"On his podcast, Bannon addressed Pence, saying: “You are a stone cold coward…. My head’s blowing up.... I can’t take Pence…and Marc Short and all these Koch guys up there ratting out Trump up on Capitol Hill right now.”
Ratting out Trump. That's rich. One of Trump's own stooges finally fesses up and tells it like it is. Heather, I do…
"On his podcast, Bannon addressed Pence, saying: “You are a stone cold coward…. My head’s blowing up.... I can’t take Pence…and Marc Short and all these Koch guys up there ratting out Trump up on Capitol Hill right now.”
Ratting out Trump. That's rich. One of Trump's own stooges finally fesses up and tells it like it is. Heather, I don't know how you can sift through this muck day in and day out and maintain a semblance of sanity. I realize it's your passion, but my God, you must have nerves of steel! Thank you for every moment you devote to untangling our past and present to get to the truth.
I'm in my 70's and never thought American politics would come to this. I have to keep going back to "they have no logic", or my head explodes too! If the Democrats had instigated the insurrection, there would be screams and yelling from all Republicans, and calls for executions. Wait... they already are doing that, despite being the instigators! Thank you, Heather, yet again.
He saw the seeds being planted when few others did, kept me awake at night too as I watched the evil spread under the guise of patriotism and religious fervor. I wonder if he’s the most depressed man in America.
They are like a criminal mob or a gang where there is a concerted effort to intimidate and punish anyone who is talking. Right now I am reading a Swedish noir novel and most of it is about how they induce kids into the gang and then put them through hoops to become full members as they become older. This may include punishing the rats...in this case, shooting knee caps and the one in prison a murder made to look like suicide. As I read, I did wonder how many of our criminal gang have resorted to some kind intimidation.
"...and the one in prison a murder made to look like a suicide..."
Hmmm
Just like Epstein, EH!?
The criminal mob consisting of the most "Elite" moneyed fat white rich old men that remain in the shadows of social respectability while sneaking illegal perversions permanently defiling innocents' self-perception.
And
Suffering no legal consequence except for the very brief embarrassment of "Breaking News" headline quietly snuffed out by the same power who snuffed out Epstein while incarcerated in a highly secure "Lock-Down" cell with 24hr surveillance!
He was murdered for sure. A sleeping guard? Two broken cameras and the only surveillance video “accidentally erased?” It’s so obvious it’s laughable! It makes me sick.
INDEED...and NO investigating news follow up...it is as if it never happened...and now we see the enormous power of the moneyed elite fat old white perverted men's control of American justice system, Eh!?
“…moneyed elite fat old white perverted men…” sounds like TFG. And how did he (completely unqualified) get nominated in the first place, his name even conjured up in a backroom hideaway?
In Russia, the mob is an informal off the books part of the intelligence services. Both for fundraising from illegal activity and enforcement of political adversaries, and dirty tricks, etc.
Hmmm...not stupid. Arrogant, cunning, for sure. Bannon is a sociopath, like Drumpf, the Mercers, Charles Koch, Stephen Schwarzman and their lesser known oligarch parasites.
Daria . . . Agree. I don't know how Heather's head doesn't explode! I'm nowhere near as immersed and while her letters and videos have brought order to chaos, periodically I have to step away to keep my sanity. I also find kayaking (when I don't fall in the water getting in or out!) helps calm the mind. As a former colleague said to me years ago when we were going through very tough times at work, "you're in your 50's so you still think there's "effin" hope. By the time you hit your mid-60's that reality changes." I still waffle between hope and reality and am in complete denial regarding age! 🙄
I’m in my 70s, and I still practice hope. It’s part temperament, part spiritual discipline, part political action. Anyone can do it. For that matter, I’ve also found landing in the water when kayaking to be very helpful in focusing the mind.
Joan In my late 80s I still emit hope. [My aunt and great aunt were named Hope, so, perhaps, I was blessed at birth.] I have witnessed and personally experienced lots of downs and ups in my life. There have been periods of despair and moments of joy. I find joy with my grand kids and despair from daily headlines.
I believe that an upbeat attitude can change one’s personal chemistry and positively affect those around us. While my wife often is consumed by the gloom of the moment, almost like a duck much of this rolls off my back. I am profoundly distressed by some happenings in my country and around the world. Unlike Lazarus (and God’s bet with the devil), I have yet to succumb to the ‘inevitable.’
After the doom and gloom of Trump, Biden is providing shards of sunshine. After two dreadful pandemic years, we are emerging into greater light. More and more people have gainful employment and the predictions of economic disaster are, once again, false.
My children are doing fine and my grand kids are back in their college and school classes. My wife’s leg pains have subsided and I am perambulating with my three-wheeled walker. I feel fine as I (and we) deal with dark spots on the horizon. In the series Death in Paradise, the detective inspector is confronted with a seemingly impossible situation at the outset and, after 50 minutes, arrives at a brilliant solution. I have hope that something similar will occur here in America.
I am not a Pollyanna. Like everyone, I have experienced dark times. [My entire family, except my sister, died suddenly and unexpectedly before I graduated college.] I have faced life and death situations. Through it all, I have been guided by Churchill’s NEVER NEVER NEVER NEVER GIVE UP.
I teared up reading about your family, Keith. That’s quite a loss to survive. So glad you are able to carry on with such a positive attitude. Inspiring.
Thank you for sharing a little bit of yourself, Keith. You have a wonderful attitude. Just continue to take care of yourself. We often don’t do that enough these days.
I am in my late 70s. I am often dismayed at what is going on, but know that I can't do anything about it. I have stepped away from a lot of news that I used to read. I do the crossword to relax and read mysteries and nonfiction that is not about the politics of today. My husband is also often consumed by the gloom and I often remind him that we can't do anything about it. Yesterday I began seeding plants in my greenhouse....onions and asters, and gardening is part of my escape as well as a way of connecting to nature. We also enjoy All Classical in Portland all day which has a tremendous variety of music old and new. I woke up this am to Hildegard von Bingen and on the first day of Black History Month, they played a lot of music by black composers and artists. And we also enjoy Death in Paradise and any number of streamed series.
Until my arthritis gets worse, I can and do write postcards to get out the vote. My current set, through postcardstovoters.com, is for a progressive young woman running for a seat in the Kentucky state house in a special election later this month.
Other than that, I feel like my main contribution these days is reminding people that the onslaught of negative news has a big component of psych ops against us, and in any case we are better off doing what we can now than waiting for things to get worse. Even the news has material for hope: massive job creation, anti-voter-suppression victories in the courts, more and more public exposure of the dastardly deeds of that party that can't decide if their preferred role model is Himmler or Stalin...
I was wondering yesterday what election your postcard writing is for. Kudos for doing this. We contribute to campaigns all over the country as a way of helping. I have some aches and pains that are making gardening more challenging, but I am not ready to give it up yet. I said I wasn't going to order many seeds this year and then got taken up with zinnias in particular, so I will be busy in the greenhouse for some time to come.
Michele Kudos for finding ways to avoid the staccato media focus of bad and upsetting news. Gardening, crosswords, and music are marvelous diversions. In mid-September, 2021 I decided, during my nightly physical therapy exercises, to stop watching CNN and MSNBC. I had been addicted to Rachel and others, as they highlighted the day’s disturbing news. Instead, I immersed myself in DVDs and VHS ranging from Kenneth Clark’s Civilisation to MGM’s That’s Entertainment.
For me, this was a most welcome relief. I kept abreast of daily happenings by reading vociferously, not only spot news but by rereading some of my favorite books. There are some truly bad times in history—Black Plague, Hundred Years War, sack of Rome, American Revolution, Civil War, world wars, Holocaust….Somehow, we have survived all of this.
There are both dark and bright aspects of today’s world. You and I must find ways to maintain our personal balance while these events play out.
We love Rachel, but gave that up sometime ago because we could no longer cope with it. Now the nightly national news is on the block. We still watch the local news. We are both voracious readers and read lots of history. He likes World War I and I like English history especially the Tudors, but don't confine ourselves to those periods. For Christmas we buy each other ten books or so and then hand them out one at a time as we finish them. I am also working on our rather large library as we were just shoving books above and against other books. Now I have found some books I want to read. I don't reread because I have too many new ones to read. I did reread Wuthering Heights recently because I reading something else that had a chapter on Emily Bronte. And kudos back at you for finding ways also.
No, I have resisted that. I have friends who are doing it. I do the NY Times crossword every day. On Sundays if they have an acrostic or split definitions, I do those. I learn a lot by doing the crossword.
Ashley I ain’t no ‘Doc.’ While my NASSER’S NEW EGYPT: A. CRITICAL ANALYSIS (1960) was accepted as my doctoral dissertation, I skipped the other requirements to join the Foreign Service and spend 1960-1966 working in/on Congo. [I was bonkers at an early age.] Other than incessant reading, my education has come from slogging around. Finally, as history/economics professor 1992-2013 I had an opportunity to learn about and reflect on what I should have known when I was in positions of responsibility.
Were I to have an opportunity to become a ‘Doc,’ I might choose psychiatry, since I am gobsmacked by what superficially ‘intelligent’ folks do. Perhaps my speciality would be herd mentality, focusing on facts vs. ‘false facts,’
“To be optimistic is to assume things will work out. To be hopeful is to realize things can work out if you work at them. Hope requires responsibility and agency; optimism relieves us of both. In rooting for your sports team, choose optimism. In rooting for democracy, choose hope.”
Optimism is in short supply if you root for the Toronto Maple Leafs. You have the odd, near panicky moment when you think they might upend their normal course of losing in the playoffs, as you wonder how on earth you would handle their success.
As for hope in democracy, I think it’s looking up in America. But from a low vantage point. It’s been a mess and had to become a near death experience for Americans to realize what they could potentially lose.
Unless the water you land in is Lake Superior, lol. That sort of wake up call is a bit much for me these days…. But yes to everything you say here. Anyone can do it at any age.
That might depend on the water temperature. My kayaking is nearly all on the Charles River in warm weather, which is very different from our friends on Lake Superior.
It sickens me. I find all of them revolting. It is a party of rich old whte men who don't give a damn about the people they are supposed to serve. Service to the People.
Then there’s the not rich, the ignorant, who follow TFG, no matter, Truth or Fiction, and you have to wonder at this point: do they know the difference?
Plenty of rich old women too. They just aren't quite so noisy but they control a lot of money. Plenty of the most racist folks I have met are women, it is an equal opportunity sin.
It certainly is. I sat next door a couple summers ago and listened to two women make racist remarks about Afro-Americans and Native Americans, not knowing the one of us has Native American ancestry. I did remain silent as it was not my house nor were they my friends and felt guilty about not saying something.
I condemn them all regardless of gender. I once had to tell my basketball team to lock up their stuff as they didn't think they had to because we were at a religious school, that people are either good or bad, no matter where you find them.
As a female, personal experience has been with sexist males. A thought also is that if their wives are younger, they were not rich until they married the male. This is with observation of people I know.
When there is male/female parity with those governing our lives through the laws that are made which are now not equitable. Neither racially nor gender specific. While there are evil females, the world is a patriarchy. The fate of most women and children is controlled by the male. Our government is no different .
For how many centuries might we endorse a matriarchal rule before we can learn if we might be better off in a controlled experiment?? A matriarchy, though EQUAL, would be minus testosterone and plus estrogen so inherently different/diverse. That difference/diversity is more frightening than death for so many, and that is the sheer crazy part. After centuries, culture is hard to change.
LOL. Hmmm. Assumptions. Also it sounds like you’re assuming my premise is within your last statement. I think that’s what many of us estrogenized humans would feel has been labeled as “mansplaining”. But what do I know 🤷🏻♀️
Power corrupts. Absolute power corrupts absolutely. Best would be a balance of qualified individuals who reflect the current population and understand their needs as employers, employees, families, & individuals.
Please, take a moment to imagine! Imagine that [ugh] DJT was president over the last year. Now imagine what he might be saying and doing with respect to the remarkable performance of the US economy. Right! Pounding his chest about these remarkable REPUBLICAN results! Endless blather about which he knows so little. But it strikes home to the millions of idiots who follow him in some kind of idolatry.
So, NOW ask yourselves ... where is our actual President? Why does he choose silence when he has the bully pulpit?
I feel like a defector but can't help wondering what the hell is wrong with the DNC. And it's not just our tormented leader Biden. It's the crazy divisions among Dems. This is the only time, RIGHT NOW, to build the strength to defeat the maniacal Republican attempt to trash democracy.
Shipping companies are raking in profits during the pandemic. Freight on Ocean containers ( if u can find one) have gone up more than 100% from ‘19 to ‘20. And 200-300% for 2021.
Have you taken a serious look at the Republican Party? They have a token POC and very few women and so far the only ones that seem to think for themselves are Cheney, Kinzinger, and Murkowski. Romney puts out words like he has some different opinion but then does exactly what he’s told. The women in the party are showpieces that spout exactly what they’re told to spout. Some of them even come from a Talent agency. They are racist and if you listen to their committee meetings you will see clearly that they are prepubescent bullies who pretend they have morals and follow God but every time they open their mouths they show just what slime they are. And yes, the majority of them are old, white, men. Everyone is privileged and comes from money or is bought and paid for by the right wing dark money machines. If we get dark money out of politics maybe we could get real leaders and real thinkers in Congress. The silver spoon, elitist crowd has the temerity to call Democrats elitist while they suck on that spoon and have never worked a day in their life for anything.
Sharon, You have been a caring friend to me and, if I remember correctly, a friend, supporter, guide and loving storyteller of your grandson. Your expression of bigotry toward white men was very disturbing to me. In terms of seeing, the core of your belief has, I think, nothing to do with eyesight. I am looking for a way for us to find an opening about this. Salud, Sharon
Daria: They really put their footsies in it with the "ratting out" line, didn't they?!!!
And BRAVA, Heather, whose point at the end is so well taken: " It seems that we might be able to choose better leaders than ones who are leaving us at the end of this day in 2022 with the truly legitimate political question: “Ratting him out for what?"
💙Go, Ron! He resigned his DeSantis-appointed position on a judicial nom committee over the treatment of FL Covid data analyst. A (former) Republican with a spine !
Mayer is a national treasure in my book. Her deeply researched article about Ginni Thomas shows how corrupt Thomas is and how financially incestuous the GOP has become. Imagine when, not if, the Supreme Court must rule on any case regarding the insurrection and Justice Clarence Thomas doesn't recuse himself.
Also, I'm surprised that news yesterday that Clarence Thomas having frequent email contact with Ron DeSantis hasn't become a much bigger story. The court, shockingly, has no code of ethics.
👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻On Jane Mayer’s Dark Money work! Her recent NYKer piece on Ginni and extreme conservative enterprises was eye opening. Also appreciate Sen. Whitehouse’s continued effort to keep hi beams on the donor/power conservative network.
Glanced at an interesting article in the Nation on the wells of “dark money”
in both parties. Can’t find it now but will keep searching. This seems like such a critical democratic issue.
It is interesting to note that the DOJ set his trial date out so far - one theory being that they plan to add charges to his indictment as new facts get nailed down.
"But in the 1980s, Republicans argued that this system stifled economic development by hampering the ability of producers to put their money where they thought it would do the most good."
In their own pockets. And now, any business that our federal legislative bodies might need to tackle that doesn't put more money into those pockets is irrelevant, unnecessary and "socialist" and therefore doesn't deserve their time, attention or participation. The stagnation this party has brought about to the running of this country, the rebuilding of our crumbling infrastructure, and support to those in need is criminal. And the most disgusting part is they see themselves as patriots. As doing the people's work. What a load of crap. The only two Republican representatives doing work for their constituents just got clobbered by their own party. The rest of them just want power, money and the pension and they don't give a rat's ass who they destroy to get it.
Love your use of "slithering out of the wood pile" considering that Gingrich is from Georgia and "in the wood pile" has a very racists history in Georgia. (I live just 10 miles north of the northern Georgia boarder - in bright red country.)
Not in anyway, my meaning was that Gingrich is the type who would use the comment "N-word in a wood pile" in private conversation. I grew up in northern Illinois and it was a common racists saying even there. Today we worry about it being a copperhead snake around here. Interesting that copperhead had a very political meaning at the time of the civil war. Quoting from Wikipedia "In the 1860s, the Copperheads, also known as Peace Democrats,[1] were a faction of Democrats in the Union who opposed the American Civil War and wanted an immediate peace settlement with the Confederates."
Wonderfully brilliant wisdom succinctly expressed for our better understanding to strengthen our resolve putting forth every effort we possess to rid America of each of those R's bent on destroying America's democracy.
Good morning, Daria. Yes, it is mind boggling that Heather can calmly follow the days news everyday. And then give it to us in a most objective way possible. Kind of wonder why her head's not blowing up. I must admit that the rethuglicans describing the insurrection as "legitimate political discourse" makes my head explode. WTF!
One of my teachers recently said that we are in a moment when we must be prepared to respond with the words, "Of course..." As in, "Of course that's what these bullies would say." We can expect nothing other than what is already painfully evident in the malignant tactics that characterize Republican politics in our times.
In other words, no need to waste energy on being/feeling shocked and thus distracted from what we want to build. Scams are distracting and are intended to be distracting. That's how they get you...
Pam, very good morning to you. It's amazing, Heather never turns her back on a day. Even when she takes a night off I imagine there is a place in her brain where she's mulling over the day's events and analyzing them...all those puzzle pieces that are history being pieced together one by one.
Wouldn’t today be a good day to begin maximum effort to save American democracy…here might be one of the many efforts we, as a determined group of sincere patriots, might consider doing today to insure our votes will be accounted for in every election in which we choose to participate:
(1). PROVEN TO BE THE VERY MOST EFFECTIVE METHODS:
I use exclusively my ACTBLUE to donate to any and every candidate, incumbent or legislative issue I choose to support.
Simply select the candidate or incumbent or issue of your choice and push three buttons on the ACTBLUE web site without referring to any of your financial reference numbers after completing your first donation (e. g. credit card numbers, address, etc. etc. etc.), then receive almost instantaneously their emailed receipt to you acknowledging your donation.
A record of every donation you will have ever donated is posted in a permanent ACTBLUE web page account that you can reference at any time you want too. So far 13,892,727 Democratic donors have saved their payment information with an ACTBLUE personal account.
DURING 2021:
4.5 million unique donors gave 35.3 million contributions to 17,876 incumbents or candidates or legislative issue campaigns and organizations, totaling $1.3 billion.
(2). THE FEDERAL ELECTION COMMISSION
The Federal Election Commission (FEC) is the independent regulatory agency charged with administering and enforcing the federal campaign finance law. The FEC has jurisdiction over the financing of campaigns for the U.S. House, Senate, Presidency and the Vice Presidency.
A message I sent you in December hit a nerve with Fox News and the Republican Party. Last week, I found out that Fox News officials had read my message—and that it sent Fox News and the Republican Party scrambling, starting with writing a hit piece about it.
1 You see, MoveOn is doing something it's never done in its 23-year history. The powerhouse grassroots organization has launched a multimillion-dollar campaign to protect our elections by stopping Donald Trump from replacing the top election officials in battleground states with his own loyalists.
2 You may remember from my message in December that Trump is focusing on a previously obscure elected state official: the secretary of state, who in most states oversees vote counting and certifies—or decertifies—election results.
3 At his first rally of the year, Trump stated outright: "There's a famous statement: 'Sometimes the vote counter is more important than the candidate.'"
4 Trump has already endorsed candidates for secretary of state in multiple battleground states, and the candidates all spout the Big Lie of a stolen election.
5 As disturbing as it is, you need to know that candidates endorsed by Trump nearly always win the GOP nomination—98% of the time.
6 That's why MoveOn's campaign meets the moment and why our message last month hit a nerve over at Fox News. A GOP spokesperson responded to MoveOn's campaign by saying the GOP will "accelerate our fundraising efforts so we can stop them."
7 That's what is concerning, and it's why I'm writing to you again today. Because if we allow Republicans, their billionaire donors, and dark-money groups to steamroll our efforts with their fundraising, Trump's plot to use secretaries of state to install him to another term as president might just work.
Will you join me in rushing an emergency donation of $20 to MoveOn to power their campaign to defeat Trump-backed secretaries of state? On top of fueling this critical effort, your donation will show the GOP and Fox News that their tactics won't intimidate us.
Let me tell you a little bit about just two of the candidates that Trump is working overtime to elect to these positions.
In Arizona, Trump has endorsed an extremist named Mark Finchem, a GOP state lawmaker who attended the January 6 insurrection; continues to work to overturn the results of the 2020 election in Arizona; and is linked to the Oath Keepers, the white supremacist extremist group whose leaders were charged earlier this month with "seditious conspiracy" related to their involvement in the insurrection.
Finchem spoke at a Trump rally this month in Arizona, parroting Trump's lies about a stolen election and saying, "With all the evidence we have, the Arizona election should be decertified with cause...."
And in Georgia, where Trump famously asked then-Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to "find 11,780 votes" for him in 2020, Trump has endorsed Jody Hice, a member of Congress who attempted to stop the certification of Georgia's election in 2020, has supported the blatantly racist voter suppression laws being passed in the state, and claimed that Raffensperger "compromised" the 2020 election by refusing to bow to Trump's attempted coup.
Imagine how different the 2020 election could have ended if Jody Hice had been secretary of state in Georgia and agreed to "find" those votes for Trump, or if Mark Finchem refused to certify President Biden's victory in Arizona?
That is what is at stake in these midterm elections, and why—for the first time in its 23-year history—MoveOn is dedicating millions of dollars to help elect secretaries of state who will put our democracy first and stand up to wannabe tyrants like Trump.
Please, if you are able, will you chip in $20—or whatever you can—to take down Trump's plot to put his loyalists in charge of overseeing elections? Thanks for all you do. –Robert Reich Sources:
Donald Trump's preparations for being able to steal the presidency in 2024 are well underway and include working to replace top election officials in battleground states with his own loyalists.
Which is why MoveOn is doing something we've never done in our 23-year history: We're launching a powerful, multimillion-dollar effort to defeat Trump-backed secretaries of state across the country and elect individuals who will count every vote and ensure fair elections. Will you chip in to power our campaign to defeat Trump and protect our elections in 2022? https://front.moveon.org/
Absolutely! When has "ratting out" ever represented the truth of a matter? It appears the Other Guy and his tribe have given up pretending the Big Lie is real. Their team is buying loyalty, as is evident in my state of Michigan where the Other Guy's team went over the legal limit on campaign finance for Michigan Republican candidates. By law, they have to give his money back.
Given up pretending, yes, maybe. How politically convenient and a little late. But now we hear this repub voice of sanity. At least we think we hear it.
I can't rest...our democracy is under attack by very rich, very evil, very crazy, very greedy creepy people.
Wouldn’t today be a good day to begin maximum effort to save American democracy…here might be one of the many efforts we, as a determined group of sincere patriots, might consider doing today to insure our votes will be accounted for in every election in which we choose to participate:
(1). PROVEN TO BE THE VERY MOST EFFECTIVE METHODS:
I use exclusively my ACTBLUE to donate to any and every candidate, incumbent or legislative issue I choose to support.
Simply select the candidate or incumbent or issue of your choice and push three buttons on the ACTBLUE web site without referring to any of your financial reference numbers after completing your first donation (e. g. credit card numbers, address, etc. etc. etc.), then receive almost instantaneously their emailed receipt to you acknowledging your donation.
A record of every donation you will have ever donated is posted in a permanent ACTBLUE web page account that you can reference at any time you want too. So far 13,892,727 Democratic donors have saved their payment information with an ACTBLUE personal account.
DURING 2021:
4.5 million unique donors gave 35.3 million contributions to 17,876 incumbents or candidates or legislative issue campaigns and organizations, totaling $1.3 billion.
(2). THE FEDERAL ELECTION COMMISSION
The Federal Election Commission (FEC) is the independent regulatory agency charged with administering and enforcing the federal campaign finance law. The FEC has jurisdiction over the financing of campaigns for the U.S. House, Senate, Presidency and the Vice Presidency.
A message I sent you in December hit a nerve with Fox News and the Republican Party. Last week, I found out that Fox News officials had read my message—and that it sent Fox News and the Republican Party scrambling, starting with writing a hit piece about it.
1 You see, MoveOn is doing something it's never done in its 23-year history. The powerhouse grassroots organization has launched a multimillion-dollar campaign to protect our elections by stopping Donald Trump from replacing the top election officials in battleground states with his own loyalists.
2 You may remember from my message in December that Trump is focusing on a previously obscure elected state official: the secretary of state, who in most states oversees vote counting and certifies—or decertifies—election results.
3 At his first rally of the year, Trump stated outright: "There's a famous statement: 'Sometimes the vote counter is more important than the candidate.'"
4 Trump has already endorsed candidates for secretary of state in multiple battleground states, and the candidates all spout the Big Lie of a stolen election.
5 As disturbing as it is, you need to know that candidates endorsed by Trump nearly always win the GOP nomination—98% of the time.
6 That's why MoveOn's campaign meets the moment and why our message last month hit a nerve over at Fox News. A GOP spokesperson responded to MoveOn's campaign by saying the GOP will "accelerate our fundraising efforts so we can stop them."
7 That's what is concerning, and it's why I'm writing to you again today. Because if we allow Republicans, their billionaire donors, and dark-money groups to steamroll our efforts with their fundraising, Trump's plot to use secretaries of state to install him to another term as president might just work.
Will you join me in rushing an emergency donation of $20 to MoveOn to power their campaign to defeat Trump-backed secretaries of state? On top of fueling this critical effort, your donation will show the GOP and Fox News that their tactics won't intimidate us.
Let me tell you a little bit about just two of the candidates that Trump is working overtime to elect to these positions.
In Arizona, Trump has endorsed an extremist named Mark Finchem, a GOP state lawmaker who attended the January 6 insurrection; continues to work to overturn the results of the 2020 election in Arizona; and is linked to the Oath Keepers, the white supremacist extremist group whose leaders were charged earlier this month with "seditious conspiracy" related to their involvement in the insurrection.
Finchem spoke at a Trump rally this month in Arizona, parroting Trump's lies about a stolen election and saying, "With all the evidence we have, the Arizona election should be decertified with cause...."
And in Georgia, where Trump famously asked then-Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to "find 11,780 votes" for him in 2020, Trump has endorsed Jody Hice, a member of Congress who attempted to stop the certification of Georgia's election in 2020, has supported the blatantly racist voter suppression laws being passed in the state, and claimed that Raffensperger "compromised" the 2020 election by refusing to bow to Trump's attempted coup.
Imagine how different the 2020 election could have ended if Jody Hice had been secretary of state in Georgia and agreed to "find" those votes for Trump, or if Mark Finchem refused to certify President Biden's victory in Arizona?
That is what is at stake in these midterm elections, and why—for the first time in its 23-year history—MoveOn is dedicating millions of dollars to help elect secretaries of state who will put our democracy first and stand up to wannabe tyrants like Trump.
Please, if you are able, will you chip in $20—or whatever you can—to take down Trump's plot to put his loyalists in charge of overseeing elections? Thanks for all you do. –Robert Reich Sources:
Donald Trump's preparations for being able to steal the presidency in 2024 are well underway and include working to replace top election officials in battleground states with his own loyalists.
Which is why MoveOn is doing something we've never done in our 23-year history: We're launching a powerful, multimillion-dollar effort to defeat Trump-backed secretaries of state across the country and elect individuals who will count every vote and ensure fair elections. Will you chip in to power our campaign to defeat Trump and protect our elections in 2022? https://front.moveon.org/
Mr. Dobbs, I love your opening advocacy for action with links to ActBlue. But from there, copy and paste of a very long, dense email from MoveOn, speaking for myself, becomes unreadable. I'd rather read a brief summary and then click on the link for more info. I do not write this for my ego or my way, but for what generally seems more effective to engage people to agree with your point. Because your point is great and so necessary!
Ellie, I am a very desperate American voter who knows if we all do not do all we can possibly do this November then game over!
It only takes a few minutes to understand my posting, and I hope everyone thereby realizes the life threatening reality being forced upon the survival of American Democracy.
If Democrats loose the House, then the next death nail will be the Senate and America will never again be the United States of America again...
We are all convinced that others will become inspired by our most sincere form of commenting no matter what style is chosen, Eh!?
What a reveal to say "ratting out" instead of "lying about"! Imho, that's an admission that Pence & Short are telling the truth, and that loyalty, not truth, is what's important to the Repugs. Indeed, as it is with criminals.
Daria Can you hearing the frantic squealing of piglets as they are being indicted for ‘sedition’ and endeavoring to wiggle out of House 1/6 Committee subpoenas that are encircling them? I can imagine that the big pigs, as they hear these terrified squeals, might be having nightmares about becoming barbecued spare ribs (perhaps with Rikers orange booties). Yum yum. I am ready with a shelf full of BBQ sauce.
I’m so happy for you both! It’s 15 degrees here, my husband is out skiing, and I’m planning to mostly stay inside and work on taxes. I might take the wild puppy to the park, if I can bundle up enough! No riding today - too damn cold.
The REAL "rats" are the ones who are cowardly hiding from the J6 Committee. This is the Chinese "Year of the Water Tiger." I would submit that those real "rats" should be very wary of 9 people sitting on that committee who are as cunning as tigers and who have already sniffed out the rodents from their mountainous "droppings."
"On his podcast, Bannon addressed Pence, saying: “You are a stone cold coward…. My head’s blowing up.... I can’t take Pence…and Marc Short and all these Koch guys up there ratting out Trump up on Capitol Hill right now.”
Ratting out Trump. That's rich. One of Trump's own stooges finally fesses up and tells it like it is. Heather, I don't know how you can sift through this muck day in and day out and maintain a semblance of sanity. I realize it's your passion, but my God, you must have nerves of steel! Thank you for every moment you devote to untangling our past and present to get to the truth.
“ratting out Trump” caught me too. If you did nothing illegal, why would one use that expression?
I'm in my 70's and never thought American politics would come to this. I have to keep going back to "they have no logic", or my head explodes too! If the Democrats had instigated the insurrection, there would be screams and yelling from all Republicans, and calls for executions. Wait... they already are doing that, despite being the instigators! Thank you, Heather, yet again.
I’m older than dirt and I saw it coming, Bill Moyers warned us.
I remember when Bill Moyers retired one time 10 or 15 years ago, an interviewer asked him what kept him up at night. He answered, a civil war.
He saw the seeds being planted when few others did, kept me awake at night too as I watched the evil spread under the guise of patriotism and religious fervor. I wonder if he’s the most depressed man in America.
He did an interview recently and he is hopeful. Will try to remember and let you know, Amanpour or PBS Newshour most likely or NPR.
Speaking of quality news, I really miss Tim Russert also, taken from us way too soon!
God bless Tim Russert.
Agreed ❤️
Yes, Tim Russert is sorely missed!
Oh Bill Moyers we need you now. 60 Minutes has deteriorated to an entertainment show.
Exactly. And if you did nothing illegal, you would be falling all over yourself to speak to the committee, turn over your records, etc.
They are like a criminal mob or a gang where there is a concerted effort to intimidate and punish anyone who is talking. Right now I am reading a Swedish noir novel and most of it is about how they induce kids into the gang and then put them through hoops to become full members as they become older. This may include punishing the rats...in this case, shooting knee caps and the one in prison a murder made to look like suicide. As I read, I did wonder how many of our criminal gang have resorted to some kind intimidation.
"...and the one in prison a murder made to look like a suicide..."
Hmmm
Just like Epstein, EH!?
The criminal mob consisting of the most "Elite" moneyed fat white rich old men that remain in the shadows of social respectability while sneaking illegal perversions permanently defiling innocents' self-perception.
And
Suffering no legal consequence except for the very brief embarrassment of "Breaking News" headline quietly snuffed out by the same power who snuffed out Epstein while incarcerated in a highly secure "Lock-Down" cell with 24hr surveillance!
Suicide, INDEED!!
HA!
He was murdered for sure. A sleeping guard? Two broken cameras and the only surveillance video “accidentally erased?” It’s so obvious it’s laughable! It makes me sick.
INDEED...and NO investigating news follow up...it is as if it never happened...and now we see the enormous power of the moneyed elite fat old white perverted men's control of American justice system, Eh!?
“…moneyed elite fat old white perverted men…” sounds like TFG. And how did he (completely unqualified) get nominated in the first place, his name even conjured up in a backroom hideaway?
In Russia, the mob is an informal off the books part of the intelligence services. Both for fundraising from illegal activity and enforcement of political adversaries, and dirty tricks, etc.
Yes and they have had long practice.
of intimidation, not kind intimidation. Wish we could correct.
Michele, you can correct! Look below your comment and there is an edit option!
Yes, I see that now. Thanks.
We can now! Tap the …
Thanks for the heads up.
Now do Twitter!!
They have the best teacher!
Indeed....carte blanche for being awful.
MLM, they are just plain stupid I think.
Hmmm...not stupid. Arrogant, cunning, for sure. Bannon is a sociopath, like Drumpf, the Mercers, Charles Koch, Stephen Schwarzman and their lesser known oligarch parasites.
The leaders are sociopaths the sheep are stupid.
And their stupidity compels them to self-incrimination whenever they think it will boost their ratings or clicks.
“The wicked web’s been weaved.”
Daria . . . Agree. I don't know how Heather's head doesn't explode! I'm nowhere near as immersed and while her letters and videos have brought order to chaos, periodically I have to step away to keep my sanity. I also find kayaking (when I don't fall in the water getting in or out!) helps calm the mind. As a former colleague said to me years ago when we were going through very tough times at work, "you're in your 50's so you still think there's "effin" hope. By the time you hit your mid-60's that reality changes." I still waffle between hope and reality and am in complete denial regarding age! 🙄
I’m in my 70s, and I still practice hope. It’s part temperament, part spiritual discipline, part political action. Anyone can do it. For that matter, I’ve also found landing in the water when kayaking to be very helpful in focusing the mind.
Joan In my late 80s I still emit hope. [My aunt and great aunt were named Hope, so, perhaps, I was blessed at birth.] I have witnessed and personally experienced lots of downs and ups in my life. There have been periods of despair and moments of joy. I find joy with my grand kids and despair from daily headlines.
I believe that an upbeat attitude can change one’s personal chemistry and positively affect those around us. While my wife often is consumed by the gloom of the moment, almost like a duck much of this rolls off my back. I am profoundly distressed by some happenings in my country and around the world. Unlike Lazarus (and God’s bet with the devil), I have yet to succumb to the ‘inevitable.’
After the doom and gloom of Trump, Biden is providing shards of sunshine. After two dreadful pandemic years, we are emerging into greater light. More and more people have gainful employment and the predictions of economic disaster are, once again, false.
My children are doing fine and my grand kids are back in their college and school classes. My wife’s leg pains have subsided and I am perambulating with my three-wheeled walker. I feel fine as I (and we) deal with dark spots on the horizon. In the series Death in Paradise, the detective inspector is confronted with a seemingly impossible situation at the outset and, after 50 minutes, arrives at a brilliant solution. I have hope that something similar will occur here in America.
I am not a Pollyanna. Like everyone, I have experienced dark times. [My entire family, except my sister, died suddenly and unexpectedly before I graduated college.] I have faced life and death situations. Through it all, I have been guided by Churchill’s NEVER NEVER NEVER NEVER GIVE UP.
I teared up reading about your family, Keith. That’s quite a loss to survive. So glad you are able to carry on with such a positive attitude. Inspiring.
Thank you for sharing a little bit of yourself, Keith. You have a wonderful attitude. Just continue to take care of yourself. We often don’t do that enough these days.
Bravo, Keith! Keep on keeping on!
I agree! Never give up!
I am in my late 70s. I am often dismayed at what is going on, but know that I can't do anything about it. I have stepped away from a lot of news that I used to read. I do the crossword to relax and read mysteries and nonfiction that is not about the politics of today. My husband is also often consumed by the gloom and I often remind him that we can't do anything about it. Yesterday I began seeding plants in my greenhouse....onions and asters, and gardening is part of my escape as well as a way of connecting to nature. We also enjoy All Classical in Portland all day which has a tremendous variety of music old and new. I woke up this am to Hildegard von Bingen and on the first day of Black History Month, they played a lot of music by black composers and artists. And we also enjoy Death in Paradise and any number of streamed series.
Until my arthritis gets worse, I can and do write postcards to get out the vote. My current set, through postcardstovoters.com, is for a progressive young woman running for a seat in the Kentucky state house in a special election later this month.
Other than that, I feel like my main contribution these days is reminding people that the onslaught of negative news has a big component of psych ops against us, and in any case we are better off doing what we can now than waiting for things to get worse. Even the news has material for hope: massive job creation, anti-voter-suppression victories in the courts, more and more public exposure of the dastardly deeds of that party that can't decide if their preferred role model is Himmler or Stalin...
I was wondering yesterday what election your postcard writing is for. Kudos for doing this. We contribute to campaigns all over the country as a way of helping. I have some aches and pains that are making gardening more challenging, but I am not ready to give it up yet. I said I wasn't going to order many seeds this year and then got taken up with zinnias in particular, so I will be busy in the greenhouse for some time to come.
Michele Kudos for finding ways to avoid the staccato media focus of bad and upsetting news. Gardening, crosswords, and music are marvelous diversions. In mid-September, 2021 I decided, during my nightly physical therapy exercises, to stop watching CNN and MSNBC. I had been addicted to Rachel and others, as they highlighted the day’s disturbing news. Instead, I immersed myself in DVDs and VHS ranging from Kenneth Clark’s Civilisation to MGM’s That’s Entertainment.
For me, this was a most welcome relief. I kept abreast of daily happenings by reading vociferously, not only spot news but by rereading some of my favorite books. There are some truly bad times in history—Black Plague, Hundred Years War, sack of Rome, American Revolution, Civil War, world wars, Holocaust….Somehow, we have survived all of this.
There are both dark and bright aspects of today’s world. You and I must find ways to maintain our personal balance while these events play out.
We love Rachel, but gave that up sometime ago because we could no longer cope with it. Now the nightly national news is on the block. We still watch the local news. We are both voracious readers and read lots of history. He likes World War I and I like English history especially the Tudors, but don't confine ourselves to those periods. For Christmas we buy each other ten books or so and then hand them out one at a time as we finish them. I am also working on our rather large library as we were just shoving books above and against other books. Now I have found some books I want to read. I don't reread because I have too many new ones to read. I did reread Wuthering Heights recently because I reading something else that had a chapter on Emily Bronte. And kudos back at you for finding ways also.
And Wordle, I trust? If you do crosswords… :)
Our family's obsession. It's also grease for a creaky brain.
No, I have resisted that. I have friends who are doing it. I do the NY Times crossword every day. On Sundays if they have an acrostic or split definitions, I do those. I learn a lot by doing the crossword.
Dear Doc Wheelock,
Thank you!
Once again, you have me poking my head through the gloomy clouds. Biden’s “shards of sunshine do pierce the dark spots on the horizon!”
Here’s to positivity improving our own chemistry and giving a dose of hope to those around us. 💙
Ashley I ain’t no ‘Doc.’ While my NASSER’S NEW EGYPT: A. CRITICAL ANALYSIS (1960) was accepted as my doctoral dissertation, I skipped the other requirements to join the Foreign Service and spend 1960-1966 working in/on Congo. [I was bonkers at an early age.] Other than incessant reading, my education has come from slogging around. Finally, as history/economics professor 1992-2013 I had an opportunity to learn about and reflect on what I should have known when I was in positions of responsibility.
Were I to have an opportunity to become a ‘Doc,’ I might choose psychiatry, since I am gobsmacked by what superficially ‘intelligent’ folks do. Perhaps my speciality would be herd mentality, focusing on facts vs. ‘false facts,’
The "heart" is not working today. Love this! Oops! Just showed up. I guess it's on "delay"!
Keith💙!
I recalled your mention of your professorial days, ASSuMEd doctorate.
I’m moved by the colorful life you’ve lived thus far. Please keep sharing glimpses!
“To be optimistic is to assume things will work out. To be hopeful is to realize things can work out if you work at them. Hope requires responsibility and agency; optimism relieves us of both. In rooting for your sports team, choose optimism. In rooting for democracy, choose hope.”
Optimism is in short supply if you root for the Toronto Maple Leafs. You have the odd, near panicky moment when you think they might upend their normal course of losing in the playoffs, as you wonder how on earth you would handle their success.
As for hope in democracy, I think it’s looking up in America. But from a low vantage point. It’s been a mess and had to become a near death experience for Americans to realize what they could potentially lose.
I love this statement of responsibility and agency required for hope. Did you author this or is it someone else's quote?
Eric Lui, writer and former Clinton official wrote this.
Thank you. Just started following Eric Lui and his Citizen University for civic engagement:
https://citizenuniversity.us/news/be-not-afraid/
@CitizenUniv
Unless the water you land in is Lake Superior, lol. That sort of wake up call is a bit much for me these days…. But yes to everything you say here. Anyone can do it at any age.
I can see Lake Superior out my window and yes!
My dad was born and raised in Grand Marais. Love that lake!!
Cool, the North Shore rocks!
The mind might become focused when dumped in the water, but the body is no longer on the same page :)
That might depend on the water temperature. My kayaking is nearly all on the Charles River in warm weather, which is very different from our friends on Lake Superior.
Even more focusing than a cold shower!
Hope…always. ❤️
Love this...."am in complete denial regarding age!" me too, until i need to go to the dentist.
LOL!
Janet, I'm in the same boat. Being in my late 60s I sometimes let reality take the upper hand. Sigh😐
It sickens me. I find all of them revolting. It is a party of rich old whte men who don't give a damn about the people they are supposed to serve. Service to the People.
Most of them are rich it is true...but not all of them are old; Hawley, Gaetz, Greene. Those repellent folk are cynical, amoral users, seeking power.
Then there’s the not rich, the ignorant, who follow TFG, no matter, Truth or Fiction, and you have to wonder at this point: do they know the difference?
Why do you think the GOP is down on public education? Keep the masses just ignorant enough!
Yep! It’s not even an original idea. That policy has worked for centuries!
I don't think they do.
You are right
You forgot "WHITE", old WHITE men and women!
I did! It was in my head
It’s also the party of Ronna (Romney) McDaniel, who stopped using her birth name to appease tfg. Obsequiousness knows no gender difference in GOP.
Ronna takes orders from Robert Mercer.
Nor care about the rule of law.
Emphasis on “old.”
Emphasis also on “don’t give a damn. “ Add to that “out of touch”.
Plenty of rich old women too. They just aren't quite so noisy but they control a lot of money. Plenty of the most racist folks I have met are women, it is an equal opportunity sin.
Don’t ever forget Ginni Thomas
Or the sainted Bush wives.
Puke, especially Barbara
And middle aged. Ronna Romney...
George Romney would be horrified by his granddaughter.
As a Michigander, I agree.
yes, what is her problem?
Love of power. She shares that with Mittens.
It certainly is. I sat next door a couple summers ago and listened to two women make racist remarks about Afro-Americans and Native Americans, not knowing the one of us has Native American ancestry. I did remain silent as it was not my house nor were they my friends and felt guilty about not saying something.
😔
I condemn them all regardless of gender. I once had to tell my basketball team to lock up their stuff as they didn't think they had to because we were at a religious school, that people are either good or bad, no matter where you find them.
Men. 🙄
As a female, personal experience has been with sexist males. A thought also is that if their wives are younger, they were not rich until they married the male. This is with observation of people I know.
When there is male/female parity with those governing our lives through the laws that are made which are now not equitable. Neither racially nor gender specific. While there are evil females, the world is a patriarchy. The fate of most women and children is controlled by the male. Our government is no different .
For how many centuries might we endorse a matriarchal rule before we can learn if we might be better off in a controlled experiment?? A matriarchy, though EQUAL, would be minus testosterone and plus estrogen so inherently different/diverse. That difference/diversity is more frightening than death for so many, and that is the sheer crazy part. After centuries, culture is hard to change.
After eons of acculturation to patriarchy it’s impossible to even imagine something different. So there is not much risk of knowing a true matriarchy in my lifetime. But it’s interesting to learn about variations. https://www.yesmagazine.org/health-happiness/2020/11/09/china-himalayas-grandmothers-mosuo?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=YESDaily_20210507&utm_content=YESDaily_20210507+CID_f6cea2802eb7d4f83ae5659b8ec87316&utm_source=CM&utm_term=Read%20the%20full%20story
LOL. Hmmm. Assumptions. Also it sounds like you’re assuming my premise is within your last statement. I think that’s what many of us estrogenized humans would feel has been labeled as “mansplaining”. But what do I know 🤷🏻♀️
Power corrupts. Absolute power corrupts absolutely. Best would be a balance of qualified individuals who reflect the current population and understand their needs as employers, employees, families, & individuals.
SMACK DOWN! 😉
Please, take a moment to imagine! Imagine that [ugh] DJT was president over the last year. Now imagine what he might be saying and doing with respect to the remarkable performance of the US economy. Right! Pounding his chest about these remarkable REPUBLICAN results! Endless blather about which he knows so little. But it strikes home to the millions of idiots who follow him in some kind of idolatry.
So, NOW ask yourselves ... where is our actual President? Why does he choose silence when he has the bully pulpit?
I feel like a defector but can't help wondering what the hell is wrong with the DNC. And it's not just our tormented leader Biden. It's the crazy divisions among Dems. This is the only time, RIGHT NOW, to build the strength to defeat the maniacal Republican attempt to trash democracy.
Shipping companies are raking in profits during the pandemic. Freight on Ocean containers ( if u can find one) have gone up more than 100% from ‘19 to ‘20. And 200-300% for 2021.
Not planet — But under the mountain troll?
Not sure if this is in direct relation to HCR's paper today.
Have you taken a serious look at the Republican Party? They have a token POC and very few women and so far the only ones that seem to think for themselves are Cheney, Kinzinger, and Murkowski. Romney puts out words like he has some different opinion but then does exactly what he’s told. The women in the party are showpieces that spout exactly what they’re told to spout. Some of them even come from a Talent agency. They are racist and if you listen to their committee meetings you will see clearly that they are prepubescent bullies who pretend they have morals and follow God but every time they open their mouths they show just what slime they are. And yes, the majority of them are old, white, men. Everyone is privileged and comes from money or is bought and paid for by the right wing dark money machines. If we get dark money out of politics maybe we could get real leaders and real thinkers in Congress. The silver spoon, elitist crowd has the temerity to call Democrats elitist while they suck on that spoon and have never worked a day in their life for anything.
Sharon, You have been a caring friend to me and, if I remember correctly, a friend, supporter, guide and loving storyteller of your grandson. Your expression of bigotry toward white men was very disturbing to me. In terms of seeing, the core of your belief has, I think, nothing to do with eyesight. I am looking for a way for us to find an opening about this. Salud, Sharon
Daria: They really put their footsies in it with the "ratting out" line, didn't they?!!!
And BRAVA, Heather, whose point at the end is so well taken: " It seems that we might be able to choose better leaders than ones who are leaving us at the end of this day in 2022 with the truly legitimate political question: “Ratting him out for what?"
Rowshan, EXACTLY! "Ratting him out for what?" These people are insidious but they are also patently stupid.
As if tfg and his minions didn’t already resemble the mafia, Brannon just confirmed that they are with that pithy little remark.
Pardons are an admission of guilt. Bannon is a felon fraudster.
Rats eating rats. I think that’s their future.
Here's Ron Filipkowski who also wades deep in the muck. Know thy enemy.
https://twitter.com/RonFilipkowski/status/1489796668186890242?s=20&t=EO00M_HDNtTXCeAheLROAA
💙Go, Ron! He resigned his DeSantis-appointed position on a judicial nom committee over the treatment of FL Covid data analyst. A (former) Republican with a spine !
A spine AND a conscience!
Yes! I’ve followed him on Twitter for quite some time after learning that.
Thanks for this news about Ron Filipkowski; great stuff!
Thank you, Ellie. ❤️🤍💙
On " these Koch guys", see Jane Mayer`s Dark Money ; the money is not so dark.
And did you see her great reporting on Ginni Thomas?
Mayer is a national treasure in my book. Her deeply researched article about Ginni Thomas shows how corrupt Thomas is and how financially incestuous the GOP has become. Imagine when, not if, the Supreme Court must rule on any case regarding the insurrection and Justice Clarence Thomas doesn't recuse himself.
Also, I'm surprised that news yesterday that Clarence Thomas having frequent email contact with Ron DeSantis hasn't become a much bigger story. The court, shockingly, has no code of ethics.
https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/clarence-thomas-ron-desantis-communication-new-emails-1295354/
Is Ginni Thomas a Threat to the Supreme Court?" , Jane Mayer 1/31/22. Super Jane.
Thanks.
👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻On Jane Mayer’s Dark Money work! Her recent NYKer piece on Ginni and extreme conservative enterprises was eye opening. Also appreciate Sen. Whitehouse’s continued effort to keep hi beams on the donor/power conservative network.
Glanced at an interesting article in the Nation on the wells of “dark money”
in both parties. Can’t find it now but will keep searching. This seems like such a critical democratic issue.
Such a scary book.
If Bannon’s ass was in jail like it should be, he couldn’t broadcast his crap on his podcast!
Amen.
It is interesting to note that the DOJ set his trial date out so far - one theory being that they plan to add charges to his indictment as new facts get nailed down.
"But in the 1980s, Republicans argued that this system stifled economic development by hampering the ability of producers to put their money where they thought it would do the most good."
In their own pockets. And now, any business that our federal legislative bodies might need to tackle that doesn't put more money into those pockets is irrelevant, unnecessary and "socialist" and therefore doesn't deserve their time, attention or participation. The stagnation this party has brought about to the running of this country, the rebuilding of our crumbling infrastructure, and support to those in need is criminal. And the most disgusting part is they see themselves as patriots. As doing the people's work. What a load of crap. The only two Republican representatives doing work for their constituents just got clobbered by their own party. The rest of them just want power, money and the pension and they don't give a rat's ass who they destroy to get it.
Truth. And now we have Newt Gingrich slithering out of the wood pile to add his venom to the mix.
It’s amazing to me that Newt can survive in sunlight for this long.
Love your use of "slithering out of the wood pile" considering that Gingrich is from Georgia and "in the wood pile" has a very racists history in Georgia. (I live just 10 miles north of the northern Georgia boarder - in bright red country.)
Uh oh, I'm not from the south. Did I commit a grave offense?
Not in anyway, my meaning was that Gingrich is the type who would use the comment "N-word in a wood pile" in private conversation. I grew up in northern Illinois and it was a common racists saying even there. Today we worry about it being a copperhead snake around here. Interesting that copperhead had a very political meaning at the time of the civil war. Quoting from Wikipedia "In the 1860s, the Copperheads, also known as Peace Democrats,[1] were a faction of Democrats in the Union who opposed the American Civil War and wanted an immediate peace settlement with the Confederates."
Ugh.
Wonderfully brilliant wisdom succinctly expressed for our better understanding to strengthen our resolve putting forth every effort we possess to rid America of each of those R's bent on destroying America's democracy.
Thanks Carolyn.
Good morning, Daria. Yes, it is mind boggling that Heather can calmly follow the days news everyday. And then give it to us in a most objective way possible. Kind of wonder why her head's not blowing up. I must admit that the rethuglicans describing the insurrection as "legitimate political discourse" makes my head explode. WTF!
One of my teachers recently said that we are in a moment when we must be prepared to respond with the words, "Of course..." As in, "Of course that's what these bullies would say." We can expect nothing other than what is already painfully evident in the malignant tactics that characterize Republican politics in our times.
In other words, no need to waste energy on being/feeling shocked and thus distracted from what we want to build. Scams are distracting and are intended to be distracting. That's how they get you...
Very sound advice. Thank you, PG.
distracting leading to deception...then who to trust...
Pam, very good morning to you. It's amazing, Heather never turns her back on a day. Even when she takes a night off I imagine there is a place in her brain where she's mulling over the day's events and analyzing them...all those puzzle pieces that are history being pieced together one by one.
Another possible sticker idea - "Vote for your life!"
(and add these last few words: "Because your life DOES depend on it!"
Wouldn’t today be a good day to begin maximum effort to save American democracy…here might be one of the many efforts we, as a determined group of sincere patriots, might consider doing today to insure our votes will be accounted for in every election in which we choose to participate:
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A record of every donation you will have ever donated is posted in a permanent ACTBLUE web page account that you can reference at any time you want too. So far 13,892,727 Democratic donors have saved their payment information with an ACTBLUE personal account.
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(2). THE FEDERAL ELECTION COMMISSION
The Federal Election Commission (FEC) is the independent regulatory agency charged with administering and enforcing the federal campaign finance law. The FEC has jurisdiction over the financing of campaigns for the U.S. House, Senate, Presidency and the Vice Presidency.
AND:
(3). https://ballotpedia.org/Survey
HERE IS A SECURE PROVEN PRACTICAL METHOD TO RID AMERICA OF ALL OF THE CORRUPT R's IN CONGRESS
SEE LINK: https://front.moveon.org/
Dear MoveOn member,
A message I sent you in December hit a nerve with Fox News and the Republican Party. Last week, I found out that Fox News officials had read my message—and that it sent Fox News and the Republican Party scrambling, starting with writing a hit piece about it.
1 You see, MoveOn is doing something it's never done in its 23-year history. The powerhouse grassroots organization has launched a multimillion-dollar campaign to protect our elections by stopping Donald Trump from replacing the top election officials in battleground states with his own loyalists.
2 You may remember from my message in December that Trump is focusing on a previously obscure elected state official: the secretary of state, who in most states oversees vote counting and certifies—or decertifies—election results.
3 At his first rally of the year, Trump stated outright: "There's a famous statement: 'Sometimes the vote counter is more important than the candidate.'"
4 Trump has already endorsed candidates for secretary of state in multiple battleground states, and the candidates all spout the Big Lie of a stolen election.
5 As disturbing as it is, you need to know that candidates endorsed by Trump nearly always win the GOP nomination—98% of the time.
6 That's why MoveOn's campaign meets the moment and why our message last month hit a nerve over at Fox News. A GOP spokesperson responded to MoveOn's campaign by saying the GOP will "accelerate our fundraising efforts so we can stop them."
7 That's what is concerning, and it's why I'm writing to you again today. Because if we allow Republicans, their billionaire donors, and dark-money groups to steamroll our efforts with their fundraising, Trump's plot to use secretaries of state to install him to another term as president might just work.
Will you join me in rushing an emergency donation of $20 to MoveOn to power their campaign to defeat Trump-backed secretaries of state? On top of fueling this critical effort, your donation will show the GOP and Fox News that their tactics won't intimidate us.
Let me tell you a little bit about just two of the candidates that Trump is working overtime to elect to these positions.
In Arizona, Trump has endorsed an extremist named Mark Finchem, a GOP state lawmaker who attended the January 6 insurrection; continues to work to overturn the results of the 2020 election in Arizona; and is linked to the Oath Keepers, the white supremacist extremist group whose leaders were charged earlier this month with "seditious conspiracy" related to their involvement in the insurrection.
Finchem spoke at a Trump rally this month in Arizona, parroting Trump's lies about a stolen election and saying, "With all the evidence we have, the Arizona election should be decertified with cause...."
And in Georgia, where Trump famously asked then-Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to "find 11,780 votes" for him in 2020, Trump has endorsed Jody Hice, a member of Congress who attempted to stop the certification of Georgia's election in 2020, has supported the blatantly racist voter suppression laws being passed in the state, and claimed that Raffensperger "compromised" the 2020 election by refusing to bow to Trump's attempted coup.
Imagine how different the 2020 election could have ended if Jody Hice had been secretary of state in Georgia and agreed to "find" those votes for Trump, or if Mark Finchem refused to certify President Biden's victory in Arizona?
That is what is at stake in these midterm elections, and why—for the first time in its 23-year history—MoveOn is dedicating millions of dollars to help elect secretaries of state who will put our democracy first and stand up to wannabe tyrants like Trump.
Please, if you are able, will you chip in $20—or whatever you can—to take down Trump's plot to put his loyalists in charge of overseeing elections? Thanks for all you do. –Robert Reich Sources:
"Trump helps thrust once-ignored secretary of state campaigns into big donor spotlight," Fox News, January 10, 2022 https://act.moveon.org/go/160149?t=4&akid=315558%2E34742813%2EgUT24r
2. "How Trump-backed secretary of state candidates would change elections in the United States," The Washington Post, December 1, 2021 https://act.moveon.org/go/159806?t=6&akid=315558%2E34742813%2EgUT24r
3. "After attacks on the 2020 election, secretary of state races take on new urgency," NPR, November 4, 2021 https://act.moveon.org/go/160153?t=8&akid=315558%2E34742813%2EgUT24r
4. "An Arizona Trump rally and voting rights march underscore the fight for democracy," CNN, January 17, 2022 https://act.moveon.org/go/160078?t=10&akid=315558%2E34742813%2EgUT24r
5. "How Republicans became the party of Trump’s election lie after Jan. 6," The Washington Post, January 5, 2022 https://act.moveon.org/go/160080?t=12&akid=315558%2E34742813%2EgUT24r
6. "Almost Everyone Trump Endorses Wins Their Primary … But Is He Padding His Record?" FiveThirtyEight, August 26, 2020 https://act.moveon.org/go/159840?t=14&akid=315558%2E34742813%2EgUT24r
7. "Trump helps thrust once-ignored secretary of state campaigns into big donor spotlight," Fox News, January 10, 2022 https://act.moveon.org/go/160149?t=16&akid=315558%2E34742813%2EgUT24r
8. "An Arizona Trump rally and voting rights march underscore the fight for democracy," CNN, January 17, 2022 https://act.moveon.org/go/160078?t=18&akid=315558%2E34742813%2EgUT24r
9. Trump gives endorsement in Arizona secretary of state race," Associated Press, September 13, 2021 https://act.moveon.org/go/160079?t=20&akid=315558%2E34742813%2EgUT24r
10. "An Arizona Trump rally and voting rights march underscore the fight for democracy," CNN, January 17, 2022 https://act.moveon.org/go/160078?t=22&akid=315558%2E34742813%2EgUT24r
11. "Jody Hice tried to overturn the 2020 election. Now he wants to be in charge of Georgia’s elections." Vox, March 22, 2021 https://act.moveon.org/go/160152?t=24&akid=315558%2E34742813%2EgUT24r
12. "After attacks on the 2020 election, secretary of state races take on new urgency," NPR, November 4, 2021 https://act.moveon.org/go/160153?t=26&akid=315558%2E34742813%2EgUT24r
Do you want to support MoveOn's work?
Donald Trump's preparations for being able to steal the presidency in 2024 are well underway and include working to replace top election officials in battleground states with his own loyalists.
Which is why MoveOn is doing something we've never done in our 23-year history: We're launching a powerful, multimillion-dollar effort to defeat Trump-backed secretaries of state across the country and elect individuals who will count every vote and ensure fair elections. Will you chip in to power our campaign to defeat Trump and protect our elections in 2022? https://front.moveon.org/
Absolutely! When has "ratting out" ever represented the truth of a matter? It appears the Other Guy and his tribe have given up pretending the Big Lie is real. Their team is buying loyalty, as is evident in my state of Michigan where the Other Guy's team went over the legal limit on campaign finance for Michigan Republican candidates. By law, they have to give his money back.
Let me know when that happens.
Given up pretending, yes, maybe. How politically convenient and a little late. But now we hear this repub voice of sanity. At least we think we hear it.
I can't rest...our democracy is under attack by very rich, very evil, very crazy, very greedy creepy people.
Wouldn’t today be a good day to begin maximum effort to save American democracy…here might be one of the many efforts we, as a determined group of sincere patriots, might consider doing today to insure our votes will be accounted for in every election in which we choose to participate:
(1). PROVEN TO BE THE VERY MOST EFFECTIVE METHODS:
ACTBLUE — Billions raised online since 2004
https://secure.actblue.com
https://support.actblue.com
I use exclusively my ACTBLUE to donate to any and every candidate, incumbent or legislative issue I choose to support.
Simply select the candidate or incumbent or issue of your choice and push three buttons on the ACTBLUE web site without referring to any of your financial reference numbers after completing your first donation (e. g. credit card numbers, address, etc. etc. etc.), then receive almost instantaneously their emailed receipt to you acknowledging your donation.
A record of every donation you will have ever donated is posted in a permanent ACTBLUE web page account that you can reference at any time you want too. So far 13,892,727 Democratic donors have saved their payment information with an ACTBLUE personal account.
DURING 2021:
4.5 million unique donors gave 35.3 million contributions to 17,876 incumbents or candidates or legislative issue campaigns and organizations, totaling $1.3 billion.
(2). THE FEDERAL ELECTION COMMISSION
The Federal Election Commission (FEC) is the independent regulatory agency charged with administering and enforcing the federal campaign finance law. The FEC has jurisdiction over the financing of campaigns for the U.S. House, Senate, Presidency and the Vice Presidency.
AND:
(3). https://ballotpedia.org/Survey
HERE IS A SECURE PROVEN PRACTICAL METHOD TO RID AMERICA OF ALL OF THE CORRUPT R's IN CONGRESS
SEE LINK: https://front.moveon.org/
Dear MoveOn member,
A message I sent you in December hit a nerve with Fox News and the Republican Party. Last week, I found out that Fox News officials had read my message—and that it sent Fox News and the Republican Party scrambling, starting with writing a hit piece about it.
1 You see, MoveOn is doing something it's never done in its 23-year history. The powerhouse grassroots organization has launched a multimillion-dollar campaign to protect our elections by stopping Donald Trump from replacing the top election officials in battleground states with his own loyalists.
2 You may remember from my message in December that Trump is focusing on a previously obscure elected state official: the secretary of state, who in most states oversees vote counting and certifies—or decertifies—election results.
3 At his first rally of the year, Trump stated outright: "There's a famous statement: 'Sometimes the vote counter is more important than the candidate.'"
4 Trump has already endorsed candidates for secretary of state in multiple battleground states, and the candidates all spout the Big Lie of a stolen election.
5 As disturbing as it is, you need to know that candidates endorsed by Trump nearly always win the GOP nomination—98% of the time.
6 That's why MoveOn's campaign meets the moment and why our message last month hit a nerve over at Fox News. A GOP spokesperson responded to MoveOn's campaign by saying the GOP will "accelerate our fundraising efforts so we can stop them."
7 That's what is concerning, and it's why I'm writing to you again today. Because if we allow Republicans, their billionaire donors, and dark-money groups to steamroll our efforts with their fundraising, Trump's plot to use secretaries of state to install him to another term as president might just work.
Will you join me in rushing an emergency donation of $20 to MoveOn to power their campaign to defeat Trump-backed secretaries of state? On top of fueling this critical effort, your donation will show the GOP and Fox News that their tactics won't intimidate us.
Let me tell you a little bit about just two of the candidates that Trump is working overtime to elect to these positions.
In Arizona, Trump has endorsed an extremist named Mark Finchem, a GOP state lawmaker who attended the January 6 insurrection; continues to work to overturn the results of the 2020 election in Arizona; and is linked to the Oath Keepers, the white supremacist extremist group whose leaders were charged earlier this month with "seditious conspiracy" related to their involvement in the insurrection.
Finchem spoke at a Trump rally this month in Arizona, parroting Trump's lies about a stolen election and saying, "With all the evidence we have, the Arizona election should be decertified with cause...."
And in Georgia, where Trump famously asked then-Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to "find 11,780 votes" for him in 2020, Trump has endorsed Jody Hice, a member of Congress who attempted to stop the certification of Georgia's election in 2020, has supported the blatantly racist voter suppression laws being passed in the state, and claimed that Raffensperger "compromised" the 2020 election by refusing to bow to Trump's attempted coup.
Imagine how different the 2020 election could have ended if Jody Hice had been secretary of state in Georgia and agreed to "find" those votes for Trump, or if Mark Finchem refused to certify President Biden's victory in Arizona?
That is what is at stake in these midterm elections, and why—for the first time in its 23-year history—MoveOn is dedicating millions of dollars to help elect secretaries of state who will put our democracy first and stand up to wannabe tyrants like Trump.
Please, if you are able, will you chip in $20—or whatever you can—to take down Trump's plot to put his loyalists in charge of overseeing elections? Thanks for all you do. –Robert Reich Sources:
"Trump helps thrust once-ignored secretary of state campaigns into big donor spotlight," Fox News, January 10, 2022 https://act.moveon.org/go/160149?t=4&akid=315558%2E34742813%2EgUT24r
2. "How Trump-backed secretary of state candidates would change elections in the United States," The Washington Post, December 1, 2021 https://act.moveon.org/go/159806?t=6&akid=315558%2E34742813%2EgUT24r
3. "After attacks on the 2020 election, secretary of state races take on new urgency," NPR, November 4, 2021 https://act.moveon.org/go/160153?t=8&akid=315558%2E34742813%2EgUT24r
4. "An Arizona Trump rally and voting rights march underscore the fight for democracy," CNN, January 17, 2022 https://act.moveon.org/go/160078?t=10&akid=315558%2E34742813%2EgUT24r
5. "How Republicans became the party of Trump’s election lie after Jan. 6," The Washington Post, January 5, 2022 https://act.moveon.org/go/160080?t=12&akid=315558%2E34742813%2EgUT24r
6. "Almost Everyone Trump Endorses Wins Their Primary … But Is He Padding His Record?" FiveThirtyEight, August 26, 2020 https://act.moveon.org/go/159840?t=14&akid=315558%2E34742813%2EgUT24r
7. "Trump helps thrust once-ignored secretary of state campaigns into big donor spotlight," Fox News, January 10, 2022 https://act.moveon.org/go/160149?t=16&akid=315558%2E34742813%2EgUT24r
8. "An Arizona Trump rally and voting rights march underscore the fight for democracy," CNN, January 17, 2022 https://act.moveon.org/go/160078?t=18&akid=315558%2E34742813%2EgUT24r
9. Trump gives endorsement in Arizona secretary of state race," Associated Press, September 13, 2021 https://act.moveon.org/go/160079?t=20&akid=315558%2E34742813%2EgUT24r
10. "An Arizona Trump rally and voting rights march underscore the fight for democracy," CNN, January 17, 2022 https://act.moveon.org/go/160078?t=22&akid=315558%2E34742813%2EgUT24r
11. "Jody Hice tried to overturn the 2020 election. Now he wants to be in charge of Georgia’s elections." Vox, March 22, 2021 https://act.moveon.org/go/160152?t=24&akid=315558%2E34742813%2EgUT24r
12. "After attacks on the 2020 election, secretary of state races take on new urgency," NPR, November 4, 2021 https://act.moveon.org/go/160153?t=26&akid=315558%2E34742813%2EgUT24r
Do you want to support MoveOn's work?
Donald Trump's preparations for being able to steal the presidency in 2024 are well underway and include working to replace top election officials in battleground states with his own loyalists.
Which is why MoveOn is doing something we've never done in our 23-year history: We're launching a powerful, multimillion-dollar effort to defeat Trump-backed secretaries of state across the country and elect individuals who will count every vote and ensure fair elections. Will you chip in to power our campaign to defeat Trump and protect our elections in 2022? https://front.moveon.org/
Acted Blue by specifically donating to "Dr. Bob's" Town Halls on the Lower Michigan Peninsula now,
Mr. Dobbs, I love your opening advocacy for action with links to ActBlue. But from there, copy and paste of a very long, dense email from MoveOn, speaking for myself, becomes unreadable. I'd rather read a brief summary and then click on the link for more info. I do not write this for my ego or my way, but for what generally seems more effective to engage people to agree with your point. Because your point is great and so necessary!
Ellie, I am a very desperate American voter who knows if we all do not do all we can possibly do this November then game over!
It only takes a few minutes to understand my posting, and I hope everyone thereby realizes the life threatening reality being forced upon the survival of American Democracy.
If Democrats loose the House, then the next death nail will be the Senate and America will never again be the United States of America again...
We are all convinced that others will become inspired by our most sincere form of commenting no matter what style is chosen, Eh!?
Thank you for doing all you can!
Ditto for all of your very best you will be doing for the next TEN months!
What a reveal to say "ratting out" instead of "lying about"! Imho, that's an admission that Pence & Short are telling the truth, and that loyalty, not truth, is what's important to the Repugs. Indeed, as it is with criminals.
Daria Can you hearing the frantic squealing of piglets as they are being indicted for ‘sedition’ and endeavoring to wiggle out of House 1/6 Committee subpoenas that are encircling them? I can imagine that the big pigs, as they hear these terrified squeals, might be having nightmares about becoming barbecued spare ribs (perhaps with Rikers orange booties). Yum yum. I am ready with a shelf full of BBQ sauce.
I had to laugh and cringe at the same time as this image formed in my mind.
Keith, I can hear the squealing and it is dee light ful!
How about sqweee-lightful
Right, Daria? She’s amazing. Good morning. All well in the Yucatán?
There was quite a rainstorm last night. Daria and I got to have lunch yesterday (with our spouses) in Mérida and had a lovely time!
Fabulous! Salud!
Ok I’m officially jealous. I’d love to meet both of you! Especially in warm Mexico.
Me, too, KR. There are so many here whom I consider"friends" whom I've never met. Would love to seomday.
Heather's Herd, just sayin'...
Yes, yes, and yes💙💙💙!
Ellie, I'm not sure Heather's Herd can allow me to meet folks in person.
Realky, KR, it was a grand afternoon! Stay toasty up that way!
I’m so happy for you both! It’s 15 degrees here, my husband is out skiing, and I’m planning to mostly stay inside and work on taxes. I might take the wild puppy to the park, if I can bundle up enough! No riding today - too damn cold.
KR, we are resurfacing from a heavy icing here in West TN, ick! Let’s head to Mexico?! 😉
how lovely to think of you two, whom I now consider online friends, together in gorgeous Merida
Ally, we had wind and not one drop of rain and we're but 7 km from your hotel!
There was quite a rainstorm last night in St. John USVI. A thunder clap woke us up!
Envious!!
Good morning, Christine! Yes indeedy, all is well and, as Ally mentioned, we met for lunch and had a really nice visit.
I would have loved to meet you and Ally for lunch there! So glad you got together.
The REAL "rats" are the ones who are cowardly hiding from the J6 Committee. This is the Chinese "Year of the Water Tiger." I would submit that those real "rats" should be very wary of 9 people sitting on that committee who are as cunning as tigers and who have already sniffed out the rodents from their mountainous "droppings."
Love this, Ellen.
If only his head would blow up!