On Wednesday, January 19, by a vote of 8 to 1, the Supreme Court refused to block the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) from releasing documents produced by the Trump White House to the House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the U.S. Capitol. Last night, NARA handed over hundreds of pages of documents to the committee. Today, Betsy Woodruff Swan at
I knew Ginni Thomas is a trump supporter, but to this extent??? I have never had any respect for Clarence Thomas, and this confirmas it. He is compromised and should resign or at least recuse himself as other Justices have done. Thanks for the link to the article!
Very good article! Knew she was pro DJIT & far right - but the incidence of right wing groups that she "chairs" or has a finger in? Doesnt look ethical at all.
Abhorrent! And so blatant! Especially HIM! They are dancing on the graves of all the blacks as well as indigenous people, who were never treated with any respect to begin with, or treated with justice, or fairness...How can sit up on his throne and dismiss history? What does he see when he looks himself in the mirror!? He and his wife are laughing at all of us. And laughing at those truly believe in America, and who hope that she can deliver!
I could not get through that article. (Anxiety.) But I got it: It's way worse than most of us knew. In a reality that sits in a close but currently unreachable place, Clarence Thomas is impeached.
It goes much beyond that. His wife is a member of the radical right groups and has had undue influence upon him. He should recuse himself when voting on such topics, but instead stands out as the lone dissenter this time.. He can not give an unbiased view on anything and therefore should be removed from the supreme court.. Perhaps that was her condition for not leaving him after his earlier foray into adultery and rape.
Neither is mine! I only remember because I watched every minute of those hearings and Anita Hill’s bravery in speaking truth to power rocked my world. She was not well supported by Democrat Senators. Ted Kennedy was mum because he was a known womanizer and Biden was trying to be kind to everyone so he was a spineless ally, as he is (mostly) today.
PS I’ve always wished the Dems showed half the chutzpah and spine the Republicrimes show. They never give an inch and keep coming back for more. Tough as nails.
Clarence Thomas should be charged with giving comfort to or, aiding and abetting an alleged or suspected participant of the January 6th attempted insurrection and forced to resign or be removed. Even if she’s never convicted…he is Guilty by association. He should be above reproach as a “sworn member of the Highest Court in the Nation!”
At the very least…what about violating his Oath of Office, “ I, ________, do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter. So help me God."
Nowhere do I see with the exception of One’s Spouse! Or, “it doesn’t count because I had my Fingers crossed!”
So long as the participant in the Jan. 6 attempted insurrection was merely ALLEGED or SUSPECTED, the avenue you suggest cannot be pursued. Y'know, 'innocent until proven guilty' is still the rule.
Sympathetically, perhaps, but not on the basis of anything he's actually done. The SCOTUS has always been political (ideally, far less so than the other two branches, and historically that's mostly held true)--that's why it's separate--it's just more unabashedly so now; keeping with our times and political movement that has Georgen Kennan'ed itself into a corner like a rabid animal the past 14 years. Anyway, this was understood by those who created it and it's just part and parcel of being human beings too. But...we don't "remove" people from jobs like that for their political leanings, we do so for malfeasance...this doesn't qualify. This might strike us as being so because it's judiciary, but I'm guessing (purely) wouldn't stand a legal review for one second.
It was instructive to watch the segment on Ginni Thomas on MSNBC last evening, during Rachel's hour, if I recall correctly. Clarence has voted on cases in which there has been a conflict of interest.
The commentator pointed out that SCOTUS has no code of ethics.
AND that John Roberts is ineffectual in managing the court by not having Clarence recuse himself...among other issues indicating an absence of leadership.
I think there are grounds, Robert: he should have recused himself because his wife is a "person of interest" in this ongoing investigation. So signaling, as he does, that he will protect the Trumpists at all costs is a sign that his judicial "independence" is a sham. I am well aware that the judiciary is a political organization (there was an interesting NPR report on this this very morning) but Thomas has been peculiarly empowered to engage in activities that would be regarded as ranging form questionable to nefarious were it someone not on the Bench.
It'll never happen. SCOTUS Justices live in a world of their own. Even Chief Justice Taney, whose Dred Scott opinion helped bring about the Civil War, remained on the Court until his death in 1864.
It would take the revelation of criminal activity on their part to start the ball rolling to get a Justice removed from the SCOTUS. Being offensive and dishonest isn't enough. Something like running a ponzi scheme on the side might do it. It would be up to an investigative journalist to come up with such evidence because neither Congress nor the President can pursue it. But even then, look at all of the evidence which has been gathered about the defeated former president. Getting rid of him through the electoral process didn't seem to work. He's still around spouting lies and sowing dissention and supported by millions.
Isn't Heath's comment getting close to seeing Trump's fingerprints? "Washington reporter for Reuters Brad Heath noted that people close to Sidney Powell said Trump authorized this executive order (13) before his staff talked him out of it." I like to think the Committee is slowly closing in on Trump.
I can’t wait until there is proven collusion between “Dragon Lady” Ginny and Thomas in turn tied to 1/6/21. She is constantly violating the protocols of the SCOTUS
Why should he, if he was of the same mind as his wife was, and would have voted against it even if he were a bachelor. These Justices must be put out to pasture at a specified age or number of years on the bench.
No, this can work two ways. Final decision rests with the Senate which acts as a check on an out-of-control president. Perhaps that decision, though, should also require House approval. That would make appointments more democratic.
Yes. It seems there should be some way to determine the political leanings of a judge before she/he is nominated. And no one who is terribly conservative or terribly liberal would be appropriate. GWBsuh deliberately looked for "the most conservative black judge," exactly what should NOT be a criterion.
Not necessarily, although in the Thomas' case, I think the spouses do share the same philosophy. But look at James Carville and Mary Matalin, happily married but diametically opposed politically.
He was the lone dissenter against the ruling, and has consistantly ruled against anything that was anti Trump. His wife, on the other hand, is very pro Trump.
I’m wondering the same thing. The real thrust of the article was the release of archived docs that clearly show the planned execution of the coup. Thank you
The sub thread, addressing Justice Thomas, was in response to HCR's posting dated Jan 19, in which she indicated his was the only vote against releasing the archived documents.
George HW Bush asked his team to find for the most extreme, conservative, Black judge they could find because it would jam the Democrats to try to torpedo a Black judge--no matter how extreme or unpalatable he was.
Almost certainly true. In this instance, GHWB was playing the same kind of dirty politics that Bush 43 was persuaded (or persuaded himself) to engage in. Pretty disgusting but not surprising. On an interpersonal level, both Bushes appeared decent and even likeable. However, as political animals they (IMHO) definitely weren't.
There was a very strong push to have a black Supreme Court justice to succeed Thurgood Marshall, and it had to get through Congress, and, it was "Daddy Bush" in the White House, and voila!
You’ve “long wondered why” Michael. You are killing me, but, I’ll endeavor to enlighten you. Republicans are always; always trying to exploit insane Blacks that are filled with self loathing and who play it out on their own race. When I was in college Blacks called these traitors “Uncle Toms” They are the same blacks that were the trusted “house servants” of the Antebellum South. They are totally whack people who coincidentally like the mentally ill celeb Kanye West also happen to be Black. Republicans love rubbing these statistical “Black Swans”in the faces of the overwhelming majority of African Americans as though they were representative of the thinking of a people who have been enslaved, denigrated and cynically exploited since the 1600’s.
And TCinLA is also spot on. Revenge is always a classic Republican motivation
I like Citizen 60's and TCinLA's terse comments on the matter. Your statements "You are killing me" and especially "I'll endeavor to enlighten you" are offputting. There's no need for you to be condescending; it's disrespectful.
Michael, I seldom lose patience and was in fact being both disrespectful and condescending. But, in the interest of civic duty and fair play let me respond in this fashion:
I could understand one forgetting about Bork and the vengeance of Republicans to shove the most right wing whack they could promote and cynically made sure to choose an African American that would incite the use of the "race card" and "public lynching" at that time, might have missed your radar.
I suppose over time one may have lost memory of the public scourging of Anita Hill for honestly relating what a despicable freaking scumbag Thomas is. Finally, even forgetting how our now fearless President (then Senator) shoved her under the bus and then backed up over her was why we now have 6 Republicans on the SCOTUS. Yeah, I see how "you" could wonder.
So, I guess the only explanation I can find for how one might "wonder" about how Clarence’s rise was came about, must be left to other readers of this thread to decide.
Although I appreciate your admission of condescension and disrespect, I was hoping for a simple apology--however difficult it may sometimes be to do so.
I know this is very serious excrement, but I propose we lighten the mood with some hyperbolic predictions and questions and see if anyone comes even close to the eventual truth.
Plane(? Planes) at Mira-a Lago, fueled and ready. Who is allowed and who is left behind? Melania(aka Red Sparrow) would certainly have her own Putin jetliner. Ivanka and Jared must be contemplating calling Liz Cheney for a deal. Leave Eric behind with the rest of the baggage. And how fast is Guilfoyle going to give back that ring(is it appraised?).
Importantly, do the Russians living in Trump Tower leave now? Does anyone in Trump properties continue to pay rent or fees? Are there sudden job vacancies at Deutsche Bank?
Are these documents the reason for Pompeo's weight loss? And where is Lindsey Graham? Is Stephen Miller calling Lukashenko about asylum? Where is William Barr?
Does the Secret Service detail with djt have an endless supply of burner phones recording conversations? And pics? Any undercover FBI agents feeding info to Attorney General Garland? Super secret Special Prosecutor and Special Grand Jury?
How many quiet divorce papers are being filed by Republican spouses?
Ok, early morning stream of consciousness palaver. Sorry if anyone is offended.
None of your ramblings would even be surprising...that is the pathetic state of affairs in our body politic. We are living out a movie that no studio would have ever made made because the script was so insanely stupid. Put nothing past a leader who would let Sidney Powell guide him. Or Steven Miller. Or Rudy. Or the other Steve. Or Roger (not the rabbit).
I actually suspect that Rupert Murdoch has been orchestrating everything from a mansion in Australia. After infesting his home nation, he put Boris in charge of the UK. Then he was bored and he hired O'Reilly, Hannity and then Carlson to run the US via the puppet called Trump. I bet Rupert and Putin have Zoom drinks together and laugh at how gullible and dumb Americans are.
It is as if an asylum released all it's inmates and they simply walked into the White House.
Very unfortunately, this is not a movie, but is all too reminiscent of Germany in the 1930s, and of Russia after the revolution there, and even Russia today. After Putin was made president for life, Trump said he liked that idea. He was dead serious. Trump, the MAGAs and nearly all Republicans in Congress, and in America, want to run America as they see fit, and they have no remorse for January 6. Whatever it takes to take over America is what they they are willing to attempt. We know this, because of how they treat January 6. They wish it had succeeded. Otherwise, they'd be howling for criminal prosecutions of the instigators, Trump on down. I was in a deposition yesterday with a young lady attorney who is proud she worked in the U.S. Department of Justice under Attorney Generals Jeff Sessions and William Barr. She is a Trumper. She is very smart, but I wonder if her soul is even engaged with her body and her mind? I am in my 80th year. What happens in America won't affect me all that much longer, but it will affect my children and their families. The entire world should shudder over an America run by the hard right, who are convinced God is on their side.
@ Sloan Bashinsky, Since 2008 I have proposed that Republicans have envisioned a government that will do away with pesky Democracy; I call it Fascism 2.0. In point of fact my substack exposes this over 80 process of embracing Nazi and Christian Nationalism (Christo-Fascism) which always, includes a powerful unfettered Capitalism. If my line of reasoning is of interest lemme know and I’ll point you to my work.
Boy, have you been reading my mind. Proof that propaganda not only works, but can ensnare all kinds of disaffected know-nothings into a coalesced group of evil. And, they don't even know they are evil. Definition of a cult it seems. And the Rupert evil has been spewed non-stop for decades. The inmates have truly taken over the asylum and are attracting more and more "fairness" adherents, trying to "both sides" crazy and sane. Yes, Rupert and Vlad are laughing their arses off. Makes my blood boil to see intelligent people lap up the treasonous pap.
Loved this. I needed a bit of humor after reading today’s letter. It’s appalling to find ever more convincingly just how close we came to the unthinkable. And now Mitch McConnell claims the voting rights act would be government over-reach? Of course he also claims that Black Americans can vote as easily as Americans. Talk about Hoo, boy.
Let’s not forget that McConnell let Trump get away with all of it in two impeachments. His wife cut and ran at the very end so she didn’t have to sign the 25A. I bet they’re deep in.
I didn’t think so when I learned she would be one of the people to sign for 25A. McConnell is far from clean no matter how much he gives speeches that make him look good. If you follow his actions and wonder how he keeps getting re-elected with such low ratings it’s strange. Plus he doesn’t care about the people of Kentucky. They are in real trouble in so many ways with massive opioid addictions and lousy education.
Bill these are interesting--and amusing--speculations but the operative here re: all of the marriages probably going bust is that if Guilfoyle dumps Trumpette she and he both are open to subpoenas and requirements to testify against each other. The deal with Trumpette is likely that they will marry as quickly as possible to stave off that little issue. Same goes for the Ghastly Ones' wives. Miz Lindsey is out on a limb because he doesn't have a tame vagina to cover his ass (sorry for the pun, but the problem is not that he doesn't have a "beard" as this person is usually called in female-centered circles but a "wife" to hide behind)--his toy boyz are probably keeping files and files of stuff they use as guarantees that he won't throw any of them under the bus.
I am sure there are below-the-surface levels of this iceberg we have no clue about. But I am also sure this is going to get interesting. And since Gorsuch clearly has an agenda that he needs public support to enact (threatening Sotomayor's health by refusing to wear a mask, for instance) he probably knows that jumping on the insurrection bandwagon won't help him.
Gaetz married most likely because he figured the Florida law of wife can’t testify would help him, but didn’t think it through that former “romantic” partners could. An ex-girlfriend has already been given immunity for her testimony. My guess is Trumpette has a string of ex’s willing to sing … unless they had to sign NDAs. 🙄
The ones that make the male medical students in the class acutely uncomfortable and fill the female medical students with glee are the ones where I lecture on ancient and medieval medicine. It's all about wandering wombs (aka "hysteria" from the Greek word for uterus) and menstruation as a form of disease. Two things we still have to deal with in the medical and cultural communities not surprisingly. I admit I love giving those lectures.
I’m currently reading Democracy In Chains (Nancy McClean) 😡 . I find it necessary to intersperse my “heavy” reading with humor so yours, and Hiassen’s are much appreciated !
Love Carl Hiassen’s books. Wasn’t aware of Squeeze Me. As you say, just the levity needed to intersperse with all the heavy reading these days. Thanks for the recommendation!
I downloaded the audio version on Libby this morning and listened for an hour while on the treadmill. So entertaining! I’ll sit by my husband with my headphones on as he watches tv sports this afternoon. 😁
Thanks much for mentioning Hiassen's "Squeeze Me." I hadn't heard of it. His novels are incredibly good medicine for me. When I feel down, I pull out my copy of "Stormy Weather" and begin to put things in perspective. Hiassen is beyond funny and talented--he's a national treasure. I'll get a copy of "Squeeze Me" today. It will help me decompress a bit.
Democracy in Chains - McClean’s work is essential, and wow she held up under a right wing hit job to discredit her. But the naked truth tends to prevail in these things.
Cynthia - if you have access to a Public Library do your town and yourself a good turn and get the book in paper OR as an ebook… If you then want to retain the book as reference then buy.
As I write I am listening to a audible 'sample' of 'Democracy in Chains', (and I'm about halfway through 'Squeeze Me'). Is D in C really good? The number of books in my 'shopping cart' gets fuller every day!)
where would they fly to? Russia might take them, but they will end up in a Gulag someplace...iDiJiT is of no use to Putin now...a gulag would be too good for them. Saudi Arabia might be an option, but then Melania would have to cover up that beautiful plastic surgery face. Perhaps the pilot will load just a enough fuel to get them over the ocean, put on his parachute and ditch the lot of them.
Melania won’t go with them. She will return to her handlers that set her up with Trump years ago. The Chinese aren’t the only ones who play the long game on spying.
Bill - I have thought about this possibility for months now - and hope it does come to fruition. I wonder just how far it will reach. Is Jim Jordan “smart” enough to have fear?
Based on all this Independent former practicing attorney reads, sees on TV, on Facebook and hears in personal conversations, in the main, Republicans and their MAGA siblings could care less what the rest of America, and the rest of the world, think about January 6. What they care about is making sure they retake the White House and all of Congress at the ballot box, and from all I am seeing and hearing, they are making serious progress in that direction. It may well be that the only way to stop them is for Donald Trump to be seized and put on one of Elon Musk's rockets and deported to Mars, as the wheels of justice, perhaps should be in quotation marks, might move a tad too slow to to prevent Trump from being reelected again. And to prevent him from inciting the same folks and intimidating Republicans in office who do now bow down and kiss his feet. Even as I recently saw on CNN, Erin Burnett, that President Biden's approval rating had dropped to 33 percent, and among Independents, it had dropped to 25 percent. I'm among the 75 percent, who am not impressed with Biden's 1st year in the White House, but I for sure won't vote for Trump or Mike Pence, but I might vote for Elizabeth Cheney.
Sloan, You are right. Like Hitler and other despots they want the legitimacy of elections to give cover to the fact that they rigged them. Unless you figure that 37% of the voting electorate is actually 70% or higher.
At the rate revelations on the plot are being exposed to daylight I’m thinking that ultimately (maybe before 2002) that Biden will declare that he has to stop the plot and work thought the details under a State of National Emergency. My further prediction is that Milley and Generals supportive of the Constitution are removing the traitors from the ranks.
I know scary, but everyone thought I lacked credulity on the 2008 meltdown of which I was 8 months ahead, They also looked at me like I was talking about Harry Potter over the Bush/Cheney WMD fiasco, when I said the whole thing was yet another play to get rich on oil with American blood. Finally, I was spot on about the genuine coup (which is still in progress toward plan B)
But, it’s like this. The plotters are stopped or I’ll see you soon a Texas border combined deportation and reeducation camp. Not a joke.
I think Biden should have begun right away, based on the raw film footage of Trump and the Jan 6 mob, and Mitch McConnell's instant condemnation of Trump, to have Trump seized and held in a high security undisclosed federal detention center, without bail, because of the very clear and present danger he then was to America.
I have no idea what Miley, etc. are doing with a U.S Military that probably is 50 percent +- pro Trump.
I doubt the Heilers intend to deport the non-Heilers and the south of the border immigrant workers, because they need them to keep the American economic machinery working. Imagine America with no Democrats paying taxes and no Hispanic immigrants doing manual labor?
I missed the 2008 meltdown, but was told in a dream that year, by Archangel Michael, that Barack Obama had the potential to be the AntiChrist, which he proved shortly after being sworn in by accepting the Nobel Prize for Peace while waging the 2 Bush-Cheney right white men for profit war$: Afghanistan and Iraq.
Looks to me Biden's choice of Kamala Harris as a running mate was unfortunate, as she seems to be a very young girl in a grown up body.
I don’t have a real bone to pick with your reply. I really am amazed that Biden did not use the PEADs (Presidential Emergency Action Directives) to “lock him up” especially since Trump and his Minions were only a step away in doing the same thing to Biden, based on the exposed planning documents and Power Points now in the hands of the 1/6/21 Committee. I think a lot had to do with fear of going into an immediate Lebanese Civil War. An outcome that I think gives far too much credit to the coordinating abilities of the Fascist Far Right.
I guess the real % of Officers that would support a right wing coup is at present going to remain a mystery. My rule of thumb is to apply what I’ve called the “37% rule.” That seems to crop up in virtually any gauge of support for Fascism in almost any issue before us.
My observation about illegal immigrants is that they play the same function as did immigrant Jews fleeing Russia to live in 1920’s and 30’s Germany as a political foil to feed meat to the Base.
Oh, I assure you were Trump to achieve his coup and/or a return to Fascist rule in 2024 that the economics of our nation will be just fine, as you may recall the trains ran on time in Italy under Mussolini.
Capitalism and Fascism are not and never were enemies and in fact both will take a back seat to the return of Fedualism by 2050 at the rate things are going.
You're a riot, for real :-). Meanwhile, Trump and his Heilers conveniently ignore his own hand-picked Attorney General William Barr said there was no voter/election fraud. Not belonging to a political party (rhymes with religion, cult, etc.) is liberating 😎.
Barr - I think giving DOJ legal sanction to a coup de’tat per his script for 1/6/21 and taking the fall when it failed (Trump always pushes his minions under the bus) was a bridge too far. It wasn’t that he didn’t love the idea, but his finger prints would definitely be all over the murder weapon.
wow...I am with you up to 'voting for liz cheney'! Actually, she blows my mind...in a real good way...but I have to pull myself back from time to time when I remember her views on everything else...
After reading HCR's letter (and before reading this comment), I felt that my prediction from before the election - that the Trump family would board their big jet and take off for places unknown but safe from U.S. prisons - had belatedly acquired ia heightened liklihood of actually happening. Coincidently, an article in todays NYT may provide an opportunity for the departing family. An island off the northwest coast of England is advertising for a king. There's even an old castle on the island. This king would manage the local pub and manage the island grass and rocks. His backgropund in the hospitality industry may provide excellent support his application. The "King of Piel" is cusomarily inaugurated, while sitting on an old chair while wearing a rusty helmet and holding a sword, by having a gallon of beer dumped on his head. Seeems fitting!
Have been reflecting on this past year. And coming to decision on whether to go for second run for school board seat. Have been working with other candidate since new maps edge me out of District that is best district for me. But consensus wants my name in there. Will have to decide what’s best soon.
Ya know back in 2016 when I was doing “org charts” of all the Russian Mafioso and agents that were using Trump Tower and The Taj casino to launder billions… well those were more innocent times. But, I appreciate these insights and invite you to share your insight on these Q’s
No Trump.....and GOP falls into the void. A vicious and deadly competition between minor "wannabes" follows and it spirals out of control with ambition fighting hate.....and they still represent "nada", nothing other than their own desire for power; the people are cast only in the role of useful idiots. If they are in power this is a grave problem, if not.......... So it's a question of the time needed to take Trump out of the running and the will of the people to get out there and vote to protect their rights regardless of the obstacles and fight to win back control of their lives and their government. The Dems have essentially got till October this year to cut Trump off at the knees permanently as a sweep by GOP in the partial elections would doubtless shut down the Jan 6 committee and any DOJ action.
My fear is Ron DeSantis stepping into the void. He has gotten nuttier and nuttier, and the FL Republican dominated legislature giving him everything he wants.
it'll be like fighting cocks with spurs attached to their ankles, vicious dogs wailing in the night. Neither De Santis, Pompeo or whoever that is currently visible on that side has any chance of dominating any more than a minor faction....severely lacking in the charisma stakes if nothing else. These people can hardly be termed "sensible". There will no longer be any incentive to gather round one or the other when one might win oneself. There are no prizes for being the one that serves the dictator rather than being the one that dictates as those serving are useful but expendable....and their lives are often short.
I often come back to Putin's story of the death of the first Tsar 1000 years ago when it took the mutual slaughter of 17 pretenders to the thrown befor a surviving "champion" emerged.
The cockfight has already begun. And many social media posts are fanning the flames. For the first time, polls (I hate polls) show DeSantis below the top two leading Dem contenders for FL Governor. However, DeSantis is sitting on a mountain of cash with no competition and the Dems will spend scarce dollars to win the primary with nothing remaining to fight DeSantis in an expensive media market. But I do hope you are correct!
I believe what DeSantis is doing is not sustainable. He’s “acting” crazy but unllike TFG, he lacks the (crazy)gene mutation.Although it will certainly get worse here in Fl before it gets better….
Yes. It was the State that put our Orange Co. Health doctor on Admin. leave for a memo wondering why the folks in his public health office were refusing vaccination. Other County health officials have reported on the increasing consolidation of power into Tallahassee-- more and more has to be approved by the State.
Wow! I knew nothing about that! Right on! DeSantis should be committed. What a nut.. but you are right...there's zero charisma in that confederacy of dunces..NOBODY!? Cruz!?!? Please say he doesn't stand a chance.. and dear lord... I keep thinking that Josh Hawley is waiting the wings..but also I have a feeling that something is going to comet about him re: January 6th... would LOVE TO SEE THAT! I would pay anything for front row seats!
It’s unquestionably over for Trump politically. The SCOTUS decision re the archives is the beginning of the end for him as future President and possibly as a free man.
I’ve read a ton of negativity about the MSM. There’s truth in some of it, but I often think it’s a little hysterical. Now watch them. They will be like ferrets, pulling out more and more damaging information. Their sources realize how exposed they are, and will be talking freely, either in fear or resignation.
But the real credit goes to this dogged, brilliant select committee. They are saving America. I hope, for maximum explosiveness, that their public hearings are sooner rather than later. A repeat of the dull thump when the Mueller Report fell is not to be repeated.
The real interest now lies in watching the DOJ. Are they going to clamber on the bandwagon now? Unless they act the far right masses are going to simply plug their ears and repeat ad nauseam, “I can’t hear you”, as each new revelation drops.
What happens after the bombs stop dropping on the Republican Party is a matter of intense interest. The current version is going to be eviscerated and Nature hates a vacuum.
Eric, I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, you are a breath of fresh air. You’re also (effing) brilliant.
When it’s difficult to see the forest for the trees, it’s nice to have a satellite view from Canada (Eric) and Paris (Stuart) and Merida and Ecuador and Spain etc. etc.
Thank you Eric, very kind of you to say. Back in the spring you said something I will never forget: “When I see Roland, I read Roland.“ That’s a gift I will not soon forget.
Intense infighting. Existential crisis. The white supremacy advocates on the side of democracy (Cheney, Romney et al) vs. the white supremacy advocates on the side of extremism, of breaking all the rules to form a new Confederacy (Trump alliance, incl. Putin).
We may get three parties, or even four if the Dems can't hang together. The stranglehold of congresscritters is astonishing. Aside from the obvious two, there are NO R voices raised in even cautious rejection of these new findings, i.e., having the military take over voting machines.
Not one dissenting vote.
Are they all truly that callow?
Abandoning all integrity for position, dollars, racism, power-over?
This demonstration of fealty is frankly disgusting and IMHO, requires more than the best Scotch to burn it out of my mind.
The mid-term vote is going to be fraught with peril, suppression, rejection, chicanery--and I'm thinking there will be a severe shortage of staff to solve problems and challenges, although an over-abundance of white poll-watchers. Ever so grateful to live in a mail-in voting state! Just got a ballot for a local election--made me SO happy!
Very plausible. But how do you think it plays out? I think it could be protracted and there’ll be at least metaphorical blood on the floor.
If those on the si of extremism are to rule, it will have to be those not sharply distracted by their own legal appearances. There will need to be an infusion of new faces and they will have to keep the Trump movement alive, at a point when millions are ready to move on. Personally I think this faction is in extremis now.
The other side is going to scramble initially for people to fill roles. They have zero traction now, and in fact the midterms will see a whole new crop of eager beavers in the running only because they were crazier than anybody else with an (R) beside their name.
Defining what a sane Republican is will be the source of the infighting you talk about. I think this will take a long time.
All of which leads me to posit that a) if Merrick Garland gets his act together and b) the revelations don’t dry up in an unsatisfactory way, then the midterms could be a blowout - for the Democrats.
Of course it’s hard to predict the pace at which things will unfold. The House Committee, at this moment, faces an unforgiving deadline. A corrupt Supreme Court could deliver some kind of delay. The battle could rage on.
But I say that without much conviction, even given the heartache of the last few years. I think the tide is turning savagely on an evil and stupid cabal. Finally.
My question is - why do Americans always go so far when they gin up enthusiasm? They have seen the abyss and peered at it with fascination. They have poked at it over and over. And now because a few patriots held, they are (finally) about to draw back, many with the deepest reluctance.
Churchill’s comment that, “Americans always do the right thing, but only after exhausting every possible other option”, is proven grimly sanguine once again.
Trump’s demise politically has been predicted often, but never is. That’s what’s so scary about this revelation. He’ll claim he knew nothing about it, never saw it. Absent an eyewitness or 2, he’ll be believed.
And Trump the sacreficial martyr will inspire each of the fighting cockerals seperately. It'll will not unify.They'll privately say "good riddens" while showering him with praise and trying to pull his "mantle" towards them as the "natural" successor.
I am so sad about what seems to be the likely outcome in the mid-terms..is there any chance of turning it around into? If the 'Committee' really nails a couple of these criminals, and Matt Gate and Gym Joker get pulled off the street, and al the kings men start to fall...could that change things?
The pattern of R behavior goes back to the “Know Nothings” (at least). So I suspect that “Trumpism” merely let them enjoy their worst proclivities openly. What we must hope for is this Democrats don’t fall into some of their past follies in an attempt to return to permanent power (I’ll mention “Tammany Hall” here in the name of “balanced reporting” 🤪)
The Know-Nothings, the former Whigs (business wing) and the abolitionists (the now-extinct progressive wing) were what the GOP was created from in 1854. Now the Know Nothings run it.
Whether we should fear Trump or the GOP more is a conundrum. I fear them both, but the GOP is steadily nearing its long-term objective of turning back the clock to Beaver Cleaver's America. They are the Eddie Haskells of our time.
Well, that would be ambitious of them. I hope the rest of us would draw the line well before that, though I have hoped for a lot of things in my 69 years that I haven't got.
I fear the evangelicals the most and I've had that concern for a very long time now. Maybe two decades? NPR had a story about a week ago where a minister said words to the effect, we love Trump and, if he's gone, we'll find another just like him.
I grew up in that evangelical world but I was a high school science need and left them mentally over Evolution. I left completely with the war in Vietnam in college.
Yet the people I grew up with cared about others and felt that Roe vs. Wade was correct.
What changed? Leadership that just wanted power and money. Same as GOP since Nixon.
With you there on that science class and learning how to think. They were quite threatened by a teenager whose questions they could not answer.
The evangelical world lives by rote; it is all powerful narrative and hypocrisy with deeply conflicting principles and a characteristic absence of rational reason. The over-arching patriarchal control gives rise to the comparison to other fundamentalist terrorist groups like the Taliban.
Faith, or belief in the absence of evidence, is a founding principle as is sacrificing in this life for the promise of another, unseen afterlife. The opiate of the people, for the control of the people. Mass delusional system.
I was an evangelical Christian in the 70s to early 80s, in Texas. They were all a fairly liberal group of folks back then. Fox News and politicians playing them for votes has damaged them beyond repair.
Many analyses by knowledgeable investigators connect the rise anti-abortion sentiment among white evangelicals with exploitation of endemic racism in those quarters by evangelical leaders seeking to expand their political influence.
Kelly, you may well be correct in that fear-there are some Evangelicals who are conflating that birth control is the same as abortion. Where do you think women of childbearing age will be if that fantasy comes true? Gilead?
“Sometimes it appears that we're reaching a period when our senses and our minds will no longer respond to moderate stimulation. We seem to be approaching an Age of the Gross. Persuasion through speeches and books is too often discarded for disruptive demonstrations aimed at bludgeoning the unconvinced into action.”
The 1950's had a lot higher tax rate, plus businesses paid well enough that June could could stay home & do housework in pearls & heels. The GOP needs to take off their rose tinted glasses about that period of time.....of course, many of them were children in the 50's. Whole different perspective.
Now is the time to have the courts intercede and overturn the anti Constitutional crap created by those who would kill American democracy in favor of those enslaved by the great deceiver.
Unfortunately the judiciary has been co-opted by the Federalist Society and it's dark money. They could easily do their jobs and follow the Constitution and the belief in Federal Supremacy. IMHO, they've been making an awful lot of decisions that give the states their rights instead of following the Constitution.
Crucial fear/factor, Lynell. We know from personal experience a small fraction of the MAGA people. I wish that reporters were so embedded. We need ways of reaching each other. I know it seems formidable as the wall of hate seems so high and wide. There need to be ways of lower that wall and making it more porous.
It should be noted that the one dissenting vote on the release of the NARA documents came from Justice Thomas, whose wife is implicated in the planning and financing of the January 6th rally, and who may know something about the attack on the Capitol.
In an interesting coincidence, New Yorker just published an extensive story on Ginni Thomas. She is a certified right-wing wacko, with extensive connections and influence. It had this to say about her role inJan 6th, “Many Americans first became aware of Ginni Thomas’s activism on January 6, 2021. That morning, before the Stop the Steal rally in Washington, D.C., turned into an assault on the Capitol resulting in the deaths of at least five people, she cheered on the supporters of President Donald Trump who had gathered to overturn Biden’s election. In a Facebook post that went viral, she linked to a news item about the protest, writing, “love maga people!!!!”” Clarence Thomas makes no apologies about his wife’s overt, right-wing political activism, even when he is hearing cases from groups in which she is directly involved. Just one more reason (of the many) to impeach Thomas.
"Love MAGA Ppl?" Is she referring to the time when America was "Great" before 1967 when her marriage to Clarence Thomas was illegal in 15 of the United States? What an Idiot.
Ginni Thomas is also raising tons of money to support overturning Roe. Just another reason to get Clarence off the bench. Of course, he should never have been on the bench to begin with...starting with Anita Hill.
Gorsuch is another judge who shouldn’t be on the Supreme Court. He’s sitting in Garland’s stolen seat. Of the 6 right-wing extremist judges on the court, 4 of them are illegitimate.
As Ron DeSantis moves forward with a special police force in Florida to oversee election security and election investigations I suggest an appropriate initial target can easily be identified in his state at Mar-a-Lago. C’mon Ron let’s get started at the most obvious target of an election security investigation and go pick up TFG.
I figuratively tip my hat to you for most accurately characterizing the Trumpism movement as Fascist.
Fascism is properly defined as a political philosophy, movement, or regime (such as that of the Fascisti) that exalts nation and often race above the individual and that stands for a centralized autocratic government headed by a dictatorial leader, severe economic and social regimentation, and forcible suppression of opposition. This is precisely what characterizes Trumpism that elevates ultranationalism, white supremacy, and unlimited autocratic power in the hands of a single dictatorial leader. To characterize Trumpism as fascist is not hyperbole, this is exactly what it is.
Thank you Bruce. For those of you reading this exchange, gauge if any of the following phrases look incendiary or triggering or provocative:
KKK. White supremacy. Adolf Hitler. Nazi. Benito Mussolini. Josef Stalin. Stasi. Gestapo. Cheka. Racism. Sexism. Homophobia, gay persecution, gay bashing. Lynching.
If any of those terms provoked a reaction in you, just sit with it. And then sit with the following words:
Trump is a wannabe Hitler. The Republican Party has morphed into the modern-day KKK. Fox Noise is the propaganda outlet for the Republican Party and white supremacy like Russia Today and Tass are the propaganda outlets for Putin’s dictatorship. Fox Noise is a propaganda outlet, not a reliable news agency.
To me, those are all statements of fact. Our society is grappling with issues it didn’t think it would ever have to fight over. Racism and white supremacy are the only platform that matters for the Republicans. That’s why they decided to dispense with a platform, that's why they are proposing ditching presidential debates. Their ideology is white supremacy and male supremacy and straight supremacy. Those are the three planks. You’re either with us or against us. You are either racist sexist and homophobic, or you’re one of those others. What’s to debate?
None of those groups or organizations would ever use those terms to describe themselves. It’s all Abraham Lincoln and the Constitution and the American flag and the Grand Old Party.
With all due respect, since you wrote that you want to "discourage everyone from adopting disinformation phrases," please allow me to offer some fine points of redirection.
"Trump is a wannabe Hitler." "To me, those are all statements of fact." Writing that "Trump is a wannable Hitler" is your opinion, and not a verifiable fact. We cannot get into his head to prove his motive.
Prefacing your assertion with "to me" gives you cover of having rendered an opinion, but in this world of too much misinformation amplified exponentially, why add to confusion and blurred boundaries? Opinionize away, but exercise trained skills when claiming something as fact.
As for your opinion that Trump is a wannabe Hitler, I would argue to follow the money more than to follow the psychology. Trump went to the White House as a businessman, and now we see more and more of his MO as a businessman using his skills of bullying salesmanship to make a deal. His phone call to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger was classic. It's all what he learned from his father, from Roy Cohn, from the book on his nightstand of Hitler's speeches, and what got reinforced from short-term financial successes and media attention. The combination of money and power is intoxicating and addictive. It fits with his affinity with other autocrats and oligarchs around the world.
Trump and current reactionary Republicans are not starting with an ideology and then figuring out how to support it. They start with how they learned to climb their ladders in corporate capitalism, which includes bringing in experts to figure out the mechanics--the snakes like Bannon, Miller, Giuliani, Eastman, Stone, Meadows, Epshteyn, and so many more who worked diligently to find cracks in the system to exploit.
While we need to understand how Trump got into such power and continues to wield it in order to figure out how to fix the problem, the problem is much, much bigger than him. It's global, and pursuit of profit for amassing wealth is supporting corporate sedition.
Yes, I think Trump is in it for the money and trappings, but the people he surrounds himself with are there to tap into the power of the presidency to give life to their agendas. It is a very dangerous combination.
Hello Ellie. I like that you confront me, that you are direct and honest. I value that. Unfortunately this forum limits us. I could easily reply to you at novella length, which indicates that a conversation is more suitable than written text. You are one of the people here that I think about having a phone call with, because I respect you and because of our misunderstandings, which I believe are minor and merit dialogue. I also see the potential, a possibility, for a fascinating in-depth conversation. You are one of a number of exceptional and highly intriguing people here.
It seems, correct me if I’m wrong, that you got triggered by my use of the word “fact.“ Quibbling about our individual definitions of that word doesn’t seem productive. You pivoted very nicely to the word “opinion.” That works.
You are clearly highly disciplined. I respect that. I however am neither a historian nor a teacher or scholastic researcher, nor even a scientist anymore, although I have an engineering degree. I am an investigator, in my own style.
You make so many fine points in your post, it is difficult to know where to start. How about here: The Republican Party no longer has a platform. It no longer has an ideology, at least not an ideology that they would be willing to make explicit. I would say that their implicit goal is to retain the whites-first males-first society of yesteryear, whatever it takes. So why have a legislative agenda. Their only purpose now is to obstruct the development of the diverse society which is swallowing them up, like it or not.
Re: psychology
Understanding my father as well as I do allows me to understand Trump and other similar people, including Putin, and Republicans in general.
Re: the genetics of rape
I work full-time and have a super full life. Unfortunately I was unable to check your links and study further. However, my intuition tells me that if we were to have a conversation about this subject (email or phone, this forum isn’t really suitable) it might be productive, and perhaps healing. I wrote, in response to this suggestion of yours, an entire piece about rape and incest and how people treat them in our society.
Re: Russian govt agents here
I’m in a bind. Can’t be transparent with you here, because they can read it. We would have to go into a private place where they are not allowed, like email or telephone. I can’t divulge all that I know in this forum without providing more training for these guys. As it is, my interactions with them last spring helped them improve their craft. They’re still lousy at it, but they’re a lot better than they were before we started engaging with them.
When I say I’m transparent, I am not kidding. There’s nothing about me and how I operate that you cannot know. There’s (almost) nothing about my life that I wouldn’t be happy to tell you. But this is a public place, and you never know which eyes are paying attention. So I’m prudent, like anyone here should be, about divulging too much about myself. We don’t need harassment. We don’t need scam artists in our lives.
Re: verifiable reality
Mystic. I think I resemble that word. You perhaps would call me wacko, since there is no way to provide citations and references for my assertions that we have Russian agents participating here. During study, during an investigation, there is evidence available from public sources, from generally accepted sources, and then there is evidence that an investigator uses like a detective to shed light on a mystery. Clues. When I made the mistake of opening a Pandora’s box to investigate that creepy profile named Jack Leon, I didn’t know what I was getting into. So, call me wacko if you will, I know what I know. We have Russian disinformation agents working here, some of the same ones from last spring are still here, and even one or two new names that I suspect.
Ellie, you gave me a huge gift that I will always cherish and appreciate. You once said that I am beloved here. Thank you for saying that 🙏🙏, it’s a lovely acknowledgment that has stuck with me ever since.
Sending you lots of love, hoping you have a great week.
Ellie, In describing the former president, it would be fair to mention concern about his mental health, which has been expressed by doctors as well as people who worked with him.
'The Dangerous Case of Donald Trump, a book published in October 2017, 27 psychiatrists and others point to the dangerousness of this president. They agree that, although a diagnosis should not be made without examination of the patient, dangerousness may be assessed from observed behaviour.'
'A forensic psychiatrist, who has studied the principles on which the assessment of current and future dangerousness in violent criminals is based, concludes:
‘Trump is now the most powerful head of state in the world, and one of the most impulsive, arrogant, ignorant, disorganised, chaotic, nihilistic, self-contradictory, self-important, and self-serving. He has his finger on the triggers of a thousand or more of the most powerful thermonuclear weapons in the world. That means he could kill more people in a few seconds than any dictator in past history has been able to kill during his entire years in power.’
'The authors also consider the ‘Trump effect’ on society, and the malignant normality that is established — what was previously considered unthinkable becomes the norm. Some therapists have seen patients suffering from trauma and re-trauma resulting from the president’s actions, which mimic those of an aggressive abuser, and there were reports of an increase in anti-Jewish and anti-Muslim incidents immediately after his inauguration in January 2017.' (British Journal of General Practice) See link below.
"Trump is a wannabe Hitler. The Republican Party has morphed into the modern-day KKK. Fox Noise is the propaganda outlet for the Republican Party and white supremacy like Russia Today and Tass are the propaganda outlets for Putin’s dictatorship. Fox Noise is a propaganda outlet, not a reliable news agency."
If you, or anyone, is on Twitter, please follow @beerhallproject. This is a subgroup of the Lincoln Project. They seriously describe the threat to democracy and deliberately take their name from the Beer Hall Putsch.
Good luck with that. If you think that the Attorney General in Florida, Ashley Moody, would bring any charges, I’ve got a bridge in the Everglades to sell you.
“Tonight, Trump lawyer Boris Epshteyn, who was subpoenaed by the January 6 committee on January 18 along with Trump lawyers Rudy Giuliani, Sidney Powell, and Jenna Ellis, told MSNBC’s Ari Melber that he and “the Trump legal team” were part of the plan to create the false electors. While he claimed that what they did was legal, he pushed responsibility for the plan onto Giuliani as the one in charge.”
Is there a detective or prosecutor anywhere in America who has never heard the target of an investigation say, “what we did was legal and anyway it wasn’t me, it was that other guy.”
Really? That’s the best story they can come up with after a year to get their story straight? Wow, if being stupid was a crime we could skip the trial and go straight to sentencing. They have already pleaded guilty to that crime.
C’mon Sharon, Clarence Thomas is squeaky clean, everybody knows that. You’re suggesting that he might be corrupt, allowing his judgment to be clouded by his wife’s activities? A corrupt Supreme Court justice? Puh-LEEZ. 😉
Read the article-a lot of detail! Ginni Thomas is a "certified nutcase" and has been for a long time. It has always amazed me how evil and ignorance so often seeps in and then takes over. The majority on the SCOTUS today is just godawful . . . unfortunately, it is a ridiculously powerful institution where nine people (but in reality only 6) with their life long appointments determine the fate of 300+million people for a generation. And, the madman trump sealed that fate along with the evil McConnell.
It seems the only answer to that SCOTUS Conservative majority, lifetime appointment issue is a 2/3 majority of progressives in the U.S. Senate. And on the likelihood of that in my lifetime, I quote Lynell from earlier in this thread (also from Miracle on 34th St.) "I believe. I believe. I know it's silly but I believe!"
Uncle Thomas should have never been confirmed to the Court! He was, or is, an abuser. Unfortunately, Biden helped ride rough shod over Anita Hill and get the dirt bag on the court.
Biden was played for a chump by Orrin Hatch and other Republican Senators. Biden was in over his head, and never saw how he was being conned. The stories about Biden’s mismanagement of the Thomas hearings are embarrassing (for Biden). Here’s one.
When the first thought of involving the military in Trump's fantasies after the election was presented, acting SecDef Miller said the military could do it. That so alarmed Secretary of State Pompeo when he heard it, that he went to AG Barr, who hadn't been there, and told him what was happening. That was what started Barr's push to state the DoJ found no evidence of fraud. Pompeo, who still portrays himself publicly as the Trumpiest of Trumpers, was so scared of this that he became a member of the group that tried to find a way to use the 25th Amendment to get Trump out of office immediately.
We cane this close > < to a military coup a year ago.
No, not quite. We came this close to them TRYING. The military would not--NOT--have done it. I know this for absolute certainty (yes, I've talked to people). The Joint Chiefs were ready for this possibility (after the crap Trump tried that summer). They would've simply refused if ever ordered to do so. It's still just as bad that it almost happened, but no, we were not so close to real tanks rolling in the streets of DC.
And yet remember what the military did so that defeated corrupt x45 could walk across the street to hold a Bible upside down and threaten and bully BLM peaceful protesters. The threats made by the “patriot” are truly horrific. More arrests are needed and quickly.
Yes, I’m sure this is correct. What I’m less certain about is what the Joint Chiefs would have done if Pence had corrupted the Electoral Vote count. Do you have some insight on whether the Joint Chiefs would have had enough confidence in their interpretation of the Constitution to refuse orders from a sitting president with the outcome of the election made less certain in this way? More generally, how vulnerable is the US military to believing themselves required to follow orders from a Commander in Chief when facing questions about Constitutionality that serious Constitutional scholars might disagree on?
"...we were not so close to real tanks rolling in the streets of DC."
Not even in trumpty-dumpty's N. Korean style of self-aggrandizing all powerful "look-At-Me" parade...that was cancelled due to lack of sufficient worshipers, Eh!?
I think about this constantly. I read posts by democrat and democracy groups and have responded at times. Suddenly, I am receiving requests by many men to join my social media group. There are American flags in most of their photos. Many military. One a general. I believe they are looking at who is against t and his people. We all need to be careful. Resilient. Courageous.
Gailee, I would like to echo and amplify your caution. I know, for a fact, because I am still connected to Texas and rural life, that many people are arming themselves and being talked into harming others through thousands of right wing websites and social media and underground media. In another life, they were not bad people, but, Trump has talked them into believing that he is a martyr.
When people believe in a martyr, they will go to great lengths to "serve justice" on behalf of the martyr.
So, you are right, careful what you post that the crazies might read and careful being too specific about who you are. I temporarily elevated my name and face on this board and got a phone call on my land line one day that was, shall we say, impolite.
So, now I only elevate my first name and a random picture of a tractor anyone can find on a used tractor site.
In the words of the great Maya Angelou “when people show you who they are believe them”. They are not good people in another life. They are not good people if they can be talked into taking up arms against those with whom they disagree. They either have no principles, or value inequality, unequal justice, and support authoritarianism (even as they thump the Bible). Not good people. We need to start saying this out loud.
Be careful (you should be with anyone), but also know that the majority of the military are not Trumpers; they are believers in their oaths to support and defend the constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic, and they might be reaching out to you because they agree. I think you are being over-paranoid (common with too many on our side who don't know much about the military and what they do know is frequently incorrect). I've been part of the "GI resistance" for 50+ years, going back to Vietnam. The guys who did multiple tours in Iraq and Afghanistan know the truth about the "world's greatest empire" better than anyone. Ask them straight out - if they're on the side of the angels, they won't be offended.
I can accept your perspective that our service people are not a physical threat.
However, I think caution is advised where elevating too much information enabling identification is relevant.
The people who are arming and readying for war are not in the US Army, maybe, but, they do exist, and, they do feel that Trump is a victim and they do want to make people pay.
And, they are very, very angry and talk like they want to hurt people. My own brother in law is like this now, rejecting his own sister and me, with whom he lived when he was going to college so I can see it first hand through him and second hand through my neighbor across the street who is in the National Guard.
My neighbor is angry and shouting all the time and blasting Michael Savage out of his garage all the time. When Trump lost he stopped talking to me.
Lots and lots of folks are very angry, heavily armed and have identified a martyr (Trump) to "stand behind".
Typically "They" seek to project their intolerable anger, (of their own self-flagellating self-perceived lowly social status) upon those whose life style they envy and believe is being taken from them...irrationality fomented by the great deceiver without mercy.
I'd rather not engage. Friend or foe. I'm an AF brat. Proud of my dad, but not interested in meeting men on social media no matter which side of the flag.
That's my experience with the military, TC. I live in the town where the US Allied Forces in Europe reside. Having friends and acquaintances from Colonels to civilian employees, every single one I know is loyal to their oath.
I believe the brass (from colonel up, say) are, with few exceptions, reliably loyal to the Constitution, but I question your assertion when it comes to the rank and file. You might be right about veterans who had to fight in stupid wars, but those on active duty in safe places are another matter. Do you believe, TC, that a majority of active-duty personnel from, say, lieutenant colonel down are “not Trumpers,” as you put it?
There are particular units in the Army - the "special ops" - where a tendency to be "wannabe" Waffen-SS may be strong, but still the majority of the regular Army believe in their oaths. I still believe from what friends who know the force say that the ranks are not "Trumpy." In fact, in 2020, the Trump vote in the military was down 40 percent from what it was in 2016.
At the risk of unreasonably belaboring this topic, a Military Times article from Nov 7, 2020, cites exit polls showing a 52-45 edge in voting for Trump over Biden. If that’s 40% down from 2016, then the 2016 Trump vote in the military would have been over 85%. The 52% figure is not as bad as I thought it might have been, but the 85% is worse than I would have expected. I have limited contact with military people now (never had a lot, but did have some, mostly commissioned officers who were students or research scientists/engineers), but I often see estimates saying things lije 90% of TV hours on military bases showing Fox, which is beyond worrisome if true.
The following is copied fom the MT article from Nov 7, 2020:
“Exit polling from Edison Research (which surveyed voters who cast ballots in person and by mail) indicated that military and veteran voters were more supportive of Trump (52 percent) than Biden (45 percent).”
I don't think that was what I was saying at all. In my own experience, I never knew so many white male morons in one place at one time as the military back in the day. Lots of people you don't forget, but many morons. But outside of the ones from the South proud of their confederate ancestors, very few I would have thought of as threats to the republic. And it was always amazing to me that many of those who saw through the BS then were guys I would not have expected.
Gailee, I have had to hide my identity somewhat and in some places for at least the last 30 years as an environmental activist. The threats against me and my colleagues have included having the tires of cars slashed, bricks through the windshield, fake bombs mailed to our offices using prepaid envelopes, and of course, threats of rape and death via social media. There’s more but you get the picture.
I’ve gone back to using twitter and being on facebook after having to remove myself because I was stalked. But I’m careful what I post there for obvious reasons.
I do many things to protect this democracy. And nothing and no one can silence me. But being careful is wise. As you say, be resilient and courageous. We are needed and our voices are important. Thanks for all that you do.
I've been in the position of tangling with a wealthy corporation AND WON! But along with the victory came nervous glances in the rear view mirror, especially when driving at night! Think: Silkwood
You are so brave. I follow the women environmental rights activists - especially Mexico and South America. Some have been murdered. I'm not nearly that brave or vocal now that I live in another country.I 🌹🐞🦋
Gailee, I empathize with you! This is the message I received a couple days ago, also from a man whose FB photos include flags and dogs: “Hi, how are you today? I'm sorry I infringed your profile. Your posts are always worth reading.”
Gaillee, They may or may not be military but they are definitely spammers and most likely deplorable right wing trolls. Do not accept friendship on social media with anyone you do not personally know. Even then double check to make sure you are not already friends with them, as it may be a cloned profile of a real friend who has been hacked. As I post progressive comments on various fb sites, I receive weird bogus, sometimes flirtatious, requests to be friends. Some are in military uniform, and others have a child, puppy or flower in their photo. The profile pix are likely not of themselves. The oddly worded language suggest they are foreign and perhaps working at a troll farm. One tip off is when a guy says he's "too shy to request my friendship and so would I add him up." I've seen this frequently and often to several posters in sequential order. When I see this behavior and language including to others, I report them to FB first and then block them on my account. We all need to be extremely careful. It is not paranoia!
Scammers frequently impersonate military personnel, including using their pictures. This happened to my daughter on a romance site, and a quick search on google shows many articles about it happening on social media. Be careful.
Yes - and regular reformatting of equipment ... I am reminded of movie 'The Matrix' ... in the end, peace came when Neo returned the child to the Mother of the tech regime ...
TC, As I watched the generals — “his generals “— I had faith that they knew how dangerously crazy he was (except Flynn. How the hell did he make rank?). Thrilled by Col. Vindman’s testimony and honorable bearing. Felt safe to trust our professional military leadership, in spite of tfg’s sneaky political appointees at the Pentagon, SecDef included. I really believed that the military had a Plan, if the WH went rogue. NO military coup....
Vindman was frank yesterday in his prediction for an all-out war in Europe should Putin invade Ukraine. His projections were horrible. He said he hoped he was wrong, but he looks convinced of his analysis.
The SecDef didn't have that plan - the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs had it. We are good with trusting the Generals. It was the Trumpers he put in place that couldn't be trusted. fortunately the Acting SecDef knew after th first meeting he was in over his head (!) and listened to the Generals after that.
I listened to much of this same report discussed in detail today on Sirius radio's Progressive channel. It leaves one with an understanding that the Trump administration posed a greater threat to this country than a dozen of the Communist parties created by J Edgar Hoover's fantasy. The real terrorists are domestic, an organized crime mob acting through a very supportive Republican political party. The party is, at the very least, now acting as a cowardly accessory to the mob.
I felt like I was an unwilling bit part player in the Godfather movie during Trump's last two years. Cannot believe that feeling was only in a small minority of us.
I still am in disbelief that such a moronic cretin like Doofus Trump was ever elected in the first place. The fact that this imbecile had access to top government secrets is mind blowing to me still.
Yes ,I totally agree. Also, chillingly, is the idea that he wants to run again. A twice impeached egomaniacal liar wants to be POTUS again and has many people behind him including representatives in Congress. This just blows my mind as does these representatives in Congress still representing constituents when they do not believe in the legitimacy of our current POTUS and his entire administration. I am beyond baffled and horrified.
Good morning Terri. I am posting in a few places today an interesting essay by TC on his Substack. For me, a make sense explanation of how the former gets away with his devious, ghastly machinations since childhood. Give it a read…perhaps with a favorite beverage in hand.
And the worst of it? It clearly suggests to me what “trumpism” is and it is exactly what he has divulged and instructed to his maga base…. “This is how you do it.” The man himself is hardly necessary anymore. The art of the lie he has perpetrated upon masses in this country is what must be realized and addressed and excised. The majority of Republicans and subversive candidates around the country have no platform or agenda besides this.
I just read that, great piece. I have a comment on the NY AG case. There is a lot out there about how the appraisers (Cushman & Wakefield) were told to conduct communication by phone rather than email, to reduce the paper trail. I was an appraiser, and worked for Cushman at one point. I would be beyond surprised if the files of those jobs didn’t include detailed, contemporaneous notes of every single phone call. Unless someone has purged the files, of course, but it sounds to me like the analyst who worked on that job was suspicious of the request, and may have backed up his or her notes. I would have. While the documentation requirements aren’t quite as stringent as those for accounting firms who do similar work, they are still there. I can’t imagine that those analysts haven’t been interviewed by the NY AG.
Yes. And if any of the transactions in question had any relationship to the stock market then a SEC audit of such appraisal valuations would be demanded and recorded and easily retrievable by investigators.
I should also note that proving an appraisal wrong is not very easy. An appraisal is an opinion of value, highly dependent on the underlying assumptions. The only “real” value would be an actual arm’s length transaction; ie a sale between two disinterested parties.
KR was responding to TC Substack piece about the former that I posted. Morning Fern. How are you? Your long informative post this morning reminded me of blog piece from 2016 about the differences between self esteem (Americans get high marks)and self worth (some Americans don’t know the difference).
Thanks, Christine. I'm familiar with the difference between the two. Thank you for your offer. Please post as, perhaps, a review will sharpen my memory.
Oh. Your memory does not need the sharpening. I know you know difference. My thought of the essays came from your post this morning about “why is America so divided” and the research cited.
Fern, it is the TCinLA piece Christine linked and that I responded to. I read about Cushman’s involvement somewhere else, let me do a bit of sleuthing as I don’t remember where.
KR, Rather than suggest subscribers go on a fox hunt to read what you have recommended, why not copy the link and provide it as part of your comment? How many times has Christine posted? You are suggesting I check each one to find the link to TC's piece. Luckily, I subscribe to his 'Another fine mess...'
Doofus Trump has only a desperate, amoral willingness to do anything to get what his id demands. I have never seen any real intelligence in him. The man doesn’t read! His would be replacements are pale imitations to his cult. I find him so loathsome, I simply cannot comprehend how he, of all people, became a cult leader. I have read extensively on it but as far as understanding it-no. I do agree his cult no longer needs him to carry on their craziness. So frightening!
Thank you for sharing this commentary. Enlightening, and we knew. Or some of us did. This quote from the post: “That inability to perceive that the threat is an Actual Threat is the common thread in all histories of fascism, of how the fascists obtained power. The people who lived in Berlin between 1928-32, who told my friend that he was “a crank” for seeing Hitler and the Nazis as the threat they really were, who called the Nazis “clowns,” weren’t morons, fools or idiots. Most of them were the complete opposite.” I continue to be surprised that tfg still has so many followers. Even before first election and his refusal to provide financial records, we knew that this “great business man” had filed bankruptcy seven times. The fact that his misdeeds and lies are out there, didn’t stop the repub party heads or public to vote for him not once but twice.
I think we will find he was installed. He was talking about rigging back then. He is a man who cannot keep his trap shut when he knows something he can project propaganda-wise on someone else.
Many moronic cretin knuckle-dragging doofuses were first distracted into commiserating about their undeserved plight instead of working to better themselves...then they were deceived into believing they found the solution to their self-imposed lowly social status...the one who needed to destroy American Democracy
I knew when Trump won the Republican primary he’d be elected. That every Republican who denounced him would vote for him, or not defend against him by voting for the Democrat. Republicans will line up to vote for a tree stump—74 million just demonstrated they still want Trump—and he knows it.
The story of January 6 came perilously close to a different ending."
What a letter, Heather! No wonder TFG and his lackey lawyers tried every trick in the book to stop the Jan. 6th Committee from laying its hands on the WH papers.
If this piece is simply one example of damning material, is it too soon to hope for the total downfall and imprisonment of the entire gang of miscreants and its degenerate leader? May I begin with a few rounds of "Hallelujahs"?!!
Being able to read a document that, along with Trump's speech on Jan 06, clearly indicates treason and sedition, is not the same as seeing a rich, white man placed in prison (for anything at all).
Wait until we see results. As an engineer and long time project manager, project completion is a far cry from good news mid project.
How many more “smoking guns” does DOJ need to prosecute the coup plotters ? These people are the bullies and cheaters of our childhoods grown into adult sociopaths and criminals.
Just curious to any material lone dissenting Supreme Court member, C. Thomas, might possibly want kept inaccessible to the Jan. 6 committee? So much to unravel. (As a long time Anita fan I’d find karma in his fall from grace).
Yeah, I see.. when I wrote the above no one had yet posted of a possible Supreme Court vacancy…if a pipe dream. I’m delighted to see it is not such a rogue notion.
An 8-1 SCOTUS vote to hand over the contested NARA documents to the Jan. 6th committee suggests that Trump and his minions are in deep trouble. Interesting that not one of the Trump appointees voted against this. In other words, now that the useful idiot has packed the court with the sort of justices the GOP likes, it may be very convenient if he ends up disgraced and in prison. I can imagine McConnell's enjoyment of this, as he knows that even Trump's most fanatical supporters will never vote for any Democrats.
Nope. His lawyers just made bad presentations, and the three Clinton-Obama judges on the Appeals Court made sure not to leave anything the Six Scumbags could hang their hats on to give him what he wanted, and made arguments they couldn't overcome about his status. They were right to do that, since Kavanaugh said if the issue of ex-president's access to executive privilege had been brought up, he'd have given it to Trump. But still, 8-1 against him is good.
But that's just the point. Trump's not the party requesting records. He's resisting disclosure on the basis of a privilege he had before he left office. He has no residual claim to a privilege he no longer has.The privilege belongs to the incumbent officeholder, not Trump. I thought that the DC Circuit made that crystal clear.
I listened to a Lawfare podcast that said an ex president DOES have some residual right to privilege, albeit very limited, and the SC decision doesn’t truly settle this question once and for all.
Don't believe it. That's a lot of 'wistful' ('coulda, woulda, shoulda') thinking. Anything a former official gets is a courtesy, and not by way of right. When it comes down to cases, the facts matter more than the doctrine. Trump's acolytes are engaging in a form of jesuidical thinking, actually dissembling by implying something that really isn't there, a conflating of the formerly high office with an implicit claim that the honorific title of 'former president' is entitled to more than he was due. Trump disgraced himself and his office by his misconduct, and that, in and of itself, is sufficient to negate any sense of obligation that might be thought to be due him as a former president.
Well, TC, if this is so, I suppose we should be relieved that the 6 "scumbags" are still expecting Trump's lawyers to make acceptable presentations. The real tests will come when the FBI begins arresting Trump's lawyers and the other treasonous facilitators. The sooner the better.
I think some of these Rs are sick of Trump themselves. I'll never forget McConnell's speech on the floor after Jan. 6th when he voted not to impeach him. McConnell made the point that there are other ways to get him and said "it's not over yet". I'm sure they're trying to figure out how (and colluding behind the scenes) to dump him.
Could be that Putin, McTurtle, etc., are done with the idjt. No longer a useful tool unless it would be to throw him under the bus while saving his sycophants to run another day.
Fantasyland: How America Went Haywire: A 500-Year History
by Kurt Andersen
'In this sweeping, eloquent history of America, Kurt Andersen shows that what's happening in our country today--this post-factual, "fake news" moment we're all living through--is not something new, but rather the ultimate expression of our national character. America was founded by wishful dreamers, magical thinkers, and true believers, by hucksters and their suckers. Fantasy is deeply embedded in our DNA.
'Over the course of five centuries--from the Salem witch trials to Scientology to the Satanic Panic of the 1980s, from P. T. Barnum to Hollywood and the anything-goes, wild-and-crazy sixties, from conspiracy theories to our fetish for guns and obsession with extraterrestrials--our love of the fantastic has made America exceptional in a way that we've never fully acknowledged. From the start, our ultra-individualism was attached to epic dreams and epic fantasies--every citizen was free to believe absolutely anything, or to pretend to be absolutely anybody. With the gleeful erudition and tell-it-like-it-is ferocity of a Christopher Hitchens, Andersen explores whether the great American experiment in liberty has gone off the rails. "
"I believe we are living in a world imagined by ancestors who didn’t love us, who didn’t believe in an abundant earth and our collective power to steward it. It is time for us to imagine beyond the current oppressive construct."
"How do we pivot from being victims of change to being shapers of it?"
Some days I feel like my greatest lesson while teaching is telling a student you made this problem you are not a victim. The self created victim syndrome starts early! And hard to shake.
Which explains MUCH about the drumplican/MAGAcultfan (especially TFFP) penchant for bemoaning their victimization and pointing the finger anywhere but at themselves.
Thanks for the post. I found it at my local library and put it on hold.
I am not a historian but I have personally seen "tent revivals" down in East Texas with what even a 14 year old kid can identify as a huckster looking for money.
AND, I have seen preachers who grew horns during the week chasing the local women and then spew hellfire and damnation on Sunday.
Religious hucksterism in America is one of the founding principals of the country.
And, then? There is John Adams on the other side thank goodness.
Is fantasy not embedded in cultures older than ours? I think it is, maybe in various ways. I believe it's our "ultra-individualism" that mixes with characteristics such as fantastical thinking to create the good and the ugly that the U.S. has been.
In his fascinating book SAPIENS: A BRIEF HISTORY OF HUMANKIND, Yuval Noah Harari calls many of humans' inventions--like religion, corporations, and money--fiction. I find that revelatory because it means we can reimagine and change those fictitious narratives.
The fascination with voting machines is really interesting. It's not possible to hack paper ballots. Everywhere those were counted, they agreed with the machines. Here's hoping Dominion is able to use this document to win the full multibillion dollar award they are seeking.
So many eye-popping moments, where to begin? First, what kind of moron advertises for a hit man on Craig's list, for Pete's sake? Nebbermind.
As for the Thomases, OMG. I read Jane Mayer's piece last night with fear and loathing. If this doesn't prove what a 'company town' DC is, I quit. Talk about inside baseball!
What really got me, after finishing the piece, is realizing how few people will ever actually know or understand the significance? With the death of so many hometown newspapers, if this kind of excellent investigative reporting only ends up in magazines like The New Yorker, no wonder it's so easy for Fox to get the rank and file to believe the most outlandish gibberish, like pizza restaurant pedophiles!!
Today, you have to work at discovering what's really going on, and it's exhausting!
I so agree ...especially with your last sentence. There is so much noise noise noise that it's impossible to filter out what's really happening versus what all the voices are saying is happening. Sadly, this leads to several equally difficult choices: 1. Tune everything out; 2. Only tune into one silo or another; 3. Try on your own to sort things out, which turns out to be not only exhausting but impossible. I find that reading Heather's letters on a daily basis helps keep me in touch with reality, but even though she's done all the work, it's still exhausting trying to parse it all, on intellectual and emotional levels.
The only way to get people's attention these days is to control the microphone. I am appalled at how few people admit to actually reading anything.
Yes, I know people who just cannot handle it and have tuned out. Think of how much energy and time many of us here use to stay informed, active and connected. It is worth it, we will not go easily. But Fox & tfg must be banned from spewing anymore propaganda. How did other countries do that?
Why is it, that we don’t hear ANYTHING about this information on the mainstream news. I listen to PBS NewsHour nightly and the focus every night this week has been “Biden’s failures.” I read The NY Times online and the headline today under the caption “On Politics” is “Democrats in Disarray.” To hear what is actually going on in the Jan 6 committee, I listen to the Rachel Maddow and Lawrence O’Donnell podcasts and read this blog.
Yeah. I really, really want the answer to this. How is this not front page news in all the major papers. How is it not leading on all major mainstream news outlets. How is PBS -- PUBLIC BROADCASTING SERVICE -- not blasting this over the airwaves.
Jean-Pierre, can I ask you to tell me specifically what you mean. I believe generally you're saying that PBS must rely on private donors and sponsors more because of less public funding. But is there something more specific you're referring to? Thank you.
Hi Nomi, I was waiting for somebody more knowledgeable to answer your question, but here goes. A number of years back, PBS became a target in the Republican Party culture wars. [Jump in, anyone, and help out.] The GOP accused PBS of having a liberal bias (which of course is true, because liberals don’t tend to be racists and sexists). Way back when, 1925, what became PBS and CPB started out as a consortium of university broadcasting stations. University students probably ran everything, supervised by a faculty member I suppose. So it had an idealistic component of being committed to the truth. Then, during the Bush administration, they started to get watered down and ruined. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/PBS
Click on the Wiki link, click on Controversies, and scroll down to “Accusations during Tomlinson tenure” to get a flavor.
Over the past couple/few decades, federal funding for public broadcasting has been decreased if not entirely denied - by Republican administrations. Far as I know, there’s always been a need for individual subscribers - like my wife and I - along with large charitable endowments. But over the past years I’ve noticed the increase in corporate sponsor visibility. Where there used to be thanks to corporate sponsors, there’s now advertising. It’s no secret that Koch Industries provides corporate support. I propose this enables them to influence content.
Yes, I've been trying to figure out who Koch industries have given money to, but it's quite tricky, maybe on purpose. So far, looks like they have given to one NPR member station, one PBS member station, and the show NOVA, but not NPR itself, or PBS itself. I don't have the patience to go too deeply into this. It may also be nearly impossible to determine how much this influences content.
Forgive my third reply here. But I've been increasingly incensed by PBS's coverage for five years. I'm avoiding a lot of news now for the sake of my health. But I do still turn on PBS when I'm in my car. The both-sides-ism, the business-as-usual approach they continue to take, the focus on, as you say, "Biden's failures" while downplaying or outright ignoring the ACTUAL catastrophic and immediate threats to our democracy -- it's mind boggling. PBS? Who's pocket are THEY in that this is how they've decided to report the news? This is not "neutrality." This is deliberate minimizing and normalizing of the slow (not so slow) coup that is taking place before our eyes. I want to know why.
EDIT: Correction: I wrote PBS when I mean NPR. I'm trying to figure out who Koch industries have given money to, but it's quite tricky. So far, looks like they have given to one NPR outlet, one PBS station, and the show NOVA. I don't have the patience to go too deeply into this right now. But wanted to correct my mistake above.
Your third reply here is not only forgiven, it is welcomed, accepted, and encouraged. You are pissed off and you are venting here. That’s a good thing.
I have 8 news apps + HCR + Greg Olear. HCR and GO are far superior to the apps, even though much less frequent.
I subscribe to the LA Times. What you see in their app is the most popular articles, usually covid crap. If I relied on the app, I wouldn’t even know that that Jan. 6 committee exists.
I read the online version of their physical traditional sheet paper newspaper. Way superior.
It’s infuriating. It’s because it generates clicks and people to their websites. Then they may click on the advertisers on the side which generates revenue.
I cannot even find mention in the Washington Post of the Supreme Court decision. That happened three days ago and does not depend to leaked documents. Tho, it's perfectly legitimate for WAPO to report on another publication's reporting, so really there's no excuse for not reporting on what Politico found. What is more critical news in this country right now than this? How would do they justify this? What is going on here?
Hm, I don't use an app. I go to their website, which is their online version of the printed paper, yes? A search brings up articles about previous appeals court decisions on this, but nothing about Wednesday's SCOTUS decision.
Clarence Thomas should be removed from the bench and disbarred. He's been putting both hands on the scales of Justice for long enough.
Yes! And take his wife with him!
An article in The New Yorker about the behind-the-scenes power of Ginni Thomas:
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2022/01/31/is-ginni-thomas-a-threat-to-the-supreme-court?fbclid=IwAR07Jj9RDv26_ko0URFjDZvrSxvPfDHpyDNtTZnfn6OTapfn-wjctCO4vns
I knew Ginni Thomas is a trump supporter, but to this extent??? I have never had any respect for Clarence Thomas, and this confirmas it. He is compromised and should resign or at least recuse himself as other Justices have done. Thanks for the link to the article!
The most frightening thing is that most of Americans have no clue about that… and of those who do?!
Very good article! Knew she was pro DJIT & far right - but the incidence of right wing groups that she "chairs" or has a finger in? Doesnt look ethical at all.
Abhorrent! And so blatant! Especially HIM! They are dancing on the graves of all the blacks as well as indigenous people, who were never treated with any respect to begin with, or treated with justice, or fairness...How can sit up on his throne and dismiss history? What does he see when he looks himself in the mirror!? He and his wife are laughing at all of us. And laughing at those truly believe in America, and who hope that she can deliver!
I could not get through that article. (Anxiety.) But I got it: It's way worse than most of us knew. In a reality that sits in a close but currently unreachable place, Clarence Thomas is impeached.
Thanks. We just listened to this. Bad taste in my mouth.
OMG ... so disturbing! But necessary reading!
It goes much beyond that. His wife is a member of the radical right groups and has had undue influence upon him. He should recuse himself when voting on such topics, but instead stands out as the lone dissenter this time.. He can not give an unbiased view on anything and therefore should be removed from the supreme court.. Perhaps that was her condition for not leaving him after his earlier foray into adultery and rape.
Or perhaps his votes are the price of being found not guilty
“Earlier” ? What is that about ?
Anita Hill
wait a minute?! Adultery and RAPE?!? What have I forgotten???
Anita Williams(?) came out with charges prior to him being appointed to the Supreme Court. She used to work for him.
Anita Hill… it wasn’t rape, but very ugly sexual harassment
Thanks for clarification. My memory isn't what it used to be.
Neither is mine! I only remember because I watched every minute of those hearings and Anita Hill’s bravery in speaking truth to power rocked my world. She was not well supported by Democrat Senators. Ted Kennedy was mum because he was a known womanizer and Biden was trying to be kind to everyone so he was a spineless ally, as he is (mostly) today.
PS I’ve always wished the Dems showed half the chutzpah and spine the Republicrimes show. They never give an inch and keep coming back for more. Tough as nails.
Thanks…. I had forgotten!
Clarence Thomas should be charged with giving comfort to or, aiding and abetting an alleged or suspected participant of the January 6th attempted insurrection and forced to resign or be removed. Even if she’s never convicted…he is Guilty by association. He should be above reproach as a “sworn member of the Highest Court in the Nation!”
At the very least…what about violating his Oath of Office, “ I, ________, do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter. So help me God."
Nowhere do I see with the exception of One’s Spouse! Or, “it doesn’t count because I had my Fingers crossed!”
Clarence Thomas sits in Thurgood Marshall's seat - that thought alone gives me nausea. A mental midget, with apologies to little people.
So long as the participant in the Jan. 6 attempted insurrection was merely ALLEGED or SUSPECTED, the avenue you suggest cannot be pursued. Y'know, 'innocent until proven guilty' is still the rule.
I will never understand why he is on the bench in the first place, pease don't say 'someone's got the negatives?!!
Sympathetically, perhaps, but not on the basis of anything he's actually done. The SCOTUS has always been political (ideally, far less so than the other two branches, and historically that's mostly held true)--that's why it's separate--it's just more unabashedly so now; keeping with our times and political movement that has Georgen Kennan'ed itself into a corner like a rabid animal the past 14 years. Anyway, this was understood by those who created it and it's just part and parcel of being human beings too. But...we don't "remove" people from jobs like that for their political leanings, we do so for malfeasance...this doesn't qualify. This might strike us as being so because it's judiciary, but I'm guessing (purely) wouldn't stand a legal review for one second.
It was instructive to watch the segment on Ginni Thomas on MSNBC last evening, during Rachel's hour, if I recall correctly. Clarence has voted on cases in which there has been a conflict of interest.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IemrkukybJ8
The commentator pointed out that SCOTUS has no code of ethics.
AND that John Roberts is ineffectual in managing the court by not having Clarence recuse himself...among other issues indicating an absence of leadership.
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2022/01/31/is-ginni-thomas-a-threat-to-the-supreme-court
Thanks for the clip of Mehdi Hassan talking with Jane Mayer. She did some fine investigative work in writing the article.
I just posted her article, in response to a comment above.
Actually, it was Mehdi Hassan, with his sly humor.
Oops. That's right.
I think there are grounds, Robert: he should have recused himself because his wife is a "person of interest" in this ongoing investigation. So signaling, as he does, that he will protect the Trumpists at all costs is a sign that his judicial "independence" is a sham. I am well aware that the judiciary is a political organization (there was an interesting NPR report on this this very morning) but Thomas has been peculiarly empowered to engage in activities that would be regarded as ranging form questionable to nefarious were it someone not on the Bench.
Then how about new regulations to set up ethic guidelines such as lower courts follow.
If it becomes apparent that his vote in this case was intended to protect his wife from liability, that would be a different level of activism.
Who knows what we may discover though, there’s a lot of pages to peruse!
My gut is that something is going to come out….
It'll never happen. SCOTUS Justices live in a world of their own. Even Chief Justice Taney, whose Dred Scott opinion helped bring about the Civil War, remained on the Court until his death in 1864.
Judges like Taney and Thomas are excellent examples of why the court should be expanded and should have term limits.
Amen!
Ugh
I’m reading y’all’s comments that it can’t be done, but if it were a possibility, what steps would you take to get the ball rolling
1. Dilute Clarence Thomas's influence by expanding the court.--add seats to SCOTUS.
2. Keep up this heat in the court of public opinion.
There is NOTHING that prohibits impeachment, you might remember the decades long effort by the Birchers to remove Earl Warren.
It would take the revelation of criminal activity on their part to start the ball rolling to get a Justice removed from the SCOTUS. Being offensive and dishonest isn't enough. Something like running a ponzi scheme on the side might do it. It would be up to an investigative journalist to come up with such evidence because neither Congress nor the President can pursue it. But even then, look at all of the evidence which has been gathered about the defeated former president. Getting rid of him through the electoral process didn't seem to work. He's still around spouting lies and sowing dissention and supported by millions.
Isn't Trump's magic that he never leaves his own fingerprints on the evidence? He positions others to take the fall.
Isn't Heath's comment getting close to seeing Trump's fingerprints? "Washington reporter for Reuters Brad Heath noted that people close to Sidney Powell said Trump authorized this executive order (13) before his staff talked him out of it." I like to think the Committee is slowly closing in on Trump.
I hope they are! What would make that report become substantive evidence?
Yes, but they are getting sick and tired of him! This party isn’t going to go on much longer…
I agree there. He's losing his usefulness to The Grand Plan. The Party is going to cut him off, rather than waste resources on rescuing him.
What makes you say that... just because of the latest BS?
So doggone frustrating!
I can’t wait until there is proven collusion between “Dragon Lady” Ginny and Thomas in turn tied to 1/6/21. She is constantly violating the protocols of the SCOTUS
Absolutely right, Linda.
His wife attended/helped fund January 6th. He should have recused himself
Why should he, if he was of the same mind as his wife was, and would have voted against it even if he were a bachelor. These Justices must be put out to pasture at a specified age or number of years on the bench.
And shouldn't there be a limit as to how many one president can put on the bench during his term in office?
No, this can work two ways. Final decision rests with the Senate which acts as a check on an out-of-control president. Perhaps that decision, though, should also require House approval. That would make appointments more democratic.
And not bend the rules for one president and go in the diametrically opposite direction for another president.
Yes. It seems there should be some way to determine the political leanings of a judge before she/he is nominated. And no one who is terribly conservative or terribly liberal would be appropriate. GWBsuh deliberately looked for "the most conservative black judge," exactly what should NOT be a criterion.
Really Jack? they don’t collude huh?
Not necessarily, although in the Thomas' case, I think the spouses do share the same philosophy. But look at James Carville and Mary Matalin, happily married but diametically opposed politically.
Well, Carville and Matalin are two soulless sociopathic snakes without any ethics so that makes perfect sense.
And if what you are happen to believe is indeed the case, it still does not prevent them from being happily married and disagreeing politically.
And Clarence Thomas is pretty heavy-handed!
As all of you know herein impeachment is the remedy for removing Clarence Thomas.
Yes, it is totally allowed and should be done. The life appointment is NOT a shield from criminal or seditious behavior.
I am sorry but what provokes this sub thread? I see nothing in Heather’s article about Clarence Thomas.
He was the sole dissenting voice on the court about refusing Drumpf's claim of executive privilege.
His dissent to releasing the presidential archives, an 8 to 1 decision, was mentioned by HCR in her 1-19 letter which you saw the following morning.
He was the lone dissenter against the ruling, and has consistantly ruled against anything that was anti Trump. His wife, on the other hand, is very pro Trump.
I’m wondering the same thing. The real thrust of the article was the release of archived docs that clearly show the planned execution of the coup. Thank you
The sub thread, addressing Justice Thomas, was in response to HCR's posting dated Jan 19, in which she indicated his was the only vote against releasing the archived documents.
Yes!
Hello?!
George HW Bush asked his team to find for the most extreme, conservative, Black judge they could find because it would jam the Democrats to try to torpedo a Black judge--no matter how extreme or unpalatable he was.
It was GHWB's "fuck you" to the Senate for rejecting Bork.
wow...and he always seemed like such a nice man...
Outside of this, he pretty much was.
He was a phony, I remember Willie Horton. Betcha that was an Atwater present. He, Stone, and Manafort were on the job then
Oh, why can't everybody just play nice!
Becky, you are being sarcastic I presume?
No, I was not being sarcastic. I do wonder that.
YES!!! MY GOD!
Almost certainly true. In this instance, GHWB was playing the same kind of dirty politics that Bush 43 was persuaded (or persuaded himself) to engage in. Pretty disgusting but not surprising. On an interpersonal level, both Bushes appeared decent and even likeable. However, as political animals they (IMHO) definitely weren't.
This seems to be a perversion of one in the hand is better than two in the Bush.
Yup, - see my response as well!
REALLY?!?
He was clearly a token right winger. There are not a lot of them
There was a very strong push to have a black Supreme Court justice to succeed Thurgood Marshall, and it had to get through Congress, and, it was "Daddy Bush" in the White House, and voila!
You’ve “long wondered why” Michael. You are killing me, but, I’ll endeavor to enlighten you. Republicans are always; always trying to exploit insane Blacks that are filled with self loathing and who play it out on their own race. When I was in college Blacks called these traitors “Uncle Toms” They are the same blacks that were the trusted “house servants” of the Antebellum South. They are totally whack people who coincidentally like the mentally ill celeb Kanye West also happen to be Black. Republicans love rubbing these statistical “Black Swans”in the faces of the overwhelming majority of African Americans as though they were representative of the thinking of a people who have been enslaved, denigrated and cynically exploited since the 1600’s.
And TCinLA is also spot on. Revenge is always a classic Republican motivation
Hope this helps.
I like Citizen 60's and TCinLA's terse comments on the matter. Your statements "You are killing me" and especially "I'll endeavor to enlighten you" are offputting. There's no need for you to be condescending; it's disrespectful.
Michael, I seldom lose patience and was in fact being both disrespectful and condescending. But, in the interest of civic duty and fair play let me respond in this fashion:
I could understand one forgetting about Bork and the vengeance of Republicans to shove the most right wing whack they could promote and cynically made sure to choose an African American that would incite the use of the "race card" and "public lynching" at that time, might have missed your radar.
I suppose over time one may have lost memory of the public scourging of Anita Hill for honestly relating what a despicable freaking scumbag Thomas is. Finally, even forgetting how our now fearless President (then Senator) shoved her under the bus and then backed up over her was why we now have 6 Republicans on the SCOTUS. Yeah, I see how "you" could wonder.
So, I guess the only explanation I can find for how one might "wonder" about how Clarence’s rise was came about, must be left to other readers of this thread to decide.
Although I appreciate your admission of condescension and disrespect, I was hoping for a simple apology--however difficult it may sometimes be to do so.
Well, I thought I'd been the better man, but that went right over your head too.
I know this is very serious excrement, but I propose we lighten the mood with some hyperbolic predictions and questions and see if anyone comes even close to the eventual truth.
Plane(? Planes) at Mira-a Lago, fueled and ready. Who is allowed and who is left behind? Melania(aka Red Sparrow) would certainly have her own Putin jetliner. Ivanka and Jared must be contemplating calling Liz Cheney for a deal. Leave Eric behind with the rest of the baggage. And how fast is Guilfoyle going to give back that ring(is it appraised?).
Importantly, do the Russians living in Trump Tower leave now? Does anyone in Trump properties continue to pay rent or fees? Are there sudden job vacancies at Deutsche Bank?
Are these documents the reason for Pompeo's weight loss? And where is Lindsey Graham? Is Stephen Miller calling Lukashenko about asylum? Where is William Barr?
Does the Secret Service detail with djt have an endless supply of burner phones recording conversations? And pics? Any undercover FBI agents feeding info to Attorney General Garland? Super secret Special Prosecutor and Special Grand Jury?
How many quiet divorce papers are being filed by Republican spouses?
Ok, early morning stream of consciousness palaver. Sorry if anyone is offended.
None of your ramblings would even be surprising...that is the pathetic state of affairs in our body politic. We are living out a movie that no studio would have ever made made because the script was so insanely stupid. Put nothing past a leader who would let Sidney Powell guide him. Or Steven Miller. Or Rudy. Or the other Steve. Or Roger (not the rabbit).
I actually suspect that Rupert Murdoch has been orchestrating everything from a mansion in Australia. After infesting his home nation, he put Boris in charge of the UK. Then he was bored and he hired O'Reilly, Hannity and then Carlson to run the US via the puppet called Trump. I bet Rupert and Putin have Zoom drinks together and laugh at how gullible and dumb Americans are.
It is as if an asylum released all it's inmates and they simply walked into the White House.
It is inexplicable.
Very unfortunately, this is not a movie, but is all too reminiscent of Germany in the 1930s, and of Russia after the revolution there, and even Russia today. After Putin was made president for life, Trump said he liked that idea. He was dead serious. Trump, the MAGAs and nearly all Republicans in Congress, and in America, want to run America as they see fit, and they have no remorse for January 6. Whatever it takes to take over America is what they they are willing to attempt. We know this, because of how they treat January 6. They wish it had succeeded. Otherwise, they'd be howling for criminal prosecutions of the instigators, Trump on down. I was in a deposition yesterday with a young lady attorney who is proud she worked in the U.S. Department of Justice under Attorney Generals Jeff Sessions and William Barr. She is a Trumper. She is very smart, but I wonder if her soul is even engaged with her body and her mind? I am in my 80th year. What happens in America won't affect me all that much longer, but it will affect my children and their families. The entire world should shudder over an America run by the hard right, who are convinced God is on their side.
@ Sloan Bashinsky, Since 2008 I have proposed that Republicans have envisioned a government that will do away with pesky Democracy; I call it Fascism 2.0. In point of fact my substack exposes this over 80 process of embracing Nazi and Christian Nationalism (Christo-Fascism) which always, includes a powerful unfettered Capitalism. If my line of reasoning is of interest lemme know and I’ll point you to my work.
Heil!
King of Hearts
https://play.google.com/store/movies/details/The_King_of_Hearts?id=2ECjQEYC0To.P&hl=en&gl=US
Well said!!
I think I am gonna crown you "Bulls-eye Bill"
Boy, have you been reading my mind. Proof that propaganda not only works, but can ensnare all kinds of disaffected know-nothings into a coalesced group of evil. And, they don't even know they are evil. Definition of a cult it seems. And the Rupert evil has been spewed non-stop for decades. The inmates have truly taken over the asylum and are attracting more and more "fairness" adherents, trying to "both sides" crazy and sane. Yes, Rupert and Vlad are laughing their arses off. Makes my blood boil to see intelligent people lap up the treasonous pap.
Intelligent?
Amazing how people can twist and shout to make bull schitt pile up nicely and to their satisfaction
And in God's name, in so many cases :-)
Loved this. I needed a bit of humor after reading today’s letter. It’s appalling to find ever more convincingly just how close we came to the unthinkable. And now Mitch McConnell claims the voting rights act would be government over-reach? Of course he also claims that Black Americans can vote as easily as Americans. Talk about Hoo, boy.
Let’s not forget that McConnell let Trump get away with all of it in two impeachments. His wife cut and ran at the very end so she didn’t have to sign the 25A. I bet they’re deep in.
Kentucky benefitted from McConnell’s wife having decision powers in her role as Transportation Secretary. It was interesting that she cut and run.
I didn’t think so when I learned she would be one of the people to sign for 25A. McConnell is far from clean no matter how much he gives speeches that make him look good. If you follow his actions and wonder how he keeps getting re-elected with such low ratings it’s strange. Plus he doesn’t care about the people of Kentucky. They are in real trouble in so many ways with massive opioid addictions and lousy education.
Hmm, might his elections actually be the results of questionable maneuverings? https://www.dcreport.org/2020/12/19/mitch-mcconnells-re-election-the-numbers-dont-add-up/
exactly!
What about "Chinese-Americans?" Personally, I know of one that is a disservice to America.
If only Americans could vote as easily as Russians can in this country…
Stephen, you've got to the heart of the matter!
And good morning to you Lynell!
Love this!
You win today!
Bill these are interesting--and amusing--speculations but the operative here re: all of the marriages probably going bust is that if Guilfoyle dumps Trumpette she and he both are open to subpoenas and requirements to testify against each other. The deal with Trumpette is likely that they will marry as quickly as possible to stave off that little issue. Same goes for the Ghastly Ones' wives. Miz Lindsey is out on a limb because he doesn't have a tame vagina to cover his ass (sorry for the pun, but the problem is not that he doesn't have a "beard" as this person is usually called in female-centered circles but a "wife" to hide behind)--his toy boyz are probably keeping files and files of stuff they use as guarantees that he won't throw any of them under the bus.
I am sure there are below-the-surface levels of this iceberg we have no clue about. But I am also sure this is going to get interesting. And since Gorsuch clearly has an agenda that he needs public support to enact (threatening Sotomayor's health by refusing to wear a mask, for instance) he probably knows that jumping on the insurrection bandwagon won't help him.
You nailed Lindsey 👍
Linda I love it when you let loose
Hi Roland! Nice to have you back!
Gaetz married most likely because he figured the Florida law of wife can’t testify would help him, but didn’t think it through that former “romantic” partners could. An ex-girlfriend has already been given immunity for her testimony. My guess is Trumpette has a string of ex’s willing to sing … unless they had to sign NDAs. 🙄
Ugh...the NDAs...I forgot about that! no no no no!!!
Wow! Definitely ahead of the curve thinking! Thanks for the good work.
Wow! What are your medieval history lectures like?
The ones that make the male medical students in the class acutely uncomfortable and fill the female medical students with glee are the ones where I lecture on ancient and medieval medicine. It's all about wandering wombs (aka "hysteria" from the Greek word for uterus) and menstruation as a form of disease. Two things we still have to deal with in the medical and cultural communities not surprisingly. I admit I love giving those lectures.
I would kill to be a fly on the wall!!
Loved it, no offense taken except Melania should be referred to as Mockingbird.
TFG is Mastadon. Lindsey Graham is a Potussy?😂
https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/50644565-squeeze-me
I’m currently reading Democracy In Chains (Nancy McClean) 😡 . I find it necessary to intersperse my “heavy” reading with humor so yours, and Hiassen’s are much appreciated !
Love Carl Hiassen’s books. Wasn’t aware of Squeeze Me. As you say, just the levity needed to intersperse with all the heavy reading these days. Thanks for the recommendation!
I just downloaded the book!
I downloaded the audio version on Libby this morning and listened for an hour while on the treadmill. So entertaining! I’ll sit by my husband with my headphones on as he watches tv sports this afternoon. 😁
Ha! Wait, don’t tell me… football!!! I am about to start it! Report back here upon completion!❤️
Yup. Football when it’s cold. Golf when it’s hot. Lots of opportunity for reading. Will get back to you when I finish.
Thanks much for mentioning Hiassen's "Squeeze Me." I hadn't heard of it. His novels are incredibly good medicine for me. When I feel down, I pull out my copy of "Stormy Weather" and begin to put things in perspective. Hiassen is beyond funny and talented--he's a national treasure. I'll get a copy of "Squeeze Me" today. It will help me decompress a bit.
Democracy in Chains - McClean’s work is essential, and wow she held up under a right wing hit job to discredit her. But the naked truth tends to prevail in these things.
tell me more!?
Cynthia - if you have access to a Public Library do your town and yourself a good turn and get the book in paper OR as an ebook… If you then want to retain the book as reference then buy.
As I write I am listening to a audible 'sample' of 'Democracy in Chains', (and I'm about halfway through 'Squeeze Me'). Is D in C really good? The number of books in my 'shopping cart' gets fuller every day!)
where would they fly to? Russia might take them, but they will end up in a Gulag someplace...iDiJiT is of no use to Putin now...a gulag would be too good for them. Saudi Arabia might be an option, but then Melania would have to cover up that beautiful plastic surgery face. Perhaps the pilot will load just a enough fuel to get them over the ocean, put on his parachute and ditch the lot of them.
I think they'll just move to a Caribbean island with golf courses but no extradition obligations.
Epstein island?
Haha!
Melania won’t go with them. She will return to her handlers that set her up with Trump years ago. The Chinese aren’t the only ones who play the long game on spying.
Yay
Actually you expounded on my single thought of wondering when chump would fly off!
Bill - I have thought about this possibility for months now - and hope it does come to fruition. I wonder just how far it will reach. Is Jim Jordan “smart” enough to have fear?
He’s going to be squirming around before long… he may not be smart, but all mammals at least have instincts!
Wow! You will shortly receive a plum job offer from National Enquirer! 🤣
Oh, you mean Trump’s one time journal of record - How quickly we forget. ;-)
Offended? Quite not. I love some early morning slapstick comedy.
Based on all this Independent former practicing attorney reads, sees on TV, on Facebook and hears in personal conversations, in the main, Republicans and their MAGA siblings could care less what the rest of America, and the rest of the world, think about January 6. What they care about is making sure they retake the White House and all of Congress at the ballot box, and from all I am seeing and hearing, they are making serious progress in that direction. It may well be that the only way to stop them is for Donald Trump to be seized and put on one of Elon Musk's rockets and deported to Mars, as the wheels of justice, perhaps should be in quotation marks, might move a tad too slow to to prevent Trump from being reelected again. And to prevent him from inciting the same folks and intimidating Republicans in office who do now bow down and kiss his feet. Even as I recently saw on CNN, Erin Burnett, that President Biden's approval rating had dropped to 33 percent, and among Independents, it had dropped to 25 percent. I'm among the 75 percent, who am not impressed with Biden's 1st year in the White House, but I for sure won't vote for Trump or Mike Pence, but I might vote for Elizabeth Cheney.
Sloan, You are right. Like Hitler and other despots they want the legitimacy of elections to give cover to the fact that they rigged them. Unless you figure that 37% of the voting electorate is actually 70% or higher.
At the rate revelations on the plot are being exposed to daylight I’m thinking that ultimately (maybe before 2002) that Biden will declare that he has to stop the plot and work thought the details under a State of National Emergency. My further prediction is that Milley and Generals supportive of the Constitution are removing the traitors from the ranks.
I know scary, but everyone thought I lacked credulity on the 2008 meltdown of which I was 8 months ahead, They also looked at me like I was talking about Harry Potter over the Bush/Cheney WMD fiasco, when I said the whole thing was yet another play to get rich on oil with American blood. Finally, I was spot on about the genuine coup (which is still in progress toward plan B)
But, it’s like this. The plotters are stopped or I’ll see you soon a Texas border combined deportation and reeducation camp. Not a joke.
I think Biden should have begun right away, based on the raw film footage of Trump and the Jan 6 mob, and Mitch McConnell's instant condemnation of Trump, to have Trump seized and held in a high security undisclosed federal detention center, without bail, because of the very clear and present danger he then was to America.
I have no idea what Miley, etc. are doing with a U.S Military that probably is 50 percent +- pro Trump.
I doubt the Heilers intend to deport the non-Heilers and the south of the border immigrant workers, because they need them to keep the American economic machinery working. Imagine America with no Democrats paying taxes and no Hispanic immigrants doing manual labor?
I missed the 2008 meltdown, but was told in a dream that year, by Archangel Michael, that Barack Obama had the potential to be the AntiChrist, which he proved shortly after being sworn in by accepting the Nobel Prize for Peace while waging the 2 Bush-Cheney right white men for profit war$: Afghanistan and Iraq.
Looks to me Biden's choice of Kamala Harris as a running mate was unfortunate, as she seems to be a very young girl in a grown up body.
I don’t have a real bone to pick with your reply. I really am amazed that Biden did not use the PEADs (Presidential Emergency Action Directives) to “lock him up” especially since Trump and his Minions were only a step away in doing the same thing to Biden, based on the exposed planning documents and Power Points now in the hands of the 1/6/21 Committee. I think a lot had to do with fear of going into an immediate Lebanese Civil War. An outcome that I think gives far too much credit to the coordinating abilities of the Fascist Far Right.
I guess the real % of Officers that would support a right wing coup is at present going to remain a mystery. My rule of thumb is to apply what I’ve called the “37% rule.” That seems to crop up in virtually any gauge of support for Fascism in almost any issue before us.
My observation about illegal immigrants is that they play the same function as did immigrant Jews fleeing Russia to live in 1920’s and 30’s Germany as a political foil to feed meat to the Base.
Oh, I assure you were Trump to achieve his coup and/or a return to Fascist rule in 2024 that the economics of our nation will be just fine, as you may recall the trains ran on time in Italy under Mussolini.
Capitalism and Fascism are not and never were enemies and in fact both will take a back seat to the return of Fedualism by 2050 at the rate things are going.
You're a riot, for real :-). Meanwhile, Trump and his Heilers conveniently ignore his own hand-picked Attorney General William Barr said there was no voter/election fraud. Not belonging to a political party (rhymes with religion, cult, etc.) is liberating 😎.
Barr - I think giving DOJ legal sanction to a coup de’tat per his script for 1/6/21 and taking the fall when it failed (Trump always pushes his minions under the bus) was a bridge too far. It wasn’t that he didn’t love the idea, but his finger prints would definitely be all over the murder weapon.
PS here’s my substack: https://olflawriduhcracker.substack.com/p/onward-christian-soldiers?r=38b45&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web
wow...I am with you up to 'voting for liz cheney'! Actually, she blows my mind...in a real good way...but I have to pull myself back from time to time when I remember her views on everything else...
And her daddy was seriously bad news, but would you rather have her in the White House than Donald Trump, Tucker Carlson, Ron deSantis, etc. etc.?
Yes...I get that...
Does Guilofoyle regret not rushing to have a wedding in the White House? Now, that would absolutely take me down!
‘How sweet it is! ❤️
And a must reason for future daddy-in-law not to ever reside in the WH ever again!
After reading HCR's letter (and before reading this comment), I felt that my prediction from before the election - that the Trump family would board their big jet and take off for places unknown but safe from U.S. prisons - had belatedly acquired ia heightened liklihood of actually happening. Coincidently, an article in todays NYT may provide an opportunity for the departing family. An island off the northwest coast of England is advertising for a king. There's even an old castle on the island. This king would manage the local pub and manage the island grass and rocks. His backgropund in the hospitality industry may provide excellent support his application. The "King of Piel" is cusomarily inaugurated, while sitting on an old chair while wearing a rusty helmet and holding a sword, by having a gallon of beer dumped on his head. Seeems fitting!
Hilarious. Thank you.
Morning Fab. How are you?
Morning Christine. I'm ab fab and you?
Ab Fab was my favorite show in the early 1990's - it was totally off the rails as only the Brits can do!
It was a fantastic show!!
I never heard of "ab fab" before. I'm glad you and Christine are.
Have been reflecting on this past year. And coming to decision on whether to go for second run for school board seat. Have been working with other candidate since new maps edge me out of District that is best district for me. But consensus wants my name in there. Will have to decide what’s best soon.
On the contrary, I love it.
Will take any scintilla of levity possible on this. Thanks
Ya know back in 2016 when I was doing “org charts” of all the Russian Mafioso and agents that were using Trump Tower and The Taj casino to launder billions… well those were more innocent times. But, I appreciate these insights and invite you to share your insight on these Q’s
After all of this, and who knows how much more yet to come, the Republican Party is still the party of Trump; no platform, just Trump.
That fact is more frightening than the pitiful little man himself.
No Trump.....and GOP falls into the void. A vicious and deadly competition between minor "wannabes" follows and it spirals out of control with ambition fighting hate.....and they still represent "nada", nothing other than their own desire for power; the people are cast only in the role of useful idiots. If they are in power this is a grave problem, if not.......... So it's a question of the time needed to take Trump out of the running and the will of the people to get out there and vote to protect their rights regardless of the obstacles and fight to win back control of their lives and their government. The Dems have essentially got till October this year to cut Trump off at the knees permanently as a sweep by GOP in the partial elections would doubtless shut down the Jan 6 committee and any DOJ action.
My fear is Ron DeSantis stepping into the void. He has gotten nuttier and nuttier, and the FL Republican dominated legislature giving him everything he wants.
it'll be like fighting cocks with spurs attached to their ankles, vicious dogs wailing in the night. Neither De Santis, Pompeo or whoever that is currently visible on that side has any chance of dominating any more than a minor faction....severely lacking in the charisma stakes if nothing else. These people can hardly be termed "sensible". There will no longer be any incentive to gather round one or the other when one might win oneself. There are no prizes for being the one that serves the dictator rather than being the one that dictates as those serving are useful but expendable....and their lives are often short.
I often come back to Putin's story of the death of the first Tsar 1000 years ago when it took the mutual slaughter of 17 pretenders to the thrown befor a surviving "champion" emerged.
The cockfight has already begun. And many social media posts are fanning the flames. For the first time, polls (I hate polls) show DeSantis below the top two leading Dem contenders for FL Governor. However, DeSantis is sitting on a mountain of cash with no competition and the Dems will spend scarce dollars to win the primary with nothing remaining to fight DeSantis in an expensive media market. But I do hope you are correct!
I believe what DeSantis is doing is not sustainable. He’s “acting” crazy but unllike TFG, he lacks the (crazy)gene mutation.Although it will certainly get worse here in Fl before it gets better….
Yes. It was the State that put our Orange Co. Health doctor on Admin. leave for a memo wondering why the folks in his public health office were refusing vaccination. Other County health officials have reported on the increasing consolidation of power into Tallahassee-- more and more has to be approved by the State.
I was glad to see the editorial from Florida Today stating Dr. Pino should be reinstated ASAP.
I’m sure Scott Maxwell will weigh in !
I agree, Stuart, but I lack your conviction. On the other hand, if DEMs can triumph in November... (2022. 2024 will be too late)
Time is of the essence, David.
Wow! I knew nothing about that! Right on! DeSantis should be committed. What a nut.. but you are right...there's zero charisma in that confederacy of dunces..NOBODY!? Cruz!?!? Please say he doesn't stand a chance.. and dear lord... I keep thinking that Josh Hawley is waiting the wings..but also I have a feeling that something is going to comet about him re: January 6th... would LOVE TO SEE THAT! I would pay anything for front row seats!
I know..me too : (
It’s unquestionably over for Trump politically. The SCOTUS decision re the archives is the beginning of the end for him as future President and possibly as a free man.
I’ve read a ton of negativity about the MSM. There’s truth in some of it, but I often think it’s a little hysterical. Now watch them. They will be like ferrets, pulling out more and more damaging information. Their sources realize how exposed they are, and will be talking freely, either in fear or resignation.
But the real credit goes to this dogged, brilliant select committee. They are saving America. I hope, for maximum explosiveness, that their public hearings are sooner rather than later. A repeat of the dull thump when the Mueller Report fell is not to be repeated.
The real interest now lies in watching the DOJ. Are they going to clamber on the bandwagon now? Unless they act the far right masses are going to simply plug their ears and repeat ad nauseam, “I can’t hear you”, as each new revelation drops.
What happens after the bombs stop dropping on the Republican Party is a matter of intense interest. The current version is going to be eviscerated and Nature hates a vacuum.
Eric, I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, you are a breath of fresh air. You’re also (effing) brilliant.
When it’s difficult to see the forest for the trees, it’s nice to have a satellite view from Canada (Eric) and Paris (Stuart) and Merida and Ecuador and Spain etc. etc.
Thank you Roland. This sounds required, but I mean it genuinely. Your posts display enormous erudition and wit. I delight in them.
Thank you Eric, very kind of you to say. Back in the spring you said something I will never forget: “When I see Roland, I read Roland.“ That’s a gift I will not soon forget.
All this good news is wonderful...it is also very distracting from doing all WE can do to assure that every single person who is eligible to vote...
VOTES Intelligently...
that is our #1 job here, Eh!?
I second that!
The GOP civil war:
Intense infighting. Existential crisis. The white supremacy advocates on the side of democracy (Cheney, Romney et al) vs. the white supremacy advocates on the side of extremism, of breaking all the rules to form a new Confederacy (Trump alliance, incl. Putin).
We may get three parties, or even four if the Dems can't hang together. The stranglehold of congresscritters is astonishing. Aside from the obvious two, there are NO R voices raised in even cautious rejection of these new findings, i.e., having the military take over voting machines.
Not one dissenting vote.
Are they all truly that callow?
Abandoning all integrity for position, dollars, racism, power-over?
This demonstration of fealty is frankly disgusting and IMHO, requires more than the best Scotch to burn it out of my mind.
The mid-term vote is going to be fraught with peril, suppression, rejection, chicanery--and I'm thinking there will be a severe shortage of staff to solve problems and challenges, although an over-abundance of white poll-watchers. Ever so grateful to live in a mail-in voting state! Just got a ballot for a local election--made me SO happy!
Do the Republicans believe that ALL of the poll watchers will be Republicans?
John bruner - Yes.
Sure. They also believe that only R's have guns. Not the sharpest tacks....
Very plausible. But how do you think it plays out? I think it could be protracted and there’ll be at least metaphorical blood on the floor.
If those on the si of extremism are to rule, it will have to be those not sharply distracted by their own legal appearances. There will need to be an infusion of new faces and they will have to keep the Trump movement alive, at a point when millions are ready to move on. Personally I think this faction is in extremis now.
The other side is going to scramble initially for people to fill roles. They have zero traction now, and in fact the midterms will see a whole new crop of eager beavers in the running only because they were crazier than anybody else with an (R) beside their name.
Defining what a sane Republican is will be the source of the infighting you talk about. I think this will take a long time.
All of which leads me to posit that a) if Merrick Garland gets his act together and b) the revelations don’t dry up in an unsatisfactory way, then the midterms could be a blowout - for the Democrats.
Of course it’s hard to predict the pace at which things will unfold. The House Committee, at this moment, faces an unforgiving deadline. A corrupt Supreme Court could deliver some kind of delay. The battle could rage on.
But I say that without much conviction, even given the heartache of the last few years. I think the tide is turning savagely on an evil and stupid cabal. Finally.
My question is - why do Americans always go so far when they gin up enthusiasm? They have seen the abyss and peered at it with fascination. They have poked at it over and over. And now because a few patriots held, they are (finally) about to draw back, many with the deepest reluctance.
Churchill’s comment that, “Americans always do the right thing, but only after exhausting every possible other option”, is proven grimly sanguine once again.
WOW! Nice Eric! Real nice!
Trump’s demise politically has been predicted often, but never is. That’s what’s so scary about this revelation. He’ll claim he knew nothing about it, never saw it. Absent an eyewitness or 2, he’ll be believed.
yes, yes, a resounding YES~
As Teri Kanefield says, trump supporters LIKE the lawbreaking. Trump may go down but this will make him a martyr.
And Trump the sacreficial martyr will inspire each of the fighting cockerals seperately. It'll will not unify.They'll privately say "good riddens" while showering him with praise and trying to pull his "mantle" towards them as the "natural" successor.
"...to cut Trump off at the knees permanently..." An unfortunate prerequisite for long-term incarceration, Eh!?
figuratively , of course...but if he spent a long time on his knees it would do all of us a lot of good...if not him.
Hey, it would eliminate his bone spurs problem.
Seriously, I love your line of thinking Stuart.
he has already spent a long time on his knees in front of Putin
What’s unfortunate about it?
Ahhh... glibness is an essential to sharing in joy, Eh!?
Nice Stuart. Very nice.
I am so sad about what seems to be the likely outcome in the mid-terms..is there any chance of turning it around into? If the 'Committee' really nails a couple of these criminals, and Matt Gate and Gym Joker get pulled off the street, and al the kings men start to fall...could that change things?
Maybe Ann Coulter is right and Trump is over. But Trumpism is still the party’s lifeblood.
Racism and white supremacy is absolutely the party’s lifeblood. But tainted figureheads, heroes that are no longer heroes, are expendable.
Roland, don’t you suspect that the Trump “family” is getting at least a little “expendable” treatment from some Rs right now?
On lhy because those who want to get rid of them do it because they want to replace them.
Absolutely - The two analysts on 11th Hour said that the Party has adopted Trumpism. Whether Trump's there or not, the threat remains.
The pattern of R behavior goes back to the “Know Nothings” (at least). So I suspect that “Trumpism” merely let them enjoy their worst proclivities openly. What we must hope for is this Democrats don’t fall into some of their past follies in an attempt to return to permanent power (I’ll mention “Tammany Hall” here in the name of “balanced reporting” 🤪)
The Know-Nothings, the former Whigs (business wing) and the abolitionists (the now-extinct progressive wing) were what the GOP was created from in 1854. Now the Know Nothings run it.
I love having historians around
Whether we should fear Trump or the GOP more is a conundrum. I fear them both, but the GOP is steadily nearing its long-term objective of turning back the clock to Beaver Cleaver's America. They are the Eddie Haskells of our time.
I think the Republicans want to take us even further back; to the plantation and the company town.
Well, that would be ambitious of them. I hope the rest of us would draw the line well before that, though I have hoped for a lot of things in my 69 years that I haven't got.
Except, in addition to back slaves they will put the "Dems"out in the fields too.
Over my dead DEM body.
I fear the evangelicals the most and I've had that concern for a very long time now. Maybe two decades? NPR had a story about a week ago where a minister said words to the effect, we love Trump and, if he's gone, we'll find another just like him.
They need to find Jesus.
Jesus would run screaming from them if they tried to claim him
Ditto above!
🤣
I grew up in that evangelical world but I was a high school science need and left them mentally over Evolution. I left completely with the war in Vietnam in college.
Yet the people I grew up with cared about others and felt that Roe vs. Wade was correct.
What changed? Leadership that just wanted power and money. Same as GOP since Nixon.
With you there on that science class and learning how to think. They were quite threatened by a teenager whose questions they could not answer.
The evangelical world lives by rote; it is all powerful narrative and hypocrisy with deeply conflicting principles and a characteristic absence of rational reason. The over-arching patriarchal control gives rise to the comparison to other fundamentalist terrorist groups like the Taliban.
Faith, or belief in the absence of evidence, is a founding principle as is sacrificing in this life for the promise of another, unseen afterlife. The opiate of the people, for the control of the people. Mass delusional system.
I was an evangelical Christian in the 70s to early 80s, in Texas. They were all a fairly liberal group of folks back then. Fox News and politicians playing them for votes has damaged them beyond repair.
Many analyses by knowledgeable investigators connect the rise anti-abortion sentiment among white evangelicals with exploitation of endemic racism in those quarters by evangelical leaders seeking to expand their political influence.
Fear of diversity and "the other"?
Kelly, you may well be correct in that fear-there are some Evangelicals who are conflating that birth control is the same as abortion. Where do you think women of childbearing age will be if that fantasy comes true? Gilead?
*not a cult* 😉
“Sometimes it appears that we're reaching a period when our senses and our minds will no longer respond to moderate stimulation. We seem to be approaching an Age of the Gross. Persuasion through speeches and books is too often discarded for disruptive demonstrations aimed at bludgeoning the unconvinced into action.”
-- Spiro T. Agnew
Ahhh...the good old days, Eh!?
"Don't Look Up".....a not so hyperbolic, seriously unflattering mirror on our society.
The 1950's had a lot higher tax rate, plus businesses paid well enough that June could could stay home & do housework in pearls & heels. The GOP needs to take off their rose tinted glasses about that period of time.....of course, many of them were children in the 50's. Whole different perspective.
Above all, I fear the voters.
Yes. Which is like saying, “Above all, I fear the voters who are in my family and are my neighbors.“
Praying such fear becomes the great motivator for more and more to vote intelligently
Access to the vote is already an issue for many.
Now is the time to have the courts intercede and overturn the anti Constitutional crap created by those who would kill American democracy in favor of those enslaved by the great deceiver.
Unfortunately the judiciary has been co-opted by the Federalist Society and it's dark money. They could easily do their jobs and follow the Constitution and the belief in Federal Supremacy. IMHO, they've been making an awful lot of decisions that give the states their rights instead of following the Constitution.
Crucial fear/factor, Lynell. We know from personal experience a small fraction of the MAGA people. I wish that reporters were so embedded. We need ways of reaching each other. I know it seems formidable as the wall of hate seems so high and wide. There need to be ways of lower that wall and making it more porous.
Exactly right!
Can you spell A-D-O-L-F?
It blows my mind that for years now they have had NO PLATFORM...nothing... it truly makes me crazy?! I keep trying to wake up from this!!!
It should be noted that the one dissenting vote on the release of the NARA documents came from Justice Thomas, whose wife is implicated in the planning and financing of the January 6th rally, and who may know something about the attack on the Capitol.
In an interesting coincidence, New Yorker just published an extensive story on Ginni Thomas. She is a certified right-wing wacko, with extensive connections and influence. It had this to say about her role inJan 6th, “Many Americans first became aware of Ginni Thomas’s activism on January 6, 2021. That morning, before the Stop the Steal rally in Washington, D.C., turned into an assault on the Capitol resulting in the deaths of at least five people, she cheered on the supporters of President Donald Trump who had gathered to overturn Biden’s election. In a Facebook post that went viral, she linked to a news item about the protest, writing, “love maga people!!!!”” Clarence Thomas makes no apologies about his wife’s overt, right-wing political activism, even when he is hearing cases from groups in which she is directly involved. Just one more reason (of the many) to impeach Thomas.
"Love MAGA Ppl?" Is she referring to the time when America was "Great" before 1967 when her marriage to Clarence Thomas was illegal in 15 of the United States? What an Idiot.
Thomas is just on the pay off.
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2022/01/31/is-ginni-thomas-a-threat-to-the-supreme-court
Ginni Thomas is also raising tons of money to support overturning Roe. Just another reason to get Clarence off the bench. Of course, he should never have been on the bench to begin with...starting with Anita Hill.
that can be said of at least Kavanaugh and Barrett as well
Gorsuch is another judge who shouldn’t be on the Supreme Court. He’s sitting in Garland’s stolen seat. Of the 6 right-wing extremist judges on the court, 4 of them are illegitimate.
I wish those four could be impeached and removed from the bench.
Alito and Roberts also baldly lied about their agendas.
How disappointing…
Thomas lied under oath in his confirmation hearings. Biden prevented the other women, who would have confirmed Anita Hill’s story, from testifying.
This is the one thing that I hold against Biden. Those hearings were a disgrace.
He NEVER should have been confirmed!
😢
Yes, she’s raising $$$$ Connected…and crazy !!! She once asked Anita Hill to “ apologize”.
https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=130688438
Wow - that is obscene. Shows Ginny's refusal to acknowledge the dysfunction in her own house.
Amen!
As Ron DeSantis moves forward with a special police force in Florida to oversee election security and election investigations I suggest an appropriate initial target can easily be identified in his state at Mar-a-Lago. C’mon Ron let’s get started at the most obvious target of an election security investigation and go pick up TFG.
Bruce, you’re a man after my own heart. I like your integrity.
I discourage everyone from adopting disinformation phrases as presented. As Kelly in Ecuador posted today,
“When Fascism arrives in America, it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross.“
Deception is unacceptable.
The proposed DeSantis Election Subversion agency has nothing to do with “security,” unless its security for white supremacy. It’s KKK security.
The DeSantis KKK White Supremacy Election Control Secret Police to prevent blacks and progressives from gaining access to political power.
Think Stasi, Gestapo, KGB, Cheka.
I figuratively tip my hat to you for most accurately characterizing the Trumpism movement as Fascist.
Fascism is properly defined as a political philosophy, movement, or regime (such as that of the Fascisti) that exalts nation and often race above the individual and that stands for a centralized autocratic government headed by a dictatorial leader, severe economic and social regimentation, and forcible suppression of opposition. This is precisely what characterizes Trumpism that elevates ultranationalism, white supremacy, and unlimited autocratic power in the hands of a single dictatorial leader. To characterize Trumpism as fascist is not hyperbole, this is exactly what it is.
Thank you Bruce. For those of you reading this exchange, gauge if any of the following phrases look incendiary or triggering or provocative:
KKK. White supremacy. Adolf Hitler. Nazi. Benito Mussolini. Josef Stalin. Stasi. Gestapo. Cheka. Racism. Sexism. Homophobia, gay persecution, gay bashing. Lynching.
If any of those terms provoked a reaction in you, just sit with it. And then sit with the following words:
Trump is a wannabe Hitler. The Republican Party has morphed into the modern-day KKK. Fox Noise is the propaganda outlet for the Republican Party and white supremacy like Russia Today and Tass are the propaganda outlets for Putin’s dictatorship. Fox Noise is a propaganda outlet, not a reliable news agency.
To me, those are all statements of fact. Our society is grappling with issues it didn’t think it would ever have to fight over. Racism and white supremacy are the only platform that matters for the Republicans. That’s why they decided to dispense with a platform, that's why they are proposing ditching presidential debates. Their ideology is white supremacy and male supremacy and straight supremacy. Those are the three planks. You’re either with us or against us. You are either racist sexist and homophobic, or you’re one of those others. What’s to debate?
None of those groups or organizations would ever use those terms to describe themselves. It’s all Abraham Lincoln and the Constitution and the American flag and the Grand Old Party.
Nonsense and poppycock. Baloney.
With all due respect, since you wrote that you want to "discourage everyone from adopting disinformation phrases," please allow me to offer some fine points of redirection.
"Trump is a wannabe Hitler." "To me, those are all statements of fact." Writing that "Trump is a wannable Hitler" is your opinion, and not a verifiable fact. We cannot get into his head to prove his motive.
Prefacing your assertion with "to me" gives you cover of having rendered an opinion, but in this world of too much misinformation amplified exponentially, why add to confusion and blurred boundaries? Opinionize away, but exercise trained skills when claiming something as fact.
As for your opinion that Trump is a wannabe Hitler, I would argue to follow the money more than to follow the psychology. Trump went to the White House as a businessman, and now we see more and more of his MO as a businessman using his skills of bullying salesmanship to make a deal. His phone call to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger was classic. It's all what he learned from his father, from Roy Cohn, from the book on his nightstand of Hitler's speeches, and what got reinforced from short-term financial successes and media attention. The combination of money and power is intoxicating and addictive. It fits with his affinity with other autocrats and oligarchs around the world.
Trump and current reactionary Republicans are not starting with an ideology and then figuring out how to support it. They start with how they learned to climb their ladders in corporate capitalism, which includes bringing in experts to figure out the mechanics--the snakes like Bannon, Miller, Giuliani, Eastman, Stone, Meadows, Epshteyn, and so many more who worked diligently to find cracks in the system to exploit.
While we need to understand how Trump got into such power and continues to wield it in order to figure out how to fix the problem, the problem is much, much bigger than him. It's global, and pursuit of profit for amassing wealth is supporting corporate sedition.
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/jan/16/corporate-sedition-capitol-attack-democracy-political-financing-donations-sinema-voting-rights
https://twitter.com/CREWcrew/status/1483318319243481088?s=20
https://twitter.com/SenWhitehouse/status/1482100509456670722?s=20
https://twitter.com/ruthbenghiat/status/1481374738786226179?s=20
https://twitter.com/LeaHami55821459/status/1482738266113720320?s=20
Yes, I think Trump is in it for the money and trappings, but the people he surrounds himself with are there to tap into the power of the presidency to give life to their agendas. It is a very dangerous combination.
Hello Ellie. I like that you confront me, that you are direct and honest. I value that. Unfortunately this forum limits us. I could easily reply to you at novella length, which indicates that a conversation is more suitable than written text. You are one of the people here that I think about having a phone call with, because I respect you and because of our misunderstandings, which I believe are minor and merit dialogue. I also see the potential, a possibility, for a fascinating in-depth conversation. You are one of a number of exceptional and highly intriguing people here.
It seems, correct me if I’m wrong, that you got triggered by my use of the word “fact.“ Quibbling about our individual definitions of that word doesn’t seem productive. You pivoted very nicely to the word “opinion.” That works.
You are clearly highly disciplined. I respect that. I however am neither a historian nor a teacher or scholastic researcher, nor even a scientist anymore, although I have an engineering degree. I am an investigator, in my own style.
You make so many fine points in your post, it is difficult to know where to start. How about here: The Republican Party no longer has a platform. It no longer has an ideology, at least not an ideology that they would be willing to make explicit. I would say that their implicit goal is to retain the whites-first males-first society of yesteryear, whatever it takes. So why have a legislative agenda. Their only purpose now is to obstruct the development of the diverse society which is swallowing them up, like it or not.
Re: psychology
Understanding my father as well as I do allows me to understand Trump and other similar people, including Putin, and Republicans in general.
Re: the genetics of rape
I work full-time and have a super full life. Unfortunately I was unable to check your links and study further. However, my intuition tells me that if we were to have a conversation about this subject (email or phone, this forum isn’t really suitable) it might be productive, and perhaps healing. I wrote, in response to this suggestion of yours, an entire piece about rape and incest and how people treat them in our society.
Re: Russian govt agents here
I’m in a bind. Can’t be transparent with you here, because they can read it. We would have to go into a private place where they are not allowed, like email or telephone. I can’t divulge all that I know in this forum without providing more training for these guys. As it is, my interactions with them last spring helped them improve their craft. They’re still lousy at it, but they’re a lot better than they were before we started engaging with them.
When I say I’m transparent, I am not kidding. There’s nothing about me and how I operate that you cannot know. There’s (almost) nothing about my life that I wouldn’t be happy to tell you. But this is a public place, and you never know which eyes are paying attention. So I’m prudent, like anyone here should be, about divulging too much about myself. We don’t need harassment. We don’t need scam artists in our lives.
Re: verifiable reality
Mystic. I think I resemble that word. You perhaps would call me wacko, since there is no way to provide citations and references for my assertions that we have Russian agents participating here. During study, during an investigation, there is evidence available from public sources, from generally accepted sources, and then there is evidence that an investigator uses like a detective to shed light on a mystery. Clues. When I made the mistake of opening a Pandora’s box to investigate that creepy profile named Jack Leon, I didn’t know what I was getting into. So, call me wacko if you will, I know what I know. We have Russian disinformation agents working here, some of the same ones from last spring are still here, and even one or two new names that I suspect.
Ellie, you gave me a huge gift that I will always cherish and appreciate. You once said that I am beloved here. Thank you for saying that 🙏🙏, it’s a lovely acknowledgment that has stuck with me ever since.
Sending you lots of love, hoping you have a great week.
Roland
Ellie, In describing the former president, it would be fair to mention concern about his mental health, which has been expressed by doctors as well as people who worked with him.
'The Dangerous Case of Donald Trump, a book published in October 2017, 27 psychiatrists and others point to the dangerousness of this president. They agree that, although a diagnosis should not be made without examination of the patient, dangerousness may be assessed from observed behaviour.'
'A forensic psychiatrist, who has studied the principles on which the assessment of current and future dangerousness in violent criminals is based, concludes:
‘Trump is now the most powerful head of state in the world, and one of the most impulsive, arrogant, ignorant, disorganised, chaotic, nihilistic, self-contradictory, self-important, and self-serving. He has his finger on the triggers of a thousand or more of the most powerful thermonuclear weapons in the world. That means he could kill more people in a few seconds than any dictator in past history has been able to kill during his entire years in power.’
'The authors also consider the ‘Trump effect’ on society, and the malignant normality that is established — what was previously considered unthinkable becomes the norm. Some therapists have seen patients suffering from trauma and re-trauma resulting from the president’s actions, which mimic those of an aggressive abuser, and there were reports of an increase in anti-Jewish and anti-Muslim incidents immediately after his inauguration in January 2017.' (British Journal of General Practice) See link below.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6145972/
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-shared-psychosis-of-donald-trump-and-his-loyalists/
https://theconversation.com/thousands-of-mental-health-professionals-agree-with-woodward-and-the-new-york-times-op-ed-author-trump-is-dangerous-102755
Goebbel's playbook all the way, Yes my opinion
"Trump is a wannabe Hitler. The Republican Party has morphed into the modern-day KKK. Fox Noise is the propaganda outlet for the Republican Party and white supremacy like Russia Today and Tass are the propaganda outlets for Putin’s dictatorship. Fox Noise is a propaganda outlet, not a reliable news agency."
Correct.
Yes, and it isn't only RICH, white males championing this Fascist philosophy; they've also sucked in the POOR white racists.
If you, or anyone, is on Twitter, please follow @beerhallproject. This is a subgroup of the Lincoln Project. They seriously describe the threat to democracy and deliberately take their name from the Beer Hall Putsch.
Smart people
Wow, someone just explained to me that TFG means "the former guy." All this time I thought it meant "the fat guy." LOL I am so ashamed...
(Don't feel bad-BOTH fit!)
Good luck with that. If you think that the Attorney General in Florida, Ashley Moody, would bring any charges, I’ve got a bridge in the Everglades to sell you.
I suffer from neither an irony deficiency nor lack an appreciation for satire.
Do you have pictures? What’s the asking price?😘
Commitment to idealism speaking here. Gailee said she’s a romantic idealist: so am I.
GO DEMOCRACY‼️ LONG LIVE JUSTICE‼️ 🇺🇸 🇺🇸
Maybe they’ll wear brown shirts
“Tonight, Trump lawyer Boris Epshteyn, who was subpoenaed by the January 6 committee on January 18 along with Trump lawyers Rudy Giuliani, Sidney Powell, and Jenna Ellis, told MSNBC’s Ari Melber that he and “the Trump legal team” were part of the plan to create the false electors. While he claimed that what they did was legal, he pushed responsibility for the plan onto Giuliani as the one in charge.”
Is there a detective or prosecutor anywhere in America who has never heard the target of an investigation say, “what we did was legal and anyway it wasn’t me, it was that other guy.”
Really? That’s the best story they can come up with after a year to get their story straight? Wow, if being stupid was a crime we could skip the trial and go straight to sentencing. They have already pleaded guilty to that crime.
Wow, if being stupid was a crime we could skip the trial and go straight to sentencing.
Ha, ha, ha.
C’mon Sharon, Clarence Thomas is squeaky clean, everybody knows that. You’re suggesting that he might be corrupt, allowing his judgment to be clouded by his wife’s activities? A corrupt Supreme Court justice? Puh-LEEZ. 😉
I read HCR and comments everyday but don't post often. But I must thank you, Roland, for your sense of humor! Cracks me up!
Hi Terry! My pleasure.
"I believe. I believe. I know it's silly but I believe!" Morning, Roland!
Not silly. I'm believing too (and praying Trump is somehow removed from the scene). It might require a "higher power" so I'm calling on that too.
Morning Lynell!
Yay!
Is that “Yay! Clarence Thomas is corrupt!” or “Yay! Someone’s finally saying it!” or “Yay! It’s good to be alive!” like Lynell’s Good Morning?
perhaps all three, :)
Absolutely!
You guys are cute
Read Jane Mayer’s article about her in the New Yorker.
the article:
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2022/01/31/is-ginni-thomas-a-threat-to-the-supreme-court?utm_source=onsite-share&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=onsite-share&utm_brand=the-new-yorker
Read the article-a lot of detail! Ginni Thomas is a "certified nutcase" and has been for a long time. It has always amazed me how evil and ignorance so often seeps in and then takes over. The majority on the SCOTUS today is just godawful . . . unfortunately, it is a ridiculously powerful institution where nine people (but in reality only 6) with their life long appointments determine the fate of 300+million people for a generation. And, the madman trump sealed that fate along with the evil McConnell.
It seems the only answer to that SCOTUS Conservative majority, lifetime appointment issue is a 2/3 majority of progressives in the U.S. Senate. And on the likelihood of that in my lifetime, I quote Lynell from earlier in this thread (also from Miracle on 34th St.) "I believe. I believe. I know it's silly but I believe!"
Finally it reaches MSM.
INDEED! She's Special!
Uncle Thomas should have never been confirmed to the Court! He was, or is, an abuser. Unfortunately, Biden helped ride rough shod over Anita Hill and get the dirt bag on the court.
Biden was played for a chump by Orrin Hatch and other Republican Senators. Biden was in over his head, and never saw how he was being conned. The stories about Biden’s mismanagement of the Thomas hearings are embarrassing (for Biden). Here’s one.
https://www.usnews.com/opinion/blogs/jamie-stiehm/2014/04/16/anita-tells-of-joe-bidens-forgotten-role-in-confirming-clarence-thomas
And is an Attorney . Good luck with that.
When the first thought of involving the military in Trump's fantasies after the election was presented, acting SecDef Miller said the military could do it. That so alarmed Secretary of State Pompeo when he heard it, that he went to AG Barr, who hadn't been there, and told him what was happening. That was what started Barr's push to state the DoJ found no evidence of fraud. Pompeo, who still portrays himself publicly as the Trumpiest of Trumpers, was so scared of this that he became a member of the group that tried to find a way to use the 25th Amendment to get Trump out of office immediately.
We cane this close > < to a military coup a year ago.
No, not quite. We came this close to them TRYING. The military would not--NOT--have done it. I know this for absolute certainty (yes, I've talked to people). The Joint Chiefs were ready for this possibility (after the crap Trump tried that summer). They would've simply refused if ever ordered to do so. It's still just as bad that it almost happened, but no, we were not so close to real tanks rolling in the streets of DC.
And yet remember what the military did so that defeated corrupt x45 could walk across the street to hold a Bible upside down and threaten and bully BLM peaceful protesters. The threats made by the “patriot” are truly horrific. More arrests are needed and quickly.
Yes, I’m sure this is correct. What I’m less certain about is what the Joint Chiefs would have done if Pence had corrupted the Electoral Vote count. Do you have some insight on whether the Joint Chiefs would have had enough confidence in their interpretation of the Constitution to refuse orders from a sitting president with the outcome of the election made less certain in this way? More generally, how vulnerable is the US military to believing themselves required to follow orders from a Commander in Chief when facing questions about Constitutionality that serious Constitutional scholars might disagree on?
"...we were not so close to real tanks rolling in the streets of DC."
Not even in trumpty-dumpty's N. Korean style of self-aggrandizing all powerful "look-At-Me" parade...that was cancelled due to lack of sufficient worshipers, Eh!?
I think about this constantly. I read posts by democrat and democracy groups and have responded at times. Suddenly, I am receiving requests by many men to join my social media group. There are American flags in most of their photos. Many military. One a general. I believe they are looking at who is against t and his people. We all need to be careful. Resilient. Courageous.
Gailee, I would like to echo and amplify your caution. I know, for a fact, because I am still connected to Texas and rural life, that many people are arming themselves and being talked into harming others through thousands of right wing websites and social media and underground media. In another life, they were not bad people, but, Trump has talked them into believing that he is a martyr.
When people believe in a martyr, they will go to great lengths to "serve justice" on behalf of the martyr.
So, you are right, careful what you post that the crazies might read and careful being too specific about who you are. I temporarily elevated my name and face on this board and got a phone call on my land line one day that was, shall we say, impolite.
So, now I only elevate my first name and a random picture of a tractor anyone can find on a used tractor site.
In the words of the great Maya Angelou “when people show you who they are believe them”. They are not good people in another life. They are not good people if they can be talked into taking up arms against those with whom they disagree. They either have no principles, or value inequality, unequal justice, and support authoritarianism (even as they thump the Bible). Not good people. We need to start saying this out loud.
This is what I feared, Mike.
NOTE: I have no evidence that the phone call to my land line is connected to this board in any way.
BUT, since I have ZERO social media presence outside of Linked In, I removed my name, photo and town from this board.
Wow. I never thought of that. Maybe I need to do something different.
Be careful (you should be with anyone), but also know that the majority of the military are not Trumpers; they are believers in their oaths to support and defend the constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic, and they might be reaching out to you because they agree. I think you are being over-paranoid (common with too many on our side who don't know much about the military and what they do know is frequently incorrect). I've been part of the "GI resistance" for 50+ years, going back to Vietnam. The guys who did multiple tours in Iraq and Afghanistan know the truth about the "world's greatest empire" better than anyone. Ask them straight out - if they're on the side of the angels, they won't be offended.
TC,
I can accept your perspective that our service people are not a physical threat.
However, I think caution is advised where elevating too much information enabling identification is relevant.
The people who are arming and readying for war are not in the US Army, maybe, but, they do exist, and, they do feel that Trump is a victim and they do want to make people pay.
And, they are very, very angry and talk like they want to hurt people. My own brother in law is like this now, rejecting his own sister and me, with whom he lived when he was going to college so I can see it first hand through him and second hand through my neighbor across the street who is in the National Guard.
My neighbor is angry and shouting all the time and blasting Michael Savage out of his garage all the time. When Trump lost he stopped talking to me.
Lots and lots of folks are very angry, heavily armed and have identified a martyr (Trump) to "stand behind".
It is very dangerous.
Typically "They" seek to project their intolerable anger, (of their own self-flagellating self-perceived lowly social status) upon those whose life style they envy and believe is being taken from them...irrationality fomented by the great deceiver without mercy.
Wow, Mike. Just wow.
Yeah, exactly right.
I'd rather not engage. Friend or foe. I'm an AF brat. Proud of my dad, but not interested in meeting men on social media no matter which side of the flag.
Very wise, Gailee
No, that wasn't what I was advocating. If they want to join you sociopolitically, that's one thing, the other is something else.
That's my experience with the military, TC. I live in the town where the US Allied Forces in Europe reside. Having friends and acquaintances from Colonels to civilian employees, every single one I know is loyal to their oath.
Then they are better than those Republican senators who have abandoned the vision of the Founding Fathers and their constituents.
I believe the brass (from colonel up, say) are, with few exceptions, reliably loyal to the Constitution, but I question your assertion when it comes to the rank and file. You might be right about veterans who had to fight in stupid wars, but those on active duty in safe places are another matter. Do you believe, TC, that a majority of active-duty personnel from, say, lieutenant colonel down are “not Trumpers,” as you put it?
There are particular units in the Army - the "special ops" - where a tendency to be "wannabe" Waffen-SS may be strong, but still the majority of the regular Army believe in their oaths. I still believe from what friends who know the force say that the ranks are not "Trumpy." In fact, in 2020, the Trump vote in the military was down 40 percent from what it was in 2016.
At the risk of unreasonably belaboring this topic, a Military Times article from Nov 7, 2020, cites exit polls showing a 52-45 edge in voting for Trump over Biden. If that’s 40% down from 2016, then the 2016 Trump vote in the military would have been over 85%. The 52% figure is not as bad as I thought it might have been, but the 85% is worse than I would have expected. I have limited contact with military people now (never had a lot, but did have some, mostly commissioned officers who were students or research scientists/engineers), but I often see estimates saying things lije 90% of TV hours on military bases showing Fox, which is beyond worrisome if true.
The following is copied fom the MT article from Nov 7, 2020:
“Exit polling from Edison Research (which surveyed voters who cast ballots in person and by mail) indicated that military and veteran voters were more supportive of Trump (52 percent) than Biden (45 percent).”
American Military...American heroes...every one of them a true American patriot...mostly, Eh!?
I don't think that was what I was saying at all. In my own experience, I never knew so many white male morons in one place at one time as the military back in the day. Lots of people you don't forget, but many morons. But outside of the ones from the South proud of their confederate ancestors, very few I would have thought of as threats to the republic. And it was always amazing to me that many of those who saw through the BS then were guys I would not have expected.
Whooops...sorry.
Gailee, I have had to hide my identity somewhat and in some places for at least the last 30 years as an environmental activist. The threats against me and my colleagues have included having the tires of cars slashed, bricks through the windshield, fake bombs mailed to our offices using prepaid envelopes, and of course, threats of rape and death via social media. There’s more but you get the picture.
I’ve gone back to using twitter and being on facebook after having to remove myself because I was stalked. But I’m careful what I post there for obvious reasons.
I do many things to protect this democracy. And nothing and no one can silence me. But being careful is wise. As you say, be resilient and courageous. We are needed and our voices are important. Thanks for all that you do.
I've been in the position of tangling with a wealthy corporation AND WON! But along with the victory came nervous glances in the rear view mirror, especially when driving at night! Think: Silkwood
You are all my heroes.❣️
Why Amanda Gorman almost didn’t read her inaugural poem:
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/01/20/opinion/amanda-gorman-poem-inauguration.html?unlocked_article_code=AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACEIPuonUktbfqYhkSVUZAybSRdkhrxqAwvHKybowjzrxKzKQQDAH1-MYBs2B_U7Qard5bscy2DLdRMNENPVnYs1O-dJlHh4nTRi08NzDkY4ZIi4xpMXqBG8_0cuQDPUzqGCwKzTkJe06zefjsVeIbzXtWfOLgnIncAh1sNAyIwHRrH8Mwa_BF-5w2cAvnqtyQ8AnGkpTIXWCrPLqCB5hOd2ZbRq66gQ-WuBRWz27jsfLovtbM10UUQSaOSs5tWUs69pcO8cVP7L9K3Mjfcn8iLYQDg94PS4Np56MzCPKoHGfOu8R-1I&smid=url-share
This article defines for me what I have always believed and taught to children over decades. It’s OK to be scared. Just do not be afraid.
You are so brave. I follow the women environmental rights activists - especially Mexico and South America. Some have been murdered. I'm not nearly that brave or vocal now that I live in another country.I 🌹🐞🦋
Gailee, I empathize with you! This is the message I received a couple days ago, also from a man whose FB photos include flags and dogs: “Hi, how are you today? I'm sorry I infringed your profile. Your posts are always worth reading.”
I didn’t think much of it then, but now I wonder…
I block them, immediately.
Read my post below yours. I think you ran across one of my kind of ex-military.
Yes, the pick up lines are pretty similar. Creepy.
🌹
Beware of white men draped in US flags. If you turn that US flag over, there’s a swastika on the back.
"When Fascism comes to America, it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross"
Precisely 👍
Exactly
They have made a mockery of our flag.
Yes.
Be very careful.
Gaillee, They may or may not be military but they are definitely spammers and most likely deplorable right wing trolls. Do not accept friendship on social media with anyone you do not personally know. Even then double check to make sure you are not already friends with them, as it may be a cloned profile of a real friend who has been hacked. As I post progressive comments on various fb sites, I receive weird bogus, sometimes flirtatious, requests to be friends. Some are in military uniform, and others have a child, puppy or flower in their photo. The profile pix are likely not of themselves. The oddly worded language suggest they are foreign and perhaps working at a troll farm. One tip off is when a guy says he's "too shy to request my friendship and so would I add him up." I've seen this frequently and often to several posters in sequential order. When I see this behavior and language including to others, I report them to FB first and then block them on my account. We all need to be extremely careful. It is not paranoia!
Scammers frequently impersonate military personnel, including using their pictures. This happened to my daughter on a romance site, and a quick search on google shows many articles about it happening on social media. Be careful.
I notice the same thing— men who according to their about info have no posts, no followers, and suddenly they want to follow me. Creepy.
🌹
Same thing happened to me on social media. I've removed them all but it's a steady stream.
🌹
Yes - and regular reformatting of equipment ... I am reminded of movie 'The Matrix' ... in the end, peace came when Neo returned the child to the Mother of the tech regime ...
TC, As I watched the generals — “his generals “— I had faith that they knew how dangerously crazy he was (except Flynn. How the hell did he make rank?). Thrilled by Col. Vindman’s testimony and honorable bearing. Felt safe to trust our professional military leadership, in spite of tfg’s sneaky political appointees at the Pentagon, SecDef included. I really believed that the military had a Plan, if the WH went rogue. NO military coup....
Vindman was frank yesterday in his prediction for an all-out war in Europe should Putin invade Ukraine. His projections were horrible. He said he hoped he was wrong, but he looks convinced of his analysis.
S—t
The SecDef didn't have that plan - the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs had it. We are good with trusting the Generals. It was the Trumpers he put in place that couldn't be trusted. fortunately the Acting SecDef knew after th first meeting he was in over his head (!) and listened to the Generals after that.
I listened to much of this same report discussed in detail today on Sirius radio's Progressive channel. It leaves one with an understanding that the Trump administration posed a greater threat to this country than a dozen of the Communist parties created by J Edgar Hoover's fantasy. The real terrorists are domestic, an organized crime mob acting through a very supportive Republican political party. The party is, at the very least, now acting as a cowardly accessory to the mob.
Trump learned at the feet of the New York mob. Roy Cohn was Trump's trainer.
Grew up across the river from him. in NJ. He even copied the mob's speech accent and mannerisms. What a poser.
I’ve been wondering if/when the topic of organized crime would emerge.
I felt like I was an unwilling bit part player in the Godfather movie during Trump's last two years. Cannot believe that feeling was only in a small minority of us.
I still am in disbelief that such a moronic cretin like Doofus Trump was ever elected in the first place. The fact that this imbecile had access to top government secrets is mind blowing to me still.
Yes ,I totally agree. Also, chillingly, is the idea that he wants to run again. A twice impeached egomaniacal liar wants to be POTUS again and has many people behind him including representatives in Congress. This just blows my mind as does these representatives in Congress still representing constituents when they do not believe in the legitimacy of our current POTUS and his entire administration. I am beyond baffled and horrified.
He wants to stay out of jail, and sees the presidency as a get out of jail free card, as well as a great grift.
Nailed it!
Good morning Terri. I am posting in a few places today an interesting essay by TC on his Substack. For me, a make sense explanation of how the former gets away with his devious, ghastly machinations since childhood. Give it a read…perhaps with a favorite beverage in hand.
https://tcinla757.substack.com/p/how-he-gets-away-with-it?r=l2aa7&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&utm_source=direct
And the worst of it? It clearly suggests to me what “trumpism” is and it is exactly what he has divulged and instructed to his maga base…. “This is how you do it.” The man himself is hardly necessary anymore. The art of the lie he has perpetrated upon masses in this country is what must be realized and addressed and excised. The majority of Republicans and subversive candidates around the country have no platform or agenda besides this.
I just read that, great piece. I have a comment on the NY AG case. There is a lot out there about how the appraisers (Cushman & Wakefield) were told to conduct communication by phone rather than email, to reduce the paper trail. I was an appraiser, and worked for Cushman at one point. I would be beyond surprised if the files of those jobs didn’t include detailed, contemporaneous notes of every single phone call. Unless someone has purged the files, of course, but it sounds to me like the analyst who worked on that job was suspicious of the request, and may have backed up his or her notes. I would have. While the documentation requirements aren’t quite as stringent as those for accounting firms who do similar work, they are still there. I can’t imagine that those analysts haven’t been interviewed by the NY AG.
Yes. And if any of the transactions in question had any relationship to the stock market then a SEC audit of such appraisal valuations would be demanded and recorded and easily retrievable by investigators.
Great post. Thank you KR.
KR, Please provide the link for the article you mentioned at the beginning of your comment or where it appeared. Thank you.
https://tcinla757.substack.com/p/how-he-gets-away-with-it?r=l2aa7&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&utm_source=direct
Thanks, Kim. I subscribe, so once I received a hint from KR, I knew where to go. Cheers, Kim!
Here is a piece by CNN which mentions avoiding a paper trail with appraisers: https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/19/politics/takeaways-trump-organization/index.html
I should also note that proving an appraisal wrong is not very easy. An appraisal is an opinion of value, highly dependent on the underlying assumptions. The only “real” value would be an actual arm’s length transaction; ie a sale between two disinterested parties.
KR was responding to TC Substack piece about the former that I posted. Morning Fern. How are you? Your long informative post this morning reminded me of blog piece from 2016 about the differences between self esteem (Americans get high marks)and self worth (some Americans don’t know the difference).
Would you like to see the essays?
Thanks, Christine. I'm familiar with the difference between the two. Thank you for your offer. Please post as, perhaps, a review will sharpen my memory.
Oh. Your memory does not need the sharpening. I know you know difference. My thought of the essays came from your post this morning about “why is America so divided” and the research cited.
Fern, it is the TCinLA piece Christine linked and that I responded to. I read about Cushman’s involvement somewhere else, let me do a bit of sleuthing as I don’t remember where.
KR, Rather than suggest subscribers go on a fox hunt to read what you have recommended, why not copy the link and provide it as part of your comment? How many times has Christine posted? You are suggesting I check each one to find the link to TC's piece. Luckily, I subscribe to his 'Another fine mess...'
Fern, it’s literally in the post I was responding to. Hardly a fox hunt.
Doofus Trump has only a desperate, amoral willingness to do anything to get what his id demands. I have never seen any real intelligence in him. The man doesn’t read! His would be replacements are pale imitations to his cult. I find him so loathsome, I simply cannot comprehend how he, of all people, became a cult leader. I have read extensively on it but as far as understanding it-no. I do agree his cult no longer needs him to carry on their craziness. So frightening!
OK to be scared. Just do not be afraid.
voting intelligently will always overcome fear
Thank you for sharing this commentary. Enlightening, and we knew. Or some of us did. This quote from the post: “That inability to perceive that the threat is an Actual Threat is the common thread in all histories of fascism, of how the fascists obtained power. The people who lived in Berlin between 1928-32, who told my friend that he was “a crank” for seeing Hitler and the Nazis as the threat they really were, who called the Nazis “clowns,” weren’t morons, fools or idiots. Most of them were the complete opposite.” I continue to be surprised that tfg still has so many followers. Even before first election and his refusal to provide financial records, we knew that this “great business man” had filed bankruptcy seven times. The fact that his misdeeds and lies are out there, didn’t stop the repub party heads or public to vote for him not once but twice.
Ahhhh...Vintage 1989 The Balvenie PortWood Single Malt Scotch Whisky, neat...double...wonderful!
Even the name sounds delish.
I think we will find he was installed. He was talking about rigging back then. He is a man who cannot keep his trap shut when he knows something he can project propaganda-wise on someone else.
Many moronic cretin knuckle-dragging doofuses were first distracted into commiserating about their undeserved plight instead of working to better themselves...then they were deceived into believing they found the solution to their self-imposed lowly social status...the one who needed to destroy American Democracy
I knew when Trump won the Republican primary he’d be elected. That every Republican who denounced him would vote for him, or not defend against him by voting for the Democrat. Republicans will line up to vote for a tree stump—74 million just demonstrated they still want Trump—and he knows it.
"Hoo, boy....
The story of January 6 came perilously close to a different ending."
What a letter, Heather! No wonder TFG and his lackey lawyers tried every trick in the book to stop the Jan. 6th Committee from laying its hands on the WH papers.
If this piece is simply one example of damning material, is it too soon to hope for the total downfall and imprisonment of the entire gang of miscreants and its degenerate leader? May I begin with a few rounds of "Hallelujahs"?!!
Rowshan, let's not celebrate too soon.
Being able to read a document that, along with Trump's speech on Jan 06, clearly indicates treason and sedition, is not the same as seeing a rich, white man placed in prison (for anything at all).
Wait until we see results. As an engineer and long time project manager, project completion is a far cry from good news mid project.
Rowshan, I think it is too early for hallelujahs just yet. We are still waiting for Merrick Garland to feel the spirit.
But good news is good news for sure.
I know it's a little premature, but "hoo, boy," does it give me a sense of relief!
Well, it's about all we've got for the moment.
Totally and completely Rowshan. Hallelujah! And I’ve been saying it since January 20, 2021 after waiting to exhale for quite awhile.
Hallelujah Sister‼️
How many more “smoking guns” does DOJ need to prosecute the coup plotters ? These people are the bullies and cheaters of our childhoods grown into adult sociopaths and criminals.
Seth, I think you nailed it.
You absolutely did, Seth ! Thanks for the insight.
Just curious to any material lone dissenting Supreme Court member, C. Thomas, might possibly want kept inaccessible to the Jan. 6 committee? So much to unravel. (As a long time Anita fan I’d find karma in his fall from grace).
Thomas was just paid off.
I think I hear him crashing through the canopy now.
Hahhahahahahaha. Good one Kim.
People here have already mentioned his wife’s activities in support of the Jan. 6 attack on democracy.
“Clarence Thomas, a corrupt Supreme Court Justice? No!” 😉
Yeah, I see.. when I wrote the above no one had yet posted of a possible Supreme Court vacancy…if a pipe dream. I’m delighted to see it is not such a rogue notion.
“Supreme Court vacancy.“
I like the way you’re thinking. I’m a big believer in pipe dreams, the sorely needed kind. Six Supreme Court vacancies sounds good to me.
An 8-1 SCOTUS vote to hand over the contested NARA documents to the Jan. 6th committee suggests that Trump and his minions are in deep trouble. Interesting that not one of the Trump appointees voted against this. In other words, now that the useful idiot has packed the court with the sort of justices the GOP likes, it may be very convenient if he ends up disgraced and in prison. I can imagine McConnell's enjoyment of this, as he knows that even Trump's most fanatical supporters will never vote for any Democrats.
Nope. His lawyers just made bad presentations, and the three Clinton-Obama judges on the Appeals Court made sure not to leave anything the Six Scumbags could hang their hats on to give him what he wanted, and made arguments they couldn't overcome about his status. They were right to do that, since Kavanaugh said if the issue of ex-president's access to executive privilege had been brought up, he'd have given it to Trump. But still, 8-1 against him is good.
But that's just the point. Trump's not the party requesting records. He's resisting disclosure on the basis of a privilege he had before he left office. He has no residual claim to a privilege he no longer has.The privilege belongs to the incumbent officeholder, not Trump. I thought that the DC Circuit made that crystal clear.
Arthur, Trump is a long schooled in his own privilege and believes strongly in it.
So, he asserts it all of the time. He was and remains, privileged by birth.
Just ask him.
They did, for which they should be complimented. which was why the Supremes couldn't "work their magic."
I listened to a Lawfare podcast that said an ex president DOES have some residual right to privilege, albeit very limited, and the SC decision doesn’t truly settle this question once and for all.
Don't believe it. That's a lot of 'wistful' ('coulda, woulda, shoulda') thinking. Anything a former official gets is a courtesy, and not by way of right. When it comes down to cases, the facts matter more than the doctrine. Trump's acolytes are engaging in a form of jesuidical thinking, actually dissembling by implying something that really isn't there, a conflating of the formerly high office with an implicit claim that the honorific title of 'former president' is entitled to more than he was due. Trump disgraced himself and his office by his misconduct, and that, in and of itself, is sufficient to negate any sense of obligation that might be thought to be due him as a former president.
They're right.
Well, TC, if this is so, I suppose we should be relieved that the 6 "scumbags" are still expecting Trump's lawyers to make acceptable presentations. The real tests will come when the FBI begins arresting Trump's lawyers and the other treasonous facilitators. The sooner the better.
Right.
A useless idiot now? At least to those he made powerful and wealthy, it seems. Now we must fear THEM....
Yes. I do fear them. Trump is likely to self-destruct once the coup plotters are required to testify under oath.
I think some of these Rs are sick of Trump themselves. I'll never forget McConnell's speech on the floor after Jan. 6th when he voted not to impeach him. McConnell made the point that there are other ways to get him and said "it's not over yet". I'm sure they're trying to figure out how (and colluding behind the scenes) to dump him.
Sounds great, Gina, unless it's wishful thinking.
Could be that Putin, McTurtle, etc., are done with the idjt. No longer a useful tool unless it would be to throw him under the bus while saving his sycophants to run another day.
Fantasyland: How America Went Haywire: A 500-Year History
by Kurt Andersen
'In this sweeping, eloquent history of America, Kurt Andersen shows that what's happening in our country today--this post-factual, "fake news" moment we're all living through--is not something new, but rather the ultimate expression of our national character. America was founded by wishful dreamers, magical thinkers, and true believers, by hucksters and their suckers. Fantasy is deeply embedded in our DNA.
'Over the course of five centuries--from the Salem witch trials to Scientology to the Satanic Panic of the 1980s, from P. T. Barnum to Hollywood and the anything-goes, wild-and-crazy sixties, from conspiracy theories to our fetish for guns and obsession with extraterrestrials--our love of the fantastic has made America exceptional in a way that we've never fully acknowledged. From the start, our ultra-individualism was attached to epic dreams and epic fantasies--every citizen was free to believe absolutely anything, or to pretend to be absolutely anybody. With the gleeful erudition and tell-it-like-it-is ferocity of a Christopher Hitchens, Andersen explores whether the great American experiment in liberty has gone off the rails. "
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/35171984-fantasyland
Murmurations: Stewarding the Future
(adrienne maree brown)
"I believe we are living in a world imagined by ancestors who didn’t love us, who didn’t believe in an abundant earth and our collective power to steward it. It is time for us to imagine beyond the current oppressive construct."
"How do we pivot from being victims of change to being shapers of it?"
https://www.yesmagazine.org/opinion/2022/01/21/adrienne-maree-brown-stewarding-the-future
I think choosing victimization is a much easier life than choosing empowerment. Yes??
Because, if I choose empowerment, then, have big setbacks (like I have chosen and have experienced), well, I have nobody to blame but MYSELF.
IF I choose victimization, then, when I fail, I can still feel GREAT about myself because, well, IT IS NOT MY FAULT, it is, YOURS.
so to speak.
:-)
Some days I feel like my greatest lesson while teaching is telling a student you made this problem you are not a victim. The self created victim syndrome starts early! And hard to shake.
Which explains MUCH about the drumplican/MAGAcultfan (especially TFFP) penchant for bemoaning their victimization and pointing the finger anywhere but at themselves.
Not just the drumplicans. See today's interview with David Sirota, co-producer of Don't Look Up and The Daily Poster.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HjUOLkX4NSU
Emergent Strategy Ideation Institute
Supporting movements to get in right relationship with change
https://alliedmedia.org/speaker-projects/emergent-strategy-ideation-institute
Thanks Kathleen.
Thanks for the post. I found it at my local library and put it on hold.
I am not a historian but I have personally seen "tent revivals" down in East Texas with what even a 14 year old kid can identify as a huckster looking for money.
AND, I have seen preachers who grew horns during the week chasing the local women and then spew hellfire and damnation on Sunday.
Religious hucksterism in America is one of the founding principals of the country.
And, then? There is John Adams on the other side thank goodness.
Is fantasy not embedded in cultures older than ours? I think it is, maybe in various ways. I believe it's our "ultra-individualism" that mixes with characteristics such as fantastical thinking to create the good and the ugly that the U.S. has been.
One could argue, although many might disagree, that all of Religion is fantasyland. So, it is not JUST the United States mired in fantasy.
It is most of humanity.
In his fascinating book SAPIENS: A BRIEF HISTORY OF HUMANKIND, Yuval Noah Harari calls many of humans' inventions--like religion, corporations, and money--fiction. I find that revelatory because it means we can reimagine and change those fictitious narratives.
Thanks! Got it yesterday and started reading last night.
Yes - thanks to Sandy Lewis for recommendation ...
The fascination with voting machines is really interesting. It's not possible to hack paper ballots. Everywhere those were counted, they agreed with the machines. Here's hoping Dominion is able to use this document to win the full multibillion dollar award they are seeking.
Bad move on my part reading this letter before going to sleep! The corruption is overwhelming.
I have to read them in the morning. I cannot sleep if I do...well, except for picture days.
I only read in mornings, then, get to work to forget it all by nightfall.
:-)
So many eye-popping moments, where to begin? First, what kind of moron advertises for a hit man on Craig's list, for Pete's sake? Nebbermind.
As for the Thomases, OMG. I read Jane Mayer's piece last night with fear and loathing. If this doesn't prove what a 'company town' DC is, I quit. Talk about inside baseball!
What really got me, after finishing the piece, is realizing how few people will ever actually know or understand the significance? With the death of so many hometown newspapers, if this kind of excellent investigative reporting only ends up in magazines like The New Yorker, no wonder it's so easy for Fox to get the rank and file to believe the most outlandish gibberish, like pizza restaurant pedophiles!!
Today, you have to work at discovering what's really going on, and it's exhausting!
I so agree ...especially with your last sentence. There is so much noise noise noise that it's impossible to filter out what's really happening versus what all the voices are saying is happening. Sadly, this leads to several equally difficult choices: 1. Tune everything out; 2. Only tune into one silo or another; 3. Try on your own to sort things out, which turns out to be not only exhausting but impossible. I find that reading Heather's letters on a daily basis helps keep me in touch with reality, but even though she's done all the work, it's still exhausting trying to parse it all, on intellectual and emotional levels.
The only way to get people's attention these days is to control the microphone. I am appalled at how few people admit to actually reading anything.
Yes, I know people who just cannot handle it and have tuned out. Think of how much energy and time many of us here use to stay informed, active and connected. It is worth it, we will not go easily. But Fox & tfg must be banned from spewing anymore propaganda. How did other countries do that?
Why is it, that we don’t hear ANYTHING about this information on the mainstream news. I listen to PBS NewsHour nightly and the focus every night this week has been “Biden’s failures.” I read The NY Times online and the headline today under the caption “On Politics” is “Democrats in Disarray.” To hear what is actually going on in the Jan 6 committee, I listen to the Rachel Maddow and Lawrence O’Donnell podcasts and read this blog.
Yeah. I really, really want the answer to this. How is this not front page news in all the major papers. How is it not leading on all major mainstream news outlets. How is PBS -- PUBLIC BROADCASTING SERVICE -- not blasting this over the airwaves.
Alas, the Public Broadcasting Service, thanks the Republicans, isn’t so public any longer.
Jean-Pierre, can I ask you to tell me specifically what you mean. I believe generally you're saying that PBS must rely on private donors and sponsors more because of less public funding. But is there something more specific you're referring to? Thank you.
Hi Nomi, I was waiting for somebody more knowledgeable to answer your question, but here goes. A number of years back, PBS became a target in the Republican Party culture wars. [Jump in, anyone, and help out.] The GOP accused PBS of having a liberal bias (which of course is true, because liberals don’t tend to be racists and sexists). Way back when, 1925, what became PBS and CPB started out as a consortium of university broadcasting stations. University students probably ran everything, supervised by a faculty member I suppose. So it had an idealistic component of being committed to the truth. Then, during the Bush administration, they started to get watered down and ruined. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/PBS
Click on the Wiki link, click on Controversies, and scroll down to “Accusations during Tomlinson tenure” to get a flavor.
Thanks, Roland. I just replied to Jean-Pierre. And right now my eyes are screaming at me to get off the screen.
Gotta listen to the eyes 👍
Hi Nomi -
Over the past couple/few decades, federal funding for public broadcasting has been decreased if not entirely denied - by Republican administrations. Far as I know, there’s always been a need for individual subscribers - like my wife and I - along with large charitable endowments. But over the past years I’ve noticed the increase in corporate sponsor visibility. Where there used to be thanks to corporate sponsors, there’s now advertising. It’s no secret that Koch Industries provides corporate support. I propose this enables them to influence content.
Yes, I've been trying to figure out who Koch industries have given money to, but it's quite tricky, maybe on purpose. So far, looks like they have given to one NPR member station, one PBS member station, and the show NOVA, but not NPR itself, or PBS itself. I don't have the patience to go too deeply into this. It may also be nearly impossible to determine how much this influences content.
I get it. It’s important stuff - but we’ve only so much bandwidth.
This reviewer gives your post 5 stars.
The January 6 committee news is more important than everything else put together, imo.
Watch tomorrow, the Sunday morning news shows. They should talk about it.
Ah, yes, they should. Thanks.
PBS used to be Powerhouse Broadcasting Service, now it’s Pathetic Broadcasting Service
Forgive my third reply here. But I've been increasingly incensed by PBS's coverage for five years. I'm avoiding a lot of news now for the sake of my health. But I do still turn on PBS when I'm in my car. The both-sides-ism, the business-as-usual approach they continue to take, the focus on, as you say, "Biden's failures" while downplaying or outright ignoring the ACTUAL catastrophic and immediate threats to our democracy -- it's mind boggling. PBS? Who's pocket are THEY in that this is how they've decided to report the news? This is not "neutrality." This is deliberate minimizing and normalizing of the slow (not so slow) coup that is taking place before our eyes. I want to know why.
EDIT: Correction: I wrote PBS when I mean NPR. I'm trying to figure out who Koch industries have given money to, but it's quite tricky. So far, looks like they have given to one NPR outlet, one PBS station, and the show NOVA. I don't have the patience to go too deeply into this right now. But wanted to correct my mistake above.
Your third reply here is not only forgiven, it is welcomed, accepted, and encouraged. You are pissed off and you are venting here. That’s a good thing.
Passion is healthy. Rage is healthy. Passion and rage lead to insight, to action, and to change.
I know Koch is a sponsor of Finding Your Roots on PBS. I thought Koch donated to the Mike Works scholarship but haven't been able to verify that.
Ditto and agree.
I have 8 news apps + HCR + Greg Olear. HCR and GO are far superior to the apps, even though much less frequent.
I subscribe to the LA Times. What you see in their app is the most popular articles, usually covid crap. If I relied on the app, I wouldn’t even know that that Jan. 6 committee exists.
I read the online version of their physical traditional sheet paper newspaper. Way superior.
It’s infuriating. It’s because it generates clicks and people to their websites. Then they may click on the advertisers on the side which generates revenue.
I don't understand that actually, would not THIS news generate clicks?
I cannot even find mention in the Washington Post of the Supreme Court decision. That happened three days ago and does not depend to leaked documents. Tho, it's perfectly legitimate for WAPO to report on another publication's reporting, so really there's no excuse for not reporting on what Politico found. What is more critical news in this country right now than this? How would do they justify this? What is going on here?
It was at the top of the Washington Post news app a few days ago, but it’s old news now so you can’t find it anymore
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/courts_law/supreme-court-trump-january-6/2022/01/19/a432dab4-797d-11ec-83e1-eaef0fe4b8c9_story.html
Hm, I don't use an app. I go to their website, which is their online version of the printed paper, yes? A search brings up articles about previous appeals court decisions on this, but nothing about Wednesday's SCOTUS decision.