Trump’s White House website welcomes visitors with a pop-up that reads: “WELCOME TO THE GOLDEN AGE!” But on this heavy news day a year into Trump’s second term, it is increasingly clear that as his regime focuses on committing the United States to white Christian nationalism, the country is becoming increasingly isolated from the rest of the world, and its own economy is weakening.
The good news of the day are the interviews with Jasmine and James. Too bad they are competing for the same seat. Both would be better for US and Texas than Cruz and Cornyn.
Trump clearly fears Talarico. He's 8th generation Texan, his grandfather was a Baptist minister. His family was there "when we were still Mexico" in his own words. Even before this, he had recruited nearly 20,000 volunteers from all over the state and has refused all corporate PAC money. I simply can't imagine the FCC and CBS giving him a greater gift than what they did yesterday. What's the Spanish word for "estupido" again?
Both words could be applied to Trump's thinking about the economy too. Jeff Tiedrich did a piece recently and in it he showed the performance of the top ten stock markets by market cap. Just scroll down here and see.
Canada was number 1 and the US was number 8. Carney is a brilliant economist and is reconfiguring Canada's relationships with countries in the world. Trump has insulted Canada and until he changes his behavior he is being boycotted.
Even though all of our money is tied in the US, while living abroad, and we suffer from the dollar falling because our money has to be exchanged into Euros to use it, I am participating with a group that is organizing an economic boycott of Big US tech abroad. I would rather decrease the value of my pension than lose freedom by funding this regime.
We all face seeing our money, pension and otherwise, ooze away. The cretins are changing our financial systems in ways we have no clue about, and in many ways that are in your face. Be very afraid…
JDinTX, the problem with being "very afraid" is that it gives the insurrectionists of the white house toddler pool just another weapon against us. We need just enough fear to awaken our courage to demand better of our elected officials, and find ways to get Republicans out of office as soon as possible because they are very afraid and just let Trumplandia happen as it will. Not OK!
If you're looking for an index fund, ACWI would do nicely. I don't do index funds, but the company thst manages my retirement fund have shifted mightily out of US stocks, and it did well last year. The market still is the best place to park stuff, and Donnie dumbfukJr has wisely invested where the poor people gamble.
I hope we can get responsible management back before we hit a worse crisis than 2008
I'm not a financial genius, but I read a lot. I'm pretty confident that the financial crisis cake is already in the oven. It's just not done yet. But soon ...
I can't be more terrified, ever since field and meat-packing workers began being deported over a year ago when I saw food scarcity written on the wall. Although the people being nabbed are from Latino neighborhoods here in Philadelphia, it's just a matter of time (we have three years to go). I'm deathly concerned for the Latinos that work for my neighbor, a contractor from Columbia....
And while the Trump family crime syndicate moves right along with the attempted syphoning of billions of USD from the US Treasury, the result will only be the loss of value in the dollar itself. This is all a result of Trump's lack of cognitive security, as he stumbles along, possibly dragging all of us into a war that has no basis. As loathsome as some may feel about Iran's regime, they have every right to develop their nuclear program for peaceful purposes; their agreement for this NPT came under the Shah of Iran before the State of Israel was rattling its sabers. I now have to wonder if Iran does have the right to a nuclear stockpile of its own. Trump's Eurocentric malignancy of white nationalism and Christianity has everything to do with parking an aircraft carrier task force off of Iran's shores. His madman like behavior currently exhibited in the Persian Gulf, giving negotiation cred to two ill-prepared lackies who care only about their own wealth and their place in history is clearly a recipe for disaster. George Will, as conservative and libertarian as he may be, produced this 22-minute takedown of der orange Führer. One can disagree mightily with George Will on a host of issues; however, in this clip, he clearly hits the nail on the head. https://www.facebook.com/reel/1465159571787911
Patty, I’m sorry to have inform you that the video is a deep fake AI. Marcus was kind enough to inform me. Snipes.com confirms his finding. We all (well… maybe not all) got bamboozled.
The video link you posted from FB is a Deep Fake of George Will. It is generated by AI. It is good that y'all have been fooled, so you can better understand the threat AI poses to our society. FWIW, I no longer subscribe to FB and haven't for some time. Scott Galloway has posted a valuable list of subscriber-based oligarch-supported sites that you may want to consider cancelling.
Thank you, Marcus. I'm saddened to say that I was taken in. It's come to this point where we all now have to consult fact checkers such as Snopes.com to get any real story. It's possible that someone on the left of center ideology created this fake video; however, maybe not. It may well have been Russian invoked as well. Insult Trump and then blame the left for the fallout. Who knows? We've hit bottom when there are those out there that purposely create false information.
Marcus and Riad ... "Snipes" (dot com)?? Riad, according to SNOPES, there is currently no story there that the link you posted of George Will was a fake. ONCE AGAIN PEOPLE, BEFORE EVERYONE THINKS THIS WAS A FAKE, THERE IS ... NOO STORY ON SNOPES ... STATING IT WAS A FAKE!!
Wow, thank you so much for this link, Riad. Will's recital is brilliant. Nearly makes me want to cheer Wills. Too bad he didn't see this in the man elected in 2016, because today's man was really present in that man, and many did see that.
Beware the oligarchs like Musk who have bought elections in the past. There are still tens of millions of Americans that believe the lies that come from Trump and the right wing corporate media as well as the pulpit of hundreds of churches across the US.
One of the local contractors and I got into a heated argument about Trump back in 2020. He goes to a church in Bangor where the pastor is believes in the literal translation of the Bible, like the earth is only 5000 years old traditionalist.
The entire congregation is kooky. But they support MAGA and Trump. It's these weirdos that are the white Christian Nationalists that need to be "outed".
The several hundred ministers, priests and spiritual leaders that were arrested in Minneapolis-- for the most part, they are NOT the problem.
Thank you for making a crucial distinction between people who call themselves "Christian" and those who do the work of being Christian which is to love our neighbors.
Yeah. The literalists pick one or two passages and cling to them. It does something symbolically for them if they can all believe the same story. They leave out of their Bible James’ letter (“If you do not feed the hungry you aren’t doing God’s will.”) and all of Jesus’ sayings like the Sermon on the Mount (“blessed are the meek…etc.)and Matthew 25 (“As you did to the least of these you did unto me.”).
We owe so much to those citizens of wintry cold Minnesota. In the face of thuggish, organized murder they prevailed with their simple decency -- or complicated, multi-nuanced decency, utilizing songs, whistles, home-made placards, smart phone witnessing, and most apt howls of derision at Donald's newest, most-federally-militarized version of anti-democracy, pro-Epstein-class rapist, oligarch-suck-up Oath Keepers, Proud Boys, and Three-Percenters.
Phil, remember that description does NOT apply to all places of worship. Just the ones who have lost their way & signed up for the Nationalist way of thinking.
Exactly! After I posted the interview, a friend said she wished she had not already voted. Of course, being abroad we hopefully have all mailed off our ballots as soon as we got them. I got mine via email on January 31, and mailed it about 3 days later, after I had helped my daughter in another city with hers. She mailed hers by the end of the week. We have still not heard that it arrived. We have another month so here is hoping. Friends in France say mail to the US has been taking 5 weeks. That the mail in many countries has slowed down, like it has here in Germany too, and public mail is ending in Denmark totally, is worrisome too. It is also estupido, or as we say in German, "dumm!"
Actually “pendejo” means “ pubic hair” in Spanish. But, particularly in Mexican Spanish, it has become an insult meaning “idiot”. In other countries it can be less of a serious insult and I’ve heard it used to describe a young, naive boy in an almost affectionate way. The Spanish language is very regional and what is a normal description of an everyday thing in some countries can be a serious insult in another.
"The true way to practice Christianity is simple but not easy, he says: it is to love your neighbor. Political positions should grow out of that to feed the hungry, welcome the stranger, and heal the sick. “[T]here is nothing Christian about Christian nationalism,” he told Colbert. “It is the worship of power in the name of Christ, and it is a betrayal of Jesus of Nazareth.” Tararico's message is true Christianity. It is taught also in my church. I do not understand why Evangelicals support Trump and MAGA.
It is one thing to take advantage of people because they are stupid, which is what Trump and his toadies have been doing to gain support in the voting population.. It is something else to rub their stupidity in their face, which is also what Trump and his toadies are doing. It may turn out that Trump and his toadies are the really stupid ones.
The distance between Jesus Christ’s teachings and Donald Trump’s beliefs/behavior could hardly be greater. Trump worships gold, and abhors The Golden Rule.
I’m mystified as to why it’s taken so long for a James Talarico to come to prominence making a powerful case for Christians to reject the hateful right wing Kool Aid they’ve been consuming for 46 years now. It’s ironic that this incompetent President has inadvertently given Talarico a megaphone with a giant Colbert amplifier, and dialed up the volume to 10
In a much more subtle way, this was exactly the message that Mariann Budde delivered with her homily at the January 2025 interfaith prayer service following the inaugeration.
Precisely. And he made a study of not listening to it, before saying afterwards that she was the wrong person for the job. As I recall, the two wives gazed at the bishop, Vance tried to read his wife's face, Trump did everything but look at his watch.
Indeed. Separately, this is one of the big tensions in several of the major religions including Christianity. Essentially there are two common core themes: do unto others, and adhere to our version of the dogma and you will have some vague afterlife. The first is all about humility and giving, and the second is essentially a "what's in it for me" thing. Maybe there is no way around that, but it does lead to a lot of clergy choosing to focus on the latter message and all but ignore the first. This is one of the things I found so refreshing about Prelate Budde's message. It is a message which seems to be almost perfectly absent in the warehouse churches that have sprung up across the country over the past few decades, many of which have also abandoned the notion of a liturgy, perhaps for the same reason.
I wrote to her afterwards and thanked her for standing up to power, if she was here in Atlanta I would go to listen to her speak. I never heard back from her but I really didn’t think I would. That front row pew looked decidedly uncomfortable hearing the truth spoken. 🙏
Or today with the events this morning at Sandringham. If Andrew goes on to a public trial, a whole bunch more stuff is going to end up in the public record.
Also, former Providence, RI Judge Frank Caprio who died last summer seems to be the favorite subject of someone who is making AI generated videos of him telling stories on YouTube that seem to be squarely aimed at Trump without ever mentioning his name. The basic theme is "nobody is above the law."
Talarico was actually in the Texas State Legislature and faced evangelicals there. He was able to use his calm demeanor to throw darts when he needed to. I think he proved himself there and was able to make important specific points just by taking baby steps.
He plays it safe. I am wondering g if Paxton has worn out his welcome with a broad swath of the voters in Texas by reason of his ethics problem and publicity stunts performed in collaboration with Abbott. Busing of migrants to Chicago and New York. Barbed wire in the Rio Grande. Drowning.
Here's the question. Who is a greater liability to who ? Paxton or Abbott ?
It's taken a long time because many liberals don't have a belief system and view having one with great suspicion. I know this from experience. My friends are political and ethical to their bones, highly educated, thoughtful people but think believing in anything other than getting along with one's neighbor, caring for the poor, loving one's fellow- person, being honest and industrious, generous, obeying the laws of the land and fighting for justice is delusional.
I’m sorry that you think that only people with your beliefs have a “belief system “ as you put it. People like you look down on anyone who doesn’t believe like you. There are plenty of liberals who live good and moral lives and don’t need to follow anything or anyone to be good people! I find anyone who thinks they are better than others because they are Christians, Jews, Muslims, etc. extremely off putting.
Colette, with all due respect to the religion you practice and to you, I don't believe that Lauri said that only people with her beliefs, have a "belief system." She simply said that many liberals don't have a belief system due to the suspicion that religion is essentially imaginary. She never mentioned whether she had a belief system.
Lauri, your friends’ liberal beliefs are pretty much the message of that good young man from about 1 A.D. who walked the Middle East and whose legacy is being trashed by MAGA and the misnomers, the Christian Nationalists.
Certainly. As described by me, they are living lives that accord with the teachings of Christ and the saints of various religions. Yet, they are opposed to following any of those religions for fear of being brainwashed or duped. There is irony there.
With respect, we are not "In fear" of being brainwashed or duped - we simply do not find that supernatural framework convincing or believable. I certainly believe Jesus existed and I value the values he espoused - and I have no issue with what others believe. But not believing in God is the way I see the world -- what those of us who don't believe want to "follow" is a path of kindness, compassion, inclusion and understanding -- which are the foundations of most of the worlds religions - and don't need to be tethered to a Christian God.
Excellent description, lauriemcf. I believe "something" happened in that area of the world that led to the establishment of the Abrahamic religions we know today.
Could it be that it is because religion has been hijacked by extremists for their own benefit? What Talarico is believing in is a common human decency; which for most liberals, doesn't need to be part of a religion, but basic human ethical behaviour. But in certain Christian national groups it is not seen as such. When did rounding up children to put them in cages become part of Jesus's teachings, which is what these pseudo Christian Nationals think is OK to do?
Ligia, I like to look at the small bio of subscribers, and what they care enough about to pay to subscribe to (by clicking on the little blue blob to the right of the names)
I see you are fairly new here, and I wish to welcome you. So many good people here! So worth the "price of admission"!
There are those who have been brainwashed or duped. The most obvious of these are the MAGA crowd. All religions will have a fascist evangelical through-line. ISIS was as evangelical as a group of people can get. They even murdered for the sake of their evangelism. As an atheist, I see groups like MAGA and ISIS more of a mental illness than a follower of religion. Some break free; others spend their lives in misery until someone no longer can tolerate them. Anyone's attention for a peaceful religion is not my business. I won't decry religion as long as it proves its love for mankind which is what prophets are supposed to teach. Jesus Christ, in Islamic teachings, is not recognized as the son of God; however, his standing as a prophet is second only to Muhammad.
You say they are oppposed to following any of these religions...but in fact they are following the core tenets of those religions, Lauri. And that's what counts, that's what counted to the 'founders' of these religions. The deed is there creed.
Gary, you’ve done it. Never thought about the distinction, just recognizing that I got more and more “liberal” with every year of being an American. But it was my luck to be in UNC-CH in the 1950’s, in France during the Iraq War, and to have binge watched “Servant of the People,” the sitcom that lawyer-comedian Volodymyr Zelenskyy wrote that made him president of Ukraine.
My husband believed that “religion” was the source of wars.
Good point, Gary. I'd add that probably everyone has a "belief system"--even if is one like Trump's believing he is an expert on everything, and can do no wrong.
Personally, I've felt that people who are unwilling to even consider another person's point of view (or "beliefs") are actually weak. The fear that they might be proven wrong doesn't allow them to look at situations from another view. I've seen it in a "MAGA" friend--recently we met for lunch, and while she was MAGA-light before, now she dislikes Noem, Bondi, Vance, etc--but still likes Trump. God only knows why! I had to bite my tongue and find common ground, as I believe she is teetering and could become a liberal voter.
The perfect description of Jesus’s teachings. Just because you don’t label it Christianity or Judaism or another religion doesn’t mean it’s not a belief system.
It’s seems to me every war, every hate filled act, every corruption in the name of good faith, molestation of women, children, the least of these, have been based in, funded by, and carried out hidden under the guise of organized religion. I certainly do my best to adhere to the teachings of Jesus, but we are imperfect. All that judgmental nonsense seems very small minded and those who harbor such disdain, need to mature and indulge in some personal growth.
Lauri D, I take exception with your statement that "many liberals don't have a belief system."
I would argue that ALL liberals have belief systems. They believe in the principles you mentioned.
It's just that those beliefs are not tied to any particular religion, all of which are based on the existence of some deity, for which there is zero evidence. An unemotional examination of both history and pre-history would reveal that all deities are the creations of ancient men.
Given that those deities are manmade creations, it is inevitable that the belief systems formed around those manmade deities would be corrupted by men. And so they have.
Indeed "Creations of Ancient men." Created to control women. Seems to still be working, too. Trumps three blonds (dyed or not) are living proof. They worship their manmade god tRump. Week men also follow flake gods. All other gods have fallen by the wayside. The current one is being corrupted by both its leaders and followers. Corruption ends in disbelief and the death, of both the god and the worshiper. Religion is fine. Dogma? Not so much!
Ted, I should temper my previous statement to acknowledge that some people need a religion to help them be their best selves. If that's the case, I would not attempt to prevent them from relying on the religion of their choice. However, I expect that reliance on religion to be working as claimed. In a majority of cases, it doesn't.
Unfortunately, a couple thousand years of history show us that religion has actually enabled and justified people being their worst selves. Today's Christian Nationalists are the perfect examples. I have issues with people who refuse to acknowledge that reality.
ROFL.. not being Christian is not the same as not having a 'belief system'.
American Christians embraced the Evangelical decades ago. I was drummed out of the church of my childhood during the AIDS epidemic because Christians considered AIDS a "gift from God" sent to decimate the Gay population and I had the temerity to disagree.
American Christianity is the worship of hate, control and money... in other words.. perfect for Mr Trump... but never again for me.
Yep. That's me to a T. I'm a card carrying member of the Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF) and have long believed that religion is the greatest threat to civilization. Give me science and humanity in place of superstition and delusion.
It’s so great to hear more generalizations from a new expert!
Believing in the good of people, caring, acting on behalf of the many over self. If that isn’t a belief that humanity is better than what we have. You go on about your self righteous opinion Lauri D. Smh
Lauri, this is an interesting statement. I had a friend tell me once (we were college classmates until she left Oregon to finish her studies at a small college in Illinois that was her particular Christina denomination's "college") that I was the most Christian person she had met. She said that there, in that most positive and Christian environment, I would have stood out as one of the "best" by conduct and actions.
How sad Lauri! Do they have any old family history of settling in the US and getting help from well- meaning folks not looking for a reward for their kindness & good will?
I love that the Talarico interview has been seen so many times! LOL! It’s true that Trump is shooting himself in the foot, just not hard enough :-). And so many Americans are insulated from the actual news by Faux News.
It is why our forefathers insisted the separation of state and church. King George the 3rd used it also for power over the people. The fear of God so you shall behave to me!
Trump is Dathan. A traitor trying to encourage the masses to worship a golden calf. Ultimately swallowed by the earth when faced with truth, goodness and accountability.
We are nearing the end of our National "James Bond" thriller "No Time For Democracy to Die". Lyutsifer Safin and Spectre are clearly collapsing as the people rise up in resistance. Sanity is coming. No one wants Trump's lies, his abdominal syncophats and prison state.
This race will shape up to be a classic battle for control of Texas if Talarico wins the primary. A 10th generation Tejano versus a guy name Paxton with two masters named Abbott and Trump. Statewide.
Talarico is also a big name in Nashua, NH. Chevrolet, Buick, BMW, Cadillac.
The interview of Texan, Jasmine Crockett, was profound & substantive . Crockett was a litigator & will attend the Epstein deposition of the elderly money man Perp, Les W, in Pennsylvania tomorrow 2/18/26.
Jasmine Crocket plans like a litigator. Crockett knows how to ask the substantive questions during the questioning to create a body of evidence to attack the expected defenses of incapacity & pleading the 5th Amendment.
Jasmine Crockett has some serious work to do tomorrow. You Go Counsel.
*******
UPDATE: Wednesday 2/18 Afternoon Ohio Time:
Per ARI MELBAR's The Beat today over One (1) Billion dollarstransferred apparently back & forth from Wexner to Epstein.
The Les Wexner depo went into the afternoon, Ohio Time. The 88 year old Wexner did not pled the 5th to my knowledge. The deposition is took place place at Wexner's Estate in New Albany, OHIO where MARIA FARMER was sexually attacked by Epstein & Maxwell.
Several House Oversight House Representatives were at the depo including, YASMIN ANSARI & JAMES WAKINSHAW who are providing context & reporting substance.
WEXNER was a major source of funding of EPSTEIN's international-in-cope trafficking who now claims EPSTEIN was a "world class conman". IMO, an admission against Wexner's own personal legal interests.
A good president too. Clear out here astride the Continental Divide we can see clearly now her rising star. Sad to say the nation utterly depends on women while still clinging to gender stereotypes. I wonder what it would be like to invest in a future engendering equality. I was invited in to a ranch house when I was young. The Yeager ranch out there by Choteau Montana. Mrs. Yeager had invited me in for coffee. It was a family cattle operation of around 800 cows. She pointed to a chair at the long kitchen table and set out two coffees, one of which she sat down to. An awkward silence ensued. Finally she bridged the silence with “ What was it you wished to convey?” I stammered some really stupid response like “Shouldn’t we wait for your husband, Ma’am?” Even her skin color changed as she went from flesh to steel. I saw my life pass before me as she quietly turned me to ice with a stare. At the end of her silence in which she watched me squirm, she directed the conversation to the fact she had sent her husband and sons out to gather cattle and that if I wished to talk to him I should probably go out to the corrals and saddle a horse as he was somewhere out to the northwest in the foothills of the Rockies. Now I was a simple youth. I was just smart enough to realize I had burned my toast. In the parlance of western culture she explained that on this outfit she wrote the checks. As soon as she understood that I understood we started over. That was the high water mark for me. So, yes I see Jasmine Crockett.
That is good that you are onboard. I live in the Continental Divide of Colorado, and was raised in rural farm country by Norwegian-American daughters of pioneers. They made our communities and all of our civic functions work. The thought of deferring a conversation until the men got home never would have entered my mind.
See Bryan, inasmuch as I like Talarico and think he definitely has to be the Dems secret weapon in dealing with the evangelicals, it is Jasmine Crockett who I feel holds a strong key. Her questions are always succinct as she never falters. She frequently gives praise to her mentor, Jamie Raskin, and has only the kindest words to say about Talarico and vice versa. I completely admired her takedown of BonDEI, who looked pretty flabbergasted ,so much so, that she didn’t have a comeback.
I look forward to what the Dems uncover, if anything from Wexner. I heard his wife, who is also elderly, is handling the estate so who knows what state of mind he will be in. I have friends who are in their very late 80’s and one who is nearly 91. All are very lucid.
It’s going to be a fight to the finish between Talarico and Crockett. May the best person win.
There's a silver lining that we can't see yet. Bright lights like Crockett and Talarico are so needed that invention will deliver its gifts. Always good to remember the unknown unknowns.
Dems are short on best people. Why in heaven’s name are these two in the same race. Shoot yourselves in the foot, Dems. It seems to be your only target.
JD in TX, on the contrary, the Dems have a deep and wonderful bench! No shortage of excellent people and candidates. The DNC has no imagination and hasn’t a clue how to harness and utilize their energy. Otherwise we would be flying. But the people themselves? Wow! Just the other day in the comments, we were comparing notes and making lists of Dems to send to red states and parts of states to bring people along. Here’s one: Jamie Raskin, Mallory McMorrow, Katie Porter, Raphael Warnock;
Sheldon Whitehouse, Gretchen Whitmer, Ro Khanna, Robert Garcia;
Pete Buttigieg, Eric Swalwell, Tammy Baldwin, Amy Klobuchar;
Liz Warren, Jared Moskowitz, Josh Shapiro, Abigail Spanberger;
Dan Goldman, Gavin Newsom, Adam Schiff, Gretchen Whitmer;
JB Pritzker, Chris Coons, Jasmine Crockett, James Talarico.
Becca Balint, John Ossoff, Pramila Jayapal, Seth Moulton. Phenomenal! And this just scratches the surface. There are many more coming up through the states. I have been sending letters to the DNC for a year trying to get them to produce and back a shadow cabinet, but I think this idea of getting these people out there would be even better.
Great people but why so many races unopposed. Management is chaos. Repubs always have their “managers” who recruit, fund, threaten, cajole, and engage in more machinations than we can imagine. I appreciate ethical leadership but more is needed with evil (and they are these days) opposition.
Texas is deep in good Democratic nominees. The Repugs are running two candidates in the primary also. But why don"t I see criticism for the dopey Repugs for running two old corrupt white boys for Senator in TX? It seems like they are wearing targets on their backs and not their feet.
U have wondered about that for decades. Their candidates are either crooks, some litigated or some not, or moral imbeciles. And then there are the Trojan Horses. But Rupert always sanewashes..
I don’t think either candidate is “better” than the other. Now that I understand that redistricting has removed Jasmine Crockett (I sing a song to her to the tune of the refrain of “Davy Crockett, King of the Wild Frontier”), she had no choice but to run for the senate, as DC needs her, a magnetic lady lawyer.
Texas politics has a reputation for being rough. A telling sign is that the loser appears to be the incumbent, Corsyn, who is behind Paxton in the polls. Why ? The same reason these two have a chance. A real bad mood among the electorate about the national state of affairs: in Washington; Trump.
One factor in this will be what happened in central highlands last summer. The lack of preparedness. The slow emergency response. A sense of being neglected and betrayed shared by all Texans that is being reinforced by the dismantling of FEMA. It is what has made the Paxton Abbott act of hardy self reliance wear thin.
Talarico and Crockett would be est advised to deal with these issues, and with each other carefully. They should make Texans wish they could have them both. I woukd suggest a speaking tour in which they take turns beating up on the Paxton-Abbott team. Ignore Cornyn.
I only hope they don't inadvertenly destroy each other. We need them both! Let them both publicly commit to wholeheartedly supporting whoever wins the Democratic primary.
In a perfect (and possible) world, both Jasmine Crockett and James Talarico can thrive and win in ways that are more symbiotic than binary (win or lose). People will recognize their contributions, and both will be influential in ways We the People Need (beyond the borders of Texas).
Agree. Both terrific candidates. As HCR says, the likelihood of Talarico's Christianity appealing to MAGA carries him towards them. My goodness, he's impressive! And he quotes the actual words of Jesus of Nazareth as they are set down in the Bible - short, plain, unequivocal.
MAGA evangelicals want an end to progressive politics and Trump is delivering that, especially with the Dobbs decision in the Supreme Court. They have always been content to ignore his personal failings to achieve what they see as the higher goal. Is Talarico committed to the same goals as they are, and if so what is he doing in the Democratic party?
The white "Christian" Nationalists are not Christian in their beliefs. Talarico is in his.
Christian Nationalists believe in white supremacy, patriarchy, heteronormativity, and nativism (anti‑immigrant sentiment), along with support for a traditional gender and racial hierarchy. They see America as divinely chosen, so displacing traditional white Christian dominance with a pluralistic society is viewed as a moral and national decline. They want to establish Christianity as the state religion. Laws and policies should reflect “biblical” or “Christian” principles, often defined in conservative evangelical terms, including opposition to same‑sex marriage and restrictive roles for women.
Talarico was clear in his beliefs in the Colbert interview: strict separation of church and state, because linking them demeans both, toleration for all religions or none, feeding the hungry, healing the sick, welcoming the stranger, loving thy neighbor with no exceptions for race, gender, ethnicity, religion, or sexual orientation. "Forcing religion down their throats is not love." "Jesus didn't say anything about abortion or gay marriage."
Talarico says he believes in separation but if you listen to his arguments in the Texas state house, he quotes scriptures and bases his decisions on Christian beliefs. How is this separation??
So we're a Christian nation and his ability to quote scripture is being viewed as an asset. What happened to the separation of church and state? Do we want Christianity driving our politics. His faith is his business-not the business of our government.
The failure to understand that there's a whole lot of people for whom policy support from scripture is important is a good way to continue to losing to those who use scripture to support extremely damaging policies.
Virigina, that is good news. It is intentional that they are competing for one seat because Texas gerrymandered their map. Jasmine is better known to me. I would not know James if it were not for Colbert.
Along with banned books we now have banned interviews. This is straight out of Orwell's "1984" and Bradbury's "Fahrenheit 451." These authors understood totalitarianism, which is what Trump and his hench-women and -men are trying to create in the United States.
Gerrymandering doesn't have anything to do with the Senate. It just doesn't. This is a good old-fashioned Democratic primary. James has been running for sometime now, Jasmine is a more "Johnny" come lately. And although nobody's saying it, if Democrats nominate a very prominent, liberal black woman for the Senate in Texas, they can probably kiss their chances goodbye in November. Just saying....
Today, the NY Times published an analysis of how OTHER democracies handle redistricting (an analysis about 3 years late in the offing, but whatever). Literally every nation, save maybe Hungary, assigns the task to independent commissions. Any political party association of the foxes guarding the henhouse automatically disqualifies them, especially in Britain and Canada. An important read for Americans sick of what happens in their House of Representatives -- where partisan state legislatures choose voters for the national assembly, rather than the other way around.
Gerrymandering is relevant in this Senatorial race because Crockett's House district has just been gerrymandered out of existence. She's probably been gerrymandered out of her House job, so she turned to the Senate. I would hate to lose her voice in DC. Time will tell whether this black woman can win a statewide seat in TX.
Yeah-what a shame. There are so many comments about Crockett being qualified and having demonstrated herself in Congress, but skin color and gender are still the defining aspects of her candidacy. If we continue to think (and act) like she can't win, she surely won't. Open up your minds and vote for her even though she's seen as "a liberal black woman" which is usually regarded by too many people as a liability and impossibility in America the beautiful.
It's Texas. What can I say? I used to be a Texan. If you listen to Republican chatter (in small doses), they're not scared of her, they're scared of him. Move to where the fear is strongest. More power to her in whatever future incarnation she has though...
I've been pondering this notion that the Senate is immune to gerrymandering because of the two senators per state rule. My math sense has been trying to surface a "yes, but" all day, and I think I finally figured out what it was trying to tell me. Over the past year we've had several discussions about the nature of U.S. citizenship and the curious relationship we have with respect to the residents of the territories. I think a strong argument can be made that the situation with the territories is precisely about gerrymandering both the Senate and the Electoral College. That strikes me as being an affront to the whole notion of one person, one vote. Also, note that the District of Columbia is represented in the electoral college but not the legislature, at least not with a vote. What a mess we have created over the past quarter of a millennium! Oh well, it's just another item on a very long list of stuff that needs work.
After 2026, the other Texas Senate seat will be up in 2028. The primary filing deadline in Texas was December 8, 2025. No matter what, Crockett, whom I like a lot, will not be back in the House, which I think is a major loss there.
The primary is March 3. Early voting started yesterday. I listened to the Colbert interview with Talarico. He was really impressive. The last polling was on February 9th with Crockett ahead. Texas has a majority +1 run-off system in the primaries, with the run-off on May 26, 2026.
When Texas redistricted, it packed TX-30 as more heavily black and redrew the border so that Crockett's residence was no longer in the district. She now lives in TX-33. TX-30's primary winner will like be Rev. Haynes, who has Crockett's backing.
TX-33 is solidly Democratic with no high-profile Republican in the primary. Julie Johnson and Colin Allred are in the Democratic primary.
Some recent polling on the Senate race with the primary between Ken Paxton and John Cornyn, and the head-to-heads in the general election are in the links below.
Talarico is, in many ways, the perfect foil for Paxton, given the corruption and scandal surrounding him and his impeachment in the Texas House. Paxton was not convicted by the Texas Senate. The Texas Supreme Court dismissed the disbarment/misconduct proceedings against Paxton on February 13, 2026, related to his 2020 election interference actions.
Securities fraud, favors for a donor while having an affair with a woman who worked for that donor, 2020 election denier-related charges, and using his office for retribution against his personal enemies list. Twenty years of scandals and litigation as Attorney General of Texas. All while claiming to be a deeply, deeply religious man.
Almost more Trumpian than Trump with a helping of religious hypocrisy on the side.
This pisses me off about democrats more than anything else. Having two good candidates oppose each other is insane, and losing strategy. There are so many races that are unopposed., no excuse, Dems. Thanks to Colin Allred for saying no to this type of race. Wish dens would be WOKE enough to want to WIN and stop being “estupido.”
Texas is having a moment, with not one but two excellent Democratic candidates for U.S. Senate. To all of the Crockett and Talarico supporters out there, either one of them will make an excellent senator but only one of them will survive the primary. Congratulations to whoever wins the primary, but the real work comes between March and November. It’s incumbent upon the other candidate AND their supporters to immediately endorse and stand by the winning candidate. Working together, Crockett and Talarico (who are both talented leaders with bright futures) will ensure Paxton will never see the U.S. Senate!
Really, Virginia Whitney — I wish and wish that Jasmine would bravely change her mind and stay in the House! We need her! She is so articulate and so smart! She could run against Cornyn the next time he is up. And we need James in the Senate for the same reason! What a pair! What a tragedy that they are running for the same seat! Is there anyone in this comment section that lives in Texas and could reach out to them? They could meet together and decide what to do. This is such a tragedy.
Elizabeth Crawford, I learned that Jasmine Crockett was redistrcted out of her seat. My guess is that she was encouraged to run for the senate and the charismatic lady lawyer-congresswoman has taken it on!
Ah, that makes sense. Still, I so much wish she would run in the remains of her district and let Telerico go to the Senate. Cornyn must be up in 2028. They are both so amazing! I notice they are both running positive campaigns. What a gentle thing to do.
I think that Jasmine Crockett is no longer able to run in what had been her district because the Texas legislature carved up her district and that cut her off from her base of voters. I agree. I would prefer both in Congress.
Virginia, wouldn't it be great if Cruz would retire and both Crockett and Talarico could serve for Texas together? What a great team they would make on behalf of the people of TX!
Or how wonderful to multiple good candidates! Should one of them give up their ambitions, and not have the campaign to get all of their messaging out and their faces known? Should the black woman should let the lighter person with a penis go first because he's more likely to win? And if he "let" her have the seat then that would also make it clear to the rabble that she wasn't capapble of winning. (Or vice versa).
I am a 5th generation Texan (Three of my great grandfathers fought in the Texas War of Independence and my great-great uncle, William Depriest Sutherland, age 18, died at the Alamo in 1836) and I have zero religious beliefs, but James Talarico is the Real Deal. I really like Jasmine Crockett, too, but I am livid at her for jumping into the race to challenge James in the Texas U.S. Senate Democratic primary. If anyone can defeat the Republican U.S. Senate candidate, it is James Talarico. Colin Allred polled well in his race against Ted Cruz two years ago and raised record funds, but was soundly defeated by Cruz, who no one likes. The takeaway? People lie to the pollsters and it is a virtual impossibility for a non-white candidate to win a state-wide election in Texas. The Democratic National Committee needs new leadership. Jasmine should have never entered this race.
As a Texan I agree with you completely. I will say, though, that if we can have only one, IMO Jasmine would be the better choice, because she presents as far more assertive.
(Most) Republicans in power know a massive blue wave is coming. Keep up the pressure! Be LOUD 💔🤍💙
Use/share this spreadsheet (bit.ly/Goodtrouble) to contact members of Congress, the Cabinet and news organizations. Call. Write. Email. Protest. Unrelentingly.
Reach out (beyond your own) to as many in the Senate and House as you can. All of this is bigger than “I only represent my constituents” issues.
Here's something immediate --- and quite important.
On February 25, Trump's "FBI Election Executive" is hosting (or at least asking) all 51 state Secretaries of State (and Washington DC's) to participate in a White House "invitation...to discuss preparations....in support of the 2026 midterm elections." (Joyce Vance published this "invitation" from a person with a title nobody has ever seen before).
Don't bother with the House or the Senate (where the SAVE Act is headed for death). Call your state Secretary of State in your state capital, and demand they refuse to participate in this backhanded attempt to subvert (not support) election integrity. Remind them that state and local elections are THEIR responsibility (as laid out in Article I, Section 4, Clause 1 in the Constitution), nobody else's, and that they do not need to "coordinate" their activities with the White House, the FBI, or any other Trump overseer.
Prima facie evidence of the kind of chickenshit Klaus Bondi is throwing against the wall to see if it sticks. She is searching for the least guarded backdoor to "Brad, Brad, I just need another 11,780 votes...." Don't wait until after the election. Your Secretary of State needs to know what you think about all this right now.
I am well aware of the issues surrounding the SAVE Act. Again. Women are at great risk with this Act. I doubt you would find anyone in Congress saying this is a sure thing, especially the women. We will continue to fight this and other issues as well.
Some thoughts circulating on the Democratic Party these days.
""This message is for the members of Congress who are supposed to be looking out for us their constituents and voters:
Find a spine. Find a vertebra. Find some strength in yourself to stand up for this Country and the people who live here. You have a masked militia in the street murdering citizens who are doing nothing wrong. If you cannot find it in yourself to do something about that then please know we will find new leadership. If you think you are safe because you live in a non-competitive district, think again. We are not afraid to change our party in order to defeat you. We are not afraid to figure out how to work the system to get you out of office if you will not keep us safe. Do your jobs. Do it with an ounce of bravery. All it takes is a hundredth of the bravery that Renee Good or Nurse Pretti had. Do better or do a different job."
The state officials who are in favor of free elections should go! They can rise up in a body and say, “WE SEE WHAT YOU ARE DOING AND WON”T LET IT HAPPEN!”
I respectfully disagree (about what state Secretaries should do, not with the statement). Were I one, I wouldn’t dignify them even by my presence or a response to their letter. They’ll have their hands full simply conducting free and fair elections.
Thank you again, Heather, for isolating a central truth that should unsettle anyone who cares about the republic: the gap between triumphalist rhetoric and material reality is widening, and the cost of that delusion is national credibility. The claim of a coming “golden age” rings hollow when allies hedge their bets and global markets adjust to a less reliable United States.
Under Donald Trump, nationalism is marketed as strength. In practice, it functions as retreat. Trade brinkmanship, cultural grievance politics, and theatrical displays of dominance do not rebuild supply chains or stabilize alliances. They exhaust them. When long-standing partners begin crafting agreements that exclude Washington, that is not evidence of leverage. It is evidence of fatigue.
What makes this moment dangerous is not only policy miscalculation, but the insistence that decline is victory. Economic stagnation is reframed as discipline. Diplomatic isolation is branded as sovereignty. Facts become props in a spectacle designed to soothe a base rather than govern a nation.
History teaches that empires rarely recognize their own erosion in real time. They cling to myth while the architecture quietly cracks. Heather's warning is not partisan melodrama. It is a sober reminder that democracy requires competence, cooperation, and humility. Without them, slogans multiply while influence evaporates.
We are nearing the end of our National "James Bond" thriller "No Time For Democracy to Die". Lyutsifer Safin and Spectre are clearly collapsing as the people rise up in resistance. Sanity is coming. No one wants Trump's lies, his abdominal syncophats and prison state.
Policing Speech: Why Does The Far Right Attach To Culture Issues?
The Nazi Republicans have figured out that if they control the culture issues they then can control the politics It’s part of the Republican Nazi propaganda playbook of the current regime For this to be exposed is detrimental to their agenda so when CBS/Fox 2 refused to air an interview done by Colbert with D running for Senate James Talarico(https://bit.ly/3MBeCr1) Colbert’s team put it out on YouTube
As a Guardian article(https://bit.ly/49qifHt) discusses the far right uses seemingly innocent cooking videos or music to engender following the ideology of extremism Even using AI to generated material can be expanded to get out the message to various societal interest groups such as tradwives
So the short answer as to why culture issues are used as propaganda campaign ploys is “because it sells” A study being conducted in 6 European countries on the far right movement is delving into how the far right has used propaganda material on culture issues to “bring people along” in fostering a relationship with various groups in a population They have even started their own food delivery services
Here in the US we have seen similar far right approaches to latch onto various divisive cultural issues such as women in solitary domestic roles, diet issues because America is too fat, LGBTQ+ controversy and transgenders in sports, and even the childhood hits such as SpongeBob Squarepants and colored M&M’s promoted by such channels as the Fox propaganda network For example Fox Sports creates a following of NFL football as an entry point in order to bring the audience along to engage them on far right agenda items
But these issues are just propaganda to distract us from realizing they are picking our pockets, gutting our schools, destroying our healthcare while they give tax breaks for their billionaire donors, pardon the wealthy for convicted crimes and raise taxes on all the rest of us
The real fight is not right vs left, it’s top vs bottom
The last sentence is James Talarico's, spoken to Colbert last night.
The whole culture war is coming apart at the seams. MAGA Land is cracking under the combined weight of a thousand lies, pointless tariff wars, high prices, the Epstein files, the pay-to-play Presidency, the dementia, the abandonment of our allies, the total incoherence, the criminality, the incontinence. The Rube Goldberg contraption was never held together by anything more than scotch tape, hypnotism and fear. As the fear gives way to outrage, the spell breaks, the scotch tape shreds. You can literally hear the creaking sounds as the whole thing starts wheezing and flapping in the breeze.
Everything he touches dies. Everything he touches dies. Everything he touches dies. Everything he touches dies. Everything he touches dies. Everything he touches dies. Everything he touches dies. Everything……………
Epstein is simply indefensible (though some on the right are tryiing) but the lawless and sociopathic behavior of Epstein is more of a symptom than a cause of the corrupting power of oligarchic concentration of money that bought Epstein access to leaders be they unindicted co-conspirators or not, and bought him a wrist slap when his crimes were first acknowledged by the law. It is not a side of law enforcement the poor and powerless ever get to see.
How is it that we accept as a fact of life that wealthy lobbies can buy, even write word for word, law that serves the donor over the public that is regularly passed in Congress, or can frequently and effectively block legislation and policy that a majorities of Americans say they want to see enacted? Is that not patently government favors for sale? De facto bribery? To say nothing of the impact of increasing monopolization on the lives of the public.
The "Gilded Age" was not really golden for its brand of social and economic justice.
Amen the age of the Great Gatsby And we know how that ended Cheeto is Herbert Hoover and FDR followed and the Republicans were not elected to majority for 20y
Hello J L... How can We Believe in DJT's Golden Age when DJT has filed Bankruptcy 6X, and has squandered Billions of $$$... Is DJT focused on the incipient Climate Catastrophe, or the increasingly dire A.I. Catastrophe Warnings?....
You can gold plate a turd but it’s still a turd. Knowing the insipid orange turd it’s probably 8 karat or whatever number will give the sheen of gold without spending a lot.
Good Q, J L, on how "we accept as a fact of life" what the wealthy do.
But as it's a Q, my answer: most Americans lack access to the apt books, other arts, and essaying skills which could keep them/us alive, alert, and vitally vigilant against the ruling Epstein class.
DOJ is not the only place Epstein files are located. Many of them have been released and there are new developments daily.
Heads are already rolling in Europe. Here, not so much. IMHO there are degrees of culpability. Under state law there is no statute of limitations for rape. States should be able to subpoena all the redacted records relevant to allegations of rape that occurred within their jurisdictions.
Not so clear about pimping and pandering.
Companies and individuals who knew he was running an illegal honeypot operation and did business with him may/may not be culpable. But their records are discoverable.
Lastly those who obstruct justice.
Sen. Ron Wyden has subpoeaned Treasury Department records. Every person mentioned as a perp may have records.
Epstein is dead. His estate is a treasure trove. His lawyers have records.
Since Trump is mentioned thousands of times, I'd send him a subpoena.
I do think the Epstein files will be used to point most of the electorate against the Republicans and the "elites", neglecting to mention that some Democrats were in his circle as well. It'll be used as a launching pad for increasing taxes on the wealthy, and more spending on social programs. The 2017 (and 2025) tax cuts for lower and middle-income voters will then remain in place, I'd predict.
Sen Ron Widen has been following the money in the Epstein financial files held by the Treasury Dept. This needs to become public and it will be a tsunami.
Now, a month short of 92, I will not live to witness the resurgence of Our Great American Experiment. It will be immensely costly and challenging. It will be fueled by the grotesque machinations of the so-called MAGA revolution. Our compatriots for the last 80 years will do what they have to do. When we finally wake up to the reality of with whom we share the pathway to global sustainability, it will cost us dearly to regain our credibility. The alternative is global chaos. Let us do what we can to empower the young patriots who will inherit our gross failure and endeavor, yet again, to resume our trajectory towards a global balance that sustains life and productivity instead of destroying them.
Heather Cox Richardson is one of the essential voices promoting that trajectory. I will leave this world heartbroken at our failure and inspired by the young voices that will rescue us from default.
Let us be counted among those who will stay the course.
Al, never say never. We have to believe that WE THE PEOPLE have been hard at work holding our reps feet to the fire and that progress is being made. It’s slow but nonetheless, we are gaining ground. None of us like watching our dollar and jobs diminish but this regime is temporary. That’s how I look at things. My very best to you.
Al Bell, you never know! With luck, once it gets rolling it will go quickly. The repair of the things the Orange Menace has hacked up with his machetes will take longer. The rest of the world will remain wary but will welcome us back and wish to have us sane and among them again. Things will never be the same, but the new one may be better. But first we have to get a handle on climate change.
My brother, now deceased, had a drywall business. Almost all of his workers had a first language in Spanish and were grateful that he paid them in cash. Now, that would not be possible, with arresting and jailing anyone who has a darker skin and a non English language drying up the drywall business. The rest of the world is behaving quite logically in the face of Trumpian destruction. More power to them! The sewage pollution of the Potomac is overshadowed by the sewage emanating from the White House.
It has always seemed to me that Trump was replacing a political swamp with a poorly functioning political cesspool. Who knew reality would seem to be so similar to a real failed cesspool?
We are nearing the end of our National "James Bond" thriller "No Time For Democracy to Die". Lyutsifer Safin and Spectre are clearly collapsing as the people rise up in resistance. Sanity is coming. No one wants Trump's lies his abominable syncophats and their prison state.
All I know is if I were a Texan, I'd be supporting Talarico even though I'm an atheist. Love thy neighbour is what it's all about cause that means you care about the people in your community and by extension, your community. It bypasses the Us vs Them game that the Republicans and Democrats have used to erode our national political landscape over the past 40 years.
I am so disappointed in the Texas Democrats. Why oh why run Crockett and Talarico at the same time, losing each of them in their current seats in national and state governments respectively? We lost Katie Porter in California that way; we're now losing Jasmine Crockett. I strongly doubt Texas will choose a Black woman over a white Christian man in that primary.
Cornyn must be suffering from some self-inflicted wound. Both believe they have a chance to win or neither would run. Crockett is making sure to grab a lot of national attention. She seeks to capitalize on it. Talarico feels his time has come, he must step forward. And he has a strong grassroots base.
There is an obvious downside to this primary match up as you point out. But it has the potential to generate a lot of interest and goodwill. Paxton attacking Cornyn ? For what ? Not being loyal enough to Trump ?? There is your firing squad. Talarico and Crockett could have a lot of fun with this. Should be interesting. If only the electorate were not so set in their biases and craven ways of thinking, as you suggest.
Every day, we are seeing how America has stumbled into electing an administration whose only mission is to grab all of the power and money for themselves, and to do it using any means necessary. Making things worse, these people have proved themselves to be not only mean, but incompetent and, well, stupid. They have the most simplistic ideas about how the world works. They approach almost every situation in the same way: with a hammer. They will beat it, you, or anyone who won’t give them way they want, into submission. They are stopping as much of the government’s money that was designated to help US citizens as they can, and then taking it for themselves.
Those of us who are actively trying to save America must realize that these people do not want to go away, ever. They don’t want elections. They don’t care who suffers and dies.
We need to do everything we can to make people aware of how serious the situation is, and we have to educate them about how to resist. Most importantly, we have to protect the midterm elections. Trump and his gang of misguided fanatics are going to do everything they can to disrupt, distort, or deny the elections. They are very clear about it. Certainly, Pam Bondi will use the DOJ to break laws instead of enforcing them.
Whatever obstacles they put up ,we have to know how to knock them down. Stay focused. It’s less than eight months away.
MAGA didn’t win by being right; they won by being everywhere. For too long, the Democratic establishment left the digital field wide open, allowing lies to go unchallenged. Lincoln Square is closing that gap. In the past six weeks, we have saturated the social media landscape with 88 million impressions, reaching 60 million Americans with the undeniable truth: this regime is dismantling our country and the rule of law. We aren’t just countering their rules of engagement—we’ve seized them.
Your perspective and your warning is well taken. HCR has offered many examples of how our former allies are forming new alliances and forging ahead. The unchecked power and escalation of hostile acts by the US upon our former allies will not be soon be forgotten or forgiven. It is essential that the US hold free and fair midterm elections. In the event the elections do not correct the course the country is on, game over.
The irony of it all is not lost on me. One of the things conservatives railed about for years regarding Europe was “not paying their fair share” for common defense. There are lots of problems with that argument of course, but that’s a different discussion. The point here is that the US under this regime has gone completely off the rails, and is no longer trustworthy. Canada and Europe have taken note and have made investments in defense, and created new economic agreements amongst themselves and with other countries, that require no dependence on US support. They are just getting started, too. The United States finds itself increasingly alone in the world and it will for quite some time, even after the current era of madness ends.
Chris-Isn't it ironic that the 1% of wealthy people in America (including the incumbent president) don't pay their own "fair share" of taxes for our defense?
It will be hard if not impossible to win back the position we earned in WWII. The rise of the Christian Nationalists will, I fear, result in Civil War II. I'll be on "team blue", even as I approach my 7th decade.
I think the civil war is already being waged. It’s a Cold War (mostly) right now but it may become hot at some point unless some sane heads step forward.
I certainly watched last night’s interview with Talarico! I’m in TX and early voting started today. I also love Talarico’s adversary, Jasmine Crockett! She is a Texas treasure!
Colbert talked about the mess within CBS in tonight’s episode, and it was hilarious! You cannot fire someone and leave them in a position to criticize the network! Again, hilarious!! The lawyers letter explaining things got crushed, dumped in a doggie bag and dropped in the trash!
I’ll continue to watch Colbert until he’s gone and then CBS is dead to me…..
Jasmine is great but as a longtime Texan I don’t think she would get elected statewide. We absolutely need to peel off the independents and (normie) Republicans, plus the increasingly uncomfortable evangelical women, to win this election. I’ve been watching Talarico for several years and I think he’s the one who could do it. It’s gonna be really hard to argue that he doesn’t love Jesus, which a lot of Texans see as their first priority in a political candidate.
He talks about Jesus as if he'd been chatting with him. Just the basics. Utterly convincing. Look up Matthew 4:8-10, and Luke 4:5-7 - Donald J Trump might like to post them on Truth Social, as a comparison with what he did when placed in the same situation (thank you for your attention to this matter).
Because, unfortunately, too many of the Good Ol’ Boys will not vote for a black woman, ever. I’m hoping that picture will change as my generation shuffles off, but for now it’s just the way it is. I should have said that loving Jesus, being male, and preferably white, were decisive factors for many Texans.
Talarico and Jasmine Crockett are both great candidates, wish they weren’t running against each other. But as long as one of them can win Cornyn’s senate seat that’s what matters most.
Saw Colbert last night too and he crushed it alright. CBS is becoming Russian (Trumpian)state television and I won’t be watching it anymore after May when Colbert is forced to leave.
This time feels like when, right before a storm, the air fills with static electricity, your hair stands on end and you just know lightening is about to strike.
That actually happened to a good friend of mine, who grasped the significance enough to run off to top of the tall Colorado sand dune they were exploring before the lightning struck.
JL, I have a friend who was driving through a thunderstorm (windows down before the rain hit) and had a lightning strike hit something that changed the direction 90 degrees and when right though her car, hitting her in the process; lots of the energy had dissipated, but she has had some interesting symptoms following.
CBS is carrying out the orders of talentless nepobaby David Ellison (go check out "F;yboys" to see him in the most wooden wooden performance ever put on film). That order is to "performatively surrender ahead of time to everything said by daddy's buddy Dilbert.
We need a 100% wealth tax on all income an property regardless of location over $1 billion. Bam - no more billionaires. Their ancestors did just fine 70 years ago under Eisenhower taxes that were 90% on income over $60k - they were still rich. The uppr class needs to get a haircut every generation.
From HCR's book entitled "To Make Men Free: A History of the Republican Party (2014): Wealthy men came to control government by working with lawmakers who shared their values and influencing voters by buying the channels through which they got information....By 1854, when southern slaveholders, who made up about 1% of the population, came to control the White House, the Senate, and the Supreme Court, they pushed to establish their program as the law of the land" (pp. 5-6).
The more things change, the more they stay the same....America is "dying" because real change is needed if we truly believe in justice and equality for all.
Elect an idiot, get an idiocracy. If he is also a fascist, you get idiofascism. If that idiot surrounds himself with shitheads, you get a kakistocracy.
The Federal Government is going to need the biggest purge in the history of the United States.
I’d always heard that Stalin was written out of the history books in the USSR after his death. After all the purges, the famines in Ukraine, ruling with an iron fist in the iron curtain, he was edited out of the books and history of the Soviet empire for killing more of his own citizens than the Nazis did.
Trump has defiled our Nation, run roughshod over the Constitution and the rule of law, caused chaos, friction and ill will around the world instead of goodwill, stability and alliances. He should get the Stalin treatment too but let history judge him for the grifting, treasonous charlatan that he is.
He was certainly demoted -- until the Putin era of course, since Putin finds that awful cult of blood and terror useful for his genocide against Ukraine. The one who was truly written out was former NKVD Chief Lavrenty Beria. When he was shot in 1953 I think, the Great Soviet Encyclopedia came out with a 15-page article all about the "Bering Strait." The writers truly had to be imaginative to figure out how to substitute the ripped-out Beria pages with treatises on geography....
By tonight, the James Talarico interview has been seen by about 5 million people on YouTube. It will probably be double that number by tomorrow. Tonight, Talarico's campaign is reporting donations surging from literally all over the country.
When I think of these people, the words....ot-nay, oo-tay, ight-bray come to mind (why, I don't know). Such amazingly clueless fuck-upery and wormtonguery. Thank you, FCC and CBS for doing everything you do to flip Texas BLUE! 💙
Are you telling me that trump has not made America great again???!!! Oh!! Say it isn't so!!! But he promised, he promised! Do you mean to tell me we can't trust what the president of the United States says???? (I trust you can see & feel the sarcasm bursting forth from that statement!?)
So, we are indeed America Alone. Great job! We went from being a world leader to a world pariah!
My mom told me we would rot from within & she was right though I think that there is an equal amount of rot & attack from within plaguing this nation.
We've got a lot of work to do, a lot, but hopefully Churchill was right when he said "eventually Americans do the right thing."
Speaking of Churchill, wouldn't he be appalled to see what is happening to us now? I wonder how he would handle trump?
Are there any Churchill experts out there that could tell us?
The big lie for the last four plus decades has been that government of, buy, and for the people is a pathetic joke and that the wealthy are the natural leaders and benefactors of any society. Warmed over feudalism, sans noblesse oblige.
Texas has always been a truly odd, quirky state. Its politics once sent Ann Richards to the statehouse as Governor. It then turned around and gave a Senate seat to a beady-eyed Pillsbury Doughboy in need of a shave who literally makes everybody's skin crawl when he opens his mouth.
This year, Democrats are fielding candidates in every single district in the Legislature. Tens of thousands of volunteers have already signed up to Talarico's campaign. Methinks this is the year when the yellow rose of Texas gets dyed blue again.
Whether it is Crocket or Talarico who wins, I hope that Talarico’s message about what it really means to be Christian reaches people who most need to hear it.
Some may be interested in this recent 2/15/26 interview of President Barack Obama on YouTube by Brian Tyler Cohen. Obama does most of the talking and it is very informative and probably historic.
And if you are planning on voting, you will be interested in the interview of US Representative Greg Landsman by prominent voting rights lawyer Marc Elias on 2/17/26 where they discuss the “Save America Act” and the effects of its passage (It was just passed by the US House of Representatives).
Republicans PLOTTING to Make It Impossible to Vote | Rep. Greg Landsman - YouTube
The good news of the day are the interviews with Jasmine and James. Too bad they are competing for the same seat. Both would be better for US and Texas than Cruz and Cornyn.
Trump clearly fears Talarico. He's 8th generation Texan, his grandfather was a Baptist minister. His family was there "when we were still Mexico" in his own words. Even before this, he had recruited nearly 20,000 volunteers from all over the state and has refused all corporate PAC money. I simply can't imagine the FCC and CBS giving him a greater gift than what they did yesterday. What's the Spanish word for "estupido" again?
Loco? No, that's Trump.
Ellison.
Anne-Louise as in Tsar-a-Loco in Florida.
The Spanish word is “estupido”. That sums up so many things right now. But another Spanish word that could be used is; “peligroso”.
Both words could be applied to Trump's thinking about the economy too. Jeff Tiedrich did a piece recently and in it he showed the performance of the top ten stock markets by market cap. Just scroll down here and see.
https://open.substack.com/pub/jefftiedrich/p/shitwits-nitwits-and-fuckwits-your?utm_campaign=post-expanded-share&utm_medium=web
Canada was number 1 and the US was number 8. Carney is a brilliant economist and is reconfiguring Canada's relationships with countries in the world. Trump has insulted Canada and until he changes his behavior he is being boycotted.
Even though all of our money is tied in the US, while living abroad, and we suffer from the dollar falling because our money has to be exchanged into Euros to use it, I am participating with a group that is organizing an economic boycott of Big US tech abroad. I would rather decrease the value of my pension than lose freedom by funding this regime.
We all face seeing our money, pension and otherwise, ooze away. The cretins are changing our financial systems in ways we have no clue about, and in many ways that are in your face. Be very afraid…
JDinTX, the problem with being "very afraid" is that it gives the insurrectionists of the white house toddler pool just another weapon against us. We need just enough fear to awaken our courage to demand better of our elected officials, and find ways to get Republicans out of office as soon as possible because they are very afraid and just let Trumplandia happen as it will. Not OK!
Rather than afraid, I'm @#$$%^&ing furious. However, Congress—the only group that could really help—is beyond useless.
Just enough fear, I have that much, but am not immobilized
“But the stock market hit $50,000” according to Bondi!
Unfortunately feeds the blonde jokes stereotype.
Apparently the business community remembers 2008 and relishes more of the same, or worse…
Yes, the Dow hit 50,000, and if Kamala Harris were POTUS today, it would be at 60,000.
🤣🤣🤣🤬
Not to mention outright stealing from us.
If you're looking for an index fund, ACWI would do nicely. I don't do index funds, but the company thst manages my retirement fund have shifted mightily out of US stocks, and it did well last year. The market still is the best place to park stuff, and Donnie dumbfukJr has wisely invested where the poor people gamble.
I hope we can get responsible management back before we hit a worse crisis than 2008
I'm not a financial genius, but I read a lot. I'm pretty confident that the financial crisis cake is already in the oven. It's just not done yet. But soon ...
I can't be more terrified, ever since field and meat-packing workers began being deported over a year ago when I saw food scarcity written on the wall. Although the people being nabbed are from Latino neighborhoods here in Philadelphia, it's just a matter of time (we have three years to go). I'm deathly concerned for the Latinos that work for my neighbor, a contractor from Columbia....
We can make up our losses in the prediction market :-)
The prediction market, really…
And while the Trump family crime syndicate moves right along with the attempted syphoning of billions of USD from the US Treasury, the result will only be the loss of value in the dollar itself. This is all a result of Trump's lack of cognitive security, as he stumbles along, possibly dragging all of us into a war that has no basis. As loathsome as some may feel about Iran's regime, they have every right to develop their nuclear program for peaceful purposes; their agreement for this NPT came under the Shah of Iran before the State of Israel was rattling its sabers. I now have to wonder if Iran does have the right to a nuclear stockpile of its own. Trump's Eurocentric malignancy of white nationalism and Christianity has everything to do with parking an aircraft carrier task force off of Iran's shores. His madman like behavior currently exhibited in the Persian Gulf, giving negotiation cred to two ill-prepared lackies who care only about their own wealth and their place in history is clearly a recipe for disaster. George Will, as conservative and libertarian as he may be, produced this 22-minute takedown of der orange Führer. One can disagree mightily with George Will on a host of issues; however, in this clip, he clearly hits the nail on the head. https://www.facebook.com/reel/1465159571787911
Riad, thanks for sharing this video! Excellent and if you are part of the resistance well worth your time to watch.
Patty, I’m sorry to have inform you that the video is a deep fake AI. Marcus was kind enough to inform me. Snipes.com confirms his finding. We all (well… maybe not all) got bamboozled.
The video link you posted from FB is a Deep Fake of George Will. It is generated by AI. It is good that y'all have been fooled, so you can better understand the threat AI poses to our society. FWIW, I no longer subscribe to FB and haven't for some time. Scott Galloway has posted a valuable list of subscriber-based oligarch-supported sites that you may want to consider cancelling.
Frightening- how do we know what is real anymore? How did you know it was fake?
Thank you, Marcus. I'm saddened to say that I was taken in. It's come to this point where we all now have to consult fact checkers such as Snopes.com to get any real story. It's possible that someone on the left of center ideology created this fake video; however, maybe not. It may well have been Russian invoked as well. Insult Trump and then blame the left for the fallout. Who knows? We've hit bottom when there are those out there that purposely create false information.
Marcus and Riad ... "Snipes" (dot com)?? Riad, according to SNOPES, there is currently no story there that the link you posted of George Will was a fake. ONCE AGAIN PEOPLE, BEFORE EVERYONE THINKS THIS WAS A FAKE, THERE IS ... NOO STORY ON SNOPES ... STATING IT WAS A FAKE!!
Great video! A must share!
Agree 100% Jennifer. This video needs to go viral! I have shared the link with numerous contacts. Also, thanks Riad!
Wow, thank you so much for this link, Riad. Will's recital is brilliant. Nearly makes me want to cheer Wills. Too bad he didn't see this in the man elected in 2016, because today's man was really present in that man, and many did see that.
Donna, as you may have read, the video is a deep fake. Marcus rooted this out for all of us. I apologize for any discomfort.
It is a fake!- as many others have said. Cortney's caps remarks should stop. Please.
Marcus say it's a deep fake.
Thank you very much for that link. I haven't EVER agreed with George Will until I watched this excellent piece from Mr. Will. Well worth the time!
It is a deepfake. Good news, you can continue not to agree with anything the "real" George Will says.
Thank you, Linda, for putting the common good above your own financial interests. THAT is patriotism.
Thank you, Linda!
Beware the oligarchs like Musk who have bought elections in the past. There are still tens of millions of Americans that believe the lies that come from Trump and the right wing corporate media as well as the pulpit of hundreds of churches across the US.
". . . churches," G J?
Or tax-free founts of hatred, intolerance, cruelty, and pro-ICE-&-CBP murders?
One of the local contractors and I got into a heated argument about Trump back in 2020. He goes to a church in Bangor where the pastor is believes in the literal translation of the Bible, like the earth is only 5000 years old traditionalist.
The entire congregation is kooky. But they support MAGA and Trump. It's these weirdos that are the white Christian Nationalists that need to be "outed".
The several hundred ministers, priests and spiritual leaders that were arrested in Minneapolis-- for the most part, they are NOT the problem.
GJ:
Thank you for making a crucial distinction between people who call themselves "Christian" and those who do the work of being Christian which is to love our neighbors.
Yeah. The literalists pick one or two passages and cling to them. It does something symbolically for them if they can all believe the same story. They leave out of their Bible James’ letter (“If you do not feed the hungry you aren’t doing God’s will.”) and all of Jesus’ sayings like the Sermon on the Mount (“blessed are the meek…etc.)and Matthew 25 (“As you did to the least of these you did unto me.”).
Yes, GJ, yes. Absolutely understood.
We owe so much to those citizens of wintry cold Minnesota. In the face of thuggish, organized murder they prevailed with their simple decency -- or complicated, multi-nuanced decency, utilizing songs, whistles, home-made placards, smart phone witnessing, and most apt howls of derision at Donald's newest, most-federally-militarized version of anti-democracy, pro-Epstein-class rapist, oligarch-suck-up Oath Keepers, Proud Boys, and Three-Percenters.
GJ, it hurts my heart to hear about the Bangor church's beliefs. There will be a lot of gnashing of teeth & moaning when their day comes.
Bingo, Phil!
Phil, remember that description does NOT apply to all places of worship. Just the ones who have lost their way & signed up for the Nationalist way of thinking.
Exactly! After I posted the interview, a friend said she wished she had not already voted. Of course, being abroad we hopefully have all mailed off our ballots as soon as we got them. I got mine via email on January 31, and mailed it about 3 days later, after I had helped my daughter in another city with hers. She mailed hers by the end of the week. We have still not heard that it arrived. We have another month so here is hoping. Friends in France say mail to the US has been taking 5 weeks. That the mail in many countries has slowed down, like it has here in Germany too, and public mail is ending in Denmark totally, is worrisome too. It is also estupido, or as we say in German, "dumm!"
If that isn’t the final take of this all, Linda ..🤦♀️
Thanks for the laugh...
IN DEEDS !
Juan a Bobo from Puerto Rican slang. Or, Donald John, el idiota.
Thanks for the chuckle, and yes, you nailed the Spanish word for stupid.
Talarico opposes anti-white Christian nationalism and the most extreme supporters of Trump.
I think "pendejo" is what you're looking for.
Actually “pendejo” means “ pubic hair” in Spanish. But, particularly in Mexican Spanish, it has become an insult meaning “idiot”. In other countries it can be less of a serious insult and I’ve heard it used to describe a young, naive boy in an almost affectionate way. The Spanish language is very regional and what is a normal description of an everyday thing in some countries can be a serious insult in another.
MAGA
🤣
It's Come to This, maybe it's Estupido grande!
Its a passive form of expression. As in stupor. Try "tonto". Los amantes de Teruel. Tonta Ella. Y tonto el. Suggest a more active form of stupidity.
Native Spanish speaker here. I’ve always used “tonto” as “silly”. Trump is definitely more than “tonto” in my mind.
Although I love Crockett's fire, I love how Talarico calls out Christian hypocrisy, Jesus' biggest pet peeves....
Sophia, a very difficult choice for Texan's.
"The true way to practice Christianity is simple but not easy, he says: it is to love your neighbor. Political positions should grow out of that to feed the hungry, welcome the stranger, and heal the sick. “[T]here is nothing Christian about Christian nationalism,” he told Colbert. “It is the worship of power in the name of Christ, and it is a betrayal of Jesus of Nazareth.” Tararico's message is true Christianity. It is taught also in my church. I do not understand why Evangelicals support Trump and MAGA.
Possibly because they're not really Christians? Just a guess.... 😜
Hiro, is the "prosperity doctrine" they believe in that makes them think T is preaching gospel??
It is one thing to take advantage of people because they are stupid, which is what Trump and his toadies have been doing to gain support in the voting population.. It is something else to rub their stupidity in their face, which is also what Trump and his toadies are doing. It may turn out that Trump and his toadies are the really stupid ones.
T fears what he cannot control or change into his image. Any Godly person has T fearing eternal damnation ICTT.
Anything supporting Donald Trump is supporting pedophilia, perversion, violence and corruption. Evil.
No Texas fears the cultist, Talarico.
He will follow the path of Beeto and get nowhere.
The distance between Jesus Christ’s teachings and Donald Trump’s beliefs/behavior could hardly be greater. Trump worships gold, and abhors The Golden Rule.
I’m mystified as to why it’s taken so long for a James Talarico to come to prominence making a powerful case for Christians to reject the hateful right wing Kool Aid they’ve been consuming for 46 years now. It’s ironic that this incompetent President has inadvertently given Talarico a megaphone with a giant Colbert amplifier, and dialed up the volume to 10
In a much more subtle way, this was exactly the message that Mariann Budde delivered with her homily at the January 2025 interfaith prayer service following the inaugeration.
Thank you for circling back to that. It’s true.
Precisely. And he made a study of not listening to it, before saying afterwards that she was the wrong person for the job. As I recall, the two wives gazed at the bishop, Vance tried to read his wife's face, Trump did everything but look at his watch.
Indeed. Separately, this is one of the big tensions in several of the major religions including Christianity. Essentially there are two common core themes: do unto others, and adhere to our version of the dogma and you will have some vague afterlife. The first is all about humility and giving, and the second is essentially a "what's in it for me" thing. Maybe there is no way around that, but it does lead to a lot of clergy choosing to focus on the latter message and all but ignore the first. This is one of the things I found so refreshing about Prelate Budde's message. It is a message which seems to be almost perfectly absent in the warehouse churches that have sprung up across the country over the past few decades, many of which have also abandoned the notion of a liturgy, perhaps for the same reason.
I wrote to her afterwards and thanked her for standing up to power, if she was here in Atlanta I would go to listen to her speak. I never heard back from her but I really didn’t think I would. That front row pew looked decidedly uncomfortable hearing the truth spoken. 🙏
It's too much trouble to look for it, but the incumbent made some nasty comment about her. At least once...
Spot on, Craig!
The seven fold …wait wait ..why? when the giving/the gift, was pure …no expectations . Right on Ally🫶
I still do not know how T controlled his anger at the interfaith service with Budde. Wonder what his BP was that day?
Or today with the events this morning at Sandringham. If Andrew goes on to a public trial, a whole bunch more stuff is going to end up in the public record.
Also, former Providence, RI Judge Frank Caprio who died last summer seems to be the favorite subject of someone who is making AI generated videos of him telling stories on YouTube that seem to be squarely aimed at Trump without ever mentioning his name. The basic theme is "nobody is above the law."
Talarico was actually in the Texas State Legislature and faced evangelicals there. He was able to use his calm demeanor to throw darts when he needed to. I think he proved himself there and was able to make important specific points just by taking baby steps.
He plays it safe. I am wondering g if Paxton has worn out his welcome with a broad swath of the voters in Texas by reason of his ethics problem and publicity stunts performed in collaboration with Abbott. Busing of migrants to Chicago and New York. Barbed wire in the Rio Grande. Drowning.
Here's the question. Who is a greater liability to who ? Paxton or Abbott ?
I watched the Colbert interview and loved that guy….
Trump worships gold so much that he believes the Golden Rule means: the one with the most gold rules…
It's taken a long time because many liberals don't have a belief system and view having one with great suspicion. I know this from experience. My friends are political and ethical to their bones, highly educated, thoughtful people but think believing in anything other than getting along with one's neighbor, caring for the poor, loving one's fellow- person, being honest and industrious, generous, obeying the laws of the land and fighting for justice is delusional.
I’m sorry that you think that only people with your beliefs have a “belief system “ as you put it. People like you look down on anyone who doesn’t believe like you. There are plenty of liberals who live good and moral lives and don’t need to follow anything or anyone to be good people! I find anyone who thinks they are better than others because they are Christians, Jews, Muslims, etc. extremely off putting.
Colette, with all due respect to the religion you practice and to you, I don't believe that Lauri said that only people with her beliefs, have a "belief system." She simply said that many liberals don't have a belief system due to the suspicion that religion is essentially imaginary. She never mentioned whether she had a belief system.
You misinterpreted what I said. Of course you are right.
Spot on, Colette.
Lauri, your friends’ liberal beliefs are pretty much the message of that good young man from about 1 A.D. who walked the Middle East and whose legacy is being trashed by MAGA and the misnomers, the Christian Nationalists.
Certainly. As described by me, they are living lives that accord with the teachings of Christ and the saints of various religions. Yet, they are opposed to following any of those religions for fear of being brainwashed or duped. There is irony there.
With respect, we are not "In fear" of being brainwashed or duped - we simply do not find that supernatural framework convincing or believable. I certainly believe Jesus existed and I value the values he espoused - and I have no issue with what others believe. But not believing in God is the way I see the world -- what those of us who don't believe want to "follow" is a path of kindness, compassion, inclusion and understanding -- which are the foundations of most of the worlds religions - and don't need to be tethered to a Christian God.
Excellent description, lauriemcf. I believe "something" happened in that area of the world that led to the establishment of the Abrahamic religions we know today.
Could it be that it is because religion has been hijacked by extremists for their own benefit? What Talarico is believing in is a common human decency; which for most liberals, doesn't need to be part of a religion, but basic human ethical behaviour. But in certain Christian national groups it is not seen as such. When did rounding up children to put them in cages become part of Jesus's teachings, which is what these pseudo Christian Nationals think is OK to do?
Ligia, I like to look at the small bio of subscribers, and what they care enough about to pay to subscribe to (by clicking on the little blue blob to the right of the names)
I see you are fairly new here, and I wish to welcome you. So many good people here! So worth the "price of admission"!
There are those who have been brainwashed or duped. The most obvious of these are the MAGA crowd. All religions will have a fascist evangelical through-line. ISIS was as evangelical as a group of people can get. They even murdered for the sake of their evangelism. As an atheist, I see groups like MAGA and ISIS more of a mental illness than a follower of religion. Some break free; others spend their lives in misery until someone no longer can tolerate them. Anyone's attention for a peaceful religion is not my business. I won't decry religion as long as it proves its love for mankind which is what prophets are supposed to teach. Jesus Christ, in Islamic teachings, is not recognized as the son of God; however, his standing as a prophet is second only to Muhammad.
Wow... because of course.. only Christians and Saints are good people?
And you think we are the deluded ones?
As The Four Horsemen, Sagan, Hawking, Gevais have argued, we are all atheists, we are just atheists about one more religion.
You say they are oppposed to following any of these religions...but in fact they are following the core tenets of those religions, Lauri. And that's what counts, that's what counted to the 'founders' of these religions. The deed is there creed.
You are confusing having a ethical or moral, if you will, "belief" system with having a faith system.
Liberals have a belief system, atheists have a belief system, belief systems are not the same as faith systems.
Gary, you’ve done it. Never thought about the distinction, just recognizing that I got more and more “liberal” with every year of being an American. But it was my luck to be in UNC-CH in the 1950’s, in France during the Iraq War, and to have binge watched “Servant of the People,” the sitcom that lawyer-comedian Volodymyr Zelenskyy wrote that made him president of Ukraine.
My husband believed that “religion” was the source of wars.
In many cases your husband was correct. Gott Mit Uns was nothing new.
Good point, Gary. I'd add that probably everyone has a "belief system"--even if is one like Trump's believing he is an expert on everything, and can do no wrong.
Personally, I've felt that people who are unwilling to even consider another person's point of view (or "beliefs") are actually weak. The fear that they might be proven wrong doesn't allow them to look at situations from another view. I've seen it in a "MAGA" friend--recently we met for lunch, and while she was MAGA-light before, now she dislikes Noem, Bondi, Vance, etc--but still likes Trump. God only knows why! I had to bite my tongue and find common ground, as I believe she is teetering and could become a liberal voter.
If you could just get your friend to not vote next time around.
If the can't stomach Democrats at least don't support the corruption of the Neo-GOP.
I'm trying, Gary!
The perfect description of Jesus’s teachings. Just because you don’t label it Christianity or Judaism or another religion doesn’t mean it’s not a belief system.
It’s seems to me every war, every hate filled act, every corruption in the name of good faith, molestation of women, children, the least of these, have been based in, funded by, and carried out hidden under the guise of organized religion. I certainly do my best to adhere to the teachings of Jesus, but we are imperfect. All that judgmental nonsense seems very small minded and those who harbor such disdain, need to mature and indulge in some personal growth.
Lauri D, I take exception with your statement that "many liberals don't have a belief system."
I would argue that ALL liberals have belief systems. They believe in the principles you mentioned.
It's just that those beliefs are not tied to any particular religion, all of which are based on the existence of some deity, for which there is zero evidence. An unemotional examination of both history and pre-history would reveal that all deities are the creations of ancient men.
Given that those deities are manmade creations, it is inevitable that the belief systems formed around those manmade deities would be corrupted by men. And so they have.
Indeed "Creations of Ancient men." Created to control women. Seems to still be working, too. Trumps three blonds (dyed or not) are living proof. They worship their manmade god tRump. Week men also follow flake gods. All other gods have fallen by the wayside. The current one is being corrupted by both its leaders and followers. Corruption ends in disbelief and the death, of both the god and the worshiper. Religion is fine. Dogma? Not so much!
But can religion exist outside of dogma?
That's what makes them religions. Without dogma they are philosophies.
Ted, I should temper my previous statement to acknowledge that some people need a religion to help them be their best selves. If that's the case, I would not attempt to prevent them from relying on the religion of their choice. However, I expect that reliance on religion to be working as claimed. In a majority of cases, it doesn't.
Unfortunately, a couple thousand years of history show us that religion has actually enabled and justified people being their worst selves. Today's Christian Nationalists are the perfect examples. I have issues with people who refuse to acknowledge that reality.
ROFL.. not being Christian is not the same as not having a 'belief system'.
American Christians embraced the Evangelical decades ago. I was drummed out of the church of my childhood during the AIDS epidemic because Christians considered AIDS a "gift from God" sent to decimate the Gay population and I had the temerity to disagree.
American Christianity is the worship of hate, control and money... in other words.. perfect for Mr Trump... but never again for me.
Yep. That's me to a T. I'm a card carrying member of the Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF) and have long believed that religion is the greatest threat to civilization. Give me science and humanity in place of superstition and delusion.
It’s so great to hear more generalizations from a new expert!
Believing in the good of people, caring, acting on behalf of the many over self. If that isn’t a belief that humanity is better than what we have. You go on about your self righteous opinion Lauri D. Smh
Thank you. I think you misinterpreted what I said.
Lauri, this is an interesting statement. I had a friend tell me once (we were college classmates until she left Oregon to finish her studies at a small college in Illinois that was her particular Christina denomination's "college") that I was the most Christian person she had met. She said that there, in that most positive and Christian environment, I would have stood out as one of the "best" by conduct and actions.
"liberals don't have a belief system..."
Frankly I would like your friends. I am struggling to see what else they are supposed to be doing.
They are my friends, and they are not religious - that's all.
Do your friends know how you feel about them? Do all religions count as ok? Do Buddhists count? Hindus? Sufis?
Buddhism isn't a religion. It's a philosophy.
Something so-called Christians could learn from.
Christianity became a problem when it changed from a philosophy of Jesus to a religion about Jesus. If Jesus existed as the myth goes.
Lauri D, if only everyone who has a “belief” believed in those things you outline.
How sad Lauri! Do they have any old family history of settling in the US and getting help from well- meaning folks not looking for a reward for their kindness & good will?
Then they end up suspecting themselves of things, because it is real hard not having one.
Huh? Do you know you just said that out loud? You tried to insult me and countless others. I know who I am though so your words do not matter.
Turn that Colbert amplifier up to 11!
Hope Colbert has security. Poking the bear is dangerous. Ask Navalny
I love that the Talarico interview has been seen so many times! LOL! It’s true that Trump is shooting himself in the foot, just not hard enough :-). And so many Americans are insulated from the actual news by Faux News.
You got that right. Faux is a cult.
It is why our forefathers insisted the separation of state and church. King George the 3rd used it also for power over the people. The fear of God so you shall behave to me!
Trump is Dathan. A traitor trying to encourage the masses to worship a golden calf. Ultimately swallowed by the earth when faced with truth, goodness and accountability.
We are nearing the end of our National "James Bond" thriller "No Time For Democracy to Die". Lyutsifer Safin and Spectre are clearly collapsing as the people rise up in resistance. Sanity is coming. No one wants Trump's lies, his abdominal syncophats and prison state.
This race will shape up to be a classic battle for control of Texas if Talarico wins the primary. A 10th generation Tejano versus a guy name Paxton with two masters named Abbott and Trump. Statewide.
Talarico is also a big name in Nashua, NH. Chevrolet, Buick, BMW, Cadillac.
The interview of Texan, Jasmine Crockett, was profound & substantive . Crockett was a litigator & will attend the Epstein deposition of the elderly money man Perp, Les W, in Pennsylvania tomorrow 2/18/26.
Jasmine Crocket plans like a litigator. Crockett knows how to ask the substantive questions during the questioning to create a body of evidence to attack the expected defenses of incapacity & pleading the 5th Amendment.
Jasmine Crockett has some serious work to do tomorrow. You Go Counsel.
*******
UPDATE: Wednesday 2/18 Afternoon Ohio Time:
Per ARI MELBAR's The Beat today over One (1) Billion dollarstransferred apparently back & forth from Wexner to Epstein.
The Les Wexner depo went into the afternoon, Ohio Time. The 88 year old Wexner did not pled the 5th to my knowledge. The deposition is took place place at Wexner's Estate in New Albany, OHIO where MARIA FARMER was sexually attacked by Epstein & Maxwell.
Several House Oversight House Representatives were at the depo including, YASMIN ANSARI & JAMES WAKINSHAW who are providing context & reporting substance.
WEXNER was a major source of funding of EPSTEIN's international-in-cope trafficking who now claims EPSTEIN was a "world class conman". IMO, an admission against Wexner's own personal legal interests.
She'd make a good Attorney General!
A good president too. Clear out here astride the Continental Divide we can see clearly now her rising star. Sad to say the nation utterly depends on women while still clinging to gender stereotypes. I wonder what it would be like to invest in a future engendering equality. I was invited in to a ranch house when I was young. The Yeager ranch out there by Choteau Montana. Mrs. Yeager had invited me in for coffee. It was a family cattle operation of around 800 cows. She pointed to a chair at the long kitchen table and set out two coffees, one of which she sat down to. An awkward silence ensued. Finally she bridged the silence with “ What was it you wished to convey?” I stammered some really stupid response like “Shouldn’t we wait for your husband, Ma’am?” Even her skin color changed as she went from flesh to steel. I saw my life pass before me as she quietly turned me to ice with a stare. At the end of her silence in which she watched me squirm, she directed the conversation to the fact she had sent her husband and sons out to gather cattle and that if I wished to talk to him I should probably go out to the corrals and saddle a horse as he was somewhere out to the northwest in the foothills of the Rockies. Now I was a simple youth. I was just smart enough to realize I had burned my toast. In the parlance of western culture she explained that on this outfit she wrote the checks. As soon as she understood that I understood we started over. That was the high water mark for me. So, yes I see Jasmine Crockett.
That is good that you are onboard. I live in the Continental Divide of Colorado, and was raised in rural farm country by Norwegian-American daughters of pioneers. They made our communities and all of our civic functions work. The thought of deferring a conversation until the men got home never would have entered my mind.
Aha!!! I second that opinion.
Jasmine would indeed be an awesome Attorney General! I would not want to be on the other side of the isle during a case.
See Bryan, inasmuch as I like Talarico and think he definitely has to be the Dems secret weapon in dealing with the evangelicals, it is Jasmine Crockett who I feel holds a strong key. Her questions are always succinct as she never falters. She frequently gives praise to her mentor, Jamie Raskin, and has only the kindest words to say about Talarico and vice versa. I completely admired her takedown of BonDEI, who looked pretty flabbergasted ,so much so, that she didn’t have a comeback.
I look forward to what the Dems uncover, if anything from Wexner. I heard his wife, who is also elderly, is handling the estate so who knows what state of mind he will be in. I have friends who are in their very late 80’s and one who is nearly 91. All are very lucid.
It’s going to be a fight to the finish between Talarico and Crockett. May the best person win.
It's a pity that one of them has to lose.
There's a silver lining that we can't see yet. Bright lights like Crockett and Talarico are so needed that invention will deliver its gifts. Always good to remember the unknown unknowns.
Per MS NOW's Ana Cabrera Reports this morning:
"Colbert's Interview With Talarico".
"5,300,000+ YouTube Views"
"Nearly 50,000 Comments"
Dems are short on best people. Why in heaven’s name are these two in the same race. Shoot yourselves in the foot, Dems. It seems to be your only target.
JD in TX, on the contrary, the Dems have a deep and wonderful bench! No shortage of excellent people and candidates. The DNC has no imagination and hasn’t a clue how to harness and utilize their energy. Otherwise we would be flying. But the people themselves? Wow! Just the other day in the comments, we were comparing notes and making lists of Dems to send to red states and parts of states to bring people along. Here’s one: Jamie Raskin, Mallory McMorrow, Katie Porter, Raphael Warnock;
Sheldon Whitehouse, Gretchen Whitmer, Ro Khanna, Robert Garcia;
Pete Buttigieg, Eric Swalwell, Tammy Baldwin, Amy Klobuchar;
Bernie Sanders, Cory Booker, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Elissa Slotkin;
Liz Warren, Jared Moskowitz, Josh Shapiro, Abigail Spanberger;
Dan Goldman, Gavin Newsom, Adam Schiff, Gretchen Whitmer;
JB Pritzker, Chris Coons, Jasmine Crockett, James Talarico.
Becca Balint, John Ossoff, Pramila Jayapal, Seth Moulton. Phenomenal! And this just scratches the surface. There are many more coming up through the states. I have been sending letters to the DNC for a year trying to get them to produce and back a shadow cabinet, but I think this idea of getting these people out there would be even better.
Great people but why so many races unopposed. Management is chaos. Repubs always have their “managers” who recruit, fund, threaten, cajole, and engage in more machinations than we can imagine. I appreciate ethical leadership but more is needed with evil (and they are these days) opposition.
JDinTX, Jasmine Crockett got “redistricted” out of her seat. She had no choice if she is to continue to be heard in DC.
Thanks for this explanation. Someone in the thread chronologically above here mentioned Crockett as AG. That would be delightful. A feisty Janet Reno!
Leadership of DNC
Actual news!
Texas is deep in good Democratic nominees. The Repugs are running two candidates in the primary also. But why don"t I see criticism for the dopey Repugs for running two old corrupt white boys for Senator in TX? It seems like they are wearing targets on their backs and not their feet.
U have wondered about that for decades. Their candidates are either crooks, some litigated or some not, or moral imbeciles. And then there are the Trojan Horses. But Rupert always sanewashes..
I don’t think either candidate is “better” than the other. Now that I understand that redistricting has removed Jasmine Crockett (I sing a song to her to the tune of the refrain of “Davy Crockett, King of the Wild Frontier”), she had no choice but to run for the senate, as DC needs her, a magnetic lady lawyer.
AG, perhaps?
And the loser get a position in the new Democratic administration!
Texas politics has a reputation for being rough. A telling sign is that the loser appears to be the incumbent, Corsyn, who is behind Paxton in the polls. Why ? The same reason these two have a chance. A real bad mood among the electorate about the national state of affairs: in Washington; Trump.
One factor in this will be what happened in central highlands last summer. The lack of preparedness. The slow emergency response. A sense of being neglected and betrayed shared by all Texans that is being reinforced by the dismantling of FEMA. It is what has made the Paxton Abbott act of hardy self reliance wear thin.
Talarico and Crockett would be est advised to deal with these issues, and with each other carefully. They should make Texans wish they could have them both. I woukd suggest a speaking tour in which they take turns beating up on the Paxton-Abbott team. Ignore Cornyn.
I only hope they don't inadvertenly destroy each other. We need them both! Let them both publicly commit to wholeheartedly supporting whoever wins the Democratic primary.
Good info CoCo Colleague. CA District 10. 🙏
In a perfect (and possible) world, both Jasmine Crockett and James Talarico can thrive and win in ways that are more symbiotic than binary (win or lose). People will recognize their contributions, and both will be influential in ways We the People Need (beyond the borders of Texas).
Wexner is being deposed in New Albany, Ohio,
Agree. Both terrific candidates. As HCR says, the likelihood of Talarico's Christianity appealing to MAGA carries him towards them. My goodness, he's impressive! And he quotes the actual words of Jesus of Nazareth as they are set down in the Bible - short, plain, unequivocal.
MAGA evangelicals want an end to progressive politics and Trump is delivering that, especially with the Dobbs decision in the Supreme Court. They have always been content to ignore his personal failings to achieve what they see as the higher goal. Is Talarico committed to the same goals as they are, and if so what is he doing in the Democratic party?
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/apr/28/trump-evangelicals-christians
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/jan/11/donald-trump-evangelical-christians-cyrus-king
The white "Christian" Nationalists are not Christian in their beliefs. Talarico is in his.
Christian Nationalists believe in white supremacy, patriarchy, heteronormativity, and nativism (anti‑immigrant sentiment), along with support for a traditional gender and racial hierarchy. They see America as divinely chosen, so displacing traditional white Christian dominance with a pluralistic society is viewed as a moral and national decline. They want to establish Christianity as the state religion. Laws and policies should reflect “biblical” or “Christian” principles, often defined in conservative evangelical terms, including opposition to same‑sex marriage and restrictive roles for women.
Talarico was clear in his beliefs in the Colbert interview: strict separation of church and state, because linking them demeans both, toleration for all religions or none, feeding the hungry, healing the sick, welcoming the stranger, loving thy neighbor with no exceptions for race, gender, ethnicity, religion, or sexual orientation. "Forcing religion down their throats is not love." "Jesus didn't say anything about abortion or gay marriage."
Talarico says he believes in separation but if you listen to his arguments in the Texas state house, he quotes scriptures and bases his decisions on Christian beliefs. How is this separation??
Committed to the same goals as they are? No. Separation of church and state. And that's why he's in the Democratic party.
Talarico is especially good at supporting progressive policies with biblical references.
So we're a Christian nation and his ability to quote scripture is being viewed as an asset. What happened to the separation of church and state? Do we want Christianity driving our politics. His faith is his business-not the business of our government.
The principle of love, caring, call it what you choose .
The failure to understand that there's a whole lot of people for whom policy support from scripture is important is a good way to continue to losing to those who use scripture to support extremely damaging policies.
Virigina, that is good news. It is intentional that they are competing for one seat because Texas gerrymandered their map. Jasmine is better known to me. I would not know James if it were not for Colbert.
Along with banned books we now have banned interviews. This is straight out of Orwell's "1984" and Bradbury's "Fahrenheit 451." These authors understood totalitarianism, which is what Trump and his hench-women and -men are trying to create in the United States.
Gerrymandering doesn't have anything to do with the Senate. It just doesn't. This is a good old-fashioned Democratic primary. James has been running for sometime now, Jasmine is a more "Johnny" come lately. And although nobody's saying it, if Democrats nominate a very prominent, liberal black woman for the Senate in Texas, they can probably kiss their chances goodbye in November. Just saying....
Today, the NY Times published an analysis of how OTHER democracies handle redistricting (an analysis about 3 years late in the offing, but whatever). Literally every nation, save maybe Hungary, assigns the task to independent commissions. Any political party association of the foxes guarding the henhouse automatically disqualifies them, especially in Britain and Canada. An important read for Americans sick of what happens in their House of Representatives -- where partisan state legislatures choose voters for the national assembly, rather than the other way around.
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/18/us/midterm-elections-congress-gerrymander-maps.html
Gerrymandering is relevant in this Senatorial race because Crockett's House district has just been gerrymandered out of existence. She's probably been gerrymandered out of her House job, so she turned to the Senate. I would hate to lose her voice in DC. Time will tell whether this black woman can win a statewide seat in TX.
Sorry to say- You are correct!
Yeah-what a shame. There are so many comments about Crockett being qualified and having demonstrated herself in Congress, but skin color and gender are still the defining aspects of her candidacy. If we continue to think (and act) like she can't win, she surely won't. Open up your minds and vote for her even though she's seen as "a liberal black woman" which is usually regarded by too many people as a liability and impossibility in America the beautiful.
It's Texas. What can I say? I used to be a Texan. If you listen to Republican chatter (in small doses), they're not scared of her, they're scared of him. Move to where the fear is strongest. More power to her in whatever future incarnation she has though...
I've been pondering this notion that the Senate is immune to gerrymandering because of the two senators per state rule. My math sense has been trying to surface a "yes, but" all day, and I think I finally figured out what it was trying to tell me. Over the past year we've had several discussions about the nature of U.S. citizenship and the curious relationship we have with respect to the residents of the territories. I think a strong argument can be made that the situation with the territories is precisely about gerrymandering both the Senate and the Electoral College. That strikes me as being an affront to the whole notion of one person, one vote. Also, note that the District of Columbia is represented in the electoral college but not the legislature, at least not with a vote. What a mess we have created over the past quarter of a millennium! Oh well, it's just another item on a very long list of stuff that needs work.
ICTT, losing her voice in DC is exactly what Racists want. If TX goes blue, however…
They are running for the same seat in the Senate. I think that gerrymandering doesn’t affect the Senate.
After 2026, the other Texas Senate seat will be up in 2028. The primary filing deadline in Texas was December 8, 2025. No matter what, Crockett, whom I like a lot, will not be back in the House, which I think is a major loss there.
The primary is March 3. Early voting started yesterday. I listened to the Colbert interview with Talarico. He was really impressive. The last polling was on February 9th with Crockett ahead. Texas has a majority +1 run-off system in the primaries, with the run-off on May 26, 2026.
When Texas redistricted, it packed TX-30 as more heavily black and redrew the border so that Crockett's residence was no longer in the district. She now lives in TX-33. TX-30's primary winner will like be Rev. Haynes, who has Crockett's backing.
TX-33 is solidly Democratic with no high-profile Republican in the primary. Julie Johnson and Colin Allred are in the Democratic primary.
Some recent polling on the Senate race with the primary between Ken Paxton and John Cornyn, and the head-to-heads in the general election are in the links below.
https://www.texastribune.org/2026/02/09/texas-senate-race-poll-paxton-crockett-talarico-cornyn-2026-primary/
https://www.270towin.com/2026-senate-polls/texas
Talarico is, in many ways, the perfect foil for Paxton, given the corruption and scandal surrounding him and his impeachment in the Texas House. Paxton was not convicted by the Texas Senate. The Texas Supreme Court dismissed the disbarment/misconduct proceedings against Paxton on February 13, 2026, related to his 2020 election interference actions.
So Paxton is tainted.
Securities fraud, favors for a donor while having an affair with a woman who worked for that donor, 2020 election denier-related charges, and using his office for retribution against his personal enemies list. Twenty years of scandals and litigation as Attorney General of Texas. All while claiming to be a deeply, deeply religious man.
Almost more Trumpian than Trump with a helping of religious hypocrisy on the side.
Ouf. I get the picture. More than tainted, dyed with the deepest dye.
Spill that tea!
Paxton is a mini-Trump. He just cruises along doing illegal and immoral things and gets away with it because his buddy's refuse to impeach him.
"Tainted" is an understatement.
Paxton is a mess. Way beyond tainted.
This pisses me off about democrats more than anything else. Having two good candidates oppose each other is insane, and losing strategy. There are so many races that are unopposed., no excuse, Dems. Thanks to Colin Allred for saying no to this type of race. Wish dens would be WOKE enough to want to WIN and stop being “estupido.”
yep. As a Democrat for over 50 years I am outraged at their weakness, incompetence and their insistence on thinking we should fund their failures.
My cats have more cohesiveness than democrats. Who is leading the herd. The DNC is useless.
JD, I think Crockett would have stayed in the House, had she not been gerrymandered out of her district. Someone mentioned her as a possible AG.
I like both, but feel that he can speak to more voters in this crazy place, but she has the skills to lead as well as oppose
Me too. It is getting harder not to buy back my introduction to the dem party.
Texas is having a moment, with not one but two excellent Democratic candidates for U.S. Senate. To all of the Crockett and Talarico supporters out there, either one of them will make an excellent senator but only one of them will survive the primary. Congratulations to whoever wins the primary, but the real work comes between March and November. It’s incumbent upon the other candidate AND their supporters to immediately endorse and stand by the winning candidate. Working together, Crockett and Talarico (who are both talented leaders with bright futures) will ensure Paxton will never see the U.S. Senate!
I dream…
Really, Virginia Whitney — I wish and wish that Jasmine would bravely change her mind and stay in the House! We need her! She is so articulate and so smart! She could run against Cornyn the next time he is up. And we need James in the Senate for the same reason! What a pair! What a tragedy that they are running for the same seat! Is there anyone in this comment section that lives in Texas and could reach out to them? They could meet together and decide what to do. This is such a tragedy.
Elizabeth Crawford, I learned that Jasmine Crockett was redistrcted out of her seat. My guess is that she was encouraged to run for the senate and the charismatic lady lawyer-congresswoman has taken it on!
Ah, that makes sense. Still, I so much wish she would run in the remains of her district and let Telerico go to the Senate. Cornyn must be up in 2028. They are both so amazing! I notice they are both running positive campaigns. What a gentle thing to do.
I think that Jasmine Crockett is no longer able to run in what had been her district because the Texas legislature carved up her district and that cut her off from her base of voters. I agree. I would prefer both in Congress.
It will generate interest in the election. That is good. They should go on tour. Lincoln Douglas.
Tour! What a great idea!
Virginia, wouldn't it be great if Cruz would retire and both Crockett and Talarico could serve for Texas together? What a great team they would make on behalf of the people of TX!
What a shame they are in Competition!
Or how wonderful to multiple good candidates! Should one of them give up their ambitions, and not have the campaign to get all of their messaging out and their faces known? Should the black woman should let the lighter person with a penis go first because he's more likely to win? And if he "let" her have the seat then that would also make it clear to the rabble that she wasn't capapble of winning. (Or vice versa).
Wouldn't that be an incredible feat? 2 real people with consciences helping to govern the state of Texas?
I am a 5th generation Texan (Three of my great grandfathers fought in the Texas War of Independence and my great-great uncle, William Depriest Sutherland, age 18, died at the Alamo in 1836) and I have zero religious beliefs, but James Talarico is the Real Deal. I really like Jasmine Crockett, too, but I am livid at her for jumping into the race to challenge James in the Texas U.S. Senate Democratic primary. If anyone can defeat the Republican U.S. Senate candidate, it is James Talarico. Colin Allred polled well in his race against Ted Cruz two years ago and raised record funds, but was soundly defeated by Cruz, who no one likes. The takeaway? People lie to the pollsters and it is a virtual impossibility for a non-white candidate to win a state-wide election in Texas. The Democratic National Committee needs new leadership. Jasmine should have never entered this race.
As a Texan I agree with you completely. I will say, though, that if we can have only one, IMO Jasmine would be the better choice, because she presents as far more assertive.
Absolutely! Two super candidates! It's too bad they can't share a senate seat!
(Most) Republicans in power know a massive blue wave is coming. Keep up the pressure! Be LOUD 💔🤍💙
Use/share this spreadsheet (bit.ly/Goodtrouble) to contact members of Congress, the Cabinet and news organizations. Call. Write. Email. Protest. Unrelentingly.
Reach out (beyond your own) to as many in the Senate and House as you can. All of this is bigger than “I only represent my constituents” issues.
Comments/reactions help keep this bumped ✊
Here's something immediate --- and quite important.
On February 25, Trump's "FBI Election Executive" is hosting (or at least asking) all 51 state Secretaries of State (and Washington DC's) to participate in a White House "invitation...to discuss preparations....in support of the 2026 midterm elections." (Joyce Vance published this "invitation" from a person with a title nobody has ever seen before).
Don't bother with the House or the Senate (where the SAVE Act is headed for death). Call your state Secretary of State in your state capital, and demand they refuse to participate in this backhanded attempt to subvert (not support) election integrity. Remind them that state and local elections are THEIR responsibility (as laid out in Article I, Section 4, Clause 1 in the Constitution), nobody else's, and that they do not need to "coordinate" their activities with the White House, the FBI, or any other Trump overseer.
Prima facie evidence of the kind of chickenshit Klaus Bondi is throwing against the wall to see if it sticks. She is searching for the least guarded backdoor to "Brad, Brad, I just need another 11,780 votes...." Don't wait until after the election. Your Secretary of State needs to know what you think about all this right now.
I am certain that our CA State Secretary, Shirley Weber, will eloquently decline this invitation because if there was ever a trap, it’s this!
I think we’re all pretty safe in blue states —- it’s the RED and purple ones that need the letters and the phone calls!
"Don't bother with the House or the Senate (where the SAVE Act is headed for death)"
1. Women have everything to lose with the passage of this Act so we will continue to make sure it does not pass.
2. We all can manage more than one issue.
SAVE is an attack against everybody. It’s still headed for death in the Senate.
I am well aware of the issues surrounding the SAVE Act. Again. Women are at great risk with this Act. I doubt you would find anyone in Congress saying this is a sure thing, especially the women. We will continue to fight this and other issues as well.
https://contrarian.substack.com/p/jesse-jacksons-passing-should-stir?utm_source=post-email-title&publication_id=3719374&post_id=188306763&utm_campaign=email-post-title&isFreemail=true&r=dv3vh&triedRedirect=true&utm_medium=email#:~:text=Jesse%20Jackson%E2%80%99s%20Passing%20Should%20Stir%20the%20Democracy%20Movement
"Dead on arrival in the Senate"
https://www.democrats.senate.gov/news/press-releases/leader-schumer-floor-remarks-on-how-the-save-act-would-disenfranchise-millions-of-american-voters-says-it-is-dead-on-arrival-in-the-senate
Schumer!? :)
Some thoughts circulating on the Democratic Party these days.
""This message is for the members of Congress who are supposed to be looking out for us their constituents and voters:
Find a spine. Find a vertebra. Find some strength in yourself to stand up for this Country and the people who live here. You have a masked militia in the street murdering citizens who are doing nothing wrong. If you cannot find it in yourself to do something about that then please know we will find new leadership. If you think you are safe because you live in a non-competitive district, think again. We are not afraid to change our party in order to defeat you. We are not afraid to figure out how to work the system to get you out of office if you will not keep us safe. Do your jobs. Do it with an ounce of bravery. All it takes is a hundredth of the bravery that Renee Good or Nurse Pretti had. Do better or do a different job."
Author: Kate Compton Barr
Democrats’ struggles could be partly because they’re just too old, says Obama
https://www.politico.com/news/2026/02/15/obama-democrats-problems-too-old-00782719#:~:text=Democrats%E2%80%99%20struggles%20could%20be%20partly%20because%20they%E2%80%99re%20just%20too%20old%2C%20says%20Obama
Pretty sure Minnesota is forewarned about this.
will share ...if that's ok
Same with Massachusetts but will reach out to William Galvin non the less
The state officials who are in favor of free elections should go! They can rise up in a body and say, “WE SEE WHAT YOU ARE DOING AND WON”T LET IT HAPPEN!”
I respectfully disagree (about what state Secretaries should do, not with the statement). Were I one, I wouldn’t dignify them even by my presence or a response to their letter. They’ll have their hands full simply conducting free and fair elections.
I know our Sec of State in MA will decline
Megan! Keep up the good work! You are, and will be, an asset to common sense, actio, and direction! Well done!
Thank you 💜
Thank you again, Heather, for isolating a central truth that should unsettle anyone who cares about the republic: the gap between triumphalist rhetoric and material reality is widening, and the cost of that delusion is national credibility. The claim of a coming “golden age” rings hollow when allies hedge their bets and global markets adjust to a less reliable United States.
Under Donald Trump, nationalism is marketed as strength. In practice, it functions as retreat. Trade brinkmanship, cultural grievance politics, and theatrical displays of dominance do not rebuild supply chains or stabilize alliances. They exhaust them. When long-standing partners begin crafting agreements that exclude Washington, that is not evidence of leverage. It is evidence of fatigue.
What makes this moment dangerous is not only policy miscalculation, but the insistence that decline is victory. Economic stagnation is reframed as discipline. Diplomatic isolation is branded as sovereignty. Facts become props in a spectacle designed to soothe a base rather than govern a nation.
History teaches that empires rarely recognize their own erosion in real time. They cling to myth while the architecture quietly cracks. Heather's warning is not partisan melodrama. It is a sober reminder that democracy requires competence, cooperation, and humility. Without them, slogans multiply while influence evaporates.
Thank you, Megan!
Yes, ma'am.
We are nearing the end of our National "James Bond" thriller "No Time For Democracy to Die". Lyutsifer Safin and Spectre are clearly collapsing as the people rise up in resistance. Sanity is coming. No one wants Trump's lies, his abdominal syncophats and prison state.
Thank you for this invaluable resource for taking action. ❤️
Thanks, Megan!
Thank you Megan!
Important!
Stephen Colbert is really the man of the hour. That’s the way you spit in their eye on NATIONAL television. Good job!
Would love to see, Jacquelyn, near his May forced retirement, candidacy for some public office.
We will always need voices like his outside of government.
Colbert is way too smart to run for office Phil.
Policing Speech: Why Does The Far Right Attach To Culture Issues?
The Nazi Republicans have figured out that if they control the culture issues they then can control the politics It’s part of the Republican Nazi propaganda playbook of the current regime For this to be exposed is detrimental to their agenda so when CBS/Fox 2 refused to air an interview done by Colbert with D running for Senate James Talarico(https://bit.ly/3MBeCr1) Colbert’s team put it out on YouTube
As a Guardian article(https://bit.ly/49qifHt) discusses the far right uses seemingly innocent cooking videos or music to engender following the ideology of extremism Even using AI to generated material can be expanded to get out the message to various societal interest groups such as tradwives
So the short answer as to why culture issues are used as propaganda campaign ploys is “because it sells” A study being conducted in 6 European countries on the far right movement is delving into how the far right has used propaganda material on culture issues to “bring people along” in fostering a relationship with various groups in a population They have even started their own food delivery services
Here in the US we have seen similar far right approaches to latch onto various divisive cultural issues such as women in solitary domestic roles, diet issues because America is too fat, LGBTQ+ controversy and transgenders in sports, and even the childhood hits such as SpongeBob Squarepants and colored M&M’s promoted by such channels as the Fox propaganda network For example Fox Sports creates a following of NFL football as an entry point in order to bring the audience along to engage them on far right agenda items
But these issues are just propaganda to distract us from realizing they are picking our pockets, gutting our schools, destroying our healthcare while they give tax breaks for their billionaire donors, pardon the wealthy for convicted crimes and raise taxes on all the rest of us
The real fight is not right vs left, it’s top vs bottom
The last sentence is James Talarico's, spoken to Colbert last night.
The whole culture war is coming apart at the seams. MAGA Land is cracking under the combined weight of a thousand lies, pointless tariff wars, high prices, the Epstein files, the pay-to-play Presidency, the dementia, the abandonment of our allies, the total incoherence, the criminality, the incontinence. The Rube Goldberg contraption was never held together by anything more than scotch tape, hypnotism and fear. As the fear gives way to outrage, the spell breaks, the scotch tape shreds. You can literally hear the creaking sounds as the whole thing starts wheezing and flapping in the breeze.
What you describe is the Nazi Republican party over the last 45y
More to the point, it's about what's happening *right now.* Sudden tectonic shifts occurring all around -- let's take advantage of them.
And that is when it all becomes most dangerous for everyone.
Sadly spot-on.
Everything he touches dies. Everything he touches dies. Everything he touches dies. Everything he touches dies. Everything he touches dies. Everything he touches dies. Everything he touches dies. Everything……………
Preach it, brother.
Oh, man, ICTT, I hope you are right! We need to keep pushing!
I stll think Epstein can be their ungoing.
Epstein is simply indefensible (though some on the right are tryiing) but the lawless and sociopathic behavior of Epstein is more of a symptom than a cause of the corrupting power of oligarchic concentration of money that bought Epstein access to leaders be they unindicted co-conspirators or not, and bought him a wrist slap when his crimes were first acknowledged by the law. It is not a side of law enforcement the poor and powerless ever get to see.
How is it that we accept as a fact of life that wealthy lobbies can buy, even write word for word, law that serves the donor over the public that is regularly passed in Congress, or can frequently and effectively block legislation and policy that a majorities of Americans say they want to see enacted? Is that not patently government favors for sale? De facto bribery? To say nothing of the impact of increasing monopolization on the lives of the public.
The "Gilded Age" was not really golden for its brand of social and economic justice.
Amen the age of the Great Gatsby And we know how that ended Cheeto is Herbert Hoover and FDR followed and the Republicans were not elected to majority for 20y
Hello J L... How can We Believe in DJT's Golden Age when DJT has filed Bankruptcy 6X, and has squandered Billions of $$$... Is DJT focused on the incipient Climate Catastrophe, or the increasingly dire A.I. Catastrophe Warnings?....
Gilded garbage comes to mind for this excuse of an administration, maybe even fool's gold gilding.
You can gold plate a turd but it’s still a turd. Knowing the insipid orange turd it’s probably 8 karat or whatever number will give the sheen of gold without spending a lot.
Good Q, J L, on how "we accept as a fact of life" what the wealthy do.
But as it's a Q, my answer: most Americans lack access to the apt books, other arts, and essaying skills which could keep them/us alive, alert, and vitally vigilant against the ruling Epstein class.
Plus, Phil, they don’t want to know.
Serious people have been discussing a serious Trump-Epstein related matter the last couple of days - https://open.substack.com/pub/thefrankfigliuzzi/p/trump-epstein-and-the-fbi-victim?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android&r=gfzoo
DOJ is not the only place Epstein files are located. Many of them have been released and there are new developments daily.
Heads are already rolling in Europe. Here, not so much. IMHO there are degrees of culpability. Under state law there is no statute of limitations for rape. States should be able to subpoena all the redacted records relevant to allegations of rape that occurred within their jurisdictions.
Not so clear about pimping and pandering.
Companies and individuals who knew he was running an illegal honeypot operation and did business with him may/may not be culpable. But their records are discoverable.
Lastly those who obstruct justice.
Sen. Ron Wyden has subpoeaned Treasury Department records. Every person mentioned as a perp may have records.
Epstein is dead. His estate is a treasure trove. His lawyers have records.
Since Trump is mentioned thousands of times, I'd send him a subpoena.
Do send a subpoena, Daniel Solomon! Great idea!
Needs to come from Congress, and/or from states that have jurisdiction.
I am waiting to see if the golden hair Jamie Dimon skates on this.
I do think the Epstein files will be used to point most of the electorate against the Republicans and the "elites", neglecting to mention that some Democrats were in his circle as well. It'll be used as a launching pad for increasing taxes on the wealthy, and more spending on social programs. The 2017 (and 2025) tax cuts for lower and middle-income voters will then remain in place, I'd predict.
The cherry on top of the cake.
Sen Ron Widen has been following the money in the Epstein financial files held by the Treasury Dept. This needs to become public and it will be a tsunami.
I've been wondering if Donnie Jr could be in the files.
Spot on. And yes, I have often described Fox as Rox Propaganda Network while posting on Fox and I alway get thumbs down.
Now, a month short of 92, I will not live to witness the resurgence of Our Great American Experiment. It will be immensely costly and challenging. It will be fueled by the grotesque machinations of the so-called MAGA revolution. Our compatriots for the last 80 years will do what they have to do. When we finally wake up to the reality of with whom we share the pathway to global sustainability, it will cost us dearly to regain our credibility. The alternative is global chaos. Let us do what we can to empower the young patriots who will inherit our gross failure and endeavor, yet again, to resume our trajectory towards a global balance that sustains life and productivity instead of destroying them.
Heather Cox Richardson is one of the essential voices promoting that trajectory. I will leave this world heartbroken at our failure and inspired by the young voices that will rescue us from default.
Let us be counted among those who will stay the course.
Al, never say never. We have to believe that WE THE PEOPLE have been hard at work holding our reps feet to the fire and that progress is being made. It’s slow but nonetheless, we are gaining ground. None of us like watching our dollar and jobs diminish but this regime is temporary. That’s how I look at things. My very best to you.
Al Bell, you never know! With luck, once it gets rolling it will go quickly. The repair of the things the Orange Menace has hacked up with his machetes will take longer. The rest of the world will remain wary but will welcome us back and wish to have us sane and among them again. Things will never be the same, but the new one may be better. But first we have to get a handle on climate change.
As Jesse Jackson repeated to us so many times, "keep hope alive" !
My brother, now deceased, had a drywall business. Almost all of his workers had a first language in Spanish and were grateful that he paid them in cash. Now, that would not be possible, with arresting and jailing anyone who has a darker skin and a non English language drying up the drywall business. The rest of the world is behaving quite logically in the face of Trumpian destruction. More power to them! The sewage pollution of the Potomac is overshadowed by the sewage emanating from the White House.
It has always seemed to me that Trump was replacing a political swamp with a poorly functioning political cesspool. Who knew reality would seem to be so similar to a real failed cesspool?
At least a swamp is a natural landscape, highly productive and useful. What good is a cesspool that needs to be pumped out all the time?
We are nearing the end of our National "James Bond" thriller "No Time For Democracy to Die". Lyutsifer Safin and Spectre are clearly collapsing as the people rise up in resistance. Sanity is coming. No one wants Trump's lies his abominable syncophats and their prison state.
All I know is if I were a Texan, I'd be supporting Talarico even though I'm an atheist. Love thy neighbour is what it's all about cause that means you care about the people in your community and by extension, your community. It bypasses the Us vs Them game that the Republicans and Democrats have used to erode our national political landscape over the past 40 years.
I too, am an atheist and support Talarico.
Well, he couldn't have been more clear about the division between church and state.
I am so disappointed in the Texas Democrats. Why oh why run Crockett and Talarico at the same time, losing each of them in their current seats in national and state governments respectively? We lost Katie Porter in California that way; we're now losing Jasmine Crockett. I strongly doubt Texas will choose a Black woman over a white Christian man in that primary.
Per TX law, Crockett will retain her seat in Congress if she loses the primary.
Good to know, thanks!
Cornyn must be suffering from some self-inflicted wound. Both believe they have a chance to win or neither would run. Crockett is making sure to grab a lot of national attention. She seeks to capitalize on it. Talarico feels his time has come, he must step forward. And he has a strong grassroots base.
There is an obvious downside to this primary match up as you point out. But it has the potential to generate a lot of interest and goodwill. Paxton attacking Cornyn ? For what ? Not being loyal enough to Trump ?? There is your firing squad. Talarico and Crockett could have a lot of fun with this. Should be interesting. If only the electorate were not so set in their biases and craven ways of thinking, as you suggest.
Every day, we are seeing how America has stumbled into electing an administration whose only mission is to grab all of the power and money for themselves, and to do it using any means necessary. Making things worse, these people have proved themselves to be not only mean, but incompetent and, well, stupid. They have the most simplistic ideas about how the world works. They approach almost every situation in the same way: with a hammer. They will beat it, you, or anyone who won’t give them way they want, into submission. They are stopping as much of the government’s money that was designated to help US citizens as they can, and then taking it for themselves.
Those of us who are actively trying to save America must realize that these people do not want to go away, ever. They don’t want elections. They don’t care who suffers and dies.
We need to do everything we can to make people aware of how serious the situation is, and we have to educate them about how to resist. Most importantly, we have to protect the midterm elections. Trump and his gang of misguided fanatics are going to do everything they can to disrupt, distort, or deny the elections. They are very clear about it. Certainly, Pam Bondi will use the DOJ to break laws instead of enforcing them.
Whatever obstacles they put up ,we have to know how to knock them down. Stay focused. It’s less than eight months away.
you might want to check this out:
https://www.lincolnsquare.media/p/the-digital-counter-offensive-how
MAGA didn’t win by being right; they won by being everywhere. For too long, the Democratic establishment left the digital field wide open, allowing lies to go unchallenged. Lincoln Square is closing that gap. In the past six weeks, we have saturated the social media landscape with 88 million impressions, reaching 60 million Americans with the undeniable truth: this regime is dismantling our country and the rule of law. We aren’t just countering their rules of engagement—we’ve seized them.
Lincoln Square, do democrats finally see the light, or is the light being shined on their hiding place…
So near and yet so far. In the mean time heartfelt thanks to all of those like Colbert and his guest who are fighting lies with truth.
When is Colbert's show supposed to end? May? Can "they" control podcasts? It would seem not, if the Daily Beast is any indication.
Colbert's career will outlast the Columbia Broadcasting System.
(Sigh) You're just trying to make me feel better.
Your perspective and your warning is well taken. HCR has offered many examples of how our former allies are forming new alliances and forging ahead. The unchecked power and escalation of hostile acts by the US upon our former allies will not be soon be forgotten or forgiven. It is essential that the US hold free and fair midterm elections. In the event the elections do not correct the course the country is on, game over.
The irony of it all is not lost on me. One of the things conservatives railed about for years regarding Europe was “not paying their fair share” for common defense. There are lots of problems with that argument of course, but that’s a different discussion. The point here is that the US under this regime has gone completely off the rails, and is no longer trustworthy. Canada and Europe have taken note and have made investments in defense, and created new economic agreements amongst themselves and with other countries, that require no dependence on US support. They are just getting started, too. The United States finds itself increasingly alone in the world and it will for quite some time, even after the current era of madness ends.
Chris-Isn't it ironic that the 1% of wealthy people in America (including the incumbent president) don't pay their own "fair share" of taxes for our defense?
Indeed. Thanks for closing that loop because you are spot on.
It will be hard if not impossible to win back the position we earned in WWII. The rise of the Christian Nationalists will, I fear, result in Civil War II. I'll be on "team blue", even as I approach my 7th decade.
I think the civil war is already being waged. It’s a Cold War (mostly) right now but it may become hot at some point unless some sane heads step forward.
I certainly watched last night’s interview with Talarico! I’m in TX and early voting started today. I also love Talarico’s adversary, Jasmine Crockett! She is a Texas treasure!
Colbert talked about the mess within CBS in tonight’s episode, and it was hilarious! You cannot fire someone and leave them in a position to criticize the network! Again, hilarious!! The lawyers letter explaining things got crushed, dumped in a doggie bag and dropped in the trash!
I’ll continue to watch Colbert until he’s gone and then CBS is dead to me…..
Jasmine is great but as a longtime Texan I don’t think she would get elected statewide. We absolutely need to peel off the independents and (normie) Republicans, plus the increasingly uncomfortable evangelical women, to win this election. I’ve been watching Talarico for several years and I think he’s the one who could do it. It’s gonna be really hard to argue that he doesn’t love Jesus, which a lot of Texans see as their first priority in a political candidate.
He talks about Jesus as if he'd been chatting with him. Just the basics. Utterly convincing. Look up Matthew 4:8-10, and Luke 4:5-7 - Donald J Trump might like to post them on Truth Social, as a comparison with what he did when placed in the same situation (thank you for your attention to this matter).
Think you are right. She will likely be wasted, statewide.
They should go on a bus tour holding debates and town meetings in places. Bash Abbott, Cornyn and Paxton at every opportunity.
Great idea, Dems should buy into it…
I would like to see her in a cabinet position; Attorney General sounds good to me.
Why can't she get elected? She's a Christian too.
Female, so much misogyny, and black. Two strikes, sad to say.
Melanin and no Y chromosome.
Because, unfortunately, too many of the Good Ol’ Boys will not vote for a black woman, ever. I’m hoping that picture will change as my generation shuffles off, but for now it’s just the way it is. I should have said that loving Jesus, being male, and preferably white, were decisive factors for many Texans.
Talarico and Jasmine Crockett are both great candidates, wish they weren’t running against each other. But as long as one of them can win Cornyn’s senate seat that’s what matters most.
Saw Colbert last night too and he crushed it alright. CBS is becoming Russian (Trumpian)state television and I won’t be watching it anymore after May when Colbert is forced to leave.
CBS is dead to me too, after May, but they have been terminal for years.
I have not had or missed any of those networks stations for years, since I cut the cord.
Streaming a few, I miss not having to pay for each show. That’s what it amounts to now
Yes, it was hilarious! The doggy bag!
This time feels like when, right before a storm, the air fills with static electricity, your hair stands on end and you just know lightening is about to strike.
That actually happened to a good friend of mine, who grasped the significance enough to run off to top of the tall Colorado sand dune they were exploring before the lightning struck.
Wow!
JL, I have a friend who was driving through a thunderstorm (windows down before the rain hit) and had a lightning strike hit something that changed the direction 90 degrees and when right though her car, hitting her in the process; lots of the energy had dissipated, but she has had some interesting symptoms following.
CBS is carrying out the orders of talentless nepobaby David Ellison (go check out "F;yboys" to see him in the most wooden wooden performance ever put on film). That order is to "performatively surrender ahead of time to everything said by daddy's buddy Dilbert.
We need a 100% wealth tax on all income an property regardless of location over $1 billion. Bam - no more billionaires. Their ancestors did just fine 70 years ago under Eisenhower taxes that were 90% on income over $60k - they were still rich. The uppr class needs to get a haircut every generation.
From HCR's book entitled "To Make Men Free: A History of the Republican Party (2014): Wealthy men came to control government by working with lawmakers who shared their values and influencing voters by buying the channels through which they got information....By 1854, when southern slaveholders, who made up about 1% of the population, came to control the White House, the Senate, and the Supreme Court, they pushed to establish their program as the law of the land" (pp. 5-6).
The more things change, the more they stay the same....America is "dying" because real change is needed if we truly believe in justice and equality for all.
Elect an idiot, get an idiocracy. If he is also a fascist, you get idiofascism. If that idiot surrounds himself with shitheads, you get a kakistocracy.
The Federal Government is going to need the biggest purge in the history of the United States.
The purge is going to be so great Trump will be written about in history books as the Enema of the People.
I’d always heard that Stalin was written out of the history books in the USSR after his death. After all the purges, the famines in Ukraine, ruling with an iron fist in the iron curtain, he was edited out of the books and history of the Soviet empire for killing more of his own citizens than the Nazis did.
Trump has defiled our Nation, run roughshod over the Constitution and the rule of law, caused chaos, friction and ill will around the world instead of goodwill, stability and alliances. He should get the Stalin treatment too but let history judge him for the grifting, treasonous charlatan that he is.
He was certainly demoted -- until the Putin era of course, since Putin finds that awful cult of blood and terror useful for his genocide against Ukraine. The one who was truly written out was former NKVD Chief Lavrenty Beria. When he was shot in 1953 I think, the Great Soviet Encyclopedia came out with a 15-page article all about the "Bering Strait." The writers truly had to be imaginative to figure out how to substitute the ripped-out Beria pages with treatises on geography....
VERY good, ICTT!
Im beginning to sense that the result will be a greatly weakened national government in the US of A, win, lose, or draw. Damage beyond repair.
That is rich, ICTT. You just might win the internet today.
Thank you, Ally. We gotta laugh at something...
Hire DOGE to erase all trace of DOGE
By tonight, the James Talarico interview has been seen by about 5 million people on YouTube. It will probably be double that number by tomorrow. Tonight, Talarico's campaign is reporting donations surging from literally all over the country.
When I think of these people, the words....ot-nay, oo-tay, ight-bray come to mind (why, I don't know). Such amazingly clueless fuck-upery and wormtonguery. Thank you, FCC and CBS for doing everything you do to flip Texas BLUE! 💙
Are you telling me that trump has not made America great again???!!! Oh!! Say it isn't so!!! But he promised, he promised! Do you mean to tell me we can't trust what the president of the United States says???? (I trust you can see & feel the sarcasm bursting forth from that statement!?)
So, we are indeed America Alone. Great job! We went from being a world leader to a world pariah!
My mom told me we would rot from within & she was right though I think that there is an equal amount of rot & attack from within plaguing this nation.
We've got a lot of work to do, a lot, but hopefully Churchill was right when he said "eventually Americans do the right thing."
Speaking of Churchill, wouldn't he be appalled to see what is happening to us now? I wonder how he would handle trump?
Are there any Churchill experts out there that could tell us?
"Speaking of Churchill, wouldn't he be appalled to see what is happening to us now? I wonder how he would handle trump?"
He'd put his cigar out in Trump's eye. Then puff on it to heat it up again and put it in the other eye.
(Laughter). When I was a toddler in England, I knew that Mr Churchill and Mr Roosevelt (and Mrs Roosevelt) were the ones we could trust.
The big lie for the last four plus decades has been that government of, buy, and for the people is a pathetic joke and that the wealthy are the natural leaders and benefactors of any society. Warmed over feudalism, sans noblesse oblige.
No nobility, no obligation. Grab and keep.
He's made America hate again, that much is certain.
Texas has always been a truly odd, quirky state. Its politics once sent Ann Richards to the statehouse as Governor. It then turned around and gave a Senate seat to a beady-eyed Pillsbury Doughboy in need of a shave who literally makes everybody's skin crawl when he opens his mouth.
This year, Democrats are fielding candidates in every single district in the Legislature. Tens of thousands of volunteers have already signed up to Talarico's campaign. Methinks this is the year when the yellow rose of Texas gets dyed blue again.
Whether it is Crocket or Talarico who wins, I hope that Talarico’s message about what it really means to be Christian reaches people who most need to hear it.
Some may be interested in this recent 2/15/26 interview of President Barack Obama on YouTube by Brian Tyler Cohen. Obama does most of the talking and it is very informative and probably historic.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uI-hgSE5QIw
And if you are planning on voting, you will be interested in the interview of US Representative Greg Landsman by prominent voting rights lawyer Marc Elias on 2/17/26 where they discuss the “Save America Act” and the effects of its passage (It was just passed by the US House of Representatives).
Republicans PLOTTING to Make It Impossible to Vote | Rep. Greg Landsman - YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5NiWKk9rcXw
great interviews Fred.