"For his part, Johnson said that “the House is actively pursuing and investigating all the various options” on the supplemental bill, “but again, the first priority of the country is our border and making sure it’s secure."
BULLSHIT. He wouldn't have sent them on a two week vacation if that was true.
"For his part, Johnson said that “the House is actively pursuing and investigating all the various options” on the supplemental bill, “but again, the first priority of the country is our border and making sure it’s secure."
BULLSHIT. He wouldn't have sent them on a two week vacation if that was true.
Voting comes far too late to deal with a coup by insiders on behalf of a simple citizen who is in turn the willing tool of America's principal enemy at the present time: Vladimir Putin.
I'm philosophically opposed to the death sentence, but even if I weren't I think life sentences are better for this bunch - like the punishment Westley plans for Humperdinck in The Princess Bride:
"...the first thing you will lose will be your feet below the ankles. Then your hands at the wrists. Next your nose. The next thing you will lose will be your left eye followed by your right.,,Your ears you keep and I'll tell you why.
So that every shriek of every child at seeing your hideousness will be yours to cherish. Every babe that weeps at your approach, every woman who cries out, 'Dear God! What is that thing,' will echo in your perfect ears."
Death is like one and done. No time for remorse. Westley gives them time to think what they have done. Personally I think the perfect punishment is bankrupting him-take all his property and bury him in a closed casket so no one can see his face and definitely not in Arlington Cemetery
Yes, death is fast and final That's why I want him to suffer rather than die. Yes bankrupt and confiscate all his holdings, but make him live on in humiliated abject poverty for a long time, mentally declining all the way down yet aware of his reduced circumstances. Maybe wear a "Loser" sign around his neck? I'm usually more compassionate, but I seriously want this hideous worm squirming on the hook he's been let off all his life.
Honestly, if zygotes are people, which designation confers the right to life, why aren’t prisoners also entitled to the same right? Note: I am pro choice and anti death penalty. I just think the cognitive dissonance of the right is something to behold.
KR, it makes my head hurt. I am reading a book by a biochemist about the beginning of life on earth and the activity of cells. If we follow the logic, then every cell in everything short of bacteria and another kind of cell, are sexual. Fungi and plants among others have rights. Speaker Johnson is no Christian either, becauseJesus would not act for a festering cancerous monster like death star.
Regrettably not, because treason only exists during a state of war and, although the failed insurrectionist and his followers are clearly giving aid and comfort to our enemies, we are not in a legally declared state of war; that would take an act of Congress and we all know how likely that is to happen.
The Rosenbergs were convicted of espionage. That certainly applies to everyone who knowingly broadcasts Russian intelligence agents' propaganda: Jordan, Comer, Giuliani, Don Jr & Eric, and MTG (for leaking classified docs on social media).
Others like Hawley, Lee, and Gaetz will have to be charged with insurrection for aiding and abetting Jan 6, Johnson & the rest of tIe R's who support the big lie for obstruction of congressional procedures.
I leave LardoMalo off my list because, as Barbara Keating says, he's already indicted under the espionage act - that's the Chutkin trial in Fed DC court.
Yes, we must maintain a clear idea of what’s important: Don’t spend any time seeking revenge or getting satisfaction by imagining payback. The situation here is more serious than that. It requires sober ideas of how to overcome the strategy of the House leadership.
No, not treason based on the current legal definition (but if it walks like a duck….), but rather he is being charged under the Espionage Act (both sound cloak & dagger!), tho not specifically as a “spy”: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-65910903
America's principle foreign enemy may be Vladimir Putin, but it was KKK Grand Wizard and GOP gadfly David Duke who sold the GOP base on Putin as the Great White Hope of Christian Nationalism and Charles Koch bagman Leonard Leo who helped Koch capture the courts to cement corporate power and overturn civil rights. Koch et al are not the least bothered by authoritarianism, particularly when it's their brand of clerical fascism. Koch may not like Trump, but that hasn't stopped him from profiting from Trump's political success.
Please keep in mind, a springboard for the Koch family fortune was work for Stalin's USSR and Hitler's Nazi Germany.
In turn, their fortune was a springboard for almost every antidemocratic initiative in the USA - from the John Birch Society to the Federalist Society. Charles Koch personifies Supreme Court Justice Lewis Powell's use of the judiciary to cement corporate power. And the Roberts Court bigotry. The Koch family investment in GOP politics, as with Trump family, runs on racism with greed as the engine.
Bill, I’ve added Stop the Coup group to my home screen & follow their efforts—and suggestions as to what we “little people”, you know, the rabble and riff-raff, can do to stand against it: https://www.stopthecoup2025.org/. At least it gives us options other than *shaking fists at the sky* in fury and frustration!
Good question. Maybe Trumps sheer incompetence finally got to him. Maybe the hurl factor finally kicked in. And maybe Koch thought Haley actually has a better chance of beating Biden. And I think that is the scary truth. Haley has the false aura of "normalcy". Wolf in sheep's clothing, if you will?
But Charles doesn't share his thoughts with me, unfortunately :)
My guess is that Charles was hedging his bets just like Haley is. They all know death star may be have been found guilty in criminal trials as well as suffering from worsening dementia. And i agree about Haley, a horrible woman who once while governor did the right thing. Once doesn't cut it.
Probably about style not substance And lack of confidence in Trump's ability to win.
"It’s also unclear exactly why the Koch network dislikes Trump so much. While in office, he successfully carried out moves long sought by the organization, including the gutting of the Environmental Protection Agency, a single-minded strategy of deregulation to strengthen the hand of private businesses, and tipping the Supreme Court conservative—with a majority that’s proven to be well inclined to favor the interests of big business and the decimation of the administrative state."
I think Koch saw the writing on the wall with 45. He broke the ground and got the Supreme Court for them but I think we’ve seen lately that 45’s more of a liability now and is getting more and more unstable.
A That may be but he hasn’t withdrawn his endorsement which still means something in his rarefied atmosphere. He’s using Haley to lob epithets at 45 as long as she can remain above water. I think we’ll have to wait until the Super Tuesday dust settles to see how much further that endorsement takes her. It’s possible she might turn to No Labels should they extend a hand. They know there is a good size chunk of voters who want nothing to do with either candidate.
My nieces husband, who lives in Wichita, slavered over the mere thought of maybe working for Koch. My family is in Kansas . I didn't realize my Minicooper could hit 127 mph until I was heading west the hell out of there.
The Koch family is a crime family and worse. The oligarchs in America are all crime families to one degree or another----and the population makes up the serfs/slaves working on their various "plantations" in the economy. Think about what life in America would be like if the minimum wage had kept up with inflation and the tax code were pre-Regan----a vastly different world!!
"Think about what life in America would be like if the minimum wage had kept up with inflation and the tax code were pre-Regan----a vastly different world!!"
Even if GOP operatives hadn't kept the American hostages in Iran to sink Carter's chances and to elect Reagan.
Even if sufficient numbers of Americans had voted for Clinton. Even holding their nose
ThankYou. Your comment is timely and helpful. I have been researching the Powell Memorandum and Lewis Powell's tenure on the Supreme Court. He provided the blueprint for cementing corporate privilege through judicial activism. Recommended to be done through national organizations. In other words, Leonard Leo's network of shell companies and organizations such as the Federalist Society and the Teneo Network - funded by Charles Koch and other racist right wing extremists.
Yes, we are always struggling against our worse angels.
Lin, I too have been researching the Powell Memo & the changes wrought during the Reagan Admin & beyond…hard to turn this big ship of state around when realizing the “map” we were following since it being used as guidance led us, as it turned out, into dangerous territory. Well, dangerous to all except those who profited handsomely & they want to keep their spoils now & into the future. Hard to comprehend those who don’t understand the concept of “enough” and only want “more and more”.
I'd dearly love to see Chuck fucked by his own greed a la Sacklers. Nan, if you're listening, can you dig up some flyers to float through the rotunda of the Capitol Bldg?
OK. Is there a parallel political universe where your comment makes any strategic or tactical sense? Please put 'Chuck' in context of the current Congress. Compare and contrast him to 'Mitch'.
And explain how floating flyers through the rotunda of the Capitol Bldg might contribute to addressing any of the critical problems Republican obeisance to Trump has created. From keeping government open to providing aid to Ukraine.
Can we please move past the silly self indulgent $#!t and figure out a way to get work done?
Chuck is Koch, no one in Congress. Flyers in the rotunda is a reference to Nan Goldin's protest of the Sackler family at the Guggenheim. It was effective first to get their name removed from all the museums where they had built wings, and eventually to put Purdue out of business. Just because I'm a foul mouthed wise guy, lin+, doesn't make my suggestion frivolous.
One could equate removing Sackler name from museums to removing TFG's name from ballots. The "if you're listening, Nan..." remark refers to "If you're listening, Russia..." from TFG re Hillary's emails.
Please accept my apologies. My ignorance for not getting your reference. Yes, Nan Goldin has been indefatigable and brilliant in her protest against the Sacklers. She has strategically employed her status as an artist and tactically deployed her wit to achieve her mission.
I don't know whether it would translate to politics. I'm not seeing the equivalency in removing names. And removing Trump's name from state ballots, although I think constitutional, does not solve the problem of MAGA or Koch.
Re protest inside the Capitol - after Jan 6 I would question how any act in the Capitol would play. And play out. I don't think it would benefit the cause of protesting Koch et al. More work for the Capitol Police and the cleaning staff.
I've listen to CSpan regularly, obsessively over the years. There are really very good people in Congress.
Congress is not entirely bought. Charles Koch owns the judiciary. I've protested outside the Supreme Court and outside 'my neighbor' Leonard Leo's estate. I wonder whether protests outside RNC headquarters on 310 First St SE or on Patriot Row on East Capitol St. SE.
But mostly our job is to GetOutTheVote for Blue Wave 2024.
And find as many creative ways to do that as possible. Through local Democratic committees and campaigns. With equal attention to state legislators.
Again my apologies for snapping at you. With all the authority of my ignorance.
Yes, I totally agree with you. The polls are too far off to ameliorate this situation which , to me, is a supreme dereliction of duty on Johnson's part and the fact that he is taking orders from an insurrectionist former POTUS is beyond reprehensible. The safety of the nation is being compromised here. Johnson needs to be removed from his position.
In 2018 Mike Johnson reported his earnings as -$32,500.00. In 2023 he's worth 5 million dollars. He doesn't report any bank accounts or any assets other than a mortgage. But yet he has stock in Google, Apple, Microsoft and a couple others. He says, he returned those Russian donations. Did he?🤔 Now he owns a mansion, apartments, and land. How did that happen? I'm sure in he justifies it as gifts from God.
Brett Kavanagh's debts were paid in full. I'm sure he sent a thank you note to Leonard. Corruption at the highest level of the food chain. If Koch and Leo win this election...we are fucked.
“Its an intrusion on ones right to privacy to uncover the source of the bribes spent to curry his favor. Furthermore, citizens must have the expectation that the government should not seek to document their illegality in any way, shape, or form”
I agree., This is not the first time that a person, or a few persons have gridlocked the entire safety of the country for political leveridge.Thinking Joe Manchin for one but there are others.
But this time the crime is of quite another order, it is part of the openly proclaimed aim to overthrow democracy and to put DT back in the White House to complete the job.
Victoria: The tactic Johnson is following is intended to underlined that democracy doesn't work. Chaos is the desired outcome. The only people who can remove the upstart religious bigot is his fellow Rs (in the near term) and as long as he is useful to Trump he'll likely hold his position. Whether it is likely he'll be voted out by his constituents is unlikely given that they actually voted him in in the first place.
Can one explain why DT is being allowed to run for office? He is, even in the eyes of a child, not fit to lead our country. Those who want to rule over this nation should not be dictated to by the Communist dictator Putin. Most of the Republican party have become Putin's toys, marionettes. No one makes a move without Trump's opinion which comes from his boss, Putin. Trump is NOT EVEN AT THIS TIME AN ELECTED OFFICIAL!!! What a bunch of ignorant, weak, pitiful puppets...WILLING TO SELL OUT THE USA!!!
As the Bible instructs NOT to do...An important segment of the government of the great USA....have chosen to become entrapped and have chosen to yield to BLIND GUIDES!!!.
DO YOU REALLY BELIEVE PUTIN DOESN'T HAVE PLANS FOR YOU IF YOU KEEP ON FOLLOWING HIM? He will use you up and put you on a plane for a vacation you will never live to talk about with anyone.
Most of the Republicans' time in office has been taken up with accusations which have been proven false while our country waits to get the work of the people done.
Thank you Peter!
Thank you Miselle!
VOTE FOR PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN AND FOR EVERY PERSON WHO IS FOR AMERICA AND FOR ALL WHO RESPECT WOMEN'S RIGHTS AND FOR FREEDOM OF RELIGION or choose not to have a religion AND FOR EACH PERSON OF COLOR, etc!!! A VOTE FOR BIDEN IS A VOTE TO BUILD BACK BETTER!!! A VOTE FOR BIDEN IS A VOTE FOR NATO!
I would also comment, we need to get out of Gaza. We are aiding the criminal Netanyahu. We need to free the hostages by different means. We are being used by Netanyahu....to keep HIM out of prison and to support his dream to take over Gaza for himself. This has always been an issue for many in Israel. That is why some have been building homes in Gaza claiming it is their land.
Really Netanyahu wants to do what we did to the American Indians. Destroy their land, their homes, their people, their language and claim it is a "God" given right...OK ....we are all really "Bad to the bone!!!"
Emily, I just had a FB friend post a flattering photo of fpotus, and said "This is the man for America" and had about a dozen people chime in with "He loves America" or "He supports police" or "He's a businessman, and we need to run our country like a business." It is completely disgusting to me.
Ally, thank you for reinforcing my decision to eschew Facebook. I think the Obi Wan quote re: Mos Isley spaceport applies: "You will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy. We must be cautious."
Emily, don't ask us to explain what can only be explained in terms of money, dark money, changing hands; for reasons unsoundable and inexplicable if we try to reach beyond following the money.
There's a market in everything now -- everything, anything and nothing at all. For the buyers, sellers and the bought-and-soldiers, there's the market in terror, the market in lies, the market in war, and there are, of course, markets in subversion and treason...
As for the stringpuller in the Kremlin, that's no Communist! Can't have been near any such party for decades...
Started in the vicious no-surrender jungle of Leningrad backyards and came out on top. Judoka. Acrobat.
KGB man, expertise in lies, manipulation, all the techniques of persuasion.
Above all else a successful crime boss driven by limitless greed for wealth, the trappings thereof and the power to maximize and protect it, a cold-hearted paranoid narcissist, a sybarite, a man totally devoid of any form of human fellow-feeling, who has done everything at every stage in his life to banish even the shadow of empathy... And this protection from feeling is also a liability, in that it reduces all relationships to transactions and bonds of fealty.
There must have been much to hate and resent, for one who will probably have wanted to enjoy his ill-gotten gains without let or hindrance. And this will have redoubled and refined his cruelty.
Anyway, the regime of Brezhnev et al may have elicited Reagan's "Evil Empire" label... But it was an earthly paradise by comparison with what this man has done to his own country, to the neighbors or wherever his armies, his mercenaries, his guns and his bombs prevail.
But Lin, I wish to goodness that this image was unimaginable.
Unfortunately, it does correspond to the state of America's government and its activity at the present time and to the sabotage of extremely urgent and important action.
Unless an end is brought to this act of war against the United States, potential damage to the country and the world between now and the election is incalculable.
And of course most forms of conceivable action will feed the lie that the President is abusing his power to persecute a "legitimate" political opponent.
That man, the self-styled "President" and his operatives could hardly be less legitimate.
The moles in Congress are acting on the orders of a private citizen backed by openly subversive big-money interests. A private citizen who is the Russian dictator's means of transmission for the overthrow of America from within.
"The moles in Congress are acting on the orders of a private citizen backed by openly subversive big-money interests. A private citizen who is the Russian dictator's means of transmission for the overthrow of America from within."
Thank you Sums up the horrifying situation perfectly. That Trump, who has no official role in the government, can control it to the degree he does should be terrifying to all.
According to Professor Jack Rasmus, Ukraine is already losing the war:
“The tide has turned here very clearly. And that's why there is desperation going on in the EU and in Washington, DC, and now talk in France and others about, 'oh, we're going to have to send NATO troops into western Ukraine,’” he continued."
Why do only a of couple of subscribers report him, which takes up a great deal of their time? Why don't the complainers do the same - report him? Look at the awful space filled with garbage he and those who have exchanges with him take up on this forum. He works as a shiny distraction pulling us away from the crucial issues at hand. Schmeeckle is the winner. Take a look!
I have reported him over 100 times (and I know many others have) I have gone into this name and muted him and/or blocked him several times. I have contacted the Substack help and questioned why, even though I have blocked him, I keep getting his junk. THEY NEVER ANSWER.
There are days that his nonsense so dominates that I stop reading all the comments--it's just too difficult to get around him.
If anyone has a way of contacting HCR, I truly wish they would do so!!
I truly believe that HCR's growing volume of followers and the attention she has garnered in the media, along with her recent best selling book, is making her an important target for misinformation.
I've reported him at least 50 times. I do it because he insults and disrupts. I guess I just have to ignore, but why should I be the one who has to abstain?
Substack will not ban anyone unless it violates such as threatening. First Amendment is sacrosanct. And likely the blog owner agrees. Ignore him. It’s that simple. He loves the attention it affords him.
He is here to diminish this forum and winning. I don't believe that the case has been made to HRC. Proper monitoring of this site is an appropriate subject to take with her.
I place my cursor on the line running down from his name, click and the entire thread collapses. I do miss the rebuttal comments, but it is worth it to me not to have to read Schmeckel's (misspelling intentional) dreck
You’ve said a mouthful with your statement. That’s exactly what this is. Right now it’s “bloodless” until one considers the unnecessary loss of life by others who will be affected by this feckless, reckless and frankly underhanded MAGA Speaker.
If you look at a map of the US we have borders with Canada and Mexico. The border with Canada is 5525 miles and the Mexican border is 1950 miles. It is estimated that 2-3 times as many people without documentation come into the US from Canada as from Mexico.
What a bunch of racists the Republicans are, caring only about people crossing the Mexican border. In the summer, migrant workers harvest crops in ME and work in the trades just like in FL, TX & CA. Without this labor, crops would rot in the fields, homes wouldn't be built and the vendors that service the 4 million visitors to Acadia National Park would close down.
Maybe the Republican House members should take another vacation through the end of the year -- with their good buddy Putin. It's not like they are going to get anything done because TFFG has already stopped anything from happening in the House.
It reminds me of the show, "Pokerface" where every time someone lied to the main character she would say "BULLSHIT". I think that is what all of us should be yelling every time these guys open their mouths!
And they wouldn't have voted no on the bill that they themselves crafted. They create their own Catch-22 situation and then leap into it when numbnuts tells them to (that would be Putin telling tRUMP to tell Johnson what to do)
If a few more Republican Congresscritters resign or switch parties then Jeffries could be the 'can do' Speaker and get things done. But they are ALL Putin's puppets because they don't want to get "primaried".
This is our "Winter of Discontent," exposing the weakness in our democratic process. Trump, Jordan, Johnson, MTG et al. do not support the Constitution. Yet, there appears to be no quick, rational, legal way in which to move them out. Their "theory of government" is as confused disorganized and discombobulated as the mind of a schizophrenic. There is no organization or structure to it. The rest of us are paying the price for our schools' failure to teach students how to think critically along with courses/classes in history and government.
Agreed Richard. They are running around each others in circles and getting nothing done. Frustrating to watch and feeling helpless that we can change anything.
The problem may be more bottom up than a teacher down. History is a perennial non-favourite among a majority of students, whether in US or in Canada where I live. New Brunswick, in eastern Canada, also perennially underperforms most of the rest of the country. It was like that when i was a kid, in the 50s. They keep churning out improvement schemes, only to eventually ditch them when another administration thinks they have a new wow idea, or to pawn off a litany of complaints. On a slightly different tack, lately, trans rights in schools have been a burning issue here, with the government taking a more pro parent approach, contrary to the advice of school and psych admins.
That there is a "trans issue" is very, very sad. I am one of 8 children and my oldest sib, a half-sister whose mother passed away 4 months after her birth, and I became very, very close after I finished serving four years in the U.S. Army and finished my B.A. at Whittier and M.A. at So. Cal. Tuck, as everyone knew her, owned a gay bar in Los Angeles and was respected by all. We grew to be very, very close. I often think of Carl Sagan's remark: "The most complicated thing in the known universe is the human brain." And then I think of some lines in "the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam"
Listen again. One evening at the Close
of Ramazan, ere the better Moon arose,
In that old Potter's shop I stood alone
With the clay Population round in Rows.
And, strange to tell, among that Earthen Lot
Some could articulate, while others not:
And suddenly one more impatient cried - -
"Who is the Potter, pray, and who the Pot?
Shall He that made the Vessel in pure Love
And Fancy, in an after Rage destroy!"
None answer'd this; but after Silence spake
A Vessel of a more ungainly Make:
"They sneer at me for leaning all awry;
What! did the Hand then of the Potter shake?"
Did the hand of the Potter shake? I feel so badly for our fellow humans who are gay, transgender and more, not because of who or what they are, but because of the pain and difficulty that we cause them as a consequence of our own ignorance and intolerance.
Thank you for the personal story, after all, all of these issues are based on personal experience and social interaction. Sadly, both Old and New Testaments didn't help. Paul in particular. Over stereotyping of gender norms is planet wide, to a fair degree as well. The potter metaphor is interesting, it also happens to be usually, a little differently, in Isaiah i believe.
The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam is one of the most brilliant translations in any language. Edward Fitzgerald did an amazing job. And, I've always been intrigued by what went on in that "Potter's shop." As to Paul, if he did exist, I did some research about what could have happened on the road to Damascus. Syrian rue, a common halcuinatory drug back then has similar effects of LSD - bright, blinding flashing white lights. Paul tripped twice on his road to Damascus. At least one study has shown that those who underwent such an experience reported that it was the most profound experiences of their lives. As for Paul, there is no question but that it was a life-altering experience, a "trip" that changed the course of history.
I don't think we need to resort to drug experiences for Paul to have had visionary experiences, which he witnessed to in his letters. Scholarship generally has little doubt on his historical existence, mythicists and their one-track mindedness, notwithstanding. Paul's comments on homosexuality were likely par for the course in the Jewish culture he was raised, and hugely espoused. Conversion "born again" experiences, are an all too common experience in religious circles, esp in those which promote this kind of thing. eg Evangelicals. There is enough material in the NT to provide support for conversion experience.
I dont think ive read Rubaiyat, maybe i will sometime. Wiki says its authorial authenticity is a bit up for grabs, though that may not be an essential issue regarding its contents. At first i mistook this for The Prophet by Kalyle Gibran, which i enjoyed many years ago.
The problem is GOP state legislators are committed to Trump and are prepared to fix the elections for Trump.
They are drunk with the power to subvert the constitution and the will of the people and think we can be bullied and coerced with threats of violence.
They can't win with reason, foresight good judgement so are scared and fearful of those that have these qualities.
- We want young adults to fall in love and make babies who they love and care for, but not at the risk of their lives and Liberty.
- We need skilled and talented immigrants to build resilient secure supply chains, but not at the risk of global economic collapse and world wars.
- The New Deal did not have to end with Vietnam and Voting Rights. Neoliberalism does not mean Greed is Good. We need to reduce consumption and make room for human advancement.
X 2,000. Get rid of these people. They are not there to do a job. In any other situation if an employee does not perform his job, and not only that but interferes with others attempting to work, they’d be FIRED. Let’s make that happen. 🤬😡
When the senate devised a bill with border protection, they included an inferior stipulation about more than 5,000 a day crossing over for a given week then the president could act. When I first read that, I knew it wouldn’t pass. It’s almost as if the senate purposely placed that add-on designed to fail. It was a deal breaker and they knew it. So why did they include it? Maybe politics as usual?
The border is broken. We need radical responses. Our cities are weighted down like never before. I have been expressing this for a long time yet when I have, I’ve been quite strongly criticized. The reason being that we take our que from those who we believe to be our leaders. We rarely think for ourselves. Forget the Maga republicans for a moment. Since Biden said we have had no problem, most of us democrats responded in kind. Now that some sense has entered and is suggesting that he needs to act, more of us democrats go along for the ride. But is it too little to late?
I beg you all to think for yourselves and don’t accept what is spoken as face value. Sometimes we also act according to public opinion in order to not lose at the polls. This border issue is so decisive even Trump knows he can win votes so I say, why feed the monster. Close the God damn border. Make the problem go away. But no we can’t because we too, are a dense lot.
I disagree. Don't close the border. Fix it. Pass the Senate bill that would help process the wave of humanity that is fleeing hunger and violence. They are coming anyway. They are coming anyway...for years to come.
And here is the thing Bill. We need workers. We are millions short of an adequate work force in all manner of employment. From construction to hospitals.
This is a bullshit manufactured "Willy Horton" style campaign football.
Immigrants commit less crime than native born Americans. And we need them.
BTW, the bill that Trump killed had a major provision for preventing the flow of fentanyl into the country. GOP MAGA HATERS voted against a law and order measure. Go figure.
The problem IS NOT immigration. That has been the bedrock of American success and greatness. The problem is how we embrace, and integrate eager young workers into our society. People who work hard and pay taxes - and help support Social Security.
The border can't be closed. We can't "make this issue go away. It is physically impossible unless we start shooting families from helicopters. People who pick our food. We CAN handle it better - to our advantage.
We created a "war on drugs" and it did nothing but make money for thugs. Prohibition worked just as well - made millionaires out of crooks. Our immigration policy does the same for human traffickers. The flow of humans eager to work should be welcomed.
The wave of humanity on its way to America and Europe is about as stoppable as the inevitable rising sea levels that are swamping coastal communities. Instead of "tilting at windmills" we could learn to adapt.
Thank you, Bill Alstrom. You've stated so well a position about immigration I wish all could consider and embrace. To me, it's the only thing that makes sense: a compassionate resolution based on evidence and reason.
Ditto. Great post, Bill. I would add that there is a higher rate of entrepreneurship among immigrants than among native-born Americans... and some of these businesses they start are hugely successful.
Bill, really appreciate your thoughtful & accurate (IMHO) portrayal of immigration. I remember, back in the 80’s, being at a conference of student financial aid administrations (we’re more fun than it sounds!) where a speaker spoke of the changing demographics in CA (and the nation) in the decades to come and how it might impact higher ed. Perhaps it was growing up in a fairly diverse little town, that his statement created zero alarm in me….only thought about what interesting changes might come as our country evolves, while staying true to our vision.
On the topic of immigration world-wide….it is NOT just a “southern US border” situation (look at the issues in Europe currently) as so many go on and on about….there are profound implications in the decades to come if, indeed, as climate scientists predict, the collapse of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation that will substantially alter the climate of much of Europe—meaning food production is at risk (there are issues of the Pacific current systems as well). Likely, given the current world population, we may have a huge displacement of people south…a reverse, of sorts, of the current movement north. This will not happen in our lifetimes, but of those of coming generations: https://slate.com/technology/2024/02/amoc-ocean-current-collapsing-day-after-tomorrow-climate-change.html. The Earth is a dynamic place and the more that humans fiddle/impact the “controls”, the more we see the consequences.
Thanks for the kind words. I will be elaborating on the immigration issue in my next substack letter. I hope to have it "cleaned up" and fully edited by tomorrow or Friday.
The recent killing of a student by an immigrant has sent the discussion into orbit - beyond reasonable discussion - but I will try.
My wife recently clued me into the alarm bells being rung by oceanic scientists. The "AMOC" situation is almost as alarming as an asteroid hitting the Earth.
A wise species would get ready to be very flexible. Your point about people moving south is a good one. AMOC collapse could turn the whole immigration discussion on its head.
When the "Northern Isles" become more like Alaska, Spain and Portugal could see quite an influx of shivering Brits. And imagine the incredible irony of thousands of whites headed south to Africa. Montanans moving to Mexico! They make movies like this.
Yeah, have seen the movie “Day After Tomorrow” a couple of times…..a speeded up version of what is happening in slo-mo to most folks, and gives an “excuse” for them to ignore that our house (Earth) is on fire. I do what I can/am able to, even if it is a drop in the bucket.
Bill, I fear the Repubs ARE doing their job as they have seen it since Newt Gingrich was Speaker; the job of defeating anything which makes Dems look good up to and including shutting down the government and apparently even that isn't off-limits. For Repubs, the main job is not governing but winning the next election. So no amouint of "fixing what they say is broke (e,g,- the border) is going to make them relent and actually get around to doing what we all THINK or wish they were elected to do, run a government. Party above country every time for the Repubs.
Wait a minute. I live close to the southern border and hordes are not crossing the border illegally and entering the US every day. I see what I see. They are requesting asylum at points of entry. The process does need to be fixed and Biden is not the only president who has been tasked with that job when it should be CONGRESS (for decades).
It’s a complicated mess to be sure. And while I in fact don’t advocate “closing” the border, I do advocate for a robust response and those crossing illegally should be turned back. And the other component here is that I want democrats to win elections and this mess is sure to foster a defeat. Now do you get it?
Close the border? With US' largest trading partner? While political Rome burns, beneath it all immigrants of all legal stripe continue to work the fields of agribusiness galore, and the US needs them!
Time for critisizing Johnson is waste. Demos should approach a group of several Repulicans to impeach Johnson. Dems will join, and elect a replacement from the group to pass the Senate bill which include the border policy. Johnson and MAGA can cry foul, but so what.
'What Does the Uncommitted Vote in Michigan Mean for 2024?'
'The share of Arab American and Muslim voters is small but could be decisive in a close race.' (NYTimes, by Nate Cohn, excerpts)
'In Tuesday night’s results in Michigan, around one in eight Democrats voted “uncommitted” in the Democratic primary — a protest of the Biden administration’s policies toward Israel and the war in Gaza.'
'In some predominantly Arab American precincts in Dearborn, around three in four Democrats cast a protest vote for uncommitted.'
'Having one in eight Democrats vote uncommitted in an uncontested primary is not wholly unusual. As recently as the last time a Democratic president sought re-election, in 2012, 11 percent of Michigan Democratic caucusgoers voted for “uncommitted” instead of for Barack Obama.'
'Having three in four Democratic primary voters in Arab American communities do it, on the other hand, is an eye-popping figure. It goes well beyond the norm, and it’s a powerful indication that the war in Gaza poses serious political risks to President Biden.'
Cohn didn't mention how Biden's policy with reference to Israel affected his votes in college towns around the country. College students as indicated in Michigan's Democratic primary
ballots were among the undecided.
'For Annabel Bean, a sophomore pursuing a double major in Spanish and social theory at University of Michigan, voting “uncommitted” is a way to pressure Biden directly. Describing herself as an anti-Zionist Jew, she said she knows that it is not antisemitic to support Palestinian liberation.'
“It is a very Jewish value to stand up for the oppressed,” 'she said.'
'Bean is also co-chair of the University of Michigan chapters of Jewish Voice for Peace and Young Democratic Socialists, and she is active in the call for the University of Michigan to divest funds that are invested in companies and funds that support and profit from Israel’s war.'
“I’m voting ‘uncommitted’ because I know my vote, my tuition money cannot go towards genocide,” 'she said.'
'Bean has been having lots of positive and productive conversations with friends and family. She found that a lot of people were worried that voting “uncommitted” would be the same as a vote for Trump.'
“But it is not, it’s a vote to not be complicit,” 'she said.' (PBSNews)
Back to Nat Cohen, analyzing Michigan's primary vote for the NY Times.
'What does it mean for the general election? That’s not an easy question to answer, but here are four things to consider.'
'1. A protest vote is hard to interpret'
'A vote for “uncommitted” was a serious form of protest against Mr. Biden, but it’s just not the same as voting for Donald J. Trump in the general election. That simple fact limits how much we can read into the results for November, especially as there was no exit poll to offer insight into the attitudes of protest voters.'
'At the same time, it’s also possible that Mr. Biden’s problems go well beyond those who voted uncommitted in a primary. The typical Democratic primary voter is disproportionately old, white and loyal to Democrats. Mr. Biden might be faring even worse among the kinds of Democratic-leaning voters who stayed home.'
'2. Protest votes have a history'
'Even though it may be hard to interpret a protest vote in a primary, the risk of defection from this group of voters should be taken seriously. This issue is very personal for them. There are also signs of defection in the polling, including in the last Times/Siena poll in Michigan. And their arguments for defection — complicity in genocide — are plainly enough to switch a vote if taken at face value.'
'There’s another reason it should be taken seriously: history. Major foreign policy conflicts have often reshaped the electoral map, especially among immigrant communities whose identity have remained tied to their home countries.'
'The War on Terror. Arab and Muslim Americans swung toward Democrats in the wake of 9/11, the war on terror and the Bush administration’s decision to invade Iraq. That was even true in Michigan, where Dearborn voted for George W. Bush in 2000 before voting for John Kerry by a 19-point margin in 2004. Sound familiar?'
'The relatively recent history of Arab American and Muslim voters being more favorable toward Republican candidates makes it even easier to envision a shift back to Republicans today. This isn’t a liberal voting group.'
'3. The effect is small'
'With that history, one could imagine Arab American and Muslim voters lurching decidedly toward Mr. Trump. That would obviously be bad news for Mr. Biden, but there’s one consolation for Democrats: These voters are a small share of the electorate, and it’s hard to see even a huge swing being decisive.'
'Imagine, for a moment, that in the last election Mr. Biden had lost every single voter in Dearborn, Hamtramck and Dearborn Heights — the three Michigan townships where Arab Americans make up at least 30 percent of the population. He still would have won Michigan — and still would have won it by more than he did Wisconsin, Arizona or Georgia.'
'For that same reason, Mr. Biden’s deficit in the polling of Michigan can’t mostly be attributed to his weakness among Arab American and Muslim voters. Overall, Arab Americans make up 2 percent of the state’s population and probably an even smaller share of the electorate. There are non-Arab Muslim voters, of course, adding another percentage point or more. In the end, 3 percent of the electorate can only do so much.'
'4. Still, anything could be decisive'
'Because the country is so narrowly divided, every vote counts, and right now Mr. Biden appears to need every vote he can get. If Arab American and Muslim voters swing by 30 points toward Mr. Trump, as suggested by our Times/Siena poll in Michigan, that could cost Mr. Biden a percentage point in a critical battleground state where he’s already trailing in the polls. If the race were close enough, it’s possible these voters could decide the 2024 election.' (NYTimes)
See link below, sorry that it could not be gifted.
"For his part, Johnson said that “the House is actively pursuing and investigating all the various options” on the supplemental bill, “but again, the first priority of the country is our border and making sure it’s secure."
BULLSHIT. He wouldn't have sent them on a two week vacation if that was true.
VOTE. THEM. OUT.
Voting comes far too late to deal with a coup by insiders on behalf of a simple citizen who is in turn the willing tool of America's principal enemy at the present time: Vladimir Putin.
This is an act of war "by other means".
And the perpetrators ie Johnson and DJT should be put in jail with the rest from January 6 but with a life sentence.
Then can we please arrest the insiders for treason?
Treason convicted persons should be shot at sunrise.
I'm philosophically opposed to the death sentence, but even if I weren't I think life sentences are better for this bunch - like the punishment Westley plans for Humperdinck in The Princess Bride:
"...the first thing you will lose will be your feet below the ankles. Then your hands at the wrists. Next your nose. The next thing you will lose will be your left eye followed by your right.,,Your ears you keep and I'll tell you why.
So that every shriek of every child at seeing your hideousness will be yours to cherish. Every babe that weeps at your approach, every woman who cries out, 'Dear God! What is that thing,' will echo in your perfect ears."
Exquisite.
Death is like one and done. No time for remorse. Westley gives them time to think what they have done. Personally I think the perfect punishment is bankrupting him-take all his property and bury him in a closed casket so no one can see his face and definitely not in Arlington Cemetery
Yes, death is fast and final That's why I want him to suffer rather than die. Yes bankrupt and confiscate all his holdings, but make him live on in humiliated abject poverty for a long time, mentally declining all the way down yet aware of his reduced circumstances. Maybe wear a "Loser" sign around his neck? I'm usually more compassionate, but I seriously want this hideous worm squirming on the hook he's been let off all his life.
Do you believe in capital punishment otherwise?
Honestly, if zygotes are people, which designation confers the right to life, why aren’t prisoners also entitled to the same right? Note: I am pro choice and anti death penalty. I just think the cognitive dissonance of the right is something to behold.
KR, it makes my head hurt. I am reading a book by a biochemist about the beginning of life on earth and the activity of cells. If we follow the logic, then every cell in everything short of bacteria and another kind of cell, are sexual. Fungi and plants among others have rights. Speaker Johnson is no Christian either, becauseJesus would not act for a festering cancerous monster like death star.
Jon, I favor Life without Parole in the General Prison Population
What's happen to the Secret Service? Is it revoked since it is "secure" place?
Yes.
Now deal with Trump as the existential threat that he is to this nation.
Yikes.
I am just angry to the point of implosion. Need this group to bring some calm.
Regrettably not, because treason only exists during a state of war and, although the failed insurrectionist and his followers are clearly giving aid and comfort to our enemies, we are not in a legally declared state of war; that would take an act of Congress and we all know how likely that is to happen.
The Rosenbergs were convicted of espionage. That certainly applies to everyone who knowingly broadcasts Russian intelligence agents' propaganda: Jordan, Comer, Giuliani, Don Jr & Eric, and MTG (for leaking classified docs on social media).
Others like Hawley, Lee, and Gaetz will have to be charged with insurrection for aiding and abetting Jan 6, Johnson & the rest of tIe R's who support the big lie for obstruction of congressional procedures.
I leave LardoMalo off my list because, as Barbara Keating says, he's already indicted under the espionage act - that's the Chutkin trial in Fed DC court.
Yes, we must maintain a clear idea of what’s important: Don’t spend any time seeking revenge or getting satisfaction by imagining payback. The situation here is more serious than that. It requires sober ideas of how to overcome the strategy of the House leadership.
You're quite right; it will be astounding if any of them are actually brought to justice for what they've done.
Especially now that the Supreme Court is getting involved.
No, not treason based on the current legal definition (but if it walks like a duck….), but rather he is being charged under the Espionage Act (both sound cloak & dagger!), tho not specifically as a “spy”: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-65910903
It definitely looks and sounds ducklike, but definitions matter, especially in the legal world. Thanks for the follow-up information.
America's principle foreign enemy may be Vladimir Putin, but it was KKK Grand Wizard and GOP gadfly David Duke who sold the GOP base on Putin as the Great White Hope of Christian Nationalism and Charles Koch bagman Leonard Leo who helped Koch capture the courts to cement corporate power and overturn civil rights. Koch et al are not the least bothered by authoritarianism, particularly when it's their brand of clerical fascism. Koch may not like Trump, but that hasn't stopped him from profiting from Trump's political success.
Please keep in mind, a springboard for the Koch family fortune was work for Stalin's USSR and Hitler's Nazi Germany.
In turn, their fortune was a springboard for almost every antidemocratic initiative in the USA - from the John Birch Society to the Federalist Society. Charles Koch personifies Supreme Court Justice Lewis Powell's use of the judiciary to cement corporate power. And the Roberts Court bigotry. The Koch family investment in GOP politics, as with Trump family, runs on racism with greed as the engine.
Koch continues to do business in Putin's Russia.
https://progressive.org/latest/koch-brothers-extremist-roots-run-deep/
https://www.salon.com/2014/10/01/8_disturbing_ways_the_kochs_have_amassed_their_fortune_partner/
https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/inside-the-koch-brothers-toxic-empire-164403/
https://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/12/us/politics/father-of-koch-brothers-helped-build-nazi-oil-refinery-book-says.html
https://www.latimes.com/politics/la-na-pol-koch-trump-201708-story.html
Yes. Koch just announced he was withdrawing support for Haley.
Koch = Heritage Foundation = Project 2025. Koch and Leo are two of the most dangerous people on the planet.
Bill, I’ve added Stop the Coup group to my home screen & follow their efforts—and suggestions as to what we “little people”, you know, the rabble and riff-raff, can do to stand against it: https://www.stopthecoup2025.org/. At least it gives us options other than *shaking fists at the sky* in fury and frustration!
But why was Koch ever supporting Haley, in opposition to Putin’s nominee?
Good question. Maybe Trumps sheer incompetence finally got to him. Maybe the hurl factor finally kicked in. And maybe Koch thought Haley actually has a better chance of beating Biden. And I think that is the scary truth. Haley has the false aura of "normalcy". Wolf in sheep's clothing, if you will?
But Charles doesn't share his thoughts with me, unfortunately :)
My guess is that Charles was hedging his bets just like Haley is. They all know death star may be have been found guilty in criminal trials as well as suffering from worsening dementia. And i agree about Haley, a horrible woman who once while governor did the right thing. Once doesn't cut it.
Probably about style not substance And lack of confidence in Trump's ability to win.
"It’s also unclear exactly why the Koch network dislikes Trump so much. While in office, he successfully carried out moves long sought by the organization, including the gutting of the Environmental Protection Agency, a single-minded strategy of deregulation to strengthen the hand of private businesses, and tipping the Supreme Court conservative—with a majority that’s proven to be well inclined to favor the interests of big business and the decimation of the administrative state."
https://newrepublic.com/post/177140/koch-network-haley-trump-2024
I think Koch saw the writing on the wall with 45. He broke the ground and got the Supreme Court for them but I think we’ve seen lately that 45’s more of a liability now and is getting more and more unstable.
Maybe because she beats Biden by a bigger margin. I heard that on some podcast, don't remember which poll was cited, but I think Nate Silver's 538,
A That may be but he hasn’t withdrawn his endorsement which still means something in his rarefied atmosphere. He’s using Haley to lob epithets at 45 as long as she can remain above water. I think we’ll have to wait until the Super Tuesday dust settles to see how much further that endorsement takes her. It’s possible she might turn to No Labels should they extend a hand. They know there is a good size chunk of voters who want nothing to do with either candidate.
Yikes! No Labels is a problem.
My nieces husband, who lives in Wichita, slavered over the mere thought of maybe working for Koch. My family is in Kansas . I didn't realize my Minicooper could hit 127 mph until I was heading west the hell out of there.
The Koch family is a crime family and worse. The oligarchs in America are all crime families to one degree or another----and the population makes up the serfs/slaves working on their various "plantations" in the economy. Think about what life in America would be like if the minimum wage had kept up with inflation and the tax code were pre-Regan----a vastly different world!!
"Think about what life in America would be like if the minimum wage had kept up with inflation and the tax code were pre-Regan----a vastly different world!!"
Even if GOP operatives hadn't kept the American hostages in Iran to sink Carter's chances and to elect Reagan.
Even if sufficient numbers of Americans had voted for Clinton. Even holding their nose
serfs? Is that what they called trump's undocumented workers?
Lin, you are always a font of great comments and resource links. Thank you again!
HaHa.
Gadfly here.
Two-legged gadflies have a distinguished lineage, in many cases. 👍🏻
The damage done to the country by the Kochs is immeasurable.
Even the measurable parts - damage to the environment, to the body politic - are horrible.
Thanks for this excellent documentary evidence.
How to use it?
Find ways of sharing info. Beyond Comments sections?
Lin, Thanks for the suggestion. I shared your comment with my fb friends.
I share the whole letter and comments on Facebook and I know some read them.
ThankYou!!!
Lin, Thom Hartmann had a sobering SubStack today (yesterday?) on the corporatization of our county…giving the history paving the way before, for example, the Citizen’s United decision…sigh, “same as it ever was” in the history our humans: https://hartmannreport.com/p/have-we-reached-the-point-where-corporatism-f56?publication_id=302288&utm_campaign=email-post-title&r=6wq7j&utm_medium=email
ThankYou. Your comment is timely and helpful. I have been researching the Powell Memorandum and Lewis Powell's tenure on the Supreme Court. He provided the blueprint for cementing corporate privilege through judicial activism. Recommended to be done through national organizations. In other words, Leonard Leo's network of shell companies and organizations such as the Federalist Society and the Teneo Network - funded by Charles Koch and other racist right wing extremists.
Yes, we are always struggling against our worse angels.
Lin, I too have been researching the Powell Memo & the changes wrought during the Reagan Admin & beyond…hard to turn this big ship of state around when realizing the “map” we were following since it being used as guidance led us, as it turned out, into dangerous territory. Well, dangerous to all except those who profited handsomely & they want to keep their spoils now & into the future. Hard to comprehend those who don’t understand the concept of “enough” and only want “more and more”.
"Well, dangerous to all except those who profited handsomely & they want to keep their spoils now & into the future."
Yes. But.
It's not like they have a Plan(et) B.
Will their god or their gold save them?
They are cursing themselves to the 7th generations. Or the half life of plutonium.
Excellent post. Thank you.
There will be hell to pay… ?
Yes, let’s keep our eye on the ball!!!
I'd dearly love to see Chuck fucked by his own greed a la Sacklers. Nan, if you're listening, can you dig up some flyers to float through the rotunda of the Capitol Bldg?
OK. Is there a parallel political universe where your comment makes any strategic or tactical sense? Please put 'Chuck' in context of the current Congress. Compare and contrast him to 'Mitch'.
And explain how floating flyers through the rotunda of the Capitol Bldg might contribute to addressing any of the critical problems Republican obeisance to Trump has created. From keeping government open to providing aid to Ukraine.
Can we please move past the silly self indulgent $#!t and figure out a way to get work done?
Chuck is Koch, no one in Congress. Flyers in the rotunda is a reference to Nan Goldin's protest of the Sackler family at the Guggenheim. It was effective first to get their name removed from all the museums where they had built wings, and eventually to put Purdue out of business. Just because I'm a foul mouthed wise guy, lin+, doesn't make my suggestion frivolous.
One could equate removing Sackler name from museums to removing TFG's name from ballots. The "if you're listening, Nan..." remark refers to "If you're listening, Russia..." from TFG re Hillary's emails.
Please accept my apologies. My ignorance for not getting your reference. Yes, Nan Goldin has been indefatigable and brilliant in her protest against the Sacklers. She has strategically employed her status as an artist and tactically deployed her wit to achieve her mission.
I don't know whether it would translate to politics. I'm not seeing the equivalency in removing names. And removing Trump's name from state ballots, although I think constitutional, does not solve the problem of MAGA or Koch.
Re protest inside the Capitol - after Jan 6 I would question how any act in the Capitol would play. And play out. I don't think it would benefit the cause of protesting Koch et al. More work for the Capitol Police and the cleaning staff.
I've listen to CSpan regularly, obsessively over the years. There are really very good people in Congress.
Congress is not entirely bought. Charles Koch owns the judiciary. I've protested outside the Supreme Court and outside 'my neighbor' Leonard Leo's estate. I wonder whether protests outside RNC headquarters on 310 First St SE or on Patriot Row on East Capitol St. SE.
But mostly our job is to GetOutTheVote for Blue Wave 2024.
And find as many creative ways to do that as possible. Through local Democratic committees and campaigns. With equal attention to state legislators.
Again my apologies for snapping at you. With all the authority of my ignorance.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2023/03/15/dc-maga-campus-patriots-row-meadows/
https://capitolhillcorner.org/2023/05/07/conservative-group-seeks-closure-of-capitol-hill-alley-for-patriot-row-hq/
Yes, I totally agree with you. The polls are too far off to ameliorate this situation which , to me, is a supreme dereliction of duty on Johnson's part and the fact that he is taking orders from an insurrectionist former POTUS is beyond reprehensible. The safety of the nation is being compromised here. Johnson needs to be removed from his position.
In 2018 Mike Johnson reported his earnings as -$32,500.00. In 2023 he's worth 5 million dollars. He doesn't report any bank accounts or any assets other than a mortgage. But yet he has stock in Google, Apple, Microsoft and a couple others. He says, he returned those Russian donations. Did he?🤔 Now he owns a mansion, apartments, and land. How did that happen? I'm sure in he justifies it as gifts from God.
For all we know he, and others, are being bankrolled by Putin.
Leonard Leo is the master of dark money. The Russian dollars have flooded into American Oligarchs pockets since the 1990's.
Matt Gaetz received Russian dollars through one of the aging Rockefellers. They are all greedy whores. Their corruption is palatable.
Grammar police checking in...
pal·at·a·ble
/ˈpalədəb(ə)l/
adjective
(of food or drink) pleasant to taste.
"a very palatable local red wine"
Of an action or proposal) acceptable or satisfactory.
"a device that made increased taxation more palatable"
Similar: pleasant, acceptable, satisfactory, pleasing. agreeable
pal·pa·ble
/ˈpalpəb(ə)l/
adjective
1.
(of a feeling or atmosphere) so intense as to seem almost tangible.
"a palpable sense of loss"
2.
able to be touched or felt.
"the palpable bump at the bridge of the nose"
Wouldn't surprise me one bit.
Lisa, “follow the money”, oh wait Roberts court says you can’t
How convenient
Brett Kavanagh's debts were paid in full. I'm sure he sent a thank you note to Leonard. Corruption at the highest level of the food chain. If Koch and Leo win this election...we are fucked.
“Its an intrusion on ones right to privacy to uncover the source of the bribes spent to curry his favor. Furthermore, citizens must have the expectation that the government should not seek to document their illegality in any way, shape, or form”
——Judge Alito. Source, Dave Fake News
Subsequently eclipsed by Thomas' less liquid gifts.
Pffft. Mammon not god and being a bagman for death star and others who want to destroy our democracy.
We need to change the rules that allow one congress person or senator to have such control over the majority - even if it’s the speaker!
I agree., This is not the first time that a person, or a few persons have gridlocked the entire safety of the country for political leveridge.Thinking Joe Manchin for one but there are others.
But this time the crime is of quite another order, it is part of the openly proclaimed aim to overthrow democracy and to put DT back in the White House to complete the job.
YesI agree but the people need to take action.
Victoria: The tactic Johnson is following is intended to underlined that democracy doesn't work. Chaos is the desired outcome. The only people who can remove the upstart religious bigot is his fellow Rs (in the near term) and as long as he is useful to Trump he'll likely hold his position. Whether it is likely he'll be voted out by his constituents is unlikely given that they actually voted him in in the first place.
Peter, Winston Chutchill said, "This is no time for ease and comfort. It is time to dare and endure."
We have endured eight years of Trump's shenanigans. Dare we hope that this madness by him and Mike Johnson will end? Soon?
Pam, his words would make a timely bumper sticker or sign to post, especially in this election year.
Another Winston Churchill quote that might apply: "You can always count on Americans to do the right thing - after they've tried everything else."
Let's hope that Mike Johnson is last of "everything else".
Amen!
Putin has achieved what all his predecessors could only have dreamed of, destroying democracy without firing a shot!
"... IS achieving" might be more accurate. The victim is still very much alive but is receiving traditional treatment: the punishment cell...
Peter,
Can one explain why DT is being allowed to run for office? He is, even in the eyes of a child, not fit to lead our country. Those who want to rule over this nation should not be dictated to by the Communist dictator Putin. Most of the Republican party have become Putin's toys, marionettes. No one makes a move without Trump's opinion which comes from his boss, Putin. Trump is NOT EVEN AT THIS TIME AN ELECTED OFFICIAL!!! What a bunch of ignorant, weak, pitiful puppets...WILLING TO SELL OUT THE USA!!!
As the Bible instructs NOT to do...An important segment of the government of the great USA....have chosen to become entrapped and have chosen to yield to BLIND GUIDES!!!.
DO YOU REALLY BELIEVE PUTIN DOESN'T HAVE PLANS FOR YOU IF YOU KEEP ON FOLLOWING HIM? He will use you up and put you on a plane for a vacation you will never live to talk about with anyone.
Most of the Republicans' time in office has been taken up with accusations which have been proven false while our country waits to get the work of the people done.
Thank you Peter!
Thank you Miselle!
VOTE FOR PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN AND FOR EVERY PERSON WHO IS FOR AMERICA AND FOR ALL WHO RESPECT WOMEN'S RIGHTS AND FOR FREEDOM OF RELIGION or choose not to have a religion AND FOR EACH PERSON OF COLOR, etc!!! A VOTE FOR BIDEN IS A VOTE TO BUILD BACK BETTER!!! A VOTE FOR BIDEN IS A VOTE FOR NATO!
I would also comment, we need to get out of Gaza. We are aiding the criminal Netanyahu. We need to free the hostages by different means. We are being used by Netanyahu....to keep HIM out of prison and to support his dream to take over Gaza for himself. This has always been an issue for many in Israel. That is why some have been building homes in Gaza claiming it is their land.
Really Netanyahu wants to do what we did to the American Indians. Destroy their land, their homes, their people, their language and claim it is a "God" given right...OK ....we are all really "Bad to the bone!!!"
Emily, I just had a FB friend post a flattering photo of fpotus, and said "This is the man for America" and had about a dozen people chime in with "He loves America" or "He supports police" or "He's a businessman, and we need to run our country like a business." It is completely disgusting to me.
Ally, thank you for reinforcing my decision to eschew Facebook. I think the Obi Wan quote re: Mos Isley spaceport applies: "You will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy. We must be cautious."
I like to know what they are thinking.
Emily, don't ask us to explain what can only be explained in terms of money, dark money, changing hands; for reasons unsoundable and inexplicable if we try to reach beyond following the money.
There's a market in everything now -- everything, anything and nothing at all. For the buyers, sellers and the bought-and-soldiers, there's the market in terror, the market in lies, the market in war, and there are, of course, markets in subversion and treason...
As for the stringpuller in the Kremlin, that's no Communist! Can't have been near any such party for decades...
Started in the vicious no-surrender jungle of Leningrad backyards and came out on top. Judoka. Acrobat.
KGB man, expertise in lies, manipulation, all the techniques of persuasion.
Above all else a successful crime boss driven by limitless greed for wealth, the trappings thereof and the power to maximize and protect it, a cold-hearted paranoid narcissist, a sybarite, a man totally devoid of any form of human fellow-feeling, who has done everything at every stage in his life to banish even the shadow of empathy... And this protection from feeling is also a liability, in that it reduces all relationships to transactions and bonds of fealty.
There must have been much to hate and resent, for one who will probably have wanted to enjoy his ill-gotten gains without let or hindrance. And this will have redoubled and refined his cruelty.
Anyway, the regime of Brezhnev et al may have elicited Reagan's "Evil Empire" label... But it was an earthly paradise by comparison with what this man has done to his own country, to the neighbors or wherever his armies, his mercenaries, his guns and his bombs prevail.
Sad truth
Disgraceful truth.
America sold. Naked, powerless, in chains. As in a slave market.
"America sold. Naked, powerless, in chains. As in a slave market."
Whew. Some metaphors don't work. Persons on the auction block had no agency.
America has agency and power.
Americans have agency and civil rights. Including the right to vote.
For now.
But Lin, I wish to goodness that this image was unimaginable.
Unfortunately, it does correspond to the state of America's government and its activity at the present time and to the sabotage of extremely urgent and important action.
Unless an end is brought to this act of war against the United States, potential damage to the country and the world between now and the election is incalculable.
And of course most forms of conceivable action will feed the lie that the President is abusing his power to persecute a "legitimate" political opponent.
That man, the self-styled "President" and his operatives could hardly be less legitimate.
The moles in Congress are acting on the orders of a private citizen backed by openly subversive big-money interests. A private citizen who is the Russian dictator's means of transmission for the overthrow of America from within.
"The moles in Congress are acting on the orders of a private citizen backed by openly subversive big-money interests. A private citizen who is the Russian dictator's means of transmission for the overthrow of America from within."
Thank you Sums up the horrifying situation perfectly. That Trump, who has no official role in the government, can control it to the degree he does should be terrifying to all.
Thanks for pointing that out. Let’s all take a moment, folks, and breathe deeply.
According to Professor Jack Rasmus, Ukraine is already losing the war:
“The tide has turned here very clearly. And that's why there is desperation going on in the EU and in Washington, DC, and now talk in France and others about, 'oh, we're going to have to send NATO troops into western Ukraine,’” he continued."
https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/ukraine-war-and-the-ghost-of-clausewitz/
I take note of that big Z -- as in znetwork etc.
Z is Putin-Russia's dime-store swastika.
A scarlet letter for some foreheads.
*
I opened John S's Z-site for a second but recommend readers:
DON'T OPEN THIS. NOT, AT LEAST UNLESS OR UNTIL THE SITE HAS BEEN THOROUGHLY CHECKED FOR BUGS.
PLEASE REFER TO SUBSTACK'S WEBMASTER FOR SAFETY CHECKS.
If John wants to provide arguments from his Zsource, he's welcome.
As for warmongering, I'm reminded of Margaret Thatcher's rebuke to Foreign Secretary Hurd during the Yugoslav wars:
"Douglas, Douglas, you would make Neville Chamberlain look like a warmonger."
Exactly. Shmuckle is a troll and should be ignored. Fair warning to all.
Why do only a of couple of subscribers report him, which takes up a great deal of their time? Why don't the complainers do the same - report him? Look at the awful space filled with garbage he and those who have exchanges with him take up on this forum. He works as a shiny distraction pulling us away from the crucial issues at hand. Schmeeckle is the winner. Take a look!
I have reported him several times to no avail,
I have requested on multiple occasions that the Substack police provide a "block user" button like they do on The Washington Post and other sites.
But they refuse.
I don't know how to report anything like trolling or the importation of suspect websites.
As far as the first is concerned, we should avoid both censorship and getting sidelined into arguments with fools.
FERN
I have reported him over 100 times (and I know many others have) I have gone into this name and muted him and/or blocked him several times. I have contacted the Substack help and questioned why, even though I have blocked him, I keep getting his junk. THEY NEVER ANSWER.
There are days that his nonsense so dominates that I stop reading all the comments--it's just too difficult to get around him.
If anyone has a way of contacting HCR, I truly wish they would do so!!
I truly believe that HCR's growing volume of followers and the attention she has garnered in the media, along with her recent best selling book, is making her an important target for misinformation.
I have reported him two or three times. hasn't seemed to make a bit of difference, alas.
I've reported him at least 50 times. I do it because he insults and disrupts. I guess I just have to ignore, but why should I be the one who has to abstain?
Substack will not ban anyone unless it violates such as threatening. First Amendment is sacrosanct. And likely the blog owner agrees. Ignore him. It’s that simple. He loves the attention it affords him.
He is here to diminish this forum and winning. I don't believe that the case has been made to HRC. Proper monitoring of this site is an appropriate subject to take with her.
I place my cursor on the line running down from his name, click and the entire thread collapses. I do miss the rebuttal comments, but it is worth it to me not to have to read Schmeckel's (misspelling intentional) dreck
Duly noted.
Better to ignore.
They get off on any response.
Why do deluded war-mongers want to continue pouring money down a sinking rat-hole?
Is Peter Burnett yet another supporter of Ukraine’s far-right one-party thug regime?
Ukraine may have its flat spots, but supporting Putin, by starving Ukraine, is no way to help ourselves or our European allies.
"Starving" Ukraine? They have plenty of food.
Ukraine has been enslaved as a proxy by the war-mongering Bidenistas to bleed Russia.
Is that you Alexander Smirnov?
Please ignore the troll.
Content-free trolling is the hallmark of brain-dead Bidenista war-mongers.
IF this is true, it is only because Putin is willing to sacrifice thousands of his own soldiers to murder innocents
Please ignore the troll.
"Murder innocents":
Absurd war-mongering Bidenista propaganda.
It also gives "aid and comfort" to our enemy. Also known as TRE45SON.
Peter it is Scary
You’ve said a mouthful with your statement. That’s exactly what this is. Right now it’s “bloodless” until one considers the unnecessary loss of life by others who will be affected by this feckless, reckless and frankly underhanded MAGA Speaker.
As we
If you look at a map of the US we have borders with Canada and Mexico. The border with Canada is 5525 miles and the Mexican border is 1950 miles. It is estimated that 2-3 times as many people without documentation come into the US from Canada as from Mexico.
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/immigration/more-migrants-crossing-northern-border-canada-us-freezing-rcna69588
What a bunch of racists the Republicans are, caring only about people crossing the Mexican border. In the summer, migrant workers harvest crops in ME and work in the trades just like in FL, TX & CA. Without this labor, crops would rot in the fields, homes wouldn't be built and the vendors that service the 4 million visitors to Acadia National Park would close down.
Maybe the Republican House members should take another vacation through the end of the year -- with their good buddy Putin. It's not like they are going to get anything done because TFFG has already stopped anything from happening in the House.
I've been saying this for years. The so-called border issue is only about our southern border, and only about "the other" = blatant racism.
Just emailed my House Representative about getting this person, Johnson, out of the position of Speaker…
It reminds me of the show, "Pokerface" where every time someone lied to the main character she would say "BULLSHIT". I think that is what all of us should be yelling every time these guys open their mouths!
I love that show….cant wait for another season!
Us too! It was great fun!
“...all of us...” = The Media! Wouldn’t that be something?
And they wouldn't have voted no on the bill that they themselves crafted. They create their own Catch-22 situation and then leap into it when numbnuts tells them to (that would be Putin telling tRUMP to tell Johnson what to do)
If a few more Republican Congresscritters resign or switch parties then Jeffries could be the 'can do' Speaker and get things done. But they are ALL Putin's puppets because they don't want to get "primaried".
If only a GOP-Dem temporary coalition could be put together in the House....
Even just go independent should help, no?
Not fast enough to help NOW
This is our "Winter of Discontent," exposing the weakness in our democratic process. Trump, Jordan, Johnson, MTG et al. do not support the Constitution. Yet, there appears to be no quick, rational, legal way in which to move them out. Their "theory of government" is as confused disorganized and discombobulated as the mind of a schizophrenic. There is no organization or structure to it. The rest of us are paying the price for our schools' failure to teach students how to think critically along with courses/classes in history and government.
Sometimes I don't think that would have helped at all. Disinformation tends to grab those through their biases, and emotions hold sway.
Agreed Richard. They are running around each others in circles and getting nothing done. Frustrating to watch and feeling helpless that we can change anything.
The problem may be more bottom up than a teacher down. History is a perennial non-favourite among a majority of students, whether in US or in Canada where I live. New Brunswick, in eastern Canada, also perennially underperforms most of the rest of the country. It was like that when i was a kid, in the 50s. They keep churning out improvement schemes, only to eventually ditch them when another administration thinks they have a new wow idea, or to pawn off a litany of complaints. On a slightly different tack, lately, trans rights in schools have been a burning issue here, with the government taking a more pro parent approach, contrary to the advice of school and psych admins.
That there is a "trans issue" is very, very sad. I am one of 8 children and my oldest sib, a half-sister whose mother passed away 4 months after her birth, and I became very, very close after I finished serving four years in the U.S. Army and finished my B.A. at Whittier and M.A. at So. Cal. Tuck, as everyone knew her, owned a gay bar in Los Angeles and was respected by all. We grew to be very, very close. I often think of Carl Sagan's remark: "The most complicated thing in the known universe is the human brain." And then I think of some lines in "the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam"
Listen again. One evening at the Close
of Ramazan, ere the better Moon arose,
In that old Potter's shop I stood alone
With the clay Population round in Rows.
And, strange to tell, among that Earthen Lot
Some could articulate, while others not:
And suddenly one more impatient cried - -
"Who is the Potter, pray, and who the Pot?
Shall He that made the Vessel in pure Love
And Fancy, in an after Rage destroy!"
None answer'd this; but after Silence spake
A Vessel of a more ungainly Make:
"They sneer at me for leaning all awry;
What! did the Hand then of the Potter shake?"
Did the hand of the Potter shake? I feel so badly for our fellow humans who are gay, transgender and more, not because of who or what they are, but because of the pain and difficulty that we cause them as a consequence of our own ignorance and intolerance.
Thank you for the personal story, after all, all of these issues are based on personal experience and social interaction. Sadly, both Old and New Testaments didn't help. Paul in particular. Over stereotyping of gender norms is planet wide, to a fair degree as well. The potter metaphor is interesting, it also happens to be usually, a little differently, in Isaiah i believe.
The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam is one of the most brilliant translations in any language. Edward Fitzgerald did an amazing job. And, I've always been intrigued by what went on in that "Potter's shop." As to Paul, if he did exist, I did some research about what could have happened on the road to Damascus. Syrian rue, a common halcuinatory drug back then has similar effects of LSD - bright, blinding flashing white lights. Paul tripped twice on his road to Damascus. At least one study has shown that those who underwent such an experience reported that it was the most profound experiences of their lives. As for Paul, there is no question but that it was a life-altering experience, a "trip" that changed the course of history.
I don't think we need to resort to drug experiences for Paul to have had visionary experiences, which he witnessed to in his letters. Scholarship generally has little doubt on his historical existence, mythicists and their one-track mindedness, notwithstanding. Paul's comments on homosexuality were likely par for the course in the Jewish culture he was raised, and hugely espoused. Conversion "born again" experiences, are an all too common experience in religious circles, esp in those which promote this kind of thing. eg Evangelicals. There is enough material in the NT to provide support for conversion experience.
I dont think ive read Rubaiyat, maybe i will sometime. Wiki says its authorial authenticity is a bit up for grabs, though that may not be an essential issue regarding its contents. At first i mistook this for The Prophet by Kalyle Gibran, which i enjoyed many years ago.
The problem is GOP state legislators are committed to Trump and are prepared to fix the elections for Trump.
They are drunk with the power to subvert the constitution and the will of the people and think we can be bullied and coerced with threats of violence.
They can't win with reason, foresight good judgement so are scared and fearful of those that have these qualities.
- We want young adults to fall in love and make babies who they love and care for, but not at the risk of their lives and Liberty.
- We need skilled and talented immigrants to build resilient secure supply chains, but not at the risk of global economic collapse and world wars.
- The New Deal did not have to end with Vietnam and Voting Rights. Neoliberalism does not mean Greed is Good. We need to reduce consumption and make room for human advancement.
Interesting thoughts! You've got most of my vote.
X 2,000. Get rid of these people. They are not there to do a job. In any other situation if an employee does not perform his job, and not only that but interferes with others attempting to work, they’d be FIRED. Let’s make that happen. 🤬😡
I can only give you one like, I would like to give you many more.
When the senate devised a bill with border protection, they included an inferior stipulation about more than 5,000 a day crossing over for a given week then the president could act. When I first read that, I knew it wouldn’t pass. It’s almost as if the senate purposely placed that add-on designed to fail. It was a deal breaker and they knew it. So why did they include it? Maybe politics as usual?
The border is broken. We need radical responses. Our cities are weighted down like never before. I have been expressing this for a long time yet when I have, I’ve been quite strongly criticized. The reason being that we take our que from those who we believe to be our leaders. We rarely think for ourselves. Forget the Maga republicans for a moment. Since Biden said we have had no problem, most of us democrats responded in kind. Now that some sense has entered and is suggesting that he needs to act, more of us democrats go along for the ride. But is it too little to late?
I beg you all to think for yourselves and don’t accept what is spoken as face value. Sometimes we also act according to public opinion in order to not lose at the polls. This border issue is so decisive even Trump knows he can win votes so I say, why feed the monster. Close the God damn border. Make the problem go away. But no we can’t because we too, are a dense lot.
I disagree. Don't close the border. Fix it. Pass the Senate bill that would help process the wave of humanity that is fleeing hunger and violence. They are coming anyway. They are coming anyway...for years to come.
And here is the thing Bill. We need workers. We are millions short of an adequate work force in all manner of employment. From construction to hospitals.
This is a bullshit manufactured "Willy Horton" style campaign football.
Immigrants commit less crime than native born Americans. And we need them.
BTW, the bill that Trump killed had a major provision for preventing the flow of fentanyl into the country. GOP MAGA HATERS voted against a law and order measure. Go figure.
The problem IS NOT immigration. That has been the bedrock of American success and greatness. The problem is how we embrace, and integrate eager young workers into our society. People who work hard and pay taxes - and help support Social Security.
The border can't be closed. We can't "make this issue go away. It is physically impossible unless we start shooting families from helicopters. People who pick our food. We CAN handle it better - to our advantage.
We created a "war on drugs" and it did nothing but make money for thugs. Prohibition worked just as well - made millionaires out of crooks. Our immigration policy does the same for human traffickers. The flow of humans eager to work should be welcomed.
The wave of humanity on its way to America and Europe is about as stoppable as the inevitable rising sea levels that are swamping coastal communities. Instead of "tilting at windmills" we could learn to adapt.
Good one, Bill.
Thank you, Bill Alstrom. You've stated so well a position about immigration I wish all could consider and embrace. To me, it's the only thing that makes sense: a compassionate resolution based on evidence and reason.
Ditto. Great post, Bill. I would add that there is a higher rate of entrepreneurship among immigrants than among native-born Americans... and some of these businesses they start are hugely successful.
Bill, really appreciate your thoughtful & accurate (IMHO) portrayal of immigration. I remember, back in the 80’s, being at a conference of student financial aid administrations (we’re more fun than it sounds!) where a speaker spoke of the changing demographics in CA (and the nation) in the decades to come and how it might impact higher ed. Perhaps it was growing up in a fairly diverse little town, that his statement created zero alarm in me….only thought about what interesting changes might come as our country evolves, while staying true to our vision.
On the topic of immigration world-wide….it is NOT just a “southern US border” situation (look at the issues in Europe currently) as so many go on and on about….there are profound implications in the decades to come if, indeed, as climate scientists predict, the collapse of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation that will substantially alter the climate of much of Europe—meaning food production is at risk (there are issues of the Pacific current systems as well). Likely, given the current world population, we may have a huge displacement of people south…a reverse, of sorts, of the current movement north. This will not happen in our lifetimes, but of those of coming generations: https://slate.com/technology/2024/02/amoc-ocean-current-collapsing-day-after-tomorrow-climate-change.html. The Earth is a dynamic place and the more that humans fiddle/impact the “controls”, the more we see the consequences.
Thanks for the kind words. I will be elaborating on the immigration issue in my next substack letter. I hope to have it "cleaned up" and fully edited by tomorrow or Friday.
The recent killing of a student by an immigrant has sent the discussion into orbit - beyond reasonable discussion - but I will try.
My wife recently clued me into the alarm bells being rung by oceanic scientists. The "AMOC" situation is almost as alarming as an asteroid hitting the Earth.
A wise species would get ready to be very flexible. Your point about people moving south is a good one. AMOC collapse could turn the whole immigration discussion on its head.
When the "Northern Isles" become more like Alaska, Spain and Portugal could see quite an influx of shivering Brits. And imagine the incredible irony of thousands of whites headed south to Africa. Montanans moving to Mexico! They make movies like this.
Yeah, have seen the movie “Day After Tomorrow” a couple of times…..a speeded up version of what is happening in slo-mo to most folks, and gives an “excuse” for them to ignore that our house (Earth) is on fire. I do what I can/am able to, even if it is a drop in the bucket.
Bill, I fear the Repubs ARE doing their job as they have seen it since Newt Gingrich was Speaker; the job of defeating anything which makes Dems look good up to and including shutting down the government and apparently even that isn't off-limits. For Repubs, the main job is not governing but winning the next election. So no amouint of "fixing what they say is broke (e,g,- the border) is going to make them relent and actually get around to doing what we all THINK or wish they were elected to do, run a government. Party above country every time for the Repubs.
“No amount of fixing” is right, we’re all in trouble.
How about REBPULICONS
Wait a minute. I live close to the southern border and hordes are not crossing the border illegally and entering the US every day. I see what I see. They are requesting asylum at points of entry. The process does need to be fixed and Biden is not the only president who has been tasked with that job when it should be CONGRESS (for decades).
It’s a complicated mess to be sure. And while I in fact don’t advocate “closing” the border, I do advocate for a robust response and those crossing illegally should be turned back. And the other component here is that I want democrats to win elections and this mess is sure to foster a defeat. Now do you get it?
Nope.
Close the border? With US' largest trading partner? While political Rome burns, beneath it all immigrants of all legal stripe continue to work the fields of agribusiness galore, and the US needs them!
Time for critisizing Johnson is waste. Demos should approach a group of several Repulicans to impeach Johnson. Dems will join, and elect a replacement from the group to pass the Senate bill which include the border policy. Johnson and MAGA can cry foul, but so what.
Their first priority is Trump's reelection.
'What Does the Uncommitted Vote in Michigan Mean for 2024?'
'The share of Arab American and Muslim voters is small but could be decisive in a close race.' (NYTimes, by Nate Cohn, excerpts)
'In Tuesday night’s results in Michigan, around one in eight Democrats voted “uncommitted” in the Democratic primary — a protest of the Biden administration’s policies toward Israel and the war in Gaza.'
'In some predominantly Arab American precincts in Dearborn, around three in four Democrats cast a protest vote for uncommitted.'
'Having one in eight Democrats vote uncommitted in an uncontested primary is not wholly unusual. As recently as the last time a Democratic president sought re-election, in 2012, 11 percent of Michigan Democratic caucusgoers voted for “uncommitted” instead of for Barack Obama.'
'Having three in four Democratic primary voters in Arab American communities do it, on the other hand, is an eye-popping figure. It goes well beyond the norm, and it’s a powerful indication that the war in Gaza poses serious political risks to President Biden.'
Cohn didn't mention how Biden's policy with reference to Israel affected his votes in college towns around the country. College students as indicated in Michigan's Democratic primary
ballots were among the undecided.
'For Annabel Bean, a sophomore pursuing a double major in Spanish and social theory at University of Michigan, voting “uncommitted” is a way to pressure Biden directly. Describing herself as an anti-Zionist Jew, she said she knows that it is not antisemitic to support Palestinian liberation.'
“It is a very Jewish value to stand up for the oppressed,” 'she said.'
'Bean is also co-chair of the University of Michigan chapters of Jewish Voice for Peace and Young Democratic Socialists, and she is active in the call for the University of Michigan to divest funds that are invested in companies and funds that support and profit from Israel’s war.'
“I’m voting ‘uncommitted’ because I know my vote, my tuition money cannot go towards genocide,” 'she said.'
'Bean has been having lots of positive and productive conversations with friends and family. She found that a lot of people were worried that voting “uncommitted” would be the same as a vote for Trump.'
“But it is not, it’s a vote to not be complicit,” 'she said.' (PBSNews)
Back to Nat Cohen, analyzing Michigan's primary vote for the NY Times.
'What does it mean for the general election? That’s not an easy question to answer, but here are four things to consider.'
'1. A protest vote is hard to interpret'
'A vote for “uncommitted” was a serious form of protest against Mr. Biden, but it’s just not the same as voting for Donald J. Trump in the general election. That simple fact limits how much we can read into the results for November, especially as there was no exit poll to offer insight into the attitudes of protest voters.'
'At the same time, it’s also possible that Mr. Biden’s problems go well beyond those who voted uncommitted in a primary. The typical Democratic primary voter is disproportionately old, white and loyal to Democrats. Mr. Biden might be faring even worse among the kinds of Democratic-leaning voters who stayed home.'
'2. Protest votes have a history'
'Even though it may be hard to interpret a protest vote in a primary, the risk of defection from this group of voters should be taken seriously. This issue is very personal for them. There are also signs of defection in the polling, including in the last Times/Siena poll in Michigan. And their arguments for defection — complicity in genocide — are plainly enough to switch a vote if taken at face value.'
'There’s another reason it should be taken seriously: history. Major foreign policy conflicts have often reshaped the electoral map, especially among immigrant communities whose identity have remained tied to their home countries.'
'The War on Terror. Arab and Muslim Americans swung toward Democrats in the wake of 9/11, the war on terror and the Bush administration’s decision to invade Iraq. That was even true in Michigan, where Dearborn voted for George W. Bush in 2000 before voting for John Kerry by a 19-point margin in 2004. Sound familiar?'
'The relatively recent history of Arab American and Muslim voters being more favorable toward Republican candidates makes it even easier to envision a shift back to Republicans today. This isn’t a liberal voting group.'
'3. The effect is small'
'With that history, one could imagine Arab American and Muslim voters lurching decidedly toward Mr. Trump. That would obviously be bad news for Mr. Biden, but there’s one consolation for Democrats: These voters are a small share of the electorate, and it’s hard to see even a huge swing being decisive.'
'Imagine, for a moment, that in the last election Mr. Biden had lost every single voter in Dearborn, Hamtramck and Dearborn Heights — the three Michigan townships where Arab Americans make up at least 30 percent of the population. He still would have won Michigan — and still would have won it by more than he did Wisconsin, Arizona or Georgia.'
'For that same reason, Mr. Biden’s deficit in the polling of Michigan can’t mostly be attributed to his weakness among Arab American and Muslim voters. Overall, Arab Americans make up 2 percent of the state’s population and probably an even smaller share of the electorate. There are non-Arab Muslim voters, of course, adding another percentage point or more. In the end, 3 percent of the electorate can only do so much.'
'4. Still, anything could be decisive'
'Because the country is so narrowly divided, every vote counts, and right now Mr. Biden appears to need every vote he can get. If Arab American and Muslim voters swing by 30 points toward Mr. Trump, as suggested by our Times/Siena poll in Michigan, that could cost Mr. Biden a percentage point in a critical battleground state where he’s already trailing in the polls. If the race were close enough, it’s possible these voters could decide the 2024 election.' (NYTimes)
See link below, sorry that it could not be gifted.
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/02/28/upshot/michigan-primary-biden-2024.html
WORK AROUND this misguided trump supporter!!!
That voting them out will be too late for Ukraine.
Cosa Lying Nostra