785 Comments

Heather -

If we do not face the reality that our US news media is censoring so many realities and constantly promoting Trump 45 then how can we hope to win? Please! This needs to be addressed!!! Just this past Sunday Kristen Welker's interview with Elise Stefanik was a total sell out. All Americans on Jan 6 watched our temple of democracy attacked and now Rep. Stefanik states that these people are "Hostages"? Heather, we need to focus on the US news media whether it is the far right media or just Fox News or the corporate media which omits and censors so many realities and threats such as the climate crisis.

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Jan 13·edited Jan 13

How can we hope to win? Because we hope enough people recognize the truth. The media has nearly unlimited rights to say what it wants, and we have to have trust that enough Americans can discern the truth from a sea of falsehoods.

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I follow Jennifer Rubin in the Washington Post. Here is today's great article:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2024/01/12/media-trump-cult/

It can be disheartening but we need to keep the faith that democracy will survive. Thank you Heather for all you do. "Take up oxygen, people"!

Speak out. Someone I know in our little VT village recently posted a very courageous plea on VT's "Front Porch Forum" for people to wake up to the fascism that is ready to engulf us, if we let it...

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Rubin nailed it! I have been told over and over again {even by people I highly respect} that the Trump phenomenon was in large part caused by a culture that “left people behind,” and that did not respect the true stress and pain they were in , or that disrespected their intelligence. That never rang true to me. What always seems evident is that Trumpists feel cheated out of what they thought was their due — living at the top of the heap in the King of the Mountain game they were playing with the world. And they’ve been looking for a scapegoat to blame for it. The people who have been demanding diversity, equity, and inclusion are the perfect fall guys, since they champion the Trumpists’ favorite scape goats. [Trumpists don’t admit that with diversity come THEM, too. With equity, THEIR interests are also a part of it. And with inclusion, THEY are included, too. But they don’t want DEI, because it means they have to share, and they are too infantile to share … !

They’re not Trump fans because they’re economically disenfranchised and feel forgotten. They’re Trumpists because they think they are supposed to be more privileged than women, LBGTQi+, or POC, and they’re not anymore.

Rubin said: < Unfortunately, patronizing excuses (e.g., “they feel disrespected”) for their cultlike attachment to a figure increasingly divorced from reality largely took the place of exacting reporting on the right-wing cult that swallowed a large part of the Republican Party.> She hit the nail on the head — Most of what passes for Trump approval is the cult behavior of people who are conditioned NOT to challenge their “leader.”

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"racial resentment and cultural panic, not economic distress, fueled their affinity for a would-be strongman." -Jennifer Rubin

“If you can convince the lowest white man he's better than the best colored man, he won't notice you're picking his pocket. Hell, give him somebody to look down on, and he'll empty his pockets for you.” -Lyndon Johnson

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becky estill,

Great quote....and unfortuntely.....prejudice in all its ugly forms is an attitude that can destroy the best in us as individuals as well as within our country as a whole. Prejudice blinds us to the best in others.....it cripples us as a nation...blessed in so many ways....blessed to give....blessed to be able to choose to lift one another up as well as to be able to receive the gifts and beauty within others.

To choose to love and respect one another is worth the work, and the time. To continue growing and developing ourselves as American citizens,, we must take the time to examine ourselves. Love and respect and lifting up one another are powerful qualities. Each one of us has great possibilities within us to demonstrate these qualitiies in one venue or another. It can simply be showing kindness and appreciation to a caregiver or complimenting a child for being kind to a sibling or a "thank you" for help locating an item in a grocery store....or we can meet a need within our community.

We have a history of cruelty and a history of offering kindnesses. Which attitudes and actions we choose as individuals will increase or decrease the health of our nation.

There is power in love and kindness. It does take a secure and brave heart to release these qualities....but it is a possible choice. We just have to choose to take the action and trust in the return.....which we may never see with our eyes.

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Saying that we are all equal is such an affront to so many, and that disconnect is pounded home hourly by Rupert and our MSM (thank you, Jennifer Rubin), that our Statue of Liberty is a lie in the sky. We all need a refresher course in kindness, for “the other” whether they be human or animal.

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Yes. Deeply, kindly said!

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I remember those days. It still breaks my heart.

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That's what the book "CASTE" is all about. And the new movie "Origin". We have a caste system in America.

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Need to check it out…thx

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Johnson knew them well. So did I growing up in the South.

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Racial resentment and cultural panic are inseparable from economic distress, as any one who has an even cursory understanding of American history could explain. Our particular brand of racism was birthed out of our capitalist slave economy. We have always been divided over race; our capitalist overlords demand it.

But ask the liberal class to honestly critique capitalism? They are as unwilling to address their cult-like addiction to that status quo artifice of misery as the Trumpers are their racism. And so we continue to circle the drain, as no one wants to address the real problem.

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I have yet to see a functional solution to dumping capitalism — for …. {what is your prescription for the solution?} …

You are fundamentally mistaken here, as well. Leftists like me who think capitalism can be rescued IF IT IS FAR MORE WELL REGULATED are clearly not championing the “status quo.” The status quo is exactly what requires far more structure and regulation to make it work for everyone and not just the uber-wealthy.

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While I agree that liberals are often unwilling to critique capitalism, your first statement (as I understand it) is not true.

"Racial resentment and cultural panic are inseparable from economic distress," Not so, Tom. The insurectionists with racial bias and panic are not/were not in economic distress.

"More than half of the Jan. 6 insurrectionists were white-collar workers such as business owners, architects, doctors and lawyers. Pape, who has decades of experience studying global political violence, says this statistic was unexpected. Out of the hundreds of people arrested for breaking into the Capitol, he says only 7% were unemployed at the time." Robert Pape, U of Chicago.

More on the rioters' demographics at https://www.wbur.org/hereandnow/2022/01/03/jan-6-rioters-white-older

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And the real problem is?

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Tom, it's the current ultra-caricatural wildcat capitalism -- look no steering, look no brakes -- that's the problem, rather than capitalism per se.

What we have now looks like cold war Soviet propaganda applied as the practical model for real-world economic activity. (That, incidentally, fits Russian policy perfectly, but... it applies, sometimes more sometimes less approximately, to today's capitalist practice worldwide.)

Public authorities everywhere are now caught in crossfire aimed at destroying all government and bringing limited functions under direct control of what take themselves for corporate interests. In effect, the destruction of government bureaucracy, including all agencies, and its replacement by competing corporate bureaucracies. The latter responsible only to themselves.

Not just no room, no oxygen, left for democracy, citizenship is dissolved, becomes meaningless. And... not just no room for the citizen, no room for human beings. Only financial abstractions. Monetarist economics boiled down to its crudest essence, no longer the management of the household (oikos) for the benefit of the householders, but book-keeping for the exclusive benefit of a handful of absentee offshore -- or off-planetary -- landlords.

Money shall speak unto money, all other voices to be reduced to background noise, mind-absorbing entertainment.

We are, fortunately, still in a chaotic transitional situation in which human agency remains possible, but my expectation, back in 1991-1992, that all the most absurd and, worse, the most tyrannical aspects of the Communist system, would now migrate to and infect triumphal capitalism... is close to being realized... or overcome, drowning in its own tide of detritus and hitech chaos.

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What is... - please state plainly what *it is that you 'name' as some 'status quo' addiction of 'only liberals'? Spell your allegories out in plain simple language. I'd care to not make any assumptions as to your actual meanings. Also, speak in some plain depth to your assertion of 'Trumpers' racism, as though it's their one and only ill. These are earnest questions in order to understand you Tom - not a trap. And, what is a 'liberal class' in your mind ? And why do you assert in general so much - with seeming certainty of conviction ? Why do assert that some undefined 'liberal class' possess "Artifices" ? This flat plain of writing leaves much to be desired... know what I mean ?

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When the first predictions that white people would become a minority came out Black people predicted maga/trump.

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And, for SURE, the interview with OUR PRESIDENT was stellar.

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I have no doubt that it was Pat. I've just not watched it yet, as I have a good idea already of Heather's inquiry. I shall watch it, you can bet; but for the time being I'm focused on the comment section. Brava friend !

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Thanks. The interview, D4N, was very short and very conceptual. What I thought was stellar is that it revealed character and competence. She did not go into granular detail {which I would have liked in a longer talk with the man — put him through his paces}. But for what it was, it revealed him, and I believe that is what she was after.

For certain, even a good man can go astray, but Biden in the interview is a good — and I think also articulate — man. I would surround such a man with other good men of excellence, just-thinking, and dedication to our government [of by and for us], to advise and assist him, and I think we need to communicate the will of the people to them often … [LOL, the White House web site has a comment link where we can direct our thoughts to the president, and people should use it — a lot]

Be well.

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Let's try another perspective, Pat G. O'Brien.

Rather than entertain the notion of "a culture that 'left people behind,' and 'that did not respect the true stress and pain they were in,'" let's just look at the naked facts of offshoring.

After the Powell memo had, during the 1970s, neutered the schools, U.S. economic elites offshored millions of working-class jobs over the next several decades. The billionaires who did this of course first killed humanities from higher ed and from K-12, because, as they did their predations, they knew they wanted silence about it.

American novelists, memoirists, film makers, and musicians saw what the billionaires were doing. We well got the humanities we ought to have gotten. But no schools used any of it. Our elites dehumanized as dark money and massive predation took over. The abandoned were truly abandoned. (See Barbara Kingsolver's "Demon Copperhead" -- & there are many more key arts.)

Why did so many working-class -- or formerly working -- people hate Hillary? Why did so many feel schools were just habitats for ghoul standardized testers? Or, across "higher" just sinkholes to indebt students? Why did social media billionaires so easily spew so much hate and divisiveness?

America is still in a bad way. I'm not asking you "to feel" for the MAGA tens of millions. But I am asking you to see how instrumental our elites have been in the damages now so ruling toxic.

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Phil Balla,

We do not need to live as victims. This is America and I meet many good hardworking people keeping our country going everyday and I try to say, 'Thank you' as often as possible with respect, no matter how their job may be judged/valued by our society.

Are we doing our part to help lift up one another?

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Every time I check out at a store (grocery/hardware/where ever) or go through a drive-through (Starbucks is my guilty pleasure, but Wendy's is right up there) I tell people "Thank you for being here".

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Adore that Emily...

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Are all billionaires greedy bastards? I thought that Rose Kennedy was right. To those to whom much is given, much is expected. Or something like that. Seems “greed is good” caught on, for poor bastard as well as the rich. Which means finding somebody to stomp into the ground, or identify as suckers and losers

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Look at Mckensie Scott, Jef Bezo's ex-wife. She has quietly taken that $$$$ she got and is doing good with it. Spreading it around to a variety of organizations that are doing good within the country. Do we hear much about that? No, because the divisive and hateful stories are what people eat up.

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Jeri, the phrase "From those to whom much is given, much is expected" (Luke 12:48) is what I was taught by the nuns all through my years in Catholic girls schools. It was taught to us as a moral obligation and referred to not just those with financial means but also those with intellectual or artistic abilities. All were seen as gifts of God with responsibilities to be used for social good. I am no longer a practicing Catholic, but I have never forgotten those early lessons.

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Truly the mantra of the ‘80’s. Begs an understanding of how the term “noblesse oblige” was bastardized.

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Ah Jeri; you are such an intuitive, sensitive soul. My kind of soul.

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Thank you, Phil. The double helix of racism and economic class politics are inseparable. Racism, fear of the ‘other’, fear of loss of ‘status, or ‘place’, none of this can be addressed, and it’s not baked in beyond hope of changing, without first fixing income/wealth inequality. Past a certain threshold of wealth disparity, social chaos resides, and that is where we are now.

No politics but class politics, or we are sunk.

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Tom-I fully agree that racism is baked into American style capitalism. Whiteness was invented by the ruling class.

If we study Bacon’s Rebellion and the early colonial years we’ll clearly see how racism was (is) used as a tool for conquering the masses.

Racism trumps class. White people who accept race as a valid construct have enjoyed their privileges. Now that this status is being threatened they need a “strong” racist to maintain the status quo (or to even take them back to when America was “great”.

Despite off shoring of jobs, if labor united, capitalists would be in trouble.

Too many White people are not “woke”-they’re blinded by skin color.

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Tom, I think that, as economics goes, you might have an interesting theory regarding wealth disparity and social chaos.

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Are you looking for "disposable income" beyond needs conceptually Tom ? C.O.L.A. conceptually was all about that, at least till measurements became bastardized by the greedy.

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Tom, what are your thoughts regarding Universal Basic Income?

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Phil Balla — yes, yes, and yes, those things happened. I do talk about them {and write about them} all the time. Constantly!

Especially the hollowing out of our education to keep people from thinking about the issues you raise. I submit that even our popular entertainment culture was pressed into service to carry the subtle messages that helped people to demonize at least two of the pillars of a self-governing society that our founders tried to set up — education, as you say, and also the press have been demonized and devalued, consistently in recent decades, especially.

[For example, you remember when movies championed the possibility of dedication and excellence in teaching? Something like “Up the Down Staircase”? When are teachers portrayed these days as anything more than dumb foils for clever kids — as far ack as Ferris Bueller? The Breakfast Club? And don’t get me wrong, I LIKED both movies … ]

Also, WHEN are journalists these days worthy people and not venal little bastards intruding on people’s grief and giving away state secrets to get headlines?

I can’t help but think SOMEBODY wanted us to hate education and the press. And sadly, too many in the press are aiding and abetting their own demonization lately. That makes me sad, being a retired community-newspaper journalist who would NOT treat people badly for a headline.

Education, too, can always use a hand reaching more kids and treating them with consideration and respect, but teachers are still toiling and struggling in the trenches. They are the GOOD part of our system — if we want to go after it for its shortcomings, we need to address administrators and supervisors … too many of whom are part of the problems that so many people have with our system.

I would ask you also to define “our elites.” It’s a term often used to disparage the other side of an argument. It’s a term often used to mean “people with an education.” They are not necessarily the people who have the power to rule. THAT would be “people with money” and “people in government.”

So, who are you talking about?

Because the MAGA types dislike people with a vocabulary and an education —

Donnie, for instance, does have the elite education from places like Wharton, but you’d never know it from the way he talks. His “people” like that he talks like them and complains like them, even though he is among the MOST “elite” in this country, by dint of money and political power.

And looking at his history, he is one of the worst offenders at “leaving people behind,” stiffing labor, hiring undocumented people at low wages, offshoring his businesses to cheap labor countries, bankrupting businesses … Egad. In how many more ways could he make the lives of his faithful worse?

So, who should I be taking a more critical look at? I am seriously asking ….

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Please note also, Pat, that I've not spoken of what standardized testing has done to K-12.

Humanities thus all zapped there, too.

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Pat: That's just too tempting for me dear; you can bet we'll be chatting about this topic later at some point..

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Sorry, Pat, but worst for me are our silo-"educated."

First object of the Powell memo's new, far-right foundations was through the 1970s to hound professors (The Heritage Foundation, and the enlarged Hoover Institution) strictly to stay in specializations, to hew to neutered, specialized, wonk (and "theory").

Powell and his far-right corporate and finance colleagues virulently hated how profs used humanities in anti-war, pro-civil rights, and women's rights causes through the 1960s. These on the far-right wanted an end to that energy, those humanities.

They also had their new, very-well funded ALEC get state legislatures to defund all the great land grant colleges and universities we had since Lincoln signed the great Justin Morrill legislation in 1862. Tenure position fell. It put more pressure on those bidding for what was left of it even more to hew to dehumanized specialization limits.

Also threw vulnerable students to the mercies of student loan bankers. Put most undergrad teaching in the hands of a totally new class of extra-vulnerable contingent labor.

So we've had for years now educated (largely Dem) elites with no use for humanities. No one used the novels, songs, memoirs, or films that did anyhow in fact yet see the huge damages that came from the mass offshoring of jobs, and the growth of the wealth gap by our billionaire classes.

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what do you mean by damages? There is only one party working to move the needle forward.

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You've got a good piece of it Phil.

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Jan 13·edited Jan 13

Pat,

"They’re not Trump fans because they’re economically disenfranchised and feel forgotten. They’re Trumpists because they think they are supposed to be more privileged than" (everyone else)

Bingo, you nailed it to the bone.

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I keep saying:

respecting another person's rights does not mean you have LESS -

IT'S NOT PIE!

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Keep saying it, Beverly!! Thanks.

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And I would like to add that most of the time “It’s JUST pie!” Everyone sometimes gets more or less than the next person.

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Hmmm....

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A decent parent would have corrected that bully tactic in a young child. Chump’s didn’t and apparently others failed also. MAGAts just follow idiotic leaders (or the idiotic “leaders” just find the whiners) and a cult is born. Most self-destruct. This one will take an Ike.

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I think it IS a vulnerable cult, but it is also strong, it’s been going on quite a while, and many rank-and-file Trumpers are on record supporting him in their communities.

As a facet of human psychology, disabusing a person of an idea is more difficult once they have expressed their support of the idea [or another person who embodies it]. When they have spoken a preference, it kind of “takes root,” and it’s harder to dispel. Just a fact of how we function.

SO, with all the years of lawn signs and declarations of “love” for the man, Trumpism will be harder to unseat in our general population, but we have to try, because he is soooooooo very toxic.

[corrected a misspelling above]

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Yes indeed; a difficult truth for some, I think because we all want to believe our own bs. Falsely attributed to Twain is the 'saw' that "It's far easier to fool a man (human), than to convince him that he's been fooled." - very well said, though not by Twain. What he did say was, " "The glory which is built upon a lie soon becomes a most unpleasant incumbrance. ... How easy it is to make people believe a lie, and how hard it is to undo that work again!" - Which is nearly the same, but very true, profound, and very humanly common among us. *edit in > Eg., I would "love" to grade my own tests.

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That may be, but of the people that I know who voted for Trump in 2016, several of them did it as "a joke"--no kidding. (no pun intended)

My own sister despised Hilary and so voted for Trump. She voted entirely, 100%-ly on PERSONALITY.

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That makes sense to me, THAT PEOPLE MAY HAVE CAST FriVOLOUS OR REACTIVE VOTES IN 2016 — FAR too many people thought Hillary was a shoo-in and could not be beat by someone like Trump {she did poll many millions of votes more than Donnie, but the Electoral College and the way votes are apportioned in the states was the undoing of our democracy … }.

I don’t have a high opinion of Hillary’s politics over the years, but I could have supported a number of her initiatives —for instance, I didn’t read all of it, but I was pleased with her ideas about health insurance all the way back in the 90’s, but the flash-anger at this upstart woman having the nerve to do a job for her husband’s administration was swift and all-encompassing, shooting down any thought of a comprehensive health-care-system overhaul for a lot of years! And her idiot husband and his administration did NOT give her the support she deserved, failing to hit back effectively against the charge that she was “not elected” and should shut up. [MOST of the people who toil in the trenches of our government, advising and administering on policies, are not elected, but that was used against her to great effect, and not countered with rational thought. MOSTLY, people already disliked her feminism, and Slick Willy let it stand. Ugh.}

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That's kinda' on mark Miselle. I believe something added is missing though. I've been trying to reach out to my champions to help them, but alas, their "filters" are their worst enemies - even as bad as the magat's. In fact, I've tried to reach these self supposed 'champions' for over a decade now. It's heart breaking, angering, etc., etc. *edit > And please oh please don't think for one instance that I have any belief whatsoever that I have more brains, education, or understanding than 'anyone' here. My brain does in fact though, operate a bit 'differently' than some. It's been characterized as less by some theorists; I've come to accept it as ok - as my unique 'norm.'

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Folks also felt like they couldn't connect to her. That phrase often suggests to me that people like Hillary may have Aspergers (high end of the spectrum autism). She is brilliant but off putting. Al Gore may be Aspy as well. Most folks seem to need an emotional connection to and from a leader in order to trust and to follow. Like we have with "Joe."

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That may have some validity, though I think we are sometimes too quick to attribute neurodivergence to every little personality quirk. But I know and am even related to a lot of people who are on the autism spectrum, some slightly, some profoundly. You may have a point that some of the people who are more cerebral than emotional are just made that way. Diversity is out there …

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I haven’t “connected” with a politician, ever. I just want somebody who is competent, empathetic and fair. Ronnie “connected” because he was a better actor than I gave him credit for.

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MaryPat, daily I read between 50% to 80% of the comments.

Today, I stopped after reading for a half hour, and I just posted what is a rant.

Sure to upset a lot of people. Oh well.

Time for me to take a few days off from the comment section, I guess.

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I knew men who wouldn’t vote for a woman, any woman. They are still out there

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I would love it if all of the members of the R Party (officials and plain ole people) would check their DNA. I believe they would be very surprised to learn they might be descendants of African Americans and/or Jewish tribes!

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How true, elitists/purists are just mutts, like the rest of us. Genetics just scrambles and we try to sort and rate.

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And all kinds of folks!! Yeah!!

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An analysis in 2021 by Robert Pape, U of Chicago, of 377 insurrectionists found the majority came from counties won by Biden in the election. Furthermore,

“By far the most interesting characteristic common to the insurrectionists’ backgrounds has to do with changes in their local demographics: Counties with the most significant declines in the non-Hispanic White population are the most likely to produce insurrectionists who now face charges.”

My own brother, caucasian, said the country will change with too many POCs. I think he fears not being in the majority.

https://www.minnpost.com/eric-black-ink/2021/04/a-look-at-demographics-of-the-jan-6-insurrectionists/

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Whites are already not seen as the majority and that is what the R’s are afraid of. Therein lies the reason for committing the egregious crimes that they do. The religious sectors cannot stand interracial marriages or relationships that have been taking place for decades, nor do they accept LGBTQ. Look at Project 2025, the 900 page manifesto that they are promoting and you will see their fear.

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YES! And Project 2025 is why we cannot elect ANY Republican or conservative… !

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I told a 9th grade student, years ago, that he was not in the majority, worldwide, and he was shocked. Just wanted to take him down a peg or two from his high horse with another student POC.

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What an outstanding perspective, (and I hope you're the "Snarky Grandma"! Left behind by others gaining what you've always taken for granted. And yes, it is a cult.

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I know many people that are educated and we'll off and they are Trump supporters. They think he did a wonderful job and find no reason at all not to vote for him again. It's discussing that they follow him and find him so great. I can not understand this.

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Agree! Thanks for summarizing this important column by Ms. Rubin. Five or so years ago I would “beat my head against the wall trying to understand t-rump’s hold on so many millions. I finally realized that Racism s a big part of it, but Rubin’s article really articulates the full picture.

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Thanks for the link to the Rubin article. If only journalists would wake up to what she is saying!

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HCR refers to how ideas change society. My specialty as a historian is the ideas in the Declaration of Independence. In the age-old natural law tradition, happiness comes from cultivating virtue, and benevolence -- active concern for the well-being of others -- is at the heart of the preeminent virtue of justice.

Among the Founders, the elite Slavepower faction rejected such thinking, favoring John Locke, who was safe for slavery. Locke's thought, divorcing happiness from virtue and dismissing benevolence, is at the heart of the Libertarian thinking that is important to the mind-set of today's Republican Party.

Unfortunately, John Locke has been tattooed onto the minds of our academic historians as the intellectual author of the Declaration of Independence. I rebut this absurd falsehood here:

https://www.academia.edu/29164747/The_Declaration_of_Independence_without_Locke_A_Rebuttal_of_Michael_Zuckerts_Natural_Rights_Republic_

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“Your specialty as a historian.” Well, blow my socks off…

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Yeah, mine too. I thought he was just a paid troll from Moscow.

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Try this link, it's gifted: https://wapo.st/3HgvD3q

Sorry I didn't think to do this right away, next time! :)

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Jan 13·edited Jan 13

Yes she is so very good! I read her column regularly as well!

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Paywall prohibits access

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Thank you for sharing this Sally!

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It was a great editorial. She has it exactly right.

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I wasn’t able to access the article.

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https://wapo.st/41T52Tz

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You can request free newsletter from the Post in your email at no charge.

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Ditto. Will see if I can find it reposted somewhere.

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We can write to members of the media and tell them they're doing a bad job. Let Kristen Welker know that she blew it, and why she blew it. Let her bosses know.

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Besides Ms Welker, I blame “her bosses” for not giving her the fact points she needed to rebut Ms Stephanik’s obvious false statements! (It’s not like they’re not known beforehand! They’re repeated like a broken record! )

As it turned out, Stephanik’s false statements weren’t challenged and in effect were the “last word” in the discussion which, unfortunately, gives them a certain weight with portions of the audience!

BAD interview!

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Where was it? For whom does Welker report? I noticed that the Guardian had a very negative opinion piece aabout Stephanik.

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Dav, Kristin Welker performed a bad interview from our perspective perhaps, but it seems not too hard to imagine NBC was seeking more eyes and ears from some of tRump-land. As much as we may see MSNBC as being a place for a liberal or progressive point of view to comfort us, our "echo-chamber," NBC is a corporate entity needing to get enough eyes ad ears to justify what it charges its advertisers. In the end, NBC is a for-profit entity trying to remain viable in a VERY crowded information environment obeying the rules of capitalism. I suppose the producers may have also believed they were giving a nod to "the other side," but in the end, like so many other news sources, they are driven by the bottom line. How else do they host "the longest running show in television history?" Alas, I do miss Chuck Todd.

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Must you use a synonym for the derriere, which is an attractive secondary sex characteristic on both genders, as an epithet aimed at one of the most vile H. sapiens ever to walk the planet?

The name, with the small "t" and the capital R is not going to hurt TFG in the least, and it's a very juvenile sort of slur.

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I agree with you JohnM ALMOST!

Chuck, while somewhat better, was not great at rebutting false narrative either! I often yelled at the TV during his interviews when he’d move on to his next question on his list without resolving the previous one!

Tim Russert had the knowledge and the g’nads to not allow blatant falsehoods to stand uncontested on Meet the Press!

That’s one good reason why it’s “longest running”!

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Her bosses are the problem.

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Jeri Chilcutt, my problem with Kristen Welker is she doesn’t seem up to the job. She is a good reporter, but on “Meet The Press”, in my opinion , the moderator’s role is to play devil’s advocate. I am thinking she needs to be replaced with Jen Psaki or Nicole Wallace.

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Sharon, I LOVE the idea of Jen Psaki as a host of Meet the Press! She seems one of the most unflappable yet extraordinarily well-informed individuals I have seen on national media! And she appears to do it without appearing to be combative!

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Makes me miss Tim Russert...

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Indeed.

she ain't it

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I totally agree.

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Not sure sure about Jen in her new “reporting” role! She MAY grow into it!

Nicole is possible because of her previous experience in the Republican Party!

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I didn't see this fiasco, nor have I read in any detail about it. Thanks for putting the blame where at least some of it belongs!

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The media are both lazy and driven by the need for high ratings and profits. They walk a balance beam hoping to present both sides and keep everything positive and thus please their corporate masters. But you can’t do that when one side is grounded in fantasy and lies. One of the pillars of democracy has been crumbling for decades.

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I don’t watch mainstream tv, but I do tune in to some of the “news” shows on YouTube (eg Rachel Maddow highlights) and I follow some pundits who post their own videos on YouTube. I have been dismayed on some of the MSNBC shows of the overfocus on the legal entanglements of the former president. There is rarely any reporting (in my limited viewing) on the economy, what is actually happening at the southern border, Ukraine.....I have written emails to msnbc but I have yet to find a way to get to individuals like, psaki, melber, reid, etc.

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You're raising a bunch of very important points. Thank you! I don't watch TV--I get most of my news and opinions from several substacks (especially Robert Hubbell and HCR), from Jennifer Rubin at the WaPo, and The Morning on the NYT. But if you can find ways to reach Psaki et al, you should provide HCR's readers with that.

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Unfortunately the MSM in general is not going to ask the really hard questions most of the time. If they did, their guests would not come back. And the media has to sell us something, right? ;)

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Then how do we attempt to understand how Trump supporters believe every word that comes out of his lying mouth? Why can't his followers see the truth that is so foundational to building a democracy?

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I don't think everyone cares about democracy. The billionaires who are funding Trump and his party want people who will do what they want, which is to feed the beast. The beast being their endless desire for wealth and the privileges it is bringing them. They are rigging things, but each of them gets one vote. We each get the same number of votes as they do. Those who are not wealthy and want Trump want the idea that they are special, and he is telling them that if they vote for him they are. I think the Evangelical church is doing a great job of preparing people to follow a charismatic leader no matter what he says or does. They are sheep. However, as Biden says, a lot of people are not sheep. We want to determine our own lives. Let us hope that those of us who want democracy and want to see us getting more democratic prevail. Statistically there are more of us, but will we go out and vote and will we not be gerrymandered away, or have some other obstacle to voting get in our way?

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Left unsaid is the wholesale fury at Biden over our support of Netanyahu's Israel. Here in New York, there have been huge protests. I worry these people won't vote if he doesn't begin pressuring for a ceasefire.

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My nephew, who is 22 and in cooking school in NY, is angry about Biden's support of Israel bombing Gaza, but he also told me that he will vote for Biden as the "lessor of evils." I told him he was being very mature to understand that one does not always like everything about a candidate. He says in his program people are very upset, but that does not mean they are not more upset with Trump and what he stands for. The worry would be that they would vote for Cornell West as a third party candidate who is portraying himself to be Leftist. We shall see, but I think caring about war, or being against Netanyahu, is not necessarily a Trump voter.

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True but people need to set priorities. This is not a time to demand perfection over the good. A good way to get the worst.

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Linda,

More and more Americans are more and more horrified at the Biden administrations continued full support for genocide in Gaza.

This article in today's NY Times (gift link) provides more detailed information being presented at the ICC this week.

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/01/12/opinion/israel-icj-genocide-south-africa.html?unlocked_article_code=1.NU0.ADUs.S0FomoZgVMSl&smid=url-share

The entire Biden administration uses one word to describe Israel's genocide in Gaza: "Meritless".

Now, even I am having more and more difficulty talking myself into voting for Biden. A man who is ALL IN for killing all the brown people in Gaza as part of Israel's "Final Solution" for the Palestinians.

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That sounds encouraging, Linda.

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Or they will vote for third parties or independents. I join the disgust that Biden will not call for a ceasefire.

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Great vote for chump. How insane are some of us.

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Far too early for prognosticating / doom prediction. I don't care a whit what others do or do not.

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have you read the news from the Toronto News that some of the protestors are paid participants...

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It’s not wholesale. Hell, most of the commenters here are giving him a pass. Can’t be critical of Joe; it might help Trump. The tribal sycophants abound. From Caitlin Johnstone’s latest piece:

“In the end, you get peace by pursuing peace. That’s how it happens. You don’t get it by pursuing impossible imaginary ideals like the total elimination of Hamas while butchering tens of thousands of innocent Palestinians. You don’t get it by trying to bludgeon the middle east into passively accepting an active genocide. You get it by negotiation, de-escalation, diplomacy and detente.

The path to peace is right there. The door’s not locked. It’s not even closed. The fact that they don’t take it tells you what these imperialist bastards are really interested in.“

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Hi Tom,

I'm back. Can't hold my tongue on this one.

Have you discussed this excellent concept with the billionaire Hamas leaders dedicated to the deaths or expulsion of all Jews from Israel? The organization that has built it's entire existence on a genocide of Jews?

Have you asked them why they use the billions fed to them by countries like Qatar to buy rockets and drones from Iran - rather than feeding their people? Why they squandered several fortunes building tunnels instead of civilian infrastructure?

The people of Gaza could end this whole nightmare with one simple act. Turn over the Hamas murderers. Turn them in. Display a desire for peace by eschewing a militia that is willing to see their own children be maimed just for a maniacal religious crusade.

I don't agree with Netanyahu's approach to this war. But Gaza has offered nothing but rockets and terror to Israel. It takes two to achieve peace. When Hamas decides to govern by feeding and building - and dumps its insane charter, progress can be made. Until then, they invite and deserve their eradication.

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They are whining sheep with weapons of war. You are wrong, the voting scales are weighted in Texas and other places. The cult has been busy. The rigging is in place.

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The question is will the rigging in some places outweigh being more accessible in others? Biden won in the last election and these systems have been in place, only they are more pronounced now. It is still one person, one vote. However, Trump is showing his true colors more and more, and we are forewarned at how he will handle winning and losing. The first has him as a dictator, the second has him contesting it with every last ounce of his breath. Hopefully from prison, along with the rest of his fellow miscreants.

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How optimistic are you?

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Read “Testimony: Inside the Evangelical Movement That Failed a Generation” by Jon Ward.

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Someone wrote a fantastic book that lays out how our roots in the response to our Civil War led to the use of “them” as a tool to gain and manipulate power.

Trump’s supporters don’t “believe” so much as desire. The work of change is hard, most people would rather blame “others” than undertake the tasks that make life better for all of us.

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There is also an element of camaraderie among those who attend tfg rallies; they have become a community and following him around—like following a favorite football team’s schedule from place to place—has become their raison d’être.

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Love your subtlety for the assist and I’ll play for the goal.

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What is name of the book?

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How the South won the Civil War by Heather Cox Richardson

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I was thinking Democracy Awakening by the same author, but no argument.

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They belong to a cult, and cult members DO NOT challenge their leader.

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Al,

"how Trump supporters believe every word that comes out of his lying mouth?"

I think this question may have an answer.

MANY of Trump's most passionate followers are very highly religious and part of evangelical churches or the Southern Baptist Church.

In these churches, people are trained, from birth, to "believe" the white man at the front of the church who is spewing out all manner of nonsense every Sunday.

IF a person is TRAINED FROM BIRTH to BELIEVE rather than THINK, ANALYZE, DISCERN, then, what happens when a white man who talks quite similarly to the white man at the front of your church runs for President and sounds very familiar?

Well? You BELIEVE. You do what you were TRAINED to do.

I really think that is the root understanding of the millions of people who swallow Trump's BS all day every day.

They have been trained from BIRTH to swallow stuff handed to them from the pulpit of white man making up stuff every Sunday.

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Today’s evangelicals are a different breed from the Christians I grew up with. Goldwater knew that and predicted this. They are indeed trained be buy bull Schitt.

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Jeri,

I sort of bought the BS as well, BUT, I made the mistake of reading the New Testament myself instead of just listening to the white man spewing bile about who was going to hell and who was not on Sunday.

What I read in the New Testament was NOT what I heard on Sunday mornings.

I wondered if maybe I ought to pay attention to the words of Christ which contain, with one exception, no bile and only love.

The one exception is the money changers in the temple. Those guys Christ did not like.

BUT, the preachers LOVE the guys with money. Everyone else can literally "go to hell".

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Yep, Jesus is being maligned with every syllable that magets and their ilk spew. But their self-righteous blather equals anything the Pharisees could do

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Jon Ward has a book, “Testimony,” that supports exactly that. And he’s a pastor’s son.

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Check out Steve Hassan , ex-cult member and now expert

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steven_Hassan

And Dr. Bandy Lee, forensic and societal psychiatrist. She calls it Trump contagion. She advised that this is a well known phenomenon, psychosis contagion. She admonishes media and leaders for not including mental health experts in their policy and discussion.

Listening to these folks you understand why millions are following this con man

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I too am deeply morally conflicted about the Israeli response to the Hamas attack. It has been explosively vengeful, far out of proportion to the wickedness of the Hamas attack. If we are to believe medics who volunteer in war zones, it is a reality of slaughter that is exponentially greater than any experience they have borne witness to in other war zones. And it tells us more about how Israel has been seduced and corrupted by the power of being the biggest player on the block, after centuries of being persecuted.

That said, I believe that the Biden administration has worked hard to bring order out of this chaos. As their most powerful and longest-standing ally, they were morally obliged to support Israel’s initial response. This despite how antithetical Netanyahu’s warped personality is to Biden on a personal level. Then, once the genie was out of the bottle and it became obvious how vicious the Israeli response was, American diplomacy pivoted and began to try to check the ferocity. This was a “Try and stop the wind” moment. Israel’s government effectively has dared America to sanction it in hard ways. They know how powerful the Jewish lobby is in America, how weirdly their country has become brothers-in-arms with the massive Evangelical “church” and they certainly know it’s an election year. This is where America could have pulled the plug. But doing so would be to sow the wind and reap the whirlwind. The geopolitical consequences of an American break with Israel would almost certainly light the torch for a full Mideast war. Biden is on the horns of a dilemma - he literally has no good choices. Only the Israeli people can check the madness of their far right government.

Having said all that, I would like to get to my main point. To call Biden a “failed and too old candidate” is simply absurd. You should take a hard look at his 3 years in office and judge it dispassionately. History will record Biden as an extraordinarily successful President who served with honor, common sense, and compassion through the second greatest crisis in American history. Gratuitous insults such as you offered really need to be backed with evidence that this is a man working against the best interests of America. He is far from “failed” and if his interview with Professor Cox Richardson is representative, he is also far from too old.

I rarely comment on posts with vitriol of my own. But I cannot help it in this case. You are coming at this from a narrow, shallow perspective and have opened yourself up for hard rebuttal. Biden may not win; I have deep concerns myself. But it will because Americans have reached an apex of withdrawal from honest consideration of the mortal threat the country faces, not because he has failed the nation.

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For anything one message you see that you challenge, Trump supporters have been brainwashed with 20 messages that tell them to believe it.

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I think there are different reasons why people support Trump. In fact, I know there are because I know people who support him. And each of them does so for related yet different reasons. So while I consider it important to understand why they feel the way they do, I consider it more important to outvote them. And to hope that there are enough independents in the purple states who can be swayed to do the same.

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Sadly, I think we see what we want to see. It takes effort to discern inconsistencies.

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Perception is reality and infinitely malleable.

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No doubt. We all have biases, so hopefully we have enough self-awareness to recognize when our biases want us to believe something that conflicts with facts. It’s easy to “feel” that one is right in that case; what Colbert calls “feel facts”.

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The truth is no longer a factor in this country for at least half the people. Trump would have won the last election if there was no COVID. And the resulting economic collapse. The US is now back to the basic human characteristic of me myself and I. The truth boat sailed in the 60’s. Later, Trump and his cult ran it aground on a reef.

Date of sinking 1-20-2017.

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Really, you don’t live in a sea of red. I keep thinking that people who see a tinge of purple might be able to “discern the truth” but the MSM sides with “alternative facts” (meaning officially sanctioned lies) more often than not. If they would get up and look outside, they might see something besides the propaganda machine grinding our lives away.

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Exactly, Daniel!!!

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Jan 13·edited Jan 14

Maybe there are more people like us that don't partake in the polls and don't accept the lies as truth. I believe that too many people in my area have fallen down the Fox Entertainment hole. However, rarely does the vote account for much in an election! I totally expect the electrol votes to all go to the Republican candidate! The last time I worked the polls where I worked only Biden got 4 votes. I was so distressed for days and was totally shocked when Biden was announced as the winner. So, should I work this year.... I will cast my ballot for straight Democrats...as we have that button available for both Democrats and Republicans. Most people only vote by color because they can't read and they know nothing about the other candidates running for office....sad but true.

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And, we HELP enough people to recognize the truth and vote accordingly.

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“How can we hope to win?” is a constructive question. One thing is for us to realize a crucial technique that the trump/fascism supporters are employing: overwhelming our capability to pay attention. Robert Reich outlines this brilliantly in his substack post from yesterday. It’s an important view of the fog we are in. I post a link to share: https://open.substack.com/pub/robertreich/p/how-trump-is-exploiting-our-scarcest?r=5g9ew&utm_medium=ios&utm_campaign=post

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Why are journalist not asking why, what is your source of info. When a man being interviewed in Iowa says that trump 'is godly' why was he not asked 'why do you say that'. 'What about trump makes you feel he is godly?' Nothing. No follow up...no challenging an absurd statement. That's not journalism...that's campaigning for trump.

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100%. I scream these same questions every time I see one of these clips. If journalists are not asking these questions, they become a sound bite/commercial for trump.

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God to that person is apparently a selfish, self-centered, greedy, con artist who is also a misogynist and rapist.

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Our local paper published a pro/con about J6. The con told us that J6 was a picnic.

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I often wonder, what is the presses end game? This is their country too.

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They have also for the most part stopped reporting news of the world. This creates a lot of ignorance and xenophobia.

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The Republicans have built this propaganda media network over many years. Much of it is radio where Rush Limbaugh was king. Fox channels are “sports” channels that attract men. There are now also Fox clones. YouTube is one of several social media channels where distortions can be posted with essentially no censorship. There are thousands of Americans (and “Russian” bots) who post materials that are inflammatory and full of hate and misinformation--Trump is the originator of some of the crap.

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That gap between what people believe and reality -- how do we overcome it? It’s so powerful. The media at least has to help by doing a better job. That gap is “the cult of personality.” Google the song and lyrics by Vernon Reid and his band Living Colour. “I tell you 1+1=3; I’m the cult of personality...”

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Stop watching Welker, she is as bad as Fox. I gave up on Sunday news shows when Cheney blathered bull Schitt during the Iraq fiasco. They still promote the Rupert version. Enough already.

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If it doesn’t square with you...SHUT IT OFF. Great message again , Jeri!

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I've come to like Velchi a lot.

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Me too, so thankful for the rare truth tellers

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I totally agree. It's almost like the msm is censoring the American people from the realities that are happening every day. Sensationalism and all things Trump dominate our daily news cycle. Positives evidently don't sell so we are kept in the dark about many important and necessary truths.I don't know what I would do without HCR and all of the other truth-telling wordsmiths out there who keep us up-to-date with both the good and the bad that is happening in our country and in our world. Bravo and thank-you, HCR!

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The media is subject to economic forces. It is up to us to engage with people who propagate dis/misinformation. It is up to us to change the conversation and stop letting magats run it. It used to be true that a lie travels around the world 10x faster than the truth. But that speed has increased exponentially with the internet, social media platforms, and far right wing news sources. We don't stand a chance if we stay comfortably silent while trump and his supporters hold the megaphone. Push back and persevere.

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Walter held on, despite economic forces. Head honchos didn’t expect news to be money-makers

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Terence, you could subscribe/watch the Useful Idiots podcast. They do a Monday Morning show critiquing all the Sunday shows on corporate media, so you don’t have to watch. Just be aware, their critique takes no prisoners; it skewers the GOP, Dems, and the media hosts with equal enthusiasm.

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Sadly for all of us and our poor country, TFFG is just more amusing than Biden. He's been the "best show on earth": a regular horror show. Biden, on the other hand, is like that TV show from the '50's: "Father Knows Best".

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I am very disappointed in Welker. She lets subjects roll over her.

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Who? 😉

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Kristen Welker, host of MTP

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I have lost confidence in journalists. Many do not hold politicians accountable for statements made in the moment. They take the bait from anti democratic forces that are schooled in Joseph Goebbels quote on the "Big Lie" and that bait results in many then believing the Big Lie. I have become a cynic - most press are now about profits.

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Just last week, I canceled my subscription to the NYT, telling them their coverage was biased. Their headlines are about all I want to see of them at this point.

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You might be interested in reading this post by Robert Reich about media and Trump: https://robertreich.substack.com/p/how-trump-is-exploiting-our-scarcest?r=73vlo&utm_medium=ios&utm_campaign=post

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The news media has always censored what they broadcasted or printed. Partly because there just isn't enough time or newsprint to publish everything. Partly because there were standards of what was "polite" to publish; did anyone need to know if JFK was sleeping with Marilyn Monroe? And partly because they were in the business of selling newspapers or on-air time. Today they are also competing for attention like they have never before. Today media seems to assume we will be attracted to the newest shiny or bloody or outrageous thing for 10 seconds and then on to the next shiny, bloody, or outrageous thing. Is this assumption valid? Are we rewarding the media for acting more like entertainment than information?

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Rupert made it du jour

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Yes, it does look like the British media devolved first. Remember when Gary Hart thought the news media wouldn't mention his mistress?

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Yep, I remember. Bet he scratches his head today

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Easy does it Terence; they are being watched / followed closer than you know.

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I love this man so much. The best President of the United States in my lifetime. And I’m 75.

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Me too. I am more left than Biden but he has the contacts and experience to make decisions he wants or can live with while moving still forward And I’m 84 next month.

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Happy Birthday Janet. When we elect a President, they get 4 or maybe 8 years to make a mark, to set a course sufficiently sound, to move us all forward. Mr Biden reminded me that anyone who believe they should hold the reins of office for more than that is a danger to our country. Like you, I hope to influence our nation's course, through those we elect with the skills sets as you outline them; experience, contacts, large view, worthy goals, an appreciation of their limitations and the strengths brought by others to the work of governing. (OK, I added a few skills.) I hope I live a few more years to see Biden's progressive foundation well laid and strongly built to support a new American democracy. Which is why, too, I don't see an alternative Democratic candidate for 2024 who could win and fulfill his legacy out in my lifetime.

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Thanks. I too would have written a lot more, but takes too long. It will be years before and/or if the other party can reform and rebuild. It will take all of us. I just hope to be here in Nov. That’s the goal.

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While I am younger, I still say the same thing.

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Especially if Joe wins the opportunity to complete his projects, I’m imagining Joe could be remembered as one of the Fathers of our Country.

PS: After seeing Heather’s interview posted today: Could there be a greater difference between Joe🇺🇸 and TFG🤡👞👹?

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I just finished watching several David Packman videos on You-Tube. The listeners that call in are no brain-washed by their friends and families, who, in turn have listened to Alex Jones, Dinesh D'Sousa, Sean Hannity and the other lying talking heads out there.

They think the southern border is open and that Trump finished the wall. Well, if Trump finished the wall how are these "illegals" getting across the border?

I agree with you will. Biden is the best President in my lifetime as well and because he has 330 million constituents, his job is far more complex and difficult that say, Eisenhower who had 25% fewer constituents.

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Trump is the best president in your lifetime???!

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Whew! Thanks for pointing that out and not too long after I posted it. I'm so embarrassed.

Here is a link to a Robert Reich video on 40 of TFFG's broken promises.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yky9xGsjQTE&t=312s

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Happy to help. 🙂

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Notably I said the same thing about Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton, Barack Obama and now Joe Biden. Each of these fine men were to this 72yo the very best for their time in office. I pray this trend continues and that I can someday celebrate a female President meeting those high standards.

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Same here and I’m 80.

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Jan 13·edited Jan 13

Far from the best. But not the worst, either, as far as imperialist presidents go.

https://www.caitlinjohnst.one/p/we-could-try-simply-not-provoking?utm_source=post-email-title&publication_id=82124&post_id=140638200&utm_campaign=email-post-title&isFreemail=true&r=eov1&utm_medium=email

“In the end, you get peace by pursuing peace. That’s how it happens. You don’t get it by pursuing impossible imaginary ideals like the total elimination of Hamas while butchering tens of thousands of innocent Palestinians. You don’t get it by trying to bludgeon the middle east into passively accepting an active genocide. You get it by negotiation, de-escalation, diplomacy and detente.

The path to peace is right there. The door’s not locked. It’s not even closed. The fact that they don’t take it tells you what these imperialist bastards are really interested in.”

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Agree and I’m 76. The right person at the right time!

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And just what inspires this love. I'm 76 and find myself on the opposite end of the spectrum with no clue as to the understanding or reasons for this "love", when in my mind all I see are the negatives and the path down which his views might very well lead the country.

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Mine as well, I'm 70; I constantly say he's the best president since FDR.

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In this interview, I think Biden will appear to be a hypocrite to younger Americans, and those who are struggling financially. They don’t see Americans as interested in helping each other as Biden says. They see Americans who are looking out for themselves, lining their own pockets, and, in the case of fossil fuel money, bringing on catastrophe to everyone.

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Hey HCR Community- also catch Heather o Al Franken’s podcast. It is spectacular as well!

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Thank you.

Just listened. Outstanding.

Every American should listen to this podcast.

Nikki Haley should be required to publicly listen to Heather discuss the cause of the Civil War, the Southern oligarchs wanting to spread slavery to Western expansion, what slave labor would do to the value of all laborers and to individual liberty and Lincoln’s response.

Most important is her discussion of how public opinion is being shaped today.

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She does not want to learn. She wants votes.

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I still open Al's emails. He was a great senator, and media distortion was largely responsible for his downfall.

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