, she dug into it.

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It was the late Strom Thurmond who was the first Southern Democrat to join the Republicans after the defeat of the Dixiecrats in 1948. It was Nixon and his advisor Kevin Phillips who decided to appeal to Southern white Democrats and to get them to become Republicans to oppose the just claims of African American citizens. In the 1990s, Phillips wrote a series of books in which he was extremely critical of the GOP under George W. Bush, the increasing wealth inequality in the United States, and the increasing reliance of Wall Street on financialization of the economy.

As Phillips notes, financialization is a sign of an end stage of an economy. Rather than creating new businesses, existing investors create new and more exotic financial instruments to entice investors, such as hedge funding, housing speculation, financial derivatives, fraudulent companies, hedge funds, and now unregulated cryptocurrencies. Unregulated derivatives speculation brought down a major British bank and created huge financial losses. Enron kept its debt off its books and caused major financial and job losses for its employees. Jeff Skilling went to prison, but Ken Lay died of a heart attack before he had to go to prison. Housing speculation and mortgage fraud on the part of lenders helped lead to the Great Recession before President Obama entered office, but he and the legislative branch did very little to sanction the people and banks most involved in that criminal behavior. I personally think that unregulated cryptocurrency will likely usher in another Great Depression, and like the original Great Depression, it will do its greatest harm to the people who were not involved in the speculation involved. Cryptocurrency should be banned because the only real reason to have it is to engage in payment for criminal activities.

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Still no comparison, realignment is good. Now we know who the evil is. They wear it proudly.

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"Still no comparison..."

This must be our mantra. Specifically when rejecting specious Right wing and Leftish attacks on Democrats and Democratic initiatives.

Our own arguments, and what we demand from others, should be based on reasoned debate of empirical evidence, not specious rhetoric. This is one tactic in our defense against being mislead by demagogues and demagoguery.

A contemporary example would be to contrast the House Democrats' well argued and supported impeachment hearings and Senate impeachment trial of Donald Trump, with the House Republicans' fantastical assertions in their attempts to impeach Joe Biden. "There is no comparison."

A key historical example of the dangers of being persuaded by reckless rhetoric rather than by reason and empirical evidence is that of Alcibiades' 'overriding the more cautious advice of experienced generals like Nicias and convincing Athenians to undertake the disastrous Sicilian Invasion' and 'remaining a disturbing influence on Athenian politics destroying any hopes of a political consensus.' As given by Thucydides (460-400 BCE) in his History of the Peloponnesian War which "recounts the fifth-century BC war between Sparta and Athens until the year 411 BC. Thucydides has been dubbed the father of "scientific history" by those who accept his claims to have applied strict standards of impartiality and evidence-gathering and analysis of cause and effect, without reference to intervention by the gods, as outlined in his introduction to his work....Thucydides has been called the father of the school of political realism, which views the political behavior of individuals and the subsequent outcomes of relations between states as ultimately mediated by, and constructed upon, fear and self-interest.[6] His text is still studied at universities and military colleges worldwide.[7] The Melian dialogue is regarded as a seminal text of international relations theory, while his version of Pericles's Funeral Oration is widely studied by political theorists, historians, and students of the classics. More generally, Thucydides developed an understanding of human nature to explain behavior in such crises as plagues, massacres, and wars."

" Alcibiades persuaded Athens to go to war with a rousing speech advocating for a Sicilian expedition, effectively overriding the more cautious advice of experienced generals like Nicias, who warned against the risks of such a campaign; this is considered one of the key factors that led to the disastrous Sicilian Expedition."

"In Thucydides' "History of the Peloponnesian War," Alcibiades is portrayed as a charismatic but reckless Athenian leader, whose ambition and manipulative nature significantly contributed to the disastrous Sicilian Expedition, ultimately harming Athens by pushing for aggressive expansionism despite warnings of potential dangers; Thucydides depicts Alcibiades as a complex figure, highlighting his exceptional political and military abilities while criticizing his lack of judgment and self-serving actions, which ultimately led to his downfall and exile from Athens."

"He remained, however, a disturbing influence on Athenian politics and destroyed any hopes of a political consensus."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thucydides

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thucydides

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sicilian_Expedition

https://www.britannica.com/biography/Alcibiades-Athenian-politician-and-general

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Thank you, Lin, for this reminder that history contains some powerful examples of the disasters generated by what I call the inversion principle: the dictionary suggests the opposite of confidence is uncertainty or doubt. In the real world, the opposite of confidence is arrogance. Or, we have seen this before, haven't we?

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lin, excellent post, providing us with the historical example of Alcibiades and the writing of Thucydides. Thank you.

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It’s hard not to laugh when I think of the chump blather that I was so sure than any educated person would reject put of hand. And one thinks one is surrounded by a modicum of people who exhibit some knowledge of history’s lessons, especially those that teach us with real warning signs based on sacrifice, pain and suffering. I assumed too much. Entertaining propaganda can lure like the most entrancing siren songs. And off to the cliffs we go…

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CONservatives. Plain and simple.

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They certainly view both their groupies and the rest of the larger public as suitable marks for their various scams and grifts.

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I was a legacy Republican too -- but Nixon and Vietnam got my father to say that he had been wrong in his support of Nixon -- no way he would be a Republican if he were around today. And I can't imagine any Republican saying their judgment was wrong today.

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I wrote my first satire about Nixon which got published in the university newspaper accusing him of formulating the Streaking Movement to take blame away from him. Streakers were mostly men on campus that stripped naked and ran across campus. It was a bit silly proposition.

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Just read your delightful book. That easily satirized era has given way to some serious shit. But reading the sadly hilarious back history from you, gave me a nice break.

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Why thank you. My intent was to lob it over the White House fence in 2020 yelling “Hear Donald Trump read my book” which would have placed me in immediate custody and my hired film crew would tape it all then send it up on YouTube where it would have presumably gone viral and resulted in my long awaited national interviews. Then Covid stepped in and shut the whole shabang down. So maybe I’ll get another opportunity.

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Ha! In Australia they used to run across the cricket ground during a test match.

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There was also the time that the guy showed up at the Academy Awards back in the 1970s and streaked across the stage, and David Niven wisecracked about the person doing it.

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Had to do it with shoes on.

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My parents tended toward centrism and moderate politics, but my dad’s watching Texas Republicans like Phil Gramm and Dick Armey turned him completely off Republicans for good. Back in the 1980s, there were some relatively sane Republicans in Texas, but now the party as it exists in Texas has been replaced by a fascist and theocratic Borg.

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Oh Lordy, I hated Phil and Dick. Still do, they were the steps on which the vipers climbed high. Smart man, your dad. Delay was my water mark for evil in Tx.

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Me too, kind of. In the first election in which I could vote, my mom arranged an absentee ballot to be sent to me at school. I voted democratic (never told her that). I have since voted republican occasionally. I’ve often wondered what my parents would think about today’s Republican Party. I think my dad would object (he was a WWII vet) but not so sure about my mother.

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lauriemcf, for a long time I have wondered what my father would have made of death star and the current R party. I have a feeling that since he listened to Rush, the current disaster would be OK to him.

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JCS-g3HwXdc

I lived in Ohio during the illegal bombing of Cambodia and the subsequent gunning down of peaceful protesters at Kent State. I left Ohio that year and never looked back. I still get the same combination of nausea and anger whenever I hear Crosby Stills Nash and Young sing Four Dead in Ohio.

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Congrats on your escape. How brave you are to go against dedicated parents.

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Back when I was still a Republican but not a Nixon fan (because of the crowds he hired, for example), I always thought Nixon chose Agnew to protect himself from impeachment. It took some care to basically let Agnew off instead of prosecuting him for the crimes he could have been sent to prison for. He was allowed to avoid jail by choosing to resign before they impeached Nixon, which would have made the poison pill (Agnew), President. I was glad that Nixon's poison pill hadn't been as effective as he imagined.

I respected GHW Bush much more than Reagan, but felt, he too had a poison pill VP (though not a criminal one).

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In the same vein, the incoming president surrounding himself with miscreants and ne’er

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I think it was because he coined the term Silent Majority and being from Maryland and obscure was a good match.

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We know he wasn’t railroaded, he got caught and was prosecuted just before the statute of limitations on the state bribery charges would have run out. He got summarily disbarred in Maryland (which he richly deserved for his corrupt behavior,) and spent the rest of his life blaming Jewish people for his downfall (why, I don’t know.) The Saudis gave Agnew money in return for his nasty attacks and Agnew, like Trump, was never able to admit he was responsible for his own wrongdoing. It rather goes without saying that Jewish people weren’t responsible for Agnew’s own criminal conduct. Agnew was, and he could never admit this to himself.

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Sooz, I was brought up in a R household. My dad hung on to his Rness and listened to Rush. When I first registered to vote, i registered as a R because he was standing over me, all the while thinking that I was not going to vote that way. I was lucky to have some other influences in my life including a teacher couple who had very different and more progressive views. My dad and I had political arguments every time I came home to visit.

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My parents would never have listened to Rush. My mom (before she died) and my dad watch MSNBC. They like commentators like Ari Melber, but I had to tell my dad that I didn’t like that Joe and Mika went to pay homage to the Orange Menace at Mar a Lago. Other people have mentioned, and I agree, that their visit was a form of obeying fascism in advance of the type Timothy Snyder states we should never do.

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And then Rachel Maddow produced Bagman.

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Go MTN !!!🤸🏻🤸🏻

“MeidasTouch and Rogan in Close Fight for Number 1 Podcast”

https://open.substack.com/pub/meidastouch/p/meidastouch-and-rogan-in-close-fight?r=fqsxl&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=email

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This one was her first I think, and a treat. She had the now mature then baby prosecutors from the Maryland da's office on and it's riveting.

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It is definitely worth the time

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It’s the only podcast I’ve taken time for. Definitely worth it. A good researcher-teacher is Rachel Maddow. Delightful sense of humor.

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Now is the time forvocal resist when EloX, official head of nothing, DonOLD and Mike are in complete ineffective unofficial chaos. DonOLD can do all the picking he wants; until 1/21, none of those guys is the head of anything and since Joe has immunity for official acts, I say throw DonOLD and his cabinet choices ALL in jail.

LOCK THEM ALL UP.

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- Pulled Quote -

''In a healthy political system, pronouncements from an elderly president-elect that could upend 80 years of foreign policy would spark significant discussion from all quarters.''

The good news? You tell me. 25th amendment? President Vance? That's not good news. Tell me some good news...

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In an even healthier system and society, blatantly irresponsible people. such as Trump and his cronies, would never even qualify for a ballot.

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“The upshot is that Donald Trump remains constitutionally disqualified from the presidency and may not lawfully serve in that office or any other unless Congress removes the disqualification by two-thirds majorities of both houses. Nothing in Trump v. Anderson changes that legal reality. If Donald Trump was constitutionally ineligible to the presidency on March 3, 2024, the day before the Court’s decision, he remained constitutionally ineligible on March 5, the day after its decision. And he remains ineligible today. A variety of potential avenues to enforce that disqualification remain. Sweeping Section Three under the rug thus may merely have postponed the day of ultimate constitutional reckoning.”

~ FreeSpeechForPeople.org

https://freespeechforpeople.org/must-read-sweeping-section-three-under-the-rug-a-comment-on-trump-v-anderson/

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Good news, Michael, is that the Dem U.S. Senate can still vote on the insurrectionist.

If the full U.S. Senate withholds giving a 2/3 vote to forgive Trump his insurrection, per Article 14, Section Three of the U.S. Constitution, his status as insurrectionist is thereby final -- and he cannot take any public office anywhere in America.

Bad news, Michael, is that the Dem-majority U.S. Senate has only a few days to do this.

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Despite its many successes, the main failure of the Biden/Harris administration is that those most responsible for the 1/6/21 coup attempt were never held accountable. There will be no such vote before 1/6/25. As for 1/6/29? Who knows?

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Steve-We can also reach back to when the Confederates were never held accountable. They didn’t even want to take over the government-they wanted to secede. Confederate leaders were pardoned, had their lands and guns given back to them and some received payment for loss of their slaves.

Like Trump they were also allowed to assume position power in government. Too bad they weren’t allowed to secede. America and the world would be different today if they weren’t accepted back into the “United States”.

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Their acceptance back into society came about in 1876, when Rutherford Hayes needed Southern electoral votes to prevent James Blaine’s winning the Electoral College vote. He decided to promote unity between white Northerners and Southerners, but African Americans paid an ugly price for it by being treated as subhuman until the beginning of the Civil Rights movement. The unity came about at the price of African American rights of citizenship.

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Phil, Unfortunately, Trump was never officially convicted or recognized or deemed an insurrectionist. There is nothing to vote about. We have to wait for the public to open their eyes and really SEE.

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The Constitution clearly resolves this, Je.

The state of Colorado legally ruled him an insurrectionist. By state court, affirmed by its Supreme Court.

A U.S. House of Representatives official commission on the Jan. 6 insurrection found him instigator of that insurrection and friend and comforter to convicted insurrectionists.

If he gets a 2/3 vote clearing him of that, he may be elected to and take public office again.

If the U.S. Senate holds that vote, and does not give him the 2/3 necessary, he may not ever again hold any public office.

Read it, Je, last line of Article 14, Section Three.

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When will that vote on occur? Is that the No Kings legislation?

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The reality is that Democrats do not have the votes or the guts to get the No Kings legislation through the House or Senate. Even if they do, Trump and his hand picked SCOTUS majority will ignore it.

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I don’t think they have the guts to do it.

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A good news is that we can still write this comments and Heather write her letters. I rather won't speculate for how long. 🤔

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All that Trump is doing to destroy America won’t happen in time to save Putin. And someone other than either will eventually end up in charge of running the White House. Soon,

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I hope you're right about that. Ukraine needs to make the Russians cold, hungry and afraid. Since Putin has committed numerous war crimes and sacrificed almost 800,000 of his own people it is time to take out the power and natural gas where the elite Russians live.

Putin doesn't give a damn about the average Russian so make the elites suffer physical hardship and see what happens.

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We are seeing signs they are angry. But they reveal a sense of powerless and frustration. Molotov cocktails thrown at bank doors and enlistment offices. Sabotage. Repression culminating in the killing of opposition leaders has seen that. Brace yourself. Things will get worse.

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Vlad and Project 2025 are on the job.

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Someone needs to get word to them that they need to take Mexico if they want a canal worth owning. Then build it.

But would Trump be smart enough to finance a Mexican public works project that would put thousands of people to work ? Or his handlers ?

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The good news, Michael, is that the Republicans will fully own the disaster they're actively creating by digging ever-deeper holes and jumping in. It will take much longer than we hoped, by the backlash against then will be fierce.

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No one on the R side is going to tell the Trump, his team and the puppeteers pulling Trump’s strings to drop the shovels. Nor are they able to convince him to climb out of the hole on the rescue ladders they lower. Not that he could or would make the climb. He’s digging through the muck to reach the vein of gold he thinks is down there.

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This is what Thiel wants!

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The only thing Trump is fracking is his mind.

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I saw him do something so outrageous in the mid 1990s while I was waiting in the lobby of Trump Tower, by the exit doors, to be called up to photograph Norman Mailer with photographer Gary S.

Trump came out of the elevator and walked the entire length of the lobby waving to people who had waved to him. Saying hello to people who had said hi to him. He acted as if he couldn't stop to talk, he had to go.

The only problem?

No one noticed him.

He was pretending he was the center of attention. He told his body guards to go outside and then he started this charade.

I tapped Gary in the elbow and whispered, "Are you SEEING this?!" "Yeeess."

The scariest thing was the look in Trump's eyes. He believed people were saying hello to him. It was sickening and scary to witness.

My point: he was 49 years old when that happened. His eyes were so scary.

Luckily, a woman finally noticed him--a woman he would not have given a second glance if he were outside on the sidewalk. A short and stout tourist from the midwest. Trump's eyes lit up like it was Christmas-- SOMEONE noticed him.

I say "luckily" she noticed him because I guarantee if he saw the look on my face and Gary's face-- our mouths agape, knitted eyebrows most likely with a look of horror in our eyes.

Gary and I worked for Fortune and Forbes, that day was a cover of a different magazine. But on all of our jobs with highly successful businessmen and NYC's top money managers and bankers, we never saw anything even remotely that ... delusional.

Also-- his hatred and harassment towards his rich co-opt tenants on 100 6th Avenue is not a widely reported as his other grudges.

He wants the Panama Canal because Laura Loomer told him in February that illegal aliens were flooding the country through the canal. And he wants Greenland? Look up what he did to the tenants at 100 6th Ave -- a building he HAD to have. But then wound up paying millions in restitution because he couldn't just kick out the tenants he didn't think were paying enough.

Not only is he thinking of taking something that is Panama's by way of a treaty signed by Carter, if memory serves, but what will he do with the people from Columbia who risked their lives for 7 - 10 days to make it from Columbia through the Darién Gap? If he makes them turn around (without giving them water and food) they will all die.

?

We are seeing why he is a failed businessman and why he made it big playing a role of a successful businessman on The Apprentice: it's all castles made of sand and delusion-- which I believe he was taught by Roy Cohn.

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If you search on "trump waving to non-existent crowds" on YouTube you will get dozens of hits. Trump is cray-cray, but he is still the #1 grifter of all time.

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Dr Bandy Lee is correct: there should be fitness evaluations of civilian leaders just as there are for military ones. 🔍

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What I recall is a picture of him out in the Rose Garden. He claps his hands like a little kid, jumps up and down and says, "I'm president. I'm president." Yep, captured on TV - January 2017.

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Yep. I remember. "I'm president"!

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Frankly, I hope the House elects the MUSKrat lover as Speaker. The more outrageous, the better. So all this scheiße implodes in two years. 🤞

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Thanks for this illuminating (and horrifying) story. I still think I must be dreaming that we would elect a criminal with dementia as the President.

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Do not ask me, s.v.p.; I just live here. 😉https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7259852498906025984/

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WOWerful story from an 'insider' perspective, Bhakti. Thank you. I was in N.Y.C. in the 1990s. Back then, I was convinced that Trump's 'spectacular' come-back was financed by laundering dirty Russian money. 😳

Bhakti, I do not think I was alone in thinking that, A friend once told me that neurotics build castles in the air, but psychotics live in them. Trump wants Greenland as a nuclear staging area so he he can drop out of N.A.T.O. 😱

The man and much of his politics disgust me. 🤢

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Which is weirder, what you personally observed or trump calling Forbes posing as John Baron, trump’s spokesman, urging them to rate trump wealthier than what they had?

I can’t fathom what we’re in for, but wishing all of you a Happy New Year anyway….

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Fracking imbecile.

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Trump gives those of us with a double-digit I.Q. a bad name. Total frack-up; god one, there, J.L.🖕

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😆, yep!

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Yupper, squared! 😵

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Professor Cox Richardson's last statement says it all: "In a healthy political system . . ."

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And Happy Hanukkah to Jews everywhere and all others who enjoy celebrating this holiday, which this year starts later than I can recall it ever starting - at sundown on Christmas Day. To secular Jews like myself, this holiday is a remembrance and affirmation of the power of regular people to take back control over their lives, even in the face of the strongest military power in their world. So be it - amen.

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Such excellent commentary today 🗣️TY

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Napoleon complex.

Also, Jeff Teidrich has a good story tying it all to shipping lanes than musk needs.

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Trump and his Turning Point audience were totally out of it. The Greenlanders and the Danes do not want to become part of a failing government. They and the Canadians have a right to their own sovereignty, as does Ukraine, whom Trump is about to stab in the back at Putin’s behest. It would not surprise me in the least if Trump is getting these utterly insane ideas from his controller Vladimir Putin.

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Carla Childress,

I am so thankful for the many brave and knowledgeable patriots such as you, Carla.

History, with the knowledge and understanding of our past is truly vital for our survival as we move into every new day.

Heather, thank YOU for this column and for every contributor .... those who agree or disagree. Each is important as we move into this time of "craziness".

May FREEDOM and MUTUAL RESPECT rise to the top. May we continue to be a LIGHT as we move together into unknown territory. May we love one another and respect one another as we would wish to be.

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You are surprised? All such erratic and dangerous behavior has been inherent in a second Trump Presidency since he announced that he would run again. His motivations are somewhat predictable, but his actions are not. He will do something in reaction to some story he saw on TV or X or whatever with not only a bizarre verbal response, but now, with use of his powers as President, a possibly very dangerous executive action. This man and these unpredictable behaviors are what our 77 million fellow citizens affirmatively voted for, and about 90 million who did not vote must have believed immaterial in difference from what Kamala Harris offered. This is the state of our national consciousness, and it should be no surprise that Trump does whatever the hell he wants with the acquiescence of fellow Republicans in government, on the courts, and yes, within our communities. Do you think any country or the United Nations or any other affiliated group of countries will stop him if he takes over the Panama Canal, or even Greenland as long as he makes some sort of deal with Russia, likely the only entity that could seriously threaten the takeover of Greenland? Doubtful. This is the world in which we live now. Very few actions should be considered unthinkable. And all the while, climate change just keeps on pushing, creating even more challenges and tensions for the ever more feeble governing capabilities and diminished resources of nations large and small.

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Indeed, my friend. People keep thinking they can control this poisonous snake that is trump.

In folklore, he is the snake that convinced the seeker to carry him across the river. Once across, he bit the seeker. The seeker complained: "Why did you bite me? You promised not to bite me. The snake replied: "You knew what I was when you picked me up."

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Bag Man is terrific....a must listen!

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It's not OK on any level! Djt thinks there is a vacuum because the current administration is doing presidential thinks but without all the drama and chaos...it's an untenable situation...corraling the Con man show

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It’s not. DJT, with the help of mainstream media creates a vacuum, leaving the rest of us feeling like we’re screaming into the void. This is wrong on so many levels.

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President Biden is president another four weeks. Anything can happen till then including Biden calling martial law to control Republicans from invading neighbor countries.

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Thanks Carla - you too!

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Given the debt he owes Putin and the lack of success in the last term with regards to NATO, it could be that Trump is trying a new tack. Get us thrown out of NATO. In Putin's eyes, there's more than one way to skin a cat. He's definitely a long-game kind of guy.

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Great post as always Professor Richardson, and thanks. Happy Holidays to you and your family.

Deep thought for Christmas Eve : The budding Trump administration is the American version of Rome’s Cloaca Maxima. Or, more precisely, what went into it. So much for Pax Romana. Anyone for Faex Americana ?

Second deep thought for Christmas Eve : Voting for Trump was the political equivalent of going to the store in your pajamas showing that we just don’t care anymore.

I remember when we had congressional hearings because we thought television had become the boob tube, that the Beverly Hillbillies and Arnold the Pig on Green Acres – the richest pig in town - were as low as we could go. But no, we hadn’t yet even started, kept pulling out our hair about what it was doing to us throughout the 70s, then along came the early 80s with CNN and MTV and all cable had to offer, Reagan pulling the plug on the Fairness Doctrine and FCC regulations, and we were off to the race to the bottom, making the movie Network not a fiction at which to shudder, but a reality towards which to race.

“But wait”, as the Ronco ads went, “there’s more! If you order now we’ll also send you” Rupert Murdoch, Steve Jobs, the Internet, the Iphone, and have porn go mainstream because we can’t judge about individual “morality” and there’s no limit to our choices, right?

And so, we were off yet again, digging that deep hole towards a black void that cast us into the bottomless abyss wherein dwells the monstrosities of a Trump, a Musk, a Gaetz, an RFK Jr., and now, apparently, much of the American electorate. The Ninth Circle of the Inferno, we soon discovered, was made neither of fire nor ice, but of opinions brayed from high paid asses who learned to commodify hate and ignorance into a liquor laced with the toxic disdain of certitude and bigotry.

Character? Virtue? Simplicity? Frugality? Honor? Dignity? How quaint! Never mind that they are the virtues necessary to maintain a republic. Bring them up only to be dismissed as variously naïve, judgmental, or as someone whose head is imminently oh so pattable. And forget reading – after all, there are hundreds of channels as well as gaming and social media to click and binge watching, which have made us all so happy, smart, and functional.

Joyeux Noël, and God bless us all everyone . . . because no one else will.

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we can bless one another. And yeah, collaboratively raise the bar quite a bit. Honor and celebrate honest, courageous and/or compassionate behavior, and keep the spotlight on the perils of sociopathic selfishness.

Slavery was "normal" until it wasn't.

Male subjugation of women was "normal" until it wasn't.

Now pervasive corruption is "normal", at least if Republicans do it.

What changed, and how?

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Fox News and their newer clones expansions changed us. Much of social media is unregulated misinformation. They are extremist incubation centers for conspiracies.

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Unregulated misinformation=LIES 💩🎃🤡 is an expert. Kamala Harris used the L word and msm basically ignored her, not just faux news but Washington Post and NYTimes.

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An yet with all the misinformation on the internet about trump where is the real info about Biden, Dems and policy

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Here

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Hey Sandra,

HCR is unique in voice and perspective. To ask for a counterveiling perspective is, IMHO a miss, but I ask the same thing everyday. Here is my response and it's not a good one.

Thomas Frank ==> https://tcfrank.com

Rick Perlstein==>https://prospect.org/topics/rick-perlstein/

Branko Marcetic==>https://jacobin.com/2022/05/ukraine-russia-war-arms-shipments-us-left

Corey Robin==>https://coreyrobin.com

Jefferson Cowie==> no links but books ==>The Great Exception: The New Deal and the Limits of American Politics (2016)

Jill Lepore==>The New Yorker, as always, good reads.

Again, I think this is a fool's errand, but I would appreciate you letting me know what you find going forward. The best and only expert is one's own mind, and the hive mind we foster.

Best,

Tim

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Some people still talk about the "Rule of Law" being something vital and integrated into good "Americanism". I keep asking: "what rule of law?"...You seem to add that even the written American laws were and are immoral, not to speak of the apparent fact that $Money$ rules, and not even laws themselves are ethical.

If so, welcome to the club and I completely agree. Let's not kid ourselves we are still a country dominated by plantation owners (Oligarchs) and Killers (racists)...and callous people who just don't care about ethics deciding elections.

Maybe I have been wrong that Musk and Trump will eventually feud over their narcissistic urges. At this early stage it's beginning to look like they fuel each others demented Manias. They are really sick f...ks, and they are going to wield the "gavel" and rule the law!

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Autocrats' own families often contained their deadliest enemies.

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And hopefully reduce the debt and streamline the government, and reduce the bloat and the fraud. One of the headlines that cracks me up is that the Pentagon/defense dept. has failed every audit in the last seven years.

Not sure why everyone wouldn’t like to expose this and fix it?

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Saying they would do so is unbelievable when you look at Trump's previous actions and outrageous claims about reducing the debt when he simultaneously demanded they raise the debt ceiling. If you don't know who is going to get obscenely richer while most of the people who voted for him (along with the rest of us ), are going to get be worse off than we already are. That's not counting all the services, jobs, and protections we are going to lose if he gets even a fraction of the cuts he wants to what the government provides. The filthy rich that want their prey with even less protection will be doing everything they can to eliminate the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the one good thing I can remember from the year the Supreme Court gutted our Democracy with the disgusting Citizens United decision.

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Let me give you an alternative perspective for a second. And this is a pretty common dictum. You should not worry about billionaires who become politicians because they are already rich and don’t have a great need to continue enriching themselves. Billionaires, for example, could live on $1 billion a year and still have money left over when they die.

On the other hand, what you should really worry about, is the average citizen who becomes a member of Congress with very little wealth, and on a government salary, some 10 or 15 years later becomes a multimillionaire!!.

And by the way, if you’re a fair minded individual, you might try doing this, which I know you want for fear of being incorrect.

Google Trump administration accomplishments…. and you’ll see that the lowest half of the population got a $6000 a year annual salary increase under trumps administration and minorities had the lowest unemployment in 4 decades and the highest employment since the 1960s. It’s better to be fully informed.

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Well, then you should check late 70’s I believe , when your current President ,Joe Biden was on the streets of Boston fighting integration, and protesting, busing …himself in person. You should see his comments you might reconfigure your analysis of him. I’m paraphrasing his quote, but he said more or less it would turn our schools into an interracial jungle. Hmmmm

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fortunately, some people are capable of growth and change when they lift their eyes to a broader reality. Biden is one of them. So tarring him with 50-year-old defects is not terribly pertinent - esp since he's on the way out, regardless - when the incoming guy has grotesque defects, including spiralling dementia, today.

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Biden has probably the least amount of integrity of any recent president

In fact, when everyone knew he was going to party Hunter, he had two national TV appearances were when asked if he’s going to pardon him, emphatically and immediately said no! And then he lied and did it anyway… and just yesterday he commuted the sentences of death row inmates horrible which even people emphatically liberal and democratic. Can’t believe he did that it’s like disaster on the way out. and in addition which you may not know as you know, Trump is going to be building the wall the day he starts back in office Biden was selling off all the steel that would’ve been used for the wall at five cents on the dollar to anyone would come and get it. In other words, SUBVERTING the incoming administration. Thank goodness that Texas decided to buy it and I’m sure Trump will buy it from him disgusting.

Not to mention, we wouldn’t be spending $300 billion eventually on illegal immigration if they would be just to let Trump finish the wall.

We,ve already spent 150 billion on food c, housing and FREE medical care and not only that but debit cards to give to these people when American citizens were not afforded the same help.

Research would help you a great deal

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Wow, you had to go to the way back machine, didn't you?

Unlike some people President Biden matured in his thinking.

But do go on about your petty, vindictive orange teenager with daddy issues.

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By the way, BETH is Joe Biden, the only one who is allowed to as you put it mature in his thinking? Or do you assess that it is possible in many cases other than Joe Biden. Hmmmm

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Well, I agreed with the lady that First put out that statement that he learned that I wholeheartedly agree with that, and then went on to say he obviously didn’t Learned much in 1991 when he got up on the Senate floor, holding up a quarters worth of crack cocaine and said in public anyone possessing a quarters worth of cocaine, goes directly to prison. No judge, no parole. Except, of course, being a man of integrity, wasn’t referring to Hunter. Where was Joe Biden when Hunter was going through his drug induced nightmares?

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Clearly, President Biden has learned much since the 1970’s. I know I have had opinions and beliefs that today I find alarming. I opened my mind and learned.

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That’s true, and I agree with you wholeheartedly but he didn’t learn much between then and 1991 when he stood up on the Senate floor holding up a quarter’sworth of crack cocaine and making the following statement; anyone who is in possession of this quarter size amount of crack cocaine should go directly to prison for five years no judge, no parole! I still have the video and you could probably Google it. It’s out there. H. And he thought it was so bad that he didn’t help Hunter “clean up” during the bad times? Instead, he used him as a vessel to enrich him self, and then pardoned him. Power, indeed has the potential to corrupt through many administrations.

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Thank you J L. For a minute there I was going to go jump off a bridge.

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Please include "JR" when referring to RFK. It is an insult to his upstanding, intelligent father to do otherwise.

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DONE! Thanks for the heads up!

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It must have been the brain worms.

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So instead of calling Joe’s son, Hunter, why don’t we just call him Joe Biden, Junior? Only seems fair

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wow. Hard to believe you could get even stupider than you've been here for the past week, but ... here you are!

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Better to be silent and thought a fool than to speak and prove it.

But you just can't help yourself, like your orange liar, who said "I TAKE NO RESPONSIBILITY AT ALL."

Hell of a leader there.

This is my last response to your stupidity.

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The saying actually goes, it’s better to be silent and leave people in Dallas, then to open your mouth and prove that you’re an idiot.

That’s usually what happens cowards bow out when it comes to having a reasonable discussion about topics of the day.

You do realize there are always two sides to a story. That’s why we have court rooms with prosecutors defenses and judges and juries

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Who’s going to pardon Trump? He’s a convicted felon. Also found liable in civil trials of sexual assault which the judge described as equivalent to rape, and of defrauding New York State of more than $450 million in taxes, fees and penalties. You’ve obviously never had a family member or friend impacted by addiction. Your condescending comments are contemptible. Better to STFU.

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Actually, he’s not a convicted felon, and he won’t be a convicted felon until sentenced. But the kangaroo Court that was put together by the DA And sustained and supported by the judge or should I say judges there’s nothing more than political law fair, and will all be overturned if adm when need be…

Wow, he defrauded the New York State of $450 million in taxes fees and penalties? When did he do this? lol.

Let me tell you about addiction. I am an extremely compassionate person however, I also believe with very few exceptions, that life is a do it to yourself proposition. People need to be responsible for their own lives, AND THEIR OWN CHOICES.

If you put a pill in your mouth, it’s on you. No one’s forcing you to put a pill in your mouth or smoke, drug, etc. and while there certainly are addictive personalities; One has the power to sublimate, knowing what the costs are. And the costs are horrible.

The problem is with our government who doesn’t punish people substantially, or sufficiently who deal with these substances.

Addiction never hurts. Only one person it hurts of family. It hurts a community and in many cases forces people to commit crimes just feed their addiction by either stealing or selling to others. Do you want to stop Prime stop being compassionate about the drug dealers. Put THOSE WHO SELL OR DEAL DRUGS to death, cut off their hands do something preventative instead of putting him in a rehab program.. or put them in prison for a few years and lo and behold you have recidivism.

The reason crime is so high in this country is because there’s no punishment equal to the crime.

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Sorry. in doubt

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You have paid attention, naming things that I puked on and rejected, while others slurped up the “junk food aisles at the grocery store.” I always assumed that the majority would choose wisely, and have learned the folly of assuming anything.

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Wow, in a barnburner mood here, Philoctetes? Come to think of it, I piled on some hyperbole myself 10 minutes ago! Trouble being, much of what you say about the degradation of American political discourse is soooo to the point. Evangelical/Catholic opposition to Roe v Wade, taking prayer "out of the schools" was a shock wave to those fine religious folk. The consequences have been formidable, and egregious, considered the degree of political malfeasance the Republicans have indulged in as Democrats broadened their coalition with Civil Rights, inclusiveness, DEI and drag atavistic USA into the company of modern nations who embrace social democracy.

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There is nothing remotely moral or Christian about the Evangelical movement. In fact, they are antithetical to everything Jesus taught as nearly as I can tell, and if you had to draw up an opposite to Christ (an, ahem, anti-Christ, ahem), that would be our president elect.

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"There are some upon this Earth who lay claim to know us, and who do their deeds of passion, pride, ill will, hatred, envy, bigotry, and selfishness in our name, who are as strange to us and all our kith and kin, as if they had never lived. Remember that, and charge their doings on themselves, not us.

-Charles Dickens' 'A Christmas Carol', quote by the Ghost of Christmas Present.

Happy Holidays everyone.

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Who knows what Jesus might have said about abortion or Trans, Philoctetes, these particular items weren't likely a consideration in his efforts to save the "lost sheep of Israel" and you've read what Isaiah was preaching for Israel, right? Not that Jesus wasn't a radical reformer, but rabbis had already elevated the golden (spello fix) rule to the roof, as the Pharisee Jesus engaged with openly acknowledged. Look what that got "the Jews" into in the generations following... Jesus wasn't the only one who got slaughtered.

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Given that Philip the Apostle welcomed a eunuch into the fold - about the most sexually suspect and deviant creature around at that time - I'm pretty confident Jesus wouldn't have too much trouble with sexualities and genders of all stripes, not to mention pronouns. There's a reason the Greek and a neuter gender in their lingo, and left an altar to an unknown god in case they forgot or missed one!

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lol, to protect his ruler's harems. We have no idea what Jesus might have thought on this one, i think. Apart from words and notions "put into his mouth" by creative scribes a little later in the day.... Paul was adamantly heterosexual normative, even down to the length of men's and women's hair, that's more what subsequent generations went with among all those Romans who generally idolized Greek culture. Acts is a fun book, for sure.

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If you are going to go there then come with me and let's go all the way there. Jesus spoke Aramaic. The gospels were written in Greek and years after his death. It would be as though we depended on someone who may or may not have been a native speaker of English translating Lincoln's speeches years later into Spanish - from memory. So we have no real idea precisely what Jesus said, other than that there is at least some broad agreement in the gospel accounts. But to translate Greek concepts into Latin was tough enough. Much in terms of cultural significance simply does not translate. So what was lost between Greek and Aramaic? It's a damn nightmare because language is not just words but an entire cultural system that is extremely subtle. And people have killed for centuries over this most problematic of texts.

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So I’m reminded or verses in a song:

Praise be to Nero’s Neptune.

The Titanic sails at dawn.

Everybody’s shouting.

Which side are you on.

And Ezra Pound and TS Eliot fighting in the captain’s tower.

While cylipso sailers laugh at them.

And fishermen how flowers.

Between the windows of the sea.

Where lovely mermaids flow.

And no one has to think too much.

About desolation row.

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Love this... back at you...

Tolling for the tongues with no place to bring their thoughts

All down in taken-for-granted situations

Tolling for the deaf an’ blind, tolling for the mute

Tolling for the mistreated, mateless mother, the mistitled prostitute

For the misdemeanor outlaw, chased an’ cheated by pursuit

An’ we gazed upon the chimes of freedom flashing

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I've heard of a bit of a stretch but to me, you have just blasphemed

the worst part for you is that 25 years from now Trump is gonna go down as one of the four or five best presidents in the history of the United States

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Was this the same Electorate that elected Joe Biden A mere four years ago? Just checking.

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Or re-elected Ronald Reagen who was driving down the Pacific Coast Highway, thinking about a time capsule, and how people 100 years later would actually know what we do now... gentle turns of fate.

It would be good to summarize all our demented history but there's too much there.

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My studio is too small for a television. I thank my lucky stars for my friends, books, ipad, LFAA & Co. (social security, the VA, my pickup truck, things that need to be done, etc. etc…zzz.)

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This is so spot on. Had to look up cloaca maxima. Very apt indeed.

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A Very good comment by JOHN FETTERMAN..DEMOCRAT PENNSYLVANIA today

Simple common sense! Paraphrasing his quote.

“I would never want my president to fail. And I would always want him to succeed on behalf of America.” Unlike most folks here.

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You mistake our convictions. I would never want my president to fail either—but one must be very clear at what with tfg. I WOULD want him to fail at stealing Greenland, sending our military to “take back” the Panama Canal, at placing a spoiled, criminal frat boy as head of DOJ, at showing off by revealing national security secrets…you get the picture. Or you should.

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Trolls love to hang out under their bridges, and you can smell their noisome flatulence for miles around.

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Maybe one day you can text my flatulence like they’re trying to do with collars for these idiots that believe in this climate change nonsense as if we can control climate.

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🙄

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I have always enjoyed your emojis

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Rick isn’t a troll although now use of this word very loosely.

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Bill, thank you for that, sincerely. but I have determined what the group here translates or defines as a troll. It is someone who has a difference of opinion and different perspective , and is not afraid to voice it along the way.

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I have tried to broaden Rick Sender’s horizons by having him read my book, lol. He says he will on his vaca.

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I thought he was a bot?

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No I’ve communicated with his several times. He is me when I’m on Fox comments and get universally castigated. Same difference.

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I’m thinking He/she/its a troll, maybe paid by Russia, though being so lame probably doesn’t not even know that.

If so that would make it a Russian asset. More likely not paid, and thus simply be a Russian ally, or in common parlance a useful idiot.

“DOJ says Russia paid right-wing influencers to spread Russian propaganda

Scott SimonSeptember 7, 2024”

https://www.npr.org/2024/09/07/nx-s1-5101895/doj-says-russia-paid-right-wing-influencers-to-spread-russian-propaganda

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And you call me stupid? Wow. why don’t you pick up a copy of TRUMP’S BOOK art of the deal and maybe you’ll understand that Trump has no intentions of taking over Greenland, or the Panama Canal. Although he did mention purchasing Greenland a number of years ago if it were for sale.

I’ll give you a couple quick examples he threatened tariffs on Mexico and Canada and look what he got as a result. It’s called negotiation, and is one of the best in the world. Canada and Mexico are now preventing waves of people to enter our country illegally and in fact, Trudeau came down to talk to Trump 15 minutes after Trump made the announcement. And is now pledged $1 billion in border security, and Mexico is now stopping caravans and arresting cartel members. And I’m stupid?

If you would investigate the reason he’s talking about the Panama Canal is because apparently there was an agreement between Panama and either China or another country who are paying less for freight for passage in the United States. And since we do more business with the Panama Canal than anyone, Trump feels that we are getting taken advantage of. So he’s applying a little pressure. It’s a big boys game, so put on your pants and try to catch up

And when you make accusations about someone, you should make sure first you don’t have something happening on your side of the aisle or on the Democrat side of the aisle that is exactly the same or worse.

Nancy Pelosi had a spy working for her which was in the news, and Slawell was sleeping with a Chinese spy for years. Oooops

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Come on, man!

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Under the bridge man returns

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It’s amazing how people judge other people without knowing anything about them. Very sad, and usually very wrong. Especially in this case

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Brilliant. I own the collector’s addition of “Network”

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Wow, well said. Beautiful prose, I might add.

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BRAVO!!

Excellent, excellent, excellent addition to the Letter!

Thank you for your post, and thank you to all those who comment adding so much to the community. We've got quite a ride ahead of us. Hang in there.

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Pax, Philoctetes.

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Professor Richardson, Happy Holidays and thank you for another year of interesting posts. Because we all know that the Trump Administration is going to rob the country blind, I believe the president-elect’s comments about the Panama Canal, Greenland, Canada, and returning Denali to Mount McKinley are less the ravings of an increasingly demented old man than a strategy to distract voters from the hands that the president and his cronies are going to have in their pockets once he takes office. After all, playing to the profound historical ignorance of the American people has been working for Republicans for decades so why quit now?

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Distraction via outrageous social media posts is a commonly used tactic for trump. Why wouldn’t he continue using it when it’s proven to work so well? As before, I expect for the next four years we’ll see a near constant state of manufactured outrage. Desperate to stay relevant (and profitable), mainstream media will happily play their part again, fanning the flames of outrage and avoiding the real stories.

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You would think that even with the circus maximized, the novelty would have worn off by now.

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H L Mencken once wrote "No one ever lost a nickel underestimating the intelligence of the American people" or words to that effect. Adjusting for inflation, things haven't changed much. Anyone who thinks a wealthy gaggle of rich guys is going to do anything to help working stiffs will believe anythin6.

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Here’s a thought. How about we don’t get distracted? How about we keep our eyes on the prize of taking back the House in 2026? How about we amplify every time the billionaires and their president are picking our pockets? How about we amplify that message outside our own echo chambers? It could work. Just saying.

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It will continue, as it works. When it stops working, it will stop.

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Lol, but damn whatever Trump lets loose from his profane mouth is serious

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I had read back during Trump's first term, or shortly thereafter, a group of historians ranked Trump's term against all previous presidencies (as they do) and he came in somewhere in the bottom three.

I think that stung Trump's ego, and he is now trying to remedy his lackluster performance by going for dead last on the list.

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As a NH native, I will always be grateful to the Donvict for replacing Franklin Pierce as the worst American President ever. :)

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"dead last" indeed....

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He's definitely successful in that goal! Last as a reasonable human being as well. So will no one say that the self proposed emperor has no clothes and no mind left?

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Where is that on social media?

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From a source you may associate with:

https://www.foxnews.com/us/new-presidential-rankings-place-obama-top-10-reagan-trump-below-biden

"Trump was ranked in last place in the survey, being ranked worse than James Buchanan at 44, Andrew Johnson at 43, Franklin Peirce at 42, and William Henry Harrison at 41."

Also: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/feb/20/presidents-ranking-trump-biden-list

https://www.npr.org/2024/02/19/1232447088/historians-presidents-survey-trump-last-biden-14th

There are more if you Google 'Trump rating as president'

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Thank you for the correction!

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Why does it feel like Trump is already governing? Making a declaration (about Greenland) on behalf of the United States is dangerously close to conducting foreign policy. I know the media is treating him like he's in office, but why isn't the Biden Administration calling him out?

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Denise, you might check out the substack "what did Joe Biden do today." (I think that's the name; at least it's close.) Every day, we can see what our current president is doing - and very little is covered by the mainstream media. They are too busy chasing squirrels (that is, obsessing about everything the other guy does or says). See also the president's interview with the substack author Ben Meiselas....

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You can also go to Whitehouse.gov and see everything he is doing.

Also, Jessica Craven's Sunday Extra, extra!

There is A LOT!

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Biden is doing a lot, but trump's demand for attention is louder than the quiet decency of commuting death sentences. But Biden has another problem. He supports Israel and Gaza is a death camp. It is hard to exert morale authority when your most prominent foreign policy activity is comprehensibly immoral. Israel had the right to retaliate, but it does not have the right to murder children and their families. trump will not make it better, just more consistently depraved.

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The media in large part has already capitulated in Advance. But not all of them.

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Biden called on Netanyahu to stop what is happening to women and children in Gaza.

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That is a start, but until he cuts off the flow of weapons, it is just words.

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Open Secrets, a credible research organization revealed Biden as the largest congressional taker of AIPAC money in their records. AIPAC called the favor in, but it was the innocents who paid for this favor with their lives. We should all be outraged at our two cartel parties cheer leading atrocity in our names.

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Quite honestly, the media has treated trump as a shadow president ever since he left office in 2021.

Very informally, I would parse the landing pages of both the NY Times and WAPO for the strings "trump" and "biden". With only a couple of exceptions, "trump" appeared 50 - 100% more often than "biden". That lack of press made Biden appear weak and ineffectual in addition to his wrongly perceived lack of accomplishment.

We'll see how that all played out beginning next year.

God help us.

Have a peaceful and joyous Holiday.

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Trump has been "shadow" governing the last 4 years, as Warren T says below...

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Lawrence O’Donnell, too, added something today on the orange felon.

In connection with the Matt Gaetz moral turpitude case, O’Donnell noted Trump’s (and Elon Musk’s) having nominated Gaetz as U.S. Attorney General shows the orange felon “has the worst moral and professional judgment in the history of the presidency.”

With nihilist billionaires all in cahoots now, vulgarity triumphs more vilely spectacularly than at any time in our history.

This has been long in coming – look at our schools. For generations we had the best in the world, fueling creativity, productivity, and prosperity for all.

No more. The commercial classes for whom Lewis Powell wrote his memo knew their profit if they offshored nearly all good, working-class U.S. jobs. Chinese cadres could profit. Dictators could much further enrich themselves. Russian oligarchs could take over the most expensive mansions and villas on the most beautiful parts of the French Riviera.

Lewis Powell and his colleagues damned America’s working classes also to be void the formerly good schools. Standardized testing could enforce all the impersonal, abstracted, and categorical ruts key to corporate obeisance and office work. Algorithms and other A.I. could do all the thinking and prioritizing needed by the scions of nihilist dark money.

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Open primaries in which the top 2 vote getters advance to the general election would help to reduce the extremist competition in primaries. Ranked choice voting for federal elections would also help to make centrist candidates more competitive. Lastly, awarding proportional electoral votes instead of winner-take-all would help minority party voters who are not in swing states see some representation.

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California adopted Jungle Primaries several years ago. I don't see that it helped. I really like the practice of rank-choice voting.

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Good luck with that Mary, Canada's Liberals under Trudeau deep sixed that with a faux voter consultation shortly after Justin promised liberalization beyond "first past the post" which liberally awards minorities full out political power. despite Canada having had Medicare, social securities pensions, family allowances (think child tax credit) for a couple generations now.

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Hey Mary, California has a similar system, but a different name but it ends up the same. All candidates are placed on the same ballot, regardless of party, and the two top vote getter’s end up in a runoff so in California as an example, where are the electorate is dominantly democrat the other party has no chance to make the final balance so much for helping the minority party

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Sorry, final ballot

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Not true. Mary Peltola in Alaska in the 2020 election via RCV.

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As I said, Kathy, ranked choice, voting isn’t the same as what they have in California, which is a version of RCV.

In California they put all the names on one ballot irrespective of party

How’s the electric currently in California is about 5743 in favor of Democrats Republicans have a little chance of being one of the two finalist let alone winning “ It’s called the top two candidates open primary act” , you can look it up on California secretary of state it’s similar to RCV adm despite your example above it’s more the exception than the rule. You would have to admit that.

Candidates that were previously known as partisan are now known as voter nominated

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How would that reduce the misinformation on the internet?

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This is the huge challenge about the truth and not Truth.But first it's the assumption that each of our unfettered opinions are equally valid as anyone else's. Truth must be factual and not anecdotal. Just because we have voices does not mean all reflect the Truth. For example if told we're being overcharged to use the Panama Canal, how do we find out what resources are needed to run it well? Maybe it could be administered better but it doesn't belong to us anymore! Maybe the OAS could investigate. But Trump just yells Foul and it's in the news? He has no concept of separate countries and their rights. These statements of his about sovereign nations demonstrates his total unfitness for any government office! He's begging to be shut down... dementia incarnate. And that's my opinion.

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Due to drought situations, fewer ships are allowed through the canal, so fees increased.

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Ranked choice voting must be a threat to Republican rule. In Missouri, a constitutional ballot was passed making it illegal to institute ranked choice voting. Some people think it passed because they started the ballot proposition with “ballot candy” that stated that only US citizens can vote.

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Additional news related to Panama: Trump is talking about "taking over Panama" because he is being investigated for tax evasion in that country. This is Breaking News.

https://www.themarysue.com/why-am-i-not-surprised-trump-organization-accused-of-tax-evasion-in-panama-right-after-trump-threatens-to-take-over-the-panama-canal/

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Jay Kuo discusses it too. Not in such detail, but he mentions other reasons as well.

https://open.substack.com/pub/statuskuo/p/were-so-sorry-about-this?r=f0qfn&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true

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I wish that there was a thunderous noise when a house of cards, smoke and mirrors comes crashing down.

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He’s been being investigated for his business in Panama since 2017. Not just tax evasion but fraud in marketing his real estate. He also hadn’t cleaned areas in his properties for years. The Intercept called this out years ago but as usual he skated.

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He was already in trouble there for conditions in one of his infamous awful hotels.

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RE Representative Kay Granger, as the Irishman said at the wake, "Stuff the corpse and keep the party going".

Happy holidays, everyone. Stay Safe, Helthy, and Together for 2025

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Similar to the movie “Weekend at Bernie’s”. The guy dies but young fellows prop his body up as if he’s alive.

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Yes, you haven’t seen the weekend at Bidens T-shirt?

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Biden is far more functional than tfg

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Is that why their own party pulled a coup de etat in the United States of America? Sorry, but you haven’t been listening to the news. Wall Street Journal put out a lengthy report on the fact that Joe Biden has been having mental issues since he first took office. Even Chris chiZila <sp> did a little video on that. He’s had declining health that was covered up by his party for three years.

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lol, bizarro indeed! Dianne Feinstein, perhaps not so far off but certainly ahead of Kay Granger's preposterous continuation. Sometimes, Magas, you just have to "face the music"...

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Big difference. Feinstein was transparent about her absences and did appear for important votes. Granger's staff pretended that she was working when she was living in a memory care unit. Also, I'll never forget that Granger was one of the Moscow Eight; the members of Congress who tried (but failed) to meet with Putin on July 4, 2008. The incoming majority leader in the Senate, John Thune, was also part of that junket.

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Interesting, I did read an article which singled her out, among others, with age-related impairments.

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Ha ha. Thanks for this.

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When Trump tosses "bait" like Panama & Greenland, he's trying to do something or has done something to draw attention away from him. Look around, because the swine has pulled a bigly and doesn't want us looking at it.

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Yes!! He energizes his most fervent supporters and infuriates his opponents. He creates a story that distracts from his mistakes or nefarious intent. The chaos divides the citizenry and drives us all toward the extremes. He gets a charge out of it, too. Our response should contain as little emotion as possible and inform him that he is has made a mistake. Minimize the "charge" he gets from it all. For example, "No, Donald. Try again."

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These are not the times that try our soul. These are the times that lay bare the reality that our country has lost it’s soul. Age is irrelevant it’s our inflated sense of being entitled because we somehow view America as soooo superior. Pride does precede the fall. There are ALWAYS consequences. We will likely all pay for the inflated importance so many have for themselves.

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I agree with almost everything you said but age is relevant. If the age of retirement now is set at 65-70, then those age limits must be applied to members of Congress also.

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Retirement age is determined by the policies of the company for which the person is working. I don't think age should be used to determine someone's ability to do a job; there are high-functioning 90 year olds and decrepit 65 year olds. If it weren't for the cancers, RBG would likely be a high-functioning 91 year old. Perhaps we should require Members of Congress to undergo testing for cognition and memory.

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Trump claims he "Aced" it. He's got other problems. If you you hooked him to a polygraph, it would likely bust into flame.

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You're right about the polygraph machine, though I might be more concerned about the mental well being of the person administering the test! As for the mini-mental state status exam, I'm guessing the MD who administered it was either afraid or in awe and didn't do it properly or, more likely, Trump was lying. There are better exams Trump couldn't "ace."

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Will the polygraph react to a psychopath?

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I agree. And since no one else has mentioned it, the fact that a member of Congress is now in a memory care facility should trigger a new election for her seat. It's not like Rep. Granger is in a hospital recovering from surgery or an illness. Yeesh.

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Not necessary as she didn't run for re-election. The more critical issue is that a person or persons on her staff participated in a fraud by making it seem that she was active yet didn't even pretend to perform constituent services by answering phone calls.

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Nope. But here, amongst these pages of hate absolutely.

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It is ok to hate someone who rapes women.

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It’s not only Kathy. Kathy it’s OK to put them to put to death in my opinion.

Unfortunately, sometimes it’s hard to determine as in the example of date rape, and whether consent was there or not. So who exactly are we referring to? There were 127,000 reported rapes in the United States last year. And the reason that it continues is because there’s insufficient punishment. Just make sure you do your research before you make an incorrect accusation. Just sayin.

To me, as one of the most sickening crimes you can commit.

When you kill somebody, you end their pain and that’s the most egregious. However, when someone is raped, their pain continues and that’s why it’s so horrible to me.

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I am wondering if Trump/Musk are having delusions of grandeur and hoping to take over the world. No war needed—just buy it. “Pride goeth before a fall.”

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Musk is clearly planing on that. Trump seems more likely to take over small countries with important resources like Panama and Greenland.

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My God, it's like they are playing a game of Risk! (An old board game, for anyone who doesn't know.)

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If he can't have Mars (at least for now) can't he at least rule Greenland?

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Delusions if grandeur for sure

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... as long as Tesla sales take the inflated stock prices to "the promised land"

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As a young sailor, on active duty during the Carter Administration, God bless you President Carter, assigned to Arlington Annex, I was astounded by the level of ignorance of Our Country’s dealing with Panama. Such statements as “ why are we giving away our territory to a banana republic?” “The Panamanians aren’t capable of running the canal!” Etc, etc, etc. This was ages before social media and the ease of disseminating misinformation and dis-information. The Canal Zone was never meant to be to be a forever thing, charging all boats that use the canal is right and that money is necessary to maintenance and improvement of the canal. If the Trumpster isn’t happy with the agreement signed by the then leaders of their respective countries, then renegotiate.. the seizing of lands of a sovereign country is morally corrupt and tantamount to declaring war on a sovereign nation.

To threaten both Panama and Greenland for what ever convoluted, uninformed and ignorant excuses POTUS-e can think of, I hope the adults in the room will put the pacifier back in his mouth so we can go on with business.

I am of the opinion that all the votes that occurred after that Republican representative was institutionalized in a memory care facility, in which she voted and passed by a single vote, they should be invalidated and reversed and all persons who participated in perpetuating that fraud should be discharged from office prosecuted for fraud, collusion to fraud and any other statute that apply.

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Absolutely good point. What if this was the other party!! Can you just hear the howls?

Absolute power corrupts absolutely, be it in church or state.

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Rick Scott, Senator from Florida and formerly a two term Governor of Florida was the CEO of Hospital Corporation of America when it plead guilty to the largest Medicare fraud in US history. The corporation paid 840 million in fines and Mr. Scott, an unindicted co-conspirator, pled the Fifth Amendment 75 times.

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From Brittannica -" Federal authorities raided the company’s offices and hospitals in July, and in the same month the company’s board of directors forced Scott to resign—though it granted him a generous retirement package consisting of approximately $10 million in cash and $300 million in company stock. Although Scott was not charged with any crime, Columbia/HCA eventually paid fines totaling $1.7 billion. "- Sometimes crime does pay.

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Heather and gang, I think this talk about Panama and Greenland is all Putin’s idea. It would mirror his invasion of Ukraine if Trump/Musk (Mumps) tries to pull this off. I remembered him mentioning Greenland when he was prez the first time. See this from ABC (ugh): https://abcnews.go.com/amp/Politics/trump-suggests-us-control-greenland/story?id=117057427

I am on my last nerve with this criminal!

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Marlene, I just posted the same thought and then saw your comment here posted 4 minutes prior to mine.

You are so right about last nerves too.

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I thought this election was about the price of eggs. But now Trump and the GOP are flirting with imperialist nostalgia—talk of Greenland and the Panama Canal is nothing new in the annals of expansionist rhetoric.

For anyone questioning what these impulses lead to, revisit the dark lessons of ‘The Human Zoo of 1904.’ The St. Louis World’s Fair literally dehumanized people in its celebration of ‘American civilization,’ dragging indigenous peoples into living exhibits to justify colonial rule and conquest https://forgottenfiles.substack.com/p/the-human-zoo-of-1904

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If we take Greenland Trump gets more ocean front property for Casinos. We also violate NATO because an attack on one is an attack on all. Since Greenland is a part of Denmark we should be able to roll over Copenhagen and crush resistance from Naevsted and Odense to Skagen in a weekend. Think of what we'll get: pastry, beer, open faced sandwiches, the Little Mermaid, Hans Christian Andersen's birthplace, Tivoli Gardens, aquavit, and hygge, "about which I'm hearing very good things these days". Though given how I saw my uncle taken care of in Denmark when he was in his 80s, I'll just settle for Danish health care . . . well, and the nude beaches, where I happened to see the Danish minister of Justice in pretty much nothing one day many years ago.

Let's not let this opportunity pass to annex a part of the EU. Maybe we could grab Iceland and the Faroes on the way.

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Everything Trump gives us is Rotten eggs, and stinks. he is looking around to see where things are better that he can take. Jay Kuo Greenland discusses possible reasons for each. https://open.substack.com/pub/statuskuo/p/were-so-sorry-about-this?r=f0qfn&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true

As for health care. My friends and I in a small group in Democrats Abroad are going to be comparing health care across the countries we live in with the US and sharing a comparison. Since Trump only has concepts of a health plan, it is a good time to let him know what Americans would want. I wrote an article on the German health care system. https://lindaweide.substack.com/p/us-health-care-is-like-rotten-eggs?r=f0qfn

I am sure it has more in common with the Danish system than with the US.

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Do you realize that only 6% of the US population currently is insured by Obamacare? Just curious

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No. While under Biden the coverage supposedly went up, this is what I am reading about health care in the US. I wonder what part of the year coverage means. Is it people who did not have it got it within the year, or people who had it lost it within the year? Maybe both. Does it even out?

https://www.census.gov/library/publications/2024/demo/p60-284.html

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Not sure, but at one time it insured about 20+ percent of the population and now it’s down to six. But the ironic thing that just happened “buried” in that 1540 some odd page bill was giving the right to the Congress opt out of Obamacare.

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Opt out of insurance is a bad idea. However, not having a god system like Germany's or Frances to cover the insurance makes it hard to require everyone to be covered. Americans are too satisfied with the status quo if they are provided insurance through their copay at their job. It is just not enough.

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45 million is what percent?

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It’s not 45 million, although I have seen that number a couple places in my research . While I am reading at centers for Medicaid and Medicare services,cms.gov 21.3 million people chose the ACA marketplace in January 2024. It shows that 16 million people renewed their coverage and additional 5 million selected it as new participants So I also see conflicting information as you show above. Even by your figures, it’s still only 14%. It initially was 25% as I recall. And I should probably mention that if you look deeper, it says low income, privately insured people had the worst result in the analysis, seeing no benefit from the ACA. That was put out by NPR.

I’m not saying that it was bad, but it certainly didn’t have the impact that was anticipated at the outset.

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Recall, too, Philoctetes, Denmark is also home to the great movie, "Babette's Feast."

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Boom goes London, boom Paree...

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a "liked" just because it's so.... in jest.

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While Trump discounts global warming, he’s claiming lands along a newly (melted) northwest passage.

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All the eggs that Musk/Trump give us are rotten. They stink.

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TBD

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"those were the days, my friend"... Peter, indeed. Remember pretty much "all of Europe" had wrapped itself in cultural apex predatory behaviour, all you needed as a technological edge, such as a Maxim machine gun. The British imperialists were gungho with that one.

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Peter Pappas, thank you for the link! Reading from the Forgottenfiles Substack and absorbing the visual effects of the photos from the Human Zoo of 1904 World’s Fair, almost makes me sick. If human beings are supposedly created in the image of God, then “God” must be bipolar. Seeing oneself as better than, opens the door to living in a self-created hell on earth.

May each of us be somehow sustained to continue the struggle of living by recognizing the positive side of the face of God in each other.

Peace!

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I share your distaste for the Human Zoo. Glad my post resonates with you

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