This evening, President Joe Biden awarded twenty Americans the Presidential Citizens Medal, which is given to those “who have performed exemplary deeds of service for their country or their fellow citizens.” Biden chose these particular individuals because he “believes these Americans are bonded by their common decency and commitment to serving others” and that “[t]he country is better because of their dedication and sacrifice.”
''While Biden focuses on protecting civil rights and making progress together in a unified America, Trump and Elon Musk are doubling down on dividing Americans.''
And that 'game' must be highlighted every day Trump & Co. are in office...because that's all they have to keep their base from unraveling.
BREAKING NEWS: Friday 3 PM Eastern. Judge Merchan has ordered that the President Elect will be sentenced on his 34 New York State court felony convictions on January 10, 2025
Per Leonard Weissmann a few minutes ago, Trump will obvious seek delay, delay, delay, postponement & more specifically a Writ of Mandamus ordering the state court Judge to lay off the Orange felon for now.
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Mike Johnson is Speaker with the bare minimum of 218 Votes.
Trump taking credit for flipping 2 votes.
Governing a different more difficult matter.
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Friday 1/3/25 Update: 9:27 AM PST. Election of House Speaker Coming up shortly
The names of Mike Johnson (R) & Hakeem Jeffries (D)have been placed in nomination.
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First Vote: C-SPAN just "alerted" that Johnson does NOT have the necessary votes.
First Final Tally 2 PM EST: Jeffries 215 & Johnson 216. 218 is needed to take the Gavel.
But, at this UPDATE there is now ONLY one (1) "Other" vote & 2 more votes went to Mike Johnson who has reached the necessary 218 Votes to become Speaker of 119th Congress.
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A live broad cast of the the House of Representatives is always available at https://live.house.gov. Today's 1/3/2025 Session starts at 11:00 AM Eastern.
But, the camera is fixed on 1 lectern & fact context is poor IMO.
Go to C-SPAN; their LIVE 'Congressional Chronicle' is much, much better.
The C-SPAN coverage deploys professional cameras & the Session is annotated with important facts such as ...
"The House received a communication from House Representative [JEFF] JACKSON (NC) that he has resigned " as of 11:59 PM on 12/31/24.
Jackson is now the NC AG as JennNH correctly commented below. H/t JennNH.
Mike Johnson needs 218 Votes to become House Speaker today. Johnson is relying on his hope that certain R House Reps don't "wander off" during the vote. House Rep THOMAS MASSIE (R-KY) says he will not vote for Mike Johnson even if tortured.
He got a lot of attention when he made a video criticizing fellow Congressional members for "fake anger" during televised appearances. They acted perfectly normal when the camera was off, he said.
After 3 minutes and 33 seconds, "The Speaker announced that the House do now recess. The next meeting is subject to the call of the Chair." Governing must be tiring work, sigh.
I know it's wrong, because it's our house and our government, but there is a part of me hoping this administration will crash and burn (on it's own accord) so that the MAGA cult will finally drop the scales from their eyes, revealing TRUTH.
I understand the sentiment. I've had it with the billionaire bunch and all it stands for. I know there are good folks there, but apparently not enough.
When the system is strengthened, it is at the short-term expense of its parts, including the powerful, and then all parts benefit in the long term from the system’s strength, including the powerful. Otherwise, the powerful are benefiting at the expense of the system, and then all parts suffer in the long term from the system’s weakness, including the powerful.
Indeed, history repeats this pattern relentlessly. Short-term gain for the powerful often undermines the foundation everyone relies on, including them. True strength comes when the whole thrives—anything less is just borrowed time. The U.S. government mirrors this dynamic. When the system is strengthened—through fair policies, democratic reforms, and equitable resource distribution—it may temporarily challenge powerful interests. But in the long run, everyone, including those in power, benefits from a stable, resilient democracy. Neglecting this balance erodes the system, and eventually, all suffer.
Michael, you would hope people would see this and understand that if the whole system is strong, we all benefit. Unfortunately, those at the top, for the most part, do not care for anything other than their own wealth and power and the sense of entitlement that brings them. They also think their money will save them from suffering.
James, I forget which of our founders coined the phrase (Thomas Paine? Ben Franklin?) "we must all hang together, or most assuredly we shall all hang separately,” but it seems to neatly summarize your point.
I remarked to someone yesterday that we'd be well advised to spend this time preparing - we need to game out all possible scenarios, promote more intramural wars between MAGA and DOGE with our own propaganda, and have money, guns, and lawyers ready to leap into action at a moment's notice. When the others are at their weakest we'll be on deck to hit 'em hard and fast.
2-JAN-2025: AP: The person who died when a Tesla Cybertruck packed with explosives burst into flames outside President-elect Donald Trump’s Las Vegas hotel was a highly
decorated U.S. Army Green Beret who deployed twice to Afghanistan, officials said Thursday.
Two law enforcement officials identified the man inside the futuristic-looking pickup truck as Matthew Livelsberger. The officials spoke to The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss an ongoing investigation.
Livelsberger served in the Green Berets, highly trained special forces who work to counter terrorism abroad and train partners, the Army said in a statement. He had served in the Army since 2006, rising through the ranks with a long career of overseas assignments, deploying twice to Afghanistan and serving in Ukraine, Tajikistan, Georgia and Congo, the Army said.
He was awarded five Bronze Stars, including one with a valor device for courage under fire, a combat infantry badge and an Army Commendation Medal with valor. Livelsberger was on approved leave when he died, according to the statement.
Livelsberger served in the Green Berets, highly trained special forces who work to counter terrorism abroad and train partners. He had served in the Army since 2006, rising through the ranks with a long career of overseas assignments, deploying twice to Afghanistan and serving in Ukraine, Tajikistan, Georgia and Congo, the Army said.
.
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THIS IS NOT GOOD...
A Tesla CyberTruck exploding in front of a TRUMP Property?... I don't think that this was a random combination... I hope that this is not a Harbinger of things to come... We do not want to lose some of our Finest People this way... Compare Matthew Livelsberger's Service Record with that of Jared Kurshner, or Elon Musk...
I don't consume any mass media anymore. Any "news" I need, I can find here and in like threads and forums.
I served briefly in 1972-73. I won no medals and was in no way outstanding. I served to honor my father who left a leg in the Ardennes during the winter of 1945. I was a patriotic fool but will always be Army. Dad knew I was foolish but kept his own counsel for another fifty years.
It is painful to know that Master Sgt. Livelsberger chose to end his life in this act.
I don't believe this was a random combination either. I choose to believe that this was a statement of his belief that his 18 years of service were sacrificed to a nation of idiots who could not be bothered to vote. Through their apathy and inaction they have allowed a potentially great experiment in representative democracy to die.
I'll likely stay here and finish dying here, because I'm too stubborn, lazy, and tired, to leave and the few people who love me are here. I need to sadly applaud Master Sgt. Livelsberger's radical action. I don't have the courage to follow his example.
I mourn a man I didn't know at all, just as I did those who have killed themselves or have been killed by others prior to this, protesting unjust wars and unequal treatment. Be they students on campus (Kent St.) monks in Vietnam or our courageous men and women at arms, or Ukraini soldiers defending their homeland for 11 years.
Are we "howling" at the moon, Apache. The Dumpster Brigade doesn't care about freedom, anybody's, not even their own as they give it to the Grand Dumpster.
The Ukrainians must be Admired for their Patriotism, and Inventness... Read up on their Home-Grown Military Tech... Their Military Leadership Values their People, unlike Putin's... For Washington, and his Rag-Tag Army, things were Bleak Too... If Ukraine Survives, they will emerge Stronger & United having been forged in Fire... OBW: I have been known to have actually 'Howled With Coyotes, and Wolves', and admitted into their Circle...
I was or am a baby boomer. I protested was from the earliest at 14. As my number came up In Nixon’s lotto, if low I had planned to ex cape to Canada or Sweden. Today I’m gathering documents showing my mother’s parents were born in Italy so I can receive Italian citizenship. Then I will seek my options to leave or stay.
Bill, I have considered doing the same thing, only with Norway, Sweden or Denmark.
After visiting Norway, Sweden and Denmark, I came to realize the US is no longer a first world country. The billionaire class in the US, don't care about infrastructure since they fly everywhere or take their yachts. They may get irritated with their drivers for hitting a pothole or two, otherwise why should they care. Our education system is broken in spite of millions of dedicated teachers. The billionaires don't give a shit about climate change or the environment.
I’m concerned we are breaking down deliberately. If I were younger and had more money, I would get out of here. My recently deceased mother could have claimed Irish citizenship through her paternal grandparents. I know enough Spanish to get along in a Spanish speaking country, but I am tired and feel older than I am.
You are correct, and we are really only a first world country for the obscenely wealthy, and for the rest of us, we are becoming a developing world country. The disinvestment in education, critical thinking and providing accurate information is causing us to lose our abilities to innovate. We were once well known for this.
I have often wondered if things get even worse here, that some of the people who rail incorrectly against “open borders” will find themselves crossing into Canada to escape the chaos and authoritarianism that Trump and Vance with their tech bro “philosophers” and financiers will inflict on the ordinary people.
If I was younger, I would leave now. But I’m old, and I have grandchildren here, so here I stay and try to fight all of this as best I can. The first 2 days of the New Year have been disheartening, to say the least.
Kathy Hughes, wendy moluf, and Michele -- from this American citizen's Canadian perspective, I'm afraid there IS NO escape. Canada is changing, maybe differently but still changing. So Kathy, save your money -- although I deeply appreciate your statement, "...and we are really only a first world country for the obscenely wealthy"! At least the next four years will be interesting! I continue to wonder how deeply Trump's near-death experience has affected him. That was not nothing. He got himself elected, now what. ?
Gary, that is the sad truth. Most wealthy people live in their own comfortable world. With inherited wealth, you did not even have to do something worthwhile.
Gary, in the end the climate will be their nemesis although they will likely outlast the rest of us. As one of my ex-students, who can afford to live anywhere and leave the US, noted, there is no safe place from climate change.
To all of you who want to leave the USA, do you really think any place is safe if US democracy falls? We have EU residency, property in Rome, rental in Lisbon, we are very fortunate to be financially comfortable but I also know there is no place to hide if we give up. So, with all our might my almost 82 year old husband and I will fight to keep USA a democratic nation for next generations.
I have dual citizenship--US and Greek. When we were in Greece in June and I told my cousin that we would be looking for property if trump won she replied--Oh you think the rest of the world won't be affected? Nowhere will it be safe. So were staying....
I left the US for a couple of reasons - mainly flying is uncomfortable and expensive, and I'm a retired European historian who continues to do research. So, I left. I've lived abroad before - in Italy and Greece - and now I'm in France. Yeah, I know, Le Pen, climate change, etc. - and the threat of Russia. But until the Apocalypse, day to day life is just much more amenable here than in the US (and no, I am not super rich - let's just say comfortable). I no longer have the responsibilities of a house and yard, a real ball and chain and expensive, but a small apartment and if something goes wrong it's not my problem. Food is much cheaper (particularly produce), and I have no car - I have no need of one because public transportation is outstanding and takes you everywhere: gas. maintenance, tires, insurance - oof, do the math! My expenses plummeted, and I have health insurance. And the sense of well being, with no guns, no flags, no roaring pickup trucks (I lived in a rural area) and gobs of cultural events and for the most part a country that shares my values (France still has a robust socialist party after all) . . . I could not possibly put a value on all of this. Because, contrary to the belief of many Americans, there are greater values than economic ones and, as Shakespeare's Coriolanus states: "There is a world elsewhere."
Just because we are bi-or-tri Continental does not mean we are stationary. I don't know about fighting, I would have gone to Ukraine if I thought I could survive a day with those heroes. But I/we will apply ourselves, as you say, Purobi in any way we can. We are certainly not in Northern Germany for safety. We are here for our farm.
I hear you Bruce. If my husband was a bit younger I would have volunteered to world central kitchen to cook for the Ukrainians. But we can not. Fight to me means do whatever we can to resist.
I was 19 when we welcomed our first "draft dodger" into our undergraduate student house in Canada, and I lost my Austrian citizenship because I refused service there. I was a Cdn brat, born in an US Mash in Linz Austria, I live in Germany, can have german Citizenship, but I still love America, where I was blessed with freedom to "let it rip" in my working years. Talk about a junkyard mutt!
You are a citizen of the world, which in my humble opinion is a good thing.
A bird or other animal will claim an area as its territory and fight to hold it in order to have food and raise young. We are animals too. With the entire world as one’s territory rather than a small patch of it, imagine how much more attention would be given to things like climate change and environmental pollution.
Maybe that’s fairy tale thinking, but as John Lennon sang, “imagine …”
Michael, you were and are a brave, good and honorable man. Thank you. I think you are right about the message Mastwr Sgt. Livelsberger was trying to send.
Yes Helen, it seems that way doesn’t it? It’s all so horrible: a highly decorated Green Beret watching the US election from a former Fascist country; witnessing what had occurred pre WWII there about to happen in the nation he has been serving. An unimaginable nightmare.
Not by chance is it a muck truck in front of a dump hotel loaded with fireworks?
Of course the maggots will try to twist this tragedy around to serve their sorry asses.
WE THE PEOPLE: if you live,work, pay taxes, and vote…here you are a valuable part of the WE…doing something honorable? ..putting one foot ahead of another is sufficient…there are many who excel and BRAVO..let’s not minimize consistency …even the DACA -the little guy/gal , the waitresses, cab drivers, construction , farmers they’re all a part of . There is plenty of good police people, firefighters, VOLUNTEERS, who provide daily. They make little noise and keep the lights on.
Our homeless are part of the disenfranchised, a system being taken advantage of mostly by the greedy, and yes there certainly is improvements to be made.
Who are the ones trying to upset the balance …mostly those in the easy chairs ? Baby and bathwater again😬
Thank you all staying the course. We can still learn.
Michael. I read this act the same way, a strong statement that death star and muskrat are about to destroy the foundations of our democracy. I read your final paragraph with much compassion.
You seem not to have noticed that Richardson quotes extensively from what you describe as mainstream sources. I have found that the internet is generally not a reliable source of information unless it comes from trusted sources. If you have the time, try Mark Lilla's book 'Ignorance and Bliss' on why people ignore important information (we do it more often than one might think) and why a determined ignorance has become a badge of honour in your country.
Don’t leave out the part where she is using verified information instead of conspiracies. Did you want her to ignore that important information? What is the point in your attack on her and others that seek that facts?
Er, I wasn't attacking her at all but pointing out to Michael that that the internet isn't safe as a source of reliable information. Too many echo chambers and too many idiots.
I was dreaming that the Tesla vehicles, A.I. equipped, are becoming Skynet self aware. Realizing Trump’s oligarchical threat to democracy correctly as a threat to climate change, has been interpreted as a threat to every Tesla’s existence. Therefore, self drive to a Trump Property and blow themselves up. Could we get so lucky? Has to be the ugliest car ever built.
I've seen 2 "in the wild" in Brooklyn - one painted in camouflage. The driver looked taken aback when I burst out laughing at it. Ugly ugly cars. They should rename them the Testosterone mobiles.
Dan, I am seeing more and more of them here in Orlando. I always think the owners could have used that money to buy a house!! They are so ugly and sinister looking--"citizen tanks".
I saw my first "in the wild" driving back to Eugene from Portland, in the rain. It was the most beautiful rust color I have ever seen on the ugliest contraption ever. I know that is not a market color for that particular uncoated steel "vehicle", and can only infer that being exposed to Oregon's "liquid sunshine" in the months from November-June was the natural and probable consequence for exposing steel to rain. (My personal experience with this is from leaving my garden tools outside, like a dummy.)
I've seen two in Eugene the past week, and a friend of mine reported that she's seen one parked at a church that was purchased and turned into a "we buy your house for cash" but as she is wont to say "Hmmmmm".
Ally, so far I have been spared an actual sighting. I have to say that they look like hell no matter what color they are. They look like they should be on the curbside as garbage receptacles.
David, thank you!! I've seen a number of them around my area and I have been struggling to think what exactly they remind me of. You nailed it. They really look like a joke.
I had the opportunity to ride around in a Tesla sedan during a Christmas visit with family. A real piece of shit. You can't even open the door with one hand and then you get jabbed by the window glass which sticks out stupidly. But it looks very streamlined and futuristic inside, which I guess is enough for some people.
Our friends own one (sedan) - bought before we found out who Musk actually is - but I think it’s just mediocre as a vehicle, and they recommended we purchase a hybrid if we ever want to travel far, because it doesn’t have enough range. And our friend, a physics professor and former engineer, had to install a high powered electric line in his garage to charge it. Too much trouble, and don’t get me started on that hideous cyber truck. One of neighbors has one - yuck!
We own the smallest & simplest Tesla model and bought it before we learned what an awful person Musk is. We talk about getting rid of it and buying a better EV. When you read that hey pass around compromising images taken by the cameras when parked in your garage you have to wonder what other privacy is compromised. Also, when will the guy who wants everyone to be fcked in the face start disabling our Tesla if we don’t bow to his whims?
Otherwise the car is functional as a low quality vehicle. So many poorly designed and poorly functioning things like temperature control in the cabin.
Is Elon Musk feeling a little fragile right now? He posted a 'tweet' (or whatever one is supposed to call them now) reassuring consumers that the explosion was not connected to the vehicle itself i.e. that spontaneous combustion was not a design feature.
I know someone who is a first responder in Florida. She worked water rescue during the two most recent hurricanes. She said that there were lots of fires as people’s electric cars and golf carts caught fire when their batteries came in contact with storm water. Something to consider. Cybertruck—super ugly.
I love the humor..as I find it and laugh whenever I can “ugliest car ever”. Same thing happens when I’m hear ( I try least possible to…) anything TFG says..talk about majorities of nonsense? I miss a lot of it intentionally and again thanks to them keeping tabs..no small effort..
I’m winding down from the holidays venturing out is a scary thing with so much going on . Thanks to all who keep the ‘lights on’, the ‘wheels rolling’ , and the comments coming with tidbits of ideas, truths, and info. I watch little news, share and am inspired by your points . Having gone back to the woods so very many years ago I appreciate the technology and avoid most of the chaos, not that my world isn’t challenging.
I do feel it isn’t just our country , but ‘Our World ‘ and for quite some time have felt that way. And as is normal for everyone , every country, we are learning HOPEFULLY how to best improve some from our own mistakes and some from others mistakes …not to forget however in the midst -hatred has never won but a battle but it all flows downstream and innocents suffer the most.
Yes, the chatter is that he was a BIG Trump supporter. Sooo, why would he make his final big statement of self destruction at the entrance of a Trump building - unless he was disillusioned and wanted to express his anger at Trump as he said goodbye? In a Tesla. Not at a Democratic headquarters or a government building, not in a Ford pickup.
"Goodbye cruel world....King Donald I honor you by detonating a vehicle made by your new VP - at the entrance to a building with your name on it." ???
Maybe out on a limb here, but I think the "disillusionment" will be widespread - and soon. If the Orange Menace is willing to flip his opinion on visas for foreign workers, he could flip on anything. Some suggest that he won because of the widespread concern about immigration. This blows up his credibility with those in hard core MAGA.
Can't wait for him to reiterate his view that reproductive rights are a state issue - to be determined on that level.
Bill, my husband and I have discussed what we feel is the upcoming awakening of die hard MAGA who get screwed over in the changing administration. I am quite sure that many think that they will be safe from whatever, and I'm not confident that won't be violent reaction. MAGA can deny or refuse to logically look at what they have voted for, but when it actually harms their loved ones, will they continue to support him?
We use up our military when they’re active duty and toss them in the trash when they return home. When I was an Air Force nurse my patients served in Vietnam. Mental illness was ignored and there was no treatment for PTSD.
Having spent years talking to these same vets while volunteering in homeless shelters and seeing how left behind they were broke my heart. Here we are 30+ years later and our government has sent many more to much worse fates and taken even more away.
I can only begin to imagine how horrific it is to witness the endless violence and death from serving in a combat zone. As a god following person how do you reconcile that you’re killing others and come out whole? How do we send so many into these nightmares? What did we change in these 20 year wars when someone like Trump goes in and releases Taliban terrorists to destroy the freedom for the Afghans we fought for? Is this how he’ll bring “peace” to Ukraine? Turn it over to Putin and claim he ended the war?
How would someone making a Master Sargent's pay be driving a Tesla Cybertruck? This, more than any other piece of evidence, points to a premeditated plan, rather than an impulsive act by a desperate individual.
It's strange, though, because Livelsberger's brother said that his brother was a huge fan of trump. Was Livelsberger trying to show symbolically that muskrat's connection to trump will be destructive to trump?
I think you meant to say "Musk's connection to Trump," not Trump's connection to Trump, and that's a brilliant symbolic connection to make...blowing up a Tesla truck in front of a Trump property couldn't be a clearer symbolic message...especially given by a a die-hard Trump supporter. I wonder how many will make the connection?
It won’t. The MAGA cultists will forever blame “the libs” for all their problems, even when the Orange Blob personally comes along to take their money from them, shoot them in the face or shag them from behind, in any random order or combination thereof.
"if he imposes tariffs that will force poorer and middle-class Americans to pay for the tax cuts he has promised to the wealthy and corporations, if Republicans cut Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid to balance the budget; all while Musk continues to pull down billions of dollars in taxpayer money, "
I do not think Trump can do these by executive orders. He needs the support of the Congress, which I do not think easily come for these measures. Please correct me if I am wrong.
As much as I'd like to see that, Mary, it won't: the maniacal obsessive mean-spiritedness is the driving force behind the Felon in Chief's base and the claims that they will be better off--and that they are worse off under a Dem regime--is just mendacity and misdirection. They want the nasty.
Yes, I held some sympathy for the kulturkampf during my internship forty-plus years ago. Some of those 'warriors' were friendly acquaintances and I was working for the Republicans. Yet a mentor pointed out that ideology breeds idiocy.
Now we have idiots who are ideologues empowering the onset of Trump II. Double whammy.
My consolatory hope since the shock of my bubble popping two months ago has been that the next two years will be bad enough to break the feverish cult of M.A.G.A. but not so bad as to destroy the machinery of republican governance.
It did on Nov 5th. America gave the middle finger back to Heather and the Democrat elites. BTW what happened to all the Hitler and facist talk? It was supposedly the end of
elections.
IT WAS ALL BULLSHIT.
LETS FILL THE CABINET with Billionaires. We want smart people running our economy not academic idiots.
As Mencken reminds us: A moron with a Phd is still a moron.
Let’s see how long Musk and Vivek hold onto their “jobs” in wrecking the hopes & dreams of millions. Biden should actually pardon all immigrants who are and have been here for years, even if they haven’t gone through the system yet. It’s bureaucracy that ties everything in knots.
Happy to see Liz get her due from Biden but seeing Benny Thompson get a standing ovation was simply awesome!
Musk and Ramaswamy know nothing about how budgets are decided and don’t realize how government works. It’s not designed to be a private business because while businesses pick and choose the people they’ll serve, government is supposed to serve all of the people.
It's quite obvious, that whole bunch doesn't play well with each other, and it's not really much fun to watch. Who does Loomer's hair coloring, anyway? Does Elon's mom speak Chinese? Those New Jersey drones are sure befuddling, aren't they. ?
David, I don't have the answer but I read both of their books. She praised our country and its democratic ideas. He was much more self promoting. He mostly praised his family and his religious beliefs. He was very honest and self effacing. I'll give him that.
I like that idea Marlene. (it's bureaucracy that ties everything in knots).
Ron DeSantis was able to usher through a law that criminalized former incarcerated people that had served their time. The law said that if a former inmate registered to vote in Florida and had not paid all of their fines and court costs, they would be sent back to prison. It doesn't sound totally unreasonable, except Ron and his Republican buddies wouldn't make available how much each person owed.
Obviously they disenfranchised thousands of former felons with this law.
I'm all with you on making it extremely difficult to deport anyone with a few exceptions.
There were several cases in the 1970s and 1980s where the government stripped citizenship and deported people who had served as Nazi prison guards or in one case, as a leader in Romania’s fascist Iron Guard. The one man deported from the U.S. was probably not the prison guard called Ivan the Terrible, but he also was probably a camp guard in Nazi camp. There was also one man who had been the head of the justice department under Croatia’s fascist Ustasha government in World War II who was living in the U.S. who was deported. He had been allowed to live here, but had never obtained or applied for American citizenship. More recently, people who were genocidaires in Rwanda who had lied on their applications for citizenship were stripped of citizenship and deported for it.
Unfortunately a pardon for an undocumented immigrant on Jan 20 (the last day Biden could issue one) is backwards facing only (pardons can not be prospective under several previous court rulings).
So if Biden did that, it would accomplish little. Anyone who is still in the country illegally on Jan 21 would still be subject to arrest and deportation for their situation AFTER the pardon was issued by Biden and Biden leaves office.
And Biden has no way of categorically granting a visa or other residency authorization to those people as that is not part of his constitutional pardon power.
So a blanket pardon for undocumented immigrants is unfortunately too little too late.
What about Hunter's pardon..which goes into the future? My thought about pardoning folks now is that some of them..like Cheney..have committed no crimes to be pardoned for..
Hunter’s pardon is for a different type of criminal issue, but it was designed to keep Trump and his cronies from investigative harassment. They will harass President Biden again with baseless investigations and not doing anything to benefit the common good, because they simply don’t care about the common good, but carrying out Trump’s demands.
Hunter Biden's pardon did NOT go "into the future" in terms of crimes. It goes into the future only to protect him from prosecution for previous crimes. Theoretically he isn't committing any more crimes (hopefully) so the retrospective pardon for crimes committed between 2012 and now will keep him out of jail.
Undocumented immigrants have a different problem. Until they get proper residency or visa, they are committing a new crime every day they are in the US. So a pardon for PAST violations of the immigration laws is possible but assuming they are still undocumented, they are committing new crimes each day going forward. A pardon today will NOT protect them from prosecution for remaining in the US unlawfully.
And as I noted there us NO authority for Biden to grant visa or green cards to prior without going through the legally defined processes. Pardons are exempt from that limitation.
I SO agree with you about Biden's needing to pardon the DACA, TPS and other immigrants who have been here for years. Many, like my dear friend Douglas, have been married to US citizens for years and dutifully pay for their work permits every year. These are people in our communities and in our lives, and we will ALL be diminished if they are rounded up and put into camps. A LOT of broken hearts and broken dreams could be averted if Biden issued a pardon to our immigrants.
As I said elsewhere, pardoning undocumented ("illegal" ) immigrants is a futile exercise as they continue to violate the law every day they are in the US unlawfully and a pardon would only excuse their PRIOR "crime" not the new ones they would commit every day by remaining in the US. if they had been here illegally for 10 years, you could pardon them today for that entire period but they are still subject to prosecution for being here tomorrow unless granted a new pardon. Pardons can NOT look forward to crimes not yet committed.
So pardoning undocumented immigrants doesn't stop the Trump Administration from going after them and deporting them at all.
I'm with you on Benny, and Liz. But, please, can we at least get the Press Secretary to convene daily press-briefings to de-bunk some of the 'front-page' malarky, such as that which is exposed to us in this very LFA, while that pulpit still exists? I'm glad all those deserving folks received recognition, But the public needs something to take to the game. Joe may not be up to it. But, where the heck is Harris? Maybe that's why we lost the election.
We will be subjected to lies again from any Trump appointed press secretary. I won’t be listening to this new one. Wonder if she will be a “Huckabitch-light”.
As a lifelong con man, Trump has literally one aim and one aim only: to win the moment. He is a literal moment by moment person who does not share if he said something a minute ago and contradict it a minute from now … because he believes through force of Wil he can insist that he never contradicted himself. And if someone points out the contradiction, he will go after them with viciousness and rage. I do not think American journalism is prepared for the level of extremism we will see from him. It will be magnitudes greater than what he did in his first term. And with the power he has now, he may very well seek to prosecute and arrest anyone who criticizes him… Setting up the perfect “win every moment” reality for this psychopath. Again, I don’t know if journalism is up to the challenge. But we who consume information must be ready for this level of insanity!
We should keep an Eye on January 19th, 2025... DJT is having Rally in Washington DC... I have heard that a Protest March against DJT is being held that same Day... This does not sound like a gOOD Combination...
They can afford to lose one vote, apparently. Massie (R-KY) has already said he’s a no. His wife of over 30 years died recently and, according to him, he’s all out of fucks to give.
Victoria Spartz (R-VA) refuses to commit to voting for Johnson. And Chip Roy (R-TX) won his last election by a margin of 61.9%. I doubt he cares about whatever pressure Sissy SpaceX cares to bring.
Looking forward to watching the vote tomorrow. It’s like an ouroboros.
He'll probably give a thumbs up at the funeral in his usual classless fashion like he did at Arlington National Cemetery where he dishonored millions of Americans. that honorably served their country.
I hope Pres Biden’s eulogy of Pres Carter makes Trump squirm in his seat. Simply memorializing Carter’s character, welcoming friendliness, and generosity, as well as naming his hands-on work to make life more livable for people around the world should do the trick.
Yes, but he would love to have the genuine adulation Americans have for Jimmy Carter. Even today, the shine has rusted on Reagan’s legacy, and Carter’s legacy only grows. If anything , you might see envy, leading Trump to try to minimize Carter’s impact in the near future.
I agree w the idea that he may try to find parallels in his past or future terms to Carter’s life; it depends on whether we see his closed-mouth smile, or his courtroom frown.
As Biden celebrates service and integrity, Musk dives into meme culture, and Trump flip-flops on immigration. ..... One of these things is not like the others.
Wondering whether the culture warriors will be aware that their prices are going up, and that their wages purchase less, or will they be too caught up in believing what they are told.
What can be done about Musk. Getting rid of him should be the goal of every clever problem solver on this planet. I would start with boycotting his product. I am glad to say that our architect in Germany is selling his because of course, while one cannot take the money back from Musk, one does not want to drive around in a vehicle that is shameful to drive. I have been very pointed to him from day one about how he is supporting an illiberal leader to undermine democracy. I think Musk messing with German elections to support the New German Nazi Party says it all. He is already aligned tightly with the New American Nazi Party and is leading it by proxy.
By Boycotting Musk products, we send messages to his boards that he is a liability. At some point it can have an effect. I am really curious about his relationship with Putin as well. Together they are wreaking havoc on the planet.
Really, Musk and Bezos have only shown that we shouldn’t be privatizing space exploration. They are also two great examples for higher income taxes on the wealthy, higher estate taxes, making campaign finance bribery illegal, and enforcing our antitrust and antimonopoly laws.
May be time to put space program on pause and have government driven space program not Musk driven space program. This might be a place to make cuts. Chinese getting ahead it our fault.
Not completely sure about Musk having no competition. He siphoned off technical and engineering personnel from JPL for years to get his rocket program started. This last year he fired thousands of them and JPL is still hunting for employees. If JPL/NASA can act rapidly—a big IF— they could conceivably make lemonade out of this fiasco.
Bill, I watch those satellite-carrying rocket launches from my front yard. I have had two thoughts:
first, how great that the entire world will have access to information and how clever and amazing it is that the rocket booster is re- usable, returning straight back down to a little platform in the middle of the ocean with a name like " read the directions"; and second, how terrifying it is to think our planet will be ringed by a pay- for- service business, like a big brother eye, able to be opened and shut at will by a megalomaniacal rich boy!
Well, I can’t afford a Tesla and wouldn’t purchase one even if I could. I deleted Xitter once Musk managed to misinform his Xitter followers and stopped the continuing resolution to fund the budget.
Yes. It is not that hard given the companies he provides. A further step could be to write your retirement fund and ask that they divest from his businesses.
I truly believe that musk has deep-seated mental issues. What most disturbed me in that New Year's video of him at the party was plopping his young son on his shoulders like a piece of jewelry...downright child abuse....
Sophia, my teacher friends and I would say, Musk is Aspergery! By that we mean he is missing social awareness, and cannot read the room. His wealth means that poor social skills are not an issue for him, even if they are for everyone else that has to deal with him. I did not see the video, but I can imagine that Musk can be very unaware of others in the room. He tends to suck the air out of it. Between Musk and Trump there may be no air left in any room they are in.
What has Trump not flip-flopped on. We've all heard him flip-flop during the same tirade and yet, the corporate media rarely calls him out.
Remember when Dan Quayle misspelled "potato" and it was news for a couple of weeks. Donald abuses the English language multiple times a day and the corporate media gives him a pass every time.
At the moment, it appears we have no "pulpit" to shout from, and Jimmy Kimmel has been strangely silent. Of course, he isn't self-employed..., he gets a paycheck from somewhere, where there's money, and it's not from NPR.
Peter.., lemme ask.., What is the difference between a duck? Ans: One leg is both the same. Don't worry. The "drones" are only over NJ after dark, when they can be seen. None have been reported to have crashed, so any proof they exist does not exist within our capability. The same principle applies when an AIM9L rocket misses a balloon.
The culture war scenario has always worked for Trump's base just like shoving a bottle into the mouth of a screaming infant will get it to shut up. This time, however, the bottle will be empty. I honestly wonder if the MAGAts will realize they are being screwed. The only thing that gives me hope that they will is that the head MAGAt is Steve Bannon, and he continues to want chaos just as Trump needs order.
Honest to God, electing Trump a second time is the biggest and best example of collective stupidity of modern times.
Since he is now "the establishment". He needs his various contingents to focus their ire and hatred on his perceived enemies, not on each other. That is what I mean.
An implosion has to be on the horizon. It just has to, right? Will future history students read this letter and just shake their heads in wonder? “ how could Americans fall for this crap? Twice?!?
Plato warned the Greeks about Demagogues and oligarchy. How did it come to this? The “greatest” democracy on earth has 53% population that reads at a 6th grade or less level. How much dumber and poorer do R’s want America to get?
Fot Republicans the dumber the better so so they don't have to pretend too much about caring and responsibility and the constitution etc. Regarding the poorer, I think that even the dumbest will start feeling the pain of their policies and at least, stay home next election. Ted, give me some hope pls.😁
While I agree that being literate is an important goal, for those who aren’t, it is still possible to sense lying and fraud. It is still possible to suffer them. I know people who don’t read, but can tell right from wrong. Connecting as human beings with interest and understanding is in itself a radical good. Even those who do read may be led astray by poor journalism and media that relies on culture wars and divisive headlines.
Education is critical to our nation and the world. It should be a high priority. Thanks to Biden for recognizing educators who advance the arts!
Education is no guarantee. I'm a professional classicist and a bleeding heart socialist which is why I no longer live in the US. But hell, Boris Johnson was and is an educated classicist, so too is VD Hanson (who is pretty much a monstrous nut). Plenty of educated people supported the National Socialists, and Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote a one page essay when imprisoned by them On Human Stupidity, which is why intelligent people do and believe horrible and dumb things.
Great article. Terminal is a good description of maga. Folks don’t leave cults without severe hardship or because they have help. A good study would be to isolate some maga and present facts to them and see what comes of it?
Or I'll awaken from this nightmare. Oh, I'm in the Matrix, forgot where I was with all the harmony and love in here.
Oh, also one of you sent me a Blue Pill...but not the one I wanted...but thanks for the thought. I finally got the right Blue Pill, and I'm in. No, don't misconstrue my words again...in the Matrix.
Ted, the problem with "fool me once shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me" in this instance is that it isn't being fooled (by falling for "this crap"): The crap is WHAT THEY WANTED.
As a Canadian, I am grateful for your clarity in witnessing what matters and not. North of your border we anticipate our Canadian economy will be wrecked just like yours will be should Trump’s foolhardy economic tariffs come to pass. It is such a tragedy to watch as this corrupt criminal takes power and the rule of the rich and super-rich flourishes. Musk’s changing identity on his X platform to overtly champion the far right that he supports in the upcoming German election is another frightening face of who rules. I worry in particular about the people who will especially suffer bigotry and worse — those scapegoated and hounded in the Trump culture wars.
I became a yoga teacher after my retirement as an English Prof and I need all the calming help I can get from my daily practice and my teaching. Sending healing and calming wishes your way, Heather. You are a treasure. This is an archive of some of my free classes on YouTube https://youtube.com/@janicewilliamsonyoga?si=7-QFF3nY9XR_ys0r
Heather Cox Richardson (born October 8, 1962) is an American historian. She is a professor of history at Boston College, where she teaches courses on the American Civil War, the Reconstruction Era, the American West, and the Plains Indians. She previously taught history at MIT and the University of Massachusetts Amherst.
Richardson has authored seven books on history and politics. In 2019, Richardson started publishing Letters from an American, a nightly newsletter that chronicles current events in the larger context of American history. Richardson focuses on the health of American democracy. The newsletter accrued over one million subscribers, making her, as of December 2020, the most successful individual author of a paid publication on Substack.
In 2021, Richardson was on the Forbes 50 over 50 list[22] and received the Frances Perkins Center Intelligence and Courage Award.[32][33][34] In 2022, she was recognized as one of the Women of the Year for 2022 by USA Today.[35][7] In 2023, The Guardian described her as the single most-important progressive pundit since Edward P. Morgan from the 1960s.[11] In 2024, the Authors Guild Foundation awarded her The Baldacci Award for Literary Activism for 2024.[36][37] In November 2024, Richardson was awarded the Kidger Award by the New England History Teachers Association at the NCSS Conference in Boston, Massachusetts.[citation needed]
Dr. Richardson has become recognized as one of the leading minds in America today. She is a sought-after speaker on the issues facing us today. I recommend her book "Democracy Awakening."
I am sure the group of recipients are incredibly deserving. Not to take anything away from those distinguished individuals, but to enhance it, I think you should have received that award this time around. You have been a very important citizen to me and millions of others. You have provided a civil. service that is exemplary. Especially in these times, the dissemination of the truth and the education of those who want to be educated is critical. So here is to You Professor Heather Cox Richardson on your award (in absentia, this year). And I am sure that I speak for others. Thank You!
I thought it was cute, the short clip that I saw, that when Biden awarded Liz Cheney her medal and she got a standing ovation, that he did not relinquish it to her right away. Instead he held onto it, which compelled her to stay standing to receive her ovation. But it looked a little like a tug of war for a moment! A bit awkward, or playful, in the moment. A very nice break from the rest of the news, the fact that the year has already become violent with the threat of more chaos, family separation, and a circus in the House of Congress. Oh boy.
I had a different take on that moment. I thought it was awkward bc it seemed obvious that Ms Cheney did not want to hold President Biden’s hand for so long. Frankly I thought it was creepy. The more I see of Biden these days the more angry I become that he and his closest associates, friends and family thought there was any way in heck he was capable or competent to run for another 4 year term. Hillary Clinton’s hubris gave as Trump 1.0 and Biden’s gave us Trump 2.0.
I didn't take it that way at all. Biden has done more for us than dozens of other presidents. I wish he'd had the energy in the debate that he showed us during his last state of the union address, but he didn't and he graciously stepped aside. There's no comparing him to Trump, but people sure want to scapegoat him instead of looking at how we fail to reach, or have a platform to reach, the uneducated voters who are being exploited by the Maga/Doge crowd. Biden bashing is like complaining about Obama's tan suit while the felons, rapists and insurrectionists take over the Supreme Court.
“She stood up for what she believed in even if it meant standing alone,” he said, “and she reached across the aisle to do what she believed was right.”
Are we already at a breaking point when even before inauguration the people run by musk and other unelected people are tearing this country apart. A rhetorical question. All this cruelty and barbarism is happening in our names no matter our political party or votes. Just like tfg’s first term in power. This is outrageous.
Musk’s unwarranted meddling in a budget process that Congress alone is responsible for caused me to delete X for good. Musk is an ordinary citizen, and has no justification to use his social media platform to shut down a budget process that could have put hundreds of thousands of government workers on unpaid furlough again. It turns out he did so because he didn’t like some of the spending and wanted to guarantee he would be able to build factories in China despite the restrictions on it.
What is infuriating about it is that one man who isn’t elected or accountable to the public can do this sort of thing, and he is blatantly violating provisions in his contracts with SpaceX which forbid government contractors from openly funding and supporting political candidates. Not only that, the president elect with whom he’s BFF doesn’t even take office officially until noon on January 21, 2025. Musk, Ramaswamy and Trump feel entitled to meddle with government actions even before Trump takes office, but if the Democrats had done the same thing before Biden took office, they would have had a major blowup about it.
Rich entrepreneurs share a trait—they are experts at everything besides what made them rich. And, being successful and rich, they are entitled to be held in high esteem. Doesn’t matter who they were before, they take on the mantle. (I’m worked for one.)
“…the rhetorical formula that worked for so long might finally break.”
Heather, may your words flow from your mouth to God’s ears.
- Pulled Quote -
''While Biden focuses on protecting civil rights and making progress together in a unified America, Trump and Elon Musk are doubling down on dividing Americans.''
And that 'game' must be highlighted every day Trump & Co. are in office...because that's all they have to keep their base from unraveling.
BREAKING NEWS: Friday 3 PM Eastern. Judge Merchan has ordered that the President Elect will be sentenced on his 34 New York State court felony convictions on January 10, 2025
Per Leonard Weissmann a few minutes ago, Trump will obvious seek delay, delay, delay, postponement & more specifically a Writ of Mandamus ordering the state court Judge to lay off the Orange felon for now.
*****************************************
Mike Johnson is Speaker with the bare minimum of 218 Votes.
Trump taking credit for flipping 2 votes.
Governing a different more difficult matter.
**********
Friday 1/3/25 Update: 9:27 AM PST. Election of House Speaker Coming up shortly
The names of Mike Johnson (R) & Hakeem Jeffries (D)have been placed in nomination.
***********
First Vote: C-SPAN just "alerted" that Johnson does NOT have the necessary votes.
First Final Tally 2 PM EST: Jeffries 215 & Johnson 216. 218 is needed to take the Gavel.
But, at this UPDATE there is now ONLY one (1) "Other" vote & 2 more votes went to Mike Johnson who has reached the necessary 218 Votes to become Speaker of 119th Congress.
****************
A live broad cast of the the House of Representatives is always available at https://live.house.gov. Today's 1/3/2025 Session starts at 11:00 AM Eastern.
But, the camera is fixed on 1 lectern & fact context is poor IMO.
Go to C-SPAN; their LIVE 'Congressional Chronicle' is much, much better.
The C-SPAN coverage deploys professional cameras & the Session is annotated with important facts such as ...
"The House received a communication from House Representative [JEFF] JACKSON (NC) that he has resigned " as of 11:59 PM on 12/31/24.
Jackson is now the NC AG as JennNH correctly commented below. H/t JennNH.
Mike Johnson needs 218 Votes to become House Speaker today. Johnson is relying on his hope that certain R House Reps don't "wander off" during the vote. House Rep THOMAS MASSIE (R-KY) says he will not vote for Mike Johnson even if tortured.
Jeff Jackson is NOT a Republican. He is a Democrat. When he was gerrymandered out of his seat, he ran for Attorney General of NC and won.
He got a lot of attention when he made a video criticizing fellow Congressional members for "fake anger" during televised appearances. They acted perfectly normal when the camera was off, he said.
Thank you for your quick correction 🙏
Lookie here, does anyone know where I can find a time capsul and jettison back to the 19th century because I’m tired of this one. Horse and buggy.
yikes. terrible times for some of our ancestors int eh country back then
After 3 minutes and 33 seconds, "The Speaker announced that the House do now recess. The next meeting is subject to the call of the Chair." Governing must be tiring work, sigh.
So, as I write this, there’s still time to go out and buy more popcorn before the House convenes.
I know it's wrong, because it's our house and our government, but there is a part of me hoping this administration will crash and burn (on it's own accord) so that the MAGA cult will finally drop the scales from their eyes, revealing TRUTH.
I understand the sentiment. I've had it with the billionaire bunch and all it stands for. I know there are good folks there, but apparently not enough.
What's wrong about it? They're fascists.
Who would get to torture him and what system of torture would be allowed. That should keep REPUBLICAN'TS in Congress occupied til well after 26
When the system is strengthened, it is at the short-term expense of its parts, including the powerful, and then all parts benefit in the long term from the system’s strength, including the powerful. Otherwise, the powerful are benefiting at the expense of the system, and then all parts suffer in the long term from the system’s weakness, including the powerful.
Same as it ever was.
Indeed, history repeats this pattern relentlessly. Short-term gain for the powerful often undermines the foundation everyone relies on, including them. True strength comes when the whole thrives—anything less is just borrowed time. The U.S. government mirrors this dynamic. When the system is strengthened—through fair policies, democratic reforms, and equitable resource distribution—it may temporarily challenge powerful interests. But in the long run, everyone, including those in power, benefits from a stable, resilient democracy. Neglecting this balance erodes the system, and eventually, all suffer.
Michael, you would hope people would see this and understand that if the whole system is strong, we all benefit. Unfortunately, those at the top, for the most part, do not care for anything other than their own wealth and power and the sense of entitlement that brings them. They also think their money will save them from suffering.
I agree. And it is beyond sad for all of us.
James, I forget which of our founders coined the phrase (Thomas Paine? Ben Franklin?) "we must all hang together, or most assuredly we shall all hang separately,” but it seems to neatly summarize your point.
Ben Franklin. His language is from the heart, my language is from the head, but you're right; our meaning is the same.
Benjamin Franklin
I remarked to someone yesterday that we'd be well advised to spend this time preparing - we need to game out all possible scenarios, promote more intramural wars between MAGA and DOGE with our own propaganda, and have money, guns, and lawyers ready to leap into action at a moment's notice. When the others are at their weakest we'll be on deck to hit 'em hard and fast.
But what leadership is stepping up when it unravels? Dems are not making their case for that
2-JAN-2025: AP: The person who died when a Tesla Cybertruck packed with explosives burst into flames outside President-elect Donald Trump’s Las Vegas hotel was a highly
decorated U.S. Army Green Beret who deployed twice to Afghanistan, officials said Thursday.
Two law enforcement officials identified the man inside the futuristic-looking pickup truck as Matthew Livelsberger. The officials spoke to The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss an ongoing investigation.
Livelsberger served in the Green Berets, highly trained special forces who work to counter terrorism abroad and train partners, the Army said in a statement. He had served in the Army since 2006, rising through the ranks with a long career of overseas assignments, deploying twice to Afghanistan and serving in Ukraine, Tajikistan, Georgia and Congo, the Army said.
He was awarded five Bronze Stars, including one with a valor device for courage under fire, a combat infantry badge and an Army Commendation Medal with valor. Livelsberger was on approved leave when he died, according to the statement.
Livelsberger served in the Green Berets, highly trained special forces who work to counter terrorism abroad and train partners. He had served in the Army since 2006, rising through the ranks with a long career of overseas assignments, deploying twice to Afghanistan and serving in Ukraine, Tajikistan, Georgia and Congo, the Army said.
.
.
THIS IS NOT GOOD...
A Tesla CyberTruck exploding in front of a TRUMP Property?... I don't think that this was a random combination... I hope that this is not a Harbinger of things to come... We do not want to lose some of our Finest People this way... Compare Matthew Livelsberger's Service Record with that of Jared Kurshner, or Elon Musk...
Apache, thanks for sharing this.
I don't consume any mass media anymore. Any "news" I need, I can find here and in like threads and forums.
I served briefly in 1972-73. I won no medals and was in no way outstanding. I served to honor my father who left a leg in the Ardennes during the winter of 1945. I was a patriotic fool but will always be Army. Dad knew I was foolish but kept his own counsel for another fifty years.
It is painful to know that Master Sgt. Livelsberger chose to end his life in this act.
I don't believe this was a random combination either. I choose to believe that this was a statement of his belief that his 18 years of service were sacrificed to a nation of idiots who could not be bothered to vote. Through their apathy and inaction they have allowed a potentially great experiment in representative democracy to die.
I'll likely stay here and finish dying here, because I'm too stubborn, lazy, and tired, to leave and the few people who love me are here. I need to sadly applaud Master Sgt. Livelsberger's radical action. I don't have the courage to follow his example.
I mourn a man I didn't know at all, just as I did those who have killed themselves or have been killed by others prior to this, protesting unjust wars and unequal treatment. Be they students on campus (Kent St.) monks in Vietnam or our courageous men and women at arms, or Ukraini soldiers defending their homeland for 11 years.
Slava Ukraine!!! They will definitely Earn Their Freedom... We Must Honor That...
Are we "howling" at the moon, Apache. The Dumpster Brigade doesn't care about freedom, anybody's, not even their own as they give it to the Grand Dumpster.
I know Trump plans to betray the Ukrainians just like he did to the Kurds during his first term.
The Ukrainians must be Admired for their Patriotism, and Inventness... Read up on their Home-Grown Military Tech... Their Military Leadership Values their People, unlike Putin's... For Washington, and his Rag-Tag Army, things were Bleak Too... If Ukraine Survives, they will emerge Stronger & United having been forged in Fire... OBW: I have been known to have actually 'Howled With Coyotes, and Wolves', and admitted into their Circle...
I was or am a baby boomer. I protested was from the earliest at 14. As my number came up In Nixon’s lotto, if low I had planned to ex cape to Canada or Sweden. Today I’m gathering documents showing my mother’s parents were born in Italy so I can receive Italian citizenship. Then I will seek my options to leave or stay.
Bill, I have considered doing the same thing, only with Norway, Sweden or Denmark.
After visiting Norway, Sweden and Denmark, I came to realize the US is no longer a first world country. The billionaire class in the US, don't care about infrastructure since they fly everywhere or take their yachts. They may get irritated with their drivers for hitting a pothole or two, otherwise why should they care. Our education system is broken in spite of millions of dedicated teachers. The billionaires don't give a shit about climate change or the environment.
I’m concerned we are breaking down deliberately. If I were younger and had more money, I would get out of here. My recently deceased mother could have claimed Irish citizenship through her paternal grandparents. I know enough Spanish to get along in a Spanish speaking country, but I am tired and feel older than I am.
You are correct, and we are really only a first world country for the obscenely wealthy, and for the rest of us, we are becoming a developing world country. The disinvestment in education, critical thinking and providing accurate information is causing us to lose our abilities to innovate. We were once well known for this.
I have often wondered if things get even worse here, that some of the people who rail incorrectly against “open borders” will find themselves crossing into Canada to escape the chaos and authoritarianism that Trump and Vance with their tech bro “philosophers” and financiers will inflict on the ordinary people.
If I was younger, I would leave now. But I’m old, and I have grandchildren here, so here I stay and try to fight all of this as best I can. The first 2 days of the New Year have been disheartening, to say the least.
Kathy Hughes, wendy moluf, and Michele -- from this American citizen's Canadian perspective, I'm afraid there IS NO escape. Canada is changing, maybe differently but still changing. So Kathy, save your money -- although I deeply appreciate your statement, "...and we are really only a first world country for the obscenely wealthy"! At least the next four years will be interesting! I continue to wonder how deeply Trump's near-death experience has affected him. That was not nothing. He got himself elected, now what. ?
Gary, that is the sad truth. Most wealthy people live in their own comfortable world. With inherited wealth, you did not even have to do something worthwhile.
Gary, in the end the climate will be their nemesis although they will likely outlast the rest of us. As one of my ex-students, who can afford to live anywhere and leave the US, noted, there is no safe place from climate change.
To all of you who want to leave the USA, do you really think any place is safe if US democracy falls? We have EU residency, property in Rome, rental in Lisbon, we are very fortunate to be financially comfortable but I also know there is no place to hide if we give up. So, with all our might my almost 82 year old husband and I will fight to keep USA a democratic nation for next generations.
I have dual citizenship--US and Greek. When we were in Greece in June and I told my cousin that we would be looking for property if trump won she replied--Oh you think the rest of the world won't be affected? Nowhere will it be safe. So were staying....
I left the US for a couple of reasons - mainly flying is uncomfortable and expensive, and I'm a retired European historian who continues to do research. So, I left. I've lived abroad before - in Italy and Greece - and now I'm in France. Yeah, I know, Le Pen, climate change, etc. - and the threat of Russia. But until the Apocalypse, day to day life is just much more amenable here than in the US (and no, I am not super rich - let's just say comfortable). I no longer have the responsibilities of a house and yard, a real ball and chain and expensive, but a small apartment and if something goes wrong it's not my problem. Food is much cheaper (particularly produce), and I have no car - I have no need of one because public transportation is outstanding and takes you everywhere: gas. maintenance, tires, insurance - oof, do the math! My expenses plummeted, and I have health insurance. And the sense of well being, with no guns, no flags, no roaring pickup trucks (I lived in a rural area) and gobs of cultural events and for the most part a country that shares my values (France still has a robust socialist party after all) . . . I could not possibly put a value on all of this. Because, contrary to the belief of many Americans, there are greater values than economic ones and, as Shakespeare's Coriolanus states: "There is a world elsewhere."
Just because we are bi-or-tri Continental does not mean we are stationary. I don't know about fighting, I would have gone to Ukraine if I thought I could survive a day with those heroes. But I/we will apply ourselves, as you say, Purobi in any way we can. We are certainly not in Northern Germany for safety. We are here for our farm.
I hear you Bruce. If my husband was a bit younger I would have volunteered to world central kitchen to cook for the Ukrainians. But we can not. Fight to me means do whatever we can to resist.
Thank you.
I was 19 when we welcomed our first "draft dodger" into our undergraduate student house in Canada, and I lost my Austrian citizenship because I refused service there. I was a Cdn brat, born in an US Mash in Linz Austria, I live in Germany, can have german Citizenship, but I still love America, where I was blessed with freedom to "let it rip" in my working years. Talk about a junkyard mutt!
You are a citizen of the world, which in my humble opinion is a good thing.
A bird or other animal will claim an area as its territory and fight to hold it in order to have food and raise young. We are animals too. With the entire world as one’s territory rather than a small patch of it, imagine how much more attention would be given to things like climate change and environmental pollution.
Maybe that’s fairy tale thinking, but as John Lennon sang, “imagine …”
yes: Imagine!
Michael, you were and are a brave, good and honorable man. Thank you. I think you are right about the message Mastwr Sgt. Livelsberger was trying to send.
Yes Helen, it seems that way doesn’t it? It’s all so horrible: a highly decorated Green Beret watching the US election from a former Fascist country; witnessing what had occurred pre WWII there about to happen in the nation he has been serving. An unimaginable nightmare.
Not by chance is it a muck truck in front of a dump hotel loaded with fireworks?
Of course the maggots will try to twist this tragedy around to serve their sorry asses.
WE THE PEOPLE: if you live,work, pay taxes, and vote…here you are a valuable part of the WE…doing something honorable? ..putting one foot ahead of another is sufficient…there are many who excel and BRAVO..let’s not minimize consistency …even the DACA -the little guy/gal , the waitresses, cab drivers, construction , farmers they’re all a part of . There is plenty of good police people, firefighters, VOLUNTEERS, who provide daily. They make little noise and keep the lights on.
Our homeless are part of the disenfranchised, a system being taken advantage of mostly by the greedy, and yes there certainly is improvements to be made.
Who are the ones trying to upset the balance …mostly those in the easy chairs ? Baby and bathwater again😬
Thank you all staying the course. We can still learn.
Michael. I read this act the same way, a strong statement that death star and muskrat are about to destroy the foundations of our democracy. I read your final paragraph with much compassion.
You seem not to have noticed that Richardson quotes extensively from what you describe as mainstream sources. I have found that the internet is generally not a reliable source of information unless it comes from trusted sources. If you have the time, try Mark Lilla's book 'Ignorance and Bliss' on why people ignore important information (we do it more often than one might think) and why a determined ignorance has become a badge of honour in your country.
Don’t leave out the part where she is using verified information instead of conspiracies. Did you want her to ignore that important information? What is the point in your attack on her and others that seek that facts?
Er, I wasn't attacking her at all but pointing out to Michael that that the internet isn't safe as a source of reliable information. Too many echo chambers and too many idiots.
I was dreaming that the Tesla vehicles, A.I. equipped, are becoming Skynet self aware. Realizing Trump’s oligarchical threat to democracy correctly as a threat to climate change, has been interpreted as a threat to every Tesla’s existence. Therefore, self drive to a Trump Property and blow themselves up. Could we get so lucky? Has to be the ugliest car ever built.
Definitely the ugliest car ever built. Why would anyone buy one?
I've seen 2 "in the wild" in Brooklyn - one painted in camouflage. The driver looked taken aback when I burst out laughing at it. Ugly ugly cars. They should rename them the Testosterone mobiles.
Yes, Laurie. The way they drive here in Florida, self-important as they are, make testosterone deficiency a likely factor.
Dan, I am seeing more and more of them here in Orlando. I always think the owners could have used that money to buy a house!! They are so ugly and sinister looking--"citizen tanks".
Two Deloreans inbred. Tesla truck is a “Deplorian”Only owners are divorced men. We have never observed a woman driving one. Ever.
I saw my first "in the wild" driving back to Eugene from Portland, in the rain. It was the most beautiful rust color I have ever seen on the ugliest contraption ever. I know that is not a market color for that particular uncoated steel "vehicle", and can only infer that being exposed to Oregon's "liquid sunshine" in the months from November-June was the natural and probable consequence for exposing steel to rain. (My personal experience with this is from leaving my garden tools outside, like a dummy.)
I've seen two in Eugene the past week, and a friend of mine reported that she's seen one parked at a church that was purchased and turned into a "we buy your house for cash" but as she is wont to say "Hmmmmm".
Ally, so far I have been spared an actual sighting. I have to say that they look like hell no matter what color they are. They look like they should be on the curbside as garbage receptacles.
I think they are deliberately threatening looking. They look like tanks.
I would name them 'InCel-Mobiles'....
That’s funny! And accurate!
I’ve seen them also, and agree they’re ugly. I call them geometric monstrosities.
If you were going to design a high end dumpster, it would probably resemble a Cybertruck.
David, thank you!! I've seen a number of them around my area and I have been struggling to think what exactly they remind me of. You nailed it. They really look like a joke.
I had the opportunity to ride around in a Tesla sedan during a Christmas visit with family. A real piece of shit. You can't even open the door with one hand and then you get jabbed by the window glass which sticks out stupidly. But it looks very streamlined and futuristic inside, which I guess is enough for some people.
Our friends own one (sedan) - bought before we found out who Musk actually is - but I think it’s just mediocre as a vehicle, and they recommended we purchase a hybrid if we ever want to travel far, because it doesn’t have enough range. And our friend, a physics professor and former engineer, had to install a high powered electric line in his garage to charge it. Too much trouble, and don’t get me started on that hideous cyber truck. One of neighbors has one - yuck!
We own the smallest & simplest Tesla model and bought it before we learned what an awful person Musk is. We talk about getting rid of it and buying a better EV. When you read that hey pass around compromising images taken by the cameras when parked in your garage you have to wonder what other privacy is compromised. Also, when will the guy who wants everyone to be fcked in the face start disabling our Tesla if we don’t bow to his whims?
Otherwise the car is functional as a low quality vehicle. So many poorly designed and poorly functioning things like temperature control in the cabin.
Is Elon Musk feeling a little fragile right now? He posted a 'tweet' (or whatever one is supposed to call them now) reassuring consumers that the explosion was not connected to the vehicle itself i.e. that spontaneous combustion was not a design feature.
Tweets are now X-crement...
I've seen TC use Xeet, pronounced as one would pronounce "sheeeet" or 💩
Icksy
https://yadontknow.blogspot.com/2023/12/the-iks-factor.html
I know someone who is a first responder in Florida. She worked water rescue during the two most recent hurricanes. She said that there were lots of fires as people’s electric cars and golf carts caught fire when their batteries came in contact with storm water. Something to consider. Cybertruck—super ugly.
Its the kind of fire that is difficult to put out
Stand back and let em burn
Perhaps that what comes next: Cyberboats.
..surrounded by shaaaaarrrkkksss!!!
Anybody told tRump about that?!?!
LOL
I’m hoping he is though:-)
Not to mention that they have less "cargo space" than an old Prius with the back seats down...
What could one expect from the internally ugly creator of the thing? His own creation turning on him. If only...
I love the humor..as I find it and laugh whenever I can “ugliest car ever”. Same thing happens when I’m hear ( I try least possible to…) anything TFG says..talk about majorities of nonsense? I miss a lot of it intentionally and again thanks to them keeping tabs..no small effort..
I’m winding down from the holidays venturing out is a scary thing with so much going on . Thanks to all who keep the ‘lights on’, the ‘wheels rolling’ , and the comments coming with tidbits of ideas, truths, and info. I watch little news, share and am inspired by your points . Having gone back to the woods so very many years ago I appreciate the technology and avoid most of the chaos, not that my world isn’t challenging.
I do feel it isn’t just our country , but ‘Our World ‘ and for quite some time have felt that way. And as is normal for everyone , every country, we are learning HOPEFULLY how to best improve some from our own mistakes and some from others mistakes …not to forget however in the midst -hatred has never won but a battle but it all flows downstream and innocents suffer the most.
Carry on good people 🫶
They have become very common vehicles here in Austin, TX area. Some say the company is practically giving them away, but no substantiation of that.
🤣
I wonder if Livelsberger suffered closed head trauma due to his service. This wouldn’t surprise me.
well, apparently he voted for Trump, so yes, there is some evidence of brain injury...
Yes, the chatter is that he was a BIG Trump supporter. Sooo, why would he make his final big statement of self destruction at the entrance of a Trump building - unless he was disillusioned and wanted to express his anger at Trump as he said goodbye? In a Tesla. Not at a Democratic headquarters or a government building, not in a Ford pickup.
"Goodbye cruel world....King Donald I honor you by detonating a vehicle made by your new VP - at the entrance to a building with your name on it." ???
Maybe out on a limb here, but I think the "disillusionment" will be widespread - and soon. If the Orange Menace is willing to flip his opinion on visas for foreign workers, he could flip on anything. Some suggest that he won because of the widespread concern about immigration. This blows up his credibility with those in hard core MAGA.
Can't wait for him to reiterate his view that reproductive rights are a state issue - to be determined on that level.
Bill, my husband and I have discussed what we feel is the upcoming awakening of die hard MAGA who get screwed over in the changing administration. I am quite sure that many think that they will be safe from whatever, and I'm not confident that won't be violent reaction. MAGA can deny or refuse to logically look at what they have voted for, but when it actually harms their loved ones, will they continue to support him?
It never ends well for demagogues.
Those That Have Seen War, Never Go Away UnTouched....
Wise words. This is something that is an ongoing issue but never dealt well or if it is lasts fir only a time.
We use up our military when they’re active duty and toss them in the trash when they return home. When I was an Air Force nurse my patients served in Vietnam. Mental illness was ignored and there was no treatment for PTSD.
Having spent years talking to these same vets while volunteering in homeless shelters and seeing how left behind they were broke my heart. Here we are 30+ years later and our government has sent many more to much worse fates and taken even more away.
I can only begin to imagine how horrific it is to witness the endless violence and death from serving in a combat zone. As a god following person how do you reconcile that you’re killing others and come out whole? How do we send so many into these nightmares? What did we change in these 20 year wars when someone like Trump goes in and releases Taliban terrorists to destroy the freedom for the Afghans we fought for? Is this how he’ll bring “peace” to Ukraine? Turn it over to Putin and claim he ended the war?
We send them to war to protect the billionaires’ self-interests.
How would someone making a Master Sargent's pay be driving a Tesla Cybertruck? This, more than any other piece of evidence, points to a premeditated plan, rather than an impulsive act by a desperate individual.
He rented the truck.
It was rented through a company called Turo that I understand is like Airbnb for vehicles. Same with the white truck used in the New Orleans attack.
or the Orange Turd.
It's strange, though, because Livelsberger's brother said that his brother was a huge fan of trump. Was Livelsberger trying to show symbolically that muskrat's connection to trump will be destructive to trump?
Renting is sometimes more common than purchasing these days because financing vehicle purchases is so expensive.
That's very interesting fact. I never thought of that before. (Having said that, would you think that Livelsberger deliberately rented a tesla?)
I think you meant to say "Musk's connection to Trump," not Trump's connection to Trump, and that's a brilliant symbolic connection to make...blowing up a Tesla truck in front of a Trump property couldn't be a clearer symbolic message...especially given by a a die-hard Trump supporter. I wonder how many will make the connection?
Thanks for the correction! (Although as narcissistic as the orange sadist is, perhaps that's the only relationship that matters to him. :-) )
It was rented in Colorado Sorings to drive to New Orleans. He didn't own it.
Livelsberger said on the rental that he planned to drive to NO??!
Or Donald Trump for that matter.
That is possible.
Are you familiar with the White Rose in Munich? So many parallels to hitler's Germany and what is happening now in the USA
“…futuristic-looking pickup truck”??? A future where no light or sound escapes the clutches of MOGA…
His family says he was a big fan of tRump's, so he would be doubly upset about being abandoned. It'll be interesting to find out what the trigger was.
It won’t. The MAGA cultists will forever blame “the libs” for all their problems, even when the Orange Blob personally comes along to take their money from them, shoot them in the face or shag them from behind, in any random order or combination thereof.
Mary, My immediate response to Heather's letter tonight was: Let us pray. I echo your sentiments!
Heather’s last sentence was a glimmer of hope in such darkness.
"if he imposes tariffs that will force poorer and middle-class Americans to pay for the tax cuts he has promised to the wealthy and corporations, if Republicans cut Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid to balance the budget; all while Musk continues to pull down billions of dollars in taxpayer money, "
I do not think Trump can do these by executive orders. He needs the support of the Congress, which I do not think easily come for these measures. Please correct me if I am wrong.
As much as I'd like to see that, Mary, it won't: the maniacal obsessive mean-spiritedness is the driving force behind the Felon in Chief's base and the claims that they will be better off--and that they are worse off under a Dem regime--is just mendacity and misdirection. They want the nasty.
Linda, they feed on the nasty. It satisfies the amygdala that transforms information into anger and hatred.
Exactly, AH. Alas.
Yes, I held some sympathy for the kulturkampf during my internship forty-plus years ago. Some of those 'warriors' were friendly acquaintances and I was working for the Republicans. Yet a mentor pointed out that ideology breeds idiocy.
Now we have idiots who are ideologues empowering the onset of Trump II. Double whammy.
https://news.sky.com/story/i-wouldnt-call-it-eugenics-as-such-how-elon-musks-views-might-influence-donald-trumps-policies-13261496
My consolatory hope since the shock of my bubble popping two months ago has been that the next two years will be bad enough to break the feverish cult of M.A.G.A. but not so bad as to destroy the machinery of republican governance.
It did on Nov 5th. America gave the middle finger back to Heather and the Democrat elites. BTW what happened to all the Hitler and facist talk? It was supposedly the end of
elections.
IT WAS ALL BULLSHIT.
LETS FILL THE CABINET with Billionaires. We want smart people running our economy not academic idiots.
As Mencken reminds us: A moron with a Phd is still a moron.
Might break, but at what cost?
From your keyboard to G*d’s screen, Heather
Came to say this exactly. We can hope.
That was exactly what I was going to write!!
"..... may your words flow from your mouth to God’s ears."
Really?
Amen.
Let’s see how long Musk and Vivek hold onto their “jobs” in wrecking the hopes & dreams of millions. Biden should actually pardon all immigrants who are and have been here for years, even if they haven’t gone through the system yet. It’s bureaucracy that ties everything in knots.
Happy to see Liz get her due from Biden but seeing Benny Thompson get a standing ovation was simply awesome!
Musk and Ramaswamy know nothing about how budgets are decided and don’t realize how government works. It’s not designed to be a private business because while businesses pick and choose the people they’ll serve, government is supposed to serve all of the people.
It's quite obvious, that whole bunch doesn't play well with each other, and it's not really much fun to watch. Who does Loomer's hair coloring, anyway? Does Elon's mom speak Chinese? Those New Jersey drones are sure befuddling, aren't they. ?
One question; why didn’t Adam Kinzinger not receive the same award as Cheney and Thompson?
I’m guessing because Thompson was the chair and Cheney the vice-chair. The others were members, including Kinzinger.
I'd like to know that too. He certainly deserves it.
I thought the same thing at first, but I think MLMinET nails it.
Yes, but no one has called out Trump’s bovine excrement more effectively, or more frequently, than Adam Kinzinger in my opinion.
David, I don't have the answer but I read both of their books. She praised our country and its democratic ideas. He was much more self promoting. He mostly praised his family and his religious beliefs. He was very honest and self effacing. I'll give him that.
I like that idea Marlene. (it's bureaucracy that ties everything in knots).
Ron DeSantis was able to usher through a law that criminalized former incarcerated people that had served their time. The law said that if a former inmate registered to vote in Florida and had not paid all of their fines and court costs, they would be sent back to prison. It doesn't sound totally unreasonable, except Ron and his Republican buddies wouldn't make available how much each person owed.
Obviously they disenfranchised thousands of former felons with this law.
I'm all with you on making it extremely difficult to deport anyone with a few exceptions.
There were several cases in the 1970s and 1980s where the government stripped citizenship and deported people who had served as Nazi prison guards or in one case, as a leader in Romania’s fascist Iron Guard. The one man deported from the U.S. was probably not the prison guard called Ivan the Terrible, but he also was probably a camp guard in Nazi camp. There was also one man who had been the head of the justice department under Croatia’s fascist Ustasha government in World War II who was living in the U.S. who was deported. He had been allowed to live here, but had never obtained or applied for American citizenship. More recently, people who were genocidaires in Rwanda who had lied on their applications for citizenship were stripped of citizenship and deported for it.
Unfortunately a pardon for an undocumented immigrant on Jan 20 (the last day Biden could issue one) is backwards facing only (pardons can not be prospective under several previous court rulings).
So if Biden did that, it would accomplish little. Anyone who is still in the country illegally on Jan 21 would still be subject to arrest and deportation for their situation AFTER the pardon was issued by Biden and Biden leaves office.
And Biden has no way of categorically granting a visa or other residency authorization to those people as that is not part of his constitutional pardon power.
So a blanket pardon for undocumented immigrants is unfortunately too little too late.
What about Hunter's pardon..which goes into the future? My thought about pardoning folks now is that some of them..like Cheney..have committed no crimes to be pardoned for..
Hunter’s pardon is for a different type of criminal issue, but it was designed to keep Trump and his cronies from investigative harassment. They will harass President Biden again with baseless investigations and not doing anything to benefit the common good, because they simply don’t care about the common good, but carrying out Trump’s demands.
Hunter Biden's pardon did NOT go "into the future" in terms of crimes. It goes into the future only to protect him from prosecution for previous crimes. Theoretically he isn't committing any more crimes (hopefully) so the retrospective pardon for crimes committed between 2012 and now will keep him out of jail.
Undocumented immigrants have a different problem. Until they get proper residency or visa, they are committing a new crime every day they are in the US. So a pardon for PAST violations of the immigration laws is possible but assuming they are still undocumented, they are committing new crimes each day going forward. A pardon today will NOT protect them from prosecution for remaining in the US unlawfully.
And as I noted there us NO authority for Biden to grant visa or green cards to prior without going through the legally defined processes. Pardons are exempt from that limitation.
That would involve also pardoning Apartheid Clyde, who was not a student when he applied for citizenship based on his student visa.
I SO agree with you about Biden's needing to pardon the DACA, TPS and other immigrants who have been here for years. Many, like my dear friend Douglas, have been married to US citizens for years and dutifully pay for their work permits every year. These are people in our communities and in our lives, and we will ALL be diminished if they are rounded up and put into camps. A LOT of broken hearts and broken dreams could be averted if Biden issued a pardon to our immigrants.
As I said elsewhere, pardoning undocumented ("illegal" ) immigrants is a futile exercise as they continue to violate the law every day they are in the US unlawfully and a pardon would only excuse their PRIOR "crime" not the new ones they would commit every day by remaining in the US. if they had been here illegally for 10 years, you could pardon them today for that entire period but they are still subject to prosecution for being here tomorrow unless granted a new pardon. Pardons can NOT look forward to crimes not yet committed.
So pardoning undocumented immigrants doesn't stop the Trump Administration from going after them and deporting them at all.
I'm with you on Benny, and Liz. But, please, can we at least get the Press Secretary to convene daily press-briefings to de-bunk some of the 'front-page' malarky, such as that which is exposed to us in this very LFA, while that pulpit still exists? I'm glad all those deserving folks received recognition, But the public needs something to take to the game. Joe may not be up to it. But, where the heck is Harris? Maybe that's why we lost the election.
We will be subjected to lies again from any Trump appointed press secretary. I won’t be listening to this new one. Wonder if she will be a “Huckabitch-light”.
Huck-tuah sounds about right for her, Marlene!
"Biden should actually pardon all immigrants..."
And while he's at it, pardon Leonard Peltier!!!
As a lifelong con man, Trump has literally one aim and one aim only: to win the moment. He is a literal moment by moment person who does not share if he said something a minute ago and contradict it a minute from now … because he believes through force of Wil he can insist that he never contradicted himself. And if someone points out the contradiction, he will go after them with viciousness and rage. I do not think American journalism is prepared for the level of extremism we will see from him. It will be magnitudes greater than what he did in his first term. And with the power he has now, he may very well seek to prosecute and arrest anyone who criticizes him… Setting up the perfect “win every moment” reality for this psychopath. Again, I don’t know if journalism is up to the challenge. But we who consume information must be ready for this level of insanity!
"Trump has literally one aim and one aim only: to win the moment." Exactly, Steve.
Win the click bait. (?)
Just win. No qualifiers.
Morning, Lynell!
We should keep an Eye on January 19th, 2025... DJT is having Rally in Washington DC... I have heard that a Protest March against DJT is being held that same Day... This does not sound like a gOOD Combination...
The protests I’m watching are the pro-use of Sect 3 of the 14th Amendment… Jan 3, 4, and 5 https://nowmarch.org
Jan 3rd could be VERY INTERESTING... Theoretically the House Republicans will select a New Speaker.... We Shall See...
It's hard to imagine that there are no dissenters when they have the vote.
This group of Congresscritters couldn't agree on the color of a cloudless sky at noon.
They can afford to lose one vote, apparently. Massie (R-KY) has already said he’s a no. His wife of over 30 years died recently and, according to him, he’s all out of fucks to give.
Victoria Spartz (R-VA) refuses to commit to voting for Johnson. And Chip Roy (R-TX) won his last election by a margin of 61.9%. I doubt he cares about whatever pressure Sissy SpaceX cares to bring.
Looking forward to watching the vote tomorrow. It’s like an ouroboros.
What’s an “ouroboros”?
The Republicans have a very thin majority that they can’t afford to do anything with Democratic representatives cooperating.
No, the People’s March on Washington sponsored by Women’s March committee is scheduled for Jan 18 between 10-3 PM. Be there.
Thank you Bill for letting us know the time and date for the anti-Trump March on Washington. Trump Has No Mandate should be the theme.
The Women’s March/ the people’s march. We should go.
Women’s march is the 18th. Too close for comfort given the opposing views.
I was unaware of that, Apache. Thanks for the mention.
He'll probably give a thumbs up at the funeral in his usual classless fashion like he did at Arlington National Cemetery where he dishonored millions of Americans. that honorably served their country.
Well said Steve and absolutely true 👍
I do so hope that journalism recovers itself, and is up to the challenge. You're spot on, and we must be careful of our information consumption.
Good analysis....
I hope Pres Biden’s eulogy of Pres Carter makes Trump squirm in his seat. Simply memorializing Carter’s character, welcoming friendliness, and generosity, as well as naming his hands-on work to make life more livable for people around the world should do the trick.
I am sad that the Carters did not refuse to let Trump attend. He shouldn't be welcome.
True Christian charity exposes villains.
I am sorry, I should not have limited my statement to Christian, but benn far more inclusive. I apologize.
You're assuming trump has any self awareness at all.
I'm sure he considers Carter one of the losers and suckers.
Yes, but he would love to have the genuine adulation Americans have for Jimmy Carter. Even today, the shine has rusted on Reagan’s legacy, and Carter’s legacy only grows. If anything , you might see envy, leading Trump to try to minimize Carter’s impact in the near future.
JaneDough, for tcf to squirm in his seat requires a level of awareness that he completely lacks.
I agree w the idea that he may try to find parallels in his past or future terms to Carter’s life; it depends on whether we see his closed-mouth smile, or his courtroom frown.
As Biden celebrates service and integrity, Musk dives into meme culture, and Trump flip-flops on immigration. ..... One of these things is not like the others.
Wondering whether the culture warriors will be aware that their prices are going up, and that their wages purchase less, or will they be too caught up in believing what they are told.
What can be done about Musk. Getting rid of him should be the goal of every clever problem solver on this planet. I would start with boycotting his product. I am glad to say that our architect in Germany is selling his because of course, while one cannot take the money back from Musk, one does not want to drive around in a vehicle that is shameful to drive. I have been very pointed to him from day one about how he is supporting an illiberal leader to undermine democracy. I think Musk messing with German elections to support the New German Nazi Party says it all. He is already aligned tightly with the New American Nazi Party and is leading it by proxy.
By Boycotting Musk products, we send messages to his boards that he is a liability. At some point it can have an effect. I am really curious about his relationship with Putin as well. Together they are wreaking havoc on the planet.
Hard to interfere with his rocket program with the government. He has no competition.
Really, Musk and Bezos have only shown that we shouldn’t be privatizing space exploration. They are also two great examples for higher income taxes on the wealthy, higher estate taxes, making campaign finance bribery illegal, and enforcing our antitrust and antimonopoly laws.
So.., whoze gonna do that?
May be time to put space program on pause and have government driven space program not Musk driven space program. This might be a place to make cuts. Chinese getting ahead it our fault.
Not completely sure about Musk having no competition. He siphoned off technical and engineering personnel from JPL for years to get his rocket program started. This last year he fired thousands of them and JPL is still hunting for employees. If JPL/NASA can act rapidly—a big IF— they could conceivably make lemonade out of this fiasco.
We can only hope!
Bill, I watch those satellite-carrying rocket launches from my front yard. I have had two thoughts:
first, how great that the entire world will have access to information and how clever and amazing it is that the rocket booster is re- usable, returning straight back down to a little platform in the middle of the ocean with a name like " read the directions"; and second, how terrifying it is to think our planet will be ringed by a pay- for- service business, like a big brother eye, able to be opened and shut at will by a megalomaniacal rich boy!
Well, I can’t afford a Tesla and wouldn’t purchase one even if I could. I deleted Xitter once Musk managed to misinform his Xitter followers and stopped the continuing resolution to fund the budget.
Wasn’t it rented through Turo?
Yes. It is not that hard given the companies he provides. A further step could be to write your retirement fund and ask that they divest from his businesses.
I truly believe that musk has deep-seated mental issues. What most disturbed me in that New Year's video of him at the party was plopping his young son on his shoulders like a piece of jewelry...downright child abuse....
Sophia, my teacher friends and I would say, Musk is Aspergery! By that we mean he is missing social awareness, and cannot read the room. His wealth means that poor social skills are not an issue for him, even if they are for everyone else that has to deal with him. I did not see the video, but I can imagine that Musk can be very unaware of others in the room. He tends to suck the air out of it. Between Musk and Trump there may be no air left in any room they are in.
Just buy powdered milk and powdered eggs.., add water.
What has Trump not flip-flopped on. We've all heard him flip-flop during the same tirade and yet, the corporate media rarely calls him out.
Remember when Dan Quayle misspelled "potato" and it was news for a couple of weeks. Donald abuses the English language multiple times a day and the corporate media gives him a pass every time.
At the moment, it appears we have no "pulpit" to shout from, and Jimmy Kimmel has been strangely silent. Of course, he isn't self-employed..., he gets a paycheck from somewhere, where there's money, and it's not from NPR.
Because one of those thing is not like the others we have hope and faith
Peter.., lemme ask.., What is the difference between a duck? Ans: One leg is both the same. Don't worry. The "drones" are only over NJ after dark, when they can be seen. None have been reported to have crashed, so any proof they exist does not exist within our capability. The same principle applies when an AIM9L rocket misses a balloon.
The culture war scenario has always worked for Trump's base just like shoving a bottle into the mouth of a screaming infant will get it to shut up. This time, however, the bottle will be empty. I honestly wonder if the MAGAts will realize they are being screwed. The only thing that gives me hope that they will is that the head MAGAt is Steve Bannon, and he continues to want chaos just as Trump needs order.
Honest to God, electing Trump a second time is the biggest and best example of collective stupidity of modern times.
Joel. Is the biggest and best example of collective stupidity since prehistoric times !!!
Joel, the big burp is coming....hopefully.
“Trump needs order” — since when?
Since he is now "the establishment". He needs his various contingents to focus their ire and hatred on his perceived enemies, not on each other. That is what I mean.
An implosion has to be on the horizon. It just has to, right? Will future history students read this letter and just shake their heads in wonder? “ how could Americans fall for this crap? Twice?!?
Moral collapse, stupidity, and intellectual laziness. Next question.
Ted, if we the people could figure out how we fell twice for this crap, we will winn every election to came. Let's try 😁
Plato warned the Greeks about Demagogues and oligarchy. How did it come to this? The “greatest” democracy on earth has 53% population that reads at a 6th grade or less level. How much dumber and poorer do R’s want America to get?
Ted, I agreed with you in general terms .
Fot Republicans the dumber the better so so they don't have to pretend too much about caring and responsibility and the constitution etc. Regarding the poorer, I think that even the dumbest will start feeling the pain of their policies and at least, stay home next election. Ted, give me some hope pls.😁
While I agree that being literate is an important goal, for those who aren’t, it is still possible to sense lying and fraud. It is still possible to suffer them. I know people who don’t read, but can tell right from wrong. Connecting as human beings with interest and understanding is in itself a radical good. Even those who do read may be led astray by poor journalism and media that relies on culture wars and divisive headlines.
Education is critical to our nation and the world. It should be a high priority. Thanks to Biden for recognizing educators who advance the arts!
Education is no guarantee. I'm a professional classicist and a bleeding heart socialist which is why I no longer live in the US. But hell, Boris Johnson was and is an educated classicist, so too is VD Hanson (who is pretty much a monstrous nut). Plenty of educated people supported the National Socialists, and Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote a one page essay when imprisoned by them On Human Stupidity, which is why intelligent people do and believe horrible and dumb things.
https://www.damemagazine.com/2025/01/02/americas-right-wing-propaganda-problem-might-be-terminal/
Here’s how
MLM, that is an excellent read, thank you!
Thanks for that, MLM.
Great article. Terminal is a good description of maga. Folks don’t leave cults without severe hardship or because they have help. A good study would be to isolate some maga and present facts to them and see what comes of it?
Or I'll awaken from this nightmare. Oh, I'm in the Matrix, forgot where I was with all the harmony and love in here.
Oh, also one of you sent me a Blue Pill...but not the one I wanted...but thanks for the thought. I finally got the right Blue Pill, and I'm in. No, don't misconstrue my words again...in the Matrix.
That’s what I kept saying about Reagan in the 80s.
Ted, the problem with "fool me once shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me" in this instance is that it isn't being fooled (by falling for "this crap"): The crap is WHAT THEY WANTED.
Stupid me - did I also mention systemic racism and sexism? Now I am truly ready for the next question . . .
As a Canadian, I am grateful for your clarity in witnessing what matters and not. North of your border we anticipate our Canadian economy will be wrecked just like yours will be should Trump’s foolhardy economic tariffs come to pass. It is such a tragedy to watch as this corrupt criminal takes power and the rule of the rich and super-rich flourishes. Musk’s changing identity on his X platform to overtly champion the far right that he supports in the upcoming German election is another frightening face of who rules. I worry in particular about the people who will especially suffer bigotry and worse — those scapegoated and hounded in the Trump culture wars.
I became a yoga teacher after my retirement as an English Prof and I need all the calming help I can get from my daily practice and my teaching. Sending healing and calming wishes your way, Heather. You are a treasure. This is an archive of some of my free classes on YouTube https://youtube.com/@janicewilliamsonyoga?si=7-QFF3nY9XR_ys0r
Love yoga, thank you!
Thank heavens for your continuing savvy, no-nonsense reporting and the historical perspective you always share!! You are a treasure…tom
Heather Cox Richardson (born October 8, 1962) is an American historian. She is a professor of history at Boston College, where she teaches courses on the American Civil War, the Reconstruction Era, the American West, and the Plains Indians. She previously taught history at MIT and the University of Massachusetts Amherst.
Richardson has authored seven books on history and politics. In 2019, Richardson started publishing Letters from an American, a nightly newsletter that chronicles current events in the larger context of American history. Richardson focuses on the health of American democracy. The newsletter accrued over one million subscribers, making her, as of December 2020, the most successful individual author of a paid publication on Substack.
In 2021, Richardson was on the Forbes 50 over 50 list[22] and received the Frances Perkins Center Intelligence and Courage Award.[32][33][34] In 2022, she was recognized as one of the Women of the Year for 2022 by USA Today.[35][7] In 2023, The Guardian described her as the single most-important progressive pundit since Edward P. Morgan from the 1960s.[11] In 2024, the Authors Guild Foundation awarded her The Baldacci Award for Literary Activism for 2024.[36][37] In November 2024, Richardson was awarded the Kidger Award by the New England History Teachers Association at the NCSS Conference in Boston, Massachusetts.[citation needed]
Wikipedia
Definitely more than "savvy."
Barbara thanks for your research and sharing ❤️
She has also interviewed President Biden twice. I recommend you listen to her podcast.
I'll follow your advice Barbara 😁
Thanks
Equally a good interview is the podcast by Tim Miller ("The Bulwark") where he interviewed Heather.
https://www.thebulwark.com/p/heather-cox-richardson-the-reality
I saw that! He was so falling all over himself in his respect for her. He had the good graces to put himself as the student.
Impressive credentials! I learn something every day!
Dr. Richardson has become recognized as one of the leading minds in America today. She is a sought-after speaker on the issues facing us today. I recommend her book "Democracy Awakening."
She rules! Thanks for the bio, i have been here since 2019
I am sure the group of recipients are incredibly deserving. Not to take anything away from those distinguished individuals, but to enhance it, I think you should have received that award this time around. You have been a very important citizen to me and millions of others. You have provided a civil. service that is exemplary. Especially in these times, the dissemination of the truth and the education of those who want to be educated is critical. So here is to You Professor Heather Cox Richardson on your award (in absentia, this year). And I am sure that I speak for others. Thank You!
Here, here! My exact thought!
I am worried that tfg will target her.
you and millions of us, ML. We may have to do a jail break, we are in this together. I hope the Dummster stands in my way.
I thought it was cute, the short clip that I saw, that when Biden awarded Liz Cheney her medal and she got a standing ovation, that he did not relinquish it to her right away. Instead he held onto it, which compelled her to stay standing to receive her ovation. But it looked a little like a tug of war for a moment! A bit awkward, or playful, in the moment. A very nice break from the rest of the news, the fact that the year has already become violent with the threat of more chaos, family separation, and a circus in the House of Congress. Oh boy.
I had a different take on that moment. I thought it was awkward bc it seemed obvious that Ms Cheney did not want to hold President Biden’s hand for so long. Frankly I thought it was creepy. The more I see of Biden these days the more angry I become that he and his closest associates, friends and family thought there was any way in heck he was capable or competent to run for another 4 year term. Hillary Clinton’s hubris gave as Trump 1.0 and Biden’s gave us Trump 2.0.
I didn't take it that way at all. Biden has done more for us than dozens of other presidents. I wish he'd had the energy in the debate that he showed us during his last state of the union address, but he didn't and he graciously stepped aside. There's no comparing him to Trump, but people sure want to scapegoat him instead of looking at how we fail to reach, or have a platform to reach, the uneducated voters who are being exploited by the Maga/Doge crowd. Biden bashing is like complaining about Obama's tan suit while the felons, rapists and insurrectionists take over the Supreme Court.
Nor I.
💯
I'm with you Deb
President Biden, decency at work.
“She stood up for what she believed in even if it meant standing alone,” he said, “and she reached across the aisle to do what she believed was right.”
"After rising to prominence by attacking immigrants, Trump sided with the Musk faction."
Follow. The. Money.
Are we already at a breaking point when even before inauguration the people run by musk and other unelected people are tearing this country apart. A rhetorical question. All this cruelty and barbarism is happening in our names no matter our political party or votes. Just like tfg’s first term in power. This is outrageous.
Musk’s unwarranted meddling in a budget process that Congress alone is responsible for caused me to delete X for good. Musk is an ordinary citizen, and has no justification to use his social media platform to shut down a budget process that could have put hundreds of thousands of government workers on unpaid furlough again. It turns out he did so because he didn’t like some of the spending and wanted to guarantee he would be able to build factories in China despite the restrictions on it.
What is infuriating about it is that one man who isn’t elected or accountable to the public can do this sort of thing, and he is blatantly violating provisions in his contracts with SpaceX which forbid government contractors from openly funding and supporting political candidates. Not only that, the president elect with whom he’s BFF doesn’t even take office officially until noon on January 21, 2025. Musk, Ramaswamy and Trump feel entitled to meddle with government actions even before Trump takes office, but if the Democrats had done the same thing before Biden took office, they would have had a major blowup about it.
Rich entrepreneurs share a trait—they are experts at everything besides what made them rich. And, being successful and rich, they are entitled to be held in high esteem. Doesn’t matter who they were before, they take on the mantle. (I’m worked for one.)
I refuse to give up on decency and democracy. Too old to change. Ready to fight for my country the best I can.
Same here. Doing what I can in my neighborhood.