There's someone wrong here. All those - including President Biden - who are saying "History is watching" appear to believe the GOP actually cares about history... about "the" history of America standing for democracy here at home and abroad. The GOP only cares about power. Trump shows this to be true every time he opens his mouth. And ma…
There's someone wrong here. All those - including President Biden - who are saying "History is watching" appear to believe the GOP actually cares about history... about "the" history of America standing for democracy here at home and abroad. The GOP only cares about power. Trump shows this to be true every time he opens his mouth. And many other GOP members do the same.
So... what is wrong here to me is that Biden and the other Democrats are continuing to "play nice" with the GOP. Rather than calling them out - with details from their statements and actions - for being anti-American threats to democracy, they act as if they can use "patriotic appeals" to change how they will behave. This is maddeningly divorced from reality. Doesn't Biden realize who he's dealing with at this point? Doesn't he know that people who want dictatorship don't care about appeals to protect Ukraine? He needs to call them out, so it's absolutely clear - including to idiots like Jon Stewart - that Election 2024 is about democracy vs fascism!
Why weren’t they arrested 3 years ago? And McConnell could have stopped it and put us on the road to moral recovery. He kept the insurrection going making it look like normal politics. He’s a traitor and key leader of the MAGA WAR ON DEMOCRACY, not a patriot.
McCarthy resurrected him and got kicked to the curb. Same with Ronna, when will his arse be kicked to the curb. Money buys loyalty, is Putin still buying him…
They are addressing the whole of America, not the miscreants, setting out clearly what's so terribly wrong. As Dan Rather wrote when tfg got into the White House, "This is not normal, folks. It's not normal." If you don't keep on telling them, they'll forget what normal looks like.
Normal is tricky. Normal is what people get used to. We, on the whole, were used to slavery. Twelve US Presidents have been identified as slave-owners. Certainly to women have only partial rights as citizens. But yes, Trump and the "Republican" party is a gross aberration not only of precedent, but of any defensible concept of decency and just rule of law. The "Republican" Party overall has truly become a criminal organization. Like Trump's 91 felony charges, in many ways the impact of any particular crime is blunted by the constant barrage of them. It time we stop, hey what's that sound, everybody look what's going down.
JL Today’s ‘normal’ is that whatever monstrous thing that Trump says or does, many excuse it because ‘that’s the way he is.’
By contrast, decent, hard-working, patriotic Biden gets crucified by the media over minor mishaps. If a similar media standard were applied with Trump, he would long since have been barbecued.
Yes! Many Americans are so sick from drugs and/or overweight that they do not recognize the health of Biden. To them he looks frail because his weight is appropriate to his frame. Also he did not have a bad case of Covid.
Virginia @148 pounds with a full head of silver hair, I might look healthy (even vigorous and erudite), if I wasn’t using my walker or cane. AND I don’t have an orange tint.
What’s that sound. The gurgle of us circling the drain. Ye hear that Heritage Society. Not the sound that you want, but a sound that you have permitted. Some normal is planned, some just oozes up through the floorboard as we are distracted by shinny objects, like celebrity of whatever stripe, like hate, like green (but no other colors, thank you).
And don’t forget SCOTUS with Citizens United to give corporations power to control US. When I think Big Ag, Big Pharma, AMA (yes, their greed led to Big Pharma and they are in league with each other), and the buying of the American education system to make it a job factory, I am sickened.
The whole of America needs Walter back to blast them out of the Torpor that has set in. The most trusted man in America, long gone. Dan tried but was targeted by Rupert early on; now many people trust loonacy (Alternative facts) rather than our MSM, which disappoints more every day, as they chase the bucks (which would have been anathema in Walter’s day). You are right. Blast it to all THIS IS NOT NORMAL. Jesus would throw these people out of the temple.
Jeri, I am staying overnight at a VA sponsored (very similar to an extended stay hotel) house where veterans and their support person can stay when an overnight hospital stay is required.). I’m up at my usual 0500, and went to the common area to make a cup of coffee.
From the room next to us (audible through their door in the hallway) was a “newscast” being watched on a phone. About 10’ past the door I heard the door open and I was able to discern some Faux-like pundit bemoaning something Biden had done. Said person (the male half) followed me into the common area, got something, then left.
I couldn’t discern what was being said, but the tone and strident quality was enough to provoke either an anger or other charged negative emotion. It’s fed into their amygdalae every minute.
It is a new normal for them. I’m starting to see it in the childish memes showing up on my friend’s Facebook pages.
Ally, I have to wonder how fear-mongering right-wing media exposure affects veterans with post traumatic stress disorder. They are already suffering from an over-reactive fear-anger disorder. Feeding that disorder a steady diet of perceived threat and hatred for “others” who are responsible for unfulfilled expectations…. Seems to me a recipe for some individuals to have considerable difficulties in the regulation of anger, rage and reactive aggression.
(Can’t edit on phone) While folks with PTSD are most vulnerable, anyone with a larger amygdala - which is associated with very conservative viewpoints - is also susceptible.
FOX, One American, etc. can (IMHO) spark explosive behavior.
And speaking of TFG, his increasing cognitive problems and rage behavior could be symptomatic of late-stage syphilis. While he proclaimed that he avoided STIs in his younger days, we all know that could be a cue that he didn’t avoid syphilis. My grandfather had late-stage syphilis and he became one very angry, explosive guy. Just a thought…..
It’s what they want - Don’t Tread on Me. I realize avoiding challenging them just emboldens them, but I’m more fearful now that I’m old and handicapped!
Watched such play out with my best friend's son (who was a pain in jr high). As an adult watching Fox he was angry and volatile about all the time, but with a smiling smirk that hid God knows what. I moved so glad I don't have to be around him anymore. Fox hasn't changed in all these years, nor has he.
The patriotic appeals aren't aimed at the GOTP zealots or their "base". They're all firmly in Donald's pants pocket and they're beyond persuasion. But everybody else needs to hear that the time IS now, and that how we respond will make all the difference.
History is watching right now but it will stop watching for awhile if Putin & Donald succeed. It comes down to us - It's OUR Republic only if we can keep it.
The “base” may be in the insipid clown’s pocket but all they are doing there is helping support his overflowing diaper, and doing everything in their power to prevent the leaking from becoming more obvious, the maggots are serving their useful purpose, and for some reason they are proud of it. 🤷♂️
So viscerally disappointed in the debut of the Jon Stewart Daily Show. Actually nauseated by him seeking self promoting laughs by equating Biden and Trump as equally incapable of governing.
Yes it sucks that Biden is old. But he has appointed intelligent cabinet leaders with integrity. And is Jon’s head so up his ass that he can’t see what the Biden administration has accomplishments despite the treasonous MAGA & GOP enablers!
Trump appoints incompetent, sycophantic useful idiots to deconstruct democracy.
Stewart is telling a large portion of the population to not vote… and that’s a vote for the end of democracy!
I respectfully suggest you read Mary L. Trump’s latest essay. In it she explains why Jon Stewart is doing great harm (because he’s living in the past). She also shows (with data) how he harmed voter turnout years ago. (Edited to add link below)
And I respectfully hear you. I haven’t watched the brand new John Stewart show, but I used to love him deeply. And I actually subscribe to Mary’s Substack so I’m gonna go read her now. Thank you for educating me.
Thank you for being open to my remarks. Honestly, Mary’s essay was a real eye opener for me. Please let me know what you think of it. Good night from Route 66 in Oklahoma.
Of course and you're welcome. I'm a paid subscriber to Mary's page - first I tried to watch last night's Jon Stewart - I couldn't stand it! TUrned off after 5 min. Then I read Mary's page and yep, she's got it right - we cannot afford to give air space to the both sides argument - we have way too much to lose.
I watched it last night as well and felt rumblings of disgust at his smug comments and no good words about President Biden’s accomplishments. I hadn’t put my finger on it, but you (Melanie) did. You’re right. We don’t have time to give to his both sides argument. Thanks. Now I’m off to read Mary Trump.
Just read Mary's essay about John Stewart's normalization of Trump's behavior. One way to combat his dangerous rant is to somehow encourage his peers to call him out. Hopefully JS's words will not be unchallenged in the minds of his viewers.
Thanks for reading Mary Trump’s essay. I’ve shared it on Threads and BlueSky and hope others do too, tagging both The Daily Show and Stephen Colbert. I hope Jon Stewart gets a lot of pushback!
Not to sidetrack this important conversation, but I find your comment interesting. I’m 62. Many boomers like me who were born in the 1960s have little in common with those boomers born in the immediate post-war period. My childhood was way more Gen X than Boomer - our fathers weren’t WWII vets, many of us like me had divorced parents and a working mother, we grew up always having a TV, and we are way more tech savvy than earlier boomers. We came to adulthood during a time of stagflation and Reagan, not during the prosperity of the 1950s and 1960s. I absolutely don’t consider myself a boomer, and feel like “Generation Jones” describes us better. Obviously there’s a spectrum, and some of us might be more like earlier boomers than Gen Xers. I don’t know enough about Jon Stewart to be able to guess where he lies on this spectrum.
Yeah, sounds right. I'm a very early Boomer (2/46) but I don't act like one nor do most of my friends the same age or older.
Likely because of paths taken and choices made when young. I read a lot of sci-fi (anything really) when young, embraced technology early at every stage....transistor radios, short wave radios, TV when the mid sized city I lived in got it then later the first IBM pcs after working with Prime mini computers back in the very early 80's. So most of the people I worked with were young. That likely helped.
I loathed Reagan as President and before that as Governor. I didn't mind him as an actor....saw Bedtime For Bonzo at the local theater first run.... or spokesman for 20 mule team borax on Death Valley Days. Although later I wished he'd never come in from the desert
My brother and sister, both younger, have voted Republican their entire lives and only now are they sensing they might have made a mistake. I was raised as one but it never took even though I read Conscience of a Conservative the year I graduated HS ('64). 3 years in the Army during Vietnam cured me of that.
I'm hoping that my generation has lost its potency at the ballot box. I wish the next round of candidates to all be under 50. Boomers need to let go of the reins so Millenials/Zoomers can run the show. After all they have to live through much more of whats coming than Boomers or Gen X.
I am a Boomer and a progressive. I found a UCC church in my teen years that offered incredible opportunities for volunteer work. The religion didn’t take but the volunteering did; I got an MSW and spent 1974 - 2021 working to create housing and support services for people experiencing homelessness and/or disabilities.
Throughout my career, I met hundreds of Boomers doing likewise. Thus you can see why I am mystified and irritated that we are all being disparaged just because some are Forever Trumpers, greedy CEOs, etc.
KR, look up the Jones generation. It is tag-end Boomers and early Gen-X ers, especially those who are first-born kids (or whose older siblings are first-born in the same window).
Also, my older brother was born in 1957, while my younger brother and I were 1961 and 1962. Our older brother is very definitely in a different generation than we are. He was kind of tag end hippie, and we most definitely were not. And my younger brother and I strived more, and didn’t smoke weed haha. (Maybe those two things are connected lol)
President Joe Biden along with other true, decent hardworking Americans are busy getting
the work of governing done for us....NOT spending time fighting.
It is so easy for us to believe we are dealing with rational people when we are dealing with many who are part of a cult following or those who are only enjoying the power, money and attention they are receiving for the moment,
President Biden is not serving for his own glory but he and many others are daily pouring out their lives for our freedom....and many cannot even see who truly cares that we are "THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA....WHEN WE WORK TOGETHER, THERE IS NOTHING WE CANNOT ACCOMPLISH!!!" ....that is what Joe Biden believes!
One of the points in today's Letter is that, according to an informal exit-poll conducted by Dana Bash, Trump's loony behavior has cost him the votes of some members of the educated classes. If her poll is a good indicator, this loss on the MAGAt side could be enough to sink them in November. I hope other analysis based on more scientifically collected data reveals similar cracks in the MAGAt base.
When Illinois Gov. Adlai Stevenson was running for president in the 1950s, a supporter purportedly said to him: “Every thinking person in America will be voting for you.” Stevenson replied, “I’m afraid that won’t do — I need a majority.”
The problem is the undereducated and don't care to be Republicans. As someone pointed out here a while ago. The average IQ is 100 and many of the fools get their information solely from far-right media sites.
I have removed some information which was not accurate.
The basic literacy rate in the US is in the high 90s* The political literacy rate is far far lower. The ability to understand propaganda is lower than that. (I remember being taught about types of propaganda in 6th grade. I think maybe that needs to be reintroduced into the curriculum!) *basic literacy means one reads well enough to read a bus schedule, directions on a box, and a ballot
Kimberly- this is from world populationreview.com. There are several sites that report on US literacy rate with wide ranging estimates of basic literacy rate. I agree with you about political literacy rate and propaganda. And I was wrong about the Southern states having lower literacy rates. A more accurate correlation would be the larger population states have lower literacy rates.
I've also seen other statistics where it lists basic literacy (6th grade proficiency and below) at 54%. These statistics are like polling in that they are only an extrapolation of smaller samples.
U.S. Literacy Rates by State 2024
The literacy rate is the total number of literate persons (people able to both read and write) in a given age group, expressed as the percentage of that age group. The adult literacy rate measures literacy among persons age 15 and older.
According to the National Center for Education Statistics, about four out of five U.S. adults (79%) have medium to high English literacy skills. These literacy levels are sufficient to compare and contrast information, paraphrase, and make low-level inferences. This means that about one in five U.S. adults (21%) have low literacy skills, translating to about 43.0 million adults.
Of those who have low English literacy skills, 35% are White, 2% of whom are born outside of the U.S.; 23% are Black, 3% of whom are born outside of the U.S.; 34% are Hispanic, 24% of whom are born outside of the U.S.; 8% are of other races/ethnicities. Non-U.S.-born adults comprise 34% of the U.S. population with low literacy skills.
Literacy rates vary greatly by state and are affected by several factors.
The key of course is in the definition. In the early years of our country literacy was defined as being able to write one's name. Basic literacy- as I defined it- being able to read a bus schedule, the directions on a cake mix and a ballot (3rd-4th grade) is in the high 90s in the US. That is how literacy is defined in much of the world. Now, I will grant you that one needs much better literacy skills than that to be financially successful in an developed country such as ours. But no matter how you define literacy, rates have been steadily improving for over 100 years. Of course, there is always room for improvement. There is a lot of research being done of teaching of reading right now. (*Large states have lower rates most likely because they have the biggest populations of immigrants)
It’s true that undereducated white people are even more MAGAt than educated white people, but they are a majority of white people across the board. I think the problem is that undereducated white people are even more desparate to preserve their systemic advantages than educated ones. If the white working class had been certain that no advantages would accrue to black people, the progress made starting with FDR and continuing through Eisenhower would have kept going, and the US would br more like the UK, France, and Canada instead of on a slope declining to third-world status in income distribution.
Steve, I subscribe wholly to every syllable of your comment, except for your parting attack on Jon Stewart’s character and intellect. To clarify, for months, I painfully have observed D.C. political operatives circling the wagons, listening only to each other, and trying to persuade the rest of us of the focus and discipline Biden regularly sustains behind the scenes where decisive leadership, they submit, most matters.
This past Monday, on the inaugural return of “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart,” when Stewart appealed to those surrogates “to show us the tapes,” I viewed Stewart as expressing genuine concern about Biden’s ability, without a script, from the heart, to summon the focus and discipline to project, contrary to Trump who feasts on hatred and division, an alternate, admittedly arduous, path showing, particularly those who doubt Democrats care about the wreckage of their dreams, that a Biden team can work on legitimate issues and grievances.
I suppose my point, while perhaps not as readily transparent, is that Stewart’s concerns about 24 are no less urgent than ours.
Not sure why you're including Jon Stewart in your rant or why you thought it necessary to call him an idiot, but I'm sure he knows how important the outcome of this election in November is.
Ultimately it's the electorate that needs to heed the warning and urgency that this presidential election is about keeping democracy or giving it away to fascism or autocracy.
I call Jon Stewart an idiot because I read Mary L Trump’s essay about how dangerous what he did on Monday night’s show was. Please read it too and get back to me…
Horhai, It would be wonderful if "the electorate."..would "heed the warning" that Trump does not care about them, only about himself. His supporters certainly don't read these Letters, or listen to any news outlets other than FOX. They will not hear any criticism of Trump, and will not accept any evidence that President Biden has succeeded in bringing about improvements to help ALL Americans.
I heard a statement that is so true. " There are some people, that, if they don't know, you can't tell them." Can't remember who said that, but Trump's supporters will never be able to "know" the truth about how dangerous he is for our country.
We shouldn't give up trying to help them see the light, but it won't be easy.
You’re right about the Dem’s need to get tough and call out the Trumpers for what they are - anti-American. I watched Jon Stewart and was very disappointed. He doesn’t get it anymore. The election isn’t between two old men, it’s between whether we’re going to keep our democracy, as messy as it is, or become a dictatorship controlled by the plutocracy.
Jon Stewart's TDS first program was ageist. He had the camera zoom in on him so we could see what "old" looked like. Yes, he's aged. So what? George Burns at 100 was still a great comedian.
"Old" should not equal not OK to be president, or speaker of the house (Pelosi), or pope, or movie director (Scorsese), or businessman (Warren Buffett), etc. Poor health would be a reason. Old, in and of itself, as a disqualifier is prejudicial and needs to be called out just as racism is.
Don’t call Jon an idiot although I was disappointed by his first foray back on TDS. Dens still think it’s politics as usual. So do voters. It ain’t folks. Call them out with every breath.
It's all about power and the hatred they feel for the "other party", those non Evangelicals who believe doing good for every American, not just people who believe in a hateful God, thinking they're owed something for being lucky enough to be born here. That's true ignorance.
Remember when Rick Santorum and Ted Cruz were running for president? RS said,"They want you to send your children to college!" "You don't have to send your kids to college." Spoken by a true hypocrite. And a Harvard grad. I think that was when I noticed a real turn in the Republican party, keep our people dumb, wave the flag, throw in a few Dixie phrases once in a while. So sad. That's where the Maga base comes from, in my opinion.
At least many Republicans in the Senate are seeing that playing pure politics is dangerous for this country. I was hoping for some light, and they gave me some. On the matter of JON Stewart I was extremely disappointed with his joke fest with no mention humorously or not of the difference in TFP and Biden with respect to judgment. Sometimes jokes are just not funny!
Uncle Joe has a problem: there are not enough Democrats in the Capitol. Thus, he's not slagging the entirety of the Trumplickin' delegation. Because there's work to be done and that takes majorities. The rest of us are free to slag Trumplickins all we want, and have at it!
There's someone wrong here. All those - including President Biden - who are saying "History is watching" appear to believe the GOP actually cares about history... about "the" history of America standing for democracy here at home and abroad. The GOP only cares about power. Trump shows this to be true every time he opens his mouth. And many other GOP members do the same.
So... what is wrong here to me is that Biden and the other Democrats are continuing to "play nice" with the GOP. Rather than calling them out - with details from their statements and actions - for being anti-American threats to democracy, they act as if they can use "patriotic appeals" to change how they will behave. This is maddeningly divorced from reality. Doesn't Biden realize who he's dealing with at this point? Doesn't he know that people who want dictatorship don't care about appeals to protect Ukraine? He needs to call them out, so it's absolutely clear - including to idiots like Jon Stewart - that Election 2024 is about democracy vs fascism!
It’s time to call every person in Congress who voted against certifying the election what they are: traitors.
Next to make certain none of them gets re-elected.
Why weren’t they arrested 3 years ago? And McConnell could have stopped it and put us on the road to moral recovery. He kept the insurrection going making it look like normal politics. He’s a traitor and key leader of the MAGA WAR ON DEMOCRACY, not a patriot.
McConnell is craven.....all about keeping his power. America is lower down on his list.
Just think had the Senate voted to remove trump his political career could be over saving us from his insanity. Thank you McConnell.
McCarthy resurrected him and got kicked to the curb. Same with Ronna, when will his arse be kicked to the curb. Money buys loyalty, is Putin still buying him…
Will you include Sanders and Merkley? Sadly HCR doesn't.
They are addressing the whole of America, not the miscreants, setting out clearly what's so terribly wrong. As Dan Rather wrote when tfg got into the White House, "This is not normal, folks. It's not normal." If you don't keep on telling them, they'll forget what normal looks like.
Normal is tricky. Normal is what people get used to. We, on the whole, were used to slavery. Twelve US Presidents have been identified as slave-owners. Certainly to women have only partial rights as citizens. But yes, Trump and the "Republican" party is a gross aberration not only of precedent, but of any defensible concept of decency and just rule of law. The "Republican" Party overall has truly become a criminal organization. Like Trump's 91 felony charges, in many ways the impact of any particular crime is blunted by the constant barrage of them. It time we stop, hey what's that sound, everybody look what's going down.
JL Today’s ‘normal’ is that whatever monstrous thing that Trump says or does, many excuse it because ‘that’s the way he is.’
By contrast, decent, hard-working, patriotic Biden gets crucified by the media over minor mishaps. If a similar media standard were applied with Trump, he would long since have been barbecued.
Yes! Many Americans are so sick from drugs and/or overweight that they do not recognize the health of Biden. To them he looks frail because his weight is appropriate to his frame. Also he did not have a bad case of Covid.
Virginia @148 pounds with a full head of silver hair, I might look healthy (even vigorous and erudite), if I wasn’t using my walker or cane. AND I don’t have an orange tint.
I’m disappointed in you! Thought with your sense of humor you’d be wearing orange hair and appropriate Trump outfit (your choice). 👹
What’s that sound. The gurgle of us circling the drain. Ye hear that Heritage Society. Not the sound that you want, but a sound that you have permitted. Some normal is planned, some just oozes up through the floorboard as we are distracted by shinny objects, like celebrity of whatever stripe, like hate, like green (but no other colors, thank you).
And don’t forget SCOTUS with Citizens United to give corporations power to control US. When I think Big Ag, Big Pharma, AMA (yes, their greed led to Big Pharma and they are in league with each other), and the buying of the American education system to make it a job factory, I am sickened.
Oh, I never forget SCOTUS and all the "bigs." In league is an understatement.
The whole of America needs Walter back to blast them out of the Torpor that has set in. The most trusted man in America, long gone. Dan tried but was targeted by Rupert early on; now many people trust loonacy (Alternative facts) rather than our MSM, which disappoints more every day, as they chase the bucks (which would have been anathema in Walter’s day). You are right. Blast it to all THIS IS NOT NORMAL. Jesus would throw these people out of the temple.
Jeri, I am staying overnight at a VA sponsored (very similar to an extended stay hotel) house where veterans and their support person can stay when an overnight hospital stay is required.). I’m up at my usual 0500, and went to the common area to make a cup of coffee.
From the room next to us (audible through their door in the hallway) was a “newscast” being watched on a phone. About 10’ past the door I heard the door open and I was able to discern some Faux-like pundit bemoaning something Biden had done. Said person (the male half) followed me into the common area, got something, then left.
I couldn’t discern what was being said, but the tone and strident quality was enough to provoke either an anger or other charged negative emotion. It’s fed into their amygdalae every minute.
It is a new normal for them. I’m starting to see it in the childish memes showing up on my friend’s Facebook pages.
Ally, I have to wonder how fear-mongering right-wing media exposure affects veterans with post traumatic stress disorder. They are already suffering from an over-reactive fear-anger disorder. Feeding that disorder a steady diet of perceived threat and hatred for “others” who are responsible for unfulfilled expectations…. Seems to me a recipe for some individuals to have considerable difficulties in the regulation of anger, rage and reactive aggression.
While folks with PTSD are most vulnerable,
(Can’t edit on phone) While folks with PTSD are most vulnerable, anyone with a larger amygdala - which is associated with very conservative viewpoints - is also susceptible.
FOX, One American, etc. can (IMHO) spark explosive behavior.
And speaking of TFG, his increasing cognitive problems and rage behavior could be symptomatic of late-stage syphilis. While he proclaimed that he avoided STIs in his younger days, we all know that could be a cue that he didn’t avoid syphilis. My grandfather had late-stage syphilis and he became one very angry, explosive guy. Just a thought…..
Damn, isn't that certifiable? Well, surely such a secret could not be kept these days.
Marge, I think that is exactly why that medium is so freaking effective with that population.
Yep. That’s my belief. And I suspect it’s being done quite deliberately to provoke exactly this outcome.
We have a segment of the population that are on tender hooks. Best not to rile an "unknown quantity."
It’s what they want - Don’t Tread on Me. I realize avoiding challenging them just emboldens them, but I’m more fearful now that I’m old and handicapped!
Grammarnazi writes:
"tenter hooks" Look it up. Sorry sorta.
Watched such play out with my best friend's son (who was a pain in jr high). As an adult watching Fox he was angry and volatile about all the time, but with a smiling smirk that hid God knows what. I moved so glad I don't have to be around him anymore. Fox hasn't changed in all these years, nor has he.
The patriotic appeals aren't aimed at the GOTP zealots or their "base". They're all firmly in Donald's pants pocket and they're beyond persuasion. But everybody else needs to hear that the time IS now, and that how we respond will make all the difference.
History is watching right now but it will stop watching for awhile if Putin & Donald succeed. It comes down to us - It's OUR Republic only if we can keep it.
The “base” may be in the insipid clown’s pocket but all they are doing there is helping support his overflowing diaper, and doing everything in their power to prevent the leaking from becoming more obvious, the maggots are serving their useful purpose, and for some reason they are proud of it. 🤷♂️
So viscerally disappointed in the debut of the Jon Stewart Daily Show. Actually nauseated by him seeking self promoting laughs by equating Biden and Trump as equally incapable of governing.
Yes it sucks that Biden is old. But he has appointed intelligent cabinet leaders with integrity. And is Jon’s head so up his ass that he can’t see what the Biden administration has accomplishments despite the treasonous MAGA & GOP enablers!
Trump appoints incompetent, sycophantic useful idiots to deconstruct democracy.
Stewart is telling a large portion of the population to not vote… and that’s a vote for the end of democracy!
Jon Stewart, an idiot?!?
And I respectfully disagree with your belief that D's should play more like the R's because that bs game has already been taken. There are other ways.
I respectfully suggest you read Mary L. Trump’s latest essay. In it she explains why Jon Stewart is doing great harm (because he’s living in the past). She also shows (with data) how he harmed voter turnout years ago. (Edited to add link below)
https://open.substack.com/pub/marytrump/p/jon-stewarts-danger-to-democracy?r=2hk55&utm_medium=ios&utm_campaign=post
I watch Jon Stewart and was deeply disappointed and troubled. His show was dated and divisive.
And I respectfully hear you. I haven’t watched the brand new John Stewart show, but I used to love him deeply. And I actually subscribe to Mary’s Substack so I’m gonna go read her now. Thank you for educating me.
Thank you for being open to my remarks. Honestly, Mary’s essay was a real eye opener for me. Please let me know what you think of it. Good night from Route 66 in Oklahoma.
Of course and you're welcome. I'm a paid subscriber to Mary's page - first I tried to watch last night's Jon Stewart - I couldn't stand it! TUrned off after 5 min. Then I read Mary's page and yep, she's got it right - we cannot afford to give air space to the both sides argument - we have way too much to lose.
Oklahoma. Which town?
I watched it last night as well and felt rumblings of disgust at his smug comments and no good words about President Biden’s accomplishments. I hadn’t put my finger on it, but you (Melanie) did. You’re right. We don’t have time to give to his both sides argument. Thanks. Now I’m off to read Mary Trump.
Just read Mary's essay about John Stewart's normalization of Trump's behavior. One way to combat his dangerous rant is to somehow encourage his peers to call him out. Hopefully JS's words will not be unchallenged in the minds of his viewers.
Thanks for reading Mary Trump’s essay. I’ve shared it on Threads and BlueSky and hope others do too, tagging both The Daily Show and Stephen Colbert. I hope Jon Stewart gets a lot of pushback!
Exactly. John Stewart is 61 Still a boomer.
Not to sidetrack this important conversation, but I find your comment interesting. I’m 62. Many boomers like me who were born in the 1960s have little in common with those boomers born in the immediate post-war period. My childhood was way more Gen X than Boomer - our fathers weren’t WWII vets, many of us like me had divorced parents and a working mother, we grew up always having a TV, and we are way more tech savvy than earlier boomers. We came to adulthood during a time of stagflation and Reagan, not during the prosperity of the 1950s and 1960s. I absolutely don’t consider myself a boomer, and feel like “Generation Jones” describes us better. Obviously there’s a spectrum, and some of us might be more like earlier boomers than Gen Xers. I don’t know enough about Jon Stewart to be able to guess where he lies on this spectrum.
Yeah, sounds right. I'm a very early Boomer (2/46) but I don't act like one nor do most of my friends the same age or older.
Likely because of paths taken and choices made when young. I read a lot of sci-fi (anything really) when young, embraced technology early at every stage....transistor radios, short wave radios, TV when the mid sized city I lived in got it then later the first IBM pcs after working with Prime mini computers back in the very early 80's. So most of the people I worked with were young. That likely helped.
I loathed Reagan as President and before that as Governor. I didn't mind him as an actor....saw Bedtime For Bonzo at the local theater first run.... or spokesman for 20 mule team borax on Death Valley Days. Although later I wished he'd never come in from the desert
My brother and sister, both younger, have voted Republican their entire lives and only now are they sensing they might have made a mistake. I was raised as one but it never took even though I read Conscience of a Conservative the year I graduated HS ('64). 3 years in the Army during Vietnam cured me of that.
I'm hoping that my generation has lost its potency at the ballot box. I wish the next round of candidates to all be under 50. Boomers need to let go of the reins so Millenials/Zoomers can run the show. After all they have to live through much more of whats coming than Boomers or Gen X.
I am a Boomer and a progressive. I found a UCC church in my teen years that offered incredible opportunities for volunteer work. The religion didn’t take but the volunteering did; I got an MSW and spent 1974 - 2021 working to create housing and support services for people experiencing homelessness and/or disabilities.
Throughout my career, I met hundreds of Boomers doing likewise. Thus you can see why I am mystified and irritated that we are all being disparaged just because some are Forever Trumpers, greedy CEOs, etc.
KR, look up the Jones generation. It is tag-end Boomers and early Gen-X ers, especially those who are first-born kids (or whose older siblings are first-born in the same window).
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Generation_Jones
Also, my older brother was born in 1957, while my younger brother and I were 1961 and 1962. Our older brother is very definitely in a different generation than we are. He was kind of tag end hippie, and we most definitely were not. And my younger brother and I strived more, and didn’t smoke weed haha. (Maybe those two things are connected lol)
Yup, Ally, I referenced Generation Jones too. I think it describes us better.
More on GenJones https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/generation-jones-boomer-x-natalie-straight/
That was spot on. Thanks.
Steve Brant,
President Joe Biden along with other true, decent hardworking Americans are busy getting
the work of governing done for us....NOT spending time fighting.
It is so easy for us to believe we are dealing with rational people when we are dealing with many who are part of a cult following or those who are only enjoying the power, money and attention they are receiving for the moment,
President Biden is not serving for his own glory but he and many others are daily pouring out their lives for our freedom....and many cannot even see who truly cares that we are "THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA....WHEN WE WORK TOGETHER, THERE IS NOTHING WE CANNOT ACCOMPLISH!!!" ....that is what Joe Biden believes!
One of the points in today's Letter is that, according to an informal exit-poll conducted by Dana Bash, Trump's loony behavior has cost him the votes of some members of the educated classes. If her poll is a good indicator, this loss on the MAGAt side could be enough to sink them in November. I hope other analysis based on more scientifically collected data reveals similar cracks in the MAGAt base.
When Illinois Gov. Adlai Stevenson was running for president in the 1950s, a supporter purportedly said to him: “Every thinking person in America will be voting for you.” Stevenson replied, “I’m afraid that won’t do — I need a majority.”
The problem is the undereducated and don't care to be Republicans. As someone pointed out here a while ago. The average IQ is 100 and many of the fools get their information solely from far-right media sites.
I have removed some information which was not accurate.
The basic literacy rate in the US is in the high 90s* The political literacy rate is far far lower. The ability to understand propaganda is lower than that. (I remember being taught about types of propaganda in 6th grade. I think maybe that needs to be reintroduced into the curriculum!) *basic literacy means one reads well enough to read a bus schedule, directions on a box, and a ballot
Kimberly- this is from world populationreview.com. There are several sites that report on US literacy rate with wide ranging estimates of basic literacy rate. I agree with you about political literacy rate and propaganda. And I was wrong about the Southern states having lower literacy rates. A more accurate correlation would be the larger population states have lower literacy rates.
I've also seen other statistics where it lists basic literacy (6th grade proficiency and below) at 54%. These statistics are like polling in that they are only an extrapolation of smaller samples.
U.S. Literacy Rates by State 2024
The literacy rate is the total number of literate persons (people able to both read and write) in a given age group, expressed as the percentage of that age group. The adult literacy rate measures literacy among persons age 15 and older.
According to the National Center for Education Statistics, about four out of five U.S. adults (79%) have medium to high English literacy skills. These literacy levels are sufficient to compare and contrast information, paraphrase, and make low-level inferences. This means that about one in five U.S. adults (21%) have low literacy skills, translating to about 43.0 million adults.
Of those who have low English literacy skills, 35% are White, 2% of whom are born outside of the U.S.; 23% are Black, 3% of whom are born outside of the U.S.; 34% are Hispanic, 24% of whom are born outside of the U.S.; 8% are of other races/ethnicities. Non-U.S.-born adults comprise 34% of the U.S. population with low literacy skills.
Literacy rates vary greatly by state and are affected by several factors.
The key of course is in the definition. In the early years of our country literacy was defined as being able to write one's name. Basic literacy- as I defined it- being able to read a bus schedule, the directions on a cake mix and a ballot (3rd-4th grade) is in the high 90s in the US. That is how literacy is defined in much of the world. Now, I will grant you that one needs much better literacy skills than that to be financially successful in an developed country such as ours. But no matter how you define literacy, rates have been steadily improving for over 100 years. Of course, there is always room for improvement. There is a lot of research being done of teaching of reading right now. (*Large states have lower rates most likely because they have the biggest populations of immigrants)
It’s true that undereducated white people are even more MAGAt than educated white people, but they are a majority of white people across the board. I think the problem is that undereducated white people are even more desparate to preserve their systemic advantages than educated ones. If the white working class had been certain that no advantages would accrue to black people, the progress made starting with FDR and continuing through Eisenhower would have kept going, and the US would br more like the UK, France, and Canada instead of on a slope declining to third-world status in income distribution.
Steve, I subscribe wholly to every syllable of your comment, except for your parting attack on Jon Stewart’s character and intellect. To clarify, for months, I painfully have observed D.C. political operatives circling the wagons, listening only to each other, and trying to persuade the rest of us of the focus and discipline Biden regularly sustains behind the scenes where decisive leadership, they submit, most matters.
This past Monday, on the inaugural return of “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart,” when Stewart appealed to those surrogates “to show us the tapes,” I viewed Stewart as expressing genuine concern about Biden’s ability, without a script, from the heart, to summon the focus and discipline to project, contrary to Trump who feasts on hatred and division, an alternate, admittedly arduous, path showing, particularly those who doubt Democrats care about the wreckage of their dreams, that a Biden team can work on legitimate issues and grievances.
I suppose my point, while perhaps not as readily transparent, is that Stewart’s concerns about 24 are no less urgent than ours.
Emphasis Biden TEAM. So many forget that a President's choice of cabinet really matters!
Pat, In my view, while choosing well is necessary, it might not be sufficient, particularly when running for re-election.
Not sure why you're including Jon Stewart in your rant or why you thought it necessary to call him an idiot, but I'm sure he knows how important the outcome of this election in November is.
Ultimately it's the electorate that needs to heed the warning and urgency that this presidential election is about keeping democracy or giving it away to fascism or autocracy.
I call Jon Stewart an idiot because I read Mary L Trump’s essay about how dangerous what he did on Monday night’s show was. Please read it too and get back to me…
https://open.substack.com/pub/marytrump/p/jon-stewarts-danger-to-democracy?r=2hk55&utm_medium=ios&utm_campaign=post
Steve, yes, it needs to be read, thank you for the link
Horhai, It would be wonderful if "the electorate."..would "heed the warning" that Trump does not care about them, only about himself. His supporters certainly don't read these Letters, or listen to any news outlets other than FOX. They will not hear any criticism of Trump, and will not accept any evidence that President Biden has succeeded in bringing about improvements to help ALL Americans.
I heard a statement that is so true. " There are some people, that, if they don't know, you can't tell them." Can't remember who said that, but Trump's supporters will never be able to "know" the truth about how dangerous he is for our country.
We shouldn't give up trying to help them see the light, but it won't be easy.
You’re right about the Dem’s need to get tough and call out the Trumpers for what they are - anti-American. I watched Jon Stewart and was very disappointed. He doesn’t get it anymore. The election isn’t between two old men, it’s between whether we’re going to keep our democracy, as messy as it is, or become a dictatorship controlled by the plutocracy.
This guy - Steve Brant - has actually blocked me.
Presumably because he doesnt agree with my opinions. Bear this in mind when reading his.
Rather childish from someone so opinionated.
Jon Stewart is an idiot?
Really?
Jon Stewart's TDS first program was ageist. He had the camera zoom in on him so we could see what "old" looked like. Yes, he's aged. So what? George Burns at 100 was still a great comedian.
"Old" should not equal not OK to be president, or speaker of the house (Pelosi), or pope, or movie director (Scorsese), or businessman (Warren Buffett), etc. Poor health would be a reason. Old, in and of itself, as a disqualifier is prejudicial and needs to be called out just as racism is.
(I didn't write this)
Trump has 91 felony counts -- but Biden is old.
Trump vows to be dictator on day one -- but Biden is old.
Trump vows to put Latinos in detention camps -- but Biden is old.
Trump vows to let Putin invade our NATO allies -- but Biden is old.
Trump and MAGA Republicans are gearing up to destroy democracy and end constitutional order -- but Biden is old.
ok Judy, he is an "idiot", let's block him.
(Actually I didn't see that show)
I didn't use the term "idiot" as it is just a putdown and adds nothing constructive. I also don't want to block him, but his ageism is prejudice. .
I quite agree Judy, absolutely agree. I probably wouldn't use that term for precisely those reasons.
I was just following the thread and assumed you were agreeing with the guy who blocked me. You seemed to be supporting that oponion.
As I said, I didn't see the show you are referencing.
I see the beginning.
Don’t call Jon an idiot although I was disappointed by his first foray back on TDS. Dens still think it’s politics as usual. So do voters. It ain’t folks. Call them out with every breath.
It's all about power and the hatred they feel for the "other party", those non Evangelicals who believe doing good for every American, not just people who believe in a hateful God, thinking they're owed something for being lucky enough to be born here. That's true ignorance.
Remember when Rick Santorum and Ted Cruz were running for president? RS said,"They want you to send your children to college!" "You don't have to send your kids to college." Spoken by a true hypocrite. And a Harvard grad. I think that was when I noticed a real turn in the Republican party, keep our people dumb, wave the flag, throw in a few Dixie phrases once in a while. So sad. That's where the Maga base comes from, in my opinion.
At least many Republicans in the Senate are seeing that playing pure politics is dangerous for this country. I was hoping for some light, and they gave me some. On the matter of JON Stewart I was extremely disappointed with his joke fest with no mention humorously or not of the difference in TFP and Biden with respect to judgment. Sometimes jokes are just not funny!
Uncle Joe has a problem: there are not enough Democrats in the Capitol. Thus, he's not slagging the entirety of the Trumplickin' delegation. Because there's work to be done and that takes majorities. The rest of us are free to slag Trumplickins all we want, and have at it!