It’s a common tendency to think where we would move in case of an unthinkable Trump victory this year. Canada. Costa Rica. New freaking Zealand (“freaking” only b/c it’s such a long flight!). But when we consider the abject misery Washington’s Army endured wintering over in Valley Forge in the service of fighting tyranny, or what my grandfathers endured in WW2 fighting Nazis… We should not be thinking about going anywhere if he wins. Flawed and often broken, this country is still the essential nation, and we must keep fighting for its better nature now and forever.
I’m camped out here in Philly, voting and hustling, and I’ll be damned if I’m leaving.
Half way across the country, I have reached the same conclusion as you. And also, if the USA falls in 2024, I do not think that there will be many places of refuge left by the decade’s end.
As Joyce Vance says every evening, “We are in this together”.
Yep. That’s why I’m biting my nails here in Germany… When democracy is destroyed in the US, Europe will follow shortly thereafter. I don’t know if all Americans fully realize what’s at stake here, and what an enormous responsibility the American voters have right now…
You are so right! I live in France, and my French friends are more worried about the U.S. political situation than many Americans appear to be. There would be a massive world-wide effect if our democracy does not hold. It is pointless for Americans to think of moving elsewhere because if that man is elected again, he and his international buddies will take the entire world down with them. We MUST vote, and encourage everyone we know to do so. There is much too much at stake including beyond our U.S. borders.
Simple answer…”STUPIDITY”! Look at the amount of “true MAGA followers”! These people have emptied their bank accounts ever month sending Frumpy their hard-earned money to pay his legal fees, his bills. He hadn’t hit a lick a a snake in his lifetime! This 🍓💩🤡🤮 is the biggest con man alive, and living off of everyone else’s dime!
Yes Lesly, and add in the white superiority complex, the south will rise again attitude and couple that with hatred and fear that white’s will be in the population minority in the not too distant future - assuming life as we now know it, last that much longer! Our country’s founding and those who have helped form our system of governance and government(s) as well as those who have helped preserve the the freedoms that we have are literally the best thing since sliced bread ... and sure there are tweaks needed along the way to help our Nation be inclusive to all of it’s citizens and residents but it’s because we are a work in progress, and as RR used to say at a time before he was elected POTUS .. [thanks to GE] “Progress Is our most important product”!
ML, I have an ex-student who is retired from his teaching job and now lives in Paris. He posts lots of pics of what he is doing and he is having the time of his life. His local bistro even made a Thanksgiving dinner with his help. He has been here for the holidays and his one observation was about the price of groceries here. Inflation is down, so why are they still expensive....because food companies have chosen to keep them that way is what I think.
The French are closer to farms and farmers than we with our “made in the grocery store” asparagus. Plus the EU has emphasized the difficulties of climate change to farmers and farming, putting wheat production above cattle raising, asking farmers to thin herds and grow more grains to feed more people!
Probably much of the price inflation we have seen is attributable to gouging (that is, unconstrained capitalism), but to expect prices to go down because inflation is down is an incorrect interpretation of what inflation means. If inflation is zero, prices remain about the same. If it’s, say 2% (“down” in recent history), prices go up a little.
I believe the American people are actually very concerned. The news media is really biased towards tr*** because it generates readers. They couldn't report on President Biden's speech on Friday without adding negative comments about tr***'s reply or other things. The news media is really worthless for the most part these days because their 'reporting' isn't really reporting -- it's all someone's opinions about the news, rather than the (unbiased) news itself.
I also have a few delightful friends in France, they quip the media does drum rolls & cartwheels every Trumpian tale, ‘they’ keep the fear mongering alive -lies delivered step by step in ‘their’ fantasy world bears some respect for the drip, drip, drip..akin to water boarding!
What I DO take in stride is the voting numbers, an abysmal representation for the last whatever ‘with a fairly good showing in ‘20 (kudos 66%! ) and even in ‘22 & 23 -despite the forecasted Red Wave/doom and gloom paintbrush from whiners/Fox/drama Queens. (The circus is still showing its clASS acts).
Complacency is never advisable, but does consistently arrive ...American pants down theology...I’ve heard ‘my vote doesn’t count’ a hundred times if one.
We DO have a lot of work to do.
And, thanks to this example ( again hello!) this playbook scenario, presenting ‘unprecedented’ predicaments . Where have they been? The hx books fill shelves. So, time to pay attention?
The writing on the wall can’t be more bold though, NEVER EVER EVER underestimate, and why the stats of better management/times/record or TRUTH doesn’t stand testimony over the political landscape ad infinitum is a whole course study for far more brilliant minds than mine , it IS somewhat fascinating , I add.
Exception:The fiction books are fiction..NOT based on fact..or....who or what you watch may be a clear indicator ( AGAIN) that those people are gone/in jail/heavily fined for falsifying...and still yet ....get it...? Some still don’t.🤷♀️
Not giving up , this is my country, in all its wonderfulness , mistakes, trials, tribulation
On New Year's Day, I sat next to a woman whose husband is not registered to vote because he insists his vote wouldn't make a difference. She's a voter but can't make any headway with her husband. I suggested she do some research to identify elections where only one or a small handful of votes actually made a difference, then bring them to his attention. Can you imagine the total if all who claim his/her vote won't make a difference were added up?
Was an issue in my own home for years and finally he ‘came around’. Persistence , consistent, ever vigilant..all part of the never ending choices we can make to keep our freedoms. I understand people are tired of the chaos, lies, and subterfuge . Well….ending it means a solid blue wave for many election cycles and being vigilant after getting back house,senate,and keeping the WH with an oath honoring FOR THE PEOPLE leader. America , hear the call !
"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."
She may need an occasional idiot to highlight the intelligence of the majority of her readers. John Schmeekle's thought process certainly doesn't run very deep.
We all need to report trolls each and every day, each and every posted comment.
Upon occasion, I have made this comment and had some heated responses saying we need to hear the other side, or tout free speech.
I firmly believe in free speech AND in listening to the other side. Many times, this forum has had passionate disagreements but they take the form of civilized discussion, supported by personal professional experiences or with reputable media sources.
Name calling is a characteristic of both Trump and MAGA.
It's like the old definition of pornography: you know it when you see it.
HCR's Letter is becoming VERY well known, and I believe that there are agents of discord at work. While Schmeekle's comments are usually pretty juvenile (esp. considering he calls himself an "intellectual"--read his profile!! LOL) it's when he and the other trolls spread misinformation, or verbally attack others, that we should report him.
BTW: this arrived to me today and is worthy of a read, and of forwarding:
So John - you see the responses right? You are not being taken seriously, at all. Are you really just a troll? In this venue, why don't you make your points in a more civil manner, and invite discussion? No, instead it is "Biden the Vampire". And "zombified". Right.....
He was here months ago then disappeared. I suspect enough reporting to the administrator but a temporary block on him.
Watch his progress: if he does not get blocked, he will copy/paste the same inane comment MULTIPLE times, and over the course of a few weeks, get more and more unhinged, sort of like the Sore Loser is.
James Wheaton feels the need to dishonestly misrepresent what I said.
I said "Vampire Liberal."
Vampire Liberals fund Worthwhile Programs by sucking money out of foreign countries, depending on the imperial power of the Almighty Dollar to add to the Unpayable Debt.
(Vampire Conservatives, on the other hand, suck money to give tax breaks to the rich.)
Zombies don't think. Zombified Vampire Liberals like James Wheaton and Heather Cox Richardson DON'T THINK anout where the money comes from for Biden's Worthwhile Programs.
"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."
"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."
"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."
Dutch, quite honestly, Americans may have little say in the matter by the time this is all over.
The Supreme Court is currently about to determine "if" Trump can stay on the ballot in Colorado. Given the clarity of the 14th Amendment, one might think this is an easy call.
However, the Supreme Court's highly probable ruling that Trump CAN stay on the ballot (due to the vast amount of money that will rain on the justices after that decision) will set the stage for when Trump challenges his loss against Biden with the same Supreme Court.
Next time, Trump will do a better job of making sure the "election" is not decided in a public voting.
The Supreme Court will decide and? Well, don't bet against them ruling in favor of Trump.
We don't really have a Democracy here Dutch. We have always counted on the Supreme Court to keep the Oligarchs in power no matter how the voting goes.
The high court has not always kept the robber barons in check. They certainly are not keeping the robber barons in check currently. Indeed, the high court is a BIG part of the problem. Think on this quote I read so long ago I can't even remember who said it. "The law is but man's opinion."
This is a sad commentary on our court system, and possibly true. Roberts if facing a tough moment where his the legitimacy of the court is very much in question. Will he try to resurrect it from the ashes of Thomas’ corruption or will he find a way to restore the confidence of the people? Whatever is the case, there are big questions ahead—there are likely a LOT of behind the scenes activity with unheard pressure on all of the “justices”. If it weren’t my own country’s future at stake (and apparently that of much of Europe) I’d be simply fascinated to watch it play out. As it is, I’m “concerned”. And that’s where I’ll leave it today.
I agree with that, Dan Stipe. Its reputation is in the TOILET! After they decided to crush Roe v. Wade - even with ALL its precedents of being reaffirmed - they lost HALF the country - all the women and many men - and ALL THEY PHYSICIANS! They wreaked horror across the country with that ONE horrific decision.
I'll NEVER forgive them - or respect them - again.
The observable evidence of SC corruption is that legal experts are saying they aren't sure what the SC will decide, if they even will decide to decide, on the simple task of enforcing the Constitution. In lieu is simply enforcing what the constitution plainly contains, they prefer to pass themselves off as linguists, pretending that existing dictionary definitions of the words ' engage' and 'insurrection' will not suffice, were never going to stand up in court. What did those congresspeople mean by those words? Ooh, tough question. On the real world, it seems simple to get at what the intent was and is. Meanwhile, shifting to the other foot, the SC next passes itself off as history experts. Ooh, what in the world did those words mean in 1780, or 1806, on and on. The original intent? Doesn't that intent have something to do with preserving and defending democracy and the Constitution? How about it?
Jon, would you expand on this, please? I think the question of whether the actions the Danger Yam (thank you to my sister for that!) and his minions took from and after the 2020 election, and even before, going back to the "rigged election" claims of the 2016 election, which they continue to engage in to this day, constitutes insurrection or rebellion against the Constitution, or whether some of those actions constitute giving aid and comfort, etc., is a mixed one of fact and law. The facts don't seem to be in dispute, and people who focus solely on the events of Jan 6 to assert tramp and his minions engaged in insurrection are wrong to do so. I think his state of mind is irrelevant in determining whether he "engaged" or not. I also think the three opinions of the Colo courts and Maine's SoS are well-reasoned and compelling. What do you think?
I agree with you. It will be very hard for five justices to argue that the clear language of the 14rh Amendment does not apply, although some of them will probably try. I do fear that a majority of the court might hold that Colorado and Maine were justified in kicking the Mango Mussolini off the ballot, but not go further, thus kicking the can down the road. And what if he is elected in November? Then, in the heat of the post-election uproar, will the court declare that he can't serve--which would presumably mean that the Republican vice-presidential nominee (Kriti Noem?) could become chief executive? Such a possibility should be too much for the justices to stomach, and I hope it will be. I also hope that they will care enough about their institution to do what you and I and the clear language of the 14th Amendment command. Someone on the string referred to FDR's ill-advised court-packing plan of 1936-37, which did at least induce Justice Roberts to make the "switch in time that saved nine." That threat is hanging over the court's head.
J. Margolis, I cannot just accept your say-so that the SC is not as corrupt as I believe. That's because it isn't a belief I have, it is observable evidence. Unless there is no longer any such thing as truth, a large body of evidence makes a clear case that the SC is corrupt, exactly as corrupt as the evidence shows, and that SC Justices can't be simply trusted to self-regulate.
A "good" example is their ongoing decisions regarding environmental concerns, i.e. that the EPA can't protect the environment (thereby allowing environmental damage.)
The Court has not favored Trump specific causes. I won’t be entirely surprised by a 7-2 decision removing him from the ballot.
They could leave him on through the primary but that makes it tough for the Rs to have a chance to choose a real candidate. And saying he can run in the general but not serve seems unthinkable.
Mike S, yes, and one wonders how these SC justices think about the 14th Amendment. Those justices who call themselves "originalist" may not consider the 14th Amendment part of the "originalists" thinking.
Yeah, you're right... The Repubs definitely scored better in the long game by stacking the Supreme Court with their peons, making it an Extreme Court that can effectively undo any regulation...
The 14th Amendment is far from clear and section 3 is vague and poorly written. It provides no guidance of how this section is to be considered and whether or not it applies to the President. Who and how is the proof of insurrection et al, to be conducted. The only thing we do know is that Section 5, states that Congress shall have the power to enforce, by appropriate legislation. But Congress has never acted. Common sense says the Amendment does apply to the President but the question of proof of engagement remains. As it stands now, proof is in the eye of the beholder.
Yes, but were Trump's actions proof of engagement. I don't think there is any doubt about an insurrection, the question is proof of complicity and as I said, that seems to be in the eye of the beholder.
John, highly respected legal scholars with a range of perspectives have discussed the 14S3 in detail and disagree with your take. Though they vary in details, in overall interpretation they are pretty close. I personally have some reservations about actually going through with this approach for political reasons, but "get" the validity of the legal interpretation. The thing is that for it to work, a large # of states would need to act on it. The Supreme Court is in a bind, because a hard ruling either way conflicts with other rulings they have made, plus those of past SCs (not that that has made a difference to them so far).
As for "proof of engagement", that has been proved. Key members of the "jury" were bought or intimidated and failed to do their job. Some of them should be in the box, and may yet be.
Be that as it may, my guess is there are an equal number of legal scholars on the other side of the issue. For me, it remains the vagueness of 14S3. I come from the contracts part of the world where such vagueness tends not to be tolerated. What you are suggesting, is that the meaning and applicability of 14S3 is up to the individual states which to me is fraught with its own problems from State to State. And how does that square with 14S5? If the SC is in a bind, it is of their own making. And of course, Congress never did anything legislatively to enforce 14, although were incidents in the past 150 years that merited some action on their part but that is not surprising.
As to "proof of engagement", the only thing proved was not guilty but that finding was hardly objective. One could argue, Congress chose the impeachment process as the enforcement provision of 14s5. That the 'jury' was rigged is neither here nor there, the Senate is the jury and it is a political body.
To be sure, I am not a legal scholar but simply a citizen who reserves the right to my opinion. The Constitution is a mess, the SC is a mess, and the outcome will be a mess. But the former President wins regardless of the outcome.
Thanks also ...You strike a growing realization Dutch Mike, that the undercurrent is strong, hopefully we will provide , us rag tags ya know😉, to stay, to strengthen these ties that bind. Those ties have built a place many see as safe, a dream to come to, a dream to live. We have been given this through many sacrifices , but a lesson also has come/came to teach -yet again - that value to persevere .
This is really scary. If our democracy falls, it will be a domino affect around the world. Einstein said that he didn’t know what weapons would be used to fight WWIII, but the next war would be fought with stones and sticks.
I know. And so many over here are sleep walking through it.
Now Obama is weighing in to light a fire under the Biden campaign.
It seems to me that Democrats are still playing by the rules, still being nice. Glad we have the Lincoln Project. We need more in your face Trump and all Republicans that are loyal to him are an existential threat.
Rest assured that millions of Americans have no knowledge of how important their responsibility is in this next election. Yet, I do not believe that he will win. He needs to gain votes and I don’t see where he can pick up new voters. At the same time a substantial number of people who voted for Trump, will never do so again, not after January 6, his indictments and his conviction eventually. The DOJ could help by moving faster than they have.
I am fairly confident but I learned in 2016 , when one side is willing to cheat every which way, miracles can happen. Or should I say nightmares? I will be on pins and needles until the Colorado 14th amendment case is decided. He does not deserve to be on any ballot.
Trouble is, that he doesn't have to pick up new voters. He just has to rig the system a little bit more and he wins. The only hope is a really massive voter swing for Biden, so big that it simply cannot be ignored or swept under the carpet.
What Mike S said. And: there is a lot of them thinking: "Oh, abolish democracy for all I care, it doesn't work anyway, let a strong man fix it", not realizing how dangerous this kind of thinking is.
For me it’s simple. We must believe, we must know that freedom will prevail. We must vote. There is no reason not to vote for Joe and Kamala and every reason to repudiate the wannabe be king, tyrant.
Good question. I think, for starters, coercing your local Democratic representatives: they have to use their campaign money to buy ad space wherever and push the message making clear that Rump is completely in it for himself, and sincerely wants to destroy democracy for his own gain - and that there is no way back once he establishes his fascist military dictatorship. After all, that's what the other side has been doing the last decades: buying tv and radio stations to push *their* message...
John Schmeeckle is the guy sitting in his living room while the house is burning down, and instead of calling the Fire Dept, he shouts "THESE ARE NOT THE DRAPES I ORDERED!!! LET THEM BURN!!!"
Most Americans do not appreciate how significant our democracy is in its influence around the world. Foreigners were dismayed when W was reelected and shocked when trump was elected. Most Americans are quite provincial and don't realize how closely what happens here is watched abroad. The likes of Putin know our weaknesses better than we do and have taken advantage by putting his thumb on the scale to help trump.
100%. This is why Putin’s Armies have dug in Ukraine. Building defensive positions, minefields, using criminals/emptying jails, and using ethnic minority conscripts to feign offensive operations with soldiers no one in Moscow or St Petersburg cares about. All a strategy to hold on till our November election.
... as well as - if not better - Roman numeral “XI” - when you consider that Xi spent some time living here in America (Iowa in the 1980’s) ... I’m sure gleaning a bit of a narrow view of what makes America a great country.
Knowing and loving New f'ing Zealand as I do, the only thing wrong with it as a place of refuge is that it's very small. (Ruffles feathers and tilts head).
And it has taken a shocking turn to the right. The ruling party ran on a platform of erasing the Maori culture and language from every level of NZ life. Sickens me as I have never been treated with more kindness than by the Kiwis.
There's a policy change agreed to by all but the national Maori party, to present all government services not specifically involved with Maori issues in English only, I suspect the head of the Maori party may be using overheated rhetoric. I'll keep an eye on the news myself, don't get much from NZ on the national airways... always been that way. Maori, like other indigenous eg Australia, USA, Canada didnt fare well after what was essentially conquest, but in that context, they've done well by comparison. Thanks for the news tip.
I don’t remember sorry. I’ll Google. It was within the past year. Also read that the right has made gains in gov’t. Yep, Google knew. Several references, including The Guardian, from 2018. New York Post also had article. Wonder if Rupert would bypass Australia and head to NZ. Others mentioned Peter Thiel, and Google co-founder. So maybe that’s why Google knows knows.
I too googled it. They're talking about Queenstown specifically, and if you Google that you'll understand why. It all comes from NY Post and CNN, starting in 2000, with spinoffs in rags like the London Daily Mirror. I found an interview with a local real estate agent, who was treating the whole thing with typical Kiwi dry humour. (Now I can't find it, and I do have other things to do with my time). The most recent news (from 2022) is that Peter Thiel's building application was refused. Yes, true that there was a swing to the right in the recent elections, but I really don't think there are any serious links with Orban.
Jeri, like that location will save them when the sh*t hit the fan….they can run , but cannot hide! All their $$$ and influence will buy a bit of time, but that’s all.
Anyone remember the movie Soylent Green? Despite the shocker of an ending as to what "Soylent green" actually consisted of, the wealthy lived in their high-rise towers while dining on steak and champagne while the majority scuffled for space in the gutters and in their derelict cars at the curbs. We should re-issue that movie as a warning of what could be the future.
Yeah, and they are likely, almost certainly, going to need helpers/security/workers to keep their compounds stable/livable…..what will buy their loyalty? I’ve wondered about that since I’d heard some years ago about this being a “real thing” the uber-wealthy are into or looking into. I recently read The Future by Naomi Alderman (2023) & is a fictional example of the hubris of “buying” salvation/safety.
I took a design course in England many years ago. There were 2 Kiwis I met there: one from the North Island, one from the South. They would have playful yet serious arguments about which was better. Listening to them made me yearn for a visit some day (and, given the choice, I'd probably head for the North Island, as that resident told me stories of carefree sleeping on the warm beach.)
Have traveled to New Zealand several times; first trip in 1987 & (like everywhere) a lot has changed, but much is still wonderful -- its people, its scenery; its food is wonderful. On one of those trips, I asked a South Islander if she had traveled abroad; she replied, “I went to the North Island once.” Marvelous people, and (at least historically) they are very fond of Americans; they pay a lot of attention to the U.S., including our politics. (Older New Zealanders credit the U.S. in World War II with saving them from Japanese military forces. New Zealand had, per capita, more casualties than any country in the Commonwealth -- ~one of every 150 Kiwis died in war service.)
About 17 hours. One way. Expensive. Years ago (long before this mess) I was offered a position at a university there that also would have let me finish my doctorate. Reluctantly turned it down because my kids were young, and they were my parents' only grandkids. Couldn't do that to either grands or kids. Still wistful.
Dr. McCormick, PLEASE don't! Last fall I had finally found a doctor-internist who I really got along with, respected - then next visit - "I'm moving to NZ!!! No!!! He was well-loved in Colorado. And I stick with my GOOD doctors!!!
It does make me wonder how the good Doctors and other Healthcare workers, Teachers, Professors, etc will redistribute themselves from red states to more tolerant states or countries (or just find other professions). I seem to find more and more every day, who just quit and found other work where they are less stressed due to interference, staffing levels, or inadequate funding.
Agreed. I talked last night to my adult HS teacher daughter. She visited with two college friends who are also teachers during this break. One is leaving teaching (after 11 years) the other is trying to do so. Teaching they love, dealing with the administrators bowing to parents and school board demands they do not.
She relayed a story of a student that was failing due to missing over 80 school days the prior year (no circumstances that applied, just a chronic truant). The parents did not want him to fail and pressured the administration who pressured the teacher to find ways to make the teen able to pass. In other words, create new, easy assignments to be turned in. This is an extreme but not a joke. Between my two teacher daughters, combined years of teaching over 25 years at 6 different schools, they have encountered this type of behavior.
There are many current/former educators on this forum whom I sure can agree with this.
Yes, that would work! And you can see all the rugby games you want, go sailing, climb some mountains! Just COME BACK!!! <3 Read your profile - Yes! I'm a transplant recipient so I need a good primary physician. I have transplant backup from Cleveland Clinic. Left Denver to get the transplant - statistics and all! The transplant world/community is very interesting.
I actually know someone whose son and d.i.l. went there about 10 years ago--even back then, they did not like the way the country was heading!! As I was told then (and I have no reason to doubt it) I was told they needed to enter with assets of $3M and have jobs. My acquaintance has little money but the son married a trust-fund baby. They love it there.
Yes, there’s always been a high bar re: immigration into New Zealand. Tax rate is very high, in part to support its social services, including health care. There’s concern that, without regulation, the country’s social services could collapse under the needs of older/aging people from elsewhere.
We are NOT going to let "the orange flame" continue , are we?
President Joe Biden and the great team of Americans he and his advisers have gathered have accomplished much and need to remain "on the job".
Our country and the world needs to focus on the battles against the rise of tyrany. Our children in our schools /universities need to be required to study the history of our nation.....ALL OF IT.....we have ugly parts .....we need to be reminded NOT TO GO THERE AGAIN!!!!
We need to be aware of what is pushing people to leave everything they have to come to the United States of America. They come with their dreams, their desire to work, to build a home, to have their children educated.....within a Democracy!
Of course there are Americans within every level of humanity who use this country for their personal benefit....so has it always been.
People coming to the USA are escaping the rule of Dictators.....governments who have taken their property from them.....taken away opportunities to choose by vote the ones they want to govern. They are more desperate to be free than we are. We are "the frogs in the kettle".....our freedoms being gradually taken from us......and WE are allowing this by our own choice of those we vote into office.
I'll never vote for Trump, but Biden is worse. Trump is a loose cannon who makes dirty deals with the Establishment. Biden IS the Establishment, the "Deep State" Senator from tiny postage-stamp Delaware, that corporate suburb of Wall Street.
Hi,John, I will give you some attention. You seem confused here, but to me It's really pretty simple. Trump is a treasonous rapey criminal who wants to turn the US into his own personal piggy bank so he can pay the debts he owes Putin and avoid being tossed out a window. Biden does not owe Putin money, and is not treasonous, rapey, or crimjnal. I like Biden because he is not those things. I do not understand why some people don't like Biden. The only people who support Trump are people who like that Trump is those things and they want to do what Trump does, or those who are so mentally ill or intellectually impaired that they don't understand what is going on around them. Voting for anyone but Biden helps put Trump back in the White House. Not voting for Biden helps put Trump back in the White House. Refusal to vote for Biden is support for Trump. It seems to me the choice is crystal clear. What are you going to do? Vote for the treasonous rapey criminal who wants to take the taxpayers money for his own use or vote for the guy who is none of those things?
Hi, Marj, if you are directing this disrespectful name calling to poor John Schminke, or however his name is spelled, he is a confused real person who occasionally responds to logical arguments and clear statements of others points of view, and so I tell him what I think in the most direct possible way, when I have the energy. If it is me you are calling a robot whack a doodle, I assure you I am a real live woman with my own opinions and understanding of the world, firmly grounded in the experience of my early life growing up half feral on a ranch in the Rocky Mountains. I encountered all the sorts of people you find in that milieu, including mystics and crazy people, hard headed business men, criminals and alcoholics and addicts of all sorts, highly educated women who weren't quite sure how they ended up there in the middle of nowhere, well meaning people who just wanted a place to raise their kids in peace, and the general lost or damaged detritus of humanity who washed up in that far crevasse of civilization, and couldn't put together enough resources to leave. There I learned to trust the instincts of my dogs and my horses, which taught me to tell the difference between good people and bad people. Biden is a good person. He is doing the best he can. In my opinion, we should all help him defend our freedoms and our beautiful land. Trump is a bad person. He lies, cheats, steals, and takes advantage of anyone he can, at every opportunity. He tried to undo an election because he didn't like the outcome, and anywhere else in the world he would be in prison for treason. My early experience is strengthed by graduate studies in psychology and many years working with the mentally ill, addicted and criminally guilty. I myself am not mentally ill, criminally inclined or damaged by PTSD or physical trauma. That is, I think clearly, make good decisions based on the information I have available, and if new information comes to light, I can change my mind. If it is indeed me you called a whack a doodle, please tell me what I said in the previous post that led you to that conclusion? I am still fascinated by observing the human mind at work...
And this is sure the place for that kind of observation. I'm sure Marj was referring to the JS wordsalad above. It's hard to tell what order posts are going to show up in sometimes. Those of us who've been around know to ignore the trolls, but newer folks who haven't come across them before (esp this one) sometimes get caught up in tryng to get through to him. Unfortunately, nothing to get through to. His purpose is to disrupt and redirect.
p.s. I suspect that ongoing coverage of Trump's legal woes is going to make his candidacy increasingly unattractive to swing voters who are nervous about Biden's age and health.
Trump has a flat tire, but you can still roll down the road for a little while with a flat tire.
My assessment is starkly different from yours. I don't think that Joe "cocaine nose" Biden is a good man, and I think that he is worse than Trump. Trump is a loose cannon who makes dirty deals with the Establishment. Biden IS the Establishment, from tiny Delaware, a suburb of Wall Street that specializes in hosting the headquarters of corporations. See https://thehustle.co/why-delaware-is-the-sexiest-place-in-america-to-incorporate-a-company/
The only president who was more "Establishment" than Biden was George H.W. Bush.
Biden and his fellow Vampire Liberals fund Worthwhile Programs by selling Treasury Bonds to suck money out of foreign countries, depending on the imperial power of the Almighty Dollar to add to the Unpayable Debt.
(Vampire Conservatives, on the other hand, suck money to give tax breaks to the rich.)
Biden's “Vampire Liberal” big-spender programs require sucking an endless supply of debt from both foreign countries and the Social Security trust fund.
The Almighty Dollar lets us get away with imposing U.S. government debt on foreign countries, but Biden's support of Ukraine's far-right fascist thug regime is accelerating global de-dollarization, which means that Biden is sabotaging both his Worthwhile Programs and Social Security.
Foreign countries, especially the BRICS countries, have been working toward de-dollarization of the global economy, which means that all those zillions of dollars of U.S. Treasury Bonds that slosh around the world, helping international trade settlements, will be coming home.
I remember, on Biden's inauguration day, Antifa protesters in Portland, Oregon chanting "F#ck Biden!" as they marched to the local Democratic headquarters to break all the windows.
I remember how happy and thankful I was that Joe Biden , a seasoned servant of Democracy, WON.
No more did I have to experience the terror of DT and his worship of PUTIN and other leaders who were controlling their populations through the threat of Murder........remember a recent airplane crash in Russia .....someone was challenging Putin......remember the loss of a number of former Republican leaders when DT was voted in as President of the USA....in my opinion , an insult to our nation!!! Do you want to live with threats to your life or to members of your family?
Please wake up and vote for Democracy....NOT for a Dictator!!!!
So why has Biden, for so many years, been supporting the toxic far-right thug regime in Ukraine?
"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."
Who said they were Antifa? Antifa stands for anti-fascist. I have trouble believing they were ACTUALLY Antifa, were ACTUALLY opposed to Biden and were actually an organized movement—which they are not. They are a current boogeyman, like George Soros
MY father was a proud "anti-fascist" as were my two uncles.
All three fought fascism in Europe in WW2. My Dad came home bodily whole, one uncle came after a head injury untreated while he was in a German POW camp which caused lifelong seizures. The other uncle received a spinal injury which rendered him a paraplegic.
Why do President 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."
No, they were not Anti Fascists, they were anarchists. They clearly identified themselves as anarchists. The pro Biden demonstrations in Portland were much larger.
Did you call the police and report those criminals in OR? Because no matter the reason nor the members- all US residents are expected to follow our laws AND respect the rights and property of others.
So if you’re concerned with what you saw on videos from OR you should be equally concerned with the crimes that occurred on Jan 6 at the US Capital bldg.
PS. Were you supporting Sanders and planning to vote for him.
I live in Massachusetts There is a Bernie faction but it’s a minority. Biden won fair and square. In2016 you could question Hillary’s superdelegate nomination. Bernie won multiple primaries. These are facts. Even if you don’t like Biden he’s done incredible positive work with razor thin margins in congress. Not voting for him is a negative choice for a reactionary autocracy against women’s and human rights. Against everything moderate and liberal minded people value. Trump 2 or just about any other republican candidate would result in a Hobbesian state(Thomas Hobbes--theory is that state or society cannot be secure unless at the disposal of an absolute sovereign. From this follows the view that no individual can hold rights of property against the sovereign, and that the sovereign may therefore take the goods of its subjects without their consent) we would be at the mercy of a madman monarch. Voters beware.
You are of course entitled to your opinion. I think that Biden's deep support for Ukraine's toxic far-right thug regime makes him a criminal against humanity:
"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 can’t wait till the SCOTUS dies away with the administrative state and we are all waiting around for Congress to enact regulations on issues they have no idea about. Tommy Tuberville deciding on whether a drug has passed its clinical trials instead of the FDA? Yeah, you and the deep state..... dream on whatever in your mind the deep state is. Jesus get over Bernie Sanders...
I don't know how much Putin's factories pay you to post such trash, but you really need to reconsider your "profession". This is such a foolish waste of your time.
If I was on anybody's payroll, the IRS would quickly discover my cash flow in and out.
I work long hours as a truck driver and get a paycheck. That's all.
Years ago I was the plaintiff in a lawsuit that indirectly targeted the IRS. I discovered that our tax system, as currently administered, is outside the Constitution, outside the law as written, outside relevant Supreme Court decisions, and outside the applicable regulations.
"They" remember. Don't fight the tax system; it's not worth it. And we need a functioning tax system, even if the one we have is "broken."
Why do President 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."
Silly......your work is silly. Try to take an honest look at it. Stope wasting your time. You certainly will not waste another second of mine. For what it is worth, I have said my peace. I will not respond to, nor read, another fraught and scatological assertion of yours .....unless, of course, I am bored and need entertainment.
You obviously didn't check any of my listed sources. Zelensky's benefactor, Kolomoysky, also funded the neo-Nazis, who controlled the Interior Ministry and the police stations. Zelensky, after receiving a neo-Ndeath threat, "made peace" with neo-Nazi war-mongers and abandoned his fundamental campaign pledge to make peace with the breakaway Donbass republics.
There are far right persons and far left persons. I believe John is far left. The danger of the far left is that it can weaken more moderate Democrats against the far right. We cannot have that.
You are right. I would be so far left you couldn't find me if I lived in a different world. I don't and I won't do anything to weaken the dems who live in the real world. We all do. They just give help to chump and I will never do that.
I agree, except I think it will end long before the end of the decade. We have to do all we can to save democracy from the insanity of a monster. Not only will we the people not thrive, our economy will be done for and take down economies of much of the rest of the world as well.
I'm right there with you Dr. McCormick. We only have one life and we must make it worth something. My father was a Flying Tiger in WWII. Shot down in flames and traumatized for the rest of his life, but never stopped giving his all, as an elementry school teacher, principal and administrtor taking on the most rabid John Birch Society evangelical crackpots you could imagine. He persevered an ultimately succeeded in transforming a backward community school district into one that valued quality education and truth. He was loved.
I'm sticking it out because this is MY home. and I will share it happily with all who do their best to save it. Thank you for your clarity.
What a brave man, the John Birchers seem to be ruling in many quarters these days, maybe being called tea party, or MAGAts. Your Dad should be called hero.
It’s a common tendency to think where we would move in case of an unthinkable Trump victory this year. Canada. Costa Rica. New freaking Zealand (“freaking” only b/c it’s such a long flight!). But when we consider the abject misery Washington’s Army endured wintering over in Valley Forge in the service of fighting tyranny, or what my grandfathers endured in WW2 fighting Nazis… We should not be thinking about going anywhere if he wins. Flawed and often broken, this country is still the essential nation, and we must keep fighting for its better nature now and forever.
I’m camped out here in Philly, voting and hustling, and I’ll be damned if I’m leaving.
Half way across the country, I have reached the same conclusion as you. And also, if the USA falls in 2024, I do not think that there will be many places of refuge left by the decade’s end.
As Joyce Vance says every evening, “We are in this together”.
Yep. That’s why I’m biting my nails here in Germany… When democracy is destroyed in the US, Europe will follow shortly thereafter. I don’t know if all Americans fully realize what’s at stake here, and what an enormous responsibility the American voters have right now…
You are so right! I live in France, and my French friends are more worried about the U.S. political situation than many Americans appear to be. There would be a massive world-wide effect if our democracy does not hold. It is pointless for Americans to think of moving elsewhere because if that man is elected again, he and his international buddies will take the entire world down with them. We MUST vote, and encourage everyone we know to do so. There is much too much at stake including beyond our U.S. borders.
Why does the world see what could happen and so many Americans not? How did we get so lost? Lack of Education, greed??
Simple answer…”STUPIDITY”! Look at the amount of “true MAGA followers”! These people have emptied their bank accounts ever month sending Frumpy their hard-earned money to pay his legal fees, his bills. He hadn’t hit a lick a a snake in his lifetime! This 🍓💩🤡🤮 is the biggest con man alive, and living off of everyone else’s dime!
Fox and other media outlets!
Yes Lesly, and add in the white superiority complex, the south will rise again attitude and couple that with hatred and fear that white’s will be in the population minority in the not too distant future - assuming life as we now know it, last that much longer! Our country’s founding and those who have helped form our system of governance and government(s) as well as those who have helped preserve the the freedoms that we have are literally the best thing since sliced bread ... and sure there are tweaks needed along the way to help our Nation be inclusive to all of it’s citizens and residents but it’s because we are a work in progress, and as RR used to say at a time before he was elected POTUS .. [thanks to GE] “Progress Is our most important product”!
I have long wanted to live in France. Not because I want to leave the US; I just love 🇫🇷
ML, I have an ex-student who is retired from his teaching job and now lives in Paris. He posts lots of pics of what he is doing and he is having the time of his life. His local bistro even made a Thanksgiving dinner with his help. He has been here for the holidays and his one observation was about the price of groceries here. Inflation is down, so why are they still expensive....because food companies have chosen to keep them that way is what I think.
The French are closer to farms and farmers than we with our “made in the grocery store” asparagus. Plus the EU has emphasized the difficulties of climate change to farmers and farming, putting wheat production above cattle raising, asking farmers to thin herds and grow more grains to feed more people!
Probably much of the price inflation we have seen is attributable to gouging (that is, unconstrained capitalism), but to expect prices to go down because inflation is down is an incorrect interpretation of what inflation means. If inflation is zero, prices remain about the same. If it’s, say 2% (“down” in recent history), prices go up a little.
That is a fact according to Robert Reich, former Secretary of Labor and co-founder of Inequality Media.
I believe the American people are actually very concerned. The news media is really biased towards tr*** because it generates readers. They couldn't report on President Biden's speech on Friday without adding negative comments about tr***'s reply or other things. The news media is really worthless for the most part these days because their 'reporting' isn't really reporting -- it's all someone's opinions about the news, rather than the (unbiased) news itself.
Agree!
Trust me. I live in the US, and I am very, very worried.
I also have a few delightful friends in France, they quip the media does drum rolls & cartwheels every Trumpian tale, ‘they’ keep the fear mongering alive -lies delivered step by step in ‘their’ fantasy world bears some respect for the drip, drip, drip..akin to water boarding!
What I DO take in stride is the voting numbers, an abysmal representation for the last whatever ‘with a fairly good showing in ‘20 (kudos 66%! ) and even in ‘22 & 23 -despite the forecasted Red Wave/doom and gloom paintbrush from whiners/Fox/drama Queens. (The circus is still showing its clASS acts).
Complacency is never advisable, but does consistently arrive ...American pants down theology...I’ve heard ‘my vote doesn’t count’ a hundred times if one.
We DO have a lot of work to do.
And, thanks to this example ( again hello!) this playbook scenario, presenting ‘unprecedented’ predicaments . Where have they been? The hx books fill shelves. So, time to pay attention?
The writing on the wall can’t be more bold though, NEVER EVER EVER underestimate, and why the stats of better management/times/record or TRUTH doesn’t stand testimony over the political landscape ad infinitum is a whole course study for far more brilliant minds than mine , it IS somewhat fascinating , I add.
Exception:The fiction books are fiction..NOT based on fact..or....who or what you watch may be a clear indicator ( AGAIN) that those people are gone/in jail/heavily fined for falsifying...and still yet ....get it...? Some still don’t.🤷♀️
Not giving up , this is my country, in all its wonderfulness , mistakes, trials, tribulation
💙💙VOTE ALL THE COMPLICIT OUT💙💙
On New Year's Day, I sat next to a woman whose husband is not registered to vote because he insists his vote wouldn't make a difference. She's a voter but can't make any headway with her husband. I suggested she do some research to identify elections where only one or a small handful of votes actually made a difference, then bring them to his attention. Can you imagine the total if all who claim his/her vote won't make a difference were added up?
Was an issue in my own home for years and finally he ‘came around’. Persistence , consistent, ever vigilant..all part of the never ending choices we can make to keep our freedoms. I understand people are tired of the chaos, lies, and subterfuge . Well….ending it means a solid blue wave for many election cycles and being vigilant after getting back house,senate,and keeping the WH with an oath honoring FOR THE PEOPLE leader. America , hear the call !
With Biden the Vampire Liberal, the Establishment zombified the progressive wing of the Democratic Party.
Oh, the laughing at you man is back.
Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha.
Don’t engage with it. It loves to be contradicted. Being ignored will be different.
Report him/it.
repetitive and annoying, repetitive and annoying, repetitive and annoying, repetitive and annoying, repetitive and annoying.
REPORTED!
He seems to have some sort of mental/emotional problem. Delusions of grandeur, etc. If I had to hazard a guess, I'd think some form of schizophrenia.
I muted him.
I hope you're not another Nazi-lover.
"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/
I wonder why Heather doesn’t block you. What an idiot.
She may need an occasional idiot to highlight the intelligence of the majority of her readers. John Schmeekle's thought process certainly doesn't run very deep.
We all need to report trolls each and every day, each and every posted comment.
Upon occasion, I have made this comment and had some heated responses saying we need to hear the other side, or tout free speech.
I firmly believe in free speech AND in listening to the other side. Many times, this forum has had passionate disagreements but they take the form of civilized discussion, supported by personal professional experiences or with reputable media sources.
Name calling is a characteristic of both Trump and MAGA.
It's like the old definition of pornography: you know it when you see it.
HCR's Letter is becoming VERY well known, and I believe that there are agents of discord at work. While Schmeekle's comments are usually pretty juvenile (esp. considering he calls himself an "intellectual"--read his profile!! LOL) it's when he and the other trolls spread misinformation, or verbally attack others, that we should report him.
BTW: this arrived to me today and is worthy of a read, and of forwarding:
https://snyder.substack.com/p/on-tyranny?utm_campaign=email-half-post&r=ithz2&utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email
Just report him!
This is a Democracy, and we do have free speech. If one doesn't like what another writes here, then you can just ignore what the person wrote.
She doesn't have the power to, and Substack is aware that I bring up substantive issues that Biden partisans try hard to ignore.
https://rickey125.substack.com/p/trump-was-and-is-a-dictator
Troll
So John - you see the responses right? You are not being taken seriously, at all. Are you really just a troll? In this venue, why don't you make your points in a more civil manner, and invite discussion? No, instead it is "Biden the Vampire". And "zombified". Right.....
He was here months ago then disappeared. I suspect enough reporting to the administrator but a temporary block on him.
Watch his progress: if he does not get blocked, he will copy/paste the same inane comment MULTIPLE times, and over the course of a few weeks, get more and more unhinged, sort of like the Sore Loser is.
James Wheaton feels the need to dishonestly misrepresent what I said.
I said "Vampire Liberal."
Vampire Liberals fund Worthwhile Programs by sucking money out of foreign countries, depending on the imperial power of the Almighty Dollar to add to the Unpayable Debt.
(Vampire Conservatives, on the other hand, suck money to give tax breaks to the rich.)
Zombies don't think. Zombified Vampire Liberals like James Wheaton and Heather Cox Richardson DON'T THINK anout where the money comes from for Biden's Worthwhile Programs.
"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/
please don’t step in the schmeeckle! report it to the janitor to clean it up.
You'll never get the ring of power, you schmeekle. Go back to your cave.
You mock me without any substance -- the very image of a troll.
Huh???
Progressives harm themselves with the company they keep.
?
Some people will say anything just to be heard.
Report him.
"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/
🙄
Crawl back in your cave ,you piece of monkey crap.
I hope you're not a Nazi-lover.
"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/
"all Americans".
Dutch, quite honestly, Americans may have little say in the matter by the time this is all over.
The Supreme Court is currently about to determine "if" Trump can stay on the ballot in Colorado. Given the clarity of the 14th Amendment, one might think this is an easy call.
However, the Supreme Court's highly probable ruling that Trump CAN stay on the ballot (due to the vast amount of money that will rain on the justices after that decision) will set the stage for when Trump challenges his loss against Biden with the same Supreme Court.
Next time, Trump will do a better job of making sure the "election" is not decided in a public voting.
The Supreme Court will decide and? Well, don't bet against them ruling in favor of Trump.
We don't really have a Democracy here Dutch. We have always counted on the Supreme Court to keep the Oligarchs in power no matter how the voting goes.
See "Citizen's United" for more info.
Or, "Dred Scott vs Sandford" in particular.
The high court has not always kept the robber barons in check. They certainly are not keeping the robber barons in check currently. Indeed, the high court is a BIG part of the problem. Think on this quote I read so long ago I can't even remember who said it. "The law is but man's opinion."
But no, common law stems from a concept of precident, many opinions over many years.
Mike S - "We have always counted on the Supreme Court to keep the Oligarchs in power no matter how the voting goes.
See 'Citizen's United' for more info.
Or, 'Dred Scott vs Sandford' in particular."
Or Gore/Bush.
Yep
This is a sad commentary on our court system, and possibly true. Roberts if facing a tough moment where his the legitimacy of the court is very much in question. Will he try to resurrect it from the ashes of Thomas’ corruption or will he find a way to restore the confidence of the people? Whatever is the case, there are big questions ahead—there are likely a LOT of behind the scenes activity with unheard pressure on all of the “justices”. If it weren’t my own country’s future at stake (and apparently that of much of Europe) I’d be simply fascinated to watch it play out. As it is, I’m “concerned”. And that’s where I’ll leave it today.
The legitimacy of the court is not "at stake". It has already proven itself illigitimate and corrupt.
I agree with that, Dan Stipe. Its reputation is in the TOILET! After they decided to crush Roe v. Wade - even with ALL its precedents of being reaffirmed - they lost HALF the country - all the women and many men - and ALL THEY PHYSICIANS! They wreaked horror across the country with that ONE horrific decision.
I'll NEVER forgive them - or respect them - again.
Quite right. Can a phoenix rise from these terrible ashes to achieve something for the people?
The observable evidence of SC corruption is that legal experts are saying they aren't sure what the SC will decide, if they even will decide to decide, on the simple task of enforcing the Constitution. In lieu is simply enforcing what the constitution plainly contains, they prefer to pass themselves off as linguists, pretending that existing dictionary definitions of the words ' engage' and 'insurrection' will not suffice, were never going to stand up in court. What did those congresspeople mean by those words? Ooh, tough question. On the real world, it seems simple to get at what the intent was and is. Meanwhile, shifting to the other foot, the SC next passes itself off as history experts. Ooh, what in the world did those words mean in 1780, or 1806, on and on. The original intent? Doesn't that intent have something to do with preserving and defending democracy and the Constitution? How about it?
Roberts is all-in on minority rule and has been for his entire career, pre-court and post.
The Colorado case is more complicated and difficult than you make it appear, and the court—with one or two exceptions—less corrupt than you believe.
Jon, would you expand on this, please? I think the question of whether the actions the Danger Yam (thank you to my sister for that!) and his minions took from and after the 2020 election, and even before, going back to the "rigged election" claims of the 2016 election, which they continue to engage in to this day, constitutes insurrection or rebellion against the Constitution, or whether some of those actions constitute giving aid and comfort, etc., is a mixed one of fact and law. The facts don't seem to be in dispute, and people who focus solely on the events of Jan 6 to assert tramp and his minions engaged in insurrection are wrong to do so. I think his state of mind is irrelevant in determining whether he "engaged" or not. I also think the three opinions of the Colo courts and Maine's SoS are well-reasoned and compelling. What do you think?
I agree with you. It will be very hard for five justices to argue that the clear language of the 14rh Amendment does not apply, although some of them will probably try. I do fear that a majority of the court might hold that Colorado and Maine were justified in kicking the Mango Mussolini off the ballot, but not go further, thus kicking the can down the road. And what if he is elected in November? Then, in the heat of the post-election uproar, will the court declare that he can't serve--which would presumably mean that the Republican vice-presidential nominee (Kriti Noem?) could become chief executive? Such a possibility should be too much for the justices to stomach, and I hope it will be. I also hope that they will care enough about their institution to do what you and I and the clear language of the 14th Amendment command. Someone on the string referred to FDR's ill-advised court-packing plan of 1936-37, which did at least induce Justice Roberts to make the "switch in time that saved nine." That threat is hanging over the court's head.
J. Margolis, I cannot just accept your say-so that the SC is not as corrupt as I believe. That's because it isn't a belief I have, it is observable evidence. Unless there is no longer any such thing as truth, a large body of evidence makes a clear case that the SC is corrupt, exactly as corrupt as the evidence shows, and that SC Justices can't be simply trusted to self-regulate.
A "good" example is their ongoing decisions regarding environmental concerns, i.e. that the EPA can't protect the environment (thereby allowing environmental damage.)
The Court has not favored Trump specific causes. I won’t be entirely surprised by a 7-2 decision removing him from the ballot.
They could leave him on through the primary but that makes it tough for the Rs to have a chance to choose a real candidate. And saying he can run in the general but not serve seems unthinkable.
Mike S, yes, and one wonders how these SC justices think about the 14th Amendment. Those justices who call themselves "originalist" may not consider the 14th Amendment part of the "originalists" thinking.
Yeah, you're right... The Repubs definitely scored better in the long game by stacking the Supreme Court with their peons, making it an Extreme Court that can effectively undo any regulation...
The 14th Amendment is far from clear and section 3 is vague and poorly written. It provides no guidance of how this section is to be considered and whether or not it applies to the President. Who and how is the proof of insurrection et al, to be conducted. The only thing we do know is that Section 5, states that Congress shall have the power to enforce, by appropriate legislation. But Congress has never acted. Common sense says the Amendment does apply to the President but the question of proof of engagement remains. As it stands now, proof is in the eye of the beholder.
Well. Anyone not blind with a TV could see the violent insurrection led by Trump.
Yes, but were Trump's actions proof of engagement. I don't think there is any doubt about an insurrection, the question is proof of complicity and as I said, that seems to be in the eye of the beholder.
John, highly respected legal scholars with a range of perspectives have discussed the 14S3 in detail and disagree with your take. Though they vary in details, in overall interpretation they are pretty close. I personally have some reservations about actually going through with this approach for political reasons, but "get" the validity of the legal interpretation. The thing is that for it to work, a large # of states would need to act on it. The Supreme Court is in a bind, because a hard ruling either way conflicts with other rulings they have made, plus those of past SCs (not that that has made a difference to them so far).
As for "proof of engagement", that has been proved. Key members of the "jury" were bought or intimidated and failed to do their job. Some of them should be in the box, and may yet be.
Be that as it may, my guess is there are an equal number of legal scholars on the other side of the issue. For me, it remains the vagueness of 14S3. I come from the contracts part of the world where such vagueness tends not to be tolerated. What you are suggesting, is that the meaning and applicability of 14S3 is up to the individual states which to me is fraught with its own problems from State to State. And how does that square with 14S5? If the SC is in a bind, it is of their own making. And of course, Congress never did anything legislatively to enforce 14, although were incidents in the past 150 years that merited some action on their part but that is not surprising.
As to "proof of engagement", the only thing proved was not guilty but that finding was hardly objective. One could argue, Congress chose the impeachment process as the enforcement provision of 14s5. That the 'jury' was rigged is neither here nor there, the Senate is the jury and it is a political body.
To be sure, I am not a legal scholar but simply a citizen who reserves the right to my opinion. The Constitution is a mess, the SC is a mess, and the outcome will be a mess. But the former President wins regardless of the outcome.
You are right to be worried, the evil money will not be happy until they rule the world.
Uh… with mostly negligible exceptions, they already do.
Thanks also ...You strike a growing realization Dutch Mike, that the undercurrent is strong, hopefully we will provide , us rag tags ya know😉, to stay, to strengthen these ties that bind. Those ties have built a place many see as safe, a dream to come to, a dream to live. We have been given this through many sacrifices , but a lesson also has come/came to teach -yet again - that value to persevere .
Thanks, again
I really hope you persevere! As much as Europeans may sometimes scoff at America and its culture, we still need American democracy and each other!
This is really scary. If our democracy falls, it will be a domino affect around the world. Einstein said that he didn’t know what weapons would be used to fight WWIII, but the next war would be fought with stones and sticks.
I agree with Einstein. The small positive point is that after WW III, there will never be a large scale war again...
I know. And so many over here are sleep walking through it.
Now Obama is weighing in to light a fire under the Biden campaign.
It seems to me that Democrats are still playing by the rules, still being nice. Glad we have the Lincoln Project. We need more in your face Trump and all Republicans that are loyal to him are an existential threat.
...and Democrats sticking together instead of bickering amongst themselves in a kind of "holier than thou" manner...
Rest assured that millions of Americans have no knowledge of how important their responsibility is in this next election. Yet, I do not believe that he will win. He needs to gain votes and I don’t see where he can pick up new voters. At the same time a substantial number of people who voted for Trump, will never do so again, not after January 6, his indictments and his conviction eventually. The DOJ could help by moving faster than they have.
I wish I could feel as confident as you are. :/
I am fairly confident but I learned in 2016 , when one side is willing to cheat every which way, miracles can happen. Or should I say nightmares? I will be on pins and needles until the Colorado 14th amendment case is decided. He does not deserve to be on any ballot.
Trouble is, that he doesn't have to pick up new voters. He just has to rig the system a little bit more and he wins. The only hope is a really massive voter swing for Biden, so big that it simply cannot be ignored or swept under the carpet.
President Biden made it abundantly clear about our Democracy. I believe
now, people will realize how important our Democracy is and our freedom.
Fox News reported nothing about Biden’s speech so half of America has not heard that speech.
What Mike S said. And: there is a lot of them thinking: "Oh, abolish democracy for all I care, it doesn't work anyway, let a strong man fix it", not realizing how dangerous this kind of thinking is.
And Biden actually addressed this in his speech yesterday.
Very good! That should be on every TV show from now until November!
Wow, nope, i did not.
For me it’s simple. We must believe, we must know that freedom will prevail. We must vote. There is no reason not to vote for Joe and Kamala and every reason to repudiate the wannabe be king, tyrant.
They do not …how do we get that through their heads?
Good question. I think, for starters, coercing your local Democratic representatives: they have to use their campaign money to buy ad space wherever and push the message making clear that Rump is completely in it for himself, and sincerely wants to destroy democracy for his own gain - and that there is no way back once he establishes his fascist military dictatorship. After all, that's what the other side has been doing the last decades: buying tv and radio stations to push *their* message...
https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/p/january-5-2024/comment/46721868
Hahahahahahahahahahaha.
Guess you like being laughed at.
John Schmeeckle is the guy sitting in his living room while the house is burning down, and instead of calling the Fire Dept, he shouts "THESE ARE NOT THE DRAPES I ORDERED!!! LET THEM BURN!!!"
What is truly hilarious is that he thinks he will change even one of us with his incessant posts..
I’m always willing to hear the other side of an issue well elucidated. What I don’t tolerate is bomb throwers.
He is simply a pustule on the boil on Trump's a$$.
🤣🤣🤣
Most Americans do not appreciate how significant our democracy is in its influence around the world. Foreigners were dismayed when W was reelected and shocked when trump was elected. Most Americans are quite provincial and don't realize how closely what happens here is watched abroad. The likes of Putin know our weaknesses better than we do and have taken advantage by putting his thumb on the scale to help trump.
100%. This is why Putin’s Armies have dug in Ukraine. Building defensive positions, minefields, using criminals/emptying jails, and using ethnic minority conscripts to feign offensive operations with soldiers no one in Moscow or St Petersburg cares about. All a strategy to hold on till our November election.
Our resolve tends to dissolve over time.
... as well as - if not better - Roman numeral “XI” - when you consider that Xi spent some time living here in America (Iowa in the 1980’s) ... I’m sure gleaning a bit of a narrow view of what makes America a great country.
Amen, Harvey🔨
Knowing and loving New f'ing Zealand as I do, the only thing wrong with it as a place of refuge is that it's very small. (Ruffles feathers and tilts head).
And it has taken a shocking turn to the right. The ruling party ran on a platform of erasing the Maori culture and language from every level of NZ life. Sickens me as I have never been treated with more kindness than by the Kiwis.
There's a policy change agreed to by all but the national Maori party, to present all government services not specifically involved with Maori issues in English only, I suspect the head of the Maori party may be using overheated rhetoric. I'll keep an eye on the news myself, don't get much from NZ on the national airways... always been that way. Maori, like other indigenous eg Australia, USA, Canada didnt fare well after what was essentially conquest, but in that context, they've done well by comparison. Thanks for the news tip.
A compound for billionaires, I read. And they have spoken lately. A bad omen
Where are you reading this, Jeri?
I don’t remember sorry. I’ll Google. It was within the past year. Also read that the right has made gains in gov’t. Yep, Google knew. Several references, including The Guardian, from 2018. New York Post also had article. Wonder if Rupert would bypass Australia and head to NZ. Others mentioned Peter Thiel, and Google co-founder. So maybe that’s why Google knows knows.
I too googled it. They're talking about Queenstown specifically, and if you Google that you'll understand why. It all comes from NY Post and CNN, starting in 2000, with spinoffs in rags like the London Daily Mirror. I found an interview with a local real estate agent, who was treating the whole thing with typical Kiwi dry humour. (Now I can't find it, and I do have other things to do with my time). The most recent news (from 2022) is that Peter Thiel's building application was refused. Yes, true that there was a swing to the right in the recent elections, but I really don't think there are any serious links with Orban.
Jeri, like that location will save them when the sh*t hit the fan….they can run , but cannot hide! All their $$$ and influence will buy a bit of time, but that’s all.
Short term, they can live in Luxury while others suffer. Damn, that’s what the deal is all the time. Long term just not relevant, apparently.
Anyone remember the movie Soylent Green? Despite the shocker of an ending as to what "Soylent green" actually consisted of, the wealthy lived in their high-rise towers while dining on steak and champagne while the majority scuffled for space in the gutters and in their derelict cars at the curbs. We should re-issue that movie as a warning of what could be the future.
Yeah, and they are likely, almost certainly, going to need helpers/security/workers to keep their compounds stable/livable…..what will buy their loyalty? I’ve wondered about that since I’d heard some years ago about this being a “real thing” the uber-wealthy are into or looking into. I recently read The Future by Naomi Alderman (2023) & is a fictional example of the hubris of “buying” salvation/safety.
And, to actually move to most other countries is extremely difficult!
Sometimes, in Alaska, it seems we are in another country.
Texas too, in recent years
I would love to visit/live in New Zealand (the f part is how long the flights are from here to there!)
I took a design course in England many years ago. There were 2 Kiwis I met there: one from the North Island, one from the South. They would have playful yet serious arguments about which was better. Listening to them made me yearn for a visit some day (and, given the choice, I'd probably head for the North Island, as that resident told me stories of carefree sleeping on the warm beach.)
Have traveled to New Zealand several times; first trip in 1987 & (like everywhere) a lot has changed, but much is still wonderful -- its people, its scenery; its food is wonderful. On one of those trips, I asked a South Islander if she had traveled abroad; she replied, “I went to the North Island once.” Marvelous people, and (at least historically) they are very fond of Americans; they pay a lot of attention to the U.S., including our politics. (Older New Zealanders credit the U.S. in World War II with saving them from Japanese military forces. New Zealand had, per capita, more casualties than any country in the Commonwealth -- ~one of every 150 Kiwis died in war service.)
Had no idea, hope they still like us
I shared a tent with two fellas from New Zealand when I was climbing on Denali maybe 8 years ago. Firefighters and gentlemen.
About 17 hours. One way. Expensive. Years ago (long before this mess) I was offered a position at a university there that also would have let me finish my doctorate. Reluctantly turned it down because my kids were young, and they were my parents' only grandkids. Couldn't do that to either grands or kids. Still wistful.
Dr. McCormick, PLEASE don't! Last fall I had finally found a doctor-internist who I really got along with, respected - then next visit - "I'm moving to NZ!!! No!!! He was well-loved in Colorado. And I stick with my GOOD doctors!!!
It does make me wonder how the good Doctors and other Healthcare workers, Teachers, Professors, etc will redistribute themselves from red states to more tolerant states or countries (or just find other professions). I seem to find more and more every day, who just quit and found other work where they are less stressed due to interference, staffing levels, or inadequate funding.
Agreed. I talked last night to my adult HS teacher daughter. She visited with two college friends who are also teachers during this break. One is leaving teaching (after 11 years) the other is trying to do so. Teaching they love, dealing with the administrators bowing to parents and school board demands they do not.
She relayed a story of a student that was failing due to missing over 80 school days the prior year (no circumstances that applied, just a chronic truant). The parents did not want him to fail and pressured the administration who pressured the teacher to find ways to make the teen able to pass. In other words, create new, easy assignments to be turned in. This is an extreme but not a joke. Between my two teacher daughters, combined years of teaching over 25 years at 6 different schools, they have encountered this type of behavior.
There are many current/former educators on this forum whom I sure can agree with this.
Ok, thank you! I’ve been with my dentist for over 35 years! I understand when we find good people we hold onto them for dear life!
Would 6 months in NZ be ok?😉
Yes, that would work! And you can see all the rugby games you want, go sailing, climb some mountains! Just COME BACK!!! <3 Read your profile - Yes! I'm a transplant recipient so I need a good primary physician. I have transplant backup from Cleveland Clinic. Left Denver to get the transplant - statistics and all! The transplant world/community is very interesting.
Exactly. The only thinking holding me back.
I actually know someone whose son and d.i.l. went there about 10 years ago--even back then, they did not like the way the country was heading!! As I was told then (and I have no reason to doubt it) I was told they needed to enter with assets of $3M and have jobs. My acquaintance has little money but the son married a trust-fund baby. They love it there.
Yes, there’s always been a high bar re: immigration into New Zealand. Tax rate is very high, in part to support its social services, including health care. There’s concern that, without regulation, the country’s social services could collapse under the needs of older/aging people from elsewhere.
You are so right, by the time chump gets through, there will be no safe place anywhere.
Jeri,
We are NOT going to let "the orange flame" continue , are we?
President Joe Biden and the great team of Americans he and his advisers have gathered have accomplished much and need to remain "on the job".
Our country and the world needs to focus on the battles against the rise of tyrany. Our children in our schools /universities need to be required to study the history of our nation.....ALL OF IT.....we have ugly parts .....we need to be reminded NOT TO GO THERE AGAIN!!!!
We need to be aware of what is pushing people to leave everything they have to come to the United States of America. They come with their dreams, their desire to work, to build a home, to have their children educated.....within a Democracy!
Of course there are Americans within every level of humanity who use this country for their personal benefit....so has it always been.
People coming to the USA are escaping the rule of Dictators.....governments who have taken their property from them.....taken away opportunities to choose by vote the ones they want to govern. They are more desperate to be free than we are. We are "the frogs in the kettle".....our freedoms being gradually taken from us......and WE are allowing this by our own choice of those we vote into office.
WAKE UP AMERICA WHILE WE CAN!!!!!
Thank you, Emily. We needed to hear your voice about now, before we get ourselves too mired in the mud. Appreciate your quiet voice of wisdom.
I watched, step by step, as neo-fascist "Corporate Joe" Biden stole the nomination from Bernie Sanders. The critical moment was the Massachusetts primary, with its eye-popping discrepancies from the exit polls: https://tdmsresearch.com/2020/03/04/massachusetts-2020-democratic-party-primary/
I'll never vote for Trump, but Biden is worse. Trump is a loose cannon who makes dirty deals with the Establishment. Biden IS the Establishment, the "Deep State" Senator from tiny postage-stamp Delaware, that corporate suburb of Wall Street.
Hi,John, I will give you some attention. You seem confused here, but to me It's really pretty simple. Trump is a treasonous rapey criminal who wants to turn the US into his own personal piggy bank so he can pay the debts he owes Putin and avoid being tossed out a window. Biden does not owe Putin money, and is not treasonous, rapey, or crimjnal. I like Biden because he is not those things. I do not understand why some people don't like Biden. The only people who support Trump are people who like that Trump is those things and they want to do what Trump does, or those who are so mentally ill or intellectually impaired that they don't understand what is going on around them. Voting for anyone but Biden helps put Trump back in the White House. Not voting for Biden helps put Trump back in the White House. Refusal to vote for Biden is support for Trump. It seems to me the choice is crystal clear. What are you going to do? Vote for the treasonous rapey criminal who wants to take the taxpayers money for his own use or vote for the guy who is none of those things?
Hopefully the text is a robot and not a US citizen. We have enough whack a doodles here already.
Hi, Marj, if you are directing this disrespectful name calling to poor John Schminke, or however his name is spelled, he is a confused real person who occasionally responds to logical arguments and clear statements of others points of view, and so I tell him what I think in the most direct possible way, when I have the energy. If it is me you are calling a robot whack a doodle, I assure you I am a real live woman with my own opinions and understanding of the world, firmly grounded in the experience of my early life growing up half feral on a ranch in the Rocky Mountains. I encountered all the sorts of people you find in that milieu, including mystics and crazy people, hard headed business men, criminals and alcoholics and addicts of all sorts, highly educated women who weren't quite sure how they ended up there in the middle of nowhere, well meaning people who just wanted a place to raise their kids in peace, and the general lost or damaged detritus of humanity who washed up in that far crevasse of civilization, and couldn't put together enough resources to leave. There I learned to trust the instincts of my dogs and my horses, which taught me to tell the difference between good people and bad people. Biden is a good person. He is doing the best he can. In my opinion, we should all help him defend our freedoms and our beautiful land. Trump is a bad person. He lies, cheats, steals, and takes advantage of anyone he can, at every opportunity. He tried to undo an election because he didn't like the outcome, and anywhere else in the world he would be in prison for treason. My early experience is strengthed by graduate studies in psychology and many years working with the mentally ill, addicted and criminally guilty. I myself am not mentally ill, criminally inclined or damaged by PTSD or physical trauma. That is, I think clearly, make good decisions based on the information I have available, and if new information comes to light, I can change my mind. If it is indeed me you called a whack a doodle, please tell me what I said in the previous post that led you to that conclusion? I am still fascinated by observing the human mind at work...
And this is sure the place for that kind of observation. I'm sure Marj was referring to the JS wordsalad above. It's hard to tell what order posts are going to show up in sometimes. Those of us who've been around know to ignore the trolls, but newer folks who haven't come across them before (esp this one) sometimes get caught up in tryng to get through to him. Unfortunately, nothing to get through to. His purpose is to disrupt and redirect.
Some attention here also: voters from South Carolina put Biden ahead. Votes count.
p.p.s. What do you make of the Tara Reade story? Can you believe the very last sentence in this article?
https://www.vox.com/2020/5/7/21248713/tara-reade-joe-biden-sexual-assault-accusation
p.s. I suspect that ongoing coverage of Trump's legal woes is going to make his candidacy increasingly unattractive to swing voters who are nervous about Biden's age and health.
Trump has a flat tire, but you can still roll down the road for a little while with a flat tire.
https://www.rawstory.com/donald-trump-immunity-2666908599/
I'd vote for Marianne Williamson or Gavin Newsom, but never Biden.
https://marianne2024.com/
My assessment is starkly different from yours. I don't think that Joe "cocaine nose" Biden is a good man, and I think that he is worse than Trump. Trump is a loose cannon who makes dirty deals with the Establishment. Biden IS the Establishment, from tiny Delaware, a suburb of Wall Street that specializes in hosting the headquarters of corporations. See https://thehustle.co/why-delaware-is-the-sexiest-place-in-america-to-incorporate-a-company/
The only president who was more "Establishment" than Biden was George H.W. Bush.
Biden and his fellow Vampire Liberals fund Worthwhile Programs by selling Treasury Bonds to suck money out of foreign countries, depending on the imperial power of the Almighty Dollar to add to the Unpayable Debt.
(Vampire Conservatives, on the other hand, suck money to give tax breaks to the rich.)
https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/us-national-debt-dilemma#:~:text=Years%20of%20elevated%20budget%20deficits,GDP)%20since%20World%20War%20II.
Biden's “Vampire Liberal” big-spender programs require sucking an endless supply of debt from both foreign countries and the Social Security trust fund.
The Almighty Dollar lets us get away with imposing U.S. government debt on foreign countries, but Biden's support of Ukraine's far-right fascist thug regime is accelerating global de-dollarization, which means that Biden is sabotaging both his Worthwhile Programs and Social Security.
Foreign countries, especially the BRICS countries, have been working toward de-dollarization of the global economy, which means that all those zillions of dollars of U.S. Treasury Bonds that slosh around the world, helping international trade settlements, will be coming home.
A very hard landing is on its way...
Protecting that oh-so-sensitive nostril:
https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/henrygomez/joe-biden-democratic-primary-results-bernie-sanders-michigan
Put a sock in it John.
I remember, on Biden's inauguration day, Antifa protesters in Portland, Oregon chanting "F#ck Biden!" as they marched to the local Democratic headquarters to break all the windows.
John S.
I remember how happy and thankful I was that Joe Biden , a seasoned servant of Democracy, WON.
No more did I have to experience the terror of DT and his worship of PUTIN and other leaders who were controlling their populations through the threat of Murder........remember a recent airplane crash in Russia .....someone was challenging Putin......remember the loss of a number of former Republican leaders when DT was voted in as President of the USA....in my opinion , an insult to our nation!!! Do you want to live with threats to your life or to members of your family?
Please wake up and vote for Democracy....NOT for a Dictator!!!!
So why has Biden, for so many years, been supporting the toxic far-right thug regime in Ukraine?
"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/
Who said they were Antifa? Antifa stands for anti-fascist. I have trouble believing they were ACTUALLY Antifa, were ACTUALLY opposed to Biden and were actually an organized movement—which they are not. They are a current boogeyman, like George Soros
MY father was a proud "anti-fascist" as were my two uncles.
All three fought fascism in Europe in WW2. My Dad came home bodily whole, one uncle came after a head injury untreated while he was in a German POW camp which caused lifelong seizures. The other uncle received a spinal injury which rendered him a paraplegic.
me too, media of billionaires do not the bidding of we the people.
It was in the news. Maybe the news was wrong.
They were anarchists, not anti fascists. There were only a few of them and they clearly identified themselves as anarchists.
I drove thru downtown Portland a few days after the protesters and the media blew it up so much out of context. Antifa??????????ha!ha! NOT
Hahahahahaha
What would your daddy, Putin, say if he saw you now?
A sad son to be sure.
Why do President 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/
No, they were not Anti Fascists, they were anarchists. They clearly identified themselves as anarchists. The pro Biden demonstrations in Portland were much larger.
You might have an opinion on the discussion of "antifa" on this sub-thread:
https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/p/january-5-2024/comment/46797298
And your point is? You sound just as bad as TOFG
False, John. You do not remember that, because it didn't happen.
Have you come unhinged? It was all over the news:
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/oregon-s-democratic-party-offices-vandalized-amid-post-inauguration-protests-n1255118
My point was that there is clearly anti-Biden sentiment on the Left.
Did you call the police and report those criminals in OR? Because no matter the reason nor the members- all US residents are expected to follow our laws AND respect the rights and property of others.
So if you’re concerned with what you saw on videos from OR you should be equally concerned with the crimes that occurred on Jan 6 at the US Capital bldg.
PS. Were you supporting Sanders and planning to vote for him.
Why would I report them from out of state when I read it in the news?
I didn't support Bernie; I sent my bits of grass-roots money to Tulsi Gabbard.
One of those.
I live in Massachusetts There is a Bernie faction but it’s a minority. Biden won fair and square. In2016 you could question Hillary’s superdelegate nomination. Bernie won multiple primaries. These are facts. Even if you don’t like Biden he’s done incredible positive work with razor thin margins in congress. Not voting for him is a negative choice for a reactionary autocracy against women’s and human rights. Against everything moderate and liberal minded people value. Trump 2 or just about any other republican candidate would result in a Hobbesian state(Thomas Hobbes--theory is that state or society cannot be secure unless at the disposal of an absolute sovereign. From this follows the view that no individual can hold rights of property against the sovereign, and that the sovereign may therefore take the goods of its subjects without their consent) we would be at the mercy of a madman monarch. Voters beware.
You are of course entitled to your opinion. I think that Biden's deep support for Ukraine's toxic far-right thug regime makes him a criminal against humanity:
"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/
I can’t wait till the SCOTUS dies away with the administrative state and we are all waiting around for Congress to enact regulations on issues they have no idea about. Tommy Tuberville deciding on whether a drug has passed its clinical trials instead of the FDA? Yeah, you and the deep state..... dream on whatever in your mind the deep state is. Jesus get over Bernie Sanders...
Nonsense. Both the exit polls and the final results of the Mass. Primary showed Joe Biden at 34% of the vote. For a more complete response to the claims: https://www.factcheck.org/2020/03/no-huge-red-flag-that-fraud-occurred-in-mass-primary/
Leonard Lubinsky, I dare you to actually quote from that bogus, fake "fact check" article.
Go away with your lies and trump indoctrination
...said the ignorant wannabe dog-piler
I linked to the entire article. What d you mean? "I dare you"
Go ahead and quote a sentence or a paragraph that you think is relevant, and then I'll rebut it.
Nuts!
KD, your echo of McAuliffe (so close to his December 22 answer to the Germans at Bastogne) is brilliantly appropriate. Kudos.
I don't know how much Putin's factories pay you to post such trash, but you really need to reconsider your "profession". This is such a foolish waste of your time.
If I was on anybody's payroll, the IRS would quickly discover my cash flow in and out.
I work long hours as a truck driver and get a paycheck. That's all.
Years ago I was the plaintiff in a lawsuit that indirectly targeted the IRS. I discovered that our tax system, as currently administered, is outside the Constitution, outside the law as written, outside relevant Supreme Court decisions, and outside the applicable regulations.
"They" remember. Don't fight the tax system; it's not worth it. And we need a functioning tax system, even if the one we have is "broken."
Why do President 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/
Silly......your work is silly. Try to take an honest look at it. Stope wasting your time. You certainly will not waste another second of mine. For what it is worth, I have said my peace. I will not respond to, nor read, another fraught and scatological assertion of yours .....unless, of course, I am bored and need entertainment.
Don't bother feeding him oxygen. He's unusually active this morning. You put in 10 words, he finds 200!
There are neo-nazis everywhere. They are not the majority. And Zelinsky is certainly not one of them!
You obviously didn't check any of my listed sources. Zelensky's benefactor, Kolomoysky, also funded the neo-Nazis, who controlled the Interior Ministry and the police stations. Zelensky, after receiving a neo-Ndeath threat, "made peace" with neo-Nazi war-mongers and abandoned his fundamental campaign pledge to make peace with the breakaway Donbass republics.
Damn, I thought you were on trump’s payroll
There are far right persons and far left persons. I believe John is far left. The danger of the far left is that it can weaken more moderate Democrats against the far right. We cannot have that.
You are right. I would be so far left you couldn't find me if I lived in a different world. I don't and I won't do anything to weaken the dems who live in the real world. We all do. They just give help to chump and I will never do that.
Hahahahahahahahahaha
They are both BAD.
One guy wants to be King the other want wars all over the world and is complicit in genocide.
Call me all the names you want I am saying the truth.
moron.
🙄
Totally disagree
Um ... what?
I agree, except I think it will end long before the end of the decade. We have to do all we can to save democracy from the insanity of a monster. Not only will we the people not thrive, our economy will be done for and take down economies of much of the rest of the world as well.
Yep. I am changing my name to Cassandra. So few believe me when I talk to them about the future I see so clearly.
Yes, we are!! I'm with you all in this fight for democracy continued stand 🌿
I'm right there with you Dr. McCormick. We only have one life and we must make it worth something. My father was a Flying Tiger in WWII. Shot down in flames and traumatized for the rest of his life, but never stopped giving his all, as an elementry school teacher, principal and administrtor taking on the most rabid John Birch Society evangelical crackpots you could imagine. He persevered an ultimately succeeded in transforming a backward community school district into one that valued quality education and truth. He was loved.
I'm sticking it out because this is MY home. and I will share it happily with all who do their best to save it. Thank you for your clarity.
What a brave man, the John Birchers seem to be ruling in many quarters these days, maybe being called tea party, or MAGAts. Your Dad should be called hero.