Heather draws the lines exactly where the two Americas live opposite each other.
It's sad, pathetic, to see so many millions of Americans as in love with reality TV fantasyland as that Clarence court is in love with its billionaires whose constant bribes make up for the Republican justices' steady perjuries.
They have their fantasies, too, the perjured, bribed, and corrupted on that, formerly the highest court in the land. They fancy themselves aristocrats, poised as above and beyond the law as the orange felon they've crowned monarch.
Can the millions of decent, hard-working Americans rally to counter the fraudulent fantasyland, the landscape of fear and hatred over which billionaires like Elon Musk preside? (Thanks, Heather, for the additional note today of how European democracies are holding that guy to criminal account.)
Can Dems cease their stew of self-immolation and begin the job of rallying behind the one decent guy poised to beat parade of criminality by which Trump yet works for nasties like Orban, Putin, the North Korean dictator, and the Iranian master funders of repressing women and funding terror?
We have to assume the platform released by the RNC is how the Republicans want to make America great again. Convicted felon Donald Trump spent 4 years and did absolutely nothing to make America great. Robert Rech lays out 40 promises CFDT made and broke.
More serfs, and more fodder for recreating the baby scoop era. There is also the desire to force white women to have more babies while Black women are punished period.
Mary cat: ah yes, the good old days. When social workers were required to check under the bed for men’s shoes before the single mom could get or keep AFDC.
They do seem to never have grown up, and are still holding mother responsible for how their lives have turned out. The way to punish mom for being so powerful and mean, is to oppress her via sexism and forcing her to become chattel again. Scared little men who can't take responsibility for their own failings.
American multinationals bought into Milton Friedman’s delusional economics, and it enriched the few at the expense of the many. I personally would like to see an end of stock buybacks, stock options, overpayment of executives, and more concerns about ordinary employees. The execs are an untalented lot who look no further than the next quarter.
They bought into Friedman's Big Lie, and bent America to conform to it. How many current laws and policies could pass an "of the people, by the people, for the people" review. How many laws and circumstances favor the rich over the poor? Why is the law so often far more aggressive on petty crimes of the poor than massive crimes of the wealthy?
Stock options have been a way to pay talented workers when a startup doesn't have much cash. They have helped the tech revolution grow, and we are all benefitting. Likewise, Share buybacks not only preserve cash for profitable companies that pay dividends, they also help retain talent because they make stock options more valuable.
I personally find stock buybacks far less objectionable than companies’ underinvestment in the employees that create their profits. Liveable wages and predictable work hours should be mandated. Once workers are taken care of, once our environment is protected, companies should be free to deploy their capital as they deem fit. It should be a priority setting situation, not either/or.
What HAS been argued from Reagan forward is that showering the lords with additional money would allow them to bestow "jobs, jobs, jobs" and other wonders of nobesse obilge that never made any sense since no one hires as a hobby. The hire to serve a market of people with money to spend, but that's not how it went.
Companies bought companies bought companies, "downsizing" staff with every agglomeration. Defined benefit pensions were scrapped, unions busted, jobs and whole manufacturing sectors massively offshored, Trillions provably diverted to shady offshore tax shelters (Panama Papers, etc.) the right to buy election results declared Constitutionally protected, the "Reaganomic refeudalization of society that is somehow wildly popular even if it's consequences are not. Reaganomics is a ripoff, period. It was never anything different.
Yes, but past the basics, if we start micro-managing what companies can do to maximize profits, we create inefficiencies that will make the economy suffer. Instead, we should raise taxes just enough (undoing the Trump tax cuts should be enough) and elect politicians who will spend those funds in a way that the voting public needs (not wants). To operate well, companies need stable regulatory and tax frameworks. Some might even need some government support to reduce risks enough to produce something the public needs. But that's it. Public policy should be implemented by accountable politicians, not by mandating companies to spend their funds in specific ways (besides the basic environmental and labor laws).
The above funds an agenda without containing companies' efficiencies and ability to make profits.
Politically, I like Biden's way of putting it: "Giving everyone a fair shot. "
That "underinvestment in the employees that create their profits" is only slightly removed from slavery. It certainly benefits the owners at the expense of those who do the actual work.
stock buybacks is what the corporations spend the money on instead of employees! That is the point. It is more profitable for the CEO and rich shareholders. Instead of good wages , benefits, and growing the actual company...
I agree. It is also an iffy strategy at best. Nearly half of stock buybacks fail to affect share prices. It is a market so buying and selling shares (even if you’re buying back and retiring your own) are affected by the market’s perception of share price, future value, etc.
Corporations stick to this iffy practice as a sop to shareholders. Buybacks are most common in commodity companies that don’t have any other way to spur growth.
They are usually an empty strategy and should taxed at a 50% rate.
Any activity in a society becomes society's business when it imposes impacts on society and it's members. Drink till you puke at home, but not driving down a public street and don't endanger your kids. Don't pollute shared resources, etc. Impacts of commercial activity should be examined for direct and indirect effects on society and it's members, but not regulated more than necessary. I suspect that the "sweet spot" there is hard to hit fully accurately, but blanket "deregulation" seems to have unleashed a whole heap of trouble for ordinary citizens, including monopolization, looming plutocracy and climate disaster.
I cringe when I read that Jim and then I look at my retirement account and realize that I am complicit in their buyback schemes.
What's as bad as the stock buy backs is the Republicans allowing mega-monopolies to proliferate. My start-up in 1991 could have been bankrupted by a company that had grown through M&As. And if they had gone after my little company directly they would have. Fortunately the went after 4 Fortune 500 companies that stood up to the mega-corporation as we enjoyed the show.
True. You can thank the late judge Robert Bork for failing to enforce our laws against business monopolies. It’s a big reason why we overpay for basic goods and services, and things like internet and cellular service that costs more and is far slower than that overseas. It also affects how expensive cable service is, with the proliferation of local monopolies.
Robert Bork was the guy who carried out Nixon’sorder to fire the Watergate special prosecutor Alexander Butterfield, which failed to stop the Watergate scandal.
Kathy As a member on the Nixon White House Enemies List, I followed Watergate closely. Attorney General Eliot Richardson, when he was Acting Secretary of State, personally conducted my exit interview from the Foreign Service.
He refused Nixon’s order to fire Special Prosecutor Archbold Cox. Bork finally did it.
Alexander Butterfield was the person in the White House who handled the tape recorder in Nixon’s office. That there were tapes was revealed during the Erwin Senate Hearing and ultimately the Supreme Court ordered Tricky Dick to release the tapes—-and resignation to avoid senate impeachment.
"It’s a big reason why we overpay for basic goods and services, and things like internet and cellular service that costs more and is far slower than that overseas. "
Yet the Internet was invented here, with public money. I am convinced that the Internet revolution would have been retarded and limited considerably had it not been the work of a pubic agency, as was (sort of) the World Wide Web. It made mincemeat of the claim that we need our feudal lords to leads toward anything good. Naturally corporations have done all in their power to dominate the Internet since it grew huge. Private enterprise contributes too, as it did with cell service, but in a democratic republic, we still should be making the rules.
Some details, corrections, and evidece of two resignations over the order to fire Archibald Cox, the Special Prosecutor while Butterfield was the deputy Assistant to President Nixon (like Cassidy Hutchinson was to Chief of Staff Mark Meadows). Butterfield revealed the secret tape system that sealed Nixon's fate, and his actions inspired Cassidy Hutchinson to step up for the truth.
Attorney General Eliot Richardson and Deputy Attorney General William Ruckelshaus are my heroes who both resigned before 3rd ranking Bork followed the illegal order to fire Archibald Cox
Sorry I missed some other postings, was staying with my cat the last 90 minutes before he passed, and haven't had time to catch up on the comments from the last day or two.
You are not complicit. You would be complicit if your voting shares were enough to exert influence. They’re not.
In mu opinion, both Republicans and Democrats are complicit in the monopolistic business culture. The last presidency where monopolistic corporate mergers were challenged routinely was the Clinton Administration. Not even the Biden administration is doing near enough. Obama, Trump, snd Bush did almost nothing in this space.
Unfortunately it’s true, and I wish President Obama and his AG Eric Holder had woken up to the outright fraud the bankers were engaged in. To be fair, the Republicans deserve their share of the blame for encouraging it.
To me, Rubin and others in the Bill Clinton administration tried some daring experiments that didn't work, hoping for more innovation to be enabled (Like Sandy Weill wanted as the biggest promoter of ending Glass-Steagall). They got their wish but look at who of all people regretted it in 2012.
Guardrails always seem necessary, though they can be improved to make them more effective without being too limiting.
"...So Weill proposes biting the bullet, accepting the regulation of commercial banking, while splitting off investment banking from banking.
"So let commercial banks take deposits and make commerce loans and real estate loans in such a way that they are not going to risk the taxpayer dollars. If they want to hedge what they're doing in their investments, let them do it in a way that it can be mark-to-market on a daily basis.”
An exchange for derivatives
“In derivatives,” says Weill, “we should have an exchange, where you can have a mark-to-market, a place where they can trade, so that you don’t have a problem that can build up over multiple years, and all of a sudden you see a big collapse. If it was marked to market every single day, you'd be able to protect the balance sheets of the different companies.
The world has changed
Does Weill regret what he did at Citigroup? Not really. Weill says that the megabanks were right for their time but the world has changed.
As a result of too much concentration of investments, too much leverage, not enough transparency with a lot of off-balance-sheet items, we had the meltdown of 2008 and trust in the financial system was broken. This has led to efforts to regulate everything in the financial sector, including futile efforts to distinguish market-making trading from proprietary trading. Weill believes that these efforts will continue and in the end will stifle creativity in the financial sector. Instead, the sector should take another route and allow regulation of commercial banking and separate that from investment banking, where creativity and leadership can prosper..."
Just an aside here, that in reality what blind-since-birth people can actually do can knock your socks off, including skiing and riding a bike down the street. I've seen it. The blind actually can lead the blind, but none are so blind as those who will not see; which is why Trump remains in the presidential race, ,
I've had plenty of surprises from blind people. For instance, I learned only recently that a man I'd encountered on several occasions was blind. I'd never have known it.
One of the most inspiring characters I met in a lifetime was blind since childhood. Jacques Lusseyran set up a resistance network as a student in occupied Paris and handled recruitment... Arrested and sent to Buchenwald, he survived.
A man with a spellbinding presence.
*
Here, we've been speaking of moral blindness, a total lack of discernment. An inability to perceive anything but surface effects.
"Great" devoid of context is just snakeoil, like sloganeering for Kellogg's Sugar Frosted Flakes. America's history is has always been a blend. That's human nature, and some human qualities make us our own worst enemies.
We can learn a lot from our own past about what has worked out favorably and what has not and attempt to reconcile it with present circumstances. A lot has improved and a lot hasn't. Those who extol the "good old days" devoid of context are indulging in delusional fantasies. Often it's a desire to elude responsibilities in a "golden age" of impulsive asssholery without pesky accountability, as formerly sold to fascist Italy or Germany.
They have hooked people by appealing to emotional cultural issues, and then dragged them along with the false claims about the economy and making things better for the middle class. Apparently people trust the GOP with their money and well-being because the GOP is on their side about trans kids and draq queens.
We need Moonshot ideas that make headlines. Not just powerful speeches repackaged as “I’m Joe Biden and I approve this message.” Trump voters are bloodthirsty for Project 2025. Let’s “leak” OUR 2025 reinvention of Government. Like... Turn voting into a $1B national lottery ticket. 🗳️=🎟️
I mentioned this some months ago: There are billboards strategically placed throughout America. Check to see where, in your town, they are. I'll bet they are at railroad crossings, and when one is forced to stop because of a 'local' going through (slowly!), one can read in a relatively undisturbed manner the contents of the billboard. Many people will pass by this crossing several times per day. That billboard will do what Trump always does, "pound, pound, pound" every lie, half-truth, promise, etc. His loyal followers become imbued with that tripe because they are hanging on his every word. Billboards can have the same affect. Then, move on to cable TV advertising which is relatively inexpensive and allows for the "pound, pound, pound" idea to create or support a change in ideas or beliefs.
100 000% with your closing paragraph. What we have currently is a grotesque, demeaning farce, one that makes America look both corrupt and ridiculous in the eyes of the world.
What is more, the whole "horse race" ritual is so much a part of the country's folklore that voters are quite unable to see the wood for trees when faced with something as radically unprecedented as the current attempt to use the ballot box to overthrow the Republic.
I suspect that, even if all the readers in the little LFAA community were to read what I have just written, most would still be unable to take in the threat the country faces, because it seems so unconceivable.
P.S. In this context I'd rather "capture the attention" than "entertain".
The bought-and-soldier Justices would have none of that! But then, neither would he or we. Whatever our failings, we don't suffer from that kind of moral idiocy...
Why wait for the next elections to restore and protect voting rights? Signing them into law now restores a necessary protection when it is most needed. We won't have another free and fair election if Trump wins.
Agreed. Biden should restore the right to vote to all felons. It would be so beneficial for the country, for Dems and impossible for MAGA to complain about.
I watched the Michigan barnburner. As much to the point was the unadulterated enthusiasm of the pastor presenter in standing behind Biden regardless of the media, donors et al who are pronouncing on the optics on a very bad night then finding every false scrap which might be framed to show Biden's "cognitive decline". While many polls say Biden is "too old" he nonetheless is statistically tied with Trump. At this late date, do those critics really think they can find a new leader who can do better at this point in the race? It was great to see voters' rejection of pundit criticism.
Voters rejection of pundits criticism is a better measure of the polls than the polls. When have they been right lately?
I am so TIRED of pundits talking about the polls, so tired of media talking about Biden stepping down and especially infuriated by Democrats not standing by their candidate who won more than 3,800 delegates in the primary. Biden won! To even speak of him stepping down is to do what Republicans are doing....to delegitimize our election process.
If we are worried about the 'on the fence' voter, it's time to take a page from the Republicans. Gaslight the hell out of them. Even better, scare the hell out of them with what DT will do. Project 2025. From now on, the only words from a Democrat should be that everything DTs says is a lie, he's a convict, a rapist, a child rapist, a fascist, will be a dictator and will toss our nation to Russia, North Korea, and China in a nano second.
close enough! I wonder if we can get a pro Biden voter surge esp with publicity, publicity, publicity. After all, "think of the alternative"! Worst case, Harris has to pick up the presidency, and that, i think, not likely! (this term at least).
Donald Trump's name is all over the court records revealed in the case of convicted pedophile, Jeffrey Epstein I personally read court transcripts available on the Internet of a 14-year-old virgin that Trump raped. When she asked him what she should do if she got pregnant, he threw money on her stomach and told her -- with heartbreaking distain -- to get an abortion. By the way he also peed on her.
The list of people that were involved with Jeffrey Epstein and flew to his island which locals called "Sex Island" in the Virgin Islands includes Trump.
Also, you might read the book by James Patterson entitled Filthy Rich or watch the Netflix documentary or read the book entitled The Spider by Barry Levine.
I mark "like" but feel the deepest disgust... and somehow do not see many of those whom the beast has corraled as feeling any differently from me if they can come to face the painful truth... not only about their savior's perversions but the gross inadequacy that has to underlie them.
Ashley, In the '90's People magazine had a big article on this young girl being raped by Trump and Epstein also. I use to keep copies of the magazine until I cleaned out my attic. In the article it said Epstein was angry that Trump got to her first!! That is when I knew what a creep he was and disgusting. The girl who was raped and her family were threatened with death if they came continued seeking justice so they quit for fear of their life. Karma is long overdue for this disgusting man!
Ashley, I began opening the attachment. It’s extensive. The woman in question was prepared to have a press conference in 2016 but after receiving death threats, pulled back and dropped the accusations. I’m wondering if this could be used somehow.
Believe me, no one hates Trump more than I do, and no one would like to see him in jail for anything and everything, but I looked into this issue a little bit and I'm not sure the evidence is there. He was trying to do a real estate deal with Epstein at the time, buying some property in Florida (?) and develop, so it is possible that the communications, messages, and plane trips were linked to that. But of course, no matter what, Trump knew who Epstein was (said he liked them young) and still had no problem associating with him and trying to do business with him.
What do they say of lifelong criminals as their arrest is being questioned? He's probably guilty of something like that. My mother always said, be careful of the company you keep.
Whatever the Dems do, I wish they would shut up with all the public criticism. Hash out behind closed doors whether to keep or replace the president (keeping in mind that Harris comes with reelecting Biden and, if he can’t continue as prez, she will.) I have resumed listening to music while I drive, not news or podcasts, because I have reached my limit and need to preserve (what’s left of) my sanity.
Simon Sinek's Podcast "A Bit of Optimism" is awesome and "Pivot" with Kara Swisher and Scott Galloway always includes irreverent humor that's good for a much needed smile. Also, Kara Swisher's interview of Gretchen Whitmer in Swisher's Podcast "On with Kara Swisher" gave me hope. These, and especially Scott Galloway's "No Mercy, No Malice" essay read by George Hahn each Saturday on the Prof G Podcast are great listening.
Charles Blow has made exactly this point, and he mentioned that presidential predictor Allan Lichtman has stated it would be disastrous for the Democrats to dump the President at this stage. If they do that, they’ll lose for sure.
He's not the only one. Meantime the media/pundits and some dems/donors continue an anti-Biden campaign without letup. Who do they really think will change the polling picture at this point?
So much media coverage of what the monied class pronounces Is surely GOING TO happen when no one can know. Not talking about what HAS happened and IS happening as Dr. Richardson does.
“Polls continue to show that Biden’s popularity has not suffered from the debates…”
Moneymen—those who buy and sell their country and place bets on it—continue to panic and withhold moolah.
Mindless Media and the Gutless Party machinery continue to plan suicide and make a big show of their death wish for America.
I’ll confess that my intuition, which has served me well, is at war with my analytical faculty.
Intuition says Joe Biden’s doing fine, while the Man Who Would Be King is very near the end of his tether.
The analytical faculty is not troubled by questions about Biden’s undoubted competence but by people’s blindness to any reality beyond the most superficial telescreen appearances.
At the same time, this rational mind is very aware, both from observation and from personal experience, of the fact that the physical processes of aging are not smooth and continuous but tend to advance in short, sharp shocks. The mind may stay lucid and dynamic to the end. Physical infirmity tires and spoils appearances. Once again, most people do not see beyond the surface—and that is why is why old people who are far more compos mentis than most of us are often treated as though they were “silly old fools”.
I recall my powerful, strong-minded mother tiring of the struggle to make carers understand that because she was seriously enfeebled she was in no way any less her old self. "I can't be bothered," she said, "It's a waste of energy". She was all there until her last breath.
Incidentally, I am quite critical of aspects of Biden’s performance, but those show the downside of great and wide-ranging experience, which can be overmuch habit-forming, so that settings are not always adjusted sufficiently to take account of such facts as when a trusted ally falls into the hands of a mendacious confidence trickster.
Thank you, Ally, but this calls for courage, total determination and constant presence of mind, together with readiness to face violence, whichever way the votes go.
If ordinary people retain even 1% of their senses, they will recognize that they'd be better off with a bag of cement or Caligula's horse than with the MAGA madman.
I keep vacillating between letting him go and keeping him in. If he loses, we’ll all conclude he made a huge mistake. If he wins, we praise Allah. One thing I am sure of. We, the US and NATO have made a gigantic mistake with Ukraine. A no nato pledge would have stopped it. We never learn. Now we must be all in. There is no choice although there will be a settlement probably with a no nato clause. So where has it gotten only terror and death of Ukrainians. For nothing.
Here’s how Biden wins in November: Every vacillator, doubter, wait-and-see sideliner watches his speech in Detroit, comes to the sudden realization that doing two full-time jobs (campaigning to beat the most dangerous sociopath in the world AND working as President of the U.S. while the second-most dangerous sociopath stands beside a row of nuclear missile-launching buttons) is exhausting and mindnumbing for a person of any age, and starts spreading their words of unabashed support to everyone in line at the bank, in grocery stores, at church and at the water cooler. Pick up a yard sign, get a bumper sticker, post praise for the GOAT on social media and stop letting the mainstream media reality show pundits and pollsters tell us how to think. We don’t need more drama, we need full-on support. Now. The clock is ticking.
CFDT is running a reality TV show while Biden is running a campaign. There is only one star in the CFDT team. Only 4 of his entire cabinet and senior staff endorse him and to the person, they say he is UNFIT for office.
CFDT takes credit for everything positive that happened during his Presidency. But he accomplished so little no one notices. There aren't even supporting actors in his reality show -- they are just cameos he hires to tell everyone how great he is. But even that ship has sailed except for the most vile Republican politicians and a few donors that he has promised tax breaks to.
The media gives CFDT a pass for every little thing he does. Unfortunately, mixed with the dozens of little things which show he is demented and an asshole ,are lots of big things they let slide - like pardoning 143 felons who literally defrauded the government out of billions and violent criminals. And you know there was quid pro quo for a lot of them, if not all. When was the last time you saw a story about this in the media.
If for no other reason Bill than these insane pardons, I will not vote for CFDT. But, I understand your concerns.
Let’s turn this around for a moment. Suppose Mexico invited Russia to position nukes close to the border with the U.S. no, a better example is 1962 Cuban Missile Crises. What did we do? Early brought the world doe with a nuclear war. Now turn it around and what do you have in Ukraine. Ukraine is to Russia that Cuba is to the US. Comprende?
That has been a talking point that Russia has promoted. But we didn’t invade Cuba, we weren’t trying to annex it. Russia is trying to recreate the old Soviet Union.
We’d better rally to defeat Trump and Trumpism or we may not have a second chance! If he’s re-elected, we’ll likely have a “Putin-like” election in 2028, completely controlled by the government! If we rest on our laurels and sleepwalk through November, we’ll regret it come January 21, 2025!
Mary Trump is much saner and more realistic about her uncle than many in the public. It’s probably because she’s a psychologist and grew up living in the real world, unlike her uncle and his dysfunctional family.
We should definitely call him late for dinner, Ozempic or no. Wait! The more Whoppers he eats ... I wonder if there's a correlation between what goes into his mouth and what comes out.
He called himself John Barron in an effort to publicize himself. My guess is that he was too much of a cheapskate to hire a press flack and would have stiffed any press flack just like he did with suppliers and contractors.
We ARE Phil , we.the.people. ARE staying the 💙 course.
Four More Years, Joe! Your track record not only set the precedent it’s the best Presidency EVAH ( that’s my Maine accent btw and thanks Susan for YOUR latest addition to ridding bullies).
If you’re not with the BLUE TSUNAMI you’re with the losing party poopers ,period.
Heather, thank you so very much, congratulation with a little c from this old little p , pat.
You point out the papers coming around , YEA! 🗣️call out the bully bunch , cheap credit cheaters who voted no - stolen accolades, further claims to the infamous coup.
Patricia Davis -- I cannot read what your comment (or emoji) is. Substack isn't working the way it used to, at least on my computer. Later, it shows on the Email notice. Mystery.
Gah! In our little berg, our property taxes just jumped 20%. Part of that is a new fire station, but also another jiggering of property values and the school budget allocation. But the town, after the smack of the tax bill last week, trumpeted that Susan got us 4 million dollars toward the $11M station. I don't even know how it's going to cost 11m, but Susan will save us from ourselves. I'm so so tired of it.
I live in Montgomery County, OH, and our property taxes went up due to reassessments. Mine for my condo are around $300 a month. Our schools still have to ask for levies which get voted down, and the reason is that our Republican gerrymandered legislature gives voucher money to private schools and the money is supposed to go to public schools. SCOTUS has enabled this, and I think tax money should only be used for public schools. Public schools are a public good.
The same situation re vouchers has happened in NH as well. We've had a quadrafecta for the past 6 years. Fortunately Sununu's not running again. We have an Executive Council that negotiates contracts etc and they've had a super majority of Republicans who've consistently REFUSED to fund Planned Parenthood even though NO money goes to funding abortion care. (and the Education Commissioner has NEVER attended public schools and home schooled his 7 kids. and is all n re giving public education monies to private and religious schools by giving them public tax monies to via vouchers.)
I have never wavered in my support and admiration of Joe Biden, nor in my faith that he understands bullies and knows exactly how to “put the Ralphie on them”
I would add that it is frighteningly sad and pathetic that we seem to have so many of our fellow Americans seemingly so enthusiastically enamored with the “dark side” … the evils of mankind … that which represents those approaches to life that are deemed wrong by so many of those of us who represent the silent majority … let’s surround the Biden/Harris team with our gratitude, eagerness and excitement and let’s trounce the opposition and continue moving our nation forward - not backwards!!!
Now, are there caveats with this? Yes, unfortunately yes there are … there are basically two to three things that are weighing Biden’s poll numbers down: Age, cognitive abilities … and inflation. But common among each of these is our ignorance … is the campaign using smoke and mirrors to hide Biden’s deficiencies - hence, we maybe faced with a “Weekend at Bernie’s” scenario [no more debates this presidential campaign round; let’s be presidential and hold two or three more news conferences … I was against holding any “Biden - trump” debates period which I have stated in the past] and yes, the inflation rate is still headed in the right direction - but how soon will grocery prices, gasoline prices show substantive/noticeable downward movement to the average American citizen and voter?
Ohhhh, and the promises Biden is making about many of the things he wants to get done in his second term require favorable votes in the U.S. House and Senate, so he must remember and we must remember - he cannot do it along!!!
To be clear, speaking is separate from cognition. Well-educated people with good vocabularies and public speaking experience may be able to hide their cognitive decline, even dementia, until they start putting the ice cream in the oven.
A memory expert pointed out that not being able sometimes to retrieve something like a person’s name becomes more common with age. The memory is not gone, but takes longer to find. It is not memory loss. Nor short-term memory loss associated with dementia.
Stuttering experts say that fighting a stutter uses up a sizeable chunk of your mental energy and focus. It amazes me that the imperfect speaker that Joe Biden is could keep convincing people to elect him. Maybe accomplishing something is more important than talking about it?
Oh, oh....not bribes--such a nasty sounding word. Gratuities, dontcha know? Gratuities provide a much classier mental picture. Yeah, the highest court in the land waiting tables and serving their betters with favorable rulings along with their enabling of decreased regulation for more profit. So much "class". The trashy Trumps have managed to bring the Court down to their level.
Hear hear , Phil!!!! Excellent job of wrapping up the facts that Heather awards us with.
We mustn’t forget how many of us are not manipulated by all this malarkey . We are well educated and determined not to be smothered by a few perverts.
Let’s hold hands and go forward( not backwards), to make our country thrive in goodness and in success for all. Remember our children. They have choices to make that will affect them…. We had and have our choices. The planet( not just one country) needs our support in order to thrive.
Our power is telling the facts and helping others see the difference between phony and reality.
Phil, thanks so much for your clear-headed analysis. If we had a year in which to choose another candidate, we would have many possibilities who would have time to organize a campaign and build a war chest, and Biden might have been thankful. However, with less than four months, another choice is virtually impossible. Yes, Biden has to be exhausted, and remember that before the 2020 election he made it clear that he wouldn't have entered the race but for the fact that Trump had come close to destroying the country during his reign of terror. We know that he's jeopardizing the remainder of his life, because Trump has been emboldened by the totally corrupt right wing of SCOTUS and having his henchmen assembled without guardrails. We have to change our usual behavior of internal squabbles and ignore the press and its insistence on ignoring Trump's proven criminality while pillorying Biden, and giving us our sole chance to beat the frightening parade that is intent on taking us back hundreds of years and feeding the despots.
Well said. I agree that the American oligarchs see themselves as the aristocracy. Nice reminder that the aristocracy are dictators, with total control over their powerless peons and serfs.
The best way to deal with those "repressing women" is to elect a black woman as President-Kamala Harris-with Biden by her side as a third time Vice President....
Problem is it's hard to reset a history like ours when the levers for change are in the hands of elites and people whose job it is to keep the controversy going because their paychecks depend upon it continuing.
We all know what 'stolen valor' means. It's when someone claims to have served in the Armed Forces, maybe even claims they received special honors, like a Purple Cross, but they have neither served nor received medals and ribbons. 'Stolen credit' is what we see when Republican politicians show up at bridge openings and project ribbon-cuttings, claiming to support the new public works project, when, in fact, they voted AGAINST the funding for the project. It does make for some brutal campaign advertising, however.
JD, if only we had a local paper to do that. We have a Gannett rag here in the capital city of Oregon. There are some good online entities with news. I hate to say it, but Facebook is where I try to spread the news including Heather's letter. We have a relative in South Dakota who uses TikTok to blister the Gnome (the governor) and she belongs to several groups on Facebook which talk about Project 25.
The two papers I take used to print my letters, stopped about six months ago. Had one in paper two weeks ago. If FB hadn’t banned me….i used to tell it like it was. They didn’t like me calling chump’s fools Nazi wannabes, 4 years ago. Now seems that everybody knows, but few care…
So far Facebook has not banned me and so I continue to call out death star and I call him that, so maybe the algorithm does not pick up on that. My husband tried to post something about Biden the other day making what seemed to me an innocuous comparison and Facebook immediately took it down, wouldn't even let him post it....against "community standards" pfft.
Oh, those community standards, I violated them once too many times, I guess. Sneak in what you can. At least NYT and WaPo have called the cretin unfit. Doubt FB and X will do that. That “free speech” that they pretend is sacred, but skew every day. Orwellian
I don't like Facebook much, but it keeps me in touch with people and also gives me some info about restaurants, etc. For example, i just discovered there is a fine dining restaurant in Fall Creek, OR (had to look it up) which is in a rural area east of Eugene. I was in Facebook jail once and couple of times this week, they said I had posted something about Project 25 which was misleading. A person posting against Project 25 reported that they are using some conservative mag as their guide on that. I call bull pucky on their so-called community standards. I admit to being careful about what words I choose, so as to not attract the algorithm. Also the damn thing has no sense of humor. Glad to see NYT and WalPo call out death star. They should spend much more time calling out his sins... his entire life is a sin.
I've taken up where you left off with FB, putiing quotes from Heather and Joyce and the two Roberts up almost daily. If the opposition can only think in soundbites, I'm doing my best to give them honest ones to digest. Am waiting for fb to ban me.
Same here BLEEDING RED is WV and no/nada/negligent/news ….what Biden has done today…not.a.word. I too pass through to FB the good news, accomplishments, ongoing compromise, coalition building, courteous character calling for unity, compassion consistent with this competent President .
People have paid attention. The midterms proved it. The grassroot movement is wonderful , actively engaged , supportive , bringing truth to the headlines.
Will it be enough to end the orange menace & MAGA Militia…
I'm in the same boat as Michele; same oversight company (Gannett) but theoretically a different paper: Eugene Register Guard vs. Salem Statesman Journal. Both shadows of their former selves.
When challenged, some of these slippery Republicans will claim they voted against the bills because the legislation in question "doesn't go far enough to solve the entire problem at hand" and other weasel words.
Grrr is right, MaryPat. If people would only put these hypocrites on the spot by asking why they voted no. They would produce word salad. We have one such rep here in Oregon in the 5th district who has a better D opponent this time. We are in the 6th, but can give the D a donation. Oh yeah, and the awful Joe Kent has surfaced again running in Washington's third district (Vancouver area) against the D woman and incumbent, Perez, who is an auto mechanic. Both already have ads going. We like to donate all over the country, so may have to give some money to Barr.
I think that is an excellent analogy, Sherman. The chest thumpers who are all pro-military and claiming service when they never served are a disgrace. So are these elected officials who take credit for the progress and voted no to the bill that funded it.
Ally, a lot of them are wannabes and frankly, I think they should be drafted and sent to some hell hole to serve. A while back we had a pol here in Oregon, eastern Oregon if memory serves, who claimed military service and it turned out to be bogus. I think he had to give up even running. Tough guys they are not!
Poignant Point , Sherman. Let’s keep pointing this out PLEASE. The ignominious elephant getting more and more recognition.
Bravo Democrats …we don’t subscribe or HAVE to be vicious, lie, braggarts or surly , in fact … we’re blamed too quiet ,just ( AHEM…) going about our business of managing the country..WELL …I underscore. No circus show here folks…move along….
getting little credit ( NP) for continuing lifting, organizing coalitions, yada yada yada…ya know folks were just plain boring…
Some people like the drama, the side show semblance, the rude, chaos, retribution talk,,, yea get even with them damn democrats…it’s all their fault.
Yes let’s roll back to 1960 when the tax rate for income over $100,000 was 75% and income over $400,000 was 90%. If we are going back, let’s go back to the way it really was. The very wealthy paid taxes and corporations actually used their capital to expand and buy equipment rather than give obscene bonuses to executives.
I'm glad to see President Biden get aggressive about this election and his track record.
"No more free passes for Trimp" is absolutely the road to take.
BUT - one man, even if he's the president, can't do it alone. Write your senators and representatives, call on them to start publicly supporting him! And let's all start calling BS on the bots whining about his "old age". Joe's earned it. Let's start helping!
We need to see more Biden speeches. For too long the media has ignored them. I actually got a bit emotional watching the Detroit crowd cheering so heartily for Biden. It was so wonderful to see. We need the boost.
I believe there is a Democratic silent majority of greater intensity and power than MAGA who have not wavered in their support of President Biden. Who have dug their heels in and refuse to let the DC politicians, the donor class (Clooney) or the media decide this election. I count myself as one of them.
I have trouble faulting George Clooney for his op-ed. He has assisted so many Democrats and will assist Biden. The Republicans are ALL such hypocrites, especially Nikki Haley for time and again scorching CFDT and then saying he will support him for President. And she's just one of them that hold their noses and say they support him.
He did a huge amount of harm and provided even more fuel for the anti-Biden camp. He betrayed Biden. I recoil against a member of the donor class thinking their money makes them an expert on politics.
Clooney could have voiced his concerns privately. An op-ed in the New York Times? Really George?
I do agree, Barbara. I'm still not convinced Biden will make it to the finish line, or pull the Dems across if he gets there, but Clooney made a huge error in speaking so publicly. I think Biden's decision should be his to make, relying on the counsel of family and the Dem leadership, including the figurative leader Obama. Everybody else who has a megaphone should shut up. As a Dem strategist (sorry, forgot his name) pointed out on MSNBC post- news conference, (paraphrasing): "We cannot have another week like this...it will tear us apart. We will be finished."
Meanwhile CF45 golfs and amuses himself at the conflagration without the media talking about his manifold problems.
I disagree. Clooney, and Ezra Klein before him, spoke the truth about a candidate that is hamstrung by age and cognitive decline. In the end, the election will be decided by voters who cast their ballots by feel. Sad but true. When the campaign heats up again we will be deluged with media ads and commentary focusing on Biden’s age and that KH offers little positive to those issues. Moderates are concerned about border issues, which are already being drummed by every GOP candidate. I voted for Biden, and will do so again, but I truly believe that no amount of spin (one bad day) or “fear for democracy” statements will offset the aging issue among swing voters. Wish it weren’t so. Biden should step aside and let democracy work, messy as it will be.
Starting when. One single newspaper (The Philadelphia Inquirer) pointer out CFDT's 602 lies and that it was a lie every 3.9 seconds. When I looked at the transcript he lied 4 times in his first three sentences claiming he had the best economy ever.
Of course HCR pointed out his lies the day of the debate, but apparently egregious lies are so normal for CFDT and all Republicans that it's perfectly ok to lie.
The minute I found out that my representative came out to publicly ask JB to step down, I fired off an email to her. I strongly, but respectfully, told her I thought she was dead wrong, and asked her to explain and reconsider her position. I’m waiting for her reply.
Since this is apparently no country for old men, we must take the spotlight off Joe and trap the felon in its glare. Does anyone remember the moment in Beetlejuice (the movie) when the so-called spiritualist is caught in a circle of light looking frumpy? Or police interrogations in any film noire? That.
My first marriage was a hateful 17 years with a narcissist who wanted a woman like his mother to take care of him and not question anything he did.
Every time I hear the donvict speak (or any repub) it reminds me of those days.
My husband is in some ways like Joe, because he struggles to find the right words to say the things he wants to say.
But I know he loves and cares for me, it's a part of him that will ever go away.
That's how I feel about President Biden.
I know he loves this country and the people.
He truly wants the best for all of us. He truly wants our country to be that shining light on the hill.
So I voting for that shining light. For the hope that by the time my grandson starts his adult life, that this country will truly be shining bright all over this world.
“Today, in Detroit, in a barnburner of a speech, President Joe Biden pitched his plan for the first 100 days of a second term with a Democratic Congress. He promised to restore Roe v. Wade, eliminate medical debt, raise the minimum wage, protect workers’ right to organize, ban assault weapons, and to “keep leading the world” on clean energy and addressing climate change. He also vowed to sign into law the John Lewis Voting Rights Act, which would end voter suppression, and the Freedom to Vote Act, which would protect voter rights and election systems, as well as end partisan gerrymandering. “
I must admit to tearing up when the crowd chanted “don’t you quit” and “we’ve got your back”. It was a wonderful speech, and I actually slept well last night for the first time in weeks.
We have a nomination process. We picked Joe. So, to all these post debate panic-ers, please stop and realize you missed your chance. Too late. Too bad. Get over that debate! It was not moderated, it was a hit job of hack jobs. Like a boxing match without any rules for one fighter, but all the rules and judgements on the other fighter. TFG was trained in acting by that awful show, the Apprentice . Joe was never trained for reality tv. He was trained and honed by R E A L I T Y. And the last 3 1/2 years have so many accomplishments across off facets of the economy and social fabric of society. One I outs like to mention, is how many innocent people have been killed at an assembly or protest? Zero. Because people have had a reason to protest in the street. Thugs have been prosecuted. People are back in school and work, making something beautiful of their lives and families. James Carville recently spoke about the hope and change campaigns of Obama and Clinton. He thought we needed more of that in this campaign. And anyone could argue that we do. But I’d like to argue that what gets people trusting, and believing most, is results. And Joe has the most I’ve seen in my lifetime. I’m not about to doubt his entire administration of capable, steady servant and transformational leaders. Like the 1940’s, this moment is a transformational period in history. I’m not changing horses. I won’t cede an inch of ground that is only strengthening these modern fascists that are seeking to destroy our democracy. I just Joe and Jill, and Kamala, and the entire cabinet to beat MAGA. After that, I trust them to keep on making the right decisions. The primacy of the Presidency is to provide the moral leadership for our entire government and to our citizens, and to all people of the world. There is no greater hope than that James Carville.
"... such benefits amounted to a redistribution of wealth from hardworking white men to undeserving Black Americans ..."
Here, in a nutshell, is the essence of the right wing lie that has gripped America since the end of the Civil War: the Calvinistic notion that wealth equates to virtue - but only, of course, if it's white wealth.
There is a common meme I've seen on social media that says, “If wealth was the inevitable result of hard work and enterprise, every woman in Africa would be a millionaire.” Originally written by Briton George Monbiot, it is a truth that can easily be applied as well to Black Americans. For the first 400 years of Europeans' growing domination of this land, it was Black slave labor that built the wealth here - not the labor of their white owners.
Indeed, once those Black Americans were able to reap the financial rewards of their labor in the decades after the Civil War, they quickly began to grow their own wealth. This prompted some of the worst atrocities this nation had ever seen, like massacres of entire Black neighborhoods and towns in Florida and Oklahoma. White men felt so threatened by the growing wealth of Black Americans that they slaughtered successful Black citizens, stole or destroyed their wealth, and created the entire Jim Crow system of laws to prevent Black Americans from reaping any more rewards from their work. Oh, and they made sure to cleanse our history books of any recollection of these crimes. Most of what has transpired since has been a battle between the forces attempting to maintain that new status quo, vs those working for justice.
Biden is the first president in a very long time to try to right many of these wrongs. No flippin' wonder the "elites" are working so hard to shut him down.
I'm reminded of the college professor who asked her class, "raise your hand if you'd like to be treated the way minorities in America are and have been treated since the 1960s."
The same question can be posed, but asking "*before* the 1960s". Speaking as a person with acknowledged white male privilege, I'd like to think that there has been at least some progress since then.
There are at least a half dozen good points in this short post, most of which are not taught in our schools. Our founding documents are a glorious statement of the inalienable rights of all men. But the institutions that produced our founding fathers, the ones who wrote those documents, were established using the wealth derived from the labor of the enslaved.
In the immediate wake of the Civil War the will of the victors to fulfill the provisions of the new Constitutional amendments withered in the face of Southern recalcitrance and political necessity, leading to the events you note in your third paragraph. And equally destructive practices such as red-lining and selective demolition for the interstate highway system continued throughout the 20th century.
This is the system that perfectly decent, good-hearted people grew up with and considered normal, without giving thought to the processes that gave rise to it.
"Justice," save in the immediate sense, is a chimera. We, the citizens of our country, need to commit ourselves to the struggle to realize for all our citizens the ideals cited in those founding documents.
There needs to be a real deep and broad refurbishing of the Democratic Party by people from the middle, most certainly by labor and likely beginning with a calling out of the urban elites who have apparently absconded with the common good sense of working class people through lots and lots of words to virtue signal intent. We could do a lot better. I've been a registered Independent since California allowed it and strongly support ranked voting, which is a smart way to bring in other voices and break up the hegemony.
"Elites" is just code for educated, financially successful people. May we all become independent-minded elites. I am against all hypocrites, be they virtue signallers or Christian Nationalists.
“elite, definition: a select group that is superior in terms of ability or qualities to the rest of a group or society.” Lauren, just clarifying to highlight the superior aspect which also tends to be classist and that's not good either. Class is the last thing that this democracy will be dealing with; you can see how it isn't at this point by the vast difference between the GOP and the Dems headed by Biden who is very aware of this aspect and has been working diligently to change it for the last 3 1/2 years.
The elite Dems have in a way violated their own earlier motivations and principles in ways that separate and isolate them from the working class, from blacks, from LGBTQ I. They have been resorting to virtue signaling instead of the hard work of getting better laws passed to even all the playing fields. You won't find it discussed in the MSM, but the black community has often taken it up. If Dems were serious about being democratic they would dig in and make a better track record by returning to the old working class roots that created in the first place, and this could make a huge difference in our voting this fall, to embrace and support many of the fringe voters who are working class and feel abandoned.
“elite, definition: a select group that is superior in terms of ability or qualities to the rest of a group or society.” Lauren, just clarifying to highlight the superior aspect which also tends to be classist and that's not good either. Class is the last thing that this democracy will be dealing with; you can see how it isn't at this point by the vast difference between the GOP and the Dems headed by Biden who is very aware of this aspect and has been working diligently to change it for the last 3 1/2 years.
The elite Dems have in a way violated their own earlier motivations and principles in ways that separate and isolate them from the working class, from blacks, from LGBTQ I. They have been resorting to virtue signaling instead of the hard work of getting better laws passed to even all the playing fields. You won't find it discussed in the MSM, but the black community has often taken it up. If Dems were serious about being democratic they would dig in and make a better track record by returning to the old working class roots that created in the first place, and this could make a huge difference in our voting this fall, to embrace and support many of the fringe voters who are working class and feel abandoned.
People! Wake up. Here in the South it's still (frustratingly) Pre-Civil war. It's horrible here for women, immigrants and Black citizens!!! Raised in California, I had no idea what the South truly was!!! Now divorced, thank you Jesus, I work justice ministry and attend a progressive, liberal UCC church in the North end of town that was, and still is,where the black families are dominant. I raised my twins to vote BLUE!
Wake up and vote for Biden who will move an agenda that includes women and the people that do the work in America.
Condos in Sarasota are selling for $20million, the Zeigler's thrive here (check their news story) County Commissioners (Moran) channel public money to "service organizations" that are run by their wives! County Commissioners have cut funding to any group that works with United Way,,, because United Way supported a hot line for pregnant women, where services include abortion referrals. AUGGHH!
Thomas L. -Thanks so much for clearly expressing the reality of American history and life. The battle for justice continues. This election is indeed a test of whether progress toward perfecting our union is possible.
Agree. 100%. I don’t think we should call them “elites” then. It’s not the best term. Billionaire class isn’t the most accurate either. Most accurate would “oligarchs”. That is what they are. They control the GOP, Media, and the Supreme Court.
Oligarchs bring fascist oligarchy with the help of christian nationalists and like the brown shirts, they bring their proud boys, 3%ers, oath keepers… weeds that sprouted like Timothy McVeigh.
I’m inspired watching Biden “get up.” Women and Unions getting up. And yet there are many ways to get up. To show mastery over the allure of power and first person narratives.
Frodo relinquished the ring of power, and became legend.
Washington relinquished the ring of power, and became legend.
Biden gives up the ring of power, having vanquished Trump once, and achieves a historically great presidency. He helps elect the first female president (Harris), channeling a flow of energy and gratitude that wins the House, the Senate, and preserves democracy… and becomes legend.
This is the story arc.
I still have a Biden Harris bumper sticker on my car, and it will stay there regardless.
But we need the stuff of legends right now. We need to be righteous corner men for our fighter. This is how we adapt to present realities, and win the real fight against project 2025 and all that has lead up to this monstrosity. Shift the focus back to Roe, women’s rights, the rule of law, the booming economy, and the dual cognitive and moral impairments of a narcissistic felon.
Biden should announce it on the first day of the republican convention.
Like Ali against Foreman, they’ll say, “He’s off the ropes now. A sudden flurry of punches from Biden! A left hook to the jaw!”
That’s my ring doctor’s prescription for this fight as it heads into round 12.
This is the way. Take this chance, and Biden may belong to the ages with the rest of the pantheon.
The ship has sailed! I was not under the illusion that Biden would be a one term President especially if he was successful. I have my concerns, but until he saids otherwise I am riding with Biden
I appreciate the conciliatory tone you strike here. On the other hand, I believe the President should be trusted and respected enough to make his own decision and not be buried under the criticism of talking heads who miss the bigger picture of just how dire things are. If President Biden does retire, I would prefer that he resign so President Harris can have the advantage of incumbency to blunt the impact of changing horses in mid-stream.
Dr. Ryan, as a medical doctor, I would like your thoughts on what a speech pathologist has to say. If you care to, start at 1:14:16 to hear Michelle Williams, MS SLP, explain the mechanics of what happens when a person is caught in the throes of a "stutter attack." In the end, she opines that the affliction has nothing to do with a person's cognition.
Thank you, Lynell. This information is crucial about how a speech pathologist sees what Biden is dealing with and what it means for his candidacy. YES: stuttering has nothing to do with cognitive ability.
Will try to watch but not enough time now… I think his stutter is one thing, but his speech has been qualitatively different unscripted than how it used to be. Again, I’ll vote for him like I did Fetterman and I know he and his admin would do a great job again.
With all due respect, Ryan, I think you underestimate the racism and misogyny of American voters. People can talk all they want about Clinton and the mistakes she made in her campaign, but in a close race with tight margins, this is why she lost. Can you not remember lots of people saying “I don’t know why, but I just don’t like her”? The why was her feminine gender. Do we really want to do that again, this time?
And if Biden were to step aside and Harris not achieve the nomination, I suspect that the righteous fury of the Black community (and possibly women too) might also be enough to hand the election to Trump.
IMHO, Biden has been the best president of my lifetime. To toss him aside, betray him, especially at this point in the election cycle, seems like idiocy. Do I think he will complete a second term? No, I don’t. Do I care? Also no, because Harris will be there, ready to take on the mantle.
KR, I agree wholeheartedly. There is no freaking way that this country will elect an outspoken woman of color to the presidency in my lifetime. The racism and misogyny is far, far to ingrained in the population for her to have a snowball's chance in Phoenix, Arizona.
When I hear someone (not republican) say they don't know why they just don't like her, I say what do you think Kamala Harris is going to do that's going to ruin your life or negatively impact society? Give them something else to answer. Yes, I too believe racism and fear of females is likely underlying their "feelings" about her. But, I still make them think (or not).
Good for you! It’s very hard for people to recognize their unconscious biases, isn’t it? To me, the “I don’t know why, but I just don’t like her” is a big tell.
Just like the people who blame President Obama for bad race relations. It says far more about the people who make these false accusations than it does about President Obama.
Hey! I’ve started competing my new boy this summer and boy is he fun! We’re heading to the Kentucky Horse Park next weekend. Between Covid and cancer, I haven’t been there in years, and I’m so excited to be back at it. He’s a 12 year old PRE and like riding a couch :). I’m so in love with him.
KR, this is exciting news. I'll be rooting for you, for sure! I know what you mean about riding a couch. I've had one or two in my life, and it just doesn't get any better than that. Though my old "happy appy Cappy," I used to say, had a trot only a mother could love; and yet for all else he was, I loved him "to the depth and breadth and height my soul could reach."
That’s exactly how I feel about Peter. 24, and still going, though rehabbing from a check ligament strain right now. We’re like an old bickering married couple. I had him leased to two beginner ladies, and now he thinks he doesn’t have to frame up or get off my leg anymore. And so we argue. Basically he says I don’t have to anymore and you can’t make me and sadly, he’s right 😂 but I keep trying.
One of the things I like most about horses is the cross-species working relationship. It’s different than a dog, but just as beautiful, especially in a long partnership like you and I both have been lucky enough to have. Peter’s age scares me these days. He’s been my best friend for 15 years.
I so understand your being scared about Peter's age. It might help if you take every day that comes and linger a little longer with him; close your eyes and see him in your mind so he will be there long after that fateful day comes.
Very good points. I don’t disagree. However I would also put it out there that there is severe ageism in this country too, with older people being expendable and disrespected. I’m a primary care and I saw this during various phases of the pandemic. And now to some degree.
Well, yes, that’s my thinking as well. But I also do not see a path to a different nominee, and certainly not one whose issues/weaknesses are known, and baked in already. I see this attack on Biden due to his age as because there literally isn’t anything else to criticize. He’s been a very good president. We should not betray him.
As I said above, I don’t think we will see a woman of color elected to the presidency in my lifetime. Gavin Newsome? Well, maybe, but I think the fact that he was married to Kimberly Guilfoyle seems dangerous - what stories might she tell? Gretchen Whitmer? Another strong woman, with all the baggage of misogyny attached. Pete Buttigieg? He has his own baggage, which I don’t find significant at all, but many would. I’m a woman, I want a woman president! But I’m afraid to take that risk in this most consequential election. Look what happened in 2016. I still have PTSD from that!
I understand your strong support for President Biden and know it’s futile to ask you to consider RFKJR because of his admitted many skeletons in the closet so I won’t . But I want you to know I attended his talk about the plight of independent farmers and the pollution the big ag companies are causing. He talked about the impact to the soil in Ohio as a result of that train derailment. When they burned the chemicals , the smoke settled in the soils and contaminated them.I was thinking of you because he is campaigning on stopping the assault by these big ag companies and used Ohio as an example of their abuses.
I want whomever can and will win on the ticket. I don't care if it's old Joe, young Kamala, or my blind chihuahua. The only thing that matters is to keep Donnie's grubby hands off the wheel and out of the cookie jar.
Biden is our nominee, and his Detroit rally was the stuff of legends. The base of our party, and the most reliable voting bloc, is Black women. (White men are the least reliable, followed by white women.) A preponderance of Black voters and Black women especially want Biden as our candidate (as do I). Biden served faithfully under a Black man for 8 years, and never tried to undermine or outshine him. He has the first Black woman in the VP spot as his second in command — she is prepared to take over at any time in the next four years should Biden decide not to complete his second term.
The Black women I have been listening to do not want VP Harris to take over at this point. The attacks on Biden will pivot into attacks on Harris, and they will be overtly racist and misogynistic. Those attacks have always been there, yes, but they are already intensifying. A tv commentator this week referred to Harris as “colored”; people are using the coconut icon in the non-fringe areas of Twitter to disparage her; lewd and baseless suggestions of how she’s achieved her successes are rampant. And people have been accusing her of hiding health issues that Biden, since the debate, is showing us he does not have.
The Carville/Clooney/pod boy types don’t even assume that Harris would be the nominee; Carville, in his ludicrous, chaos-inducing, democracy-denying mini-primary scheme says that “Ms. Harris” (that’s Vice President to you, Carville!) would of course be given one of the 8 candidate spots — to interview for a job that she’s already next in line for.
And conservative talking heads who claim they are glad Joe is staying in the race are, as usual, lying; in the golf-cart tape Trump himself says Harris will be easier to beat.
So Black women (and men) recognize that the fix is in. If VP Harris (or anyone else) takes the reigns from Joe now, Dems will lose. I have no doubt about that. History will repeat itself. But if Harris is at the top of the losing ticket, she will be blamed ruthlessly. She will be blamed because she is Black. She will be blamed because she is a woman. The truth is, enough of those rich white guys who are calling for Biden to step down now will, if Harris is the candidate, do what white guys have a tendency to do anyway — vote for the white guy. Harris’s political future will be ruined, and neither a woman nor a person of color will have a chance at the presidency for decades. (If we even have elections after 2024.)
When we reelect Biden, Harris will have more opportunities to shine and more opportunities for people to get to know her. She’s doing incredible work right now, somewhat in the shadows. In fact, I’ve talked with people who say she didn’t do anything for the first two years in office — to a person, they did not know that she had to limit what she was doing so that she could be available at any time to break a tie vote in the Senate. Black women, who tend to be pragmatic voters, don’t want that lack of familiarity to turn Harris into a scapegoat.
It is time for Democrats to come together and work full-steam-ahead for the Biden/Harris ticket and against Trump’s Project 2025. We all recognize that the stakes are incredibly high, which is why we need to get behind our incumbent, stiffen our spines, and face the current threat to democracy head on. The fantasy fiction solutions that have been indulged in recent weeks are no match for the realities we are facing. But the Biden/Harris ticket is.
Everyone I know is Riden' with Biden. He is the man of the hour.
If President Biden does agree to a second faux debate on bought-and-sold CNN, I hope he says directly to Trump's narcissistic face the things President Biden is saying in his speeches now that are absolutely wonderful straight talk!!! Truth. Pure unadulterated Truth.
Buddy, your male point of view is sad. You get a few points for becoming a doctor, I get that it's a lot of work, but your privileged life is blocking the truth. Get your heart right, practice empathy, not your monetary privileges.
Biden has done a great job so far, the people need to pull together for him to continue, then have the Harris train to jump to in 4 years. TRump is a dumpster fire.
I rue the day when CBS conjured the idea of reality Tv, the horrible Survivor. The onslaught of stupidity (in the form of scripted conflict and competition) and the mixing of news and entertainment just swept over us at a time when Rupert had made Fox (fair and balanced) the purveyor of oxymorons for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Such a national focus on alternative realities has primed us to accept the negative aspects AI and I fear the future will challenge even the dystopian view that Orwell envisioned. We all need to keep focused on the goals of living our legacy and not be distracted by the siren’s songs, no matter how alluring and “entertaining.”
Murdoch is a British Empire Nepo baby. Groomed by a father with British colonial contacts in high public offices, as an entitled young British colonial boy, he then inherited ownership of a swathe of Australian newspapers.
He arrived in London’s Fleet Street at the height of Britain’s postwar push for BBC global English speaking cultural hegemony. In those politically chaotic days of the 1960s, he worked with an incestuous ruling class network peppered with post World War Two sophisticated Psyops operatives only too eager to show off and show him how best to deploy black propaganda ‘nudging’ techniques in his news media. So he began building himself his openly desired media dictatorship of the world.
His increasingly successful influencing of the vox populi then proved extremely attractive to certain politicians, most notably the revolutionary British neo liberal, Margaret Thatcher whom he helped gain power in 1979.
He is a colonising empire builder, only interested in accruing personal political and economic power through media manipulation and gaslighting. He and his British colonial rooted media are a clear and ongoing danger to the rule of law based, democratic Enlightenment era American Experiment.
Thank you. Then he turned his evil to Ronnie. “At a dinner last month in Washington, honoring Mr. Murdoch for his work on behalf of Mr. Reagan, Representative Jack Kemp, a New York Republican, said ‘Mr. Murdoch used the front page, the editorial page, and every other page necessary to elect Ronald Reagan president.’” From WaPo in Jan 1981, I think. Sorry no date.
I saw a "reality TV show" exactly once. It was "Survivor" and a couple of my friends thought it was funny, but it wasn't so bad it was good, it was just "how can you watch this?" idiotic.
Never, embarrassing to the max. He doesn’t have enough sense to know how embarrassing he is. I have thought that since his first utterance from the escalator and every breath since. I thought he insulted our intelligence. Seems he bypassed our hippocampus and targeted the amygdala. With a nod to carnival barker since that is his area of skill
SO much of Donald's performance mirrors what WWE wrestlers call "Kayfabe".
In the 90s Donny went to the source and perfected his wrestling 'heel act'. Compare the TV's spot interviews with wresters with his own spot interviews - structure and pacing are an uncanny match!
i never watched Survivor or any reality TV show. I distinctly remember where I was when a room full of people on New Years Day were talking about Survivor. I thought to myself that this was the beginning of public shaming and how depraved it was. I recently saw some old Newlywed Game TV shows and that was the start of public shaming peppered with Bob Eubank smiles and audience laugh tracks. We have better get our act together - fast.
I remember that Newlywed Game and thought that was such a cruel thing to watch. More cruel to make and laugh at. Public shaming is exactly what it is. The ads for a Drew Carey show are exactly that. I hate game shows. And won’t spend a nanosecond on that tripe. That cruel streak is what makes chump attractive to his devoted idiots.
I didn’t know that but heard that the reality crap was the go to during the last writers strike. The streaming services and PBS saved me, but then I haven’t watched network shows since Designing Women. Guess union busting is a tried and true strategy, by whatever means
Yes, the best line in Biden’s speech, which HCR picked up on and needs reiteration, showed us the genesis of our woes. Like preschoolers, hypnotized devotees think Donald’s apprentice set was where he actually worked. The reality was too shabby(not chic) so the producers built a set and scripted his speech. In 2016, I heard an old Scottish man whose property abuts his golf course warn us to make fun of him till we’re rid of him. Calling out indictments,bankruptcies, his ridiculous misspeaks—far worse than twisted name confusions—documenting violations of ten commandments—the Bible salesman’s hypocrisy 1 through 10 and keeping it all factual, indisputable, this must be part of every speech till November. Biden is president now and 81. He needs to pace himself and surrogate campaigners out there. He must examine his own conscience about whether pride or political savy motivate him now. But the speaker in Detroit was not someone struggling with dementia. We need to see more of that speech often and get Amrricans familiar with the contents of P2025 even if it’s only the WIKI digest.
Agreed, JD. I saw but one episode of Survivor, and that was in an airport waiting area. I could not conceive that people were actually watching it. Silly me.
Thank you Heather for laying out the facts!!! After watching and listening to the press conference last night, I think that there isn't anyone who has the wisdom, expertise, experience, energy and drive that Joe Biden demonstrated to lead us effectively and safely for the next four years. I'm with Joe!
Agree! President Biden gave a master class in foreign relations. I feel safe with Biden as President. I have from the first day he took Office as President. I will never forget this fact: President Joe Biden's Administration vaccinated 200 million Americans in the first 90 days of taking Office. I can't even envision the logistical miracle it took to pull that off.
Joe Biden quite possibly saved by life. And yours. It amazes me people forget this.
Watching the Trump campaign reminds me of the fake Apprentice format! Trump was/is so disingenuous. There’s no truth in him or his sycophants and he openly lies without pause! Like Sarah Kendzior said in an interview, we shouldn’t be only concerned about him, but his entire network throughout the country and world! I call it his crime cyndicate!!!
It concerns me to that he’s rarely called out by media outlets for his lies while they lambast Biden for his gaffes! Not sure the motive behind the lack of reporting!
There is no truth in him. That is the key point, and one that needs to be shouted from the rooftops from now until Jan 25. There is no honor, no shame, no class, and no courage (moral or physical).
Worse than his mendacity is his sadism. He doesn't want just to rule, but to make everyone under his heel suffer. Look at how he treats his white Republican rivals from Cruz to McConnell. Rubio and Haley may not count because they're not Aryan, nor in Haley's case, male. Interesting factoid: Aryan originally referred to a language group in Iran and Northern India.
No truth, no honor, celebration of sociopathy, narcissism, sadism and hate, following every one of the seven deadly sins, that’s Donald Trump for you. His sadism led him to take out full page demanding the Central Park Five be executed (in violation of Furman v. Georgia) for a crime they never committed. His sadism also led him to sit on his rump for several hours watching his followers riot and attack Capitol Police on live TV on January 6, 2021.
One proposal in Project 2021 calls for an increase in the number of state and federal capital crimes. Under Furman v. Georgia, capital crimes can only involve murder.
CFDT makes plenty of gaffes along with all his lies. Mostly ignored by the msm. I would like to defend the only reality show I ever watched. Dancing With the Stars had a promising start with some talented people. Then they began injecting politics and too much “reality” and they ran out of stars, and viewers, and mercifully it disappeared.
I think it would be a huge mistake if Biden would step to the sidelines or be shuttled there. As dangerous as changing horses in the middle of a raging river filled with reptilians. The President should never be required to be a performance artist but he must show that he can do the job. Biden has done that. I have faith that the American people will emphatically put an end to our long national nightmare.
And I think JB and his team could rigorously drive the point that he consistently displays the level of competence that allowed him to accomplished so much.
Thank you Heather. So Grothman thinks women’s lib took away men’s purpose? Some men can’t adjust and repurpose themselves? How on earth do they cope? Women have been moving forward and evolving but these pathetic men are stuck in the mud. What pitiful creatures they are
Being one of those libbers of 55 years ago, I was able to note immediately that the MSM was all over us so quickly you could hardly catch your breath. That says a lot don't you think? They didn't do their homework, they didn't care to, they tried to make stars out of individual women as a way of dividing us, and the hostility was so thick it could be cut with a knife. We developed quite a few strategies to deal with all this, one of which was to always appear in teams for interviews etc. Also we exchanged comeback phrases by collecting them at increasingly frequent conferences, making lists of and copying them on mimeograph machines to hand out at the next conferences. Some of them are too ripe to repeat here :-) Just a tiny sketch of our work then and which for many of us continues in various forms.
As someone with relatives who died from smoking related diseases, I hardly think it was liberating to encourage women to die from smoking related disease just as men did. I am just old enough to remember TV ads for cigarettes and remember Family Circle and Women’s Day running the “feminist” smoking ads. I didn’t agree with some of the articles or editorial perspectives of Reader’s Digest, but one of the the good things they did was to take a consistent stand against smoking for reasons of public health.
I remember being at a party back in the day where an old white guy said he was fine with women's lib, if only they weren't so strident. I replied, "Do you think we need your permission or approval?"
To hell with anyone who wants to control how anyone else lives. I quote CFDT, "Do whatever the hell you want."
"He compared the selection process to “a highly sophisticated version of The Apprentice,”"
I refuse to believe that this pathetic, sick clown can win against Biden or any other Democratic candidate, that even a slim majority of the US population could possibly have sunk down into idiocy.
So many people view this like a game of sport (soccer, football, baseball), rather than someone we’re hiring to do a job (plumber, gardener, housekeeper).
Yes, all for reframing the job description for the American people and asking whom would you hire? We shouldn’t be auditioning athletes with claims of didn’t even know what it was, or haven’t studied that, or don’t need to read or take advice, just trust myself. We should show the narcissistic candidate out the door and hire the fellow with fifty years’ experience, but will we?
Heather draws the lines exactly where the two Americas live opposite each other.
It's sad, pathetic, to see so many millions of Americans as in love with reality TV fantasyland as that Clarence court is in love with its billionaires whose constant bribes make up for the Republican justices' steady perjuries.
They have their fantasies, too, the perjured, bribed, and corrupted on that, formerly the highest court in the land. They fancy themselves aristocrats, poised as above and beyond the law as the orange felon they've crowned monarch.
Can the millions of decent, hard-working Americans rally to counter the fraudulent fantasyland, the landscape of fear and hatred over which billionaires like Elon Musk preside? (Thanks, Heather, for the additional note today of how European democracies are holding that guy to criminal account.)
Can Dems cease their stew of self-immolation and begin the job of rallying behind the one decent guy poised to beat parade of criminality by which Trump yet works for nasties like Orban, Putin, the North Korean dictator, and the Iranian master funders of repressing women and funding terror?
Biden said: “It’s time for us to stop treating politics like entertainment and reality TV.”
We have to assume the platform released by the RNC is how the Republicans want to make America great again. Convicted felon Donald Trump spent 4 years and did absolutely nothing to make America great. Robert Rech lays out 40 promises CFDT made and broke.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yky9xGsjQTE&t=54s
But this time he has SCOTUS to back up his schemes.
CFDT had both Houses of Congress to do his bidding in the for the first two years of his Presidency and still did nothing to make America great.
They should change MAGA to MAMA - Make America Mediocre (or Medieval) Again.
Perhaps Make America Grotesque Again as in Jim Crow suppression and lynch mob enabling.
And forcing women to stay at home in poverty, and make babies they can't afford to care for.
More serfs, and more fodder for recreating the baby scoop era. There is also the desire to force white women to have more babies while Black women are punished period.
Mary cat: ah yes, the good old days. When social workers were required to check under the bed for men’s shoes before the single mom could get or keep AFDC.
Unfortunately, I’ve feared it will come to exactly that, and I’m a white female.
I don't think their plan is to make things more of a picnic for any women, even white ones.
MAMA is a better name just because they are a bunch of whinny crybabies in need of a good swat in the britches.
They do seem to never have grown up, and are still holding mother responsible for how their lives have turned out. The way to punish mom for being so powerful and mean, is to oppress her via sexism and forcing her to become chattel again. Scared little men who can't take responsibility for their own failings.
From the link you provided:
"...1:45: Goodkind, Nicole. “Companies Spent 140 Times More on Stock Buybacks than Wages and Americans Should Be ‘Outraged,’ Say Sanders, Schumer.” Newsweek, 4 Feb. 2019. https://www.newsweek.com/bernie-sanders-chuck-schumer-tax-plan-1317417
Great for the Stock Buy Back beneficiaries but not for you, me, or America as a whole.
Buybacks were illegal but Ronnie Raygun took care of that. Because the rich really needed his help....
American multinationals bought into Milton Friedman’s delusional economics, and it enriched the few at the expense of the many. I personally would like to see an end of stock buybacks, stock options, overpayment of executives, and more concerns about ordinary employees. The execs are an untalented lot who look no further than the next quarter.
They bought into Friedman's Big Lie, and bent America to conform to it. How many current laws and policies could pass an "of the people, by the people, for the people" review. How many laws and circumstances favor the rich over the poor? Why is the law so often far more aggressive on petty crimes of the poor than massive crimes of the wealthy?
Amen to all of this.
Stock options have been a way to pay talented workers when a startup doesn't have much cash. They have helped the tech revolution grow, and we are all benefitting. Likewise, Share buybacks not only preserve cash for profitable companies that pay dividends, they also help retain talent because they make stock options more valuable.
He should have received the Plutocratic Meddle of Serfdom for his loyal service.
I personally find stock buybacks far less objectionable than companies’ underinvestment in the employees that create their profits. Liveable wages and predictable work hours should be mandated. Once workers are taken care of, once our environment is protected, companies should be free to deploy their capital as they deem fit. It should be a priority setting situation, not either/or.
Couldn't one argue that the money used for stock buybacks could be used elsewhere instead, employees well being for one?
What HAS been argued from Reagan forward is that showering the lords with additional money would allow them to bestow "jobs, jobs, jobs" and other wonders of nobesse obilge that never made any sense since no one hires as a hobby. The hire to serve a market of people with money to spend, but that's not how it went.
Companies bought companies bought companies, "downsizing" staff with every agglomeration. Defined benefit pensions were scrapped, unions busted, jobs and whole manufacturing sectors massively offshored, Trillions provably diverted to shady offshore tax shelters (Panama Papers, etc.) the right to buy election results declared Constitutionally protected, the "Reaganomic refeudalization of society that is somehow wildly popular even if it's consequences are not. Reaganomics is a ripoff, period. It was never anything different.
...and that it's falsely propping up the stock market?
Yes, but past the basics, if we start micro-managing what companies can do to maximize profits, we create inefficiencies that will make the economy suffer. Instead, we should raise taxes just enough (undoing the Trump tax cuts should be enough) and elect politicians who will spend those funds in a way that the voting public needs (not wants). To operate well, companies need stable regulatory and tax frameworks. Some might even need some government support to reduce risks enough to produce something the public needs. But that's it. Public policy should be implemented by accountable politicians, not by mandating companies to spend their funds in specific ways (besides the basic environmental and labor laws).
The above funds an agenda without containing companies' efficiencies and ability to make profits.
Politically, I like Biden's way of putting it: "Giving everyone a fair shot. "
That "underinvestment in the employees that create their profits" is only slightly removed from slavery. It certainly benefits the owners at the expense of those who do the actual work.
Exactly, John.
stock buybacks is what the corporations spend the money on instead of employees! That is the point. It is more profitable for the CEO and rich shareholders. Instead of good wages , benefits, and growing the actual company...
I agree. It is also an iffy strategy at best. Nearly half of stock buybacks fail to affect share prices. It is a market so buying and selling shares (even if you’re buying back and retiring your own) are affected by the market’s perception of share price, future value, etc.
Corporations stick to this iffy practice as a sop to shareholders. Buybacks are most common in commodity companies that don’t have any other way to spur growth.
They are usually an empty strategy and should taxed at a 50% rate.
T. Roosevelt talked about a "Square Deal".
Any activity in a society becomes society's business when it imposes impacts on society and it's members. Drink till you puke at home, but not driving down a public street and don't endanger your kids. Don't pollute shared resources, etc. Impacts of commercial activity should be examined for direct and indirect effects on society and it's members, but not regulated more than necessary. I suspect that the "sweet spot" there is hard to hit fully accurately, but blanket "deregulation" seems to have unleashed a whole heap of trouble for ordinary citizens, including monopolization, looming plutocracy and climate disaster.
I cringe when I read that Jim and then I look at my retirement account and realize that I am complicit in their buyback schemes.
What's as bad as the stock buy backs is the Republicans allowing mega-monopolies to proliferate. My start-up in 1991 could have been bankrupted by a company that had grown through M&As. And if they had gone after my little company directly they would have. Fortunately the went after 4 Fortune 500 companies that stood up to the mega-corporation as we enjoyed the show.
True. You can thank the late judge Robert Bork for failing to enforce our laws against business monopolies. It’s a big reason why we overpay for basic goods and services, and things like internet and cellular service that costs more and is far slower than that overseas. It also affects how expensive cable service is, with the proliferation of local monopolies.
Robert Bork was the guy who carried out Nixon’sorder to fire the Watergate special prosecutor Alexander Butterfield, which failed to stop the Watergate scandal.
Kathy As a member on the Nixon White House Enemies List, I followed Watergate closely. Attorney General Eliot Richardson, when he was Acting Secretary of State, personally conducted my exit interview from the Foreign Service.
He refused Nixon’s order to fire Special Prosecutor Archbold Cox. Bork finally did it.
Alexander Butterfield was the person in the White House who handled the tape recorder in Nixon’s office. That there were tapes was revealed during the Erwin Senate Hearing and ultimately the Supreme Court ordered Tricky Dick to release the tapes—-and resignation to avoid senate impeachment.
Republicans were angry that Bork’s Supreme Court nomination failed. They got even, multiple times over.
"It’s a big reason why we overpay for basic goods and services, and things like internet and cellular service that costs more and is far slower than that overseas. "
Yet the Internet was invented here, with public money. I am convinced that the Internet revolution would have been retarded and limited considerably had it not been the work of a pubic agency, as was (sort of) the World Wide Web. It made mincemeat of the claim that we need our feudal lords to leads toward anything good. Naturally corporations have done all in their power to dominate the Internet since it grew huge. Private enterprise contributes too, as it did with cell service, but in a democratic republic, we still should be making the rules.
Butterfield was the Nixon aide who revealed the secret taping system. Bork fired Archibald Cox.
Some details, corrections, and evidece of two resignations over the order to fire Archibald Cox, the Special Prosecutor while Butterfield was the deputy Assistant to President Nixon (like Cassidy Hutchinson was to Chief of Staff Mark Meadows). Butterfield revealed the secret tape system that sealed Nixon's fate, and his actions inspired Cassidy Hutchinson to step up for the truth.
See https://www.pbs.org/video/unum-chat-ken-burns-and-cassidy-hutchinson-ksd93f/
Attorney General Eliot Richardson and Deputy Attorney General William Ruckelshaus are my heroes who both resigned before 3rd ranking Bork followed the illegal order to fire Archibald Cox
Sorry I missed some other postings, was staying with my cat the last 90 minutes before he passed, and haven't had time to catch up on the comments from the last day or two.
You are not complicit. You would be complicit if your voting shares were enough to exert influence. They’re not.
In mu opinion, both Republicans and Democrats are complicit in the monopolistic business culture. The last presidency where monopolistic corporate mergers were challenged routinely was the Clinton Administration. Not even the Biden administration is doing near enough. Obama, Trump, snd Bush did almost nothing in this space.
Unfortunately it’s true, and I wish President Obama and his AG Eric Holder had woken up to the outright fraud the bankers were engaged in. To be fair, the Republicans deserve their share of the blame for encouraging it.
To me, Rubin and others in the Bill Clinton administration tried some daring experiments that didn't work, hoping for more innovation to be enabled (Like Sandy Weill wanted as the biggest promoter of ending Glass-Steagall). They got their wish but look at who of all people regretted it in 2012.
Guardrails always seem necessary, though they can be improved to make them more effective without being too limiting.
See https://www.forbes.com/sites/stevedenning/2012/07/25/rethinking-capitalism-sandy-weill-says-bring-back-glass-steagall/
"...So Weill proposes biting the bullet, accepting the regulation of commercial banking, while splitting off investment banking from banking.
"So let commercial banks take deposits and make commerce loans and real estate loans in such a way that they are not going to risk the taxpayer dollars. If they want to hedge what they're doing in their investments, let them do it in a way that it can be mark-to-market on a daily basis.”
An exchange for derivatives
“In derivatives,” says Weill, “we should have an exchange, where you can have a mark-to-market, a place where they can trade, so that you don’t have a problem that can build up over multiple years, and all of a sudden you see a big collapse. If it was marked to market every single day, you'd be able to protect the balance sheets of the different companies.
The world has changed
Does Weill regret what he did at Citigroup? Not really. Weill says that the megabanks were right for their time but the world has changed.
As a result of too much concentration of investments, too much leverage, not enough transparency with a lot of off-balance-sheet items, we had the meltdown of 2008 and trust in the financial system was broken. This has led to efforts to regulate everything in the financial sector, including futile efforts to distinguish market-making trading from proprietary trading. Weill believes that these efforts will continue and in the end will stifle creativity in the financial sector. Instead, the sector should take another route and allow regulation of commercial banking and separate that from investment banking, where creativity and leadership can prosper..."
Like CFDT! That says it all!
I saw a culture wars item in America’s very right-wing National Review:
‘Integrate DEI into Everything We Do’:
Pentagon School System Pushes Progressive Ideology on Children of Service Members
I did not know what DEI means, so I looked it up, and found:
D.E.I.
Diversity—Equity—Inclusion
This knowledge left me even more mystified. So, I asked myself...
What’s wrong with E PLURIBUS UNUM?
Is America’s motto “progressive”? Is it “regressive”?
Is it “status quo”... Or is it and all represents just... MEANINGLESS?
The current reality is, of course, E PLURIBUS DUO (From the Many, TWO).
On the one hand, those who are “MORE EQUAL”
&
THE OTHERS… (The Leftovers, the Losers) on the other…
Which, being interpreted, meaneth:
U.I.E.
UNIFORMITY—INJUSTICE—EXCLUSION
*
A friend commented:
“That which is not understood becomes meaningless.
E PLURIBUS UNUM
has a very deep meaning…
one that is not usually understood.
Thus, the motto has ceased to mean anything
for most of today's world.”
*
And I was brought back to lines I had written seven years earlier:
*
He has divided
his country
He has divided
brother against sister
sister against sister
son against father
husband against wife
*
That’s how it is
and no one’s safe
as long as he walks free
*
a time bomb
strapped to the back of the nation
*
Two sayings from the Gospel of Thomas:
*
LOGION 34
Jesus said:
“If a blind person leads a blind person,
both of them will fall into a hole.”
*
LOGION 72
*
A man said to him:
“Tell my brothers to divide my father’s possessions with me.”
He said to him:
“O man, who has made me a divider?”
He turned to his disciples and said to them:
“I am not a divider, am I?”
Just an aside here, that in reality what blind-since-birth people can actually do can knock your socks off, including skiing and riding a bike down the street. I've seen it. The blind actually can lead the blind, but none are so blind as those who will not see; which is why Trump remains in the presidential race, ,
Thanks for that aside.
I've had plenty of surprises from blind people. For instance, I learned only recently that a man I'd encountered on several occasions was blind. I'd never have known it.
One of the most inspiring characters I met in a lifetime was blind since childhood. Jacques Lusseyran set up a resistance network as a student in occupied Paris and handled recruitment... Arrested and sent to Buchenwald, he survived.
A man with a spellbinding presence.
*
Here, we've been speaking of moral blindness, a total lack of discernment. An inability to perceive anything but surface effects.
MAGA's would denounce "E Pluribus Unum as Marxism from the pit of hell, were it not already engraved on our most sacred tokens.
"Great" devoid of context is just snakeoil, like sloganeering for Kellogg's Sugar Frosted Flakes. America's history is has always been a blend. That's human nature, and some human qualities make us our own worst enemies.
We can learn a lot from our own past about what has worked out favorably and what has not and attempt to reconcile it with present circumstances. A lot has improved and a lot hasn't. Those who extol the "good old days" devoid of context are indulging in delusional fantasies. Often it's a desire to elude responsibilities in a "golden age" of impulsive asssholery without pesky accountability, as formerly sold to fascist Italy or Germany.
That is one of the better Robert Reich commentaries, exposes. That nobody can deny.
They have hooked people by appealing to emotional cultural issues, and then dragged them along with the false claims about the economy and making things better for the middle class. Apparently people trust the GOP with their money and well-being because the GOP is on their side about trans kids and draq queens.
Trump was just shot.
Gary, thanks for the link! Everyone should see this. Lincoln Project could distribute this widely.
Promises are all Donald Trump can make. He is all about 'We're going to this and going to that,' which is all anyone who has no portfolio can say.
Could not agree more with that sentiment.
I disagree. I work in advertising. The campaigns that “go viral” don’t do that by serendipity.
Coordinated effort, strategy, and money propel brand stories into the media—with messages brands choose. Paid influencers shape perception.
Biden has a $100MM+ war chest. What else is that money for?
Biden’s current plan lacks an effort to shape the narrative/reality.
Ad dollars that don’t entertain are ignored/wasted.
Where we may agree… make campaigns 100% federally funded. Take ALL fundraising/bribing/“gratuity” OUT of politics.
Agreed on all of this. I am not seeing ads that will help spread the Dem narrative.
Campaign finance reform and the restoration of the Fairness Doctrine.
These would go a long way to making our country sane again.
We need Moonshot ideas that make headlines. Not just powerful speeches repackaged as “I’m Joe Biden and I approve this message.” Trump voters are bloodthirsty for Project 2025. Let’s “leak” OUR 2025 reinvention of Government. Like... Turn voting into a $1B national lottery ticket. 🗳️=🎟️
I mentioned this some months ago: There are billboards strategically placed throughout America. Check to see where, in your town, they are. I'll bet they are at railroad crossings, and when one is forced to stop because of a 'local' going through (slowly!), one can read in a relatively undisturbed manner the contents of the billboard. Many people will pass by this crossing several times per day. That billboard will do what Trump always does, "pound, pound, pound" every lie, half-truth, promise, etc. His loyal followers become imbued with that tripe because they are hanging on his every word. Billboards can have the same affect. Then, move on to cable TV advertising which is relatively inexpensive and allows for the "pound, pound, pound" idea to create or support a change in ideas or beliefs.
To be cheaper and more effective, make it $1,000,000 for one lucky voter in each congressional district.
I like that idea, although the odds would range from 1 in 242 million to 1 in 155 million.
100 000% with your closing paragraph. What we have currently is a grotesque, demeaning farce, one that makes America look both corrupt and ridiculous in the eyes of the world.
What is more, the whole "horse race" ritual is so much a part of the country's folklore that voters are quite unable to see the wood for trees when faced with something as radically unprecedented as the current attempt to use the ballot box to overthrow the Republic.
I suspect that, even if all the readers in the little LFAA community were to read what I have just written, most would still be unable to take in the threat the country faces, because it seems so unconceivable.
P.S. In this context I'd rather "capture the attention" than "entertain".
Mr. Biden is correct, but the media outlets buy into Trump’s gaudy, lying distractions.
Just curious...why do you call him 'Mr. Biden' not President Biden?
It was a mistake on my part. President Biden is indeed the President.
. . . and that is why I cancelled my Washington Post subscription!
JL Graham, Or… Biden could challenge Trump/Dobbs to defend fellow rapists.
Lift the statute of limitations.
Force the news to carry that headline to term.
He COULD get his age out of the headlines by making historic/necessary news.
How about if Biden declares now, that he has won the election and is starting his 2nd term? Run with it and see where it goes?
The bought-and-soldier Justices would have none of that! But then, neither would he or we. Whatever our failings, we don't suffer from that kind of moral idiocy...
Why wait for the next elections to restore and protect voting rights? Signing them into law now restores a necessary protection when it is most needed. We won't have another free and fair election if Trump wins.
Agreed. Biden should restore the right to vote to all felons. It would be so beneficial for the country, for Dems and impossible for MAGA to complain about.
YES!!!
Polls continue to show that Biden’s popularity has not suffered from the debates. Something to keep in mind going forward.
“I get knocked down, but I get up again
You are never gonna keep me down”
That was my anthem when going through a particularly difficult time at work. Rings true today!
The Chumbawumba president! I foresee a tongue-in-cheek Dark Brandon Patty punchy in the merch store soon.
Do you have a lot of dough, Jane?
What does THAT mean, Bill Katz? Do YOU?
Her stated name is Jane Dough. Ha ha ha.
I watched the Michigan barnburner. As much to the point was the unadulterated enthusiasm of the pastor presenter in standing behind Biden regardless of the media, donors et al who are pronouncing on the optics on a very bad night then finding every false scrap which might be framed to show Biden's "cognitive decline". While many polls say Biden is "too old" he nonetheless is statistically tied with Trump. At this late date, do those critics really think they can find a new leader who can do better at this point in the race? It was great to see voters' rejection of pundit criticism.
Voters rejection of pundits criticism is a better measure of the polls than the polls. When have they been right lately?
I am so TIRED of pundits talking about the polls, so tired of media talking about Biden stepping down and especially infuriated by Democrats not standing by their candidate who won more than 3,800 delegates in the primary. Biden won! To even speak of him stepping down is to do what Republicans are doing....to delegitimize our election process.
If we are worried about the 'on the fence' voter, it's time to take a page from the Republicans. Gaslight the hell out of them. Even better, scare the hell out of them with what DT will do. Project 2025. From now on, the only words from a Democrat should be that everything DTs says is a lie, he's a convict, a rapist, a child rapist, a fascist, will be a dictator and will toss our nation to Russia, North Korea, and China in a nano second.
We don't have to gaslight them. We have the truth on our side--just scare the hell out of them with the truth of Project 2025 and Agenda 47.
I agree. People deserve to know how Project 2025 will screw the public and public interest seriously.
Thank you. We Dems have been far too nice for far too long. CFDT does not "misspeak" or "dissemble" or anything else. He is a gawdam liar.
Plain and simple.
Along with rapist, traitor, and wannabe dictator.
close enough! I wonder if we can get a pro Biden voter surge esp with publicity, publicity, publicity. After all, "think of the alternative"! Worst case, Harris has to pick up the presidency, and that, i think, not likely! (this term at least).
Susan -- ?? "a child rapist" ?? Who and when was that?
Donald Trump's name is all over the court records revealed in the case of convicted pedophile, Jeffrey Epstein I personally read court transcripts available on the Internet of a 14-year-old virgin that Trump raped. When she asked him what she should do if she got pregnant, he threw money on her stomach and told her -- with heartbreaking distain -- to get an abortion. By the way he also peed on her.
The list of people that were involved with Jeffrey Epstein and flew to his island which locals called "Sex Island" in the Virgin Islands includes Trump.
https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2024/feb/01/instagram-posts/we-fact-checked-a-years-old-epstein-list-with-166/
Also, you might read the book by James Patterson entitled Filthy Rich or watch the Netflix documentary or read the book entitled The Spider by Barry Levine.
I mark "like" but feel the deepest disgust... and somehow do not see many of those whom the beast has corraled as feeling any differently from me if they can come to face the painful truth... not only about their savior's perversions but the gross inadequacy that has to underlie them.
This the story, Ashley? https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/nov/04/donald-trump-teenage-rape-accusations-lawsuit-dropped
Ashley, In the '90's People magazine had a big article on this young girl being raped by Trump and Epstein also. I use to keep copies of the magazine until I cleaned out my attic. In the article it said Epstein was angry that Trump got to her first!! That is when I knew what a creep he was and disgusting. The girl who was raped and her family were threatened with death if they came continued seeking justice so they quit for fear of their life. Karma is long overdue for this disgusting man!
Ashley, I began opening the attachment. It’s extensive. The woman in question was prepared to have a press conference in 2016 but after receiving death threats, pulled back and dropped the accusations. I’m wondering if this could be used somehow.
I suspect that is a reference to his numerous visits to Jeffrey Epstein...
Thanks, Ally House. Totally forgot about Epstein!
Believe me, no one hates Trump more than I do, and no one would like to see him in jail for anything and everything, but I looked into this issue a little bit and I'm not sure the evidence is there. He was trying to do a real estate deal with Epstein at the time, buying some property in Florida (?) and develop, so it is possible that the communications, messages, and plane trips were linked to that. But of course, no matter what, Trump knew who Epstein was (said he liked them young) and still had no problem associating with him and trying to do business with him.
What do they say of lifelong criminals as their arrest is being questioned? He's probably guilty of something like that. My mother always said, be careful of the company you keep.
Whatever the Dems do, I wish they would shut up with all the public criticism. Hash out behind closed doors whether to keep or replace the president (keeping in mind that Harris comes with reelecting Biden and, if he can’t continue as prez, she will.) I have resumed listening to music while I drive, not news or podcasts, because I have reached my limit and need to preserve (what’s left of) my sanity.
I find listening to classical radio with no news other than traffic reports more relaxing.
Simon Sinek's Podcast "A Bit of Optimism" is awesome and "Pivot" with Kara Swisher and Scott Galloway always includes irreverent humor that's good for a much needed smile. Also, Kara Swisher's interview of Gretchen Whitmer in Swisher's Podcast "On with Kara Swisher" gave me hope. These, and especially Scott Galloway's "No Mercy, No Malice" essay read by George Hahn each Saturday on the Prof G Podcast are great listening.
You don’t win a fight by punching yourself in the face. Every Democrat needs to get to work attacking the real enemy— MAGA and Trump.
Agree!
I peeked at the NY Times front page this morning and zero/zip/nada about Detroit. I guess they couldn't find anything wrong so why report on it.
Charles Blow has made exactly this point, and he mentioned that presidential predictor Allan Lichtman has stated it would be disastrous for the Democrats to dump the President at this stage. If they do that, they’ll lose for sure.
He's not the only one. Meantime the media/pundits and some dems/donors continue an anti-Biden campaign without letup. Who do they really think will change the polling picture at this point?
So much media coverage of what the monied class pronounces Is surely GOING TO happen when no one can know. Not talking about what HAS happened and IS happening as Dr. Richardson does.
Very true, and this is exactly why I read these articles.
5PM: see, I told you
“Polls continue to show that Biden’s popularity has not suffered from the debates…”
Moneymen—those who buy and sell their country and place bets on it—continue to panic and withhold moolah.
Mindless Media and the Gutless Party machinery continue to plan suicide and make a big show of their death wish for America.
I’ll confess that my intuition, which has served me well, is at war with my analytical faculty.
Intuition says Joe Biden’s doing fine, while the Man Who Would Be King is very near the end of his tether.
The analytical faculty is not troubled by questions about Biden’s undoubted competence but by people’s blindness to any reality beyond the most superficial telescreen appearances.
At the same time, this rational mind is very aware, both from observation and from personal experience, of the fact that the physical processes of aging are not smooth and continuous but tend to advance in short, sharp shocks. The mind may stay lucid and dynamic to the end. Physical infirmity tires and spoils appearances. Once again, most people do not see beyond the surface—and that is why is why old people who are far more compos mentis than most of us are often treated as though they were “silly old fools”.
I recall my powerful, strong-minded mother tiring of the struggle to make carers understand that because she was seriously enfeebled she was in no way any less her old self. "I can't be bothered," she said, "It's a waste of energy". She was all there until her last breath.
Incidentally, I am quite critical of aspects of Biden’s performance, but those show the downside of great and wide-ranging experience, which can be overmuch habit-forming, so that settings are not always adjusted sufficiently to take account of such facts as when a trusted ally falls into the hands of a mendacious confidence trickster.
Nicely said, Peter.
Thank you, Ally, but this calls for courage, total determination and constant presence of mind, together with readiness to face violence, whichever way the votes go.
If ordinary people retain even 1% of their senses, they will recognize that they'd be better off with a bag of cement or Caligula's horse than with the MAGA madman.
I keep vacillating between letting him go and keeping him in. If he loses, we’ll all conclude he made a huge mistake. If he wins, we praise Allah. One thing I am sure of. We, the US and NATO have made a gigantic mistake with Ukraine. A no nato pledge would have stopped it. We never learn. Now we must be all in. There is no choice although there will be a settlement probably with a no nato clause. So where has it gotten only terror and death of Ukrainians. For nothing.
Here’s how Biden wins in November: Every vacillator, doubter, wait-and-see sideliner watches his speech in Detroit, comes to the sudden realization that doing two full-time jobs (campaigning to beat the most dangerous sociopath in the world AND working as President of the U.S. while the second-most dangerous sociopath stands beside a row of nuclear missile-launching buttons) is exhausting and mindnumbing for a person of any age, and starts spreading their words of unabashed support to everyone in line at the bank, in grocery stores, at church and at the water cooler. Pick up a yard sign, get a bumper sticker, post praise for the GOAT on social media and stop letting the mainstream media reality show pundits and pollsters tell us how to think. We don’t need more drama, we need full-on support. Now. The clock is ticking.
Great campaign speech, Bob. Keep it up!
I liked your comment so much, I shared it on my FB page! Thanks!
CFDT is running a reality TV show while Biden is running a campaign. There is only one star in the CFDT team. Only 4 of his entire cabinet and senior staff endorse him and to the person, they say he is UNFIT for office.
CFDT takes credit for everything positive that happened during his Presidency. But he accomplished so little no one notices. There aren't even supporting actors in his reality show -- they are just cameos he hires to tell everyone how great he is. But even that ship has sailed except for the most vile Republican politicians and a few donors that he has promised tax breaks to.
The media gives CFDT a pass for every little thing he does. Unfortunately, mixed with the dozens of little things which show he is demented and an asshole ,are lots of big things they let slide - like pardoning 143 felons who literally defrauded the government out of billions and violent criminals. And you know there was quid pro quo for a lot of them, if not all. When was the last time you saw a story about this in the media.
If for no other reason Bill than these insane pardons, I will not vote for CFDT. But, I understand your concerns.
Tfg has a new revenue stream: selling pardons. Oh wait. I meant receiving “gratuities” after he pardons criminals—his tribe.
Biden made a big mistake? Seriously Bill....we vote. If DT wins, it's on us!
And what will you do when your replacement to Biden loses to CFDT?
If we let Putin win in Ukraine, he won’t stop there. We aren’t nation building in Ukraine; we’re supporting their efforts to fight back an aggressor.
If we replace Joe on the ticket (which is what the Rs want), we will lose.
We agreed to do so under the Budapest Agreement and NATO commitments, which of course Vladimir Putin detests.
Let’s turn this around for a moment. Suppose Mexico invited Russia to position nukes close to the border with the U.S. no, a better example is 1962 Cuban Missile Crises. What did we do? Early brought the world doe with a nuclear war. Now turn it around and what do you have in Ukraine. Ukraine is to Russia that Cuba is to the US. Comprende?
That has been a talking point that Russia has promoted. But we didn’t invade Cuba, we weren’t trying to annex it. Russia is trying to recreate the old Soviet Union.
If we lose, I’ll hold the media accountable, not Biden
We’d better rally to defeat Trump and Trumpism or we may not have a second chance! If he’s re-elected, we’ll likely have a “Putin-like” election in 2028, completely controlled by the government! If we rest on our laurels and sleepwalk through November, we’ll regret it come January 21, 2025!
Apparently Donald hates being called Donald.
Gets upset.
Just saying.....
Donaldism? 😅
Really want to irritate himm?
The Donald
that's what we New Yorkers have called him for decades
His late first wife Ivana called him the Donald.
And what happened to Ivana? She “tripped” on her stairs in her apartment and died?
Really? Was there an inquest?
I don’t know, but given Donald’s penchant for lies, I doubt it.
That must be why Mary Trump calls him "Donald" in her social media -- I've often wondered why.
Mary Trump is much saner and more realistic about her uncle than many in the public. It’s probably because she’s a psychologist and grew up living in the real world, unlike her uncle and his dysfunctional family.
And she says she can't find a single positive, redeeming quality in him. . .the only human being of whom she can say that!
She knows her uncle all too well, I’d say.
Oh yes Doug, she knows
Then what does he like?
We should definitely call him late for dinner, Ozempic or no. Wait! The more Whoppers he eats ... I wonder if there's a correlation between what goes into his mouth and what comes out.
Apparently "Sir", given those fake stories he likes to tell.
Probably something like King. He used to calll in to radio stations & say his jam was Baron.
He called himself John Barron in an effort to publicize himself. My guess is that he was too much of a cheapskate to hire a press flack and would have stiffed any press flack just like he did with suppliers and contractors.
God, maybe!
Maybe we should try to find out what his close friends call him…oh wait….
Anyway my recent favorite is Baked Jam.
Register more Democrats to rally to defeat Trump.
https://www.fieldteam6.org/
To defeat Donald?
We ARE Phil , we.the.people. ARE staying the 💙 course.
Four More Years, Joe! Your track record not only set the precedent it’s the best Presidency EVAH ( that’s my Maine accent btw and thanks Susan for YOUR latest addition to ridding bullies).
If you’re not with the BLUE TSUNAMI you’re with the losing party poopers ,period.
Heather, thank you so very much, congratulation with a little c from this old little p , pat.
You point out the papers coming around , YEA! 🗣️call out the bully bunch , cheap credit cheaters who voted no - stolen accolades, further claims to the infamous coup.
Unite Sisters, no better a time to TOOT.
Unite Dems , let’s give MAGA the BOOT.
💙💙VOTE ALL …ALL THE COMPLICIT OUT💙💙
Patricia Davis -- Four more years, Joe and Kamala. They're a team.
🫶
Patricia Davis -- I cannot read what your comment (or emoji) is. Substack isn't working the way it used to, at least on my computer. Later, it shows on the Email notice. Mystery.
Hugs Judith, like Iris Dement sings 🎶..I try to live my life accordingly🎶
I agree, and I hope you are able to send Susan Collins packing.
Gah! In our little berg, our property taxes just jumped 20%. Part of that is a new fire station, but also another jiggering of property values and the school budget allocation. But the town, after the smack of the tax bill last week, trumpeted that Susan got us 4 million dollars toward the $11M station. I don't even know how it's going to cost 11m, but Susan will save us from ourselves. I'm so so tired of it.
I live in Montgomery County, OH, and our property taxes went up due to reassessments. Mine for my condo are around $300 a month. Our schools still have to ask for levies which get voted down, and the reason is that our Republican gerrymandered legislature gives voucher money to private schools and the money is supposed to go to public schools. SCOTUS has enabled this, and I think tax money should only be used for public schools. Public schools are a public good.
The same situation re vouchers has happened in NH as well. We've had a quadrafecta for the past 6 years. Fortunately Sununu's not running again. We have an Executive Council that negotiates contracts etc and they've had a super majority of Republicans who've consistently REFUSED to fund Planned Parenthood even though NO money goes to funding abortion care. (and the Education Commissioner has NEVER attended public schools and home schooled his 7 kids. and is all n re giving public education monies to private and religious schools by giving them public tax monies to via vouchers.)
They act as if money is for themselves alone. Texas, Oklahoma and Florida have been playing this game for years.
I have never wavered in my support and admiration of Joe Biden, nor in my faith that he understands bullies and knows exactly how to “put the Ralphie on them”
I would add that it is frighteningly sad and pathetic that we seem to have so many of our fellow Americans seemingly so enthusiastically enamored with the “dark side” … the evils of mankind … that which represents those approaches to life that are deemed wrong by so many of those of us who represent the silent majority … let’s surround the Biden/Harris team with our gratitude, eagerness and excitement and let’s trounce the opposition and continue moving our nation forward - not backwards!!!
Now, are there caveats with this? Yes, unfortunately yes there are … there are basically two to three things that are weighing Biden’s poll numbers down: Age, cognitive abilities … and inflation. But common among each of these is our ignorance … is the campaign using smoke and mirrors to hide Biden’s deficiencies - hence, we maybe faced with a “Weekend at Bernie’s” scenario [no more debates this presidential campaign round; let’s be presidential and hold two or three more news conferences … I was against holding any “Biden - trump” debates period which I have stated in the past] and yes, the inflation rate is still headed in the right direction - but how soon will grocery prices, gasoline prices show substantive/noticeable downward movement to the average American citizen and voter?
Ohhhh, and the promises Biden is making about many of the things he wants to get done in his second term require favorable votes in the U.S. House and Senate, so he must remember and we must remember - he cannot do it along!!!
To be clear, speaking is separate from cognition. Well-educated people with good vocabularies and public speaking experience may be able to hide their cognitive decline, even dementia, until they start putting the ice cream in the oven.
A memory expert pointed out that not being able sometimes to retrieve something like a person’s name becomes more common with age. The memory is not gone, but takes longer to find. It is not memory loss. Nor short-term memory loss associated with dementia.
Stuttering experts say that fighting a stutter uses up a sizeable chunk of your mental energy and focus. It amazes me that the imperfect speaker that Joe Biden is could keep convincing people to elect him. Maybe accomplishing something is more important than talking about it?
Oh, oh....not bribes--such a nasty sounding word. Gratuities, dontcha know? Gratuities provide a much classier mental picture. Yeah, the highest court in the land waiting tables and serving their betters with favorable rulings along with their enabling of decreased regulation for more profit. So much "class". The trashy Trumps have managed to bring the Court down to their level.
It’s a project that goes all the way back to the late Lewis Powell.
Phil, you are a gifted writer. An excellent comment. Thank you.
Almost poetic Phil, really well done and you're quite right about the sad delusionism that affects so many of our fellow Americans.
Hear hear , Phil!!!! Excellent job of wrapping up the facts that Heather awards us with.
We mustn’t forget how many of us are not manipulated by all this malarkey . We are well educated and determined not to be smothered by a few perverts.
Let’s hold hands and go forward( not backwards), to make our country thrive in goodness and in success for all. Remember our children. They have choices to make that will affect them…. We had and have our choices. The planet( not just one country) needs our support in order to thrive.
Our power is telling the facts and helping others see the difference between phony and reality.
Phil, thanks so much for your clear-headed analysis. If we had a year in which to choose another candidate, we would have many possibilities who would have time to organize a campaign and build a war chest, and Biden might have been thankful. However, with less than four months, another choice is virtually impossible. Yes, Biden has to be exhausted, and remember that before the 2020 election he made it clear that he wouldn't have entered the race but for the fact that Trump had come close to destroying the country during his reign of terror. We know that he's jeopardizing the remainder of his life, because Trump has been emboldened by the totally corrupt right wing of SCOTUS and having his henchmen assembled without guardrails. We have to change our usual behavior of internal squabbles and ignore the press and its insistence on ignoring Trump's proven criminality while pillorying Biden, and giving us our sole chance to beat the frightening parade that is intent on taking us back hundreds of years and feeding the despots.
Well said. I agree that the American oligarchs see themselves as the aristocracy. Nice reminder that the aristocracy are dictators, with total control over their powerless peons and serfs.
The best way to deal with those "repressing women" is to elect a black woman as President-Kamala Harris-with Biden by her side as a third time Vice President....
If history is an indicator.....
Problem is it's hard to reset a history like ours when the levers for change are in the hands of elites and people whose job it is to keep the controversy going because their paychecks depend upon it continuing.
I sincerely hope so!!!
We all know what 'stolen valor' means. It's when someone claims to have served in the Armed Forces, maybe even claims they received special honors, like a Purple Cross, but they have neither served nor received medals and ribbons. 'Stolen credit' is what we see when Republican politicians show up at bridge openings and project ribbon-cuttings, claiming to support the new public works project, when, in fact, they voted AGAINST the funding for the project. It does make for some brutal campaign advertising, however.
Call them out local papers and local channels. Of course Sinclair won’t do that. Letters to the editor scream it out.
And sing about it on TikTok and other social media popular with young people. Young people detest hypocrisy! I should know. I was young once, too.
\Vince S
Will they call out their parents. At 18, i finally confronted my dad’s racism. It wasn’t easy.
JD, if only we had a local paper to do that. We have a Gannett rag here in the capital city of Oregon. There are some good online entities with news. I hate to say it, but Facebook is where I try to spread the news including Heather's letter. We have a relative in South Dakota who uses TikTok to blister the Gnome (the governor) and she belongs to several groups on Facebook which talk about Project 25.
The two papers I take used to print my letters, stopped about six months ago. Had one in paper two weeks ago. If FB hadn’t banned me….i used to tell it like it was. They didn’t like me calling chump’s fools Nazi wannabes, 4 years ago. Now seems that everybody knows, but few care…
So far Facebook has not banned me and so I continue to call out death star and I call him that, so maybe the algorithm does not pick up on that. My husband tried to post something about Biden the other day making what seemed to me an innocuous comparison and Facebook immediately took it down, wouldn't even let him post it....against "community standards" pfft.
Oh, those community standards, I violated them once too many times, I guess. Sneak in what you can. At least NYT and WaPo have called the cretin unfit. Doubt FB and X will do that. That “free speech” that they pretend is sacred, but skew every day. Orwellian
I don't like Facebook much, but it keeps me in touch with people and also gives me some info about restaurants, etc. For example, i just discovered there is a fine dining restaurant in Fall Creek, OR (had to look it up) which is in a rural area east of Eugene. I was in Facebook jail once and couple of times this week, they said I had posted something about Project 25 which was misleading. A person posting against Project 25 reported that they are using some conservative mag as their guide on that. I call bull pucky on their so-called community standards. I admit to being careful about what words I choose, so as to not attract the algorithm. Also the damn thing has no sense of humor. Glad to see NYT and WalPo call out death star. They should spend much more time calling out his sins... his entire life is a sin.
I've taken up where you left off with FB, putiing quotes from Heather and Joyce and the two Roberts up almost daily. If the opposition can only think in soundbites, I'm doing my best to give them honest ones to digest. Am waiting for fb to ban me.
They may not now since the cat is out of the bag, but Zuck is likely a big donor to chump. Good luck Sally. All hands on deck
Marc Zuckerberg just knuckled under to remove restrictions on Trump after Trump called for Zuckerberg to be jailed.
Same here BLEEDING RED is WV and no/nada/negligent/news ….what Biden has done today…not.a.word. I too pass through to FB the good news, accomplishments, ongoing compromise, coalition building, courteous character calling for unity, compassion consistent with this competent President .
People have paid attention. The midterms proved it. The grassroot movement is wonderful , actively engaged , supportive , bringing truth to the headlines.
Will it be enough to end the orange menace & MAGA Militia…
11/5/24 and onward 💙VOTE ALL THE COMPLICIT OUT💙
I'm in the same boat as Michele; same oversight company (Gannett) but theoretically a different paper: Eugene Register Guard vs. Salem Statesman Journal. Both shadows of their former selves.
I think that Rupert started the run on big gobbling little in the late 80’s and 90’s. Another thing that Moyers addressed back in the day.
Now we get al lot of Eugene news in the rag because one person writing for both papers. Not a different paper at all, just mostly drivel. So sad.
But it’s the image of two papers. Image counts more than reality.
When challenged, some of these slippery Republicans will claim they voted against the bills because the legislation in question "doesn't go far enough to solve the entire problem at hand" and other weasel words.
Grrrrrrr. I have one of those hypocrite reps. We now have a fantastic Democrat opposing him here in northern Michigan and the U.P, Callie Barr!
https://callieforcongress.com/
Grrr is right, MaryPat. If people would only put these hypocrites on the spot by asking why they voted no. They would produce word salad. We have one such rep here in Oregon in the 5th district who has a better D opponent this time. We are in the 6th, but can give the D a donation. Oh yeah, and the awful Joe Kent has surfaced again running in Washington's third district (Vancouver area) against the D woman and incumbent, Perez, who is an auto mechanic. Both already have ads going. We like to donate all over the country, so may have to give some money to Barr.
Thanks.
I've done the same, Michele. Donating to Bynum about every other month.
Amen David
🤣 “weasel words” 👏…accuracy stands out ✌️
I think that is an excellent analogy, Sherman. The chest thumpers who are all pro-military and claiming service when they never served are a disgrace. So are these elected officials who take credit for the progress and voted no to the bill that funded it.
Ally, a lot of them are wannabes and frankly, I think they should be drafted and sent to some hell hole to serve. A while back we had a pol here in Oregon, eastern Oregon if memory serves, who claimed military service and it turned out to be bogus. I think he had to give up even running. Tough guys they are not!
Exactly so.
Exactly!
Poignant Point , Sherman. Let’s keep pointing this out PLEASE. The ignominious elephant getting more and more recognition.
Bravo Democrats …we don’t subscribe or HAVE to be vicious, lie, braggarts or surly , in fact … we’re blamed too quiet ,just ( AHEM…) going about our business of managing the country..WELL …I underscore. No circus show here folks…move along….
getting little credit ( NP) for continuing lifting, organizing coalitions, yada yada yada…ya know folks were just plain boring…
Some people like the drama, the side show semblance, the rude, chaos, retribution talk,,, yea get even with them damn democrats…it’s all their fault.
And they vote for them…
Not me 💙☮️🗽🇺🇸🫶💙
Yes let’s roll back to 1960 when the tax rate for income over $100,000 was 75% and income over $400,000 was 90%. If we are going back, let’s go back to the way it really was. The very wealthy paid taxes and corporations actually used their capital to expand and buy equipment rather than give obscene bonuses to executives.
Yes and it was not so hot too. I want that also
And let's roll back Citizens United. Let tax corporations.
THIS ^^
Tell Mr. Grothman his dinosaur is waiting.
Yes. I'm not familiar with Grothman, but my first thought was that his kind will die out soon.
Hopefully, they will.
And yet they don't. At least fall from power?
Greed and lust for power will always be with us unfortunately.
I was thinking the exact same thing!
Applies to a couple filing jointly, as a single…it’s significantly more onerous. $100k was like a $1m is now…a lot of money!
I'm glad to see President Biden get aggressive about this election and his track record.
"No more free passes for Trimp" is absolutely the road to take.
BUT - one man, even if he's the president, can't do it alone. Write your senators and representatives, call on them to start publicly supporting him! And let's all start calling BS on the bots whining about his "old age". Joe's earned it. Let's start helping!
The President gave a fine speech in Detroit. The whole vid. is worth the watch; if one is interested only in the speech, start at the seven-minute mark.https://www.c-span.org/video/?536973-1/president-biden-campaigns-detroit-michigan
Thanks for posting this, Ned. I actually liked the beginnings where the crowd would not be contained!
We need to see more Biden speeches. For too long the media has ignored them. I actually got a bit emotional watching the Detroit crowd cheering so heartily for Biden. It was so wonderful to see. We need the boost.
I believe there is a Democratic silent majority of greater intensity and power than MAGA who have not wavered in their support of President Biden. Who have dug their heels in and refuse to let the DC politicians, the donor class (Clooney) or the media decide this election. I count myself as one of them.
We will prevail.
I have trouble faulting George Clooney for his op-ed. He has assisted so many Democrats and will assist Biden. The Republicans are ALL such hypocrites, especially Nikki Haley for time and again scorching CFDT and then saying he will support him for President. And she's just one of them that hold their noses and say they support him.
He did a huge amount of harm and provided even more fuel for the anti-Biden camp. He betrayed Biden. I recoil against a member of the donor class thinking their money makes them an expert on politics.
Clooney could have voiced his concerns privately. An op-ed in the New York Times? Really George?
I do agree, Barbara. I'm still not convinced Biden will make it to the finish line, or pull the Dems across if he gets there, but Clooney made a huge error in speaking so publicly. I think Biden's decision should be his to make, relying on the counsel of family and the Dem leadership, including the figurative leader Obama. Everybody else who has a megaphone should shut up. As a Dem strategist (sorry, forgot his name) pointed out on MSNBC post- news conference, (paraphrasing): "We cannot have another week like this...it will tear us apart. We will be finished."
Meanwhile CF45 golfs and amuses himself at the conflagration without the media talking about his manifold problems.
I disagree. Clooney, and Ezra Klein before him, spoke the truth about a candidate that is hamstrung by age and cognitive decline. In the end, the election will be decided by voters who cast their ballots by feel. Sad but true. When the campaign heats up again we will be deluged with media ads and commentary focusing on Biden’s age and that KH offers little positive to those issues. Moderates are concerned about border issues, which are already being drummed by every GOP candidate. I voted for Biden, and will do so again, but I truly believe that no amount of spin (one bad day) or “fear for democracy” statements will offset the aging issue among swing voters. Wish it weren’t so. Biden should step aside and let democracy work, messy as it will be.
¡Keep that spirit on fire, there, Barbara! 🚀
EDIT: you are welcome. Ma'am. 🤝
¡As did l, Lynell! 🥳 In the age of click-bait, thirty minutes can be a big ask. 😉
Oops, you are welcome, Ma'am.
The intro was a master class.
I just watched that in its entirety. Thank you for giving that link. I am so moved.
Sarah, you are quite welcome. Consider it my insomnia working for the good of humankind. 😉
"No more free passes for Trump."
Starting when. One single newspaper (The Philadelphia Inquirer) pointer out CFDT's 602 lies and that it was a lie every 3.9 seconds. When I looked at the transcript he lied 4 times in his first three sentences claiming he had the best economy ever.
Of course HCR pointed out his lies the day of the debate, but apparently egregious lies are so normal for CFDT and all Republicans that it's perfectly ok to lie.
Decisive editorial by 'The New York Times', too.
The minute I found out that my representative came out to publicly ask JB to step down, I fired off an email to her. I strongly, but respectfully, told her I thought she was dead wrong, and asked her to explain and reconsider her position. I’m waiting for her reply.
Since this is apparently no country for old men, we must take the spotlight off Joe and trap the felon in its glare. Does anyone remember the moment in Beetlejuice (the movie) when the so-called spiritualist is caught in a circle of light looking frumpy? Or police interrogations in any film noire? That.
My first marriage was a hateful 17 years with a narcissist who wanted a woman like his mother to take care of him and not question anything he did.
Every time I hear the donvict speak (or any repub) it reminds me of those days.
My husband is in some ways like Joe, because he struggles to find the right words to say the things he wants to say.
But I know he loves and cares for me, it's a part of him that will ever go away.
That's how I feel about President Biden.
I know he loves this country and the people.
He truly wants the best for all of us. He truly wants our country to be that shining light on the hill.
So I voting for that shining light. For the hope that by the time my grandson starts his adult life, that this country will truly be shining bright all over this world.
Very Nice Share. Thanks
“Today, in Detroit, in a barnburner of a speech, President Joe Biden pitched his plan for the first 100 days of a second term with a Democratic Congress. He promised to restore Roe v. Wade, eliminate medical debt, raise the minimum wage, protect workers’ right to organize, ban assault weapons, and to “keep leading the world” on clean energy and addressing climate change. He also vowed to sign into law the John Lewis Voting Rights Act, which would end voter suppression, and the Freedom to Vote Act, which would protect voter rights and election systems, as well as end partisan gerrymandering. “
Sold. I’d still vote for Joe if he was 102.
I must admit to tearing up when the crowd chanted “don’t you quit” and “we’ve got your back”. It was a wonderful speech, and I actually slept well last night for the first time in weeks.
KR, me, too!!
Same.
We have a nomination process. We picked Joe. So, to all these post debate panic-ers, please stop and realize you missed your chance. Too late. Too bad. Get over that debate! It was not moderated, it was a hit job of hack jobs. Like a boxing match without any rules for one fighter, but all the rules and judgements on the other fighter. TFG was trained in acting by that awful show, the Apprentice . Joe was never trained for reality tv. He was trained and honed by R E A L I T Y. And the last 3 1/2 years have so many accomplishments across off facets of the economy and social fabric of society. One I outs like to mention, is how many innocent people have been killed at an assembly or protest? Zero. Because people have had a reason to protest in the street. Thugs have been prosecuted. People are back in school and work, making something beautiful of their lives and families. James Carville recently spoke about the hope and change campaigns of Obama and Clinton. He thought we needed more of that in this campaign. And anyone could argue that we do. But I’d like to argue that what gets people trusting, and believing most, is results. And Joe has the most I’ve seen in my lifetime. I’m not about to doubt his entire administration of capable, steady servant and transformational leaders. Like the 1940’s, this moment is a transformational period in history. I’m not changing horses. I won’t cede an inch of ground that is only strengthening these modern fascists that are seeking to destroy our democracy. I just Joe and Jill, and Kamala, and the entire cabinet to beat MAGA. After that, I trust them to keep on making the right decisions. The primacy of the Presidency is to provide the moral leadership for our entire government and to our citizens, and to all people of the world. There is no greater hope than that James Carville.
Yep. Me too.
Me three!
Now this is the rally we have been waiting for!
https://youtu.be/uE7mDPX_jmk?si=zDMWBvslz2uPDEfF
"... such benefits amounted to a redistribution of wealth from hardworking white men to undeserving Black Americans ..."
Here, in a nutshell, is the essence of the right wing lie that has gripped America since the end of the Civil War: the Calvinistic notion that wealth equates to virtue - but only, of course, if it's white wealth.
There is a common meme I've seen on social media that says, “If wealth was the inevitable result of hard work and enterprise, every woman in Africa would be a millionaire.” Originally written by Briton George Monbiot, it is a truth that can easily be applied as well to Black Americans. For the first 400 years of Europeans' growing domination of this land, it was Black slave labor that built the wealth here - not the labor of their white owners.
Indeed, once those Black Americans were able to reap the financial rewards of their labor in the decades after the Civil War, they quickly began to grow their own wealth. This prompted some of the worst atrocities this nation had ever seen, like massacres of entire Black neighborhoods and towns in Florida and Oklahoma. White men felt so threatened by the growing wealth of Black Americans that they slaughtered successful Black citizens, stole or destroyed their wealth, and created the entire Jim Crow system of laws to prevent Black Americans from reaping any more rewards from their work. Oh, and they made sure to cleanse our history books of any recollection of these crimes. Most of what has transpired since has been a battle between the forces attempting to maintain that new status quo, vs those working for justice.
Biden is the first president in a very long time to try to right many of these wrongs. No flippin' wonder the "elites" are working so hard to shut him down.
I'm reminded of the college professor who asked her class, "raise your hand if you'd like to be treated the way minorities in America are and have been treated since the 1960s."
Nobody raised their hands.
The same question can be posed, but asking "*before* the 1960s". Speaking as a person with acknowledged white male privilege, I'd like to think that there has been at least some progress since then.
There are at least a half dozen good points in this short post, most of which are not taught in our schools. Our founding documents are a glorious statement of the inalienable rights of all men. But the institutions that produced our founding fathers, the ones who wrote those documents, were established using the wealth derived from the labor of the enslaved.
In the immediate wake of the Civil War the will of the victors to fulfill the provisions of the new Constitutional amendments withered in the face of Southern recalcitrance and political necessity, leading to the events you note in your third paragraph. And equally destructive practices such as red-lining and selective demolition for the interstate highway system continued throughout the 20th century.
This is the system that perfectly decent, good-hearted people grew up with and considered normal, without giving thought to the processes that gave rise to it.
"Justice," save in the immediate sense, is a chimera. We, the citizens of our country, need to commit ourselves to the struggle to realize for all our citizens the ideals cited in those founding documents.
There needs to be a real deep and broad refurbishing of the Democratic Party by people from the middle, most certainly by labor and likely beginning with a calling out of the urban elites who have apparently absconded with the common good sense of working class people through lots and lots of words to virtue signal intent. We could do a lot better. I've been a registered Independent since California allowed it and strongly support ranked voting, which is a smart way to bring in other voices and break up the hegemony.
"Elites" is just code for educated, financially successful people. May we all become independent-minded elites. I am against all hypocrites, be they virtue signallers or Christian Nationalists.
“elite, definition: a select group that is superior in terms of ability or qualities to the rest of a group or society.” Lauren, just clarifying to highlight the superior aspect which also tends to be classist and that's not good either. Class is the last thing that this democracy will be dealing with; you can see how it isn't at this point by the vast difference between the GOP and the Dems headed by Biden who is very aware of this aspect and has been working diligently to change it for the last 3 1/2 years.
The elite Dems have in a way violated their own earlier motivations and principles in ways that separate and isolate them from the working class, from blacks, from LGBTQ I. They have been resorting to virtue signaling instead of the hard work of getting better laws passed to even all the playing fields. You won't find it discussed in the MSM, but the black community has often taken it up. If Dems were serious about being democratic they would dig in and make a better track record by returning to the old working class roots that created in the first place, and this could make a huge difference in our voting this fall, to embrace and support many of the fringe voters who are working class and feel abandoned.
“elite, definition: a select group that is superior in terms of ability or qualities to the rest of a group or society.” Lauren, just clarifying to highlight the superior aspect which also tends to be classist and that's not good either. Class is the last thing that this democracy will be dealing with; you can see how it isn't at this point by the vast difference between the GOP and the Dems headed by Biden who is very aware of this aspect and has been working diligently to change it for the last 3 1/2 years.
The elite Dems have in a way violated their own earlier motivations and principles in ways that separate and isolate them from the working class, from blacks, from LGBTQ I. They have been resorting to virtue signaling instead of the hard work of getting better laws passed to even all the playing fields. You won't find it discussed in the MSM, but the black community has often taken it up. If Dems were serious about being democratic they would dig in and make a better track record by returning to the old working class roots that created in the first place, and this could make a huge difference in our voting this fall, to embrace and support many of the fringe voters who are working class and feel abandoned.
People! Wake up. Here in the South it's still (frustratingly) Pre-Civil war. It's horrible here for women, immigrants and Black citizens!!! Raised in California, I had no idea what the South truly was!!! Now divorced, thank you Jesus, I work justice ministry and attend a progressive, liberal UCC church in the North end of town that was, and still is,where the black families are dominant. I raised my twins to vote BLUE!
Wake up and vote for Biden who will move an agenda that includes women and the people that do the work in America.
Condos in Sarasota are selling for $20million, the Zeigler's thrive here (check their news story) County Commissioners (Moran) channel public money to "service organizations" that are run by their wives! County Commissioners have cut funding to any group that works with United Way,,, because United Way supported a hot line for pregnant women, where services include abortion referrals. AUGGHH!
Some things never change, what we are seeing is the ongoing Southernization of the GQP thanks to Nixon’s Southern strategy.
Thomas L. -Thanks so much for clearly expressing the reality of American history and life. The battle for justice continues. This election is indeed a test of whether progress toward perfecting our union is possible.
Agree. 100%. I don’t think we should call them “elites” then. It’s not the best term. Billionaire class isn’t the most accurate either. Most accurate would “oligarchs”. That is what they are. They control the GOP, Media, and the Supreme Court.
Oligarchs bring fascist oligarchy with the help of christian nationalists and like the brown shirts, they bring their proud boys, 3%ers, oath keepers… weeds that sprouted like Timothy McVeigh.
Only too true.
I’m inspired watching Biden “get up.” Women and Unions getting up. And yet there are many ways to get up. To show mastery over the allure of power and first person narratives.
Frodo relinquished the ring of power, and became legend.
Washington relinquished the ring of power, and became legend.
Biden gives up the ring of power, having vanquished Trump once, and achieves a historically great presidency. He helps elect the first female president (Harris), channeling a flow of energy and gratitude that wins the House, the Senate, and preserves democracy… and becomes legend.
This is the story arc.
I still have a Biden Harris bumper sticker on my car, and it will stay there regardless.
But we need the stuff of legends right now. We need to be righteous corner men for our fighter. This is how we adapt to present realities, and win the real fight against project 2025 and all that has lead up to this monstrosity. Shift the focus back to Roe, women’s rights, the rule of law, the booming economy, and the dual cognitive and moral impairments of a narcissistic felon.
Biden should announce it on the first day of the republican convention.
Like Ali against Foreman, they’ll say, “He’s off the ropes now. A sudden flurry of punches from Biden! A left hook to the jaw!”
That’s my ring doctor’s prescription for this fight as it heads into round 12.
This is the way. Take this chance, and Biden may belong to the ages with the rest of the pantheon.
The ship has sailed! I was not under the illusion that Biden would be a one term President especially if he was successful. I have my concerns, but until he saids otherwise I am riding with Biden
Riding with Biden!!!
That was and is a great line!
I appreciate the conciliatory tone you strike here. On the other hand, I believe the President should be trusted and respected enough to make his own decision and not be buried under the criticism of talking heads who miss the bigger picture of just how dire things are. If President Biden does retire, I would prefer that he resign so President Harris can have the advantage of incumbency to blunt the impact of changing horses in mid-stream.
Ned McDoodle, President Biden is not going to retire. He has said he is in this race to win.
And so he shall. Naysayers be damned.
Oh no, not eternal damnation! A little trump like with the nickname. I’m voting D. You should watch the polling too.
the only poll to pay attention to is on Nov 5
Dr. Ryan, as a medical doctor, I would like your thoughts on what a speech pathologist has to say. If you care to, start at 1:14:16 to hear Michelle Williams, MS SLP, explain the mechanics of what happens when a person is caught in the throes of a "stutter attack." In the end, she opines that the affliction has nothing to do with a person's cognition.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WlXLAcKuqeo
Thank you, Lynell. This information is crucial about how a speech pathologist sees what Biden is dealing with and what it means for his candidacy. YES: stuttering has nothing to do with cognitive ability.
Morning, Lynell. Thanks for the link!
Will try to watch but not enough time now… I think his stutter is one thing, but his speech has been qualitatively different unscripted than how it used to be. Again, I’ll vote for him like I did Fetterman and I know he and his admin would do a great job again.
With all due respect, Ryan, I think you underestimate the racism and misogyny of American voters. People can talk all they want about Clinton and the mistakes she made in her campaign, but in a close race with tight margins, this is why she lost. Can you not remember lots of people saying “I don’t know why, but I just don’t like her”? The why was her feminine gender. Do we really want to do that again, this time?
And if Biden were to step aside and Harris not achieve the nomination, I suspect that the righteous fury of the Black community (and possibly women too) might also be enough to hand the election to Trump.
IMHO, Biden has been the best president of my lifetime. To toss him aside, betray him, especially at this point in the election cycle, seems like idiocy. Do I think he will complete a second term? No, I don’t. Do I care? Also no, because Harris will be there, ready to take on the mantle.
KR, I agree wholeheartedly. There is no freaking way that this country will elect an outspoken woman of color to the presidency in my lifetime. The racism and misogyny is far, far to ingrained in the population for her to have a snowball's chance in Phoenix, Arizona.
I wish we were wrong, Ally, but I’m 100% sure we are not.
It’s classic misogynoir.
Well said.
When I hear someone (not republican) say they don't know why they just don't like her, I say what do you think Kamala Harris is going to do that's going to ruin your life or negatively impact society? Give them something else to answer. Yes, I too believe racism and fear of females is likely underlying their "feelings" about her. But, I still make them think (or not).
Good for you! It’s very hard for people to recognize their unconscious biases, isn’t it? To me, the “I don’t know why, but I just don’t like her” is a big tell.
Just like the people who blame President Obama for bad race relations. It says far more about the people who make these false accusations than it does about President Obama.
Thank you, KR. Great post.
Thanks, Lynell!
Hey! I’ve started competing my new boy this summer and boy is he fun! We’re heading to the Kentucky Horse Park next weekend. Between Covid and cancer, I haven’t been there in years, and I’m so excited to be back at it. He’s a 12 year old PRE and like riding a couch :). I’m so in love with him.
KR, this is exciting news. I'll be rooting for you, for sure! I know what you mean about riding a couch. I've had one or two in my life, and it just doesn't get any better than that. Though my old "happy appy Cappy," I used to say, had a trot only a mother could love; and yet for all else he was, I loved him "to the depth and breadth and height my soul could reach."
That’s exactly how I feel about Peter. 24, and still going, though rehabbing from a check ligament strain right now. We’re like an old bickering married couple. I had him leased to two beginner ladies, and now he thinks he doesn’t have to frame up or get off my leg anymore. And so we argue. Basically he says I don’t have to anymore and you can’t make me and sadly, he’s right 😂 but I keep trying.
One of the things I like most about horses is the cross-species working relationship. It’s different than a dog, but just as beautiful, especially in a long partnership like you and I both have been lucky enough to have. Peter’s age scares me these days. He’s been my best friend for 15 years.
I so understand your being scared about Peter's age. It might help if you take every day that comes and linger a little longer with him; close your eyes and see him in your mind so he will be there long after that fateful day comes.
Very good points. I don’t disagree. However I would also put it out there that there is severe ageism in this country too, with older people being expendable and disrespected. I’m a primary care and I saw this during various phases of the pandemic. And now to some degree.
Well, yes, that’s my thinking as well. But I also do not see a path to a different nominee, and certainly not one whose issues/weaknesses are known, and baked in already. I see this attack on Biden due to his age as because there literally isn’t anything else to criticize. He’s been a very good president. We should not betray him.
As I said above, I don’t think we will see a woman of color elected to the presidency in my lifetime. Gavin Newsome? Well, maybe, but I think the fact that he was married to Kimberly Guilfoyle seems dangerous - what stories might she tell? Gretchen Whitmer? Another strong woman, with all the baggage of misogyny attached. Pete Buttigieg? He has his own baggage, which I don’t find significant at all, but many would. I’m a woman, I want a woman president! But I’m afraid to take that risk in this most consequential election. Look what happened in 2016. I still have PTSD from that!
I understand your strong support for President Biden and know it’s futile to ask you to consider RFKJR because of his admitted many skeletons in the closet so I won’t . But I want you to know I attended his talk about the plight of independent farmers and the pollution the big ag companies are causing. He talked about the impact to the soil in Ohio as a result of that train derailment. When they burned the chemicals , the smoke settled in the soils and contaminated them.I was thinking of you because he is campaigning on stopping the assault by these big ag companies and used Ohio as an example of their abuses.
You have a point, but is it the winning one??? To treat Joe like a wounded has-been is unconscionable. A hero, yes. But the denigration must stop.
I think 7/8 or so of people here will disagree with you regarding Biden relinquishing the ring of power. I agree, though.
I want whomever can and will win on the ticket. I don't care if it's old Joe, young Kamala, or my blind chihuahua. The only thing that matters is to keep Donnie's grubby hands off the wheel and out of the cookie jar.
As do I.
Biden is our nominee, and his Detroit rally was the stuff of legends. The base of our party, and the most reliable voting bloc, is Black women. (White men are the least reliable, followed by white women.) A preponderance of Black voters and Black women especially want Biden as our candidate (as do I). Biden served faithfully under a Black man for 8 years, and never tried to undermine or outshine him. He has the first Black woman in the VP spot as his second in command — she is prepared to take over at any time in the next four years should Biden decide not to complete his second term.
The Black women I have been listening to do not want VP Harris to take over at this point. The attacks on Biden will pivot into attacks on Harris, and they will be overtly racist and misogynistic. Those attacks have always been there, yes, but they are already intensifying. A tv commentator this week referred to Harris as “colored”; people are using the coconut icon in the non-fringe areas of Twitter to disparage her; lewd and baseless suggestions of how she’s achieved her successes are rampant. And people have been accusing her of hiding health issues that Biden, since the debate, is showing us he does not have.
The Carville/Clooney/pod boy types don’t even assume that Harris would be the nominee; Carville, in his ludicrous, chaos-inducing, democracy-denying mini-primary scheme says that “Ms. Harris” (that’s Vice President to you, Carville!) would of course be given one of the 8 candidate spots — to interview for a job that she’s already next in line for.
And conservative talking heads who claim they are glad Joe is staying in the race are, as usual, lying; in the golf-cart tape Trump himself says Harris will be easier to beat.
So Black women (and men) recognize that the fix is in. If VP Harris (or anyone else) takes the reigns from Joe now, Dems will lose. I have no doubt about that. History will repeat itself. But if Harris is at the top of the losing ticket, she will be blamed ruthlessly. She will be blamed because she is Black. She will be blamed because she is a woman. The truth is, enough of those rich white guys who are calling for Biden to step down now will, if Harris is the candidate, do what white guys have a tendency to do anyway — vote for the white guy. Harris’s political future will be ruined, and neither a woman nor a person of color will have a chance at the presidency for decades. (If we even have elections after 2024.)
When we reelect Biden, Harris will have more opportunities to shine and more opportunities for people to get to know her. She’s doing incredible work right now, somewhat in the shadows. In fact, I’ve talked with people who say she didn’t do anything for the first two years in office — to a person, they did not know that she had to limit what she was doing so that she could be available at any time to break a tie vote in the Senate. Black women, who tend to be pragmatic voters, don’t want that lack of familiarity to turn Harris into a scapegoat.
It is time for Democrats to come together and work full-steam-ahead for the Biden/Harris ticket and against Trump’s Project 2025. We all recognize that the stakes are incredibly high, which is why we need to get behind our incumbent, stiffen our spines, and face the current threat to democracy head on. The fantasy fiction solutions that have been indulged in recent weeks are no match for the realities we are facing. But the Biden/Harris ticket is.
All excellent points. Hard to disagree with any of them.
Everyone I know is Riden' with Biden. He is the man of the hour.
If President Biden does agree to a second faux debate on bought-and-sold CNN, I hope he says directly to Trump's narcissistic face the things President Biden is saying in his speeches now that are absolutely wonderful straight talk!!! Truth. Pure unadulterated Truth.
Now that's a "debate" I want to watch.
Excellent, Dr. Ryan!
I particularly enjoyed the Rumble in the Jungle reference
Buddy, your male point of view is sad. You get a few points for becoming a doctor, I get that it's a lot of work, but your privileged life is blocking the truth. Get your heart right, practice empathy, not your monetary privileges.
Biden has done a great job so far, the people need to pull together for him to continue, then have the Harris train to jump to in 4 years. TRump is a dumpster fire.
? Not sure what these weird stereotypes mean that you are projecting on me after a very pro-female presidential candidate consideration. Strange!
Doing so on your timeline would certainly take the focus off the KKK meeting in Milwaukee, good doctor Ryan McCormick.
Dweebs like Grothman complain that Democrats treat conservatives like they're morons, then they go say and do things like this that prove they are.
Grothman is beyond moronic - he's a pathetic little weasel who never had an original thought (or possibly any thought) in his insecure life.
Yup
😄
I rue the day when CBS conjured the idea of reality Tv, the horrible Survivor. The onslaught of stupidity (in the form of scripted conflict and competition) and the mixing of news and entertainment just swept over us at a time when Rupert had made Fox (fair and balanced) the purveyor of oxymorons for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Such a national focus on alternative realities has primed us to accept the negative aspects AI and I fear the future will challenge even the dystopian view that Orwell envisioned. We all need to keep focused on the goals of living our legacy and not be distracted by the siren’s songs, no matter how alluring and “entertaining.”
Murdoch is a British Empire Nepo baby. Groomed by a father with British colonial contacts in high public offices, as an entitled young British colonial boy, he then inherited ownership of a swathe of Australian newspapers.
He arrived in London’s Fleet Street at the height of Britain’s postwar push for BBC global English speaking cultural hegemony. In those politically chaotic days of the 1960s, he worked with an incestuous ruling class network peppered with post World War Two sophisticated Psyops operatives only too eager to show off and show him how best to deploy black propaganda ‘nudging’ techniques in his news media. So he began building himself his openly desired media dictatorship of the world.
His increasingly successful influencing of the vox populi then proved extremely attractive to certain politicians, most notably the revolutionary British neo liberal, Margaret Thatcher whom he helped gain power in 1979.
He is a colonising empire builder, only interested in accruing personal political and economic power through media manipulation and gaslighting. He and his British colonial rooted media are a clear and ongoing danger to the rule of law based, democratic Enlightenment era American Experiment.
Way past time to go to war against Rupert's Empire.
Needed to happen in the 90’s. Well, before he got Congress to let him purchase so many media outlets. Bill Moyers predicted what we have today.
Thank you for that background; makes perfect sense to explain if you will his penchant for empire of whatever sort.
Thank you. Then he turned his evil to Ronnie. “At a dinner last month in Washington, honoring Mr. Murdoch for his work on behalf of Mr. Reagan, Representative Jack Kemp, a New York Republican, said ‘Mr. Murdoch used the front page, the editorial page, and every other page necessary to elect Ronald Reagan president.’” From WaPo in Jan 1981, I think. Sorry no date.
I saw a "reality TV show" exactly once. It was "Survivor" and a couple of my friends thought it was funny, but it wasn't so bad it was good, it was just "how can you watch this?" idiotic.
I watched 10 minutes before my tolerance for inane ran out. Bad omen that so many love it, and CBS loves the money.
I can’t watch “reality” TV. There’s not much reality in it.
Not in my world either, sadly in too many worlds. It’s a hateful world that we would all be better to avoid.
Don't forget Trump's love affair with fake wrestling. Perfect.
Trump loves fake.
Trump IS fake
Never, embarrassing to the max. He doesn’t have enough sense to know how embarrassing he is. I have thought that since his first utterance from the escalator and every breath since. I thought he insulted our intelligence. Seems he bypassed our hippocampus and targeted the amygdala. With a nod to carnival barker since that is his area of skill
He appeals to the lizard brain, or in Freudian terms, to the id.
Lizard brains, very descriptive. Freud was right too
SO much of Donald's performance mirrors what WWE wrestlers call "Kayfabe".
In the 90s Donny went to the source and perfected his wrestling 'heel act'. Compare the TV's spot interviews with wresters with his own spot interviews - structure and pacing are an uncanny match!
Puke is the only comment I can think of
i never watched Survivor or any reality TV show. I distinctly remember where I was when a room full of people on New Years Day were talking about Survivor. I thought to myself that this was the beginning of public shaming and how depraved it was. I recently saw some old Newlywed Game TV shows and that was the start of public shaming peppered with Bob Eubank smiles and audience laugh tracks. We have better get our act together - fast.
I remember that Newlywed Game and thought that was such a cruel thing to watch. More cruel to make and laugh at. Public shaming is exactly what it is. The ads for a Drew Carey show are exactly that. I hate game shows. And won’t spend a nanosecond on that tripe. That cruel streak is what makes chump attractive to his devoted idiots.
Unscripted "reality TV" was the networks' retort to the first large-scale writers' strike.
I didn’t know that but heard that the reality crap was the go to during the last writers strike. The streaming services and PBS saved me, but then I haven’t watched network shows since Designing Women. Guess union busting is a tried and true strategy, by whatever means
Yes, the best line in Biden’s speech, which HCR picked up on and needs reiteration, showed us the genesis of our woes. Like preschoolers, hypnotized devotees think Donald’s apprentice set was where he actually worked. The reality was too shabby(not chic) so the producers built a set and scripted his speech. In 2016, I heard an old Scottish man whose property abuts his golf course warn us to make fun of him till we’re rid of him. Calling out indictments,bankruptcies, his ridiculous misspeaks—far worse than twisted name confusions—documenting violations of ten commandments—the Bible salesman’s hypocrisy 1 through 10 and keeping it all factual, indisputable, this must be part of every speech till November. Biden is president now and 81. He needs to pace himself and surrogate campaigners out there. He must examine his own conscience about whether pride or political savy motivate him now. But the speaker in Detroit was not someone struggling with dementia. We need to see more of that speech often and get Amrricans familiar with the contents of P2025 even if it’s only the WIKI digest.
Wise words and recommendations. Now if only “the smartest people in the room,” know-it-all-pundits would get the message.
Agreed, JD. I saw but one episode of Survivor, and that was in an airport waiting area. I could not conceive that people were actually watching it. Silly me.
Thank you Heather for laying out the facts!!! After watching and listening to the press conference last night, I think that there isn't anyone who has the wisdom, expertise, experience, energy and drive that Joe Biden demonstrated to lead us effectively and safely for the next four years. I'm with Joe!
Agree! President Biden gave a master class in foreign relations. I feel safe with Biden as President. I have from the first day he took Office as President. I will never forget this fact: President Joe Biden's Administration vaccinated 200 million Americans in the first 90 days of taking Office. I can't even envision the logistical miracle it took to pull that off.
Joe Biden quite possibly saved by life. And yours. It amazes me people forget this.
People have short memories. They forget how bad things were with the former guy - and his ridiculously unqualified Cabinet members - in office.
Watching the Trump campaign reminds me of the fake Apprentice format! Trump was/is so disingenuous. There’s no truth in him or his sycophants and he openly lies without pause! Like Sarah Kendzior said in an interview, we shouldn’t be only concerned about him, but his entire network throughout the country and world! I call it his crime cyndicate!!!
It concerns me to that he’s rarely called out by media outlets for his lies while they lambast Biden for his gaffes! Not sure the motive behind the lack of reporting!
There is no truth in him. That is the key point, and one that needs to be shouted from the rooftops from now until Jan 25. There is no honor, no shame, no class, and no courage (moral or physical).
Worse than his mendacity is his sadism. He doesn't want just to rule, but to make everyone under his heel suffer. Look at how he treats his white Republican rivals from Cruz to McConnell. Rubio and Haley may not count because they're not Aryan, nor in Haley's case, male. Interesting factoid: Aryan originally referred to a language group in Iran and Northern India.
No truth, no honor, celebration of sociopathy, narcissism, sadism and hate, following every one of the seven deadly sins, that’s Donald Trump for you. His sadism led him to take out full page demanding the Central Park Five be executed (in violation of Furman v. Georgia) for a crime they never committed. His sadism also led him to sit on his rump for several hours watching his followers riot and attack Capitol Police on live TV on January 6, 2021.
One proposal in Project 2021 calls for an increase in the number of state and federal capital crimes. Under Furman v. Georgia, capital crimes can only involve murder.
Behind Trump there is a whole (RICO) organization. Joe has an organization behind him as well, and it works.
$$$,$$$,$$$
CFDT makes plenty of gaffes along with all his lies. Mostly ignored by the msm. I would like to defend the only reality show I ever watched. Dancing With the Stars had a promising start with some talented people. Then they began injecting politics and too much “reality” and they ran out of stars, and viewers, and mercifully it disappeared.
I think it would be a huge mistake if Biden would step to the sidelines or be shuttled there. As dangerous as changing horses in the middle of a raging river filled with reptilians. The President should never be required to be a performance artist but he must show that he can do the job. Biden has done that. I have faith that the American people will emphatically put an end to our long national nightmare.
And I think JB and his team could rigorously drive the point that he consistently displays the level of competence that allowed him to accomplished so much.
Joe was on fire in Detroit! Motown is Joe town! Love it
YES!!!
Motown is Joe town!!
Thank you Heather. So Grothman thinks women’s lib took away men’s purpose? Some men can’t adjust and repurpose themselves? How on earth do they cope? Women have been moving forward and evolving but these pathetic men are stuck in the mud. What pitiful creatures they are
Being one of those libbers of 55 years ago, I was able to note immediately that the MSM was all over us so quickly you could hardly catch your breath. That says a lot don't you think? They didn't do their homework, they didn't care to, they tried to make stars out of individual women as a way of dividing us, and the hostility was so thick it could be cut with a knife. We developed quite a few strategies to deal with all this, one of which was to always appear in teams for interviews etc. Also we exchanged comeback phrases by collecting them at increasingly frequent conferences, making lists of and copying them on mimeograph machines to hand out at the next conferences. Some of them are too ripe to repeat here :-) Just a tiny sketch of our work then and which for many of us continues in various forms.
Thank You for Your Years of Service, Robin!
But then the media embraced women's lib by the following ad jingle:
"You've come a long way, baby,
To get where you're going today!
You've got your own cigarette now lady,
You've come a long long way!"
How patronizingly pathetic!!! (Yet I suppose effective, as I still remember it today.)
And isn't it perfect that this was an ad for "cancer sticks?" Gotta get those uppity women to DIE!
As someone with relatives who died from smoking related diseases, I hardly think it was liberating to encourage women to die from smoking related disease just as men did. I am just old enough to remember TV ads for cigarettes and remember Family Circle and Women’s Day running the “feminist” smoking ads. I didn’t agree with some of the articles or editorial perspectives of Reader’s Digest, but one of the the good things they did was to take a consistent stand against smoking for reasons of public health.
I remember being at a party back in the day where an old white guy said he was fine with women's lib, if only they weren't so strident. I replied, "Do you think we need your permission or approval?"
To hell with anyone who wants to control how anyone else lives. I quote CFDT, "Do whatever the hell you want."
Grothman once again embarrasses WI.
"He compared the selection process to “a highly sophisticated version of The Apprentice,”"
I refuse to believe that this pathetic, sick clown can win against Biden or any other Democratic candidate, that even a slim majority of the US population could possibly have sunk down into idiocy.
So many people view this like a game of sport (soccer, football, baseball), rather than someone we’re hiring to do a job (plumber, gardener, housekeeper).
They’re so cavalier with democracy. 🤔🤪
Yes, all for reframing the job description for the American people and asking whom would you hire? We shouldn’t be auditioning athletes with claims of didn’t even know what it was, or haven’t studied that, or don’t need to read or take advice, just trust myself. We should show the narcissistic candidate out the door and hire the fellow with fifty years’ experience, but will we?
They also would prefer a dictator to do their thinking and their dirty work for them.
Welcome to the nut house.
“a highly sophisticated version of The Apprentice,”
There's a nonsensical arrangement of words. Sort of like a very dry tsunami, or a very lively corpse.
Or the monkey house... we'll all be peeing blue if MAGA gets its way.
I re-watched "Idiocracy" the other night. Highly recommend it.
That stuck with me too, Carolyn. It isn't a freaking TV show...but to him, all the world is make believe, I guess.
I keep thinking that his VP will be Ivanka, or Jr if she won’t get on board. Lean in to the whole king thing.