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Let’s coin a new phrase: “junk Politics.” Like junk food and junk bonds. Cheap and addictive. Engineered to taste good but offering no nutrition. Junk Politics stimulates addictive receptors in the brain - particularly the reptilian brain - that drown out higher powers of thought and reasoning. Purveyors of Junk Politics stir up emotions that offer a kind of emotional gratification while dooming their consumers to ultimate enslavement as their health deteriorates and they become unable to distinguish what’s good for them from what they are addicted to. We stood up against the tobacco companies and held them accountable. Can we defeat Junk Politics? Part of defeating an evil is by naming it for what it is. Democrats need catchy phrases like “fake news.” Why not “Junk Politics!”

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Excellent. Thanks for this. I will borrow your phrase junk politics.

I don't own a television and the radio is broken in my car. Whenever I get around these 2 mediums I am stunned by the mind numbing noise, the invasive barrage of commercials and the contorted faces of so many commentators who are talking too loudly. Junk politics and rampant consumerism reign over our airwaves. The reporters are definitely pushing junk politics.

Lest I live in a bubble one of the places I check in is the Washington Post articles. This is there where I see the right wing trolls. They keep repeating the FOX mantras. And the Post keeps repeating the anti-Biden, false narratives, hyperbole headlines junk politics every day.

I'll scan the news headlines of FOX. Whew! They are truly another Universe.

I believe folks have been seduced into thinking CNN, NBC, New York Times etc. were giving us the big picture. Plus most of the people I work with could care less about what is happening to Democracy right now anyway.

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I so agree about the shouting heads! I refer to them as used car salesmen (a really old stereotype). Why would you buy anything from someone who is talking fast & shouting?

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Because in your youngest years that’s all you knew and it remains what feels safest to you now when the world around you is coming apart at the seams

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And for positive phrasing how about a Democratic mantra- “Invest in America” to counter the “socialist” frame and recall the “we are in this together” FDR era?

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Yes even better!

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Here is an excellent article from Dana Millbank:

"Opinion: The media treats Biden as badly as — or worse than — Trump. Here’s proof."

Washington Post, Dana Millbank. I give up on links.

Also to be fair. Millbank and Rubin and in the Washington Post are not junk reporters.

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Hi Barbara, My post wasn't so much about the news and the many excellent commentators. It was about the politicians on the right who are selling disinformation, lies, and authoritariansim. Junk. Toxic, dangerous junk!

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Understood. My point is that the media is perpetuating the rhetoric and lies of the politicians. So junk politics=junk media.

And I believe there are many many excellent and ethical journalists today. The problem is they are being drowned out.

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I agree. Milbank, Rubin, and Sargent are excellent and provide context in their opinion columns that the supposed "reporters" refuse to do.

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Yes, Fox, et al are certainly junk media. Or maybe more like "toxic media." And for sure many excellent, ethical responsible journalists and writers out there are doing the best they can. We Dems need to take the "catch phrase" offensive and "Junk Politics" has a ring to it. Let's use this and any other simple phrases we can come up with to counter Trump's undeniable genius for coining simple minded but compelling language.

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Ok then. Let's use toxic media and junk politics. What do you think? You have created the brand name for a movement Ned.

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Not reporters at all — opinion writers. Period.

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Unfortunately the slanted articles are not always labeled as opinion and are not in the opinion section. WaPo often has their headline piece as a hyperbolic headline against Biden.

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Hmmm. Fair point.

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An excellent phrase! I'll use it. We Democrats definitely need catchy, vivid phrases and themes. The voters we need to deprogram don't respond to big words, data, and reasoned treatises.

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Amen, Elizabeth!

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Genius! Labeling has become so popular in politics and people don’t seem to want to be fully informed so “junk politics” a great phrase let’s use it!

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EXCELLENT POST!! I will use this term. Thank you!

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GOP: Bringing you Junk Politics for 40 years

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This is not “ junk”. We are fighting for our future and that of our grandchildren. We are in a civil war. I think we oughtto avoid any kind of dismissive language that implies this is not deadly serious

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What Cigarette Do You Smoke Doctor?

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=hxUZI0vE0FM

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Dec 4, 2021
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Trumpanzee — nice!

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The GQP will have no platform, no ideas, no agenda for the 2022 elections according to Mitch “no progress” McConnell; but rather will leave all “what we stand for” planks to the authority of one man, whoever gets the GQP nomination in 2024

Doesn’t that kinda describe how dictatorships work?

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And once Roe is gutted, as it presumably will be, how will the repubs recruit?

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Their plan is authoritarian rule. There is no need for recruitment. There will be force by fear.

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That has been my thought. Once abortion is illegal will all the people who only voted GOP because of the sanctity of life turn to the Democrats to save their children from gun violence and school shootings?

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I doubt it. At least, not at first. They have been led by their noses by the lies from their leaders and from right-wing media going on 5 years now. The Special Jan. 6th Committee and the DOJ must get the work done to prove these arrogant neo-Nazis are as corrupt as we know they are. Sentencing and imprisoning them all sends a very strong message. We do have to be prepared for the aftermath and unfortunately, parents like the Chumbleys may come out of woodwork as they are now anyway at school board meetings. Worse would be another insurrection but at least, the military and the WH will be aligned.

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Pretty much does describe a dictatorship...

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Also, since when have Rethuglicans provided a legislative agenda or platform other than cutting taxes and peddling hatred, fear and racism? That's been the case since the 90's but has become more apparent since a Black Guy had the temerity to do Presidenting.

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We now know for sure that the ‘24 platform will be what (or a facsimile thereof) DJT says it is.

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I feel like the GOP is already at the place where they only listen to one man and do as they’re told. There’s not an original thought among them. There are many we don’t hear from but they’re still the worker bees and still strictly follow orders.

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That plus restricting voting rights and overthrowing the elections if they don't win which eventually becomes controlling elections outright.

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What a magnificent tying together of history and actualities! This is an excellent iteration of the basic premises of democracy, socialism, and communism. Rep. Greene is deranged in her understanding, and Gov. Desantis has crossed a line. Thank you for sharing the clarity of a sound mind and your profound understanding of the historical forces that have shaped and continue to inform our hope.

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If Governor DeSantis doesn't scare you, nothing will. Are we really going to pay for a private militia???? (I have the dubious fortune to live in Florida, working in the news industry for more than 30 years.) He is trying to separate the state from federal oversight e.g. last month in special session the legislature approved creating a state-run Occupational Safety & Health Administration (which would need federal approval). To date our Republican-controlled legislature has rubber-stamped everything he has done to impede protections against Covid-19 infection, legislate criminal penalties for peaceful protest, distribute vaccines on the basis of PAC contributions, etc. Is there a point at which my Republican neighbors and legislators will say "Enough already?" Even well-informed citizens are becoming frightened.

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I hope the well informed, frightened citizenry of Florida are unsettled enough to vote DeSantis out when the time comes

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Morning fab Daria….lot of work already into campaigns for Nikki Fried and Charlie Crist. And senatorial challenge that Val Demings presents against Rubio.

More and more “unsettling”. I keep repeating…Scary, but do not be afraid. To preserve democracy, we must use democracy.

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Morning dear Christine. It's lovely to see you as I sit in the car with my cat in an HEB store in Monterrey, MX while my husband picks up some cat food for Isaac the Cat (who is enjoying his road trip, I might add).😽

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😻 my resident Siamese, Lola, woke me up this morning. I swear, I might make an audio using her voice. Would scare away an pesky autocrat.

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Among the dozen, I had a Siamese who found me when she took refuge in a school where I was participating in an exercise class. It was evening and no one would take her. I have loved all my cat family members, but that Siamese, she was really special. Siamese are known for their voices and I must admit, I love conversing with my cats.

While I could not speak cat, I once had a cat who had quite a vocabulary. The family was able to identify between 10-15 different meow intonations so we knew exactly what he was saying or what he wanted. (He had one particular meow for wanting to share a cheese stick!) It was uncanny. I have not had another one like that.

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Sounds like you responded well to his training.

Dogs have masters, Cats have staff!

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😄😄

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I have been reading your comments faithfully for over a year now, daria. Another cat lover, it warms my heart to read this. (I often enjoy the tiny personal tidbits my favorite commenters post) I have had the pleasure of being allowed to live in "my" home with a dozen cats......no, not all at once, over the span of 40 years. I now serve 4 demanding middle aged felines, I have yet to find any who enjoy car rides.

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Miselle, thank you for your kind words. This is Isaac's 2nd pan American venture by car. He has a nice expandable soft crate which allows him movement While in the car. He particularly likes

hotels with balconies.

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We moved 6 cats from San Diego to Manchester, NH in a 7-day drive across the country. The first day they were quite until about hour 10 of the drive then meowing started. Each day after it started earlier. We would take them out of their crates one at a time and hold them and let them over around a little. There were always litter box stop though non would go. Each hotel room was cat proofed before we took them in including stuffing pillows in spaces so they couldn’t get under beds. By day 7 they were all screeching as soon as we got in the car. When we got to our final hotel 3 hours later one escaped into the hallway and ran down the halls like a wild thing set free. It was an experience I will never forget. Some of those cats lived on to move to Hawaii, Texas and back to California. They were big travelers.

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Won't happen. He has painted the picture of the perfect boogie man, runs an emotional campaign, and ascribes all 'your problems' to the other. No thinking is required, just channel the anger. Easy, peasy nothing is faster than stupid. https://media.awakeningtowholeness.net/stupidproof-your-future/

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Wow Charlie!

“No worldview explains everything, so humans prioritize the things that need explaining most urgently. God was the most urgent issue in an age of faith. Science and technology are the most urgent things in an age of materialism. When something new becomes more urgent, worldviews change.

We are caught at the cusp of a change in worldview. The reset is emerging.”

It’s been commented earlier threads that the “most important” thing to people now, people of the “Social Information Age” is social identity. Professing your tribe affiliation takes precedence over whether your tribe is right or wrong. Social death is more critical than one’s physical death.

I think this fact about “social identity” has devolved the worldview's of many.

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If I may. Pre-pubescent ego formation reaction. May explain why so many public officials behave as they were 12 years old.

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Staying in Comfort vs challenge acceptance. One is leadership, one is not.

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This is a fascinating thesis, Ted. Social media seeding a new era of tribalism, with -as you say - social media death being seen as psychologically equal to physical death, ie non-existence, the death of the ego. No wonder the lunatic right wing has such an exaggerated fixation on "cancel culture." "My tribe right or wrong" has replaced the conservative slogans of the Vietnam War era: "My country right or wrong" and "America, love it or leave it!" Evidently, from the 60's through the 90's, it was conservatives, most accustomed to identifying our country as their tribe and patriotism as the absolute membership requirement, who felt most increasingly disconnected and lost and deprived of their traditional ego-supporting identities and affiliations. They felt like it was "their" country/tribe and they thought _they_used to both control it and run it by _their_ norms and values. So all the positive social changes of the last 50 years feel to them like the rest of us "stole" their tribe. I think that's why Trump's fraudulent slogan "Stop the Steal" resonates so deeply with white conservatives. It's not just, or even mostly, the election that feels "stolen" to them. It's everything--their country, their tribe, their ability to fuse their identity with a country that looked like them--white, "Christian", socially conservative, patriarchal--and was run by their rules to benefit them and subordinate all others, keep them "in their place." No wonder "Stop the Steal!" lit them all on fire! Of course, Dumpster has no idea why it succeeds so brilliantly. But wow. If this thesis is accurate, where do qe liverals start, trying to create messaging and the believable, accessible _reality_ to go with it, to convince the less rabid of the MAGA crowd that they can have a place of pride and safety and security IN the new multicultural America where women, blacks, Jews, Muslims, and gays are all welcome members of the new tribe, deserving of the same rights and privileges as white, Christian, hetero men? ( Sorry I wrote such a long post. )

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typo should be "we liberals"... fat fingers on tiny phone keyboard

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I know Charlie. I was just trying to inject a speck of hope into a ghastly situation. 🙁

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Keep injecting Daria. We need it.

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🙏

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Thank you

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Daria, Sad to say, he is up for re-election in 2022, and the candidate pool running against him is so, what can I say, "uninspirational," that the Democratic Governors Association will probably not put any money in the Florida gubernatorial race. https://www.politico.com/states/florida/story/2021/11/04/no-million-dollar-checks-democratic-governors-may-sit-out-florida-1392319.

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Sammy, I have said previously, this will be the fatal flaw of the Democrats. We watched 4 years of Trump and did little to nothing to preen candidates for 2024. We had all of this time to be proactive, yet we are reactive to what will be a cataclysmic disaster in 2024.

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Linda, Florida Dems have had trouble fielding exciting candidates for quite awhile, although DeSantis' opponent in 2018 almost made it: Popular vote DeSantis 4,076,186 and Gillum 4,043,723. The party just isn't showing up. I'm hopeful that the Dem candidate for the Senate (Val Demings) will beat out Marco Rubio.

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Sammy, I still have my Gillum sign in our garage. (Got hell in my Trumie neighborhood for it!!) Too bad he has had personal troubles and is discredited--he had promise.

I am backing Demings and hope against hope she can pull it off but South Florida may be a big factor. I guess Gwen Graham will never run again!! Charlie Crist is a waffler and Nicki Fried has little chance, I believe, to get traction. She is trying to be "the anti-Ron voice" in the State but her voice gets lost. We are in the hands of a "smarter" Trump.

Wonder what Ron will do in our next major hurricane when he will also need Federal money....he was all smiles with Biden the last time we needed Federal help here in FL. His extreme anti- vaxx efforts could do him in.

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Yes, Florida has had a Democrat problem for quite some time. Unfortunately, that malaise isn't just that State.

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You are spot on.

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What will motivate the DGA? A wholesale attack by his private militia on Black people in a Democratic leaning town? It shouldn't come to that, but I wouldn't put it past him to do it!

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Candidates have to feel supported to choose to run against a nasty frightening machine like DeSantis. Where are the people who will support a candidate? Busy attacking their own and whining because those willing to step up are not good enough

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I think you just connected the dots with Rons paramilitary announcement. He is using it as both a dog whistle to summon his own Jan 6th ‘ers should he lose. And he will use this force to threaten and punish all opponents should he win.

This is some scary stuff.

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Imagine 200 heavily armed deputized thugs showing up at the county elections board to “assist” in the counting of ballots, at school board meetings about “curriculum”, or at the Public Health Department to “secure” your right to spread disease. The threat of Intimidation to obstruct takes things to a new level of low.

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Then the DGA better quit whining about their meager resources. What hogwash. And excuse me about the candidate pool. Both Nikki Fried and Charlie Crist are seasoned politicians.

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What does it take to have an inspirational candidate pool? Why don’t they find that person and promote them heavily. Create messages that will appeal to the voters.

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Nikki Fried has a future. Ron does not.

https://www.fdacs.gov/About-Us/Meet-Commissioner-Fried

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Good candidate…young and has a proven track record. She’s got to be forceful and forthright when it comes to dealing with DeSantis. Ron is loud without using a bullhorn and all he lacks is a Hitler salute.

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God bless Nikki Fried and keep her safe. We need her to win Florida.

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By and large, they are too dumb. And the Democrats' expertise is in forming circular firing squads.

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Agree

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"Is there a point at which my Republican neighbors and legislators will say "Enough already?""

Umm. No. There is not.

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More. They ALWAYS want more.

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Greed is a disease

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To be found under addiction most likely in the DSM

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I’ve already talked with some serious political strategists this morning who work mainly at local and state election levels. Consensus is that DeSantis has made a serious mistake with his militia announcement.

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One can only hope.

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Hammer him. He’s gone full fascist.

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Boy, I hope you’re right about that!

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DeathSantis wants to be a Putin and looks like he wants to kill off as many people as he can via COVID (as a means of not taking responsibility for the deaths). What will help him to do that is that over 30% of Floridians are over 60 and we already know that being elderly is a risk factor for COVID death.

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Maybe his "plan"to kill off as many people as possible will backfire when 99% of those dead are voting rethuglicans.

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Their plan is keep the crisis going. Then disqualify the mail in ballots.

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Well, maybe were are at the point of observing the self limiting nature of the Republican approach.

Vote Republican, then, vanish from the planet.

:-)

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I wrote my state representatives this morning, asking what POSSIBLE reason desantis put forth when he floated the idea he needed his private gestapo. desantis wants millions of tax dollars for his own private militia? Say WHAT? And please, tell him NO.

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I'm curious to know how Florida went from a "red" Covid state to a decline of cases while advocating no vaccines or masks. Do you know?

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My theory? False reporting of numbers.

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Mine as well.

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Yes, Ron supports nasty fairy-tales so he doesn’t allow the big numbers to be broadcasted. Blind and deaf Floridians simply are not “in the know”.

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It probably helps that it’s fall. In Florida that means you can turn off the AC and open the windows, and it’s pleasant weather to socialize outside.

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The Republican Party has had no official policies for years. For the first time in my memory

The ‘Republican Party’ (which was the Trump party by time time of the 2020 nominating convention,) ‘chose’ not to include a policy platform in its formal proceedings. Instead, they acquiesced to Trump’s ‘policy by tweets.’ Nothing on our traditional alliances including NATO, nothing on our traditional alliances, including NATO, nothing on the Middle East, including the 6-nation nuclear agreement with Iran, nothing on economic, social, and infrastructure. NOTHING!

This remains the ‘Republican’ non-policy today and through the 2024 ‘Republican’ presidential convention. They haven’t a clue what they stand for as they await for Trumpimania to play out. Instead, they are intent on fear mongering and opposition to whatever the Democrats do. While President Biden and his professional team iare building an impressive portfolio of success domestically and globally, the ‘Republicans’ are a party of NYET. I believe that this makes them vulnerable in the 2022 elections and during their subsequent ‘stand for nothing’ mishmash.

When Eastman, Clark, and others plead the Fifth Amendment before a congressional committee, they exercise their constitutional right not to engage in self-incrimination. However, if they are granted partial or total immunity, they can then be obliged to testify fully or face criminal charges. Back during Watergate, when Jim McCord, John Dean, and Jed McGruder sought a deal with the prosecutors, the White House wall of take-no-prisoners resistance swiftly crumbled. In the grand jury investigations in New York, there is a possibility of the same occurring. I would not be surprised to see a save-my-own-skin decision by one or more of the Trumpites subpoenaed by congressional committees.

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My apologies for repeating a clause in my commentary. Especially when a person writes with ‘hot blood,’ he/she should seek a more dispassionate individual to proofread the rough draft. Oh well, once again READY, FIRE, AIM.

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SUBSTACK NEEDS AN EDIT FUNCTION!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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AND A BOOKMARK / SEARCH FUNCTION!!!!!!!

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I like your subtlety, TC.

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Every time they ask those of us who have blogs here what we need, I always send that message, just like that, but they never seem to hear the screaming. :-)

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Medicare may pay for hearing aids.

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I actually Laughed Out Loud

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I'm waiting for that miracle

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You don’t have to apologize to me, I saw one minor typo (iare), it happens to me often, and I don’t write nearly as well as you do, I look forward to hearing what you have to say. Being impassioned is what our group is all about, if we weren’t, we wouldn’t take the time to express ourselves 👍🙏😎

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Absolutely, we all make mistakes. I wish there was an edit function. One time I had so many errors I copied the comment, deleted it, edited the text on my phone, and reposted it!

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"the ‘Republicans’ are a party of NYET. I believe that this makes them vulnerable in the 2022 elections and during their subsequent ‘stand for nothing’ mishmash"

Yeah, but . . . the metamorphosis from McConnell's party of no to Trump's party of nihilism doesn't seem to have hurt the GOP. Their message resonates and their voter suppression is almost insurmountable.

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It’s ALMOST funny that Moscow Mitch now has to eat the Schitt that chump spews non stop. The downside to creating a monster…

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