Tonight, President Joe Biden explained to the American people why he decided to refuse the 2024 Democratic presidential nomination and hand the torch to Vice President Kamala Harris.
Most fascinating and insightful comment, TC. Ironic, that as I read HCR's final passage tonight, the note from Jill Biden, I immediately flashed to the fierce loyalty and deeper ambition of Lady MacBeth, and then I saw your post referencing the Scottish tragedy.
In fact, Jill Biden, the fierce defender of her husband's legacy and the immovable object which had to be moved at least somewhat for him to reach the proper decision he did, is a sweeter yet equally fierce version of Lady MacBeth.
Excellent speech by the way, as well. Poignant, all inclusive, typical Scranton Joe, the hardscrabble, always underestimated, more idealistic than most realize, glad-handing, big-dreaming Irish-American pol we all love and will miss when he is gone.
I also certainly hope that this wonderful speech from this wonderful man will drown out the blight otherwise cast in our Nation's Capitol by the wholly undesired presence of the War Criminal Netanyahu, speaking earlier today.
That quiet low-level speech, devoid of hyperbole, was a speech for the ages. Biden rose to the occasion of his frailty and bowed to the American public.
The moment is very stirring, exhilarating, moving and sad. It was the right thing to do, to invoke the memory of Shakespeare, the greatest literary genius to ever live.
Hyberbole? It also was untruthful? He never explained why he dropped out?
He claimed he was saving democracy? Really? He was forced out by the party elites and the donors. They cheated the voters of America and they INSTALLED their own candidate. That's not democracy that's a dictatorship.
James, he DID explain his reasoning. He felt his record justified a 2nd term, but his party was divided on supporting him considering his age related decline and the impending danger of turning the country over into the hands of an unscrupulous group. He wanted to unite his party and he knew he wanted to protect our republic. He has the common sense and wisdom to realize that is more important than his own personal ambitions. He’s a bit like a champion boxer in an obvious TKO situation, he didn’t want to quit. But time has defeated him, just as it does every human being that ever lived. If his mind was sharper and more fit, his party would have supported him.
He also noted that the time to hand over the reigns of government to a new generation is now. This is, after all, the ways of the world. The older generations pass the baton to the next group. Your questions and doubts were answered by Joe.
Yes, his big donors and party members spoke out. Isn’t that their job in a majority rules based democracy? The greater good dictates keeping the country out of the hands of the dark, fallen opposition, formerly known as the GOP.
Very cogently stated, Tim. 🤝 You are a better man than I to take the time to answer this cur's slur so ably and reasonably. 🙏 (There I go . . . ¡again!) 🤫 Thank you for the factual rebuttal presented with equanimity. ✌ Tried as I might, I could not get there. 😳
I was not thrilled Biden left as he gave us the best economy in decades while battling a pandemic. For once someone did the right thing and floated as many boats as possible whether rich or poor.
This was an event as serious as the collapse of the economy in the 2008-time frame due to Wall Street Gambling. The few rich donators had the call as well as some elites. We lost a man, a president who cared about the people. Kamala will do well and Biden will be forgotten.
It appears too the lightweight called trump can say whatever he pleases, and no one raises voice to challenge his stream of lies.
Bill H (AZ), Thank you for your thoughts. I heard an interview with Doris Kearns Goodwin yesterday. She thinks history is going to be very positive about Joe’s term. I will be eternally grateful to him for unseating the Orange Blob. His policies will hopefully endure-for the good of the US & the world. Great job Joe!!
I think Kamala may just do it-win that is-based one groundswell of small donations and new , younger age voter registration surges. We will see.
James, he did explain why he dropped out - to save democracy in America. True, he was given a nudge and a push by other Democrats, but in the final analysis the decision was Biden's and his alone. There is nothing comparable going on in the MAGA/KKK party, formerly known as the Republican Party, which is now a Fascist cult. Now that is what constitutes a dictatorship.
Bullshit. He never said that. He said he was leaving to save democracy.
The party forced him out because he was going to lose. They got caught LYING about this dementia.
There is nothing noble about what happened. The elites and the donor class robbed the party of democracy. It installed its own candidate.
Its all projection. The cult and the fascism is COMING from the LEFT. They kept RFK Jr off the ballot, keep Biden out and installed their own candidate.
Quoting you: "The party forced him out because he was going to lose."
Well, sir, that is what parties are SUPPOSED to do. The Presidency isn't an "individual's office" with some individual anointed and then able to decide for him/herself when to walk away. The President is elected via an election in which party electors are chosen to vote for their candidate(s). It may not be the perfect way, but it is our way and so far it has worked (almost) for several hundred years.
In any case, the point is that the individual does NOT have the sole right/responsibility to decide whether they can/will run. That party is integrally involved in that decision, and since in the end, it is the party that chooses whose name goes on the ballots, they have the right to withdraw a candidate and replace them with another. Although that power is rarely used, it is absolutely part of the system. The Democratic party using its influence to move Biden to make the proper decision to retire is not only a legitimate way of exercising power in this country, it is in fact the BEST way.
Believe me, the party leaders had to recognize this was no small decision and that the end result might NOT be ideal. But it was their choice to make, they made it (and actually they were pretty timid about it, IMHO) and now the actions have been taken. I would like to hope/think that Biden also recognized that this was the right decision for the country, but regardless, in the end it wasn't his decision anyway, as it was up to the convention's delegates to make that choice.
And now it is made. You can be a nonsensical irrelevant part of the discussion sticking to your guns or you can capitulate or you can just leave. I really don't care as your opinion is about as relevant as anyone elses here.
It is pretty clear you are a Trump supporter so maybe you should just get lost.
James, I'm not going to reference provable facts about Joe Biden's successes and Donald Trump's failures(remember how easy it was going to be to replace Obamacare?) because you are in a cult and it would require years of therapy to disabuse you of your mistaken beliefs. So go ahead and and try to defend the Orange Menace and put all your trust in this grifter, conman, insurrectionist, liar. We small d democrats have a much easier task- we're upholding democracy and candidates who have integrity and morals.
James, you write: "The elites and the donor class robbed the party of democracy. It installed its own candidate." Are you confusing Biden with Trump? Project 2025, and all that jazz?
I for one don't, and won't, lie for MAGA. The record of that outfit and its leader is perfectly clear. Its leader is an accomplished liar and scoundrel who will use anything and anyone to achieve his ignoble aims. He's rotten to the core.
Really??? Aren't the monied classes "installing their own candidate"? I couldn't resist responding but I already know it's fruitless. Once a cult member usually, always a cult member.
James, I agree with you, are you a Kennedy supporter like me? These guys are so hateful of Trump that any dissent from what they believe is met with vitriol. So sad.
Why should Biden explain why? He gave us the credit for knowing what we all saw on national tv. And he was not yet the presidential candidate of his political party (a private organization). Biden had sufficient pledged delegates to become the candidate, but there has been no vote and he was never the 2024 Democratic presidential candidate.
Instead, Biden spoke the truth—he determined he could not bring about the party unity required for a successful mission.
This isn't dictatorship. You don't get to censor my speech. Ill say what I please.
Joe Biden doesn't get a pass. Nor do the elites in the party get a pass for LYING about his condition, cancelling his candidacy by strong arming him, and installing their own candidate. THIS is authoritarian and shameful.
No one is disputing a word of what I wrote because ITS TRUE. I know that truth is brutal leftists. Too bad.
Other than just flat refuse to listen to the voices of reason, and watch his legacy go down the tubes, I don't know what else he could have done. I think that Joe was convinced that the polling was just wrong, that his cognitive state is just fine, and that he was the person best suited to defeat the orange menace. That plus the desire to be a two-term president which is a measure of success. I also think that after a period of convincing (a good bit too long I will admit), he came to believe that his staying in the race = a Trump win and doom for the country. He has enough marbles left to see that is a non-option. What do you think he should have said, and/or done?
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Lisa. I’m still laughing. 🤣 I happened to see-hear nitwit’s final pitch then the truly revolting applause. I keep thinking about the struggle when the occupying British left Israel post WW11. The courage & mind dropping intelligence of the Jewish people to hold Jerusalem, including Golda Meir arriving in NYC’s winter wearing in a summer dress to ask for help. I feel immense sadness and a burning anger at nitwit and the abusive treatment of the Palestinians. The saying ‘abused people abuse’ is playing out and destroying the once proud upstanding Israel.
PS Read O Jerusalem if you’re at all interested? It’s a can’t-put-it-down book written by two reporters about the founding of Israel.
I was driving and listening to NPR, and the sound of our congress applauding that fool--- whose "negotiators" are idle while he's here--- sickened me so much I turned off the radio.
I chose to watch the portion of Democracy Now that covered the earlier protest by JVP Jewish Voice for Peace), and family members of hostages still held (whether it is known if they are alive or dead) numbering about 400 member which NBC somehow seeks to portray as "pro-Palestinian."
You don't have to be pro-Palestinian to be anti-genocidal.
I appreciate any Principled Peacemakers on both sides, but especially on the side with the most ability to make it happen.
One of the coworkers I most respected was an Israeli war hero, who left Israel because Ariel Sharon (Israel's Defense Minister), allowed the Christian Phalangist militia massacres at the Shatila and Sabra refugee camps.
I likened my coworker to one of my heroes from Maine, Silas Soule, when he refused to participate in the Sand Creek Massacre on Nov 29, 1864, the only difference being he, unlike Soule, wasn't present with the Israeli troops told to form a protective ring around the Phalangists when the massacres at Shatila and and Sabra took place.
I have to trust the words of those people of higher principles among the group in the most critically close proximity to where their forces are committing the worst atrocities.
To me, it shows the strong resistance to Netanyahu when so many Israelis in high position, and even family members of hostages join the protests.
I guess I was in the room when Netanyahu was shown addressing Congress but I was too distracted to pay much attention to it. What I do remember was when Mike Johnson beamed while bragging, "I'm happy to welcome, uh, prime minister, Israeli Prime Minister, Bemjamin Netanyahu, for what will be his fourth address, uh, to a joint session of Congress. Uh, he will set the record surpassing Winston Churchill, uh, as the foreign leader who has addressed Congress the most time."
Yes, Samm, sad but true. "The saying ‘abused people abuse’ is playing out and destroying the once proud upstanding Israel." It is tragic that the abused often see only two alternatives: to identify with the victim or the abuser. It may be unconscious, but Netanyahu's clear choice is devastating. Not to be able to identify with those who become victims because of his actions is incomprehensible. As a therapist who has worked with sexually abused people, I have always struggled to understand and see the abuser as also a victim to explain his or her actions. Working therapeutically with that mindset is incredibly challenging. The bottom line is the abuse MUST stop. It is doubtful that Netanyahu will ever be conscious of the etiology of his behavior. His actions against the Palestinians must be stopped. Oh, and thanks for the book recommendation. I want to read it.
Carol T, I’m not a therapist but one of my most cherished friends (raped by her father for years as a child) I finally realized was subtly ‘getting rid’ of her pets. I began noticing a pattern of either ridding herself of friends now called ghosting, or of pets being well, hmm, disappeared.
She’s an extraordinary mostly loving artist person. I finally asked her to dump me instead of a puppy.
Yes, Samm, many thanks for the book recommendation. I will add it to my list. I confess to wanting an actual book in my hand, so may add to my next Powell's order. As for Bibi, his abuse of the Palestinians will probably never stop. He depends on hardliners for his power. The only good thing that has happened recently is the ultra orthodox men can now be required to serve in the military.
If you carry trauma you are a trauma vector. You can’t begin to manage it unless you own that you have it. The abused who take on the role of abuser deny the vulnerability that facilitated their trauma, but are keen to pass trauma to others in whom they see vulnerability. Trauma is something like a virus, but where a virus has a physical form, trauma takes its form in behavior. So it’s not just rhetorical to say that Bibi is a sick dude. Thank you, Carol, for the work you are doing. The world needs a whole lot more of it.
Samm, I read recently a book about the abuses in various places committed by the Brits during their empire phase. It has a section about the Palestinian Mandate and it isn't pretty. I would also recommend Lawrence in Arabia, an excellent history of the area during the period around WWI. It is such a complex issue and I confess I become irritated with those who refuse to understand that and the long history behind it.
Biden has such class and grace and humility and love of country and of “We the people.” The comparison with Trump the lout is mind-boggling, to say the least. Thank you, Mr. President.
I am still terrified for our country. I agree about Biden and this powerful and inspiring speech, but millions and millions of otherwise decent and moral people believe what Fox News, etc., tell them to think. Trump is our savior?????? Also, see what Jesse Watters said about this powerful and moving speech!!!!!!
We are a sick and perverse society and all my “good Christian” brethren are all in on the cruelty, the hatred, the vulgarity. These past ten years have driven me to despair. When wrong is called right, evil is called good, and mockery and cruelty and contempt and vitriol is celebrated, we are lost as a society. I blame McConnell and the Republican Senators first and my fellow Christians second for the decline and likely fall of American civilization with this sick man Trump. If it happens, while I despise and loath him completely, it will be all these millions of fine people who brought us down, not him. God help us.
Don;t forget our so called national media, AI, Cable News, and tax laws and loopholes that allowed crooks to become million/billionaires and supremes became lawless.
Rick, it is unfortunate the so called Christians have chosen to enable death star. But not all of them. I have an ex-student who is a pastor and he spoke out against death star in 2016. He is registered as an I and is against the hatred of all kinds spewed by death star and emulated by his followers, Christian or otherwise. I see him recently working hard on relationships between fathers and their children. I did love the photo of fathers giving their daughters a pedicure. His latest endeavor was a trip to Costa Rica with fathers and sons.
@Rick A. That is what grinds at me the most, how so called Christians can wholeheartedly support a proven criminal. As someone commented recently, yes they know he is a criminal but he is their criminal, ready and willing to provide what they yearn for, in this case an all out ban on abortion and the cleansing of America of immigrants.
In regards to "Nitwit.....", can anyone believe a word that he speaks. He wants to appear innocent or have his past, recent and future plans overlooked to keep us involved in his murderous, destructive plans......to keep him in office (like a former president we know) so that he will not be held accounted for his past (and present) crimes. I could not watch, nor did I want to!!!!
It is the ideal of freedom in my blood that screams!!! "Leave the Palestinians alone!!!"
You are the one who breaks boundaries and have done so for years!
Look at us...our law and our hearts and practical reason provide for ones right to worship...or not...as one chooses within our law......to marry who you love. We have proven that we are stronger together. We are stronger when we spend our time and energy together...."Building Back Better" as Joe Biden has taught us.
Among other things, or esp this one thing apart from military style sequestering these many years, creeping Jewish settlements across Palestinian land, in total violation of UN terms laid down years ago, but ignored, ignored, ignored.
TC, like death star, Bibi receives the mute button treatment. We were over at our neighbors having a small celebration of feeling much better about November. I couldn't stand the negative predictions before and so it was nice to be able to discuss politics again, something we all enjoy. We were there long enough to miss the President's speech, so it was inspiring to me this am as I read it. It is superb. I did read that lots of pols were not at Bibi's speech....good. It's too bad that corrupt twit isn't occupying a jail cell. He is certainly a main impediment to resolving that horrible mess.
Tom I didn’t need to watch Nitwit Piddy Poo. I recalled my lunch and afternoon with a great Israeli premier David Ben-Gurion (in 1954). Ben-Gurion would be aghast at Piddy Poo.
My Baedeker to Piddy Poo/Biden comes from Snoopy. Piddy Poo is Lucy, always snatching the football away from kicker Charlie Brown (Biden).
This modern-day Lucy is driven by ego and fear of judicial conviction [Trump, are you listening?] Piddy Poo is banking heavily on Trump, who, like PP, is #1 in #2.
Isn't this a straight hot pitch to MAGA / Trump who said he would hand the war effort wholeheartedly to Netanyahu who "will end it".... ? Evangelicals are up for the Second Coming in the Holy Land.... it isn't exactly peace of earth, short of near extermination of Gazans/Palestinians....
Not quite that clear in my mind, Victoria. Did you know that Jews and Muslims, and local Christians, were living fairly harmoniously in Jerusalem when the mostly Norman Crusaders conquered and sacked, Jerusalem in 1099 and pretty much murdered most of them? Jews were in diaspora across the entire Middle East and North Africa before modern Israel was formed, but within a dozen years were mostly obliged to live in the new Israel, drawn by the "right of return" but really driven by hostility from the 'locals'.... Israel's formation would never have even come about without the legacy of pogroms in Russia and eastern Europe, then the holocaust at the behest of the Germans. I guess all of this put together is what it means "it's complicated". When Jews were expelled from Spain en masse it was muslims who welcomed them, for their economic and skill knowledge benefits.
Evangelicals' pursuit of the Holy Land is such a crock. When I think of the multiple wrongs done under the guise of God's will, the victory of Israel, no matter the means, is right up there with history's most horrific delusions. The thing is, if Israel were to complete its genocide, followed by a victorious celebration by the Evangelicals, they would no longer have that much to do with Jews.
It's surprising how the people who have been targeted, slaughtered, slandered, vilified, blamed, and victimized through out history is now doing that to Palestinians. I guess humans never learn...or humans are going to be humans....no matter what.
Love your post, and it will lead me back to the bookshelf to pick up MacBeth. I was also thinking of literary parallels, and the first one , believe it or not, was the Bible. I am an agnostic, but have heard at Christian worship: " Christ died for us." I don't know if I have it correctly. Biden really is a Saint.
I am a former altar boy, who still considers himself a Catholic, even though I don't practice all that much. Years ago, the great director John Sayles described himself as a "Catholic agnostic". That's pretty much me, for better or worse
There are many of us who were staunchly immovable. Did not want Joe Biden to step down....did not trust the democratic party to coalesce behind another candidate. It seemed a recipe for the kind of chaos that would put Trump back into the White House.
Now that I've seen the phenomenal support pouring to Kamala, I feel somewhat assured that we will not default to infighting and election crippling grandstanding. I still do not trust us to not blow it....but I do, now, have a glimmer of hope that we can stand solidly behind the candidate that drew $250 million in campaign contributions in 48 hours....enough delegate commitments to make her our candidate, and a record number of endorsements in within hours of her candidacy.
Have you ever noticed that like the Seditionist Sociopath himself, you can never pop out a single post without hurling epithets at your fellows indiscriminately and bitterly? Perhaps you should seek professional help.
"They robbed the voters of a choice". What are you talking about?!?!?
Do you actually think Joe Biden was bound to a chair and pistol whipped until he agreed to drop out? Do you not realize that he made this decision himself, certainly with persuasive voices from elected officials and donors in his ear, but so what? Every office holder has the option of dropping out if she/he chooses. Did James Polk, James Buchanan, Rutherford B. Hayes and Lyndon Johnson before him "cheat the voters of America" by dropping out as well?!?
Honestly, I hope he sticks around. It's been kind of fun watching make a complete ass out of himself. Again and again and again. I wonder what flavor of bullshit will fly out of his mouth next ?!
He dropped out because he was informed by people who he trusts, that the polls were showing no avenue for him to win. When he realized this, he decided, of his own volition, to drop out of the race. THat's why he dropped out, and for no other reason. Everybody knows this. Except for you. See, Biden, unlike tffg, is a true statesman, a man of honor and decency, a man who knows American history, understands the Constitution and lives by it. A man who studies his daily briefs, every single day, while tfg told his aids to bring him charts and graphs that he then glanced at, completly bored by too much information. In short, Joe Biden is a President who the Founders would have not just approved of, but a man who they would have praised, for his integrity and love of country. You? You James, the Founders would have simply ignored, because you sound like some fking nutbag from a third world country, with little understanding of this one. Joe Biden is still running this country. Get over it.
To call Netanyahu a war criminal displays a prejudice unhindered by the truth. Although I am no fan of Netanyahu as prime minister of Israel - along with 2/3 of the Israeli electorate, who have been demanding elections for many months - the accusations leveled at Netanyahu and Gallant of being war criminals are based on fabrications about Israel's war of defense against Hamas. Why do you suppose the US is not part of the International Criminal Court?....Something worth all Americans' time to research. There is no intent on the part of Israel either to slaughter or starve civilians in Gaza. The extraordinary efforts of the Israeli defense forces to avoid harming civilians - despite Hamas' deliberate intentions to get them killed (Hamas in tunnels; civilians kept by force above-ground), and keep them starving (by stealing aid for themselves or to be resold at high prices) - have been recognized and reported by our own military leaders. Israel's armed forces have surpassed any other fighting force in their efforts to prosecute this war.
Please dig deeper into this situation. Why do you suppose the US is not part of the International Criminal Court? Not just to protect our own people, but because the "judges" aren't exactly neutral or relying on accurate "evidence" of wrongdoing.
Israel has continuously and systematically demonstrated its full intent to slaughter and starve the People of Gaza, and is doing so as I type. To say otherwise is to deny the horrific facts before the eyes of the World.
Netanyahu is, without question a war criminal, and he should have been arrested while he was, unfortunately for US, here in the States
He did NOT ace a cognitive test. Softballs don’t count. And since he has no character…. Real Christians should shun him for the hypocrisy and the smearing of God’s name
While you may not think it enough, Ronny Jackson did meet some consequences. The Navy demoted him in rank from a one star rear admiral to captain, a multilevel drop, in 2022 after investigating his actions in the White House.
I did see that, but he should have lost his medical license as well. Or maybe he did.
We had a local doctor who was handing out OXY prescriptions to support his drug habit. He was an excellent doctor as several members of our family as well as friends had seen him and really liked him. But he couldn't control his addiction and lost his license to practice medicine in MD and ME.
The medical reports he released on Trump were extremely questionable. 239 lbs -- Really?
I know that doctors protect their own, just as other professions do, but really?
Out of curiosity -- and no sarcasm intended, Gary -- ¿why are there seven states cited after your name? Been meaning to ask but resisting. 🤫Alas, as Oscar Wilde duly noted, "The only way to get rid of a temptation is to yield to it." 😉
In actuality, the ranks are different in the Navy. It is only a one-level demotion. In the Army that would have been a four-level drop. From what I can see, even four levels would not be enough. Mr Jackson -- to use Marjorie Taser Spleen's snipe -- should have been discharged dishonorably.
And the only medical report we have on dumptys ear was from that con artist. What was he doing there? A toady still. He said it was a "2 cm wound that bled like crazy". A 2 cm wound from a high velocity bullet that left a 2cm wound half a cm from the brain--unless his has shrunk farther in his skull, which is possible-- would likely result in concussive damage. But maybe with this one, you couldn't tell.
So have I (in the course of research to refute some gun nuts here in Maine) and you are exactly correct, JD. The cavitation damage from bullets shot at such high velocity is immense. It's horrifying.
They know how to fabricate scenarios that the MAGAts believe, and the non-MAGAts are loathe to question. Maybe in 60 years some curious person will question
I want to avoid too much bias against it being a hit by a bullet. I don't want to get trapped in believing it wasn't a bullet (which I considered at first).
Since then I have seen a picture that seems to show a bullet could have just nicked the outermost folds of cartilage, in a straight line. It looked like the height was the near the diameter of the bullet but only half as deep (not "through and through"), but closer to just a path half depth of the bullet diameter.
Though your question does not reduce the gravity of depravity precedent to an attempted assassination, I have wondered about this.
Especially when I watched some of President Trump's speech in N.C. The ear looks remarkably whole. I would have thought that such a bullet from such a rifle would have take half the ear off with a graze.
F.B.I. Director Wray mentioned the possibility of shrapnel in a hearing yesterday. Others have suggested a shard of glass from a shattered teleprompter.
A mystery to me. First, ¿shrapnel from a bullet? I was not aware that could occur; but I know nothing about guns. Second, the ear that was cut was on the side of the head AWAY from the teleprompter.
These thoughts are NOT intended to suggest that the event was staged.
While the near-miss is not a miracle, I thank G-D that the bullet was not one inch more to the right of the assassin's line-of-sight and that President Trump turned his head just prior to the dastard's deed.
There is too little reliable information to say for sure (as far as I have seen).
I thought I hadn't fired a weapon since 1968 in Vietnam, until I remembered I had to re-qualify at my first assignment back in the states. I had grouped the shots within about 3 inches or less thinking I would finally get the Small Arms Expert Marksmanship Ribbon but the shots were so close together they couldn't be counted and didn't bother to protest when they suggested it would be easier to just write in enough counted to meet the basic requirements (I didn't need an extra ribbon).
Besides the service, I had done some target practice with friends, using their weapons, but gave that up after Kennedy was assassinated and the rules were changed. I never bought any weapons myself. When in basic training, I had an infected knee that made it hard to get stable and an old M1 that was a bit harder to hold to a 3 inch circle, so it was maybe 6 to 8 inches but had some pretty far off the mark. When they counted them, I had more holes in my target than I had rounds, while the guy to my left barely had any in his (making me sure some of his rounds were so far off they were in my target, so no ribbon for me).
In Vietnam I was issued an M-16 and a .38 caliber revolver that we carried when traveling, since we often drove or rode jeeps or trucks that could be ambushed. I often traveled solo after the 1st 3 months mostly by air for what I estimated to be 60,000 miles visiting 61 different bases I could remember, many several times in Vietnam (and I think 4 trips around six base circuit in Thailand). I never fired the .38, and only fired the M-16 at a snake, though I carried extra bandoliers of M-16 magazines since the guys I rode with weren't likely to share their ammo with an outsider. What I did fire was an M-14, 1911A1, M-60, and even a.50 cal at a combat engineering camp when we got harassing fire including mortars from a hillside at the entrance to the Mang Yang Pass. The engineers usually were issued M-1 carbines and M-14s so they didn't have M-16 ammo. I got to fire their weapons when I let them fire all my ammo (through my weapons) that was above what I was supposed to be limited to.
After going into Saigon as a volunteer non-combatant to get one of our guys back (returning from R&R) two days into Tet 68, I never felt I needed weapons even in the Rodney King riots when I ran out of gas in a rather tricky place to get out of.
I had mentioned to my brother-in-law that the way we traveled in Vietnam, our aim was to repel an initial ambush and spread out to cover each other with whoever we had agreed to among those we traveled with, so I would prefer the 1911A1 for the ability to reload quickly. After I received it from his estate though I took it apart and had my son (a designated arms escort) keep half the parts before he sold it to a Law Enforcement Officer (for far less than the $1,000 plus offers I got from students and others that didn't want to go through licensed dealers).
I have trouble believing the range was too far. I had to look up the range of an M-16 (like a fully automatic AR-15) vs an AK-47. They consider the "effective range" to be 600 yards and accurate to 800 yards, twice the effective range of the less accurate AK-47 (effective to just 300 yards, accurate to just 250 yards).
I could shoot very consistently (and accurately), when I could see where the rounds struck. Back in my youngest years I could read all the eye chart lines from twice the distance required, so it seemed I could do as well as some people using scopes on a 100 yard range.
I'm not an expert nor particularly interested but an AR-15 round seems to be able to travel up to 1.5 miles, so I always got permission to shoot at what our guys identified as legitimate targets (with no chance of round landing among enemy or innocents beyond them. At the engineer camp, they assured me the sparkles on the hillside were the enemy since they were shooting at us.
As far as the ear, I heard that, too, but the ear picture I saw made me think it was more likely a bullet.
I found a source citing over half a million, but with the trend since 2010 always increasing, now over 100,000 annually, esp among adult males and perhaps higher in "red states" ... the political polarization is something else. This fits in Trump's claims of drugs "pouring across the borders"... so it's mainly an anti-Dem message these days.
JD - I am amused by the “cognitive test” TFFG seems to conflate with IQ. Once I became eligible for Medicare I found that the annual physical includes that exact test (at least in Minnesota). It’s an extremely gross indicator of dementia or other neurological conditions. I wonder how TFFG did drawing the clock face? LOL
As someone who administered cognitive tests, and as a widow of a man who suffered from Alz for 15 years, his comments just irked me to the max. His described test is a joke for a serious assessment. Could mean that he has the ability to keep his lies straight. Well, for a while. My husband was an antique clock collector for years, and when he couldn’t do the clock face, it was such a sad day for me. Chump is an unfunny joke. Time to mock his every move.
I’m so sorry. You are right, it is not funny. I’ve lost both a cousin and a dear friend to Alzheimer’s. I don’t know how to mock CFDT’s dementia without being insensitive.
I meant I don’t know how to “mock” CFDT’s horrible and incomprehensible behavior without it being a mock of his mental illness or neurological condition. It was suggested that mocking him would cause him to expose more of his obvious decompensation.
"I don't know how to mock CFDT's dementia without being insensitive." How about "don't mock it at all"? I would have been just as adamantly opposed to people MOCKING Biden's apparent dementia or at least significant memory lapses, and what's good for the goose is good for the gander. There are PLENTY of "fair game" things to attack Trump on, why stoop to this one?
I won't get caught up in this demand for cognitive tests. We do need to have a level of medical confidentiality for all citizens, and if we really mean our society to be what we want, that should apply equally to Presidents as to non-elite citizens. If we want cognitive tests to be a part of establishing competence to be President, then we need to put it clearly into our qualifications BEFORE we request anyone deliver those results to us, and that means putting the requirements into the constitution. Whether you want it or not, it isn't going to happen, so why spend valuable resources acting like somehow Trump is doing something dishonest by not letting us see them. Biden wouldn't let us see his tests either (or didn't actually take one), so this one cuts both ways.
I doubt that either one has had a real cognitive test. But, my objection is chump’s claim that he aced one. Voters could have seen signs of bullschittery early on. No test needed. Some of us did. Some were impressed by the siren song of hate, greed and self-righteousness.
They don't actually believe in the consequences of their sins. They think their gawd will absolve them if they just say gee I'm sorry enough before they did. But it can happen suddenly, dudes. You may not have time. That bit of "faith" is so hypocritical, it just reinforces not only my belief there is no god but those who think so are fools.
My sister though....now she actually practices. So there are good ones.
Yep, The Buddha said “you think you have time.” A human flaw to be sure. I subscribe to Twain who nailed it for me. “The easy confidence with which I know that another man’s religion is folly, teaches me to suspect that my own is also.” Yet, I know a couple of people who are good to the core. They likely don’t need religion to be what they are but the biggest pretenders are MAGAts. The constant conundrum…
Christian preachers are surely good at professing redemption, but he hadn’t even done that. Is he sorry for a thing. Not in the least. In fact, he was quoted as saying. If you do something bad, never, ever blame yourself.
Ike did pretty good, but would be nice if things didn’t get out of hand to such an extent. Yep, “just a little bit” of evil never seems to be enough for some.
I believe I was 12 when I told a fire and brimstone preacher I would not act out of fear of God, I believed in the Love of God as the proper motivation and would try to live my life accordingly (as if God was real).
Happy to see that agnostics (like me) and atheists are the most rational people when it comes to Agent Orange.
Read The God Gene. Fascinating look at the neurohormonal/genetic precursors to religiosity. I was especially interested to read that attendance at religious services was unrelated to possessing the “god gene.” Regular church attendees can be motivated by true religious beliefs or based on the social rewards of participation. I would love to see whether there is a positive or negative correlation between the god gene and warmongering. Or the god gene and Trump worship.
When our neighbor in 1950s Sedalia Missouri, earned money her injured truck driver husband no longer could, by taking care of half a dozen or more kids, we sometimes went along with a station wagon load of kids to movies they got discounts for, and Church services on Sundays. Because the kids went to 3 or more different churches , they rotated between the churches. I got a nasty response from one preacher who said people that went to churches other than his own were all going to Hell, when I said, Gee, that's the same thing they said about your church.
Funny thing was they were all great at mixed Ice Cream Socials where they were more likely to meet other people than just their own church. It convinced me they just wanted social interaction more than what ever they were preaching. When I asked older teenage boys (that didn't seem too religious away from churches) why they went so regularly, they said it was the best place to meet girls they were interested in.
Amen Marge, I'm atheist/naturalist ... on the neuro thing, you could say exactly the same thing for everything neurological which goes on in our sweet heads. And... no one has actually "found" a "god gene", maybe some emotional dispositions? Donno. Anything that seems charismatic would equally tap into that.
Thanks for the link, which includes “ However, Hamer notes that the importance of the VMAT2 finding is not that it explains all spiritual or religious feelings, but rather that it points the way toward one neurobiological pathway that may be important.” A predisposition. Hamer is/was Chief of Gene Structure at the National Cancer Institute.
I have long been fascinated by how and why some people are so focused on religion and others simply are not. Clearly there is no one explanation but genetic predisposition has really caught my interest.
During the last decade of my career, I trained human service staff about how homelessness affects people. And epigenetics is a profound new phenomenon. One (of many) fascinating facts is that trauma during pregnancy can sometimes cause the unborn child to have anxiety throughout their lifetime - to the point of symptoms similar to PTSD.
I am no expert but I know enough to be totally amazed by the multitude of factors that make us who we are!
I think that’s a shorthand. But the author, a neuro-researcher actually believes he found a specific gene responsible for religious experience. He found correlation with a range of expression from psychosis to mild belief. It’s been awhile since I read it so I may not be explaining it well. Interestingly, my parents and all of us kids seem to be missing this gene, and 50% of cousins in a family with one religious parent seem to be in possession of it. I just find it interesting.
Interesting, seems that, overall, he would not carry that much weight. Did I say that. Anyway. His MAGAts have Fox propaganda, and everybody else’s skewed reporting on their side. Likely because they are “entertaining reality.” Sorry Walter, I know you must be flipping in your grave.
The traitor is incapable of such a speech. He lacks the character to speak those words. He also doesn’t believe in the principles that our President laid out.
The Senate is 51-49 and maybe not ever that, and Schumer's job is difficult. PLEASE don't act like somehow he should just be able to crack a whip and get them all to go along with him. That isn't how legislative bodies work (if you ever worked in one, you would understand that better). And our current situation is possibly the worst it has ever been. To be honest, I think it was nothing short of a miracle what Biden managed to pull together over the past 3-1/2 years, especially the last 1-1/2 with a completely non-functional House, and a split down the middle Senate (that has a 60 vote minimum requirement for much of its legislation). We should be happy that the government SURVIVED this period, let alone did anything useful (which in fact it did).
TC: (shh, but just between you and me it's Act 1 Scene 4 . You'll have them all reading the terrible scene near the end, when Macduff learns that his family has been massacred.)
TC, Yes: glad the Shakespeare quote today is not "A plague on both your houses." (Romeo and Juliet, spoken by Mercutio as he lay dying) NPR this morning played a clip from the CFDT's "rally" which was going on while Joe was speaking so eloquently, which I have to say is the FIRST time in a lot of weeks that they actually played an unedited clip of CFDT's absolutely hysterical (not funny hysterical, hysterical in the "wandering womb" sense) spittle-spewing scream of terror directed at Kamala. Yep: this could actually be more fun than I thought and, although I am still looking at the housing market in Swansea and Cardiff, I am less concerned about having to shift my dog and myself (a legit childless cat lady because my current companion is a standard poodle who is more cat-like than any of the many cats I have had as companions over the years) somewhere else before I get locked in a concentration camp for being female and educated.
Linda, I am a card carrying childless cat lady. I might have to look up that "rally" from yesterday. We're looking at Portugal... I'd be with you in the concentration camp, unless there's a special one for us LGBTQ+ folks. Double whammy, as it were.
I have friends who just moved to Portugal and they love it there--except for the bureaucracy . . . My work centers around the UK and Ireland, so being closer to the archives and so on would be a wonderful thing for me. And I have a lot of friends who teach at U of Swansea and live in Wales and the southwest of England . . .
Officer: some Portugal tips from my oldest friend,a retired MD & classical piano player.
Portugal has wonderful beaches (muito bien), Lisbon like LA - Porto like San Francisco. Friendly, people that are welcoming; safe, no guns little crime. Portugal is a poor Country & has a very low cost of living.
Welcoming to LGBTQ. Residency & Schengen Visa in 5 years.
Was tax advantageous until 2024 but, government is thinking about reinstating the 10% Tax.
English speakers are widespread in any Euro Country. Some Yanks think Portuguese is "difficult" but, I took Portugese at UCLA & consider the language beautiful.
Linda, I did not think Wreck could deteriorate much further but, yesterday his maga crowd-pleasing wail "... a nation without cows" ? I need to consult with Dr. Bandy X. Lee on next Friday's Zoom on that one.
TC, this is the most beautiful and inspiring comment I have ever read from your posts…and I’ve been following for a few years. Somehow I knew there was kindness hidden in your pen 🩷 Thank you!
The answer to that is a sound NO. He is as close as you get to not being human. There are animals who have kinder instincts and prove so again and again.
My Goldendoodle was put through a battery of cognition test and among his abilities was that he unlike tRump has the ability to show empathy. My beloved canine has empathy TFG has none!!
I read the insults that freak of nature posted. Words alone cannot describe just how horrible this ''thing'' named Donald TUMP is. I didn't feel sorry for him one bit after the assassination attempt. The entire nation would be so much better off if the bloated monster ceased to exist. Him and Adolf Hitler are by far the worst ''freaks of nature'' that have ever poisoned the world we live in!
Yes. Yes. I suspected and still feel it was a ‘set up’. People call the orange menace a sociopath. Not me. He’s way beyond that category joining his daddy in psychopathy or some new category yet to be named.
Well on this we have to disagree. I understand this was more of a mess in some ways, but on Jan 6, he was the FREAKING PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES. I have been rereading Peter Baker's The Divider and that date is really the pinnacle. What he does now without any express power is bad, but nothing is as bad as what he and his minions did on Jan 6. Not even close.
When he asks the crowd if they want him "to be mean" they cheer. Who are these people? Does his anger cause them to be like this or are a third of the people in this country the kind that delight in the actions of a bully? Mystifying.
Total self-absorbed vs selfless. What a contrast. And millions of Americans want 'it' to be president. That fact is the telltale that there is something seriously wrong in this country - that needs fixing.
Five-year olds (or younger) do not think very much. Mostly they react. The broken china and catsup on the wall of the White House dining room (do you remember that?) tell all we need to know.
I was afraid of what would happen to our country if President Biden stepped down, I thought it would lead to another terrible presidency. But now, listening to Joe’s courage and seeing the country’s outpouring of support of Kamala Harris has renewed my faith that our democracy does have a clear path forward. Thank you Heather for being here for us through these most tumultuous times, your unwavering optimism has been a beacon for many.
My sister called me late yesterday with the most excellent news that Taylor Swift endorsed Kamala on Tic-Toc. Her endorsement will hopefully rally the millennial, Gen-X and Gen-Zers. Of course Beyonce, already endorsed Kamala, the two of them together -- Holy Shit!
TS has not yet endorsed Harris. Beyoncé has given permission for the Harris campaign to use her song “Freedom” but not actually endorsed Harris yet. It’s likely both will, but it has not yet happened.
I think it’s smart for them both to withhold their support for now. Harris has boatloads of support coming in right now. Why not wait until a lull in the news cycle, or a trump dirty trick, and then announce support and own the news cycle?
Liberty means that we get to follow our own individual dreams, and yet there are times that require that we all pull together to maintain that right. Real power is in collaboration; in a democracy, the leader serving as a hired professional who helps us to achieve that end.
Last night belonged to Biden, but Harris had a great line in a talk "when you try to break a barrier, you may get cut. You may bleed. But it is worth it. Every single time".
If that's not a rallying cry for everyone who isn't a white male, I don't know what is.
Yes, thank you Heather for being there for me every morning! I’ve been depending on you more than you can imagine. Thanks for your voice in these chaotic and scary times.
It is such a masterful speech; coupled with his selfless act, it makes me feel proud to be an American! Thank you, Professor, for highlighting the very best parts and pointing out their historical perspective.
Christopher, this afternoon a friend posted to FB a group song w/ Patti Smith back in 2019 that captures the spirit many of us are feeling now…revved up! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y6Wz3i_BYUc
Had to smile when I saw your response here as the last thing I did before reading this stuff was to share that exact post. It's beautiful! She's awesome. The crowd/choir was, too.
You summed up Professor HCR perfectly Mary Hardt..."for highlighting the very best parts and pointing out their historical perspective." What a great group here.
Who do you think pairs up with Kamala Harris as her VP?
I like Mitt Romney, U.S. Senator (R-UT) U.S. Senate seat being vacated by Mitt Romney, who recently announced he won’t run for reelection - or - I like Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, who is moving towards like a clean energy economy, the type of economies that are thriving, and our families are hopeful. What does this group feel like for VP?
Our Democratic gov. Katie Hobbs will appoint Sen. Kelly’s replacement, And we are in the process of electing a second Democratic senator in Ruben Gallego.
Of course, now we will have to elect a Democrat to replace Ruben in the House.
And by the next election whoever Hobbs chooses will have to run themselves, it is NOT a four-year appointment, just two. And doesn't the state senate have to approve the appointment? Will they? Kelly needs to stay in the Senate. Plus as I said elsewhere, AZ and NV are only 17 electoral votes, not enough to win the election. The VP really needs to come from the midwestern states.
I don't so much see Romney contaminated by Trump. He seems to show some flickers of conscience, but his ethics seem awfully waffley. And at this point we really need the best, most admirable people we can get.
I don't like Romney for all sorts of reasons. First he is a Republican. I don't want a split ticket, nor do I want a GOP VP running the Senate when it MIGHT (hopefully not worse) be 50-50.
Absolutely a huge ''NO'' to Romney! He is one of those that hates Social Security and Medicare. And yes, Beth, he really does have the stench of the donvict!
Through Bain Capital, Romney has destroyed a lot of companies and the lives of workers in order to enrich himself. He gives me the creeps. I don't trust him at all.
I have the same feeling about Romney and Liz Cheney. I am absolutely appreciative that they were serious Americans who refused to go along with the Donald in his attempts to coopt our political system. Kudos. But are they even "moderates" let alone "liberals"? Not a chance. And while I can thank them for standing up and doing the right thing here, I would NEVER want either of them near the White House. The dangers are too great.
Yes. As another MA native, I agree. He did introduce "Romneycare" which was a model for "Obamacare" (ACA). But there is a progressive "for the people" attitude and momentum in Massachusetts that propelled that legislation. A puppet could have passed it.
Romney was always viewed as malleable and very into himself. Not the worst GOP dude. But when he was at Bain, he ate companies and spit out employees. Think "Blue Star Airlines" and Gordon Gecko.
If we had to pick a Republican as VP (I don't recommend it) we would consider another former MA governor who was the most popular gov in the US - Charlie Baker. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlie_Baker
Charlie served two terms - reelected with 67% of the vote! In the bluests state in the US of A. (He is only 67)
I can't imagine anyone bringing the Republican Party back from Trump.
But I guess people can overlook all of the hate and anger as well as the fact they have accomplished virtually nothing since the 15 ballot election of McCarthy as Speaker in January and February 2023. And then it got worse with Trump's little Johnson. But for some bizarre reason many of the media outlets forgive him for taking over 6 months to pass a budget and leaving our allies in Ukraine and Israel without military aid for 6 months as well.
Fox News is just an extension of how Republicans view and treat women.
Bill O'Reilly, Tucker Carlson, Roger Ailes all were sexual predators. There were many others as well of course but these guys made the news.
At my 50th high school reunion last August, a classmate was telling me about her experience with Rupert Murdoch at the Wall Street Journal. Shortly after Rupert bought the WSJ, he came to visit and meet the staff. She walked out of the meeting and went to the bathroom and threw up. Literally.
The next time he came, she left the building until he was gone. She immediately started looking for a new job and fortunately found one rather quickly as did her husband.
It was a day my heart sank. Also, when he bought Nat Geo. He literally killed our media integrity. The most trusted man in America was replaced by the man who used Goebbels as his mentor. And Ronnie imported him for that purpose
Pete Buttigieg. He won the Iowa caucus last time and will bring in the youth vote. He has charisma and executive experience. He balances the demographics of the ticket and will energize the LGBTQ voters.
The country is ready for a First and a Second Gentleman!
I love Pete Buttigieg and many of us have almost learned to pronounce his name and to even spell it. (I'm not one of them).
No one has accomplished more as transportation Secretary. Over 60,000 projects started and most completed. Cleaning up the Port of Baltimore after the bridge collapse, shaming Southwest Airlines by fining them $140 million, cleaning up after train derailments and on top of it all, what an amazing speaker.
When they interview him, I can't turn it off. It's the same feeling I get reading an HCR newsletter.
You must be dreaming LOL. We live in the UNITED STATES OF AMERICA where we held slaves just 160 years ago, and where gays were dragged behind trucks for fun just 30 years ago. I think Pete would be a great President, but certainly not right now, not for at least a few more years if not a few more decades. Plus (a) he is VERY VERY young and (b) he has NO significant legislative or executive leadership roles except in a small city, i.e., never been Governor or Senator or Congress critter.
Pete is really a total non-starter in any serious political context. It is not going to happen.
I am sorry to learn you think a Republican would make a good VP. I agree that Romney has shown some character in voting to impeach Trump, but if you remember his 2012 campaign for President, you might not like his policy preferences.
And what is it with people who keep thinking Dems should put Republicans on our ticket? I've never heard of them considering putting a Dem on theirs.
Why dilute our chances of making some real policy changes?
Yep, I agree with his talent, but he is virtually unknown in the rest of the country AND he is NOT from a real "swing state" (one in 2020 where the margin for the winner, Biden, was less than 1%).
Ally, great concepts but simply the wrong choices. Taking a governor or senator from KY or NC does virtually nothing to draw in electoral votes (the ones that we need to win this thing) from the swing states (MI/WI/PA/GA/NV/AZ). Yes, NC is also a marginal swing state (the only one of those that went for TRUMP in 2020, while the other six all went for Biden). It is also the furthest southeast state and even if it actually went for Harris, not sure how many votes it would pull in the other states. And there is a need for at least 40+ electoral votes for Harris above what she is highly likely to get anyway. I don't see how Moore from NC will help that situation. And I have described elsewhere why Kelly, although I LOVE him, would be a poor choice as well, because AZ/NV is only 17 votes, and we might also put a Senate seat at risk, a problem bad enough already and we don't need to add to it.
Romney would be a non-starter. He is a Rep. Not going to happen. As for Walz, I like him a lot, but he is virtually UNKNOWN. And he isn't in a real swing state, Minnesota will go for Harris pretty much no matter what (old Humphrey country).
I love Mark Kelly, but (a) he is SORELY needed to hold his seat in the Senate. We are at great risk of losing the Senate this year, regardless of which party wins the White House. and (b) he doesn't provide much assistance in winning the country for Harris... AZ and NV, the two southwest "swing states" account for 17 electoral votes. Harris needs at least 44 electoral votes to win by exactly 270-268, and what do you know, that is EXACTLY the number of electoral votes in Wisconsin (10), Michigan (15) and Pennsylvania (19), the three mid-west/atlantic border states. Kelly might not pull enough votes to the really important swing states.
I love Josh Shapiro from Pennsylvania and think he might be the one. The big downside is he is Jewish, and we have never had a Jewish President OR VP before, so this would be an issue for some. This also goes for Pritzker of Illinois, plus he is not in a real swing state either. His big benefit is he is mega-rich which would provide additional badly needed cash to help with the election. And although not in a swing state, Illinois is pretty close to all three of the others.
I dunno. My favorite was Gretchen Whitmer but she has made it clear she won't accept. She is the best known of the midwest swing state candidates, although two women might have problems as well.
Ultimately its a big toss up and Harris is going to have to roll the dice and pick SOMEONE.
Remember all the things the current GOP candidate is saying and has said; it’s the opposite of President Biden. Remember Donald’s crudity and cruelty, his braggadocio, his obscene view of women and so many others. He was never fit to be president. He’s an adjudicated realist and criminal felon, always lying. He’s a dangerous narcissist whom we have seen time and again. He’s the laughing stock of the world.
Time to purge him from politics and put him in jail
The narrator on a documentary i watched awhile back said at the beginning of program about Hitler stated, ''Adolf Hitler'' this is the definitive story of the most hated man in history!'' I would include Donald TUMP in that statement also.
Here in Maine, we have mostly Democrats serving in the legislature and many statewide offices. The Republicans NEVER mention that they are anti-abortion.
But, if the Republicans come into power in any state they will do everything in their power to take away reproductive choice and to damage women's health care.
Here In MT we are fighting to turn the State @ least purple. The R are vocal about & very MAGA. The political parties have booths just outside of the sanctioned Sat Farmers market. The republicans have guns @ their booth. The candidate running against Tester, D, is fomenting 2nd A, D are coming for your guns nonsense. We have a strong woman running against Zinke , Tranel & Busse a former corporate person in the gun industry running against the body slammer for Gov. MT appears to be a T strong hold. It really distorts my view living in a swamp of MAGAs
So sorry for your plight... there are 49 other options of course :-).
I am very worried about Tester losing in Montana. He has always been close and this time looks even worse in a state which went wholeheartedly for Trump. His last election was in 2018 when the Dems swept the House and didn't lose the Senate by much...
You are correct, Karen. The reason you are correct is because the difference between Biden's guiding principle and Trump's guiding principle is the same as the difference between up and down. Biden's guiding principle is that everyone matters, and Trump's guiding principle is that not everyone matters (he makes it obvious that, to him, Trump is the only one that matters).
Giving Democrats control of all three branches of government in November is the way to start saving democracy. Making sure enough of us are following Biden's guiding principle is the way for this generation to complete the job for this generation, and then the cycle will repeat.
"It is interesting that people living in egalitarian societies must work so aggressively to keep their political order in place." That's from renown anthropologist Christopher Boehm (1931-2021), and he was describing extant hunter-gatherer bands. Translation: It's not easy because it's never been easy, but it's always possible, so we all need to follow Biden's advice to keep the faith.
Totally agree with the notion, but the actual reality is holding the Senate in 2024 will be EXTREMELY difficult. Manchin is giving up his seat in bright-red West Virginia, Tester is in the race of his life in Montana and Sherrod Brown in Ohio is holding his own but barely. If those three seats go, and nothing else changes, that would give the GOP a 52-48 majority. If Brown holds on, 51-49 GOP. Almost the BEST case is Tester winning too, leaving a 50-50 split. And there are other Dem Senate seats that could be at risk too, including NV (Jackie Rosen's seat). There are 22 Democratic seats up for election and only 11 GOP seats. So the risks are all against the Democrats to hold on to at least 51 seats.
I am big on faith, but even more big on practical politics. We need to win the House (much easier than holding the Senate actually) AND the White House so that even if the Senate flips for two years, there won't be a disaster. If Trump pulls off a trifecta , we are pretty screwed as a country, sigh.
I haven't come to a different conclusion because I disagree with any of your assumptions, but because I'm making additional (and potentially erroneous) assumptions. Specifically, the closer it gets to November, the more undecided voters will pay attention, virtually every grownup has been chased out of Republican Party leadership, and the more people pay attention, the more obvious that becomes. As always, time will tell.
Boy it would be great if you turn out to be right, no argument there. I just have watched the Senate for over 50 years and nothing that has EVER happened suggests to me that in a year like this, with a 51-49 edge and 22 Democratic seats up for grabs (including 3 in states that are SOLIDLY republican) vs 11 GOP, all in absolutely SOLID GOP states) that the Democrats can hold all of their seats or win some elsewhere. We will REALLY be lucky to come out 50-50 which is the absolute BEST result I can foresee, with 52-48 GOP being my "most likely" verdict.
Every strength in one context is a weakness in another context, and vice versa. Your strength, and my weakness, is your 50 years of observing the Senate. The Republicans' strength, and the Democrats' weakness, in previous election cycles is Republican's don't care and Democrat's do. I suggest that 2024 is a novel context in which the strength-weakness dynamic has been reversed, and we should expect that to lead to an otherwise unexpected result. But, again, time will tell.
No wonder Baron con Shitzispants is freaking out. Not only will he lose but President a Harris will put in an equally fierce AG. Not the disappointing Casper Milquetoast.
Joe Biden....in every way an ordinary man....who just performed another extraordinary act. Thank you Mr President for your decades of service. Thank you for your example of kindness and decency. Thank you.
Joe Biden’s full-hearted embrace of his VP Kamala Harris, and his unwavering support of Barack Obama as his VP, make Joe Biden the most transformational leader we’ve ever had in this country, right up there with Abraham Lincoln. It’s up to each of us to carry this country forward in the direction set by President Biden. He’s showing us the way, and telling us it’s our job now, and always. “A Republic, if [we] can keep it,” indeed.
Thank you for sharing President Biden‘s words and such detail and for ending today’s letter with Jill Biden‘s handwritten note. What a moving, profound speech, from an incredible president and a very, very fine man. Yes, character does still matter in public life. It must matter because it must matter or we are lost.
What a wonderful speech, classy and graceful. We the People have been so fortunate to have had one of the most experienced (possibly THE most experienced) Presidents ever to serve in the White House. Thank you for tonight's LFAA, Dr. Heather.
"“I revere this office, but I love my country more,” he said. “It’s been the honor of my life to serve as your president.” But, he said, the defense of democracy is more important than any title, and democracy is “larger than any one of us.” We must unite to protect it.
“In recent weeks, it has become clear to me that I need to unite my party in this critical endeavor,” he said. “I believe my record as president, my leadership in the world, my vision for America’s future, all merited a second term. But nothing, nothing can come in the way of saving our democracy. That includes personal ambition. So I’ve decided the best way forward is to pass the torch to a new generation. It’s the best way to unite our nation.”
There is “a time and a place for long years of experience in public life,” Biden said. “There’s also a time and a place for new voices, fresh voices, yes, younger voices. And that time and place is now.”"
yes, President Biden will go down in presidential history as one of the great ones. At the same time, in the same history, the person leading the Republican Party will end up in a unique position... the absolute worse president this nation has ever seen. May there never be another like him.
But Pres. Biden was right. Getting behind VP Kamala Harris is going to safe the nation and our democracy, but it isn't time to relax. We must be strong and unite to protect it.
Bill, somehow I can see the TFFFG spinning this as “I am the NUMBER ONE worst president in history….NO ONE can beat me on that…I’m the BEST WORST ever” or so said many manly-men with tears in their eyes who said “sir, you are the number one worst…thank you so much”.
The moment was so Shakespearean that only Shakespeare could write a proper review. Which he did.
“Nothing in his life became him like the leaving of it”
— Malcolm Macduff, “MacBeth,” Act 1 Scene 4
If you want to know what kind of person someone is, watch them do The Thing In The World They Do Not Want To Do.
The hardest, most difficult thing, the thing that takes every fiber of their body to accomplish.
It's the ultimate character test (As a dear departed friend once put it, "A character test is to see if you have any.").
Which Joe Biden, the best president of my lifetime, even including Harry Truman and Lyndon Johnson in the competition, passed with flying colors.
Most fascinating and insightful comment, TC. Ironic, that as I read HCR's final passage tonight, the note from Jill Biden, I immediately flashed to the fierce loyalty and deeper ambition of Lady MacBeth, and then I saw your post referencing the Scottish tragedy.
In fact, Jill Biden, the fierce defender of her husband's legacy and the immovable object which had to be moved at least somewhat for him to reach the proper decision he did, is a sweeter yet equally fierce version of Lady MacBeth.
Excellent speech by the way, as well. Poignant, all inclusive, typical Scranton Joe, the hardscrabble, always underestimated, more idealistic than most realize, glad-handing, big-dreaming Irish-American pol we all love and will miss when he is gone.
I also certainly hope that this wonderful speech from this wonderful man will drown out the blight otherwise cast in our Nation's Capitol by the wholly undesired presence of the War Criminal Netanyahu, speaking earlier today.
That quiet low-level speech, devoid of hyperbole, was a speech for the ages. Biden rose to the occasion of his frailty and bowed to the American public.
The moment is very stirring, exhilarating, moving and sad. It was the right thing to do, to invoke the memory of Shakespeare, the greatest literary genius to ever live.
Hyberbole? It also was untruthful? He never explained why he dropped out?
He claimed he was saving democracy? Really? He was forced out by the party elites and the donors. They cheated the voters of America and they INSTALLED their own candidate. That's not democracy that's a dictatorship.
Not sure who you think you are fooling
James, he DID explain his reasoning. He felt his record justified a 2nd term, but his party was divided on supporting him considering his age related decline and the impending danger of turning the country over into the hands of an unscrupulous group. He wanted to unite his party and he knew he wanted to protect our republic. He has the common sense and wisdom to realize that is more important than his own personal ambitions. He’s a bit like a champion boxer in an obvious TKO situation, he didn’t want to quit. But time has defeated him, just as it does every human being that ever lived. If his mind was sharper and more fit, his party would have supported him.
He also noted that the time to hand over the reigns of government to a new generation is now. This is, after all, the ways of the world. The older generations pass the baton to the next group. Your questions and doubts were answered by Joe.
Yes, his big donors and party members spoke out. Isn’t that their job in a majority rules based democracy? The greater good dictates keeping the country out of the hands of the dark, fallen opposition, formerly known as the GOP.
Very cogently stated, Tim. 🤝 You are a better man than I to take the time to answer this cur's slur so ably and reasonably. 🙏 (There I go . . . ¡again!) 🤫 Thank you for the factual rebuttal presented with equanimity. ✌ Tried as I might, I could not get there. 😳
P.S., President Biden, to my heart at least, challenged all of us to be states(wo)men now.
Tim:
I was not thrilled Biden left as he gave us the best economy in decades while battling a pandemic. For once someone did the right thing and floated as many boats as possible whether rich or poor.
This was an event as serious as the collapse of the economy in the 2008-time frame due to Wall Street Gambling. The few rich donators had the call as well as some elites. We lost a man, a president who cared about the people. Kamala will do well and Biden will be forgotten.
It appears too the lightweight called trump can say whatever he pleases, and no one raises voice to challenge his stream of lies.
Bill H (AZ), Thank you for your thoughts. I heard an interview with Doris Kearns Goodwin yesterday. She thinks history is going to be very positive about Joe’s term. I will be eternally grateful to him for unseating the Orange Blob. His policies will hopefully endure-for the good of the US & the world. Great job Joe!!
I think Kamala may just do it-win that is-based one groundswell of small donations and new , younger age voter registration surges. We will see.
James, he did explain why he dropped out - to save democracy in America. True, he was given a nudge and a push by other Democrats, but in the final analysis the decision was Biden's and his alone. There is nothing comparable going on in the MAGA/KKK party, formerly known as the Republican Party, which is now a Fascist cult. Now that is what constitutes a dictatorship.
Bullshit. He never said that. He said he was leaving to save democracy.
The party forced him out because he was going to lose. They got caught LYING about this dementia.
There is nothing noble about what happened. The elites and the donor class robbed the party of democracy. It installed its own candidate.
Its all projection. The cult and the fascism is COMING from the LEFT. They kept RFK Jr off the ballot, keep Biden out and installed their own candidate.
LYING about MAGA is how you live with yourself.
Quoting you: "The party forced him out because he was going to lose."
Well, sir, that is what parties are SUPPOSED to do. The Presidency isn't an "individual's office" with some individual anointed and then able to decide for him/herself when to walk away. The President is elected via an election in which party electors are chosen to vote for their candidate(s). It may not be the perfect way, but it is our way and so far it has worked (almost) for several hundred years.
In any case, the point is that the individual does NOT have the sole right/responsibility to decide whether they can/will run. That party is integrally involved in that decision, and since in the end, it is the party that chooses whose name goes on the ballots, they have the right to withdraw a candidate and replace them with another. Although that power is rarely used, it is absolutely part of the system. The Democratic party using its influence to move Biden to make the proper decision to retire is not only a legitimate way of exercising power in this country, it is in fact the BEST way.
Believe me, the party leaders had to recognize this was no small decision and that the end result might NOT be ideal. But it was their choice to make, they made it (and actually they were pretty timid about it, IMHO) and now the actions have been taken. I would like to hope/think that Biden also recognized that this was the right decision for the country, but regardless, in the end it wasn't his decision anyway, as it was up to the convention's delegates to make that choice.
And now it is made. You can be a nonsensical irrelevant part of the discussion sticking to your guns or you can capitulate or you can just leave. I really don't care as your opinion is about as relevant as anyone elses here.
It is pretty clear you are a Trump supporter so maybe you should just get lost.
James, I'm not going to reference provable facts about Joe Biden's successes and Donald Trump's failures(remember how easy it was going to be to replace Obamacare?) because you are in a cult and it would require years of therapy to disabuse you of your mistaken beliefs. So go ahead and and try to defend the Orange Menace and put all your trust in this grifter, conman, insurrectionist, liar. We small d democrats have a much easier task- we're upholding democracy and candidates who have integrity and morals.
James, you write: "The elites and the donor class robbed the party of democracy. It installed its own candidate." Are you confusing Biden with Trump? Project 2025, and all that jazz?
Kindly go fall off the edge of the cliff, asswipe. Make America Great Again.
Pro tip: do not feed the trolls
I for one don't, and won't, lie for MAGA. The record of that outfit and its leader is perfectly clear. Its leader is an accomplished liar and scoundrel who will use anything and anyone to achieve his ignoble aims. He's rotten to the core.
Well you certainly have that whole doublethink thing down pat
Really??? Aren't the monied classes "installing their own candidate"? I couldn't resist responding but I already know it's fruitless. Once a cult member usually, always a cult member.
James, I agree with you, are you a Kennedy supporter like me? These guys are so hateful of Trump that any dissent from what they believe is met with vitriol. So sad.
You only hear want you want to hear.
Why should Biden explain why? He gave us the credit for knowing what we all saw on national tv. And he was not yet the presidential candidate of his political party (a private organization). Biden had sufficient pledged delegates to become the candidate, but there has been no vote and he was never the 2024 Democratic presidential candidate.
Instead, Biden spoke the truth—he determined he could not bring about the party unity required for a successful mission.
Citizen60:
What exactly did you see?
"Not sure who you think you are fooling"
If you are opting to be improper by taking cheap shots at an older man, at least use proper grammar, s.v.p.
P.S., "whom" NOT "who".
This isn't dictatorship. You don't get to censor my speech. Ill say what I please.
Joe Biden doesn't get a pass. Nor do the elites in the party get a pass for LYING about his condition, cancelling his candidacy by strong arming him, and installing their own candidate. THIS is authoritarian and shameful.
No one is disputing a word of what I wrote because ITS TRUE. I know that truth is brutal leftists. Too bad.
Other than just flat refuse to listen to the voices of reason, and watch his legacy go down the tubes, I don't know what else he could have done. I think that Joe was convinced that the polling was just wrong, that his cognitive state is just fine, and that he was the person best suited to defeat the orange menace. That plus the desire to be a two-term president which is a measure of success. I also think that after a period of convincing (a good bit too long I will admit), he came to believe that his staying in the race = a Trump win and doom for the country. He has enough marbles left to see that is a non-option. What do you think he should have said, and/or done?
Reported for breaches of the current Reader & Author contract with Substack Inc.
I have launched a formal mediation with Substack Inc NOT including the Disinformation troll based on Substack Inc's simple breaches of contract, breach of good faith & fair dealing and negligent misrepresentations under Substack Inc's choice choice of CA law.
What time is the hearing? You are so full of shit. I'm calling your bluff.
Who made you the Censor in Chief?
You are so full of shit. Who do you think you are fooling? This is the 20th time you've threatened me.
Buzz off.
Did anyone pay any attention to Nitwityahoo's speech today?
Solid observation about Jill Biden.
Nope. I had to trim my toenails.
Lisa. I’m still laughing. 🤣 I happened to see-hear nitwit’s final pitch then the truly revolting applause. I keep thinking about the struggle when the occupying British left Israel post WW11. The courage & mind dropping intelligence of the Jewish people to hold Jerusalem, including Golda Meir arriving in NYC’s winter wearing in a summer dress to ask for help. I feel immense sadness and a burning anger at nitwit and the abusive treatment of the Palestinians. The saying ‘abused people abuse’ is playing out and destroying the once proud upstanding Israel.
PS Read O Jerusalem if you’re at all interested? It’s a can’t-put-it-down book written by two reporters about the founding of Israel.
I was driving and listening to NPR, and the sound of our congress applauding that fool--- whose "negotiators" are idle while he's here--- sickened me so much I turned off the radio.
I chose to watch the portion of Democracy Now that covered the earlier protest by JVP Jewish Voice for Peace), and family members of hostages still held (whether it is known if they are alive or dead) numbering about 400 member which NBC somehow seeks to portray as "pro-Palestinian."
You don't have to be pro-Palestinian to be anti-genocidal.
See that portion of the show at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_nJfUuekD_0
I appreciate any Principled Peacemakers on both sides, but especially on the side with the most ability to make it happen.
One of the coworkers I most respected was an Israeli war hero, who left Israel because Ariel Sharon (Israel's Defense Minister), allowed the Christian Phalangist militia massacres at the Shatila and Sabra refugee camps.
I likened my coworker to one of my heroes from Maine, Silas Soule, when he refused to participate in the Sand Creek Massacre on Nov 29, 1864, the only difference being he, unlike Soule, wasn't present with the Israeli troops told to form a protective ring around the Phalangists when the massacres at Shatila and and Sabra took place.
I have to trust the words of those people of higher principles among the group in the most critically close proximity to where their forces are committing the worst atrocities.
To me, it shows the strong resistance to Netanyahu when so many Israelis in high position, and even family members of hostages join the protests.
I guess I was in the room when Netanyahu was shown addressing Congress but I was too distracted to pay much attention to it. What I do remember was when Mike Johnson beamed while bragging, "I'm happy to welcome, uh, prime minister, Israeli Prime Minister, Bemjamin Netanyahu, for what will be his fourth address, uh, to a joint session of Congress. Uh, he will set the record surpassing Winston Churchill, uh, as the foreign leader who has addressed Congress the most time."
What a disgusting record.
AOC advised “filler” people were brought in to make it look like there was support.
I was hoping someone fact checked him! He affected me like a Trump “blovacating!” (Made up word but you get my drift!?)
Many thanks, just downloaded O Jerusalem from Kindle Unlimited. I see it was also made into a documentary film in 2006.
Thank you Frank. I’ll look that film up:-)
Yes, Samm, sad but true. "The saying ‘abused people abuse’ is playing out and destroying the once proud upstanding Israel." It is tragic that the abused often see only two alternatives: to identify with the victim or the abuser. It may be unconscious, but Netanyahu's clear choice is devastating. Not to be able to identify with those who become victims because of his actions is incomprehensible. As a therapist who has worked with sexually abused people, I have always struggled to understand and see the abuser as also a victim to explain his or her actions. Working therapeutically with that mindset is incredibly challenging. The bottom line is the abuse MUST stop. It is doubtful that Netanyahu will ever be conscious of the etiology of his behavior. His actions against the Palestinians must be stopped. Oh, and thanks for the book recommendation. I want to read it.
Carol T, I’m not a therapist but one of my most cherished friends (raped by her father for years as a child) I finally realized was subtly ‘getting rid’ of her pets. I began noticing a pattern of either ridding herself of friends now called ghosting, or of pets being well, hmm, disappeared.
She’s an extraordinary mostly loving artist person. I finally asked her to dump me instead of a puppy.
It seemed to halt the abuse 🙏🏼
Yes, Samm, many thanks for the book recommendation. I will add it to my list. I confess to wanting an actual book in my hand, so may add to my next Powell's order. As for Bibi, his abuse of the Palestinians will probably never stop. He depends on hardliners for his power. The only good thing that has happened recently is the ultra orthodox men can now be required to serve in the military.
If you carry trauma you are a trauma vector. You can’t begin to manage it unless you own that you have it. The abused who take on the role of abuser deny the vulnerability that facilitated their trauma, but are keen to pass trauma to others in whom they see vulnerability. Trauma is something like a virus, but where a virus has a physical form, trauma takes its form in behavior. So it’s not just rhetorical to say that Bibi is a sick dude. Thank you, Carol, for the work you are doing. The world needs a whole lot more of it.
Hi Carol!
I appreciate your sensitive insight
Samm, I read recently a book about the abuses in various places committed by the Brits during their empire phase. It has a section about the Palestinian Mandate and it isn't pretty. I would also recommend Lawrence in Arabia, an excellent history of the area during the period around WWI. It is such a complex issue and I confess I become irritated with those who refuse to understand that and the long history behind it.
I read "Oh, Jerusalem" when it first came out. It is an excellent narrative of the founding of Israel and the cleansing of certain Pelestinian areas.
Thanks for the humor. It is a shame that he gets any recognition at all in DC.
Please send one of those toenails to Israel I believe the majority are looking to replace Netanyahu
Despite you not seeing the state of my toenails, I do believe it would still be a monumental improvement.
Is there any doubt
Ha! I dig your comedic stylings, Lisa
:::Bows theatrically:::
Ha!🤣
Be careful Lisa, cause if you bow theatrically yet fail to curtsy, JD Vance and his ilk may accuse you of being a "childless cat lady"!
🤣
I washed out my garbage cans, which I think is a reasonable metaphor.
😂
🤣🥰
No, and agree about Jill Biden observations.
Biden has such class and grace and humility and love of country and of “We the people.” The comparison with Trump the lout is mind-boggling, to say the least. Thank you, Mr. President.
I am still terrified for our country. I agree about Biden and this powerful and inspiring speech, but millions and millions of otherwise decent and moral people believe what Fox News, etc., tell them to think. Trump is our savior?????? Also, see what Jesse Watters said about this powerful and moving speech!!!!!!
We are a sick and perverse society and all my “good Christian” brethren are all in on the cruelty, the hatred, the vulgarity. These past ten years have driven me to despair. When wrong is called right, evil is called good, and mockery and cruelty and contempt and vitriol is celebrated, we are lost as a society. I blame McConnell and the Republican Senators first and my fellow Christians second for the decline and likely fall of American civilization with this sick man Trump. If it happens, while I despise and loath him completely, it will be all these millions of fine people who brought us down, not him. God help us.
Don;t forget our so called national media, AI, Cable News, and tax laws and loopholes that allowed crooks to become million/billionaires and supremes became lawless.
Rick, it is unfortunate the so called Christians have chosen to enable death star. But not all of them. I have an ex-student who is a pastor and he spoke out against death star in 2016. He is registered as an I and is against the hatred of all kinds spewed by death star and emulated by his followers, Christian or otherwise. I see him recently working hard on relationships between fathers and their children. I did love the photo of fathers giving their daughters a pedicure. His latest endeavor was a trip to Costa Rica with fathers and sons.
@Rick A. That is what grinds at me the most, how so called Christians can wholeheartedly support a proven criminal. As someone commented recently, yes they know he is a criminal but he is their criminal, ready and willing to provide what they yearn for, in this case an all out ban on abortion and the cleansing of America of immigrants.
TCinLA,
In regards to "Nitwit.....", can anyone believe a word that he speaks. He wants to appear innocent or have his past, recent and future plans overlooked to keep us involved in his murderous, destructive plans......to keep him in office (like a former president we know) so that he will not be held accounted for his past (and present) crimes. I could not watch, nor did I want to!!!!
It is the ideal of freedom in my blood that screams!!! "Leave the Palestinians alone!!!"
You are the one who breaks boundaries and have done so for years!
Look at us...our law and our hearts and practical reason provide for ones right to worship...or not...as one chooses within our law......to marry who you love. We have proven that we are stronger together. We are stronger when we spend our time and energy together...."Building Back Better" as Joe Biden has taught us.
Among other things, or esp this one thing apart from military style sequestering these many years, creeping Jewish settlements across Palestinian land, in total violation of UN terms laid down years ago, but ignored, ignored, ignored.
He alone is a reason to not return Baron Von Shitzispants
Jen, a new one....thank you.
Exactly.
And God Bless Rashida Tlaib
Nyet, didn’t watch the Yahoo
"Nyetanyahu" has real possibilities!
Maybe NyetingYahoo?
I see HCR did not 😉
HCR will likely report on that Israeli guy's visit tomorrow once he has completed his BS tour of Washington.
She said on Facebook she wants this moment to be a significant moment on its own and will get to the other news tomorrow. I’m paraphrasing of course.
He gave a speech? So what? I was busy napping.
You were napping and Republicans were clapping--enthusiastically.
Biden’s speech is a classic statement of America’s Democratic values.
As you read it, it is easy for your mind to fill in the substitutions that the Trump mobsters would make if they ran the nation.
Project 2024 must be to prevent Agenda 47. Those DEI values feature ideas that are Deranged, Evil, and Ignorant.
Yahoo go home! You're not welcome here.
Except to the evangelically-blinded Repubbies.
They wants their rapture, my precious.
Best quip of the day, thanks!
🤣
TC, like death star, Bibi receives the mute button treatment. We were over at our neighbors having a small celebration of feeling much better about November. I couldn't stand the negative predictions before and so it was nice to be able to discuss politics again, something we all enjoy. We were there long enough to miss the President's speech, so it was inspiring to me this am as I read it. It is superb. I did read that lots of pols were not at Bibi's speech....good. It's too bad that corrupt twit isn't occupying a jail cell. He is certainly a main impediment to resolving that horrible mess.
Nope. And I was happy to see only a blip of a mention of it yesterday. Today, however, is a new day. The media will do what they do.
Tom I didn’t need to watch Nitwit Piddy Poo. I recalled my lunch and afternoon with a great Israeli premier David Ben-Gurion (in 1954). Ben-Gurion would be aghast at Piddy Poo.
My Baedeker to Piddy Poo/Biden comes from Snoopy. Piddy Poo is Lucy, always snatching the football away from kicker Charlie Brown (Biden).
This modern-day Lucy is driven by ego and fear of judicial conviction [Trump, are you listening?] Piddy Poo is banking heavily on Trump, who, like PP, is #1 in #2.
I listened to the slew of lies and meanspiritedness that Netanyahu personified. The speech was even worse than the groupies of Putin applauding it.
You mean the leader of Israel? A democracy that has to defend its against all the ANTI-SEMITES like you.
Harris would have gone to speech by the leader of IRAN, North Korea, China, et cetera.
But the democrats love and support terrorist regimes like Hamas
Will you please drop dead.
yawn.. Harris's husband, is Jewish, you ignorant boob. Go kiss a train and MAGA!
Isn't this a straight hot pitch to MAGA / Trump who said he would hand the war effort wholeheartedly to Netanyahu who "will end it".... ? Evangelicals are up for the Second Coming in the Holy Land.... it isn't exactly peace of earth, short of near extermination of Gazans/Palestinians....
6000 year family feud.
Not quite that clear in my mind, Victoria. Did you know that Jews and Muslims, and local Christians, were living fairly harmoniously in Jerusalem when the mostly Norman Crusaders conquered and sacked, Jerusalem in 1099 and pretty much murdered most of them? Jews were in diaspora across the entire Middle East and North Africa before modern Israel was formed, but within a dozen years were mostly obliged to live in the new Israel, drawn by the "right of return" but really driven by hostility from the 'locals'.... Israel's formation would never have even come about without the legacy of pogroms in Russia and eastern Europe, then the holocaust at the behest of the Germans. I guess all of this put together is what it means "it's complicated". When Jews were expelled from Spain en masse it was muslims who welcomed them, for their economic and skill knowledge benefits.
Evangelicals' pursuit of the Holy Land is such a crock. When I think of the multiple wrongs done under the guise of God's will, the victory of Israel, no matter the means, is right up there with history's most horrific delusions. The thing is, if Israel were to complete its genocide, followed by a victorious celebration by the Evangelicals, they would no longer have that much to do with Jews.
It's surprising how the people who have been targeted, slaughtered, slandered, vilified, blamed, and victimized through out history is now doing that to Palestinians. I guess humans never learn...or humans are going to be humans....no matter what.
Love your post, and it will lead me back to the bookshelf to pick up MacBeth. I was also thinking of literary parallels, and the first one , believe it or not, was the Bible. I am an agnostic, but have heard at Christian worship: " Christ died for us." I don't know if I have it correctly. Biden really is a Saint.
Thank you, Edward. Most kind of you.
I am a former altar boy, who still considers himself a Catholic, even though I don't practice all that much. Years ago, the great director John Sayles described himself as a "Catholic agnostic". That's pretty much me, for better or worse
What a class act. This is how an American behaves.
Exactly. Biden is the American Cincinnatus, in the other direction.
There are many of us who were staunchly immovable. Did not want Joe Biden to step down....did not trust the democratic party to coalesce behind another candidate. It seemed a recipe for the kind of chaos that would put Trump back into the White House.
Now that I've seen the phenomenal support pouring to Kamala, I feel somewhat assured that we will not default to infighting and election crippling grandstanding. I still do not trust us to not blow it....but I do, now, have a glimmer of hope that we can stand solidly behind the candidate that drew $250 million in campaign contributions in 48 hours....enough delegate commitments to make her our candidate, and a record number of endorsements in within hours of her candidacy.
Democrats don't blow this!
“War Criminal Netanyahu “ amen to that brother
Insight? Are you kidding?
Biden never talked about why he dropped out? His health? Not a word? Who is running the country?
He was forced out by the party elites and the donors. They robbed the voters of a choice.
THEY DECIDED Harris was the candidate.
That sounds like a third world dictatorship.
They lied about his cognitive ability, cheated the voters of America, and coronated their own candidate.
You are delusional
James,
Have you ever noticed that like the Seditionist Sociopath himself, you can never pop out a single post without hurling epithets at your fellows indiscriminately and bitterly? Perhaps you should seek professional help.
"They robbed the voters of a choice". What are you talking about?!?!?
Do you actually think Joe Biden was bound to a chair and pistol whipped until he agreed to drop out? Do you not realize that he made this decision himself, certainly with persuasive voices from elected officials and donors in his ear, but so what? Every office holder has the option of dropping out if she/he chooses. Did James Polk, James Buchanan, Rutherford B. Hayes and Lyndon Johnson before him "cheat the voters of America" by dropping out as well?!?
Go and sin no more, please
Honestly, I hope he sticks around. It's been kind of fun watching make a complete ass out of himself. Again and again and again. I wonder what flavor of bullshit will fly out of his mouth next ?!
He dropped out because he was informed by people who he trusts, that the polls were showing no avenue for him to win. When he realized this, he decided, of his own volition, to drop out of the race. THat's why he dropped out, and for no other reason. Everybody knows this. Except for you. See, Biden, unlike tffg, is a true statesman, a man of honor and decency, a man who knows American history, understands the Constitution and lives by it. A man who studies his daily briefs, every single day, while tfg told his aids to bring him charts and graphs that he then glanced at, completly bored by too much information. In short, Joe Biden is a President who the Founders would have not just approved of, but a man who they would have praised, for his integrity and love of country. You? You James, the Founders would have simply ignored, because you sound like some fking nutbag from a third world country, with little understanding of this one. Joe Biden is still running this country. Get over it.
To call Netanyahu a war criminal displays a prejudice unhindered by the truth. Although I am no fan of Netanyahu as prime minister of Israel - along with 2/3 of the Israeli electorate, who have been demanding elections for many months - the accusations leveled at Netanyahu and Gallant of being war criminals are based on fabrications about Israel's war of defense against Hamas. Why do you suppose the US is not part of the International Criminal Court?....Something worth all Americans' time to research. There is no intent on the part of Israel either to slaughter or starve civilians in Gaza. The extraordinary efforts of the Israeli defense forces to avoid harming civilians - despite Hamas' deliberate intentions to get them killed (Hamas in tunnels; civilians kept by force above-ground), and keep them starving (by stealing aid for themselves or to be resold at high prices) - have been recognized and reported by our own military leaders. Israel's armed forces have surpassed any other fighting force in their efforts to prosecute this war.
Please dig deeper into this situation. Why do you suppose the US is not part of the International Criminal Court? Not just to protect our own people, but because the "judges" aren't exactly neutral or relying on accurate "evidence" of wrongdoing.
Laura, really?!?
Israel has continuously and systematically demonstrated its full intent to slaughter and starve the People of Gaza, and is doing so as I type. To say otherwise is to deny the horrific facts before the eyes of the World.
Netanyahu is, without question a war criminal, and he should have been arrested while he was, unfortunately for US, here in the States
By the end, I was near to tears. The stutter, the struggle to find the forgotten word did not push me away, but endeared President Biden to me.
💖
For the acid-test of character, President Biden aced it. A class act displaying grace and restoring moral suasion: https://www.c-span.org/video/?c5125673/user-clip-presaident-bidens-departure-grace
🗽
I will not speculate on how President Trump would do with such a test. After all, an acid-test of character pre-supposes a character to test.
🤢
President Trump may have aced a cognitive test, but he earned an 'F' in character:
https://www.c-span.org/video/?c5125674/user-clip-president-trump-a-changed-leader
He did NOT ace a cognitive test. Softballs don’t count. And since he has no character…. Real Christians should shun him for the hypocrisy and the smearing of God’s name
Ronny Jackson Johnson giving anyone a cognitive test is laughable.
He had a pill mill running in Trump's WH and got away with it.
The five worst Corporate offenders have been fined over $32 billion.
https://www.npr.org/2022/02/23/1082237366/corporate-opioid-payouts-would-top-32-billion
But, over 1 million people have died from over doses of OXY and related opioids.
And this doesn't include Walgreens and a few other major pharmacies who also paid large fines.
But Ronny JJ will never suffer any consequences for his actions. Just another privileged white guy elected Republicans in TX.
While you may not think it enough, Ronny Jackson did meet some consequences. The Navy demoted him in rank from a one star rear admiral to captain, a multilevel drop, in 2022 after investigating his actions in the White House.
Glory, but Texas MAGAts love a flawed sinner. Especially a lying bastard who pretended that chump had a brain.
Love the snark JD
I did see that, but he should have lost his medical license as well. Or maybe he did.
We had a local doctor who was handing out OXY prescriptions to support his drug habit. He was an excellent doctor as several members of our family as well as friends had seen him and really liked him. But he couldn't control his addiction and lost his license to practice medicine in MD and ME.
The medical reports he released on Trump were extremely questionable. 239 lbs -- Really?
I know that doctors protect their own, just as other professions do, but really?
Out of curiosity -- and no sarcasm intended, Gary -- ¿why are there seven states cited after your name? Been meaning to ask but resisting. 🤫Alas, as Oscar Wilde duly noted, "The only way to get rid of a temptation is to yield to it." 😉
In actuality, the ranks are different in the Navy. It is only a one-level demotion. In the Army that would have been a four-level drop. From what I can see, even four levels would not be enough. Mr Jackson -- to use Marjorie Taser Spleen's snipe -- should have been discharged dishonorably.
And the only medical report we have on dumptys ear was from that con artist. What was he doing there? A toady still. He said it was a "2 cm wound that bled like crazy". A 2 cm wound from a high velocity bullet that left a 2cm wound half a cm from the brain--unless his has shrunk farther in his skull, which is possible-- would likely result in concussive damage. But maybe with this one, you couldn't tell.
I have read of the damage such a bullet does to the bodies of children. They lie
That was a gut punch JD.
I still don't think it was a bullet, do you?
You comment brought me to tears.
So have I (in the course of research to refute some gun nuts here in Maine) and you are exactly correct, JD. The cavitation damage from bullets shot at such high velocity is immense. It's horrifying.
And Ronny Johnson Jackson or RJJ did not specifically say it was a bullet.
Only convicted felon Trump has and his sycophantic supporters.
They know how to fabricate scenarios that the MAGAts believe, and the non-MAGAts are loathe to question. Maybe in 60 years some curious person will question
I want to avoid too much bias against it being a hit by a bullet. I don't want to get trapped in believing it wasn't a bullet (which I considered at first).
Since then I have seen a picture that seems to show a bullet could have just nicked the outermost folds of cartilage, in a straight line. It looked like the height was the near the diameter of the bullet but only half as deep (not "through and through"), but closer to just a path half depth of the bullet diameter.
Though your question does not reduce the gravity of depravity precedent to an attempted assassination, I have wondered about this.
Especially when I watched some of President Trump's speech in N.C. The ear looks remarkably whole. I would have thought that such a bullet from such a rifle would have take half the ear off with a graze.
F.B.I. Director Wray mentioned the possibility of shrapnel in a hearing yesterday. Others have suggested a shard of glass from a shattered teleprompter.
A mystery to me. First, ¿shrapnel from a bullet? I was not aware that could occur; but I know nothing about guns. Second, the ear that was cut was on the side of the head AWAY from the teleprompter.
These thoughts are NOT intended to suggest that the event was staged.
While the near-miss is not a miracle, I thank G-D that the bullet was not one inch more to the right of the assassin's line-of-sight and that President Trump turned his head just prior to the dastard's deed.
There is too little reliable information to say for sure (as far as I have seen).
I thought I hadn't fired a weapon since 1968 in Vietnam, until I remembered I had to re-qualify at my first assignment back in the states. I had grouped the shots within about 3 inches or less thinking I would finally get the Small Arms Expert Marksmanship Ribbon but the shots were so close together they couldn't be counted and didn't bother to protest when they suggested it would be easier to just write in enough counted to meet the basic requirements (I didn't need an extra ribbon).
Besides the service, I had done some target practice with friends, using their weapons, but gave that up after Kennedy was assassinated and the rules were changed. I never bought any weapons myself. When in basic training, I had an infected knee that made it hard to get stable and an old M1 that was a bit harder to hold to a 3 inch circle, so it was maybe 6 to 8 inches but had some pretty far off the mark. When they counted them, I had more holes in my target than I had rounds, while the guy to my left barely had any in his (making me sure some of his rounds were so far off they were in my target, so no ribbon for me).
In Vietnam I was issued an M-16 and a .38 caliber revolver that we carried when traveling, since we often drove or rode jeeps or trucks that could be ambushed. I often traveled solo after the 1st 3 months mostly by air for what I estimated to be 60,000 miles visiting 61 different bases I could remember, many several times in Vietnam (and I think 4 trips around six base circuit in Thailand). I never fired the .38, and only fired the M-16 at a snake, though I carried extra bandoliers of M-16 magazines since the guys I rode with weren't likely to share their ammo with an outsider. What I did fire was an M-14, 1911A1, M-60, and even a.50 cal at a combat engineering camp when we got harassing fire including mortars from a hillside at the entrance to the Mang Yang Pass. The engineers usually were issued M-1 carbines and M-14s so they didn't have M-16 ammo. I got to fire their weapons when I let them fire all my ammo (through my weapons) that was above what I was supposed to be limited to.
After going into Saigon as a volunteer non-combatant to get one of our guys back (returning from R&R) two days into Tet 68, I never felt I needed weapons even in the Rodney King riots when I ran out of gas in a rather tricky place to get out of.
I had mentioned to my brother-in-law that the way we traveled in Vietnam, our aim was to repel an initial ambush and spread out to cover each other with whoever we had agreed to among those we traveled with, so I would prefer the 1911A1 for the ability to reload quickly. After I received it from his estate though I took it apart and had my son (a designated arms escort) keep half the parts before he sold it to a Law Enforcement Officer (for far less than the $1,000 plus offers I got from students and others that didn't want to go through licensed dealers).
Several police officers standing near Trump suffered injuries from flying plastic teleprompter shards.
For what it's worth, a friend of mine (who worked for the army for 32 years) said that the shooter's weapon's range was not enough to reach the stage.
I have trouble believing the range was too far. I had to look up the range of an M-16 (like a fully automatic AR-15) vs an AK-47. They consider the "effective range" to be 600 yards and accurate to 800 yards, twice the effective range of the less accurate AK-47 (effective to just 300 yards, accurate to just 250 yards).
I could shoot very consistently (and accurately), when I could see where the rounds struck. Back in my youngest years I could read all the eye chart lines from twice the distance required, so it seemed I could do as well as some people using scopes on a 100 yard range.
I'm not an expert nor particularly interested but an AR-15 round seems to be able to travel up to 1.5 miles, so I always got permission to shoot at what our guys identified as legitimate targets (with no chance of round landing among enemy or innocents beyond them. At the engineer camp, they assured me the sparkles on the hillside were the enemy since they were shooting at us.
As far as the ear, I heard that, too, but the ear picture I saw made me think it was more likely a bullet.
I found a source citing over half a million, but with the trend since 2010 always increasing, now over 100,000 annually, esp among adult males and perhaps higher in "red states" ... the political polarization is something else. This fits in Trump's claims of drugs "pouring across the borders"... so it's mainly an anti-Dem message these days.
JD - I am amused by the “cognitive test” TFFG seems to conflate with IQ. Once I became eligible for Medicare I found that the annual physical includes that exact test (at least in Minnesota). It’s an extremely gross indicator of dementia or other neurological conditions. I wonder how TFFG did drawing the clock face? LOL
As someone who administered cognitive tests, and as a widow of a man who suffered from Alz for 15 years, his comments just irked me to the max. His described test is a joke for a serious assessment. Could mean that he has the ability to keep his lies straight. Well, for a while. My husband was an antique clock collector for years, and when he couldn’t do the clock face, it was such a sad day for me. Chump is an unfunny joke. Time to mock his every move.
I’m so sorry. You are right, it is not funny. I’ve lost both a cousin and a dear friend to Alzheimer’s. I don’t know how to mock CFDT’s dementia without being insensitive.
I meant I don’t know how to “mock” CFDT’s horrible and incomprehensible behavior without it being a mock of his mental illness or neurological condition. It was suggested that mocking him would cause him to expose more of his obvious decompensation.
"I don't know how to mock CFDT's dementia without being insensitive." How about "don't mock it at all"? I would have been just as adamantly opposed to people MOCKING Biden's apparent dementia or at least significant memory lapses, and what's good for the goose is good for the gander. There are PLENTY of "fair game" things to attack Trump on, why stoop to this one?
I won't get caught up in this demand for cognitive tests. We do need to have a level of medical confidentiality for all citizens, and if we really mean our society to be what we want, that should apply equally to Presidents as to non-elite citizens. If we want cognitive tests to be a part of establishing competence to be President, then we need to put it clearly into our qualifications BEFORE we request anyone deliver those results to us, and that means putting the requirements into the constitution. Whether you want it or not, it isn't going to happen, so why spend valuable resources acting like somehow Trump is doing something dishonest by not letting us see them. Biden wouldn't let us see his tests either (or didn't actually take one), so this one cuts both ways.
Just sayin'...
I doubt that either one has had a real cognitive test. But, my objection is chump’s claim that he aced one. Voters could have seen signs of bullschittery early on. No test needed. Some of us did. Some were impressed by the siren song of hate, greed and self-righteousness.
They don't actually believe in the consequences of their sins. They think their gawd will absolve them if they just say gee I'm sorry enough before they did. But it can happen suddenly, dudes. You may not have time. That bit of "faith" is so hypocritical, it just reinforces not only my belief there is no god but those who think so are fools.
My sister though....now she actually practices. So there are good ones.
Yep, The Buddha said “you think you have time.” A human flaw to be sure. I subscribe to Twain who nailed it for me. “The easy confidence with which I know that another man’s religion is folly, teaches me to suspect that my own is also.” Yet, I know a couple of people who are good to the core. They likely don’t need religion to be what they are but the biggest pretenders are MAGAts. The constant conundrum…
Best quotes! Thank you.
Love Twain, but the Buddha comment smacked me between the eyes, having just lost someone that I had just found, or rediscovered.
There is absolutely NOTHING Christian about TFG. NOTHING.
Christian preachers are surely good at professing redemption, but he hadn’t even done that. Is he sorry for a thing. Not in the least. In fact, he was quoted as saying. If you do something bad, never, ever blame yourself.
Many still cling to the ancient concept of God that is wrath full. Humans are dynamic, yet slow learners. Evil seeks it own demise.
Ike did pretty good, but would be nice if things didn’t get out of hand to such an extent. Yep, “just a little bit” of evil never seems to be enough for some.
I believe I was 12 when I told a fire and brimstone preacher I would not act out of fear of God, I believed in the Love of God as the proper motivation and would try to live my life accordingly (as if God was real).
Probably quite a few "real Christians" have, long since. ... well, it's tricky... here's a recent Pew Poll done a short while ago. I think it's REALLY interesting agnostics and atheists are included in this list... https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2024/03/15/5-facts-about-religion-and-americans-views-of-donald-trump/
Happy to see that agnostics (like me) and atheists are the most rational people when it comes to Agent Orange.
Read The God Gene. Fascinating look at the neurohormonal/genetic precursors to religiosity. I was especially interested to read that attendance at religious services was unrelated to possessing the “god gene.” Regular church attendees can be motivated by true religious beliefs or based on the social rewards of participation. I would love to see whether there is a positive or negative correlation between the god gene and warmongering. Or the god gene and Trump worship.
When our neighbor in 1950s Sedalia Missouri, earned money her injured truck driver husband no longer could, by taking care of half a dozen or more kids, we sometimes went along with a station wagon load of kids to movies they got discounts for, and Church services on Sundays. Because the kids went to 3 or more different churches , they rotated between the churches. I got a nasty response from one preacher who said people that went to churches other than his own were all going to Hell, when I said, Gee, that's the same thing they said about your church.
Funny thing was they were all great at mixed Ice Cream Socials where they were more likely to meet other people than just their own church. It convinced me they just wanted social interaction more than what ever they were preaching. When I asked older teenage boys (that didn't seem too religious away from churches) why they went so regularly, they said it was the best place to meet girls they were interested in.
That’s how wars have started - one religion denigrating another, and ultimately believing violence is justified.
Amen Marge, I'm atheist/naturalist ... on the neuro thing, you could say exactly the same thing for everything neurological which goes on in our sweet heads. And... no one has actually "found" a "god gene", maybe some emotional dispositions? Donno. Anything that seems charismatic would equally tap into that.
Thanks for the link, which includes “ However, Hamer notes that the importance of the VMAT2 finding is not that it explains all spiritual or religious feelings, but rather that it points the way toward one neurobiological pathway that may be important.” A predisposition. Hamer is/was Chief of Gene Structure at the National Cancer Institute.
I have long been fascinated by how and why some people are so focused on religion and others simply are not. Clearly there is no one explanation but genetic predisposition has really caught my interest.
During the last decade of my career, I trained human service staff about how homelessness affects people. And epigenetics is a profound new phenomenon. One (of many) fascinating facts is that trauma during pregnancy can sometimes cause the unborn child to have anxiety throughout their lifetime - to the point of symptoms similar to PTSD.
I am no expert but I know enough to be totally amazed by the multitude of factors that make us who we are!
I think that’s a shorthand. But the author, a neuro-researcher actually believes he found a specific gene responsible for religious experience. He found correlation with a range of expression from psychosis to mild belief. It’s been awhile since I read it so I may not be explaining it well. Interestingly, my parents and all of us kids seem to be missing this gene, and 50% of cousins in a family with one religious parent seem to be in possession of it. I just find it interesting.
Interesting, seems that, overall, he would not carry that much weight. Did I say that. Anyway. His MAGAts have Fox propaganda, and everybody else’s skewed reporting on their side. Likely because they are “entertaining reality.” Sorry Walter, I know you must be flipping in your grave.
The traitor is incapable of such a speech. He lacks the character to speak those words. He also doesn’t believe in the principles that our President laid out.
He’s way worse than a stutterer
He lacks any character other than repugnance!
Me too ,Ned. It was a great speech. And he still has plans, although he has no House and the Senate just lacks the leadership to do them.
The Senate is 51-49 and maybe not ever that, and Schumer's job is difficult. PLEASE don't act like somehow he should just be able to crack a whip and get them all to go along with him. That isn't how legislative bodies work (if you ever worked in one, you would understand that better). And our current situation is possibly the worst it has ever been. To be honest, I think it was nothing short of a miracle what Biden managed to pull together over the past 3-1/2 years, especially the last 1-1/2 with a completely non-functional House, and a split down the middle Senate (that has a 60 vote minimum requirement for much of its legislation). We should be happy that the government SURVIVED this period, let alone did anything useful (which in fact it did).
The senate is cowardly. The house is spineless and hypocritical.
I'd actually switch your adjectives.
Ned:
I noticed nothing about the presentation. All I heard were the words.
Not quite clear on what you mean.
Amen to that Ned!
At the moment I opened the Comments section, I was thinking of this very line. Thank you for the reference, TC.
Old English majors never die, they live on in the Comments sections of substacks.
So do old English professors.
As do the kids of English teachers!
My son led me to Professor HCR. I led two others to her. You are absolutely a truth teller. : )
And librarians like me!
And here is another Old English major reading your praises of our selfless POTUS and the Bard. Seems so right to intertwine the two.
Fantastic comment. I should have payed closer attention to Shakespeare when I had the chance 60 yrs ago.
Not too late. He's still there.
He may very well be a she, and nobody should be surprised; Watson & Crick won a Nobel prize off of Rosalind Franklin’s life work.
🤣🤣🤣 Is he ever and forever! With climate change I think often of “The storms in the universe are reflected in the hearts of men.”
It is said that we may not know a lot about Shakespeare, but he knows a lot about us. https://jimbuie.substack.com/p/looking-to-fiction-to-explain-current
Has been proved, over and over. Echoing through the ages.
TC: (shh, but just between you and me it's Act 1 Scene 4 . You'll have them all reading the terrible scene near the end, when Macduff learns that his family has been massacred.)
And here I've been told you can trust a Wikipedia citation now. :-)
Fixed. Thanks.
TC, Yes: glad the Shakespeare quote today is not "A plague on both your houses." (Romeo and Juliet, spoken by Mercutio as he lay dying) NPR this morning played a clip from the CFDT's "rally" which was going on while Joe was speaking so eloquently, which I have to say is the FIRST time in a lot of weeks that they actually played an unedited clip of CFDT's absolutely hysterical (not funny hysterical, hysterical in the "wandering womb" sense) spittle-spewing scream of terror directed at Kamala. Yep: this could actually be more fun than I thought and, although I am still looking at the housing market in Swansea and Cardiff, I am less concerned about having to shift my dog and myself (a legit childless cat lady because my current companion is a standard poodle who is more cat-like than any of the many cats I have had as companions over the years) somewhere else before I get locked in a concentration camp for being female and educated.
Linda, I am a card carrying childless cat lady. I might have to look up that "rally" from yesterday. We're looking at Portugal... I'd be with you in the concentration camp, unless there's a special one for us LGBTQ+ folks. Double whammy, as it were.
As a child of immigrants, guess I'm toast too
I have friends who just moved to Portugal and they love it there--except for the bureaucracy . . . My work centers around the UK and Ireland, so being closer to the archives and so on would be a wonderful thing for me. And I have a lot of friends who teach at U of Swansea and live in Wales and the southwest of England . . .
Officer: some Portugal tips from my oldest friend,a retired MD & classical piano player.
Portugal has wonderful beaches (muito bien), Lisbon like LA - Porto like San Francisco. Friendly, people that are welcoming; safe, no guns little crime. Portugal is a poor Country & has a very low cost of living.
Welcoming to LGBTQ. Residency & Schengen Visa in 5 years.
Was tax advantageous until 2024 but, government is thinking about reinstating the 10% Tax.
English speakers are widespread in any Euro Country. Some Yanks think Portuguese is "difficult" but, I took Portugese at UCLA & consider the language beautiful.
Able to get some links if you wan them.
Bryan
Counselor, we have friends who live in the Algarve; we are thinking of Faro/Loulé area.
Yes, Officer good spot ... 1 of many.
Well, I wouldn't mind seeing them myself. It's good to have a plan B.
Stephen, I will ask my contact for the Links. ✔️Could be 24-36 hours.
Thanks, I appreciate it.
Linda, I did not think Wreck could deteriorate much further but, yesterday his maga crowd-pleasing wail "... a nation without cows" ? I need to consult with Dr. Bandy X. Lee on next Friday's Zoom on that one.
Linda, I agree: if I can manage my anxiety, this is fun. Loved your post.
Beautifully written.
Well said!
Character used to be fashionable - things like honesty and honor reigned. Maybe it will trend again after the Orange Scourge has faded away.
I also love your last line.
Beautifully said.
Very well said….TC
Thank you, Joe. You did a great job as President and in your passing of the torch showed us what real strength is.
Now it is time for all of us to do the right thing and do all we can to keep our country free and our great democracy moving forward.
That quote is so interesting. Here's the front end... " But I have spoke
With one that saw him die; who did report
That very frankly he confessed his treasons,
Implor'd your Highness' pardon, and set forth
A deep repentance. Nothing in his life
Became him like the leaving it."
Isn't this about the traitorous thane of Cawdor?
TC, this is the most beautiful and inspiring comment I have ever read from your posts…and I’ve been following for a few years. Somehow I knew there was kindness hidden in your pen 🩷 Thank you!
Thank you TCinLA, I couldn't agree more!
Well said. Thank you.
A speech fit for an elderly King ;)
Yes , choose to do the hardest task is the lesson RFKSR taught his son Bobby. And he is doing that!
“I revere this office, but I love my country more,”
The most crucial qualification for the office of president.
Exactly why the felon should never be allowed anywhere near the White House ever again.
I wonder if there is anything in that failed human being that could allow him to feel a pinprick of humility, hearing that speech?
The answer to that is a sound NO. He is as close as you get to not being human. There are animals who have kinder instincts and prove so again and again.
My Goldendoodle was put through a battery of cognition test and among his abilities was that he unlike tRump has the ability to show empathy. My beloved canine has empathy TFG has none!!
There are inanimate objects with kinder instincts.
I HAVE NO DOUBT!
No evidence of even a whiff, glimmer, hint, soupçon, whisper, or molecule.
Too many layers of blubber. Wouldn't even feel a harpoon.
No. He posted sometime insulting after Joe’s speech… continuing his legacy of having no class whatsoever 🤮
I read the insults that freak of nature posted. Words alone cannot describe just how horrible this ''thing'' named Donald TUMP is. I didn't feel sorry for him one bit after the assassination attempt. The entire nation would be so much better off if the bloated monster ceased to exist. Him and Adolf Hitler are by far the worst ''freaks of nature'' that have ever poisoned the world we live in!
The rally mess was an orchestrated sympathy getter. I hope somebody really investigates because that would make Jan 6 a tiny blip.
Yes. Yes. I suspected and still feel it was a ‘set up’. People call the orange menace a sociopath. Not me. He’s way beyond that category joining his daddy in psychopathy or some new category yet to be named.
It has been suggested by some commentators that tffg bled because he taking blood thinners since ears don't bleed much or at all. Think pierced ears.
Well on this we have to disagree. I understand this was more of a mess in some ways, but on Jan 6, he was the FREAKING PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES. I have been rereading Peter Baker's The Divider and that date is really the pinnacle. What he does now without any express power is bad, but nothing is as bad as what he and his minions did on Jan 6. Not even close.
I would not put it past him.
The world would be a better place if his mother had aborted him.
When he asks the crowd if they want him "to be mean" they cheer. Who are these people? Does his anger cause them to be like this or are a third of the people in this country the kind that delight in the actions of a bully? Mystifying.
I’m gob smacked by how many buy the hatred and bullying. My parents would have tanned our hides.
I honestly think we are seeing evil in trump. I think it is frightening. And exhausting.
Look at his blank eyes.
Total self-absorbed vs selfless. What a contrast. And millions of Americans want 'it' to be president. That fact is the telltale that there is something seriously wrong in this country - that needs fixing.
Please don't insult Adolf. Even he had some compassion for small animals. :-)
Not a chance :-(
no
No. Anger
Like all those kids who came to America, you must be a Dreamer LOL!
Five-year olds (or younger) do not think very much. Mostly they react. The broken china and catsup on the wall of the White House dining room (do you remember that?) tell all we need to know.
Tffg--so what about the country. I just need to be president to keep my tail out of jail. I need immunity!
Exactly
Or even an opportunist who will fudge on serving the public's interests in favor of extending or protecting their own agenda.
JL: Much better than CFDT’s mantra- The White House is the get-out-of-jail-free card. If he can keep it!
Absolutely...not the party, but the country!
The most crucial qualification for the office of president. Great line and so apropos!
I was afraid of what would happen to our country if President Biden stepped down, I thought it would lead to another terrible presidency. But now, listening to Joe’s courage and seeing the country’s outpouring of support of Kamala Harris has renewed my faith that our democracy does have a clear path forward. Thank you Heather for being here for us through these most tumultuous times, your unwavering optimism has been a beacon for many.
My sister called me late yesterday with the most excellent news that Taylor Swift endorsed Kamala on Tic-Toc. Her endorsement will hopefully rally the millennial, Gen-X and Gen-Zers. Of course Beyonce, already endorsed Kamala, the two of them together -- Holy Shit!
TS has not yet endorsed Harris. Beyoncé has given permission for the Harris campaign to use her song “Freedom” but not actually endorsed Harris yet. It’s likely both will, but it has not yet happened.
I think it’s smart for them both to withhold their support for now. Harris has boatloads of support coming in right now. Why not wait until a lull in the news cycle, or a trump dirty trick, and then announce support and own the news cycle?
Excellent news!
Went to Ticktock and found a joint concert announcement? A joke or real?
Liberty means that we get to follow our own individual dreams, and yet there are times that require that we all pull together to maintain that right. Real power is in collaboration; in a democracy, the leader serving as a hired professional who helps us to achieve that end.
Collaborate with evil that surrounds us. A challenge for this fraught age.
Last night belonged to Biden, but Harris had a great line in a talk "when you try to break a barrier, you may get cut. You may bleed. But it is worth it. Every single time".
If that's not a rallying cry for everyone who isn't a white male, I don't know what is.
Yes, thank you Heather for being there for me every morning! I’ve been depending on you more than you can imagine. Thanks for your voice in these chaotic and scary times.
It is such a masterful speech; coupled with his selfless act, it makes me feel proud to be an American! Thank you, Professor, for highlighting the very best parts and pointing out their historical perspective.
And it gives the rest of us hope too, Mary.
The rest of us in the free democratic "West", with the principles of freedom of expression, human rights, equality and rule of law.
It's good to have you still with us.
Just make sure you're still here next year.... please.
Christopher, this afternoon a friend posted to FB a group song w/ Patti Smith back in 2019 that captures the spirit many of us are feeling now…revved up! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y6Wz3i_BYUc
Had to smile when I saw your response here as the last thing I did before reading this stuff was to share that exact post. It's beautiful! She's awesome. The crowd/choir was, too.
Thank you for the link.
You summed up Professor HCR perfectly Mary Hardt..."for highlighting the very best parts and pointing out their historical perspective." What a great group here.
Who do you think pairs up with Kamala Harris as her VP?
I like Mitt Romney, U.S. Senator (R-UT) U.S. Senate seat being vacated by Mitt Romney, who recently announced he won’t run for reelection - or - I like Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, who is moving towards like a clean energy economy, the type of economies that are thriving, and our families are hopeful. What does this group feel like for VP?
I favor Mark Kelly. Moderate, steady, will provide good balance to Harris.
I agree that he would provide a good balance to Harris like Biden provided to Obama. I hope Harris sees this and chooses him.
No we need a Senator from AZ
Our Democratic gov. Katie Hobbs will appoint Sen. Kelly’s replacement, And we are in the process of electing a second Democratic senator in Ruben Gallego.
Of course, now we will have to elect a Democrat to replace Ruben in the House.
And by the next election whoever Hobbs chooses will have to run themselves, it is NOT a four-year appointment, just two. And doesn't the state senate have to approve the appointment? Will they? Kelly needs to stay in the Senate. Plus as I said elsewhere, AZ and NV are only 17 electoral votes, not enough to win the election. The VP really needs to come from the midwestern states.
Also, it wouldn't hurt that he and his wife, Gabby Giffords are both staunch workers fir gun control, which most Americans want.
No to Romney.
That would turn my stomach. He has the stench of the donvict.
I don't so much see Romney contaminated by Trump. He seems to show some flickers of conscience, but his ethics seem awfully waffley. And at this point we really need the best, most admirable people we can get.
I don't like Romney for all sorts of reasons. First he is a Republican. I don't want a split ticket, nor do I want a GOP VP running the Senate when it MIGHT (hopefully not worse) be 50-50.
Absolutely a huge ''NO'' to Romney! He is one of those that hates Social Security and Medicare. And yes, Beth, he really does have the stench of the donvict!
Through Bain Capital, Romney has destroyed a lot of companies and the lives of workers in order to enrich himself. He gives me the creeps. I don't trust him at all.
Wow, Susan. I did not know that about Romney. I don't trust him at all either, in fact i wouldn't trust him as far as i could throw him!
I have the same feeling about Romney and Liz Cheney. I am absolutely appreciative that they were serious Americans who refused to go along with the Donald in his attempts to coopt our political system. Kudos. But are they even "moderates" let alone "liberals"? Not a chance. And while I can thank them for standing up and doing the right thing here, I would NEVER want either of them near the White House. The dangers are too great.
As a resident of Massachusetts, I can tell you that while Romney may be a “good” Republican, he is a flip flopper with no solid core.
Yes. As another MA native, I agree. He did introduce "Romneycare" which was a model for "Obamacare" (ACA). But there is a progressive "for the people" attitude and momentum in Massachusetts that propelled that legislation. A puppet could have passed it.
Romney was always viewed as malleable and very into himself. Not the worst GOP dude. But when he was at Bain, he ate companies and spit out employees. Think "Blue Star Airlines" and Gordon Gecko.
If we had to pick a Republican as VP (I don't recommend it) we would consider another former MA governor who was the most popular gov in the US - Charlie Baker. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlie_Baker
Charlie served two terms - reelected with 67% of the vote! In the bluests state in the US of A. (He is only 67)
We escaped Romney once, wisely. Hell No.
I can't imagine anyone bringing the Republican Party back from Trump.
But I guess people can overlook all of the hate and anger as well as the fact they have accomplished virtually nothing since the 15 ballot election of McCarthy as Speaker in January and February 2023. And then it got worse with Trump's little Johnson. But for some bizarre reason many of the media outlets forgive him for taking over 6 months to pass a budget and leaving our allies in Ukraine and Israel without military aid for 6 months as well.
The media has failed us since Rupert showed them how news is better presented as entertainment
Fox News is just an extension of how Republicans view and treat women.
Bill O'Reilly, Tucker Carlson, Roger Ailes all were sexual predators. There were many others as well of course but these guys made the news.
At my 50th high school reunion last August, a classmate was telling me about her experience with Rupert Murdoch at the Wall Street Journal. Shortly after Rupert bought the WSJ, he came to visit and meet the staff. She walked out of the meeting and went to the bathroom and threw up. Literally.
The next time he came, she left the building until he was gone. She immediately started looking for a new job and fortunately found one rather quickly as did her husband.
It was a day my heart sank. Also, when he bought Nat Geo. He literally killed our media integrity. The most trusted man in America was replaced by the man who used Goebbels as his mentor. And Ronnie imported him for that purpose
I’d rather a VP i could accept as President, so not Mitt Romney.
Pete Buttigieg. He won the Iowa caucus last time and will bring in the youth vote. He has charisma and executive experience. He balances the demographics of the ticket and will energize the LGBTQ voters.
The country is ready for a First and a Second Gentleman!
I love Pete Buttigieg and many of us have almost learned to pronounce his name and to even spell it. (I'm not one of them).
No one has accomplished more as transportation Secretary. Over 60,000 projects started and most completed. Cleaning up the Port of Baltimore after the bridge collapse, shaming Southwest Airlines by fining them $140 million, cleaning up after train derailments and on top of it all, what an amazing speaker.
When they interview him, I can't turn it off. It's the same feeling I get reading an HCR newsletter.
Did you catch Rachel Maddow's interview with him the other night? Excellent. I do hope Pete becomes president one day.
No, I'll bet that was good. They are both very well spoken and driven to be the best.
He could never win this one, maybe in a few years
I agree. Let's move forward with Pete Buttigieg. It wouldn't be a safe pick, but it might be a winning pick.
It would guarantee disaster, sad to say. Gay haters are as ubiquitous as racists.
You must be dreaming LOL. We live in the UNITED STATES OF AMERICA where we held slaves just 160 years ago, and where gays were dragged behind trucks for fun just 30 years ago. I think Pete would be a great President, but certainly not right now, not for at least a few more years if not a few more decades. Plus (a) he is VERY VERY young and (b) he has NO significant legislative or executive leadership roles except in a small city, i.e., never been Governor or Senator or Congress critter.
Pete is really a total non-starter in any serious political context. It is not going to happen.
I am sorry to learn you think a Republican would make a good VP. I agree that Romney has shown some character in voting to impeach Trump, but if you remember his 2012 campaign for President, you might not like his policy preferences.
And what is it with people who keep thinking Dems should put Republicans on our ticket? I've never heard of them considering putting a Dem on theirs.
Why dilute our chances of making some real policy changes?
Exactly they have nothing but hate for Democrats and Democracy!
No way Romney will be vp on the democrat ticket - what are you thinking!
It's a terrible idea. We have real momentum now. To name a moderate Republican for VP would make Dems look weak.
Lincoln did that and look where that got us! HCR wrote a whole book about it!
Walz is my Governor and a great leader. I’d hate to lose him but am willing to make the sacrifice!
Yep, I agree with his talent, but he is virtually unknown in the rest of the country AND he is NOT from a real "swing state" (one in 2020 where the margin for the winner, Biden, was less than 1%).
Kathaleen, we need a democrat in that spot. I like the idea of either the Kentucky or North Carolina governors, or Mark Kelly from Arizona.
Ally, great concepts but simply the wrong choices. Taking a governor or senator from KY or NC does virtually nothing to draw in electoral votes (the ones that we need to win this thing) from the swing states (MI/WI/PA/GA/NV/AZ). Yes, NC is also a marginal swing state (the only one of those that went for TRUMP in 2020, while the other six all went for Biden). It is also the furthest southeast state and even if it actually went for Harris, not sure how many votes it would pull in the other states. And there is a need for at least 40+ electoral votes for Harris above what she is highly likely to get anyway. I don't see how Moore from NC will help that situation. And I have described elsewhere why Kelly, although I LOVE him, would be a poor choice as well, because AZ/NV is only 17 votes, and we might also put a Senate seat at risk, a problem bad enough already and we don't need to add to it.
Romney would be a non-starter. He is a Rep. Not going to happen. As for Walz, I like him a lot, but he is virtually UNKNOWN. And he isn't in a real swing state, Minnesota will go for Harris pretty much no matter what (old Humphrey country).
I love Mark Kelly, but (a) he is SORELY needed to hold his seat in the Senate. We are at great risk of losing the Senate this year, regardless of which party wins the White House. and (b) he doesn't provide much assistance in winning the country for Harris... AZ and NV, the two southwest "swing states" account for 17 electoral votes. Harris needs at least 44 electoral votes to win by exactly 270-268, and what do you know, that is EXACTLY the number of electoral votes in Wisconsin (10), Michigan (15) and Pennsylvania (19), the three mid-west/atlantic border states. Kelly might not pull enough votes to the really important swing states.
I love Josh Shapiro from Pennsylvania and think he might be the one. The big downside is he is Jewish, and we have never had a Jewish President OR VP before, so this would be an issue for some. This also goes for Pritzker of Illinois, plus he is not in a real swing state either. His big benefit is he is mega-rich which would provide additional badly needed cash to help with the election. And although not in a swing state, Illinois is pretty close to all three of the others.
I dunno. My favorite was Gretchen Whitmer but she has made it clear she won't accept. She is the best known of the midwest swing state candidates, although two women might have problems as well.
Ultimately its a big toss up and Harris is going to have to roll the dice and pick SOMEONE.
Remember all the things the current GOP candidate is saying and has said; it’s the opposite of President Biden. Remember Donald’s crudity and cruelty, his braggadocio, his obscene view of women and so many others. He was never fit to be president. He’s an adjudicated realist and criminal felon, always lying. He’s a dangerous narcissist whom we have seen time and again. He’s the laughing stock of the world.
Time to purge him from politics and put him in jail
Vote blue and save democracy!
The narrator on a documentary i watched awhile back said at the beginning of program about Hitler stated, ''Adolf Hitler'' this is the definitive story of the most hated man in history!'' I would include Donald TUMP in that statement also.
Yes: a mos definite yes. Let's go BLUE all the way.
I'm glad you said that Veronica.
Here in Maine, we have mostly Democrats serving in the legislature and many statewide offices. The Republicans NEVER mention that they are anti-abortion.
But, if the Republicans come into power in any state they will do everything in their power to take away reproductive choice and to damage women's health care.
"Fuck the patriarchy." Emma Watson
Here In MT we are fighting to turn the State @ least purple. The R are vocal about & very MAGA. The political parties have booths just outside of the sanctioned Sat Farmers market. The republicans have guns @ their booth. The candidate running against Tester, D, is fomenting 2nd A, D are coming for your guns nonsense. We have a strong woman running against Zinke , Tranel & Busse a former corporate person in the gun industry running against the body slammer for Gov. MT appears to be a T strong hold. It really distorts my view living in a swamp of MAGAs
So sorry for your plight... there are 49 other options of course :-).
I am very worried about Tester losing in Montana. He has always been close and this time looks even worse in a state which went wholeheartedly for Trump. His last election was in 2018 when the Dems swept the House and didn't lose the Senate by much...
Clearly, and yet demagogues have always been popular. Time to push back once again.
You are correct, Karen. The reason you are correct is because the difference between Biden's guiding principle and Trump's guiding principle is the same as the difference between up and down. Biden's guiding principle is that everyone matters, and Trump's guiding principle is that not everyone matters (he makes it obvious that, to him, Trump is the only one that matters).
Giving Democrats control of all three branches of government in November is the way to start saving democracy. Making sure enough of us are following Biden's guiding principle is the way for this generation to complete the job for this generation, and then the cycle will repeat.
"It is interesting that people living in egalitarian societies must work so aggressively to keep their political order in place." That's from renown anthropologist Christopher Boehm (1931-2021), and he was describing extant hunter-gatherer bands. Translation: It's not easy because it's never been easy, but it's always possible, so we all need to follow Biden's advice to keep the faith.
Totally agree with the notion, but the actual reality is holding the Senate in 2024 will be EXTREMELY difficult. Manchin is giving up his seat in bright-red West Virginia, Tester is in the race of his life in Montana and Sherrod Brown in Ohio is holding his own but barely. If those three seats go, and nothing else changes, that would give the GOP a 52-48 majority. If Brown holds on, 51-49 GOP. Almost the BEST case is Tester winning too, leaving a 50-50 split. And there are other Dem Senate seats that could be at risk too, including NV (Jackie Rosen's seat). There are 22 Democratic seats up for election and only 11 GOP seats. So the risks are all against the Democrats to hold on to at least 51 seats.
I am big on faith, but even more big on practical politics. We need to win the House (much easier than holding the Senate actually) AND the White House so that even if the Senate flips for two years, there won't be a disaster. If Trump pulls off a trifecta , we are pretty screwed as a country, sigh.
I haven't come to a different conclusion because I disagree with any of your assumptions, but because I'm making additional (and potentially erroneous) assumptions. Specifically, the closer it gets to November, the more undecided voters will pay attention, virtually every grownup has been chased out of Republican Party leadership, and the more people pay attention, the more obvious that becomes. As always, time will tell.
Boy it would be great if you turn out to be right, no argument there. I just have watched the Senate for over 50 years and nothing that has EVER happened suggests to me that in a year like this, with a 51-49 edge and 22 Democratic seats up for grabs (including 3 in states that are SOLIDLY republican) vs 11 GOP, all in absolutely SOLID GOP states) that the Democrats can hold all of their seats or win some elsewhere. We will REALLY be lucky to come out 50-50 which is the absolute BEST result I can foresee, with 52-48 GOP being my "most likely" verdict.
Every strength in one context is a weakness in another context, and vice versa. Your strength, and my weakness, is your 50 years of observing the Senate. The Republicans' strength, and the Democrats' weakness, in previous election cycles is Republican's don't care and Democrat's do. I suggest that 2024 is a novel context in which the strength-weakness dynamic has been reversed, and we should expect that to lead to an otherwise unexpected result. But, again, time will tell.
No wonder Baron con Shitzispants is freaking out. Not only will he lose but President a Harris will put in an equally fierce AG. Not the disappointing Casper Milquetoast.
Joe Biden....in every way an ordinary man....who just performed another extraordinary act. Thank you Mr President for your decades of service. Thank you for your example of kindness and decency. Thank you.
Joe Biden’s full-hearted embrace of his VP Kamala Harris, and his unwavering support of Barack Obama as his VP, make Joe Biden the most transformational leader we’ve ever had in this country, right up there with Abraham Lincoln. It’s up to each of us to carry this country forward in the direction set by President Biden. He’s showing us the way, and telling us it’s our job now, and always. “A Republic, if [we] can keep it,” indeed.
Thank you for sharing President Biden‘s words and such detail and for ending today’s letter with Jill Biden‘s handwritten note. What a moving, profound speech, from an incredible president and a very, very fine man. Yes, character does still matter in public life. It must matter because it must matter or we are lost.
The whole thing shows the meaning of love.
Thank you, Joe.
Thank you, Heather.
Thank you, fellow commenters.
Phil, like Joyce Vance says “we’re all in this together”. Yes, indeed. Power to the people, right on!
Thank you, Phil.
There really is no other topic for this evening s letter Professor ⭐
Thanking you...
Ditto
What a wonderful speech, classy and graceful. We the People have been so fortunate to have had one of the most experienced (possibly THE most experienced) Presidents ever to serve in the White House. Thank you for tonight's LFAA, Dr. Heather.
"“I revere this office, but I love my country more,” he said. “It’s been the honor of my life to serve as your president.” But, he said, the defense of democracy is more important than any title, and democracy is “larger than any one of us.” We must unite to protect it.
“In recent weeks, it has become clear to me that I need to unite my party in this critical endeavor,” he said. “I believe my record as president, my leadership in the world, my vision for America’s future, all merited a second term. But nothing, nothing can come in the way of saving our democracy. That includes personal ambition. So I’ve decided the best way forward is to pass the torch to a new generation. It’s the best way to unite our nation.”
There is “a time and a place for long years of experience in public life,” Biden said. “There’s also a time and a place for new voices, fresh voices, yes, younger voices. And that time and place is now.”"
That speech makes it all so clear. The idea. The star to follow, never to lose sight of. Words of a worthy President.
yes, President Biden will go down in presidential history as one of the great ones. At the same time, in the same history, the person leading the Republican Party will end up in a unique position... the absolute worse president this nation has ever seen. May there never be another like him.
But Pres. Biden was right. Getting behind VP Kamala Harris is going to safe the nation and our democracy, but it isn't time to relax. We must be strong and unite to protect it.
Bill, somehow I can see the TFFFG spinning this as “I am the NUMBER ONE worst president in history….NO ONE can beat me on that…I’m the BEST WORST ever” or so said many manly-men with tears in their eyes who said “sir, you are the number one worst…thank you so much”.
🤣🤣🤣Right, you are, Barbara!
King of Kakistocria.
Yeah, JL, slipping past under most of our noses….too bad so many are not paying attention!
My heart is full. Thank you for this. ❤️ How lucky we are to be alive right now.
Joe is such a class statesman. ❤️❤️
I’m not crying. You’re crying.