518 Comments

So it’s okay to force people to register because they’re poor but it’s not okay to force people to register because they own guns? Do I have that right? These people are truly insane.

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Excellent point - people having to register to qualify for food, but not for having guns! Insane is right. Insane, selfish, inhuman, unethical, greedy ... I would also stop calling these uneducated people "conservatives". They are definitely sly, using deceiving words like "fair". Still, there is hope that some of the more mathematically inclined members of this unsavory party find even 23% tax less than fair. But who will explain this not-so-fair 'tax scheme act', using real life examples, to the underprivileged, showing how much the overly rich would gain (again!), and how much the other 99% would lose?

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These people are far right radical regressives. This reminds me of one of my government classes where one of my students (son of one of my colleagues, so knew my politics) suggested we have a flat tax. I know he expected a rant, but what he got was an exercise for the whole class using two incomes, one much more than the other. We agreed to a flat tax of 10 percent, so the math would be easy. They all had had a class called consumer survival, so they knew what was necessary. So I just put into two columns what they suggested. At the end, they rejected the flat tax and noted that the poorer income didn't even have enough money for a movie ticket. Nothing from me, everything from them.

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WOW!!! Now THAT is a learning experience! And should be part of every high school civics class! How lucky those students were to have you, Michele!

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We'd have to get every high school teaching a civics class first MaryPat. There are some who wouldn't want their kids to be that well informed.

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So true! Lots of parents that will do anything to AVOID their children being educated. No science, no civics, book banning etc. I can´t imagine what they are afraid of. Can you?

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Diane How true. I have difficulty thinking of parents insistent on banning books that they have never read.Indeed, I wonder if they ever read books.

The Hasidim (ultra-Orthodox Jews) rank among the worst in New York City and in Israel. Major public funding is provided for schools that do not teach science, math, English, and other ‘secular’ material. Especially in Israel these folks are then subsidized for life to study religious texts.

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Remember, the PRIMARY tactic used by the Republican Party is FEAR. Make people afraid of everything, propose no solution other than electing Republicans, and use public education as the enemy (because knowledge is the arch enemy of fear). The result is to move ever forward toward autocracy and fascism. Anyone seeing that anywhere in the USA these days? Florida comes to my mind.

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Your question is, of course, rhetorical and quite accurate.

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Dave I had a junior high semi-civics course. We visited local government and the fire department where, in 1956, I first voted in a presidential election. (The voting age was 21 back then)

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I did enjoy them. They may not have thought they were lucky though. I was flying by the seat of my pants there. Not in the lesson plan, but thanks to the student out to get me, it worked very well. He did admit it was a bad idea.

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Wouldn't be taught in republican states.

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Michele At college I taught a course on Economics from Feudalism to the Present. Virtually none of my students had a clue about ‘economics.’ They knew the price of fancy sneakers and concert ticket, but taxes, subsidies, minimum balance on credit card—Oi vey, Mother of Mary.

I would devote the first class on how economics affected them. It was quite an education. ‘Just put it on my credit card’ became more of a ‘huh?,’ if I pay the minimum I’ll be paying off at 24% indefinitely.

A real zinger was that I and other taxpayers were subsidizing their education.I told them that what they did with their own money was up to them, but I had no intention of subsidizing their goofing off with my tax money. Then we calculated how much taxpayers were contributing to their education.

By the end of the first class most students had a more personal view of ‘economics.’

As for numeric skill, I had a chart in which I had deliberately misstated a key figure by six zeros. Over the years no student noticed it. AWWKK!

More than once I had to lend students money to buy a textbook——sneakers and concerts came first. (I was always repaid eventually)

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I would have loved to have been in your econ class. Our kids did know the price of things that were necessary because of this class we had called Consumer Survival. What they learned there came in very handy when we were examining the flat tax. Full disclosure, I had an econ prof that took roll and he soon noticed that I wasn't always there. I then took an advanced econ class and I was the only female. I got lots of help from the rest of the class and the prof and a much better grade. My husband is into Piketty (sp?) and I read a great bio of Keynes which had a lot of econ in the last part of it. Some things finally made sense to me. Our neighbor is a retired banker and I enjoy his takes on economics because he has seen some of it from the inside.

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Michele I created international bond ratings for Moody’s Investors Service (then part of Dun & Bradstreet) in February, 1974 soon after the 1973 Middle East oil crisis. I conversed with many of the ‘experts.’ I soon concluded that they were almost always wrong. I became a ‘contrarian’ and quite successful.

Economics is simple. Spend less than you earn and save, unless you eventually contemplate suicide. Also, distinguish early between ‘needs’ and ‘wants.’ (This is one of the humongous differences between when I was growing up and today. I didn’t have/need $150 sneakers, movies were 11 for $1, and our ‘electronics’ were a party phone.)

When writing a book in the 1950s I retained my desire to eat and live in an apartment. I started a real estate company and, perhaps by luck, was successful My investment policy was to buy and hold—at times for over 60 years. I avoided gimmicky stocks—no tech, dot.com, or Bitcoin.

My wife and I are financially comfortable (my car is 2011). And we are able to provide support to our children and grandchildren. Incidentally my watch is a Timex. I splurged a few months ago and upgraded from $30 to $60.

Incidentally debt, except a home mortgage, I find scary. If I can’t pay cash I don’t need a ‘new’ car (cheaper slightly used).

I recall a sign in a store: “We give credit to God. All others pay cash.’

Also, remember “If it sounds too good to be true, it is.”

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Kudos, Keith. It's always good to be a contrarian especially when you know what you are doing in contrast to the "experts." We were both public employees, no children and our house has long been paid for and we got a bargain for helping care for my husband's grandmother. So we are comfortable and sitting on an about a half acre lot. I have an ex-student who does stocks and i am sure that she doesn't do gimmicky either. I can't imagine investing in something like Bitcoin.

I did smile at the party phone. We had one when I was growing up. I do have a cell phone, but don't remember its number. We thought we were on our last car and then some doofus, who was trying to turn against the light and somehow blamed us, T-boned us on the Winter Solstice (2021) and so we had to buy a new car. We have solar on the roof and the car is a Prius Prime. It costs us very little to run since we mainly drive in the city and our solar powers it. We did get out of town yesterday to the coast. My LMT is house sitting and so I had a massage and then we went to lunch where I got my oyster fix in a place that would qualify as a dive.

I live in jeans and sweat shirts or tees and hardly ever shop except for groceries, books, seeds, and plants. We try to buy local to support people here.

My watch is my husband'g great aunt's watch when I wear one. I don't think I have ever spent money on a watch.

We see scams all the time, many too good to be true.

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Maybe this assignment should be given the GOP REPS to prove and showcase their own ignorance. I keep asking myself “where do these ‘horrible people’ come from?!” 🤬

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They come out of a mire of greed, yearning for power, and gross ignorance and lack of any kind of integrity.

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Well said . . .

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Great teaching exercise, thanks! It seems to me that this kind of nonsense must be introduced so the legislators can go home and talk about all the government idiots who won't listen to "new ideas". A preparatory volley for MAGA propaganda.

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Yes, they have to show their foolish nut case supporters that they are doing something. Dopes don't understand how they would be screwed. But hey, as long as I can wear camo and swagger around with my gun and own libs, I am happy.

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Michele For ‘more advanced’ individuals, I would propose a flat tax for those believing that the earth is flat. . This would spark the following political rallying cry: “Flat heads of the world unite.” It would be easy to flatten them (especially those wearing MAGA hats).

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LOL. I am taking a break from taking down the Christmas tree and you have provided my first good laugh.

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😂😂😂 oh, Keith, you never miss a beat!

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ML I am inspired by so many LFAA readers whose delight in tasteless humor is almost as despicable as my own.

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Janet Without humor I’d simply be a crusty old curmudgeon. I much prefer to be a smiling crustacean with a well-honed stiletto.

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Dang, Michele, did you have Katie Porter in your class? What a wonderful civics lesson you gave your students! They will never forget you. Brava 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼

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I wish. This was a small school near Salem. Rural and very Catholic community.

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Nonetheless, you gave each of them “food for thought”. Perhaps, they have left their religion or the party of NO.

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Some are liberal, but not all. I have a few who are very religious and members of the party of no. And since Stayton is a rural community and the district draws from the rural area and towns nearby, I would say it's a very conservative area. I have an ex-colleague out there who is often dismayed by those she knows. I'm afraid that death star brought out in people what she would rather not see.

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SO glad there are teachers like you. And students that can look at the math and actually see the facts.

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I am long retired, but I worked with many wonderful teachers and I know schools are full of teachers who work very hard for their students. Some of the students are still contact with those teachers. One of my ex-colleagues had a medical issue recently and one of the ex-students organized this big card sending effort. I am not sure how many she got, but I think it was well over 70. One of my ex-students even organized a party for his ex-teachers. He was taken in and made part of the family by one of our teachers and probably one of the most unpopular. He told me I was the only person who had sent him to the office. I reminded him that he and the other student were about to have an unpleasant fight.

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I love this! Thank you, Michele!

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The tax company lobbyists have kept that flat tax from becoming a reality for years. It was huge when I worked for TurboTax in the late 90’s.

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Oh, I bet. One of my ex-students is our CPA, but she wasn't in that class.

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Another plus of the Fair Tax is that it would encourage, not discourage, saving and investment over excessive consumption.

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Excessive consumption? These people can barely buy food.

When you get everyone to save and invest instead of buying goods and services let’s follow the trickle down effect of that on the economy and employment. Businesses will close or start charging more (price gouging) just to make money and survive. Employees will be laid off. We see that now with big tech companies because consumer spending is down.

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Yes, Accountants, IRS employees, Tax Lawyers, and companies collecting billions in subsidies via the tax code are among those who object to a flat sales tax.

It makes me sick to have to pay an Accountant to get some of my money back each year. I have to account to government under penalty of law, but they have no such burden of accountability toward me. They don't even trust me with a receipt for my vote! I simply have to trust them that my vote was entered and counted properly. Trust is not a one-way proposition, it is mutual and government is not holding up its end of the bargain.

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Read Sharon's comment below. I also get a notification that my vote was counted. Many people do their own taxes as we did for many years. Using an accountant was just a way to sidestep the stress and ours was an ex-student who developed her own business. You have no idea about the situation of each taxpayer In fact, looking at all your recent posts, I see a pattern. You are just here to voice your libertarian views and show us that you are the smartest person in the room. Btw, I also had my students write a short essay on what would happen without government. A few of the males thought it would be wonderful to run wild, but even they eventually came around.

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You get a notice that your vote was counted, but for whom? A bank receipt doesn't just tell me that a deposit has been made, it tells me how much and to which account.

Check out my article entitled "Doubt Relief". This is one of many ways we can eliminate any question of fraudulent elections. Wouldn't that be nice?

I have never advocated for no government, so you are constructing a strawman. Government should be limited to infrastructure and law enforcement, not bailouts and tax credits for the rich.

If you have a business it is all but impossible to file taxes without an accountant. Personal income taxes for wage earners is simple, but the tax code is designed for rich people to cheat, and that requires accountants. An honest businessman also has to employ one just to get his rightful refund for business expenses, depreciation and such. The forms are simply not navigable by the average business person.

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What state are you in? Every time I vote I get a notification that my vote was counted. I vote by mail in California. What if all states went to that model?

You make enough money or have enough deductions to pay an accountant. Is that because you need to make sure you get every deduction and use every loophole?

Currently, even accountants can’t get anyone from the IRS on the phone to help them. But hey, let’s cut back on customer service by claiming we’re hiring people to audit you. There are some giant half-truths, outright lies in the whole Republican narrative. Do you trust them? What will they do with your 30%? I see them creating private companies where they pay executives multi-million dollar salaries out of your 30% and then have some guy, like Rick Scott with Medicare fraud, siphon off millions more.

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This is a useful approach to citizen enlightenment. Let’s see if many on the right can actually do the exercise.

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What a great teaching idea! Bravo!🐼❤️🐇

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Thank you, but it wasn't in the plans for the day....it just happened because the student brought up the flat tax.

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This exercise ignores the rebates for low income families. It's in the bill.

Half-truths are the same as lies.

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This was many years ago, sometime in the early 90s, so any bill today is not relevant. I did not impose any decision on the students. They supplied the items and the numbers. They came up with the conclusion.

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Right up until republicans call it an entitlement and take it away like they’re trying to take away social security and Medicare. Do those rebates make up the difference in what the wealthy aren’t paying?

I went through the thought process that maybe with this flat percentage the wealthy would finally pay their share but they make so many millions a year that they don’t spend. Plus I can see them easily buying their big products, clothing, etc. overseas to avoid paying taxes.

If the low income families can’t really afford to buy food and clothing now what will happen when another 30% is added on and they have to wait a year for a rebate? They are paycheck to paycheck and hungry in-between. How can you ignore that?

I also so that rent was included in taxable items. I’ve lived in states that taxed my rent.

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At some point, Democrats need to go back to first grade and read the story of Chicken Little and the Boy Who Cried Wolf. They have been using the social security and medicare threat for as long as I can remember. Most mature folks like myself are aware of this fear mongering, and most young folks would rather have a plan that invests in something more than a pyramid scheme like Social Security. Both plans are simply kicking the can to our children. Both will soon be insolvent, so bury your head in the sand if you want, but today's young people are smart.

A simple Index 500 fund can make young folks of today millionaires at retirement. Social Security will leave you a pauper in your golden years if you are foolish enough to depend upon it. It can be phased out without leaving anyone behind.

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Right and Roe was settled precedent so we had nothing to worry about. Unfortunately the people that depend on it are the ones that never made enough money to be able to invest money. They’re seniors now, they’ve been having the age limit of retirement raised consistently over the years. There’s no plan to give them back everything they paid in and you can’t refuse to contribute. My head isn’t in the sand but go ahead and pretend it is if it makes you feel superior. If you can’t make a point without insulting me keep your remarks to yourself. I don’t take anyone seriously that has to resort to personal insults and name calling. The fear mongering is coming from the Republicans. They’re using it as a threat to get extremist things passed. Look at what their first votes have been. Then they’re pushing their votes as if they’re a done deal taking advantage of a base that doesn’t understand the process. Not everyone is as fortunate as you to have financial security. Expand your view to those outside your social class.

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Sharon,

Read the bill. The rebate is monthly, not yearly.

Read the bill. Rent is not taxed.

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I had the opportunity to have a fuss lecturer at ASU. it was Barry Goldwater in my History of China class. He talked a lot about Nixon and how he opened up trade. In the early 90’s this all sounded like it was a good thing for us but as I learn more about how our labor went there and was turned into child labor for cheap goods it doesn’t seem like such a good thing anymore. I;Mr glad Biden is bringing the jobs back.

Republicans talk about independent energy and we should keep our products here but they want to pay slave wages. They did the union busting and unions put food on my table growing up and kept us out of poverty.

I did admire John and Cindy McCain but those republicans are gone. Not a bit of integrity in any of them. The good conservatives aren’t in office and the Republican voters seem to only be interested in retaliation, drama and violence.

Are there good conservatives out there? Do they not vote or do they hold their nose and vote R down the ballot?

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If there were “good” conservatives out there, they would have long since abandoned the party of shame around 2020, if not sooner.

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So true.

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Janet I was born the year FDR became president. My first presidential vote was in 1956 for Ike. Since Eisenhower Fellowships was created in 1953 I have been involved (trustee emeritus in 2017, but still involved).

I have great respect for FDR, Truman, and Ike. Can’t say the same for many of their successors.

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Stop looking for “ethical” republicans

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They truly are homegrown terrorists to our democracy.

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Our outstanding and ethical 3 term Republican Michigan former Governor William ("Hi, I'm Bill") Milliken was voted out of the GOP by our local Republicans in this, his hometown. Lincoln's Party has been stolen.

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You are totally right. I have a very ethical and conservative cousin who is Republican. (Not many in our family, but at least one) He lives in Texas and told me years ago that his party had been taken over by the crazies. This was before Trump etc. Lincoln´s party no longer exists.

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Did he smell the stink around Gingrich time perhaps?

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It's past time for ethical Republicans to defect. Form another party if they wish, but continuing to support the party as it is, is the same thing as condoning its behavior. They can't stay in such a toxic environment and survive. To say nothing of the nation surviving...

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That is a sad commentary on the MI GOP. Wasn't there a time, however brief, that Milliken was considered Presidential material?

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Yes! Outstanding Gentleman! Strong proponent of environmental quality. His wife, Lenore, helped start Planned Parenthood in the state. Back when Republican meant respectable and respecting.

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Yup. Ethical is as ethical does. Is there even one GOP representative who is trying to swim against this shit stream?Where are a few outspoken GOP senators who refuse to be lemmings? I hope Joe Biden is ready with the trillion dollar coin scheme....

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I agree. I remember voting for the "right to work" law in Indiana. I had no clue what they meant by that term. Yes, everyone should have a right to work for a fair wage. I didn't realize it was the means to rid of the unions.

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Sharon The devil is in the details. “Pro life,’ for example. With no further insight, ‘right to work’ sounds positive, though it was anti-union.

At least one time in American history a slogan or catch word served us well.

The Constitution was an endeavor to get 13 independent states into some sort of federal union. Alexander Hamilton and his buddies latch on to the word Federalists. So. Who opposed it, anti-Federalists? How. Does one craft a phrase for’ right to work under conditions when appropriate compensation and human rights of employees are recognized?’

In countries like Germany there are corporate executive/union boards.

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Thank you, Keith.

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My husband, who worked for the employment division here in Oregon, went on a trip to England and Sweden funded I think by the Marshall Plan....may be wrong about this. But in Sweden they have much the same system as you have described in Germany.

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Exactly. Right to Work term needs to be changed to what it is: “Employers have a right to treat you as badly as they want and if you don’t like it, they have a right to fire you for no cause” That’s what it really is.

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Or….”Avoid having to pay dues but reap their benefits until the all those annoying unions are totally eliminated.”?

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We have had to explain this to a few people who did not understand that it meant they would be screwed.

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The masters of deceptive framing. Language is the smoke screen.

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Hopefully, I have gotten smarter in the last few years!

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Yes but, you're overlooking the fact that if any of the REPUBLICAN'TS had morals, principles or a brain, they'd still be cowed into silence by the asshole in the room - DJT

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That’s the thing. They are not insane. They know exactly what they are doing. That makes them a lot more dangerous to all of us than if they truly were insane. Ignoring them, expecting them to go away has not and will not work. As evidenced by the last four decades - they’ve just gotten stronger and gained more seats with authority and power. I fear if we can’t stop them now and/or can’t take back the House and maintain control of the Senate and the White House in 2024 we will lose it forever. And even if we do control those three, then the matter of the States has to be addressed. Our democracy is on the edge of a deep crevasse and millions of folks just seem to think it’s just a fun roller coaster ride we can get off of any time we want.

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You are really right Carey. Thank you for pointing this out. Now the hard part( and for me too) is how to get facts in bold pictures across the country. Americans respond to cartoons. Say we put out bumper stickers “ I wonder what the rich will do when we stop paying their bills”,

“Drive?, not on my roads, my taxes paid for them”... “Fly, not from my airport, my taxes paid for this runway”

Anyway, there are many clever people out there who could focus on how to get the attention span we need to finally get facts out to the people. Stephen Colbert does a great job with just enough of a twist to let the truth come out.

We also could overwhelm the White House phone lines with the message:” do not negotiate with the mob”!

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Or, more aptly: "Do not attempt to teach a pig to sing. It wastes your time and only annoys the pig." (My voice teacher had that photocopied and placed in a corner of a mirror all her students would sing into...) This can obviously be changed to, "Do not attempt to argue/reason with a pig..."

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Comparing Republicans to pigs arguably does a disservice to the porcine population.

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Rule by any means necessary. Govern if we must. Protect and serve thee interests of those who earn it. Republicans in name only as the ideals of the Grand Old Party really are not fitting to these times and the real intents of the divinely inspired who transcribed the Constitution are only known to the true Republican brothers. Shesh.

Heather, your daily notes are priceless and revealing of how divided this nation is. I do hope, for hope is all I can gather into my hands, that the rebellion occurs in the conservative wing of this nation.

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I agree with you, well put!

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Carey At times doesn’t this make you consider Hari Carey?

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😀 At times, it definitely does. But that would just make them happy and serve their purpose. I refuse to give them the satisfaction of me self destructing because of their idiocy.

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Good!! We all need the humor!

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Absolutely--well said! It is all on the line in 24 and each of us, our friends and family have to do everything---I mean everything!--- in our power from now until November 24 to register the young, to educate our friends, and to speak out and speak up on behalf of our democracy! Not too much to ask, is it?

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A few are insane. But I agree, it would be easier if they ALL were insane. That not being the case, it is harder to fight them.

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Diane Insanity is a medical term. Perhaps all ‘those’ folks aren’t technically ‘insane.’ Perhaps an easier term for identification is ‘f++king asshole.’ These I can identify and fight.

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Honestly without the culture wars they have no strategy or path forward to governing. As always Francis M. Wilhoit said “Conservatism consists of exactly one proposition, to wit: There must be in-groups whom the law protects but does not bind, alongside out-groups whom the law binds but does not protect.". This is their standard approach to everything when they constantly have an "out group" that they can other and project on. I'm more shocked that their base continues to eat this up and vote for these people.

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Jan 19, 2023·edited Jan 19, 2023

It’s the hierarchy thing. Authoritarian personalities believe some groups (likely the group they belong to) are superior and should rule the others. Fathers know best for everyone. Kings are chosen by God. If you mess around with anything else, you get disorder and chaos. It’s a relief to let someone else do your thinking for you and make the big decisions. But you need to be able to look down on someone else, as compensation.

I caught a clip of Hitler in the Holocaust series by Ken Burns. Hitler was saying how perfectly and uniquely suited he was to be in charge of everything. (Reminded me of Trump’s speeches.) Whaddaya think? asked Hitler. Sieg Heil! shouted the enormous crowd. (Of course the crowd size helps convince everyone it’s true. Maybe that’s why Trump needed to lie about his inaugural crowd size.)

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Philly And their purported culture is ‘kultur.’ I have awoke!

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I can support that argument in Texas

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It also seems to be ok to allow your seven-year-old to bring a loaded gun to school.

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And their response? Fortify the schools even more. They want to turn our schools into armed fortresses. What the hell kind of message does that send?? By all means, let's continue to traumatize our kids even more...oh yeah, and God forbid they should have to be exposed to a drag queen reading a children's story.

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Precisely! Make the schools fortresses to keep out the gays, drag queens, or any gender other than M/F. Such dangerous people, of course!!

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It’s mind boggling isn’t it?

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Simple answer, yes they are.

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I think a better adjective is “truly corrupt.”

I love your comparison!

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Yes. That’s a key point I think many folks don’t understand. When a citizen votes for someone and that someone wins the election, we are giving them our proxy and allowing them to make decisions on our behalf. If an elected person runs amok and makes decisions that are harmful to the person who voted for them, there isn’t a great that can be done except not vote for them during the next election and convince other voters not to vote for them and hope they lose the election. I believe many voters do not truly understand the power of their vote. It also dismays me those eligible voters who refuse to vote. They do not seem to understand that not voting IS voting.

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It does more than that, it begins to point the finger at a serious reality,  and poses the next logical question, which you have done, thanks.  As clarification we are not talking about 'biological insanity' (whatever that might be), rather a culturally cultivated and nurtured insanity.

The next logical question, also generally and necessarily avoided by the same culture, is, as always, far more complex, "Well, what are we to do about it?"  

Now we are on the ground of will, which collectively seems to have been anesthetized. I'm afraid that pausing needs to be changed to thinking, another area in which we have been anesthetized. Action needs to be across politics, religion, education, and oh dear God media(!!!), etc. But a good start might be in law schools, economics departments, schools of journalism, seminaries, and police academies, the 'training grounds' of those who disproportionately have influence over the lives of the Larry Price Jr.s of our culture.

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We, the People, need to stand up against the anti-democracy of the 21st century MOP - Miserable Old Party - that has replaced the party of Lincoln. The MOP is promoting violence, cruelty, and taking away our freedoms. My vow is to hold the entire Republican Party accountable by vowing not to vote for any Republican at any level of government - local, state and federal. I hope everyone will join me.

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You are spot on, Cathy. In MA, we have had a two term Republican governor named Charlie Baker. Some called him the most popular governor in the nation. He is a reasonable and kind person who really did care about all of our citizens. But I couldn't vote for him despite my core philosophy of voting for the person rather than the party. Why?

Because he refused to renounce his membership in a party that is now 100% evil. Baker decided to not run for a third term. He could have won in a heart beat. He also was talked of as a Presidential candidate. But the fact that he said he couldn't vote for Trump, doomed any national ambitions. Of course, if he had left the GQP, he could have been a contender.

It is now immoral to be a Republican. It now is impossible to be a decent human and be a Republican because your association condones corruption, criminal acts, and coercive governance. My dear departed Republican parents would have agreed. There is nothing in this "movement" they would recognize as anything other than fascism. Which they risked their lives to defeat.

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I am going to write to my VT governor, who has been really good, and let him know, it is time for him to leave the party if he wants votes.

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I also stopped voting for Phil Scott for Governor in the past election for his total lack of support in revamping the antiquated and hunter/ trapper driven Fish and Wildlife Department.

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Oh, do not get me started on Fish and Wildlife Dept.! I had friends visiting from the UK and I told them some places they could go whilst I was busy. They took their lunch down to the CT. River and sat on a bench to eat their sandwiches. A Fish & Wildlife power guy made them put their sandwiches away and leave the area because they were not utilizing anything that demonstrate they paid into the Fish & Wildlife tax base. I was furious that tourists to VT were treated that way. Our local rep and I tried to work with the Dept. and it was just a nonsensical bureaucracy. They definitely need revamping. They argue they are only paid by fishing and boating taxes. And who the heck do they think pays taxes in Vermont? They said it is their property and they want to keep vagrants out and partiers.

It needs to be revamped. We are creating a new Town Plan and this one access to the larger river needs to be part of our right to enjoy the beauty of the river when having a sandwich. It is really embarrassing and inhuman. Like a having a freaking little waterside nazi. Sorry, you hit one of my nerves!

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How about the legal massacre of coyotes 24/7/365 where the are left to rot. Bear Hounding. Trapping. All controlled by a Board made up of hunters and trappers. Vt at its worst

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I am not familiar with any of that. We have been trying to educate the community on the importance of beavers to our ecosystems in creating habitats for so many creatures, for birds in the wetlands and for slowing down flood waters as well as cleaning town water by natural filtration as the water has time to seep through the sands. There are still those who want to trap or kill these magnificent creatures who will even take in a homeless muskrat. We have a lot to learn from those who do not mind hard work for the benefit and well-being of others. I am not sure they are conscious of it, but they are driven to follow some intrinsic, good impulse. We have learned to adapt our road in order to accommodate them with beaver-proof culverts in strategic places. And many people and animals enjoy the beaver pond and wetlands provided.

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I have already written to him, not to berate his party affiliation, but to suggest that he work with the legislature to explore the possibility of replacing Vermont's Sales Tax, Statewide Property Tax for Education, and Income Tax, with a Value-Added Tax on all goods and services transactions subject to the state's taxing jurisdiction. Something more along those lines would be more constructive than threatening him with your displeasure.

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Interesting. But wouldn't that be "regressive" in terms of hurting the working poor more proportionately than the affluent? And wouldn't that require multiple levels of a new bureaucracy? Not sure.

Also, I am a huge fan of funding education on a statewide basis. The current zip code funding schools in MA creates enormous inequities.

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We used to fund schools here in Oregon with a property tax. I had students in the library crying because it did not pass and so no school. Now the state funds it and tries to make it more equitable. Still there are lots of problems.

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Those are ideas I would have to ponder the impact for all Vermonters... And nothing wrong with providing him with ideas AND that fact they his party is a terrorist party. And though I voted for him in the past, the radicalization of his party is now a proven, hostile danger to the well-being of our republic. We can do better.

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Lest you are unaware, in Vermont the State rebates or covers portions of citizens’ property/ education tax based on an income formula. It is extremely helpful for the property rich cash poor elderly etc.

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Yes, and this tax bill has rebates for low income families.

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I agree. It now immoral to be a R. I just had a round with my ex-classmate in Elkhart, IN, who got caught in the mess created by the air travel shut down recently. Of course, it was Pete's fault. She and several others did agree that he is intelligent, but made a mess in South Bend (never a good word about that city when I was growing up because it voted D). I gave her the facts and in my posts asked her to look closely at death star. I really don't care what she thinks about Pete, but tried to explain this wasn't his fault. This is the knee jerk reactions of Rs and they don't recognize their own hypocrisy because I know if the corrupt Elaine was still transportation sec., I would have heard nothing. I have waltzed around the idea of the idea that it is now immoral to be a R. She is a devout Christian, so thinks it is impossible for her to be immoral.

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For her to admit to herself that she is wrong would threaten her very sense of self, which has conflated illogical religious ideas with politics. Putting politics into Christianity used to be be the immorality and putting current Republican politics first is actually a repudiation of religious principles. It's a stunning reversal borne of rationalism and the desire to construct a means to a predetermined, emotional, and egoistic end goal. My Catholic parents are the same way.

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I do wonder sometime about whether admitting being wrong on even the most basic of facts is a step to far as it may be for friends like yours who come by their beliefs through a strict lens of right and wrong preached in many Bible as Fact churches. Doesn't sin and damnation start with the first step, the cigarette, the little sins, the denial of a truth known within the circle, and may certainly lead to loss of faith, giving in to liberals, even agreeing that the life style of those who are deniers isn't all that bad? If I agree with you on this one thing, won't you expect me to agree to others and then we are drinking together and swapping tales and listening to each other and, who knows what else? In a circular set of beliefs, how fearful must one be if some idea or fact can cause a shearing or crack? Truth and light must be great threats to be guarded against and the cloak of beliefs agreed upon pulled up and over to keep believers certain and one with the truth. Just wondering out loud, as something similar might be claimed of any of us who crave the settled, the certain, the right over the best, the only over the possible, safety over growth.

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I had a colleague who was a Nazarene. We had to agree that we would not discuss certain aspects of religion like if God is omnipresent and omnipotent, why can't he manifest as Allah.

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Wow! Thank you.

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I did actually catch her up once when she posted a meme that the fires in CA were punishment from God for harboring atheists. She lied and said she had posted it to show how foolish it was. Oh yeah. Nicely put about what is happening with these religious folks. She is also the person who told me that she is glad she is not as educated as I am. I wanted to say I was glad not to be religious and a R like her, but refrained. Not Catholic, btw, but some kind of Methodist I think.

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You can call it God or you can call it Karma. I would call it nature's wrath for building homes in the forest and expecting firefighters to be your savior. No politician can defeat nature, and asking them to try is an example of why we need to limit the scope of government. They will always try to do what the loudest voices ask, even if they know they cannot control nature. It's shameful the number of California firefighters who have been injured or perished to save the wealthy from their own foolish choices.

The biblical texts were written by wise men to teach their heirs how to live better lives. In this case, you might refer to Matthew 7, which contains many interpretations of the laws of nature (or God if you prefer).

"24 “Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock.

25 The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock.

26 But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand.

27 The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.”

28 When Jesus had finished saying these things, the crowds were amazed at his teaching,

29 because he taught as one who had authority, and not as their teachers of the law."

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew%207&version=NIV

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Why are you even bothering with this. The fires were not caused by God to punish atheists living in CA, but our own hubris, no matter what our religious beliefs.

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Bill I am awaiting the Pope’s declaration that voting Republican is a mortal sin, but I’m not holding my breathe.

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All this states' rights bs is just code for " We reserve for ourselves the ability to hurt anyone for any reason, or no reason."

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Yup. So true.

I just keep wondering where the "hate generators" are located. They seem to be feeding the water systems of some areas more than others. Or maybe it's spread through the air.

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Jan 19, 2023·edited Jan 19, 2023

Though much less on the radar than more populous states, Iowa has aligned with the looming dystopian ideal. Voter suppression laws (ID requirements, more complicated mail in ballot procedures, shortened early voting period, shortened election day poll hours) successfully disenfranchised citizens and helped turn the state ruby red. The GQP has the trifecta and already passed a flat tax in the last session. Likely to succeed in the next few weeks despite vigorous and vocal opposition is a School Voucher law that will funnel millions away from our already cash starved public schools to private schools. This in the name of parental choice and empowerment. All this is just for starters. Racist tropes have undergirded messaging from the GQP governor..It has been distressing to watch.

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Cathy, I have never in my life voted for a Republican. So this is an easy vow to make! The last Republican (a REAL one) I supported--long before I was able to vote--was John Lindsey when he was mayor of New York. And he switched parties in the 1970s when it became obvious that the party was embracing fascism, not the equity and individuality that, for him, had characterized it. He was quite the canary in the coal mine.

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Questlove's documentary "Summer of Soul" portrays Mayor Lindsey in 1969. I was unaware the 'blue-eyed soul brother' switched parties afterwards, but it certainly makes sense.

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That was a wonderful documentary and yes, u

It really showed Lindsey as a mensch.

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MOB it is, even Buckley would agree, but he would have kicked the rabble out, likely too late…

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I have always done that, never vote for a Republican it’s the party of Hitler, putin, Kim Jung Un (?) etc.

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I even told a friend who was born in Germany that I'd vote for Hitler before I would vote from Trump. She was rather startled by that since I think she was a "loyal" Republican in 2016 and voted for Trump. I think she's changed her mind on that!

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Cathy! Democrat Dr. Bob Lorinser has already launched his bid for 2024 U.S. Representative for Michigan's 1st House District against Republican seditionist Jack Bagman!

https://www.miningjournal.net/news/front-page-news/2023/01/lorinser-announces-second-congressional-campaign/

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I have not voted for a R in a long time and I won't ever. Some R in the new Oregon legislature wants to get rid of vote by mail. They never quit.

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Change your MOP to GGGOP: Grumpy, Grouchy, Gloomy Old Party.

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How about Crazy, Crass, Cruel Old Party? I do like MOP like MOP the Floor up of them.

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You know, Cathy, your acronym is very good except they are not old! They’ve got them young’uns in there to stir the pot. I call them the Pro-Rape Party = PRP (short for “perps”).

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Good one. And I hope so regarding mopping the floor. Democrats already have to MOP up their financial messes and recessions every single time!

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We can't beat the MOP by not voting. You will have to do something. Vote for Democrats in every race that you can.

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I certainly did not mean not to vote. Maybe I should restate it to vote for anyone but Republicans. I don't believe the two-party system is a healthy one so do not want to state my vow as a partisan position as simply vote for the other party. For example. I voted for Gary Johnson and Bill Weld in 2016. Two honest experienced Republican governors running on the Libertarian ticket were my first choice in the 2016 Presidential election. I also think new parties need to emerge to replace the MOP party. In almost all cases right now it will mean voting for the Democrat in all likelihood.

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It has also abandoned sanity. But that isn't really news.

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Yet there is method in their madness. They unleash chaos, discord, and dysfunction, and yet through it all, the very rich get much richer and more influential, and the poor get poorer and more disenfranchised. The had-to-be-named-by-the-Ministry-of-Truth "Fair Tax Act " does just that, along with every thing else they champion.

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Yes, there is a method to their madness, and bottomless pockets of wealth to pay for the continuation of it. It’s the Aleppo Effect; reduce the society to rubble, and recognize them as our feudal overlords. I think we can safely assume that when the MOB (Manipulating Old Buggers) talks of the “Second Coming”, they are referring to feudalism, not anything that guy from Nazareth stood for.

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They have no idea of what Jesus stood for and yes, they would love feudalism, so they could be lords of the manor with all the privileges that went with that while the peons did all the work and got very little.

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My recollection is the Jesus said to aid the poor, eschew wealth, not to shoot at your enemies, and to go ahead and pay your taxes. I doubt he'd be welcome in Republican circles today.

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Totally a socialist. He said give up your goods and follow me. I think we should fly that over Joel Olsteen's (sp?) church.

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More of a slouching rough beast.

And those so-called "Job Creators" are somehow shedding living-wage jobs as fast as they can, with automation, consolation, and off-shoring. Could it be that the real "Job Creators" are an array of worker/consumers with enough money to spend? I mean, who hires just for the heck of it?

Do the ultra wealthy create wealth or markets, or do they primarily control them? I was taught in socially conservative (pre-Reagan) Ohio public schools that monopoly had proved to be a very bad thing.

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Indeed. And true irrespective of the measure's ultimate fate. There's Olympic-level obfuscation flooding public discourse, as the men behind the curtains keep assembling the largest wealth piles in history.

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A magician’s magic is distraction. We’ve heard almost nothing about McConnell lately. I doubt his stripes have changed

“Don’t pay me no nevermind, watch those circus clowns over there while I prepare to pull this elephant out of my er, um, hat”

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There is a battle between Mitch and Qevin as to which one is the cruelest of the two. I have to believe Leonard Leo gave them their orders and they are all flying with it. Mitch is that kind of a guy who definitely provides the poison, when you least expect it.

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Those "elephants" are hauling away your quality of life. Our posterity's as well.

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Republicans are as cynical as they are venal and amoral.

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I think this says it ALL. I think their citizenship should be revolved!

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The "Fair" Tax Bill demonstrates the mendacity and malevolence, the general ignorance, and the desire to inflict pain on those who don't conform to and agree with their desires, as well as the general insanity, of the (bowel) movement "fascist reactionaries."

They are the furthest thing from "conservative." Stop using that word to describe them.

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When, about age 12, I read "1984", it left a deep, creepy, impression, but I took it to be greatly exaggerated to make it's point. Modern Republican misuse of language (and there is a ton of it) is no less outrageous.

And yes, there is nothing conservative about U.S., present day "Conservatives".

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The misuse of language was something I noticed a long time ago. These are a couple of them.

Soldiers were renamed peacekeepers. Corporate welfare queens were renamed job creators.

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Your phrase” desire to inflict pain” about says it all when it comes to the COP-Cruel Old Party.I am glad I read these truths every day but they are sometimes hard to stomach first thing in the morning.

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And here I thought they were greedy old plutocrats, but yes, the "news" (and/or the truth) can be hard to bear.

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“Conservative” is more of a misnomer than “libtard.” But it is the first word on any campaign poster in Texas. It is like Pavlov’s dog…. And the response to said stimulus is assured…

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Very good example of Pavlov’s theory, Jeri!

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freedom for me, but not for thee.....

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Which really isn't freedom but tyranny. But yes, it boils down to that.

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In Florida visiting my grandkids. I went to a walk-in Clinic of Orlando Health and the usual papers to fill out including a little questionnaire asking 1) was I mentally ill, 2) had I ever been incarcerated, 3) had I ever had an abortion, 4) did I have a child as a child, and finally 5) was I married (even tho yo checked married off on the general info part). Second, I lived here for well over 35 years and I have NEVER seen so many state police on the roads and at my granddaughter’s elementary school sit two attended police cars. Last year she had over 3 lockdowns and so far this year 2 or 3. She says they walk the halls etc. Ron DeSantis is G-d here. My old neighborhood has several houses bedecked in the usual MAGA flags with a handmade sign in his yard saying tax the poor, whatever that means. I remember in the 80s during the Reagan yrs our little elementary went year round because the enrollment far, far exceeded the limit of the building (which was all portable buildings then) and no money for expansion of course; this decision literally torn my neighborhood apart (AND I was the damn PTA prez then, ugh, double ugh). It disrupted the richer folks’ ski vacay plans--Republican all!

Unless folks in these red states start seeing the big dogs shitting in their yards, they will continue this nonsense like the flat tax etc. But I imagine the thrill of getting away with their idiocy is all the justification they need. Humph.

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This is a welcome, if deeply disturbing, local report. Thanks.

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It’s watered down some so it’s not so stark.

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Sounds like the state’s little questionnaire is attempting a case study. Despicable.

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My answer to those questions would be none of your damned business!

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Seems the CDC and AMA should look into invasion of privacy.

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Good stuff, Cyndi. Thanks. I especially am pondering the Big Dogs dumpin’ doo doo in their yards. I say…

OK, STATES - you are in charge of ALL gummint! Florida: Save your pennies, because when the next hurricane season happens it’s on YOUR dime. Texas: Save your pennies, because the next time an ice storm sends Lyin’ Ted to Cancun, repairing your electricity infrastructure is on YOUR dime. Arizona: Don’t get me going on your lack of water. YOU fix it. Midwest farmers: Next drought? Guess what? ETC.

(See Note FAR below.)

We have Giver States and we have Taker States. I happen to live in a Giver State. We get back $0.60 for every dollar we send to the Federal Government. (Delaware gets back a measly $0.32 per Fed. dollar, BTW.) West Virginia gets $3.09 BACK for every $1 they contribute to the NATION. <—-A Good Deal, Sen. Mancini. Be grateful, Joe!

Here’s a link to an interesting site that delineates state dependency on Federal dollars. Seven out of the ten states most dependent (Takers) typically vote Republican. Check out the other Key Findings.

https://www.moneygeek.com/living/states-most-reliant-federal-government/

Also be sure to check out the three-stage infographic “Do Democrat or Republican States Receive More Funding from the Federal Government?” It shows 1.) Overall dependency, 2.) Return on the dollar, and 3.) Fed funding % (on state budgets.)

(Important Note from above: This diatribe runs very contrary to my Conservative Christian upbringing - the “Do Unto Others” part in particular. Sometimes the Cynical Christian comes out and blurts out stuff. Sorry about that, but, sometimes when I believe I am GIVING - as I was taught - and I am “charged” as a TAKER, I get cranky.)

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A very interesting page and tables but the floating band for categories interferes with reading what's on the screen.

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Cyndi describes some frightful similarities of DeSantis Police State of Florida to Nazi Germany in the mid-1930’s.

It is unabashed Fascism even down to ensuring all the citizens have their personal profiles recorded by the state.

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In a deep red state - your piece is alarming - it is happening here. The few dems have no chance. None.

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If we dealt with gerrymandering, voter suppression, the EC, transparent campaign finance reform, postal fraud, public servants gaslighting the country, hostile foreign entities and domestic terrorists-- we might actually push these idiots back over their lines (into their caves).

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Please tell me you refused to answer any questions not applicable to the reason you went to the clinic. Aside from the intrusiveness, those are blatant violations of privacy rights.

I like to think that, barring severe pain, I would have lined through those questions and said, None of your damn business. But I'm brave online than in person so I would just leave them blank.

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Brilliant minds... I was just about to post those very words, including the punctuation.

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Two days in a row Heather’s Letter has made me physically ill, not because her writing is bad, but because she unflinchingly is telling us what we need to know. I live in a blue state, for which I am grateful. But that idiot Peña resides less than an hour from my town. The GOP poison has spread across the land.

Democrats must become much more focused on honestly communicating to the electorate in a way that makes it clear how damaging the cluster you know what of the week would be for them and their families. This bill plus the potential refusal to pay the debt incurred, will cause irreparable pain to the very people that the GOP claim to serve.

Of course this bill won’t become law. Nor will any spurious impeachments result in conviction. But it would only take a slight shift in 2024 and we could be looking at a Repug House/Senate/White House.

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Jan 19, 2023·edited Jan 19, 2023

The problem - we all know what it is - is that the GOP electorate doesn’t watch/access/listen to any source where this info would be disseminated, brilliantly articulated or not. They’re in their churches being told Dem policy is evil and sinful. They watch, listen to and engage with people who purposely (and purposefully) mislead them. They read material that is blatantly false. Their legislators lie, twist and deceive with a straight face. No big fish is held accountable for criminal, or worse, activities. The highest court in the land is compromised.

The upshot is that altogether, this crap appears to them to be truth. Then when laws that have come from Congress and befitted people, like the infrastructure funding, is claimed by MAGAts, when laws that benefit people but can be fraudulently perverted, like Rick Scott’s claim that the Dems cut Medicare by $280B when Medicare was empowered to negotiate drug prices and this is the amount that was saved, when good policy is obstructed and negatively impacts people and is blamed on the Dems, the puzzle pieces all fit for Republican voters and they believe. So if the time comes when rotten proposed laws like that detailed in Dr HCRs letter actually happen, and people find out they’re so much worse off, and it’s blamed on the Dems, this part of the electorate will believe it. And vote accordingly.

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You describe this well. The other, and to me very sad part of this comment, it that the targeted people now WANT, with all their hateful hearts, these horrible things to happen, believing with every fiber of their being, that they will be excluded from the disaster this would cause.

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Amazes me how purblind the hard right has become.

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We need Walter Cronkite again and for our overall society to depend on! Remember?

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So why aren't we sending teams out to these people. Listening to them, finding their real problems and offering the help they need. People in these States see us, the 'Dems' as caring only for city dwellers. We need to show them, in their own home towns that we care about them too.

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Sky that is exactly the point of their actions. The shift is in their grasp and they know it.

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I didn't even get down as far as your comment prior, when I went back and posted a comment above. Agree with the first paragraph 100%, so I offered the following for anyone feeling the same:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9BaFaDgbTH4

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Imagine what a 30% national sales tax would do to the economy. It would do the same that inflation that started to do. Dramatically cut back purchasing, which would reduce demand. Prices might fall, but not enough to offset the sale taxes. And as prices fall, they would put some businesses out of business. There would also be the collapse of state and local sales tax revenues, which would diminish those revenues well below the ability of state and local municipalities to deliver services. Services like road maintenance, police and fire. School districts would be reduced to total failure, lacking any resources to house, equip and staff an educational system. Our schools would be even worse than they now are in the south. Private schools for the wealthy would be the only education in America.

How is this a populist movement when the population is left stranded without adequate public services and impoverished?

It amazes me that US businesses would support any aspect of this. This reflects the southern planation and slave economy of the south where a handful of mega wealth plantation owners enjoy their total control of the population a d economy. With lesser poorer supporting characters take their wrath out on the rest of society, the slaves and the poor whites.

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Jan 19, 2023·edited Jan 19, 2023

David,

I worked in "US Businesses" my entire career. Three huge corporations.

What I saw there has now migrated to the US government.

What did I see??? White men from private schools getting promoted who could not add, subtract or think very well at all, BUT, had overweening confidence that they were all geniuses.

I will list two of those companies here: Kodak and Xerox. Both companies had a highly educated workforce that could do both research and development. Qualified Ph.D.s in engineering that COULD divide two numbers successfully. BUT, the management selection process was so poor, and rife with corruption, that the people RUNNING those companies could not find their way out of a wet paper bag on a warm summer day.

Every decision, every single one, was poor AND, worse, targeted at maximizing their bonus not making a good product.

Kodak is now gone, and Xerox is a tiny shell of its former self selling printers made in Japan where the management IS good.

We now have the same bunch of private school losers in charge of our government. Guys with overweening confidence who cannot divide 30/100 and come up with 0.3.

Amurca. I say we do away with Harvard and Yale. Look at the white men they are producing.

Kavanaugh. Bush I. Bush II. DeSantis. Cruz.

Dumber white men than the above simply do not exist. Harvard and Yale are giving us dumb and dumber.

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My perception is that these exclusive schools no longer are about securing a good education, but about securing connections.

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Hold it! Wasn’t it ALWAYS about that ? “Ivy League” was signaling “evergreen money group”

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Well, "ivy", that is, "English ivy" is a scourge of gardeners. It is basically a parasitic plant that grows extremely fast, takes over everything in no time, kills trees, edges out all other plants, and destroys brick and mortar masonry. It is every bit as bad as kudzu down here. There are neighborhood HOAs in Atlanta that now ban its use on properties. It's the vine of the devil! We've lost several trees in our backyard because of it--all from throwing away ivy clippings at the edge of the yard many years ago. You can't can't kill the stuff!!

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👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼

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Perhaps. Maybe my youthful optimism has been tempered over the years.

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Precisely. And that system keeps the oligarchs and their puppets in charge.

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Mike, I am a Harvard grad, and so is HCR. So you are pointing to a handful of Ivy grads that have chosen a very dark path. Elise Stefanik is in that camp.

I am familiar with the Kodak and Xerox stories. IBM was one of my clients. I saw what you are talking about there. But it also depended on the department with the company. Some in IBM were functioning quite effectively.

Not adapting to new technologies, economies and cultural norms as well as getting trapped in past successes, or perceived successes has doomed many sectors of our society from big to small businesses, government, political parties and religious practices. Nothing is safe from ignorance or lack of continual learning.

We shouldn't simply generalize that all of some large amorphous group are the problem. As an example, our healthcare system has serious problems, but that doesn't mean we should stop seeing doctors or taking recommended vaccines.

Thank you for sharing your experiences.

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I’m sure there are great opportunities to learn from some smart people. My concern is how important the connections become. I had a great education at a public university. But it did not come with the connections that an Ivy degree does (money and power).

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Perhaps those institutions should stay but disallow the Federalist Society from ever setting up shop there again. That would solve the problem as FS has propped up those schools forever.

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Rather than do away with Harvard and its ilk, instead do away with preferential "legacy" student enrollment. If the kid of the (rich) Harvard grad can't make the GPA cut, no enrollment.

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I saw the same thing

“ Every decision, every single one, was poor AND, worse, targeted at maximizing their bonus not making a good product.”

Quarterly reports, thats the horizon

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I went to Penn, so am I safe from being dumb and dumber? Gosh, sweeping generalizations were something we learned to recognize in high school, if my memory, weak as it is, still serves me...:)

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Amazing how many examples of obtuse decisions have cause great corporate crashes. Long ago National Cas Register (NCR) dominated their market. When electronic systems started to emerge, they ignored them. Result NCR is a ghost. Sears had the biggest mail Order system. Their catalogs were prized. If they had changed to be like Amazon - before Amazon got big, Amazon could not have taken over their market. Government plays a role in defining the landscape, however it was the Corporate unenlightened response that caused their failure.

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Mike. A friend of mine went to work as Kodak Rochester in 1968-69 when he graduated from Uof Illinois in Laser Research in Physics. We're you there then?

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Mike. A friend of mine went to work as Kodak Rochester in 1968-69 whe he graduated from Uof Illinois in Laser Research in Physics. We're you there then?

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I think you sent the comment to the wrong person. I was never at Kodak.

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You are right. Meant to send it to Mike S.

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“A handful of wealth mega plantation owners enjoy the total control of the population… “. BINGO

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It is painfully ironic that US founders rejected the European feudal system, yet many recreated an even more rapacious version of it as slave plantations.

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I learned from HCR that the plantation owners wanted to pay only for infrastructure that would satisfy their immediate needs. Let others pay to improve roads or harbors, if they don’t need those for their own business at the moment. No forward thinking, no imagining future opportunities for anyone, not even themselves. That’s conservative, all right.

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You are absolutely correct in your analysis of the outcome. Small businesses would fail, but some of the wealthy care no more about small business than they do about the "peasants". What they fail to see is that in the end run, they will lose too.

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Feudalism

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Thank you Heather.

“By taking control of the states, Republicans can impose their will. Centering taxation there, rather than the federal government, is one more way to try to make people conform to their worldview.”

So, just exactly who is pulling the strings of these congressional MAGAts? Is there nothing beyond more rhetoric and fundraising that can be done to confront and hobble these rebels before we’ve another Civil War on our soil? We must not go the way of Russia, Belarus and Hungry! We must say “hell no” to autocrats and oligarchs!

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Should calculate rank and file Republicans tax bills should this plan ever pass. Has anybody noticed that after four decades of this rubbish, the "Reaganomic" check in the mail has yet to arrive?

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And father Bush’s thousand points of light are getting dimmer!

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Bush the First's narratives were full of holes.

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Better start screaming NOW

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Jean-Pierre Garau, “Just exactly who is pulling the strings...?” I cannot say with certainty that I know, however, this podcast series: David Troy Presents “Oil, Gold,Crypto & Fascism: How We Got Here And How To Fix It” has won me over to consider his credible framework of explanation. And the network of power sharing & shifting that sustain it.

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"But the main culprit, the cancer on the body politic, is money: Money, money, money. ... We don't have time for each other. We don't have time for constituents, except for the givers. Somebody ought to tell the truth about that." - Fritz Hollings

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Might be Russia, Belarus and Hungary funding this anti-democracy effort.

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There is one thing that has become perfectly clear to all of us. The “Republican Party”, as we all once knew existed, no longer exist. It’s long gone. There isn’t one single “Republican” serving in any office, local, state or federal, that is a true Republican.

What we do have is an ‘offspring Republican Party’, that I’ll affectionately call the “Trumpublican Party”. Now, the Trumpublican Party has a leader. We all know who that leader is. No matter what he does, says, or anything, it’s gospel to this party now. Their main objective is taking away all the rights that we, the people, have had for hundreds of years. Voting rights, women’s rights, are two that have been attacked, and taken away from us so far. The Trumplicans in Washington DC and in the states governments across America are attacking Democracy in every form possible.

I’m going to preach a few minutes on voting rights. I’m going to speak from the aspect of elderly and disabled people that vote. Basically this is the category that I fall into. I’m homebound and totally disabled. I have been since 1995. I also vote in every election, because it’s my right to vote. I also vote because every election that rolls around, words if my dad are remembered. “If you don’t vote, you have no right to bitch and complain about the job your ejected officials are doing. When you don’t vote, you have no say-so about anything. No matter who us elected, if you bite you can complain with a good conscience that you made your voice heard in the ballot box.”

Up until this past election I have had no issues with receiving my ballot in the mail. This last election I didn’t receive a mail in ballot packet when I had normally received one. I called my local county elections office. I learned that the mail-in ballots had not been mailed out yet. I also learned that I had to sign up (apply) for a mail-in ballot to be sent to me, again. And, I had to do this prior to every election from now on. The entire election process had changed.

Now, I’m not sure if anyone’s opinion about this, but this really mad me mad. I’m talking with the young lady on the phone I learned that the election laws had changed. That the states legislature had voted on the changes, and the governor had signed it into law to take affect prior to this past election. She explained to me that it was a huge change across the board for all voters, especially those that were elderly, disabled, those that needed to vote by mail-in ballot because of their work, or were in the military. She explained that the ballots would be mailed to those that reapplied on a certain date. This date was just two weeks prior to ‘election Tuesday’, and they had to be returned (postmarked) by election Tuesday. If s as my of you have ever mailed anything overseas you know it takes forever for mail to be delivered. Especially going to a service member at a military base overseas.

Now, I want to discuss something else that hadn’t hit the national level, yet, but it’s headed that way, especially if DeSantis is elected into the presidency.

Right now, in the state of Florida, it’s actually against Florida law for any school library, any school books, to discuss race. Governor DeSantis has signed the “Stop W. O. K. E. Act”, making it law in Florida to prevent teaching race, or anything having to do with racism, the Civil War, or the Civil Rights movement, in any schools, or universities, in the state of Florida. He, and his Republican legislators have finally pushed it to the point where professional sports teams cannot advertise, or push, to make their predominantly white teams more diverse.

I’ll be the first to admit that I don’t know a whole lot about this “Stop W. O. K. E. Act” that DeSantis has signed yesterday into law. I haven’t had a chance to fully study it, but I have been paying attention to what he has been preaching and what the state has had these schools and universities doing with their educational books, and library books. And this isn’t right.

I don’t care if you are white, black, brown, blue, purple, pink, or polka-dotted. This should make you madder than hell. I don’t understand how the people of the state of Florida are putting I with this nonsense. And what’s even worse, is IF he decides to run for the presidency, and is ejected, this is what we have to look forward to in this country. I, for one, don’t want this.

Enough said!

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Like my neighbor, who flys a DeSantis 2024 Make America Florida flag, they ignore the details. Headlines and bumper sticker talk is all that catches their attention.

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DeSantis is an idiot, in my opinion. He’s a walking mirror of Trump. Anyone that thinks he’s out to better America 🇺🇸 is smoking loaded cigarettes!

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Less of a buffoon, though and therefore more dangerous. If it's in the cigarettes, I don't know what is in them, but it's highly toxic stuff:

"WHEREAS Representatives Cheney are Kinzinger are participating in a Democrat-led persecution of ordinary citizens engaged in in legitimate political discourse, and they are both using their past professed political affiliation to mask Democrat abuse of prosecutorial power, "

That's weapons-grade delusional.

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Brrrr. What a creepy thought.

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Prompted by a comment in these spaces I began Brynn Tannenhill’s American Fascism last year.

As I read I was reminded of William Schirrer’s two histories of Hitler’s third Reich. I am now rereading and intend to study both.

The ingredients of Fascism as facilitated by the Nazi Party, described by Schirer, are clearly enunciated by the actions on every level by Governor DeSantis and the Florida GOP.

It’s frightening that Hitler’s goons realized total control of life was necessary to ensure fidelity to the Fürher by focused on Religions and Education.

I suspect we see a Petri dish for national government developing in Florida.

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From Milton Mayer, " They Thought They Were Free, The Germans, 1933-1945":

"The forms are all there, all untouched, all reassuring, the houses, the jobs, the shops,the mealtimes,the visits,the concerts,the cinema, the holidays. But the spirit,which you never noticed, because you made the lifelong mistake of identifying it with the forms, is changed."

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I look forward to you synopsis after studying up on this.

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The current GOP is like the Ebola virus - it destroys its host from within, eating away the physical body of that host.

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There is a vaccine for Ebola. The vaccine for MAGAs is transparency, a coherent, steady message, and competence.

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Evidence, disciplined logic, compassion, dignity and honor. Basically calling out and rejecting the worst of lies or folly (even if "our side" is doing it) and seeking veracity and clarity, are all protective and disinfecting of the "big lie" strategy.

Not letting significant truths "die" with the turn of the news cycle.

Perseverance furthers. Even dishonest Republicans know that.

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It seems to me that the cult dynamics that keeps tyrants in business (after so, so many cautionary examples) might be thought of a mental virus, that seems to hijack and suppress conscience and higher order thinking, and render the faithful ripe for manipulation by a self-serving despot.

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That is because they have taken over the media and are professional gaslighters-- or brain washers.

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Or just plain professional liars and cheaters. Santos will probably be a hit as Tr#%p's running mate.

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👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼

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Shades of Naziism in the family registration...

Plus, 1930s Germany had a very “state” dominated federal system that allowed the party to “divide and conquer.”

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Not that I have really studied it, but it appears to me that one of a despot's primary tools is to define an "out group" within society, to take the blame and provide a "whipping boy" that even the most abused supporters of the regime can abuse with impunity. That, and of course, divide and conquer.

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That’s true, and in the 1930s, antisemitism was rampant throughout Europe, so it was easy to demonize them as the scapegoats for Germany’s problems.

Plus, in addition to the idea of divide and conquer, Hitler also realized that violence wasn’t enough after his Beerhall Putsch failed, so he used politics in addition to street violence to take over. Once his party dominated the government, he had won.

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This is what I see happening today with the GOP.

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The Repugnant Party is a Terrorist Organization

Prove me wrong. - Rob Boyte

(My first rebuttal is the NM local Repugnant politician who lost his election 75 to 25, but refused to admit he lost it and hired ppl to shoot at Dem houses and offices, coming close to killing children. He is now another TERRORIST in custody, but doubtful the last)

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Been seeing that for awhile. It was also how Prohibition was passed. Gee, they have been studying history, but only the parts to destroy us

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I don’t think they’re studying anything, but know how to block the government from functioning. Six people were able to drag the Speaker vote out until they got the power over the majority.

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The took entirely the wrong message from "SpaceForce", (oops. StarWars) and mistook "1984" as "how-to" manual.

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It is still astounding to have to face daily examples/proofs of the blithely selfish inhumanity of such a large portion of the population. You read about, say, what life was like in the Middle Ages in Europe, when the wealthy and powerful were simply served by nearly everyone else, and you so want to believe that our hearts and minds as a society have evolved to a point where we wouldn't let that happen again.

The manipulation involved in the attempts to reconstitute a system where all power is in the hands of a venal few shows such a cynical understanding of how to appeal to the lowest common denominator in today's society.

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There is something amiss in human nature; a tragic flaw that might well end us as a species. Jekyll and Hyde, it seems it's always with us, ad it seems to me to be they source of the lion's share of preventable human tragedies. we need to get smarter about how we react to it, before we run out of time.

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Excellent analysis of what the redneck radicals are willing to do with disruption of entire American government just so their splinter group of insurrectionists can stay in power over the majority of law abiding citizens 🙄 they all need to be subject to 14th amendment for treason which is what their game plan will do to a strong federal government. Sure hope that Jack Smith and DOJ can make an impact on the radical insurrectionists!!

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Waiting… and waiting… and waiting

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Follow the money.

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Jan 19, 2023·edited Jan 19, 2023

Another watershed moment in American politics where outside forces join the plainly cancerous depravity of Republican attempts to destroy the economy. Why? Why must our economy be destroyed? What is the goal of destroying the nation economically? Other nations have called for this destruction from within. Why has the Republican Party centered it’s political depravity on destroying the United States of America by climbing in bed with our foreign enemies? I am not the 135 pound boy you sent to Viet Nam in Nixon’s army. Now I am the 250 pound fully grown and pissed off adult you have to face down. And that my friend is what you are looking at.

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I am mad and I did not go to Viet Nam. I demonstrated against the war. I read your letter and I am mad at this Cabal of people who call themselves republicans as they are intent on destroying our country. They have co-opted the American flag yet intent on destroying all we have fought for and what it symbolizes. My Dad and his brother paid a huge price personally as they fought for Democracy in. WW 2. How can we allow these self serving radicals of republicans the power to take our votes away through voter suppression. Making it difficult for people to vote is another step towards destroying Democracy.

I am going to fly our flag proudly. We are country who fought for Democracy. The right wing has usurped our flag. The radicals drive around in their trucks flying two huge American flags with Fuck Mills across their rear window. I am going to reclaim the flag. I feel it has been usurped by these right wing radicals.

We have worked hard for our independence and freedom. I believe in equal rights for all. My hope is my grandchildren will live in a country for Justice for All. It is sad to see there is this radical group who is intent on destruction of the values this country was founded on.

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I feel a dark cloud coming...thank you, Heather, for the history of the Republican Party during the Civil War and before. My, how things have changed! There are more of us than them, so let’s always keep a positive outlook and just live through the next two years of , yes, Carla, “Crazyland”. OMG.

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The bill should be called “Defense of Oligarchy.”

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