321 Comments

What we needed was for him to call out the filibuster, to say what Clyburn suggested this weekend. Michael Steele's review of the speech tonight on 11th Hour was exactly right about how not to play the game. I have to agree with Steve Schmidt's analysis of Shumer as not being "the leader for this time." The Democrats are playing tiddly-winks while the Republicans are planning a blitzkrieg. If they don't get things together, they're going to be about as useful as the Maginot Line when the Blitzkrieg comes calling next year. Do a carve-out from the filibuster for constitutional/voting issues, give West Virginia $500 million in infrastructure, and point out to that Green-moron-pretending-to-be-a-"Democrat" Sinema that if she likes being a Senator she'd better do something to protect herself come re-election time. Whatever it takes. Then get a few more Democrats into the Senate and expel those two.

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Morning TC. Sizzlin’ as usual.

My guess is that VP Harris has got the carving knife in her hands behind the public stage. Clyburn is calling the Dem shots, not Shumer. I figure it’s his due after pulling Biden’s candidacy from near obscurity to front of the pack. Manchin will agree to carve out the fili. I believe Sinema believes her political life rests with Repub approval. She may as well been at CPAC last weekend (“Caucasian People Are Complaining” according to Colbert).

The President has prime time town hall next week. Personally I feel what he is doing now, using the pulpit, speaking directly to the people is necessary and presidential once again. For myself, I need that from my president. Because 4 yrs of bullsh*t from the former leaves a streak that must be cleaned up to establish some public decorum in the democracy’s rules of order and visible to the world. And that returning order is going to force the Hail Mary pass from Trump. Not sure what that looks like and is the only thing causing any nervous sweat on my brow.

Hmmm, what else? I sense a not-so-long longshot that might boot the Manchin-Sinema ad nauseum drama to the woodshed where it belongs. There just might be a majority vote for the Dems that includes a few purple Repubs. This will assure the country of a strong chance of a free and fair election in 2022 through passage of both voting acts into law. The fact that it is our constitutional right to vote and more importantly as Pres Biden said, to have it counted correctly in a nonpartisan way, will prevail.

Blessings to all. Thank you always for sharing what you know with this community.

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Yes, after “4 years of bullshit from the former leaves a streak that must be cleaned up” we’ll need more than Tide to clean up the nation’s underpants. We need a tsunami of Democratic voters to do the job.

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I think we need to “Shout” it out.

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Your comments leave me cautiously optimistic. I live in Florida now as well. Still haven’t met a purple Republican, but I’m definitely rooting for your well laid out predictions of strategy Christine.

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I hope you’re right. ❤️🤍💙

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I am remiss for not mentioning Senator Bernie Sanders as a shot putter right now. He’s never been this busy…or what appears to me as energized and grinning like he has several tricks up his sleeve.

🎼The wheels on the bus go round and round…..

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Christine, I sincerely hope you are right. My impression is that there "must" be actions going on behind the scenes, but my frustration is that not a lot seems to

break thru to block the juggernaut that is headed toward our democratic institutions.

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"few purple repubs" - do they exist? I used to think so, but why the heck doesn't Romney stand up? He has no real reason to fear McConnell or ex-45, does he? I'm curious to see what happens to Murkowski in Alaska with a challenger. Whatever Secret Sauce Mitchey puts in everyone's coffee every morning I wish Schumer would steal some. I continue to fear that Dems will not prevail by foolishly seeking "bipartisansh*t" (because that's what it is right now) and playing to nice.

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Purple is there in the ranks. Timing is a strength for Dems. I know a lot of people do not credit that. Repubs are impetuous and careless with timing under Trump because that’s how opposition is…reactive and loud.

I’m watching closely as to the Dems reveal. It’s a small bit of entertainment for me in this current miasma of politics.

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Still holding the Statue of Liberty in your mind’s eye, I see! ❤️ My rose colored glasses are looking out for that long shot you describe also.

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Yes Sharon, I do! She was grinning on Juneteenth and 4th of July. 💫

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Democrats squabble while Republicans line up with their marching orders. Democrats act the way they would like things to be, not how they are. The results are that Democratic strategy is weak. Democrats have to have a super-majority to get anything they want done. Republicans know how to obstruct Democratic simple majorities. This has been true for years. And I'm a Democrat.

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Democrats are not so feckless. The main difference that I see between Republicans and Democrats is that Democrats are committed to making government work, and Republicans want to see it fail. It’s much easier to obstruct than it is to build. So what we see as Republican obeisance to “marching orders” is mostly them yelling “you’re not the boss of me”. Republicans have no platform, except for “block Biden”, “cut taxes on the wealthy” and “pack the courts”. What we see as Democrats squabbling is them debating policy. Democrats have gotten a lot done, considering their narrow majority. Hopefully enough voters understand this difference. Trump showed us that there are a LOT of ignorant voters.

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“ Democrats have gotten a lot done, considering their narrow majority.”

I agree. However they seem far from getting the main thing done. If they fail at that, they will be avalanched in the next elections.

Biden’s speech and Clyburn’s comments, along with the grit being shown by Texas Democrats, seem to indicate that we are close to the watershed moment.

The sheer momentum the Republicans have built up over the last six months is a force. Regardless of how much we consider it to be noise, they are passing laws.

Trump’s contribution is noise.

On a wry note, if Sinema and Manchin (finally) can bring themselves to agree to a change in some form to the filibuster, what will the Republican Senate response be? Will they deny a quorum by fleeing to Canada? They’d get a cold, cold reception here. :)

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I also believe Biden and the Democrats are getting things done in spite of the Republicans obstructing progress at every turn. I cannot believe that Biden is naive to the Republican playbook.

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Block Biden, pack the courts and cut taxes, when coupled with don’t let Democrats vote is the recipe for the end of our democracy and the beginning of the fourth reich

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All very good points. Both can be true.

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I find I am agreeing with both of you. However, that "Hopefully enough voters understand" part, while desperately true, gives me no confidence for positive change. At least as a stand alone strategy. The real trick would be educating people to understand their agency in civic affairs, and inspiring and motivating them to participate, and especially to vote.

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Too much apathy and/or indifference, or maybe just not paying attention right now. That Texas effort to include purging voter rolls monthly is alarming!

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The trouble with Democrats? They don’t know how to think like criminals.

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And that’s a bad thing?

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Bide is still pretty much a corporate democrat. Having said that, he is doing a lot better than I thought he would, but he is still trying to cater to some of the big money interests.

As for the filibuster he doesn’t want to completely get rid of it because to do so would make some good legislation easier to pass, and he wants to keep something in place to be able to block some things that might effect some of the things that might hurt the special interests.

Just to clear up where I’m coming from, I am very much a progressive democrat, very much a Bernie supporter!!!

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TC - it’s easy to castigate Sinema (and Manchin). We should not pretend to know more about their voters than they do. Sinema doesn’t serve us (in LA or NYC or Boston). She serves Arizona, and she knows what it takes to get elected (and re-elected) there as a Democrat. The same goes for Manchin in WVa. We should respect that. It’s far better to have Democrats in those seats who will vote our way some of the time than to have Trumpist idiots like McSally.

As for “get a few more Democrats into the Senate” - that’s the rub, isn’t it. Writing such wishful words doesn’t make it so.

The same goes for ending the filibuster for “voting issues”. Ending the filibuster for presidential nominations worked out well, didn’t it? If the filibuster for nominees hadn’t been ended (by Reid for most nominations, leading to McConnell ending it for SCOTUS), Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Bryant would not be SCOTUS justices today. I’m not arguing in favor of the filibuster, just pointing out that ending it is a double-edged sword, favoring whichever party holds the Senate majority. Imagine what Mitch will do if we don’t hold the Senate come 2022.

As for Schumer, meh. I’ve never been a fan.

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JR - No argument here with your analysis. I just want to add that Reid acted out of near desperation in the face of consolidated Repuglican intransigence to Democratic rule. His only other option was to allow them to halt almost all appointments to the Federal judiciary during Obama's term. A well played hand, I'll give them that, although utterly despicable and a continuation of their strategy of eroding democratic norms.

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His heart is golden. His delivery, disappointingly meh.

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Regarding Sinema, according to friends in AZ who I think pay attention to these things, she already made a reputation in the state legislature for running as a Democrat and acting as a Republican - when she didn't have to, going out of her way to make "friends across the aisle" and ignoring her own side. As one of them put it, "She was better than McSally - barely."

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And she beat McSally. Just barely.

I don’t understand why people think Sinema doesn’t know what she’s doing, or is a traitor. She’s a senator from Arizona. She knows Arizona voters. She beat a Republican in a red state by 2 points. We should applaud her.

Sinema’s problem (our problem, really) is that she’s the 50th senator in a Senate that’s split between the parties 50-50. If Dems had a 5-6 seat majority, we wouldn’t focus so fiercely on Sinema, and she’d be free to go about doing what she needs to do to represent Arizona and get re-elected. If Sinema was more liberal, she’d be a visiting professor at Arizona State, instead of a US senator.

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We are ordinary citizens, not people whose *life work* is to serve America.

If we can recognize that this is a seminal moment in American history, in a worst case scenario perhaps *the* seminal moment, then surely we can expect Sinema and Manchin to recognize this also.

They have witnessed the daily criminality and thuggery of the Trump administration up close.

They - at least Manchin - bore witness to the crimes against humanity of the deliberate separation of parent and children, and the caging of the latter.

They saw the malefactions of Barr and DeJoy, to pick two somewhat randomly, more closely than we ever did.

They witnessed the terrible spectacle of hundreds of thousands of Americans dyin from coronavirus while the president recommended bleach and watched the stock market.

Sinema and Manchin watched the month after the election when the big lie was born and hammered home in the interregnum. That lie should have been gasping for air on the floor after 60 failed legal challenges.

But it got new, possibly permanent life, when the insurrection of 1/6 was carried out. Sinema and Manchin were in the building, their lives threatened, when that occurred. They bore witness.

And now they have borne witness to a crush of new laws being enacted to repress voting.

In light of all this, how much does the fact that they represent red states and might possibly lose their cushy jobs if they had the sense and courage to oppose incipient fascism, matter?

How can they possibly square this with their consciences? This is not, by any stretch of the imagination, a moral dilemma for them. This is an MLK moment and they are playing “look at me” politics. How dare they?

And then they feel sheltered by a supposedly pragmatic Democratic view, which amounts to “Better the devil you know…”.

Sorry, that doesn’t wash with me. The seats the Democrats lose in AZ and WV will be barely noticeable in the tidal wave of seats that will turn red by 2030 if the voting rights acts are not protected. Now.

I am utterly out of patience with those two. America is facing incipient fascism, possibly prefaced with extreme violence, if the playing field for voting - voting! - is not leveled by legislation. This is a desperate moment. I cannot pretend to know their deepest motivations, but those two should be tossed aside if the filibuster is not amended. They are blind or false.

Some day I’ll tell you how I really feel. :)

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I think I can tell how you feel. How is it that you know so much more than Sinema and Manchin? Do you really think that they are only people standing between us and incipient fascism? How does that work, exactly? Do we end the filibuster and Republicans surrender? Does the Roberts court suddenly stop overturning laws that protect voting rights, regulate campaign finance reform and prevent voter suppression, as they have been doing for the past decade? We had the Voting Rights Act, we had McCain-Feingold, we had FEC regulations - all tossed aside by our Republican SCOTUS. If we pass the same provisions in For the People will SCOTUS go, “okay, you win, this time we won’t overturn that stuff”? And how do you plan to “toss them aside”?

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I think those are good points if I’m interpreting them correctly. From what you write I think you believe that Manchin and Sinema are making a pragmatic stand because a voting rights law passed by filibuster would not stand up to SCOTUS scrutiny.

For me it’s a “fog of war “situation”. I don’t *know” that Manchin and Sinema are of the conviction that only bipartisanship will work. Maybe they are. There is also the long term view that carve outs will become a tit for tat dance, with Republicans doing the same thing on some important question when they next gain power.

My question, nonetheless, would be, “How much more evidence is needed, before they believe that getting a bipartisan bill passed on civil rights legislation has a chance so scant as to be negligible”?

If they are sincere in striving for this, then I need to be convinced that this is not the ultimate fool’s errand. Republicans *survive* the next two sessions at least, only if they have significantly decimated blocs of the voting public. McConnell would not even have to call in a personal favor to get 41 votes to defeat either or both bills.

As for SCOTUS, I think there’s not much room for me to disagree there. One could only hope that at the least, going through all of the work to get it in front of the judges would consume enough time that we could be assured that the 2022 election would be at least fair-ish.

It’s got to be block by block street fighting to turn this around. The Democrats would win easily if purity of intentions was the objective. Sadly, it isn’t.

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Sen Chuck Schumer is nothing special. Sen. Michael Ferrand Bennet is special.

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He has had a pretty significant career in public education also.

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Morning, TC!! I read an article about Sinema a while back. Can't find it now, but here's one from the NYT written back in 2018 when she was elected to the Senate. That she won in a particularly "red" state, I think mirrors Manchin's position in his state. Both are "tethered" to their constituents. Hard to swallow when we're in this moment, but may explain their thinking. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/13/us/kyrsten-sinema-senate-arizona.html

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Does it even occur to those two that some things are more important than keeping a particular job? Neither of them would be lining up at food banks if they left the Senate.

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The problem being, as it stands any vacancy their departure created would likely be filled by a Repuglican. I see Sinema in particular as a pivot point. She is acting and reacting in ways that give her positive feedback from her electorate. The most effective strategy for her to come around would be an effective progressive ground game in AZ. Coordinate, consolidate and empower the community voices within the state that will benefit from progressive Democratic leadership. This is the only way I can see to give her the confidence to vote her conscience.

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Assuming she has one.

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Lol. Ouch!

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Good point!!!

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Don’t you know that’s right, they were looking for a job when they got the one they have now, they are both wealthy enough to not have to worry about their ability to live comfortably, so why does a paycheck have anything to do with how they vote. Their oath to protect the constitution is the only thing in the end that matters.

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It is difficult to get politicians to “Do The Right Thing.” To get them to “Take a Knee” knowing that they will lose their over-inflated paying career. Unlike some athletes, that takes real courage that is lacking in most politicians.

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Agreed! ‘Do the right thing!’ Indeed! For whom! In a culture where all too many people have blind loyalty to ‘dopey don’ and his ego centric reason for being, ‘up is down and down is up’!

Do the right thing , for whom? Tragically, our elected politicians ‘the right thing’ is to get re-elected! A two year term in the House is useless, in the second year of the term raising re-election $$$ is the ONLY priority! Back in the day when the government was being formed, a two year term was a burden and a hardship to those elected Today it is a seat on the gravy train!!mThe length of the term should be 6 years and like the President limited to two terms.

Consider this since 1980, young people in America have witnessed a totally dysfunctional government! Led by ‘sainted’ Ronnie R, the grand cheerleader, their ‘government is the problem’ mantra has been repeated ad nauseum! The gop has worked steadily at proving that the. Government is the problem. Through their control of the federal budget programs essential for the commonweal of our fellow citizens have been starved for essential funds!

Tragically, the answer to do the right thing for whom is do what it takes to get re-elected!

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Hey, Joan. What Syd says about being replaced by a Republican is something to consider for those two states.

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If Sinema and Manchin block the necessary carve-out from filibuster of voting rights, it won't matter to the rest of us whether they stay in the Senate or not, because the radical right will have taken over the place.

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I am not certain that Manchin is tethered to anyone except the corporate donors that finance his campaigns because the median income and education in W VA certainly can't support a major campaign.

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Hey, Pamela. This is very true.

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Lynell, there was also a good one about Sinema in Mother Jones, probably in early June.

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Thanks, Grace. I'll see if I can find it.

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High school brat acting out.

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If only Schumer had Pelosi’s cojones!

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Well said. Hers are made of steel....

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Stainless Steel Ovaries.

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Tough to agree with Schmidt, but I’m fearing he’s right. ❤️🤍💙

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Excellently said.

Apparently there is a tête-à-tête going on between Clyburn and Manchin going on, if his comments on TRMS are sincere. Whether it will bear fruit remains to be seen, but it is a grain of hope.

Not sure where that would leave Sinema and her vote.

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Sinema as the most powerful (controlling) woman in the Senate?

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What irks me is that we hippies and campus radicals already saw this American brand of fascism coming down the pike in 1968 with the election of Richard Nixon, and we said so, vociferously.

Almost no one in media or politics believed us at the time, of course.

Our message back then -- that democracy might die in the US -- has been hanging in the air for more than 50 years, but the people who need to hear it still have their ears closed.

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What has always bothered me about Democratic politicians is that they don't fight to win; they fight to avoid losing. That's a different mind set which results in reactive messaging, instead of proactive actions.

People gravitate to winners and unfortunately, too many partisan people on the right justify winning by any means. Democrats to their credit take the high road, but when your enemy doesn't play fair, then claiming the high road doesn't win the day. If the Democratic Party is to survive and more importantly our democratic republic, then the Democrats need to up their game and giving as good as their getting. Stop calling people who are defending an insurrection and attempting treason your friends or colleagues. These are the equivalent of terrorists and should be treated and prosecuted accordingly.

There needs to be a major reckoning in Congress! Every member of Congress took this oath:

“I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter. So help me God.” That oath is unambiguous and there are ample examples of members who have disobeyed and forsworn their oath and they should be expelled from Congress.

We keep talking about how the Constitution has no teeth and that it's a guiding document. Well, there should be no ambivalence about the oath taken by members of Congress, and if they fulfilled their oath of office, the Constitution would stand strong! Democrats need to purge the House and Senate of terrorists and traitors. Even if they fail, patriotic Americans will back them to the end and I firmly believe that most Americans are patriotic, respect the Constitution, and support the Rule of Law. Yes, our slow demise has been going on for the last 50 years but we all need to treat this time as now or never.

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It seems to me that right now Republican politicans are fighting with all their raggedy might and right to avoid losing. Every voter suppression law and vocal protection of the electoral college is because either they can’t win the presidency with the popular vote and they don’t want certain demographics to vote.

There is nothing to qualify that as proactive action unless you are deliberately subverting democracy.

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I don’t know what you are talking about. Some things to think about:

Nancy Pelosi is a fighter and a winner. As is Liz Warren. AOC. Adam Schiff. Clyburn. And others. Lots of Democrats are fighters, and they win. Just not every time.

You may think that oath is unambiguous (personally, to me, it seems lofty and vague) but the Constitution is open to interpretation. Take religion, for one of many examples. Are Republicans who say that a baker who won’t bake a cake for a gay wedding following the Constitution? Do we have a Constitutional right to assault rifles? I’m not trying to open up debates about these issues. Just to point out that your statement that “most Americans respect the Constitution and support the Rule of Law” does not mean that most Americans agree on what the Constitution says or what the rule of law means.

There is no blanket mechanism for Democrats in Congress to just remove Republicans in Congress they deem traitors. Think that through for a second. Imagine the chaos, if there was. Voters decide who gets to serve in Congress. Congress can hold hearings (such as Pelosi’s Jan 6th commission). But they can’t just say “you’re fired” to some idiot like Josh Hawley or MT Greene, no matter how deserving. Their voters have to do that. If Democrats tried to fire MTG there’d probably be an armed protest by her followers.

Think about it. In the fight in Congress between Kevin McCarthy and Nancy Pelosi, who are you picking? I’m betting on Pelosi.

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You could trim your comment down to "Democracy is hard to sustain and easy to destroy."

And with the built-in bias toward the slave states written into our Constitution, this is doubly true for democracy in the US.

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Pretty well put for an old liberal.....

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McCarthy isn’t a serious person either. But the point I think, is that there are quite a few ( fewer than there were, but still ) Dems who are just as beholden to the status quo as their GOP counterparts. And they’d better see the writing in the wall, since there is no status quo now.

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@JR "I don’t know what you are talking about." Well, at least you're right about one thing!

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👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

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Ralph, you are absolutely correct. The demise of Democracy has been a battle cry for those that protested in the 60's. Yet, here we are in 2021 and we are watching its final breaths . I do not blame the GOP for taking it away, we let them.

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The burgeoning fascists hadn’t gone so far as to deny science at that point either. Nixon’s plan for healthcare would be called socialism now and his environmental initiatives would be called anti- religion these days.

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In fact I do blame the GOP which, only a few years after the death of Abraham Lincoln, ran fast and hard away from the credo "All men are created equal."

The Constitution was drafted with an inherent bias in favor of the slave states. As a result of that bias, the Constitution made it easy for Republican politicians to abandon their principles. But no one forced them to become the amoral cowards we see in their party today.

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Perhaps not, but this behavior and mantra has worked perfectly for the GOP. One other tactic they have used is that they are proficient at being proactive which leaves the Democrats as reactive. They have the upper hand on us Ralph.

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I agree the Democrats spend far too much time being reactive rather than being proactive. I wish I knew why they act that way, and I wish they would change, and start proposing a lot of innovative ideas. So, yes, in that respect I agree that Democrats come up short.

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Who do you mean by “we” when you say “we let them”?

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The Democratic elite. The ones we put in office to sit with their hands on their collective asses and not listen to the will of the people.

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The ones not listening to the will of the people are those that lose and attack viciously rather than accept with grace.

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Dems are not listening either. We're shouting at them to stand up and push back on this attack and **crickets** from them. Biden is doing pretty well but he's not lit a fire under collective butts.

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Both sides are tone deaf. This is why Democracy is fleeing us, rapidly.

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I think one of the reasons is because we have become a very greedy materialistic society and we don’t want anything to get in the way of enjoying our rich lifestyles. We have become deaf dumb and blind for the most part. And everyone else is too busy working two or three jobs just trying to pay their taxes. It feels like a well thought out scheme.

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Indeed!

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“Are you on the side of truth or lies; fact or fiction; justice or injustice; democracy or autocracy?” Of course you are on the side of truth, fact, justice, and democracy.

In Heather’s video chat today (7/13/2021), she discussed the threats to our democratic process and noted that people ask her, “What can we do?”

Heather’s answer: “Make our voices heard…call your representatives…protesting in a nonviolent way…change the public conversation, like on Facebook, with your neighbor, in the newspapers…to change the way people think…step up, run for office.”

If you think you can stay kicked back in your comfy chair and pontificate about how evil the Repubs are and how the Dems should be doing this and that, then you are the proverbial frog in slowly boiling water. Stop being just a spectator. Sit up and do 2 things:

1. Reclaim the name PATRIOT!

2. Click on one of these links. It is really easy to DO SOMETHING TO MAKE OUR VOICES HEARD! If you have questions, just post it and we will help you!

https://americansofconscience.com/

www.commoncause.org

https://deadlinefordemocracy.org/

https://www.mobilize.us/

https://resist.bot/

https://5calls.org/

Other patriotic HCR Substackers can add to this list and offer tips.

Can donate money? Go for it!

https://blueprint.swingleft.org/

https://changetherules.org/

Still think, “Oh, someone else will.” Well, Heather has over 20,000 subscribers to Letters From An American. Watch how many “likes” or comments follow, calculate the percentage, and you will conclude that more people have to step up!

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But write bloody physical letters, put them in an envelope, put a stamp on it and hope that the somewhat emasculated USPS can deliver them.

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Paper cuts can be neutering.

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More great organizations to put your belief in democracy, free and fair elections, social justice and equality to work:

https://indivisible.org/

https://www.lwv.org/

https://fairfight.com/

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Thank you Fern!l

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I am willing to donate money but I don’t know that it will be used effectively by the Democratic Party. I donated directly to my US Representative Elisa Slotkin but where else can I donate where I can be confident my donation won’t be frittered away or end up in someone’s pocket?

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See Ellie Kona’s list just above. Also, I donate monthly to Stacey Abrams’ group Fair Fight: fairfight.com

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When I donate I donate directly to the person not to the Democratic Party. That way I am assured that the money is going to the person and not the organization.

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Indivisible.org is an exciting group of people with Washington insider experience who came together with one Goal: Fight the former guy. They became nationally known because of an online Guide, based on their DC experience. It is brilliant. Go to the website, cruise around, and if you like what you see, push the red button in the right upper corner. We don’t waste the money. The total assets in the treasury of my district group last month was less than $1,500. ALL volunteers. But I would much rather you join first, and if I have misled you you should banish me from this group. Their theme? “We beat Trump, now let’s save Democracy.” And they (we) mean it.

This was the first political group I have ever joined (also member of Fair Fight), and I have witnessed their incredible effectiveness. I had to write an essay and be passed by a committee back then, don’t know how they do it now. But hey, if they put up with ancient fossils like me on their rolls, I bet they’ll take you.

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I joined the Las Vegas group way back when. I was very active and made some very special friends.

Sadly, my time to do things that I used to do is getting and less as my husband progresses.

I gave up donating to anything political other than my time about two years ago. I just can't get over how much money we give to these politicians, especially when we have children hungry and people homeless.

We need to get the money out of politics and back to the people.

Another thing, I hear people complain all the time about how bad out schools are and in the next breathe they complain about having to pay more to fund our schools.

But heck, we have a brand new stadium that I know a lot of locals here (myself included) will never set foot inside due to the the cost.

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Sorry about your situation Beth. Caregiving can absorb everything you have to give. Thanks for all you have done, we'll take it from here, you take care of your husband.

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Risking banishment, Gus? Not a chance, with Indivisible and Gus Koch on your side, Democracy and good cheer abound!

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Good! Don't want the dungeon, don't want banishment!

Took a chance....

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You can also donate directly to other races in other states - like the campaigns of other Democrats like Slotkin in competitive places.

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My hair is on fire! 🔥 TX Dem legislators showing need for help. Where is Washington? Biden and Schumer? Where is their courage? Their leadership? Well-stated above thoughts. Thank you for listing. Just curious: Where are the HCR video chats? Listened to a few podcasts, but HCR solo writing is best. ❤️🤍💙

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Deborah, you should be watching these! They're so good. As Lynell says, they are live on Facebook on Tuesdays at 4 pm (EST) on politics and Thursdays at 1 pm on history. Both are great! Even better, they are recorded, and you can access them on FB for a while afterward. Go to Heather's Facebook page and open the More menu to find Videos. Older video chats are available on her YouTube channel. Here is a link to yesterday's chat: https://www.facebook.com/100044557238708/videos/841118663447730

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HCR does videos on FB on Tuesdays (4:00pm politics) and Thursdays (1:00pm history). Is that what you mean?

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Brava Ellie! We need less ‘crystal ball gazing’ and more what can I do today! And in all the ‘today’s to come! We must be consistent in heralding the good that has been done with our governmental system! Don’t allow the sound bite ‘socialism’ to go unchallenged for example!

In each succeeding election we need more of ‘us’ than ‘the number of them’, especially in state elections.

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Emily's List is another good one. You can support candidates in many states. www.emilyslist.org

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This is our nation's second Civil War. I am most astounded by our US Supreme Court, regardless of or because it is a conservative majority, should be protecting our civil/voting rights as the core purpose of our US Constitution. Instead, they are giving space and opportunity for the "Big Lie" and every lie to flourish.

Once upon a time, when I was a Republican, the Republican Party advocated against passing new laws, claiming that we had enough laws, that they just had to be enforced. Today Republicans believe that we do not and cannot have enough laws to suit their purposes. Those and every law that they have advocated within recent time have been aimed at "others" while they as Donald Trump proposed "can shoot someone on 5th Avenue in broad daylight" and get away with it.

Arguing against mask wearing and refusing civid19 vaccines based on lies sure looks and smells like premeditated murder or at the very least manslaughter. Lying about the 2020 election sure looks like the greatest election fraud ever carried out in broad daylight.

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I wish you would tell us what’s on your mind, David....

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That is a big grateful Like!

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Last summer, people throughout our nation protested systemic racism following the murder of George Floyd - along with several other awful and unjust killings. This summer, perhaps it’s time to protest corrupt and anti-democratic civil servants.

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One of the Trumpian insights might be called a flood the zone strategy. If outrages perpetrated by his corrupt and anti-democratic faction are few, they can be easily targeted with protests. However, if Trump and his cronies, indeed his entire party, lie constantly, commit corrupt acts every day, and revel openly in their anti-democratic behavior, then there are so many acts and actors deserving protest that it is hard to target any one of them. And, we see the result of that approach to politics - an existential threat to our nation itself. Joe Biden is right to call that out, but even as he uses the power of his pulpit to condemn the Big Lie and anti-democratic initiatives launched all across our country, he has shied away from a full throated support of the use of Democrat's power to put a stop to it. He has a narrow governing majority for at least another year and a half. He has to know that a failure to use that majority will likely lead to its loss, and the loss of the democratic structures that have made the United States a great nation. And yet, our leaders still shy away from the muscular application of the power we have together. The Republican super-power is shamelessness. The Democratic super-power has to be unity to deliver justice and groceries. Making that happen requires both empathy and a warrior spirit. We have empathy in abundance, now let's see some warriors.

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Yes, more "flooding the zone" should be addressed more aggressively. If all you state are lies, then how does one even begin? Dems are at extreme disadvantage because any little misstep stands out from the truths. GOP lies all blend into the background.

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The president must realize the cordiality he experienced while a senator is long gone. Time for the long knives.

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Long arms work well, too.

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Bravo!

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Empathy + warrior spirit… Both are stimulated when I consider my granddaughter.

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Well said.

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Yet protesting is becoming more and more dangerous due to the Kyle Rittenhouse's in the crowd.

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And January 6.

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Fuck Kyle Rittenhouse and all of his ilk!

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Or as Firesign Theater would have more politely put it, 'Intercourse the Penguin'.

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Look what happened to Katie porters garden discussion? People came in and threatened lives. It’s so scary right now. And that’s the way they want it, to suppress us

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Always has been

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Hey, in Florida you can legally drive into a crowd you disagree with.

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