Lenin put it well in 1917: "Sometimes decades happen in weeks."
What we are experiencing since last Sunday morning has never happened before in American political history. If the word "revolutionary" is defined as "Being or bringing about a big or important change," we are in a revolutionary situation.
Lenin put it well in 1917: "Sometimes decades happen in weeks."
What we are experiencing since last Sunday morning has never happened before in American political history. If the word "revolutionary" is defined as "Being or bringing about a big or important change," we are in a revolutionary situation.
I worked in the Obama campaign beginning in 2007, and what I experienced then - which felt like nothing before - is not close to what is going on now.
AOC warned the week before Biden withdrew that those pushing him out also wanted to push out VP Harris. That didn't happen, because the Democratic base - Us! - rose up and said No! We made sure it would be Kamala, and in the past week, the elites are responding to us. Each of them could say what French politician Alexandre Auguste Ledru-Rollin once said: "There go the people. I must follow them, for I am their leader."
I really believe this is "the American Spring." Unlike The Arab Spring, or the "democratic revolutions" at the outset of the French and Russian Revolutions - which were overthrown by the "revolutionaries" who couldn't deliver anything but a new tyranny - we have a good chance of success because there is now only 99 days left. That’s not enough time for the "professionals" to screw up and abort things.
This is a bottom-up movement.
We have Gen Z creators making memes that are playing to young people and activating them. On Sunday night, 45,000 black women came together and created a movement. The next night, 45,000 black men followed their example, followed each night after by Asian Americans, LGBTQ American, Latino Americans, White American Women. Tomorrow, White Dudes for Kamala is meeting, and Women for Harris will come into existence.
Those zoom meetings are our version of the "peoples' assemblies" that brought forth the democratic revolutions in 1789 and 1917 and 2011. Over 100,000 people have signed up as volunteers to work in the election. Most of them have never done such a thing before.
My politics have remained what they began as 60 years ago: I am a "participatory democracy radical." I think we are in the midst of what I've been hoping for all of those 60 years. What we have to do to make this happen is PARTICIPATE.
I think your last sentence says it all, TC. I have been waiting also. In a way, Alito and the rest of the band of Injustices, did us a favor. They exposed themselves to us. They are a part of a big plot of extremists ( I won’t even call them Christian nationalists because that would be too kind.) to rip our freedoms away. As a whole, I think we thought we were powerless, that our backs were against the wall. We were at a pivotal point when our beloved Joe couldn’t get his words out. We were alarmed. But like a Phoenix rising, Joe gave us the ultimate gift by becoming the sacrificial lamb. He lifted Kamala up for everyone to see, to get excited about. I am excited! I participated in the White Women’s event and I plan on breaking the Internet again with tomorrow’s event which will include all of our sisters. We have to trust each other, us women. We cannot become complacent again and we shouldn’t permit it. We have a purpose, we always have.
Might try reading Timothy Snyder's "The Road to Unfreedom" -- to get a sense of how religion is used as a tool once again to control the masses, how truth is erased as a bulwark, how Christianity is expressly removed from the mix.
Daughter of Nazi/Bolshevik/Soviet occupation, Marlene -- sharing your pain and your resolve. Your perception about their 'kristofascism' as a tool, reminded me of Snyder's book.
I think everyone was waiting for someone or something to get ball rolling.
A lot of individuals tried.
A lot of groups tried.
But nothing felt “right” to the people until our President, who worked extremely hard to strengthen America for us for four difficult years, while bad actors (and occasionally some of our own) undermined him every step of the way, said, “No More”.
The shock waves from his decision jarred Americans out of our stasis.
I don’t know about any of you, but when Joe Biden stepped down from his candidacy, it felt like the death of a parent. Then the sudden, daunting realization that we were suddenly on our own and expected to sink or swim.
But wait, our President left a light on for us before he stepped aside. He endorsed Kamala Harris…
Poor Kamala Harris. She had to have felt every single one of the measuring eyes of Americans, of the world, friends and foes, and everyone in between, land on her all at once. But there she stood, tall and strong, like our American flag has through countless moments, as she waited for us to decide on a democracy for all or to hand over our country to those who would destroy us.
Then, all over social media, people started using their voices, some quiet and uncertain and some loudly, to rally behind Kamala Harris, while the extremist Right Wing stood with their mouths agape.
I don’t think the rest of us have ever heard the strength and beauty in how all of our different voices sound together…
Lisa, You said it all. From wanting to cry when Joe Biden stood down to the overwhelming joy of watching Kamala RISE and we followed with joy and commitment. It is ALL OF US taking up the torch for Democracy, Decency and Integrity.
Well said Lisa, women are now the leaders and especially with Kamala Harris taking her role as the Presidential Candidate, I can hardly wait to watch her poll numbers continue to go up, her rallies being filled with more and more strong young women who are angry and determined to be the ones who control what they do with their body.
"Those zoom meetings are our version of the "peoples' assemblies" that brought forth the democratic revolutions in 1789 and 1917 and 2011." Wonderfully said. Participate, from the comfort of our homes and a click or two of the fingers to donate. It's a great start.
TC, Kamala needs Bernie's endorsement. Since Kamala has so much support, she should support us and go for single-payer and tax the rich. subsidized child care wouldn't hurt. Kamala used the word "tangible" in her first speech. Now let's hear some details. I thought "hope and change" meant more than the ACA. I don't want to be disappointed again. What do you think?
Single payer “Medicare for All” polls well until people are asked if they will make sacrifices like not being able to keep the doctor they have. Then support among “average voters” tumbles. While we are sprinting for the finish line during the next 99 days, let’s not trip over our shoelaces on something that cannot be done without a 60-vote majority in the Senate, making it a promise that can’t be fulfilled any time soon.
Uhh...since when does Medicare for all require the sacrifice of not being able to keep your doctor? I'm on Medicare and I have the doctors I want. Is that a poll thing? Ask people if they will accept a negative situation that doesn't even exist, then get the negative polling response you want?
Great comment. My husband & I have been on Medicare for years, & we have always been able to see any doctor we want - & that includes specialists in Boston.
It depends on the doctor. I have a primary care physician in name only. When I aged into Medicare, my care was transferred to his nurse practitioner. I’ve deduced over the years that the physician billable hours are reserved for patients with private insurance, as the Medicare reimbursement is less than private insurance. I’m not complaining, at all. My nurse practitioner is wonderful: excellent caregiver, delightful personality, we share pictures of our grandchildren at my visits, and she can and does write prescriptions and make appointments for me whenever I need them. For primary care
… she’s all I need. She also shares results from my physicals with the specialists I see (endocrinologist, ophthalmologist, and podiatrist. I’m a type 1 diabetic) When I see these specialists, it’s the doctor.
I am sorry you are so bitter. Many Americans share you bitterness. We Americans need to face up to our part in this situation. We want government to provide social services, but we don’t want to pay taxes to support those services. We spend millions of dollars on Halloween decorations, yet are outraged if asked to pay more in taxes. We want a single payer health care system, but we don’t want any of the changes that come with it. We want a responsive government but a huge percentage of us can’t be bothered to vote. We want higher wages, but we don’t want to pay more for our goods and services. We want a healthy environment, but we pack the highways with oversized cars and trucks, consume ever more stuff and send it to the landfill. We want responsible journalism, but we can’t look away from the click bait. I could go on, but you get the idea.
I resent that you lump us all in this post. I pay plenty as a recent widow while Elon and Jeff skate by with a million loopholes. I have been “woke,” engaged and done my best to reject the path of least resistance. I will slog on as will many who care and give what they are able to.
In some ways this sounds like the GOP line- Blame the victims. It’s not wealth disparity that keeps us struggling as the mega wealthy get mega wealthier, it’s our fault for wanting a level playing field that benefits all, couched as “don’t buy an iPhone if you can’t afford it”. The working and middle classes are paying a disproportionate amount, carrying the burden of government.
Gail, are the lower classes paying more for government? The answer depends on how one frames it. As a proportion of all taxes paid to the Treasury, the richest pay far more. As a proportion of individual income needed to thrive, they pay fast less. Republicans use the first frame (collectively the rich pay more dollars) while Democrats use the 2nd frame (the rich pay a lower proportion of their NEEDED income in taxes [even though their marginal tax rates are much higher]). The above excludes wealth, which is treated separately from income. Why do I state all this in response to your post, because your argument, which widely repeated and true, is ignored by the rich because they have the other argument, which is also true.
In other words, we need to refrained the discussion, somehow.
That's when I generally respond with the Propublica article, outline how the wealthy avoid income tax. Usually shuts down that "the rich pay more" line.
If so, I understand. Those tax avoidance schemes are legal, for sure, but tax laws created decades ago need to be amended to reflect current economic realities.
You cover a lot of territory there, Terry. Services are not free, and in health care Americans pay nearly double than eg Canadians with their public health service, and that's higher than most similar OECD countries.
Who the heck are "we", Terry? Certainly not "me". Did it include all of is here? Does it include you? Or are you expressing a media-amplified mantra of the right? (Sorry for the tone. I'm not accusing you of anything, but I'm really curious who is so resistant. Even when I tended to vote Republican, I hesitated about the Right's knee-jerk resistance to a more effective government and the work and sacrifices needed to get it. Most of my acquaintances who were more conservative than me would not have minded paying more for programs and services they could understand.)
The GOP/Project 2025 aim is to totally privatize Medicare.
ACO Reach is Medicare Advantage on steroids, a profit-driven model and Trump -era pilot program that Biden admin slightly modified.Medicare patients may be taken out of traditional Medicare and put into an ACO, (often owned by a health insurance or private equity company) without their knowledge.
Gail, do not, and I repeat, DO NOT sign up for any Advantage Program. I hit Medicare 18 months ago and with a prescription plan and a supplemental plan pay very little out of pocket. Advantage plans look great to healthy 65 year olds. They start to crush them when they actually start feeling the impacts of ageing, whether that happens at 70 or 75.
Supplement, Plan G, in place! Plus a drug plan. With RA I didn’t even consider Advantage plans, though til the end of ‘24 my meds will cost a fortune. 2025 sees the medication cost capped ay $2K. Colonoscopy on Wednesday to squeeze the last out of my private insurance. Whee! 😂
Reminds me of when Blue Cross Blue Shield companies were 501(c)(4) non-profits that were chosen as partners to administer Medicare (which had a 2% administrative overhead compared to private companies that were 15% or higher).
Rather, it has a “small state” bias. The small states tend to be rural and dependent on manufacturing. That makes them the employment losers with automation and global trade. This was effectively ignored by both parties (focused on campaign donors) until Trump saw an opening and woke us all up.
Our politicians are still in the thrall of donations by the upper 20%.
Look at campaign finance vouchers to break this pattern. There was a weak and never pushed try in 2022’s HR1 For The People Act that failed.
To push it means breaking dems dependence on money from the big banks and finance firms. That will take true bravery. Does Harris have it?
We need a recent poll. Medicare supplement insurance and Medicare Advantage plans are further exploiting us. The Dems ask me to donate on behalf of wanting single-payer. The ACA is getting too expensive. I am sick of donating and hoping every four years and getting zilch in return. We have already lost our democratic republic and I'm reluctant to continue to be part of the charade. Elections are a new industry in the financialization of our country.
Without hope, we have nothing, no chance for change. I get it. I feared Biden stepping down as I didn't trust the Democratic party to do the right thing. But Joe did the right thing and our support of Kamala is sending a message to the Democratic party.
If Kamala is who she is campaigning to be, she will be the change...that we have to keep fighting for. This won't stop once Donny is defeated. Until wealth can no longer buy elections (rich Democratic donors also must be stopped, too), we will have to fight like the dickens...then we will have to fight our own complacency....or it will all slip away again.
I suspected Obama made a deal to not persue Medicare for All and instead compromise with a system that makes a fortune for the insurance/finance/healthcare industry. Does Kamala or any presidential candidate have to make a deal with the devil to be elected? Now, instead of hearing a platform about what a candidate will do for us, we hear what we can keep. Now it's not hope and change, it's hope things don't change.
We con't have to "make adeal with the devil." It's just a good idea to know when to make a fight. Before a close election, and when your side doesn't have the power to make the promise come true, isn't a good time to pick the fight. Promising what you cannot deliver is a good way to piss off supporters.
Trump's supporters don't get pissed off when he doesn't deliver. Instead of pretending the people don't really want what they do want, Harris should go for what we want and hammer home that we need a clear majority in both houses to make it happen. Kamala will get my vote, reluctantly as the lesser of two evils like usual. You know what they say about doing the same thing repeatedly and expecting a different result. Am I an idiot or just the victim of a system without real choices.
I recall how many Germans went to great lengths to surrender to Allied forces at the end of WWII (instead of Soviets).
I do hope an overwhelming number of voters make a similar effort to prevent the far more catastrophic choice.
Allen Dulles was initially very concerned about the supposed "Werwolf" resistance force that would stay behind as Allies advanced through Germany, but was a bit amazed at the nothing-burger it turned out to be.
"...Although operations were sporadic at best, some Werwolf teams did carry out their orders. A band of teenaged trainees managed to murder the Allied appointed mayor of Aachen in March of 1945 shortly after the occupation of the town. Werwolves were also blamed for a number of random attacks over the spring.
As the war edged ever closer to its conclusion, Nazi propagandists continued to trumpet the resistance. Goebbels even established Radio Werwolf, which in between faux news reports of attacks, urged the German people to rise up against the Allies. However, most accounts of sabotage or assassination were wildly exaggerated, falsely attributed to the resistance movement, or completely fabricated. For example, the Werwolves were incorrectly credited with the murder of U.S. general Maurice Rose who was actually killed in action on the frontlines. Other incidents, like the June 5 blast at the Bremen headquarters, as well as a deadly explosion at an ammunition depot near the River Elbe on July 31, were attributed to pro-Nazi holdouts, although there is little evidence to support such claims.[3]
Despite the fact that no serious uprising ever emerged (Prützmann himself committed suicide in May of 1945), the threat of one dogged the Allied occupiers constantly for weeks after the fall of Berlin. Still, British, French and American armies rounded up and detained tens of thousands of German soldiers and civilians they suspected of being insurgents and held many of them in appalling conditions. In the east, the Soviets summarily executed hundreds of young men it considered Werwolves and sent more than 10,000 to special camps. [4] Many never returned..."
It will be interesting to see if Trump supporters get similarly disinterested in risking their lives for such a foolish cause, or just simply not vote. Either way, I want every freedom and justice loving American to vote undeniably against the whole Project 2025, Agenda47, and Schedule F nonsense as possible.
On Medicare, I think Obama was overwhelmed by the opposition. Health care along turned Obama into a pariah and generated the Tea Party. Republicans are so divided they have never been able to come up with a public or semi-public plan. They are beholden to the "free enterprise" profit model.
I recall a recently retired Doctor complaining about a shortage of Doctors, and Nurses who just couldn't handle the stressful workloads anymore (despite having made something like $600,000 in about 18 months as a traveling Nurse).
A friend's wife who had been an RN for years before running the medical billing department at her Hospital finally retired and moved to a rural community where they were having a very difficult time keeping Doctors, especially OBGYNs who were paying outrageous malpractice insurance rates. She ended up starting her own Medical Billing Assistance company with enough experience and expertise to have her own software written to handle all the perverse coding and contesting of bills insurance companies found every imaginable excuse to either not pay or draw it out so long that people gave up. I think she ended up the last I heard supporting 6 Doctors, one of whom was down to eating peanut butter for lack of ability to get the bills honored, to enable the Doctors to remain in the community, The last one rufused to sig up for her service, telling her there was no way he was going to pay 14% for the service. She looked at a tall basket and asked him what they were. When he said they were the Bills he couldn't get approved in the last year (losing the right to try to collect if he didn't act on them for a year). She took the stack , coded, submitted, and followed up on them successfully, allowing him to get nearly 100% of his bills accepted.
I'd like to think he could lower his overhead costs so much that he could charge significantly less. What other countries have such a snarl of complexity in access to care and billing that requires such a highly trained workforce to get through the insurance company barriers?
"...Private insurance companies in this country spend between 12 and 18 percent on administration costs," Sanders said on NBC’s Meet the Press on Sept. 17. "The cost of administering the Medicare program, a very popular program that works well for our seniors, is 2 percent. We can save approximately $500 billion a year just in administration costs..."
I was so fortunate to discover most of my Doctors had interned in VA facilities and the Mayo Clinics (discovering many by asking them after watching Documentary on The Mayo Clinic). See https://www.pbs.org/kenburns/the-mayo-clinic/
I think we need to expand on such programs to lower the training costs (keep them from requiring an average $250,000 educational debts) and solving the Malpractice Insurance overhead that seems to cost Doctors more than double my highest annual income (how much of that cost do they get tax deductions for)?
Eyes on the prize. When a good chunk of the country has voiced support for doing away with the Constitution, when they broadcast that democracy is bad, when a small but active group is comfortable talking openly about armed revolution, I think maybe we've got bigger fish to fry than M4A.
I didn't make my point very well. If the majority can't get what they need, it's no longer a democracy. Even Jimmy Carter admitted we have an oligarchy several years ago. We won't get it back if the only goal of our representatives is to get elected and reelected by going for the money to run on. Common people can't donate enough to keep up with donations from the wealth class.
But with campaign finance vouchers , “common people “ certainly could “keep up”. That is all that is needed. Just match the money and then pay attention to the ideas as they are discussed.
Then I will be expecting to hear Kamala fight for the majority instead of the wealthy instead of "save the democracy" vagueness when I believe we have already become an oligarchy. Show me what the majority wants is achievable.
Well said, TC, well said. And to carry on with your French Revolution motif--conveniently while the World gathers for the Olympics in the City of Lights that spawned that Revolution---I would add that at this moment we are indeed in the best of times and the worst of times. The choice is as clear as clarity can be. I too worked in the Obama campaign in 2008. I think what happened then should not be mitigated, but as high as the stakes were then, they are significantly higher now. Obama was the rare Tribune of the People who balanced intellectual firepower with charismatic appeal. Kamala Harris is sharp and oozes a different type of "it factor" charisma, not as lofty as Obama, but being lofty may not be as important now as being of the moment.
The old boxing mantra that "styles make fights" finds its political parallel here, as Despicable Don's style seems not built to last when dealing with this particular female, pant suited opponent, an opponent already living so fully in his inflated head that he can't seem to see straight. She has him right where she wants him it would seem, and I certainly hope she can maintain that posture through to November.
He can't hit what he can't see, and so far, she is certainly floating like a butterfly and stinging like a bee
I think that sound we're hearing, getting closer and closer and louder and louder is a ROAR, and it's coming from females and minorities, working class people and students, who have been shafted by the oligarchs and their clueless, racist, misogynistic foot soldiers, the MAGA/KKK forces. If I am correct, we're experiencing another "American revolution." Thank goodness.
The Zoom call tomorrow has more than one million people signed on. Harris has taken on the role of leader of the Democratic Party and breathed 🔥 into it. We've never been known for our cohesion (c.f. Will Rogers) but if we can maintain this level of joyful warriorhood through Nov 5 and for the interregnum, she may well have to saved our republic from the twin scourges of Christofascism and Project 2025.
TC, you always say what we all think. I too worked for Obama in 2008 and 2012, thinking that his election was the seismic shift to a post-racial America. I was wrong.
His ascendancy released a long-dormant cauldron of hate that began with the Tea Party and culminated with J6.
We mistook the election of Obama as the end. It was just the beginning of the next chapter of that long arc towards creating that more perfect union.
TC, every other democratic system (as you know) manages their campaigns for their executives and representatives usually within a 100 day window and they seem to have plenty of time to inform the populace--and it is usually not enough time for media moguls to jam their thumbs on the scale in the way that our perpetual campaign system provides them. I would love to see a constitutional amendment stating that campaigns have to be limited, as well as their funding (getting rid of the Citizens United decision, for instance).
Instead, MATCH (!) the relative pittance the plutocrats and special interests are spending.
$10-20 billion in a $27 TRILLION economy? Come on!
With a campaign finance voucher program (similar to HR1 For the People Act that was filibustered) The wealthy would not even notice the cost (except their loss of power) and the poor would pay virtually nothing to get true power back.
I am grateful to Heather and to you TC for some wonderful quotes. (As my brain fails to capture the once known these days, I am in awe of you both. (Alexandre Auguste Ledru-Rollin, really?? It certainly captured the spirit!) Thank you, both!
We the people have certainly risen up (forcefully and with joy) but it was Joe Biden who made sure that the party would unite in support of Kamal Harris, by taking the time to organize a seamless handover before stepping aside. I would bet that he (and definitely his team) had been preparing for that possibility since the beginning of the 2024 campaign.
Thanks TC; I needed that. I know you like quotes from the poet, songwriter the perpetual; "vagabond" per Joan from Hibbing Minnesota so -- thank you again for letting me 🎶 " breathe the air around Tom Paine."
You really see it as a “bottom up “ movement? I see the elite 400 members of the DNC making rules to favor President Biden, and now Vice President Harris.RFKJR did not have a fair or democratic chance to become the nominee. Your party as the Republican Party ,is being dominated by the wealthy and the corporations . The only way to restore democracy is to vote for someone not beholden and that is RFKJR.
Lenin put it well in 1917: "Sometimes decades happen in weeks."
What we are experiencing since last Sunday morning has never happened before in American political history. If the word "revolutionary" is defined as "Being or bringing about a big or important change," we are in a revolutionary situation.
I worked in the Obama campaign beginning in 2007, and what I experienced then - which felt like nothing before - is not close to what is going on now.
AOC warned the week before Biden withdrew that those pushing him out also wanted to push out VP Harris. That didn't happen, because the Democratic base - Us! - rose up and said No! We made sure it would be Kamala, and in the past week, the elites are responding to us. Each of them could say what French politician Alexandre Auguste Ledru-Rollin once said: "There go the people. I must follow them, for I am their leader."
I really believe this is "the American Spring." Unlike The Arab Spring, or the "democratic revolutions" at the outset of the French and Russian Revolutions - which were overthrown by the "revolutionaries" who couldn't deliver anything but a new tyranny - we have a good chance of success because there is now only 99 days left. That’s not enough time for the "professionals" to screw up and abort things.
This is a bottom-up movement.
We have Gen Z creators making memes that are playing to young people and activating them. On Sunday night, 45,000 black women came together and created a movement. The next night, 45,000 black men followed their example, followed each night after by Asian Americans, LGBTQ American, Latino Americans, White American Women. Tomorrow, White Dudes for Kamala is meeting, and Women for Harris will come into existence.
Those zoom meetings are our version of the "peoples' assemblies" that brought forth the democratic revolutions in 1789 and 1917 and 2011. Over 100,000 people have signed up as volunteers to work in the election. Most of them have never done such a thing before.
My politics have remained what they began as 60 years ago: I am a "participatory democracy radical." I think we are in the midst of what I've been hoping for all of those 60 years. What we have to do to make this happen is PARTICIPATE.
I think your last sentence says it all, TC. I have been waiting also. In a way, Alito and the rest of the band of Injustices, did us a favor. They exposed themselves to us. They are a part of a big plot of extremists ( I won’t even call them Christian nationalists because that would be too kind.) to rip our freedoms away. As a whole, I think we thought we were powerless, that our backs were against the wall. We were at a pivotal point when our beloved Joe couldn’t get his words out. We were alarmed. But like a Phoenix rising, Joe gave us the ultimate gift by becoming the sacrificial lamb. He lifted Kamala up for everyone to see, to get excited about. I am excited! I participated in the White Women’s event and I plan on breaking the Internet again with tomorrow’s event which will include all of our sisters. We have to trust each other, us women. We cannot become complacent again and we shouldn’t permit it. We have a purpose, we always have.
Might try reading Timothy Snyder's "The Road to Unfreedom" -- to get a sense of how religion is used as a tool once again to control the masses, how truth is erased as a bulwark, how Christianity is expressly removed from the mix.
Daughter of Holocaust victims here. I know exactly how it works.
Daughter of Nazi/Bolshevik/Soviet occupation, Marlene -- sharing your pain and your resolve. Your perception about their 'kristofascism' as a tool, reminded me of Snyder's book.
I hope you have a lot of love in your life.
If you’re speaking to me, David, yes, yes I do.
I was and I'm very glad to hear it!
Biden did pass the torch--to all of us! And we did as you say. We got very excited and joyful, and money from many of us poured into Kamala's coffers.
But I still have the only HARRIS bumper sticker I've seen. I made mine.
They are available for preorder w/expected ship date of August 12th.
Shoot. I wish I could post a photo here, but it's not working. I'm damn proud of it. But thanks for the info. I'm sure others will use it!
Marlene, Is there another event going on today?
Yes! 4pm PST 7pm EST. Sign up at https://mobilize.us/s/HBFLlN/r
Thanks. I just signed up.
Spread the word, Susan!
I think everyone was waiting for someone or something to get ball rolling.
A lot of individuals tried.
A lot of groups tried.
But nothing felt “right” to the people until our President, who worked extremely hard to strengthen America for us for four difficult years, while bad actors (and occasionally some of our own) undermined him every step of the way, said, “No More”.
The shock waves from his decision jarred Americans out of our stasis.
I don’t know about any of you, but when Joe Biden stepped down from his candidacy, it felt like the death of a parent. Then the sudden, daunting realization that we were suddenly on our own and expected to sink or swim.
But wait, our President left a light on for us before he stepped aside. He endorsed Kamala Harris…
Poor Kamala Harris. She had to have felt every single one of the measuring eyes of Americans, of the world, friends and foes, and everyone in between, land on her all at once. But there she stood, tall and strong, like our American flag has through countless moments, as she waited for us to decide on a democracy for all or to hand over our country to those who would destroy us.
Then, all over social media, people started using their voices, some quiet and uncertain and some loudly, to rally behind Kamala Harris, while the extremist Right Wing stood with their mouths agape.
I don’t think the rest of us have ever heard the strength and beauty in how all of our different voices sound together…
Let’s keep singing so others can find us.
Wow. Let us all keep singing so the others can find us.
Listen for the tuba line. You do not want my singing voice contributing. But I can knock down a heck of a bass line.
Haha! Whatever works!!
Such a lovely comment.
I love this - what an inspiring response!! 🇺🇸
So beautifully put. You got me crying again ❤️🙏
Lisa, You said it all. From wanting to cry when Joe Biden stood down to the overwhelming joy of watching Kamala RISE and we followed with joy and commitment. It is ALL OF US taking up the torch for Democracy, Decency and Integrity.
Well said Lisa, women are now the leaders and especially with Kamala Harris taking her role as the Presidential Candidate, I can hardly wait to watch her poll numbers continue to go up, her rallies being filled with more and more strong young women who are angry and determined to be the ones who control what they do with their body.
Yes, but let’s remember that this is all people working together for the benefit & protection of all - a full chorus with a full range of voices.
Beautiful, Lisa.
"Those zoom meetings are our version of the "peoples' assemblies" that brought forth the democratic revolutions in 1789 and 1917 and 2011." Wonderfully said. Participate, from the comfort of our homes and a click or two of the fingers to donate. It's a great start.
TC, Kamala needs Bernie's endorsement. Since Kamala has so much support, she should support us and go for single-payer and tax the rich. subsidized child care wouldn't hurt. Kamala used the word "tangible" in her first speech. Now let's hear some details. I thought "hope and change" meant more than the ACA. I don't want to be disappointed again. What do you think?
Bernie endorsed her on Saturday. See: https://www.wmtw.com/article/bernie-sanders-formally-endorses-kamala-harris-for-president-at-portland-rally/61717060
Thank you for the link, Gary. I'd not seen any news of this aside from yours.
Bernie, like Joe Biden, is patron saint of sorts -- of the Liz Warren sort, too.
Liz endorsed Kamala on July 22,. That's a meaningful endorsement!
Once you have Liz in your corner you've got the Good Guys on your side.
I was there despite short notice and having to stand at the very back of the great crowd he brought in.
Single payer “Medicare for All” polls well until people are asked if they will make sacrifices like not being able to keep the doctor they have. Then support among “average voters” tumbles. While we are sprinting for the finish line during the next 99 days, let’s not trip over our shoelaces on something that cannot be done without a 60-vote majority in the Senate, making it a promise that can’t be fulfilled any time soon.
Uhh...since when does Medicare for all require the sacrifice of not being able to keep your doctor? I'm on Medicare and I have the doctors I want. Is that a poll thing? Ask people if they will accept a negative situation that doesn't even exist, then get the negative polling response you want?
Great comment. My husband & I have been on Medicare for years, & we have always been able to see any doctor we want - & that includes specialists in Boston.
It depends on the doctor. I have a primary care physician in name only. When I aged into Medicare, my care was transferred to his nurse practitioner. I’ve deduced over the years that the physician billable hours are reserved for patients with private insurance, as the Medicare reimbursement is less than private insurance. I’m not complaining, at all. My nurse practitioner is wonderful: excellent caregiver, delightful personality, we share pictures of our grandchildren at my visits, and she can and does write prescriptions and make appointments for me whenever I need them. For primary care
… she’s all I need. She also shares results from my physicals with the specialists I see (endocrinologist, ophthalmologist, and podiatrist. I’m a type 1 diabetic) When I see these specialists, it’s the doctor.
never pays to overgeneralize Susan, or question the meme.
I was just asking a question Frank. In response to a suggestion that Medicare for All would force you to give up your doctors. Do you have Medicare?
I'm Canadian, docs in NB are in short supply so best to keep the person/s you have. Some others rebutted that claim for some places in USA
Medicare for all is an insurance program. Not a healthcare system. I don't understand why people get that confused.
?
I am sorry you are so bitter. Many Americans share you bitterness. We Americans need to face up to our part in this situation. We want government to provide social services, but we don’t want to pay taxes to support those services. We spend millions of dollars on Halloween decorations, yet are outraged if asked to pay more in taxes. We want a single payer health care system, but we don’t want any of the changes that come with it. We want a responsive government but a huge percentage of us can’t be bothered to vote. We want higher wages, but we don’t want to pay more for our goods and services. We want a healthy environment, but we pack the highways with oversized cars and trucks, consume ever more stuff and send it to the landfill. We want responsible journalism, but we can’t look away from the click bait. I could go on, but you get the idea.
I resent that you lump us all in this post. I pay plenty as a recent widow while Elon and Jeff skate by with a million loopholes. I have been “woke,” engaged and done my best to reject the path of least resistance. I will slog on as will many who care and give what they are able to.
In some ways this sounds like the GOP line- Blame the victims. It’s not wealth disparity that keeps us struggling as the mega wealthy get mega wealthier, it’s our fault for wanting a level playing field that benefits all, couched as “don’t buy an iPhone if you can’t afford it”. The working and middle classes are paying a disproportionate amount, carrying the burden of government.
Gail, are the lower classes paying more for government? The answer depends on how one frames it. As a proportion of all taxes paid to the Treasury, the richest pay far more. As a proportion of individual income needed to thrive, they pay fast less. Republicans use the first frame (collectively the rich pay more dollars) while Democrats use the 2nd frame (the rich pay a lower proportion of their NEEDED income in taxes [even though their marginal tax rates are much higher]). The above excludes wealth, which is treated separately from income. Why do I state all this in response to your post, because your argument, which widely repeated and true, is ignored by the rich because they have the other argument, which is also true.
In other words, we need to refrained the discussion, somehow.
That's when I generally respond with the Propublica article, outline how the wealthy avoid income tax. Usually shuts down that "the rich pay more" line.
You mean this one?
https://www.propublica.org/article/billionaires-tax-avoidance-techniques-irs-files
If so, I understand. Those tax avoidance schemes are legal, for sure, but tax laws created decades ago need to be amended to reflect current economic realities.
Yup. And yup.
You cover a lot of territory there, Terry. Services are not free, and in health care Americans pay nearly double than eg Canadians with their public health service, and that's higher than most similar OECD countries.
Who the heck are "we", Terry? Certainly not "me". Did it include all of is here? Does it include you? Or are you expressing a media-amplified mantra of the right? (Sorry for the tone. I'm not accusing you of anything, but I'm really curious who is so resistant. Even when I tended to vote Republican, I hesitated about the Right's knee-jerk resistance to a more effective government and the work and sacrifices needed to get it. Most of my acquaintances who were more conservative than me would not have minded paying more for programs and services they could understand.)
The GOP/Project 2025 aim is to totally privatize Medicare.
ACO Reach is Medicare Advantage on steroids, a profit-driven model and Trump -era pilot program that Biden admin slightly modified.Medicare patients may be taken out of traditional Medicare and put into an ACO, (often owned by a health insurance or private equity company) without their knowledge.
https://pnhp.org/news/medicare-privatization-aco-reach-the-ethics-of-for-profit-health-care/
99 days to go and my focus will be on GOTV !! When VP Kamala wins,one focus will be lobbying to end ACO
✍️📲💲🚶♀️📣👕🛒
Wow, new to me, and I go on Medicare Thursday. Thank you for this article. Slogging through Google I found very little analysis.
Gail, do not, and I repeat, DO NOT sign up for any Advantage Program. I hit Medicare 18 months ago and with a prescription plan and a supplemental plan pay very little out of pocket. Advantage plans look great to healthy 65 year olds. They start to crush them when they actually start feeling the impacts of ageing, whether that happens at 70 or 75.
Supplement, Plan G, in place! Plus a drug plan. With RA I didn’t even consider Advantage plans, though til the end of ‘24 my meds will cost a fortune. 2025 sees the medication cost capped ay $2K. Colonoscopy on Wednesday to squeeze the last out of my private insurance. Whee! 😂
Reminds me of when Blue Cross Blue Shield companies were 501(c)(4) non-profits that were chosen as partners to administer Medicare (which had a 2% administrative overhead compared to private companies that were 15% or higher).
or do away with the filibuster. The Senate has built-in conservative bias.
Yes, the filibuster and the Electoral College, the two elements that could be a major factor in bringing down what's left of our democratic republic.
Rather, it has a “small state” bias. The small states tend to be rural and dependent on manufacturing. That makes them the employment losers with automation and global trade. This was effectively ignored by both parties (focused on campaign donors) until Trump saw an opening and woke us all up.
Our politicians are still in the thrall of donations by the upper 20%.
Look at campaign finance vouchers to break this pattern. There was a weak and never pushed try in 2022’s HR1 For The People Act that failed.
To push it means breaking dems dependence on money from the big banks and finance firms. That will take true bravery. Does Harris have it?
See my Substack
We need a recent poll. Medicare supplement insurance and Medicare Advantage plans are further exploiting us. The Dems ask me to donate on behalf of wanting single-payer. The ACA is getting too expensive. I am sick of donating and hoping every four years and getting zilch in return. We have already lost our democratic republic and I'm reluctant to continue to be part of the charade. Elections are a new industry in the financialization of our country.
Without hope, we have nothing, no chance for change. I get it. I feared Biden stepping down as I didn't trust the Democratic party to do the right thing. But Joe did the right thing and our support of Kamala is sending a message to the Democratic party.
If Kamala is who she is campaigning to be, she will be the change...that we have to keep fighting for. This won't stop once Donny is defeated. Until wealth can no longer buy elections (rich Democratic donors also must be stopped, too), we will have to fight like the dickens...then we will have to fight our own complacency....or it will all slip away again.
That is a straw man; in Medicare you have any doctor willing to have Medicare.
Exactly so. Not all physicians’ practices accept the lower Medicare reimbursement.
I suspected Obama made a deal to not persue Medicare for All and instead compromise with a system that makes a fortune for the insurance/finance/healthcare industry. Does Kamala or any presidential candidate have to make a deal with the devil to be elected? Now, instead of hearing a platform about what a candidate will do for us, we hear what we can keep. Now it's not hope and change, it's hope things don't change.
We con't have to "make adeal with the devil." It's just a good idea to know when to make a fight. Before a close election, and when your side doesn't have the power to make the promise come true, isn't a good time to pick the fight. Promising what you cannot deliver is a good way to piss off supporters.
Trump's supporters don't get pissed off when he doesn't deliver. Instead of pretending the people don't really want what they do want, Harris should go for what we want and hammer home that we need a clear majority in both houses to make it happen. Kamala will get my vote, reluctantly as the lesser of two evils like usual. You know what they say about doing the same thing repeatedly and expecting a different result. Am I an idiot or just the victim of a system without real choices.
I have no idea what you mean. " lesser of two evils"? You waiting for god to show up or something? Because I hate to tell you, he doesn't exist.
They are a cult… Dems are not. Big diff
Keep on hoping, Gloria
Lol.
I recall how many Germans went to great lengths to surrender to Allied forces at the end of WWII (instead of Soviets).
I do hope an overwhelming number of voters make a similar effort to prevent the far more catastrophic choice.
Allen Dulles was initially very concerned about the supposed "Werwolf" resistance force that would stay behind as Allies advanced through Germany, but was a bit amazed at the nothing-burger it turned out to be.
See https://militaryhistorynow.com/2015/10/23/the-fighting-werwolves-the-third-reichs-underground-army/
"...Although operations were sporadic at best, some Werwolf teams did carry out their orders. A band of teenaged trainees managed to murder the Allied appointed mayor of Aachen in March of 1945 shortly after the occupation of the town. Werwolves were also blamed for a number of random attacks over the spring.
As the war edged ever closer to its conclusion, Nazi propagandists continued to trumpet the resistance. Goebbels even established Radio Werwolf, which in between faux news reports of attacks, urged the German people to rise up against the Allies. However, most accounts of sabotage or assassination were wildly exaggerated, falsely attributed to the resistance movement, or completely fabricated. For example, the Werwolves were incorrectly credited with the murder of U.S. general Maurice Rose who was actually killed in action on the frontlines. Other incidents, like the June 5 blast at the Bremen headquarters, as well as a deadly explosion at an ammunition depot near the River Elbe on July 31, were attributed to pro-Nazi holdouts, although there is little evidence to support such claims.[3]
Despite the fact that no serious uprising ever emerged (Prützmann himself committed suicide in May of 1945), the threat of one dogged the Allied occupiers constantly for weeks after the fall of Berlin. Still, British, French and American armies rounded up and detained tens of thousands of German soldiers and civilians they suspected of being insurgents and held many of them in appalling conditions. In the east, the Soviets summarily executed hundreds of young men it considered Werwolves and sent more than 10,000 to special camps. [4] Many never returned..."
It will be interesting to see if Trump supporters get similarly disinterested in risking their lives for such a foolish cause, or just simply not vote. Either way, I want every freedom and justice loving American to vote undeniably against the whole Project 2025, Agenda47, and Schedule F nonsense as possible.
You have to make promises even if the fight spans presidential terms.
On Medicare, I think Obama was overwhelmed by the opposition. Health care along turned Obama into a pariah and generated the Tea Party. Republicans are so divided they have never been able to come up with a public or semi-public plan. They are beholden to the "free enterprise" profit model.
Well, they have a "plan"........Project 2025.
So let's quadruple the effort to get Single Payer and a lot more Healthcare workers. See https://www.oracle.com/human-capital-management/healthcare-workforce-shortage/
I recall a recently retired Doctor complaining about a shortage of Doctors, and Nurses who just couldn't handle the stressful workloads anymore (despite having made something like $600,000 in about 18 months as a traveling Nurse).
A friend's wife who had been an RN for years before running the medical billing department at her Hospital finally retired and moved to a rural community where they were having a very difficult time keeping Doctors, especially OBGYNs who were paying outrageous malpractice insurance rates. She ended up starting her own Medical Billing Assistance company with enough experience and expertise to have her own software written to handle all the perverse coding and contesting of bills insurance companies found every imaginable excuse to either not pay or draw it out so long that people gave up. I think she ended up the last I heard supporting 6 Doctors, one of whom was down to eating peanut butter for lack of ability to get the bills honored, to enable the Doctors to remain in the community, The last one rufused to sig up for her service, telling her there was no way he was going to pay 14% for the service. She looked at a tall basket and asked him what they were. When he said they were the Bills he couldn't get approved in the last year (losing the right to try to collect if he didn't act on them for a year). She took the stack , coded, submitted, and followed up on them successfully, allowing him to get nearly 100% of his bills accepted.
I'd like to think he could lower his overhead costs so much that he could charge significantly less. What other countries have such a snarl of complexity in access to care and billing that requires such a highly trained workforce to get through the insurance company barriers?
According to https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2017/sep/20/bernie-sanders/comparing-administrative-costs-private-insurance-a/
"...Private insurance companies in this country spend between 12 and 18 percent on administration costs," Sanders said on NBC’s Meet the Press on Sept. 17. "The cost of administering the Medicare program, a very popular program that works well for our seniors, is 2 percent. We can save approximately $500 billion a year just in administration costs..."
I was so fortunate to discover most of my Doctors had interned in VA facilities and the Mayo Clinics (discovering many by asking them after watching Documentary on The Mayo Clinic). See https://www.pbs.org/kenburns/the-mayo-clinic/
I think we need to expand on such programs to lower the training costs (keep them from requiring an average $250,000 educational debts) and solving the Malpractice Insurance overhead that seems to cost Doctors more than double my highest annual income (how much of that cost do they get tax deductions for)?
Eyes on the prize. When a good chunk of the country has voiced support for doing away with the Constitution, when they broadcast that democracy is bad, when a small but active group is comfortable talking openly about armed revolution, I think maybe we've got bigger fish to fry than M4A.
When the majority can't have what they need, what are we fighting to preserve!
For me, democracy is what we're fighting for.
I didn't make my point very well. If the majority can't get what they need, it's no longer a democracy. Even Jimmy Carter admitted we have an oligarchy several years ago. We won't get it back if the only goal of our representatives is to get elected and reelected by going for the money to run on. Common people can't donate enough to keep up with donations from the wealth class.
But with campaign finance vouchers , “common people “ certainly could “keep up”. That is all that is needed. Just match the money and then pay attention to the ideas as they are discussed.
This what I write about
Bernie has endorsed her.
Then I will be expecting to hear Kamala fight for the majority instead of the wealthy instead of "save the democracy" vagueness when I believe we have already become an oligarchy. Show me what the majority wants is achievable.
Very typical of our current (un)press that they have not printed news of Bernie S and Elizabeth W support for Kamala Harris.
Well said, TC, well said. And to carry on with your French Revolution motif--conveniently while the World gathers for the Olympics in the City of Lights that spawned that Revolution---I would add that at this moment we are indeed in the best of times and the worst of times. The choice is as clear as clarity can be. I too worked in the Obama campaign in 2008. I think what happened then should not be mitigated, but as high as the stakes were then, they are significantly higher now. Obama was the rare Tribune of the People who balanced intellectual firepower with charismatic appeal. Kamala Harris is sharp and oozes a different type of "it factor" charisma, not as lofty as Obama, but being lofty may not be as important now as being of the moment.
The old boxing mantra that "styles make fights" finds its political parallel here, as Despicable Don's style seems not built to last when dealing with this particular female, pant suited opponent, an opponent already living so fully in his inflated head that he can't seem to see straight. She has him right where she wants him it would seem, and I certainly hope she can maintain that posture through to November.
He can't hit what he can't see, and so far, she is certainly floating like a butterfly and stinging like a bee
Yes indeed to all.
I think that sound we're hearing, getting closer and closer and louder and louder is a ROAR, and it's coming from females and minorities, working class people and students, who have been shafted by the oligarchs and their clueless, racist, misogynistic foot soldiers, the MAGA/KKK forces. If I am correct, we're experiencing another "American revolution." Thank goodness.
The Zoom call tomorrow has more than one million people signed on. Harris has taken on the role of leader of the Democratic Party and breathed 🔥 into it. We've never been known for our cohesion (c.f. Will Rogers) but if we can maintain this level of joyful warriorhood through Nov 5 and for the interregnum, she may well have to saved our republic from the twin scourges of Christofascism and Project 2025.
TC, you always say what we all think. I too worked for Obama in 2008 and 2012, thinking that his election was the seismic shift to a post-racial America. I was wrong.
His ascendancy released a long-dormant cauldron of hate that began with the Tea Party and culminated with J6.
We mistook the election of Obama as the end. It was just the beginning of the next chapter of that long arc towards creating that more perfect union.
TC, every other democratic system (as you know) manages their campaigns for their executives and representatives usually within a 100 day window and they seem to have plenty of time to inform the populace--and it is usually not enough time for media moguls to jam their thumbs on the scale in the way that our perpetual campaign system provides them. I would love to see a constitutional amendment stating that campaigns have to be limited, as well as their funding (getting rid of the Citizens United decision, for instance).
Not Citizens United. That is whack-a-mole.
Instead, MATCH (!) the relative pittance the plutocrats and special interests are spending.
$10-20 billion in a $27 TRILLION economy? Come on!
With a campaign finance voucher program (similar to HR1 For the People Act that was filibustered) The wealthy would not even notice the cost (except their loss of power) and the poor would pay virtually nothing to get true power back.
This is what I write about in my Substack
Well said TC!! 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻
Marvelous piece
I am grateful to Heather and to you TC for some wonderful quotes. (As my brain fails to capture the once known these days, I am in awe of you both. (Alexandre Auguste Ledru-Rollin, really?? It certainly captured the spirit!) Thank you, both!
We the people have certainly risen up (forcefully and with joy) but it was Joe Biden who made sure that the party would unite in support of Kamal Harris, by taking the time to organize a seamless handover before stepping aside. I would bet that he (and definitely his team) had been preparing for that possibility since the beginning of the 2024 campaign.
Thanks TC; I needed that. I know you like quotes from the poet, songwriter the perpetual; "vagabond" per Joan from Hibbing Minnesota so -- thank you again for letting me 🎶 " breathe the air around Tom Paine."
Thank you TC in LA!
You really see it as a “bottom up “ movement? I see the elite 400 members of the DNC making rules to favor President Biden, and now Vice President Harris.RFKJR did not have a fair or democratic chance to become the nominee. Your party as the Republican Party ,is being dominated by the wealthy and the corporations . The only way to restore democracy is to vote for someone not beholden and that is RFKJR.