We have a lot of media who would rather focus on the negative as it gets people to view or to read. We have progressives who do not understand that what he has done, has been done, despite huge obstacles, much of it progressive. They, in particular, have learned nothing from the death star years. So now we have started to go backwards. He isn't a great speaker either. Then there is the Rs constantly obstructing, taking every opportunity to paint Joe as senile. What is astounding to me in that they don't hide their plans, their awful views of everyone, but white Christian males. Today I read an article about Matt Goetz making an incredibly misogynistic speech where he basically said that if women weren't attractive, they wouldn't have to worry about getting PG and needing an abortion. They look like thumbs. Seems to me this is the same nonsense that some use (and not just men) about rape and sexual harassment. If you aren't a ten, none of this could possibly happen to you. Several years ago some of us sued the principal for sexual harassment, etc. I still remember getting a report that the wife of one of our teachers said it couldn't possibly be true because we weren't attractive enough. Sigh and so it goes. The real zinger in this letter is the last sentence which states bluntly that it is up to us which direction the country will go.
This highlights the reason we should tread carefully when we us language or coalition building that frames “groups” as monolithic. Many women are obstructing women’s rights, and always have, when you look at the history. They get to benefit from the hard work of the suffragettes and modern feminists, but just like the media with Joe Biden, they will NEVER give them credit for their improved position. All the positions we advocate and support, like choosing to carry a pregnancy or not, to use birth control or not, to marry whom you choose, or not, takes NOTHING away from those who don’t support those choice. Their view is that they have the Right to take AWAY other’s rights because it makes them uncomfortable. Not a great way to run a country that claims to be “Free”.
You are so correct about monolithic groups. They don't exist and there have been a lot of women throughout history that have not supported women's rights for whatever reason. I think our best course of action is to find individuals who support the policies we embrace and help them out. Do what we can. There are a lot of good men out there (Joe Biden being one of them) who care deeply about women's rights. Let's get everyone on board and move forward. The Ginny Thomases of the world clearly aren't bashful about pushing for their programs.
They were worried about losing their status as wives and helpers. I constantly see posts by women who are determined to give themselves me time and focus on what is important to them instead of trying to help everyone. They are also, after they reach a certain age, determined to be who they are instead of pleasing everyone else and worrying about what they think. I always had a little of that sentiment, but now that I am a crone, I really do not care what people think. I have had to explain to a few that this is not carte blanche to be rude, but permission to wear what I want, eat what I want and as much, and speak my mind.
I know how you feel. "After 50, no more nicey, nicey," is how one friend's aunt put it. I think something that would help would be an honest recognition by everyone of how hard a job being a wife and homemaker is and that it has its own rewards. It is a hard job, an unrelenting job, and if you tried to pay for it you probably couldn't afford it. That should be recognized and applauded, but it should not get in the way of equal pay for equal work nor should it be the only area in which women are allowed to operate. This is an outmoded model.
Yes, it is and I have several friends, who although they have raised their children, are now dealing with ill relatives and husbands with dementia. One of them has always shot from the hip and the other does also although most people don't see that very often. Both artists.
A ray of hope... Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson in her first vote on the Supreme Court was joined by the other three women Justices (Justice Sotomayor, Justice Kagan, and yes, wait for it - Justice Amy Coney Barrett) dissenting against the five men on the Court overriding a Biden immigration policy. https://www.cnn.com/2022/07/21/politics/supreme-court-immigration-jackson/index.html All the women Justices of the Court dissented against all the male Justices! If we could just get even one more woman on the Court!! I'm reminded of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg when asked how many women on the court would be enough. She answered 9! I think Justice Jackson is going to play a key consensus building role on the Court. Let's stay tuned!
She bugs me a lot. She's a holier-than-thou Catholic where they leave the "to love and serve the poor" out of it. I don't care for that and that is not who I want making laws about my, or anybody else's, body.
She is a Handmaiden and I was opposed to her from the get go. One of my ex-classmates thought I was against her personally and I had to explain that I was against how she was going to rule.
Not being a woman, I can’t say with authority, but I suspect that most of them—maybe even all—were taught as girls that bad things would happen if they did not stay in their place, and they internalized that idea so deeply that they cannot conceive of any other way of life.
This is certainly true of women my age. I was told constantly that I should hide my intelligence for example. I had a roommate in college who was the Indiana state math champion. When she won, at least one of the males in the competition could not believe it.
You could be right. Now that I am older, I see a lot of the roadblocks I internalized without even noticing. I also think that not allowing women to be fully equal human beings keeps men stunted as well.
I am of that certain age (78) and I think you are correct about too many women of my generation. I was lucky enough to have parents who were always encouraging us to be strong women and to go to a girls' college preparatory school who taught us that we could accomplish anything we put our minds too. As I have aged I definitely see that we were the exception. And vote accordingly.
I wonder about that too. I am amazed at the R female pols who spout all this on a regular basis. I still want to ask Blackburn how she would define a woman.
Those are the women that have been taught or should we say brainwashed that the Bible says women are subservient to men. Father knows best is the true Christian order of the world for them. Always be leary of a religion that thinks it has the one and only right answer to what God is thinking. How can any small human mind comprehend something as complex as the concept of an Almighty being.
Yeah. Religions are made by people and an Almighty being is bigger than all of them. The Religious Right has spoiled religion for me and I'm not sure how I feel about that. Perhaps I'd be that way anyway.
The Gnome, otherwise known as Prairie Barbie, has ambitions to be prez, so she has to ape all the nonsense put out by death star and other Rs. We have a cousin who lives in Rapid City and every day reports on the Gnome's awfulness and now reports on the campaign of her opponent. This person is of Sioux descent, so has that viewpoint also.
Not from anywhere near S. Dak., so this is speculation, but a lot of people espouse hateful and erroneous doctrines that they know are hateful and erroneous, if they think it will benefit their careers.
I disagree with your comments about progressives. If not for the progressive caucus, much of what has been done would have been only a pipe dream. The faults in the party seem to me to lie with the leadership and the moderates who refuse to be led by the will of the voters. Real change is like birth. It’s not easy. It is messy and painful. Oh but what a miracle it is!
Jeff, You might recall that in late Spring 2020, after Joe Biden had become the Party’s presumptive Presidential nominee, that he and Bernie Sanders created 6 policy task forces which, according to Sanders, “had some of the most knowledgeable people in the country coming together” to deal with education, climate change, healthcare, the economy, criminal justice, and immigration reform. These were serious discussions with serious people engaged in an honest effort to arrive at a compromise that Sanders had said, if implemented, would have made Biden “the most progressive President since FDR.” But for Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema, much of the Biden domestic legislative agenda would have become law.
Jon, When you consider the legislation that passed in the House and remains stalled in the Senate: the PRO Act, the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act, the Freedom to Vote-John R. Lewis Act, Biden’s entire social and climate package, and more, relatively little of Biden’s domestic legislative agenda that would have improved life, particularly for tens and tens of millions of working people, has become law.
As I repeatedly have stated, Dems have an extraordinary narrative of what they would have delivered but for every Republican and a handful of Democrats. In my view, imparting this message nationwide is the Dem’s best shot at holding the House and picking up at least 2 Senate seats.
Hale, While I believe that an arrangement exists between Manchin and McConnell, considering their voting records—e.g., Manchin’s relatively recent support for the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Package— I hardly would consider them clones. That said, unless I’m missing something, I don’t understand the relevance of your point to my mapping out the origins of Biden’s domestic legislative agenda.
I stand chastised…. My point which is not very deep is that Manchin has torpedoed much of the Democrat Agenda which has been the goal of McConnell. Maybe my post is in the wrong place.
I am sorry, but the ones here in Salem spend a lot of time dissing Joe and wanting every candidate to check all the boxes. I sat here with someone after death star had been elected who refused to see what a difference that was going to make. We also ended up with a Republican sec. of state because a bunch of people voted third party. Politics is the art of the possible, so pols can believe in and promise all sorts of things, but find out that they have to compromise or deal with Rs walking out, as is here in Salem, so that there would be no quorum. It is has been difficult to get where what we have, but now we have the Supremes who will undo all that as fast as they can. Would this have happened if HRC been elected...no, and I do realize her faults, but total destruction of the government would not been one of them and we have three death star justices on the court now. The sticking point at this point seems to be Manchin and the nutcase from Arizona. Btw, I am consider myself a progressive, but I am also a realist in terms of our political system.
Michele, Though your comment is not addressed to me, I believe Jeff, rightly in my view, had refuted your portrayal of progressives as obstructionists. While Biden’s domestic legislative agenda did not include everything the Progressive Caucus wanted, this Caucus fought harder than anyone for its passage.
Tensions set in when Biden got House Progressives to support passage of the “hard” bi-partisan infrastructure package with guarantees that he would be able to deliver, through budget reconciliation, the social and climate piece (BBB). Essentially, Biden miscalculated his ability to enlist Manchin’s and Sinema’s support.
Oh, I agree with your last sentence. I don't think progressives are obstructionists and that's not what I said. I said the ones around here diss Biden all the time and do not mention the good things he has done. I was told I was toxic when I tried to counter some of their nonsense. So, as far as I am concerned, some have the same mind set as the far right. I am seeing less of that right now for some reason. Also many of them used R talking points against HRC without thinking about what would happen if death star should happen to win. Progress is hard won and sometimes we have to hold our noses to keep it and not go backwards. And for the record, I held my nose and voted for that ass Schrader because the opposition was much worse. Now we have a true progressive running in his district and I do hope she can prevail. We have donated to her. Schrader, on the other hand, is not supporting her and for governor, he is supporting Machine Gun Betsy, a DINO, who is running as an I. She will be OK on abortion, but will be lethal to many other progressive ideas including the climate.
Michele, Thank you for your reply. I simply would note that my purpose for posting was to present the facts as I understand them. Ultimately, I view our discussions as opportunities to learn from one another so we each in our own way can work most effectively to help shape a more generous and just future.
I remember that and it's a sad story. Here's what Eleanor Roosevelt had to say on May 11, 1934, at the Washington Conference on Negro Education: "I think the day of selfishness is over; the day of really working together has come, and we must learn to work together all of us, regardless of race or creed or color...We go ahead together or we go down together..." Words worth considering right now even though they were spoken almost ninety years ago and thirty years before the Civil Rights Movement.
Susan, While we should heed Roosevelt’s beautiful thoughts, first, the MAGA command structure up to and including Trump needs to be brought to justice. In my view, there’s no justification that would cast their actions (and their plans were MAGA command not apprehended, prosecuted, and punished) as anything but diabolical. I suppose my point is that I don’t see any way forward until we rid ourselves of the current existential threat to our democratic republic.
Michele - "Today I read an article about Matt Goetz making an incredibly misogynistic speech where he basically said that if women weren't attractive, they wouldn't have to worry about getting PG and needing an abortion."
I think Hawley is now toast as he is the subject of many memes featuring running and/or chickens. It's made all the more delicious by his insistence that what we need is men just like him.
I was not surprised but saddened that Gaetz directed his speech to high school/college students at the Turning Point USA Student Action Summit. The next generation…😢
On Twitter, I saw this super long line of these young people waiting to shake hands or get a selfie with Marjorie Taylor Greene I found that disturbing.
I had a patient years ago who presented with all the classic symptoms of early pregnancy, morning sickness etc and I asked if they had done a pregnancy test. The doctor's response was that she was too ugly to have gotten pregnant, this was in the 80's. That this type of thinking is still rampant just floors me.
By that logic, everyone’s mother must have been attractive and desirable, otherwise no child could be conceived. Any alleged ugliness therefore must be inherited from the father’s side, right?
Pamela, I worked for many years in a top tier law firm & can’t tell you how many attorneys would opine that the perfect assistant was “single, ugly & fat because they’d have nothing better to do but work overtime whenever needed.”
Yes, and as I mentioned it's not just men. I had an aide in the library, who commented on one of the students who seemed immune to what was considered feminine. Then she showed up PG.
Michele I am gobsmacked that the Republicans, from Trump and others, seem successful with their fear and attack BS, without taking any responsibility for the implications of their non-policies on everything to Covid, NATO, Build Back Better, women’s rights, voting rights, and ….
When I think of President Biden and his administration, on balance I am thankful that he has replaced the Trump years. Honesty, integrity, common sense, and addressing core problems for a great majority of our citizens and for our country—-compared to Trumpists, Biden deserves five-star kudos.
GET THE MESSAGE OUT IN VISCERAL 30-60 SECOND SOUND BITES AND KEEP REPEATING.
Michele At times I wish that AOC (and Warren and Bernie) were given tickets on Musk’s first space trip to Mars.They are singing songs that are dreadfully out of synch both with the bulk of American voters and with the art of the possible. Compromise was critical to the adaption of the Constitution. Without such compromises, we never would have accomplished the United States.
We all have fantastic wish lists—Ignoring the $$$ and the political realities of the American political process. Moderate, incremental change is the best to which we can aspire.
As my mother explained to me, when, as a youth, we went to a bakery, part of a loaf is better than no loaf at all. We should take off our fancy loafers and plod ahead with sturdy, non-super-star sneakers.
I agree. I don't see Warren as much of a problem as the other two. Yes, compromise and the writers of the Constitution had an elephant in the room. I think Jill LaPore's These Truths...a recent history of the US tells what was going on there the best. And what really fries me is that after all the hard work put in to gain the incremental changes, they are at risk of going down the toilet thanks to people not voting for HRC.
Matt Goetz is a disgusting human being who, I believe, is still up on sex trafficking charges. Women have come a long way, but we still have a long way to go. I'm tired of the media and their breathless anticipation of worse things to come. I've now started Volume II of Eleanor Roosevelt's biography, which I find far more relevant and helpful in understanding what is going on today than watching the news. Eleanor Roosevelt faced so many of the same issues in the 1930's and her humanitarian approach to human suffering was amazing. She was also condemned by the Republicans as a Commie and put on a watch list. What's going on today isn't completely new news, but it is our news. As ER put it in her first book, It's Up to the Women. And it is.
I didn't know much about her, so I read a recent biography about her and came away with much appreciation and admiration for her and not so much for FDR at times.
Michele Eleanor Roosevelt was a remarkable woman. She accomplished so much in her diverse lives. I had been involved in This I Believe (CBS—39 million weekly listeners—best selling book) since its outset in 1949.
Mrs. Roosevelt was invited to read and speak a This I Believe. Hers was the first that did not express believe in a god—a supreme being. Decades later I used her TIB in weekly TIB sessions that I organized for ‘senior folk’ in Nj and Long Island. It took me a while to realize that, while she spoke of duty and obligation, there was no mention of love in her TIB. (She had often been betrayed in her early life culminating with FDR/Lucy Mercer.]
I met Mrs. Roosevelt in Philadelphia when I was 6 or 7. All that I recall was that she seems nice and had protruding teeth. Much later I found that she had become perhaps the most distinguished woman in the United States and remarkable for what she accomplished for human rights at the United Nations.
Yes, she was. Lucky you to have met her, even while so young. I am always amazed at your own diverse career. Thanks for posting this.
I am glad that I took the time to read her bio. I confess that I am not always a fan of American history, but watched the series about FDR and the Queen of Sweden during WWII. That got me interested in knowing more about Eleanor Roosevelt. Right now I am reading a large tome about the people in Victorian England that laid the groundwork for modern Britain. It's too hot here to read that tonight, so I am switching to a mystery.
Michele Much of history is a mystery. My wife and watch few TV history dramas these days. However, a friend recommended the one on FDR and the princess, later queen, of Spain. I know quite a lot about FDR, including being a history professor from age 58 to 80, and that was all new to me. What fascinating historical tit bits that underscore the importance of human beings in history. Their needs and personalities provide invaluable insights. As Hercule Poirot, with his little grey cells points out, figure out human psychology and the truth becomes evident.
But, as we saw in Kirasawa’s RASHOMON, the credible account by four separate witnesses, of a crime, what is truth? Robin Lane Fox, in chapter on Pontius Pilate with Jesus, concluded with PP asking ‘What is truth?’ First tell me who reported these purported conservation, since nothing appears in Roman records, Jesus was otherwise occupied, and there is virtually nothing in Roman history about Jesus for the first generations after is death.
I could make lots of snarky comments, but let's just say that anybody up on sex trafficking charges who looks like Elf should not be commenting about anybody else's ankles. He is a loathsome creep who should be in jail, not on a podium.
The first thing you notice about Matt besides his blathering is his forehead. He could sell advertising there if he so desired. The next is his child-like hairdo. Matt will break if they ever come to arrest him. I wish they would . . .
It's funny you mentioned his hairdo. I noticed strange male hairdos on several of the Republicans interviewed by the January 6 Committee. They look like they had been pasted on. And, yes, I believe all of them would break if any of them were to be arrested. They have been led to believe all their lives that the law does not apply to them. Republican snowflakes everyone. I wish they would all melt away.
I don't know. I wish someone would answer him, tell him what he is, and put him in his place. He walks around free to do as he pleases while those of lesser means and status would experience a jail cell.
Chris, Admittedly, HCR gorgeously recounts Biden’s standout accomplishments both at home and abroad, despite unprecedented, mostly Republican obstructionism, and also brilliantly distinguishes Biden’s public service record from the Republican project to impose minority rule over the will of the majority. In many respects, the Professor’s letter is a testament to how Americans nationwide would galvanize around Democratic messaging were it tougher and stronger, be it about running out the clock on protecting the key mechanisms of democracy in the U.S. or about what people are losing every time Biden’s legislative agenda is stalled.
To that end, though I can’t state unequivocally it does any good, I continually provide playbook suggestions to the relevant parties in government, particularly those ideas that receive a highly favorable response on Substack. Similarly, because we rely on the media to provide the necessary information and nurture the fundamental discourse to maintain the democratic republic, I repeatedly write to prominent media figures about the urgency of providing useful rather than expedient content. I imagine several others are similarly engaged.
Keep at it, Barbara Jo, even if it’s the same letter. Be relentless because it’s all we’ve got. We protest, we fight back. This is our oxygen, our strongest tool.
Marlene, I appreciate your encouraging message. While there is some duplication, because I’m focused on different issues for different audiences, the letters do change.
Sandra, Thank you for writing. I deeply appreciate you and everyone else from this community who are taking on the work of shaping a more generous and just future.
Perfect proof of a truth. You walk like a duck and quack repeatedly and soon the majority believes you are in fact a duck. Then all the wannabe popular ones start to do it as well to be believed. Entertainers and pundits one and all create opinion, the alternate to truth. While, MLMinET, you did it in six words, "categorized as," not needed.
And low gas prices encourage people to buy gas guzzlers and think nothing of their impact on the environment. See the USA in your Chevrolet, because public transportation here is way behind what other countries provide. ( I took the metro from my hotel to my son’s wedding in Japan because a taxi might have gotten stuck in traffic.)
Yesterday all day long some ass was roaring up and down a street north of us. And this type of thing goes on all night. Right now in front of our house the road is closed, but it looks like it might be open soon. We will be back to all the high speeds, backfiring deliberately, and sifting at the very last second. These types must have all kinds of money for gas.
And today some ass also drove past the road closed barriers, into our landscaping (which is going when they do more street work) and then through uneven gravel out past the barriers on the other side. At least he could not speed. When they first closed the road, some guy gave them the finger because he couldn't get through.
How sad that getting people to understand that the president doesn’t control gas prices is so hard. Or that congressional representatives do, either.
On the other hand, FDR in wartime controlled prices and did ration gasoline, tires, etc. (My granny used her ration coupons for shoes for my fast-growing brother’s feet.)
If Joe Biden instituted price controls they would be call him a communist tyrant.
“Whether it will be enough to prove that democracy is still a viable form of government is up to us.”
Good closer and truth be told, its always been up to us because we are a Democracy. And a caveat has been added…We the People….all of us this time.
A tsunami crush to support democracy in November starts on every forum, with every PAC, with every letter or postcard or Twitter or dollar that supports our efforts. Any negative complaining or giving even one space reiterating the treason by Republicans must stop. What the Universe hears coming out of our mouths and hearts will be heard and acted upon.
“WE THE PEOPLE….ALL OF US THIS TIME. WE ARE THE DEMOCRACY. WE STAND PROUDLY AND SPEAK FOR IT AND LIVE BY IT. WE VOTE FOR IT IN NOVEMBER.”
I find Greg Olear’s post today speaks to my struggle of ignoring the photos, the words, the tyranny, the treason of the Republican Party.
Please, please, please, let’s keep our focus on the Light. It grows to a groundswell with our focus upon it. As it fills the cracks of darkness. Trust in our……
Thank you for that beautiful poem and introduction to a beautiful poet. It added greatly to the beauty of an already beautiful summer day.
And thank you also for that awful picture of Family T looking themselves like undead vampires. I wish that they were made of wax and would melt away in the Global Warming heatwaves. Hope springs eternal.
I find the entirety of the democratic communications and messaging strategy to be milk toast. Hey - let’s get a crapload of important/good stuff done and then not boast about it. Consider the difference in response to when Dumpster Fire struggled to walk down a ramp and Joe Biden fell off his bike. Sorry USA but I’m happy that my 79 year old president was out BIKING (to maintain his fitness and be a role model )and he fell off vs the person who can’t walk down a ramp or worse is the ONLY international leader who needs a golf cart to get around at a world summit.
I highly recommend the podcast "Hacks on Tap" with Mike Murphy, David Axelrod, and Robert Gibbs. Axelrod and Gibbs were top Obama aids. Murphy is the wonderfully witty never-Trumper GOP campaign operative (with great experience) who voted for Biden, but has lots to say, almost every week, about what the WH should be doing to sell itself and policies. Even if Murphy doesn't agree with some of them, he gives great advice on the approach the WH ought to take, and urges the WH to be much more forward on taking on GOP insanities. "Pick a clear fight!" he urges. "It's an election year! Make it clear!" I usually always agree with him. (Disclaimer: I've always enjoyed seeing him operate even when he was working for candidates I'd never vote for. His amazingly quick wit and searing zingers are worth "the price of admission," so to speak.)
The sad part being that a president has no control over globally set oil prices which affect the price at the pump. But some of his minimal moves, plus I guess people choosing to drive a little less, has started to bring prices down lately - at least where I live along the Maine coast. Around here, the crazy high prices now are clearly local stations gouging.
I am all for the Democrats and I think Biden has done, at minimum, a highly credible job as President.
But I questions some of the economic statistics presented here and in other outlets.
Biden came into the Presidency 10 months after Covid had turned the world upside down. Today it’s in a far, far different place - still battling the disease, but to a great degree running in a sort of normal way (politics excepted).
I am not an economist whatsoever. But I am sincerely asking this question - have there been any studies done showing that the economic numbers that are so positive for Biden are/aren’t caused to some degree by the massive outlier effect of Covid?
To take what I think is a comparable - if statistics came out two years after Hurricane Katrina showing a massive growth in employment, in houses built, in infrastructure accomplished, would it be fair to give the credit to the mayor without mentioning Katrina?
Again, I ask this openly - with no knowledge and subject to correction. But it seems a little unfair to (rightly I think) not blame inflation on Biden, while lavishing credit on him for every other economic metric.
Any economists out there?
As for HCR’s other theme - I think that the American form of democracy is on the very edge of being non-functional. DJT did an extraordinarily thorough job exposing dozens of chinks in its armor over his term.
Now America is in rescue mode. Major, major structural changes are needed before the house can stand securely again.
Eric, I am no economist either but, to enter into discussion of this matter my personal opinion is that this is all a part of the GOP plan of decade after decade, admin after admin to intentionally put and leave the Dems in a "hole" as they leave office. One has to step back and look at the bigger picture and perspective on it as a strategy.
Whether it's leaving us holding the bag for a war they started (Afghanistan), a health crisis they created (Covid), the economy challenge (giving $2T to their investors and threatening the Fed to keep interest rates at zero thru their term and more), removing us from climate agmts (Paris) and the list goes on and on, they intentionally put Biden in that hole and did Nothing to help him or the country in the transition. They are quite happy to "watch Rome burn" and hurt all Americans in the process. It is all quite sick.
Rather than try and prove this point, other authors have already done it (see below). Rachel Maddow also every once in awhile shows the sine wave curve chart of the last thirty years how the GOP spends their time leading the US into the economic throughs and the Dems spend their time rebuilding the economy only to watch the Reps crash it all again. It looks like a roller coaster because that what it is and they do nothing but gaslight the country by lying that it's the Dems that "tax & spend".
Here are some links that should help better than my overview w/o actual facts. Hope this helps:
Hey, if conditions work in Joe's favor, I'm happy to accept that, because he gets blamed for much that isn't his fault--viz. inflation, particularly high gas prices.
Long before the current media environment, an eminent news broadcaster was asked about the proliferation of negative stories. He suggested that that was actually a good thing, because it meant that good news was more common than bad. When good news leads (think of the discovery of the first COVID vaccines), it’s a sign that we are in trouble. That doesn’t make all the negative stories good news for Biden or democracy, but it may give some perspective.
Jon, is your point that the "typical" newsfollower/voter cares about what they don't have, not what they have? Like, anything they think someone is keeping from them is what drives their vote because that it is being stolen from them?
Not quite. My point is that it's natural that things that bother us get first (easy) attention. But that does not mean that they have to be decisive. On the other hand, that might be a good thing--think about women's rights as an issue this year.
I agree. It’s similar to feeling well and not noticing much about your body, but, boy, get a toothache! It’s your “lead story” until it’s gone. Before gas prices surged, I sure wasn’t driving around thinking, “ Sure is nice I can fill my tank for only $30”
I do agree, though, that the media is harping on negative stories about Biden and that Democratic messaging is abysmal. One small example, I have no idea what the infrastructure money allotted to my state is being used for or even how much money we got.
Joe Biden is no hero, though clearly a lesser evil in these dark times. $15 minimum wage, Build Back Better, war with no seeming end in Ukraine, Yemen, Palistine and other counties. We need transformation and old Joe is not going to have that happen...
EVERY DEM/INDIE WHO WANTS TO AVOID TRUMP '24 BETTER START ASKING WHAT REPUBLICANS ASK "WHAT DO WE NEED TO DO TO WIN THE UPCOMING ELECTIONS?"
EVERYTHING ELSE IS A DISSERVICE TO THE CAUSE OF SUSTAINING OUR DEMOCRACY.
We have a huge swath of Americans who believe that, despite no evidence, the election was stolen and Jan 6 is a political hack job. They won't listen to more media they don't watch anyway. We want to win the election we need to embrace sane, economically rational policies on oil and gas to get American's cost of living down and thwart Russia. Heather has done a great job reporting on numerous positives Biden doesn't get credit for. But she is doing the movement a grave disservice by amplifying confirmation bias. The people on here already see the catastrophic authoritarian risk from the alt right. Repeating and amplifying those feelings is minimizing the odds of Biden winning. The Dems need to race to the center and address the average Americans' sudden inability to pay their gas and electric bill. Talking about windmills we hope to build 8 years from now while kissing MBS' ring, begging Venezuela to pump more crude while hammering US energy companies is terrible politics that has already destroyed the Dems in November. The idiocy of then saying you want to shut down drilling while Putin watches Europe - which desperately needs our help - careen into catastrophic energy shortages and Americans furiously tipping into the Trump '24 camp defies belief. Right now Trump is a shoe in for '24 according to the Vegas betting lines. If he wins, the Green movement is over for at least four years. Whining about him not getting credit is a tactic sure to lead the Dems to ruin.
I will lay it as a failure of the nation's media... Biden's presidency to date has done a lot in correcting the foolishness of the trump years. But does one read about it in the daily paper? No. What makes headline is the polling of the 46th president... comparing it to the previous glorious leader. While trump thought kissing up to Kim Jong-un was historic, the work of bringing the NATO countries back together was actually good diplomacy. Will this goodness continue? It's going to be difficult as long as the Republican lawmakers are comfortable standing firmly against the firm will of the people. And the future with the November election coming... what with the the refusal of Republicans and Democratic senator Joe Manchin (WV) to get out of their self-serving mind-set and begin serving the people they represent November doesn't look good. Sad.
Thank you, HCR... keep telling it like it is... some of us are listening!
I blame the media for ushering tfg into the presidency back in 2016. I recall how on a daily basis throughout that presidential campaign, most morning network news (not just Fox) went out of their way to portray both candidates (tfg and Clinton) as equally qualified contenders—regardless of tfg’s major blunders (“but her emails!”). I found it ironic (poetic justice?) that tfg openly censured and censored many non-Fox newspeople during his press briefings, even banning some of them. We nearly lost our freedom of the press during his term! Has the media already forgotten?
At the Cretin News Network, Jeff Fucker, er, I mean Zucker, when asked why they were giving Trump free coverage of his rallies and such in 2016, replied "Donald Trump brings us high ratings."
Yep. The holes in--eg., six--SCOTUS's socio-historical, politco-economic acumen. . . resulting from their derivative Ivy League training and Federalist Society trafficking is astonishing. (Please read, Evil Geniuses. The Unmaking of America, by Kurt Andersen.)
And that is, unfortunately, CNN's purpose in life despite the BlaBla "duty to inform" publicity....making money for shareholders is their game; it is not a public service any more than is FoxNews. Generally as you well know, they look for what their public would like to hear and see and not what others might think good for them so that they increase their numbers of subscribers and othercustomers. The ads that they carry are their life blood.
Stuart, Considering the media constitute a commercial, profit driven enterprise, the question ultimately boils down to whether media meaningfully can engage in public service and nurture the public trust and still make the sort of money they currently do, or whether the desire to make bigger profits actually drives media owners to provide popular rather than useful content. My reading and viewing suggest that media, typically, serve both masters. For every story people in high places wouldn’t like, that nonetheless serves the interests of citizens and communities, there are others seemingly intent on turning out searchlights on dark and dangerous corners.
It’s why republicans trash NPR/PBS at every opportunity. Now they are forced to compete with the money-makers. I remember a time when news was not expected to be a money maker and advertisements did not last as long as a show. Gasp, who else is that old.
Jeri, Though a bit of time has passed since you posted your response, I, nonetheless, wanted to reply. Having just drafted a reply to Charlie, who is part of this thread, I realize my response to him pretty much mirrors my thoughts relative to your comment. Hence, rather than repeating myself, I refer you to my response to Charlie.
Michele, I can’t tell whether or not the pronoun “you” in the last line is directed at me, personally. To ensure there is no confusion, my comment reflects my understanding of how the mainstream information industries function. As a member of a national media watch group that critiques the media and advocates for strong, honest, and accurate reporting to serve the public interest, I view the job of reporting as getting as close as possible to the verifiable truth.
Charlie, My apologies for the delayed reply. I simply hadn’t been able to respond until now. I write mostly to clarify that there are CEOs who want their news divisions to do strong, honest, and accurate reporting that serves the public interest. Nonetheless, said CEOs also recognize that a news division’s power comes from its ratings and the autonomy of the division comes from its power. Because CEOs have a Board of Directors and shareholders to whom they must answer, their news divisions simply can’t do the stories they want nor say whatever they want unless they’re making money.
In 2016 there was a propaganda loop from TFG to social media to tv media. The campaign would make a claim, then a weird corner of social media would find an obscure storyline, (or an outright lie) to support his claim, and the news media would report the story.
That makes his expulsion from Twitter so necessary.
Yes. I heard an economist today, on NPR's On The Media, stop an interview to take the show's moderator to task - saying no matter how much he might explain the complexities of determining whether we are in a recession, all listeners would remember was that every other word out of her mouth was 'recession.' So she was being a driver of recession.
I include this as a bonus - because, Mark Blyth, horrifyingly hilarious. Channeling Peter Capaldi's Scotsman from Armando Iannucci's In the Loop. Capaldi's character peels paint with his profanity, Blyth does it with his terrifying smarts.
Hey, lin. Thank you for introducing me to OTM. Both podcasts were very good at explaining "economy, et al." to the average listener (which I clearly am!). I sorta disagreed with the last point that Mark Blyth makes about BBB when he said the Democrats were highlighting all the programs in BBB would be paid for. My memory is that it was structured that way to keep Republicans from objecting to it, which of course they objected to anyway.
lin, my NPR station doesn't do On the Media until Sunday evenings (I don't listen to the podcast) so I have not heard this particular segment, but I am going to listen to this--because I like Brooke a lot but, like all media folks, including legit journalists like herself, she does get caught up in the tropes that we are now subjected to. I wish more people took journalists to task for their parroting of stuff designed by the Powers of Darkness to sway people into thinking that the problem is progressive politics and not the greed of corporations, executive compensation, and neofascist ideologies. And also the Capaldi reference. I find it very amusing that I the Loop was one of the reasons why Capaldi was chosen to be the 12th Doctor. Whose mantra was "always be kind (and never eat pears)." He is a national treasure (of Britain) to be sure.
The problem is not just the media. It's the Democrats' incapacity to pound into everybody's head what they HAVE accomplished. I will bet that most red state Americans know nothing about the infrastructure bill and how it will help them. They also know nothing about higher employment, lower deficits, real diplomacy, etc. All they hear is daily Fox diatribes. And Biden's presentation as a feeble old man does not help either.
When the interstate highway system was being built, there were huge billboards at construction sites pointing out that the projects were 90 percent funded by the federal government. LBJ understood that people needed to know how the highways got built. Now the feds hand out contracts covered in specificity only by trade papers and it is as if the construction happened spontaneously or courtesy of some governor. That's why nobody knows what has been accomplished or who did it. Or that the child tax credit which greatly reduced child poverty just expired because the GOP only protects life pre-birth.
My husband had repeatedly said he thought billboards should display evidence of tfg’s criminality, tidbits about repubs, etc. Enough to get through to ppl captive at red lights who otherwise might never encounter the truth.
The interstate system was built under Eisenhower. "The creation of the Interstate System is one of the greatest public works projects in history. The importance of the Interstate System to our economy cannot be exaggerated. President Eisenhower wrote the following in his memoirs: “...more than any single action by the government since the end of the war, this one would change the face of America. Its impacts on the American economy – the jobs it would produce in manufacturing and construction, the rural areas it would open up – was beyond calculation.”
Johnson signed the Highway Beautification Act, Oct. 22, 1965
LBJ had his name all over the Texas work. And Lady Bird had her highway beautification act which tackled the problem of billboards. Here is a interesting history of the highway system in the USA. And you are correct. Different section were completed later.
The original intent was to provide a way for the cities to evacuate in the event of a nuclear attack. Eisenhower realized the necessity of good roads and a good road system in times of war.
And yes. Redlining and drawing the roads right through black communities was and remains devasting. A white elite NIMBY.
Don't you love the way people like to blame everything on "the Democrats"? What do you mean by "the Democrats"? The national Dem organizations, or the state parties, or just Democrats in general? WTF are you doing about it besides playing armchair pundit?
Yes, a lot of us are listening and taking her words to heart. I agree that Biden's undermining in the newspapers, particularly the New York Times, but not only, sometimes in The Washington Post, as well. I think so much of this comes from election deniers.
This is why I never read about politics in either. I do read Bill Palmer. I do know that the essays often have a title that is hyperbole, but the essays tell exactly all the good things that the Biden administration is doing and often takes on the media for the undermining that they are doing. They also point out the things Ds can use against Rs and how to win. The message is work as hard as possible, do what you can, vote D. He also defends the DOJ and describes how these kinds of cases work.
I got into it for sharing an op-ed piece and when it was pointed out that it was “opinion not facts” I argued that it was based on facts, unlike the “news” articles that he was posting (violating every semblance of journalistic integrity) were Alonso opinion pieces since they were published in a biased, poorly edited rag.
The bottom line is that with the decline heading to demise of print journalism and the proliferation of on-line sources of news, finding good, ethical writing is hard work
Oh, I agree. People often blithely cite when I ask and they bother, sources that are so biased that they are not reliable at all. Or they cite something that is old and the research and thinking has changed. Or they have a reliable source and they misread what it actually says.
So glad to see someone else in here follows Bill Palmer, Michelle. I have been surprised to not see his name here more often given the make-up and beliefs of this audience. I find him to offer the things that seem so obvious but nobody in the media is willing to say. He takes on the media almost daily for not stating the facts, even MSNBC and those more-left leaning outlets who once you follow his threads, realize he is exactly right and it become clear they are simply milking everyone for clickbait revenue even if/when harmful to the public and democracy.
One thing he said well over a year ago that has always stuck with me is, "to keep Republicans tuned in you tell them they are winning. To keep Democrats tuned in you tell them they are losing". And I'll be darned if that doesn't play out each and every day while Fox tells their base how they are crushing those bastard libs and MSNBC tells their base we are all doomed and TFG is going to get away with it all. He's completely right that they (big media) are just streaming the narratives following the formula that keeps us clicking.
And here is an example of one of his recent posts setting the record straight on how he see the current probes status and how mainstream media still isn't covering them correctly.
I love Palmer. I once had someone diss me because I shouldn't be posting on my own page something so biased. Yes, the headlines are hard to take, but the analysis is spot on. Yes, Palmer's site stands up for the DOJ. I would rather see a watertight case against death star and others rather than some half baked effort that they can weasel out of. I understand the impatience though.
Chris Wallace ruefully blamed his father, Mike Wallace, for showing with 60 Miinutes that news could make money. News went from a public service provided by networks and required by every licensee to a profit center and it was downhill from there.
And this may be correct... however back in the day of Mr. Wallace the reports on the program were more informative than entertaining, as opposed to the majority of national media today. Thank all god and goddesses we still have PBS Newshour.
While on this topic, don't overlook the impact of today's social media. Ugh!
It’s only a “failure of the nations media” if the goal is to educate the public. Maybe more correctly it is a failure of the citizenry to acknowledge that “news” is a business prioritizing sales of advertising. We, gleaning crumbs of info from this business model, and claiming it should be nutrition to our understanding, are not acknowledging that reality. Most of us choose to receive our life info from media. That it has warped our understandings and duty as citizens is kinda’ on us. We created this monster and feed it daily with our clicks.
And some people are laying it out as a failure of the messaging machine of the Biden Administration. It believe it is a combination of the 2 then add in voter information overload and malaise.
Each of us need to correspond with the media to let them know of our feelings with regard to their lack of reporting what is happening under Pres. Biden's leadership. Heather pointed out the problem with the media several months ago and I have been emailing my local as well as national news agencies to get them to report truth.
I'm sorry but this is delusional. We have a huge swath of Americans who believe that, despite no evidence, the election was stolen and Jan 6 is a political hack job. They won't listen to more media they don't watch anyway. We want to win the election we need to embrace sane, economically rational policies on oil and gas to get American's cost of living down and thwart Russia. Heather has done a great job reporting on numerous positives Biden doesn't get credit for. But she is doing the movement a grave disservice by amplifying confirmation bias. The people on here already see the catastrophic authoritarian risk from the alt right. Repeating and amplifying those feelings is minimizing the odds of Biden winning. The Dems need to race to the center and address the average Americans' sudden inability to pay their gas and electric bill. Talking about windmills we hope to build 8 years from now while kissing MBS' ring, begging Venezuela to pump more crude while hammering US energy companies is terrible politics that has already destroyed the Dems in November. The idiocy of then saying you want to shut down drilling while Putin watches Europe - which desperately needs our help - careen into catastrophic energy shortages and Americans furiously tipping into the Trump '24 camp defies belief. Right now Trump is a shoe in for '24 according to the Vegas betting lines. If he wins, the Green movement is over for at least four years. Whining about him not getting credit is a tactic sure to lead the Dems to ruin. EVERY DEM/INDIE WHO WANTS TO AVOID TRUMP '24 BETTER START ASKING WHAT REPUBLICANS ASK "WHAT DO WE NEED TO DO TO WIN THE UPCOMING ELECTIONS?"
EVERYTHING ELSE IS A DISSERVICE TO THE CAUSE OF SUSTAINING OUR DEMOCRACY.
I'm totally with you on the media's role in squelching the news of the Biden accomplishments. I'm hopeful about the November election, though. I guess I have to be in order to continue serving as a local election officer lol. Keeping the faith...
This is a thoughtful message - but the "calculus" is simple. Gas at $4 = out of power. Gas at $3 = credit for achievements. This is not a value judgement - it is a tragic but honest truth.
Really, It boggles the mind that he doesn’t get more credit for his accomplishments!
We have a lot of media who would rather focus on the negative as it gets people to view or to read. We have progressives who do not understand that what he has done, has been done, despite huge obstacles, much of it progressive. They, in particular, have learned nothing from the death star years. So now we have started to go backwards. He isn't a great speaker either. Then there is the Rs constantly obstructing, taking every opportunity to paint Joe as senile. What is astounding to me in that they don't hide their plans, their awful views of everyone, but white Christian males. Today I read an article about Matt Goetz making an incredibly misogynistic speech where he basically said that if women weren't attractive, they wouldn't have to worry about getting PG and needing an abortion. They look like thumbs. Seems to me this is the same nonsense that some use (and not just men) about rape and sexual harassment. If you aren't a ten, none of this could possibly happen to you. Several years ago some of us sued the principal for sexual harassment, etc. I still remember getting a report that the wife of one of our teachers said it couldn't possibly be true because we weren't attractive enough. Sigh and so it goes. The real zinger in this letter is the last sentence which states bluntly that it is up to us which direction the country will go.
How a woman (any woman) could sign on to republican blather is shocking to me.
This highlights the reason we should tread carefully when we us language or coalition building that frames “groups” as monolithic. Many women are obstructing women’s rights, and always have, when you look at the history. They get to benefit from the hard work of the suffragettes and modern feminists, but just like the media with Joe Biden, they will NEVER give them credit for their improved position. All the positions we advocate and support, like choosing to carry a pregnancy or not, to use birth control or not, to marry whom you choose, or not, takes NOTHING away from those who don’t support those choice. Their view is that they have the Right to take AWAY other’s rights because it makes them uncomfortable. Not a great way to run a country that claims to be “Free”.
This is where religious tyranny rests its ugly anti democratic head.
Truer words were never spoke. This my earlier observation about Justice Amy.
You are so correct about monolithic groups. They don't exist and there have been a lot of women throughout history that have not supported women's rights for whatever reason. I think our best course of action is to find individuals who support the policies we embrace and help them out. Do what we can. There are a lot of good men out there (Joe Biden being one of them) who care deeply about women's rights. Let's get everyone on board and move forward. The Ginny Thomases of the world clearly aren't bashful about pushing for their programs.
Or in some instances, it's their religious belief.
Women who believed the stupid Phyllis Schlafley s$&@ that stopped the ERA.
They were worried about losing their status as wives and helpers. I constantly see posts by women who are determined to give themselves me time and focus on what is important to them instead of trying to help everyone. They are also, after they reach a certain age, determined to be who they are instead of pleasing everyone else and worrying about what they think. I always had a little of that sentiment, but now that I am a crone, I really do not care what people think. I have had to explain to a few that this is not carte blanche to be rude, but permission to wear what I want, eat what I want and as much, and speak my mind.
I know how you feel. "After 50, no more nicey, nicey," is how one friend's aunt put it. I think something that would help would be an honest recognition by everyone of how hard a job being a wife and homemaker is and that it has its own rewards. It is a hard job, an unrelenting job, and if you tried to pay for it you probably couldn't afford it. That should be recognized and applauded, but it should not get in the way of equal pay for equal work nor should it be the only area in which women are allowed to operate. This is an outmoded model.
Yes, it is and I have several friends, who although they have raised their children, are now dealing with ill relatives and husbands with dementia. One of them has always shot from the hip and the other does also although most people don't see that very often. Both artists.
Being a wife and helper is not much of a status. A helper has no agency of her own.
but now we have Amy Coney-Barret, sigh
I think we’re already seeing some signs the other women on the Court will bring her out of her trance. Especially our newest, wonderful Justice.
A ray of hope... Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson in her first vote on the Supreme Court was joined by the other three women Justices (Justice Sotomayor, Justice Kagan, and yes, wait for it - Justice Amy Coney Barrett) dissenting against the five men on the Court overriding a Biden immigration policy. https://www.cnn.com/2022/07/21/politics/supreme-court-immigration-jackson/index.html All the women Justices of the Court dissented against all the male Justices! If we could just get even one more woman on the Court!! I'm reminded of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg when asked how many women on the court would be enough. She answered 9! I think Justice Jackson is going to play a key consensus building role on the Court. Let's stay tuned!
I really hope you are correct. It would be welcome.
She bugs me a lot. She's a holier-than-thou Catholic where they leave the "to love and serve the poor" out of it. I don't care for that and that is not who I want making laws about my, or anybody else's, body.
She is a Handmaiden and I was opposed to her from the get go. One of my ex-classmates thought I was against her personally and I had to explain that I was against how she was going to rule.
Yeah, she presses a lot of MY buttons, too.
I did read about a case yesterday, where the four women voted as a block.
I wish someone would ask one of them, point blank, how they think about a comment like Matt Gaetz's.
Not being a woman, I can’t say with authority, but I suspect that most of them—maybe even all—were taught as girls that bad things would happen if they did not stay in their place, and they internalized that idea so deeply that they cannot conceive of any other way of life.
This is certainly true of women my age. I was told constantly that I should hide my intelligence for example. I had a roommate in college who was the Indiana state math champion. When she won, at least one of the males in the competition could not believe it.
We did get those messages and they were harmful.
You could be right. Now that I am older, I see a lot of the roadblocks I internalized without even noticing. I also think that not allowing women to be fully equal human beings keeps men stunted as well.
I am of that certain age (78) and I think you are correct about too many women of my generation. I was lucky enough to have parents who were always encouraging us to be strong women and to go to a girls' college preparatory school who taught us that we could accomplish anything we put our minds too. As I have aged I definitely see that we were the exception. And vote accordingly.
I wonder about that too. I am amazed at the R female pols who spout all this on a regular basis. I still want to ask Blackburn how she would define a woman.
Those are the women that have been taught or should we say brainwashed that the Bible says women are subservient to men. Father knows best is the true Christian order of the world for them. Always be leary of a religion that thinks it has the one and only right answer to what God is thinking. How can any small human mind comprehend something as complex as the concept of an Almighty being.
Yeah. Religions are made by people and an Almighty being is bigger than all of them. The Religious Right has spoiled religion for me and I'm not sure how I feel about that. Perhaps I'd be that way anyway.
What my daddy did.
Can someone please explain Kristi Noem? I have seen her on TV, and I just cannot fathom how she can hold the opinions she expresses.
The Gnome, otherwise known as Prairie Barbie, has ambitions to be prez, so she has to ape all the nonsense put out by death star and other Rs. We have a cousin who lives in Rapid City and every day reports on the Gnome's awfulness and now reports on the campaign of her opponent. This person is of Sioux descent, so has that viewpoint also.
Oh, it's good to know how what to call her... thanks.
The Gnome and Prairie Barbie? Thank you for adding to my vocabulary. The latter gives what I suspect is a perfect visual.
I can't claim those as my own, but from people in South Dakota who can't stand her.
Not from anywhere near S. Dak., so this is speculation, but a lot of people espouse hateful and erroneous doctrines that they know are hateful and erroneous, if they think it will benefit their careers.
I disagree with your comments about progressives. If not for the progressive caucus, much of what has been done would have been only a pipe dream. The faults in the party seem to me to lie with the leadership and the moderates who refuse to be led by the will of the voters. Real change is like birth. It’s not easy. It is messy and painful. Oh but what a miracle it is!
Jeff, You might recall that in late Spring 2020, after Joe Biden had become the Party’s presumptive Presidential nominee, that he and Bernie Sanders created 6 policy task forces which, according to Sanders, “had some of the most knowledgeable people in the country coming together” to deal with education, climate change, healthcare, the economy, criminal justice, and immigration reform. These were serious discussions with serious people engaged in an honest effort to arrive at a compromise that Sanders had said, if implemented, would have made Biden “the most progressive President since FDR.” But for Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema, much of the Biden domestic legislative agenda would have become law.
Much of it HAS become law, as Heather pointed out in this letter.
Jon, When you consider the legislation that passed in the House and remains stalled in the Senate: the PRO Act, the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act, the Freedom to Vote-John R. Lewis Act, Biden’s entire social and climate package, and more, relatively little of Biden’s domestic legislative agenda that would have improved life, particularly for tens and tens of millions of working people, has become law.
As I repeatedly have stated, Dems have an extraordinary narrative of what they would have delivered but for every Republican and a handful of Democrats. In my view, imparting this message nationwide is the Dem’s best shot at holding the House and picking up at least 2 Senate seats.
Half-empty, or half-full?
Joe Manchin is a clone of McConnell. Both produce zip and stop any progress.
Well said.
Hale, While I believe that an arrangement exists between Manchin and McConnell, considering their voting records—e.g., Manchin’s relatively recent support for the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Package— I hardly would consider them clones. That said, unless I’m missing something, I don’t understand the relevance of your point to my mapping out the origins of Biden’s domestic legislative agenda.
I stand chastised…. My point which is not very deep is that Manchin has torpedoed much of the Democrat Agenda which has been the goal of McConnell. Maybe my post is in the wrong place.
I am sorry, but the ones here in Salem spend a lot of time dissing Joe and wanting every candidate to check all the boxes. I sat here with someone after death star had been elected who refused to see what a difference that was going to make. We also ended up with a Republican sec. of state because a bunch of people voted third party. Politics is the art of the possible, so pols can believe in and promise all sorts of things, but find out that they have to compromise or deal with Rs walking out, as is here in Salem, so that there would be no quorum. It is has been difficult to get where what we have, but now we have the Supremes who will undo all that as fast as they can. Would this have happened if HRC been elected...no, and I do realize her faults, but total destruction of the government would not been one of them and we have three death star justices on the court now. The sticking point at this point seems to be Manchin and the nutcase from Arizona. Btw, I am consider myself a progressive, but I am also a realist in terms of our political system.
Also here in Oregon we have at least one initiative, maybe too, to tighten up gun laws. If they pass, it will be interesting to see what happens.
Michele, Though your comment is not addressed to me, I believe Jeff, rightly in my view, had refuted your portrayal of progressives as obstructionists. While Biden’s domestic legislative agenda did not include everything the Progressive Caucus wanted, this Caucus fought harder than anyone for its passage.
Tensions set in when Biden got House Progressives to support passage of the “hard” bi-partisan infrastructure package with guarantees that he would be able to deliver, through budget reconciliation, the social and climate piece (BBB). Essentially, Biden miscalculated his ability to enlist Manchin’s and Sinema’s support.
Oh, I agree with your last sentence. I don't think progressives are obstructionists and that's not what I said. I said the ones around here diss Biden all the time and do not mention the good things he has done. I was told I was toxic when I tried to counter some of their nonsense. So, as far as I am concerned, some have the same mind set as the far right. I am seeing less of that right now for some reason. Also many of them used R talking points against HRC without thinking about what would happen if death star should happen to win. Progress is hard won and sometimes we have to hold our noses to keep it and not go backwards. And for the record, I held my nose and voted for that ass Schrader because the opposition was much worse. Now we have a true progressive running in his district and I do hope she can prevail. We have donated to her. Schrader, on the other hand, is not supporting her and for governor, he is supporting Machine Gun Betsy, a DINO, who is running as an I. She will be OK on abortion, but will be lethal to many other progressive ideas including the climate.
Michele, Thank you for your reply. I simply would note that my purpose for posting was to present the facts as I understand them. Ultimately, I view our discussions as opportunities to learn from one another so we each in our own way can work most effectively to help shape a more generous and just future.
I remember that and it's a sad story. Here's what Eleanor Roosevelt had to say on May 11, 1934, at the Washington Conference on Negro Education: "I think the day of selfishness is over; the day of really working together has come, and we must learn to work together all of us, regardless of race or creed or color...We go ahead together or we go down together..." Words worth considering right now even though they were spoken almost ninety years ago and thirty years before the Civil Rights Movement.
Susan, While we should heed Roosevelt’s beautiful thoughts, first, the MAGA command structure up to and including Trump needs to be brought to justice. In my view, there’s no justification that would cast their actions (and their plans were MAGA command not apprehended, prosecuted, and punished) as anything but diabolical. I suppose my point is that I don’t see any way forward until we rid ourselves of the current existential threat to our democratic republic.
Michele - "Today I read an article about Matt Goetz making an incredibly misogynistic speech where he basically said that if women weren't attractive, they wouldn't have to worry about getting PG and needing an abortion."
[I apologize to those without access to Twitter]
"𝘞𝘩𝘺 𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘯 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘩𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘨𝘯𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘴 𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴? 𝘕𝘰𝘣𝘰𝘥𝘺 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘨𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘪𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘢 𝘵𝘩𝘶𝘮𝘣."
And that is a very mild example of the things he says in his speeches.
https://twitter.com/atrupar/status/1550954716913360896
It was repulsive.
Goetz and Hawley: embarassments to the human race. Their election to the Congress brings shame to the states they represent.
I think Hawley is now toast as he is the subject of many memes featuring running and/or chickens. It's made all the more delicious by his insistence that what we need is men just like him.
Since he makes me vomit, I try to avoid his pronouncements. But this story did catch my eye. His rear should be in jail.
I try not to listen but it was all over Twitter so I watched. Justice is moving at a snails pace for Mr. I ask for a blanket pardon. Unbelievable
There is so much in the news all the time, so correct me if I'm wrong, but
ISN'T HE THE GUY WHO LOST HIS PRIMARY MAINLY DUE TO VIDEOS, etc, OF HIS QUESTIONABLE "PERSONAL" INTERACTIONS WITH MEN!?!?!
I don't subscribe to Twitter, but I think that pundits could have a field day with rebuttals to that speech.
And another thought, I have seen way too many trg's rallies with woman who look EXACTLY like what he describes. Just saying.
I think you are thinking of Madison Cawthorn NC.
I was not surprised but saddened that Gaetz directed his speech to high school/college students at the Turning Point USA Student Action Summit. The next generation…😢
On Twitter, I saw this super long line of these young people waiting to shake hands or get a selfie with Marjorie Taylor Greene I found that disturbing.
A commenter on another blog had this to say about Gaetz: “Guys who look like a butt shouldn't criticize women who look like a thumb.”
I’d be glad to be termed a “thumb”. The opposable thumb is after all what makes us human.
My sister-in-law said that someone who has an “alien head” shouldn’t be talking.
I did think about that.
I had a patient years ago who presented with all the classic symptoms of early pregnancy, morning sickness etc and I asked if they had done a pregnancy test. The doctor's response was that she was too ugly to have gotten pregnant, this was in the 80's. That this type of thinking is still rampant just floors me.
By that logic, everyone’s mother must have been attractive and desirable, otherwise no child could be conceived. Any alleged ugliness therefore must be inherited from the father’s side, right?
My mother insisted that if I were descended from apes, it was from my father's side.
Pamela, I worked for many years in a top tier law firm & can’t tell you how many attorneys would opine that the perfect assistant was “single, ugly & fat because they’d have nothing better to do but work overtime whenever needed.”
Not surprised. This is deep in the culture.
Yes, and as I mentioned it's not just men. I had an aide in the library, who commented on one of the students who seemed immune to what was considered feminine. Then she showed up PG.
Michele I am gobsmacked that the Republicans, from Trump and others, seem successful with their fear and attack BS, without taking any responsibility for the implications of their non-policies on everything to Covid, NATO, Build Back Better, women’s rights, voting rights, and ….
When I think of President Biden and his administration, on balance I am thankful that he has replaced the Trump years. Honesty, integrity, common sense, and addressing core problems for a great majority of our citizens and for our country—-compared to Trumpists, Biden deserves five-star kudos.
GET THE MESSAGE OUT IN VISCERAL 30-60 SECOND SOUND BITES AND KEEP REPEATING.
I try whenever I can. As I have described here I am sometimes met with arrogance from the left.
Michele At times I wish that AOC (and Warren and Bernie) were given tickets on Musk’s first space trip to Mars.They are singing songs that are dreadfully out of synch both with the bulk of American voters and with the art of the possible. Compromise was critical to the adaption of the Constitution. Without such compromises, we never would have accomplished the United States.
We all have fantastic wish lists—Ignoring the $$$ and the political realities of the American political process. Moderate, incremental change is the best to which we can aspire.
As my mother explained to me, when, as a youth, we went to a bakery, part of a loaf is better than no loaf at all. We should take off our fancy loafers and plod ahead with sturdy, non-super-star sneakers.
I agree. I don't see Warren as much of a problem as the other two. Yes, compromise and the writers of the Constitution had an elephant in the room. I think Jill LaPore's These Truths...a recent history of the US tells what was going on there the best. And what really fries me is that after all the hard work put in to gain the incremental changes, they are at risk of going down the toilet thanks to people not voting for HRC.
Matt Goetz is a disgusting human being who, I believe, is still up on sex trafficking charges. Women have come a long way, but we still have a long way to go. I'm tired of the media and their breathless anticipation of worse things to come. I've now started Volume II of Eleanor Roosevelt's biography, which I find far more relevant and helpful in understanding what is going on today than watching the news. Eleanor Roosevelt faced so many of the same issues in the 1930's and her humanitarian approach to human suffering was amazing. She was also condemned by the Republicans as a Commie and put on a watch list. What's going on today isn't completely new news, but it is our news. As ER put it in her first book, It's Up to the Women. And it is.
I didn't know much about her, so I read a recent biography about her and came away with much appreciation and admiration for her and not so much for FDR at times.
Michele Eleanor Roosevelt was a remarkable woman. She accomplished so much in her diverse lives. I had been involved in This I Believe (CBS—39 million weekly listeners—best selling book) since its outset in 1949.
Mrs. Roosevelt was invited to read and speak a This I Believe. Hers was the first that did not express believe in a god—a supreme being. Decades later I used her TIB in weekly TIB sessions that I organized for ‘senior folk’ in Nj and Long Island. It took me a while to realize that, while she spoke of duty and obligation, there was no mention of love in her TIB. (She had often been betrayed in her early life culminating with FDR/Lucy Mercer.]
I met Mrs. Roosevelt in Philadelphia when I was 6 or 7. All that I recall was that she seems nice and had protruding teeth. Much later I found that she had become perhaps the most distinguished woman in the United States and remarkable for what she accomplished for human rights at the United Nations.
Yes, she was. Lucky you to have met her, even while so young. I am always amazed at your own diverse career. Thanks for posting this.
I am glad that I took the time to read her bio. I confess that I am not always a fan of American history, but watched the series about FDR and the Queen of Sweden during WWII. That got me interested in knowing more about Eleanor Roosevelt. Right now I am reading a large tome about the people in Victorian England that laid the groundwork for modern Britain. It's too hot here to read that tonight, so I am switching to a mystery.
Michele Much of history is a mystery. My wife and watch few TV history dramas these days. However, a friend recommended the one on FDR and the princess, later queen, of Spain. I know quite a lot about FDR, including being a history professor from age 58 to 80, and that was all new to me. What fascinating historical tit bits that underscore the importance of human beings in history. Their needs and personalities provide invaluable insights. As Hercule Poirot, with his little grey cells points out, figure out human psychology and the truth becomes evident.
But, as we saw in Kirasawa’s RASHOMON, the credible account by four separate witnesses, of a crime, what is truth? Robin Lane Fox, in chapter on Pontius Pilate with Jesus, concluded with PP asking ‘What is truth?’ First tell me who reported these purported conservation, since nothing appears in Roman records, Jesus was otherwise occupied, and there is virtually nothing in Roman history about Jesus for the first generations after is death.
Oh well, ‘the truth will set you free.’
Here is Matt Gaetz degrading speech. Slime of the earth. https://twitter.com/atrupar/status/1550954716913360896
I could make lots of snarky comments, but let's just say that anybody up on sex trafficking charges who looks like Elf should not be commenting about anybody else's ankles. He is a loathsome creep who should be in jail, not on a podium.
This tweet records Matt Gaetz making his speech about 'ugly women'. I've asked my legislators why this child sex trafficker is still in the Congress. https://twitter.com/atrupar/status/1550954716913360896
Michele;
The first thing you notice about Matt besides his blathering is his forehead. He could sell advertising there if he so desired. The next is his child-like hairdo. Matt will break if they ever come to arrest him. I wish they would . . .
It's funny you mentioned his hairdo. I noticed strange male hairdos on several of the Republicans interviewed by the January 6 Committee. They look like they had been pasted on. And, yes, I believe all of them would break if any of them were to be arrested. They have been led to believe all their lives that the law does not apply to them. Republican snowflakes everyone. I wish they would all melt away.
I have a hard time looking at that arrogant ass, but yes, his forehead and the hairdo. Where would he be without daddy's money.
That's easy to answer. In jail.
Michele:
I don't know. I wish someone would answer him, tell him what he is, and put him in his place. He walks around free to do as he pleases while those of lesser means and status would experience a jail cell.
Yes, justice is not blind.
I realized in the middle of the night that I had spelled that bozo's last name incorrectly.
Matt Goats is how it should be spelled. I heard a rumor that he prefers ovines. It would be irresponsible not to speculate!
I really hate his smug mug - he definitely looks like a butt!
I love goats actually. He does behave like an old goat though. Yes, smug mug is exactly it.
Chris, Admittedly, HCR gorgeously recounts Biden’s standout accomplishments both at home and abroad, despite unprecedented, mostly Republican obstructionism, and also brilliantly distinguishes Biden’s public service record from the Republican project to impose minority rule over the will of the majority. In many respects, the Professor’s letter is a testament to how Americans nationwide would galvanize around Democratic messaging were it tougher and stronger, be it about running out the clock on protecting the key mechanisms of democracy in the U.S. or about what people are losing every time Biden’s legislative agenda is stalled.
To that end, though I can’t state unequivocally it does any good, I continually provide playbook suggestions to the relevant parties in government, particularly those ideas that receive a highly favorable response on Substack. Similarly, because we rely on the media to provide the necessary information and nurture the fundamental discourse to maintain the democratic republic, I repeatedly write to prominent media figures about the urgency of providing useful rather than expedient content. I imagine several others are similarly engaged.
Keep at it, Barbara Jo, even if it’s the same letter. Be relentless because it’s all we’ve got. We protest, we fight back. This is our oxygen, our strongest tool.
Marlene, I appreciate your encouraging message. While there is some duplication, because I’m focused on different issues for different audiences, the letters do change.
Thank you, Barbara Jo. I plan to do more of this! Excellent work!
Sandra, Thank you for writing. I deeply appreciate you and everyone else from this community who are taking on the work of shaping a more generous and just future.
Fox won’t tell and the MSM thinks news is about ratings; propaganda rules
News is now categorized as “entertainment”
Perfect proof of a truth. You walk like a duck and quack repeatedly and soon the majority believes you are in fact a duck. Then all the wannabe popular ones start to do it as well to be believed. Entertainers and pundits one and all create opinion, the alternate to truth. While, MLMinET, you did it in six words, "categorized as," not needed.
Dems need to get gas prices down. $3 gas - they get credit for the good stuff. $4 gas, out of power. Very simple. Unfortunate truth.
It is signifantly higher in the rest of the first world. We are spoiled with low gas prices.
And low gas prices encourage people to buy gas guzzlers and think nothing of their impact on the environment. See the USA in your Chevrolet, because public transportation here is way behind what other countries provide. ( I took the metro from my hotel to my son’s wedding in Japan because a taxi might have gotten stuck in traffic.)
Yesterday all day long some ass was roaring up and down a street north of us. And this type of thing goes on all night. Right now in front of our house the road is closed, but it looks like it might be open soon. We will be back to all the high speeds, backfiring deliberately, and sifting at the very last second. These types must have all kinds of money for gas.
And today some ass also drove past the road closed barriers, into our landscaping (which is going when they do more street work) and then through uneven gravel out past the barriers on the other side. At least he could not speed. When they first closed the road, some guy gave them the finger because he couldn't get through.
So true, WAY ahead!
That may be true. But has nothing to do with: do you want Trump in '24? Because the current set of energy policies are making that happen.
Which policies are you referring to?
How sad that getting people to understand that the president doesn’t control gas prices is so hard. Or that congressional representatives do, either.
On the other hand, FDR in wartime controlled prices and did ration gasoline, tires, etc. (My granny used her ration coupons for shoes for my fast-growing brother’s feet.)
If Joe Biden instituted price controls they would be call him a communist tyrant.
“Whether it will be enough to prove that democracy is still a viable form of government is up to us.”
Good closer and truth be told, its always been up to us because we are a Democracy. And a caveat has been added…We the People….all of us this time.
A tsunami crush to support democracy in November starts on every forum, with every PAC, with every letter or postcard or Twitter or dollar that supports our efforts. Any negative complaining or giving even one space reiterating the treason by Republicans must stop. What the Universe hears coming out of our mouths and hearts will be heard and acted upon.
“WE THE PEOPLE….ALL OF US THIS TIME. WE ARE THE DEMOCRACY. WE STAND PROUDLY AND SPEAK FOR IT AND LIVE BY IT. WE VOTE FOR IT IN NOVEMBER.”
I find Greg Olear’s post today speaks to my struggle of ignoring the photos, the words, the tyranny, the treason of the Republican Party.
https://gregolear.substack.com/p/sunday-pages-for-john-keats-on-the?r=l2aa7&s=r&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=email
Please, please, please, let’s keep our focus on the Light. It grows to a groundswell with our focus upon it. As it fills the cracks of darkness. Trust in our……
Unity! 🗽🇺🇸🙋🏻🙋🏼🙋🏽🙋🏾🙋🏿🙋🏻♂️🙋🏼♂️🙋🏽♂️🙋🏾♂️🙋🏿♂️
🗽🇺🇸🙋🏻🙋🏼🙋🏽🙋🏾🙋🏿🙋🏻♂️🙋🏼♂️🙋🏽♂️🙋🏾♂️🙋🏿♂️
We the People, All of Us this time! ¡Nosotros la gente, todos nosotros esta vez
¡El pueblo unido jamás será vencido! The people united shall never be defeated!
Thank you for that beautiful poem and introduction to a beautiful poet. It added greatly to the beauty of an already beautiful summer day.
And thank you also for that awful picture of Family T looking themselves like undead vampires. I wish that they were made of wax and would melt away in the Global Warming heatwaves. Hope springs eternal.
Right on! (For those of you old enough to remember.)
…or young and hip enough to learn.
Unita, Jon. 🗽
One of the problems, which is fixable, is that the White House DOESN'T have a very effective communications team and strategy, in my view.
I find the entirety of the democratic communications and messaging strategy to be milk toast. Hey - let’s get a crapload of important/good stuff done and then not boast about it. Consider the difference in response to when Dumpster Fire struggled to walk down a ramp and Joe Biden fell off his bike. Sorry USA but I’m happy that my 79 year old president was out BIKING (to maintain his fitness and be a role model )and he fell off vs the person who can’t walk down a ramp or worse is the ONLY international leader who needs a golf cart to get around at a world summit.
I highly recommend the podcast "Hacks on Tap" with Mike Murphy, David Axelrod, and Robert Gibbs. Axelrod and Gibbs were top Obama aids. Murphy is the wonderfully witty never-Trumper GOP campaign operative (with great experience) who voted for Biden, but has lots to say, almost every week, about what the WH should be doing to sell itself and policies. Even if Murphy doesn't agree with some of them, he gives great advice on the approach the WH ought to take, and urges the WH to be much more forward on taking on GOP insanities. "Pick a clear fight!" he urges. "It's an election year! Make it clear!" I usually always agree with him. (Disclaimer: I've always enjoyed seeing him operate even when he was working for candidates I'd never vote for. His amazingly quick wit and searing zingers are worth "the price of admission," so to speak.)
I’d like to see images of tfg on a bike, from the rear, especially.
❤️🤣🤣
And can’t say the word YESTERDAY! What the hell?!
I think it was he didn’t want his glorious Jan. 6 show of support to be over.
GET GAS PRICES DOWN AND WIN. FAIL TO GET GAS PRICES DOWN - NOTHING ELSE THEY DO WILL MATTER.
The sad part being that a president has no control over globally set oil prices which affect the price at the pump. But some of his minimal moves, plus I guess people choosing to drive a little less, has started to bring prices down lately - at least where I live along the Maine coast. Around here, the crazy high prices now are clearly local stations gouging.
Need to hire Politics Girl or Liz Cheney both of whom say.in a few words what we all are thinking.
I am all for the Democrats and I think Biden has done, at minimum, a highly credible job as President.
But I questions some of the economic statistics presented here and in other outlets.
Biden came into the Presidency 10 months after Covid had turned the world upside down. Today it’s in a far, far different place - still battling the disease, but to a great degree running in a sort of normal way (politics excepted).
I am not an economist whatsoever. But I am sincerely asking this question - have there been any studies done showing that the economic numbers that are so positive for Biden are/aren’t caused to some degree by the massive outlier effect of Covid?
To take what I think is a comparable - if statistics came out two years after Hurricane Katrina showing a massive growth in employment, in houses built, in infrastructure accomplished, would it be fair to give the credit to the mayor without mentioning Katrina?
Again, I ask this openly - with no knowledge and subject to correction. But it seems a little unfair to (rightly I think) not blame inflation on Biden, while lavishing credit on him for every other economic metric.
Any economists out there?
As for HCR’s other theme - I think that the American form of democracy is on the very edge of being non-functional. DJT did an extraordinarily thorough job exposing dozens of chinks in its armor over his term.
Now America is in rescue mode. Major, major structural changes are needed before the house can stand securely again.
Eric, I am no economist either but, to enter into discussion of this matter my personal opinion is that this is all a part of the GOP plan of decade after decade, admin after admin to intentionally put and leave the Dems in a "hole" as they leave office. One has to step back and look at the bigger picture and perspective on it as a strategy.
Whether it's leaving us holding the bag for a war they started (Afghanistan), a health crisis they created (Covid), the economy challenge (giving $2T to their investors and threatening the Fed to keep interest rates at zero thru their term and more), removing us from climate agmts (Paris) and the list goes on and on, they intentionally put Biden in that hole and did Nothing to help him or the country in the transition. They are quite happy to "watch Rome burn" and hurt all Americans in the process. It is all quite sick.
Rather than try and prove this point, other authors have already done it (see below). Rachel Maddow also every once in awhile shows the sine wave curve chart of the last thirty years how the GOP spends their time leading the US into the economic throughs and the Dems spend their time rebuilding the economy only to watch the Reps crash it all again. It looks like a roller coaster because that what it is and they do nothing but gaslight the country by lying that it's the Dems that "tax & spend".
Here are some links that should help better than my overview w/o actual facts. Hope this helps:
https://newrepublic.com/article/166274/economy-record-republicans-vs-democrats
https://www.businessinsider.com/gop-presidents-us-economy-recession-democrat-presidents-save-it-2021-1
Hey, if conditions work in Joe's favor, I'm happy to accept that, because he gets blamed for much that isn't his fault--viz. inflation, particularly high gas prices.
Long before the current media environment, an eminent news broadcaster was asked about the proliferation of negative stories. He suggested that that was actually a good thing, because it meant that good news was more common than bad. When good news leads (think of the discovery of the first COVID vaccines), it’s a sign that we are in trouble. That doesn’t make all the negative stories good news for Biden or democracy, but it may give some perspective.
Sorry, that makes absolutely no sense to me.
Hunh?!?!?
I think you’re right. I like hearing the not so good news first because I know what’s about to follow.
Jon, is your point that the "typical" newsfollower/voter cares about what they don't have, not what they have? Like, anything they think someone is keeping from them is what drives their vote because that it is being stolen from them?
Not quite. My point is that it's natural that things that bother us get first (easy) attention. But that does not mean that they have to be decisive. On the other hand, that might be a good thing--think about women's rights as an issue this year.
I agree. It’s similar to feeling well and not noticing much about your body, but, boy, get a toothache! It’s your “lead story” until it’s gone. Before gas prices surged, I sure wasn’t driving around thinking, “ Sure is nice I can fill my tank for only $30”
I do agree, though, that the media is harping on negative stories about Biden and that Democratic messaging is abysmal. One small example, I have no idea what the infrastructure money allotted to my state is being used for or even how much money we got.
Joe Biden is no hero, though clearly a lesser evil in these dark times. $15 minimum wage, Build Back Better, war with no seeming end in Ukraine, Yemen, Palistine and other counties. We need transformation and old Joe is not going to have that happen...
https://world5.org
I'm sorry but this is delusional.
EVERY DEM/INDIE WHO WANTS TO AVOID TRUMP '24 BETTER START ASKING WHAT REPUBLICANS ASK "WHAT DO WE NEED TO DO TO WIN THE UPCOMING ELECTIONS?"
EVERYTHING ELSE IS A DISSERVICE TO THE CAUSE OF SUSTAINING OUR DEMOCRACY.
We have a huge swath of Americans who believe that, despite no evidence, the election was stolen and Jan 6 is a political hack job. They won't listen to more media they don't watch anyway. We want to win the election we need to embrace sane, economically rational policies on oil and gas to get American's cost of living down and thwart Russia. Heather has done a great job reporting on numerous positives Biden doesn't get credit for. But she is doing the movement a grave disservice by amplifying confirmation bias. The people on here already see the catastrophic authoritarian risk from the alt right. Repeating and amplifying those feelings is minimizing the odds of Biden winning. The Dems need to race to the center and address the average Americans' sudden inability to pay their gas and electric bill. Talking about windmills we hope to build 8 years from now while kissing MBS' ring, begging Venezuela to pump more crude while hammering US energy companies is terrible politics that has already destroyed the Dems in November. The idiocy of then saying you want to shut down drilling while Putin watches Europe - which desperately needs our help - careen into catastrophic energy shortages and Americans furiously tipping into the Trump '24 camp defies belief. Right now Trump is a shoe in for '24 according to the Vegas betting lines. If he wins, the Green movement is over for at least four years. Whining about him not getting credit is a tactic sure to lead the Dems to ruin.
I will lay it as a failure of the nation's media... Biden's presidency to date has done a lot in correcting the foolishness of the trump years. But does one read about it in the daily paper? No. What makes headline is the polling of the 46th president... comparing it to the previous glorious leader. While trump thought kissing up to Kim Jong-un was historic, the work of bringing the NATO countries back together was actually good diplomacy. Will this goodness continue? It's going to be difficult as long as the Republican lawmakers are comfortable standing firmly against the firm will of the people. And the future with the November election coming... what with the the refusal of Republicans and Democratic senator Joe Manchin (WV) to get out of their self-serving mind-set and begin serving the people they represent November doesn't look good. Sad.
Thank you, HCR... keep telling it like it is... some of us are listening!
I blame the media for ushering tfg into the presidency back in 2016. I recall how on a daily basis throughout that presidential campaign, most morning network news (not just Fox) went out of their way to portray both candidates (tfg and Clinton) as equally qualified contenders—regardless of tfg’s major blunders (“but her emails!”). I found it ironic (poetic justice?) that tfg openly censured and censored many non-Fox newspeople during his press briefings, even banning some of them. We nearly lost our freedom of the press during his term! Has the media already forgotten?
At the Cretin News Network, Jeff Fucker, er, I mean Zucker, when asked why they were giving Trump free coverage of his rallies and such in 2016, replied "Donald Trump brings us high ratings."
Yes, money talks… louder than freedom of speech, unfortunately
Doesn’t Citizens United codify $$$$=Free Speech?
Yep. The holes in--eg., six--SCOTUS's socio-historical, politco-economic acumen. . . resulting from their derivative Ivy League training and Federalist Society trafficking is astonishing. (Please read, Evil Geniuses. The Unmaking of America, by Kurt Andersen.)
And that is, unfortunately, CNN's purpose in life despite the BlaBla "duty to inform" publicity....making money for shareholders is their game; it is not a public service any more than is FoxNews. Generally as you well know, they look for what their public would like to hear and see and not what others might think good for them so that they increase their numbers of subscribers and othercustomers. The ads that they carry are their life blood.
Stuart, Considering the media constitute a commercial, profit driven enterprise, the question ultimately boils down to whether media meaningfully can engage in public service and nurture the public trust and still make the sort of money they currently do, or whether the desire to make bigger profits actually drives media owners to provide popular rather than useful content. My reading and viewing suggest that media, typically, serve both masters. For every story people in high places wouldn’t like, that nonetheless serves the interests of citizens and communities, there are others seemingly intent on turning out searchlights on dark and dangerous corners.
It’s why republicans trash NPR/PBS at every opportunity. Now they are forced to compete with the money-makers. I remember a time when news was not expected to be a money maker and advertisements did not last as long as a show. Gasp, who else is that old.
Jeri, Though a bit of time has passed since you posted your response, I, nonetheless, wanted to reply. Having just drafted a reply to Charlie, who is part of this thread, I realize my response to him pretty much mirrors my thoughts relative to your comment. Hence, rather than repeating myself, I refer you to my response to Charlie.
How much are we willing to pay for credible, fact-checked news? “News” for “Free” is a habit hard to break, a concept hard to accept you believe.
Michele, I can’t tell whether or not the pronoun “you” in the last line is directed at me, personally. To ensure there is no confusion, my comment reflects my understanding of how the mainstream information industries function. As a member of a national media watch group that critiques the media and advocates for strong, honest, and accurate reporting to serve the public interest, I view the job of reporting as getting as close as possible to the verifiable truth.
Barbara,
You've hit the nail on the head.It's all about the $$$ again.
Charlie, My apologies for the delayed reply. I simply hadn’t been able to respond until now. I write mostly to clarify that there are CEOs who want their news divisions to do strong, honest, and accurate reporting that serves the public interest. Nonetheless, said CEOs also recognize that a news division’s power comes from its ratings and the autonomy of the division comes from its power. Because CEOs have a Board of Directors and shareholders to whom they must answer, their news divisions simply can’t do the stories they want nor say whatever they want unless they’re making money.
💜
No name correction needed, TC. :)
Says it all
In 2016 there was a propaganda loop from TFG to social media to tv media. The campaign would make a claim, then a weird corner of social media would find an obscure storyline, (or an outright lie) to support his claim, and the news media would report the story.
That makes his expulsion from Twitter so necessary.
Yes. I heard an economist today, on NPR's On The Media, stop an interview to take the show's moderator to task - saying no matter how much he might explain the complexities of determining whether we are in a recession, all listeners would remember was that every other word out of her mouth was 'recession.' So she was being a driver of recession.
https://www.wnycstudios.org/podcasts/otm/segments/so-who-decides-its-recession-on-the-media
I include this as a bonus - because, Mark Blyth, horrifyingly hilarious. Channeling Peter Capaldi's Scotsman from Armando Iannucci's In the Loop. Capaldi's character peels paint with his profanity, Blyth does it with his terrifying smarts.
https://www.wnycstudios.org/podcasts/otm/segments/big-sigh-assessment-our-economic-future-on-the-media
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=EhwnBSkhY_8
Hey, lin. Thank you for introducing me to OTM. Both podcasts were very good at explaining "economy, et al." to the average listener (which I clearly am!). I sorta disagreed with the last point that Mark Blyth makes about BBB when he said the Democrats were highlighting all the programs in BBB would be paid for. My memory is that it was structured that way to keep Republicans from objecting to it, which of course they objected to anyway.
Also, "In the Loop" looks like a hoot!
lin, my NPR station doesn't do On the Media until Sunday evenings (I don't listen to the podcast) so I have not heard this particular segment, but I am going to listen to this--because I like Brooke a lot but, like all media folks, including legit journalists like herself, she does get caught up in the tropes that we are now subjected to. I wish more people took journalists to task for their parroting of stuff designed by the Powers of Darkness to sway people into thinking that the problem is progressive politics and not the greed of corporations, executive compensation, and neofascist ideologies. And also the Capaldi reference. I find it very amusing that I the Loop was one of the reasons why Capaldi was chosen to be the 12th Doctor. Whose mantra was "always be kind (and never eat pears)." He is a national treasure (of Britain) to be sure.
The problem is not just the media. It's the Democrats' incapacity to pound into everybody's head what they HAVE accomplished. I will bet that most red state Americans know nothing about the infrastructure bill and how it will help them. They also know nothing about higher employment, lower deficits, real diplomacy, etc. All they hear is daily Fox diatribes. And Biden's presentation as a feeble old man does not help either.
When the interstate highway system was being built, there were huge billboards at construction sites pointing out that the projects were 90 percent funded by the federal government. LBJ understood that people needed to know how the highways got built. Now the feds hand out contracts covered in specificity only by trade papers and it is as if the construction happened spontaneously or courtesy of some governor. That's why nobody knows what has been accomplished or who did it. Or that the child tax credit which greatly reduced child poverty just expired because the GOP only protects life pre-birth.
My husband had repeatedly said he thought billboards should display evidence of tfg’s criminality, tidbits about repubs, etc. Enough to get through to ppl captive at red lights who otherwise might never encounter the truth.
Please. No. Then there would be pro-trump billboards. We are inundated enough. Lets plant more trees instead.
The interstate system was built under Eisenhower. "The creation of the Interstate System is one of the greatest public works projects in history. The importance of the Interstate System to our economy cannot be exaggerated. President Eisenhower wrote the following in his memoirs: “...more than any single action by the government since the end of the war, this one would change the face of America. Its impacts on the American economy – the jobs it would produce in manufacturing and construction, the rural areas it would open up – was beyond calculation.”
Johnson signed the Highway Beautification Act, Oct. 22, 1965
Yes but it wasn't finished for 4 more decades. I am old enough to remember those billboards.
Husband and I are both age 75. We remember those wonderful Burma-Shave rhymes on the US roadways in the 50s.
Those hideous Foster and Kleiser billboards —- one a “Leave it to Beaver” family” stuffed in a car with a dog —
caption across the top
“World’s Highest Standard of Living “
caption on bottom
“There’s no way like the American Way”
LBJ had his name all over the Texas work. And Lady Bird had her highway beautification act which tackled the problem of billboards. Here is a interesting history of the highway system in the USA. And you are correct. Different section were completed later.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interstate_Highway_System#:~:text=Interstate%20Highway%20System,-From%20Wikipedia%2C%20the
Many of its effects were also racist AF, and of course it was based on cheap gas.
The original intent was to provide a way for the cities to evacuate in the event of a nuclear attack. Eisenhower realized the necessity of good roads and a good road system in times of war.
And yes. Redlining and drawing the roads right through black communities was and remains devasting. A white elite NIMBY.
aka "Lady Bird's Bill"
Just what I was trying to say.
Democrats can’t even “pound” Biden’s successes into other Democrats. Democrats do the Republicans’ work against Biden for them
Sad, but true. Need Reagan’s admonition to not trash other republicans (Democrats in this case). Except Joe Manchin, of course
Don't you love the way people like to blame everything on "the Democrats"? What do you mean by "the Democrats"? The national Dem organizations, or the state parties, or just Democrats in general? WTF are you doing about it besides playing armchair pundit?
Somehow feels like blaming the victim (of the media)
Yes, a lot of us are listening and taking her words to heart. I agree that Biden's undermining in the newspapers, particularly the New York Times, but not only, sometimes in The Washington Post, as well. I think so much of this comes from election deniers.
This is why I never read about politics in either. I do read Bill Palmer. I do know that the essays often have a title that is hyperbole, but the essays tell exactly all the good things that the Biden administration is doing and often takes on the media for the undermining that they are doing. They also point out the things Ds can use against Rs and how to win. The message is work as hard as possible, do what you can, vote D. He also defends the DOJ and describes how these kinds of cases work.
I got into it for sharing an op-ed piece and when it was pointed out that it was “opinion not facts” I argued that it was based on facts, unlike the “news” articles that he was posting (violating every semblance of journalistic integrity) were Alonso opinion pieces since they were published in a biased, poorly edited rag.
The bottom line is that with the decline heading to demise of print journalism and the proliferation of on-line sources of news, finding good, ethical writing is hard work
Oh, I agree. People often blithely cite when I ask and they bother, sources that are so biased that they are not reliable at all. Or they cite something that is old and the research and thinking has changed. Or they have a reliable source and they misread what it actually says.
So glad to see someone else in here follows Bill Palmer, Michelle. I have been surprised to not see his name here more often given the make-up and beliefs of this audience. I find him to offer the things that seem so obvious but nobody in the media is willing to say. He takes on the media almost daily for not stating the facts, even MSNBC and those more-left leaning outlets who once you follow his threads, realize he is exactly right and it become clear they are simply milking everyone for clickbait revenue even if/when harmful to the public and democracy.
One thing he said well over a year ago that has always stuck with me is, "to keep Republicans tuned in you tell them they are winning. To keep Democrats tuned in you tell them they are losing". And I'll be darned if that doesn't play out each and every day while Fox tells their base how they are crushing those bastard libs and MSNBC tells their base we are all doomed and TFG is going to get away with it all. He's completely right that they (big media) are just streaming the narratives following the formula that keeps us clicking.
For those unfamiliar with him the main site is: https://www.palmerreport.com
And here is an example of one of his recent posts setting the record straight on how he see the current probes status and how mainstream media still isn't covering them correctly.
https://www.palmerreport.com/analysis/this-may-shock-you-but-the-dojs-trump-probe-appears-to-be-well-ahead-of-the-fulton-county-trump-probe/46248/
I love Palmer. I once had someone diss me because I shouldn't be posting on my own page something so biased. Yes, the headlines are hard to take, but the analysis is spot on. Yes, Palmer's site stands up for the DOJ. I would rather see a watertight case against death star and others rather than some half baked effort that they can weasel out of. I understand the impatience though.
yes, and as a long-ago career journalist I find it disgusting the downslide the media has taken. Again, Sad.
Why do so many refer to "the media", when it's Rupert Murdoch? He owns most of the media and dictates "the media"s attitude.
He doesn't own the NYT or WaPo. He owns Faux, the NY Post and the WSJ. Not quite "most" of the media.
List of assets owned by News Corp - Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_assets_owned_by_News_Corp
Thanks for that - one Qld local paper (Mossman and Port Douglas Gazette - a weekly) has closed.
It's pretty horrifying - one forgets how many tentacles the Kraken has.
Thought that UK had ousted the cretin
Holy S***. Until you see it all, you don't realize how powerful.
Agree. He also doesn't own CNN etc.
Enough so that the others follow him down the rabbit hole. Watched it happen
Not only Fox, the WSJ gives him cover for the horrors of Fox.
Even networks I admired as a kid have drunk the “must have ratings/clicks” koolaid.
Chris Wallace ruefully blamed his father, Mike Wallace, for showing with 60 Miinutes that news could make money. News went from a public service provided by networks and required by every licensee to a profit center and it was downhill from there.
And this may be correct... however back in the day of Mr. Wallace the reports on the program were more informative than entertaining, as opposed to the majority of national media today. Thank all god and goddesses we still have PBS Newshour.
While on this topic, don't overlook the impact of today's social media. Ugh!
Jennifer Rubin worthy of a read, always
It’s only a “failure of the nations media” if the goal is to educate the public. Maybe more correctly it is a failure of the citizenry to acknowledge that “news” is a business prioritizing sales of advertising. We, gleaning crumbs of info from this business model, and claiming it should be nutrition to our understanding, are not acknowledging that reality. Most of us choose to receive our life info from media. That it has warped our understandings and duty as citizens is kinda’ on us. We created this monster and feed it daily with our clicks.
Well said! Bravo.
And some people are laying it out as a failure of the messaging machine of the Biden Administration. It believe it is a combination of the 2 then add in voter information overload and malaise.
Abject failure of the nation’s media. Fox was bad enough, but the MSM’s failure is catastrophic
The Guardian , The Atlantic and The New Yorker are exceptions. Jennifer Rubin and others like her in The NY Times and Wapo are exceptional.
Yep, agree.
Each of us need to correspond with the media to let them know of our feelings with regard to their lack of reporting what is happening under Pres. Biden's leadership. Heather pointed out the problem with the media several months ago and I have been emailing my local as well as national news agencies to get them to report truth.
I'm sorry but this is delusional. We have a huge swath of Americans who believe that, despite no evidence, the election was stolen and Jan 6 is a political hack job. They won't listen to more media they don't watch anyway. We want to win the election we need to embrace sane, economically rational policies on oil and gas to get American's cost of living down and thwart Russia. Heather has done a great job reporting on numerous positives Biden doesn't get credit for. But she is doing the movement a grave disservice by amplifying confirmation bias. The people on here already see the catastrophic authoritarian risk from the alt right. Repeating and amplifying those feelings is minimizing the odds of Biden winning. The Dems need to race to the center and address the average Americans' sudden inability to pay their gas and electric bill. Talking about windmills we hope to build 8 years from now while kissing MBS' ring, begging Venezuela to pump more crude while hammering US energy companies is terrible politics that has already destroyed the Dems in November. The idiocy of then saying you want to shut down drilling while Putin watches Europe - which desperately needs our help - careen into catastrophic energy shortages and Americans furiously tipping into the Trump '24 camp defies belief. Right now Trump is a shoe in for '24 according to the Vegas betting lines. If he wins, the Green movement is over for at least four years. Whining about him not getting credit is a tactic sure to lead the Dems to ruin. EVERY DEM/INDIE WHO WANTS TO AVOID TRUMP '24 BETTER START ASKING WHAT REPUBLICANS ASK "WHAT DO WE NEED TO DO TO WIN THE UPCOMING ELECTIONS?"
EVERYTHING ELSE IS A DISSERVICE TO THE CAUSE OF SUSTAINING OUR DEMOCRACY.
I'm totally with you on the media's role in squelching the news of the Biden accomplishments. I'm hopeful about the November election, though. I guess I have to be in order to continue serving as a local election officer lol. Keeping the faith...
This is a thoughtful message - but the "calculus" is simple. Gas at $4 = out of power. Gas at $3 = credit for achievements. This is not a value judgement - it is a tragic but honest truth.