“What will Republicans say?” Crickets. For they, like Collins, fear for both their political lives and personal safety. trump seems the never ending dystopian nightmare. That he is still a free man is quite remarkable, to me. How can we continue to have faith in a country that has allowed this narcissistic criminal so much leash for so long? His legal exposure extends well before he ran for president, not to mention legal exposure during his presidency. Is this simply a case of our inherent difficulty in holding the wealthy accountable under the law?
Every morning I stab my Drump dog toy with thumbtacks hoping that it causes him harm. I'm hoping for a stroke or such, but I'll take anything. Goodness knows the places I stab him will debilitate him greatly. LOL One can hope...
You must be from New Orleans 😉Has me thinking back a few years past, when there was a global wide meditation day. The thinking was that if enough people meditated at the same time we could alter the trajectory of the universe. In keeping with that idea perhaps we could have a national pin sticking day? Whatever it takes, right?
Not from NO, but I'm all for a national sticking day. Just draw a picture of #45, pin it on a bulletin board, and stick away!! The more the merrier and hopefully success.
But, if it were a stroke that took him down, would the Democrats push the case that it was the wrath of God that struck him down for attempting to destroy the nation created for Him? Jesting on a cold Monday.
I wish Garland and the DOJ would do SOMETHING. I heard recently that Garland seems to be awaiting the Committee's resolution on the 1/6 debacle. There is absolutely NO reason for Garland to wait to act.
This is such a clear case of "hiding in plain sight" - only this time it was SPOKEN and recorded and reported. Basically, "Yeah, I did it and I'll do it again. So what?"
Can’t seem to “heart” your statement. Maybe, just maybe, a wide net will be cast to round up TFG and his evil cohorts altogether in one fell swoop from Georgia, New York, and the DOJ. Wishful thinking…
I am of the thinking that the first indictment will come hard, because of the huge blow back but it will happen and then all of the rest will jump in to see who can bring the second indictment. My guess is that the first will be Georgia.
I was ready to see him hung like a horse thief the minute he and his Russian pirates stole the election. I am impatient too. But we vigilente citizens must not use vigilant law because it’s irrational elements can also be applied to us willy-nilly. Much as I want the rape rob and pillage to stop, I want the respectability of USA law with its higher value to really put him and his whole gang out of business forever because then its legitimacy can’t be questioned.
I was ready to see him hung like a horse thief the minute he and his Russian pirates stole the election. I am impatient too. But we vigilente citizens must not use vigilantee law because it’s irrational elements can also be applied to us willy-nilly. Much as I want the rape rob and pillage to stop, I want the respectability of USA law with its higher value to really put him and his whole gang out of business forever because then its legitimacy can’t be questioned. I think they should all be stripped of their US citizenship and packed off to Russia.
From Glenn Kirschner's column, 31 January: "Ultimately, if the Justice Department doesn’t prosecute Trump and he runs for re-election in 2024, we can expect him to talk about his “confirmed innocence” at every rally. Trump will say the DOJ has had no problems with his actions since 2016. He will boast that the DOJ's considered decision not to bring a single criminal charge against him is proof positive that he did absolutely nothing wrong. And if the need ever arises, he may have no qualms about trying it all again."
I like the "Russian pirate" analogy. So apropos of this moment. But, I also believe punishment and penalty must "fit the crime", which in this case is the wholesale blood letting of our nation. The application and appropriation of law must be fair and balanced. But . . . it also must be decisive and harsh when such evil deeds are exercised against an entire nation of people. There was a time in history when such tyrannical thugs would have been hanged. We have become victims of our own efforts to litigate everything to the point of exhaustion and frustration.
"Is this simply a case of our inherent difficulty in holding the wealthy accountable under the law?" Yes, that and more. Senator Collins says she still may support trump in 2024, and he in turn calls her "wacky Susan Collins". The fact that so many congressmen/women are afraid of trump is a sign of the weakness of Congress. Color them Wimp. The longer trump avoids justice, the weaker our country becomes. The world must be wondering, "What ever happened to the leadership of the U.S.?" The answer has to be that most are bought and paid for.
You reminded me of a book written by Ariana Huffington: "Pigs at the tough", about the Corporate feeding of gluttonous politicians. "leader"-ship. Almost totally absent. Collins: She has been mentally vapid for years. Despite the best efforts of many right-minded folk, Trump may get off Scot-free. Sad, is it not!
If trump gets off Scot-free, I'll have absolutely no faith remaining in our government. Even now, I can't help but believe that dem. and repub. slugs are negotiating backroom deals about this and their insider trading deals and any other way to scam the American public.
Well, it took many years for me to become exceptionally cynical and skeptical. What the pols do in front of the camera is their public persona. It is what they do unseen and unheard that determines the fate of our country; and, as careerist politicians.
Holding the wealthy and the government accountable for law. For aren’t We the People the government? TFG has committed his crimes with assistance, often in broad daylight. Americans voted for him knowing the truth before the 2016 election. And in 2020. His accomplices have served time for his misdeeds, yet he continues to avoid prosecution himself. And hasn’t government set him free by vote after impeachments? How surprised can we be? Now, in 2022, will he meet his Waterloo?
Such a twisted and evil person to bring the threat of harm to anyone. I am not sure why the country, especially law enforcement and legal system has allowed this to go on. His rights as a citizen long sense expired. He does not fit in anywhere in the universe of normal, decent, law abiding behavior
That tirade in Conroe, TX amounted to many, many loud screams of "fire" in a crowded theater if one considers that all those cultists in attendance were there on tenterhooks, just waiting to be ignited and unleashed on anyone they choose.
I like that idea. One more demonstration of intent and purpose of the support of the 1/6 Committee. Move forward. I foolishly thought TFG would be arrested by NY right after his term ended. Wrong! Too much talk and time for more crimes. The Impeachment should have started that day, 1/6, the real domestic terrorism that attempted to steal the election. When even repubs were temporarily terrified.
WhiIe I have no doubt there are millions of Americans standing with you in the belief that the loser should be held to account in a court of law, the only hope of that is a rock solid case of evidence comprised of facts and documentation. The Jan. 6 Committee is doing that job now, along with the independent investigations of three jurisdictions, but it will take the A.G. and DOJ to fulfill the mission. We have already seen two separate opportunities presented to the U.S. Congress and a solid block of obstruction lead by McConnell and cowardly or corrupt Republican Congressmen and Senators who chose to turn a blind eye in exchange for campaign funds, the avoidance of threats, and the 'branding' of schoolyard labels. Yes, it seems clear to many of us that his legal exposure was evident before, during, and after his election to the office of potus but he always seemed to have rich and powerful friends who continue to cover for him and bail him out. It is obvious he never saw a rule of law or standard of ethics or morality he considered applicable to him if it got in the way of what he wanted. It will take a morally strong and determined justice system (from investigators, prosecutors, lower and upper courts and SCOTUS justices) to bring the corruption of the loser and his administration to accountability. I wish I could believe that this country has the fortitude and stomach to see it through.
Those "rich and powerful" friends includes a potent swath of the MEDIA. Trump's camp houses a huge population of disloyalists and fascists. Republicans care about our Republic only when it suits their quest for totalitarian power. "Fortitude and stomach" have become casualties among many who sold out country many elections ago.
Money talks and for those with a few, but not enough, scruples, look the other way, pretend it’s business as usual, FEAR. Whatever his MO, TFG has perfected it over a lifetime. But as I asked before, is this the time he meets his Waterloo?
I agree. Bob Woodward wrote in his book "Fear", Trump defined 'power' as fear. I guess with friends like Jeffrey Epstein he didn't need to go far to find "friends" and others who would provide whatever fear Trump couldn't. Too bad his father and monied friends bailed him out so many times. He never learned any of the lessons his previous failures should have taught him.
Jeff, thank you for your comment. By the age of 13 most of us had the emotional and social skills to see through and deal with punks like Trump and Gingrich. The Republicans will not address what Trump is doing as they are benefiting from it. They have nothin to offer so they rely on obstruction and playin off of rage . On the right we have enablers/emboldeners like Susan "oh he's learned his lesson" Collins. And on the left we have hand wringing and "have you no shame" verbal masturbation. And no they have no shame.
No wonder so many of us who see our democracy at risk are feeling scared and helpless.
I think of Sonny Corleone in "Godfather" and his expressing his concern that planting a gun in the restroom for his brother to use kill a crooked cop and other enemies of the family. I don't want my brother to come from that bathroom with nothing but his dick in his hand.
The root of the problem: There are no REAL leaders. I listened to part of Biden's broadcast this morning. He bumbled and stumbled through, even while reading his text. This is shameful; absolutely shameful.
Isn't Biden allowed to have an off day? Compared to TFG, he's doing a MUCH better job. Maybe President Biden has a LOT on his mind. He's had to deal with SO MUCH in ONE year. I for one am incredibly GRATEFUL President Biden is the leader he is, in so many ways. So, while I too may cringe while Biden has the occasional stumble, I'll take him ANY day!
I support his efforts. He has an unimaginable amount of stuff on his plate. He is essentially the torch bearer of the free world for starters. He is one brave man to be willing to tackle all of what we face
Make no mistake, I like Biden and I voted for him. Still, he IS on the world stage as our country's #1 representative. The damage done by and being done by TrumpiNazi will take years to repair, understanding that 100% repair will not take place. His minions are still hard at work trying to dismantle our Republic.
OK - I get it. But, despite ALL of the good President Biden has done, he's getting so little recognition for ALL of the good he has done (pointing to the American press). So, I will defend him because he IS putting in the hours and the work since he started just over a year ago. Yes, there is a LOT of damage to repair and that does take time - and yes, there will be a few bad days.
The press/MEDIA has been wholly unfair to Biden. Much of the media thrives on the daily celebration of Trump. The Democrats should blown their own horn, and make certain that takes place. Trump got away with (thus far) treason. We hear about his assaults every day. Biden should be getting more frontline news.
In the current 2 Party setup we do not have much choice, but to support the bumblers because behind Biden, there are a lot of talented, madder than wet hens folks who are in the fight. Looking for a leader is always a dangerous gambit. Look where it has taken the Republican Party. It will take all of us collectively to steer us out of this mess.
Please remember that he has a life long problem with stuttering. I expect that things like being short on sleep or emotional impact can affect that issue.
The particular perfidy of Susan Collins is that she has nothing to fear. Collins' reputation for bipartisanship, independence, and civility is running on fumes, but that is compensated for by the inertia of voters and even of the Bangor Daily News which endorsed Collins. It displays a profound inattention and lack of imagination.
Collins could call her own tune but choses to dance to Trump and McConnell whistling Dixie.
You hit the nail on the head! Both campaigns were awash in money, much from outside of the state and some dark money, which disgusted a lot of people. But Collins rolled in the pork barrels and that was good PR.
I don't have a great sense of humor. And I have trouble with violent fantasies.
Of course, my revenge fantasy is that these Republicans live to 150 - under the conditions they inflict and want to inflict on others. Less than minimum wage in a meat processing plant. Living on a toxic waste site, in barely affordable dumps, and with scum landlords. No Social Security, Medicare, or FoodStamps. No access to any healthcare or social safety net. No heat assistance. etc etc
Oh, and as oppressed minorities subject to police brutality.
Because I don't 'get' funny but I can be really mean.
Many,many years ago when I first learned about Hitler, I said to my Father, “how could the Germans have allowed this to happen? How could the world have allowed this to happen?” I still remember the look on his face when he had no answer. He described a sermon he heard in 1939 as a high school student warning about Hitler but nothing clear after that. By summer a million people will have died of Covid because of this compulsive lying bully who mismanaged the virus response because the early victims were not his followers. Thanks to HCR, we have a documented history. Are we smart and brave enough to use it? Republican legislators were eye witnesses to January 6 and they are still silent and loyal. Look at the lowlifes this corrupt p o s has already pardoned, what he has done to the legal system and what will happen very shortly when the primaries begin. It’s not November, it’s March we have to worry about.
Same here. The Cult of Trump has been a shocking lesson. They are like a pack of vicious snarling dogs ready to be let loose with a few getting loose in the interim. I had always believed the old adage it matters which wolf you feed, but never imagined so many could be so terribly ugly. Did you see the news of a group of Nazi’s on a bridge in FL snarling at children going by?? 😳
I’m so torn about spreading links to this grotesque behavior, I’ll probably delete it shortly. Also of note they spelled Brandon “Branon”. It’s a given they can’t spell apparently
I have to admit that I too couldn’t understand how Hitler prevailed for so long in broad daylight. But now I understand. Still I’m shocked. And I wonder, Is there no escaping? Our voices and votes don’t seem to be swift enough.
Gigi, you are so right. On Saturday my husband and I were outside covering our plants for the “hard freeze” (got down to 27). A man came over asking what to do as he had just moved from somewhere up north. Bold as anything, he was wearing a “Trump 2024” hat. I can’t tell you how much that angered me. It wasn’t just the brazenness in a new neighborhood, but the fact that he could still support this imbecilic criminal was staggering. I wanted to tell him to wait until I went inside to get my Biden hat but instead just gave him as little information as I could. I hope his plants all die and his pool pump freezes. 😡
Odds are, he was hoping you'd start something. That's what these people are like. If he can annoy you enough, he thinks he's "owning the libs." That, I would bet, is the alpha and omega of his politics.
Standing outside of my branch library this morning, waiting for it to open, there were 4 of us, 3 wearing masks. The 4th person, a man (no surprise) not wearing a mask, immediately spoke to a man wearing a mask and called him a sheep, that all of us wearing masks are sheep, and said that Covid is a hoax. Unfortunately, the man wearing the mask bit and began talking back at the unmasked guy until it reached a point where the guy without mask approached the masked guy, literally nose-to-nose, arguing that he used to be a U.S. Marine. Guy with mask told him to get out of his face and responded that maskless guy was an insult to the USMC. There was a bit more but fortunately no overt violence. Eventually, just before the doors opened, unmasked guy walked away without attempting to enter the library where masks are mandatory. I was amused to note as he walked away that he had a mask attached to his wrist. The trick, as with the new neighbor, is to not take the bait, don't give a jerk like that the satisfaction of "debating" with him.
It’s hard to tell if a person is just misguided or worse. At least in the beginning. You might find out quickly with a bumper sticker or window sign but be careful. Very careful.
William, I’m sorry about you being attacked. It’s no joke any longer. Trumpers have been given permission to wave confederate flags and hang nooses as open threats in my area. It’s not only intimidating. It’s dangerous and frightening. Especially if law enforcement looks the other way. I don’t have to tell you to be careful. But what Do we do?
I added another post later but wanted to respond to yours. Of course the question of "How could the Germans allowed this to happen" is one that many of us have lived with our entire lives, and the responses are many and complicated. I mention later that I have documents from German relatives, and I am reading them now precisely because they tell stories about how each of them, as individuals succumbed to Hitler's power. Part of what is interesting is that though there are parallels to what is going on here now, there are also differences. The people whose stories I am reading are educated, thoughtful, compassionate, kind people, most of the time in their pre-Hitler lives. One was a social worker, working with small children and the poorest of the poor in various German cities. Others had friends who were Jews or political dissenters, some in jail, and they helped them get released or later helped them leave Germany. Nevertheless they originally supported and even welcomed Hitler, in spite of his unabashed anti-Semitism and other extremely troublesome warning signs. I suppose really this even goes on now--those who are at least complicit with Trump are not all worthless low-lifes, and in fact it is dangerous for us to portray them as such. That they are violent in language and increasingly in behavior should be called out. That they are susceptible to believing obvious lies, or spreading information they know not to be true, must also be called out. To portray them as stupid and evil (though I, too, have had such thoughts) is in itself a reaction to them that is dangerous. But look at the Republicans in the Senate, not a one (unless someone said something sane today) effectively taking on the call to violence. My husband tells me (I don't know the source) that all it takes to create an authoritarian regime is 1) control of the information 2) control of the violence and 3) a charismatic leader. We're pretty much there, although we have a moral obligation to counteract the first two in all the ways we can, and well, do what we can about the third one. To denigrate the humanity of others does not contribute anything. I am not criticizing your post, just using what you said to begin to say things that are on my mind.
I have been asking the WHY and HOW questions regarding the defeated and failed Xv45 for 6 years now. So many of us have friends and family members in the cult of idjt that believe me, I am not saying they are “worthless low-life or denigrating their humanity.” I am asking about the loss of basic human decency and respect. Even the supposedly religious are overtaken by greed, chip on the shoulder, (I totally agree with Stephen Strange that they do like to annoy us to prove their superiority), cult of celebrity, having been carefully taught, fear, etc. Repubs in Congress and Senate are a good example of the silence. The sense of decency question supposedly stopped Joe McCarthy after more than 4 years of chaos. There is no simple answer but if we miss choosing the best opponents in the primaries we are sunk. There are no super hero to save us from the idjt and his bullies.
Maybe I said it wrong, but I agree with you--some people are true believers and others just pass on what they know are lies. I hope I understood you correctly...
I was looking at him "doing" The Snake the other night. Slimy, shiny, super-confident. Maybe they see him doing all the things we used to be told were naughty, and getting praised for it. He justifies their own weaknesses.
Is anyone else having trouble hearting comments? Some work and some don’t. Marlene, I so appreciate you offering to share with Kathy. Your openness and kindness keeps doors of truth and reality open.
I can't tell you how humble your reply makes me feel. I was 14 when my Dad died, and we had been close. I was still 14 when I found a book by Leon Uris in my school library. And then I read the next one he wrote. And I was horrified. No one had ever mentioned this to me, at home or in school. And I was angry that my parents had never said a word to me or any of my brothers and sisters......very angry. Why had this been a secret? Several years later, my class read The Diary of Anne Frank but there was little discussion. Was it not important to talk about it? Was it guilt? Was it confusion about how to talk to kids about it? Why was it ignored?
Kathy, I was raised in small town USA North Carolina. My sister and I were the only Jews in school. My parents ran a clothing store which was very typical for immigrants to do, especially in the 40’s and 50’s. My mother came from Berlin and my father, from Poland. They each lost close relatives plus a boyfriend and a wife. My dad came to America in 1938. He had a sponsor, his uncle, who lived in NC. My father did not speak a word of English but he quickly caught on. He joined the Army so they would send him to Europe but they sent him to the Pacific Theater instead. My mother came over on the USS Cunard which left out of Liverpool in December of 1939. She knew broken English as she was taught it as a second language. The two met in 1946 through my father’s cousin who ended up being my mom’s girlfriend. Six weeks later they married in the Catskill Mountains and then left for NC to start a business. Can’t say they married for love. They married for companionship and had the same goals…survival.
Oddly enough, our public school, which was heavily funded by the furniture factories of Broyhill and Bernhardt, provided great teachers who informed us the best way they could, about history and civics. What we didn’t learn was the horrible aspects of slavery and the atrocities that happened to African Americans and the role that NC played. That was completely covered up, even when our schools finally integrated in 1964, my freshman year of high school. I sincerely doubt that the teachers even knew about all of what happened. If our African American teachers did know, they were very careful not to “make waves”. I believe my parents succumbed to this, as well. Look, on every corner was a Baptist Church! If it wasn’t the 1st Baptist, it was the 2nd and so on.
We always knew we were different but I can honestly say people never called me a “kike”. So many stories to tell…
I am a bit older but from furniture city (big chair) NC. I don’t remember my parents denigrating Jews but occasionally disparaged blacks. Of course, blacks were kept on the “other side of town.” We had a school janitor loved by all. He and his family lived on school grounds but his kids could not attend my school. Seemed ok at the time since we were poor as dirt but later these things ate at me. I grew up. Left NC. Some never did either. So true about the churches, but the Christian’s I knew then seemed a cut above the Pharisees of today. Also true that not all cult nuts are evil. But people I once respected, I can not look at today. The ignorance seems deliberate and calculated. Who can respect that.
"Their MO of overtly crowing how they tried to overturn the election is clearly meant to telegraph that no one in their right mind would publicly admit such a thing if they knew they were breaking the law." Since when is not knowing one is breaking the law a defense? I've always heard "ignorance of the law is no defense". Yet I've read that this may be an argument to be brought by T's lawyers in Georgia if he's charged with seeking to overturn election results in Georgia.
I appreciate your sentiment, but the Select Committee is not a court of justice. Its purpose is to gather testimony and documents to craft legislation to fix a problem. They refer matters for prosecution to the Department of Justice.
Absolutely! It's very disconcerting that people who are members of my community openly support this hateful ideology. If only it's an ideology. I'm afraid that ideaa will become actions. We ain't seen nothing yet. I hope that I'm wrong
And so disgusting, he was elected with voters knowing about his bankruptcies (I’m a great businessman), his taxes (under audit?) his sexual assaults and accusations and more and more. Is that called transparency? Enough votes to, legal or illegal, continue his crimes in plain sight. And why not? He must be feeling he has immunity. Or impunity. But he wasn’t voted in or supported by only the wealthy, was he? Look at his base. The wealthy aren’t wearing red hats. And so far he’s spot on.
With all the evidence there is in the hands of the January 6th Committee and I assume the DOJ, I simply cannot understand why trump and the cabal "leadership" are not in jail awaiting trial on numerous charges - any one alone is more than enough! What in heaven's name is the delay?! It just doesn't make any sense. And, "the wheels of justice grind slowly" is not a valid reason.
Two years for the Mueller report, two impeachments, an attempted coup (filmed live with emails, phone calls, evidence galore), "ongoing" IRS investigations (charity and business fraud), and so much more and the result is nothing - the bottom line is trump still lives free, has a podium, a microphone, and spews unmitigated garbage all the while it is covered by the media. Nothing, absolutely nothing will ever move the needle for whatever that is that calls itself the republican party. Not only is trump certifiably nuts, the democrats are invoking the definition of insanity . . . . “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.” - Albert Einstein
I have a feeling that once the Jan. 6th committee starts having public hearings this month there is going to be plenty of uproar. I'm hoping the number of high level people in the Congress and DT administration going to jail including DT himself will make Watergate look like a picnic. President Biden certainly won't repeat President Ford's pardon!
... also, if they jump ahead and 'push the river' it can be painted as the oppressive 'democrat' government impinging on individual freedom of 'patriots' exercising their god-given rights ... if they let the drama play out, while continuing to investigate and expose the real story, the difference between truth and falsehood will become undeniably clear - even to those who complain so loudly with no real concern for facts on the ground - then, the call for retribution will come from 'the people' - not just from the government and those 'evil socialistic liberals' who support it ... we have to transcend conflicted partisan contention if we hope to move forward with coherent, effective government ... only truth will set us free ....
When a prosecutor has a bunch of liars and other disreputable ppl for witnesses, s/he must have myriad other sources of info to make the case. In this case the cost of not getting tfg the first time is very high.
There is a small slice of humanity that will not be pushed under, will not be cowed, regardless of the personal cost to themselves. It’s a remarkable trait, a courage that encompasses all the kinds of courage people have - moral, physical, intellectual. Alexei Navalny is an outstanding example of one with this trait. Whatever Putin throws at him serves not to cow him, but to further inflame his sense of outraged justice.
Closer to home, there are Americans who have displayed this same trait. Gretchen Whitmer comes to mind as one who would not be intimidated. On a National level I feel that the Select Committee must embody that as a group. They are hyper aware that what they are doing is defiantly public. The hearings will animate those who send death threats and perhaps those who carry them out against them. Their fate, should Trump be elected in 2024, is sealed. None would remain at liberty long enough to see much of 2025. Yet they carry on, creating the only historical record that will ring down through the ages that follow. And they are doing their work with immense tactical wisdom, unflinchingly, and certainly without fear nor favor. This group deserves enormous gratitude from those who support decency in public life. They are not poking at the hornet’s nest with a long and distant stick. They are right up close, peering into the centre of it, stings be damned.
I have not seen that open courage at the DOJ. To date, Garland has struck me as a decent and learned man, but the antithesis of aggressive. He has spoken once about pursuing this case to levels higher than the insurrectionists. But the better part of his speech (‘better’ in the sense of longer) was spent on an elementary primer on how a typical investigation works - from the bottom up, turning witnesses against higher-ups as you go. This struck me at the time as defensive, a plea to be honored for the time spent rather than castigated for slowness.
People who are deeply versed in the law - Laurence Tribe, Preet Bharara, Joyce White Vance among them - have expressed deep reservations whether much if anything is being done to prosecute those at the center of the coup. On a recent podcast Bharara and White agreed that it was highly unusual that nothing has slipped from the DOJ in a year that would indicate that an aggressive investigation is ongoing. Both stipulated of course that investigations of this magnitude would naturally be discreet in the extreme. But news always slips - often from witnesses themselves. They, like many of us, are worried. Most of us are ready to gouge our eyes out in our impatience. They are much more composed than that, of course. But I have noticed that the number of voices with legal gravitas expressing dismay at the dilatory pace of the DOJ is growing.
Glenn Kirschner shifted from impatience to understanding what Garland's message was to us. He is positive there will be a prosecution of the vile orange mouthpiece for the republican seditionists.
I’m hoping if they wait long enough to indict sitting pols up for re-election, and invoke the 14th amendment, it will be too late for team coup to field other candidates.
Well Mike, then I/we have to accept the lay of the land and navigate accordingly ... America is a threshing floor - separating wheat from chaff ... most of it goes into the compost ....
"only truth will set us free ...." Yeah. Because that worked so well in Hitler's German. And Stalin's Russia. And Mussolini's Italy.
You can't reason with the kind of people who show up at these rallies. They want to destroy us. They care about nothing else. We need to come up with some effective strategies to defend ourselves and hit back. Hard.
‘difference between truth and falsehood becoming clear’. On a normal day in more normal times that might seem a sensible assumption. Now, what we are experiencing seems to have the hallmarks of two parallel realities, one grounded, the other some bizarre reality show. Those of us grounded in our universe of reason and objectivity are having much difficulty deciphering the script of the reality show. There are, at this point, unanswerable puzzling questions outstanding. By the way, I love your writing 🙏
Trump has been creating "uproar" then being rewarded for "uproar" since he was in middle school and got kicked out and then had to attend a private school (where he was allowed to create any uproar he wanted because he was rich).
See? In AMERICA, white folks can do whatever, whenever to whomever they want.
It's great to have faith in our system of justice, but Trump is a free man and just as vile and certifiably insane as ever. More than a year after the insurrection, more than a decade of Trump's [alleged] countless fraud, and we still await civil and criminal indictments. I must admit to losing that faith.
" I simply cannot understand why trump and the cabal "leadership" are not in jail awaiting trial on numerous charges "
Well, Trump is rich and white. Nuff said. How many rich, white men are in Rikers Island today? In fact, how many white men PERIOD are in Rikers Island?
And what are we doing? Relying on the three prosecutors, now called out by DJT and even more endangered, to do the job of hauling him in. Godspeed to them. In the meantime, what do we do? I give to Dem candidates, work to tie all of our current insane troubles to the fact that our nation is one so wrought with trauma that many of our people — our fellow citizens — are literally WIRED for trauma, drama, conflict, chaos. I’ve marched and worked on campaigns in the past. How, collectively, can we sound the alarm? Repost HRC on all social media? Email this piece to everyone we know? Encourage our friends to join us in learning these truths? Somebody in this group of brilliant humans tell me what, is our best plan of action? I’m willing. Despite age and infirmities. We need a clear plan that is as simple as a bumper sticker, that we all repeat and act upon hourly. Thanks!
Not many bumper stickers in N TX. Thought about getting one "TRUMP: Biggest LOSER Ever." Then I would expect to have car set on fire, then a million pro trump bumper stickers
The question what do we do is more than rhetorical. Perhaps looking at human development gives us a hint why the question and possibly the solution seem possibly impossible. A person with the shaky foundation like TFG just as the foundation of this nation, founded on stealing the land from the First People, and then bringing enslaved people to work the land, abusing and exploiting all, cannot be changed. And we are finding that healing and reparations are proving more than the many generations after are willing to confront. Or pay. Responsibility for the past is something Americans have shown not to agree on. How to apologize, make restitution. I’m sorry is not in their vocabulary. That would signal acceptance of responsibility.
Maybe they are letting it run to draw out and identify supporters and perpetrators of fraud/ deception so they won't fade into anonymity, continuing to operate unseen ...?
I find the delay aggravating too. was ready to see him hung like a horse thief the minute he and his Russian pirates stole the election. I am impatient too. But we vigilente citizens must not use vigilant law because it’s irrational elements can also be applied to us willy-nilly. Much as I want the rape rob and pillage to stop, I want the respectability of USA law with its higher value to really put him and his whole gang out of business forever because then its legitimacy can’t be questioned. They deserve to be stripped of their US citizenship and packed off to Russia .
Seriously Susan? You mean like we dump our garbage everywhere in the world - now other countries are sending it back - they are not willing to be the dumping ground for our refuse ... think about it - maybe it matters that we care about what we do and what impact it has on others and start taking responsibility for consequences of our own behaviors ... you know, people want to come to America - some for freedom, some for wealth and fame, some to live like kings {{or so they think}} ... and what do they do? Dump their garbage everywhere like it's the American Way ... I wonder where on earth they get that idea ....
Pat, the Republicans are NOT silent. Bobert fully, openly and loudly supports what happened on January 6th. EVEN the most formerlly reasonable Republicans support Trump like Susan Collins.
So, I agree we should condemn the Republican Party but not for silence.
For openly and loudly supporting a Hitler like, narcissistic, spoiled, mean man, Republicans should be condemned forever.
... like I say Mike, most of it goes into the compost ... still, how can a garden grow without compost? Every piece of the puzzle has it's place in the bigger picture - knowing that, we can live with love in our hearts and carry on without hating others for the role they play in this drama - they don't know how stuck they are - be great-full you know the difference - as painful and frustrating as it can be ....
For me, the problem is that I have now read too much at age 61. I always enjoyed reading. Now I have read the MA Consitution by John Adams. 1780.
Now I have read the US Constitution which started with the MA constitution and then amended the MA Constitution in ways that supported slavery and Capitalism.
Now I have watched as, LONG before Citizen's United, Military Contractors began buying representatives with huge Swiss Bank accounts.
Now I have seen, in a 40 year engineering and management career, TWO black engineers in the FOUR companies I worked at. ONE black manager in 40 years.
Now I know about Redlining in the north and the south because ALL of America's white folks wanted segregated cities.
Now I know that I learned NOTHING of history in school. By design.
Now I know that over three generations, Native Humans were exterminated, starved brutalized and moved to unlivable lands and then further marginalized until they all almost went extinct.
Now I know how hard even I, who easily passes as white (I have a minority last name), with a Ph.D. and 31 patents, how hard it was for me to get promoted early in my career and ONLY after a black guy became my boss did I really get good raises.
Now, Kathleen, I know who "America" is.
THAT America is the one that Dr. Richardson pines for as formerly being "Democracy".
I hear you Mike - all of that and more ... (woah - 30 patents?!?) ... I never trusted the system enough to participate - blew it all off and went on a rant that lasted half a century (72 now) ... could have had it all and wanted nothing to do with any of it - left in the street to die - sick and broken from it all - and yet ... here I am ... dependent on the government to survive - forced to accept whatever difference I can make may never amount to a hill of beans - but I keep working, even though I have to give up all the time - because life is a gift, even so - and an opportunity to at least intend a brighter path ... I could complain about the wrongness of it all until the cows come home, bells a-ringing - but what good will it do? It just wears me out even more ... so I take it one breath at a time - keep studying and working for what it's worth, and give thanks I have a place to live, bathe and toilet myself, food to eat, the ability to look up and see the sky - feel the wind blow - and carry on - and you can trust, in this man's world if I did not have that fundamental support from the government, I would be living in servitude if I survived at all ... you have done sooo well \!! Congratulations, strength and perseverance to you Mike - keep saying it like you see it - humanity needs your conscience and your voice - here, in Greece or anywhere you choose to be ... blessings, and peace to you my friend!!
Thank you and Mike for simply being here and bearing witness.
What you both write is so moving, goes so deep, it is a privilege to meet you here.
What strikes me is how Mike speaks with all the passion of one who hungers and thirsts after justice, with deep indignation, but without an ounce of the vile resentment captured and used by DT.
Much cause for resentment, and he must have felt it, but that would have been beneath him.
It's a bit late for this... both in response to what you wrote to Mike and in terms of January 1st, but still it's New Year's Day in the Chinese lunar calendar... and I was so struck by the words that impressed Mike, which remind me in turn of this poem by Joseph Brodsky which the great man translated into English himself... Enjoy!
Thank you for reiterating things I knew nothing about for 2/3 of my life. Never had the struggles of a POC, just a female in a man’s world.
I used to think that the rabble was a sliver of my neighbors. Then they became more visible, then they became proud and vocal, Now they are armed and dangerous. The America I thought I grew up in is fading from my memory. Maybe it was a mirage…. Milton Mayer was right. “…we are accepting things your father never could have imagined.” They thought They Were Free, The Germans 1933-1945.
Mike, now I understand why you have so little hope that tfg and his handlers or his minions will be held accountable. I , however, need to cling to that hope.
In some ways, being an engineer has some down sides and one of those is the ability and willingness to look at the data and try to see what it really says.
The data on Trump's history says: "He has been committing crimes since he was a young man. He has never even been charged for any of those crimes".
He fleeced thousands with his for profit schools. No charges.
He refused to rent to black people in NY City, openly. No charges.
He fleeced thousands of small business and big business with SIX BANKRUPTCIES. No charges.
He raped a woman in a department store. No charges.
He beat his first wife when she made fun of his new, fake hair. He WAS charged, BUT, never arrested.
25th hour for turning the sewage tide back where it came from.
We must count on America at last to do the right thing -- after doing everything else ad nauseam -- and putting this wretched cosmic monster, defanged, silenced, where he can do no more harm.
Yes, but what are the alternatives? Yes, the system is and has been rigged for white men. But yes, the struggle against this racism, misogyny and corruption is worth fighting for. If not by us, then who?
Thank you MaryB - it's not really optimism - just what's left in the empty vessel after even hope has flown the coop ... just flowing with each breath ... receive ... embrace ... release ... one breath at a time ....
I know - and they love it too, don't they ... still, they are caged, and they have no idea what they are missing - if they even sense it, they just scream louder, with no idea how to change it ... I pity them - to my dying day ...
Right, and Rupert's truth is a lie ... in the long run, when truth comes out in the wash, truth will stand and lies will go slip-sliding away ... this is the test ... do I stand in truth, or stand on a lie ....
And I plan on calling Susan today. Just to let her know how shocked I was in her words yesterday. I was actually surprised she was on TV. We don't see much of her here in Maine.
Same here. Not only that, but for the rest of my life I will regard Susan Collins with especial contempt, as a shameless, spineless lackey for the R's.
I well remember that Collins said, when she won her first campaign, that she would only serve two terms--funny how that changed. Every Mainer who voted to send that creature of zero integrity back to the Senate for a FIFTH term ought to be thoroughly ashamed.
What a post and report! Of course Trump's speech is a pastiche of threats, lies, and all the rest. But read/listen carefully (HCR has!). Part of the discussion of yesterday's post revolved around the GOP use of language (Gingrich, etc --- and ref to Orwell's "Politics and the english language" --if I recall the title correctly). Listen to the language Trump used---he may be a charlatan but he knows how to use language. The label "racist' is out there; the personal attack on him; the "legality" of the proposed plan for Pence (it must be legal if they are trying to change the process, or so he wants people to think). The narrative has been set up already---particularly no one on the Democrat side is going to speak loudly and point out the lies and stupidity. Sorry, but this is not going to play well for the Democrats---the True Believers will love it and be powered up. Without someone who is a skilled and eloquent orator who can reach ordinary people with direct effect, this is another failure to seize the moment and the narrative --- and of course the MSM (NYT and all the rest) will be content to "report" the speech, etc without any serious refutation (and the True Believers don't read these papers anyway). I despair---not of this community, not of the Truth, but a the drift of things and the anti-Biden (which means implicitly pro-Trump, since he is the alternative) pitch that dominates the press here and in Britain (the latter as far as my limited reading takes me). Well, that's a bit of a rant! Now I need to trundle off to bed and get some sleep for the new dawn that is coming. Peace and Courage to all.
I have also been very disturbed about the negative press for Biden. The NY Times is trying to "both sides" report. The Democrats will have a difficult enough time in the the 2022 midterms keeping their seats, if not actually gaining some.
Oh, the negative press! Press Run has a good piece today that documents examples of good economic news either not being mentioned at all or reported with the idea that Trouble For Biden is imminent. Good news must be explained away. No mention that presidents have very little control over the economy. I tend to agree with the observation Trump was treated more gently in the press in 2020 than Biden is now.
I agree with you. Having watched Maddow for the past several years, at the end of the summer, she was reporting more on Trump than Biden, I'd had enough and stopped watching all news with the occasional exception when I see that Ruth Ben-Ghiat is on. Jim Acosta gave her a good amount of time to speak last week, more than a little blip that is the usual input. It has really bothered me that even after Biden became president, Trump still was front and center in the news. He craves this attention and we only empower him more when he is given that attention. Thank you, Carol.
No president has ever been faced with the disaster(s) Biden faced upon taking office. No president has ever faced an ex-president throwing grenades from the sidelines because of his craven need for attention and worship. Nothing would be gained by exchanging insults in the public arena, and it would take Biden away from what we need him to do. Furthermore if we believe in justice and the rule of law as we say we must let the law have its way. And again there cannot be one tiny opening for tfg to slither through.
"What will the Republican leaders who have tied themselves to Trump say now that he has openly admitted he was trying to destroy our democracy?"
Heather, clearly Susan Collins lacks a spine so I fear the rest of the Republican leadership does as well. What a sad and sorry predicament the United States is in – it's being sold down the river to satisfy the ego of a vile, repulsive man by the very people sworn to protect it.
I couldn't agree more! I am ashamed that Maine voters were willing to overlook her record and send her back to the Senate for a FIFTH term. Margaret Chase Smith must be rolling in her grave.
Trump and his (many) followers know that being in control of the Federal Reserve means money like a spigot flowing to them foerever.
The Federal Reserve started the unusual process of printing money and buying Corporate Bond ETF's, OUTSIDE THE BUDGET OR APPROVAL BY CONGRESS PROCESS, in April of 2020.
The Fed is STILL doing that every night.
It is the largest giveway to corporate America in history and it is NOT EVEN ON THE BOOKS of the FEDERAL GOVERNMENT. It is on the books of the FED itself.
This process is what makes Republican's mouth water. Keeping that going forever?
It's a game, it's a game, it's a game ... look at middle American (white) culture - at least in my lifetime - game shows, contests/prizes, trivia, one hook after another - from 'Queen For A Day' to 'The Price Is Right' to 'The Weakest Link' to 'The Apprentice', ... more games ... and the big opportunity is to invest in the markets - do you know, to make real money in the markets, to get in early where real gains are, you have to have a million dollars already, just to qualify to invest?!? Balls and chains, on either side of the walls ... something deeper has to call us in our hearts ....
Why I can’t watch tv anymore, I worry that Dems still think politics is a gentlemen’s game. As Derek Del Gaudio said “It’s not a game, it just looks like one”
Mike, Even more ridiculous is the fact that most people think the Fed is a government entity. It is not. Each of the 12 Federal Reserve Banks is a private entity, has regional member banks which hold stock that earn dividends. And, as you say, it is designed to benefit the few. Its dysfunction is just another straw on the camel's back pushing us closer to the edge.
Daria A good friend of mine (we resigned from the Foreign Service at about the same time) was president of the NY Fed for a number of years. (We would lunch in his office above zillions of dollars of gold). The NY Fed is by far the most important of the Fed regional banks. It is ‘private’ in name only.
The Federal Reserve Board is principally comprised of Senate-approved, White House-nominated members. It determines fiscal policy. Powell, the current Fed chair, is distinguished and independent in his actions. He works well with Yellin, the former Fed chair who now is Treasury Secretary.
The Fed engaged in massive ‘quantitative’ actions to check the recessionary impacts of the prolonged pandemic. Though this has had a short-term impact on inflation, together with massive government deficit spending with its support for individuals and corporations, Paul Krugman and others whom I admire, have been supportive of these emergency actions. [The Republicans express opposition, while their constituents have benefited from these job-saving interventions.]
The Republicans unanimously opposed the $1.9 trillion cash-infusion into our economy in 2021. [They also sharply limited such initiatives under Obama in 2009, which prolonged the Great Recession.]
I can quibble about some Fed policies but, on balance, I applaud it for what it has done during the prolonged pandemic. A family friend was Fed chair in 1950. He vigorously opposed what Treasury Secretary John Snyder sought to do. In a major policy showdown, Tom McCabe won on policy after which he agreed to resign.
The Fed had an independent backbone then. I trust Powell and (Yellin) to do what they consider best for our country now. Meanwhile, gratuitous fiscal advice is being offered from lots of folks, including Senator Manchin (wrong headed).
Keith, Yellin is now Secretary of the Treasury and Jerome Powell, President of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve. That said, I agree with you about Yellin, know little about Powell.
Judith Oophs, of course. My historical memory skipped a chord in Washington’s musical chairs.. I’m yellin for Yellin while I should be wow with Powell. My friend at the NY Fed was kept there after retirement age by Greenspan, who was loudly touted back then, but has caused historical tears in recent years. I’m Fed up with this!
"I can quibble about some Fed policies but, on balance, I applaud it for what it has done during the prolonged pandemic."
Republicans specifically opposed ALL legislation that benefitted anything that approximated a common American.
But, no Republican has objected to the Fed's overnight Corporate Bond buying and ALSO, that action was never voted upon by a single "representative" of our "democracy".
Mike, you have highlighted a ‘sticky wicket.’ What is the border between Fed actions and the need for Congressional legislation? This was a crisis situation in 2008-2009, when the Fed and the Treasury pushed the envelope in providing emergency funding for AIG and others (but not Lehman Brothers).
The ‘quantitative’ bond buying during the pandemic is a massive Fed intrusion into our monetary system. Short-term it provided funding in a crisis market while also, so contributing to a short-erm inflation jump. I would never wish to have Fed actions contingent upon timely Congressional legislation. Indeed, such a Congressional ‘debate’ would be political rather than fiscal.
After the Fed’s massive involvement during the Great Recession (2008-2009) some restrictions have been placed on its unilateral actions.
Trump is asserting prosecution of 'fairness'. That it is his right to decide what is 'fair' and who is being treated unfairly. Through false equivalencies and inverted rhetoric, Trump is claiming that prosecution is no way to treat White people. While Black people are getting away with murder. And the crowd cheered.
In the context of American systemic racism against Black people and embrace of White supremacy, two definitions of fairness come into play. In the context of AngloSaxon society the one word is freighted with significance which evolved to equate what is attractive with what is morally good.
White privilege has been a hallmark of American society. Through sophistry and a distortion of history, Republicans are selling White grievance. "A White man of sorrows' is the Trump brand.
With the ascendency of Trump, the proliferation of Trump Mini-Mes, Mitch McConnell and Leonard Leo packing/stacking the courts and the domination of state governments from the school board to the statehouse by right wing extremist Republicans, we are seeing government distortion of the history of racism in America.
So when I read of revisionism in increasingly populist, nativist, and authoritarian Poland, certain parallels here came to mind. Not just that from the KKK to Trump's tiki torch neoNazis, American discrimination against Black people has been tied up with antiSemitism or that Maus, Art Spiegelman's family history of the Holocaust, has been banned in Tennessee - but the specifics of Nazi treatment of the Poles and Polish persecution of Jews, and how government involves itself in revising that history.
I am going to quote from Jan Grabowski, a professor of history at the University of Ottawa and provide a link to his essay.
He starts by describing a commemoration in Treblinka honoring a young Pole "who Polish researchers say, was shot in 1942 by the Nazis for giving water to the Jews as they waited in locked cattle cars idling outside the camp." To me this resonated with new Republican laws in Georgia. Republicans are obstructing peoples Civil Rights by placing obstacles to voting, which results in having to wait in line for hours *and* Republicans have made it a crime to give water to people on line. But as the author notes, not to diminish that one man's heroism, the norm was for Poles to extort Jews for water at the entrance to Treblinka, where Poles assisted in slaughtering 900,000 Jews. This reminded me of revisionist American history which elides the legitimization of enslavement and all of Jim Crow abuses, while gutting Civil Rights voter protections.
Grabowski also discusses being sued by for quoting a Holocaust survivor who witnessed a Polish mayor denouncing Jews to the Nazis. The judge decided against him. The decision is worth reading
"We can assume that ascribing to Poles the crimes of the Holocaust committed by the Third Reich can be construed as harmful and detrimental to the sense of identity and of national pride,” the judge said last February. “Attributing to the Polish nation the responsibility for the Holocaust, for the killing of Jews during World War II and for the confiscation of their property touches upon the sphere of the national heritage and, consequently, as completely untrue and harmful, can significantly impact one’s feeling of own national dignity, destroying the justified — based on facts — belief that Poland was the victim of war operations initiated and conducted by the Germans.”
And Grabowski's reflections on the case:
"It seemed to me that the real objective of the lawsuit was not to rescue a man’s name or alter his reputation, but to frighten scholars of the Holocaust, to instill Poland’s pervasive atmosphere of fear into an entire discipline and to make students and educators think twice before choosing topics that would challenge the government-sponsored version of history. The idea of a right to national pride, advanced in court, is an ambiguous and legally undefined sentiment that effectively means any member of the Polish nation has the right to sue historians whose findings offend them."
This reminds me of the outlawing of Critical Race Theory. It also reminds me that on invading Poland, the Nazis persecuted, jailed, and even slaughtered Polish academics and intelligentsia who they feared might oppose the new regime. As did Stalin. As are Republicans, where in Virginia the much touted new GOP governor Youngkin has extended right wing extremist targeting of university professors to targeting elementary school teachers with his 'tattle on your teacher tip line'.
I was most struck by Grabowski's observation that "In all these cases, pushing blame for the destruction of Jewish communities entirely onto Nazi occupiers obfuscates the larger context of Holocaust horror and the very real problems of collaboration, bystanderism and local antisemitism that helped run the machine of the Holocaust."
And it is this which we must overcome - the collaboration, bystanderism, and local racism which runs the machine of racism against Black people
Or at least, material for an indictment in Washington and another one in Warsaw. Alas, Poland's another country where a psychotic got into the driver's seat... As though the Poles hadn't already suffered enough.
I read Jan Grabowski’s article over the weekend and came away feeling that the world is in dangerous waters these days. It is truly frightening to take a step back and look at the big picture of what is going on around the world and the apparent growing strength of authoritarianism in supposedly democratic countries, where it is couched as populism and as being “for the people.” Meanwhile, Russia and China move full speed ahead in their efforts to become dominate forces in the world. Precarious days indeed.
You mention “bystanders” Please listen to this powerful “”Lunch with Lincoln” episode (30 minutes) where a granddaughter of Holocaust survivors talks about that and other facets of this period and today’s versions of it. https://youtu.be/U_M5XV18zfE
As a Jew growing up in the shadow of the Holocaust, I wondered about whether I would have been 'a good German.' I think for many of us such thoughts were an impetus to follow Black leaders of the Civil Right movement in the struggle for equality. The Black Power movement rejected White allies and Louis Farrakhan's antiSemitism creates a wedge in the left wing. But I am heartened by the young leaders of Black Lives Matter who welcome allies.
Thank you for highlighting Grabowski’s essay and the problem of collaboration, bystanderism and local antisemitism/racism—any ism. Collaboration and bystanderism are choices made in the context of threats from bullying to terrorism. Progressive organizations are critical to bolstering the courage it takes for individuals to speak up, defend, act against the bullies and terrorists. Another place we see this phenomenon is school boards and election officials. Enslavement economy and the Holocaust were the two largest institutionalized extended events of utter horror and suffering perpetrated against millions of people; enslavement economy and the Holocaust cannot be whitewashed or diminished.
I very much appreciate your comment and the way you translate analysis into effective action. But even, or especially, as 'institutionalized extended events of utter horror and suffering", I cannot equate the enslavement of Black people and the Holocaust. To me they are just too different.
The Holocaust was of intense but short duration. And while Jews who survived were scarred and returned to a life with a status quo of antiSemitism, they and their children could, at least in America, transcend the limitations of prejudice. In part, ironically, due to White privilege. (Jews as White? Who would have thought? Well never White enough for some, and always too White for others - but sufficiently White.)
Also, while one can argue, however unconscionably and unethically, that enslavement made economic sense for the White (and in Africa, Black) perpetrators, the argument has been made that had Hitler not been obsessed with eradicating the Jewish population, Nazi Germany might have won the war. The Nazis destroyed a productive portion of the German and European populations and used a disproportionate amount of resources to do so. The logistics of the Holocaust make no economic sense at all.
And I just feel, as a Jew whose father - a son of poor Jewish immigrants who lived in the South and worked with African Americans in the fields and factories, before living in rainforests, towns, and cities in South America for several years - taught her about de jure and de facto discrimination against Black people, the lives and plight of indigenous peoples, and about Hispanic culture, that there are different horrors. Throughout the 20th Century, on every continent.
And of course, in America enslavement of Black people went on for centuries and the abuses continue to this day.
Please let me clarify that I was not talking about "economic sense." Pursuit of wealth and power was a factor when the Nazis targeted the Jews.
Enslavement and the Holocaust are different, and as I was thinking how to expand on the concept of "event," I considered adding Indigenous Americans to the list. Commonalities include terrorism/torture/murder/enslavement, appropriation of assets, and at least cultural genocide for subjugation and economic exploitation. Economic exploitation of Jews included appropriating their wealth, property, factories, slave labor, and even their hair. When the Nazis implemented full out genocide against Jews, genocide against productive laborers could be argued as not having made economic sense.
I do not equate African American enslavement and the Holocaust to set up a binary comparison. The violences and subjugation must be remembered as we work to identify how it has continued into our current lives--with the many contradictions to "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." How nefarious forces are growing into institutionalized state power must be recognized and stopped.
Blessings to your father, who must have been a man among men who passed his hard-earned consciousness learned from experience to you.
A thought provoking book: The Crime of Complicity, the Bystander in the Holocaust by Amos Guiora. The author asks whether such behavior should be prosecuted. Have we become a culture of spectators? (my question)
"Amos Guiora served for 19 years in the Israel Defense Forces as Lieutenant Colonel (retired), and held several senior command positions, including legal advisor to the Gaza Strip and commander of the IDF School of Military Law. Professor Guiora has published extensively both in the U.S. and Europe on issues related to national security, limits of interrogation, religion and terrorism, the limits of power, multiculturalism, and human rights."
I would like very much to know his thoughts on how the Occupation has violated Palestinian human and civil rights, and also demoralized the Israeli occupying forces and Israeli civilians. Some of the most severe critics of the Occupation come from the high echelons of Israeli defense and intelligence as well as the Israeli judiciary. Critics of Israel often overlook or are unaware of the Israeli opposition to Israeli government policy driven by right wing Jewish religious extremists in Israel and America, as well as right wing Christian Evangelical religious extremists.
As for a culture of spectators - so much has been written that I do not know where to start. From Plato on ... ? Perhaps you mean the involvement of distancing and objectification?
Today is a dark day for the citizens of the great state of Maine. The man Matt Taibbi profiled so beautifully, the "insane, clown president" who aspired to be King finally goes mad in public and openly admits his heart is black with evil intent and deed. So Shakespearian and tragic. And concurrently we witness Susan Collins (R-ME), refusing to denounce the evil bastard along with a number of other Republicans who also express their fealty to an avowed criminal who confesses his crimes as a means to rally his troops to join him in more illegal endeavors against democracy and the Constitution, the document many of us took a sacred oath to protect and defend against all enemies foreign and domestic. Senator Collins has exposed more than just her lack of integrity; she has failed egregiously to uphold her oath of office and in the process blown the whistle on all the Mainers who voted for her. As Pat Cole commented on this platform, "For the remainder of my lifetime I condemn them all."
I think you're being too harsh on Sen. Collins. I'm sure she was "highly concerned," or perhaps even "extremely concerned," before issuing her statement.
Indeed. Back in the day, we lived in Maine when Collins and Snowe were our Senators. As Democrats and Independents we would vote for them both. Collins has been eating some bad feed - she is addled and pathetic. She actually re-endorsed Paul LePage now that he has returned to haunt the state again. OY!
I miss Maine but would be embarrassed to have her as a legislator now.
Hasn't this guy done anything that is adequately investigated to warrant charging and arresting him? The law may be closing in on him, but in the meantime he continues to wreak havoc on the population at large all the while continuing to incite his good-ol-boys to acts of violence thinly disguised as some sort of weird patriotism. Someone needs to strap a muzzle on him; perhaps a billion dollars bail could be a start...
Truly. A person can get in more trouble having their dog off leash than TFG gets doing and saying unlawful things over and over and over and... He is a disgusting moron and I wish the trumplicans would see him for the fool he is and walk away. How does he live with so much hate in his soul. There is nothing good, kind, or decent about him. The most uneducated, unpresidential person to hold that office. That he wants to run again makes me sick to my stomach. Someone stop the madman and his madness. Please.
I think it will be up to all of us to stop him, not only by our vote but also by encouraging others to vote, by supporting candidates with small monthly donations if we can, by going to Vote.org and signing up to help with voting, writing letters, making calls, whatever it takes. It will be devastating to all of us, and to this country, if Trump is in office again. There is no one coming to rescue us. We have to rescue ourselves.
That's part of the problem. We choose the power of our vote. They choose to change the voting boundaries, take out mailboxes, make it difficult to vote in every way, create fake elector documents, start an insurrection, and cry foul when they lose. That so many actually think the election was stolen by Biden infuriates me. They say Stop The Steal. I say Stop The A__h___.
“Wheels of justice grind slow but grind fine”― Sun Tzu. "When you strike at a king, you must kill him" attributed to Ralph Waldo Emerson, paraphrasing Machiavelli, "men ought either to be well treated or crushed, because they can avenge themselves of lighter injuries, of more serious ones they cannot; therefore the injury that is to be done to a man ought to be of such a kind that one does not stand in fear of revenge."
"Hasn't this guy done anything that is adequately investigated to warrant charging and arresting him?"
The bar is VERY HIGH to arrest a white man and higher yet to arrest a rich white man. When was the last rich white man you know who was arrested??
Ah yes, Bernie Madoff. And, he was NOT arrested the first 10 times he was called out as a fraud by some Greek guy who figured out his scam and Reported it to the SEC. Right??
He was ONLY arrested after some other very rich and powerful people lost their money and paid off their congressman/woman to arrest him.
Bernie was doing a crime in plain sight that was reported to the SEC TEN YEARS before he was arrested.
So, don't look for Trump to be arrested any time soon.
MikeS, it is beneath you to continue this rant. You are not wrong but let’s turn this over. Some of what he is doing, ramping up his rhetoric, is because he is terrified that THIS time he won’t get off.
MLMinET, I believe Mike is speaking his truth, and there is more than enough evidence to back him up, from the lowest law enforcement intervention to the highest levels of corruption and criminality.
Your complaint (which I paraphrase as “enough is enough”) is common among those who do not live the reality of discrimination. I was taken to task this week for noting that “woman/women” are not mentioned in the Constitution, thereby giving the originalists the ability (should they choose to) say that we don’t matter. I know nothing of who you are. My take is an assumption on my part based upon the stance you take and the cant you deliver; it sounds to me as though you do not have personal knowledge of Mike’s truth.
I don’t have personal knowledge. I’m very sorry you see what I said as “cant,” which is hypocritical or sanctimonious talk. I’ve never been accused of that before. MikeS is certainly entitled to his truth and I even suggested he go public with his conversion story, which I find compelling, as I do his points. My point was that MIkeS was repeating himself; he’d already made his point several times.
Biden puts sanctions against Putin. Putin puts tRump back in office. My biggest fear. We're all in the chess game of power and madness. We can try to stop the puppet. But the puppeteer will find more puppets.
Trump is not a smart man. His admission this week that, if he were reelected, he would pardon those who participated in the January 6 insurrection further evidences his criminal intent that he wanted the insurrection to succeed. This adds to the evidence of criminal intent already uncovered, including his failure to take action to stop the insurrection, his undue delay in saying anything to stop the insurrection, his expressions of love for the insurrectionists. This, and much more, adds to the mounting evidence that Trump intended and loved all that occurred on January 6, thus enhancing the criminal case against him for conspiring to overthrow the government. And, I'm betting that when further evidence is discovered, there will be evidence that Trump ordered that no national guard or federal troops should come to the defense of the Capitol.
Some of that evidence is clearly the extensive machinations by Trump to get all his people in place ahead of time, for example, Kash Patel at the Dept. of Defense or Flynn's brother at the Pentagon. I remember these being curiosities at the time but now, when you look back and see all the chess moves, and that even the Oath Keepers were wearing custom T-Shirts they'd had printed up for the occasion, it's no longer possible to deny that Trump's Coup plans weren't all in the works long before Jan.6th!
Sorry - Crump is a very smart man - he is a master manipulator, don't underestimate him (of course he has a coterie of similarly minded advisors). Sewer rat skills.
Trump is cunning and gutter smart. But, he is not a thinker and, in my view, is incapable of analytical thinking. He operates on the level of a wild animal and, thus, can inflict serious damage. I really doubt he had the intelligence or discipline to graduate from U. Penn, like he claims. So, in my book, Trump is a dummy, as evidenced by his constant admissions of criminal responsibility for his attempted coup. Instinctual behavior does not, in my book, equate to intelligence.
I used to think that, and, certainly, his academic record probobaly indicates a low ability to learn in an academic environment.
However, although I cannot see it, my wife says she can feel the appeal Trump has. He mixes comedy with hate with making people feel special in an unusual way.
Trump is highly intelligent at making people who feel small feel big (white people mostly but some hispanics and blacks too).
So, Trump has a certain kind of intelligence. That of a high functioning Charlatan.
And his coup de gras, “They are not coming after me, they are coming after you.” “Making people who feel small, feel big.” Nailed it Mike. Did you read “Adventurers of a Bystander” by Peter Drucker. Page 164, nothing ever said it better…
We need to find another phrase to describe trump. Saying he’s “not a smart man” is like a balm for us. Yet this “not smart man” has outsmarted the majority of Americans for six years. I think that alone is one of the perverse appeals of trump to his supports ( who HATE us and want nothing other than to “own the libs”). We have to do better. Trump will not be brought down by our “justice system” (or “system” as I observe it), because he tested the fence on this his whole life and knows he can buy “justice” and public adulation. Easy, peasey. We have to show that trump is not good for his followers. Only they can bring him down and stop the insanity. Our work is to dispassionately show that the future for all of us is better with out tump.
First of all, I hope that the storm moving up the East Coast did not cause too much damage in your part of Maine.
OK, now on to Trump. Please everyone, chill out! Commentators on MSNBC were apoplectic today! The TFG's threats were dissected, inspected, projected, diced, sliced etc.
However, 2024 is still a long time away. One fear is that a court case may go against TFG and he calls his supporters to take to the streets. I'm just not sure whom he would sic them on. Another fear is the undoing that can result if the Republicans take over the House in November.
Be patient; have faith in the January 6th Committee; watch the Republicans squirm as the heat is turned up. Between the court cases and the House Committee, the evidence against TFG will become overwhelming. Gosh, I sure hope I'm right!!!
Mina, time is arguably subjective. The midterms are right on the unprepared Democratic Party's doorstep, and 2024 is close behind. Maybe I've been living on COVID time too long, but 2019 seems like yesterday.
Of course we all fear violence and mayhem in the streets, but between that and an un-jailed Trump heading into the next elections, better the mayhem. Maybe Jan. 6th was not enough of an educational experience for many Americans, and we know they are not likely to hit the books anytime soon. But our government and courts must not be afraid of enforcing the law, which until further notice , is still the same for everyone.
Merrick Garland, are you listening?
Trump has been digging his own grave long enough and deep enough. Time to bury him.
Kathleen, I think we are past the point where we can wait and hope for a political solution to the Big Lie. Too many Americans appear to have lost their capacity for logical reasoning, and our digital world reinforces all their worst fears about the rest of us. This is happening in real time and in the absence of any above-the-fray authority of reference, not even our worn-around-the-edges Constitution. Greed rules, while generosity and tolerance are in short supply, and Americans are going full tribal.
Everyone who participated in planning or promoting the events of Jan. 6th needs to be investigated, interrogated, and -- as appropriate -- jailed to await trial. A few folks will slip through the cracks, some will exploit the legal system itself to avoid punishment and others will claim that the law is being used as a substitute for politics. Perhaps, in the final analysis, our laws and Constitution will not be able to save us from ourselves, but if we wait very much longer before arresting Trump and the worst of his toadies, there will be be no laws left, nothing even remotely democratic, and our lives will become the survival of the fittest, in the most bestial, Darwinian sense.
... in which case, the fittest will prevail ... look at these folks - they don't look that fit to me - in fact, they look downright unhealthy - worst of all, living a lie, guided by no deep conscience beyond preservation of self-interest and personal gain regardless of expense and consequence to others ... they may be able to win with laws and Constitution so deeply flawed (see how we got here in the first place) but the spoils of their victory would be spoiled from the start - rotten to the core - lacking substance, conscience and integrity they cannot prevail ... and people of conscience and integrity have a ripe opportunity to generate a fresh body of law that, in fact, serves truth, justice and freedom for all ... for real ... as Peter Burnett said yesterday:
"But darkness and light are not equals. Light shines, dispels darkness. Darkness cannot dispel light. Dark clouds may come, tornadoes of delusion may cross the Great Plains. They pass. Truth remains.
"They will try try to place a lid on Truth, they will try to screw it down. We know their foolishness will fail. We know that we are free -- we know that we ARE Freedom. So we shall overcome.
'Let us be aware of this now -- aware no less of the immense task, the immense responsibility that lies upon all men and women of goodwill -- and move forward now, drawing on the power of certainty that Truth will prevail. They cannot bury the light, they cannot unshine the sun."
I know what you're saying Mike - not just for black Americans either - so many suffer the difference ... friends of mine who have been through the worst of it light the way for me with their persistance, determination and indefatigable good will - in this very real way, light does dispel darkness ... so keep an open heart and carry on - we are paving the way into a more enlightened world with attitudes we hold, choices we make and actions we take through it all ....
While I agree with you wholeheartedly, I worry that it will be impossible to seat a jury unbiased enough to convict him. If 75 million of our fellow citizens still believe his shit, how in the name of god will any prosecution team be able to get a conviction? I fear we will have hung juries over and over.
Well, Dick, if under our system of government and jurisprudence a criminal can avoid arrest and trial by virtue of his popularity among a sizeable hunk of the population and the effect this may have on the selection of impartial juries, then we are screwed. But I'll have to see it to believe it.
I do believe that during jury selection potential jurors are questioned by prosecution and defense lawyers under oath, meaning that if they lie it constitutes a crime (perjury) punishable by fines and incarceration. Assuming Justice Dept. lawyers know how to ask the right questions, and the judge is not himself corrupt or ideological in his judgements, I think even folks who voted for Trump or actively support him might think twice before lying under oath.
While it may be hard to find jurors who have no preconceived notions about Trump, ours is a big country full of folks who follow politics about as much as I follow high fashion, which is to say not at all.
I suspect that IF tfg comes to trial, who the judge is appointed to the case will be as important or more than the jurors seated. Judge shopping and tfg appointments were always cornerstones in tfg's strategies. Do it. Get accused. Hire a flock of best defense lawyers. Pick the judge (now, among those he appointedted). Go through the theater performance. Negotiate the lowest fine. Get your accuser to pay the legal fees which usually bankruptcy the victim. Walk away. Empty the shells from the gun and wipe the knife clean on the schmuck's lapel, all on 5th Avenue before lunch at the Savoy.
You could well be right and I would like to think that you are. I remember the OJ trial which to anyone that watched it was a slam dunk, and how it turned out. I used to see Ron Goldman's father at Costco, he is buried in the cemetary next door to it, and while I never spoke to him, I didn't want to invade his privacy, my heart went out to him for what he endured. The OJ verdict will pale in the national psyche compared to a hung jury or acquittal of the imbecilic clown that put us through so much.
So sorry that my history book omitted so much, like the picnics after church and before the lynchings. Family time for some. We have so much to face and stop hiding from.
David, I'm happy to have started a very good conversation and appreciate your thoughtful comments and those of the others who replied. I admit that I was a bit flippant in my posting. In truth, anyone who doesn't worry some about TFG probably has his or her head in the sand. However, we need to balance awareness and involvement with the calm that allows us to enjoy every day that we're alive.
Oh wait, I though TFG said it was Antifa? Who is he going to pardon then? Is Susan Collins having trouble with reality?
Remember Pardons are an admission of guilt. So…thank you for the heads up HCR. Some heavy indictments must be coming this week.
And maybe that’s why the market is tanking when the economy is stronger than ever per the last 35 years. The market is beginning to factor in TFG not going away, a distraction to solving the most deadly pandemic in over 100 years, which without focused global cooperation will linger, supply chains continually strained, promises of continued social division and unrest, a leader of one of two major American political parties is calling for street violence against the the other and the upholding of sacred law and order.
Does that sound like a good place to invest your money???
Maybe the coming sell off will make some big donors think again.
Maybe it is also the “weakness” that Fiona Hill warned Putin is calculating or senses, or just seeks to destabilize. Is it a coincidence that Putin will ratchet up Ukraine threats this week as his Patsy TFG gets indicted? There’s more than one front here with the attacks on democracy.
If Putin orders an invasion of Ukraine, I suspect it will happen when the weather is right and the Winter Olympics are over. Why? So Russian tanks and other equipment aren't bogged down by mud, and so his ally Xi Jinping can bask in the global limelight of games without the news focused on a rampaging war.
Heather, you ask, "What will the Republican leaders who have tied themselves to Trump say now that he has openly admitted he was trying to destroy our democracy?" 1) They will deny he said it. 2)Shown a clip of him saying it, they will say it was taken out of context, 3) Shown the whole thing in context they will say he didn't really mean it. 4) Shown that he has said he meant it, they will say Dems are making too big a deal of it because they know he's telling the truth (yes, I know it makes no sense, but that's what will be said). 5) And finally, when all is said and done, they won't care. That's the part that gets to me. They don't care.
Dr. R you have a funny way of taking the night off. Thankfully for us and democracy. Bless you and please rest! We need you STRONG!!
But each of us must also take responsibility and not depend upon her to do all of the work.
My first thought exactly! If this is taking the night off…sigh.
My thoughts exactly!
Tart cherries are said to be a natural source of melatonin, a sleep aid.
Exactly my thoughts. I am so grateful for Dr. Richardson’s work ethic and for her intelligent discussions.
“What will Republicans say?” Crickets. For they, like Collins, fear for both their political lives and personal safety. trump seems the never ending dystopian nightmare. That he is still a free man is quite remarkable, to me. How can we continue to have faith in a country that has allowed this narcissistic criminal so much leash for so long? His legal exposure extends well before he ran for president, not to mention legal exposure during his presidency. Is this simply a case of our inherent difficulty in holding the wealthy accountable under the law?
Every morning I stab my Drump dog toy with thumbtacks hoping that it causes him harm. I'm hoping for a stroke or such, but I'll take anything. Goodness knows the places I stab him will debilitate him greatly. LOL One can hope...
You must be from New Orleans 😉Has me thinking back a few years past, when there was a global wide meditation day. The thinking was that if enough people meditated at the same time we could alter the trajectory of the universe. In keeping with that idea perhaps we could have a national pin sticking day? Whatever it takes, right?
I'm in!!
Cracked me up!!! 🤣😂
Not from NO, but I'm all for a national sticking day. Just draw a picture of #45, pin it on a bulletin board, and stick away!! The more the merrier and hopefully success.
There are actual trump voodoo dolls. How does one begin to start a national sticking day?
Every day at the light of day.
Christi, try bigger pins....
😁
Keep jabbing!
But, if it were a stroke that took him down, would the Democrats push the case that it was the wrath of God that struck him down for attempting to destroy the nation created for Him? Jesting on a cold Monday.
You have inspired me. I shall join you in your efforts!
I wish Garland and the DOJ would do SOMETHING. I heard recently that Garland seems to be awaiting the Committee's resolution on the 1/6 debacle. There is absolutely NO reason for Garland to wait to act.
Lawrence Tribe says Garland is on it. I trust Lawrence Tribe.
I like Tribe. But, in this instance will not hold my breath.
This is such a clear case of "hiding in plain sight" - only this time it was SPOKEN and recorded and reported. Basically, "Yeah, I did it and I'll do it again. So what?"
And, STILL, he has a massive following.
Yes there is. Perhaps we should trust the line of dominoes in place. You know, the ones not clumsily lined up by Republican democracy killers.
Can’t seem to “heart” your statement. Maybe, just maybe, a wide net will be cast to round up TFG and his evil cohorts altogether in one fell swoop from Georgia, New York, and the DOJ. Wishful thinking…
I am of the thinking that the first indictment will come hard, because of the huge blow back but it will happen and then all of the rest will jump in to see who can bring the second indictment. My guess is that the first will be Georgia.
Lawrence Tribe says Garland is on it. I trust Tribe.
But But ------WHEN??? Good grief! I don't need a law degree to follow this line of illegal bullshit from Trump! What is WITH Garland anyway???
I was ready to see him hung like a horse thief the minute he and his Russian pirates stole the election. I am impatient too. But we vigilente citizens must not use vigilant law because it’s irrational elements can also be applied to us willy-nilly. Much as I want the rape rob and pillage to stop, I want the respectability of USA law with its higher value to really put him and his whole gang out of business forever because then its legitimacy can’t be questioned.
refresh and you can "heart"
Especially if the 1/6 committee rolls into spring or beyond.
That is indeed worrisome. Could play right into the hands of the right wing domestic enemies.
I was ready to see him hung like a horse thief the minute he and his Russian pirates stole the election. I am impatient too. But we vigilente citizens must not use vigilantee law because it’s irrational elements can also be applied to us willy-nilly. Much as I want the rape rob and pillage to stop, I want the respectability of USA law with its higher value to really put him and his whole gang out of business forever because then its legitimacy can’t be questioned. I think they should all be stripped of their US citizenship and packed off to Russia.
From Glenn Kirschner's column, 31 January: "Ultimately, if the Justice Department doesn’t prosecute Trump and he runs for re-election in 2024, we can expect him to talk about his “confirmed innocence” at every rally. Trump will say the DOJ has had no problems with his actions since 2016. He will boast that the DOJ's considered decision not to bring a single criminal charge against him is proof positive that he did absolutely nothing wrong. And if the need ever arises, he may have no qualms about trying it all again."
I like the "Russian pirate" analogy. So apropos of this moment. But, I also believe punishment and penalty must "fit the crime", which in this case is the wholesale blood letting of our nation. The application and appropriation of law must be fair and balanced. But . . . it also must be decisive and harsh when such evil deeds are exercised against an entire nation of people. There was a time in history when such tyrannical thugs would have been hanged. We have become victims of our own efforts to litigate everything to the point of exhaustion and frustration.
"Is this simply a case of our inherent difficulty in holding the wealthy accountable under the law?" Yes, that and more. Senator Collins says she still may support trump in 2024, and he in turn calls her "wacky Susan Collins". The fact that so many congressmen/women are afraid of trump is a sign of the weakness of Congress. Color them Wimp. The longer trump avoids justice, the weaker our country becomes. The world must be wondering, "What ever happened to the leadership of the U.S.?" The answer has to be that most are bought and paid for.
You reminded me of a book written by Ariana Huffington: "Pigs at the tough", about the Corporate feeding of gluttonous politicians. "leader"-ship. Almost totally absent. Collins: She has been mentally vapid for years. Despite the best efforts of many right-minded folk, Trump may get off Scot-free. Sad, is it not!
If trump gets off Scot-free, I'll have absolutely no faith remaining in our government. Even now, I can't help but believe that dem. and repub. slugs are negotiating backroom deals about this and their insider trading deals and any other way to scam the American public.
Well, it took many years for me to become exceptionally cynical and skeptical. What the pols do in front of the camera is their public persona. It is what they do unseen and unheard that determines the fate of our country; and, as careerist politicians.
Meant to write tRough . . . Ho hum. That secretary!! 😈
Substack has gifted us with 3 little dots that open an edit function …
WOW! Thank you! 😊👍👏
Good help is so hard to find... I thought "tough" might have been a very subtle wordplay.
Me, I have fumble fingers and don't always catch the error! LOL!
😊👍👏🍀
Holding the wealthy and the government accountable for law. For aren’t We the People the government? TFG has committed his crimes with assistance, often in broad daylight. Americans voted for him knowing the truth before the 2016 election. And in 2020. His accomplices have served time for his misdeeds, yet he continues to avoid prosecution himself. And hasn’t government set him free by vote after impeachments? How surprised can we be? Now, in 2022, will he meet his Waterloo?
My guess is that personal safety is the deciding factor why anyone would go against this mob style boss. Horrifying what money can buy!
Fani Willis has just today asked for security assistance from the FBI based upon that rally. https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/georgia-prosecutor-asks-fbi-for-security-help-after-trump-rally-comments/ar-AATktgP?ocid=msedgntp
Such a twisted and evil person to bring the threat of harm to anyone. I am not sure why the country, especially law enforcement and legal system has allowed this to go on. His rights as a citizen long sense expired. He does not fit in anywhere in the universe of normal, decent, law abiding behavior
That tirade in Conroe, TX amounted to many, many loud screams of "fire" in a crowded theater if one considers that all those cultists in attendance were there on tenterhooks, just waiting to be ignited and unleashed on anyone they choose.
You are correct. He has gathered up the tinder, and is the spark. It is a fire that will be difficult to put out
As strange a suggestion as it may seem, what about an executive order to just go ahead and arrest him. Now.
I like that idea. One more demonstration of intent and purpose of the support of the 1/6 Committee. Move forward. I foolishly thought TFG would be arrested by NY right after his term ended. Wrong! Too much talk and time for more crimes. The Impeachment should have started that day, 1/6, the real domestic terrorism that attempted to steal the election. When even repubs were temporarily terrified.
Executive order? Why not? See Ellen's comments above.
Thanks for sharing the link
In this case it is what he is a able to do from a bully pulpit not just the money he is welding from donations.
WhiIe I have no doubt there are millions of Americans standing with you in the belief that the loser should be held to account in a court of law, the only hope of that is a rock solid case of evidence comprised of facts and documentation. The Jan. 6 Committee is doing that job now, along with the independent investigations of three jurisdictions, but it will take the A.G. and DOJ to fulfill the mission. We have already seen two separate opportunities presented to the U.S. Congress and a solid block of obstruction lead by McConnell and cowardly or corrupt Republican Congressmen and Senators who chose to turn a blind eye in exchange for campaign funds, the avoidance of threats, and the 'branding' of schoolyard labels. Yes, it seems clear to many of us that his legal exposure was evident before, during, and after his election to the office of potus but he always seemed to have rich and powerful friends who continue to cover for him and bail him out. It is obvious he never saw a rule of law or standard of ethics or morality he considered applicable to him if it got in the way of what he wanted. It will take a morally strong and determined justice system (from investigators, prosecutors, lower and upper courts and SCOTUS justices) to bring the corruption of the loser and his administration to accountability. I wish I could believe that this country has the fortitude and stomach to see it through.
Those "rich and powerful" friends includes a potent swath of the MEDIA. Trump's camp houses a huge population of disloyalists and fascists. Republicans care about our Republic only when it suits their quest for totalitarian power. "Fortitude and stomach" have become casualties among many who sold out country many elections ago.
Money talks and for those with a few, but not enough, scruples, look the other way, pretend it’s business as usual, FEAR. Whatever his MO, TFG has perfected it over a lifetime. But as I asked before, is this the time he meets his Waterloo?
I agree. Bob Woodward wrote in his book "Fear", Trump defined 'power' as fear. I guess with friends like Jeffrey Epstein he didn't need to go far to find "friends" and others who would provide whatever fear Trump couldn't. Too bad his father and monied friends bailed him out so many times. He never learned any of the lessons his previous failures should have taught him.
Jeff, thank you for your comment. By the age of 13 most of us had the emotional and social skills to see through and deal with punks like Trump and Gingrich. The Republicans will not address what Trump is doing as they are benefiting from it. They have nothin to offer so they rely on obstruction and playin off of rage . On the right we have enablers/emboldeners like Susan "oh he's learned his lesson" Collins. And on the left we have hand wringing and "have you no shame" verbal masturbation. And no they have no shame.
No wonder so many of us who see our democracy at risk are feeling scared and helpless.
I think of Sonny Corleone in "Godfather" and his expressing his concern that planting a gun in the restroom for his brother to use kill a crooked cop and other enemies of the family. I don't want my brother to come from that bathroom with nothing but his dick in his hand.
Yeah that's what it feels like.
i
The root of the problem: There are no REAL leaders. I listened to part of Biden's broadcast this morning. He bumbled and stumbled through, even while reading his text. This is shameful; absolutely shameful.
Isn't Biden allowed to have an off day? Compared to TFG, he's doing a MUCH better job. Maybe President Biden has a LOT on his mind. He's had to deal with SO MUCH in ONE year. I for one am incredibly GRATEFUL President Biden is the leader he is, in so many ways. So, while I too may cringe while Biden has the occasional stumble, I'll take him ANY day!
I support his efforts. He has an unimaginable amount of stuff on his plate. He is essentially the torch bearer of the free world for starters. He is one brave man to be willing to tackle all of what we face
Make no mistake, I like Biden and I voted for him. Still, he IS on the world stage as our country's #1 representative. The damage done by and being done by TrumpiNazi will take years to repair, understanding that 100% repair will not take place. His minions are still hard at work trying to dismantle our Republic.
OK - I get it. But, despite ALL of the good President Biden has done, he's getting so little recognition for ALL of the good he has done (pointing to the American press). So, I will defend him because he IS putting in the hours and the work since he started just over a year ago. Yes, there is a LOT of damage to repair and that does take time - and yes, there will be a few bad days.
The press/MEDIA has been wholly unfair to Biden. Much of the media thrives on the daily celebration of Trump. The Democrats should blown their own horn, and make certain that takes place. Trump got away with (thus far) treason. We hear about his assaults every day. Biden should be getting more frontline news.
In the current 2 Party setup we do not have much choice, but to support the bumblers because behind Biden, there are a lot of talented, madder than wet hens folks who are in the fight. Looking for a leader is always a dangerous gambit. Look where it has taken the Republican Party. It will take all of us collectively to steer us out of this mess.
Please remember that he has a life long problem with stuttering. I expect that things like being short on sleep or emotional impact can affect that issue.
Agree, it is a complete mystery to me.
“Is this simply a case of our inherit difficulty in holding the wealthy accountable under the law?”
Tale as old as time. :’-(
The particular perfidy of Susan Collins is that she has nothing to fear. Collins' reputation for bipartisanship, independence, and civility is running on fumes, but that is compensated for by the inertia of voters and even of the Bangor Daily News which endorsed Collins. It displays a profound inattention and lack of imagination.
Collins could call her own tune but choses to dance to Trump and McConnell whistling Dixie.
I was very surprised at the vote when Collins was re-elected. Although, when you think about all the campaign money she got from McConnell...
You hit the nail on the head! Both campaigns were awash in money, much from outside of the state and some dark money, which disgusted a lot of people. But Collins rolled in the pork barrels and that was good PR.
Maybe Christi McG, down below, can come up with a Susan Collins dog toy she can stab with thumbtacks. 😃
I don't have a great sense of humor. And I have trouble with violent fantasies.
Of course, my revenge fantasy is that these Republicans live to 150 - under the conditions they inflict and want to inflict on others. Less than minimum wage in a meat processing plant. Living on a toxic waste site, in barely affordable dumps, and with scum landlords. No Social Security, Medicare, or FoodStamps. No access to any healthcare or social safety net. No heat assistance. etc etc
Oh, and as oppressed minorities subject to police brutality.
Because I don't 'get' funny but I can be really mean.
Well said.
Amen!
Many,many years ago when I first learned about Hitler, I said to my Father, “how could the Germans have allowed this to happen? How could the world have allowed this to happen?” I still remember the look on his face when he had no answer. He described a sermon he heard in 1939 as a high school student warning about Hitler but nothing clear after that. By summer a million people will have died of Covid because of this compulsive lying bully who mismanaged the virus response because the early victims were not his followers. Thanks to HCR, we have a documented history. Are we smart and brave enough to use it? Republican legislators were eye witnesses to January 6 and they are still silent and loyal. Look at the lowlifes this corrupt p o s has already pardoned, what he has done to the legal system and what will happen very shortly when the primaries begin. It’s not November, it’s March we have to worry about.
I no longer wonder about how the Nazi horror happened
Same here. The Cult of Trump has been a shocking lesson. They are like a pack of vicious snarling dogs ready to be let loose with a few getting loose in the interim. I had always believed the old adage it matters which wolf you feed, but never imagined so many could be so terribly ugly. Did you see the news of a group of Nazi’s on a bridge in FL snarling at children going by?? 😳
Nazis on a bridge?? Where and when was that?
Florida on the 22nd
🤬🤬🤬
Just noticed that it's included in a CNN had a Special Report. It recorded Sunday night the 30th of January.
I’m so torn about spreading links to this grotesque behavior, I’ll probably delete it shortly. Also of note they spelled Brandon “Branon”. It’s a given they can’t spell apparently
Nor can they read what's on their nice new T-shirts. They recognise the five letters starting with T and ending with P.
Shit shit SHIT!! 🤬🤬🤬🤬
A few places in the U.S had these bizarre, not certain what to call them. Wolves they are. 😞😢
Werewolves... Don't insult the real animals by associating them with debased humans.
Thank you - on behalf of the wolves
I have to admit that I too couldn’t understand how Hitler prevailed for so long in broad daylight. But now I understand. Still I’m shocked. And I wonder, Is there no escaping? Our voices and votes don’t seem to be swift enough.
Persist and never give up.
Hitler had a thug behind every door.
I so agree, it is like watching the rerun of a terrifying movie but it is happening in real time before our eyes.
Gigi, you are so right. On Saturday my husband and I were outside covering our plants for the “hard freeze” (got down to 27). A man came over asking what to do as he had just moved from somewhere up north. Bold as anything, he was wearing a “Trump 2024” hat. I can’t tell you how much that angered me. It wasn’t just the brazenness in a new neighborhood, but the fact that he could still support this imbecilic criminal was staggering. I wanted to tell him to wait until I went inside to get my Biden hat but instead just gave him as little information as I could. I hope his plants all die and his pool pump freezes. 😡
Odds are, he was hoping you'd start something. That's what these people are like. If he can annoy you enough, he thinks he's "owning the libs." That, I would bet, is the alpha and omega of his politics.
Standing outside of my branch library this morning, waiting for it to open, there were 4 of us, 3 wearing masks. The 4th person, a man (no surprise) not wearing a mask, immediately spoke to a man wearing a mask and called him a sheep, that all of us wearing masks are sheep, and said that Covid is a hoax. Unfortunately, the man wearing the mask bit and began talking back at the unmasked guy until it reached a point where the guy without mask approached the masked guy, literally nose-to-nose, arguing that he used to be a U.S. Marine. Guy with mask told him to get out of his face and responded that maskless guy was an insult to the USMC. There was a bit more but fortunately no overt violence. Eventually, just before the doors opened, unmasked guy walked away without attempting to enter the library where masks are mandatory. I was amused to note as he walked away that he had a mask attached to his wrist. The trick, as with the new neighbor, is to not take the bait, don't give a jerk like that the satisfaction of "debating" with him.
Yes. Performative assholery. It's all they know how to do. They think it shows they're "strong" instead of just obnoxious.
It’s hard to tell if a person is just misguided or worse. At least in the beginning. You might find out quickly with a bumper sticker or window sign but be careful. Very careful.
I would refuse to help and request the person leave my property immediately.
I was physically attack by a Trumper in 2018 and the police did nothing.
William, I’m sorry about you being attacked. It’s no joke any longer. Trumpers have been given permission to wave confederate flags and hang nooses as open threats in my area. It’s not only intimidating. It’s dangerous and frightening. Especially if law enforcement looks the other way. I don’t have to tell you to be careful. But what Do we do?
I can't forget Kamala Harris's campaign van being run off the road.
How horrible!😡
I'm afraid I see dueling yard signs in your future. 😱🧐😡🤯😳🤢🤮
I would just let him know he’ll be welcome if he can lose that hat. Otherwise keep his need to be ruled by a Putinesque dictator on his own property.
That will probably happen anyway. And keep a Biden hat concealed in a handy place. Like a pocket. N.B. I reply in jest. There is danger.
I added another post later but wanted to respond to yours. Of course the question of "How could the Germans allowed this to happen" is one that many of us have lived with our entire lives, and the responses are many and complicated. I mention later that I have documents from German relatives, and I am reading them now precisely because they tell stories about how each of them, as individuals succumbed to Hitler's power. Part of what is interesting is that though there are parallels to what is going on here now, there are also differences. The people whose stories I am reading are educated, thoughtful, compassionate, kind people, most of the time in their pre-Hitler lives. One was a social worker, working with small children and the poorest of the poor in various German cities. Others had friends who were Jews or political dissenters, some in jail, and they helped them get released or later helped them leave Germany. Nevertheless they originally supported and even welcomed Hitler, in spite of his unabashed anti-Semitism and other extremely troublesome warning signs. I suppose really this even goes on now--those who are at least complicit with Trump are not all worthless low-lifes, and in fact it is dangerous for us to portray them as such. That they are violent in language and increasingly in behavior should be called out. That they are susceptible to believing obvious lies, or spreading information they know not to be true, must also be called out. To portray them as stupid and evil (though I, too, have had such thoughts) is in itself a reaction to them that is dangerous. But look at the Republicans in the Senate, not a one (unless someone said something sane today) effectively taking on the call to violence. My husband tells me (I don't know the source) that all it takes to create an authoritarian regime is 1) control of the information 2) control of the violence and 3) a charismatic leader. We're pretty much there, although we have a moral obligation to counteract the first two in all the ways we can, and well, do what we can about the third one. To denigrate the humanity of others does not contribute anything. I am not criticizing your post, just using what you said to begin to say things that are on my mind.
What is significant to me is that there were some, Jews and nonJews, who did not support and welcome Hitler, from the beginning.
I have been asking the WHY and HOW questions regarding the defeated and failed Xv45 for 6 years now. So many of us have friends and family members in the cult of idjt that believe me, I am not saying they are “worthless low-life or denigrating their humanity.” I am asking about the loss of basic human decency and respect. Even the supposedly religious are overtaken by greed, chip on the shoulder, (I totally agree with Stephen Strange that they do like to annoy us to prove their superiority), cult of celebrity, having been carefully taught, fear, etc. Repubs in Congress and Senate are a good example of the silence. The sense of decency question supposedly stopped Joe McCarthy after more than 4 years of chaos. There is no simple answer but if we miss choosing the best opponents in the primaries we are sunk. There are no super hero to save us from the idjt and his bullies.
Maybe I said it wrong, but I agree with you--some people are true believers and others just pass on what they know are lies. I hope I understood you correctly...
I feel the same. We are in a very scary time. I just don't understand what people see in that narcissistic, divisive, deviant.
I was looking at him "doing" The Snake the other night. Slimy, shiny, super-confident. Maybe they see him doing all the things we used to be told were naughty, and getting praised for it. He justifies their own weaknesses.
So often I wished that my Dad would have lived long enuf for me to ask him about the Holocaust.
You can ask me, Kathy, as I am the daughter of Holocaust victims.
Is anyone else having trouble hearting comments? Some work and some don’t. Marlene, I so appreciate you offering to share with Kathy. Your openness and kindness keeps doors of truth and reality open.
Thank you, Mitzi. I am going to write to substack.com and ask them to kindly fix this annoying problem.
refresh the screen and you can heart comments
Keep hearting. It's a bit slow. Have faith.
I can't tell you how humble your reply makes me feel. I was 14 when my Dad died, and we had been close. I was still 14 when I found a book by Leon Uris in my school library. And then I read the next one he wrote. And I was horrified. No one had ever mentioned this to me, at home or in school. And I was angry that my parents had never said a word to me or any of my brothers and sisters......very angry. Why had this been a secret? Several years later, my class read The Diary of Anne Frank but there was little discussion. Was it not important to talk about it? Was it guilt? Was it confusion about how to talk to kids about it? Why was it ignored?
Kathy, I was raised in small town USA North Carolina. My sister and I were the only Jews in school. My parents ran a clothing store which was very typical for immigrants to do, especially in the 40’s and 50’s. My mother came from Berlin and my father, from Poland. They each lost close relatives plus a boyfriend and a wife. My dad came to America in 1938. He had a sponsor, his uncle, who lived in NC. My father did not speak a word of English but he quickly caught on. He joined the Army so they would send him to Europe but they sent him to the Pacific Theater instead. My mother came over on the USS Cunard which left out of Liverpool in December of 1939. She knew broken English as she was taught it as a second language. The two met in 1946 through my father’s cousin who ended up being my mom’s girlfriend. Six weeks later they married in the Catskill Mountains and then left for NC to start a business. Can’t say they married for love. They married for companionship and had the same goals…survival.
Oddly enough, our public school, which was heavily funded by the furniture factories of Broyhill and Bernhardt, provided great teachers who informed us the best way they could, about history and civics. What we didn’t learn was the horrible aspects of slavery and the atrocities that happened to African Americans and the role that NC played. That was completely covered up, even when our schools finally integrated in 1964, my freshman year of high school. I sincerely doubt that the teachers even knew about all of what happened. If our African American teachers did know, they were very careful not to “make waves”. I believe my parents succumbed to this, as well. Look, on every corner was a Baptist Church! If it wasn’t the 1st Baptist, it was the 2nd and so on.
We always knew we were different but I can honestly say people never called me a “kike”. So many stories to tell…
Thank you for sharing. An emotional journey thru memories has a place here...a place meaningful to us who watch and wonder.
And I am just one of many…
I am a bit older but from furniture city (big chair) NC. I don’t remember my parents denigrating Jews but occasionally disparaged blacks. Of course, blacks were kept on the “other side of town.” We had a school janitor loved by all. He and his family lived on school grounds but his kids could not attend my school. Seemed ok at the time since we were poor as dirt but later these things ate at me. I grew up. Left NC. Some never did either. So true about the churches, but the Christian’s I knew then seemed a cut above the Pharisees of today. Also true that not all cult nuts are evil. But people I once respected, I can not look at today. The ignorance seems deliberate and calculated. Who can respect that.
I wondered for so many years. Now I know. It is all who stayed silent.
😔😞😢
"Their MO of overtly crowing how they tried to overturn the election is clearly meant to telegraph that no one in their right mind would publicly admit such a thing if they knew they were breaking the law." Since when is not knowing one is breaking the law a defense? I've always heard "ignorance of the law is no defense". Yet I've read that this may be an argument to be brought by T's lawyers in Georgia if he's charged with seeking to overturn election results in Georgia.
His words are recorded. I was going to say "on tape", but that's become just a figure of speech.
I appreciate your sentiment, but the Select Committee is not a court of justice. Its purpose is to gather testimony and documents to craft legislation to fix a problem. They refer matters for prosecution to the Department of Justice.
Absolutely! It's very disconcerting that people who are members of my community openly support this hateful ideology. If only it's an ideology. I'm afraid that ideaa will become actions. We ain't seen nothing yet. I hope that I'm wrong
Read HITLERS WILLING EXECUTIONERS by Daniel Goldhagen, 1996
Thank you for the update detailing Trump's open admission that he attempted an illegal coup.
Apparently, EVEN OPEN. BLATANT, RECORDED ADMISSION OF A HIGH CRIME ON VIDEO IS NOT ENOUGH TO GET RICH WHITE MEN ARRESTED IN THE good ole USA.
Disgusting. Really.
His call for help from the Russians, "if they were listening" wasn't enough.
I wonder if he really can shoot someone on 5th Ave and get away with it.
Yes, I think he could. The legal system is designed to protect him, NOT arrest him.
Yes - he'd plead self-defense.
Hitler got away with a lot more for a long time with the support of many.
Lynn, yes, he can and fully intends to moving forward.
I’m thinking with the GOP in control he will be able to.
Trump was a hardened, gangster like criminal in NY City for nearly 40 years and was never arrested or even charged with a crime.
In fact, he was rewarded. The more rules he broke, the more people he shafted with bankruptcy, the BETTER the elite liked him.
MikeS, I don’t think the elite EVER liked him. That is part of his resentment.
Maybe they did not like him, but, they kept him on the team. Bloomberg routinely golfed with him. Many NY elite stayed on his good side.
Reason: They ADMIRED what he was doing.
Screwing the "little people" d'you mean?
Follow the money. They were joined in protecting their wealth, power, and privilege.
I think rather they FEARED what he might do to harm them. The choreographed rallies make him feel liked.
And so disgusting, he was elected with voters knowing about his bankruptcies (I’m a great businessman), his taxes (under audit?) his sexual assaults and accusations and more and more. Is that called transparency? Enough votes to, legal or illegal, continue his crimes in plain sight. And why not? He must be feeling he has immunity. Or impunity. But he wasn’t voted in or supported by only the wealthy, was he? Look at his base. The wealthy aren’t wearing red hats. And so far he’s spot on.
His iteration of The American Dream is A Nightmare
He's desperate. He's going to get nailed.
Of course he can
Of course, he can.
With all the evidence there is in the hands of the January 6th Committee and I assume the DOJ, I simply cannot understand why trump and the cabal "leadership" are not in jail awaiting trial on numerous charges - any one alone is more than enough! What in heaven's name is the delay?! It just doesn't make any sense. And, "the wheels of justice grind slowly" is not a valid reason.
Two years for the Mueller report, two impeachments, an attempted coup (filmed live with emails, phone calls, evidence galore), "ongoing" IRS investigations (charity and business fraud), and so much more and the result is nothing - the bottom line is trump still lives free, has a podium, a microphone, and spews unmitigated garbage all the while it is covered by the media. Nothing, absolutely nothing will ever move the needle for whatever that is that calls itself the republican party. Not only is trump certifiably nuts, the democrats are invoking the definition of insanity . . . . “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.” - Albert Einstein
I have a feeling that once the Jan. 6th committee starts having public hearings this month there is going to be plenty of uproar. I'm hoping the number of high level people in the Congress and DT administration going to jail including DT himself will make Watergate look like a picnic. President Biden certainly won't repeat President Ford's pardon!
... also, if they jump ahead and 'push the river' it can be painted as the oppressive 'democrat' government impinging on individual freedom of 'patriots' exercising their god-given rights ... if they let the drama play out, while continuing to investigate and expose the real story, the difference between truth and falsehood will become undeniably clear - even to those who complain so loudly with no real concern for facts on the ground - then, the call for retribution will come from 'the people' - not just from the government and those 'evil socialistic liberals' who support it ... we have to transcend conflicted partisan contention if we hope to move forward with coherent, effective government ... only truth will set us free ....
When a prosecutor has a bunch of liars and other disreputable ppl for witnesses, s/he must have myriad other sources of info to make the case. In this case the cost of not getting tfg the first time is very high.
There is a small slice of humanity that will not be pushed under, will not be cowed, regardless of the personal cost to themselves. It’s a remarkable trait, a courage that encompasses all the kinds of courage people have - moral, physical, intellectual. Alexei Navalny is an outstanding example of one with this trait. Whatever Putin throws at him serves not to cow him, but to further inflame his sense of outraged justice.
Closer to home, there are Americans who have displayed this same trait. Gretchen Whitmer comes to mind as one who would not be intimidated. On a National level I feel that the Select Committee must embody that as a group. They are hyper aware that what they are doing is defiantly public. The hearings will animate those who send death threats and perhaps those who carry them out against them. Their fate, should Trump be elected in 2024, is sealed. None would remain at liberty long enough to see much of 2025. Yet they carry on, creating the only historical record that will ring down through the ages that follow. And they are doing their work with immense tactical wisdom, unflinchingly, and certainly without fear nor favor. This group deserves enormous gratitude from those who support decency in public life. They are not poking at the hornet’s nest with a long and distant stick. They are right up close, peering into the centre of it, stings be damned.
I have not seen that open courage at the DOJ. To date, Garland has struck me as a decent and learned man, but the antithesis of aggressive. He has spoken once about pursuing this case to levels higher than the insurrectionists. But the better part of his speech (‘better’ in the sense of longer) was spent on an elementary primer on how a typical investigation works - from the bottom up, turning witnesses against higher-ups as you go. This struck me at the time as defensive, a plea to be honored for the time spent rather than castigated for slowness.
People who are deeply versed in the law - Laurence Tribe, Preet Bharara, Joyce White Vance among them - have expressed deep reservations whether much if anything is being done to prosecute those at the center of the coup. On a recent podcast Bharara and White agreed that it was highly unusual that nothing has slipped from the DOJ in a year that would indicate that an aggressive investigation is ongoing. Both stipulated of course that investigations of this magnitude would naturally be discreet in the extreme. But news always slips - often from witnesses themselves. They, like many of us, are worried. Most of us are ready to gouge our eyes out in our impatience. They are much more composed than that, of course. But I have noticed that the number of voices with legal gravitas expressing dismay at the dilatory pace of the DOJ is growing.
History does not wait on the timid.
Glenn Kirschner shifted from impatience to understanding what Garland's message was to us. He is positive there will be a prosecution of the vile orange mouthpiece for the republican seditionists.
Audentis Fortuna juvat.
Tell that to Garland et al.
Well said!
It's a deep weave, for sure ....
I’m hoping if they wait long enough to indict sitting pols up for re-election, and invoke the 14th amendment, it will be too late for team coup to field other candidates.
Good point Grace!!
Brilliant! But if we wait too late…
"we have to transcend conflicted partisan contention if we hope to move forward with coherent, effective government "
Kathleen, the above sentence is written by someone with a long history of reading and reflection.
But, the average American has NEVER had that as a forte. NEVER in history.
The probability we "transcend partisan contention" in the near term is nearly zero.
Well Mike, then I/we have to accept the lay of the land and navigate accordingly ... America is a threshing floor - separating wheat from chaff ... most of it goes into the compost ....
I would offer that America is a threshing floor, and, the chaff is running the show.
Maybe, maybe not ... I trust powers of deeper conscience and integrity to prevail ....
Mike is right
"only truth will set us free ...." Yeah. Because that worked so well in Hitler's German. And Stalin's Russia. And Mussolini's Italy.
You can't reason with the kind of people who show up at these rallies. They want to destroy us. They care about nothing else. We need to come up with some effective strategies to defend ourselves and hit back. Hard.
Truth is not part of where half the country is going. Truth is flung aside and replaced with another reality.
‘difference between truth and falsehood becoming clear’. On a normal day in more normal times that might seem a sensible assumption. Now, what we are experiencing seems to have the hallmarks of two parallel realities, one grounded, the other some bizarre reality show. Those of us grounded in our universe of reason and objectivity are having much difficulty deciphering the script of the reality show. There are, at this point, unanswerable puzzling questions outstanding. By the way, I love your writing 🙏
"there is going to be plenty of uproar"
Cathy, perhaps, but, so what?
Trump has been creating "uproar" then being rewarded for "uproar" since he was in middle school and got kicked out and then had to attend a private school (where he was allowed to create any uproar he wanted because he was rich).
See? In AMERICA, white folks can do whatever, whenever to whomever they want.
Folks on this board just cannot see that.
Some of us do Mike ... doesn't make it any easier to swallow ....
I understand.
Easy or not (definitely not), this white lady sees it and will Not swallow it!
Republicans know that, Dems still think politics is a gentlemen’s game.
😶 ... nothing gentle about it Jeri ... 😶
Yes! The truth, yes. Now what we do with that knowledge will make a difference. Slowly we see, the question is How?.
I hope you’re right - albeit, our national polarization - our stain - has set.
It's great to have faith in our system of justice, but Trump is a free man and just as vile and certifiably insane as ever. More than a year after the insurrection, more than a decade of Trump's [alleged] countless fraud, and we still await civil and criminal indictments. I must admit to losing that faith.
Here's hoping.
" I simply cannot understand why trump and the cabal "leadership" are not in jail awaiting trial on numerous charges "
Well, Trump is rich and white. Nuff said. How many rich, white men are in Rikers Island today? In fact, how many white men PERIOD are in Rikers Island?
White 7.4%. Hispanic 33.7%. Black 53.0% ... Men. Women. Average Daily Population 9,500 ... Average Daily Visitors to Rikers Island 1,019. https://www1.nyc.gov/assets/doc/downloads/pdf/DOC_At_a_Glance-9-14-17.pdf
Great statistics Maia.
Those numbers would astound
I share your frustration.
And what are we doing? Relying on the three prosecutors, now called out by DJT and even more endangered, to do the job of hauling him in. Godspeed to them. In the meantime, what do we do? I give to Dem candidates, work to tie all of our current insane troubles to the fact that our nation is one so wrought with trauma that many of our people — our fellow citizens — are literally WIRED for trauma, drama, conflict, chaos. I’ve marched and worked on campaigns in the past. How, collectively, can we sound the alarm? Repost HRC on all social media? Email this piece to everyone we know? Encourage our friends to join us in learning these truths? Somebody in this group of brilliant humans tell me what, is our best plan of action? I’m willing. Despite age and infirmities. We need a clear plan that is as simple as a bumper sticker, that we all repeat and act upon hourly. Thanks!
Not many bumper stickers in N TX. Thought about getting one "TRUMP: Biggest LOSER Ever." Then I would expect to have car set on fire, then a million pro trump bumper stickers
Definitely be careful.
The question what do we do is more than rhetorical. Perhaps looking at human development gives us a hint why the question and possibly the solution seem possibly impossible. A person with the shaky foundation like TFG just as the foundation of this nation, founded on stealing the land from the First People, and then bringing enslaved people to work the land, abusing and exploiting all, cannot be changed. And we are finding that healing and reparations are proving more than the many generations after are willing to confront. Or pay. Responsibility for the past is something Americans have shown not to agree on. How to apologize, make restitution. I’m sorry is not in their vocabulary. That would signal acceptance of responsibility.
Maybe they are letting it run to draw out and identify supporters and perpetrators of fraud/ deception so they won't fade into anonymity, continuing to operate unseen ...?
Would that not be nice? An actual strategy instead of lethargy.
All are quaking in fear at what the devil will unleash, and unleash he will. No matter what they do.
I find the delay aggravating too. was ready to see him hung like a horse thief the minute he and his Russian pirates stole the election. I am impatient too. But we vigilente citizens must not use vigilant law because it’s irrational elements can also be applied to us willy-nilly. Much as I want the rape rob and pillage to stop, I want the respectability of USA law with its higher value to really put him and his whole gang out of business forever because then its legitimacy can’t be questioned. They deserve to be stripped of their US citizenship and packed off to Russia .
Sane legitimacy will always be questioned by the cult. They are deliberately ignorant
Do you think Russia would want them?
Who cares? Just dump them there.
Seriously Susan? You mean like we dump our garbage everywhere in the world - now other countries are sending it back - they are not willing to be the dumping ground for our refuse ... think about it - maybe it matters that we care about what we do and what impact it has on others and start taking responsibility for consequences of our own behaviors ... you know, people want to come to America - some for freedom, some for wealth and fame, some to live like kings {{or so they think}} ... and what do they do? Dump their garbage everywhere like it's the American Way ... I wonder where on earth they get that idea ....
YES!!!
The silence of the Republican Party is deafening. For the remainder of my lifetime I condemn them all.
Pat, the Republicans are NOT silent. Bobert fully, openly and loudly supports what happened on January 6th. EVEN the most formerlly reasonable Republicans support Trump like Susan Collins.
So, I agree we should condemn the Republican Party but not for silence.
For openly and loudly supporting a Hitler like, narcissistic, spoiled, mean man, Republicans should be condemned forever.
... like I say Mike, most of it goes into the compost ... still, how can a garden grow without compost? Every piece of the puzzle has it's place in the bigger picture - knowing that, we can live with love in our hearts and carry on without hating others for the role they play in this drama - they don't know how stuck they are - be great-full you know the difference - as painful and frustrating as it can be ....
Kathleen,
For me, the problem is that I have now read too much at age 61. I always enjoyed reading. Now I have read the MA Consitution by John Adams. 1780.
Now I have read the US Constitution which started with the MA constitution and then amended the MA Constitution in ways that supported slavery and Capitalism.
Now I have watched as, LONG before Citizen's United, Military Contractors began buying representatives with huge Swiss Bank accounts.
Now I have seen, in a 40 year engineering and management career, TWO black engineers in the FOUR companies I worked at. ONE black manager in 40 years.
Now I know about Redlining in the north and the south because ALL of America's white folks wanted segregated cities.
Now I know that I learned NOTHING of history in school. By design.
Now I know that over three generations, Native Humans were exterminated, starved brutalized and moved to unlivable lands and then further marginalized until they all almost went extinct.
Now I know how hard even I, who easily passes as white (I have a minority last name), with a Ph.D. and 31 patents, how hard it was for me to get promoted early in my career and ONLY after a black guy became my boss did I really get good raises.
Now, Kathleen, I know who "America" is.
THAT America is the one that Dr. Richardson pines for as formerly being "Democracy".
It is a hard place to love Kathleen.
I hear you Mike - all of that and more ... (woah - 30 patents?!?) ... I never trusted the system enough to participate - blew it all off and went on a rant that lasted half a century (72 now) ... could have had it all and wanted nothing to do with any of it - left in the street to die - sick and broken from it all - and yet ... here I am ... dependent on the government to survive - forced to accept whatever difference I can make may never amount to a hill of beans - but I keep working, even though I have to give up all the time - because life is a gift, even so - and an opportunity to at least intend a brighter path ... I could complain about the wrongness of it all until the cows come home, bells a-ringing - but what good will it do? It just wears me out even more ... so I take it one breath at a time - keep studying and working for what it's worth, and give thanks I have a place to live, bathe and toilet myself, food to eat, the ability to look up and see the sky - feel the wind blow - and carry on - and you can trust, in this man's world if I did not have that fundamental support from the government, I would be living in servitude if I survived at all ... you have done sooo well \!! Congratulations, strength and perseverance to you Mike - keep saying it like you see it - humanity needs your conscience and your voice - here, in Greece or anywhere you choose to be ... blessings, and peace to you my friend!!
Thank you and Mike for simply being here and bearing witness.
What you both write is so moving, goes so deep, it is a privilege to meet you here.
What strikes me is how Mike speaks with all the passion of one who hungers and thirsts after justice, with deep indignation, but without an ounce of the vile resentment captured and used by DT.
Much cause for resentment, and he must have felt it, but that would have been beneath him.
Yes indeed - great respect and gratitude for brother Mike!!!
Well, Peter, some people, reading what I have written, would consider it vile. Definitely.
"but I keep working, even though I have to give up all the time - because life is a gift, "
A beautiful sentence. Thank you.
... moreso because it is so true ... thank you too Mike.
It's a bit late for this... both in response to what you wrote to Mike and in terms of January 1st, but still it's New Year's Day in the Chinese lunar calendar... and I was so struck by the words that impressed Mike, which remind me in turn of this poem by Joseph Brodsky which the great man translated into English himself... Enjoy!
JANUARY 1, 1965
The kings will lose your old address.
No star will flare up to impress.
The ear may yield, under duress,
to blizzard’s nagging roar.
The shadow’s falling off your back,
you’d snuff the candle, hit the sack,
for calendars more nights can pack
than there are candles for.
What is this? Sadness? Yes, perhaps.
A little tune that never stops.
One knows by heart its downs and ups.
May it be played on par
with things to come, with one’s eclipse,
as gratefulness of eyes and lips
for what occasionally keeps
them trained on something far.
And staring up where no cloud drifts
because your sock’s devoid of gifts
you’ll understand this thrift: it fits
your age; it’s not a slight.
It is too late for some breakthrough,
for miracles, for Santa’s crew.
And suddenly you’ll realize that you
Yourself are a gift outright.
JANUARY 1965
TRANSLATED BY THE AUTHOR
Thank you Peter. Nap time now - I'll get back to you in a bit ....
Thank you for reiterating things I knew nothing about for 2/3 of my life. Never had the struggles of a POC, just a female in a man’s world.
I used to think that the rabble was a sliver of my neighbors. Then they became more visible, then they became proud and vocal, Now they are armed and dangerous. The America I thought I grew up in is fading from my memory. Maybe it was a mirage…. Milton Mayer was right. “…we are accepting things your father never could have imagined.” They thought They Were Free, The Germans 1933-1945.
,
America was always violent. First at home, with natives, blacks and poor northern immigrants.
Then, later, we moved our violence to the kids in Vietnam trying to throw off the yoke of colonialism led by Ho Chi Minh.
They beat us though. Their passion exceeded our evil.
Mike, now I understand why you have so little hope that tfg and his handlers or his minions will be held accountable. I , however, need to cling to that hope.
Sharon. Hope is a good emotion.
In some ways, being an engineer has some down sides and one of those is the ability and willingness to look at the data and try to see what it really says.
The data on Trump's history says: "He has been committing crimes since he was a young man. He has never even been charged for any of those crimes".
He fleeced thousands with his for profit schools. No charges.
He refused to rent to black people in NY City, openly. No charges.
He fleeced thousands of small business and big business with SIX BANKRUPTCIES. No charges.
He raped a woman in a department store. No charges.
He beat his first wife when she made fun of his new, fake hair. He WAS charged, BUT, never arrested.
Trump's data and history says: NO CHARGES.
25th hour for turning the sewage tide back where it came from.
We must count on America at last to do the right thing -- after doing everything else ad nauseam -- and putting this wretched cosmic monster, defanged, silenced, where he can do no more harm.
Mike, I hear you loud snd clear. It’s so mind numbing and heartbreaking.
Not very encouraging, is it ...!!
Hope and determination.
It must be done.
Yes, but what are the alternatives? Yes, the system is and has been rigged for white men. But yes, the struggle against this racism, misogyny and corruption is worth fighting for. If not by us, then who?
Good question. Answer: Martin Luther King and a long, long, long line of black folks who were mostly treated violently.
Absolutely, yet, the struggle continues
Mike S. —you are such an important voice of America. Thank you for being here and sharing. Love that you are on this team for All The People!
thank you Pensa. I can assure you, I am just one more voice in the noise.
We should be reading the Articles of Confederation.
Kathleen, who are you?! This question is a compliment btw. Ty for your faith, and sharing it. Heart emoji.
Thank you Lynn - see more here ...: https://tahomahome.weebly.com/
Ahhhhhhhh, ty for this. Truly.
Quite welcome Lynn - a work in progress - hopefully still growing ....
Wow, Kathleen you’re quite the artist, maybe “expressor.” Pleased to know you.
Thank you SL - I trust you will enjoy the tour ... did you check out the Design Exploration?
https://tahomahome.weebly.com/design-exploration.html
Inspiring
You sound like such a lovely person, Kathleen. I wish I shared your optimism. Guess I'll have to settle for hope.
Thank you MaryB - it's not really optimism - just what's left in the empty vessel after even hope has flown the coop ... just flowing with each breath ... receive ... embrace ... release ... one breath at a time ....
They know how stuck they are, and scream it from the rooftops
I know - and they love it too, don't they ... still, they are caged, and they have no idea what they are missing - if they even sense it, they just scream louder, with no idea how to change it ... I pity them - to my dying day ...
Rupert's truth is powerful to the cult
Right, and Rupert's truth is a lie ... in the long run, when truth comes out in the wash, truth will stand and lies will go slip-sliding away ... this is the test ... do I stand in truth, or stand on a lie ....
And I plan on calling Susan today. Just to let her know how shocked I was in her words yesterday. I was actually surprised she was on TV. We don't see much of her here in Maine.
Oh, GOOD, SandyB !!
Only when there might be a favorable photo op, it seems.
thank you
Pat, 'Live long, and prosper.' Kidding aside, I will be doing the same thing.
Same here. Not only that, but for the rest of my life I will regard Susan Collins with especial contempt, as a shameless, spineless lackey for the R's.
I well remember that Collins said, when she won her first campaign, that she would only serve two terms--funny how that changed. Every Mainer who voted to send that creature of zero integrity back to the Senate for a FIFTH term ought to be thoroughly ashamed.
As will I.
I’m old but I hope my daughter and grands remember.
What a post and report! Of course Trump's speech is a pastiche of threats, lies, and all the rest. But read/listen carefully (HCR has!). Part of the discussion of yesterday's post revolved around the GOP use of language (Gingrich, etc --- and ref to Orwell's "Politics and the english language" --if I recall the title correctly). Listen to the language Trump used---he may be a charlatan but he knows how to use language. The label "racist' is out there; the personal attack on him; the "legality" of the proposed plan for Pence (it must be legal if they are trying to change the process, or so he wants people to think). The narrative has been set up already---particularly no one on the Democrat side is going to speak loudly and point out the lies and stupidity. Sorry, but this is not going to play well for the Democrats---the True Believers will love it and be powered up. Without someone who is a skilled and eloquent orator who can reach ordinary people with direct effect, this is another failure to seize the moment and the narrative --- and of course the MSM (NYT and all the rest) will be content to "report" the speech, etc without any serious refutation (and the True Believers don't read these papers anyway). I despair---not of this community, not of the Truth, but a the drift of things and the anti-Biden (which means implicitly pro-Trump, since he is the alternative) pitch that dominates the press here and in Britain (the latter as far as my limited reading takes me). Well, that's a bit of a rant! Now I need to trundle off to bed and get some sleep for the new dawn that is coming. Peace and Courage to all.
I have also been very disturbed about the negative press for Biden. The NY Times is trying to "both sides" report. The Democrats will have a difficult enough time in the the 2022 midterms keeping their seats, if not actually gaining some.
Oh, the negative press! Press Run has a good piece today that documents examples of good economic news either not being mentioned at all or reported with the idea that Trouble For Biden is imminent. Good news must be explained away. No mention that presidents have very little control over the economy. I tend to agree with the observation Trump was treated more gently in the press in 2020 than Biden is now.
I agree with you. Having watched Maddow for the past several years, at the end of the summer, she was reporting more on Trump than Biden, I'd had enough and stopped watching all news with the occasional exception when I see that Ruth Ben-Ghiat is on. Jim Acosta gave her a good amount of time to speak last week, more than a little blip that is the usual input. It has really bothered me that even after Biden became president, Trump still was front and center in the news. He craves this attention and we only empower him more when he is given that attention. Thank you, Carol.
Agree, Joanna. (The heart wouldn't work for me).
Thank you, Anne-Louise
No president has ever been faced with the disaster(s) Biden faced upon taking office. No president has ever faced an ex-president throwing grenades from the sidelines because of his craven need for attention and worship. Nothing would be gained by exchanging insults in the public arena, and it would take Biden away from what we need him to do. Furthermore if we believe in justice and the rule of law as we say we must let the law have its way. And again there cannot be one tiny opening for tfg to slither through.
The elected president is being tracked by a criminal madman.
"What will the Republican leaders who have tied themselves to Trump say now that he has openly admitted he was trying to destroy our democracy?"
Heather, clearly Susan Collins lacks a spine so I fear the rest of the Republican leadership does as well. What a sad and sorry predicament the United States is in – it's being sold down the river to satisfy the ego of a vile, repulsive man by the very people sworn to protect it.
Susan Collins has been a worthless piece of shit ever since she promised to serve only two terms if elected during her first campaign, five terms ago.
I couldn't agree more! I am ashamed that Maine voters were willing to overlook her record and send her back to the Senate for a FIFTH term. Margaret Chase Smith must be rolling in her grave.
Openly reeking with nothing to recommend her…
To parrot TL Mills, I couldn't agree more.
Daria,
Trump and his (many) followers know that being in control of the Federal Reserve means money like a spigot flowing to them foerever.
The Federal Reserve started the unusual process of printing money and buying Corporate Bond ETF's, OUTSIDE THE BUDGET OR APPROVAL BY CONGRESS PROCESS, in April of 2020.
The Fed is STILL doing that every night.
It is the largest giveway to corporate America in history and it is NOT EVEN ON THE BOOKS of the FEDERAL GOVERNMENT. It is on the books of the FED itself.
This process is what makes Republican's mouth water. Keeping that going forever?
Priceless.
It's a game, it's a game, it's a game ... look at middle American (white) culture - at least in my lifetime - game shows, contests/prizes, trivia, one hook after another - from 'Queen For A Day' to 'The Price Is Right' to 'The Weakest Link' to 'The Apprentice', ... more games ... and the big opportunity is to invest in the markets - do you know, to make real money in the markets, to get in early where real gains are, you have to have a million dollars already, just to qualify to invest?!? Balls and chains, on either side of the walls ... something deeper has to call us in our hearts ....
Why I can’t watch tv anymore, I worry that Dems still think politics is a gentlemen’s game. As Derek Del Gaudio said “It’s not a game, it just looks like one”
It's a game - a deadly, cut-throat game ... as Joni Mitchell says ...,
"Dog Eat Dog" ....
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=EIrz6uCDnu8&feature=emb_imp_woyt
The Live version and lyrics:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V0xPxNMrj1g
It's dog eat dog, I'm just waking up
The dove is in the dungeon
And the white-washed hawks pedal hate and call it love
Dog eat dog
Holy hope in the hands of
Snakebite evangelists and racketeers
And big wig financiers
Dog eat dog
On primetime crime, the victim begs
Money is the road to justice
And power walks it on crooked legs
Primetime, crime
Holy hope in the hands of
Snakebite evangelists and racketeers
And big wig financiers
Where the wealth's displayed
Thieves and sycophants parade
And where it's made
The slaves will be taken
Some are treated well
In these games of buy and sell
And some, like poor beasts
Are burdened down to breaking
Dog eat dog
It's dog eat dog, ain't it flim flam man
Dog eat dog, you can lie, cheat, skim, scam
Beat 'em any way you can
Dog eat dog
You'll do well in this land of
Snakebite evangelists and racketeers
You could get to be
A big wig financier
Land of snap decisions
Land of short attention spans
Nothing is savored
Long enough to really, really understand
In every culture in decline
The watchful ones among the slaves
Know all that is genuine will be
Scorned and conned and cast away
Dog eat dog
People looking, seeing nothing
Dog eat dog
People listening, hearing nothing
Dog eat dog
People lusting, loving nothing
Dog eat dog
People stroking, touching nothing
Dog eat dog
Knowing nothing
Dog eat dog
Songwriters: Joni Mitchell
Thank you Ron!!
You can beat the game if you're not afraid to die ...
Mike, Even more ridiculous is the fact that most people think the Fed is a government entity. It is not. Each of the 12 Federal Reserve Banks is a private entity, has regional member banks which hold stock that earn dividends. And, as you say, it is designed to benefit the few. Its dysfunction is just another straw on the camel's back pushing us closer to the edge.
Daria A good friend of mine (we resigned from the Foreign Service at about the same time) was president of the NY Fed for a number of years. (We would lunch in his office above zillions of dollars of gold). The NY Fed is by far the most important of the Fed regional banks. It is ‘private’ in name only.
The Federal Reserve Board is principally comprised of Senate-approved, White House-nominated members. It determines fiscal policy. Powell, the current Fed chair, is distinguished and independent in his actions. He works well with Yellin, the former Fed chair who now is Treasury Secretary.
The Fed engaged in massive ‘quantitative’ actions to check the recessionary impacts of the prolonged pandemic. Though this has had a short-term impact on inflation, together with massive government deficit spending with its support for individuals and corporations, Paul Krugman and others whom I admire, have been supportive of these emergency actions. [The Republicans express opposition, while their constituents have benefited from these job-saving interventions.]
The Republicans unanimously opposed the $1.9 trillion cash-infusion into our economy in 2021. [They also sharply limited such initiatives under Obama in 2009, which prolonged the Great Recession.]
I can quibble about some Fed policies but, on balance, I applaud it for what it has done during the prolonged pandemic. A family friend was Fed chair in 1950. He vigorously opposed what Treasury Secretary John Snyder sought to do. In a major policy showdown, Tom McCabe won on policy after which he agreed to resign.
The Fed had an independent backbone then. I trust Powell and (Yellin) to do what they consider best for our country now. Meanwhile, gratuitous fiscal advice is being offered from lots of folks, including Senator Manchin (wrong headed).
Keith, Yellin is now Secretary of the Treasury and Jerome Powell, President of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve. That said, I agree with you about Yellin, know little about Powell.
Judith Oophs, of course. My historical memory skipped a chord in Washington’s musical chairs.. I’m yellin for Yellin while I should be wow with Powell. My friend at the NY Fed was kept there after retirement age by Greenspan, who was loudly touted back then, but has caused historical tears in recent years. I’m Fed up with this!
My own memory hiccups from time to time as well.
"I can quibble about some Fed policies but, on balance, I applaud it for what it has done during the prolonged pandemic."
Republicans specifically opposed ALL legislation that benefitted anything that approximated a common American.
But, no Republican has objected to the Fed's overnight Corporate Bond buying and ALSO, that action was never voted upon by a single "representative" of our "democracy".
Mike, you have highlighted a ‘sticky wicket.’ What is the border between Fed actions and the need for Congressional legislation? This was a crisis situation in 2008-2009, when the Fed and the Treasury pushed the envelope in providing emergency funding for AIG and others (but not Lehman Brothers).
The ‘quantitative’ bond buying during the pandemic is a massive Fed intrusion into our monetary system. Short-term it provided funding in a crisis market while also, so contributing to a short-erm inflation jump. I would never wish to have Fed actions contingent upon timely Congressional legislation. Indeed, such a Congressional ‘debate’ would be political rather than fiscal.
After the Fed’s massive involvement during the Great Recession (2008-2009) some restrictions have been placed on its unilateral actions.
Holy Schitt, I had forgotten that. Well, the end is out there, someday, doomsday, me thinks.
Oh but inflation, right?
Trump is asserting prosecution of 'fairness'. That it is his right to decide what is 'fair' and who is being treated unfairly. Through false equivalencies and inverted rhetoric, Trump is claiming that prosecution is no way to treat White people. While Black people are getting away with murder. And the crowd cheered.
In the context of American systemic racism against Black people and embrace of White supremacy, two definitions of fairness come into play. In the context of AngloSaxon society the one word is freighted with significance which evolved to equate what is attractive with what is morally good.
White privilege has been a hallmark of American society. Through sophistry and a distortion of history, Republicans are selling White grievance. "A White man of sorrows' is the Trump brand.
With the ascendency of Trump, the proliferation of Trump Mini-Mes, Mitch McConnell and Leonard Leo packing/stacking the courts and the domination of state governments from the school board to the statehouse by right wing extremist Republicans, we are seeing government distortion of the history of racism in America.
So when I read of revisionism in increasingly populist, nativist, and authoritarian Poland, certain parallels here came to mind. Not just that from the KKK to Trump's tiki torch neoNazis, American discrimination against Black people has been tied up with antiSemitism or that Maus, Art Spiegelman's family history of the Holocaust, has been banned in Tennessee - but the specifics of Nazi treatment of the Poles and Polish persecution of Jews, and how government involves itself in revising that history.
I am going to quote from Jan Grabowski, a professor of history at the University of Ottawa and provide a link to his essay.
He starts by describing a commemoration in Treblinka honoring a young Pole "who Polish researchers say, was shot in 1942 by the Nazis for giving water to the Jews as they waited in locked cattle cars idling outside the camp." To me this resonated with new Republican laws in Georgia. Republicans are obstructing peoples Civil Rights by placing obstacles to voting, which results in having to wait in line for hours *and* Republicans have made it a crime to give water to people on line. But as the author notes, not to diminish that one man's heroism, the norm was for Poles to extort Jews for water at the entrance to Treblinka, where Poles assisted in slaughtering 900,000 Jews. This reminded me of revisionist American history which elides the legitimization of enslavement and all of Jim Crow abuses, while gutting Civil Rights voter protections.
Grabowski also discusses being sued by for quoting a Holocaust survivor who witnessed a Polish mayor denouncing Jews to the Nazis. The judge decided against him. The decision is worth reading
"We can assume that ascribing to Poles the crimes of the Holocaust committed by the Third Reich can be construed as harmful and detrimental to the sense of identity and of national pride,” the judge said last February. “Attributing to the Polish nation the responsibility for the Holocaust, for the killing of Jews during World War II and for the confiscation of their property touches upon the sphere of the national heritage and, consequently, as completely untrue and harmful, can significantly impact one’s feeling of own national dignity, destroying the justified — based on facts — belief that Poland was the victim of war operations initiated and conducted by the Germans.”
And Grabowski's reflections on the case:
"It seemed to me that the real objective of the lawsuit was not to rescue a man’s name or alter his reputation, but to frighten scholars of the Holocaust, to instill Poland’s pervasive atmosphere of fear into an entire discipline and to make students and educators think twice before choosing topics that would challenge the government-sponsored version of history. The idea of a right to national pride, advanced in court, is an ambiguous and legally undefined sentiment that effectively means any member of the Polish nation has the right to sue historians whose findings offend them."
This reminds me of the outlawing of Critical Race Theory. It also reminds me that on invading Poland, the Nazis persecuted, jailed, and even slaughtered Polish academics and intelligentsia who they feared might oppose the new regime. As did Stalin. As are Republicans, where in Virginia the much touted new GOP governor Youngkin has extended right wing extremist targeting of university professors to targeting elementary school teachers with his 'tattle on your teacher tip line'.
I was most struck by Grabowski's observation that "In all these cases, pushing blame for the destruction of Jewish communities entirely onto Nazi occupiers obfuscates the larger context of Holocaust horror and the very real problems of collaboration, bystanderism and local antisemitism that helped run the machine of the Holocaust."
And it is this which we must overcome - the collaboration, bystanderism, and local racism which runs the machine of racism against Black people
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/01/29/opinion/holocaust-poland-europe.html
Thank you, Lin, for this magnificent indictment.
Or at least, material for an indictment in Washington and another one in Warsaw. Alas, Poland's another country where a psychotic got into the driver's seat... As though the Poles hadn't already suffered enough.
I read Jan Grabowski’s article over the weekend and came away feeling that the world is in dangerous waters these days. It is truly frightening to take a step back and look at the big picture of what is going on around the world and the apparent growing strength of authoritarianism in supposedly democratic countries, where it is couched as populism and as being “for the people.” Meanwhile, Russia and China move full speed ahead in their efforts to become dominate forces in the world. Precarious days indeed.
You mention “bystanders” Please listen to this powerful “”Lunch with Lincoln” episode (30 minutes) where a granddaughter of Holocaust survivors talks about that and other facets of this period and today’s versions of it. https://youtu.be/U_M5XV18zfE
ThankYou.
As a Jew growing up in the shadow of the Holocaust, I wondered about whether I would have been 'a good German.' I think for many of us such thoughts were an impetus to follow Black leaders of the Civil Right movement in the struggle for equality. The Black Power movement rejected White allies and Louis Farrakhan's antiSemitism creates a wedge in the left wing. But I am heartened by the young leaders of Black Lives Matter who welcome allies.
Me too, Lin. Me too
Thank you for highlighting Grabowski’s essay and the problem of collaboration, bystanderism and local antisemitism/racism—any ism. Collaboration and bystanderism are choices made in the context of threats from bullying to terrorism. Progressive organizations are critical to bolstering the courage it takes for individuals to speak up, defend, act against the bullies and terrorists. Another place we see this phenomenon is school boards and election officials. Enslavement economy and the Holocaust were the two largest institutionalized extended events of utter horror and suffering perpetrated against millions of people; enslavement economy and the Holocaust cannot be whitewashed or diminished.
I very much appreciate your comment and the way you translate analysis into effective action. But even, or especially, as 'institutionalized extended events of utter horror and suffering", I cannot equate the enslavement of Black people and the Holocaust. To me they are just too different.
The Holocaust was of intense but short duration. And while Jews who survived were scarred and returned to a life with a status quo of antiSemitism, they and their children could, at least in America, transcend the limitations of prejudice. In part, ironically, due to White privilege. (Jews as White? Who would have thought? Well never White enough for some, and always too White for others - but sufficiently White.)
Also, while one can argue, however unconscionably and unethically, that enslavement made economic sense for the White (and in Africa, Black) perpetrators, the argument has been made that had Hitler not been obsessed with eradicating the Jewish population, Nazi Germany might have won the war. The Nazis destroyed a productive portion of the German and European populations and used a disproportionate amount of resources to do so. The logistics of the Holocaust make no economic sense at all.
And I just feel, as a Jew whose father - a son of poor Jewish immigrants who lived in the South and worked with African Americans in the fields and factories, before living in rainforests, towns, and cities in South America for several years - taught her about de jure and de facto discrimination against Black people, the lives and plight of indigenous peoples, and about Hispanic culture, that there are different horrors. Throughout the 20th Century, on every continent.
And of course, in America enslavement of Black people went on for centuries and the abuses continue to this day.
Please let me clarify that I was not talking about "economic sense." Pursuit of wealth and power was a factor when the Nazis targeted the Jews.
Enslavement and the Holocaust are different, and as I was thinking how to expand on the concept of "event," I considered adding Indigenous Americans to the list. Commonalities include terrorism/torture/murder/enslavement, appropriation of assets, and at least cultural genocide for subjugation and economic exploitation. Economic exploitation of Jews included appropriating their wealth, property, factories, slave labor, and even their hair. When the Nazis implemented full out genocide against Jews, genocide against productive laborers could be argued as not having made economic sense.
I do not equate African American enslavement and the Holocaust to set up a binary comparison. The violences and subjugation must be remembered as we work to identify how it has continued into our current lives--with the many contradictions to "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." How nefarious forces are growing into institutionalized state power must be recognized and stopped.
Blessings to your father, who must have been a man among men who passed his hard-earned consciousness learned from experience to you.
ThankYou. It is very hard to sort out the ways people find to abuse and exploit each other.
Yes. amazing how easy it is to be respectful and kind and how infrequently we see it.
Another great post. Thank you.
Thank you.
A thought provoking book: The Crime of Complicity, the Bystander in the Holocaust by Amos Guiora. The author asks whether such behavior should be prosecuted. Have we become a culture of spectators? (my question)
"Amos Guiora served for 19 years in the Israel Defense Forces as Lieutenant Colonel (retired), and held several senior command positions, including legal advisor to the Gaza Strip and commander of the IDF School of Military Law. Professor Guiora has published extensively both in the U.S. and Europe on issues related to national security, limits of interrogation, religion and terrorism, the limits of power, multiculturalism, and human rights."
I would like very much to know his thoughts on how the Occupation has violated Palestinian human and civil rights, and also demoralized the Israeli occupying forces and Israeli civilians. Some of the most severe critics of the Occupation come from the high echelons of Israeli defense and intelligence as well as the Israeli judiciary. Critics of Israel often overlook or are unaware of the Israeli opposition to Israeli government policy driven by right wing Jewish religious extremists in Israel and America, as well as right wing Christian Evangelical religious extremists.
As for a culture of spectators - so much has been written that I do not know where to start. From Plato on ... ? Perhaps you mean the involvement of distancing and objectification?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaze
Lin, BEST post of the day, by FAR and away.
Today is a dark day for the citizens of the great state of Maine. The man Matt Taibbi profiled so beautifully, the "insane, clown president" who aspired to be King finally goes mad in public and openly admits his heart is black with evil intent and deed. So Shakespearian and tragic. And concurrently we witness Susan Collins (R-ME), refusing to denounce the evil bastard along with a number of other Republicans who also express their fealty to an avowed criminal who confesses his crimes as a means to rally his troops to join him in more illegal endeavors against democracy and the Constitution, the document many of us took a sacred oath to protect and defend against all enemies foreign and domestic. Senator Collins has exposed more than just her lack of integrity; she has failed egregiously to uphold her oath of office and in the process blown the whistle on all the Mainers who voted for her. As Pat Cole commented on this platform, "For the remainder of my lifetime I condemn them all."
I think you're being too harsh on Sen. Collins. I'm sure she was "highly concerned," or perhaps even "extremely concerned," before issuing her statement.
/s
No, this is not too harsh. Susan Collins must go.
To this day, I do not understand how she got re-elected over Sarah Gideon. She is a disgrace to ME and to women everywhere.
Indeed. Back in the day, we lived in Maine when Collins and Snowe were our Senators. As Democrats and Independents we would vote for them both. Collins has been eating some bad feed - she is addled and pathetic. She actually re-endorsed Paul LePage now that he has returned to haunt the state again. OY!
I miss Maine but would be embarrassed to have her as a legislator now.
I heard Maine and Vermont are among the top states for new "Assault Weapons Training Facilities".
So, Susan Collins knows her constituency better than we do maybe?
he was being sarcastic, imitating the kinds of things she has said.
This is a sarcastic statement, right?
Yes, that's what the "/s" at the end is meant to indicate.
With a strong letter to follow I'm sure.
Got it. Agree
LOL
I caught this video clip the other day.
https://www.yahoo.com/news/1-1-sen-susan-collins-082321632.html
I believe Reagan was a candidate when he said he'd appoint a woman to SCOTUS. Too bad George didnt call her on that one.
He doesn't confess his crimes, he boasts of them.
Hasn't this guy done anything that is adequately investigated to warrant charging and arresting him? The law may be closing in on him, but in the meantime he continues to wreak havoc on the population at large all the while continuing to incite his good-ol-boys to acts of violence thinly disguised as some sort of weird patriotism. Someone needs to strap a muzzle on him; perhaps a billion dollars bail could be a start...
Truly. A person can get in more trouble having their dog off leash than TFG gets doing and saying unlawful things over and over and over and... He is a disgusting moron and I wish the trumplicans would see him for the fool he is and walk away. How does he live with so much hate in his soul. There is nothing good, kind, or decent about him. The most uneducated, unpresidential person to hold that office. That he wants to run again makes me sick to my stomach. Someone stop the madman and his madness. Please.
I think it will be up to all of us to stop him, not only by our vote but also by encouraging others to vote, by supporting candidates with small monthly donations if we can, by going to Vote.org and signing up to help with voting, writing letters, making calls, whatever it takes. It will be devastating to all of us, and to this country, if Trump is in office again. There is no one coming to rescue us. We have to rescue ourselves.
That's part of the problem. We choose the power of our vote. They choose to change the voting boundaries, take out mailboxes, make it difficult to vote in every way, create fake elector documents, start an insurrection, and cry foul when they lose. That so many actually think the election was stolen by Biden infuriates me. They say Stop The Steal. I say Stop The A__h___.
Indeed, that is very much the problem, but we still have to try to do all we can not just at voting time, but leading up to the elections.
I doubt very much voting will "stop" Trump.
The Biggest LOSER ever
Amen. Please, please put this man in prison.
Things never end well for demagogues.
Ted, May it be so.
And those caught in the trampling and chaos. How high the body count is acceptable or enough? I agree with you given this caveat.
Many praying.
“Wheels of justice grind slow but grind fine”― Sun Tzu. "When you strike at a king, you must kill him" attributed to Ralph Waldo Emerson, paraphrasing Machiavelli, "men ought either to be well treated or crushed, because they can avenge themselves of lighter injuries, of more serious ones they cannot; therefore the injury that is to be done to a man ought to be of such a kind that one does not stand in fear of revenge."
"“Wheels of justice grind slow”
for a rich white man in the USA - (put the name of any black man here).
I like the billionaire dollar bail!
We all know that some foolish billionaire would immediately put up the bail...
"Hasn't this guy done anything that is adequately investigated to warrant charging and arresting him?"
The bar is VERY HIGH to arrest a white man and higher yet to arrest a rich white man. When was the last rich white man you know who was arrested??
Ah yes, Bernie Madoff. And, he was NOT arrested the first 10 times he was called out as a fraud by some Greek guy who figured out his scam and Reported it to the SEC. Right??
He was ONLY arrested after some other very rich and powerful people lost their money and paid off their congressman/woman to arrest him.
Bernie was doing a crime in plain sight that was reported to the SEC TEN YEARS before he was arrested.
So, don't look for Trump to be arrested any time soon.
I’m afraid you’re right, Mike.
Thanks Ally. But, maybe not on this board in this way with such great thinkers and writers.
MikeS, it is beneath you to continue this rant. You are not wrong but let’s turn this over. Some of what he is doing, ramping up his rhetoric, is because he is terrified that THIS time he won’t get off.
MLMinET, I believe Mike is speaking his truth, and there is more than enough evidence to back him up, from the lowest law enforcement intervention to the highest levels of corruption and criminality.
Your complaint (which I paraphrase as “enough is enough”) is common among those who do not live the reality of discrimination. I was taken to task this week for noting that “woman/women” are not mentioned in the Constitution, thereby giving the originalists the ability (should they choose to) say that we don’t matter. I know nothing of who you are. My take is an assumption on my part based upon the stance you take and the cant you deliver; it sounds to me as though you do not have personal knowledge of Mike’s truth.
Thanks Ally. Perhaps my "rant" can be better presented.
I don’t have personal knowledge. I’m very sorry you see what I said as “cant,” which is hypocritical or sanctimonious talk. I’ve never been accused of that before. MikeS is certainly entitled to his truth and I even suggested he go public with his conversion story, which I find compelling, as I do his points. My point was that MIkeS was repeating himself; he’d already made his point several times.
MLMinET.
No worries. I think you had a valid point and after your post, I stopped.
MLMinET. I have stopped. But, it is not beneath me.
It is required of me.
Speak the truth Mike
Totally agree!
Biden puts sanctions against Putin. Putin puts tRump back in office. My biggest fear. We're all in the chess game of power and madness. We can try to stop the puppet. But the puppeteer will find more puppets.
Donors would line up, but go for it
Trump is not a smart man. His admission this week that, if he were reelected, he would pardon those who participated in the January 6 insurrection further evidences his criminal intent that he wanted the insurrection to succeed. This adds to the evidence of criminal intent already uncovered, including his failure to take action to stop the insurrection, his undue delay in saying anything to stop the insurrection, his expressions of love for the insurrectionists. This, and much more, adds to the mounting evidence that Trump intended and loved all that occurred on January 6, thus enhancing the criminal case against him for conspiring to overthrow the government. And, I'm betting that when further evidence is discovered, there will be evidence that Trump ordered that no national guard or federal troops should come to the defense of the Capitol.
Some of that evidence is clearly the extensive machinations by Trump to get all his people in place ahead of time, for example, Kash Patel at the Dept. of Defense or Flynn's brother at the Pentagon. I remember these being curiosities at the time but now, when you look back and see all the chess moves, and that even the Oath Keepers were wearing custom T-Shirts they'd had printed up for the occasion, it's no longer possible to deny that Trump's Coup plans weren't all in the works long before Jan.6th!
Sorry - Crump is a very smart man - he is a master manipulator, don't underestimate him (of course he has a coterie of similarly minded advisors). Sewer rat skills.
Trump is cunning and gutter smart. But, he is not a thinker and, in my view, is incapable of analytical thinking. He operates on the level of a wild animal and, thus, can inflict serious damage. I really doubt he had the intelligence or discipline to graduate from U. Penn, like he claims. So, in my book, Trump is a dummy, as evidenced by his constant admissions of criminal responsibility for his attempted coup. Instinctual behavior does not, in my book, equate to intelligence.
"Trump is not a smart man. "
I used to think that, and, certainly, his academic record probobaly indicates a low ability to learn in an academic environment.
However, although I cannot see it, my wife says she can feel the appeal Trump has. He mixes comedy with hate with making people feel special in an unusual way.
Trump is highly intelligent at making people who feel small feel big (white people mostly but some hispanics and blacks too).
So, Trump has a certain kind of intelligence. That of a high functioning Charlatan.
And his coup de gras, “They are not coming after me, they are coming after you.” “Making people who feel small, feel big.” Nailed it Mike. Did you read “Adventurers of a Bystander” by Peter Drucker. Page 164, nothing ever said it better…
No, I never have, but, I will put it on my below 10F reading list since there will be a few of those days now.
It shocked me like few other books. No illusions after that.
Evil Genius.
Exactly.
I can't find a word about any of this in the NYT or WaPo.
We need to find another phrase to describe trump. Saying he’s “not a smart man” is like a balm for us. Yet this “not smart man” has outsmarted the majority of Americans for six years. I think that alone is one of the perverse appeals of trump to his supports ( who HATE us and want nothing other than to “own the libs”). We have to do better. Trump will not be brought down by our “justice system” (or “system” as I observe it), because he tested the fence on this his whole life and knows he can buy “justice” and public adulation. Easy, peasey. We have to show that trump is not good for his followers. Only they can bring him down and stop the insanity. Our work is to dispassionately show that the future for all of us is better with out tump.
Outsmarted the *majority* of Americans for six years?! Way too many, but Not the majority.
Have cults ever deprogrammed themselves. Ike would say NO
We saw it all, no mystery in this crime, Nazi’s were openly daring any opposition, chump’s playbook as well.
Dishearteningly true
We can only hope.
First of all, I hope that the storm moving up the East Coast did not cause too much damage in your part of Maine.
OK, now on to Trump. Please everyone, chill out! Commentators on MSNBC were apoplectic today! The TFG's threats were dissected, inspected, projected, diced, sliced etc.
However, 2024 is still a long time away. One fear is that a court case may go against TFG and he calls his supporters to take to the streets. I'm just not sure whom he would sic them on. Another fear is the undoing that can result if the Republicans take over the House in November.
Be patient; have faith in the January 6th Committee; watch the Republicans squirm as the heat is turned up. Between the court cases and the House Committee, the evidence against TFG will become overwhelming. Gosh, I sure hope I'm right!!!
Mina, time is arguably subjective. The midterms are right on the unprepared Democratic Party's doorstep, and 2024 is close behind. Maybe I've been living on COVID time too long, but 2019 seems like yesterday.
Of course we all fear violence and mayhem in the streets, but between that and an un-jailed Trump heading into the next elections, better the mayhem. Maybe Jan. 6th was not enough of an educational experience for many Americans, and we know they are not likely to hit the books anytime soon. But our government and courts must not be afraid of enforcing the law, which until further notice , is still the same for everyone.
Merrick Garland, are you listening?
Trump has been digging his own grave long enough and deep enough. Time to bury him.
Maybe it is better to let him and his supporters bury themselves ...?
Kathleen, I think we are past the point where we can wait and hope for a political solution to the Big Lie. Too many Americans appear to have lost their capacity for logical reasoning, and our digital world reinforces all their worst fears about the rest of us. This is happening in real time and in the absence of any above-the-fray authority of reference, not even our worn-around-the-edges Constitution. Greed rules, while generosity and tolerance are in short supply, and Americans are going full tribal.
Everyone who participated in planning or promoting the events of Jan. 6th needs to be investigated, interrogated, and -- as appropriate -- jailed to await trial. A few folks will slip through the cracks, some will exploit the legal system itself to avoid punishment and others will claim that the law is being used as a substitute for politics. Perhaps, in the final analysis, our laws and Constitution will not be able to save us from ourselves, but if we wait very much longer before arresting Trump and the worst of his toadies, there will be be no laws left, nothing even remotely democratic, and our lives will become the survival of the fittest, in the most bestial, Darwinian sense.
... in which case, the fittest will prevail ... look at these folks - they don't look that fit to me - in fact, they look downright unhealthy - worst of all, living a lie, guided by no deep conscience beyond preservation of self-interest and personal gain regardless of expense and consequence to others ... they may be able to win with laws and Constitution so deeply flawed (see how we got here in the first place) but the spoils of their victory would be spoiled from the start - rotten to the core - lacking substance, conscience and integrity they cannot prevail ... and people of conscience and integrity have a ripe opportunity to generate a fresh body of law that, in fact, serves truth, justice and freedom for all ... for real ... as Peter Burnett said yesterday:
"But darkness and light are not equals. Light shines, dispels darkness. Darkness cannot dispel light. Dark clouds may come, tornadoes of delusion may cross the Great Plains. They pass. Truth remains.
"They will try try to place a lid on Truth, they will try to screw it down. We know their foolishness will fail. We know that we are free -- we know that we ARE Freedom. So we shall overcome.
'Let us be aware of this now -- aware no less of the immense task, the immense responsibility that lies upon all men and women of goodwill -- and move forward now, drawing on the power of certainty that Truth will prevail. They cannot bury the light, they cannot unshine the sun."
Well God almighty, I hope you're right and that I'll live to see the day. My fingers are crossed.
Me too David.
"Light shines, dispels darkness."
This is not true for a very significant number of black Americans Kathleen.
Not even approximately true.
I know what you're saying Mike - not just for black Americans either - so many suffer the difference ... friends of mine who have been through the worst of it light the way for me with their persistance, determination and indefatigable good will - in this very real way, light does dispel darkness ... so keep an open heart and carry on - we are paving the way into a more enlightened world with attitudes we hold, choices we make and actions we take through it all ....
"everyone who participated in planning or promoting the events of Jan. 6th needs to be investigated, interrogated, and -- as appropriate -- jailed"
White people arrested for a crime in the US!!
David, PERISH THE THOUGHT!!
Yup
😳🙄😷👀🥺
:-)
While I agree with you wholeheartedly, I worry that it will be impossible to seat a jury unbiased enough to convict him. If 75 million of our fellow citizens still believe his shit, how in the name of god will any prosecution team be able to get a conviction? I fear we will have hung juries over and over.
Well, Dick, if under our system of government and jurisprudence a criminal can avoid arrest and trial by virtue of his popularity among a sizeable hunk of the population and the effect this may have on the selection of impartial juries, then we are screwed. But I'll have to see it to believe it.
I do believe that during jury selection potential jurors are questioned by prosecution and defense lawyers under oath, meaning that if they lie it constitutes a crime (perjury) punishable by fines and incarceration. Assuming Justice Dept. lawyers know how to ask the right questions, and the judge is not himself corrupt or ideological in his judgements, I think even folks who voted for Trump or actively support him might think twice before lying under oath.
While it may be hard to find jurors who have no preconceived notions about Trump, ours is a big country full of folks who follow politics about as much as I follow high fashion, which is to say not at all.
I suspect that IF tfg comes to trial, who the judge is appointed to the case will be as important or more than the jurors seated. Judge shopping and tfg appointments were always cornerstones in tfg's strategies. Do it. Get accused. Hire a flock of best defense lawyers. Pick the judge (now, among those he appointedted). Go through the theater performance. Negotiate the lowest fine. Get your accuser to pay the legal fees which usually bankruptcy the victim. Walk away. Empty the shells from the gun and wipe the knife clean on the schmuck's lapel, all on 5th Avenue before lunch at the Savoy.
You could well be right and I would like to think that you are. I remember the OJ trial which to anyone that watched it was a slam dunk, and how it turned out. I used to see Ron Goldman's father at Costco, he is buried in the cemetary next door to it, and while I never spoke to him, I didn't want to invade his privacy, my heart went out to him for what he endured. The OJ verdict will pale in the national psyche compared to a hung jury or acquittal of the imbecilic clown that put us through so much.
oh, I thought it was just mine that wouldn't work
On and off - the Reply works, and if you get emails with posts the Like button there seems to work ...
As do the rest of Heather’s readers and lovers of our ever imperfect nation.
Be patient;
How did that work out for Black folks from 1865 to (yesterday)??
So sorry that my history book omitted so much, like the picnics after church and before the lynchings. Family time for some. We have so much to face and stop hiding from.
My vote is you are.
At 84, I know that every day is precious! Thank you, Christine.
David, I'm happy to have started a very good conversation and appreciate your thoughtful comments and those of the others who replied. I admit that I was a bit flippant in my posting. In truth, anyone who doesn't worry some about TFG probably has his or her head in the sand. However, we need to balance awareness and involvement with the calm that allows us to enjoy every day that we're alive.
Oh wait, I though TFG said it was Antifa? Who is he going to pardon then? Is Susan Collins having trouble with reality?
Remember Pardons are an admission of guilt. So…thank you for the heads up HCR. Some heavy indictments must be coming this week.
And maybe that’s why the market is tanking when the economy is stronger than ever per the last 35 years. The market is beginning to factor in TFG not going away, a distraction to solving the most deadly pandemic in over 100 years, which without focused global cooperation will linger, supply chains continually strained, promises of continued social division and unrest, a leader of one of two major American political parties is calling for street violence against the the other and the upholding of sacred law and order.
Does that sound like a good place to invest your money???
Maybe the coming sell off will make some big donors think again.
"Maybe the coming sell off will make some big donors think again."
One hopes, Ted.
Maybe it is also the “weakness” that Fiona Hill warned Putin is calculating or senses, or just seeks to destabilize. Is it a coincidence that Putin will ratchet up Ukraine threats this week as his Patsy TFG gets indicted? There’s more than one front here with the attacks on democracy.
If Putin orders an invasion of Ukraine, I suspect it will happen when the weather is right and the Winter Olympics are over. Why? So Russian tanks and other equipment aren't bogged down by mud, and so his ally Xi Jinping can bask in the global limelight of games without the news focused on a rampaging war.
No mud till mid-April...
Good point.
Trump will start saying Ukraine is corrupt and Joe Biden is in on and that the Russians NEED to invade to fix corruption in Ukraine.
That is Wednesday's letter to us all.
Heather, you ask, "What will the Republican leaders who have tied themselves to Trump say now that he has openly admitted he was trying to destroy our democracy?" 1) They will deny he said it. 2)Shown a clip of him saying it, they will say it was taken out of context, 3) Shown the whole thing in context they will say he didn't really mean it. 4) Shown that he has said he meant it, they will say Dems are making too big a deal of it because they know he's telling the truth (yes, I know it makes no sense, but that's what will be said). 5) And finally, when all is said and done, they won't care. That's the part that gets to me. They don't care.
I’m still laughing at Acosta’s “Coup coup for Cocoa Puffs” statement.
Loved that one!
Me, too.