749 Comments

Exactly, and the response from key Republican figures in next 24 hours will reflect whether we have embarked upon our Second Civil War, or whether a young democracy dedicated to the proposition (however imperfectly executed) that all are created equal can survive the recent treason and tumult.

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Thank you for your reply. We need a psych intervention for the entire party in my opinion.

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As a psychologist I am in wistful agreement with you..and am pretty sure that none of these characters would EVER be open to self-reflection at any useful level. Like nasty 12-year-olds screaming profanity at their parents while ransacking and pillaging their own house...unlikely candidates. Nice thought though!!!

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They are too embedded in their power to consider self appraisal or reflection. Fundraising subjugates all ethics and morality. Citizens United allows for zero accountability, but they know where their funding is coming from: Saud. Putin. Demagoguery has replaced leadership. sustaining Democracy is no longer requisite for GOP Senators and Congressman. This should have every voter on there toes for the next two decades, or longer.

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All Americans should unite to overhaul the GOP. It has more than just the seeds that are willing to undue the American Democracy it is filled with vocal and silent condoners of autocracy.

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Citizens United must go. I think 2010 or so shares some things in common that a lot of voters don’t know or don’t care. Did the Supreme Court consider foreign donations with the Citizens United ruling? 2010 was about the time that Russia had paid down their foreign loans. Putin had gotten rid of elected governors, maneuvered control from parliament, and gained 100% control of Russian Oligarchs. This cleared the way to start laundering money stolen out of Russian industries and gov budgets. To launder money at this scale and globally, political payoffs need to precede the laundering ( think mob boss). In an indirect way, Citizens United made corrupt political bribes legal. This corruption is aligned with the oil industry lobby goals and aspirations. This corruption is aligned with the Federalist Society’s goals and aspirations. This corruption is aligned with the goals and aspirations of white evangelical and white national/white supremacy. Citizens United offers camouflage to oligarchy AND foreign non democratic influence at the highest to lowest levels of our Government. Everyone gladly takes the money but no one wants to admit where this boost of election funding comes from, but it is clear it is not coming from the constituency.

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Harvey: Not overhaul. To quote Grover Norquist (again): “I don’t want to abolish government. I simply want to reduce it to the size where I can drag it into the bathroom and drown it in the bathtub.” Now substitute 'the GOP' for 'government' and 'it'.

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J., the goal of all fascist movement is to destroy democracy. But they use democracy to get to that point where they can destroy it, and install themselves as the unaccountable ruling elite of the nation.

I think the four faces of fascism are:

1. a demagogic leader who gives his discontented followers a scapegoat, some to hate

2. a politics of resentment that stirs up people's dissatisfaction and frustration and anger

3. hyper-nationalism that lays the groundwork for Us versus Them, Patriots versus Traitors

4. attacks on democratic institutions (the press, the judiciary, the electoral process itself)

And we're seeing all four faces of neo-fascism (the old poison in new bottles) playing out before our eyes.

Timothy Snyder (in On Tyranny) said that "any election can be the last." Hopefully, with the failure of the RedWave, we've passed that point of no return. But the danger is still out there and complacency could be fatal. Thanks for continuing to fight.

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The trouble is there are so many Americans identifying with the big lies. Even if we could somehow abolish the "GOP", lies and liars are wired into human nature, which is not to say we can't do a much better job of keeping them at bay.

Compared to Trump, Nixon looks "presidential", especially on the key issue of environment, but he also very substantially abused his powers, and that need to be a deal breaker. Republicans of the day were willing to support his removal. Republicans of late strut their undemocratic powers, and did not even go through the motions of due process. Over the years we have become way too tolerant of abuses of political power, AKA "corruption", which are legion. We have to find a way to collectively agree on raising the bar, or it will just be the same script with different players. Democrats collaborated with corrupt plutocrats and ultra-racists long ago, but walked away from some of the worst elements of our party to significant degrees in the intervening years, while Republicans embraced and encouraged them, in exchange for coercive power to the point of eroding democracy and the Constitution. Stop, hey whats that sound?

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ted, the damage that Trump and his crew have done will takes years (and like you say, maybe decades) to repair, but I believe (I hope!!!) that the current tide is turning.

There were enough Republicans who were fed up with MAGA-madness to stop the mid-terms Red Wave (and hopefully we'll see the same result in Georgia) but the battle is far from over. It's not just about Trump or his enablers and successors. MAGA is founded on that "base" of discontented, resentful, angry, poorly educated, and potentially violent Americans who easily fall for the promises of the demagogues who blame others (the Jews, Muslims, Mexicans, globalists, liberals, intellectuals, elites, socialists, communists, you name it). That's what fascism is all about - (I call it neo-fascism, the old poison in new red-white-and-blue bottles) - stirring up anger and hatred, giving discontented people someone to blame for their unsuccessful lives, rallying around the Great White Savior, getting the bad guys! Now apparently all their problems are Hunter Biden's fault. And if this mob can chant Hang Mike Pence, image what they could do to Hunter Biden.

We have to call it out for what it is - the former Republican Party has been hi-jacked by neo-fascists, and might as well put a swastika on the flag.

But this is not the first iteration of this ugly side of American politics: today I posted a short (free) review of a book by Richard Hofstadter called "The Paranoid Style of American Politics" that traces this recurring phenomenon back through American social and political history, and especially explains the mind-set of Trump's "base." And it was written 60 years ago!

https://neofascism.substack.com/p/the-paranoid-style-in-american-politics

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Luv Hofstadter!!!

Another contemporary good one is Behold America by Sarah Churchwell. She gives a history of fascism in America. One detail is a KKK rally in 1920’s NYC. Attending the event was Fred Trump.

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At least after 20 years (or significantly less, given his eating habits), TFG will be dead...God help us if a Republican w/more intellectual skills and a similar morality were to run and win.

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Like that death star from Florida!?

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Angels and Demons. It's a substitute religion for Democrats.

You guys are running out of geniuses to excommunicate from the hallowed "high" ground. More gummies needed in pew 13.

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This crazy-ness will continue after TFG’s death. He will become like a martyr to the radicalized.

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For Trump, it is the logical conclusion for a person utterly unable to see beyond himself. The idea of a greater good, or of truth that is other than what will benefit him is foreign to him—completely. His acolytes in the Republican Party have no such excuse of a psychological disability. For them it is simply a calculation of what is most likely to get or maintain power. In that sense, they are even worse than Trump.

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Even more dangerous than Trump himself is "movement conservatism", which is unconnected to reality, more and more as time moves on. It is no longer a mystery to me that Republicans latched on to Trump. He is seen as a perfect trojan horse to break through the logjam and put in place a government dreamed of by movement conservatives, where unfettered free market capitalism, and enforced Christianity (at least their version of it) reigns supreme. The fatal flaw is Trump's miserable personal and moral failings. He may very well go down, and I sure hope he does. But man o man - watch out if a more astute version of Trump becomes more prominent (like a DeSantis) - we have so much to fear if that happens.

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I suggest that the real weakness of movement conservatism is, well, movement conservatism. What does it have to offer? As Heather points out several times a week, it is anti-democratic (as well as anti-Democratic), the heir of Southern reaction and gilded-age robber baron "capitalism." Trump had a low cunning that obscured some of the anti-social aspects of the movement with outrageous bombast, but I believe (devoutly hope) he has outlasted his15 minutes. Beyond him is a "movement" that has about as much relevance as the Whigs in 1856.

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And let us not forget that Liz Cheney, for all she has done a great job on the Jan 6th investigation, is part of movement conservatism.

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They are kowtowing to a disturbed 8 year old having a temper tantrum.

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A 3 yo.

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I thought I might be stretching it!

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In a way, Trump reminds me of Elvis, the "Memphis Mafia," and the doctors and other hangers-on who were willing to aid and abet a sick man with a drug addiction to the point where they were accessories in Elvis' death. These people are on the Trump gravy train because they are well rewarded for it, by a narcissist who has believed all his life that he can do as he pleases, but cannot tolerate being a loser. Watch for Trump's bizarre behavior to increase sharply in the coming months.

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Also those who hovered around Michael Jackson. Failure can be the greatest teacher, and tfg can't make use of this failure to learn. Instead he tantrums against it. It would just be pathetic if if weren't so dangerous.

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One does have to admit or at least recognize that they have or may have a problem Kat, do they not ?

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yes indeedy. unlikely candidates for...well, can you picture Stephen Miller presenting himself to the nice lady to talk about his "issues"? How about Bannon? Roger Stone? I'm cracking myself up here.

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Trump: "Dr., I think I may have rejection issues." Dr.: "Do you think it has anything to do about the election you lost?" Trump: "Dr., please, you know I won that one!"

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Hi Kathryn, I wrote an article called "Triumvirate of Evil: Bannon, Giuliani, & Stone" - the title is a little over the top (I'm always uncomfortable with the word "evil" but I think these three men in particular are in fact "agents of chaos" in the American political arena.

One of Bannon's favorite tactics is to "flood the zone with shit." It's all adolescent social vandalism to me, but there's obviously a market for what he is saying and doing, so we can't dismiss these men or their "movement."

Even when Trump leaves the scene, his successor and followers and enablers will be with us for a long time, and we can't take them for granted.

https://neofascism.substack.com/p/triumvirate-of-evil-bannon-giuliani

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If we look back at any of our political past we will see those names: Stone, Bannon, Flynn, Giuliani.. they have been all over the world stirring the witches’ brew for many years. Let’s reel them in and send them to a Fascists pool party....

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Yep. And if they can't manage that, they'll never be able to undertake a fearless moral inventory, and forget about making amends for all the harm they've done.

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those things were never part of their equation...LOL!

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The whole world could benefit from the 12 Steps, Suz-an. If Trump tried doing a moral inventory, he'd find that his locker is empty.

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You speak my language. I have been writing of late on the concepts from one 12-step program. Steps. Traditions. Concepts. The grounding in democracy of 12-step orgs could well be a model. I love it and am so grateful to have been steeped in how an org works that will listen to all, and work together for the greater good.

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How many times have I wished more people had a 12-step tool kit? Hold themselves accountable? Do an inventory? Make amends?

Then I wake up and remember these are wealthy, white, largely male Republicans I’m talking about.

Hope its jail time for TFG but I won’t hold my breath. Just stay active in defense of democracy. That, at least, is well within my wheelhouse.

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OMG, me too. And some organizations could save themselves a lot of grief if they paid attention to at least some of the 12 traditions. Not all of them apply 100%, but there's plenty of wisdom there for the taking.

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Agreed about the inability of the Republican party leadership to embrace self reflection. There is much that is evil-middle-schooler-like about the Republican party leadership. Poorly socialized people who have not yet learned the Kindergarten lessons to share, take turns, not cut in front of people in line, be a good sport, etc... Social skills of resolving issues and getting along with others were not learned. I assume they come from authoritarian homes that made them miserable and yet, they want things to be just like that for others. A rite of passage as in my misery justifies making everyone else's life miserable too. Such an immature perspective totally lacking in empathy. The one thing that they seem to have gotten from their upbringings is their false sense of superiority. Trump is the king of this mindset.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/decades-later-disagreement-over-young-trumps-military-academy-post/2016/01/09/907a67b2-b3e0-11e5-a842-0feb51d1d124_story.html

https://millercenter.org/president/trump/life-presidency

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The Republicans are providing the postscript to When Prophesy Fails.

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Thanks, John

I had never heard of "When Prophecy Fails" but I'll follow up because its focus (on the fantastical beliefs of a cult) seems relevant today; millions of Americans actually believe the lies and fantasies pouring out of Trump and his apologists.

I definitely think some reading on cults is in order.

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When 30% of the electorate prefers acting out you’ve just got to wonder.

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I’m not a psychologist, but I believe Trump’s a pathological lying psychopath with narcissistic personality disorder. He’s a very sick man.

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Even Psychologists are required to be evaluated by their peers. Are you up to date?

You are projecting.

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Troll alert.

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Nancy, I know GandalfGrey and he is not a troll.

He has always engaged in civil discourse with me on various discussion boards, even though we disagree on issues.

I think he sometimes writes in a provocative manner, but sometimes these newsletters can become echo chambers that preclude our own critical thinking, and it is the dissonant voice that makes us stop and re-evaluate and defend or adjust our positions.

I think you will find many other comments from GG (here and elsewhere) that demonstrate his intention to engage in civil discourse.

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LFAA is not an echo chamber; take a look at any fed or state jury instruction on deductive reasoning; dig a little deeper to solve serious matters ....

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Then perhaps it should be considered that someone labeling him a troll is writing in a provocative manner as well.

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What do you think this person is projecting?

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Good question

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I have just added this to what I usually say about them: the party of death AND treason. We must give our all against this and protect our democracy. Earth shattering indeed.

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They are the party of malignant narcissism, as every predatory, self-absorbed, authoritarian regime and movement is. They will sacrifice anything, decency, nature, the fate of our nation, and of our species, for money and other varieties of domineering power. It resembles the classic "devil's bargain", but it's ego displacing every other concern.

We see it in Putin, we see it in Trump, and we have seen it spread though whole societies in the past, with monstrous results. Resistance is not futile.

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Resistance is necessary

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I agree. Now, let's get specific. What exactly does "giving our all" look like?

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If not in a position to run for office (just about any) on your own, one can register voters, participate in postcard mailings and phone banks, do "retail politics" such as going door to door--and enjoy occasionally getting spat upon--and putting up yard signs that may make you unpopular with the neighbors. Asking elderly neighbors if they need a ride to the polls or a ride to drop their ballot into the drop box. Go to senior homes and ask who would like help having someone read their ballot to them. Host a candidate in your home (if local). Join the local political party and participate. Send money--even if only $1. Put your support into actions.

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Beautifully said, Citizen60.

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Excellent question BJ.

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White crosses in perfect alignment

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If he were a homeless New Yorker, this outburst would trigger Mayor Eric Adams having him hospitalized and getting him the treatment he needs. Unfortunately we must endure a Jim Carey worthy satire of delusional incompetence making its way to the highest levels of power, draining government and media resources, turning us all into squabbling...oh, you fill in the blank.

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I have just purchased the book “How to Stand Up To A Dictator “, Maria Ressa

Again we are being offered a “wake- up call” similar to the Al Gores ‘about the environment.

Are we interested in planning ahead?????

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Jean(Muriel) I think it was you who suggested Ruth BenGhiat's "Strongman" which I am reading now, and learning a lot from. I even plan to write a Book Review of it for my newsletter.

Then I'll have a look at this recommendation. Thanks

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And what can be said about the millions of voters who support this NEOGOP?

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This neo-fascist aspect of the GOP is not new; it has raised its venomous head periodically throughout American social and political history.

Richard Hofstadter's "The Paranoid Style in American Politics" traces its history and especially characterizes these millions of voters who so easily fall under the trance of "neo-fascism and frustrated nationalism." Madeleine Albright wrote (in Fascism: A Warning) that “fascism has always been a latent force in American politics” and we are seeing its resurgence once again in the era of Trump.

For anyone who is interested, my (free) substack newsletter includes five reviews of books that attempt to answer your question: "what can be said about the millions of voters who support this NEOGOP?"

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YES! will check it out

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Thank you.

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NEOGOP. Like that. Has a ring!

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I recommend the hooskow

Psychotherapy is for those who want to learn about themselves...

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You made me laugh, Joan...I love your spelling of “hooskow”...I would have written “hoosgow”. Love it.

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Republicans leaders don't want a civil war. Nor do their big business paymasters — civil war has a way of hurting profits. Watch for a lot of vague, softball criticism of Trump, whose implosion signals the acceleration of his demise and the GOP's embrace of DeSantis.

Will Trump's unhinged comments provoke violence from the MAGA cult? Perhaps. But the hundreds of prison sentences for Jan. 6 insurrections stand as a stark deterrent. Is there some well-planned and financed violent coup attempt about to be unleashed? Almost certainly not. The cult and its enablers are woefully inept.

Trump is a dead man walking — no, make that waddling — his way to financial ruin, criminal convictions, and a place of infamy.

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Agree. The actions on trump were set in motion before he came down that ridiculous escalator in NYC. his very smallness and laughably boring performance as a businessman and then a “politician” after finding some traction with his one line act “ you’re fired” created awareness of our own failures... perhaps the only positive element in his entire story. trump is a walking cadaver now... not just a failed person. We who think we know better can take some solace in knowing that our center held strongly against his idiotic fantastical play to overturn an election like some bill that he simply doesn’t want to pay. But, what do we learn? How can we be better people? How can we avoid a situation like this the next time? Humility, honesty, civility, compassion and plain old hard work that begins with trying to just be better people... to our families, neighbors, friends and in communities. It becomes easier to live with people with whom we disagree on most everything by simply realizing that there are many more among us who share the same values we hold dear and are not apt to forget them provided we all don’t either.

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We also need to support policies that address those disaffected Americans who have embraced fascism. It seems there are a lot of men who're struggling with the economic and cultural changes that have left them feeling irrelevant and impotent. It's their anger and their enablers that still believe they have a right to engage in violence out of perhaps sheer frustration over the loss of status, as men, as workers, as breadwinners.

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Well said, J.Nol.

I think we cannot focus on Trump alone; there underlying reasons for millions of "disaffected Americans who have embraced fascism" and just being rid of Trump will not erase their discontent, resentment and anger. Their "sheer frustration" brought them to Trump, and will remain after he's gone.

This is also not new; there's long history in American politics and social life of this same phenomenon.

Today I published an article (a Book Review of Richard Hofstadter's "The Paranoid Style of American Politics") which characterizes these very "disaffected Americans" that you so ably described. They are not to be taken for granted.

https://neofascism.substack.com/p/the-paranoid-style-in-american-politics

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Another contributing factor is many people never learning how to think and to become at all self-aware. Instead they blame outside entities and "those people" for their unhappiness. They are inflexible and have little ability to adapt to changing trends and are very susceptible to nefarious leaders who will use them for their own self-aggrandizement and enrichment.

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Thank you for the link.

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I think you are right, J Nol. Still, there are plenty of good men, especially millennials and now Get Z who don't need any pretense or mythology to elevate themselves to manhood. As a woman, when I see the unattractiveness of Trump, Bannon, and other characters in this charade I think yucks, just what/who are you superior to?

I get the unemployment part, but the rest is delusional. I refuse to humor them.

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I hope you're correct about those next generations, both the men and the women. The insurrectionists seemed to be made up of people from all walks of life, and a range of ages. Many, though were those who seemed to be invested in returning to some previous and largely mythical past, where men were allowed a privilege because they were men and women agreed with that premise.

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And will the legislation the J6 committee recommends as a result of its investigation get passed?

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I am cynical. Any legislation passed will be at the expense of norms and conventions and ethics being replaced by strong rules (laws) that protect by the tightening of the application ... to the other party, when it is in power. Criminalize political activism. Prevent the good exceptions in the interest of conformity and the appearance of fairness with checklists and word checks. Laws to prevent mistakes that nullify leadership.

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Given the current makeup of the GOP, they will NOT get passed, given the filibuster requirements.

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KD, I think many of us, I am 73, have spent lifetimes doing all the things you think we need to do more of...and perhaps you are right - more is needed. Young people came out in record numbers to vote against “his idiotic fantastical play to overturn an election like some bill that he simply doesn’t want pay.” Beautifully said. Those young voters are our present and our future. We must support them running and changing what we have woefully mismanaged. That’s how we can avoid a situation like this the next time! AND, we will.

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Michael, Trump may be on his way out, but this MAGA-mentality has taken root and Trump's successor by necessity will harness Trump's "base." I think in this highly polarized atmosphere and with arrow election margins, no Republican can win without Trump's base, so his successor may even be more-Trumpian than the Orange Guy From Florida.

And while cults are ultimately self-defeating, they can sure do a lot of damage before the spell is broken. I think it will take a massive Blue tsunami in 2024 to once and for all wash this MAGA-madness out of the system. And even then, its remnants will be a dangerous pool of anger and resentment.

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I think that pinning this neo-facism to just the MAGAs is like a quick escape clause: this particular mind-set goes back ages. It lived in Britain before it moved to the American east coast. It crawled in with Columbus and multiplied with Cortez from the southwest. It marched with Rome and sailed with the Vikings. No doubt it visited Nebuchadnezzar and SETi. Civilized behavior requires cooperation. Murder requires the murderer to convince themselves that what they are murdering is not really human. That does not let MAGAs escape, just puts them in a long line of others all over the world. The problem now is: how can we put the genie back in the bottle. How can we agree to become a cohesive, productive society again?

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Patricia you have brought back the element of fear I think lodged in our DNA. Fear, while instantly raising adrenaline to escape also evokes a paralysis which renders us unable to see or even to move out of harm’s way. A week into the war we were engulfed in an artillery barrage that threw great fountains of earth leaving gaping 12 foot holes around and amongst us. I could feel the earth shudder and the debris rain down but my vision cut out and a black silence void of any sensation overtook me. Time stood still. Finally an overwhelming guilt broke into the void and events began to emerge again. A sense of loathing eroded the fear finally and I became a soldier then. Strangely what occurred to me was Poe’s description of a drowning sailor caught in a whirlpool grasping a trunk and by reason hanging on for dear life while the buoyancy raised him out of the swirling madness. That was my redirect which dispelled fear and made me able to face the 360 days that were to come. Fear drives us now too. We need in some way to redirect, to overcome our fears that drive away reason and leave us vulnerable. We must take fear out of the human equation in order to see the way clearly. A soldier unafraid makes better calls, as will a populace divided.

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I couldn’t agree with you more! THANK YOU!

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Now that's a Happy Thought!

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If it quacks like a vainglorious tyrant, well....

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I agree that Repub leaders don't want a civil war because it is bad for business, but I am concerned about people like Steve Bannon and Roger Stone. They seem able to rouse mobs to action. The convictions of Oath Keeper leaders will, I think, be some deterrent, but how much, I am uncertain.

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When does the rally become a mob, become violence, move with its own fever and momentum? The uncontrolled can become their unintended consequence. Imagine, on a larger, media induced scale, J6 playing out under Friday night lights.

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Fred, I think America (and other nations) are moving down that old fascist road again, and the battle between hard right and hard left will leave the majority of "normal" centrist citizens (who just want a peaceful world for their families to live and find happiness in) neglected while wanna-be dictators fight for power.

It all reminds me of W.B.Yeats's poem "The Second Coming"

"Things fall apart / the centre cannot hold / The best lack all conviction, while the worst / Are full of passionate intensity."

Despairing thoughts for a Sunday morning, but these are trying times and we have to use our pens/keyboards to fight Yeats's "blood-dimmed tide" or, in your words, "J6 playing out under Friday night lights"

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That Soccer is the most popular world sport may say something about this. The energy pent up, the feeling of the crowd, the expected rush or punch or ,kick and the crowds that are prepared to follow the challenge into mayhem, instead of tennis or golf or baseball.

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Others have also said that physical sports are a kind of substitute for violence, a controlled catharsis for releasing the pent-up energy, even a tribal thing - and like you say, you can see it in the fans dressing in team colors and off the field competing fans engage in violent confrontations. Maybe humans need that outlet, or maybe "some" humans need it.

Myself, I prefer chess: total war, but without an ounce of blood spilled or a bone broken.

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My dream

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I wish it with all my heart. The real one.

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Michael, “Dead man waddling” is just perfect! May he be ruined completely after what he has ruined for 330 million of us. Thank you.

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“That is the story, and it is earth shattering.”

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That is a chilling final sentence to the letter today.

Everyone has grown weary and somewhat complacent of the still nagging relevance of Trump. Here is the result. One post and a viral uproar.

It’s a clarion call for action, not reaction. What do you think is the best course ahead Rowshan?

🗽

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What amazes me (among other things) is that it takes more than 24 hours for key Republicans to polish up their collective, carefully worded, milquetoast response.

P.S. I'm amazed that I'm amazed.

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Be in firm faith that Democracy will survive. And thrive.

However. Trump is setting the table again for violence and upheaval.

I expect his party to start complaining and whining soon that it’s time for someone to get him out of their faces. Doesn’t seem to occur to them that their malaise and corruption have fueled his mania.

Professor Richardson’s concluding sentence in today’s letter is what concerns me. Dire straits. I hear a faint bugle in the distance. Seems to get louder. Muster the troops.

Salud, Laura.

🗽

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The treason and sedition that you point out should not go unpunished.

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The Republican answer is silence. Denial that he has power. My Reds tell me they are simply "so past him" and, of course, could never support him. Thereby declining any responsibility for what he might have done to offend us, theliberals. To wit, there is nothing to be gained by relitigating, as though his playing hard politics (and skirting the edge of norms or laws) is past. "Not our problem," we are awaiting a better candidate to coalesce around, one without too much baggage to do what Trump was able to do, without as much noise: Stop the tax and spend Democrats who are giving America away to the other, immigrants and those who will take away our prerogatives, our rights as Whites. The greater enemy is us. Everthying will calm down once the investigations stop and that civil disturbance is stopped talking about. Besides it did less damage that the riots in Minneapolis. Shesh. I'm reading Borowitz Profiles in Ignorance. He thinks we (they) are at stage three: Celebration. Of the dumbing of our leaders. (His two prior stages are Ridicule, begun with Reagan, and Acceptance, the Bush with a W.)

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I grew up (arguable) in suburban Minneapolis. Now I live in a 'burb. George Floyd's murder had powerful national (and arguably international) impact. Four cops, one set of (irony alert) bent knees. Though George Floyd's murder has gone comparatively back-burner here (and elsewhere), it did result in a mini tectonic shift. A laser-lock on racism and violence, and a public look at horrific policing. The Twin Cities (especially Minneapolis) are still wrestling with the impact of that on their police force make-up, rules and regs, and attitudes.

So, what's my point here? Damned if I know. Probably that regardless of explosive events, public collective memory dims. Shifting this to 01/06, that's what the wretched, radical right counts on. And we've been on intense overload for so long a time, we seem to have lost our will to Fight Back Hard (FBH). Due in part to our failure as individuals and collectives to define exactly what FBH means. What are its component parts?

I can vent and speechify here or on Facebook (I don't Tweet) all day, every day. But what does that accomplish? Really, what? Riddle me that, choir members! What exactly are we called to do?

Earlier this morning, I posted the oaths of office for U.S. Senate and House, and also the two (2) oaths required of Supreme Court newbies. So, that was good for about 30 seconds of individual impact.

All y'all are very smart, knowledgeable, savvy, informed, articulate, etc. And so I ask again: What exactly are we called to do.

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BJ, the answer to your question is the one I am confronted with from the someone who beats me to the bathroom every morning. He get there before me, waiting to pounce while I search the meds that keeps him speaking to me. Handsome fellow, for his age and decrepitude. If I was in the shape he is, I'd not pride myself on getting there first. I think the speaking and listening as we do here and on Facebook (the other guy is there as well) is important. You never know who is listening. When I'm not being silly or offering kindness to someone I might no even know, I'm doing more of what I should have done years ago, when I mistook comity for conscience and politely held my tongue in the interest of good conversation and acceptance. I found this to be common to my ilk. We didn't get in the other person's face, raise our voice, or challenge the beliefs (as opposed to knowledge or learning or experience) of our opinionated friends and relatives. I (we) didn't bring up politics or lobby for our interests except through the usual means; write our congressmen, write letters to the editor, and work really hard to make a difference through the work I signed on to do, hoping my example and the success we came up with in policy and practice would be sufficiently convincing. There even was a time when I thought it gouch to lobby Congress for more funding for our research or to brag about what we discovered. When I retired, I found that none of my Red friends or family actually knew what I did our what our work was. I was that liberal, didn't go to church, and was on staff at a University and did my own remodeling. In this analogy, we in our silence assume the goodness of our goals and the successes of our funded platforms and programs will tell our story, convince the skeptical, change minds, entice the oppositions and ignorant into our tent. So, every morning I now get up and find someone to tell what I understand and am thinking or care about. Sometimes, it's in a personal observation to folks I know think like me and sometimes it's to strangers like you are to me to tell that story, give the encouragement, not because I am all that smart, but because I am voracious in my watching and listening and so old that my reflection is decrepid and I get to take a dozen meds while he watches. Sometimes, one or two of the people I differ with ask or note and then post. One of the most powerful experiences I had that would shape my writing-in-my-voice was visiting the Hollocaust Museum in DC and seeing and listening to the voices of survivors who by the telling keep freedom alive and tyranny at bay because they are constant in their being heard. Doing the hard work, I am becoming convinced even as my verbal skills decline, requires of us to be vocal, even in polite company. To lead the conversation rather than counter slogans and the tripe that comes from the inhinged right. LFAA feeds us and we get to shape and form and practice sharing our commendable thoughts. Nourish the mind and speak from the heart among and away from these sojourners. So, today, I picked on you BJ. Don't know who the other guy will talk to tomorrow. Maybe there are two of us engaged in these conversations.

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Absolutely inspiring Fred. It was a good question. It was a terrific answer. So glad one of us got out of bed this morn. No worries until that other fellow winks at you.

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BJ, Hold the center....or “Things Fall Apart”. We do not want that. Fasten your allegorical seatbelt.

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Say more, please. I'm not yet fully caffeinated...

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The next 24 hours won't be about Trump and Democrats will not like it.

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That's an interesting comment, considering the current Letter is all about Trump. What do you think will happen in the next 24 hours, and why won't Democrats like it? Perhaps you're refering to the teaser posted elsewhere by Mr. Taibbi?

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This won’t open. Now I’m really curious.

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It's so funny to see the reaction in the comments here. Folks are aroused, and their arousal leads them to go back to the the same habit that created this mess. Eviscerate Trump. They cannot process what is happening here. It's like a reflex reaction.

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True, there's a lot of "harmony" here, which can both soothe and blind. It's a bit irritating that no one has responded to my other comment, the one about the Musk/Taibbi "revelation."

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This will be very interesting. I'm a big fan of Musk's rocket program, but this stuff is over the top....in a good way.

It boils down to this. If you cannot get the DOJ to investigate the evidence, buy the evidence and lay it out publicly. It's pretty amazing. I never would have thought of this, and of course don't have the resources anyway. No way they can claim the info was hacked or stolen. He just bought it.

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The teaser already reported months before?. Put Hunter behind us. Investigate him, try him, get it out of the way; its just a distraction

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You're getting warmer, but not quite there yet.

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You never disappoint, always on the wrong side of history

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If the next 24 years were not about trump, I’m thinking Democrats would be fine with that

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Oh, come on, GiGi (or whatever your name is). You can do better than that. Don’t be a little tease.

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Trembling on the brink, like Gigi in the song.

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Shushie, wannabe.

🗽

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Therein lies a big difference between Republicans and Democrats. Republicans don't rely upon Politicians to speak for them. Republicans today are speaking for themselves. A free market capitalist is taking action within the free market system. The Media and Government would not investigate the evidence so Musk purchased the evidence. The evidence speaks for itself.

It's up to Democrats to speak up. Will they allow their leadership and media to speak for them or will they speak up in forums like this and seriously address the issue? So far in these threads I still see only denial and projection.

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If I speak, will anyone nationally hear me? Nope, they won’t

Leaders speak, or they don’t

If a leader proposes ideas that resonate, the population will align

If leaders (trump) create insurrection and you remain silent, you have spoken, right?

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A good leader listens and responds to the people, not the other way around. Trump knew what the people wanted and he got it done, as much as possible against the crooked media headwind.

Yes, I have spoken a great deal about the tambourine insurrection. It's the worst instrument ever invented, next to the cowbell. I've also addressed the Kavanaugh insurrection, sponsored by Democrat congressmen and interrupting the business of government for a week.

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That's darn good Pat.

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Said the GOP: [crickets]

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I do not mis-understand you, my comment had nothing to do with whatever color you might be, but with the thinking and language that expands and justifies separate and not equal thinking -- no matter who says what about who. But -- thank you for clarifying your individual perspective.

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Do you really think there will be a reaction? That would indeed by earth shattering!

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I'm more interested in the Democrat reaction. Republicans don't rely on politicians to speak for them. We speak for ourselves.

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You’re serious about that statement? Hmmm

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Troll alert. Ignore it. All a troll wants is a response, any response.

Don’t feed a troll, if you do it’ll get excited and keep posting so it can suck more in to respond to its posts. It’s a never ending cycle.

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Most of the posts here are just people patting one another on the back and trying to outdo each other's fiction writing skills. It's not terribly stimulating.

If attempts to open stimulating conversations is trolling, then I happily accept the assertion. What is the point of having a dialogue if there is full agreement? The purpose of debate is to settle contentious issues.

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It always causes me to wonder who pays their subscription fees

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I only have a month subscription and it's about to run out.

There are plenty of other echo chambers out there in need of a stimulus package. If you want me to stay longer, donate another month for me.

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LOL

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Such a perfect example of alternate realities.

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There is only one base reality. There are a number of opinions about its nature. You may be only interested in your opinion, but the more points of reference one uses, the clearer the picture becomes.

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Fixed. Thank you for reading.

Any comment on the assertion?

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Dec 4, 2022
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Thankful for that verdict. It might make a few think twice...using the verb think loosely.

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Hmm, "loose use" is a fine concept. Their thought ain't what it ought.

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In a nut shell.

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Dec 4, 2022
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All the way to the core of the earth where they can all burn. Btw, one of my ancestors is in one of Dante's nine circles.

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Perhaps into a super-dense black hole from which not even light escapes, if there were any. Abandon hope all who enter.

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Still waiting for a contemporary re-boot of The Inferno. Ir’s overdue!

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Dec 4, 2022
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I have a few saints as ancestors too. An illegitimate liaison at the court in Wurttemburg, but once you are in, you are in.

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Debasement.

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Dec 4, 2022
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There is, alas, a certain amount of crude cunning to them, rather like the behavior of a virus. Not much self-comprehension there, but still potentially dangerous.

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Follow the money.

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Yep.....some verbs do not apply.

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❤️

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Hi Janet, thanks for your comments, but I've got a couple of responses:

First, I think it's important (if we want to turn some MAGA minds back towards normality and decency) to separate the "hooligans" from the silent observers on the right, who at some point may decide to reject the politics of resentment and hatred and violence. Biden made an effort before the mid-terms to distinguish between "MAGA Republicans" and "regular Republican folk" and I think that contributed to knocking down the Red Wave and illustrates that there is a wide swath of Republicans disaffected with Trump and his neo-fascist regime. Also, a sound rejection of Herschel Walker in Georgia (I hope!!!) will add to this rejection of Trumpism.

Second, for those radical rightists who will never abandon Trump (or his successor) there is no logic or reason that will ever change their minds. They are acting from a non-rational emotional state of fear and discontent and resentment and anger, and also their leaders (in their own lust for power) have released their followers' worst biases and prejudices and approved their violent actions - as in promising to pardon Jan.6 insurrectionists. These people will never be swayed by reason. But I do think (maybe I'm hopelessly optimistic) that the majority of Republicans and "conservatives" are beginning to reject Trump's neo-fascist politics.

So, we all keep fighting. And today my wife is home from the hospital so I am especially grateful.

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Hooligans is a very good word to describe those who love death star because they are just like him. I know several Rs who cannot stand him. But the noisiest ones are the hooligans.

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My wife trained dogs from girlhood and knows more about them than I, but she and others talk about fear aggression and how to handle it (from dogs) as opposed to what I'm inclined to call predatory aggression. It's just my take on things, but my sense is that some people are seemingly predatory as core life strategy, and others become problematical or dangerous when their buttons are pushed, and demagogues are expert at pushing those buttons. I think some can be turned to recognize the madness and others not; not likely to be in any case. Sickness is always around, but sometimes the fever breaks. Letting in as much fresh air and sunlight as possible helps to disinfect.

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Dec 4, 2022
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Yes, Trump is indeed a crazed messenger, stirring up and emboldening hooligans and racists - all for his own egomaniacal lust for power.

You would think a billionaire who has been President of United States might have some class and retire gracefully, play golf with world leaders, maybe be a Goodwill Ambassador for his country that gave him so much - but not this guy. He wants more and more and ever more.

And now he's not only inciting violence, he's actually calling for the Constitution to be re-written - specifically to re-install him in office.

This will be a very dark chapter in American history, and I actually fear for the safety of people who speak out (hence my use of a pseudonym). If the Jan.6 mob can chant "Hang Mike Pence" image what they'll do to Hunter Biden.

It has all got to end, but the existential question for American politics is: how to end this MAGA-madness peacefully?

I think one way is to engage in civil discourse with Independents and moderate Republicans and hopefully engage them in flushing this MAGA-era down the toilet in the next election.

You and I and the other contributors here and elsewhere are part of that effort to end this dark chapter. Thanks again for your support.

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Do not pass GO. Do not collect $200.

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I am comparing yesterday's LFAA about John Brown and the speed of his fate to today's quotes from TFG and all that he has done. Is it not long overdue for a perp walk in cuffs? Why is this traitor a free man?

Will I live to see justice for America?

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'The Psychiatrist Who Warned Us That Donald Trump Would Unleash Violence Was Absolutely Right' (MotherJones)

Remember, The Dangerous Case of Donald Trump: 27 Psychiatrists and Mental Health Experts Assess a President? - October 3, 2017

“His cruelty serves, in part, as a means to distract both us and himself from the true extent of his failures. The more egregious his failures become, the more egregious his cruelty becomes.”

― Mary L. Trump, Too Much and Never Enough: How My Family Created the World's Most Dangerous Man

‘But the real story here is not Trump’s panic about his fading relevance and his legal exposure; it’s that Trump remains the presumptive presidential nominee for the Republican Party in 2024. The leader of the Republican Party has just called for the overthrow of our fundamental law and the installation of a dictator.’(Letter)

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Fern, Agree totally with psychiatric prediction. Thx for links.

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Bonnie, I'm a NYC Woman, so I knew who he was long ago. While I couldn't know the degree of his madness, I agreed with the most ominous diagnosis long before he landed in the White House.

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I am also a New Yorker, and entirely with you on that! It is to my shame that the State of New York gave him so many passes for so many years!

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Connections

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Those open hands under the table. NYC didn't vote for the _______!

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Neither did nj, and for good reason. We knew the folks he scammed and forced into bankruptcy by not paying for goods and services in AC!

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Trump's family (especially Freddy) had their role, the key enablers are the Republican Party, and their plutocratic backers.

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Dr.Bandy Lee, forensic psychiatrist, was reprimanded for making public statement early on about her concern about djt displayed lack of mental fitness for the presidency...

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Yes, Sandra. Joshua Kendall has written an interesting article about this controversy which now seems relevant (again).

https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2022/08/donald-trump-violence-mental-health-dangerous-jan-6-fbi-mar-a-lago-civil-war-bandy-lee-psychiatry-goldwater-rule/

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Thank you for sharing, Bonnie!

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Is there a reason to consider that at this time?

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I understand the Goldwater Rule but do wonder if we might benefit from hearing what experts have to say about alternative ways to better contain an epidemic of violence.

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Spot on again, Fern.

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I think many of those 70 million base their vote solely on their 401K. If it is doing well they give all the credit to the Republicans. They have no concern about the welfare of anyone else.

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I still believe it was latent RACISM allowed to become overt with Trump in charge that got him elected in the first place. 401K's were a diversionary excuse as they also increased just fine under Obama admin.

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They are one for now.

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Janet, I agree and also think it was a combination of all the above. Being a lot older than most, I was well aware of his reputation...his morals, both concerning business and personal matters. I had no interest in watching his TV series, so there was no influence one way or the other in that respect. I do feel strongly that there are a lot of people

out there who have a lot of tfg’s morals towards women, people of color, some religious denominations, and it was as though they were given an open door to act and react similarly.

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"Why is this traitor a free man?"

First, Trump calling for the overthrow of the government by saying the Consitution can be ignored IS TREASON.

But, Bill you alreaduy know there are two reasons why he can still rant like this after attempting to overthrow our government with a violent coup attempt, which is ALSO TREASON.

1. He is white.

2. He has money.

Trump, daily, shows us clearly the fundamental limitations built into our own Democracy.

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3. His brown shirts needed to be disarmed and imprisoned first.

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One was trying to expand equality beyond what was considered lawful; the other was (and is) trying to limit equality beyond what is considered lawful.

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Thank you Heather.

I don't even know where to start.

If I got up on a soapbox and said I wanted to overturn an election from 2 years ago, place myself as the Leader and burn the Constitution, I would be summarily taken to an insane asylum. Rightfully so.

Trump has taken his playbook to an entirely new level.

Your turn GOP, what is your response?

Be safe. Be well.

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Exactly! Linda, this is what makes me think we are watching the wrong RAT! While the public oohs and aahs over the latest absurdity, there are more rats coming out from under the sewers. They are a very organized , highly monetized herd of cockroaches.

They do not deserve to be called Republicans. They are slimy , conniving , treasonous boils. Shame a word they know or understand.

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I was saying shame is not a word in their vocabulary.

The rest of us should demand that the attention be turned toward the really dangerous. Trump is too sick to be taken seriously. But, the shameless are really dangerous!

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I think the metaphors are no good. In order to understand and push back these forces, we need to speak plainly to best describe what the Republican party and the entire racist right wing religious extremist apparatus is up to. Pandering to the populists' prejudices to fill the plutocrats' pockets.

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Lin, I agree.... sometimes I say “ just use your words” yours are clear and speak plainly.

Whatever, many of us lit on fire! Let’s burn down the dangerous lies.

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Love your description of the R party, festering and putrid.

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You forgot jackals.

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Oh, c'mon, jackals are lovely, useful critters.

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Yup. Especially when they came out at night to eat the dead and dying strewn on the battlefields of ancient times. I always think of them as cowardly republicans waiting in the darkness. Probably had congenital bone spurs.

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Crickets, I predict, Linda.

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Exactly Nancy.

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Linda (thanks for the be safe, be well!).

The GOP will remain silent OR support Trump. That is what they have done and there is no reason to think that will change.

Cowards they are, one and all. Some actually believe in Fascism now. They understand that if they get in control of the Federal Reserve they can print as much money as they want for their buddies.

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Mike, your welcome. Please know I truly mean it everytime I say.

I agree with you completely regarding their eyeing of the Federal Reserve. What a dangerous acquisition that would be.

I expect they will say nothing or brush it off as " oh that's just Trump being Trump".

What Trump said was so far beyond the rails.

You can't unring a bell.

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GOP response? 🦗 🦗🦗🦗🦗😔

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They will continue down the road to me, me, me

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You would think everybody would have a night off, it’s Saturday, yet the most traitorous statement yet, it just gets worse. All republicans who do not speak up are complicit. Germany 1932, history repeats itself.

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And not just the Republicans. What is on the front page of the WaPo or NYT? Certainly not what HCR pointed out is earth-shattering. This is problematic when the media cannot call out the Republicans . WaPo has one headline about the WH “rebuking” Trump. Ok but why arent the papers shouting WTF! and holding the Republicans feet to the fire.

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Look to who owns the papers and ask them...when it's about the bottom line, who's going to kill the milk-cow?

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They are doing what they did in 2016, all over again

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Hi Tina, We know the answer to that. We know why. It’s money. There are no right or left wing mainstream media willing to toss the Republican Party under the bus because almost all mainstream media is owned by the Republican donors that control the headlines. Didn’t Stephen Colbert just drag on Chris Licht lately for CNN ‘s hard right after the 2020 election? (Licht is now CEO of CNN and was executive producer of The Late Show). That’s why we get our news here. I happily pay to read truth here on Substack and let my other news subscriptions run out. Telling me President Biden is ineffective while reporting on getting more bills passed, ending with a blurb to something like he’s been the most effective POTUS at this point in his administration than any other US President in history. Even Newt Gingrich admitted that last week.

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The great reveal, in this past GOP-while, has been being schooled in how the MSM is NOT out to serve America or Democracy. They’re out to make money. Period. Dead Stop. As We The People, we have to understand that most crucially. The thwarting of the gop’s “Death and Treason” play will come from each and every one of us rejecting their ham-fisted power-grabs, their insanity, cruelty, and general petty meanness. Each day after reading the “trending news”, I am ever more grateful for Heather’s actual news, context, and info.

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I think it's Trump's way of asking for help, but he first needs to be suited up in a bright orange straight jacket.

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Ha, from his blithering idiots, certainly not in a serious way

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Been coming for years, got banned on FB and T for saying so. It wasn’t just the chump nuts who got banned. Those opposing his Nazi propaganda methods did too.

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That guy's brain is seriously disturbed. That those who still back him don't recognize that makes one question the functioning of their brains too.

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I agree. Trump's pronouncements are likely the result of his falling apart under what's bound to be huge duress for a guy like him. The GOPers on Capitol Hill have no excuse not to speak up.

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does anyone really believe they'll give us the satisfaction of reacting?? of course not.

esp if we're all looking to them to be shocked or whatever... they will never admit anything. that would make them appear to be like us... and that's the last thing they wanna look like right now. just ignore them.

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They are outlaws.

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Trump is not disturbed. He is rational and he knows what he is doing.

He successfully managed to call up and deploy a civilian army once.

There is no reason to think he cannot do it again, and, in a more organized way by avoiding the use of Michael Flynn and Roger Stone, who were incompetent as organizers of the last coup attempt on Jan 06, 2021.

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Agree, Mike. By calling him mentally ill, it gives him a pass for his behavior. He knows EXACTLY what he is doing

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Working hard on that insanity plea, I see.

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Looking around for new henchmen with mob pull? K West and unknown friends who came for lunch? Misfire, try again.

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I wouldn’t exactly call him “rational”, Mike. He’s a tyrant, like his boss and a real vulgar, offensive, sonofabitch!!

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and hearts. somehow the hearts got broken. wish we knew how it happened.

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Hate happened

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If this statement doesn’t bring Republicans to understand DT’s intentions and what they would mean to the country, it’s time to confront individual Republican members of House and Senate. Given the ignorance of many of them, I am terrified of the result. We can only hope that Rev Warnock wins and that President Biden can communicate the importance of democratic values.

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Virginia more than 1.8 'Early Voters' have already cast their votes within the five (5) available days in GA. Herschel will be taking that Midnite Train to Texas.

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Yes, thank you. I know. It’s not over until it’s over, however, and there are lots of Republican dollars still to be spent in GA. Do you know HL Mencken’s take on the American voter? It dates from the 1920’s, but nothing he wrote has changed.

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Love Menken but, I expect GA suburban voters north of Atlanta to have a big impact.

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🤞🏼🤞🏼🤞🏼🤞🏼

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There are still plenty of “tried and true republicans” out there who long ago gave up any pretense of integrity. They have no clue. Will Rupert tell them?!? NYT? WaPo? They don’t read HCR

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we don't want him here... eewwww

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Actually, I believe that Trump just handed Warnock his victory in Georgia.

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Check this out--and this guy is considered a centrist

https://abcn.ws/3FpqaXO

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More like a co-conspirator...

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agree, Zella. completely.

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Well, he has said the quiet part outloud now. He has fully identified himself as a domestic terrorist bent on inciting a violent insurrection against the United States government so as to be installed as a dictator. His reasons are obvious: he feels entitled. The consequences are potentially very dangerous and undefined.

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I wonder if this [tweet] can be used as ex post facto evidence of his intent in his seditious conspiracy trial?

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I think his plan is the opposite. Criminal Conspiracies are secretive agreements, he is trying to duck out of culpability by saying 'my crap is public'. He saw Oath Keeper clowns get convicted this week and can feel the noose tightening around his fat orange painted droopy avian goitered neck and soooo he will point to this tweet and similar ones and say "no seditious conspiracy, I am merely a political candidate engaged in electioneering just as I was 1/6/20, how other people interrupted my protected political speech I have no idea but I had no 'plan or agreement with others' as required to be a conspiracy, I was saying how I feel out loud." We have seen this ploy with trump in the past. “Will no one rid me of this meddlesome priest?”...attributed to Henry II of England preceding the death of Thomas Becket, the Archbishop of Canterbury, in 1170.

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"fat orange painted droopy avian goitered neck", a turkey angling for a pardon?

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such an insult to turkeys

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Very accurate depiction. Not one adjective too many.

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King Lear Question: "Can any one tell me who I am?" Answer: Jack 'Frost'.

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Bullseye, McKown 🎯

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Hi. Can you please explain the Jack "Frost" reference? I don't understand. Thanks.

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Apparently a nickname for Jack Smith's demeaner; I expect Jack to do his up-to-the-task work in Court this holiday season. Jack does not leak.

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How much confidence do you have in rewriting King Lear, Bryan Sean McKown?

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Love your adjectives

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Certainly, evidence of criminal intent aka more technically as 'mens rea' or 'scienter.' Also his "staement out of court" is a further evidence of 'modus operandi' that is to say tfg's method of criminality not to mention an admission against [tfg's] interest.

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Does anyone recall the old Looney Tune episodes where Elmer Fudd was locked up on a “funny farm”? He kept repeating “My name is Elmer J. Fudd, millionaire. I own a mansion and a yacht.” Bugs Bunny to my recollections found out that Fudd wasnt really crazy,(he had evaded tax fraud) and Fudd winked in a knowing way, but the funny farm sure beats Federal Prison. I have long thought this will be Trump’s out. Will he play the crazy ace, the very very last card up his sleeve?

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"... but the funny farm sure beats Federal Prison."

That may be a miscalculation. The security in a forensic mental health facility is almost as intimidating as the other occupants.

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Forensic mental health facility? Is that what it's called now? How elegant!

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I agree with you.

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I i don’t remember that one but how poignant!

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Yes, he seems to have made a public confession. DOJ! Arrest this man!

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and it's waaaay past time. imagine if any of us had done a tiny fraction of what he's done...

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I'd have said his reasons are obvious: he's claiming entitlement because it's the only way he can escape the force of the law which is closing around him.

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he's been doing that for years... nothing new

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Sounds like treason to me.

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c, if it sounds like treason, looks like treason, smells like treason, I guess it’s treason....we probably shouldn’t step in it.

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This should remove any doubts you have...

http://uscode.house.gov/  CHAPTER 115—TREASON, SEDITION, AND SUBVERSIVE ACTIVITIES

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It’s funny though that the GOP loves that 2nd Amendment to this Constitution Trump suggests be overthrown. Bit of contradictory pickle, there.

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For those deluded in their continued support for TFG, there is no cognitive dissonance in holding both of those opinions at the same time...if they have even thought it through.

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good point. not a lot of thought processing happening there.

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Great point, SFGirl!

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EXCELLENT point!! Thank You SF!

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Truth be told, I'm not concerned about Trump's ranting about the Constitution. No one is going to act on that and the lack of reaction from Republicans doesn't surprise me. No, I am much more concerned about what is real, and that is the antisemitism that is being ignored by Republicans in Congress.

And I am concerned about the normalization of the views of Kanye West, and Nick Fuentes, and Alex Jones and their ilk. I am scared for my safety, for the safety of my family, for the safety of my religious community! This is real.

Trump is realizing that too many legal problems have coalesced at the same time for him to bat away one or two. The law is coming for him and he knows it. Of all the cases against him, at least one is going to get him and he is terrified. My only concern is that I can't imagine what a terrified Trump will do to try and safe his skin!

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I've been considering putting a sign on my lawn with a Star of David and convincing my neighbors to do the same. I'm Anglo Saxon and Irish. I don't blame you for being worried. The "Free Speech" card has been played to the point that this hate should be punishable.

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Solidarity forever! I won’t wear my Star of David in our small Northern California downtown. While we have a vibrant progressive population we also have many, let’s say, anti maskers who will fight to the end to wave their flags. Antisemitism and Racism (veiled) seem to be part of the package. And no signs or flags (except American flags ) in our condo community. Afraid my car will be vandalized with my BLM magnets but I’ve had a license plate frame, “Work for Peace and Social Justice. Forever. “ still we gather, protest, March and celebrate including next week’s Human Rights ,‘Celebration with Poetry, music, essays, art. And candlelight vigils and commemorations. A Peace and Justice community. And a reminder that we can be divided and united in the same town.

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I’m tired of our amendments being weaponized and used against us. Then there are amendments we never expounded on because we never took into account a POTUS would be the very reason we need them. Articles that create a path to remove traitors from our representatives but not from the highest office in the land? Need more than what our eyes and ears have been subject to for the past 7.5 years for any action to be taken to stop this criminal enterprise? That the NRA became a cult of fanatics screaming they want control of the Senate? That a man clearly suffering from CTE and other injury related mental health issues would be in a run-off against a man of good conscience, educated and a well spoken pastor is in itself a sad commentary on where the GOP expects their constituents to continue their blind support. Their strongholds in red states barely withstood their 3rd sound rejection of Trump Terrorist policies. So what’s it going to take? A new party? Because if the Republicans continue with their now obvious reluctant support of Trumps candidacy based on his dismal performances at elections, they know he’s a loser, but, are they willing to give up their white supremacy supporters?

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They still believe that, through trickery, disinformation, and the culture wars, they can prevail. With the help of the antiquated Electoral College, itself a product of those who insist on a finger on the scales to slant elections for our own oligarchs, they are being supported in their efforts.

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Mina, I agree the normalization of antisemitism is a grave concern especially here in Florida. Don’t Say Gay….but Nazi is ok.

As Trump “advocates the establishment of a dictator”….DeSantis awaits his succession.

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Mina, 'Trump is realizing...' Perhaps, you have taken him a step closer to reality than he is capable of.

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It is now time to recognize this as not only criminal but serious mental illness.

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Dante envisioned nine circles of Hell. He clearly did not anticipate a figure like Trump. We are going to need way, way more levels to accommodate Trump and his associates.

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I was laughing so hard that I had a hard time hitting the ❤️ button

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I don’t know -- the vision of him 🐴up in ice is tempting --

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Lock him up !

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And Lock him down!

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And shut him up!

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Perhaps that’s part of his desperate ploy, Bruce: to be deemed too mentally incompetent to stand trial?

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He could resort to almost anything to avoid accountability, but he could never admit to mental incompetence. In his eyes, that would make him “a loser”.

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it wouldn't hurt my feelings for him to be confined to a state mental institution. At least there, he'd be compelled to take his medicine. Lots of Haldol, IMHO.

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I agree—he really is ill. He lives in some sort of alternate world of his own imagining, and he cannot or will not admit that his world is not real. The amazing thing is that his followers have bought into his sickness when they have the ability to know better. He seems to be sliding off the deep end—I fear for the time when he completely self-destructs. I thought it would happen a long time ago. It is agonizing watching his fall, and frightening for the nation.

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I think it's more like he's "crazy like a fox". His apparent insanity is all showmanship and street theatre, which he uses quite cynically to manipulate detractors and admirers alike.

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Yes. Clever, evil actor. He had his own TV show, a drama as I recall.

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Brings to mind Vincent the Chin....

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Cults will not deprogram themselves

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(Jonesville! ugh.)

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Warped, personality disorder, not mental illness. The latter can be treated.

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While tRump probably qualifies for more than half the DSM-5 diagnoses, I see this ploy as a very deliberate, calculated and sane (if evil) call to bear arms. Which is why Garland and the DOJ needed to lock up the leaders of his Brown Shirt militias first.

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Most of them, however, are still out there. We just know of the Proud Boyz and the Oath Keepers. But what about the III Percenters? And likely other groups less we known to us. Hopefully, the FBI is watching!

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Hopefully, indeed.

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Words fail me. How is tfg even relevant after everything he's said and done publicly; how can the Repugs continue to support him with all the revelations of misdeeds and evil over the years? I know, they cannot see the truth and the facts in front of them, and this phenomenon is truly astounding to me. It boggles my mind that, in the early days I tried to ascribe it to people being gullible, but now I reluctantly believe that many many people are just not capable of critical thought. I can only hope that intelligence and perseverance from non-Repugs including the next generation will save our democracy, as clearly the Repugs don't care. More important than ever, we must help as many people as possible exercise their right to vote. I feel mentally exhausted.

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Completely agree that fewer citizens than ever are capable of rigorous critical thought, and believe this is a result of the deliberate, relentless cuts in education budgets in each state as well as methodical dumbing down at the federal level...add in the rise of right-wing radio “news” and the Murdoch empire and you have a populace more easily controlled and bamboozled.

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Laura, where I live, in Idaho, men would shut down the job in order to catch the daily broadcasts of their patron saint, Rush Limbo. They cheered him as if he were broadcasting a football game. He professionally fed their anger with outrageous lies. This went on every day for year after year until his disinformation filled the entire populace with a hatred for all things educational,democratic, or progressive. Professors became demons. Graduates of post high school education became enemy leftists. Poor people sucked the tax dollars out of their pockets. Immigrants took their jobs. They were labeled as democrats destroying everything of value this nation represented. They were criminals. He called for retribution. He called his minions patriots. No one could match his vitriol. As his fame grew he, and he alone had all the answers to every indignity. He called for action against the government. He admonished us to take retribution any way possible. He feigned a belief in god aligning abortion with evil democratic killers. His siren song became a modern day version of Elmer Gantry seducing the parish women by giving their orgasm to God through him. He galvanized the religious right. His performances reached into crescendos of emotion. His voice reached normal sales pitch as he hawked for his advertisers and returned to theatrics thereafter. He drove the divide of this nation relentlessly. He was the most revered American radio broadcaster ever. They drank the kool-aid and here we are. The creeps came out of the woodworks into the light of day against the backdrop of this Republican fantasy.

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I get it! A few years back, I was in a cab, and the driver was listening to right wing radio. He got so angry that the started ranting and lifted a huge tire chain he had in the front seat and started rattlingly at me! I didn't dare say a word. He scared the 💩 out of me! I was never so glad to get out of a cab in my life!

In retrospect, I probably should have reported him, but I was too shaken at the time to think of it!

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Truly, an excellent roundup, cowboy. You merit a song, and I'll return if I think one deserving of you. Cheers!

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Anybody know if a Medal of “Freedom” can be revoked?

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My only source has been Wikipedia which has a lot of noise and seems to be that it can’t be done even though it has been tried by the house. Cosby Limbaugh and unspecified sex offenders have been mentioned as candidates for removal, but consensus seems to be that it would become just another political weapon if legislation regarding removal were to be codified. This is really out of my wheelhouse. Maybe someone less inept can be more definitive. As far as I am concerned your suggestion is good enough for me. Hear ye hear ye and yadda yadda boo, done.

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Your inquiry, like a day spent fishing, has provided me another free day of life. I’ll be smiling for a long time. Now to revoke the entire 45th and make t-rump more like t-rex.

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Pat,

You may want to refrain from using the term "drinking the kool aid" after reading this.

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/op-eds/how-san-franciscos-democrats-made-jim-jones-and-then-made-his-memory-vanish

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Dec 5, 2022
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Did you notice the names Dianne Feinstein and Willie Brown (Kamala's ex boyfriend)?

This is not just old news. The same people are still running the Democrat Party and using people of color as rent-a-crowds.

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🎯🎯🎯

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What will Rupert tell his crew of crazies to say

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👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

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💯

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“I know, they cannot see the truth and the facts in front of them, and this phenomenon is truly astounding to me.” I think they can see the truth and the facts. They actively turn their backs because the truth and the facts don’t fit the story they are being told and want to believe.

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Nobody (repubs) will utter a word before Wednesday

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The MAGA cult have invested their own self-respect, their sense of their own purpose in this world, in this person, TFG. They cannot give up on him or they give up on everything they have lived for for seven years. It remind’s me of a 20th century person that if I were to name on FB it would get me in Facebook jail. I am new to Substack chat and I don’t know if the rules are more lenient here.

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what's new about this scenario? nothing. O.K., he's found a way to dive a bit deeper, attacking the constitution as well. There's viral, and then there's VIRAL. I'm beyond being scandalized, but not beyond being supremely annoyed when this guy keeps capturing the attention of news-makers. I'd prefer hearing more about lobsters, sugar maples, almost anything other than the king of MAGAots.

Interestingly enough, the silence of the GOP is actually a good example for the rest of us. Let's all just not respond, rather than dishing out the affirming scandalized responses that keep more of this garbage coming. I'm not participating on "Truth Social"...nor Twitter, TikTok, Facebook, or any of the lesser known social media sites. The only way I know about this is that the press has parroted it as news. I think we all need some form of detox therapy, so we can finally turn our eyes away and stop giving tfg the attention he doesn't deserve.

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Relegate him to irrelevance. Then go after the big dogs. Take control in 2024 and release the fetters holding back “We the People…”. Expose the dark money manipulations and protect women, minorities and voting rights.

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I agree, Nathan! Nothing would upset him more than not being the center of attention.

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100%, Nathan.

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How does one ignore the ticking time bomb

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SHOULD one ignore the ticking time bomb? Emphatically, no.

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Follow the Republicans' lead you write, Nathan Kemalyan, and my reply is 'Not so fast!'

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Absolutely, Nathan, we want to move forward helping the.people of this country. There is SO much to be done ~ voting rights, affordable housing, more resources for our teachers and students, less book banning, more green energy, repairing/rebuilding infrastructure, passing livable wages, etc. Ignore Trump, what he hates most of all; let the legal beagles do their work and we get on with what helps our citizenry!

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Sandra, I don't know absolutely what is the best strategy for moving our country forward toward democracy. There are undoubtedly several roads to take simultaneously in that direction. It may be wise to continue to put Trump's mental issues up front along with attending to the country's business. To accurately, through the rule of law and the free-press, represent Trump's threats to our society are part, I think, of serving the country's interest.

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Earth shattering, says Heather Cox Richardson! Yes. Yes, Indeed. The latest noise from twice impeached, now multiply threatened former President Donald John Trump is EARTH SHATTERING. Trump wishes to destroy our basis of government - and he makes this clear - as his actions have made clear ALL HIS LIFE.

Fascism is ugly. Trump is a fascist. Republican silence is supportive of his fascism. Over 70 million Americans support Trump Fascism.

Trump Republican fascism was clear in the blatant racism spewed by Trump in plain view throughout his life. Racism is the Cardinal Sin of America from its colonial days and colonial roots.

All parts of America have been racist. Most still are. White historians blind to Sundown Towns today are racist. White campuses and white newspapers blind to racial discrimination are effectively if not deliberately fascist.

Tonight’s writing by HCR is outstanding. Where it leads is another question.

It’s pointless to feature the sin of American life since The Mayflower and ignore today’s problems.

Daily mass killings in our nation are a tell. These killings are so common we no longer read about them unless the reach to Uvalde or Buffalo or New Town or Columbine or Aurora or ....

Whites are the killers. George Floyd was killed by white police. Such killing is common. Republicans do not care.

Not one campus in America has spoken out. Not one. Why? Of what is each afraid?

Tonight’s HCR writing connects some dots, ignores others. Substack writers are increasingly important.

Yale History Professor Snyder and Steve Schmidt and all important MSNBC segments share my thoughts and feelings and fears. Each struggles to connect the dots. Ari Melber’s words last night spelled it out. MSNBC is attacking Tucker Carson. MSNBC is attacking FOX.

Campuses are silent. No exception. Mass killings are terrifying campuses. Racism cuts deeply those that are and those that aren’t racist. Racism spares no one.

Silence on campuses about campus racism is racism itself. Fascism and racism and Republican racism and Republican extremism and hatred are campus topics ignored on campuses.

Suicidal tendencies, suicide by cop, group violence and slaughter of many by one is feared. Silence will not address this threat.

Tonight’s HCR Substack arrived early. December is the end of a dreadful year. Perhaps killings will motivate.

Denial does not work.

Trump will be charged, tried, convicted and sentenced. He will be a convicted criminal. He cannot walk down Fifth Avenue and shoot people with out being arrested and charged and convicted and sentenced.

Trump will be sentenced to house arrest for the rest of his life.

Sadly, over 70 million American citizens and quisling Republicans now fascists will still vote.

Democracy is about demos. The mob.

And mob rule and the party system were most feared by the Founders.

The Founders and their followers were not able to address slavery and oppression by intolerance and Salem Witch Trials and the KKK. FDR feared admitting Jews. We fear admitting some persecuted people from Ukraine today.

Who are we? Who are you and I.

And what are we going to do about it?

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Confronting fascism, racism, and all the other 'isms' is a slow, painful business for most. I was raised as a racist, and have been slowly trying to dismantle those dangerous, absurd notions for over 2/3 of my life now. Very few of us have Saul/Paul on the road to Damascus moments. Most have to slowly grow away from wrong thinking - even thinking as corrosive as racism. How do we create an environment where people can confront their own racism? Mostly, I try to be honest about my own struggles with it, to show others it is possible. On this forum at least, you favor a squeaky wheel approach, which also seems to work fairly well. What are we going to do? Many are already doing it, there are many, many ways to open minds. Keep fighting the good fight, Sandy.

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My Dad was racist too, finally, at 18, I told him how horrible his rants sounded. He said nothing, but he heard me. Still, it took me a long time to understand the depravity of our history.

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Yes. The 70 million Americans who vote Republican are the problem. No way to rid ourselves of them. Outvoting them helps, whenever it’s possible, but it doesn’t come close to solving the problem of their continued existence, and I don’t know what else we could do besides outvoting them.

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usually i agree with you, Rex. not tonight. 70M voting for cheeto is not the problem. only the symptom.

what ails them that we don't see or know how to address is the real problem.

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What motivates them (or “ails them”, as you put it) is their desperation to preserve the the systemic advantages of white Americans over the rest of the population. Addressing the deeply held, unjust priorities of 70M people is a project requiring monumental effort, at least. Probably insurmountable. Might diminish a couple generations in the future if the infrastructure remains in place.

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Sandy, that was eloquent, and in my opinion, dead nuts on. I read much of the commentary here several hours ago then went back to bed. But I woke up again with something bothering me. There had been much speculation here on the reason seventy plus million Americans could ever vote for a monster like Trump, including folks claiming to be Christian. I awoke with the feeling the answer was "racism" as you and others here have suggested. Trump strikes a chord with older white males in particular. Recall that Trump started his political career with the "birther" thing, calling into question Obama's citizenship. That resonated with the seething hatred and fear of people that are "different" which is just below the surface in many older white Americans. But the thing that really bothered me, woke me up actually, was a post I'd read earlier by a right wing nut troll; Gandolf somethingorether (I can't find it now). His post stated cryptically that the "big news" in the next 24 hours wasn't going to be Trump's rant on his Truth Social platform, and that Democrats weren't going to like it. Several hiked an eyebrow, but the comment didn't draw much attention. And then it struck me that Obama is stumping for Warnock in Georgia. JFK! Bobby! MLK! My god, I hope that isn't what Gandalf was alluding to. Certainly racism, anger, hatred and fear are rampant in this country. And even the Secret Service is now drawing suspicion. By the power of any good that still exists in this universe, may nothing evil befall Barack Obama in the next few days.

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no, no...not earth shattering. pitiful, megalomaniac-al, deranged, adverb, adjective, etc. etc., just not earth shattering. Really not worth the time and attention being awarded it.

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agree

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I agree with all you write here, Sandy, except the only house I want tRump arrested in is ADX Florence.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/ADX_Florence#:~:text=ADX%20Florence%20was%20commissioned%20when,total%20of%20341%20inmates%20housed.

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Waiting for answers,..................

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Oh, Sandy.

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I would give you a like for brave, true words, except -- Heather is white, and so are many of these responders. Are we still to be lumped with Trumpists because of our skin color? Where does that kind of thinking differ from Trump’s?

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Patricia, I think you misunderstand me. For openers, I'm an "old white male". I've literally been privileged to spend my entire life in a society that has permitted me to attain my full potential, for whatever that has been worth. One can't miss the fact that others, particularly those of darker tones, have not been as fortunate in this country. I was not throwing stones at you, Heather or myself for that matter. Simply stating facts, as I understand them, about the demographics of racism in this country. If you still disagree after reading this, I will honor your right to a differing opinion. Peace.

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I can’t speak for LeMoine but observe that most white Americans voted for Trump (and every other Republican presidential candidate since 1968). Roughly 40% of white Americans, including you I presume, strive to overcome their racism and vote to reduce systemic white advantages. In the past 70 years, the fraction of white Americans who recognize and oppose systemic, race-based injustice has risen from roughly 0% to roughly 40%. If improvement continues at that pace, the majority of white people might be on the right side of history in another couple decades. I’m not sure that’s soon enough, and it’s certainly not good enough, but it’s not hopeless, either.

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TRUMP IS A TRAITOR TO COUNTRY!!!!!!!

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I’ll archive this summary overview for posterity. I’m appalled at the behaviors of most Republicans who still defend or hide. There are people who had good reputations, seemingly clear moral compasses, and trusted influence that are ruining their own lives and legacies ... and for what? Is there something else going on in the background we just can’t see, haven’t exposed yet?

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Is it possible that through connections with Russian intelligence or otherwise, T has something on each of them? At a minimum, they are embarrassed and shamed that this person they supported has unravelled completely. Also, we have learned, I think, that there are many loons in this country, and even more ignorant people. T legitimized both lunacy and ignorance, gave them a feeling that they had been right all along.

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I have been trying to figure out why the sudden wave of antisemitism and strident nazi rants. Yes, it’s always been lurking in the background, but Soros seemed to be the only name thrown out there to be demonized for the years of T. Now it is becoming a brazen movement. The silence of educated elected leaders (that is what Senators and Congressional Representatives are SUPPOSED to be) is truly terrifying. Is there no Republican “leader” left who has a moral backbone?

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$$$$$$$

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