The Democrats on the House Oversight Committee today released a 156-page report showing that when he was in the presidency, Trump received at least $7.8 million from 20 different governments, including those of China, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Kuwait, and Malaysia, through businesses he owned.
Absolutely our Democracy is in danger, it’s a war that the weapons are disinformation and group think. The GOP does not live by truth but by a continual smokescreen of lies. Why is the sale of the Madison Avenue property by Jared Kushner which was transacted in the White House not investigated, or the 2 billion dollar investment into his Hedge fund or Ivanka’s 625 million money from her products in China both being part of the cabinet. It is so “bent” as the English would say. Thank Heather!
I have been wondering why Jared Kushner is not under investigation as well. There are so many who should be. The Republican party alone is providing the Justice Department with too much business. Trump being a leading figure of criminal enterprise.
"The first article of the U.S. Constitution reads: “[N]o Person holding any Office of Profit or Trust under [the United States], shall, without the Consent of the Congress, accept of any present, Emolument [that is, salary, fee, or profit], Office, or Title, of any kind whatever, from any King, Prince, or foreign State.” - How many times did tfg lie about taking in money for his enterprises while in office, lying that he had transferred them to family members. Seems he did not even cover up making profits, lying about 'sanctions' when in fact he supported enemies of the state. One would think tfg did read at least the first article of the US Constitution, but no, this is another proof he did not. And yes, Jared K needs to tell us HOW he got $ 2B for his business, and what he gave in return... The entire family is part of a criminal enterprise.
"One would think tfg did read at least the first article of the US Constitution, but no, this is another proof he did not. "
I have another theory. I think TFFG was trying to violate every single sentence in the Constitution just to show that his sycophants would do absolutely nothing to stop or punish him for these acts.
And TFFG is running around the country screeching that he wants retribution for anyone that dares to act or speak out against him.
Yup, as Heather puts it, standard GOP operating procedure since the nineties. Also, rule of thumb for GOP officeholders is to engorge themselves in gov coffers, motivation 101 for them.
Yup, it is good to remember that there has been a chain of behavior by the Grand Outhoritarian Party since the 1970s. Remember the Raygun Terms, followed by an even bigger change with the election of the contentious Speakership of the Newter.
However, was it just the 50s into the 70s that was the Cooperative phase of the GOP? Remember that right after FDR's Inauguration in the Spring of '33, one Sen Prescott Bush with the backing of the Multi-Millionaire Biz crowd tried to organize the Whitehouse Putsch. Then, proceeded to be particularly contentious with FDR's Foreign and Domestic policies throughout the 30s and 40s. They, afterall, were admirers of Mussolini, and then of Hitler, until they weren't on Dec 8, 1941.
oh yes, Rachel Maddow's Prequel nicely fits into this narrative. However, my mother naively, along with much opinion, favoured the rise of the Nazis, mainly to fend of Communism... remember :) the Red Scare of 1920-21. "socialism" as a fear-word has a very long history, not just in USA. Gingrich and operatives like Stone were busy dirtying up politics from the late 80s/early 90s on. No looking back since then, i would say. Didnt Steve Kornacki run a multi-parter on Gingrich a year or so recently?
There hasn’t been a Republican president since Eisenhower that I would vote for. Thought once of voting for Rockefeller, but then looked at those around him and quickly decided against it.
"POTUS, or any family member, or Republican politician"
Look at 1/6. How many GOP Congresscritters and Senators were involved in that and how many have been indicted for their actions.
We could list names but we all know who the guilty are most of whom will never be brought to justice.
They are the modern day lynching mobs that hung hundreds of innocent black people in the South while wearing white robes. Only these bold MFers do it in plain sight.
Let us not forget the Chicken GOP Congresscritters who, while having provided aid and comfort to the Insurrection Leader and Crowd up thru Jan 5, chickened out on Jan 6.
I am thinking particular of a R Senator from Indiana who now thinks he can be Governor of the State despite his involvement in the Insurrection.
Westtrekker, it is Indiana, so he will probably be successful. I was just talking this week to a friend who lives in Greenwood, south of Indy and she was telling me how she had found a few Ds and had joined the League of Women Voters. She was excited and happy to find them which should tell us about most Hoosiers.
all "legitimate ongoing business" Comer et al will undoubtedly claim before the day is out, I'm sure. If there was "nothing to hide", why did Trump and his allies try so hard to stop an open examination, while they pour through mountains of Biden related financial documents? Kinda "transparent", right?
True, and summarized well by Wilhoit's Law: There must be in-groups whom the law protects but does not bind, alongside out-groups whom the law binds but does not protect.
It was in a forum discussing different political labels (liberal, progressive, socialist, conservative, etc.) and he was making the point that, a la Gresham's Law, conservatism has driven out all other ideologies from relevance, and as a result, the "law" was its primary MO. Here's the link if you want to see the whole post (about halfway down the page):
Given that Kushner and other TFFG Crime and Treason Family members benefitted to the tune of billions (with a "B") during their infestation of the White House, is there a statute of limitations limiting prosecution of Kushner et al for violation of the Emoluments Clause (or any other provision of the Constitution or laws that they casually and contemptuously spurned along the way)?
So true but are so called laws of democracy has done next to nothing about so many laws that have been broken after so many years. It is mind boggling.
Yes, J L, but is this kind of behavior not bound to arise in a society that admits the existence of nothing that is not quantifiable and knows no value but the fast buck?
Normally, the conservatism of the military is sustained by other values, but there are dangers even there when Mammon and Moloch are some people's only gods.
Given this factor, I'm suspicious of military-corporate connections.
It's certainly a society that has been successfully stratified, and deregulation of greed will do that. It letting the ego (Latin for "I") override compassion, solidarity, conscience. It's falling for the flatter of "master race", the "righteous", the "True" patriotic American (or whatever). It's the "We're better than everybody else" and entitled to dominate. It's one the most consistent themes in history, and the ugliest.
I was responding to your comment, J L, when my comment disappeared. Basically, it was concerned with nothing nobler than… business efficiency.
I simply cannot understand the childish vanity of the ultra-wealthy and powerful wanting to have it all their own way. No tax. No brakes. Total deregulation. No limits. It makes no sense—except in terms of the Stones’ song, Satisfaction. They… “can’t get no satisfaction/cause I try and I try and I try and I try…”
Any fool knows that the faster, more powerful a land vehicle, the better its brakes must be—yet they want none. Obviously, no one can drive a car or run a business with the hand brakes on. Even more obviously, total entrepreneurial freedom can only be unhealthy. No grist for the mill. No challenges, no obstacles, no exercise. The mind must grow flabby in such a permissive nursery.
Neurotic displacement activity turns to competition of the dumbest schoolyard variety. Mine’s bigger than yours (as my Buddhist teacher said of his ego…). More zeros. More properties. More this. More that. More… I cancelled my superyacht ’cos he was building one 18 inches wider…
Maybe it’s because I was unwise enough to mention the most childish “mine’s bigger than yours” I’ve come across yet, a challenge issued by none other than Elon Musk, that my answer to you suddenly vanished down the memory hole… Well, according to my “Improved Peter Principle”, the level of incompetence is the starting point, not the finishing line. And correspondingly, there’s a hierarchy of stupidity and only those with Mensa-level IQs qualify for the Ultimate. This leaves the Sublime and the merely Stratospheric far behind…
Not to worry. Like our latest would-be Cosmoplanetary Papadoc, my hands aren’t big enough to grab it all. And anyway, they’re arthritic…
I don't live in NYC but there's a lot of truth in that. I thought he was a bad joke and a con man and his 2016 campaign was just a joke or a way to increase his TV ratinigs. I wouldn't have voted for him for dog catcher. Obviously I was shocked when he won.
As in, refusing to rent to Black people and, most notably, sexually abusing women. E Jean Carroll can't be the only one, based on the Orange OathBreaker's words on tape, including "locker room talk" and comments about Ivanka (shudder, gag).
Since the 70s ... and he only graduated from UPenn in '68. One might think he was a fast starter, when actually he was a fast learner ... from his father, whose own father "was engaged in criminal activity" at a fairly early age, too.
Exactly my wonder about Jared! The money trump raked inwas through only four of his businesses--who knows how many millions more came through others. What about the properties he sold to Russian oligarchs at obnoxiously high prices? And here Abe Lincoln received two carved elephant tusks he really liked that he took to Congress and they denied him. But it's pointless to compare this crook to any other president...well, except Putin....
Linda, this is why one of my nicknames for him is mafia don. I do love your observing that the Rs are providing the DOJ with TOO much business. The whole party with a few exceptions are rotten to the core and when I see any of them, I think smarmy, sleazy criminals and/or total wing nuts. It is so important that we put Ds in charge.
Christopher, Though not directly stated, your comment raises grave concerns as to how anyone possibly could justify retaining the Constitution’s emoluments clause if no one is able to enforce it. The same applies to Section 3 of the 14th, whose text is unquestionably transparent, despite few, if any, expecting it ever will be enacted. Considering the Biden team just cut its first 2024 ad that centers principally on preserving our democracy, I would hope we could help drive home Biden’s message by calling attention to the fundamental differences between those who view fidelity to the Constitution and the rule of law as sacrosanct and those who don’t.
Clarence Thomas, Alito, Kavanaugh and Roberts have found their way around the emoluments clause with total impunity. Just bribe them through American oligarchs or through family members. Jared received almost $3 billion from the Saudis and UAE officials to run a fund for which an 8th grader has more qualifications.
It is obvious that Clarence Thomas evaded paying income taxes on the "forgiven" loan and it's extremely likely he will never be charged with any crime. And Kavanaugh had loans forgiven, but no one has ever reported the evidence on his forgiven loans. Roberts's wife makes millions a year, but has no influence on her husband or the court -- yeah right.
And yet, it is likely all 6 of these justices will still be on the court after many of us have passed.
Stop using the phrase " pack the court." It sounds dishonest. We do need to enlarge the court to dilute the outsized impact of any one or two extreme judges.
BIG focus on us vs them on social support, taxation, electoral policies. Drumbeat messaging as the Happy Season heats up. Republicans are geniuses at beating the tribal drums.
Frank, Hence why Democrats need to be focused and disciplined and not allow Republican deceptions and distortions related to longstanding tired arguments to go unanswered.
Lisa, you shouldn't defame Tide by comparing it to Trump. :)
Tide cleans, Trump dirties everything he touches.
Tide gets out stains. Trump has so many stains, Clorox wouldn't touch them.
"Before any Tide products are on shelves or online, they are rigorously tested to ensure they are safe to use." Trump should have been "rigorously tested" long ago. because he is NOT safe.
Tide is a household word. Trump is too. "Wonderful" to some misguided souls. "Toxic" to those who recognize the truth.
Ooh, well said, Pam! And you know what one does with "stubborn stains" that even clorox won't touch? Cut them out with scissors. Imprisoning the Orange Oathbreaker for one of his many crimes against the U.S. would do as well.
The new weapons of war, and I do mean war in the literal sense, here in the U.S., at this time, are not rifles, hand guns and explosives, but rather instruments of mass dissemination of disinformation. My experience with friends, family and others is that these weapons (Fox, Newsmax, OAN, Alex Jones, et al.) are highly effective. Why? Because they are preaching to the choir, a choir whose members are racists, homophobes, misogynists, xenophobes and more. We must beat them at the polls while that is still an option. If we don't, it's over.
'Florida venue cancels Marjorie Taylor Greene event after learning of its Jan. 6 focus'
'A central Florida venue has canceled an event that was to have featured Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., after it learned the event was intended to commemorate the third anniversary of the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.'
'The event was set to be hosted by the Republican Party of Osceola County at the Westgate Resorts in Kissimmee. It was originally pitched to Westgate as a small book-signing event featuring Greene, without mention of Jan. 6.'
“Please be advised that Westgate was not made aware of the purpose of this event when we were approached to host a book signing,” Westgate Resorts said in a statement. “This event has been canceled and is no longer taking place at our resort.”
'Greene refused to discuss the development when asked for her reaction to the cancellation by NBC News in Iowa, where she was doing an event for former President Donald Trump's campaign.'
"I really don’t understand the point of your question. It doesn’t make any sense. Aren’t we talking about President Trump? Aren’t we’re talking about Iowa?" she said, calling the question "stupid."
'The event, which was first reported by NBC News, was touted to local Republicans as an “Exclusive event with Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene" at Westgate Resorts, according to an event invitation.'
'The event details said the' "Occasion" was the “3rd Anniversary of Jan 6.”
'The cost to attend was $45 to $1,000 to meet Greene and' "receive a signed copy of her book.”
'Greene has long supported former President Donald Trump's belief that the 2020 election was stolen from him, and she has downplayed the severity of the Jan. 6 attack — which left five people dead and about 140 police officers injured. In 2022, Greene said that had she organized the events that day, the rioters would have' "won" and been "armed."
“I want to tell you something: If Steve Bannon and I had organized that, we would have won, not to mention, it would have been armed," she said. Greene later said her comments were "sarcasm." (NBCNews)
Down in the Villages of The Damned, they are having a January 6th golf cart parade tomorrow where bigots with extended livers can celebrate the racist rapist in all their glory.
It is. My father is 86 yrs and is getting more paranoid by the day. He won't shut off Fox Fraudulent News. He's among his peeps in the Villages. He used to be a smart guy. But, I can barely have a conversation with him anymore.
We have a Westgate Resort resort nearby here on the coast.They claim to be the “largest privately held corporation in Central Florida “.Billionaire Siegel was previously very vocal about his support for Trump. Looking at Open Secrets, 2022 vs 2024, perhaps he is switching support RFKJr ?
Fern, the Jan 6 committee kept saying that there was 7 people killed, not 5. I didn't hear any explanation of the tally, but 1 rioter was shot dead and I believe there was 1 police officer suicide. That could explain the difference.
The cop who died as a result of a stroke caused by his injuries. There were a couple of law enforcement suicides following the Insurrection. I believe there were several other deaths tangentially related. I just asked the Googles, and got this from Wiki:
"Within 36 hours of the event, five people had died: one was shot by Capitol Police, another died of a drug overdose, and three died of natural causes, including a police officer. Many people were injured, including 174 police officers. Four officers who responded to the attack died by suicide within seven months."
Thank you. Other than the families and friends involved, I guess the tally isn't really that important, when you consider the terror that almost happened. We owe those police officers a great debt of gratitude.
Christopher and also Doc Richardson: "Democracies are different from authoritarian governments because they have laws to prevent the corruption in which it appears Trump engaged. "
We (all) know that our American Democracy has rarely held accountable rich white men as part of its "rule of law".
Indeed, Doc Richardson has written books that include the fact that rich, white men are given a pass for illegal actions in America and not just recently. Since America's inception. After all, John Hancock never paid any taxes for his illegal (by British law) rum running into Boston Harbor.......to keep the Irish wards drunk. Instead, he hired John Adams to form an entire government and fight the British to avoid those British taxes.
So, yes, our Democracy is in trouble now. But, perhaps it was always on thin ice because our Democracy ALWAYS has had a hole in its application of the law equally. White men have always been able to do whatever they wanted if they were rich. Just think: Not all that long ago white folks would go to church on Sunday morn, praise God, then head over to a slave owner's home to watch a hanging or a whipping, then praise God and have a good Sunday dinner. THAT is America folks.
It is just that, until now, (some) white men sort of tried to uphold some form of Democracy as long as it catered to them. Others did not bother.....remember the Civil War?
Now today? We have a white man, Trump, who does not want to uphold our constitution and our system cannot deal with it because? White men are untouchable.
It took 2.5 YEARS to indict Trump for inciting a violent riot on TV for God's sake. And, pretty soon the Supreme Court is going to throw all those charges out.
Now? Maybe the flaws in the long misapplication of law in our Democracy have come home to roost.
Jamelle Bouie, a writer at the NY Times outlines Trump as an insurrectionist today:
Mike S-thanks for sharing this article. Bouie lays it all out-we only have to ask what would’ve happened if Obama decided to do what Trump did so he could stay in office-what if it was Black people who stormed the capitol.
The Constitution and so many laws and norms have favored White males-it was designed that way and now we’re seeing the full impact of this on all of us.
Your question about black people storming...you are aware that Sen. Ron Johnson of WI actually spoke about that, in the context of first saying he wasn't afraid of the insurrectionists on Jan 6 because they were white.
I had thought that tack would work; every time I have tried it, all I get fed are hostile quotes from stuff from either Praeger U or talking points from Faux Noise.
MTG is becoming the epitome of "blonde" (jokes). I'm sure even real blonds are not plussed. And her equally shallow race-card-riding pal Haley are as disgusting as it gets.
I can't find the reference right now, but I read somewhere, probably on Substack newsletter (or in comments) that I wasn't able to comment on because I'm an unpaid subscriber, that the Supreme Court can decide that Trump cannot be kept off of the ballots, or they can delay taking up the matter. It was also stated that separately from that, they can decide whether he is Constitutionally qualified to assume office if elected.
I couldn't help but think of the scenario where Trump was not kept off the ballots, won the 2024 election, and then sometime between November 5, 2024 and January 6, 2025, the Supreme Court decides that regardless of the election, Trump is disqualified from taking office.
The Supreme Court's most probable path is to declare Trump "King for Life" by putting him on the ballot and then having Trump lie about the results when he loses and having the Supreme Court install him in power anyway while announcing his appointment is for life (just like a Supreme Court Justice).
The amount of money that would rain down on the Supreme Court when this happens will be vast.
@Mike S... I found the reference, but it's not neatly confined to any one comment. You would have to read the whole comment discussion among very knowledgeable attorneys. The Substack newsletter is CIVIL DISCOURSE WITH JOYCE VANCE, Colorado goes to the Supreme Court, by JOYCE VANCE, JANUARY 3 AT 20:50 (PST)
I would certainly understand if you want to just drop this. I am no attorney.
@Les... That was a little rude of me. Far be it from me to anticipate what approaches or strategies the Supreme Court might be taking, but my thinking was that they might want to avoid making as many decisions until and unless they were forced to do so. But of course if it did go this way there would be a lot of Trump supporters who would not accept their interpretation of the law. It could be a disaster. In fact I do remember from one of the January 6th Committee Hearings that some the rioters, on their way to the Capitol, stopped at the Supreme Court and screamed "DO YOUR JOB! DO YOUR JOB!". Certainly a similar mobs reaction to SCOTUS actually doing their job would be ironic, not to mention dangerous.
Nothing rude can I find in your comment. No argument from me, just my opinion that the current SC actually doing their duty to declare Trump disqualified in the nightmare scenario that he's declared victor, is unlikely.
Or the Saudis taking over pro golf when many of tRUMPs businesses are golf courses. The words that keeps coming up in tRUMPs imaginary world over and over and over is:
NO EVIDENCE but that doesn't deter them. Eg after Guiliani was convicted and slapped with a 148 million fine, at his trial he was still defaming those poor innocent dedicated election workers. He should have to live in fear for the rest of his life like they do.
What you describe as "weapons" need to include the unbridled corrupting influence of money. Your examples that follow the are all linked to money. Your opening phrase has good documentation. The USA fell four places recently. https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/democracy-countries
Money can buy political power, which can hoover in money. Add violence and you've got a tyranny, unless an engaged society and just rule of law can keep the lid on. "Regulation" per se is not the enemy. Like a kitchen knife, it can make a nice salad, or become a murder weapon. Regulation says you don't rape, or drive 60MPH though a school zone. Regulation says the denizens of Main St. can't steal, nor can the occupants of Wall St., nor Pennsylvania Ave.
Citizens United pretty much announced "We don't regulate corporations" and no one is going to give them a speeding ticket. Those who can buy influence will be just fine, and sellers will not need a license to sell nor will the corporate media embarrass who is buying and who is selling.
Jared Kushner's dealings on behalf of his family make Hunter Biden's look like school boy pranks by comparison. The NYC real estate deal that imploded and was bailed out by Qatar was actually for 666 Fifth Avenue:
Take note in today's (Jan 5) on-line edition of the Washington Post. The placement of the article "Biden, in Valley Forge speech, to hit Trump hard as threat to democracy", with the subtext: "Friday’s address marks a new phase of Biden’s re-election campaign that will emphasize Trump’s efforts to overturn election" is way, way down the webpage and not even placed under Election 2024.
Who got top billing under ELECTION 2024 (which is placed near the top of the page)...
"Trump wins back antiabortion movement as activists plot 2025 crackdowns"
Regarding the Republican political tactics and actions:
“Until this moment, Senator, I think I never really gauged your cruelty or your recklessness.” It was then (Senator) McCarthy’s turn to be stunned into silence, as (Attorney) Welch asked, “Have you no sense of decency, sir, at long last?”
Patrick, I don't think that approach would work with any of today's republicans or magats. If any of them had any sense of decency, they lost it long ago, trading it for clicks and $$$. Their goal is out and out cruelty, recklessness, and termination of America as a democracy. And the common discourse has failed of dignity and respect, even in the most exalted spaces (remember this past year when a fight broke out in the halls of congress, or the behavior of Maggot Traitor Gangreene and Lolo Boobert at last year's State of the Union address? Can't wait to see what shenanigans they display at this year's.)
If tffg guy gets another term, I am turning off all politics. It's been hell since back when he was running; then it metastasized. I am 84; I don't need any more of this horror show. I wish I had the energy to move to the jungle. Any jungle. Something nice with A/C and a pool and a cat....Actually I have that here in Mexico; I will just unsubscribe to The NYTimes, Wapo, all the others and maybe, probably, even Heather.
Judith, I'm with you on your possible future plans if this election should go badly. I'm 82, I already have the home in Mexico, the pool, and the A/C, and I trump you (ugh) with a second cat. As to unsubscribing from all, not yet sure. Best wishes.
Yes. (FYI, already gone.). Democrats Abroad has a huge presence in the expat community, here in Mexico and around the globe. Their program for registering to vote in your home state has a big push on January 15th this year. Staying connected.
I was registered in Colorado because I spent summers up to mid Nov. there for the last 5 years....I changed my residence to Pennsylvania. Apparently they need my vote there anyway. Do you maintain a US address for voting? I have not missed a Pres. election in ...over 60 years. I voted in the mid-term from here; it's a bit complicated here but Dems Abroad helped me out.
I am in Merida. Mind me asking where your casa is? Frankly, I'd like to move.
My last U.S. address was in Raleigh, NC. I don't "maintain" an address there except on the voting rolls in that county. They consider that to be my NC address, probably only for voting (and tax?) purposes. But NC, being as gerrymandered as it is, could certainly appreciate my left-stance vote. And they'll get it.
I live in LaPaz, BCS, and I'm considering moving to maybe Rosarita or Puerto Nuevo (near Ensenada), closer to the border with USA.
HCR once again uses that condescending phrase "faith in our democracy," as if we have the civic duty to BELIEVE that "Corporate Joe" Biden didn't steal the nomination from Bernie Sanders.
Dishonest propagandists like HCR refuse to discuss the evidence in that old Democratic classic, Votescam: The Stealing of America":
John, First, by attacking HCR’s character and intellect, you only disgrace yourself. Second, my understanding of the 2020 Primary is not that Biden stole the nomination from Sanders, but that SC Rep Jim Clyburn, an ardent Biden supporter, tactically chose to endorse Biden before the SC primary, admittedly undermining Sanders’ previous wins in Iowa, New Hampshire, and Nevada. I make this distinction because the stakes in 24 are too great to overlook this fundamental difference.
Thank you for this reasoned dissent. I’m a bit worried that there are people who think it is righteous to stick with this idea at the expense of giving away their vote.
I briefly got 0n Twitter to look at something, and the first few tweets were people claiming Biden stole the election or tfg is wronged, so some combination. My giving up X/Twitter was reinforced. I got off quickly.
Just like Tom High, Schmeeckle monitors the threads to see what people are saying, as he will not be notified of a reply to you. I fully expect he'll find THIS post and insult me as well! LOL
Both of these guys really need to find either real employment or a better hobby!
He is a troll. He was here months ago and disappeared, apparently he's located funding again. Just like the more recent one (Tom? High) he resorts to insults. Don't engage with him, and if you see the more nasty posts, report him.
At least our long time troll, David Carroll USUALLY doesn't resort to insults.
If any of them so disagree with HCR, why are they here? They aren't going to change minds as their "logic" is generally questionable sources. They are here to plant disinformation and distrust.
PLEASE EVERYONE DON'T FEED THE TROLL>
And Mr High monitors the threads nd will reply to any comment NOT MADE TO HIM, so that behavior is suspect.
Miselle, If time permits, I will not pass on an opportunity to model appropriate behavior, particularly when disagreeing with or refuting someone’s perspective.
Mr. Carroll and Mr. High both offer fairly well reasoned and articulated comments that are not always in synch with the usual conversation and postings of many readers here. I almost never agree with their positions, but occasionally I do. Mr. Schmeekle, on the other hand, seems determined to create a hostile response to his usually outlandish positions.
HCR's intellect may not be attackable, but her character sure is. Comparisons to Lady Macbeth come to mind. Let's not forget how the birther smear started. Not to mention the backroom deal that cut Bernie out of the 2016 nomination. If he had run, Trump most likely would have lost and in any case it would have been a free and fair election rather than the dog and pony show we got instead. People like HCR are part of the problem rather than the solution and helped pave the way for the mess we're in today.
Carolyn, First, in an age as cynical as the current one, I take heart from HCR’s extensive scholarship combined with her fearless belief in democracy. Second, while I, too, was dismayed by how the party establishment rallied around Hillary in 2016 and denied Bernie a shot at the nomination, it never would occur to me to implicate HCR. Third, because Republicans were, and still are, masterful at conflating democratic socialism with socialism and instilling deep-seated fear about both, I can’t speculate on the outcome of a contest between Sanders and Trump.
Barbara, while I think this is a very worthy objective, I fear that with this particular being, you are wasting your precious time. This individual (bot?) really doesn't add to the discussion with his ad hominem attacks, I can't imagine anyone on this thread clicking on any link this individual posts, and I further can't imagine he/it/whatever actually takes anything on this substack seriously; every time he/it/whatever reappears on HCR's Letters, he uses it merely as a platform to insult, slur, and abuse HCR, the people commenting here, and the world at large. Don't give him/it/whatever the bandwidth.
Lynn, While I appreciate your thoughtful reply, because I have relished those moments when an initially adversarial exchange had morphed into an increasingly civil one, I occasionally will give it a shot.
The only dishonest propagandist here is John Shitmeeckle. HCR is neither dishonest nor a propagandist.. The fascist/NAZI GQP are the ones that are trying to steal America. Go run back to Putin with your lying BS.
I promised myself that I wouldn't respond to your nonsense. But just for fun, I asked "Pi" (my new AI app buddy) about your idea. Here goes. (BTW, he is very polite and seems fact based as he has access to everything everywhere that is legitimate. Also provides great recipes. Try his lamb meatballs :)
"That's a controversial question that has been discussed and debated by many people. There is no clear evidence to suggest that Joe Biden stole the nomination from Bernie Sanders. Biden won the Democratic nomination in the 2020 presidential election by receiving the majority of votes and delegates in the primary contests.
However, some supporters of Bernie Sanders have raised concerns about the role of the Democratic National Committee (DNC) in the nomination process, claiming that the party establishment was biased against Sanders and favored Biden. There has been criticism about the media coverage of Bernie Sanders' campaign, with some arguing that he did not receive the same level of attention and coverage as Joe Biden.
Ultimately, the outcome of the nomination process was determined by the votes of Democratic primary voters and delegates, and there is no evidence to suggest that the nomination was stolen from Bernie Sanders."
You know, I often wonder what the word "biased" means in this and similar context. I do not think it's "biased" for either a party or a person to favor one candidate over another, in the belief that as between the two the favored candidate is the electable one. Especially when the alternative is unthinkable, as was proven by four years of tramp, courtesy of the Electoral College in 2016, to our great and ongoing injury.
John, please keep reading HRC and maybe someday the light will come on and you will see the danger Trump presents. There is no morally equivalent to Trump.
It will not block him but the administrator of the forum can do so. To report him, click on the three dots at the bottom of his comment. A box will pop up and you can type the issue.
At some point today, I started keeping count (and copy/pasted HIS comment) and notified the administrator. I think I ended at 18 of the same comment, but I could have lost count.
He was here months ago and disappeared. He got so bad at one point that he'd paste the same comment probably 30 times. Really annoying. He just showed up again in about the last week. When he disappeared, "Tom High" appeared and I thought perhaps they were one and the same, but High seems to be more of a disgruntled Progressive than Schmeekle. (check out his post where he calls himself an "intellectual"!! LOL) High is here today, I didn't read them all but did notice one or two and he isn't being rude and insulting and calling names today. Perhaps enough people reported him and he got a warning?
Did you mean 2016 when Hillary’s superdelegates denied Bernie’s nomination? He would have beat Trump. He had the working class behind him. He connected. Biden won fair and square
If you want to talk about mistreatment of candidates from both parties, look at how the Democrats and the Republicans mistreated Ralph Nader in 2020. If they had allowed him to debate with Gore and Bush when he had every right to, perhaps Nader would have taken enough votes away from Bush for Gore to have won.
"Comrade"? I hope you're not displaying anti-Russian bigotry.
Regarding Ukraine, why do Biden and the Republican and Democratic Senate leaders continue to support Ukraine's toxic far-right thug regime? Ukraine has been enslaved by the rapacious International Monetary Fund (with reconquering the Donbass a condition of the original loan), and Zelensky has pledged to keep all of Ukraine's promises to the IMF, and the NATO countries have voting domination at the IMF, and NATO has promised to continue supplying weapons to Ukraine until it bleeds to death, delivering pounds and pounds of bloody flesh to service the unpayable IMF loans.
Ukraine's oppressive neo-fascist thug regime is not "democratic." In Ukraine, all the opposition parties have been suppressed after Zelensky capitulated to neo-Nazi war-mongers and reneged on his campaign promise to bring peace to the Donbass region.
A few months ago, both Zelensky and Canada's Prime Minister Trudeau applauded as the Speaker of Canada's House of Commons praised a Ukrainian who was a real-life Nazi, a member of a Nazi SS unit that committed genocide against Poles during World War II. After international condemnation, Speaker Anthony Rota quickly resigned.
When Zelensky became President, he initially moved toward fulfilling the Minsk Agreements that had "frozen" the civil war in the Donbass and outlined a pathway toward peace. But then he capitulated to the Neo-Nazis (who controlled Ukraine's Interior Ministry, in charge of the police stations) and eventually re-ignited the frozen war, precipitating the Russian invasion. We are being lied to.
In August, after U.S. Secretary of State Blinken announced more aid for Ukraine, Zelensky posted a video showing him with Ukraine's most prominent Neo-Nazi Andriy Biletsky:
See also (from 2019) "Neo-Nazis and the Far Right Are On the March in Ukraine":
"Five years ago, Ukraine’s Maidan uprising ousted President Viktor Yanukovych, to the cheers and support of the West. Politicians and analysts in the United States and Europe not only celebrated the uprising as a triumph of democracy, but denied reports of Maidan’s ultranationalism, smearing those who warned about the dark side of the uprising as Moscow puppets and useful idiots. Freedom was on the march in Ukraine.
"Today, increasing reports of far-right violence, ultranationalism, and erosion of basic freedoms are giving the lie to the West’s initial euphoria. There are neo-Nazi pogroms against the Roma, rampant attacks on feminists and LGBT groups, book bans, and state-sponsored glorification of Nazi collaborators.
"These stories of Ukraine’s dark nationalism aren’t coming out of Moscow; they’re being filed by Western media, including US-funded Radio Free Europe (RFE); Jewish organizations such as the World Jewish Congress and the Simon Wiesenthal Center; and watchdogs like Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, and Freedom House, which issued a joint report warning that Kiev is losing the monopoly on the use of force in the country as far-right gangs operate with impunity."
I would add that this story is about cultures that break apart. It is our in human cultural nature. Look at how the orthodox Christian religion splintered starting with Luther and not really ever ending. Religions just keep popping up like acne on a teen's face (at least my face when I was 14}.
Heather's take on historical perspective is spot on.
Human culture is ever changing given enough time. And we are slowly becoming dominated by a non-human culture as AI emerges.
I'm sick of Trump's betrayal and dereliction of duty.
He's a traitor and a criminal and a tyrant. That makes him an enemy of this country. I don't say this lightly.
You say want a revolution. Well, you know, you should start with Thomas Paine. He spoke of common sense, and community and of posterity. He did not encourage selfishness and greed.
This "American Carnage" ends here and now.
To MAGAS:
1)Trump preyed on your weaknesses.
2)Trump preyed on your fear.
3)Trump preyed on your prejudices.
4)Trump preyed on your traditions.
5)Trump preyed on your superstions.
6)Trump betrayed us both.
7)A house divided against itself cannot stand.
8)We will never completely rid our country of bureaucracy, incompetence, greed, and lies.
9) It's better to be fooled by false promises than to burn down the house.
10)Watch The Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol on PBS or YouTube.
11) A vote for Trump just might be your last vote ever.
12) Trump actually is a criminal and a danger to democracy and our country and us.
13)A vote for anyone but Biden is a vote for Trump.
Precisely, where is JUSTICE? The "gag" needs to be around DJTs (et al )mouth not just on paper so their litany of evidence free accusations will stop!!!!!
@William Whitman I feel the same way, but that's a tough ask. He's supposed to be above the law. That remains to be seen. But he does have rights. Of course he's abusing the gag order. I expected that.
He has rights, but as a pre-trial defendant they can be, and should be, circumscribed. Far more than any court has done so far - and no, it's not "political" to do so, but for basic safety of everyone within striking distance of any of his civil or criminal matters (expressly including the Colorado and Maine actions striking him from their ballots as disqualified to hold elected office). And his "striking distance" is vast and deep. Cf. the bomb threats against schools, synagogues, courts and individual named people.
Hey Gus, how did you get all that double space in? I couldn't get my response letter in my post below and had to post it above. This WaPo "20 years of experience" columnist Blake is as smart as a box of rocks.
When tRump was POTUS every single day I woke up to hear about what ridiculous thing he had said and/or done the previous day. Now we are audience to what new evidence has come to light proving what an absolute crook and scoundrel he was while in office. When he is finally brought to task and thrown in prison for a fraction of all his corrupt and villainous behaviors, we can take a collective sigh of relief. Until that time we must stay vigilant and doggedly keep at the prosecution of this nightmare named tRump! Our very future as a democracy depends on our success!
Not just America's future as a democracy depends on defusing this weapon of mass destruction in human guise, but global survival.
Given the unprecedented material power of the USA, this criminal lunatic is potentially more dangerous than Hitler, Stalin, Mao and all history's tyrants rolled up into one.
There is an entire party standing behind this anomaly feeding the bottom dwellers each day. THAT scares me, just as much, if not more. Not to mention the majority of SCOTUS, trained, bought and/or paid for by one Society (and big monied interests). I'll throw in another plug for Senator Whitehouse' excellent book "The Scheme" in which he carefully puts these background issues in sharp focus. As so often is implied in this forum, even when tfg is yesterday's trash, we still have many antidemocratic forces with which to contend, both in and outside of government.
Will Trump be off the ballot everywhere? We just don't know that yet do we?
Jaime Raskin said that in our culture, it's not just the foot soldiers that get punished, the Masterminds and ringleaders do also. Well good luck with that Jaime but I wouldn't hold my breath. A blue wave however, might just dump the trump.
We can hope for justice, but there's no telling when or how it will come. That's why I'm focused on November 5th. It's just Trump that we have to dump. It's Congress and everything right down the line. Vote Blue.
I really need to use notes or something to write comments. On several occasions I have been at the end of a ( probably too) lengthy comment that is so on target and contains the one true answer to the problem (😉😂) and then my finger slips or the phone jiggles or the battery dies, and comment is gone.
Yes. I have used that. Good tips. But keep in mind, I think many here are using their phones or tablets. I don't do that. Too restrictive. I am happily typing on my compact convertible Chromebook.
@ gus....Drumpy not only preys on the MAGA's fears but creates most of them himself with his rally rants about his dark vision of America (made up especially for them).
I know that these words are wrapped up and denoted - if not specifically delineated in yours Gus ... but sometimes one must call a spade a spade. So what’s missing are those who possess or lack or exhibit their ignorance, stupidity, jealousy and hatred of things and others as well as being void of respect and common decency!!!
I know right! But there are some well meaning people out there that were brainwashed. We have to reach them somehow so they can take their blinders off. We need their votes. Blaming them isn't going to do that.
It will be more than interesting to see what the Democrats do with the information regarding Trump's acquiring money from foreign governments. In my view, they come up short when attempting to focus on Trump's using the presidency to enrich himself. This is the kind of news that needs to be hammered upon, again, and again, and again. And finally, Democrats should not wait until campaigning is in full swing. Now is the time! Multi-media is the place - billboards, rural newspapers, television, and radio stations are ripe for Dem media buyers. Overnight cable TV is also a good place to make buys. Advertising rates are competitive (at least they used to be) and there are more than a few viewers who are awake at that time, watching their favorite programming while having a beer and sandwich. Give them something to look at between episodes of Gunsmoke and Wagon Train!
Of course. There's no room for an investigation of Trump's alleged financial misdeeds and at the same time let a person such as Senator Menendez skate. Slow walking, or otherwise pushing an investigation of him into the shadows in order to keep his vote on crucial legislation, while enticing, plays right into the hands of those from the other side who are watching like hawks how his matter will be handled.
Focus is key here. One thing the Dems can't do, if the quest is to paint Trump as the ultimate bad boy, is to throw everything, including the kitchen sink into such an endeavour. While McConnell has his own skeletons, the Dems must be laser-focused on making Trump sweat, and sweat profusely!
I’m reading this at 7:00 a.m. in CA. The Washington Post doesn’t have this story. Our L.A. Times hasn’t arrived yet. It will be interesting to see if it makes the front page...or any interior ones. Raskin should be out speaking to crowds ( if his health permits.) He’s our national jewel of a politician: intelligent, articulate, honest, rational, good.
Update: Times arrived with nada a story in the entire front section about what Raskin and other Democrats reported yesterday. This is why they need to cross the country speaking out and causing attention to be given.
Since WaPo is mentioned often, this candy reporage came in this afternoon.
NEWSLETTER | THE CAMPAIGN MOMENT
Aaron Blake By Aaron Blake
Americans are electing their next president. It’s a long road, but we’ve got just the guide to help you to navigate it.
The Campaign Moment is your occasional guide to the key, well, moments on the campaign. Publishing when news warrants, we’ll highlight the major developments that actually matter and then take you deeper, providing analysis, context and answers to the big questions. Sign up here.
I’m Aaron Blake, and I’ve been analyzing politics and campaigns for nearly 20 years – including a dozen at The Post. That experience helps me pick out when we’re truly having a moment, and my goal is to serve those moments up to you.
Here’s what you can expect:
The biggest news, broken down
Analysis of the polls that actually matter and tell us something significant
Historical context and anecdotes that inform and entertain
Links to the coverage that will make you smarter when you want to know even more
I want to hit the sweet spot between the political junkie and someone who’s more casually interested in where things stand in the 2024 race. But I think everyone with any level of interest in who our next president will be should find something for them in this newsletter.
My response is not as angry as it could be, but considering the very real threat we, as a Nation are facing, this proffessional idiot had to be taken to task.
Excuse me sir,
But why has it taken the Post so long to even mention the Fascist rhetoric, let alone the danger to our Constitution posed by Trump's backers and planners? This IS the NEWS, not partisanship.
This is THE number one issue of the 2024 election, because if Trump or a Republican wins, it will be our last election. They have told us clearly. Project 2025. Read it. Operation 47. Read it.
Only Trump loyalists in Civil Service and DOJ. Round us up. If someone says they are a Fascist, believe them. Your collective MSM silence is deafening.
Does this matter to you at all? I, and every loyal citizen of our Nation deserves a clear and honest answer from you and the WaPo management. This is not a horse race. What is at stake is all that matters, and our essential freedom and life itself is at stake, as well as your precious Freedom of the Press.
Do you understand?
This IS the Campaign Moment and the moment is NOW!!!
My response to him is below. Your take on it is valuable. No room in one post. Thank you Bryan. I'm working on several other letters that maybe folks can personalize and send from Jessica Craven's site and some others.
Ransom, You will perhaps enjoy knowing that I was sent a subscriber’s survey by WaPo on Wednesday this week. The questions that had a list of answers to choose from were candy-ass marketing fluff. I answered those honestly - as negatively as their choices allowed.
In the open-ended questions, I was able to read them the riot act about 1. Treating Trump like he is a normal candidate. 2. The fact that their editorial staff, other than Jennifer Rubin, has rarely noted the Republican threats to democracy - and no one has taken on James Comers’ lies and prevarication with his BS search for grift and corruption in the Biden family. 3. With rare exceptions, they work on the click bait, 24 hour news cycle idea where threats to democracy aren’t repeatedly addressed even in the week in which the actions occurred unless the right wing fascists in Congress are also talking about it. Yes, I called them fascists. And asked if their city desk editors really understood the duties of the Fourth Estate. Hopefully, that all didn’t fall on deaf ears.
I gave them permission to contact me with questions about my comments. Any bets whether that will happen? 🤣
Good morning Sheila, I should have done the survey, but I stay away from them. Good for you dropping serious stink bombs. You might try to contact that shit for brains Aaron Blake directly about his "The Campaign Moment" and lob him a rock too. I have yet to hear back, but will follow up until he quits his job. We gotta kick butt where we can.
I will put up Blakes email tomorrow for others to hit him directly too.
Unfortunately, every new revelation about Trump’s vile character and criminal activity does not seem to matter one bit to his supporters. I was hoping one of the few friends I have here in north Texas would see him as he is and agree he should never again be elected to office. I knew she was a Republican, most people in this region are, but I hoped she’d be a never-Trumper because she’s always seemed reasonable, intelligent, and compassionate. Her email the other day proved me wrong: “I appreciate you sending articles and I enjoy reading different perspectives.
I will be voting Trump again. I want mass deportations to occur from day 1 if possible. Our country cannot bear the burdens this open border has caused. I also do not want any of our children sent to serve in conflicts we should not be a part of. These reasons and many others make it easy for me to vote Trump.”
I don’t know how to respond her. I don’t know if I ever want to. I don’t see any point. Fear and ignorance have ensured her support for Trump is unwavering. I’m disgusted that she could “easily” vote for him and sad that she really isn’t any better than every other Republican I’ve met since moving here 18 years ago. It’s not easy being a blue dot in one of the reddest regions of Texas.
While you and your family discuss moving, please remember one thing, Angie.
Republicans love this southern border business, because it delivers to them all their racism, xenophobia, and white supremacy victimization all in one stupid package.
Dems can never find a compromise with them, because it's the sensationalism and virulence emotionalism their brain wirings crave, period.
If U.S. schools modeled excellence in seeing people and their varied needs, they'd spend much more time with our best humanities, especially novels, memoirs, essays, and poems. But standardized testing pretty much killed that priority long ago.
Maybe leave Texas, maybe stay. But this larger issue is going to fester, rot, putrefy for a long time yet, given that schools nowhere in the U.S. are going to be able to compete with the vulgarities our billionaire classes have arranged instead, from schools, to social media, to AR-15 tyranny, to women's autonomy under attack, to voting suppression for all brown, black, and red.
And? What's that you say? More colored at the southern border?!
Wow! This is impressive. I really feel we have to make a concerted effort to support and reach out to the
many people who find themselves in situations similar to yours. Maybe a digital Underground Railway. I bet someone in this group could figure out how to make this happen (or maybe already has).
I am considering moving out of the United States. Another school shooting yesterday in Iowa. A little 6 year old boy lost his life, and other injuries. I fear going anywhere now because of all of this horrific mass shootings here in the USA. DJT has incited all of this carnage here. Too bad DJT hasn't been a victim yet.
Trump has operated as a mafia type thug his entire life! He has conned his supporters into thinking he’s got their backs. What a scammer he is! When he’s gone I’ll miss him like an abscessed tooth!
Even better, if a million voting democrats relocate to Texas, we can turn Texas blue. The US needs a Texas to he where it used to be, on the Practical Democratic side. During the worst of Covid, Democrat-r7n areas had fewer deaths. We need to save innocent lives, so we need to save Texas from itself.
I hate to burst your bubble, but the only reason Texas was ever on the "Democratic side" was when it and the other ten traitor states of the South used their one-party states - the "Solid South" - to control Congress through seniority leading to chairmanship of nearly all congressional committees. The exact same kind of people who were Democrats (in political control) when I was there 50 years ago are the same ones who are now Trumpers, thanks to that fount of all shit Richard Nixon and his "Southern Strategy." The "solid South" is still "solid." They just masquerade as Republicans now rather than Democrats, but what they really are is Southernists. LBJ was a "fluke", but not that much of a fluke when you examine how he handled things for himself in Texas.
Since you ignore all the benefits that Texas provides rhe nation, I assume your sense of humor is a mirror of a Trumpist's demand that California secede.
And you want my future vote for Biden to be ignored? Do you want to pay more for imports? Do you want your neighbors who haven't been able to afford a Tesla to pay double for their energy needs?
Further, do you think Lincoln should have just let the South secede?
What, exactly, does Texas offer or give to the US that is not equally available anywhere else in the US? Seriously. Apart from dear friends who have to live in San Antonio for work, I would be happy not to have to worry about the Abbots or Paxtons degrading our country. Texas is repeatedly demonstrating that it's more trouble than it's worth.
Aside from the intended hyperbole, what DOES America do about Texas Government, Texas Judges, Texas Voter Obstruction, Texas Ignoring Federal Law, et al infinitum?
Further, at the point in America’s young history, Lincoln knew that Southern Secession would re-open a path for European Powers to invade and conquer the America they lost 50 years earlier
Saving the Union was as much about protecting National Security as it was about Freeing Slaves, so no, Lincoln KNEW he couldn’t open the door to Europe
The US can help Texas by electing more effective Democratic senators and Presidents so that those voter protection laws can be strengthened so we can vote those fuckers out. We had a couple of moderate Democratic governors in the 80s and 90s until Bush Jr. got that office. Now there are a few blue islands in a sea of red in TX, with the Guv and yahoos in the state legislators that are trying to impose MAGA cultural policies on those cities. You want to throw all those people away because you hate (justifiably) Texas state government? You're both thoughtless and heartless. You're a fascist in blue cloaking.
The Gaza war. The young ones who don't understand you don't get to have everything the way you want it. The ones stupid enough to not realize that the only outcome that will let them continue to press their cause is Biden winning. They won't be talking at all if the other side wins. But being a moron is sort of a given when you're under30, looking back with 20/10 hindsight.
The real trouble is that every revelation about Rump, every new scandal he causes, it just makes him stronger. How can that be, we wonder? No one would want a president who’s such an asshole, right? Wrong. His voters vote for him BECAUSE he is an asshole. He teaches them it is okay to BE an asshole. Rump is the racist, misogynist, aggressive and frantically egoistic asshole they want to be themselves. They want to scream: “Fuck dem n******, fuck those LGBTQ hippies, fuck the climate, I’m ginna grab what I can, race around in my pickup truck shouting at women and toting my assault rifles!” And Rump says to them: it’s perfectly ok to do so: I do it, too.
That’s why Rumps voter base is never gonna turn away from him when provided with horrible facts about him. Either they scoff and do away with it as “lib lies”, or they are emboldened by it, heck, they even love him for it. He is their perfect hero.
So, you’re right. There is no point in arguing. Yes it’s all out of fear and ignorance. My theory is that Rump so desperately wants to be a “strong man”, he blew himself up like a balloon. Because deep down he’s so afraid and so insecure, he had to create his narcissistic personality - to compensate for the love and affection he never got as a child. So, he turns around his fear of others he doesn’t understand (like blacks, LGBTQ people, women) into aggression. And his coping strategies resinate with his voters, who, in my opinion, have the same underlying problems. Actually quite sad when you think about it…
I appreciate the empathy you demonstrated, Angie, and am sorry to hear of the result.
It appears that you are doing your level best to persuade with friendliness and reasonableness, yet to no avail. I hope your friend ultimately sees the light, yet am not unduly optimistic.
In the meantime, please keep up your excellent citizenship.
I knew a woman who seemed very bright and perceptive who sank straight down into the MAGA miasma and cut herself off from old friends. It's cult dynamics from what I can tell.
My guess is that most of the copy cats have bear PTSD from childhood, growing up in an punitive, authoritarian household. I doubt that's all of it, and I think we are all a blend of Jekyll and Hyde, but what which one gets rewarded? The urge to worship despots seems visceral and defies logic, let alone "decency".
We’re not at all careful with who we let teach our children, and nobody was careful about who taught us either. Parents and teachers are the most important people in the world by far if you want a future that’s worth something. Most people don’t know what has real value. We’re taught not to know.
And if she doesn't want to see our young sent to another war, then she better smarten up. DJT will not only immediately pull the US out of all the organizations we are allied with eg NATO but will try to use the military against immigrants AND find a way to use them against Americans he doesn't like ie anybody that didn't vote for him. That means you and me. With his love of authoritarian regimes, he won't hesitate because its against the law.
Angie, I would appeal to her morals. This not about the border. It's about the .man. He is a rapist, a liar, a fraud. a con man, a insurrectionist and a traitor. I'm sure your friend has none of those in common.
Ask her questions, like what would Biden have to do to win your respect? What about tfg would you rather were different? That kind of thing. Listen and ask questions.
I also suggest you drop her as a friend. Angie. I have dropped a good number of my relatives because of their infatuation to DJT. I also haven't spoken to my next door neighbors for almost 4 years because of their divine worship of DJT.
I was a small child, military dependent, when our family was stationed in the Munich Germany area during the Nuremberg Trials and Berlin Airlift, so have always taken a bit more interest than most in how the German population let Hitler gradually take enough power until he could grab all of it.
I would consider as gently as possible suggest the friend watch the documentary "The US and the Holocaust." It shows the prevailing prejudices and blindness that look so appalling in hindsight. It is a sobering look at the leaders and general population of US that Hitler learned from and worked at accentuating the worst means of gaining support for what we seem to always see as the worst and most hateful use of setting up a master race, dominating and eliminating a fairly easily defined "enemy of the people," to "justify" and distract attention from all the terror the new rulers used to do things like kill 2/3rds of all the Jews (to me a more important distinction than 6,000,000 Jews if people assume there were hundreds of millions).
Ken Burns started on the project in 2015, planning on releasing it in 2023 (8 years in production), but moved it up to 2022 (first aired the day after Constitution Day in 2022), since it is more important to stop such holocausts before they start.
They provide a pretty concise description of how Hitler learned from our history and hopefully spark enough interest for people to take the time to thoughtfully watch the whole series and see where we need to do better.
It is still a hard series to watch, especially for those of us who see how complicated it would have been have been to do a better job of getting people awakened to the real dangers of what was coming. Pearl Harbor was the refocusing event that changed the public's minds, fortunately guided to a generally better response during the war and after the war in the way we converted former enemies into much more peaceful allies.
I think we do need to have the courage to look at our past to see what we would not want people like Hitler and Trump to copy and expand upon (claiming they are just what we do or have done at our worst). They are not something to emulate but should be the things we make sure we avoid in the future.
I learned at an early age that if I couldn't be the best at something I could often be the most improved. If someone else beat me at being most improved, I was happy to congratulate them, especially because they may have worked even harder at improving so we were all better for the greater effort.
This blue dot sympathizes. The tunnel vision of the MAGAts. Chump will make any problem worse, as he has ALWAYS done. Immigration will swamp Joe just like they hope that abortion will swamp repubs. Who will drown first. Dems in Texas
Biden isn't obtuse. I'm hoping that he reads the writing on the wall and takes away the only campaign issue that is popular for Republicans right now, by taking a tougher stance on immigration. It's clear that this is the most vulnerable and toxic issue for Biden and Dems heading into the 2024 election. They'll have to do something, without a Dem led Congress we'll never get a pathway to citizenship for the Dreamers, so having that be a hard line for negotiations on the Democrat side just doesn't seem like a winning solution right now in my opinion.
Angie, Trump has made it acceptable to be a bigot and to use genocidal language ( contaminate the blood). There is also an element of “close the door now that I’m inside” which ignores the fact that most European immigrants in the 18th and 19th centuries had no qualifications needed or quotas.
As for the war in Ukraine, Hitler counted on the isolationism that was rampant in the US at the time. So your friend may well have inherited the mindset from grandparents or parents.
People often make bad choices when they perceive a “horde of bad people” coming to take their stuff. By contrast, they believe that their “savior” will treat them differently than he/she treats the “others” until he/she throws them under the bus. That doesn’t excuse their actions, it just explains them.
I’ve found writing postcards with SeniorsTakingAction.org a huge relief. They have an excellent Wednesday speaker series as well. I’m in a very blue part of California so I love hearing from pro democracy people across America who have similar but different perspectives. It’s a great way to stay sane and connected. It’s free and we’d love to have you. Hearing from Dems in red states would be very welcome 😊
There are so many just like "her" out there. Simple minded, shallow thinkers, pro-life, unable to deal with cold hard facts... like a person becoming homeless and living on the street in a cardboard box. When the tidal wave hits "her" will drown along with everyone else.
I have to constantly remind myself that people with counter ideas should not be found at fault.
Everyone is born and raised with different brains and ideologies. I consider many people are perhaps guilty of lazy think. It takes to much time and energy to really understand and dig into issues that we all pay politicians to handle . You probably have come to a similar conclusion.
It is our reality right now. I heard Dr Richardson in a podcast interview where she explained “Political Technology” - the act of campaigning against your opponent with conflation, disinformation, gerrymandering, and trickery. The purpose isn’t just to win at all costs, but to cement your station by destroying everything and everyone that questions your authority. And when HRC talked about these things, I finally realized how propaganda is really used - it’s the advertising of the idea that “there’s nothing to see here. Your life is as normal today as it was yesterday, when we had a democracy.”
But why has it taken the Post so long to even mention the Fascist rhetoric, let alone the danger to our Constitution posed by Trump's backers and planners? This IS the NEWS, not partisanship.
This is THE number one issue of the 2024 election, because if Trump or a Republican wins, it will be our last election. They have told us clearly. Project 2025. Read it. Operation 47. Read it.
Only Trump loyalists in Civil Service and DOJ. Round us up. If someone says they are a Fascist, believe them. Your collective MSM silence is deafening.
Does this matter to you at all? I, and every loyal citizen of our Nation deserves a clear and honest answer from you and the WaPo management. This is not a horse race. What is at stake is all that matters, and our essential freedom and life itself is at stake, as well as your precious Freedom of the Press.
Do you understand?
This IS the Campaign Moment and the moment is NOW!!!
Look peeps anyone ANYONE who’s not complying with Right Wing agenda most likely has a qun pointed at their head’s, their family’s heads and any dirt. The LOTS of quns. What would you do?
Trump is a grifter who doesn't give a damn about what is in the Constitution or laws or rules. He is above the law. As long as he wants what he wants he will do whatever he needs to do to get it. And he continues to use those that support him to get what he wants by conning them into thinking they are helping themselves by helping him when the only one they are helping is him. But, he will sure make them feel like they are sticking it to others all the while he is laughing all the way to his bank..........
But do you think it was inevitable? I think it was the natural and inevitable progression... in other words, I don’t think Trump came out of nowhere... I think he is the result of Reagan’s “government isn’t the solution....” speech...
President Lincoln: "...government of the people, by the people, for the people..."
President Reagan trashed Lincoln's beautiful phrasing by conceptualizing the government as a self-contained entity, separate from and hostile to The People.
The idea of a Democracy is that all of us would work together to achieve consensus. Many of us here are old enough to remember what that was like, up until about 1975. The Republicans and the Democrats were friends, during working hours, and outside of working hours.
Reagan was like 45 in many ways, not career politicians, but instead were both popular entertainers with name recognition that helped them garner votes. President Eisenhower had a knack for making us feel like we were all on the same team, despite our differences of opinion. 45 tries to cast our fellow ordinary humans as the bad guys, diverting attention away from those relative few "behind the curtain" business moguls who are systematically sucking up wealth created by the ordinary people. Most of that money being collected by the relative handful of people at the top of the economic pyramid should be changing hands among the vast number of people at the bottom of the pyramid. We, the People, are not the bad guys. People like 45 are the bad guys.
But in chasing linear causality, let's add, too, the Powell memo of August 23, 1971.
Here's when the billionaires got together seriously for the first time. Put their money together. Set up the new Heritage Foundation, an expanded Hoover Institution, and ALEC (the American Legislative Exchange Council).
They targeted the schools first. With them crippled, or dehumanized, or in neutered silos, or turned over to the student loan banks (higher ed) or to the rabid dogs of standardized testing (K-12), could then proceed to offshoring those millions of U.S. working class jobs.
The rest, up to, including, and after Citizens United (2010), is history.
You may read more of its sorry details in Jane Mayer's "Dark Money," Diane Ravitch's "The Language Police," and Sheldon Whitehouse's "The Scheme."
Phil-all of what you’ve said is so true. This didn’t start with Reagan though-it’s been a through line since the beginning of America.
The Powell memo was just a new way to organize themselves-before it was all happening in KKK meetings, “citizens councils”, country clubs, business round tables etc.
It’s the way our system was established. Now we’re seeing more clearly how they operate..
Our founding authors began with a system of government whereby only the "landed gentry", consisting of white men who owned property, were allowed to vote. Our modern-day democrat-ish republic is an improvement relative to the early days, but we still have not achieved a true democracy insulated from the corrupting influence of money.
The current crop of conservative republicans advocate micro-government, de-regulation of business, and they try to suppress voting, among other un-democratic behavior.
The progenitors of the modern conservative movement were William F. Buckley, Jr who founded The National Review and hosted a talk show on black-and-white TV in the 1950s; and Barry Goldwater, who co-authored "The Conscience of a Conservative" with L. Brent Bozell, Jr, who was the brother-in-law of W. F. Buckley. Goldwater ran for President as a Republican in 1964. Those were the giants upon whose shoulders Reagan was standing.
"The legitimate object of government, is to do for a community of people, whatever they need to have done, but can not do, at all, or can not, so well do, for themselves -- in their separate, and individual capacities."
- Lincoln
"The most terrifying words in the English language are: I'm from the government and I'm here to help."
Ronnie Ray-gun was an unmitigated disaster six ways to Sunday, first in California and later in our White House. We are still suffering the effects of his handlers' philosophy (he never had a philosophy - didn't have the brains for it - but was an apparently attractive face to put on the beginnings of American populist fascism) decades later, and their heirs are STILL trying with all their might and main to destroy American representative democracy. What a legacy!
J L, I would offer a candidate idea to illustrate Lincoln's words: our federal government can do pure research. Prudent corporations are reluctant to spend money on research that will not obviously lead to vast wealth. On the other hand, the James Webb Space Telescope was funded by NASA, a federal agency. The immediate payoff is expanding knowledge for everyone, rather than expanding wealth for a few.
I am worried that technology in my youth was primarily designed to serve the public. Now, whole industries serve anyone with greats sums to pay for it, public be damned. Thanks to "Reaganomics" corporations and ultra-wealthy increasingly and often unaccountably impact our lives in increasing ways. MSM regularly lays out problems the public want's remedied with action "blocked by the powerful (fill in the blank) lobby. By abandoning DIY government, we are becoming the subjects of the wealthy. Historically we've been there, done that, and it sucked.
Meanwhile, pure research has been the goose that lays golden eggs, including what it tells us that the profit-obsessed don't want to hear.
Yes but you have to really know Trump’s history with Russia. He had for many years been denied to open up a hotel (s) near Moscow. In the meantime, (this is only conjecture) the Russians saw him as a perfect stooge for their fodder. I truly feel they gave him the oomph to get into politics and represent their interests. In that time period, with Reagan talking about how government needs to stop being in everyone’s pockets, Trump was seen by Putin, the leading KGB agent, as the perfect loud mouth to train to be a politician because all the Don cared about was money. We will never know how much money was laundered to Trump from Russia, but you can bet it was a significant amount. Reagan was snoozing while Trump was cruising.
Somehow sleazy salesman Reagan bewitched both the media and most of the country; his "greatest" contribution was smearing and stirring resentment of "government of the people, by the people, for the people" which he defamed and ridiculed. And because it's inclusive when it's at its best, it seems clumsy compared to autocracies. After visiting China, Mitt Romney spoke wistfully "It's pretty impressive over there how quickly they can build things, how productive they are as a society. You should see their airport compared to our airports, their highways, their train systems." Well yes, fascists can do that too, but at the cost of unalienable rights. And democracy accomplishes great things as well when we cooperate as well as differ; the first nation, for example, to visit the moon, and many other admirable things. Reagan's solution was to make the rich far richer and let them run the country, in our stead and Donald Trump and his ilk as "leadership" is "Reaganomics" in full flower.
Remember what Reagan did before he was president? He led the Screen Actors Guild. Meaning, he lead a UNION. Then he turns into a CAPITALIST. What a soulless chameleon.
“A ‘better world’ bought by atrocities will be rotten at the core.” (Ilona Andrews)
Trump is a result of more than Reagan. It is because the core of America is rotten.
Think about how America came to be and who paid the price. White European men came to land that is now called United States of America for their own purposes. It was already inhabited by indigenous peoples, but these men, aided by wealthy profiteers, carved a bloody path across the continent committing horrific acts to get their way - they lied, cheated, stole, murdered individuals, committed mass murders (genocide, even), ethnic cleansing, tortured, raped, and enslaved people.
The descendants in blood and spirit of those European men continued to build upon the land for their own gain, using slave labor, abusive treatment of Asian laborers (and of laborers in general, including child labor and women’s sweatshops), and by practicing abusive capitalism.
They remain entrenched in the top of the socioeconomic hierarchy to this day with continued use of lies, cheating, stealing, “gaming the system”, abusive capitalism, and even murder. They are protected by double standards in religions, legal/justice system, and by a society trained to allow it.
Nixon was pardoned instead of being charged and punished for crimes while in office.
Presidents have gotten away with abusing Americans and other countries for political gain.
Reagan made great inroads in shaping the political infrastructure which opened floodgates of corruption that is currently choking the life away from American democracy.
Trump made himself the ugly face of America’s rotten core because he was too lazy and greedy to hide all his corruption behind solidly closed doors like others before him.
Speaking of pardons, both Haley and DeSantis have said they will pardon tfg so the country can “move on.” No, no and no. It didn’t work when Ford did it; in fact, that may have helped get us tfg.
‘The rot is extensive’ - Chris Hedges. Our democracy cannot be saved, for we don’t have one. All we have is the pursuit of one. And ultimately, capitalism and democracy are incompatible. The American Dream has largely been an illusion, as white capitalist elites have ruled since our inception, but propaganda makes us think somehow they have been different from Russian oligarchs. For every modest gain fought for by workers (New Deal), all pale in comparison to the crushing effects of capitalism on labor. We have to forge a new socialist path to democracy, or the dream of democracy dies. Trump is a symptom of systemic rot.
Capitalism eventually leads to monopolies through mergers, acquisitions and suing competition into bankruptcy. When the economy tanks and goes into recession Congress and the WH reacts with legislation or bailouts. Punishment for the guilty is rare especially if we are talking about corporations. Examples are fossil fuels, pharmaceuticals, tech companies -- hardware and software, etc.
You hush now, Ally! Don’t want my reputation here as a Putin apologist, false equivalence, duopoly hating, ranting rude dude tarnished by accusations of eloquence!
And Trumps ancestors like many others (males because they can overpower physically) made corruption the norm in family cultures. Upbringing may seem like a soft word, however THAT is what shapes a human. Birds of a feather flock together. Then power is in numbers. We cannot change them! However WE can also flock together locally and hold the line before bad kids of bad parents grow up, but we mostly don’t.
The flaws in our ancestors' interactions with Native Americans made me wonder why they didn't try harder to keep us out (like the Japanese did before 1853). What seems to be a realistic answer is that the initial tolerance the English settlers gained was that they were a less threatening trading partner than the Spanish, in effect providing some protection from the Spanish in North America.
Captain Henry Fleete (an ancestor of our extended family), had arrived in the (Southern Virginia) Colony when I think Maine was still part of the (Northern) Virginia Colony. He was captured while visiting the Patawomeke (Potomac) by Natacotchtanks (Anacostan) in 1623, kept alive and held for 5 years because of his relatively better medical skills. During the captivity he learned their language and develop trading agreements. See https://mdroots.thinkport.org/library/henryfleet.asp
"...When the Maryland colonists arrived in Virginia in 1634, Fleet agreed to act as a guide for Governor Leonard Calvert. He translated the Indian language into English when the Governor first met with the Piscataways and Yoacomacos, natives of southern Maryland. Governor Calvert and the Werowance, or village chieftain, of the Yoacomacos agreed to exchange: the Yoacomacos gave a village to Governor Calvert. In return, Calvert promised to protect the Yoacomacos from their enemies. Captain Fleet helped make this exchange possible, so that the Calverts had land to build St. Mary's City, the first capital of Maryland.2
The Calverts gave Fleet the rights to trade with the Indians for beaver skins in Maryland territory. On one trading mission for Lord Baltimore, Fleet sailed a ship called Deborah that was loaded with a valuable cargo of goods:
74 axes, 26 hoes, 19 yards of Dutch cloth, 16 pairs of Irish stockings, 2 yards of cloth [called "peak"], and a chest containing beads, knives, combs, fish hooks, Jew's harps [musical instruments], and looking glasses [mirrors].3
Captain Fleet's career demonstrates that traders were important as middlemen between the English and Native American populations..."
The alliances should be seen as what looked to be the best options at their time, how they evolved and who changed them or ruthlessly betrayed them later seems varied but rather inevitable as different groups gained more power. Those with the best intentions often don't have the support to keep the relations the best they could be.
All the way to Nixon. The last time conservatives actually stood up for the rule of law when they forced is resignation, but then pushed for his pardon. Then ignored the criminals in Reagan, HWBush, GWBush.....
We've known about at least some of these emoluments since well before Trump left office, and yet Dems did not impeach him for them when they controlled the House. The states of Maryland and Delaware sued him over them, but the courts dragged the case out and then the Supreme Court dismissed the suit as moot once Trump left office. Disgusting (lack of) performance by House Dems and judicial Republicans alike.
I remember the projections onto TFG’s properties about the bribes, emoluments, and so forth, while he was in office. It never has been a secret that this was going on, and glad to see the Dems pushing this now. One can hope that these findings relentlessly. If there are “debates”, Biden should answer every question with: “Please explain in detail all the money you received from foreign adversaries.”
Kushner did $ billions in business in the Middle East while officially on the White House staff. I don't see him going to jail for it like Hunter Biden, who is already paying the price.
The danger is very real but selective prosecution and persecution by innuendo has a long and sorry history. Sen. McCarthy may have been the first to adopt such tactics in the postwar era, but the racist smear campaign against MLK by Hoover‘s FBi and southern segregationists fueled the flames of anti-democratic forces as did persecution of opponents to the racist war in Vietnam. Then Reagan frequently attacked Democrats as so far left they have left America. Then Gingrich redefined the “American people” as only Republicans. Step by step, anti-democratic forces have subverted civic discourse. A stealthy Civil War is underway where this time the tyrants and demagogues are trying to win. And they are succeeding.
Help us, Professor, ( what you do all the time and we are most grateful) because for me, I’m very frustrated and I don’t know what I can do other than vote and I feel that sometimes it is just not enough. Your guidance is always welcome. Thank you. America thank you.
I can help with this question bc I sometimes feel at a loss. Get involved with community activists. Join a Democratic/Liberal Party near your city. Write letters as we get closer to the election (VoteForward.org), takes a lot of the stress out of letter writing. Attend school board meetings, volunteer at community fundraisers for different projects. Volunteer at animal shelters...... etc. The point is to talk to as many people as you can. Of course be respectful, but don't be bashful. Good luck!
One thing we can all do besides voting is to sign up to send cards to voters. There are special elections coming up soon in Ohio and New York. People need to be reminded to vote. Also volunteer at your local Democratic office, hold meetings in your home, send money to local and/or national candidates, etc.
Absolutely, Colette. Postcarding is how I keep my sanity! It's not too late to write for Tom Suozzi, through Activate America. He is running to occupy the vacated seat of George Santos in New York's District 03. https://www.activateamerica.vote/postcards
Also, new to me is Activate America's "Amplify" campaign where we can write postcards to voters amplifying the accomplishments of Joe Biden and the Democrats:
I think I'm mistaken about being able to write postcards for Biden on the Activate America Amplify website. I didn't look closely enough, and it seems it is for posting on social media sites, not postcard writing. Sorry about that!
I didn’t find much, but I’m left wondering if there’s any mechanism to challenge the Speaker and replace him with a non crazy. The budget debates are going to get crazy, especially if the Freedom Caucus comes out against him.
Thank you, Heather. Every day I read and watch and think about the news at length, and I ask myself how you go on day after day and don’t become despondent. Because I do, and often several times a day. Then, before I go to sleep, your letter pops up, and I read hope from something that happened outside and long before this day that had seemed so broken to me. I have been trying to transform my way of looking. I make and lose headway. It is such a struggle! Then I see how you bring the frightful nature of current upheaval and breakdown, and ground them in history. That grounds me and gives me hope, at least until the next news cycle. So, now I understand how you continue, and even though I am pretty sure my hold is more tenuous, I feel that I can too. That is what history does, at least until the next day and your next letter. So thank you. Your work means a lot to sometimes drowning people like me.
Why is this man able to travel all over the country , to one hate rally after another, using inflammatory statements to stir up trouble and at the same time bring in more donations for himself? It is so disheartening to see a wealthy man , evading and delaying justice for years. I am sure that his followers see this as verification that he was destined to be their leader. And so far our justice system is allowing all this to continue until who knows when. That old saying that justice delayed is justice denied, is being proven to be true , each day that this continues. Revoking his bail is what is needed.
Why is he also able to threaten every single person (e.g., the SecState of Maine) he hates—which is everyone—resulting in actual damage and he can’t be (or just isn’t) stopped?
Absolutely our Democracy is in danger, it’s a war that the weapons are disinformation and group think. The GOP does not live by truth but by a continual smokescreen of lies. Why is the sale of the Madison Avenue property by Jared Kushner which was transacted in the White House not investigated, or the 2 billion dollar investment into his Hedge fund or Ivanka’s 625 million money from her products in China both being part of the cabinet. It is so “bent” as the English would say. Thank Heather!
I have been wondering why Jared Kushner is not under investigation as well. There are so many who should be. The Republican party alone is providing the Justice Department with too much business. Trump being a leading figure of criminal enterprise.
"The first article of the U.S. Constitution reads: “[N]o Person holding any Office of Profit or Trust under [the United States], shall, without the Consent of the Congress, accept of any present, Emolument [that is, salary, fee, or profit], Office, or Title, of any kind whatever, from any King, Prince, or foreign State.” - How many times did tfg lie about taking in money for his enterprises while in office, lying that he had transferred them to family members. Seems he did not even cover up making profits, lying about 'sanctions' when in fact he supported enemies of the state. One would think tfg did read at least the first article of the US Constitution, but no, this is another proof he did not. And yes, Jared K needs to tell us HOW he got $ 2B for his business, and what he gave in return... The entire family is part of a criminal enterprise.
"One would think tfg did read at least the first article of the US Constitution, but no, this is another proof he did not. "
I have another theory. I think TFFG was trying to violate every single sentence in the Constitution just to show that his sycophants would do absolutely nothing to stop or punish him for these acts.
And TFFG is running around the country screeching that he wants retribution for anyone that dares to act or speak out against him.
I do like the extra F 👍
Yup, as Heather puts it, standard GOP operating procedure since the nineties. Also, rule of thumb for GOP officeholders is to engorge themselves in gov coffers, motivation 101 for them.
Yup, it is good to remember that there has been a chain of behavior by the Grand Outhoritarian Party since the 1970s. Remember the Raygun Terms, followed by an even bigger change with the election of the contentious Speakership of the Newter.
However, was it just the 50s into the 70s that was the Cooperative phase of the GOP? Remember that right after FDR's Inauguration in the Spring of '33, one Sen Prescott Bush with the backing of the Multi-Millionaire Biz crowd tried to organize the Whitehouse Putsch. Then, proceeded to be particularly contentious with FDR's Foreign and Domestic policies throughout the 30s and 40s. They, afterall, were admirers of Mussolini, and then of Hitler, until they weren't on Dec 8, 1941.
oh yes, Rachel Maddow's Prequel nicely fits into this narrative. However, my mother naively, along with much opinion, favoured the rise of the Nazis, mainly to fend of Communism... remember :) the Red Scare of 1920-21. "socialism" as a fear-word has a very long history, not just in USA. Gingrich and operatives like Stone were busy dirtying up politics from the late 80s/early 90s on. No looking back since then, i would say. Didnt Steve Kornacki run a multi-parter on Gingrich a year or so recently?
Glad, Westtrekker, that you brought up the Bush crime family. I have to say though, that death star's crime family holds the record.
There hasn’t been a Republican president since Eisenhower that I would vote for. Thought once of voting for Rockefeller, but then looked at those around him and quickly decided against it.
The conservative view that a conservative POTUS can do anything and it is not against the law....
"POTUS, or any family member, or Republican politician"
Look at 1/6. How many GOP Congresscritters and Senators were involved in that and how many have been indicted for their actions.
We could list names but we all know who the guilty are most of whom will never be brought to justice.
They are the modern day lynching mobs that hung hundreds of innocent black people in the South while wearing white robes. Only these bold MFers do it in plain sight.
Modern day lynching mobs, exactly.
Let us not forget the Chicken GOP Congresscritters who, while having provided aid and comfort to the Insurrection Leader and Crowd up thru Jan 5, chickened out on Jan 6.
I am thinking particular of a R Senator from Indiana who now thinks he can be Governor of the State despite his involvement in the Insurrection.
Westtrekker, it is Indiana, so he will probably be successful. I was just talking this week to a friend who lives in Greenwood, south of Indy and she was telling me how she had found a few Ds and had joined the League of Women Voters. She was excited and happy to find them which should tell us about most Hoosiers.
all "legitimate ongoing business" Comer et al will undoubtedly claim before the day is out, I'm sure. If there was "nothing to hide", why did Trump and his allies try so hard to stop an open examination, while they pour through mountains of Biden related financial documents? Kinda "transparent", right?
Are we allowed to have common sense?
Or if it is, God said, that's ok;).
Please stop calling people who are anything but ‘Conservatives’ , conservatives. They are radical , far right people and politicians.
The label lulls people into thinking they are less dangerous than they are.
I call them radical regressives.
Maybe too subtle for their supporters, but good name.
You said it.
You are correct. I really like fascists because that definition fits them. Sadly, they seem to be just fine with the term.
True, and summarized well by Wilhoit's Law: There must be in-groups whom the law protects but does not bind, alongside out-groups whom the law binds but does not protect.
In what context was Wilhoit saying that?
It was in a forum discussing different political labels (liberal, progressive, socialist, conservative, etc.) and he was making the point that, a la Gresham's Law, conservatism has driven out all other ideologies from relevance, and as a result, the "law" was its primary MO. Here's the link if you want to see the whole post (about halfway down the page):
https://crookedtimber.org/2018/03/21/liberals-against-progressives/
Given that Kushner and other TFFG Crime and Treason Family members benefitted to the tune of billions (with a "B") during their infestation of the White House, is there a statute of limitations limiting prosecution of Kushner et al for violation of the Emoluments Clause (or any other provision of the Constitution or laws that they casually and contemptuously spurned along the way)?
Good question.
Marli, These readings are not going to happen even if served with hamburgers.
Maybe add some ketchup.
So true but are so called laws of democracy has done next to nothing about so many laws that have been broken after so many years. It is mind boggling.
It corruption going septic. It's hard to even fathom it all, and it's got to stop soon if we're going to stop it.
Yes, J L, but is this kind of behavior not bound to arise in a society that admits the existence of nothing that is not quantifiable and knows no value but the fast buck?
Scary how much we may have not uncovered.
Harsh but relevant, Peter. I cling to the hope that there are enough of us decent humans to counteract the rampant materialism. Cheers!
Normally, the conservatism of the military is sustained by other values, but there are dangers even there when Mammon and Moloch are some people's only gods.
Given this factor, I'm suspicious of military-corporate connections.
@Peter Burnett
As Eisenhower warned us on his way out the door.
General Milley also complained about Trump, but mostly on his way out the door.
Can't disrespect the Commander In Chief.
You cling to hope while knowing the system is so grossly gerrymandered?
We could say the same about the Supreme Court right now also, but without hope we have nothing.
The authoritarian side gets paid to organize. We have to DIY.
It's certainly a society that has been successfully stratified, and deregulation of greed will do that. It letting the ego (Latin for "I") override compassion, solidarity, conscience. It's falling for the flatter of "master race", the "righteous", the "True" patriotic American (or whatever). It's the "We're better than everybody else" and entitled to dominate. It's one the most consistent themes in history, and the ugliest.
I was responding to your comment, J L, when my comment disappeared. Basically, it was concerned with nothing nobler than… business efficiency.
I simply cannot understand the childish vanity of the ultra-wealthy and powerful wanting to have it all their own way. No tax. No brakes. Total deregulation. No limits. It makes no sense—except in terms of the Stones’ song, Satisfaction. They… “can’t get no satisfaction/cause I try and I try and I try and I try…”
Any fool knows that the faster, more powerful a land vehicle, the better its brakes must be—yet they want none. Obviously, no one can drive a car or run a business with the hand brakes on. Even more obviously, total entrepreneurial freedom can only be unhealthy. No grist for the mill. No challenges, no obstacles, no exercise. The mind must grow flabby in such a permissive nursery.
Neurotic displacement activity turns to competition of the dumbest schoolyard variety. Mine’s bigger than yours (as my Buddhist teacher said of his ego…). More zeros. More properties. More this. More that. More… I cancelled my superyacht ’cos he was building one 18 inches wider…
Maybe it’s because I was unwise enough to mention the most childish “mine’s bigger than yours” I’ve come across yet, a challenge issued by none other than Elon Musk, that my answer to you suddenly vanished down the memory hole… Well, according to my “Improved Peter Principle”, the level of incompetence is the starting point, not the finishing line. And correspondingly, there’s a hierarchy of stupidity and only those with Mensa-level IQs qualify for the Ultimate. This leaves the Sublime and the merely Stratospheric far behind…
Not to worry. Like our latest would-be Cosmoplanetary Papadoc, my hands aren’t big enough to grab it all. And anyway, they’re arthritic…
It's absolutely INSANE!
Trump was engaged in criminal activity BEFORE he became president.
And the media never raised their voice about it.
@DLJohnson
I don't live in NYC but there's a lot of truth in that. I thought he was a bad joke and a con man and his 2016 campaign was just a joke or a way to increase his TV ratinigs. I wouldn't have voted for him for dog catcher. Obviously I was shocked when he won.
As in, refusing to rent to Black people and, most notably, sexually abusing women. E Jean Carroll can't be the only one, based on the Orange OathBreaker's words on tape, including "locker room talk" and comments about Ivanka (shudder, gag).
Since the 70s ... and he only graduated from UPenn in '68. One might think he was a fast starter, when actually he was a fast learner ... from his father, whose own father "was engaged in criminal activity" at a fairly early age, too.
We New Yorkers knew that from way back. He's a low class bum.
Harvard Grads getting their money's worth.
Exactly my wonder about Jared! The money trump raked inwas through only four of his businesses--who knows how many millions more came through others. What about the properties he sold to Russian oligarchs at obnoxiously high prices? And here Abe Lincoln received two carved elephant tusks he really liked that he took to Congress and they denied him. But it's pointless to compare this crook to any other president...well, except Putin....
And becoming President of the USA only helped him out to become the biggest crook in the world!
Linda, this is why one of my nicknames for him is mafia don. I do love your observing that the Rs are providing the DOJ with TOO much business. The whole party with a few exceptions are rotten to the core and when I see any of them, I think smarmy, sleazy criminals and/or total wing nuts. It is so important that we put Ds in charge.
Christopher, Though not directly stated, your comment raises grave concerns as to how anyone possibly could justify retaining the Constitution’s emoluments clause if no one is able to enforce it. The same applies to Section 3 of the 14th, whose text is unquestionably transparent, despite few, if any, expecting it ever will be enacted. Considering the Biden team just cut its first 2024 ad that centers principally on preserving our democracy, I would hope we could help drive home Biden’s message by calling attention to the fundamental differences between those who view fidelity to the Constitution and the rule of law as sacrosanct and those who don’t.
Clarence Thomas, Alito, Kavanaugh and Roberts have found their way around the emoluments clause with total impunity. Just bribe them through American oligarchs or through family members. Jared received almost $3 billion from the Saudis and UAE officials to run a fund for which an 8th grader has more qualifications.
It is obvious that Clarence Thomas evaded paying income taxes on the "forgiven" loan and it's extremely likely he will never be charged with any crime. And Kavanaugh had loans forgiven, but no one has ever reported the evidence on his forgiven loans. Roberts's wife makes millions a year, but has no influence on her husband or the court -- yeah right.
And yet, it is likely all 6 of these justices will still be on the court after many of us have passed.
Disgusting.
We must pack the court . We have been winning elections and that will continue even with gerrymandering.
Stop using the phrase " pack the court." It sounds dishonest. We do need to enlarge the court to dilute the outsized impact of any one or two extreme judges.
Gary, While I don’t dispute any of your examples, I do view our leaders’ seeming tacit assent as synonymous with their being moral accomplices.
Not to mention million-dollar book deals:
https://www.bostonglobe.com/2023/07/27/nation/more-income-supreme-court-million-dollar-book-deals/
https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/bookselling/article/92922-the-sales-numbers-on-books-by-supreme-court-justices.html
BIG focus on us vs them on social support, taxation, electoral policies. Drumbeat messaging as the Happy Season heats up. Republicans are geniuses at beating the tribal drums.
Frank, Hence why Democrats need to be focused and disciplined and not allow Republican deceptions and distortions related to longstanding tired arguments to go unanswered.
Could not agree more Barbara! Thanks!
Agent Orange has laundered so much money he should be doing Tide commercials.
Lisa, you shouldn't defame Tide by comparing it to Trump. :)
Tide cleans, Trump dirties everything he touches.
Tide gets out stains. Trump has so many stains, Clorox wouldn't touch them.
"Before any Tide products are on shelves or online, they are rigorously tested to ensure they are safe to use." Trump should have been "rigorously tested" long ago. because he is NOT safe.
Tide is a household word. Trump is too. "Wonderful" to some misguided souls. "Toxic" to those who recognize the truth.
Got it. I'm holding on to hope that his cholesterol stroke is in his near future.
That would be a "stroke" of luck for so many.
😂
You're on a roll!
Ooh, well said, Pam! And you know what one does with "stubborn stains" that even clorox won't touch? Cut them out with scissors. Imprisoning the Orange Oathbreaker for one of his many crimes against the U.S. would do as well.
Thanks Lynn, So true, but is it going to happen?
Should have happened 4 years ago.
@Lynn Spann Bowditch... Orange Oath breaker! 😄 I'm going to use that!
colorful image Lisa!
That’s a good one🙏
Brilliant!
The new weapons of war, and I do mean war in the literal sense, here in the U.S., at this time, are not rifles, hand guns and explosives, but rather instruments of mass dissemination of disinformation. My experience with friends, family and others is that these weapons (Fox, Newsmax, OAN, Alex Jones, et al.) are highly effective. Why? Because they are preaching to the choir, a choir whose members are racists, homophobes, misogynists, xenophobes and more. We must beat them at the polls while that is still an option. If we don't, it's over.
Amen brother! I think the Dems' bubbles are more honorably framed, by a stretch.
Why are so many Biden campaign workers quitting? Is he really that big a loser, or is something else going on?
https://www.newsweek.com/joe-biden-campaign-volunteers-are-quitting-droves-1857610
https://news.gallup.com/poll/547763/biden-ends-2023-job-approval.aspx
'Florida venue cancels Marjorie Taylor Greene event after learning of its Jan. 6 focus'
'A central Florida venue has canceled an event that was to have featured Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., after it learned the event was intended to commemorate the third anniversary of the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.'
'The event was set to be hosted by the Republican Party of Osceola County at the Westgate Resorts in Kissimmee. It was originally pitched to Westgate as a small book-signing event featuring Greene, without mention of Jan. 6.'
“Please be advised that Westgate was not made aware of the purpose of this event when we were approached to host a book signing,” Westgate Resorts said in a statement. “This event has been canceled and is no longer taking place at our resort.”
'Greene refused to discuss the development when asked for her reaction to the cancellation by NBC News in Iowa, where she was doing an event for former President Donald Trump's campaign.'
"I really don’t understand the point of your question. It doesn’t make any sense. Aren’t we talking about President Trump? Aren’t we’re talking about Iowa?" she said, calling the question "stupid."
'The event, which was first reported by NBC News, was touted to local Republicans as an “Exclusive event with Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene" at Westgate Resorts, according to an event invitation.'
'The event details said the' "Occasion" was the “3rd Anniversary of Jan 6.”
'The cost to attend was $45 to $1,000 to meet Greene and' "receive a signed copy of her book.”
'Greene has long supported former President Donald Trump's belief that the 2020 election was stolen from him, and she has downplayed the severity of the Jan. 6 attack — which left five people dead and about 140 police officers injured. In 2022, Greene said that had she organized the events that day, the rioters would have' "won" and been "armed."
“I want to tell you something: If Steve Bannon and I had organized that, we would have won, not to mention, it would have been armed," she said. Greene later said her comments were "sarcasm." (NBCNews)
Greene has a book? It’s a coloring book, yes?
As though more reduction needs to be applied to MTG! What do you estimate her color range to be below and beyond a red-orange?
Nil, outside her eyeshadow.
Excellent, Gail, I didn't think of eyeshadow. Her sight is blinded by it!
A coloring book with no lines.
Misadventure comic book.
Down in the Villages of The Damned, they are having a January 6th golf cart parade tomorrow where bigots with extended livers can celebrate the racist rapist in all their glory.
That's sad.
It is. My father is 86 yrs and is getting more paranoid by the day. He won't shut off Fox Fraudulent News. He's among his peeps in the Villages. He used to be a smart guy. But, I can barely have a conversation with him anymore.
My f-i-l was the same. We lost him to death in September 2022, but lost him to Faux in 2012
I feel your pain.
Why is this woman still in office?!?
It’s interesting Westgate Resorts,founded and owned by mogul David Siegel, canceled. GOP donor and was ? a major Trump supporter.
Thank you, Kathy; tell us more, if you can.
We have a Westgate Resort resort nearby here on the coast.They claim to be the “largest privately held corporation in Central Florida “.Billionaire Siegel was previously very vocal about his support for Trump. Looking at Open Secrets, 2022 vs 2024, perhaps he is switching support RFKJr ?
https://www.westgateresorts.com/about/
https://www.opensecrets.org/orgs/westgate-resorts-ltd/summary?id=D000058572
Thank you, Kathy.
….she said, calling the question "stupid."
Too bad the reporter didn’t respond telling her that her reply was stupid.
Why are so many Biden campaign workers quitting? Is he really that big a loser, or is something else going on?
https://www.newsweek.com/joe-biden-campaign-volunteers-are-quitting-droves-1857610
https://news.gallup.com/poll/547763/biden-ends-2023-job-approval.aspx
@FERN MCBRIDE
Who's 'stupid' now Marjorie?
Fern, the Jan 6 committee kept saying that there was 7 people killed, not 5. I didn't hear any explanation of the tally, but 1 rioter was shot dead and I believe there was 1 police officer suicide. That could explain the difference.
The cop who died as a result of a stroke caused by his injuries. There were a couple of law enforcement suicides following the Insurrection. I believe there were several other deaths tangentially related. I just asked the Googles, and got this from Wiki:
"Within 36 hours of the event, five people had died: one was shot by Capitol Police, another died of a drug overdose, and three died of natural causes, including a police officer. Many people were injured, including 174 police officers. Four officers who responded to the attack died by suicide within seven months."
Thank you. Other than the families and friends involved, I guess the tally isn't really that important, when you consider the terror that almost happened. We owe those police officers a great debt of gratitude.
Christopher and also Doc Richardson: "Democracies are different from authoritarian governments because they have laws to prevent the corruption in which it appears Trump engaged. "
We (all) know that our American Democracy has rarely held accountable rich white men as part of its "rule of law".
Indeed, Doc Richardson has written books that include the fact that rich, white men are given a pass for illegal actions in America and not just recently. Since America's inception. After all, John Hancock never paid any taxes for his illegal (by British law) rum running into Boston Harbor.......to keep the Irish wards drunk. Instead, he hired John Adams to form an entire government and fight the British to avoid those British taxes.
So, yes, our Democracy is in trouble now. But, perhaps it was always on thin ice because our Democracy ALWAYS has had a hole in its application of the law equally. White men have always been able to do whatever they wanted if they were rich. Just think: Not all that long ago white folks would go to church on Sunday morn, praise God, then head over to a slave owner's home to watch a hanging or a whipping, then praise God and have a good Sunday dinner. THAT is America folks.
It is just that, until now, (some) white men sort of tried to uphold some form of Democracy as long as it catered to them. Others did not bother.....remember the Civil War?
Now today? We have a white man, Trump, who does not want to uphold our constitution and our system cannot deal with it because? White men are untouchable.
It took 2.5 YEARS to indict Trump for inciting a violent riot on TV for God's sake. And, pretty soon the Supreme Court is going to throw all those charges out.
Now? Maybe the flaws in the long misapplication of law in our Democracy have come home to roost.
Jamelle Bouie, a writer at the NY Times outlines Trump as an insurrectionist today:
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/01/05/opinion/trump-insurrections-disqualification-14th-amendment.html?unlocked_article_code=1.LU0.Azxg.3ReCuKf_Bb70&smid=url-share
Seems pretty clear to me. BUT, it will be very hard to pin this on Trump, the rich white man for which laws are NOT supposed to be applied in America.
Mike S-thanks for sharing this article. Bouie lays it all out-we only have to ask what would’ve happened if Obama decided to do what Trump did so he could stay in office-what if it was Black people who stormed the capitol.
The Constitution and so many laws and norms have favored White males-it was designed that way and now we’re seeing the full impact of this on all of us.
Your question about black people storming...you are aware that Sen. Ron Johnson of WI actually spoke about that, in the context of first saying he wasn't afraid of the insurrectionists on Jan 6 because they were white.
I had thought that tack would work; every time I have tried it, all I get fed are hostile quotes from stuff from either Praeger U or talking points from Faux Noise.
Mike S, thank you for this post from Jamelle Bouie in the NYT.
MTG is becoming the epitome of "blonde" (jokes). I'm sure even real blonds are not plussed. And her equally shallow race-card-riding pal Haley are as disgusting as it gets.
Why are so many Biden campaign workers quitting? Is he really that big a loser, or is something else going on?
https://www.newsweek.com/joe-biden-campaign-volunteers-are-quitting-droves-1857610
https://news.gallup.com/poll/547763/biden-ends-2023-job-approval.aspx
@Mike S
Thank you. Great comment and great article share.
I can't find the reference right now, but I read somewhere, probably on Substack newsletter (or in comments) that I wasn't able to comment on because I'm an unpaid subscriber, that the Supreme Court can decide that Trump cannot be kept off of the ballots, or they can delay taking up the matter. It was also stated that separately from that, they can decide whether he is Constitutionally qualified to assume office if elected.
I couldn't help but think of the scenario where Trump was not kept off the ballots, won the 2024 election, and then sometime between November 5, 2024 and January 6, 2025, the Supreme Court decides that regardless of the election, Trump is disqualified from taking office.
Your thoughts?
Gus,
The Supreme Court's most probable path is to declare Trump "King for Life" by putting him on the ballot and then having Trump lie about the results when he loses and having the Supreme Court install him in power anyway while announcing his appointment is for life (just like a Supreme Court Justice).
The amount of money that would rain down on the Supreme Court when this happens will be vast.
LOL! Yeah, this is why I usually stay away from speculation. Let it be.
@Mike S... I found the reference, but it's not neatly confined to any one comment. You would have to read the whole comment discussion among very knowledgeable attorneys. The Substack newsletter is CIVIL DISCOURSE WITH JOYCE VANCE, Colorado goes to the Supreme Court, by JOYCE VANCE, JANUARY 3 AT 20:50 (PST)
I would certainly understand if you want to just drop this. I am no attorney.
That seems unlikely.
@Les... That was a little rude of me. Far be it from me to anticipate what approaches or strategies the Supreme Court might be taking, but my thinking was that they might want to avoid making as many decisions until and unless they were forced to do so. But of course if it did go this way there would be a lot of Trump supporters who would not accept their interpretation of the law. It could be a disaster. In fact I do remember from one of the January 6th Committee Hearings that some the rioters, on their way to the Capitol, stopped at the Supreme Court and screamed "DO YOUR JOB! DO YOUR JOB!". Certainly a similar mobs reaction to SCOTUS actually doing their job would be ironic, not to mention dangerous.
Nothing rude can I find in your comment. No argument from me, just my opinion that the current SC actually doing their duty to declare Trump disqualified in the nightmare scenario that he's declared victor, is unlikely.
Well for the record, I agree. It is unlikely.
Well now Gus, we sure would not want to get a white mob riled up now would we?
Cannot let just let reality descend on that bunch of crybabies now can we?
Yep. Let it rain.
@Les... Hence, the word scenario.
Or the Saudis taking over pro golf when many of tRUMPs businesses are golf courses. The words that keeps coming up in tRUMPs imaginary world over and over and over is:
NO EVIDENCE but that doesn't deter them. Eg after Guiliani was convicted and slapped with a 148 million fine, at his trial he was still defaming those poor innocent dedicated election workers. He should have to live in fear for the rest of his life like they do.
What you describe as "weapons" need to include the unbridled corrupting influence of money. Your examples that follow the are all linked to money. Your opening phrase has good documentation. The USA fell four places recently. https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/democracy-countries
Money can buy political power, which can hoover in money. Add violence and you've got a tyranny, unless an engaged society and just rule of law can keep the lid on. "Regulation" per se is not the enemy. Like a kitchen knife, it can make a nice salad, or become a murder weapon. Regulation says you don't rape, or drive 60MPH though a school zone. Regulation says the denizens of Main St. can't steal, nor can the occupants of Wall St., nor Pennsylvania Ave.
Citizens United pretty much announced "We don't regulate corporations" and no one is going to give them a speeding ticket. Those who can buy influence will be just fine, and sellers will not need a license to sell nor will the corporate media embarrass who is buying and who is selling.
Which is why we need to undo that one!
How the Supremes could legitimately ignore the huge money imbalances has always blown me away.
Their hands are proving to be even deeper in the Corruption Cookie jar than most Congress persons.
Always, follow the money.
Jared Kushner's dealings on behalf of his family make Hunter Biden's look like school boy pranks by comparison. The NYC real estate deal that imploded and was bailed out by Qatar was actually for 666 Fifth Avenue:
https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2022/12/jared-kushner-666-fifth-avenue-qatar-investigation
Take note in today's (Jan 5) on-line edition of the Washington Post. The placement of the article "Biden, in Valley Forge speech, to hit Trump hard as threat to democracy", with the subtext: "Friday’s address marks a new phase of Biden’s re-election campaign that will emphasize Trump’s efforts to overturn election" is way, way down the webpage and not even placed under Election 2024.
Who got top billing under ELECTION 2024 (which is placed near the top of the page)...
"Trump wins back antiabortion movement as activists plot 2025 crackdowns"
I say this is "bent."
Regarding the Republican political tactics and actions:
“Until this moment, Senator, I think I never really gauged your cruelty or your recklessness.” It was then (Senator) McCarthy’s turn to be stunned into silence, as (Attorney) Welch asked, “Have you no sense of decency, sir, at long last?”
Patrick, I don't think that approach would work with any of today's republicans or magats. If any of them had any sense of decency, they lost it long ago, trading it for clicks and $$$. Their goal is out and out cruelty, recklessness, and termination of America as a democracy. And the common discourse has failed of dignity and respect, even in the most exalted spaces (remember this past year when a fight broke out in the halls of congress, or the behavior of Maggot Traitor Gangreene and Lolo Boobert at last year's State of the Union address? Can't wait to see what shenanigans they display at this year's.)
If tffg guy gets another term, I am turning off all politics. It's been hell since back when he was running; then it metastasized. I am 84; I don't need any more of this horror show. I wish I had the energy to move to the jungle. Any jungle. Something nice with A/C and a pool and a cat....Actually I have that here in Mexico; I will just unsubscribe to The NYTimes, Wapo, all the others and maybe, probably, even Heather.
Judith, I'm with you on your possible future plans if this election should go badly. I'm 82, I already have the home in Mexico, the pool, and the A/C, and I trump you (ugh) with a second cat. As to unsubscribing from all, not yet sure. Best wishes.
Julia, whether you go or stay, please continue voting!
Yes. (FYI, already gone.). Democrats Abroad has a huge presence in the expat community, here in Mexico and around the globe. Their program for registering to vote in your home state has a big push on January 15th this year. Staying connected.
I was registered in Colorado because I spent summers up to mid Nov. there for the last 5 years....I changed my residence to Pennsylvania. Apparently they need my vote there anyway. Do you maintain a US address for voting? I have not missed a Pres. election in ...over 60 years. I voted in the mid-term from here; it's a bit complicated here but Dems Abroad helped me out.
I am in Merida. Mind me asking where your casa is? Frankly, I'd like to move.
My last U.S. address was in Raleigh, NC. I don't "maintain" an address there except on the voting rolls in that county. They consider that to be my NC address, probably only for voting (and tax?) purposes. But NC, being as gerrymandered as it is, could certainly appreciate my left-stance vote. And they'll get it.
I live in LaPaz, BCS, and I'm considering moving to maybe Rosarita or Puerto Nuevo (near Ensenada), closer to the border with USA.
HCR once again uses that condescending phrase "faith in our democracy," as if we have the civic duty to BELIEVE that "Corporate Joe" Biden didn't steal the nomination from Bernie Sanders.
Dishonest propagandists like HCR refuse to discuss the evidence in that old Democratic classic, Votescam: The Stealing of America":
https://books.google.com/books/about/Votescam.html?id=ZxpZCgAAQBAJ
John, First, by attacking HCR’s character and intellect, you only disgrace yourself. Second, my understanding of the 2020 Primary is not that Biden stole the nomination from Sanders, but that SC Rep Jim Clyburn, an ardent Biden supporter, tactically chose to endorse Biden before the SC primary, admittedly undermining Sanders’ previous wins in Iowa, New Hampshire, and Nevada. I make this distinction because the stakes in 24 are too great to overlook this fundamental difference.
Thank you for this reasoned dissent. I’m a bit worried that there are people who think it is righteous to stick with this idea at the expense of giving away their vote.
I briefly got 0n Twitter to look at something, and the first few tweets were people claiming Biden stole the election or tfg is wronged, so some combination. My giving up X/Twitter was reinforced. I got off quickly.
It has become a real cesspool since muskcovite took over. But there remains some good people whose opinions and decency I hang around just to read.
Katharine, I share your concern, and, thus, make every effort to try and help ensure that my understanding at least is getting heard and considered.
He’s a troll. We make a mistake when we engage.
Just like Tom High, Schmeeckle monitors the threads to see what people are saying, as he will not be notified of a reply to you. I fully expect he'll find THIS post and insult me as well! LOL
Both of these guys really need to find either real employment or a better hobby!
Amen, sister!
Dishonest propagandists like HCR refuse to discuss the evidence in that old Democratic classic, Votescam: The Stealing of America":
https://books.google.com/books/about/Votescam.html?id=ZxpZCgAAQBAJ
Jon, When presented with an opportunity respectfully to offer a logical refutation of someone’s ill-formed perspective, time permitting, I will.
He is a troll. He was here months ago and disappeared, apparently he's located funding again. Just like the more recent one (Tom? High) he resorts to insults. Don't engage with him, and if you see the more nasty posts, report him.
At least our long time troll, David Carroll USUALLY doesn't resort to insults.
If any of them so disagree with HCR, why are they here? They aren't going to change minds as their "logic" is generally questionable sources. They are here to plant disinformation and distrust.
PLEASE EVERYONE DON'T FEED THE TROLL>
And Mr High monitors the threads nd will reply to any comment NOT MADE TO HIM, so that behavior is suspect.
Miselle, If time permits, I will not pass on an opportunity to model appropriate behavior, particularly when disagreeing with or refuting someone’s perspective.
Mr. Carroll and Mr. High both offer fairly well reasoned and articulated comments that are not always in synch with the usual conversation and postings of many readers here. I almost never agree with their positions, but occasionally I do. Mr. Schmeekle, on the other hand, seems determined to create a hostile response to his usually outlandish positions.
And that's the truth.
My comment was for Barbara Joe Krueger, but got pasted so far away I worried it would get misunderstood.
Krieger, sorry.
HCR's intellect may not be attackable, but her character sure is. Comparisons to Lady Macbeth come to mind. Let's not forget how the birther smear started. Not to mention the backroom deal that cut Bernie out of the 2016 nomination. If he had run, Trump most likely would have lost and in any case it would have been a free and fair election rather than the dog and pony show we got instead. People like HCR are part of the problem rather than the solution and helped pave the way for the mess we're in today.
Carolyn, First, in an age as cynical as the current one, I take heart from HCR’s extensive scholarship combined with her fearless belief in democracy. Second, while I, too, was dismayed by how the party establishment rallied around Hillary in 2016 and denied Bernie a shot at the nomination, it never would occur to me to implicate HCR. Third, because Republicans were, and still are, masterful at conflating democratic socialism with socialism and instilling deep-seated fear about both, I can’t speculate on the outcome of a contest between Sanders and Trump.
Typo, typo, typo! I meant to write HRC, not HCR, my go to read first thing every day
Carolyn, Thank you for the clarification. Admittedly, I had found your reply most baffling.
Are you talking about Hillary (HRC) or Heather Cox Richardson (HCR)?
I realize it's easy to mis-type, but please clarify.
OMG, my bad! Yes, definitely a typo. HRC, not HCR, my first read of the day, every day.
Use the three dots to the right of Schmeeckle's comment to block and report. Otherwise, ignore and/or disregard.
Lynn, If time allows, and I can try to replace adversity with civility, I will.
Barbara, while I think this is a very worthy objective, I fear that with this particular being, you are wasting your precious time. This individual (bot?) really doesn't add to the discussion with his ad hominem attacks, I can't imagine anyone on this thread clicking on any link this individual posts, and I further can't imagine he/it/whatever actually takes anything on this substack seriously; every time he/it/whatever reappears on HCR's Letters, he uses it merely as a platform to insult, slur, and abuse HCR, the people commenting here, and the world at large. Don't give him/it/whatever the bandwidth.
Lynn, While I appreciate your thoughtful reply, because I have relished those moments when an initially adversarial exchange had morphed into an increasingly civil one, I occasionally will give it a shot.
Dishonest propagandists like HCR refuse to discuss the evidence in that old Democratic classic, Votescam: The Stealing of America":
https://books.google.com/books/about/Votescam.html?id=ZxpZCgAAQBAJ
The only dishonest propagandist here is John Shitmeeckle. HCR is neither dishonest nor a propagandist.. The fascist/NAZI GQP are the ones that are trying to steal America. Go run back to Putin with your lying BS.
Yes.Troll begone!
Please report him. As you see, he monitors threads to see who engages. Just ignore and report.
Dishonest propagandists like HCR refuse to discuss the evidence in that old Democratic classic, Votescam: The Stealing of America":
https://books.google.com/books/about/Votescam.html?id=ZxpZCgAAQBAJ
Get a life--elsewhere.
Ignore him, and report him as I am doing. I'll get a nasty retort for him which will seal my case.
Reporting required me to select why from a list of only 3 options. I chose 'it's spam's and then blocked.
Dishonest propagandists like HCR refuse to discuss the evidence in that old Democratic classic, Votescam: The Stealing of America":
https://books.google.com/books/about/Votescam.html?id=ZxpZCgAAQBAJ
Son, you have been misinformed.
Everyone pls report him as a troll.
Doing so. His reply to you is at least the 8th copy paste. I am reporting EACH ONE and ask that all others do so as well.
He seems to always return. I have reported him numerous times.
Dishonest propagandists like HCR refuse to discuss the evidence in that old Democratic classic, Votescam: The Stealing of America":
https://books.google.com/books/about/Votescam.html?id=ZxpZCgAAQBAJ
Hey John,
I promised myself that I wouldn't respond to your nonsense. But just for fun, I asked "Pi" (my new AI app buddy) about your idea. Here goes. (BTW, he is very polite and seems fact based as he has access to everything everywhere that is legitimate. Also provides great recipes. Try his lamb meatballs :)
"That's a controversial question that has been discussed and debated by many people. There is no clear evidence to suggest that Joe Biden stole the nomination from Bernie Sanders. Biden won the Democratic nomination in the 2020 presidential election by receiving the majority of votes and delegates in the primary contests.
However, some supporters of Bernie Sanders have raised concerns about the role of the Democratic National Committee (DNC) in the nomination process, claiming that the party establishment was biased against Sanders and favored Biden. There has been criticism about the media coverage of Bernie Sanders' campaign, with some arguing that he did not receive the same level of attention and coverage as Joe Biden.
Ultimately, the outcome of the nomination process was determined by the votes of Democratic primary voters and delegates, and there is no evidence to suggest that the nomination was stolen from Bernie Sanders."
Ignore and report him. Every identical post he puts up. Thank you.
I had ignored. I should. I will. I just felt combative this AM - got po'd. I am calm now :)
You know, I often wonder what the word "biased" means in this and similar context. I do not think it's "biased" for either a party or a person to favor one candidate over another, in the belief that as between the two the favored candidate is the electable one. Especially when the alternative is unthinkable, as was proven by four years of tramp, courtesy of the Electoral College in 2016, to our great and ongoing injury.
Geeezzzusssss... would you look at that! Go "ai".., I mean "Pi" :))
Dishonest propagandists like HCR refuse to discuss the evidence in that old Democratic classic, Votescam: The Stealing of America":
https://books.google.com/books/about/Votescam.html?id=ZxpZCgAAQBAJ
John, please keep reading HRC and maybe someday the light will come on and you will see the danger Trump presents. There is no morally equivalent to Trump.
Biden the "Vampire Liberal" is worse than Trump.
He was here months ago and is back. Please report him. The reply to you is at least his seventh identical post.
How do I report him and will it block him from posting
It will not block him but the administrator of the forum can do so. To report him, click on the three dots at the bottom of his comment. A box will pop up and you can type the issue.
At some point today, I started keeping count (and copy/pasted HIS comment) and notified the administrator. I think I ended at 18 of the same comment, but I could have lost count.
He was here months ago and disappeared. He got so bad at one point that he'd paste the same comment probably 30 times. Really annoying. He just showed up again in about the last week. When he disappeared, "Tom High" appeared and I thought perhaps they were one and the same, but High seems to be more of a disgruntled Progressive than Schmeekle. (check out his post where he calls himself an "intellectual"!! LOL) High is here today, I didn't read them all but did notice one or two and he isn't being rude and insulting and calling names today. Perhaps enough people reported him and he got a warning?
Dishonest propagandists like HCR refuse to discuss the evidence in that old Democratic classic, Votescam: The Stealing of America":
https://books.google.com/books/about/Votescam.html?id=ZxpZCgAAQBAJ
Did you mean 2016 when Hillary’s superdelegates denied Bernie’s nomination? He would have beat Trump. He had the working class behind him. He connected. Biden won fair and square
If you want to talk about mistreatment of candidates from both parties, look at how the Democrats and the Republicans mistreated Ralph Nader in 2020. If they had allowed him to debate with Gore and Bush when he had every right to, perhaps Nader would have taken enough votes away from Bush for Gore to have won.
John,
You are confused. The Democratic Party blocked Bernie Sanders in favor of Hillary Clinton. Five or Six years ago I don't remember.
Gotta put that Johnny Walker Red away sooner in the afternoon my friend.
Troll
Please report him.
Why are so many Biden campaign workers quitting? Is he really that big a loser, or is something else going on?
https://www.newsweek.com/joe-biden-campaign-volunteers-are-quitting-droves-1857610
https://news.gallup.com/poll/547763/biden-ends-2023-job-approval.aspx
Done
Mike, He's nuts.
Report him. His reply to you is at least the 10th copy/pasted one.
Dishonest propagandists like HCR refuse to discuss the evidence in that old Democratic classic, Votescam: The Stealing of America":
https://books.google.com/books/about/Votescam.html?id=ZxpZCgAAQBAJ
: ()
Belly up to the kool-aid bar to often John? Dishonest propagandists HCR? You got me choking on my corn flakes.
report him, each and every one of his copy/pasted posts.
Dishonest propagandists like HCR refuse to discuss the evidence in that old Democratic classic, Votescam: The Stealing of America":
https://books.google.com/books/about/Votescam.html?id=ZxpZCgAAQBAJ
What is your opinion of the war in Ukraine, comrade?
Dave, he is nuts. this is the hundredth time he posted the same stuff.
"Comrade"? I hope you're not displaying anti-Russian bigotry.
Regarding Ukraine, why do Biden and the Republican and Democratic Senate leaders continue to support Ukraine's toxic far-right thug regime? Ukraine has been enslaved by the rapacious International Monetary Fund (with reconquering the Donbass a condition of the original loan), and Zelensky has pledged to keep all of Ukraine's promises to the IMF, and the NATO countries have voting domination at the IMF, and NATO has promised to continue supplying weapons to Ukraine until it bleeds to death, delivering pounds and pounds of bloody flesh to service the unpayable IMF loans.
Ukraine's oppressive neo-fascist thug regime is not "democratic." In Ukraine, all the opposition parties have been suppressed after Zelensky capitulated to neo-Nazi war-mongers and reneged on his campaign promise to bring peace to the Donbass region.
A few months ago, both Zelensky and Canada's Prime Minister Trudeau applauded as the Speaker of Canada's House of Commons praised a Ukrainian who was a real-life Nazi, a member of a Nazi SS unit that committed genocide against Poles during World War II. After international condemnation, Speaker Anthony Rota quickly resigned.
When Zelensky became President, he initially moved toward fulfilling the Minsk Agreements that had "frozen" the civil war in the Donbass and outlined a pathway toward peace. But then he capitulated to the Neo-Nazis (who controlled Ukraine's Interior Ministry, in charge of the police stations) and eventually re-ignited the frozen war, precipitating the Russian invasion. We are being lied to.
In August, after U.S. Secretary of State Blinken announced more aid for Ukraine, Zelensky posted a video showing him with Ukraine's most prominent Neo-Nazi Andriy Biletsky:
https://mronline.org/2023/08/21/zelensky-holds-court-with-ukraines-most-notorious-neo-nazi/
See also "Ukraine is Brutally Repressing the Left, Criminalizing Socialist Parties, Imprisoning Activists"
https://geopoliticaleconomy.com/2022/03/21/ukraine-repressing-left-criminalizing-socialist-parties/
See also "How Zelensky Made Peace with Neo-Nazis"
https://consortiumnews.com/2022/03/04/how-zelensky-made-peace-with-neo-nazis/
See also "How One Ukrainian Billionaire Funded Hunter Biden, President Volodymyr Zelensky, And Neo-Nazi Azov Battalion"
https://greatgameindia.com/hunter-biden-zelensky-neo-nazi/
See also (from 2019) "Neo-Nazis and the Far Right Are On the March in Ukraine":
"Five years ago, Ukraine’s Maidan uprising ousted President Viktor Yanukovych, to the cheers and support of the West. Politicians and analysts in the United States and Europe not only celebrated the uprising as a triumph of democracy, but denied reports of Maidan’s ultranationalism, smearing those who warned about the dark side of the uprising as Moscow puppets and useful idiots. Freedom was on the march in Ukraine.
"Today, increasing reports of far-right violence, ultranationalism, and erosion of basic freedoms are giving the lie to the West’s initial euphoria. There are neo-Nazi pogroms against the Roma, rampant attacks on feminists and LGBT groups, book bans, and state-sponsored glorification of Nazi collaborators.
"These stories of Ukraine’s dark nationalism aren’t coming out of Moscow; they’re being filed by Western media, including US-funded Radio Free Europe (RFE); Jewish organizations such as the World Jewish Congress and the Simon Wiesenthal Center; and watchdogs like Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, and Freedom House, which issued a joint report warning that Kiev is losing the monopoly on the use of force in the country as far-right gangs operate with impunity."
https://www.thenation.com/article/politics/neo-nazis-far-right-ukraine/
Your country is bombing and murdering and raping innocent civilians. Is that how you hope to protect them from "neo-nazi thugs"?
Go away, troll.
Report him, every one of his identical posts. This is at least number 13
He'll get banned again.
Banned? but, he's back, as crazy as ever.
Dishonest propagandists like HCR refuse to discuss the evidence in that old Democratic classic, Votescam: The Stealing of America":
https://books.google.com/books/about/Votescam.html?id=ZxpZCgAAQBAJ
🙄
Whewwww!! Go easy John. What else ya got?
"Black Box Voting"
https://blackboxvoting.org/
I would add that this story is about cultures that break apart. It is our in human cultural nature. Look at how the orthodox Christian religion splintered starting with Luther and not really ever ending. Religions just keep popping up like acne on a teen's face (at least my face when I was 14}.
Heather's take on historical perspective is spot on.
Human culture is ever changing given enough time. And we are slowly becoming dominated by a non-human culture as AI emerges.
Why are so many Biden campaign workers quitting? Is he really that big a loser, or is something else going on?
https://www.newsweek.com/joe-biden-campaign-volunteers-are-quitting-droves-1857610
https://news.gallup.com/poll/547763/biden-ends-2023-job-approval.aspx
We need to fight fiction with facts.
I'm sick of Trump's betrayal and dereliction of duty.
He's a traitor and a criminal and a tyrant. That makes him an enemy of this country. I don't say this lightly.
You say want a revolution. Well, you know, you should start with Thomas Paine. He spoke of common sense, and community and of posterity. He did not encourage selfishness and greed.
This "American Carnage" ends here and now.
To MAGAS:
1)Trump preyed on your weaknesses.
2)Trump preyed on your fear.
3)Trump preyed on your prejudices.
4)Trump preyed on your traditions.
5)Trump preyed on your superstions.
6)Trump betrayed us both.
7)A house divided against itself cannot stand.
8)We will never completely rid our country of bureaucracy, incompetence, greed, and lies.
9) It's better to be fooled by false promises than to burn down the house.
10)Watch The Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol on PBS or YouTube.
11) A vote for Trump just might be your last vote ever.
12) Trump actually is a criminal and a danger to democracy and our country and us.
13)A vote for anyone but Biden is a vote for Trump.
What you so eloquently said. I concur.
Thank you. Just plain straight talk is all.
Project 2025. Any GOP has the plan.
@Ricky Woody So I've heard.
Precisely, where is JUSTICE? The "gag" needs to be around DJTs (et al )mouth not just on paper so their litany of evidence free accusations will stop!!!!!
@William Whitman I feel the same way, but that's a tough ask. He's supposed to be above the law. That remains to be seen. But he does have rights. Of course he's abusing the gag order. I expected that.
He has rights, but as a pre-trial defendant they can be, and should be, circumscribed. Far more than any court has done so far - and no, it's not "political" to do so, but for basic safety of everyone within striking distance of any of his civil or criminal matters (expressly including the Colorado and Maine actions striking him from their ballots as disqualified to hold elected office). And his "striking distance" is vast and deep. Cf. the bomb threats against schools, synagogues, courts and individual named people.
He's not supposed to be above the law.
I know, I know. I've forgotten now if that was a typo or very bad wording.
Hey Gus, how did you get all that double space in? I couldn't get my response letter in my post below and had to post it above. This WaPo "20 years of experience" columnist Blake is as smart as a box of rocks.
I used a note app, then copy and paste.
When tRump was POTUS every single day I woke up to hear about what ridiculous thing he had said and/or done the previous day. Now we are audience to what new evidence has come to light proving what an absolute crook and scoundrel he was while in office. When he is finally brought to task and thrown in prison for a fraction of all his corrupt and villainous behaviors, we can take a collective sigh of relief. Until that time we must stay vigilant and doggedly keep at the prosecution of this nightmare named tRump! Our very future as a democracy depends on our success!
Not just America's future as a democracy depends on defusing this weapon of mass destruction in human guise, but global survival.
Given the unprecedented material power of the USA, this criminal lunatic is potentially more dangerous than Hitler, Stalin, Mao and all history's tyrants rolled up into one.
There is an entire party standing behind this anomaly feeding the bottom dwellers each day. THAT scares me, just as much, if not more. Not to mention the majority of SCOTUS, trained, bought and/or paid for by one Society (and big monied interests). I'll throw in another plug for Senator Whitehouse' excellent book "The Scheme" in which he carefully puts these background issues in sharp focus. As so often is implied in this forum, even when tfg is yesterday's trash, we still have many antidemocratic forces with which to contend, both in and outside of government.
All rolled into one, no doubt
Roly Poly Big Mac 'n' all!
I agree 💯%!
Will Trump be off the ballot everywhere? We just don't know that yet do we?
Jaime Raskin said that in our culture, it's not just the foot soldiers that get punished, the Masterminds and ringleaders do also. Well good luck with that Jaime but I wouldn't hold my breath. A blue wave however, might just dump the trump.
We can hope for justice, but there's no telling when or how it will come. That's why I'm focused on November 5th. It's just Trump that we have to dump. It's Congress and everything right down the line. Vote Blue.
I meant NOT just
Also I missed the the @Carol Ann Bishop at the beginning.
Sorry for the non-edit. I'm on an Android.
I really need to use notes or something to write comments. On several occasions I have been at the end of a ( probably too) lengthy comment that is so on target and contains the one true answer to the problem (😉😂) and then my finger slips or the phone jiggles or the battery dies, and comment is gone.
Don’t you hate when that happens? You’ve solved the problem for all time and poof! 💨
But the howler and those typos slide in unnoticed till after you hit the Post button every time.
That's why bowlers lean after releasing. It doesn't help but it helps.
Been there. Done that.
🙄😳😵💫🫣😢
Yep, got the tee shirt.
I’ve been using Shift-Enter to make two forced line returns in Word instead of a Paragraph typically made with Return.
It seems unnecessary if copying and pasting from Word but does work for some situations where the use of Return didn't produce the desired result.
(I've edited out the portion of the test that showed either way works with Word.)
Yes. I have used that. Good tips. But keep in mind, I think many here are using their phones or tablets. I don't do that. Too restrictive. I am happily typing on my compact convertible Chromebook.
@Bill Alstrom. Sounds like good advice. Mine is not so compact, but I should use it for this.
Interesting. I just looked at Bryan's comment and the whole thing was there in one place, but not in the original comment box. I'm still learning.
@ gus....Drumpy not only preys on the MAGA's fears but creates most of them himself with his rally rants about his dark vision of America (made up especially for them).
14) tfg is no more interested in your welfare than he is likely to drop 50 lbs. Don’t believe it.
Gus, please broadcast your list as far and wide as possible!!!!!
@Katharine Hill... Thank you. You and anyone else are free to do the same.
I know that these words are wrapped up and denoted - if not specifically delineated in yours Gus ... but sometimes one must call a spade a spade. So what’s missing are those who possess or lack or exhibit their ignorance, stupidity, jealousy and hatred of things and others as well as being void of respect and common decency!!!
@Jim Riley,
I know right! But there are some well meaning people out there that were brainwashed. We have to reach them somehow so they can take their blinders off. We need their votes. Blaming them isn't going to do that.
Outstanding!
Why are so many Biden campaign workers quitting? Is he really that big a loser, or is something else going on?
https://www.newsweek.com/joe-biden-campaign-volunteers-are-quitting-droves-1857610
https://news.gallup.com/poll/547763/biden-ends-2023-job-approval.aspx
It will be more than interesting to see what the Democrats do with the information regarding Trump's acquiring money from foreign governments. In my view, they come up short when attempting to focus on Trump's using the presidency to enrich himself. This is the kind of news that needs to be hammered upon, again, and again, and again. And finally, Democrats should not wait until campaigning is in full swing. Now is the time! Multi-media is the place - billboards, rural newspapers, television, and radio stations are ripe for Dem media buyers. Overnight cable TV is also a good place to make buys. Advertising rates are competitive (at least they used to be) and there are more than a few viewers who are awake at that time, watching their favorite programming while having a beer and sandwich. Give them something to look at between episodes of Gunsmoke and Wagon Train!
And address the treachery of Senator Menendez.
Of course. There's no room for an investigation of Trump's alleged financial misdeeds and at the same time let a person such as Senator Menendez skate. Slow walking, or otherwise pushing an investigation of him into the shadows in order to keep his vote on crucial legislation, while enticing, plays right into the hands of those from the other side who are watching like hawks how his matter will be handled.
The Democrats ousted
D him. The Republicans do not . Instead, they have gotten rid of the members of their party who might have.
Include the entire corrupt GOP cabal who have been bought by oligarchs. McConnell’s Russian financed aluminum factory! Etc.
And the Federalist Society.
Focus is key here. One thing the Dems can't do, if the quest is to paint Trump as the ultimate bad boy, is to throw everything, including the kitchen sink into such an endeavour. While McConnell has his own skeletons, the Dems must be laser-focused on making Trump sweat, and sweat profusely!
I’m reading this at 7:00 a.m. in CA. The Washington Post doesn’t have this story. Our L.A. Times hasn’t arrived yet. It will be interesting to see if it makes the front page...or any interior ones. Raskin should be out speaking to crowds ( if his health permits.) He’s our national jewel of a politician: intelligent, articulate, honest, rational, good.
Raskin is indeed. He talks so well and has intelligent things to say. I’ve got to find this article.
Update: Times arrived with nada a story in the entire front section about what Raskin and other Democrats reported yesterday. This is why they need to cross the country speaking out and causing attention to be given.
Since WaPo is mentioned often, this candy reporage came in this afternoon.
NEWSLETTER | THE CAMPAIGN MOMENT
Aaron Blake By Aaron Blake
Americans are electing their next president. It’s a long road, but we’ve got just the guide to help you to navigate it.
The Campaign Moment is your occasional guide to the key, well, moments on the campaign. Publishing when news warrants, we’ll highlight the major developments that actually matter and then take you deeper, providing analysis, context and answers to the big questions. Sign up here.
I’m Aaron Blake, and I’ve been analyzing politics and campaigns for nearly 20 years – including a dozen at The Post. That experience helps me pick out when we’re truly having a moment, and my goal is to serve those moments up to you.
Here’s what you can expect:
The biggest news, broken down
Analysis of the polls that actually matter and tell us something significant
Historical context and anecdotes that inform and entertain
Links to the coverage that will make you smarter when you want to know even more
I want to hit the sweet spot between the political junkie and someone who’s more casually interested in where things stand in the 2024 race. But I think everyone with any level of interest in who our next president will be should find something for them in this newsletter.
My response is not as angry as it could be, but considering the very real threat we, as a Nation are facing, this proffessional idiot had to be taken to task.
Excuse me sir,
But why has it taken the Post so long to even mention the Fascist rhetoric, let alone the danger to our Constitution posed by Trump's backers and planners? This IS the NEWS, not partisanship.
This is THE number one issue of the 2024 election, because if Trump or a Republican wins, it will be our last election. They have told us clearly. Project 2025. Read it. Operation 47. Read it.
Only Trump loyalists in Civil Service and DOJ. Round us up. If someone says they are a Fascist, believe them. Your collective MSM silence is deafening.
Does this matter to you at all? I, and every loyal citizen of our Nation deserves a clear and honest answer from you and the WaPo management. This is not a horse race. What is at stake is all that matters, and our essential freedom and life itself is at stake, as well as your precious Freedom of the Press.
Do you understand?
This IS the Campaign Moment and the moment is NOW!!!
RWR, very well done!
My response to him is below. Your take on it is valuable. No room in one post. Thank you Bryan. I'm working on several other letters that maybe folks can personalize and send from Jessica Craven's site and some others.
Ransom, You will perhaps enjoy knowing that I was sent a subscriber’s survey by WaPo on Wednesday this week. The questions that had a list of answers to choose from were candy-ass marketing fluff. I answered those honestly - as negatively as their choices allowed.
In the open-ended questions, I was able to read them the riot act about 1. Treating Trump like he is a normal candidate. 2. The fact that their editorial staff, other than Jennifer Rubin, has rarely noted the Republican threats to democracy - and no one has taken on James Comers’ lies and prevarication with his BS search for grift and corruption in the Biden family. 3. With rare exceptions, they work on the click bait, 24 hour news cycle idea where threats to democracy aren’t repeatedly addressed even in the week in which the actions occurred unless the right wing fascists in Congress are also talking about it. Yes, I called them fascists. And asked if their city desk editors really understood the duties of the Fourth Estate. Hopefully, that all didn’t fall on deaf ears.
I gave them permission to contact me with questions about my comments. Any bets whether that will happen? 🤣
"Democracy Dies ..." in click bait.
Good morning Sheila, I should have done the survey, but I stay away from them. Good for you dropping serious stink bombs. You might try to contact that shit for brains Aaron Blake directly about his "The Campaign Moment" and lob him a rock too. I have yet to hear back, but will follow up until he quits his job. We gotta kick butt where we can.
I will put up Blakes email tomorrow for others to hit him directly too.
You might also upside the head him too, <aaron.blake@washpost.com> .
Uh, not holding my breath north of you in Oregon.
My read today has been delayed by a migraine. I'm slogging through the comments now.
Unfortunately, every new revelation about Trump’s vile character and criminal activity does not seem to matter one bit to his supporters. I was hoping one of the few friends I have here in north Texas would see him as he is and agree he should never again be elected to office. I knew she was a Republican, most people in this region are, but I hoped she’d be a never-Trumper because she’s always seemed reasonable, intelligent, and compassionate. Her email the other day proved me wrong: “I appreciate you sending articles and I enjoy reading different perspectives.
I will be voting Trump again. I want mass deportations to occur from day 1 if possible. Our country cannot bear the burdens this open border has caused. I also do not want any of our children sent to serve in conflicts we should not be a part of. These reasons and many others make it easy for me to vote Trump.”
I don’t know how to respond her. I don’t know if I ever want to. I don’t see any point. Fear and ignorance have ensured her support for Trump is unwavering. I’m disgusted that she could “easily” vote for him and sad that she really isn’t any better than every other Republican I’ve met since moving here 18 years ago. It’s not easy being a blue dot in one of the reddest regions of Texas.
Drop her as a friend. You have nothing in common, therefore no reason to be friends. Your blood pressure will thank you.
Consider moving out of Texass.
If my family and I could leave, we would. We’re constantly discussing how to make it happen.
While you and your family discuss moving, please remember one thing, Angie.
Republicans love this southern border business, because it delivers to them all their racism, xenophobia, and white supremacy victimization all in one stupid package.
Dems can never find a compromise with them, because it's the sensationalism and virulence emotionalism their brain wirings crave, period.
If U.S. schools modeled excellence in seeing people and their varied needs, they'd spend much more time with our best humanities, especially novels, memoirs, essays, and poems. But standardized testing pretty much killed that priority long ago.
Maybe leave Texas, maybe stay. But this larger issue is going to fester, rot, putrefy for a long time yet, given that schools nowhere in the U.S. are going to be able to compete with the vulgarities our billionaire classes have arranged instead, from schools, to social media, to AR-15 tyranny, to women's autonomy under attack, to voting suppression for all brown, black, and red.
And? What's that you say? More colored at the southern border?!
So many can’t leave, the dye is cast
Yeahh.., "build that wall".., So Sick. So very sick.
I am also making plans too, Angie to get out of here. I just hope i can convince my daughter and grandson to go with me.
You’re welcome to come to Colorado
We'd welcome you and your family in Maine!
Wow! This is impressive. I really feel we have to make a concerted effort to support and reach out to the
many people who find themselves in situations similar to yours. Maybe a digital Underground Railway. I bet someone in this group could figure out how to make this happen (or maybe already has).
I am considering moving out of the United States. Another school shooting yesterday in Iowa. A little 6 year old boy lost his life, and other injuries. I fear going anywhere now because of all of this horrific mass shootings here in the USA. DJT has incited all of this carnage here. Too bad DJT hasn't been a victim yet.
Trump has operated as a mafia type thug his entire life! He has conned his supporters into thinking he’s got their backs. What a scammer he is! When he’s gone I’ll miss him like an abscessed tooth!
Even better, if a million voting democrats relocate to Texas, we can turn Texas blue. The US needs a Texas to he where it used to be, on the Practical Democratic side. During the worst of Covid, Democrat-r7n areas had fewer deaths. We need to save innocent lives, so we need to save Texas from itself.
I hate to burst your bubble, but the only reason Texas was ever on the "Democratic side" was when it and the other ten traitor states of the South used their one-party states - the "Solid South" - to control Congress through seniority leading to chairmanship of nearly all congressional committees. The exact same kind of people who were Democrats (in political control) when I was there 50 years ago are the same ones who are now Trumpers, thanks to that fount of all shit Richard Nixon and his "Southern Strategy." The "solid South" is still "solid." They just masquerade as Republicans now rather than Democrats, but what they really are is Southernists. LBJ was a "fluke", but not that much of a fluke when you examine how he handled things for himself in Texas.
Jerry, We should save America from Texas. Let it secede
Ha!
Since you ignore all the benefits that Texas provides rhe nation, I assume your sense of humor is a mirror of a Trumpist's demand that California secede.
And you want my future vote for Biden to be ignored? Do you want to pay more for imports? Do you want your neighbors who haven't been able to afford a Tesla to pay double for their energy needs?
Further, do you think Lincoln should have just let the South secede?
What, exactly, does Texas offer or give to the US that is not equally available anywhere else in the US? Seriously. Apart from dear friends who have to live in San Antonio for work, I would be happy not to have to worry about the Abbots or Paxtons degrading our country. Texas is repeatedly demonstrating that it's more trouble than it's worth.
Aside from the intended hyperbole, what DOES America do about Texas Government, Texas Judges, Texas Voter Obstruction, Texas Ignoring Federal Law, et al infinitum?
Further, at the point in America’s young history, Lincoln knew that Southern Secession would re-open a path for European Powers to invade and conquer the America they lost 50 years earlier
Saving the Union was as much about protecting National Security as it was about Freeing Slaves, so no, Lincoln KNEW he couldn’t open the door to Europe
The US can help Texas by electing more effective Democratic senators and Presidents so that those voter protection laws can be strengthened so we can vote those fuckers out. We had a couple of moderate Democratic governors in the 80s and 90s until Bush Jr. got that office. Now there are a few blue islands in a sea of red in TX, with the Guv and yahoos in the state legislators that are trying to impose MAGA cultural policies on those cities. You want to throw all those people away because you hate (justifiably) Texas state government? You're both thoughtless and heartless. You're a fascist in blue cloaking.
Sage advice!
Wish I could
Why are so many Biden campaign workers quitting? Is he really that big a loser, or is something else going on?
https://www.newsweek.com/joe-biden-campaign-volunteers-are-quitting-droves-1857610
https://news.gallup.com/poll/547763/biden-ends-2023-job-approval.aspx
The Gaza war. The young ones who don't understand you don't get to have everything the way you want it. The ones stupid enough to not realize that the only outcome that will let them continue to press their cause is Biden winning. They won't be talking at all if the other side wins. But being a moron is sort of a given when you're under30, looking back with 20/10 hindsight.
The real trouble is that every revelation about Rump, every new scandal he causes, it just makes him stronger. How can that be, we wonder? No one would want a president who’s such an asshole, right? Wrong. His voters vote for him BECAUSE he is an asshole. He teaches them it is okay to BE an asshole. Rump is the racist, misogynist, aggressive and frantically egoistic asshole they want to be themselves. They want to scream: “Fuck dem n******, fuck those LGBTQ hippies, fuck the climate, I’m ginna grab what I can, race around in my pickup truck shouting at women and toting my assault rifles!” And Rump says to them: it’s perfectly ok to do so: I do it, too.
That’s why Rumps voter base is never gonna turn away from him when provided with horrible facts about him. Either they scoff and do away with it as “lib lies”, or they are emboldened by it, heck, they even love him for it. He is their perfect hero.
So, you’re right. There is no point in arguing. Yes it’s all out of fear and ignorance. My theory is that Rump so desperately wants to be a “strong man”, he blew himself up like a balloon. Because deep down he’s so afraid and so insecure, he had to create his narcissistic personality - to compensate for the love and affection he never got as a child. So, he turns around his fear of others he doesn’t understand (like blacks, LGBTQ people, women) into aggression. And his coping strategies resinate with his voters, who, in my opinion, have the same underlying problems. Actually quite sad when you think about it…
Trump preaches hatred. Apparently Evangelicals think that’s what their Bible tells them.
Yep. "Love thy neighbour as thyself"! Except if he is black, mexican, asian, gay, trans, muslim, etc etc...
I appreciate the empathy you demonstrated, Angie, and am sorry to hear of the result.
It appears that you are doing your level best to persuade with friendliness and reasonableness, yet to no avail. I hope your friend ultimately sees the light, yet am not unduly optimistic.
In the meantime, please keep up your excellent citizenship.
I knew a woman who seemed very bright and perceptive who sank straight down into the MAGA miasma and cut herself off from old friends. It's cult dynamics from what I can tell.
Uh huh, JL, cult dynamics that is catnip for the victim cats, and the scaredy cats who adore the sly orange tabby.
My guess is that most of the copy cats have bear PTSD from childhood, growing up in an punitive, authoritarian household. I doubt that's all of it, and I think we are all a blend of Jekyll and Hyde, but what which one gets rewarded? The urge to worship despots seems visceral and defies logic, let alone "decency".
We’re not at all careful with who we let teach our children, and nobody was careful about who taught us either. Parents and teachers are the most important people in the world by far if you want a future that’s worth something. Most people don’t know what has real value. We’re taught not to know.
And I liked everything you said above very much.
And if she doesn't want to see our young sent to another war, then she better smarten up. DJT will not only immediately pull the US out of all the organizations we are allied with eg NATO but will try to use the military against immigrants AND find a way to use them against Americans he doesn't like ie anybody that didn't vote for him. That means you and me. With his love of authoritarian regimes, he won't hesitate because its against the law.
Angie, I would appeal to her morals. This not about the border. It's about the .man. He is a rapist, a liar, a fraud. a con man, a insurrectionist and a traitor. I'm sure your friend has none of those in common.
Ask her questions, like what would Biden have to do to win your respect? What about tfg would you rather were different? That kind of thing. Listen and ask questions.
Courage... you are not alone. We are with you.
I also suggest you drop her as a friend. Angie. I have dropped a good number of my relatives because of their infatuation to DJT. I also haven't spoken to my next door neighbors for almost 4 years because of their divine worship of DJT.
Tfg demands this loyalty.
I was a small child, military dependent, when our family was stationed in the Munich Germany area during the Nuremberg Trials and Berlin Airlift, so have always taken a bit more interest than most in how the German population let Hitler gradually take enough power until he could grab all of it.
I would consider as gently as possible suggest the friend watch the documentary "The US and the Holocaust." It shows the prevailing prejudices and blindness that look so appalling in hindsight. It is a sobering look at the leaders and general population of US that Hitler learned from and worked at accentuating the worst means of gaining support for what we seem to always see as the worst and most hateful use of setting up a master race, dominating and eliminating a fairly easily defined "enemy of the people," to "justify" and distract attention from all the terror the new rulers used to do things like kill 2/3rds of all the Jews (to me a more important distinction than 6,000,000 Jews if people assume there were hundreds of millions).
Ken Burns started on the project in 2015, planning on releasing it in 2023 (8 years in production), but moved it up to 2022 (first aired the day after Constitution Day in 2022), since it is more important to stop such holocausts before they start.
A great introduction is an interview with Margaret Hoover (Herbert Hoover's granddaughter), at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u4AUO-15Z7I
They provide a pretty concise description of how Hitler learned from our history and hopefully spark enough interest for people to take the time to thoughtfully watch the whole series and see where we need to do better.
It is still a hard series to watch, especially for those of us who see how complicated it would have been have been to do a better job of getting people awakened to the real dangers of what was coming. Pearl Harbor was the refocusing event that changed the public's minds, fortunately guided to a generally better response during the war and after the war in the way we converted former enemies into much more peaceful allies.
The documentary can be found at: https://www.pbs.org/kenburns/us-and-the-holocaust/episode-guide
We watched it. Watching it is as depressing as watching TFFG and his MAGANAZIs since 2015.
I think we do need to have the courage to look at our past to see what we would not want people like Hitler and Trump to copy and expand upon (claiming they are just what we do or have done at our worst). They are not something to emulate but should be the things we make sure we avoid in the future.
I learned at an early age that if I couldn't be the best at something I could often be the most improved. If someone else beat me at being most improved, I was happy to congratulate them, especially because they may have worked even harder at improving so we were all better for the greater effort.
This blue dot sympathizes. The tunnel vision of the MAGAts. Chump will make any problem worse, as he has ALWAYS done. Immigration will swamp Joe just like they hope that abortion will swamp repubs. Who will drown first. Dems in Texas
Biden isn't obtuse. I'm hoping that he reads the writing on the wall and takes away the only campaign issue that is popular for Republicans right now, by taking a tougher stance on immigration. It's clear that this is the most vulnerable and toxic issue for Biden and Dems heading into the 2024 election. They'll have to do something, without a Dem led Congress we'll never get a pathway to citizenship for the Dreamers, so having that be a hard line for negotiations on the Democrat side just doesn't seem like a winning solution right now in my opinion.
Very astute, I agree
Angie, Trump has made it acceptable to be a bigot and to use genocidal language ( contaminate the blood). There is also an element of “close the door now that I’m inside” which ignores the fact that most European immigrants in the 18th and 19th centuries had no qualifications needed or quotas.
As for the war in Ukraine, Hitler counted on the isolationism that was rampant in the US at the time. So your friend may well have inherited the mindset from grandparents or parents.
People often make bad choices when they perceive a “horde of bad people” coming to take their stuff. By contrast, they believe that their “savior” will treat them differently than he/she treats the “others” until he/she throws them under the bus. That doesn’t excuse their actions, it just explains them.
I’ve found writing postcards with SeniorsTakingAction.org a huge relief. They have an excellent Wednesday speaker series as well. I’m in a very blue part of California so I love hearing from pro democracy people across America who have similar but different perspectives. It’s a great way to stay sane and connected. It’s free and we’d love to have you. Hearing from Dems in red states would be very welcome 😊
There are so many just like "her" out there. Simple minded, shallow thinkers, pro-life, unable to deal with cold hard facts... like a person becoming homeless and living on the street in a cardboard box. When the tidal wave hits "her" will drown along with everyone else.
I have to constantly remind myself that people with counter ideas should not be found at fault.
Everyone is born and raised with different brains and ideologies. I consider many people are perhaps guilty of lazy think. It takes to much time and energy to really understand and dig into issues that we all pay politicians to handle . You probably have come to a similar conclusion.
It is our reality right now. I heard Dr Richardson in a podcast interview where she explained “Political Technology” - the act of campaigning against your opponent with conflation, disinformation, gerrymandering, and trickery. The purpose isn’t just to win at all costs, but to cement your station by destroying everything and everyone that questions your authority. And when HRC talked about these things, I finally realized how propaganda is really used - it’s the advertising of the idea that “there’s nothing to see here. Your life is as normal today as it was yesterday, when we had a democracy.”
The lobster in the warming water.
You have a way with words, Jeri.
Been feeling the heat
My response to Aaron Blake, as posted earlier:
Excuse me sir,
But why has it taken the Post so long to even mention the Fascist rhetoric, let alone the danger to our Constitution posed by Trump's backers and planners? This IS the NEWS, not partisanship.
This is THE number one issue of the 2024 election, because if Trump or a Republican wins, it will be our last election. They have told us clearly. Project 2025. Read it. Operation 47. Read it.
Only Trump loyalists in Civil Service and DOJ. Round us up. If someone says they are a Fascist, believe them. Your collective MSM silence is deafening.
Does this matter to you at all? I, and every loyal citizen of our Nation deserves a clear and honest answer from you and the WaPo management. This is not a horse race. What is at stake is all that matters, and our essential freedom and life itself is at stake, as well as your precious Freedom of the Press.
Do you understand?
This IS the Campaign Moment and the moment is NOW!!!
Look peeps anyone ANYONE who’s not complying with Right Wing agenda most likely has a qun pointed at their head’s, their family’s heads and any dirt. The LOTS of quns. What would you do?
Why are so many Biden campaign workers quitting? Is he really that big a loser, or is something else going on?
https://www.newsweek.com/joe-biden-campaign-volunteers-are-quitting-droves-1857610
https://news.gallup.com/poll/547763/biden-ends-2023-job-approval.aspx
You tell me.
Trump is a grifter who doesn't give a damn about what is in the Constitution or laws or rules. He is above the law. As long as he wants what he wants he will do whatever he needs to do to get it. And he continues to use those that support him to get what he wants by conning them into thinking they are helping themselves by helping him when the only one they are helping is him. But, he will sure make them feel like they are sticking it to others all the while he is laughing all the way to his bank..........
AKA "sociopath".
Do you think that Trump was the inevitable result of the trajectory initiated by Ronald Reagan?
I think you can draw a line from then to now....yes.
But do you think it was inevitable? I think it was the natural and inevitable progression... in other words, I don’t think Trump came out of nowhere... I think he is the result of Reagan’s “government isn’t the solution....” speech...
President Lincoln: "...government of the people, by the people, for the people..."
President Reagan trashed Lincoln's beautiful phrasing by conceptualizing the government as a self-contained entity, separate from and hostile to The People.
The idea of a Democracy is that all of us would work together to achieve consensus. Many of us here are old enough to remember what that was like, up until about 1975. The Republicans and the Democrats were friends, during working hours, and outside of working hours.
Reagan was like 45 in many ways, not career politicians, but instead were both popular entertainers with name recognition that helped them garner votes. President Eisenhower had a knack for making us feel like we were all on the same team, despite our differences of opinion. 45 tries to cast our fellow ordinary humans as the bad guys, diverting attention away from those relative few "behind the curtain" business moguls who are systematically sucking up wealth created by the ordinary people. Most of that money being collected by the relative handful of people at the top of the economic pyramid should be changing hands among the vast number of people at the bottom of the pyramid. We, the People, are not the bad guys. People like 45 are the bad guys.
Thank you for your good corrective, David.
But in chasing linear causality, let's add, too, the Powell memo of August 23, 1971.
Here's when the billionaires got together seriously for the first time. Put their money together. Set up the new Heritage Foundation, an expanded Hoover Institution, and ALEC (the American Legislative Exchange Council).
They targeted the schools first. With them crippled, or dehumanized, or in neutered silos, or turned over to the student loan banks (higher ed) or to the rabid dogs of standardized testing (K-12), could then proceed to offshoring those millions of U.S. working class jobs.
The rest, up to, including, and after Citizens United (2010), is history.
You may read more of its sorry details in Jane Mayer's "Dark Money," Diane Ravitch's "The Language Police," and Sheldon Whitehouse's "The Scheme."
Phil-all of what you’ve said is so true. This didn’t start with Reagan though-it’s been a through line since the beginning of America.
The Powell memo was just a new way to organize themselves-before it was all happening in KKK meetings, “citizens councils”, country clubs, business round tables etc.
It’s the way our system was established. Now we’re seeing more clearly how they operate..
Our founding authors began with a system of government whereby only the "landed gentry", consisting of white men who owned property, were allowed to vote. Our modern-day democrat-ish republic is an improvement relative to the early days, but we still have not achieved a true democracy insulated from the corrupting influence of money.
The current crop of conservative republicans advocate micro-government, de-regulation of business, and they try to suppress voting, among other un-democratic behavior.
The progenitors of the modern conservative movement were William F. Buckley, Jr who founded The National Review and hosted a talk show on black-and-white TV in the 1950s; and Barry Goldwater, who co-authored "The Conscience of a Conservative" with L. Brent Bozell, Jr, who was the brother-in-law of W. F. Buckley. Goldwater ran for President as a Republican in 1964. Those were the giants upon whose shoulders Reagan was standing.
"The legitimate object of government, is to do for a community of people, whatever they need to have done, but can not do, at all, or can not, so well do, for themselves -- in their separate, and individual capacities."
- Lincoln
"The most terrifying words in the English language are: I'm from the government and I'm here to help."
-Reagan
Ronnie Ray-gun was an unmitigated disaster six ways to Sunday, first in California and later in our White House. We are still suffering the effects of his handlers' philosophy (he never had a philosophy - didn't have the brains for it - but was an apparently attractive face to put on the beginnings of American populist fascism) decades later, and their heirs are STILL trying with all their might and main to destroy American representative democracy. What a legacy!
J L, I would offer a candidate idea to illustrate Lincoln's words: our federal government can do pure research. Prudent corporations are reluctant to spend money on research that will not obviously lead to vast wealth. On the other hand, the James Webb Space Telescope was funded by NASA, a federal agency. The immediate payoff is expanding knowledge for everyone, rather than expanding wealth for a few.
I am worried that technology in my youth was primarily designed to serve the public. Now, whole industries serve anyone with greats sums to pay for it, public be damned. Thanks to "Reaganomics" corporations and ultra-wealthy increasingly and often unaccountably impact our lives in increasing ways. MSM regularly lays out problems the public want's remedied with action "blocked by the powerful (fill in the blank) lobby. By abandoning DIY government, we are becoming the subjects of the wealthy. Historically we've been there, done that, and it sucked.
Meanwhile, pure research has been the goose that lays golden eggs, including what it tells us that the profit-obsessed don't want to hear.
Yes but you have to really know Trump’s history with Russia. He had for many years been denied to open up a hotel (s) near Moscow. In the meantime, (this is only conjecture) the Russians saw him as a perfect stooge for their fodder. I truly feel they gave him the oomph to get into politics and represent their interests. In that time period, with Reagan talking about how government needs to stop being in everyone’s pockets, Trump was seen by Putin, the leading KGB agent, as the perfect loud mouth to train to be a politician because all the Don cared about was money. We will never know how much money was laundered to Trump from Russia, but you can bet it was a significant amount. Reagan was snoozing while Trump was cruising.
Read Greg Olear's "Tinker Tailor, Mobster, Trump," March 31, 2020:
"Things were going south fast. Trump desperately needed a lifeline. He found one in Moscow."
https://gregolear.substack.com/p/tinker-tailor-mobster-trump?s=r
This is a very long, but compelling read. Moscow doesn't enter the picture until the 1980's.
Somehow sleazy salesman Reagan bewitched both the media and most of the country; his "greatest" contribution was smearing and stirring resentment of "government of the people, by the people, for the people" which he defamed and ridiculed. And because it's inclusive when it's at its best, it seems clumsy compared to autocracies. After visiting China, Mitt Romney spoke wistfully "It's pretty impressive over there how quickly they can build things, how productive they are as a society. You should see their airport compared to our airports, their highways, their train systems." Well yes, fascists can do that too, but at the cost of unalienable rights. And democracy accomplishes great things as well when we cooperate as well as differ; the first nation, for example, to visit the moon, and many other admirable things. Reagan's solution was to make the rich far richer and let them run the country, in our stead and Donald Trump and his ilk as "leadership" is "Reaganomics" in full flower.
Remember what Reagan did before he was president? He led the Screen Actors Guild. Meaning, he lead a UNION. Then he turns into a CAPITALIST. What a soulless chameleon.
“A ‘better world’ bought by atrocities will be rotten at the core.” (Ilona Andrews)
Trump is a result of more than Reagan. It is because the core of America is rotten.
Think about how America came to be and who paid the price. White European men came to land that is now called United States of America for their own purposes. It was already inhabited by indigenous peoples, but these men, aided by wealthy profiteers, carved a bloody path across the continent committing horrific acts to get their way - they lied, cheated, stole, murdered individuals, committed mass murders (genocide, even), ethnic cleansing, tortured, raped, and enslaved people.
The descendants in blood and spirit of those European men continued to build upon the land for their own gain, using slave labor, abusive treatment of Asian laborers (and of laborers in general, including child labor and women’s sweatshops), and by practicing abusive capitalism.
They remain entrenched in the top of the socioeconomic hierarchy to this day with continued use of lies, cheating, stealing, “gaming the system”, abusive capitalism, and even murder. They are protected by double standards in religions, legal/justice system, and by a society trained to allow it.
Nixon was pardoned instead of being charged and punished for crimes while in office.
Presidents have gotten away with abusing Americans and other countries for political gain.
Reagan made great inroads in shaping the political infrastructure which opened floodgates of corruption that is currently choking the life away from American democracy.
Trump made himself the ugly face of America’s rotten core because he was too lazy and greedy to hide all his corruption behind solidly closed doors like others before him.
Speaking of pardons, both Haley and DeSantis have said they will pardon tfg so the country can “move on.” No, no and no. It didn’t work when Ford did it; in fact, that may have helped get us tfg.
Thank you, Lisa!
‘The rot is extensive’ - Chris Hedges. Our democracy cannot be saved, for we don’t have one. All we have is the pursuit of one. And ultimately, capitalism and democracy are incompatible. The American Dream has largely been an illusion, as white capitalist elites have ruled since our inception, but propaganda makes us think somehow they have been different from Russian oligarchs. For every modest gain fought for by workers (New Deal), all pale in comparison to the crushing effects of capitalism on labor. We have to forge a new socialist path to democracy, or the dream of democracy dies. Trump is a symptom of systemic rot.
Capitalism eventually leads to monopolies through mergers, acquisitions and suing competition into bankruptcy. When the economy tanks and goes into recession Congress and the WH reacts with legislation or bailouts. Punishment for the guilty is rare especially if we are talking about corporations. Examples are fossil fuels, pharmaceuticals, tech companies -- hardware and software, etc.
Well said, Tom. Your sentence "...all pale in comparison to the crushing effects of capitalism on labor." is eloquent in its simplicity.
You hush now, Ally! Don’t want my reputation here as a Putin apologist, false equivalence, duopoly hating, ranting rude dude tarnished by accusations of eloquence!
j/k Thanks for the kind words. Peace, t
😁
So true!
And Trumps ancestors like many others (males because they can overpower physically) made corruption the norm in family cultures. Upbringing may seem like a soft word, however THAT is what shapes a human. Birds of a feather flock together. Then power is in numbers. We cannot change them! However WE can also flock together locally and hold the line before bad kids of bad parents grow up, but we mostly don’t.
The flaws in our ancestors' interactions with Native Americans made me wonder why they didn't try harder to keep us out (like the Japanese did before 1853). What seems to be a realistic answer is that the initial tolerance the English settlers gained was that they were a less threatening trading partner than the Spanish, in effect providing some protection from the Spanish in North America.
Captain Henry Fleete (an ancestor of our extended family), had arrived in the (Southern Virginia) Colony when I think Maine was still part of the (Northern) Virginia Colony. He was captured while visiting the Patawomeke (Potomac) by Natacotchtanks (Anacostan) in 1623, kept alive and held for 5 years because of his relatively better medical skills. During the captivity he learned their language and develop trading agreements. See https://mdroots.thinkport.org/library/henryfleet.asp
"...When the Maryland colonists arrived in Virginia in 1634, Fleet agreed to act as a guide for Governor Leonard Calvert. He translated the Indian language into English when the Governor first met with the Piscataways and Yoacomacos, natives of southern Maryland. Governor Calvert and the Werowance, or village chieftain, of the Yoacomacos agreed to exchange: the Yoacomacos gave a village to Governor Calvert. In return, Calvert promised to protect the Yoacomacos from their enemies. Captain Fleet helped make this exchange possible, so that the Calverts had land to build St. Mary's City, the first capital of Maryland.2
The Calverts gave Fleet the rights to trade with the Indians for beaver skins in Maryland territory. On one trading mission for Lord Baltimore, Fleet sailed a ship called Deborah that was loaded with a valuable cargo of goods:
74 axes, 26 hoes, 19 yards of Dutch cloth, 16 pairs of Irish stockings, 2 yards of cloth [called "peak"], and a chest containing beads, knives, combs, fish hooks, Jew's harps [musical instruments], and looking glasses [mirrors].3
Captain Fleet's career demonstrates that traders were important as middlemen between the English and Native American populations..."
The alliances should be seen as what looked to be the best options at their time, how they evolved and who changed them or ruthlessly betrayed them later seems varied but rather inevitable as different groups gained more power. Those with the best intentions often don't have the support to keep the relations the best they could be.
Great family history report here, Jim!
We’ll said Lisa-our history brings us to this present day when the idea of perfecting our democracy may crumble.
Yes.
All the way to Nixon. The last time conservatives actually stood up for the rule of law when they forced is resignation, but then pushed for his pardon. Then ignored the criminals in Reagan, HWBush, GWBush.....
Yep, but with Rupert’s finesse and the stealth of the CIA
Trump's a loose cannon, a one-of-a-kind deranged force of nature, born at a full moon eclipse, maybe that explains it.
Democracy in danger! Vote vote vote!
We've known about at least some of these emoluments since well before Trump left office, and yet Dems did not impeach him for them when they controlled the House. The states of Maryland and Delaware sued him over them, but the courts dragged the case out and then the Supreme Court dismissed the suit as moot once Trump left office. Disgusting (lack of) performance by House Dems and judicial Republicans alike.
I remember the projections onto TFG’s properties about the bribes, emoluments, and so forth, while he was in office. It never has been a secret that this was going on, and glad to see the Dems pushing this now. One can hope that these findings relentlessly. If there are “debates”, Biden should answer every question with: “Please explain in detail all the money you received from foreign adversaries.”
That is a great idea.
Kushner did $ billions in business in the Middle East while officially on the White House staff. I don't see him going to jail for it like Hunter Biden, who is already paying the price.
And you won’t, r’s have “immunity” against life’s problems
The danger is very real but selective prosecution and persecution by innuendo has a long and sorry history. Sen. McCarthy may have been the first to adopt such tactics in the postwar era, but the racist smear campaign against MLK by Hoover‘s FBi and southern segregationists fueled the flames of anti-democratic forces as did persecution of opponents to the racist war in Vietnam. Then Reagan frequently attacked Democrats as so far left they have left America. Then Gingrich redefined the “American people” as only Republicans. Step by step, anti-democratic forces have subverted civic discourse. A stealthy Civil War is underway where this time the tyrants and demagogues are trying to win. And they are succeeding.
Remember Nero? Well, now we’re fiddling! I can see the smoke in the air!
Help us, Professor, ( what you do all the time and we are most grateful) because for me, I’m very frustrated and I don’t know what I can do other than vote and I feel that sometimes it is just not enough. Your guidance is always welcome. Thank you. America thank you.
Check out the Substack "Chop Wood, Carry Water" by Jessica Craven for some possibilities. She has many suggestions on how to help.
I can help with this question bc I sometimes feel at a loss. Get involved with community activists. Join a Democratic/Liberal Party near your city. Write letters as we get closer to the election (VoteForward.org), takes a lot of the stress out of letter writing. Attend school board meetings, volunteer at community fundraisers for different projects. Volunteer at animal shelters...... etc. The point is to talk to as many people as you can. Of course be respectful, but don't be bashful. Good luck!
One thing we can all do besides voting is to sign up to send cards to voters. There are special elections coming up soon in Ohio and New York. People need to be reminded to vote. Also volunteer at your local Democratic office, hold meetings in your home, send money to local and/or national candidates, etc.
Absolutely, Colette. Postcarding is how I keep my sanity! It's not too late to write for Tom Suozzi, through Activate America. He is running to occupy the vacated seat of George Santos in New York's District 03. https://www.activateamerica.vote/postcards
Also, new to me is Activate America's "Amplify" campaign where we can write postcards to voters amplifying the accomplishments of Joe Biden and the Democrats:
https://www.activateamerica.vote/amplify
They also have other ways to reach voters, i.e., phone banking, texting.
Check it out!
Thanks for these references and citations, Lynell.
I think I'm mistaken about being able to write postcards for Biden on the Activate America Amplify website. I didn't look closely enough, and it seems it is for posting on social media sites, not postcard writing. Sorry about that!
Morning, Lynell, and thanks for the links!
A win by Suozzi would knock the GOP majority to 1, yes? What happens if the House is deadlocked? Off to find out.
I'm willing for Dems to take over...bigly!
I didn’t find much, but I’m left wondering if there’s any mechanism to challenge the Speaker and replace him with a non crazy. The budget debates are going to get crazy, especially if the Freedom Caucus comes out against him.
Thanks Lynell.
Thank you, Heather. Every day I read and watch and think about the news at length, and I ask myself how you go on day after day and don’t become despondent. Because I do, and often several times a day. Then, before I go to sleep, your letter pops up, and I read hope from something that happened outside and long before this day that had seemed so broken to me. I have been trying to transform my way of looking. I make and lose headway. It is such a struggle! Then I see how you bring the frightful nature of current upheaval and breakdown, and ground them in history. That grounds me and gives me hope, at least until the next news cycle. So, now I understand how you continue, and even though I am pretty sure my hold is more tenuous, I feel that I can too. That is what history does, at least until the next day and your next letter. So thank you. Your work means a lot to sometimes drowning people like me.
Wonderful comment, Maureen. The truth will win out...
I do hope you’re right, KD.
Yeah… me too, Maureen.
Why is this man able to travel all over the country , to one hate rally after another, using inflammatory statements to stir up trouble and at the same time bring in more donations for himself? It is so disheartening to see a wealthy man , evading and delaying justice for years. I am sure that his followers see this as verification that he was destined to be their leader. And so far our justice system is allowing all this to continue until who knows when. That old saying that justice delayed is justice denied, is being proven to be true , each day that this continues. Revoking his bail is what is needed.
Why is he also able to threaten every single person (e.g., the SecState of Maine) he hates—which is everyone—resulting in actual damage and he can’t be (or just isn’t) stopped?
Some would say he is in “ The Club” and that grants him special treatment. The whole justice system is on trial, not just the defendant.