Yesterday, the chair of the House Oversight and Accountability Committee, James Comer (R-KY), the chair of the Subcommittee on Government Operations and the Federal Workforce, Pete Sessions (R-TX), the chair of the Subcommittee on National Security, the Border, and Foreign Affairs, Glenn Grothman (R-WI), and the chair of the Subcommittee on Cybersecurity, Information Technology, and Government Innovation, Nancy Mace (R-SC), along with seventeen other extremist Republican members of Congress, sent a letter to Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg.
Good response. A piece that keeps getting left out is that the Gov. of Ohio at least initially (and may still, haven't seen an update) refused to call for FEMA. That requires a state declaration of emergency, but he didn't want to give Biden a "win".
Heather analyzed DeWine's "lack of response" in her Tuesday political chat (which I transcribed quite a bit. "The Trump administration changed the safety rules the Obama administration had put in place to get rid of brakes that would have at least slowed down that disaster and at the same time changed the definition of a hazardous carriage. At the same time Biden called Gov. DeWine instantly and said, “Anything you want, I’ll get it for you.” DeWine said to the cameras, “I don’t see a problem, we don’t need federal help,” because he’s a Republican and they do not want to accept the idea that the federal government has a role to play in industry. This was an ideological decision on the part of a Republican governor. Things have gotten worse and worse and that has changed. The federal government cannot unilaterally go into a state, although it’s not supposed to. It did occasionally under the Trump administration. What can you do, you offered help, but are shut out and now Tucker Carlson is saying “you care more about the world than you care about us.” That is pure propaganda. "
"The Trump administration" also jettisoned the pandemic preparation that the previous administration had put in place. It not "government" the Republicans attack, it is democracy and the commonwealth.
Republicans attacking democracy and the commonwealth? Words outside their vocabulary. Just attack anything that's not part of the great MAGA philosophy. Sorry, can't think of a simpler word for "philosophy" right now - my dinner is on the stove.
The Epidemic Playbook was actually a multi-Administration Response developed by Bill, W, and Barack, who each had their challenges. But, the "dumbest student I ever had" was too smart(?) to need to read it. And so, cast it aside. I do hope there are other copies laying around so that Joe's team can update it with all of the actions of the tRUmp Admin to avoid...
I think you meant 'the federal govenment can go into a state...'. George Wallace didn't think so, either, but he gave ground to the federalized Guard troops at the University of Alabama.
The NTSB is a separate agency, charged with both investigating civil transportation accidents and investigating the release of hazardous materials during transportation. They can and must go into a state where something like this happens, in spite of the governor of Ohio's selfish opinion about it
I’ve read that the rules that Trump cancelled would not have applied to the vinyl chloride car, because the Obama administration gave in to lobbyists and took vinyl chloride off if the list of hazardous chemicals covered by the electronic brake regulation.
In a world before tfg and rancid partisanship we might have patiently waited for the investigation to be complete before looking to place blame.Somehow tfg brought out the worst in us. Here’s some information on how the Precision Scheduled Railroading that was recently a big issue might have effected the accident. Ultimately the RR company is at fault. I don’t understand the mindset of thinking corporations will regulate themselves.
That's the basis of the free market philosophy and libertarianism. It's interesting that there has never been an equitable society based on libertarian principles and yet all these sanctimonious people who claim to be above politics insist that it's the only real way to run a society and have liberty. And it's a tool used by conservative politicians to get rid of the New Deal and have ignorant people sign on to it.
“claim to be above politics” just like everything else they say, this is just another attempt to throw the 💩they are covered in onto those they politically and passionately disagree with!! It’s nonsensical
Source please. I find nothing to suggest Obama caved to industry. The purpose of the Obama legislation was in direct response to the derailment in NJ, perhaps 2012 where vinyl chloride was involved.
"Although the train contained hazardous materials, including vinyl chloride, it did not meet the Department of Transportation’s narrow definition of a high-hazard flammable unit train because it didn’t have at least 70 cars containing flammable materials, such as crude oil or ethanol. The chemicals it was carrying fall into a different classification not included in this definition.
Cheung also pointed to a statement by National Transportation Safety Board Chair Jennifer Homendy, who said it is "false" to state that if the brake rule was implemented it would have prevented the derailment."
"But the sudden growth of the American fracking industry, which fueled the demand for freight cars carrying crude oil from fields in North Dakota and other states to ports and refineries around the country, changed the economic equation for the rail industry. The surge in demand meant it would be much more costly for the forced adoption of new safety regulations requiring ECP brakes on rail cars carrying explosive liquids.
By May 2015, when the Obama administration issued its rule following a number of oil train accidents, the industry coalesced in opposition."
So DeSwine would rather let a town in his state--some of the very people who elected him--suffer from potentially toxic fumes from the burning of the toxic chemicals that had been contained in those rail cars, merely so he can, essentially, "own the libs"...? What a p*ss poor piece of garbage. DeSwine really is a pig--and that is greatly maligning pigs.
Don't demean cockroaches. They have been around for millions of years, adapting to changes in the environment as necessary. They are far smarter than Republicans, or any political party for that matter. They will be around even after mankind is extinct, possibly inheriting the earth.
I don't remember in which one, but there was a scene in a sci-fi film about twenty years ago where an earthling, setting foot on another planet, is almost instantly devoured by cockroach-like creatures.
As someone who lived in Egypt for almost 6 years, I can assure you that there is absolutely no justification for the existence of cockroaches, especially when they crawl over your face while you're sleeping or drown themselves in your coffee.
You are correct! And there is absolutely no justification for a country to wage agressive war on civilians rather than attacking military targets. We have been trying to put an end to both cockroaches and war on civilians for centuries without much luck.
They are prolific because human beings are prolific. But they are also part of the food chain that feeds many other species. If we weren't so messy there would probably not be as many.
And yeah, the last two sentences were gratuitous insults...but in Maine, we suffered for eight years with exactly the same sort of Repub guv (LePage, Maine's national embarrassment--not the current guv, who is a peach) and their attitudes were and are infuriating and callous. I couldn't help myself.
You are 100% correct, sir!!!! Thankfully, there was no third party running to split the vote and let LePage win with a measly plurality as he did for his first and second terms and LePage got well and truly thumped by Janet Mills (no relation) as he should have been the very first time he ran. He really was a lying, deceitful, vulgarian bloviator who used to BRAG that he..."was Trump before Trump was Trump." LePage moved to Florida and all things considered--he really belongs there.
T L Miller. Perhaps the governor was waiting for the responsible party to contact him. The party that is responsible, is Norfolk Southern Railroad (ph), they have promised cleanup funding and other aid. I understand that FEMA and the EPA are presently there.
Hard to imagine that the governor was “waiting” for the railroad to contact him. If he was, he’s even stupider and more craven than I thought. Corporate America doesn’t “contact” its victims. It expects to get off scot free as it does in most situations.
In spite of the random nature of reporting on this and the many assumptions made by both news and news comsumers, I picked up something about why DeWine took the stance he did. His perspective is (or was) that FEMA is meant for natural disasters, and this clearly was not a natural disaster: it was human caused, period. Personally, at this point, I don't know if FEMA could be involved or not, but the reasoning is sound.
The point here isn't FEMA anyway: it is the irrational claim by certain Republicans (DeWine not included) that because Biden himself was not onsite, he cared more about overseas events than Ohio. This kind of argument comes up from time to time around various disasters. It is baloney. We do not elect our president to be the front man for every agency doing their job.
What difference would Biden's physical presence in the direct aftermath of the train wreck have contributed? He was busy doing his job, representing our country both internationally and here at home, by assuring the governor and the people of Ohio that essential federal government resources were at work for them, and by taking a remarkable initiative to solidify support for Ukrainians, who are bearing the brunt of an aggressive war that is not going to just burn out by itself.
Re: Biden's not making an appearance in Ohio. Isn't it sad that we think an appearance for a photo op actually helps in an emergency like this? What it really does is remove from service,some of the people on the ground who are needed to help, and stick them onto an unnecessary security team!
Thank you, Cheryl, so true. And, yes, sad that so many people have a misguided sense of how our government works. One of the reasons, I think, they sometimes cannot see it at work.
I saw somewhere that Biden DID offer to come but the East Palestine mayor knew he didn't have the resources to provide adequate security, so declined. Fast forward a week of so and the same mayor was complaining that Biden cared more about Ukraine than the people in his town. Thank Heavens Biden's thick skin and extensive experience keeps him on the high road w/ stuff like this.
Jen, my excepting DeWine in this instance was because he did speak up for Biden to emphasize that Biden HAD called to offer help, counter to what the right wingers were claiming. I think also that his initial reluctance to accept FEMA was based on his understanding of FEMA's purpose. Clearly he recognized that he was wrong on that, and later accepted FEMA assistance.
I don't claim to read people's minds. I look at what they do and say. I don't know what DeWine's feelings and motivations are. But I'll allow that he is trying to do what he thinks is right for Ohio, within the philosophical framework he has. That is not charity. It is simply acknowledging that he is due some credit for integrity, even though I disagree with his perspective.
Your ending your argument with "Period" suggests that your mind is closed to seeing DeWine in any framework but the one in which you seem to have lumped all Republicans. I have to wonder where the hatred lies here- who is aiming and who is the target. DeWine is deeply conservative, and has taken stands that I think are extremely short-sighted and sometimes downright peculiar. But I don't think he is in the class of some extreme right wingers (note that most of the negative comments are coming from WaDC politicos with aspirations for control and power.)
Annie, I write because your comment speaks to the fact, that because we’re so deeply divided, when one side opens its mouth the other half hears only lies and deceit. Regrettably, this impasse not only is unacceptable, but also unlikely to change any time soon.
Still, something must change, maybe a promise that instead of scorching the earth between us we will try every day to bring the country together.
Barbara, I agree. That's why I feel so strongly that we all have a responsibility NOT to use that chasm to call names and enlarge the impasse. We also have a responsibility to call it out when it happens, especially when the purpose seems largely to feel superior to people we don't agree with. Give people credit for what they do, even when their political philosophy is very different from one's own. I do not agree with Gov DeWine, but I'll hand him credit for making it clear that Biden HAD been in touch within two hours of the train wreck. Not sure I would be able to do the same with people like MTG, who leaves no room to reach across. But I still will not, as so many do, make fun of Greene by calling her grade school names. Ok, fine, in private I snark, but rarely here. I'm tired of cheap shots, no matter what direction they come from. "Scorched earth" starts with name-calling and gets worse from there.
How in the world did you come up with this? You are as much a danger as the 21 people Heather mentioned in her post. Read more, and learn to read carefully so that you understand what is going on. There is plenty of middle ground to work on and in with other people.
Maybe DeWine is not in the same class (although to me his voter suppression efforts put him there) but he surely needs the support of those “extreme right wingers” and he seems willing to play along
George, my apologies. Using jargon to save my fingers. WaDC is abbreviation for Washington, DC. When I use the term WaDC politico", it is to differentiate between the people in WaDC political circles and those in our own communities. I know from my experience that the air in WaDC is a bit rarified and sometimes we need to carefully examine what people there say and do. In our own communities, we usually have a better sense of the context of issues and often know the back stories.
My last typing of the day... my hands gave me the signal to stop. So am going to give today's project a quick list of key words as prompts tomorrow. Goody, now I get to read for a while. Fascinating history of the Dutch settlement that turned into modern New York: a fascinating (and sometimes amusing) ride through complex world wide factors that shaped American culture. Ouch. I may not type tomorrow.
Everyone in Ohio did not vote for these monstrous reprobates. There are many Democrats and Independents and non-voters (this incident may convert a few) and children in Ohio.
It is so apparent every time I hear him speak that he tries to do everything he can for all of Ohio. I wish he’d run for President but he seems to have no ambition for that. Another reason to love the man.
When I watched the interview with DeWine, I was of the impression that DeWine didn't see this as an emergency situation as they burned off the toxic chemicals to reduce risk of further explosions and his agencies and the railroad folks were telling him this wasn't going to get out of hand. Clearly, he didn't have all the facts and underestimated the fears of folks in East Palestine. A lot of ugly is coming out and too much mincing of wording in letters to and between federal regulators, lobbying groups, and Senators with animus as their calling. There is a lot of failure going around and will come down to deregulation and weakening the oversight by railroads and, of course, making decisions that improve the profit margin at the expense of safety and reduction of real people watching over every coupler and foot of track, especially where hazardous materials are being transported through our fragile environments and communities. I hope the battle stays focused on the safety and employee issues that led to this preventable disaster(accident) and MSM plays down the vitrol of blame emanating from the mouths of politicians who see a political gain by fomenting and spreading fear and blame.
I am a very capable analytical chemist, but hardly an advisor to the governor. Either he was too stupid to get good advice, or too beholden to the financial interests behind this ( and apparently two a day) chemical spill. A BA chemist could have told this man this was an extremely dangerous and toxic situation.
Thanks for going the extra mile to spread blame. DeWine’s an idiot. Idiots don’t like smart people around them. I may not be good for financial advice but any chemist should have been able to read an MSDS and see how awful this was. Hell, Devine probably doesn’t even know what an MSDS is. As a host to many chemical manufacturers and a transit point for hazardous material, he should have been quite familiar.
I doubt that they're all imbeciles, but the willful obfuscation of some, combined with the stupidity (some of it also willful) of others is a toxic brew.
No, quite the opposite, this is clever (and cynical). These Republican politicians don’t believe any of this, but they know their voters will fall for these lies, because their voters are not very smart (as evidenced by how they listen to Fox News and support the party that constantly screws them). The goal here is to smear Buttigieg, who likely will be running for president in 2028. The smear doesn’t have to be true.
We all need to remember, too, that they saw Hillary as a threat while Bill was still in office, and began trashing her then, using the same lies and innuendo that they did against him. "Crooked Hilary" was coined well before she ran for president, and it worked, thanks to Jim Comey. Before much longer, "pedophile" will be coupled with Buttigieg, and for the same purpose.
No. They’re lacking hearts. While intelligence would be nice, it takes empathy to care enough to use whatever intelligence one may be blessed with in order to muster help.
In the authoritarian model, which I suspect most Republicans were raised with, are taught that the status of of the speaker "trumps" ( if you'll pardon the expression) the empirical grounding of what is said. You can be "highly" educated ( or at least have degrees) and accept that as an axiom, and I know some who do. The trick is to cultivate PTSD in your progeny to render them phobic of questioning the target authority. You also don't have to have an authoritarian mindset in order to promote it. You just need to harbor the urge to use it in order to control others.
Research indicates that more conservative people tend to be more afraid of change and difference, and are drawn to the "strong" father type leader who can make them feel safe. Facts aren't a consideration.
No it isn't lack of intelligence it is use of that intelligence to drive their crazy agenda in the news system. They decided to make East Palestine Biden's Katrina. Add that they want points against Pete for the future.
What is really lacking is knowledge of how the government works and of the world in general. Trump was a leader in the lacking knowledge camp. Didn't even know that Finland was a country.
Right on, it wasn't even understood that the native people of Greenland have a different concept of ownership than we do. The whole country is owned in common. You don't even own the land you house sits on, it kind of a lease. Greenland is not something you could by from Denmark.
Of course, when you think about it, this is actually more accurate for all of us who "own" our property. We are really just leasing it, since it will go on after we're dead, with others "owning" it temporarily as well. But the ignorance and audacity of tfg thinking this was even possible with Greenland.
Willful ignorance and arrogance... characteristics I see aplenty in Republicans... so much arrogance they refuse facts if those facts negate their views.
And, the audience who each believe that could be successful, just like that great businessman or that they will win the lottery. Aspiring to be the corporate or richly successful guy who exudes wealth and gild. Finding the right chance, the inside deal, the right connections is what brings success, whether in politics or in business. Teaching, being the beat cop, serving in the ranks, a craftsman, a clerk, all chump jobs. Nothing worth aspiring to. Making the break that let's you get ahead or in control of others, that's what's important. We dress it up afterwards to look valuable to those others, the chumps who still think that doing a good job or helping others on their own dime.
There is no higher "calling" than to be a teacher or craftsman or should I say craftperson. One creates beautiful minds the other beautiful things. Worth more than gold or silver.
Dave, I so agree. But I suspect you and I both believe that we should leave the world we came into a little better by the time we leave it and that the people in it are the most important, both as instruments to achieve such and who should benefit by the labors of our hearts or minds or hands. Just call me Chump. Proud to be such and satisfied with what I have acquired in my life; enough plus a little nut to pass on.
These are all the people who will tell you that they voted for tFg because he's such a brilliant businessman. Then they have the chutzpah to sneer at the "chumps" that know otherwise. Most of this is a manifestation of poor self image.
- and astoundingly selfish, like a combination of Guinea worms and flesh-eating bacteria, with a bit of zombie fungus thrown in for good measure. They acknowledge the existence of no interests other than their own, and single-mindedly act to achieve their own interests, without awareness of any others, or of the damage their actions do.
Certainly the Republican "leaders" are lacking in intelligence, and like Faux News personalities, spew out untruths knowing their audience will fall for them. Critical thinking is not part of the makeup of the audience members, or of most of the MAGA adherents.
No, but we aren’t hearing anything from them. Their silence is deafening while their idiot colleagues who have hijacked the party can’t shut their mouths.
Kathy, I heard the report right after the derailment, and also heard that Biden had immediately called Gov. DeWine to offer FEMA assistance, as Carla relates below, and as you both said, Gov. DeWine said they didn't need FEMA's assistance at the time. I have not heard a word on any news outlet regarding DeWine's decision since.
Truth Nancy. I am from Ohio and heard the immediate news reports and was glued to them and updates regarding the derailment from local sources. I also reported the same that Carla did; Biden called and offered any and all, DeWine declined. When I said this here, I also added, "End of Story" - until it wasn't the end of the story.
I'd only agree that he 'appears' fairly moderate Nancy. Consider his full embrace of the right to life extremists for one - denying a female human's right to choose and privacy. I think he's more likely a wolf in lamb's clothing.
D4N, I'm sure you're correct. There are almost no Republicans currently in office who are moderate. The fact that he doesn't spew venom, like DeSantis and Abbott, is no guarantee of moderation. I'm also aware of his right to life stance. The possibility of agreeing with Biden, even to save his constituents' health, would be an impossible task for him, and the water he was drinking to prove that it was safe probably had just been poured out of a plastic bottle.
If they ask for help from the federal government then they admit to 2 facts:1. They are not up to the task themselves and 2. The federal government has a legitimate purpose and existence. These “alternative facts” gall their ass.
Agree. The Biden administration offered the state of Ohio immediate help but the Governor (DeWine)refused it and then lied about it and said that FEMA does not cover this type of disaster. This is just another example of politicizing something that should never have been politicized in the first place and people suffered and are suffering as a result.
Did I read that the "leaders" of the House of Representatives sent a letter to Gov DeWine and President Biden, copied to Sec Buttigieg asking how they could help? No? Musta been a dream. Now back to the the day mare.
As we get rightfully steamed over the total disregard for truth, not to mention the best interests of the people in and around East Palestine, let’s take a breath and recall that truth wins in the end, because it is, you know, true.
I really want to believe this but honestly, Republicans are the most fact denying, fantasy driven people I know. Twenty years ago, or so I told my Republican sister that the federal budget had only been balanced twice in our lifetime, once under Eisenhower and once under Clinton. She said, Clinton never balanced the budget. He cooked the books. So, there’s that.
There are always people who refuse to believe the truth. Look at those who don't believe we landed on the moon, or that COVID vaccines work. But most people--eventually virtually all who are not qualified to be in a padded cell--do come to accept truth.
The blame sits squarely on DeWine’s shoulders...a little known fact, and barely reported by the fifth estate. In MTG’s world of divorce, occurrences like this will happen regularly...then, who’s to blame. Hmm
Isn't it both astonishing and infuriating that even Governors, who are elected to serve their people, prefer to give MAGAs a publicity "win" rather than take care of the safety of their own people!
I am with you. How infuriating is it that public servants that are elected to SERVE their constituents actually withhold available aid to people who are living through some terrific hard times. Just like these governors of mainly red states who choose to opt out of Medicaid $$ that are lifesaving funds, is beyond cruel to me.
It is long past time to disband FENA as a welfare agency for states. And in this situation, 100% of the cost should be on the railroad. Not one cent of tax payer dollars should supplement NS.
When Buttgieg was asked by a reporter about visiting East Palenstine, two weeks after the diasaster, he said "I'm on personal time" and I share that information "when I'm ready"
Then he asked the reporter to take a selfie with him.
Buttgieg's political career is roadkill. Done.
Biden administration employees some of the least impressive people imaginable.
Besides Biden who is a barely coherent. Look at the laundry list:
-Kamala Harris - she is universal loathed as idiot.
- Pete Buttgieg - what does he do? No one knows?
- Janet Yellen - wrong every step of the way on inflation.
- Lloyd Austin - completely whiffed on Afghanistan
- Merrick Garland - opening day memo sent the FBI to go after parents
- Anthony Fauci - proven wrong on the vaccine (never tested/never worked) and the booster
impairs the immune system and is more likely to cause COVID, and now a
massive study showing masks NEVER worked
It takes a lot of chutzpah to try and blame the Republicans for the PR problems in East Palestine.
After Donald Trump completely embarrassed Buttgieg by showing up in East Palenstine first, he said it best, "after Biden finishes touring Ukraine, I hope there is some money left".
I guess lipstick is the best you can do. But sadly the pig is still ugly.
I guess the truth is just to hard to take. Especially when I provide quotes. How are you going to lie it away. Just remember that true is not a left wing value. It never has been. Even worse the left destroys everything it touches.
That maybe the dumbest comeback I've ever seen. The best you could come back with is a cliché? You didn't refute a single word. For example do you believe that Kamala Harris is a towering intellectual? Or a power grubbing lightweight?
That's the best you do? You didn't refute a single point. Of course you can't
so you make some idiotic comment about climate. You might want to remember
the old maxim, Its better to say nothing and leave in question your stupidity, then to open your mouth and leave nothing to doubt. Well done my friend!
Climate Change has already been killing the brilliant and the idiots. Much more to come. It's really the only subject that matters if you love your planet.
Hm. I wonder how you found your way to this island of truth? You have clearly been immersed in the right wing truthless world of FOX, OANN, NEWSMAX and others.
Have you by any chance seen any of the emails by FOX hosts in which they acknowledge that everything they said about the 2020 elections being stolen was utter crap, yet pushed it to folks like you anyway. Because . . . that's what you want!
For narcissistic virtue signaling leftists I'm sure your little joke is mild amusing.
But for the 1000 families in and around East Palestine whose air is unsafe to breathe, whose drinking water is unsafe to drink it might not be so funny. Their livestock have died. Their Residents are having respiratory problems. So your "brain damage" comment, the folks of East Palestine might think, is disgraceful and totally disrespectful.
Our Transportation secretary was too busy to go, until Donald Trump makes a fool out of him.
When asked about visiting the site he told a reporter - I share that soon. Then proceed to take a selfie with the reporter.
Its either true or not - Did Pete Buttgieg waited 20 days to go East Palestine?
TRUE OR FALSE?
Did Pete Buttgieg tell a reporter that he was on personal time and he would let them know when he planned to go to East Palestine? Then he asked the reporter to take a selfie? TRUE OR FALSE?
The local residents are experiencing respiratory problems, dead livestock, and polluted drinking water? TRUE OR FALSE?
You disparage others for our failure to prove you wrong, but I see not a scintilla of evidence that your assertions are correct. You cite not a single source. That was YOUR job, not ours.
Buttigieg's presence wasn't needed. Trump's certainly wasn't. He just wanted a photo op. And the Trump water? It went out of business 10 years ago. Just what they need in East Palestine -- 10 year old water!
I think it's good that you are here despite your tendency to try to insult people. If you stick around long enough, you may find that YOU are the snowflake, and maybe some of the lies you are frozen into will melt away.
The terrorists are "inside the building" quite literally. Thank you Heather for this summary of more deliberate destruction of government----and for showing the stupidity of the right-wing leadership in the House. But of course, even stupid people can do some very dangerous things---and indeed evil things. On the other hand, Buttigieg put it to them in his reply. BUT, the Democrats need to be a bit of direct shouting to make sure the voters understand what is going on. Too much control of the narrative goes to the GOP. Yes, the enemy is within---as well as outside.
Grover, Expanding on your point that Democrats need to take greater control of the narrative, I would suggest Democrats not only need to show that the GOP Norfolk Southern complaint filed against the federal government is misleading, but also that it is a deliberate cover-up. To clarify, in the past 6 years, the rail industry has downsized its workforce by 30%. Accordingly, workers have had to do more work with fewer people, a factor that, undoubtedly, causes safety concerns. Additionally, throughout its recent negotiations with workers, the rail industry could not provide even 1 day of paid sick leave, notwithstanding it beginning to reverse the policy due to public pressure.
Broadly speaking, Norfolk Southern represents a nexus of 3 widespread problems: 1) the strength of corporate lobbying in shaping federal policy, 2) workers’ rights consistently subsumed in the name of corporate profit, and 3) healthcare denied to our most vulnerable communities while insurance companies make billions of dollars a year in profit.
This amounts to deliberately engineering accidents, then using and augmenting the shock and confusion caused...as Hitler used the Reichstag fire. To put an end to democratic government and install dictatorship.
In extreme circumstances, people panic, rumor and conspiracy theories suddenly burgeon and explode... they seek scapegoats and anyone "different" is then in danger. In the immediate aftermath of the huge Kanto earthquake that leveled Tokyo in 1923, people turned on defenseless Korean immigrants and massacred them. Some similar massacres of Jews by the population in both Poland, Ukraine and the Baltic states during WW2, even after the Nazi defeat.
But here, it is those holding political power that are deliberately spreading lies, rumor and disorder.
Peter, Thank you for writing. As I’ve posted in the past, here at home, I see our nation as deeply divided as I can remember. Our country is at a crisis point, locked in an existential conflict over race, over identity, and over culture. Our democracy is in trouble, and it’s not the Russian’s fault; it’s ours. we are the ones killing it.
I don’t pretend to have all the answers, but I do know, while no single leader can save a democracy, without a leader the people, overall, can trust, no democracy can be saved. Seeing that when one side opens its mouth the other half hears only lies, maybe we’ve all been part of the problem. Either way, this impasse not only is unacceptable, but also unlikely to change any time soon.
Still, something must change.
Maybe as more of us become acutely aware that democracies now die when we’re not paying attention and that the end rarely comes in an instant but arrives slowly like twilight, perhaps then enough of us, under the auspices of trusted leadership, will be moved to make a promise, an American promise to each other, that instead of scorching the earth between us we will try every day to bring the country together.
Thank you, Barbara Jo Krieger, for these wise words.
We all, without exception, need to strip away false identities, while stopping on the way to honor them, just as we honor ourselves and our family — but do not stop there. We all, without exception need to question all the baggage, all the masks, labels, clothing inner and outer, that we like to take ourselves for — but which we are not.
I myself am not American, my nationality is British. However, like so many Europeans and perhaps even more so, like many Americans, my ancestry weaves together many strands, covering a vast territory.
If I were a citizen of the United States, I would then say "I am American and, like me, every single fellow-citizen is an American, we are all Americans together. This is our greater family. We must behave accordingly."
Only, it doesn't end there. Just as what I really am is not limited to or by my family, either nuclear or extended, or my clan, so every single one of the identity labels that I, my parentage, my social conditioning, my choices and life's vagaries have added on to me are not what I ultimately am.
What I ultimately am NOT includes many things of which I may be proud, many beings and groups to whom I may feel attached: family and ancestry, age, gender, education, culture, language, profession, appearance, political affiliation, wealth both material and immaterial (e.g. wealth of knowledge). Nationality is very much a part of this list. I may be willing to die for my people, for my country, fighting an enemy whose actions may be vile but who is intrinsically my equal, like me, another human being.
Religious identity is curious, in that it can be ‘getting warmer’ or can be just another sociological label. Membership of such and such a church, temple or sect, even when backed by fanatical beliefs, tells how I want to think of myself and how I want others to see me, but in itself says nothing about what I really am. Only I can dig down to find that…. Yet any authentic religion, any authentic philosophy, will at least be looking beyond liturgical or ideological fancy-dress and pointing towards some aspect of our true nature.
Even the body I cannot do without is far from the be-all and end-all of what I am...
Set aside all the hand-me downs that even billionaires are wont to wear and try asking the questions ‘Who am I? What am I?’ Inevitably, so many of the distinctions about which we care so much will prove not even secondary. If, on the other hand, we haven’t the guts to strike out for truth, the question arises whether we and the world we have created can possibly survive. And even if we can and do hang on, what will remain of humanity’s rich inheritance?
Truth too; I know folks who've worked their entire careers for the 'railroad industry'. Some cut more, some cut less. The statistic applied that way - 30 percent is accurate. That workers are doing far, far more with less and for less is accurate, if understated. The 3 points within your nexus statement is highly accurate and equally applicable across the entire spectrum of industries in this country, excluding none. Broadcast media and retail for instance are industries - for profit creatures, that coincidentally or not are all members of the U.S. and local chambers of commerce. It doesn't take much mental power to connect all the 'dots' we've learned about and make some pretty near accurate conclusions regarding the memberships of the different coalitions that have joined money, hands, and hearts in the name of 'winning' at any and all costs. Crony capitalism is as alive and well - if not more so, than at any time in our history.
@D4N, Because I wholly agree with your statement, as I have posted in the past, I have come to believe that the security of our nation and the preservation of our democracy depend upon a far more cooperative environment in which there is a modicum of social and economic justice for large numbers of people today who feel oppressed and marginalized by a runaway wild capitalism.
The terrorists are, indeed, inside the building, but the people who put the terrorists in the building did so on purpose, with malicious intent, and are getting the results they hoped for when they cast their votes. The likes of James Comer, Pete Sessions, and the rest are not the primary problem. The 60% of white voters who vote R are the problem. They have been the problem for over 50 years and will continue to do everything they can at the ballot box, in the courts, and on the streets, to drain the humanity out of American government for the foreseeable future, even if by some miracle decent human beings manage to outvote them.
Rex-I share your concern for our future. I think it’s worth noting that the terrorists have always been inside the building-for more than 50 years.
Most Americans don’t realize how much slavery has shaped our country from the beginning-including the way capitalism has evolved and why democracy is under attack. The aftermath of decisions made in the 1600s are still with us.
In his book, The Half has Never Been Told: Slavery and the Making of American Capitalism, (published in 2014) Edward E. Baptist says, “slavery’s expansion shaped every crucial aspect of the economy and politics of the new nation-not only increasing its power and size, but also, eventually, dividing US politics, differentiating regional identities and interests, and helping to make civil war possible”.
We are living with our past everyday. We’re still in many respects fighting a civil war. The Rs -backed by malicious corporate wealth-have lined up to mimic confederates-including denying certain people the right to vote, giving more power to corporations (Citizens United) and even supporting insurrection.
Unless and until we face the impact that racism has on all aspects of American life, we won’t be able to “perfect our union”. Consider the difference between “red and blue” states-they track closely with the development of slavery.
If more people really understood our history then maybe we could indeed experience a miracle where more decent human beings could support a government that’s striving for liberty and justice for all.
White supremacy is the propaganda that keeps the fire burning for the Rs. It’s proven to be a winning strategy for centuries. They will not only attack people of color but white people who support American ideals too.
Too many people really think that skin color matters among human beings. The facts don’t support racism. Only misinformed and malicious people believe it’s real.
Imagine what the U.S. might be if there was no racism, sexism etc. The words in the Declaration of Independence might really mean something and we could indeed be an “exceptional” nation.
Yes, advocates of white supremacism have been in charge from the beginning, but they didn’t need terrorism because until the 1960s 90% of white Americans thought systemic, brutal oppression of the rest of the population was just fine. Brown v Board put a crack in their hegemony, which brought them out in force. Legislation in the 1960s further eroded their control, at which point they concluded that more force was needed. Over the span of the next fifty years, about 30% of white Americans changed their minds and turned against systemic oppression. Now, white Americans who still cling to white supremacism as a fundamental principle find their numbers reduced to roughly 60% of the white population, which requires them to use even more unsavory (to put it as mildly as possible) tactics. Replacing democracy with kleptocratic autocracy is one of those tactics.
The American political and legal systems, by design, give the 60% enormous advantages in carrying out their program, but even using those advantages to their fullest extent, they find themselves clinging to control by their fingernails, so they have endorsed open terrorism as a mainstream political activity. They no longer go along with the genteel terrorism that Republicans have used for a century and a half to preserve white dominance. Instead, they put crude low-lifes like Ted Cruz, Josh Hawley, and the gangrene monster in Georgia in the government, with even worse terrorists on the horizon, such as the creep that white Floridians put in the governor’s office.
I think the percentage of white Americans who advocate white supremacism will continue to drop, but slowly. It’s been dropping by an average of a half-percent per year over the last six decades. At that rate, decent human beings will out-number white supremacists in the white population in a couple more decades. At the same time, the white fraction of the population will continue to drop, and that’s the greatest fear of the white supremacists. They know that if they don’t preserve white hegemony within a decade, they are doomed to live in a country with legal, political, economic, and social systems that make an honest attempt to treat all people fairly. I expect white Americans, 60% of them, will continue to use any means they find available to them, including violent terrorism, to avoid that outcome. It will take a great deal of effort by the 40% of white Americans who are decent human beings, working alongside 80% of the rest of the population, to avoid the outcome that the 60% so desperately want.
Your point about people not really understanding history is well taken. That’s a result of people who don’t read, who don’t read history. A point Timothy Snyder recently made about Ukraine.
In 2020, there were 168.31 million people registered to vote in the United States. In the presidential election, there were 81,282,903 votes cast for Biden and 74,223,030 votes cast for President Donald Trump.
Please show how your 70% works with the results of the 2020 election. There were all white voters for trump and the non-white for Biden?
Exit polls from 2016 and 2020 show roughly 60% of white voters went for Trump. I don't remember using the 70% number, but I did make a guess of 90% for the fraction of white people thinking oppression of everyone else was just fine up to the 1960s, and another guess that about 80% of the non-white population would be onboard with fairness. I don't have a source for either of those numbers. I made up the 90% out of whole cloth, based on my recollections of the 1950s and 60s. The 80% is a guess based on exit polling in recent elections, which puts the black vote at about 90% D and the Latino vote at about 70% D.
Kathryn, David Muir interviewed Biden yesterday regarding Ukraine, as well as the Ohio derailment, and responded to David's reference to some people who claim that Biden had done very little to assist in the aftermath, and Biden simply said he'd called within two hours of the accident and EPA was at the site within hours. I'm assuming that Biden is refusing to engage in the right wing's gotcha tactics, but I agree with you that he and others should be more emphatic in their responses, and I think he should have fleshed out the initial conversation with DeWine and DeWine's rejection of his offer of FEMA assistance. I was a bit annoyed with Muir's questioning, but felt that since that buzz was circulating, he was just taking a neutral stance and giving Biden a chance to state the facts.
Ann Louise, I thought the same thing. He refuses to be drawn into a squabble. Still, it's frustrating. Taking the high road translates to "he's senile" in their lexicon. In my heart, I know he's employing the correct tactic, but darn, I guess we'll have to wait for the next SOTU address to see him smiling broadly while he lands his punches.
It appears commenters are responding to an ill-defined concept here. Before people go running into embracing any ideology it is important to define what that concept is and how would it be implemented. Or. We could just run around in circles like the Republicans.
The Democrats are winning elections and governing with historic results. Election results in 2018, 2020 and 2022 show voters prefer results over shouting.
I agree Barbara. The lying, criming, and manipulating from the GOP is the same old, same old. Democrats are winning and doing lots of good stuff. Democrats keep pedaling away at doing the good stuff while they can. Buttigieg doesn’t have to shout. Democrats are looking like shiny gold in a sea of rusted out GOPers. The shine and success can’t help but be seen. Who wants to be on the side of the pathetic lying criminals? Just losers.
Just keep talking about the successes and calmly setting the record straight. More $$ to run informational ads about the good stuff happening out in those areas that get bombarded by GOP lies wouldn’t hurt. Focusing on turning out the vote and helping folks to make sure their votes count seems to make a difference 🤩
Thanks for your commonsense approach, Christine. This is exactly who they are. Engaging in shouting matches is a huge waste of our time and resources. Whining about them getting more attention is demeaning and tiresome. We will continue to fight gerrymandering, continue to register voters, continue to pile up legislative wins, and continue to prevail internationally.
As to spending money on ads. That may be an option. I don't know. But I do know that the media will continue to feature the crazies and ignore/minimize the Democrats. Finding people like Buttigieg to speak out is a valuable option. We can support organizations such as The Lincoln Project. They are bulldogs in this fight. And the Republicans whine about them so you know they do good work.
Grover, not only are the terrorists in the building, but the nihilists are in charge of the planning committee, the inmates are in charge of the asylum and the criminals are running the police department.
What "planning committee " what "asylum " what "police department" are you referring to exactly?
What power do the Republicans in the House have to pass legislation? Any Bill sent to the Democrat controlled Senate would be defeated. There is also a Democrat President who has already warned the Republicans of his veto powers.
We need to be careful in asserting something that in reality has no teeth.
Once again, the rethugs are winning the narrative. Democrats are playing on their field. Listing a laundry list of facts or answering as Buttigieg did in one sentence will not attract uninformed voters. Last I heard, they comprise 70% of the electorate. Swalwell and Goldman used strategic mockery, a method advocated by Chris Schecter and Rachel Bitecofer used to great success in Michigan as one example. Here's what they suggest. https://post.news/@/cliffschecter/2MDHnIxYhbLLSMX4twMKywGYNWW?fbclid=IwAR0DCEJNj1LXUabs88r4El3uU2oVxlxKPkAvCBGwc8dA5728Qv6GGzP3_WE
I totally agree. The Dems need to do more to control the narrative. Liberals often think that the truth will stand on its own. But, time and again, our experience shows that enough people just believe what they are told to sway our democracy. The truth needs its own PR campaign, we cannot be complacent about that and that is why Heather is doing such an important job. Thank you, Heather.
"Around a third of registered voters in the U.S. (34%) identify as independents, while 33% identify as Democrats and 29% identify as Republicans..
Pew Center
The Democrats need a PR campaign?
Looks like the Democrats' campaigns worked just fine in 2022.
"Democrats defied expectations up and down the ballot in 2022 despite facing historic headwinds and other challenges going into the midterms. However, Democrats were able to grow their majority in the Senate, retain and win a number of gubernatorial and state-level races, and temper their losses in the House. The Republicans had no ability to be able to define us from a policy perspective because every single legislative item that has passed the House and the Senate, signed into law by the president, has had bipartisan applause and approval all across the country. The American people rejected the right-wing, MAGA, election-denying extremists who now have a large say so and chemically make up the Republican Party,””
Barbara M, the implication of your comment does not address what I believe to be true.
A careful review of my comment would allow you to understand I never said 70% of the electorate. I think I said the uninformed electorate comprise 70% of the electorate. I do believe Democrats are losing the messaging war for these people. If we want to drown out the lies and disinformation, we need to use a new strategy. That was my argument. The statistics you quote bears little resemblance to the fact that rethugs continue to lie and cheat and are responsible in large part for deregulation and deaths in this country.Thank goodness a majority of Americans are informed and made the right choices in the last election, but that has nothing to do with the war on words we are engaged in!
You said: "70% comprise the uninformed electorate."
Now you say: "uninformed electorate comprise 70% of the electorate." Who are those uninformed? Republicans? Whites? Women? MAGA? Who?
Call this war of words if you want. I am making a point. People throw out vague terms, made up names and unfounded assertions and expect that to contribute to informed political discourse?
If you are looking for an argument from me, you won't get one. Most people agree that the disinformation campaign has caused untold damage. My point, once again, is that the sycophants that follow tRump and company are causing the chaos we see in the country. I believe it is in our interests to get the uninformed electorate on our side. I was suggesting a new strategy. If you want to harp on the statistics that's your privilege, but I don't have to agree.
I don't know if the Dems need a PR campaign, but the truth sure does. There is no rational reason the Regressives should have such control of the House or even that much control in the Senate. That level of representation does not seem to fit the distribution of American's policy preferences. The Regressives get a lot of coverage in the Press by blaring their outlandish lies. Since we cannot force the press to ignore these liars, Dems ought to give it a try to get more press by blaring outlandish truths.
Didn't you read my comment? The Democrats continue to win. The Democrats have prevailed in 2018, 2020 and 2022 elections. The Democrats demolished the predicted red tsunami in 2022.
I did read your comment. And I hope that the electorate is paying attention and that the Regressives do even more poorly in future elections. My point is that there is no reason they should be doing as well as they are. They should not be in control of the House. There should not be so many liars and crazies-who clearly never even took a civics class-in the House. That's all I'm saying. Too many lies have already been believed because the truth is getting drowned out. Thanks for your truthful presentation of the data.
And we need to embarrass the NYT and the Wash.Post until they start telling the truth in big BlACK HEADlINES. Otherwise, quit buying them, quit honoring them as Factual news outlets. They are both failing the American democracy( or the pretend one )
I do. I constantly post comments that are fact based counter arguments to the junk some of the columnists write. For example. If Thiessen, Olsen, McArdle, Will and Hewitt are spinning lies I will post all of Biden's accomplishments. Or if some National Review hack is writing about the failure of the Administration in the train wreck I will post a bullet list of the timeline of the Administration's response.
It's a tedious process. I've been doing this for years.
Janet, whether these politicians are too stupid to understand what Buttigieg tells them or, as I suspect, it's a combination of their stupidity and malice, the issue really is that their followers are too stupid to see through and analyze what is really going on.
I started a reply but somehow lost it! People believe what they want as long as it fits their narrative. Facts and truth don’t change their minds which is a real sign of stupidity. The vast majority of the sitting GOP’s stupidity and action is beyond contempt and comprehension. The Democrats need to challenge their lies loud and clear all the time. Just like Buttigieg does!
Yes-and I bet his “appropriate” response to the letter will tell them another thing or two-like the ways TFG contributed to this mess. Buttigieg is quite capable of taking them all down a notch or two. Bet they’ll regret their stunt.
Janet, per WFMY News 2 updated by Karrington Harris at 2/25/23 at 5:03 pm Eastern,
"2 wheels on a Norfolk Sourthern train came off in Lexington [ Kentucky ] Saturday ...
"The train car stayed upright & the crew is safe".
Again, this train was long, 132 railcars long. I beleve WFMY is a CBS affiliate by the look of its trademark but, Karrington appears to care much about accuracy.
That is correct D4N, thank you. An overheating wheel bearing in CAR 23 tiggered three (3) separate track warnings before it failed at 253 degrees Fareinheat above the ambient Air Temp of 10 degrees per the NTSB Preliminary Report. There is an aerial photo off CAR 23 in the coverage which still tells quite a story of the heat that was generated. "Can't start a fire without a spark".
People believe whatever fits their narrative! Truth and facts have No influence. The person responsible for opening Pandora’s Box is Trump. He tapped in to the hate and it legitimate along with stupidity.
Your comment Christine, certainly nails one part of the tactics, harnessing hate, Stepping back to the seminal work in the 1970's by Nobel Prize winner & behaviorial pyschologist, Kahneman, the use in marketing whether politics, useless foods or edpensive medications much has to do with harnessing ""FAST over SLOW thinking" thoughtless impulse over critical thought. Check out PBS' Jake Ward's recent PBS Special on the "Hacking of your Mind".
" 'Kathy I'm lost', I said though I knew she was sleeping. "
" I'm empty & aching & I don`t know why,"
"Counting the cars on the New Jersey Turnpike,"
"All come to look for America; all come to look for America".
"A poet and a one man band" but, be careful of "Loss Aversion" & what a corporation or politician wants to replace your "feeling of loss" with ... certainly not nostalgia for a
I laughed so hard at "(There are slightly fewer than 8 billion people on earth.)". Oh how I wish there was a real time way to put these facts into the "followers" heads. What a bunch of misguided uneducated folks.
Re: "Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) claimed that “6 billion” people have illegally crossed the border since President Biden took office. (There are slightly fewer than 8 billion people on earth.)"
Not only is MTG malicious, but she's dumb as a stump. She never misses an opportunity to prove that she deserves the pet name that a commentor on this site gave her, and I'm going to adopt Empty G. Priceless, no?
Jennifer, I was at the library last week doing research and overheard 2 Seniors parroting MTG's bombastic lie. One said, " I think that figure may be a little high". I responded to them, " no, I think you meant to say that is a lie".
Consider if Biden dropped Harris for Buttigieg as VP running mate, and Trump gets the GOP nomination and picks MTG---can you just imagine that VP debate?!?!?!?
Or maybe she was simply “embellishing” the truth, like her new best buddy Santos? They are teaming up to put through a Bill to ban LGBTQ+ books, after all… which is ironic, given that Santos is gay (or so he claims).
Yeah, it’s either astounding ignorance or a joke of the lead balloon variety (or a garden variety exaggeration) — either way it was an embarrassment for MTG because she deleted the tweet.
I think it is a textbook example of how she opens her mouth and natters on before her one lone brain cell is engaged. Remember "peach-tree dish" and "gazpacho police"? The woman is a walking, talking incarnation of a "faux pas". She's sadly a mirror of what the Republican party has become. On the one hand I can laugh, but my momma taught me not to laugh at people who are mentally challenged...
Bruce, I don't see her words as faux pas but as malapropisms. I think #1 is most apt in describing her ridiculous comments although #3 probably applies as well.
Definition: malapropism măl′ə-prŏp-ĭz″əm noun
1. Ludicrous misuse of a word, especially by confusion with one of similar sound. 2. An example of such misuse. 3. The act or habit of misapplying words through an ambition to use fine language.
Origin: MALAPROPISM [Named after Mrs Malaprop, a character in Richard Sheridan's play The Rivals (1775), from the French mal á propos inappropriate]. An error in which a similar-sounding word is substituted for the intended one, a characteristic of the fictional Mrs Malaprop, who produced such errors as ‘pineapple’ for pinnacle (‘He is the very pineapple of politeness!’), ‘interceded’ for intercepted (‘I have interceded another letter from the fellow!’). https://www.encyclopedia.com/literature-and-arts/language-linguistics-and-literary-terms/language-and-linguistics/malapropism
Certainly the "peach-tree dish" and "gazpacho police" are malapropisms. However, she utters them out of her own ignorance. Whether intentional or not, malapropisms can come from sheer ignorance, or they can consciously be done for the sake of humour. Saying "6 billion people" have crossed our southern border is her (and the right's) constant hyperbolic language. They always have to inflate and exaggerate every "statistic" they come up with. Call them what you will, I deem them mistakes, errors, "faux pas", misstatements, and often flat out lies that come from being remarkably ignorant.
I agree. She just pulls stuff out of nowhere and always demonstrates that when you are festering gangrenous substance only miasma from the swamp seeps out.
I have several renditions of her name. My latest being....Marjorie three names with zero brains. But I’m afraid it’s probably more words than she could put together.
She does invite people to be creative with her name, all of them suggesting festering, faking, and dumb as a rock. Like the little rhyming name you have too.
OK, I’ve been trying to behave, but you wonderfully intelligent, hilarious folks are leading me astray! Here’s my contribution: “Empty Green” (aka M.T. Greene).
Yes, this is harmless, but what comes of the mouths of the traitors is not. Someone, a regressive, once tried to ding me for name calling death star. I don't name call people on a thread, but public figures are fair game.
OMG, I’m right there with you and everyone else. She deserves it, there are no adequate insults for the depth of her depravity. Ditto her whole corrupt party. After 7.5 yrs of their daily insults, attacks on democracy, and everything decent, I’ve learned that I need to come up for air once snd awhile, get a breath of air, keep an arm’s distance, not let them drive me mad, and just focus on activism. I love these little pile ins, they’re good group therapy, let us all know we’re in good company! That said, here’s the one I couldn’t remember: “Q-Ella deVil.” Totally spot on! See pic at: https://twitter.com/afedupfeminist/status/1623354426747387904?s=46&t=FGs9tm7H2mwZaLiSUFP6JQ
The extremist members of the Republican Party do not want government to function. Whether they are conveniently ignoring the responsible agencies that perform investigative functions and oversight, or are one of the new members of Congress that have no knowledge or interest in learning such details, their aim is only to detract from the current administration and lie if necessary to cause the American people to distrust their government. That has been their strategy for several years now. The Marjorie Taylor Greenes of the Republican Party don’t want government to work, they want to burn it down. They have no platform, no proposed legislation to improve the lives of average Americans. They seek to follow the strategies of Steve Bannon to dismantle government, divide Americans and create chaos.
I agree, but just out of curiosity what is in it for them? To burn the government down? Like, will they then confiscate all the cash from their closest big city bank and then flee to Mexico?
Weirdly, I don’t think they’ve actually thought it through. Just like MTG’s “divorce” proposal for blue/red states, or not allowing Dems who move to red states the ability to vote for a number of years….what???!!!! Dim-witted ideas. Tho’ appears they abound in our human habitat….to wit: was at the local small market in a far northern CA rural area & commented on the somewhat rare occurrence of snow that was both a delight and pain in the ass. One employee said it just goes to show you that global warming is NOT real…. Sigh, I gently explained the difference ‘tween ‘weather’ and ‘climate’, but she was sure her beliefs were correct. I further explained about the scientific process being, well, a process, and that knowledge/theories/predictions change with the data and study. Nope, not having any of it. What a weird bunch we humans are!!!!
Was it Modoc or Siskiyou County?! I was raised in Siskiyou and am pretty familiar with CA rural areas! That’s why I laugh when idiots talk about CA as if it’s ALL SF or LA, or elites.....good grief, there are large swatches of the state that are totally red....people have no idea.
I’m in Humboldt Co, a pretty blue area overall, think it has to do with being coastal and a ‘college town area’ (worked at Humboldt State Univ—now Cal Poly Humboldt—for 40 yrs & lived here since ‘68). That said, every locale has its variety of opinions/beliefs. Am glad to say I support my elected officials, both Fed and State, for their engagement & stances on the issues. Once, many years back, I was doing a phone counseling session with a prospective out of state student & he asked if HSU was a beach town & swimming in the ocean/surfing etc., I asked him if he knew where San Fransisco was & he replied oh, that’s too cold….um, I told him…drive 6 hours NORTH and you’ll be at Humboldt!!! Suggested he might consider CSU Long Beach or maybe UC Santa Barbara (near where I grew up in Carpenteria). The eastern counties are much more conservative & there was a recent brew haha about redistricting which would have blended the coastal and inland areas, thus diluting the ‘blueness’ of the coast….luckily it didn’t happen. It has always been puzzling to me this blue/red divide, as I don’t quite understand the gist of it.
I worked there 6 years (KC Probation) after graduating from Sac State, right in the middle of the feminist movement…a big day when we were “allowed” to wear pants to court (had to be a matching ”set”!) I moved to Alameda County….difference was like night and day!
Their worship of Putin spells it out pretty clearly.
Oligarch= “a very rich business leader with a great deal of political influence (particularly with reference to individuals who benefited from the privatization of state-run industries after the collapse of the Soviet Union).
"it seems more than a coincidence that former employees, advisors, and allies of the billionaire oligarch have been parachuted into such positions"” from Oxford dictionary
A good explanation of the derailment and who has done what. A piece that doesn’t seem to be getting enough airtime is that Norfolk Southern (and other railroads) have been allowed to replace human inspectors with wayside detectors (hot bearing detectors known as HBD’s). Norfolk Southern was also allowed to set the alarm setpoints, so a temperature of 103 degrees above ambient air temperature did not cause an audible alarm.
“Between 170°F and 200°F, warm bearing (non-critical); stop and inspect
• A difference between bearings on the same axle greater than or equal
to 115°F (non-critical); stop and inspect
• Greater than 200°F (critical); set out railcar”
By the time the bearing alarm was sounded and the crew tried to stop the 149 car train, it was too late to prevent a derailment. Perhaps if the train had been equipped with the electronically controlled pneumatic brakes called for in the Obama-Biden rules (rescinded by the Trump administration), it could have stopped before it derailed.
Great information, Mary, and we need these facts to rebut the ignorance/lies, but besides being outrageously ignorant, these agitators want to spew their venom simply to rile their followers and cause harm to the Dems, and they have no regard for the well-being of the country. Confront them with facts that implicate Norfolk Southern, TFG stripping safeguards from rules, and they'll ignore them, or claim that the Democrats are lying.
Thanks for the links, Eadie. Of course, you're right. Refuting their every lie would occupy way too much time. I love both Swalwell and Goldman, and especially enjoy watching Goldman's eyes twinkle as he's enjoying the argument and planning his next parry.
"My mind is made up. Don't confuse me with the facts." seems to be the motto of the House GQP these days. While the saying may have been used in the past as a joke, this attitude on the part of our lawmakers is not humorous. It is dangerous.
This is the gang that couldn’t shoot straight. The Keystone Cops. Or choose from among the 28 synonyms for “inept.” They are a national embarrassment. Utter fools who don’t know it.
The Republicans are dragging the country down. Yet they think they’re patriots who are saving it from evil. Spare us all!
They have been outstandingly successful at throwing out red herrings to get news media off their trail. As defined by Merriam-Webster.com, red herring is "[from the practice of drawing a red herring across a trail to confuse hunting dogs] : something that distracts attention from the real issue." The news that President Biden's ratings have gone up is what's putting republican'ts into overdrive, IMHO.
Funny you brought this up, Gigi. I had been wondering if MTG has been spewing one idiotic statement after another to detract attention from her new buddy Santos.
MTG has been spewing screwy stuff for a very long time. When first in Congress, she was simply regarded as a nut case by media (not wrong) and by Dems. But she became one of the useful tools for other right wing extremists, and they pulled her into the limelight, which she revels in. Interesting to me that she is now buddies with Santos, who is the other outsider tolerated only because of the usefulness of his vote. Wonder if Murphy finally figured out that his obvious palling with her was not good optics? Any thoughts? I missed some stuff over last couple weeks, so MTG being buddies with Santos was news. Not very surprising, I just somehow missed the transition.
Truth. And I think MTG, as clearly uneducated as she is, imagines herself to be a modern-day Eva Braun, cozying up to those in power while we the people work to provide for their excesses.
When I was a kid (how last century!) My grandfather had a private car because he was an NYCRR executive. I was sitting on the observation deck with him when we passed a freight going in the opposite direction. In the caboose, the conductor waved, and my grandfather waved back. I asked why, and he told me that on the railroad it was everyone's responsibility to look for smoke coming from the journal box when trains passed each other. "Hotbox" detection, before disaster hit, was really important. He said that if either he or the conductor had seen evidence of a hotbox, they would have held their nose instead of waving. In the wreck HCR refers to, "hotbox" detection was allocated to software, which failed to inform the engineer until the journal box, containing the wheel bearings, was 258 degrees hotter than normal. No caboose, no conductor, no human smarter than software, was on the job. That's the way railroads choose to run now. Fewer employees, greater profit. The only downside is bigger accidents, and everyone associated with rail transport knows that. It's like having airports without people in the tower. Res ipse loquitur.
It was beautifully appointed, though apparently not as plush as the one he had, with a fireplace in the livingroom, before I was born. But there were several bedrooms, including a master suite with twin beds so his wife could travel with him and gold faucets on the washstand, a large dining room, a room for his personal secretary (a man) and a large dining room with table and chairs for 8. The galley prepared the meals. A cook and a butler were also part of the crew. I think about that now and marvel how few people ever experienced that. Of course, I have not flown in space, either....or done a lot of other things.
Wow! I hope your family has photos! I don't have the means, but I have seen groups online who own and rent out private rail cars. Trains tracks often sneak through natural places cars and highways cannot go. I'd imagine such a trip to be so wonderful, nevermind the luxury!
I spent years working with local, state and federal agencies that regulate hazardous chemicals. The minute I heard that a train had derailed in Ohio and spilled PVC's, my first thought was here's yet another toxic, dangerous chemical spill. They happen quite often, sadly, and we don't seem to be getting any better at regulating how such chemicals are regulated, handled or transported.
Rather than concern themselves with clean-up and helping those affected though, we get one more battle in these damn culture wars. PVC's are ungodly dangerous, toxic and will affect the area for a long time - depending on who handles the clean-up. If it is left up to DeWine and co., it is unclear what, if anything, will truly happen to ensure proper clean-up and protection of health - for humans, wildlife, plants, trees, all of it. And we will likely hear about a spike in several types of cancer somewhere down the road - not to mention that those with any current lung or kidney conditions will suffer and maybe even die sooner than they otherwise might. Real people, real problems. And Republicans don't give a rat's ass about anything except damaging Biden and Co.
This President and his administration have done incredible work to govern, regulate, keep the economy moving for everyone, and protect ALL Americans. But I knew, the minute that Biden shut down the rail workers strike, that there would be some damnable event that would shine a light on the problems with railroad companies worrying about managing only for profits rather than human well-being. Mission accomplished. Ugh.
Thank God for Buttegieg - not just for his management abilities and knowledge but his ability to communicate. Comer and company better watch themselves. They are batting waaaaayyy above their pay grade taking Pete on. Sigh. Back to writing postcards tomorrow. We HAVE to vote these bastards out.
Philosopher Harry Frankfurt defined the essence of bullshit as an utter lack of concern for whether what one says is true or not. He distinguishes BS from lying in that a liar at least has sufficient regard for truth to try to conceal the fact that the lie isn’t true. George Santos is a liar. These clowns are bullshit artists.
The difference between Richard Nixon who knew he was lying and felt he had to pretend he wasn't. And Ronald Reagan who had no moral compass and just made it up as he went along.
It appeared to me that after suffering the fall of Nixon, the once "Party of Lincoln" vowed to totally brazen it out with a comprehensive "Big Lie" strategy. And the lies got bigger as they went along. Now its major news when a Republican (such as Liz Cheney) says anything that's true.
I agree, they know exactly what they are doing. MTG is being intentional in tweeting out an outlandish claim, just long enough to do enough damage that cannot be undone after she removes the bs tweet.
We are *here* because ever since Ronald Reagan, the right has united. And in every branch and at every level of government *this* is what Republican domination looks like.
Either the rest of us unite behind the Democratic party and between now and Election Day 2024 do everything we can to win Democratic victories in every contest - or as Republicans said of overturning Roe "this is just the beginning."
“Either 21 Republican lawmakers charged with oversight of our government don’t know how the government works and didn’t care to find out, or they are deliberately misleading their loyalists.
We are becoming accustomed to certain Republican lawmakers saying ridiculous things. Just two days ago, in a now-deleted tweet, Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) claimed that “6 billion” people have illegally crossed the border since President Biden took office. (There are slightly fewer than 8 billion people on earth.)
But the letter these representatives wrote shows such a profound disinterest in how our government works that it suggests these representatives have no real interest in the job they were sent to Washington to do, and instead are weaponizing the government to mislead their followers into believing things that are not true.
Buttiegieg responded: “I am alarmed to learn that the Chair of the House Oversight Committee thinks that the NTSB is part of our Department. NTSB is independent (and with good reason). Still, of course, we will fully review this and respond appropriately.”
Before I even read the above paragraphs written by Heather, I thought “Do these guys understand how our government functions????” Thank you, dear Heather: great minds think alike!
Having the Repelicans led by Greene and McCarthy run the House of Representatives after Pelosi ran it is like having the kids from the permanent in-school suspension room replace the teachers in the AP program in a high school.
Astonishing how ignorant Republican office holders are. It’s as though they failed primary school, without basic knowledge and common sense, and realise, in adulthood, the only way they can get a job is to lie and cheat, muddle around for some fake charisma or find their inner bully and never take responsibility for anything. This qualifies them for Republican office. When the worst of a nation fake leading the nation the nation is in deep dooda
Good leadership entails both (a) hiring staff who will tell one when one is about to put one's foot in one's mouth and (b) heeding staffers' warnings that one's metatarsals are perilously close to one's mandible.
They have no desire to be informed or abide by the rules of governing. They are there simply to tear it all down, hoping to become an oligarch once it falls.
In the past I have seen constituents in MTG’s area say how embarrassed they are that she is their representative. She doesn’t seem the type that the Democrats can win a public debate with, so what about on the ground. I see Biden posting on twitter all the great things he and Congress have been getting done, can they take it to the streets in MTG’s backyard? Can they ask the people there if they know what she is attempting to demolish? It seems only when the more direct and personal PR happens that maybe oh maybe they wont vote for her again
This story came out in February 2021 about MTG's hometown. It's frightening, to me at least. She was reelected in the 2022 midterms. Her opponent was Marcus Flowers. I donated to his campaign, but it was for naught. Reading the article, I came to realize she is a reflection of her constituents.
Good response. A piece that keeps getting left out is that the Gov. of Ohio at least initially (and may still, haven't seen an update) refused to call for FEMA. That requires a state declaration of emergency, but he didn't want to give Biden a "win".
Heather analyzed DeWine's "lack of response" in her Tuesday political chat (which I transcribed quite a bit. "The Trump administration changed the safety rules the Obama administration had put in place to get rid of brakes that would have at least slowed down that disaster and at the same time changed the definition of a hazardous carriage. At the same time Biden called Gov. DeWine instantly and said, “Anything you want, I’ll get it for you.” DeWine said to the cameras, “I don’t see a problem, we don’t need federal help,” because he’s a Republican and they do not want to accept the idea that the federal government has a role to play in industry. This was an ideological decision on the part of a Republican governor. Things have gotten worse and worse and that has changed. The federal government cannot unilaterally go into a state, although it’s not supposed to. It did occasionally under the Trump administration. What can you do, you offered help, but are shut out and now Tucker Carlson is saying “you care more about the world than you care about us.” That is pure propaganda. "
"The Trump administration" also jettisoned the pandemic preparation that the previous administration had put in place. It not "government" the Republicans attack, it is democracy and the commonwealth.
Republicans attacking democracy and the commonwealth? Words outside their vocabulary. Just attack anything that's not part of the great MAGA philosophy. Sorry, can't think of a simpler word for "philosophy" right now - my dinner is on the stove.
Propaganda machine
“great MAGA B.S.” is concise in this case.
Indeed. And it didn't do any harm to my omelette.
I'm not sure they have anything other than creating chaos in mind. It's hard to see what they want, except to undermine our democracy.
Glad to learn that! Enjoy! 😉
The Epidemic Playbook was actually a multi-Administration Response developed by Bill, W, and Barack, who each had their challenges. But, the "dumbest student I ever had" was too smart(?) to need to read it. And so, cast it aside. I do hope there are other copies laying around so that Joe's team can update it with all of the actions of the tRUmp Admin to avoid...
I hardly know whether to weep or scream with rage. The Seven Plagues of Egypt, visited upon the USA, starting November 2016.
I think you meant 'the federal govenment can go into a state...'. George Wallace didn't think so, either, but he gave ground to the federalized Guard troops at the University of Alabama.
E:
Yes very true. The Feds can not go into a state unless the courts take action. In which case, SCOTUS did with Old Miss.
But that was a Good SCOTUS
The NTSB is a separate agency, charged with both investigating civil transportation accidents and investigating the release of hazardous materials during transportation. They can and must go into a state where something like this happens, in spite of the governor of Ohio's selfish opinion about it
I’ve read that the rules that Trump cancelled would not have applied to the vinyl chloride car, because the Obama administration gave in to lobbyists and took vinyl chloride off if the list of hazardous chemicals covered by the electronic brake regulation.
In a world before tfg and rancid partisanship we might have patiently waited for the investigation to be complete before looking to place blame.Somehow tfg brought out the worst in us. Here’s some information on how the Precision Scheduled Railroading that was recently a big issue might have effected the accident. Ultimately the RR company is at fault. I don’t understand the mindset of thinking corporations will regulate themselves.
https://www.kxan.com/news/local/austin/is-vinyl-chloride-shipped-through-austin/amp/
That's the basis of the free market philosophy and libertarianism. It's interesting that there has never been an equitable society based on libertarian principles and yet all these sanctimonious people who claim to be above politics insist that it's the only real way to run a society and have liberty. And it's a tool used by conservative politicians to get rid of the New Deal and have ignorant people sign on to it.
“claim to be above politics” just like everything else they say, this is just another attempt to throw the 💩they are covered in onto those they politically and passionately disagree with!! It’s nonsensical
Source please. I find nothing to suggest Obama caved to industry. The purpose of the Obama legislation was in direct response to the derailment in NJ, perhaps 2012 where vinyl chloride was involved.
"I've read" lolololololol
"Although the train contained hazardous materials, including vinyl chloride, it did not meet the Department of Transportation’s narrow definition of a high-hazard flammable unit train because it didn’t have at least 70 cars containing flammable materials, such as crude oil or ethanol. The chemicals it was carrying fall into a different classification not included in this definition.
Cheung also pointed to a statement by National Transportation Safety Board Chair Jennifer Homendy, who said it is "false" to state that if the brake rule was implemented it would have prevented the derailment."
https://www.politifact.com/article/2023/feb/24/fact-checking-trumps-i-had-nothing-to-do-with-it-r/
"But the sudden growth of the American fracking industry, which fueled the demand for freight cars carrying crude oil from fields in North Dakota and other states to ports and refineries around the country, changed the economic equation for the rail industry. The surge in demand meant it would be much more costly for the forced adoption of new safety regulations requiring ECP brakes on rail cars carrying explosive liquids.
By May 2015, when the Obama administration issued its rule following a number of oil train accidents, the industry coalesced in opposition."
https://theintercept.com/2023/02/21/east-palestine-rail-safety-congress/
Citation, please.
Well, there's this gem: . https://governor.ohio.gov/media/news-and-media/east-palestine-update-2-16-23-11-00-am-02162023 . . . . and then there's this: . https://www.fema.gov/press-release/20230218/joint-statement-ohio-governor-dewine-and-fema-regional-administrator-sivak
Biden said I will send any help you need and DeWine said he didn’t need any help.
So DeSwine would rather let a town in his state--some of the very people who elected him--suffer from potentially toxic fumes from the burning of the toxic chemicals that had been contained in those rail cars, merely so he can, essentially, "own the libs"...? What a p*ss poor piece of garbage. DeSwine really is a pig--and that is greatly maligning pigs.
Pigs are, indeed, very intelligent creatures. Perhaps ‘cockroach’ would suffice?
Don't demean cockroaches. They have been around for millions of years, adapting to changes in the environment as necessary. They are far smarter than Republicans, or any political party for that matter. They will be around even after mankind is extinct, possibly inheriting the earth.
I was actually going to say this. After homo sapiens die out, cockroaches, along with other scavengers, will continue to exist and thrive.
I don't remember in which one, but there was a scene in a sci-fi film about twenty years ago where an earthling, setting foot on another planet, is almost instantly devoured by cockroach-like creatures.
As someone who lived in Egypt for almost 6 years, I can assure you that there is absolutely no justification for the existence of cockroaches, especially when they crawl over your face while you're sleeping or drown themselves in your coffee.
I live in Georgia. I’m with you.
You are correct! And there is absolutely no justification for a country to wage agressive war on civilians rather than attacking military targets. We have been trying to put an end to both cockroaches and war on civilians for centuries without much luck.
They are prolific because human beings are prolific. But they are also part of the food chain that feeds many other species. If we weren't so messy there would probably not be as many.
This statement needs to go on billboards all over Ohio! Except, well, the last two sentenses.
Thank you.
And yeah, the last two sentences were gratuitous insults...but in Maine, we suffered for eight years with exactly the same sort of Repub guv (LePage, Maine's national embarrassment--not the current guv, who is a peach) and their attitudes were and are infuriating and callous. I couldn't help myself.
LePage! What a total Whack Job!
You are 100% correct, sir!!!! Thankfully, there was no third party running to split the vote and let LePage win with a measly plurality as he did for his first and second terms and LePage got well and truly thumped by Janet Mills (no relation) as he should have been the very first time he ran. He really was a lying, deceitful, vulgarian bloviator who used to BRAG that he..."was Trump before Trump was Trump." LePage moved to Florida and all things considered--he really belongs there.
As with Covid denial, the MAGA=FREEDOM FROM GOVERNMENT types seem to be rushing to their demise, while on the way to bank their tax savings.
We can only hope.
Apparently the good citizens of East Palestine mostly feel the same...
T L Miller. Perhaps the governor was waiting for the responsible party to contact him. The party that is responsible, is Norfolk Southern Railroad (ph), they have promised cleanup funding and other aid. I understand that FEMA and the EPA are presently there.
Hard to imagine that the governor was “waiting” for the railroad to contact him. If he was, he’s even stupider and more craven than I thought. Corporate America doesn’t “contact” its victims. It expects to get off scot free as it does in most situations.
"he’s even stupider and more craven" BINGO!
If Norfolk Southern were left to decide for themselves when (or if) to contact the Governor...DeSwine would be having himself a good long wait.
In spite of the random nature of reporting on this and the many assumptions made by both news and news comsumers, I picked up something about why DeWine took the stance he did. His perspective is (or was) that FEMA is meant for natural disasters, and this clearly was not a natural disaster: it was human caused, period. Personally, at this point, I don't know if FEMA could be involved or not, but the reasoning is sound.
The point here isn't FEMA anyway: it is the irrational claim by certain Republicans (DeWine not included) that because Biden himself was not onsite, he cared more about overseas events than Ohio. This kind of argument comes up from time to time around various disasters. It is baloney. We do not elect our president to be the front man for every agency doing their job.
What difference would Biden's physical presence in the direct aftermath of the train wreck have contributed? He was busy doing his job, representing our country both internationally and here at home, by assuring the governor and the people of Ohio that essential federal government resources were at work for them, and by taking a remarkable initiative to solidify support for Ukrainians, who are bearing the brunt of an aggressive war that is not going to just burn out by itself.
Re: Biden's not making an appearance in Ohio. Isn't it sad that we think an appearance for a photo op actually helps in an emergency like this? What it really does is remove from service,some of the people on the ground who are needed to help, and stick them onto an unnecessary security team!
Thank you, Cheryl, so true. And, yes, sad that so many people have a misguided sense of how our government works. One of the reasons, I think, they sometimes cannot see it at work.
I saw somewhere that Biden DID offer to come but the East Palestine mayor knew he didn't have the resources to provide adequate security, so declined. Fast forward a week of so and the same mayor was complaining that Biden cared more about Ukraine than the people in his town. Thank Heavens Biden's thick skin and extensive experience keeps him on the high road w/ stuff like this.
I don’t believe that Biden was offering FEMA assistance, he was offering assistance, whatever was needed.
I appreciate your attempt to be charitable to this execrable excuse of a man, but his refusal was political. MAGA appeasing hatred. Period.
Glory to Ukraine.
Jen, my excepting DeWine in this instance was because he did speak up for Biden to emphasize that Biden HAD called to offer help, counter to what the right wingers were claiming. I think also that his initial reluctance to accept FEMA was based on his understanding of FEMA's purpose. Clearly he recognized that he was wrong on that, and later accepted FEMA assistance.
I don't claim to read people's minds. I look at what they do and say. I don't know what DeWine's feelings and motivations are. But I'll allow that he is trying to do what he thinks is right for Ohio, within the philosophical framework he has. That is not charity. It is simply acknowledging that he is due some credit for integrity, even though I disagree with his perspective.
Your ending your argument with "Period" suggests that your mind is closed to seeing DeWine in any framework but the one in which you seem to have lumped all Republicans. I have to wonder where the hatred lies here- who is aiming and who is the target. DeWine is deeply conservative, and has taken stands that I think are extremely short-sighted and sometimes downright peculiar. But I don't think he is in the class of some extreme right wingers (note that most of the negative comments are coming from WaDC politicos with aspirations for control and power.)
Annie, I write because your comment speaks to the fact, that because we’re so deeply divided, when one side opens its mouth the other half hears only lies and deceit. Regrettably, this impasse not only is unacceptable, but also unlikely to change any time soon.
Still, something must change, maybe a promise that instead of scorching the earth between us we will try every day to bring the country together.
Barbara, I agree. That's why I feel so strongly that we all have a responsibility NOT to use that chasm to call names and enlarge the impasse. We also have a responsibility to call it out when it happens, especially when the purpose seems largely to feel superior to people we don't agree with. Give people credit for what they do, even when their political philosophy is very different from one's own. I do not agree with Gov DeWine, but I'll hand him credit for making it clear that Biden HAD been in touch within two hours of the train wreck. Not sure I would be able to do the same with people like MTG, who leaves no room to reach across. But I still will not, as so many do, make fun of Greene by calling her grade school names. Ok, fine, in private I snark, but rarely here. I'm tired of cheap shots, no matter what direction they come from. "Scorched earth" starts with name-calling and gets worse from there.
You make a solid point. The propaganda affects all of us.
If the shoe fits...seriously if you are still a Republican after orangehead's reign of error then you are complicit. There is no middle ground.
How in the world did you come up with this? You are as much a danger as the 21 people Heather mentioned in her post. Read more, and learn to read carefully so that you understand what is going on. There is plenty of middle ground to work on and in with other people.
Maybe DeWine is not in the same class (although to me his voter suppression efforts put him there) but he surely needs the support of those “extreme right wingers” and he seems willing to play along
What is a “WaDC politico”? What does “WaDC” stand for/ mean?
George, my apologies. Using jargon to save my fingers. WaDC is abbreviation for Washington, DC. When I use the term WaDC politico", it is to differentiate between the people in WaDC political circles and those in our own communities. I know from my experience that the air in WaDC is a bit rarified and sometimes we need to carefully examine what people there say and do. In our own communities, we usually have a better sense of the context of issues and often know the back stories.
My last typing of the day... my hands gave me the signal to stop. So am going to give today's project a quick list of key words as prompts tomorrow. Goody, now I get to read for a while. Fascinating history of the Dutch settlement that turned into modern New York: a fascinating (and sometimes amusing) ride through complex world wide factors that shaped American culture. Ouch. I may not type tomorrow.
We saw that coming.
Truth. Thanks Carla.
With “if I Only Had a Brain”” playing in the background.
I wish Ohio residents wouldn’t deserve who they vote for.
Everyone in Ohio did not vote for these monstrous reprobates. There are many Democrats and Independents and non-voters (this incident may convert a few) and children in Ohio.
You are right. I think Sherrifs Brown is one of the best. There’s hope.
Sherrod is a very good man. I intend to support him in his bid for re-ekection. He really cares and fights for us working people. Love him!
It is so apparent every time I hear him speak that he tries to do everything he can for all of Ohio. I wish he’d run for President but he seems to have no ambition for that. Another reason to love the man.
Sherrod. Dumb spellchecker never heard of him
You’ve said what I’ve been thinking for years now. When will they get a clue?
When I watched the interview with DeWine, I was of the impression that DeWine didn't see this as an emergency situation as they burned off the toxic chemicals to reduce risk of further explosions and his agencies and the railroad folks were telling him this wasn't going to get out of hand. Clearly, he didn't have all the facts and underestimated the fears of folks in East Palestine. A lot of ugly is coming out and too much mincing of wording in letters to and between federal regulators, lobbying groups, and Senators with animus as their calling. There is a lot of failure going around and will come down to deregulation and weakening the oversight by railroads and, of course, making decisions that improve the profit margin at the expense of safety and reduction of real people watching over every coupler and foot of track, especially where hazardous materials are being transported through our fragile environments and communities. I hope the battle stays focused on the safety and employee issues that led to this preventable disaster(accident) and MSM plays down the vitrol of blame emanating from the mouths of politicians who see a political gain by fomenting and spreading fear and blame.
I am a very capable analytical chemist, but hardly an advisor to the governor. Either he was too stupid to get good advice, or too beholden to the financial interests behind this ( and apparently two a day) chemical spill. A BA chemist could have told this man this was an extremely dangerous and toxic situation.
Thanks for going the extra mile to spread blame. DeWine’s an idiot. Idiots don’t like smart people around them. I may not be good for financial advice but any chemist should have been able to read an MSDS and see how awful this was. Hell, Devine probably doesn’t even know what an MSDS is. As a host to many chemical manufacturers and a transit point for hazardous material, he should have been quite familiar.
But he is stupid.
Um do you actually live in USA?
Are all Republicans lacking in intelligence?
I doubt that they're all imbeciles, but the willful obfuscation of some, combined with the stupidity (some of it also willful) of others is a toxic brew.
Talks like an imbecile,
Acts like an imbecile must be an Imbecile
No, quite the opposite, this is clever (and cynical). These Republican politicians don’t believe any of this, but they know their voters will fall for these lies, because their voters are not very smart (as evidenced by how they listen to Fox News and support the party that constantly screws them). The goal here is to smear Buttigieg, who likely will be running for president in 2028. The smear doesn’t have to be true.
Nailed John R…
We all need to remember, too, that they saw Hillary as a threat while Bill was still in office, and began trashing her then, using the same lies and innuendo that they did against him. "Crooked Hilary" was coined well before she ran for president, and it worked, thanks to Jim Comey. Before much longer, "pedophile" will be coupled with Buttigieg, and for the same purpose.
No. They’re lacking hearts. While intelligence would be nice, it takes empathy to care enough to use whatever intelligence one may be blessed with in order to muster help.
Yes, and devoid of integrity.
In the authoritarian model, which I suspect most Republicans were raised with, are taught that the status of of the speaker "trumps" ( if you'll pardon the expression) the empirical grounding of what is said. You can be "highly" educated ( or at least have degrees) and accept that as an axiom, and I know some who do. The trick is to cultivate PTSD in your progeny to render them phobic of questioning the target authority. You also don't have to have an authoritarian mindset in order to promote it. You just need to harbor the urge to use it in order to control others.
Research indicates that more conservative people tend to be more afraid of change and difference, and are drawn to the "strong" father type leader who can make them feel safe. Facts aren't a consideration.
Short answer—yes.
No it isn't lack of intelligence it is use of that intelligence to drive their crazy agenda in the news system. They decided to make East Palestine Biden's Katrina. Add that they want points against Pete for the future.
What is really lacking is knowledge of how the government works and of the world in general. Trump was a leader in the lacking knowledge camp. Didn't even know that Finland was a country.
Don't forget wanting to buy Greenland.
Right on, it wasn't even understood that the native people of Greenland have a different concept of ownership than we do. The whole country is owned in common. You don't even own the land you house sits on, it kind of a lease. Greenland is not something you could by from Denmark.
Of course, when you think about it, this is actually more accurate for all of us who "own" our property. We are really just leasing it, since it will go on after we're dead, with others "owning" it temporarily as well. But the ignorance and audacity of tfg thinking this was even possible with Greenland.
Willful ignorance and arrogance... characteristics I see aplenty in Republicans... so much arrogance they refuse facts if those facts negate their views.
I was just going to say that.
"The difference between stupidity and genius is that genius has its limits." ~ Albert Einstein
Or comatose.
Reactive teens, acting out.
Toddlers acting out
Acting out teenagers are more dangerous than acting out toddlers, but I get your gist!
It’s an epidemic!
Apparently so.
No because they are cunningly manipulative. However it appears that anyone that still calls themselves a Republican are absolutely lacking a ❤️
Their clarion call seems always to be "What advange or opportunity is offered by this event, for me and my party?"
This explains tFg's appeal - the art of the "deal."
And, the audience who each believe that could be successful, just like that great businessman or that they will win the lottery. Aspiring to be the corporate or richly successful guy who exudes wealth and gild. Finding the right chance, the inside deal, the right connections is what brings success, whether in politics or in business. Teaching, being the beat cop, serving in the ranks, a craftsman, a clerk, all chump jobs. Nothing worth aspiring to. Making the break that let's you get ahead or in control of others, that's what's important. We dress it up afterwards to look valuable to those others, the chumps who still think that doing a good job or helping others on their own dime.
There is no higher "calling" than to be a teacher or craftsman or should I say craftperson. One creates beautiful minds the other beautiful things. Worth more than gold or silver.
Dave, I so agree. But I suspect you and I both believe that we should leave the world we came into a little better by the time we leave it and that the people in it are the most important, both as instruments to achieve such and who should benefit by the labors of our hearts or minds or hands. Just call me Chump. Proud to be such and satisfied with what I have acquired in my life; enough plus a little nut to pass on.
These are all the people who will tell you that they voted for tFg because he's such a brilliant businessman. Then they have the chutzpah to sneer at the "chumps" that know otherwise. Most of this is a manifestation of poor self image.
Smart like fox. Lacking in maturity.
- and astoundingly selfish, like a combination of Guinea worms and flesh-eating bacteria, with a bit of zombie fungus thrown in for good measure. They acknowledge the existence of no interests other than their own, and single-mindedly act to achieve their own interests, without awareness of any others, or of the damage their actions do.
Certainly the Republican "leaders" are lacking in intelligence, and like Faux News personalities, spew out untruths knowing their audience will fall for them. Critical thinking is not part of the makeup of the audience members, or of most of the MAGA adherents.
No, but we aren’t hearing anything from them. Their silence is deafening while their idiot colleagues who have hijacked the party can’t shut their mouths.
Kathy, I heard the report right after the derailment, and also heard that Biden had immediately called Gov. DeWine to offer FEMA assistance, as Carla relates below, and as you both said, Gov. DeWine said they didn't need FEMA's assistance at the time. I have not heard a word on any news outlet regarding DeWine's decision since.
Truth Nancy. I am from Ohio and heard the immediate news reports and was glued to them and updates regarding the derailment from local sources. I also reported the same that Carla did; Biden called and offered any and all, DeWine declined. When I said this here, I also added, "End of Story" - until it wasn't the end of the story.
DeWine has since accepted FEMA's assistance.
The frightening thing is that DeWine is fairly moderate, for a Republican, that is. Even his type drink the Kool Aid, and their constituents suffer!
I'd only agree that he 'appears' fairly moderate Nancy. Consider his full embrace of the right to life extremists for one - denying a female human's right to choose and privacy. I think he's more likely a wolf in lamb's clothing.
D4N, I'm sure you're correct. There are almost no Republicans currently in office who are moderate. The fact that he doesn't spew venom, like DeSantis and Abbott, is no guarantee of moderation. I'm also aware of his right to life stance. The possibility of agreeing with Biden, even to save his constituents' health, would be an impossible task for him, and the water he was drinking to prove that it was safe probably had just been poured out of a plastic bottle.
If they ask for help from the federal government then they admit to 2 facts:1. They are not up to the task themselves and 2. The federal government has a legitimate purpose and existence. These “alternative facts” gall their ass.
Agree. The Biden administration offered the state of Ohio immediate help but the Governor (DeWine)refused it and then lied about it and said that FEMA does not cover this type of disaster. This is just another example of politicizing something that should never have been politicized in the first place and people suffered and are suffering as a result.
Unbelievable. Really.
Did I read that the "leaders" of the House of Representatives sent a letter to Gov DeWine and President Biden, copied to Sec Buttigieg asking how they could help? No? Musta been a dream. Now back to the the day mare.
Surely not. There are no leaders there.
Didn't want to give Biden a win? So, who cares how many are affected as long as you don't give Biden a win.
As we get rightfully steamed over the total disregard for truth, not to mention the best interests of the people in and around East Palestine, let’s take a breath and recall that truth wins in the end, because it is, you know, true.
I really want to believe this but honestly, Republicans are the most fact denying, fantasy driven people I know. Twenty years ago, or so I told my Republican sister that the federal budget had only been balanced twice in our lifetime, once under Eisenhower and once under Clinton. She said, Clinton never balanced the budget. He cooked the books. So, there’s that.
There are always people who refuse to believe the truth. Look at those who don't believe we landed on the moon, or that COVID vaccines work. But most people--eventually virtually all who are not qualified to be in a padded cell--do come to accept truth.
Add to that people who believe the earth is flat and I would think you’ve met my sister.
The blame sits squarely on DeWine’s shoulders...a little known fact, and barely reported by the fifth estate. In MTG’s world of divorce, occurrences like this will happen regularly...then, who’s to blame. Hmm
Isn't it both astonishing and infuriating that even Governors, who are elected to serve their people, prefer to give MAGAs a publicity "win" rather than take care of the safety of their own people!
I am with you. How infuriating is it that public servants that are elected to SERVE their constituents actually withhold available aid to people who are living through some terrific hard times. Just like these governors of mainly red states who choose to opt out of Medicaid $$ that are lifesaving funds, is beyond cruel to me.
I heard the scorn in the mayor’s voice directed at having “Democrat” help. It was the sound of a 400-pound MT Greene.
It is long past time to disband FENA as a welfare agency for states. And in this situation, 100% of the cost should be on the railroad. Not one cent of tax payer dollars should supplement NS.
My understanding is that FEMA began executing the cleanup at the accident site ASAP and they are to bill the railroad company for the cost.
I thought I read it was EPA that started the clean-up. If they do the work, Vance will find a way to get the debt forgiven. FEMA needs to be gone.
EPA needs to be heavily supported.
This is how you put lipstick on a pig?
The optics are terrible.
When Buttgieg was asked by a reporter about visiting East Palenstine, two weeks after the diasaster, he said "I'm on personal time" and I share that information "when I'm ready"
Then he asked the reporter to take a selfie with him.
Buttgieg's political career is roadkill. Done.
Biden administration employees some of the least impressive people imaginable.
Besides Biden who is a barely coherent. Look at the laundry list:
-Kamala Harris - she is universal loathed as idiot.
- Pete Buttgieg - what does he do? No one knows?
- Janet Yellen - wrong every step of the way on inflation.
- Lloyd Austin - completely whiffed on Afghanistan
- Merrick Garland - opening day memo sent the FBI to go after parents
- Anthony Fauci - proven wrong on the vaccine (never tested/never worked) and the booster
impairs the immune system and is more likely to cause COVID, and now a
massive study showing masks NEVER worked
It takes a lot of chutzpah to try and blame the Republicans for the PR problems in East Palestine.
After Donald Trump completely embarrassed Buttgieg by showing up in East Palenstine first, he said it best, "after Biden finishes touring Ukraine, I hope there is some money left".
I guess lipstick is the best you can do. But sadly the pig is still ugly.
-
How's the weather on alternate Earth #2? Is there Climate Change on #2?
Probably not.
Does anyone here smell a troll?
:)
What a dumb comment. How about firing on your brain and refuting a single thing I said. Of course you can't.
Sorry I didn't entertain you. I put my energy elsewhere. But I wish you happiness and a good life.
About halfway through that comment, I stopped reading it.
I guess the truth is just to hard to take. Especially when I provide quotes. How are you going to lie it away. Just remember that true is not a left wing value. It never has been. Even worse the left destroys everything it touches.
That maybe the dumbest comeback I've ever seen. The best you could come back with is a cliché? You didn't refute a single word. For example do you believe that Kamala Harris is a towering intellectual? Or a power grubbing lightweight?
That's the best you do? You didn't refute a single point. Of course you can't
so you make some idiotic comment about climate. You might want to remember
the old maxim, Its better to say nothing and leave in question your stupidity, then to open your mouth and leave nothing to doubt. Well done my friend!
Climate Change has already been killing the brilliant and the idiots. Much more to come. It's really the only subject that matters if you love your planet.
Do you disagree?
I like your mind Bill Alstrom, ;)
Hm. I wonder how you found your way to this island of truth? You have clearly been immersed in the right wing truthless world of FOX, OANN, NEWSMAX and others.
Have you by any chance seen any of the emails by FOX hosts in which they acknowledge that everything they said about the 2020 elections being stolen was utter crap, yet pushed it to folks like you anyway. Because . . . that's what you want!
Troll alert.
I can't imagine the brainpower it took to trot out that dumb a cliché.
Your post would embarrass even a drunken hog caller
Lol. You just proved her point! 🤣🤣🤣
Hmmm, perhaps the fumes have caused brain damage.
For narcissistic virtue signaling leftists I'm sure your little joke is mild amusing.
But for the 1000 families in and around East Palestine whose air is unsafe to breathe, whose drinking water is unsafe to drink it might not be so funny. Their livestock have died. Their Residents are having respiratory problems. So your "brain damage" comment, the folks of East Palestine might think, is disgraceful and totally disrespectful.
Our Transportation secretary was too busy to go, until Donald Trump makes a fool out of him.
When asked about visiting the site he told a reporter - I share that soon. Then proceed to take a selfie with the reporter.
He is a joke. Period.
This maybe the stupidest post I've ever seen.
You lecture me about truthfulness and then DON"T REFUTE a single thing I wrote.
Because you can't. EVERY WORD I wrote is true. THAT IS THE TRUTH.
You are proof that 'truth" is not a left wing value, power is.
Every WORD i wrote was true. Why don't you deal with that.
No one thinks that Buttgieg did a good job in handling East Palestine. NO ONE.
Furthermore his handling of the airline industry has been just as bad.
Other ribbon cutting at drag queen events, Buttgieg seems completely disinterest in doing his job. He is a lightweight.
Dear James: it is not my job to refute any of your statements. If you expect anyone to believe them, it is up to you to support them.
It is very easy to just list things you like to believe and attack those who disagree.
Just because you say every word you wrote is true does not make it so.
So I guess you have personally spoken to "everyone" on the planet in order to make that blanket statement
Barbara he is a "musician ", so that moniker certainly paves his way for his .......
unsubstantiated remarks.
He just wants to hear himself talk.
This troll needs to go . He is boring me.
Lets do a little moron test.
Its either true or not - Did Pete Buttgieg waited 20 days to go East Palestine?
TRUE OR FALSE?
Did Pete Buttgieg tell a reporter that he was on personal time and he would let them know when he planned to go to East Palestine? Then he asked the reporter to take a selfie? TRUE OR FALSE?
The local residents are experiencing respiratory problems, dead livestock, and polluted drinking water? TRUE OR FALSE?
Thanks, Linda. Have already determined any further discourse is a waste of my time and energy
This is the remedial political thinking course? What blanket statement?
My post is very clear.
You disparage others for our failure to prove you wrong, but I see not a scintilla of evidence that your assertions are correct. You cite not a single source. That was YOUR job, not ours.
Are you serious? For the 5th time:
Buttgieg waited 20 days to go East Palestine. Only after Donald Trump embarassed him, did he go.
When asked by a reporter, when do you plan to go? He said he was on "personal time" and he let her know "when it was available".
Then he asked the reporter for a selfie.
I provided quotes. Are you denying its true.
Buttigieg's presence wasn't needed. Trump's certainly wasn't. He just wanted a photo op. And the Trump water? It went out of business 10 years ago. Just what they need in East Palestine -- 10 year old water!
What tripe! I do hope we never again hear from you, Mr. Abbuhl.
Sorry to disrupt your bubble with truthfulness. Snowflakes always melt
I think it's good that you are here despite your tendency to try to insult people. If you stick around long enough, you may find that YOU are the snowflake, and maybe some of the lies you are frozen into will melt away.
I'm still waiting for you show me where I lied. I think the only lie is you claiming I lied.
The terrorists are "inside the building" quite literally. Thank you Heather for this summary of more deliberate destruction of government----and for showing the stupidity of the right-wing leadership in the House. But of course, even stupid people can do some very dangerous things---and indeed evil things. On the other hand, Buttigieg put it to them in his reply. BUT, the Democrats need to be a bit of direct shouting to make sure the voters understand what is going on. Too much control of the narrative goes to the GOP. Yes, the enemy is within---as well as outside.
Grover, Expanding on your point that Democrats need to take greater control of the narrative, I would suggest Democrats not only need to show that the GOP Norfolk Southern complaint filed against the federal government is misleading, but also that it is a deliberate cover-up. To clarify, in the past 6 years, the rail industry has downsized its workforce by 30%. Accordingly, workers have had to do more work with fewer people, a factor that, undoubtedly, causes safety concerns. Additionally, throughout its recent negotiations with workers, the rail industry could not provide even 1 day of paid sick leave, notwithstanding it beginning to reverse the policy due to public pressure.
Broadly speaking, Norfolk Southern represents a nexus of 3 widespread problems: 1) the strength of corporate lobbying in shaping federal policy, 2) workers’ rights consistently subsumed in the name of corporate profit, and 3) healthcare denied to our most vulnerable communities while insurance companies make billions of dollars a year in profit.
This amounts to deliberately engineering accidents, then using and augmenting the shock and confusion caused...as Hitler used the Reichstag fire. To put an end to democratic government and install dictatorship.
In extreme circumstances, people panic, rumor and conspiracy theories suddenly burgeon and explode... they seek scapegoats and anyone "different" is then in danger. In the immediate aftermath of the huge Kanto earthquake that leveled Tokyo in 1923, people turned on defenseless Korean immigrants and massacred them. Some similar massacres of Jews by the population in both Poland, Ukraine and the Baltic states during WW2, even after the Nazi defeat.
But here, it is those holding political power that are deliberately spreading lies, rumor and disorder.
Extreme criminality.
In wartime, suchlike risk summary execution.
Peter, Thank you for writing. As I’ve posted in the past, here at home, I see our nation as deeply divided as I can remember. Our country is at a crisis point, locked in an existential conflict over race, over identity, and over culture. Our democracy is in trouble, and it’s not the Russian’s fault; it’s ours. we are the ones killing it.
I don’t pretend to have all the answers, but I do know, while no single leader can save a democracy, without a leader the people, overall, can trust, no democracy can be saved. Seeing that when one side opens its mouth the other half hears only lies, maybe we’ve all been part of the problem. Either way, this impasse not only is unacceptable, but also unlikely to change any time soon.
Still, something must change.
Maybe as more of us become acutely aware that democracies now die when we’re not paying attention and that the end rarely comes in an instant but arrives slowly like twilight, perhaps then enough of us, under the auspices of trusted leadership, will be moved to make a promise, an American promise to each other, that instead of scorching the earth between us we will try every day to bring the country together.
Thank you, Barbara Jo Krieger, for these wise words.
We all, without exception, need to strip away false identities, while stopping on the way to honor them, just as we honor ourselves and our family — but do not stop there. We all, without exception need to question all the baggage, all the masks, labels, clothing inner and outer, that we like to take ourselves for — but which we are not.
I myself am not American, my nationality is British. However, like so many Europeans and perhaps even more so, like many Americans, my ancestry weaves together many strands, covering a vast territory.
If I were a citizen of the United States, I would then say "I am American and, like me, every single fellow-citizen is an American, we are all Americans together. This is our greater family. We must behave accordingly."
Only, it doesn't end there. Just as what I really am is not limited to or by my family, either nuclear or extended, or my clan, so every single one of the identity labels that I, my parentage, my social conditioning, my choices and life's vagaries have added on to me are not what I ultimately am.
What I ultimately am NOT includes many things of which I may be proud, many beings and groups to whom I may feel attached: family and ancestry, age, gender, education, culture, language, profession, appearance, political affiliation, wealth both material and immaterial (e.g. wealth of knowledge). Nationality is very much a part of this list. I may be willing to die for my people, for my country, fighting an enemy whose actions may be vile but who is intrinsically my equal, like me, another human being.
Religious identity is curious, in that it can be ‘getting warmer’ or can be just another sociological label. Membership of such and such a church, temple or sect, even when backed by fanatical beliefs, tells how I want to think of myself and how I want others to see me, but in itself says nothing about what I really am. Only I can dig down to find that…. Yet any authentic religion, any authentic philosophy, will at least be looking beyond liturgical or ideological fancy-dress and pointing towards some aspect of our true nature.
Even the body I cannot do without is far from the be-all and end-all of what I am...
Set aside all the hand-me downs that even billionaires are wont to wear and try asking the questions ‘Who am I? What am I?’ Inevitably, so many of the distinctions about which we care so much will prove not even secondary. If, on the other hand, we haven’t the guts to strike out for truth, the question arises whether we and the world we have created can possibly survive. And even if we can and do hang on, what will remain of humanity’s rich inheritance?
Shadows flitting through a shopping mall.
Truth too; I know folks who've worked their entire careers for the 'railroad industry'. Some cut more, some cut less. The statistic applied that way - 30 percent is accurate. That workers are doing far, far more with less and for less is accurate, if understated. The 3 points within your nexus statement is highly accurate and equally applicable across the entire spectrum of industries in this country, excluding none. Broadcast media and retail for instance are industries - for profit creatures, that coincidentally or not are all members of the U.S. and local chambers of commerce. It doesn't take much mental power to connect all the 'dots' we've learned about and make some pretty near accurate conclusions regarding the memberships of the different coalitions that have joined money, hands, and hearts in the name of 'winning' at any and all costs. Crony capitalism is as alive and well - if not more so, than at any time in our history.
@D4N, Because I wholly agree with your statement, as I have posted in the past, I have come to believe that the security of our nation and the preservation of our democracy depend upon a far more cooperative environment in which there is a modicum of social and economic justice for large numbers of people today who feel oppressed and marginalized by a runaway wild capitalism.
The terrorists are, indeed, inside the building, but the people who put the terrorists in the building did so on purpose, with malicious intent, and are getting the results they hoped for when they cast their votes. The likes of James Comer, Pete Sessions, and the rest are not the primary problem. The 60% of white voters who vote R are the problem. They have been the problem for over 50 years and will continue to do everything they can at the ballot box, in the courts, and on the streets, to drain the humanity out of American government for the foreseeable future, even if by some miracle decent human beings manage to outvote them.
Rex-I share your concern for our future. I think it’s worth noting that the terrorists have always been inside the building-for more than 50 years.
Most Americans don’t realize how much slavery has shaped our country from the beginning-including the way capitalism has evolved and why democracy is under attack. The aftermath of decisions made in the 1600s are still with us.
In his book, The Half has Never Been Told: Slavery and the Making of American Capitalism, (published in 2014) Edward E. Baptist says, “slavery’s expansion shaped every crucial aspect of the economy and politics of the new nation-not only increasing its power and size, but also, eventually, dividing US politics, differentiating regional identities and interests, and helping to make civil war possible”.
We are living with our past everyday. We’re still in many respects fighting a civil war. The Rs -backed by malicious corporate wealth-have lined up to mimic confederates-including denying certain people the right to vote, giving more power to corporations (Citizens United) and even supporting insurrection.
Unless and until we face the impact that racism has on all aspects of American life, we won’t be able to “perfect our union”. Consider the difference between “red and blue” states-they track closely with the development of slavery.
If more people really understood our history then maybe we could indeed experience a miracle where more decent human beings could support a government that’s striving for liberty and justice for all.
White supremacy is the propaganda that keeps the fire burning for the Rs. It’s proven to be a winning strategy for centuries. They will not only attack people of color but white people who support American ideals too.
Too many people really think that skin color matters among human beings. The facts don’t support racism. Only misinformed and malicious people believe it’s real.
Imagine what the U.S. might be if there was no racism, sexism etc. The words in the Declaration of Independence might really mean something and we could indeed be an “exceptional” nation.
Yes, advocates of white supremacism have been in charge from the beginning, but they didn’t need terrorism because until the 1960s 90% of white Americans thought systemic, brutal oppression of the rest of the population was just fine. Brown v Board put a crack in their hegemony, which brought them out in force. Legislation in the 1960s further eroded their control, at which point they concluded that more force was needed. Over the span of the next fifty years, about 30% of white Americans changed their minds and turned against systemic oppression. Now, white Americans who still cling to white supremacism as a fundamental principle find their numbers reduced to roughly 60% of the white population, which requires them to use even more unsavory (to put it as mildly as possible) tactics. Replacing democracy with kleptocratic autocracy is one of those tactics.
The American political and legal systems, by design, give the 60% enormous advantages in carrying out their program, but even using those advantages to their fullest extent, they find themselves clinging to control by their fingernails, so they have endorsed open terrorism as a mainstream political activity. They no longer go along with the genteel terrorism that Republicans have used for a century and a half to preserve white dominance. Instead, they put crude low-lifes like Ted Cruz, Josh Hawley, and the gangrene monster in Georgia in the government, with even worse terrorists on the horizon, such as the creep that white Floridians put in the governor’s office.
I think the percentage of white Americans who advocate white supremacism will continue to drop, but slowly. It’s been dropping by an average of a half-percent per year over the last six decades. At that rate, decent human beings will out-number white supremacists in the white population in a couple more decades. At the same time, the white fraction of the population will continue to drop, and that’s the greatest fear of the white supremacists. They know that if they don’t preserve white hegemony within a decade, they are doomed to live in a country with legal, political, economic, and social systems that make an honest attempt to treat all people fairly. I expect white Americans, 60% of them, will continue to use any means they find available to them, including violent terrorism, to avoid that outcome. It will take a great deal of effort by the 40% of white Americans who are decent human beings, working alongside 80% of the rest of the population, to avoid the outcome that the 60% so desperately want.
Your point about people not really understanding history is well taken. That’s a result of people who don’t read, who don’t read history. A point Timothy Snyder recently made about Ukraine.
"Around a third of registered voters in the U.S. (34%) identify as independents, while 33% identify as Democrats and 29% identify as Republicans,...
Pew Research
The 34% who identify as independents are predominantly Republican or worse. Trump voters comprised roughly 60% of the white population.
In 2020, there were 168.31 million people registered to vote in the United States. In the presidential election, there were 81,282,903 votes cast for Biden and 74,223,030 votes cast for President Donald Trump.
Please show how your 70% works with the results of the 2020 election. There were all white voters for trump and the non-white for Biden?
Exit polls from 2016 and 2020 show roughly 60% of white voters went for Trump. I don't remember using the 70% number, but I did make a guess of 90% for the fraction of white people thinking oppression of everyone else was just fine up to the 1960s, and another guess that about 80% of the non-white population would be onboard with fairness. I don't have a source for either of those numbers. I made up the 90% out of whole cloth, based on my recollections of the 1950s and 60s. The 80% is a guess based on exit polling in recent elections, which puts the black vote at about 90% D and the Latino vote at about 70% D.
Yes to the direct shouting!!!! We are way too genteel.
Kathryn, David Muir interviewed Biden yesterday regarding Ukraine, as well as the Ohio derailment, and responded to David's reference to some people who claim that Biden had done very little to assist in the aftermath, and Biden simply said he'd called within two hours of the accident and EPA was at the site within hours. I'm assuming that Biden is refusing to engage in the right wing's gotcha tactics, but I agree with you that he and others should be more emphatic in their responses, and I think he should have fleshed out the initial conversation with DeWine and DeWine's rejection of his offer of FEMA assistance. I was a bit annoyed with Muir's questioning, but felt that since that buzz was circulating, he was just taking a neutral stance and giving Biden a chance to state the facts.
I can't fault Biden's response, or his timing. Qui s'excuse, s'accuse.
Ann Louise, I thought the same thing. He refuses to be drawn into a squabble. Still, it's frustrating. Taking the high road translates to "he's senile" in their lexicon. In my heart, I know he's employing the correct tactic, but darn, I guess we'll have to wait for the next SOTU address to see him smiling broadly while he lands his punches.
What is "direct shouting"?
It appears commenters are responding to an ill-defined concept here. Before people go running into embracing any ideology it is important to define what that concept is and how would it be implemented. Or. We could just run around in circles like the Republicans.
The Democrats are winning elections and governing with historic results. Election results in 2018, 2020 and 2022 show voters prefer results over shouting.
Don't let them get in your head.
I agree Barbara. The lying, criming, and manipulating from the GOP is the same old, same old. Democrats are winning and doing lots of good stuff. Democrats keep pedaling away at doing the good stuff while they can. Buttigieg doesn’t have to shout. Democrats are looking like shiny gold in a sea of rusted out GOPers. The shine and success can’t help but be seen. Who wants to be on the side of the pathetic lying criminals? Just losers.
Just keep talking about the successes and calmly setting the record straight. More $$ to run informational ads about the good stuff happening out in those areas that get bombarded by GOP lies wouldn’t hurt. Focusing on turning out the vote and helping folks to make sure their votes count seems to make a difference 🤩
Thanks for your commonsense approach, Christine. This is exactly who they are. Engaging in shouting matches is a huge waste of our time and resources. Whining about them getting more attention is demeaning and tiresome. We will continue to fight gerrymandering, continue to register voters, continue to pile up legislative wins, and continue to prevail internationally.
As to spending money on ads. That may be an option. I don't know. But I do know that the media will continue to feature the crazies and ignore/minimize the Democrats. Finding people like Buttigieg to speak out is a valuable option. We can support organizations such as The Lincoln Project. They are bulldogs in this fight. And the Republicans whine about them so you know they do good work.
Anyway. Have a good week.
Grover,
I am still in communication with some southern Republicans in Texas and one of them sent me an irate email about the EPA a week ago.
As if the EPA had derailed the train. No joke.
If you listen to Fox News you would think Pete Buttigieg actually pushed the train off the tracks. And then, did nothing to clean it up.
Now, it would be nutty to "believe" something like that, BUT, people do.
Grover, not only are the terrorists in the building, but the nihilists are in charge of the planning committee, the inmates are in charge of the asylum and the criminals are running the police department.
What "planning committee " what "asylum " what "police department" are you referring to exactly?
What power do the Republicans in the House have to pass legislation? Any Bill sent to the Democrat controlled Senate would be defeated. There is also a Democrat President who has already warned the Republicans of his veto powers.
We need to be careful in asserting something that in reality has no teeth.
It was metaphorically intended. You can supply your own details.
There are many of us who believe we are in a fight for Democracy. Making hyperbolic statements that only serve to promote fear make our job harder.
Facts win every time. Not scary metaphors. Fact based dialog is what won elections for the Democrats in 2018, 2020 and 2022.
I invite you to visit The Lincoln Project website. They excel at fighting with words.
Once again, the rethugs are winning the narrative. Democrats are playing on their field. Listing a laundry list of facts or answering as Buttigieg did in one sentence will not attract uninformed voters. Last I heard, they comprise 70% of the electorate. Swalwell and Goldman used strategic mockery, a method advocated by Chris Schecter and Rachel Bitecofer used to great success in Michigan as one example. Here's what they suggest. https://post.news/@/cliffschecter/2MDHnIxYhbLLSMX4twMKywGYNWW?fbclid=IwAR0DCEJNj1LXUabs88r4El3uU2oVxlxKPkAvCBGwc8dA5728Qv6GGzP3_WE
Thanks, Eadie Sharron, for the link!
I totally agree. The Dems need to do more to control the narrative. Liberals often think that the truth will stand on its own. But, time and again, our experience shows that enough people just believe what they are told to sway our democracy. The truth needs its own PR campaign, we cannot be complacent about that and that is why Heather is doing such an important job. Thank you, Heather.
Unfortunately 70% comprise the uninformed electorate. Heather is preaching to the choir. The 70% don't read this newsletter.
"70%"?
"Around a third of registered voters in the U.S. (34%) identify as independents, while 33% identify as Democrats and 29% identify as Republicans..
Pew Center
The Democrats need a PR campaign?
Looks like the Democrats' campaigns worked just fine in 2022.
"Democrats defied expectations up and down the ballot in 2022 despite facing historic headwinds and other challenges going into the midterms. However, Democrats were able to grow their majority in the Senate, retain and win a number of gubernatorial and state-level races, and temper their losses in the House. The Republicans had no ability to be able to define us from a policy perspective because every single legislative item that has passed the House and the Senate, signed into law by the president, has had bipartisan applause and approval all across the country. The American people rejected the right-wing, MAGA, election-denying extremists who now have a large say so and chemically make up the Republican Party,””
The Hill
Barbara M, the implication of your comment does not address what I believe to be true.
A careful review of my comment would allow you to understand I never said 70% of the electorate. I think I said the uninformed electorate comprise 70% of the electorate. I do believe Democrats are losing the messaging war for these people. If we want to drown out the lies and disinformation, we need to use a new strategy. That was my argument. The statistics you quote bears little resemblance to the fact that rethugs continue to lie and cheat and are responsible in large part for deregulation and deaths in this country.Thank goodness a majority of Americans are informed and made the right choices in the last election, but that has nothing to do with the war on words we are engaged in!
You said: "70% comprise the uninformed electorate."
Now you say: "uninformed electorate comprise 70% of the electorate." Who are those uninformed? Republicans? Whites? Women? MAGA? Who?
Call this war of words if you want. I am making a point. People throw out vague terms, made up names and unfounded assertions and expect that to contribute to informed political discourse?
If you are looking for an argument from me, you won't get one. Most people agree that the disinformation campaign has caused untold damage. My point, once again, is that the sycophants that follow tRump and company are causing the chaos we see in the country. I believe it is in our interests to get the uninformed electorate on our side. I was suggesting a new strategy. If you want to harp on the statistics that's your privilege, but I don't have to agree.
I don't know if the Dems need a PR campaign, but the truth sure does. There is no rational reason the Regressives should have such control of the House or even that much control in the Senate. That level of representation does not seem to fit the distribution of American's policy preferences. The Regressives get a lot of coverage in the Press by blaring their outlandish lies. Since we cannot force the press to ignore these liars, Dems ought to give it a try to get more press by blaring outlandish truths.
Didn't you read my comment? The Democrats continue to win. The Democrats have prevailed in 2018, 2020 and 2022 elections. The Democrats demolished the predicted red tsunami in 2022.
I did read your comment. And I hope that the electorate is paying attention and that the Regressives do even more poorly in future elections. My point is that there is no reason they should be doing as well as they are. They should not be in control of the House. There should not be so many liars and crazies-who clearly never even took a civics class-in the House. That's all I'm saying. Too many lies have already been believed because the truth is getting drowned out. Thanks for your truthful presentation of the data.
And we need to embarrass the NYT and the Wash.Post until they start telling the truth in big BlACK HEADlINES. Otherwise, quit buying them, quit honoring them as Factual news outlets. They are both failing the American democracy( or the pretend one )
I do. I constantly post comments that are fact based counter arguments to the junk some of the columnists write. For example. If Thiessen, Olsen, McArdle, Will and Hewitt are spinning lies I will post all of Biden's accomplishments. Or if some National Review hack is writing about the failure of the Administration in the train wreck I will post a bullet list of the timeline of the Administration's response.
It's a tedious process. I've been doing this for years.
Janet, whether these politicians are too stupid to understand what Buttigieg tells them or, as I suspect, it's a combination of their stupidity and malice, the issue really is that their followers are too stupid to see through and analyze what is really going on.
I started a reply but somehow lost it! People believe what they want as long as it fits their narrative. Facts and truth don’t change their minds which is a real sign of stupidity. The vast majority of the sitting GOP’s stupidity and action is beyond contempt and comprehension. The Democrats need to challenge their lies loud and clear all the time. Just like Buttigieg does!
Christine, I agree. However, if they did that they'd have no time to govern. Somebody has to. 😼
I just finished it, after hitting the return button prematurely. Thanks.
Potential candidates for a legislative seat should have to pass a 7th grade civics exam and know how government works. Duh!
Buttigieg response = mic drop. Oh, snap!!!!
Yes-and I bet his “appropriate” response to the letter will tell them another thing or two-like the ways TFG contributed to this mess. Buttigieg is quite capable of taking them all down a notch or two. Bet they’ll regret their stunt.
Janet, per WFMY News 2 updated by Karrington Harris at 2/25/23 at 5:03 pm Eastern,
"2 wheels on a Norfolk Sourthern train came off in Lexington [ Kentucky ] Saturday ...
"The train car stayed upright & the crew is safe".
Again, this train was long, 132 railcars long. I beleve WFMY is a CBS affiliate by the look of its trademark but, Karrington appears to care much about accuracy.
... And, about 20 miles from the 'city' of East Palestine Ohio, a home security camera caught images of some of the rail cars axles smoking.
That is correct D4N, thank you. An overheating wheel bearing in CAR 23 tiggered three (3) separate track warnings before it failed at 253 degrees Fareinheat above the ambient Air Temp of 10 degrees per the NTSB Preliminary Report. There is an aerial photo off CAR 23 in the coverage which still tells quite a story of the heat that was generated. "Can't start a fire without a spark".
Too adult.
People believe whatever fits their narrative! Truth and facts have No influence. The person responsible for opening Pandora’s Box is Trump. He tapped in to the hate and it legitimate along with stupidity.
Your comment Christine, certainly nails one part of the tactics, harnessing hate, Stepping back to the seminal work in the 1970's by Nobel Prize winner & behaviorial pyschologist, Kahneman, the use in marketing whether politics, useless foods or edpensive medications much has to do with harnessing ""FAST over SLOW thinking" thoughtless impulse over critical thought. Check out PBS' Jake Ward's recent PBS Special on the "Hacking of your Mind".
Absolutely. The ingredients were there all along, but the orange menace opened the box and gave permission.
" 'Kathy I'm lost', I said though I knew she was sleeping. "
" I'm empty & aching & I don`t know why,"
"Counting the cars on the New Jersey Turnpike,"
"All come to look for America; all come to look for America".
"A poet and a one man band" but, be careful of "Loss Aversion" & what a corporation or politician wants to replace your "feeling of loss" with ... certainly not nostalgia for a
"happier" memory.
The song-poem still resonates with me as Paul Simon seem to understand somehow he was leaving his early life & starting a long journey .... 🙏
They don't care. They just attack, attack, attack. And conveniently ignore any pushback.
I laughed so hard at "(There are slightly fewer than 8 billion people on earth.)". Oh how I wish there was a real time way to put these facts into the "followers" heads. What a bunch of misguided uneducated folks.
Re: "Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) claimed that “6 billion” people have illegally crossed the border since President Biden took office. (There are slightly fewer than 8 billion people on earth.)"
Not only is MTG malicious, but she's dumb as a stump. She never misses an opportunity to prove that she deserves the pet name that a commentor on this site gave her, and I'm going to adopt Empty G. Priceless, no?
Yes, Empty G…..
Really clever - I doubt she'd get it.
I *THOUGHT* it was feeling a little crowded around here lately...
They are preposterous, but also dangerous, and have left many, many causalities in their wake. Evil clowns with assault weapons.
Jennifer, I saw a post float up on FB that some woman says she gave birth to the eight billionth child on earth, just the other day.....
🤣🤣🤣🤣
LOL.
Maybe they will name the baby “Eight Bill”! Yes, Michele, LOL.
Jennifer, I was at the library last week doing research and overheard 2 Seniors parroting MTG's bombastic lie. One said, " I think that figure may be a little high". I responded to them, " no, I think you meant to say that is a lie".
Good for you.
They could be slipping into dementia. . .
Nancy, you mean the universe where MTG resides?
Well, there's definitely some type of cognitive dissonance, that's for certain.
Seniors are your most suggestive audience. Sadly.
Unfortunately.
Consider if Biden dropped Harris for Buttigieg as VP running mate, and Trump gets the GOP nomination and picks MTG---can you just imagine that VP debate?!?!?!?
I had this very conversation with a colleague over lunch on Friday.
So maybe she exaggerated a bit?
Ya think? 🤣
Or maybe she was simply “embellishing” the truth, like her new best buddy Santos? They are teaming up to put through a Bill to ban LGBTQ+ books, after all… which is ironic, given that Santos is gay (or so he claims).
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/george-santos-marjorie-taylor-greene-b2284043.html?amp
Yeah, it’s either astounding ignorance or a joke of the lead balloon variety (or a garden variety exaggeration) — either way it was an embarrassment for MTG because she deleted the tweet.
I think it is a textbook example of how she opens her mouth and natters on before her one lone brain cell is engaged. Remember "peach-tree dish" and "gazpacho police"? The woman is a walking, talking incarnation of a "faux pas". She's sadly a mirror of what the Republican party has become. On the one hand I can laugh, but my momma taught me not to laugh at people who are mentally challenged...
More like “morally challenged”. I don’t laugh at her, I ridicule her. She is a user and abuser of public trust. Throw the package out, Bruce.
Bruce, I don't see her words as faux pas but as malapropisms. I think #1 is most apt in describing her ridiculous comments although #3 probably applies as well.
Definition: malapropism măl′ə-prŏp-ĭz″əm noun
1. Ludicrous misuse of a word, especially by confusion with one of similar sound. 2. An example of such misuse. 3. The act or habit of misapplying words through an ambition to use fine language.
Origin: MALAPROPISM [Named after Mrs Malaprop, a character in Richard Sheridan's play The Rivals (1775), from the French mal á propos inappropriate]. An error in which a similar-sounding word is substituted for the intended one, a characteristic of the fictional Mrs Malaprop, who produced such errors as ‘pineapple’ for pinnacle (‘He is the very pineapple of politeness!’), ‘interceded’ for intercepted (‘I have interceded another letter from the fellow!’). https://www.encyclopedia.com/literature-and-arts/language-linguistics-and-literary-terms/language-and-linguistics/malapropism
Certainly the "peach-tree dish" and "gazpacho police" are malapropisms. However, she utters them out of her own ignorance. Whether intentional or not, malapropisms can come from sheer ignorance, or they can consciously be done for the sake of humour. Saying "6 billion people" have crossed our southern border is her (and the right's) constant hyperbolic language. They always have to inflate and exaggerate every "statistic" they come up with. Call them what you will, I deem them mistakes, errors, "faux pas", misstatements, and often flat out lies that come from being remarkably ignorant.
Bruce, mostly “flat out lies”…..oy.
I agree. She just pulls stuff out of nowhere and always demonstrates that when you are festering gangrenous substance only miasma from the swamp seeps out.
Be accurate if impolite. She pulls it out of her ass. Which has a direct connection to her brain.
You read me correctly. I have trouble being impolite on this thread, but that was my thought.
Michele, I call her “Margerine Traitor Gangrene”….she is definitely a “swamp brain”. OMG
Great name. I usually just call her Gangrene, but I do like the fake substance that is bad for you as her first name and traitor of course.
I have several renditions of her name. My latest being....Marjorie three names with zero brains. But I’m afraid it’s probably more words than she could put together.
She does invite people to be creative with her name, all of them suggesting festering, faking, and dumb as a rock. Like the little rhyming name you have too.
My favorite name for her is Empty Greene...a riff on her first two initials.
Someone please call the GAZPACHO POLICE! So much laughing thanks to MTG has to be illegal 🤣
Newsweek published a collection of her gems as a Christmas present last December: https://www.newsweek.com/marjorie-taylor-greenes-10-most-outrageous-quotes-this-year-1769407?amp=1
Enjoy!
Only if they are Jewish space lasers!
She ain't no lady.
Funded by George Soros.
🤣
OK, I’ve been trying to behave, but you wonderfully intelligent, hilarious folks are leading me astray! Here’s my contribution: “Empty Green” (aka M.T. Greene).
Why behave? It’s harmless what we do. She gets people killed with what she says and thinks and acts on. Glad you are laughing, CJ. It is healing…..
Yes, this is harmless, but what comes of the mouths of the traitors is not. Someone, a regressive, once tried to ding me for name calling death star. I don't name call people on a thread, but public figures are fair game.
OMG, I’m right there with you and everyone else. She deserves it, there are no adequate insults for the depth of her depravity. Ditto her whole corrupt party. After 7.5 yrs of their daily insults, attacks on democracy, and everything decent, I’ve learned that I need to come up for air once snd awhile, get a breath of air, keep an arm’s distance, not let them drive me mad, and just focus on activism. I love these little pile ins, they’re good group therapy, let us all know we’re in good company! That said, here’s the one I couldn’t remember: “Q-Ella deVil.” Totally spot on! See pic at: https://twitter.com/afedupfeminist/status/1623354426747387904?s=46&t=FGs9tm7H2mwZaLiSUFP6JQ
CJ, Empty G is the best name I have seen so far….so happy we can give one another “air”. Yes, it helps a lot.
Talk about words that create a picture 😆
Gazpacho = gestapo; peachtree = petri
The extremist members of the Republican Party do not want government to function. Whether they are conveniently ignoring the responsible agencies that perform investigative functions and oversight, or are one of the new members of Congress that have no knowledge or interest in learning such details, their aim is only to detract from the current administration and lie if necessary to cause the American people to distrust their government. That has been their strategy for several years now. The Marjorie Taylor Greenes of the Republican Party don’t want government to work, they want to burn it down. They have no platform, no proposed legislation to improve the lives of average Americans. They seek to follow the strategies of Steve Bannon to dismantle government, divide Americans and create chaos.
I agree, but just out of curiosity what is in it for them? To burn the government down? Like, will they then confiscate all the cash from their closest big city bank and then flee to Mexico?
Weirdly, I don’t think they’ve actually thought it through. Just like MTG’s “divorce” proposal for blue/red states, or not allowing Dems who move to red states the ability to vote for a number of years….what???!!!! Dim-witted ideas. Tho’ appears they abound in our human habitat….to wit: was at the local small market in a far northern CA rural area & commented on the somewhat rare occurrence of snow that was both a delight and pain in the ass. One employee said it just goes to show you that global warming is NOT real…. Sigh, I gently explained the difference ‘tween ‘weather’ and ‘climate’, but she was sure her beliefs were correct. I further explained about the scientific process being, well, a process, and that knowledge/theories/predictions change with the data and study. Nope, not having any of it. What a weird bunch we humans are!!!!
Was it Modoc or Siskiyou County?! I was raised in Siskiyou and am pretty familiar with CA rural areas! That’s why I laugh when idiots talk about CA as if it’s ALL SF or LA, or elites.....good grief, there are large swatches of the state that are totally red....people have no idea.
I’m in Humboldt Co, a pretty blue area overall, think it has to do with being coastal and a ‘college town area’ (worked at Humboldt State Univ—now Cal Poly Humboldt—for 40 yrs & lived here since ‘68). That said, every locale has its variety of opinions/beliefs. Am glad to say I support my elected officials, both Fed and State, for their engagement & stances on the issues. Once, many years back, I was doing a phone counseling session with a prospective out of state student & he asked if HSU was a beach town & swimming in the ocean/surfing etc., I asked him if he knew where San Fransisco was & he replied oh, that’s too cold….um, I told him…drive 6 hours NORTH and you’ll be at Humboldt!!! Suggested he might consider CSU Long Beach or maybe UC Santa Barbara (near where I grew up in Carpenteria). The eastern counties are much more conservative & there was a recent brew haha about redistricting which would have blended the coastal and inland areas, thus diluting the ‘blueness’ of the coast….luckily it didn’t happen. It has always been puzzling to me this blue/red divide, as I don’t quite understand the gist of it.
Like Kern County(McCarthy territory) from where I escaped.
I worked there 6 years (KC Probation) after graduating from Sac State, right in the middle of the feminist movement…a big day when we were “allowed” to wear pants to court (had to be a matching ”set”!) I moved to Alameda County….difference was like night and day!
MTG is as dumb as a rock. Sorry rocks of the world. She is just a tool for those far smarter and with terrible ends for this country.
Silly thought, I know, Anne, but if they burn the government down, then they'd be out of a job...oh, happy day!
Their worship of Putin spells it out pretty clearly.
Oligarch= “a very rich business leader with a great deal of political influence (particularly with reference to individuals who benefited from the privatization of state-run industries after the collapse of the Soviet Union).
"it seems more than a coincidence that former employees, advisors, and allies of the billionaire oligarch have been parachuted into such positions"” from Oxford dictionary
Yet, their constituents re-elect them …
A good explanation of the derailment and who has done what. A piece that doesn’t seem to be getting enough airtime is that Norfolk Southern (and other railroads) have been allowed to replace human inspectors with wayside detectors (hot bearing detectors known as HBD’s). Norfolk Southern was also allowed to set the alarm setpoints, so a temperature of 103 degrees above ambient air temperature did not cause an audible alarm.
“Between 170°F and 200°F, warm bearing (non-critical); stop and inspect
• A difference between bearings on the same axle greater than or equal
to 115°F (non-critical); stop and inspect
• Greater than 200°F (critical); set out railcar”
By the time the bearing alarm was sounded and the crew tried to stop the 149 car train, it was too late to prevent a derailment. Perhaps if the train had been equipped with the electronically controlled pneumatic brakes called for in the Obama-Biden rules (rescinded by the Trump administration), it could have stopped before it derailed.
https://www.ntsb.gov/investigations/Documents/RRD23MR005%20East%20Palestine%20OH%20Prelim.pdf
https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2023/feb/17/occupy-democrats/obama-era-safety-rule-high-hazard-trains-was-repea/
Great information, Mary, and we need these facts to rebut the ignorance/lies, but besides being outrageously ignorant, these agitators want to spew their venom simply to rile their followers and cause harm to the Dems, and they have no regard for the well-being of the country. Confront them with facts that implicate Norfolk Southern, TFG stripping safeguards from rules, and they'll ignore them, or claim that the Democrats are lying.
Then meet them where they are. Strategic mockery as Daniel Goldman and Eric Swalwell have employed works. Alaundty list of facts doesn't. https://post.news/@/cliffschecter/2MDHnIxYhbLLSMX4twMKywGYNWW?fbclid=IwAR0DCEJNj1LXUabs88r4El3uU2oVxlxKPkAvCBGwc8dA5728Qv6GGzP3_WE
Thanks for the links, Eadie. Of course, you're right. Refuting their every lie would occupy way too much time. I love both Swalwell and Goldman, and especially enjoy watching Goldman's eyes twinkle as he's enjoying the argument and planning his next parry.
Thank you for that information.
"My mind is made up. Don't confuse me with the facts." seems to be the motto of the House GQP these days. While the saying may have been used in the past as a joke, this attitude on the part of our lawmakers is not humorous. It is dangerous.
"Don't confuse me with the facts" should be a hint that the uninformed electorate, which by the way, does not respond to a laundry list of facts has responded to what is known as strategic mockery. Democrats need a new strategy because the old tried and true one has failed. Here is something to ponder and if you are, let your congress person know. https://post.news/@/cliffschecter/2MDHnIxYhbLLSMX4twMKywGYNWW?fbclid=IwAR0DCEJNj1LXUabs88r4El3uU2oVxlxKPkAvCBGwc8dA5728Qv6GGzP3_WE
This is the gang that couldn’t shoot straight. The Keystone Cops. Or choose from among the 28 synonyms for “inept.” They are a national embarrassment. Utter fools who don’t know it.
The Republicans are dragging the country down. Yet they think they’re patriots who are saving it from evil. Spare us all!
Republicans are not at all inept at reaching their goals - which have nothing to do with good governance.
They want to destroy government as we've known it and to institute a clerical fascist state. And they are well on their way.
They have been outstandingly successful at throwing out red herrings to get news media off their trail. As defined by Merriam-Webster.com, red herring is "[from the practice of drawing a red herring across a trail to confuse hunting dogs] : something that distracts attention from the real issue." The news that President Biden's ratings have gone up is what's putting republican'ts into overdrive, IMHO.
Funny you brought this up, Gigi. I had been wondering if MTG has been spewing one idiotic statement after another to detract attention from her new buddy Santos.
MTG has been spewing screwy stuff for a very long time. When first in Congress, she was simply regarded as a nut case by media (not wrong) and by Dems. But she became one of the useful tools for other right wing extremists, and they pulled her into the limelight, which she revels in. Interesting to me that she is now buddies with Santos, who is the other outsider tolerated only because of the usefulness of his vote. Wonder if Murphy finally figured out that his obvious palling with her was not good optics? Any thoughts? I missed some stuff over last couple weeks, so MTG being buddies with Santos was news. Not very surprising, I just somehow missed the transition.
I posted elsewhere that they have teamed up to ban LGBTQ+ books, which is ironic since Santos supposedly is gay (or is he really).
I saw the news in a newspaper, but Yahoo is the first I found tonight and the picture is priceless.
https://news.yahoo.com/amphtml/news/mtg-george-santos-co-sponsoring-125722295.html
Yay, lin! Great to see you back in this forum! Hope you’re well.
Truth. And I think MTG, as clearly uneducated as she is, imagines herself to be a modern-day Eva Braun, cozying up to those in power while we the people work to provide for their excesses.
I wish you weren’t correct but ya are ☹️.
"Led" by Keystone Kev himself.
Or Qeystone Qev….
Yes, they played bumbling idiots very well; these are the real thing.
When I was a kid (how last century!) My grandfather had a private car because he was an NYCRR executive. I was sitting on the observation deck with him when we passed a freight going in the opposite direction. In the caboose, the conductor waved, and my grandfather waved back. I asked why, and he told me that on the railroad it was everyone's responsibility to look for smoke coming from the journal box when trains passed each other. "Hotbox" detection, before disaster hit, was really important. He said that if either he or the conductor had seen evidence of a hotbox, they would have held their nose instead of waving. In the wreck HCR refers to, "hotbox" detection was allocated to software, which failed to inform the engineer until the journal box, containing the wheel bearings, was 258 degrees hotter than normal. No caboose, no conductor, no human smarter than software, was on the job. That's the way railroads choose to run now. Fewer employees, greater profit. The only downside is bigger accidents, and everyone associated with rail transport knows that. It's like having airports without people in the tower. Res ipse loquitur.
Fascinating. TY!
A private railcar! How amazing that must have been, especially as a child!
It was beautifully appointed, though apparently not as plush as the one he had, with a fireplace in the livingroom, before I was born. But there were several bedrooms, including a master suite with twin beds so his wife could travel with him and gold faucets on the washstand, a large dining room, a room for his personal secretary (a man) and a large dining room with table and chairs for 8. The galley prepared the meals. A cook and a butler were also part of the crew. I think about that now and marvel how few people ever experienced that. Of course, I have not flown in space, either....or done a lot of other things.
Wow! I hope your family has photos! I don't have the means, but I have seen groups online who own and rent out private rail cars. Trains tracks often sneak through natural places cars and highways cannot go. I'd imagine such a trip to be so wonderful, nevermind the luxury!
Thank you Heather! 🙏🙏 No doubt they sent a copy to FOX before releasing it on a Friday, to allow time for the propaganda to percolate.
I spent years working with local, state and federal agencies that regulate hazardous chemicals. The minute I heard that a train had derailed in Ohio and spilled PVC's, my first thought was here's yet another toxic, dangerous chemical spill. They happen quite often, sadly, and we don't seem to be getting any better at regulating how such chemicals are regulated, handled or transported.
Rather than concern themselves with clean-up and helping those affected though, we get one more battle in these damn culture wars. PVC's are ungodly dangerous, toxic and will affect the area for a long time - depending on who handles the clean-up. If it is left up to DeWine and co., it is unclear what, if anything, will truly happen to ensure proper clean-up and protection of health - for humans, wildlife, plants, trees, all of it. And we will likely hear about a spike in several types of cancer somewhere down the road - not to mention that those with any current lung or kidney conditions will suffer and maybe even die sooner than they otherwise might. Real people, real problems. And Republicans don't give a rat's ass about anything except damaging Biden and Co.
This President and his administration have done incredible work to govern, regulate, keep the economy moving for everyone, and protect ALL Americans. But I knew, the minute that Biden shut down the rail workers strike, that there would be some damnable event that would shine a light on the problems with railroad companies worrying about managing only for profits rather than human well-being. Mission accomplished. Ugh.
Thank God for Buttegieg - not just for his management abilities and knowledge but his ability to communicate. Comer and company better watch themselves. They are batting waaaaayyy above their pay grade taking Pete on. Sigh. Back to writing postcards tomorrow. We HAVE to vote these bastards out.
Great comment, Gayle. On point. Writing postcards starting tomorrow, too!
Sheila B good to hear from you! Thank you for this great comment ❤️
Philosopher Harry Frankfurt defined the essence of bullshit as an utter lack of concern for whether what one says is true or not. He distinguishes BS from lying in that a liar at least has sufficient regard for truth to try to conceal the fact that the lie isn’t true. George Santos is a liar. These clowns are bullshit artists.
The difference between Richard Nixon who knew he was lying and felt he had to pretend he wasn't. And Ronald Reagan who had no moral compass and just made it up as he went along.
It appeared to me that after suffering the fall of Nixon, the once "Party of Lincoln" vowed to totally brazen it out with a comprehensive "Big Lie" strategy. And the lies got bigger as they went along. Now its major news when a Republican (such as Liz Cheney) says anything that's true.
I agree, they know exactly what they are doing. MTG is being intentional in tweeting out an outlandish claim, just long enough to do enough damage that cannot be undone after she removes the bs tweet.
Exactly! MTG may not have her facts straight, however, she knows exactly what she is doing.
When you are peddling plutocracy, the truth is not your friend.
We are *here* because ever since Ronald Reagan, the right has united. And in every branch and at every level of government *this* is what Republican domination looks like.
Either the rest of us unite behind the Democratic party and between now and Election Day 2024 do everything we can to win Democratic victories in every contest - or as Republicans said of overturning Roe "this is just the beginning."
YES!!!
Exactly so!
“Either 21 Republican lawmakers charged with oversight of our government don’t know how the government works and didn’t care to find out, or they are deliberately misleading their loyalists.
We are becoming accustomed to certain Republican lawmakers saying ridiculous things. Just two days ago, in a now-deleted tweet, Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) claimed that “6 billion” people have illegally crossed the border since President Biden took office. (There are slightly fewer than 8 billion people on earth.)
But the letter these representatives wrote shows such a profound disinterest in how our government works that it suggests these representatives have no real interest in the job they were sent to Washington to do, and instead are weaponizing the government to mislead their followers into believing things that are not true.
Buttiegieg responded: “I am alarmed to learn that the Chair of the House Oversight Committee thinks that the NTSB is part of our Department. NTSB is independent (and with good reason). Still, of course, we will fully review this and respond appropriately.”
Before I even read the above paragraphs written by Heather, I thought “Do these guys understand how our government functions????” Thank you, dear Heather: great minds think alike!
Having the Repelicans led by Greene and McCarthy run the House of Representatives after Pelosi ran it is like having the kids from the permanent in-school suspension room replace the teachers in the AP program in a high school.
Astonishing how ignorant Republican office holders are. It’s as though they failed primary school, without basic knowledge and common sense, and realise, in adulthood, the only way they can get a job is to lie and cheat, muddle around for some fake charisma or find their inner bully and never take responsibility for anything. This qualifies them for Republican office. When the worst of a nation fake leading the nation the nation is in deep dooda
It’s not only too many elected Republicans start ignorant, but they can’t even hire staff who can prevent them from displaying their ignorance
Good leadership entails both (a) hiring staff who will tell one when one is about to put one's foot in one's mouth and (b) heeding staffers' warnings that one's metatarsals are perilously close to one's mandible.
Yes indeed. The intelligence to delegate to the best qualified and experienced. Not the noddy dolls whose tongues are shredded from licking boots
Dunning-Kruger effect
They are unaware that they are ignorant, so we get bizarre stuff like MTG and Repugnant officials holding offices for which they are unqualified.
They have no desire to be informed or abide by the rules of governing. They are there simply to tear it all down, hoping to become an oligarch once it falls.
In the past I have seen constituents in MTG’s area say how embarrassed they are that she is their representative. She doesn’t seem the type that the Democrats can win a public debate with, so what about on the ground. I see Biden posting on twitter all the great things he and Congress have been getting done, can they take it to the streets in MTG’s backyard? Can they ask the people there if they know what she is attempting to demolish? It seems only when the more direct and personal PR happens that maybe oh maybe they wont vote for her again
This story came out in February 2021 about MTG's hometown. It's frightening, to me at least. She was reelected in the 2022 midterms. Her opponent was Marcus Flowers. I donated to his campaign, but it was for naught. Reading the article, I came to realize she is a reflection of her constituents.
https://news.yahoo.com/sickening-history-marjorie-taylor-greene-095713316.html
I donated to Flowers, too! He seems so decent and well-prepared. Now I understand why he didn’t get elected…
Thanks for sharing this article, Lynell! It is alarming, though. Hard to believe we coexist with such evilness and hatred in this grand county.
You're welcome, Rose! Not sorry either to have donated to Marcus' campaign.
That such garbage exists (as described in the article) still is unconscionable.
Interesting article, thank you.
I couldn’t finish reading it. 😣
I understand completely, Christy.
Damn. Watching the video embedded is gut wrenching. How could I be so unaware. Thanks for posting this.
Me, too, Gail.
Tina, from your lips to God’s ears….
It seems like our best hope
Good idea. I hope people are on the ground in MTG territory. I Hope that they would be good listeners first and would communicate well