One of the advantages of refusing the Democratic nomination for president is that his decision to do that has left President Joe Biden in the position of being above the political fray and being able to act for the good of the whole country.
I always said Biden would address the courts in his second term, but now that there is to be no second term, we can view these last 5 months as his Second term. It is great that he is freed up from campaigning to run the country. Harris is freed up from running the country to run her campaign. It is very symbiotic.
I am so thankful for President Joe Biden . His love for this country....for each of us....His love for "freedom" which he has promoted here as well as encouraged throughout the world....the expansion of NATO.....improved relationships with friends: old and new throughout the world. WHAT AN AMAZING LEADER!!!!!
I prefer not to argue on our HCR's wonderful Substack but you sir are ridiculous. A single policy that helps the middle class?
1. Bringing down the costs of life important drugs for everyone.
2. Supporting Unions
3. Improving and supporting education and childcare.
4. Stopping the hidden costs that airlines and other big business add on after you purchase. ex: Spirit charges $98.00 for a flight to New Orleans and then adds $150.00 per checked in bag and $65.00 for carry-on bag. That is just 1 small example of the many hidden cost businesses have been allowed to get away with and no one in government besides our Joe noticed or cared.
Why is the border open? Do you follow the House Congress actions or just listen to your MAGA BS? House Congress chose not to vote for the border closing. The Republican lead House Congress. And then they closed to go on vacation.
But- don't worry- tRUMP has promised you that you do not even have to vote again. He has promised that he and his gazillionaire buddies have it all fixed already. So don't bother voting.
James, Biden is far from perfect. Agree that he has not protected enough biological women on sports teams which this new fangled policy has allowed trans women into girls shower stalls and some of us understand this crazy newfangled illogic. I’ve been a feminist supporter all my life and I’m not about to pull back on my principles in the face of these crazy Frankensteinian notions. Social media has done grave harm. We allow any perverse crap on social media to pollute the minds of young children while Tik Tok in China is only allowed educational programming. We need similar restrictions or our democracy ends. And I fully agree that he has not paid adequate attention to border issues although Trump so shrewdly commanded his House MAGA todies to stop border legislation so do not use border it was Trump that stopped immigration reform.
You mention FBI searching for stolen documents that Trump refused to give up. They didn’t belong to him. He should stand trial as a traitor would in wartime, found guilty and dispensed as a traitor would be in wartime. So please don’t preach to us. Joe Biden on balance has led in government fairly well. You are a hack troll with nothing better to do and further, your lack of intelligence and probably education shows. Begone, Satan.
The stolen documents and information he revealed to enemies should mean he doesn't get Intelligence reports until he returns them. He shouldn't be allowed to take any government office until the court cases are decided, either.
Having browsed through the drivel that you write, it is hardly surprising to see you state that we live in a fantasy land. Go back to your sandbox and play with your friends.
Robin, he does what I do on Fox News. They retain an active comment section and I frequently do battle with them. Sometimes I try to reason with them but most of the time, they are unable to perceive reason so I go for the insults. Sometimes I get inspired to write a piece on my blog. So this guy I understand. He is me in reverse.
Another idiot response. You can't cite a single example. As Christopher Hitchens said, that which is cited without evidence can be dismissed without evidence.
You cite the late, great Christopher Hitchens and then claim that Bill is "another brain dead leftist"???!?
I'll give you one thing James, you are quite the study in the human capacity for contradiction.
As for your juvenile insinuation that by fulfilling his Presidential duties by executing the law to promote justice, especially toward the brave and beleaguered transgender community, he is somehow not "protecting girls", I both question your Betty Crocker-esque view of what a "girl" is, and send you back to that American philosopher Cindy Lauper to see that "Girls just want to have fun!"
It wasn’t anti-Trumpers who attacked the Capitol, Mr. “Looking for a Civil War.”
Polling doesn’t mean a damn thing.
My plan is to keep my head low, be an activist, and fight if that becomes necessary. I am not a mob cultist like the MAGAs. I do not need a obscenely large flag on the back of my pickup truck/boomer cart in order to validate my worldview.
He does not hate you! That is not Joe, so while many think, The MAGA Maggots are a rot on American fruit, this is about Donny-John, feeding manure, fertilizing with lies (54 miles and we paid!) And yes there is fertilizer for hate…do you know that the US economy depends on new labor, much of which is immigrants seeking jobs, and the MAGA guys are much more likely to commit crimes than immigrants! We could have passed a great conservative immigration reform bill but no…and you know why! the Orange Lard said “no!” And the Johnson’s House caved.
Dear Jimmy, I'm far too civil to ever try to "bully" you from this site, but if I was to offer to return the $ you contributed to be a member, would you go away?
It appears that your subscription was paid by Putin, James. As I observe your comments over time, I realize Putin has made a poor investment. You provide others, so much more informed than you, good opportunities to deflect your attempts at seeding propaganda. Thanks for the service.
What a stupid comment. Why did Putin invade Ukraine while Biden was president? Because he knew Biden wouldn't do a damn thing about it. Putin was a lot more afraid of Trump.
BTW - it might time to put down the bong and read a little history. The Trump Putin connection was invented by the Clinton campaign as James Brennan CIA director briefed Obama in the summer of 2016.
Yo.. James.., get down on your knees and pray dude. Pray. Like.., what have you got to lose. I just noticed one of your neighbors in their brand new 64 foot center-console Cigarette (boat) with 4 six-hundred horsepower Mercury Racing outboards (52$$ thousand each) cruising down the Biscayne Bay on a "poker run" together with at least 60 or 80 other 'go-fast' boats. They're mostly Trumpers like you.., and they don't seem to be doing bad in this TERRIBLE economy. Some of my friends were amongst them too, waving, laughing, dousing themselves with frozen margaritas and Coppertone. So.., JAMES... just what the hell is your problem. An while I'm at it here James.., let me ask you: Are you a "christian".., a "muslim".., "hindu".., Buddist.., catholic..(I think they're considered christians ..?).., maoist.., floridian.., beer drinker.., ? Like just wtf are you? Human? Bot? I'm just curious cause the point of view you expressed might imply you live in a vacuum. This current administration has accomplished a lot. We've never had it so good.
Hi James - I've read your comments and responses to others' posts and I'm wondering, do you really believe what you're writing or are you just poking a hornets' nest. I would love to know. Thank you.
Yes I believe EVERY word I wrote. Feel free to challenge factually. If I'm wrong I'll admit.
What I hate is propaganda. That's what's most put out here. The current lie
is that Joe left for the good of the country and he is a hero.
He was forced out by the threat of the 25th amendment by Obama, Pelosi, Harris and Schumer.
Even worse the Democrat elite installed their own candidate who never got a single VOTE.
As for the hornets nest? This is a public site and I'm a paid member. What do the members think? They seem to believe they are entitled to endless confirmation bias. Sorry to break up the kumbaya circle, but if you criticize others, you deserve it back.
NOT "censored by social media". Whoever you are on this Platform you are bound by CONTRACTUAL duties an "Author" & separately as a "Reader" under Substack Inc's choice of law & mediation venue at JAMS-SF. You whoever you are do NOT have to participate but, I reserve all my contractual rights.
I have reported your contract Terms of Service (TOS) violations & will continue to do so until Substack Inc's counsel calls me or Substack Inc comes to the Mediation at their favored venue in San Francisco which has at least 3 Mediators who can handle digital platform contractual disputes including a SF Judge that handled one such case to a Jury verdict
Everyone, you can communicate directly with Substack Inc at "tos@substackinc.com. IMO the 'report' function is a dust bin.
Can you name the policies from your prefered President that protected our girls from sexual harrassment, improved our standard of living, brought down taxes for anyone other than the wealthy?
Sorry you do not understand that the name is not what matters it is the behavior and the beliefs. Can you list some beliefs you have about how things should be?
According to J.D. Vance, Donald Trump’s pick for Vice President, childless women who own cats are unfulfilled and unhappy.
1. Republican men don’t like cats.
2. Women prefer the company of cats than conservative men.
3. Conservative men don’t understand how a cat can be better company to a woman than one of their own.
Therefore, Republican MAGA men should be TNR: Trapped, Neutered, (castration involves removing both testicles, which removes the main source of testosterone and controls sexual behaviors like aggression, roaming , and spraying) when released.
Billl..!!! get out of the schnops! It's not "cats" ferr crissakes.., the word is COUGAR. Haven't you ever been on a "couch"with a with a real, live "cougar"? Well!!.. yer in for the ride of yerr life.., find one.
This is great to see President Biden still working full steam ahead purposing a law that would restrict a President from being above the law and applying a law on the term limits on the Supreme Court. President Biden purposed a 3rd law about the code of ethics that would limit donations that the justices could receive. I believe Senator Whitehouse has a bill on the code of ethics that is ready to be voted on. Unfortunately the Mega Republicans
of congress are in authoritarian mode and their only concern is to get convicted felon Trump elected. Everything else is irrelevant which means no bills will pass until after the election. Harris has a great advantage here to address Bidens current policies on our judicial system during her campaign. Weather you realize or not their both working together to save our Freedom and our Democracy.
On a personal note. Biden is still a shrewd leader of this country and is always thinking ahead. He's a pro with 40 years of experience and you can't take that away from him.
What impresses me about President Biden now is that he is laying the foundation for a liberal / reformist turn. This enables Vice President Harris to run as a moderate while the liberalism flourishes. Brilliant.
I agree, but I also think it's important to understand what it means to run as a moderate. For me, a real moderate POTUS must be open to new ideas AND know how to separate the wheat from the chaff. To do that, the moderate POTUS must surround themselves with a great team, those team members must surround themselves with a great team, and so on.
The reason Biden's administration has been so successful is because he has injected his moral leadership throughout his administration, meaning he has everyone singing from the same "treat others the way you would want to be treated if the shoe was on the other foot" hymn sheet. And Kamala has the same hymn sheet.
The reason Trump's administration was such a disaster is because he injected his immoral leadership throughout his administration, meaning he had everyone singing from the same "do unto to others before they do unto you" hymn sheet.
That brings me to what I think of as the phony moderates, people who want to compare Democrats to Republicans and split the difference. That's what I see in people like Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema. That approach only makes sense when both parties are acting like grownups. If I was an elementary school teacher, and I realized one of my former students is now in a leadership role in the Republican party, I'd be embarrassed and asking myself where I went wrong.
Translation: The hard part becomes possible after you get the easy part right, and getting the easy part wrong makes the hard part impossible.
I'd like to see Buttigieg "groomed" to succeed Blinken for when Blinken is ready to retire, in 2034 or so. I love Pete - smart, well-spoken, thinks on his feet, always well prepared, decent family man, etc. And he gives off such a great vibe, whether he's serious or jesting.
I hope there is a place for him in the Harris administration…Secretary of Families, of Labor, maybe VP…he was my candidate for President way back when, so I am biased…yes I have the Pete Bumper Sticker to prove it!
As a member of the radical middle, who dreams, thinks, try’s, learns, pays attention, I see lots of energy and bombast of the left that I admire…I wished for Clinton vs Sanders as the real American ticket, shunting Donny-John off the conversation
To Which he brought NOTHING!
But centrist are integrators, listeners but have real strength in clarity of values and convictions.
Truth, Justice-for community, children, education, voting, serving, fairness, forgiveness…these are strong! And we believe in evidence and in our proactive to learn and get efficacy…not slogans, not cheap lies, but “what works is What Works!”
The moderate middle is wide and strong, a valley with ridges and fridges up in the hills, who are fun to watch, have to dinner but rarely offer much new.
Well, I am a phoney moderate in that I have had one foot on the liberal side and one foot on the conservative side. I do try to split the difference in many cases, trying to reconcile the two views into, hopefully, a new-and-improved policy stance.
Imagine yourself in a checkout lineup in the main isle of a busy grocery store. Every checkout is open, every line is long, and everyone's attention is on two people. One is a 5-year-old lying on the floor, arms and legs flaying in the air, yelling an screaming at the top of his lungs because he wanted a chocolate bar and his mom said no. The other person is his mother. Do you split the difference?
I see the other side as well. I remember reading a CNN article written by a reporter who visited with Congressional Republicans after their meetings with Pete Buttigieg soon after his appointment as Secretary of Transport to ask them how it went. They all said the same thing. They all said how refreshing it was to leave a meeting with a Democrat feeling like they were actually being listened to. I'd be shocked if I heard them say that about Bernie Sanders.
The problem is that the entire Republican party has adopted the 5-year-old's "I'm right, you're wrong, and this conversation is over" approach. They want their metaphorical chocolate bar and they have zero interest in splitting the difference.
The 5-year-old has already decided he's the most important person in the world. The only thing his mother can do is to agree with him while giving him the bad news, which is that he's tied for first place with everyone else, and she needs to give him a timeout long enough for him to recognize and accept that reality.
That mother has one foot on the child's side and one foot on the parent's side. Having one foot on the liberal side and one foot on the conservative side doesn't make you a phony moderate. A phony moderate is someone who refuses to acknowledge that all the grownups are on one side, and all the grownups on the other side have been purged from the party.
That's how I see it. If I'm wrong, then it's because of something I need to be made aware of because, at this moment, I can't see it.
James, well said. It doesn't work with people throwing tantrums, playing the victim, and insisting on having their way. Years ago I voted for certain Rs here in Oregon. Now I won't vote for any.
Agreed. Well stated and provoking a good chewing of the cud. Alas, I am a phoney moderate because my reaction to a toddler throwing a tantrum would be anything but moderate. 😉
James, I generally agree. One point: I see Senator Manchin as a moderate. While he supports regulations protecting the environment and mitigating human effects on climate change, he won't abandon his voters and stands in the way of policies that would curtail hydrocarbon-based energy mining faster than the economy and technology advances can absorb. To me that's common sense moderation.
No! Moderates are for things, have energy, do not sit on a fence, but live in a wide valley where they harvest the best and produce actions, make things happen…Conservatives say they look to the past but they Don’t!
Biden is a moderate—Learns what works and then imagine and do better…what has Senator Manchin done? he’s blocked most actions when he could. This make him an anchor at best.
Ryan, please look at Manchin's voting record and the range of issues with which he's been involved. He's no obstructionist. Just like classic Republicans should not buy the MAGA fearful message, Democrats shouldn't buy into the Progressive and undeserved disgust thrown at Manchin.
Maybe I've misjudged Manchin, but why is he always playing the spoiler? You haven't said anything that makes me think badly of him. I think badly of him because he gives me the impression he wants the Biden administration to trust Republicans without seeming to be willing to acknowledge how much Republicans have proven themselves to be untrustworthy.
I think there's lots of evidence to support the idea that the Biden admin's success is due to their willingness to listen to the legitimate concerns of others, but that's a two way street. My bias is toward assuming Manchin's outlier status is due to his unwillingness to listen to the Biden admin's legitimate concerns.
I see Joe Manchin and his people still flattening mountains with no money being set aside for those people's future. When their pot becomes empty they won't have a pot to pee in. much less a window to throw it out fro,. I truly feel for all those people in their little part of America. Manchin country - Such a tragedy, and it's going to be born by every taxpayer. This won't be like the tobacco settlement. Screw joe Manchin an 'the company store'.
Jerry, if I read your comment correctly (¡an increasingly larger if these days!), then I agree with you. Senators Manchin and Sinema vote with the Democratic majority two-thirds of the time, at least in 2021. Much of politics is stake-holder management. NOT committing political suicide by accommodating the people who sent one to Congress, is NOT a betrayal.
"Vice President Kamala Harris, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, immediately endorsed Biden’s proposals, meaning that she is willing to be bound by our historic understanding that presidents are not above the law."
Symbiotic and Symbolic....Who better to champion a "no one is above the law" proposal than a former prosecutor?
You have defined Biden's work till next January. He is developing policies that Kamala Harris and the new Congress can pass immediately to strengthen the guardrail of democracy of America. We owe Biden our future.
What concerns me- actually scares me to death - is that the R’s are already putting in place electors in swing states who are election deniers and will not certify the election in those states, if the vote goes for Harris. They are literally planning to steal the election. The challenges to those certification will ultimately go to the Supreme Court and it’s a foregone conclusion what their decision will be. The vote has to be overwhelming for Harris to have a chance.
This action is very troubling, and needs to be as well-known as Project 2025 is becoming. Election deniers have no place in American politics, and the fact that they are still a force to be reckoned with needs to be trumpeted from the rooftops wherever they still infest their towns, counties, cities, and states.
Yes. This is scary. It is happening, Maybe why Trump said on Thursday that he did not need votes, and on Friday that he needed Christians to vote for him, one last time.
Watching C-Span's "Washington Journal" this a.m., a call-in show, the topic was whether one approves, does not approve, or is not sure of Supreme Court reform. Most callers appeared to support reforms. Some did not. No one, at least that I recall, was "not sure," indicating a polarizing issue. One caller had an interesting idea of also having an age cut-off as well; that made sense to me.
Biden said he has unfinished work before he stepped down. He can use this fall to formulate policies for his unfinished work that Kamala Harris can implement. She needs them to win. SCOTUS revision is one. Another must is the bipartisan border control bill Trump stopped.
No. But you appear to be. Biden cannot be "forced out" by anyone, including Obama, Pelosi, Harris, and Schumer. He alone had the power to stay in or out, and if he had chosen in, nobody on Earth had the legal ability to force him out of the race.
It was his decision to leave. I'm sure that decision was informed by Pelosi et al and party funders. But Biden already locked up the delegates in the primaries. The delegates were legally required to cast their votes for him at the convention, so if he kept running, he would become the official nominee no matter what anyone else thought, said, urged, or cajoled. That he chose to retire is a testament to him accepting the realities of age and mental sharpness. Unlike your guy, who believes his gold toilet is the throne of an emperor.
As for Heather, she is one of the most intelligent popular historians I've ever read, with a mind that's like Planet Earth to your small, dirty snowball slowly melting in the gutter.
Just skip over this individual/bot's posts. He's just clogging up bandwidth, and has nothing worth note to say. The replies to his posts are often worth reading, however.
Pulitzer Prize journalist Sy Hersh reported yesterday what is an open
secret, ” the official told me, with approval of Pelosi & Schumer, “Obama called Biden after breakfast and said, ‘Here’s the deal. We have Kamala’s approval to invoke the 25th Amendment”
In the face of irrefutable evidence, that's the best you can do?
Are you a moron? Unlike here there is evidence and facts. I know this is too much for feelings based leftists, but Its tinme to grow up and face the real world.
James…I know you hate this but Biden has been, and continues to be one of the best presidents of my 65 years! And his selfless action was amazing and related his love of country! He is real, genuine, lives his values, made the hardest decision.
The MAGA Maggots hate him for this because they hate real Christian values. And their ‘Orange Lard’ will never be able to do this…fire himself.
I know he was forced out by those Dems and their big money backers. Biden has gotten agenda through that no one else could, so it isn't over until it's over. You are probably right. However, SCOTUS and their corruption needs to be discussed by the press, something they have not been doing, because they have done all their reporting on Biden's age. In fact, I see Biden being forced out by the SHITTY press more than anything else. THE NYT is the shittiest rag of them all. I put Sulzberger in a category with Murdoch. Still, now they have stopped reporting on Biden's age and have nothing to say about Trump because they don't want to offend him, so he is out of sight, out of mind. Perfect time to get the public aware that SCOTUS is not just business as usual. I have given AOC money for taking it on, the money I won't be giving Dick Durbin, who is acting older than Biden ever did, and sitting on the couch. Biden will be president fully until the day he steps down, because I never bought into the he is currently too old. However, do you remember Mikey Johnson saying he would not pass the budget or give money to Ukraine. Well, Biden got it done. So, there we go. Now that he has stepped down, since he accepted being forced out, I am going to accept it too. However, anyone who thinks Biden, or the Democrats are leftist has never met a leftist. Come to Germany where there is a party called Die Linke. I have occasional conversations with my mom's friend who belongs to that party. You can find any member of that party and you will know that they don't support Ukraine because that would be supporting American imperialism. No one, even the left of the Democratic party is actually left. I also have occasional conversations with a neighbor who is American left. The left does not support "the system" any more than the right does. So just because Democrats have allowed others to sloppily use The Left to characterize them does not make it so. The Left does not support Biden, nor Trump. In fact, they are about overthrowing the government not being part of it. That would make them more like Trump followers than Biden followers.
Hi Linda, cheers for you. We need to base our left/right thinking on something. I don’t follow any ideology I like to feel that I think issues for myself so I don’t have any strong following even on my blog. Better to write about cats which I just did.
As much as I criticize the MAGA republicans, omg, I also reserve some criticism for democrats because we have sold ourselves a bill of goods that can be successfully used against us. I want to win elections that is the only goal not unlike republicans. Yet we puss and fight each other. About Germany, your other nation is inches away from a new post Nazi populist government and I predicted this when Angela Merkle opened borders and allowed millions to migrate in. And she said at the time that this was because of German guilt not realizing what she was seeding for the future which is now. Anyone with good history learning knows that no people desire this massive shift in population.
I could continue my diatribe but I must get to my activities now.
Bill, how does 20% get to be taking the nation away. That is not inches. I am very aware of where I am living, and that is in both countries. Germany is not one monolith. However, in both of my countries I am worried about the factors that lead to the rise of fascism. As well as elsewhere. Letting in immigrants did not make the AfD rise to power. Probably being part of a fascist regime for longer than the west has made the East more susceptible. The messages that Russian bots are sending to Germany and the USA support Putin's agenda, but not the well being of Germany. Germany needs immigrants and is working on making it easier for people to move here. After hundreds of years of monarchy, the easterners in Germany had 15 years of democracy in the Weimar Republic, and then fascism under Hitler, and fascism under the DDR government until 1990. So, there is not the history of democracy that the west has. Still, many in the East also resist the Russian bot messages. Germany has a shortage of workers and guess what, Germans are not having a lot of children. The USA has more balance because more people come in, that is what helps it have the strongest economy in the world. I would say a lot of disinformation online is making both countries more susceptible to disinformation, and as Timothy Snyder says, having a few people own most of the information space is not what we had envisioned in 2000 when things were really being developed with social media.
Sy Hersh, former NY TImes & AP Journalist, Pulitzer Prize winner
reported yesterday: “On Sunday” the official told me, with approval of Pelosi & Schumer, “Obama called Biden after breakfast and said, ‘Here’s the deal. We have Kamala’s approval to invoke the 25th Amendment”
No one is denying the story.
Obama, Pelosi, and Schumer installed Harris. No vote. Nothing.
The word is Obama wanted an open vote at the convention, but he was overruled.
Wow, James! Dude...chill! This is just a forum for anyone, including you, to express yourself. You are doing that in aces with repetition. But you are also diminshing your own stance with your venom. Express your ideas, yes. But I challenge you to withold the venom you direct to others who are here for the same purpose.
Accept it man. You, we, them... we are all a part of the same world.
Now I'll shut-up and listen to your retort... waiting...
I did with facts. From Britannica: ":Seymour Hersh's later work, however, has been controversial and widely panned by journalists for promoting conspiratorial claims that hinge on dubious anonymous sources or speculation.
Examples of controversial claims made later in Hersh's career include allegations that Turkey, not Russia, was behind a chemical weapons attack in Syria, and that Trump authorized an airstrike in Syria in response to Russia's alleged use of chemical weapons, even while knowing Russia did not use such weapons.
His work, increasingly, has become popular with Russian state-controlled media. Like the aforementioned stories, his most recent article alleging a U.S. attack on a Russian-owned pipeline has seen heavy Russian promotion,
If you believe Joe Biden wasn't pushed out you are naive. His funding raising dried up, every major figure in the Democratic called for him to step down, and his medical health was obvious.
There is absolutely NOTHING supporting your position.
As for the Russian smear. Good luck. Who should I believe Sy Hersh or you?
"The Republicans appear to have gone out of their way to pick a ticket that would offend women." To which she said, “Critical Cat Theory (CCT): Conservative men don’t like cats. Conservative men are upset that women would prefer the company of cats instead of them. Conservative men just don’t understand how a feline could be better company than a misogynistic creep.”
Cats are a study in consent. Cats model independence, bodily autonomy, and boundary setting; they will definitely enforce consequences for violations.
Controlling people (conservatives?) don't like cats because the cats can't be controlled, they can't always make the cat do something it doesn't want to do, and omg what are the women learning from cats?
CCT are my late mother’s initials and if she could she’d step out of the grave to defeat Trump, who is an anathema to all she believed.
That said I have a concern with Critical Cat Theory, which is that it might well lead us to being controlled by toxoplasma gondii. When mice, a secondary host to this parasite which causes toxoplasmosis, are infected, they lose their instinctive fear of cats, the primary host.
Given this, we have to wonder whether we are mimicking cats’ independent behavior, or merely doing their bidding.
Either way, though, if it leads to Trump’s defeat, I’m okay with it.
I realized when I was in my early 20s (half a century ago) that any man who didn't like cats wasn't going to like me. So when I would meet an interesting looking guy, I'd find out immediately find out if he liked cats. That really cut down on the number of creeps I dated. And now I see that same criteria holds true for the voting booth.
Disrespect and disregard for women is so unrealistic.
My mom's father gave her land to manage when she was in her late teens. When she came to him with a question or concern, he would tell her, "This land is yours. If you make a profit, it is yours, if you have a loss, it is yours."
She rented a house on her property to a white family which she discovered stole the fertilizer needed for the crop. My mom stayed with the family....worked beside them and she made a profit with them.
My mom and dad farmed. They were partners together. They mutually respected one another. When I was 12 years old and my brother was 10 years old, my beloved father died due to cancer. During those difficult days, as he spent time in the hospital, my little brother and I stayed with our older sister. My mom stayed by my father's bed on a cot, caring for him. Only once did a cousin insist she return home to rest...fearing she would die of exhaustion before he died.
Does this sound like the description of a woman that Vance could possibly comprehend?
Such a man does not deserve to hold the honored position of Vice President. Our country requires leaders who will fairly and respectfully govern all of us.
Nor does his mentor, DT who has a history of treating women with disrespect, deserve to hold the sacred office of President of the United States of America!!!!!
I had an old Biden/Harris sign, which I modified and put on my lawn yesterday. I used tape to remove Biden's name and wrote in "Childless" Dog Lady for . . ." I have a standard poodle as my current companion, after decades of belonging to cats. He is the most catlike dog I have ever known, so it's kinda perfect.
Cats are freedom fighters. Just try to tell one what to do. In this they model an approach for resistance to autocracy. Hence the saying "Like herding cats".
It seems to me that supporting the family unit IS important; that the family (i.e., a stable parenting home) and the extended family are integral to society. As a life-long bachelor without children, I do feel my life fell short of my values.
What bugs the scheiße out of me, however, is the contempt shown by Senator 'shady' J.D. Vance et al. toward fellow citizens who choose not to be parents. It is cheap political theater, now a commonplace in our click-bait culture.
Speaking of Rachel Maddow - did anyone else watch her show last nite, Monday 29? Rachel said that on a Friday night, before tRumps Saturday announcement that Floridians only needed to vote this 1 last time, that on the Friday, tRump told his MAGA Cult base not to worry to vote at all. He said the fix was in - no votes needed. TERRIFYING.
yes, I saw that. And that Peter Theil owns JD, and Mellon has given hundreds of millions to the GOP ticket. It will be interesting to see who wins the AZ primary where Theil-owned Blake Masters is a candidate.
This is why Trump is so confident: "At least 70 pro-Trump conspiracists are election officials in key battleground counties — and they are poised to make a giant mess on Election Day" https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-features/trump-swing-state-officials-election-deniers-1235069692/ I'm pretty sure that there are attorneys on the democratic side already to take any state election officials to court if they refuse to certify their county's results, as was the case in several states after the 2022 elections.
"Before 2020, local election officials seldom voted against certifying results. But in 2022, conservative officials in North Carolina, Arizona, Nevada, Pennsylvania and New Mexico refused to do so. Some admitted to refusing to certify for political reasons. In all the 2022 cases, the election results eventually were certified, sometimes under a court order.
Election law experts say that these disruptions reveal a weakness in the American electoral system, which relies on thousands of local officials to certify the totals in their counties and municipalities before their results can be aggregated and tallied for state and federal elections.
Local elections officials “could create chaos” all the way up the chain by refusing to certify, said Alice Clapman, a senior counsel in election law at the Brennan Center for Justice. “And in that chaos you have more room for political interference.” Five legal experts described to ProPublica scenarios in which legislatures, courts, secretaries of state or governors could use a failure to certify at the local level to exert partisan influence." https://www.propublica.org/article/election-officials-refused-certify-results-few-held-accountable
"Cochise County, Arizona, provides a prime recent example. In November 2022, the county’s board of supervisors voted against certifying the county’s general election returns, citing vague concerns that the county’s voting machines could not be trusted. But later, one of the supervisors admitted that their refusal to certify was really a protest against the election in nearby Maricopa County, where a ballot printing error ignited a firestorm of conspiracy theories that the glitch resulted in mass election fraud.
The board’s refusal to certify threatened to disenfranchise every voter in Cochise County. Arizona law required state officials to begin gathering county returns no later than December 8. This left them with no choice but to complete the process without the county’s 47,000 votes if the board did not certify in time. In the end, the dispute concluded only after a state judge ordered the board to certify the results without delay, explaining that the board had no discretion to refuse to certify the results under Arizona law.
Cochise County was not an isolated incident. During the 2022 election cycle, rogue local officials in Otero County, New Mexico; Esmeralda County, Nevada; Berks, Fayette, Lancaster, and Luzerne Counties, Pennsylvania; Surry County, North Carolina; and Mohave County, Arizona all refused or threatened to refuse to certify valid election results based on claims rooted in election denialism — the false idea that the 2020 election was stolen and that widespread fraud continues to pervade our election system." https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/analysis-opinion/election-denial-cant-overcome-election-certification-protections
LOL all i can say with that. "Greater conservativism predicted more negative evaluations of cats and an overall preference for dogs over cats, even after controlling for relevant demographics." from a University of California Press 2021 analysis. Cats rule with women, too. That go for truck ownership too? Ram 1500s and so on?
Dunno. Owned by two cats and a 2019 Chevy Silverado 1500 which will roll over 100,000 miles today as I drive to Los Gatos, CA to help my wife’s aunt and uncle finish their move out of the house they sold and begin their trek to relocate in Oregon.
I have a bachelor of science degree, and it would offend me if someone told me that because cryptozoologists insist they are scientists, all scientists are like cryptozoologists, whereas cryptozoology is the opposite of real science.
I identify as a progressive, but I feel I need to say something when someone implies that because neoconservatives insist they are conservatives, all conservatives are like neoconservatives, whereas neoconservatism is the opposite of real conservatism.
The ideal team is comprised of real progressives and real conservatives. They are alike in that they are always openminded and skeptical, except the former are more openminded and less skeptical, and the latter are more skeptical and less openminded.
For example, there are three conservative SCOTUS justices doing their best to preserve the status quo, and six neoconservatives doing their best to end the 250-year-old American experiment. The former were appointed by Democrats, and the latter were appointed by Republicans.
I'm not always right, but I do think it's always important to respectfully share conflicting perspectives.
And let's not gloss over how twisted and aberrant they are.
To quote American psychologist Mary. L Trump, niece of our Donald -
"It’s weird to worship a fascist game show host while pretending to be a Christian. It’s weird to complain that childless cat ladies are the real problem facing America; it’s weird to believe in “menstrual surveillance...... .”
These people are not just dangerous, they are a very long way away from normal.
It seems Dems have decided to call the fascists "weird". This is not enough. They are nazis wanting to take away many basic rights that were fought for over generations, wiped away in a few short years by FASCISTS! We must call this out. Weird is not strong enough.
I think "weird" is a way of mocking the very strange Donald and the Couch Stain while not freaking people out. Yes they are fascists, yes they are a threat, and rather than being endorsed by a major political party both should be at minimum relegated to a circus side show.
But for those too stupid to see, too ignorant to get a vaccination (I followed a Prius for miles yesterday, with a drumpf bumper sticker and a cartoon Fauci with a clown nose-cognitive dissonance much?), weird might just work.
It's why I always call the guy dumpty, as in fat egg shaped idiot falling off his border wall and cracking apart.
Jen, I agree. And while I can't claim credit for this as I saw it elsewhere, but refer to their ticket as "Couch Humpty and Dumpty". I tried last night to rewrite the verse (Couch Humpty and Dumpty sit on a wall/ pondering policies sure to appall./To subjugate women and empower men/to let Dumpty be president, again and again.)
I'm sure others can do better than this -- where are the Ogden Nashes out there?
Absolutely agree! The words, “weird”, “crazy”, ”insane”, “unhinged”, are all wishy-washy euphemisms for “fascist”. Let’s haul out the standard definition of fascism to drive home to folks that Agenda 2025 is an exact blueprint for it. Let’s drive home what life in a christo-fascist regime will really be like, in video clips targeted to red and swing states.
I was recently called out by a fellow commenter on one of the social media sites for calling Trump and MAGAs “fascists”. They challenged my understanding of the word and wanted me to use ”authoritarian” instead. I replied that I have been around enough years to know what a fascist is and I’ve been calling Trump one for longer than most others around me would admit he was one. So no, I’m not changing my tone or descriptors for political correctness or so as not to offend MAGAs with a “loaded” term. It’s loaded for a reason and is exactly the right term for Trump. He is an authoritarian, but worse than that, he is a fascist authoritarian who only serves himself or people from whom he seeks a favorable transaction. He is a fascist, which to me encapsulates all the other less “loaded” terms people ascribe to him.
I guess it depends on whether weird evokes a smile or not for a particular person. Personally I don't think smiles are in order when dealing with people wanting to be fascist dictators of our country.
Terry, you're correct, but it appears to be part of a multi-prong strategy to attack them, and the thin--skinned MAGAs are objecting to it. The Dems are also attacking MAGA for ProjeQt 20245, SCOTUS, women's rights, the felon redux, and a whole litany of other issues which also stick. The word "weird" weirdly works, in my view, as perhaps it causes a bit of self-reflection ("Am I weird?")
And yet laughing at those fascists really REALLY gets to them in a way that anger and fear only feeds them. I say Laugh! Laughter will burn them up and give us both relief and power.
Yes, but they are ALSO weird. Deadly dangerous, insidious, vastly evil, but also, weird. Hannibal Lecter? Kimberley Guilfoyle? Sharks? Electric-motor boats? How can you describe this any other way than weird?
George Conway has started a new PAC to highlight Trump's mental illness. Link: https://www.psychopac.org/letter/ Trump does have untreated personality disorders, which can now be more fully addressed with the ageism surrounding Biden (one of my heroes) out of the picture. He has some form of antisocial pathology and narcissism, rendering him unable to feel remorse and needing constant praise and attention. This is dangerous and disruptive for anyone, but horrible if that person is in a position of leadership. Narcissists are also easily manipulated. Leon Panetta played him like a violin, making Trump even more dangerous.
I believe most people who are caught in Trump's web, if not all but the most crass, do not know personality disorder, a form of mental illness. I know this and am tuned in because it's in my family. Anyone who deals with this closely should recognize the abnormality. But people do not. There is no cure that I am aware of- so treatment is not a fix. Such people should be disqualified especially for such a position as POTUS. That said, we all have mental issues big and small, but Trump's are so big and obvious, including the intersection of age with it, and more dangerous. I wonder how this passes; so many are deaf and blind to it.. People are blinded by insecurities, more appealing calls to hate, division, and the need of inclusiveness (belonging). This is so frightening for our country. It takes a lot of waking up and action, education, to put this now mass movement down, if it can be.
Basically the Trump movement is about power, grabbing power in whatever way, amoral, immoral.
I ‘ve read this, and I believe him, just as I do Mary. Apparently Fred III has a child wilts special needs and Donald didn’t want to cover the child’s health insurance and even suggested the child be allowed to die. It is just the sort of cold-blooded remark I’d expect Donald Sr. to make.
I feel the same way. I was angry that Maddow and company kept the 'Biden is old' issue alive. But I too have wondered, why Donnie keeps saying 'you don't need to vote, we have all the votes we need'. It's easy to assume it is braggadocio....but I think the party's boldness on an unpopular platform indicates something more sinister. She talks about it in the link above
Rachel Maddow's most recent show has answered your Q, Susan.
The orange felon has taken to his "You don't need to vote, we have all the votes we need" perhaps because of the as-of-now 70 election officials across the U.S. on record as 2020 election validity deniers.
The orange felon may feel he has enough such corrupt MAGA in position to deny certification to non-MAGA 2024 results.
Rachel was reporting on a recent Rolling Stone piece which more thoroughly explored this dark side to corrupt MAGA in high places across the swing state map.
Honestly, I can’t abide any bitching about SCOTUS from anybody who couldn’t bring themselves to vote for Hillary in 2016. I was a Bernie bro, but happy to vote for HRC knowing what the stakes were. I look at the Palestinian sympathizers threatening to withhold their votes from Harris and shake my head. As if Trump won’t jump right into bed with Netanyahu.
The majority of the voters did vote for her, Kerry, although we both wish it had been more. The first state Kamala Harris campaigned in was a swing state Hillary Clinton never visited in her campaign year...and lost. Kamala Harris noted that health care is a right. Hillary Clinton proclaimed that America would NEVER EVER have single payer health insurance. 500,000 people each year are bankrupted each year by medical bills. Over time, that adds up to a lot more votes than Clinton lost swing states by. So, Let's not blame the citizen voters or start thinking of Kamala Harris as someone other than herself.
The "Palestinian sympathizers" are as aware as the "Netanyahu loyalists" on what Trump will do to the former if he returns to power. Anyone who does not know who backs Trump is the same that backs Netanyahu should fact check more often: https://mediabiasfactcheck.com/aipac-bias-and-credibility/
Given the vibrancy of a fresh start, some hope that we now have, and a positive enthusiasm not seen since Bernie Sanders in 2016, let's keep that going.
Agree to disagree. Citizen voters are exactly the ones to blame, in this country that loves to shift the blame to politicians. Taking responsibility for one’s actions is a prerequisite in a democracy. Let us not forget that Trump campaigned on trashing ACA, and still people remained indifferent when their votes might have counted. And…Palestinian sympathizers angry at Biden don’t at all sound like they are very aware of the consequences of abstaining. It’s the same “purity” arguments and behavior I’ve seen with Humphrey/Nixon, Bush/Gore, and HRC/Trump.
Actually, one of the many things Trump "promised" was a better health care plan, not so different from what Bernie Sanders recognized was needed. The fact that he never intended to deliver on it seems easier to recognize now than to remember the details of all the lies he told. Despite corporate news, some people still gain awareness that a half million of them annually bankrupted by a health care cartel is still really happening along with having "THE ACA" together with a steady stealth privatizing of Medicare. I'm also betting more know the difference between the careless use of "Palestinian sympathizers" and people knowing from the gut that they are justifiably pissed that they have been told, not asked, to shut up, don't protest, and cheer lead for a genocide. If we have a disagreement, it's probably because I have more faith in citizen voters than what you express.
You do indeed have more faith in them. When Russ Feingold was beaten by the same moron for the second time in Wisconsin, I lost my faith. Although I share your outrage at the silencing of the dissenters of American policy towards Israel, I don’t agree that it is careless to refer to them as Palestinian sympathizers. They obviously care and sympathize with them, and are inspired to criticize American support for a murderous regime. And finally, I heartily disagree with your point about Trump and healthcare. He and his party mounted a full throated attack on ACA. Trump repeatedly promised to gut Obamacare, probably hundreds upon hundreds of times. His empty promises to replace it with something better were believed by practically nobody.
I'm with you, Kerry, re: citizen voters. I will NEVER forgive my fellow Buckeyes for voting vance in over the eminently qualified Tim Ryan. And I seriously doubt that all the Ohio slack-jawed yokels have realized the damage they have done, not just here, but nationally.
They were obviously believed... which is amazing. It's still amazing that Trump is believed and not known universally as a liar... that so many believe him. This does not bode well for democracy... I mean when people are not engaged with the truth, do not reason, do not take part but succumb to someone such as Trump.
To be anti genocide is to be pro-humanitarian not "Pro-Palestinian" or not soon to be "Pro-Lebanese" and certainly not anti-semitic. To be sure, this is not the only recent genocide, but it is the only one in which the perpetrators have interfered in our governance to the degree of imposing restrictions of speech and "loyalty oaths" on American citizens. Some do take responsibility for that https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mvZ0gupc7k8&t=92s.
As far as Feingold, I don't need your reminder there either. I resided in that state, taught in the UW and was extremely disappointed at his losing, That was when politicians started replacing real academics and scholars as university presidents with their political hacks and the ones at "THE" UW started advocating the UW was the size of a Fortune 500 company so political hacks installed as their presidents and chancellors should be similarly paid. Politicians termed out or placed there in holding tanks where they could gain visibility as they were groomed for public office were delighted! The example that state set was adopted nationally to the detriment of most of our universities. Feingold didn't lose because of who he was or what he did so much as what ushered in the end of the New Deal Democratic Party with the Reagan era of disservice, the rise of Democratic Party neoliberalism as described in "Democracy in Chains," and the eventual catastrophe of Trump.
Like you, I campaigned for Bernie, served as a party delegate at several levels and then supported Hillary even though that was not my first choice, so don't point your "purity" needling in my direction. I didn't expatriate like you did to another country, but I moved to another state which had still managed to keep academics in charge of universities as result of a strong union, and kept installed political hacks from destroying its universities. Mine was a good decision. I hope you found yours equally one of your best. But we can't all leave the country or abandon it to its problems that we ourselves don't have to live with.
I think it’s a fair shot at me for expatriating, but as a college dropout whose business was destroyed by the 2008 crisis, HR people laughed at me while I was trying to get hired in my 50’s. I didn’t have the piece of paper they needed to bother considering me for jobs I was overqualified for. I didn’t want to work at Home Depot or drive a school bus. So, I left. You can justifiably take your shots at me from within academia; I didn’t have any options I much liked, in any state. But don’t point your “abandon” needling at me.
Whatever Trump says cannot be believed, so who knows what his "side"
Harris mentioned two things in her first speech (1) Affordable Health Care and (2) Health care is a right, not only something the wealthy can access. Affordable Health Care is not "affordable" to a lot of citizens. Only universal heath care would seem like health care as a right for citizens, rather than as a "right" for the insurance cartel to continue to keep affordable care hostage as a cash cow health care for-profit system.
I'm an advocate for universal health care. I don't know what Kamala is actually for, but she is the first Democratic presidential candidate to voice health care as a right of citizens. Those for any for-profit system are likely on the side of oligarchs and plutocrats.
I voted for Hillary Clinton and I still adore and admire her. I am working now for Kamala Harris.
But bitching against Mitch McConnell is a valve release and I cannot seen to give it up.
I will never forget the look of shock and terror on TV pundits faces when they realized they were going to have to announce that tRump won against Ms Clinton. She won the popular vote! If only... if only RBG stepped down , if only the electoral college wasn't so rigged , we could be living in a gentler, kinder , humanist world.
It was the media who elected Trump. Their incessant need for entertainment programming disguised as news gave that asshole 24 hours of publicity every day for months, endlessly stoking the bullshit about Hillary’s emails.
Estimates are 2 billion $$$ in free press. They gave him recognition where none existed, and their investment gave their owners and shareholders profit. They are returning with another investment.
Blinded by American military support for a dubious Israeli political regime, loaded with people who have always been inherently anti-Palestinian, let along Gazan, with a history of settlement encroachment on Palestinian land. How can they possibly miss Trump's "get it done" statement. GOP lines up on anti-Palestinian stances.
''But today’s Republicans are political extremists who are trying to disrupt elections and who killed immigration reform. “Trump poses a serious threat to our nation,” he wrote. “We can’t have a felon representing us on the national stage, let alone one who would threaten to abandon NATO and ruin our standing abroad.”''
Hitler's playbook is the GOP's Bible. Let's keep this front and center going forward.
Thanks, Michael, but clicking your link gets only "Video unavailable."
I got the same when I sought the link separately. But eventually I found a link successfully bringing up the skit. (Sorry, Michael, but I found it a bit tiresome -- nothing remotely as direct as the Lincoln Project and George Conway.)
This is the most exciting post that I have read. Thank you to ALL REPUBLICANS who are jumping on the band wagon. Happy to see your names here. United we stand. Divided we Fall.
I was absolutely astounded to read about the mayor of Mesa. My dad and stepmother used to live there, and believe me, it's a kind of epicentre for the Christian Right movement.
It is very encouraging to read this. We cannot let up.Remember 2016!! Wed do not want the Electoral College to decide. We need an absolute majority. Volunteer to make it happen.
from Wiki.... "In a 2014 study, academic researchers from MIT and UCLA analyzed over a decade's worth of public opinion surveys. They determined that Mesa was the "most conservative American city of more than 250,000 residents". In 2017, the Pew Research Center also determined that Mesa was the most conservative city in the United States."
Thank you, Ma'am for another thoughtful essay. For a sudden lame-duck, President Biden is proving to be very much up to his game. The great thing about the President's policy friskiness is that he can stake out the positions and take the heat for being 'wattical' while Vice President Harris simply runs on Admin. policy. Brilliant!
SPEAKING OF A PEAK TIME FOR A PEAK TEAM
Dr Heather Cox Richardson has two 'sub-stacked' soul-sisters out there addressing our current turmoil. Dr Cox Richardson addresses the turmoil in terms of the sweep of U.S. history and discernible lessons learned from it. Two other thinkers from distinct disciplines complement Dr Cox Richardson's profound knowledge of history. Together, these three women show us lessons learned from other times of tumult; the mechanics underlying the subversion of the rule-of-law; and, the social pathology animating a dangerous trend toward political violence. Taken together, the writings of these three women confer upon the reader a nuanced and wholistic sense of what is happening, its mechanics, and a way out of the mire of megalomania.
First is Dr Bandy X. Lee, as a Yale trained psychiatrist nuanced in her thinking by an M.Div., also from Yale. Dr Lee's field work deals principally with violence and its causes within a society, an institution, or an individual; she then proposes and implements remedies to address it. Dr Lee evaluates the psychiatric precariousness of not only President Trump, but also American society facing an accelerating social pathology.. Below is a snip-it of today's thirteenth chapter of 'The Psychology of Trump Contagion: An Existential Threat to American Democracy and All Humankind'.
"Therefore, we find ourselves in a paradoxical situation where, the more urgent and more dire the circumstances, the more necessary it is to pause—to understand deeply and correctly, not just to know and to take correct action, but to access a space in our psyches that brings out our ultimate strength."
Joyce Vance is a former prosecutor who understands the law and how the current Trump Contagion could end the rule of law. She complements Drs Lee and Cox Richardson by explaining President Trump's attack on democracy in terms of legal maneuvers and affronts. A snip-it from the recent essay, "It is Time to Talk about Misogyny."
"There is the deliberate, intentional misogyny Trump and his followers spew like Tennessee Congressman Tim Burchett calling Harris a 'DEI hire.' There is the casual misogyny that many people . . . accept as obvious truths when they are not. The kind of attacks that we saw directed towards Hillary—'she’s shrill' . . . 'not likable'—and that we now see being directed toward the Vice President. Much of it is irresponsible, unthinking commentary that, when injected into the bloodstream of the body politic, gives people an excuse not to vote for Kamala Harris without saying it’s her gender or her race that makes them uncomfortable."
I find that the three together create a textured, multi-layered view. Dr Lee gets a bit too political at times, but she has been injured by the powers that be and is brave in her dissent.
She's writing a book on the pathology dumpty exhibits. Publishing it on her substack in chapters before its release in I think September. It's fairly dense with psychological jargon but well worth diving into.
Her audience certainly isn't the general public. Is she an influencer? Hard to say for where it counts come election time. Ie via influential relay. OR, she could learn to "less complicate" her main points
Well, Dr Lee was very much an influencer in 2017 -- not in popularity but in her audience -- when she led the effort by a group of experts to alert the country on President Trump's mental unfitness. The American Psychiatric Association and certain unscrupulous rivals shut her down and interviews dried up.
She is trying to resurrect that group effort by submitting a group-letter to Judge Merchan and by leading an intervention by a panel of experts BEFORE the election.
In the sense of being walking click-bait, Dr Lee is not an influencer in the digital. Her influence, in conjunction with other though-leaders, will be mediated through more public click-baiter.
I remember hearing about concerns of anti-Trump political statements being made by psychiatrists from the APA, diagnoses to boot. You're tagging the APA with "certain unscrupulous rivals"? I see Dr Lee made Wikipedia.... https://www.wikiwand.com/en/Goldwater_rule
Personally, I worry this may open a can of worms, ie retaliatory accusations among political rivals generally. Did you know, btw, that there are studies suggesting a significant number of political and business leaders have sociopathic tendencies? And... one attribute is their social adaptations making it easier for them to take over social organizations? None of which would be identifiable by psychiatrists generally. Tricky business, I admit, and I'm inclined to believe people like Mary Trump anecdotally, though she plainly has some axes to grind.
There is even a name for it, misogynoir. It’s a particular hate that intelligent African American women experience in public and private life. It also is something many African American women face on a daily basis.
Unfortunately Burchett is my rep (and Blackburn my senator!)!! Which has led a group of us to start www.bluetennessee.org. These two are “graduates” of the TN legislature. Ugh!
I would love to see those two replaced by Justin Jones and Justin Pearson...they would truly represent Tennessee and honorably serve the whole country...
You have my deepest sympathy. How are you going to get rid of the pig sticker? (Pigs by the way are very intelligent and funny creatures, neither an attribute Ms Blackburn posesses).
I join Jen in her sympathy. Fortunately, for me, I am too old and too tired to get too upset about anything anymore. That is about the only advantage my age-bracket seems to give me.
By the way, I am placing similar comments on the thread of Dr Lee's essay from yesterday and on Ms Vance's next essay. I am proud to show my liberal credentials as an equal opportunity bloviator. 🤭⚖️🤝💡😉
Honoring the Role of Elder is new to the US culture. Biden won’t be put out to pasture. Stepping into sharing his experience and suggesting plausible passages and passkeys.
Friends-Harris is gaining traction and it is a joy to behold. However, I have a huge question. Republicans will not take this quietly, nor will they just go back to slither under their rocks from whence they came. WHY IS TRUMP SAYING PEOPLE DO NOT NEED TO VOTE???? If people have been put in place to deny the votes and they kick it to the House or SCOTUS, we lose no matter the blue tsunami. How can this be stopped? Prevented? What can we do? Action must be taken NOW to prevent their coup from being successful this time. Sorry-reading another substack where they referenced this terrified me. The creepy attitudes and behaviors from the GOP to control the lives of others is out of control and that includes their complete disregard for the Constitution, our bodily autonomy, or the freedom to seek life, Liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. What can we do NOW, what can be put in place NOW to ensure votes are counted and certified?????
My question, too. Rachel Maddow devoted part of her show yesterday to election deniers being appointed (by whom??) to serve on boards that should certify votes correctly… which they might not. It would only take a small number in battleground states to throw the election into chaos.
I wonder what, if anything, can be done - can someone’s credentials be challenged? Can a contestation be contested before the state’s votes are thrown out? The U.S. seems to need the kind of oversight that is given to non-democratic countries.
These Swing State Election Officials Are Pro-Trump Election Deniers
At least 70 pro-Trump conspiracists are election officials in key battleground counties — and they are poised to make a giant mess on Election Day
BY JUSTIN GLAWE JULY 29, 2024
WHEN ELECTION NIGHT comes in November, it will be up to thousands of local election officials to certify election results in their counties. Among those election officials are scores of Donald Trump supporters who believe his lies and conspiracies about stolen elections — and will be in prime position to act on those beliefs to try to aid his campaign in November.
In the swing states of Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, and Pennsylvania, Rolling Stone and American Doom identified at least 70 pro-Trump election conspiracists currently working as county election officials who have questioned the validity of elections or delayed or refused to certify results. At least 22 of these county election officials have refused or delayed certification in recent years.
Certification of election results is what legal experts consider a “ministerial task,” and one required by state and local law. But as Trump’s lies about the 2020 election have taken hold, Republicans nationwide have decided that certification provides them an opportunity to hear fraud allegations — and refuse to officially count their local votes. Republicans have refused to certify election results at least 25 times since Trump lost the 2020 election to President Joe Biden.
Hopefully the rest isn't behind a paywall for anyone interested.
BTW, Rolling Stone has some excellent deep-dive political journalists if you're not familiar.
This is not a surprise to me, living in Texas. But the numbers are. It has been clear for some time that they have an alternative strategy to earning votes. I hope democrats have some way to identify and fight this. Thank you, Rolling Stone and Maddow. Doing the job our MSM has vacated…
Overwhelming voter turnout. Getting an epic turnout will make it much easier to see through the lies and games the GQP will try to pull. Close elections are much more corruptible than landslides.
In a nutshell - VOTE and get everyone you know (especially young folks that haven't voted before) to register and VOTE (all the way down the ticket - local and state offices are critical).
The biggest threat to Democracy right now (and to Kamala winning the election) is VOTER SUPPRESSION on a vast scale never seen before! Trump could win if it‘s not stopped! Hundreds of thousands of “VIGILANTE VOTER CHALLENGERS” are being deployed by MAGA to all states (especially swing states) to purge voter rolls of any and all likely Democrats, especially Blacks, People of Color, elderly, youth and many others.
Several excellent sources of info about this are:
gregpalast.org (website of investigative journalist Greg Palast)
Very few people are aware of the scale of this so i am posting it everywhere i can, including letters to the editor of my local newspapers. I strongly encourage everyone to do likewise!!
I hope they partner with Field Team 6, which is active in the same races and which is re registering folk purged from the roles.
Focus for Democracy raised more than $5MM the other night for Galvanize and Accelerate Change. IMHO Democrats would be golden if FT 6 raised that kind of money. https://www.fieldteam6.org/fund-the-mission
Technically, Hillary Clinton won in a landslide--literally millions more votes than the orange menace. Unfortunately, it's the electoral college that determines outcomes, which is why there's so much focus on swing stares. Republicans have seldom won the popular vote. Bush didn't either. In fact, if The Supreme Court hadn't stopped the Florida recount and declared the election for Bush, Gore would have won.
How I wish, they are like the Whac-A-Mole game. When you whack one, they pop up just beside it with another evil trick. They have been very busy - for a very long time.
Trump took the Rust Belt in 2016 by far fewer votes than Biden in 2020, though margins in both cases are thin, never heard Trump complain about that? Remember Trump has made lies a cornerstone of his political influence.
Exactly! Rachel Maddow highlighted this last night. Senator Warren said that we have to vote in overwhelming numbers. What good does that do if a Trumpist refuses to release the numbers? It’s amazing how Dems have to vote overwhelmingly while Republicans just need that one extra vote. I’m sick of minority rule.
And it makes him furious when he is finally held accountable. He has won so many cases against people with legitimate claims by delaying cases to the point it is no longer financially feasible to fight them.
And he surrounds himself with other cheaters that enable his heinous tactics.
The system that enables that tactic to succeed needs to be corrected. I believe it will be, in a way that a lot of people will find astonishing. Some here on Substack say “God help us” when something looks dire. But for most it’s just a cry of despair without any faith he will actually do anything. I am convinced the ultimate day of reckoning is really close. Wish I could say how close, but the only thing for sure is that it will be “before it’s too late.” We will not save ourselves. Vote your heart out, you may make a little difference, but the world requires a bigger solution.
Previously, The Felon did his best to subvert the Electoral College, and he personally got away with it. In this go-round, we need to Trimp-Proof the college and the electors beforehand. There shouldn't be any excuse for acting surprised when he tries the same thing again.
In December 2022, Congress passed the Electoral Count Reform and Presidential Transition Improvement Act of 2022. "Any objection made by senators or representatives during the counting of the electoral votes must be made in writing and signed by at least one-fifth of the senators and one-fifth of the members of the House of Representatives. Previously, an objection required the signatures of only one member of each chamber."
On 06/20/24, “The Big Picture & Jay Kuo” wrote on Substack addressing this change, which would make it much harder than it was in 2020 to challenge the official results. Plus Kamala Harris will be overseeing the count as Vice President (as opposed to Trump sycophant Pence, who stood up to Trump for the first time ever).
The new Congress takes office on January 3rd, so if the Democrats win over the house, Hakeem Jeffries will be in charge of the House on January 6th, not Mike Johnson.
Check out STEVE VLADECK's 7/29 "Long Read" for Steve's pinpoint analysis of one ... just 1, sentence in OHIO vs EPA that has "reshaped equitable relief" by altering he "balancing test" for what constitutionally constitutes "irreparable harm".
Steve is in the weeds but, this weed must be yanked out ASAP.
And kevin roberts saying "we are winning in ways the left does not even know". I am frightened beyond belief. These people are ruthless as all cultists are. They are devoted to their free market no compromise ideas.
If the democrats are able to get woke up enough to take enough positions all the way down the ballots, they need to take these people to task. Our history is full of examples of just moving on....J6 is the most recent...
Jen, Rachel Maddow last night presented info (that Rolling Stone also reported) saying that 70 election-denying Repubs in 6 or so swing states will be responsible for certifying (or not) their counties' election results, potentially putting state results in limbo.
Hopefully Marc Elias, Rick Hasen and others are preparing fast responses to each if needed.
Rachel maddow had a chilling aanalysis of drumpfs comments that he wouldn't need your votes last night. She says the christofascists have planted 170 election deniers in counties in swing states who will refuse to certify the vote when dumoty loses, thereby stealing the election by sending it to the Extreme Court .
Thank you for highlighting President Biden’s work to improve the Supreme Court. I believe that the idea that the unelected justices can take bribes (it doesn’t count if you have to wait for the bribe)has vastly weakened the whole Department of Justice. President Biden’s shining light on the problems may not get immediate action, but it draws a line in the sand and helps move the Overton Window—one small step closer to the bipartisan independent judiciary that was envisioned.
Yes, they've "going out of their way to offend women."
Kamala can make up for this at the debate scheduled for ABC September 10. The felon-coward will be absent, so she can use this absence to stress how he always puts himself and his criminality first. In view of his absence, let video show his key lies:
1) Migrant crime: no, not high – but lower than native-born crime.
2) Migrant hordes at the border: numbers have fallen. Would have fallen more had Republicans honored their own bipartisan border plan.
Stress how it was the felon who had his cult members scuttle their negotiated border plan, for him instead to put sensationalize his lies:
3) Respect for women: not. He was found liable of sexual abuse. Has always abused women. Killing national protections for women to choose just aligns with his long history and bragging of abuse.
4) Respect for law: no. Contempt. His justices got on the nation’s highest court due to lying at nomination hearings where, as to court precedents, all perjured themselves. Then they ruled their felon as above the law.
5) Respect for alliances: no, he serves Putin – has said Putin could do “whatever the hell he likes” even against key American alliances.
Repeat, repeat: how this felon always spews vulgarity, hews to criminality.
Great idea. Knowing that Trump doesn't want to do the debate, Harris should still use the Prime Time slot to connect with voters and maybe have an open town hall. Trump is a known quantity, you aren't going to probably change the minds of people who are on the NAGA train, but for undecided likely voters, infrequent, low information or new voters it is a great way to keep connecting with people directly and offer clear, concise and actionable policy proposals to people.
This positive momentum is pure joy and hope! On Saturday July 20th, I had a conversation with one of our adult sons who said we need to be prepared for the horror of another trump term. Then Sunday, July 21st happened!!! Everything thereafter has lifted the damp heavy pall that caused so many of us to be bereft for too many years.
Joe Biden will go down in history as one of the very best because of his administration's profound accomplishments during a single presidential term, his choice of Kamala Harris as his VP 4 years ago, and his decision to not seek re-election which has unleashed a tsunami of energy! Yes, trump and the cult are still out there but brilliantly being put in their place! There is much work to be done to get the democrats over the finish line (never can sit back on one's laurels!) but how much more pleasant it all is to be where we are now!!
Years ago I was at a Bulls/Celtics game in the Old Chicago Stadium. The Celtics had led the entire game but the Bulls were within striking distance. In the 3rd quarter Scottie Pippen lobbed a pass to Jordan which Jordan grabbed above the top of the backboard and jammed it into the basket. The Stadium erupted and the Celtics were totally deflated. They never were able to regain their momentum and the Bulls easily won behind the excitement of the crowd.
When Kamala entered the game it was a total shift in momentum for the good guys. May DonOld Duck and JD continue to make turnovers at a record pace like they have done everyday for the past couple of weeks.
A seismic shift… maybe. At least a crack in the Insanity Bell. When will more recognize that the Stockholm Syndrome is just the result of a hostile takeover that is crumbling before our eyes. MAGAts, you are free to leave. Republicans, you are free to be ethical. Independents, you are free to choose integrity. Democrats, you have chosen well.
Professor, please know that your extensive references are much appreciated. Even though I rarely check them, I have confidence that they support your observations -- they are more evidence of your credibility and differentiate you from the psuedo-journalists writing for the maga far-right. THANK YOU!
I always “like” her list of references in the comments section of her Facebook post. HCR’s adherence to citing sources shows her respect for the work of others, provides readers with access to more information, and gives her credibility indeed.
I'm not sure if MN Tim Walz is the one who started calling them "weird," but the new adjective has taken off. One thing Trump can't stand is being laughed at. For Harris, laughter is shared pleasure and fun. For Trump, laughter is just another form of meanness. Weird, indeed.
One of the new names for CFDT is DonOld Duck. We'll see if that gets him riled enough to debate Kamala. If he falls behind the margin of error in several swing states, he may reconsider.
I would love to see a Walz/Vance debate. Walz can be brutal, but in a folksy kind of way.
We teach our 3rd graders not to be bullies and we teach bystanders ways to defuse bullying so that they become "upstanders." I guess there are no upstanders among the MAGA crowd.
I think you’re onto something JL. I’m sensing a certain amount of “brazen fatigue” out there as well. This Trump Broadway show may have finally run its course.
Meanwhile, Rachel Maddow reported last night that Trump is saying that he doesn’t need votes. Trumpists have been placed in election oversight positions in more than 20 states, including swing states. Trump is making it clear that he’s going to steal the election by refusals to certify the votes in these states, sending the U.S. into another Constitutional crisis. How is the federal government going to address this? What steps can be taken to assure the integrity of our elections?
Peter, thank you so very much for sharing this. I’m posting it on fb. Is there any way to overcome this planned coup? How do we circumvent their plan????
Hi Jen. Well, that's the question isn't it? What can be done about the folks in election oversight. It's very hard to say. For example, if they refuse to certify election results, it's gonna end up in the courts which is what they want. It's like, it's about delay right? They are Trumpers, election denialists, and just like Trump, they are all about court battles and delay. So it's hard to say where this ends. In 2020, all the courts were favorable to the defendants, the people, states etc. that were being sued. Maybe they will be here too, but it doesn't solve the problem of delay. I saw a comment recently that was somewhat hopeful. The thing is, Joe Biden is the president, and Trump is still just a citizen. He'll remain in office until a final decision is made. And the SCOTUS just gave him powers which is possible he could decide to use. And then, as I said, if the court decisions are the same as they were in 2020, there is some safety in that. Perhaps the courts could force these election deniers to certify the results. Anyway😊, who knows what's going to happen. Let's try to keep hope alive, follow these events where they lead and hope for a positive outcome.
Mary, I asked the question “What does he mean” and pulled the quote from the Professor’s Letter a couple days ago. One conservative (and I use that term in its original intent) suggested that since this would be a second term, the implication was vote “for him.” One MAGAt (and I use that term with all it implies) told me that snippet was taken “out of context” and was at the end of a speech to a variety of religious practitioners.
I’ll have to give Rachel a listen when I land for the night (long travel day ahead)
I always said Biden would address the courts in his second term, but now that there is to be no second term, we can view these last 5 months as his Second term. It is great that he is freed up from campaigning to run the country. Harris is freed up from running the country to run her campaign. It is very symbiotic.
Biden unchained‼️‼️
VermontGirls57,
I am so thankful for President Joe Biden . His love for this country....for each of us....His love for "freedom" which he has promoted here as well as encouraged throughout the world....the expansion of NATO.....improved relationships with friends: old and new throughout the world. WHAT AN AMAZING LEADER!!!!!
My sentiments as well. Every single day my heart swells with gratitude for Joe Biden and all he has done during this pivotal moment in our history.
And all he will continue to do. We are very fortunate, the world is very fortunate, for his leadership.
He had a 38% approval rating and his OWN party didn't want him.
What is your point?
Please stop labeling everyone you disagree with as "stupid." It is so tiresome.
James, approval ratings vs results. You pick
Approval ratings are reflection of your performance.
What results are you talking about? 18 Million illegal immigrants coming across the border? Core inflation up 30% Groceries, gas, rent/housing?
spike in crime? feckless foreign policy.
That's his polling was the worst in modern history and why his party wanted to dump him
Can you cite a single example of "LOVE" for freedom?
Love for each one of us? You mean the 50% of the country, he hates? MAGA?
Where is the love for the them? They get the FBI at their doorstep? Censored by social media? Called White Supremacists?
Can you name a single Biden policy that helps the middle class? Taxes? Higher.
Border? Open. Inflation? Destroys standard of living? Can't define what a girl is?
Won't protect girls.
You live in some kind of fantasy land.
SINGLE, POWERFUL EXAMPLES:
1. Freedom-- A woman's freedom to have an abortion an choose her own reproductive health options..
2. Middle class help-- job creation through the Inflation Reduction Act.
3. Inflation-- currently running at only 3.1% and falling due to Biden policies.
4. order-- Illegal border crossings have dropped over 50% in 2024
One additional: a solid commitment to the truth and reality.
And as Anne Applebaum says "evidence-based conversations", which leaves out James A.
I prefer not to argue on our HCR's wonderful Substack but you sir are ridiculous. A single policy that helps the middle class?
1. Bringing down the costs of life important drugs for everyone.
2. Supporting Unions
3. Improving and supporting education and childcare.
4. Stopping the hidden costs that airlines and other big business add on after you purchase. ex: Spirit charges $98.00 for a flight to New Orleans and then adds $150.00 per checked in bag and $65.00 for carry-on bag. That is just 1 small example of the many hidden cost businesses have been allowed to get away with and no one in government besides our Joe noticed or cared.
Why is the border open? Do you follow the House Congress actions or just listen to your MAGA BS? House Congress chose not to vote for the border closing. The Republican lead House Congress. And then they closed to go on vacation.
But- don't worry- tRUMP has promised you that you do not even have to vote again. He has promised that he and his gazillionaire buddies have it all fixed already. So don't bother voting.
James, Biden is far from perfect. Agree that he has not protected enough biological women on sports teams which this new fangled policy has allowed trans women into girls shower stalls and some of us understand this crazy newfangled illogic. I’ve been a feminist supporter all my life and I’m not about to pull back on my principles in the face of these crazy Frankensteinian notions. Social media has done grave harm. We allow any perverse crap on social media to pollute the minds of young children while Tik Tok in China is only allowed educational programming. We need similar restrictions or our democracy ends. And I fully agree that he has not paid adequate attention to border issues although Trump so shrewdly commanded his House MAGA todies to stop border legislation so do not use border it was Trump that stopped immigration reform.
You mention FBI searching for stolen documents that Trump refused to give up. They didn’t belong to him. He should stand trial as a traitor would in wartime, found guilty and dispensed as a traitor would be in wartime. So please don’t preach to us. Joe Biden on balance has led in government fairly well. You are a hack troll with nothing better to do and further, your lack of intelligence and probably education shows. Begone, Satan.
The stolen documents and information he revealed to enemies should mean he doesn't get Intelligence reports until he returns them. He shouldn't be allowed to take any government office until the court cases are decided, either.
Having browsed through the drivel that you write, it is hardly surprising to see you state that we live in a fantasy land. Go back to your sandbox and play with your friends.
Oh look…it’s James
the “intellectual”
😂😂😂😂😂
VermontGirl. Yes, look, love the quotes around intellectual.
I'm surprised that someone who reads HCR could be so misinformed
Depends on what the word “reads” means
Robin, he does what I do on Fox News. They retain an active comment section and I frequently do battle with them. Sometimes I try to reason with them but most of the time, they are unable to perceive reason so I go for the insults. Sometimes I get inspired to write a piece on my blog. So this guy I understand. He is me in reverse.
I'm not sure he's here to read, since he seems more to be a provocateur lobbing bombs to see who will try to catch them.
Yeah, I'll pass. He's just making up "alternative facts," and expecting us to argue. Best to ignore him, as there's no reasoning with him.
Another idiot response. You can't cite a single example. As Christopher Hitchens said, that which is cited without evidence can be dismissed without evidence.
Another brain dead leftist.
You cite the late, great Christopher Hitchens and then claim that Bill is "another brain dead leftist"???!?
I'll give you one thing James, you are quite the study in the human capacity for contradiction.
As for your juvenile insinuation that by fulfilling his Presidential duties by executing the law to promote justice, especially toward the brave and beleaguered transgender community, he is somehow not "protecting girls", I both question your Betty Crocker-esque view of what a "girl" is, and send you back to that American philosopher Cindy Lauper to see that "Girls just want to have fun!"
I understand you. I breach Fox News and splat splat on them as you are doing here.
Here is an example of what I wrote earlier — it’s MAGA who hates us.
MAGAs are not 50% of the country. And MAGAs are not rational humans. They should be censured and shamed.
Trump is ahead in current polling, won over 50% of the vote in 2016.
and 47% of the 2020. What in the hell are you talking about.
Your plan is censure 50% of the country? How in the hell do you do that?
Are you looking for civil war?
Trump won 45 % of the vote in 2016; Hillary won 48 %.
It wasn’t anti-Trumpers who attacked the Capitol, Mr. “Looking for a Civil War.”
Polling doesn’t mean a damn thing.
My plan is to keep my head low, be an activist, and fight if that becomes necessary. I am not a mob cultist like the MAGAs. I do not need a obscenely large flag on the back of my pickup truck/boomer cart in order to validate my worldview.
He does not hate you! That is not Joe, so while many think, The MAGA Maggots are a rot on American fruit, this is about Donny-John, feeding manure, fertilizing with lies (54 miles and we paid!) And yes there is fertilizer for hate…do you know that the US economy depends on new labor, much of which is immigrants seeking jobs, and the MAGA guys are much more likely to commit crimes than immigrants! We could have passed a great conservative immigration reform bill but no…and you know why! the Orange Lard said “no!” And the Johnson’s House caved.
Your post speaks for itself.
Leftists want civil war. Its not just about defeating Trump, its about criminalizing and jailing opposition.
This is how you get to civil war.
This guy again.....
Yes, I'm a member of the site and won't be bullied by people like you.
Dear Jimmy, I'm far too civil to ever try to "bully" you from this site, but if I was to offer to return the $ you contributed to be a member, would you go away?
It appears that your subscription was paid by Putin, James. As I observe your comments over time, I realize Putin has made a poor investment. You provide others, so much more informed than you, good opportunities to deflect your attempts at seeding propaganda. Thanks for the service.
What a stupid comment. Why did Putin invade Ukraine while Biden was president? Because he knew Biden wouldn't do a damn thing about it. Putin was a lot more afraid of Trump.
BTW - it might time to put down the bong and read a little history. The Trump Putin connection was invented by the Clinton campaign as James Brennan CIA director briefed Obama in the summer of 2016.
https://www.yahoo.com/news/dni-releases-cia-documents-hillary-204337457.html
STOP LYING about it. YOU ARE PUSHING DISINFORMATION.
Please do some reading. Start with "Autocracy, Inc" by Anne Applebaum.
Yo.. James.., get down on your knees and pray dude. Pray. Like.., what have you got to lose. I just noticed one of your neighbors in their brand new 64 foot center-console Cigarette (boat) with 4 six-hundred horsepower Mercury Racing outboards (52$$ thousand each) cruising down the Biscayne Bay on a "poker run" together with at least 60 or 80 other 'go-fast' boats. They're mostly Trumpers like you.., and they don't seem to be doing bad in this TERRIBLE economy. Some of my friends were amongst them too, waving, laughing, dousing themselves with frozen margaritas and Coppertone. So.., JAMES... just what the hell is your problem. An while I'm at it here James.., let me ask you: Are you a "christian".., a "muslim".., "hindu".., Buddist.., catholic..(I think they're considered christians ..?).., maoist.., floridian.., beer drinker.., ? Like just wtf are you? Human? Bot? I'm just curious cause the point of view you expressed might imply you live in a vacuum. This current administration has accomplished a lot. We've never had it so good.
Hi James - I've read your comments and responses to others' posts and I'm wondering, do you really believe what you're writing or are you just poking a hornets' nest. I would love to know. Thank you.
Yes I believe EVERY word I wrote. Feel free to challenge factually. If I'm wrong I'll admit.
What I hate is propaganda. That's what's most put out here. The current lie
is that Joe left for the good of the country and he is a hero.
He was forced out by the threat of the 25th amendment by Obama, Pelosi, Harris and Schumer.
Even worse the Democrat elite installed their own candidate who never got a single VOTE.
As for the hornets nest? This is a public site and I'm a paid member. What do the members think? They seem to believe they are entitled to endless confirmation bias. Sorry to break up the kumbaya circle, but if you criticize others, you deserve it back.
As I have read on the 25th amendment , it’s only the cabinet that can bring it forth. Definitely not former politicos
NOT "censored by social media". Whoever you are on this Platform you are bound by CONTRACTUAL duties an "Author" & separately as a "Reader" under Substack Inc's choice of law & mediation venue at JAMS-SF. You whoever you are do NOT have to participate but, I reserve all my contractual rights.
I have reported your contract Terms of Service (TOS) violations & will continue to do so until Substack Inc's counsel calls me or Substack Inc comes to the Mediation at their favored venue in San Francisco which has at least 3 Mediators who can handle digital platform contractual disputes including a SF Judge that handled one such case to a Jury verdict
Everyone, you can communicate directly with Substack Inc at "tos@substackinc.com. IMO the 'report' function is a dust bin.
Nice line of BS!
Are you denying that Brennan meet with Obama? Are you denying that
the Clinton campaign employed Steele to create a dossier? Are you denying
that the dossier was bullshit?
Leftist hate facts and the truth. Good luck
Only the people of Heather's site have no idea that
-Steele Dossier started with Clinton
-Clinton campaign paid $100,000 fine for hiding in their FTC statement
- Steele admitted the dossier was unverifiable
- There was no secret pipeline between Trump & Putin (Alfa Bank)
- That the FBI spied on Trump via FISA warrants based on Steele dossier
and on and on.......
Can you name the policies from your prefered President that protected our girls from sexual harrassment, improved our standard of living, brought down taxes for anyone other than the wealthy?
I am very interested in your examples of FREEDOM.
Religious freedom?
Thank you.
Have a great day!
Nice try, Ivan.
You are too stupid too believe?
What is your point? That Trump supporters are all communists? What a dumb claim.
Ah, yes -- the inevitable childish insults. Apparently you have learned well from tfg.
Sorry you do not understand that the name is not what matters it is the behavior and the beliefs. Can you list some beliefs you have about how things should be?
(Ode to Greg Leichner who wrote on topic below)
According to J.D. Vance, Donald Trump’s pick for Vice President, childless women who own cats are unfulfilled and unhappy.
1. Republican men don’t like cats.
2. Women prefer the company of cats than conservative men.
3. Conservative men don’t understand how a cat can be better company to a woman than one of their own.
Therefore, Republican MAGA men should be TNR: Trapped, Neutered, (castration involves removing both testicles, which removes the main source of testosterone and controls sexual behaviors like aggression, roaming , and spraying) when released.
There, fixed it — no pun intended.
And some cats are so bad, they cannot be released. Certain Orange Alley Cats need to be carefully watched and release is not an option.
In that rare instance, euthanasia is an option.
Don't forget the ear tip--complete with comically large bandage
LOL ~ good one Robin!!
And, once again, for the folks in the back, BEAR! Over a MAGAt male, absolutely every time.
You describe a bunch of INCEL dudes...and they always have a gun handy.
Because they have nothing else to shoot with?
BAHWAHAHA!
That is hilarious and makes total sense.
Thanks.
Bill you said it for me….. yours truly a childless( by CHOICE) cat woman. My husband also loves me! Meow!
Billl..!!! get out of the schnops! It's not "cats" ferr crissakes.., the word is COUGAR. Haven't you ever been on a "couch"with a with a real, live "cougar"? Well!!.. yer in for the ride of yerr life.., find one.
🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
😂
😂😂😂 Bill, you just made my day! 😂😂😂
Likewise, KAMALA unchained! Harris for President 2024. Old Con don Old for prison 20 - 24!.
Yes ma’am!
VOTE 💙💙💙💙
This is great to see President Biden still working full steam ahead purposing a law that would restrict a President from being above the law and applying a law on the term limits on the Supreme Court. President Biden purposed a 3rd law about the code of ethics that would limit donations that the justices could receive. I believe Senator Whitehouse has a bill on the code of ethics that is ready to be voted on. Unfortunately the Mega Republicans
of congress are in authoritarian mode and their only concern is to get convicted felon Trump elected. Everything else is irrelevant which means no bills will pass until after the election. Harris has a great advantage here to address Bidens current policies on our judicial system during her campaign. Weather you realize or not their both working together to save our Freedom and our Democracy.
On a personal note. Biden is still a shrewd leader of this country and is always thinking ahead. He's a pro with 40 years of experience and you can't take that away from him.
What impresses me about President Biden now is that he is laying the foundation for a liberal / reformist turn. This enables Vice President Harris to run as a moderate while the liberalism flourishes. Brilliant.
I agree, but I also think it's important to understand what it means to run as a moderate. For me, a real moderate POTUS must be open to new ideas AND know how to separate the wheat from the chaff. To do that, the moderate POTUS must surround themselves with a great team, those team members must surround themselves with a great team, and so on.
The reason Biden's administration has been so successful is because he has injected his moral leadership throughout his administration, meaning he has everyone singing from the same "treat others the way you would want to be treated if the shoe was on the other foot" hymn sheet. And Kamala has the same hymn sheet.
The reason Trump's administration was such a disaster is because he injected his immoral leadership throughout his administration, meaning he had everyone singing from the same "do unto to others before they do unto you" hymn sheet.
That brings me to what I think of as the phony moderates, people who want to compare Democrats to Republicans and split the difference. That's what I see in people like Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema. That approach only makes sense when both parties are acting like grownups. If I was an elementary school teacher, and I realized one of my former students is now in a leadership role in the Republican party, I'd be embarrassed and asking myself where I went wrong.
Translation: The hard part becomes possible after you get the easy part right, and getting the easy part wrong makes the hard part impossible.
My hope is that Pres. Harris will keep Pres Biden’s appointees such as Blinkin, Austin, Buttigieg, etc.
I'd like to see Buttigieg "groomed" to succeed Blinken for when Blinken is ready to retire, in 2034 or so. I love Pete - smart, well-spoken, thinks on his feet, always well prepared, decent family man, etc. And he gives off such a great vibe, whether he's serious or jesting.
I hope there is a place for him in the Harris administration…Secretary of Families, of Labor, maybe VP…he was my candidate for President way back when, so I am biased…yes I have the Pete Bumper Sticker to prove it!
‼️THIS‼️
As a member of the radical middle, who dreams, thinks, try’s, learns, pays attention, I see lots of energy and bombast of the left that I admire…I wished for Clinton vs Sanders as the real American ticket, shunting Donny-John off the conversation
To Which he brought NOTHING!
But centrist are integrators, listeners but have real strength in clarity of values and convictions.
Truth, Justice-for community, children, education, voting, serving, fairness, forgiveness…these are strong! And we believe in evidence and in our proactive to learn and get efficacy…not slogans, not cheap lies, but “what works is What Works!”
The moderate middle is wide and strong, a valley with ridges and fridges up in the hills, who are fun to watch, have to dinner but rarely offer much new.
Well, I am a phoney moderate in that I have had one foot on the liberal side and one foot on the conservative side. I do try to split the difference in many cases, trying to reconcile the two views into, hopefully, a new-and-improved policy stance.
Imagine yourself in a checkout lineup in the main isle of a busy grocery store. Every checkout is open, every line is long, and everyone's attention is on two people. One is a 5-year-old lying on the floor, arms and legs flaying in the air, yelling an screaming at the top of his lungs because he wanted a chocolate bar and his mom said no. The other person is his mother. Do you split the difference?
I see the other side as well. I remember reading a CNN article written by a reporter who visited with Congressional Republicans after their meetings with Pete Buttigieg soon after his appointment as Secretary of Transport to ask them how it went. They all said the same thing. They all said how refreshing it was to leave a meeting with a Democrat feeling like they were actually being listened to. I'd be shocked if I heard them say that about Bernie Sanders.
The problem is that the entire Republican party has adopted the 5-year-old's "I'm right, you're wrong, and this conversation is over" approach. They want their metaphorical chocolate bar and they have zero interest in splitting the difference.
The 5-year-old has already decided he's the most important person in the world. The only thing his mother can do is to agree with him while giving him the bad news, which is that he's tied for first place with everyone else, and she needs to give him a timeout long enough for him to recognize and accept that reality.
That mother has one foot on the child's side and one foot on the parent's side. Having one foot on the liberal side and one foot on the conservative side doesn't make you a phony moderate. A phony moderate is someone who refuses to acknowledge that all the grownups are on one side, and all the grownups on the other side have been purged from the party.
That's how I see it. If I'm wrong, then it's because of something I need to be made aware of because, at this moment, I can't see it.
James, well said. It doesn't work with people throwing tantrums, playing the victim, and insisting on having their way. Years ago I voted for certain Rs here in Oregon. Now I won't vote for any.
Agreed. Well stated and provoking a good chewing of the cud. Alas, I am a phoney moderate because my reaction to a toddler throwing a tantrum would be anything but moderate. 😉
You put that so well. Thanks 🙏
James, I generally agree. One point: I see Senator Manchin as a moderate. While he supports regulations protecting the environment and mitigating human effects on climate change, he won't abandon his voters and stands in the way of policies that would curtail hydrocarbon-based energy mining faster than the economy and technology advances can absorb. To me that's common sense moderation.
No! Moderates are for things, have energy, do not sit on a fence, but live in a wide valley where they harvest the best and produce actions, make things happen…Conservatives say they look to the past but they Don’t!
Biden is a moderate—Learns what works and then imagine and do better…what has Senator Manchin done? he’s blocked most actions when he could. This make him an anchor at best.
Ryan, please look at Manchin's voting record and the range of issues with which he's been involved. He's no obstructionist. Just like classic Republicans should not buy the MAGA fearful message, Democrats shouldn't buy into the Progressive and undeserved disgust thrown at Manchin.
Just one of several websites:
https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/biden-congress-votes/joe-manchin/
Maybe I've misjudged Manchin, but why is he always playing the spoiler? You haven't said anything that makes me think badly of him. I think badly of him because he gives me the impression he wants the Biden administration to trust Republicans without seeming to be willing to acknowledge how much Republicans have proven themselves to be untrustworthy.
I think there's lots of evidence to support the idea that the Biden admin's success is due to their willingness to listen to the legitimate concerns of others, but that's a two way street. My bias is toward assuming Manchin's outlier status is due to his unwillingness to listen to the Biden admin's legitimate concerns.
I see Joe Manchin and his people still flattening mountains with no money being set aside for those people's future. When their pot becomes empty they won't have a pot to pee in. much less a window to throw it out fro,. I truly feel for all those people in their little part of America. Manchin country - Such a tragedy, and it's going to be born by every taxpayer. This won't be like the tobacco settlement. Screw joe Manchin an 'the company store'.
Jerry, if I read your comment correctly (¡an increasingly larger if these days!), then I agree with you. Senators Manchin and Sinema vote with the Democratic majority two-thirds of the time, at least in 2021. Much of politics is stake-holder management. NOT committing political suicide by accommodating the people who sent one to Congress, is NOT a betrayal.
My thoughts exactly 💯
Yeah, kinda like a "one-two" punch situation.
"Vice President Kamala Harris, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, immediately endorsed Biden’s proposals, meaning that she is willing to be bound by our historic understanding that presidents are not above the law."
Symbiotic and Symbolic....Who better to champion a "no one is above the law" proposal than a former prosecutor?
You have defined Biden's work till next January. He is developing policies that Kamala Harris and the new Congress can pass immediately to strengthen the guardrail of democracy of America. We owe Biden our future.
What concerns me- actually scares me to death - is that the R’s are already putting in place electors in swing states who are election deniers and will not certify the election in those states, if the vote goes for Harris. They are literally planning to steal the election. The challenges to those certification will ultimately go to the Supreme Court and it’s a foregone conclusion what their decision will be. The vote has to be overwhelming for Harris to have a chance.
This action is very troubling, and needs to be as well-known as Project 2025 is becoming. Election deniers have no place in American politics, and the fact that they are still a force to be reckoned with needs to be trumpeted from the rooftops wherever they still infest their towns, counties, cities, and states.
This is the Rolling Stone article cited by Maddow: https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-features/trump-swing-state-officials-election-deniers-1235069692/
This is as dangerous for the upcoming election as Project 2025 is for the future.
Yes. This is scary. It is happening, Maybe why Trump said on Thursday that he did not need votes, and on Friday that he needed Christians to vote for him, one last time.
At what point is this a criminal enterprise! And at what point are they arrested?
DOnt they have to swear to uphold the Constitution and whatever election workers are sworn to do?
Watching C-Span's "Washington Journal" this a.m., a call-in show, the topic was whether one approves, does not approve, or is not sure of Supreme Court reform. Most callers appeared to support reforms. Some did not. No one, at least that I recall, was "not sure," indicating a polarizing issue. One caller had an interesting idea of also having an age cut-off as well; that made sense to me.
Me too.
Biden said he has unfinished work before he stepped down. He can use this fall to formulate policies for his unfinished work that Kamala Harris can implement. She needs them to win. SCOTUS revision is one. Another must is the bipartisan border control bill Trump stopped.
What are you talking about? He was forced out by Obama, Pelosi, Harris, & Schumer.
They INSTALLED their own candidate who didn't get a SINGLE VOTE;
Are you people delusional? With a Republican Congress, HOW exactly is he getting
his agenda through?
Biden became a lame duck president when he was forced out. Heather is either the stupidest
or most partisan historian who ever lived. Can you name a single lame duck president that
got controversial agenda through an oppositional Congress?
This is ALL too stupid to believe. But then its just another day in leftist wonderland.
"Are you people delusional?"
No. But you appear to be. Biden cannot be "forced out" by anyone, including Obama, Pelosi, Harris, and Schumer. He alone had the power to stay in or out, and if he had chosen in, nobody on Earth had the legal ability to force him out of the race.
It was his decision to leave. I'm sure that decision was informed by Pelosi et al and party funders. But Biden already locked up the delegates in the primaries. The delegates were legally required to cast their votes for him at the convention, so if he kept running, he would become the official nominee no matter what anyone else thought, said, urged, or cajoled. That he chose to retire is a testament to him accepting the realities of age and mental sharpness. Unlike your guy, who believes his gold toilet is the throne of an emperor.
As for Heather, she is one of the most intelligent popular historians I've ever read, with a mind that's like Planet Earth to your small, dirty snowball slowly melting in the gutter.
Just skip over this individual/bot's posts. He's just clogging up bandwidth, and has nothing worth note to say. The replies to his posts are often worth reading, however.
Can you say troll? The question becomes for what entity?
Russia, China, Iran....take your pick.
Indeed.
Oh, I know, but it's fun to kick the trolls occasionally.
Okay. As long as you don't take them seriously. They really aren't, just keeping their name before the public for likes.
They're too vile to take seriously. I mostly scroll right past, stop occasionally to sharpen my claws.
REPORTED
Might be time to leave the BUBBLE.
Pulitzer Prize journalist Sy Hersh reported yesterday what is an open
secret, ” the official told me, with approval of Pelosi & Schumer, “Obama called Biden after breakfast and said, ‘Here’s the deal. We have Kamala’s approval to invoke the 25th Amendment”
YES he was forced OUT.
No one is DENYING the story.
You are a troll? You believe shit that isn’t true! This smacks of MAGA munching…kind-of funny.
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In the face of irrefutable evidence, that's the best you can do?
Are you a moron? Unlike here there is evidence and facts. I know this is too much for feelings based leftists, but Its tinme to grow up and face the real world.
REPORTED
You sure tend toward name calling. Like your 3rd-grade bully hero.
List one thing you believe the government should be doing.
I didn't vote for just the Biden ticket - I voted for the Biden/Harris ticket.
Go away, noisome troll.
Who made you the CENSOR police? I know leftist love to control speech.
This is a public forum, I'm a paid customer and I'll say whatever I please.
BTW - In what world do you get to criticize people and be immune from a reply?
The answer? In a snowflake, leftist universe.
The left hates free speech. It always has.
Please ignore James A, the self-declared intellectual.
I like people,who are the intellectual of One…DonnyJohn, the Orange Lard, is another…
James…I know you hate this but Biden has been, and continues to be one of the best presidents of my 65 years! And his selfless action was amazing and related his love of country! He is real, genuine, lives his values, made the hardest decision.
The MAGA Maggots hate him for this because they hate real Christian values. And their ‘Orange Lard’ will never be able to do this…fire himself.
If his presidency was SO great why did he have 38% approval rating? His own party
didn't want him? They forced him out.
I know he was forced out by those Dems and their big money backers. Biden has gotten agenda through that no one else could, so it isn't over until it's over. You are probably right. However, SCOTUS and their corruption needs to be discussed by the press, something they have not been doing, because they have done all their reporting on Biden's age. In fact, I see Biden being forced out by the SHITTY press more than anything else. THE NYT is the shittiest rag of them all. I put Sulzberger in a category with Murdoch. Still, now they have stopped reporting on Biden's age and have nothing to say about Trump because they don't want to offend him, so he is out of sight, out of mind. Perfect time to get the public aware that SCOTUS is not just business as usual. I have given AOC money for taking it on, the money I won't be giving Dick Durbin, who is acting older than Biden ever did, and sitting on the couch. Biden will be president fully until the day he steps down, because I never bought into the he is currently too old. However, do you remember Mikey Johnson saying he would not pass the budget or give money to Ukraine. Well, Biden got it done. So, there we go. Now that he has stepped down, since he accepted being forced out, I am going to accept it too. However, anyone who thinks Biden, or the Democrats are leftist has never met a leftist. Come to Germany where there is a party called Die Linke. I have occasional conversations with my mom's friend who belongs to that party. You can find any member of that party and you will know that they don't support Ukraine because that would be supporting American imperialism. No one, even the left of the Democratic party is actually left. I also have occasional conversations with a neighbor who is American left. The left does not support "the system" any more than the right does. So just because Democrats have allowed others to sloppily use The Left to characterize them does not make it so. The Left does not support Biden, nor Trump. In fact, they are about overthrowing the government not being part of it. That would make them more like Trump followers than Biden followers.
Hi Linda, cheers for you. We need to base our left/right thinking on something. I don’t follow any ideology I like to feel that I think issues for myself so I don’t have any strong following even on my blog. Better to write about cats which I just did.
As much as I criticize the MAGA republicans, omg, I also reserve some criticism for democrats because we have sold ourselves a bill of goods that can be successfully used against us. I want to win elections that is the only goal not unlike republicans. Yet we puss and fight each other. About Germany, your other nation is inches away from a new post Nazi populist government and I predicted this when Angela Merkle opened borders and allowed millions to migrate in. And she said at the time that this was because of German guilt not realizing what she was seeding for the future which is now. Anyone with good history learning knows that no people desire this massive shift in population.
I could continue my diatribe but I must get to my activities now.
Bill, how does 20% get to be taking the nation away. That is not inches. I am very aware of where I am living, and that is in both countries. Germany is not one monolith. However, in both of my countries I am worried about the factors that lead to the rise of fascism. As well as elsewhere. Letting in immigrants did not make the AfD rise to power. Probably being part of a fascist regime for longer than the west has made the East more susceptible. The messages that Russian bots are sending to Germany and the USA support Putin's agenda, but not the well being of Germany. Germany needs immigrants and is working on making it easier for people to move here. After hundreds of years of monarchy, the easterners in Germany had 15 years of democracy in the Weimar Republic, and then fascism under Hitler, and fascism under the DDR government until 1990. So, there is not the history of democracy that the west has. Still, many in the East also resist the Russian bot messages. Germany has a shortage of workers and guess what, Germans are not having a lot of children. The USA has more balance because more people come in, that is what helps it have the strongest economy in the world. I would say a lot of disinformation online is making both countries more susceptible to disinformation, and as Timothy Snyder says, having a few people own most of the information space is not what we had envisioned in 2000 when things were really being developed with social media.
I NOT PROBABLY RIGHT. I'm right.
Sy Hersh, former NY TImes & AP Journalist, Pulitzer Prize winner
reported yesterday: “On Sunday” the official told me, with approval of Pelosi & Schumer, “Obama called Biden after breakfast and said, ‘Here’s the deal. We have Kamala’s approval to invoke the 25th Amendment”
No one is denying the story.
Obama, Pelosi, and Schumer installed Harris. No vote. Nothing.
The word is Obama wanted an open vote at the convention, but he was overruled.
That's why he was so late to endorse Harris.
Again….
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reported
Are you going to call my MOM too? There is nothing worse than
a leftist snowflake. It must be brutal to hear the truth.
This is a public site. I'm a paid member. I'll say what I please. You aren't going to police my speech. This isn't Russia.
BUZZ OFF.
Oh boo fucking hoo, James A. I'm a paid member too, and I can report your obnoxious comments any time I want. Hahahahaha--you're weird.
Wow, James! Dude...chill! This is just a forum for anyone, including you, to express yourself. You are doing that in aces with repetition. But you are also diminshing your own stance with your venom. Express your ideas, yes. But I challenge you to withold the venom you direct to others who are here for the same purpose.
Accept it man. You, we, them... we are all a part of the same world.
Now I'll shut-up and listen to your retort... waiting...
Feel free to debate any I've written?
I did with facts. From Britannica: ":Seymour Hersh's later work, however, has been controversial and widely panned by journalists for promoting conspiratorial claims that hinge on dubious anonymous sources or speculation.
Examples of controversial claims made later in Hersh's career include allegations that Turkey, not Russia, was behind a chemical weapons attack in Syria, and that Trump authorized an airstrike in Syria in response to Russia's alleged use of chemical weapons, even while knowing Russia did not use such weapons.
His work, increasingly, has become popular with Russian state-controlled media. Like the aforementioned stories, his most recent article alleging a U.S. attack on a Russian-owned pipeline has seen heavy Russian promotion,
Its simple. NO ONE IS DENYING the story.
If you believe Joe Biden wasn't pushed out you are naive. His funding raising dried up, every major figure in the Democratic called for him to step down, and his medical health was obvious.
There is absolutely NOTHING supporting your position.
As for the Russian smear. Good luck. Who should I believe Sy Hersh or you?
Enough said.
Yep. Enough said.
Yes ma’am 👊🙏
"The Republicans appear to have gone out of their way to pick a ticket that would offend women." To which she said, “Critical Cat Theory (CCT): Conservative men don’t like cats. Conservative men are upset that women would prefer the company of cats instead of them. Conservative men just don’t understand how a feline could be better company than a misogynistic creep.”
Cats are a study in consent. Cats model independence, bodily autonomy, and boundary setting; they will definitely enforce consequences for violations.
Controlling people (conservatives?) don't like cats because the cats can't be controlled, they can't always make the cat do something it doesn't want to do, and omg what are the women learning from cats?
CCT are my late mother’s initials and if she could she’d step out of the grave to defeat Trump, who is an anathema to all she believed.
That said I have a concern with Critical Cat Theory, which is that it might well lead us to being controlled by toxoplasma gondii. When mice, a secondary host to this parasite which causes toxoplasmosis, are infected, they lose their instinctive fear of cats, the primary host.
Given this, we have to wonder whether we are mimicking cats’ independent behavior, or merely doing their bidding.
Either way, though, if it leads to Trump’s defeat, I’m okay with it.
more lol :)
LOL
🤭
I realized when I was in my early 20s (half a century ago) that any man who didn't like cats wasn't going to like me. So when I would meet an interesting looking guy, I'd find out immediately find out if he liked cats. That really cut down on the number of creeps I dated. And now I see that same criteria holds true for the voting booth.
Me, too, Shirley. If they didn't like cats it was a dealbreaker. Same for horses and dogs.
CCT - brilliant! Cat ladies with AND without children are united for Kamala!
This Kat once had conjugal relations with a republican woman but I made sure to wear a prophylactic.
And I want to fulfill my duties and desires as a man cat.
😂😂😂
ALL ladies are united for Kamala 💙😎
Ladies with and without cats are united for Kamala. Harris for President 2024; Old con Don-Old for prison 20 - 24!
Meow to that
Did you ever? "Cats and Dogs Unite for Kamala Harris for President" July 30, 2024 8:30 pm
https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/2217221154175/WN_nRVkZTxlQQGz5uvaeYHLYw?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email#/registration
My two dogs just registered for the call.
They understand the assignment, too.
🤣
Yay, your two dogs, Emily! I may have my two cats register on this call since I can't seem to get on the human zoom calls even when I register!
Woofers and Meawers Unite to Dump the Trump
Thank you, Frank! I hear there is a Million Meow March on the move for Harris, too! Canines need to Answer the Call!
This is a segue for my Substack. https://danielsolomon.substack.com/p/pet-owners-unite
Morning, Lynell! Great link!
Totally enjoying the fun. Thanks to all the Kamala voters.
Morning, Ally! All's well? We need rain big time here in my neck of the woods. Seems everyone around us got a bunch; we didn't.
All is well. Long travel day and helping Karyn’s aunt and uncle move to Oregon.
And they were already riled up at the possibility of women picking the bear…
Greg Leichner,
Disrespect and disregard for women is so unrealistic.
My mom's father gave her land to manage when she was in her late teens. When she came to him with a question or concern, he would tell her, "This land is yours. If you make a profit, it is yours, if you have a loss, it is yours."
She rented a house on her property to a white family which she discovered stole the fertilizer needed for the crop. My mom stayed with the family....worked beside them and she made a profit with them.
My mom and dad farmed. They were partners together. They mutually respected one another. When I was 12 years old and my brother was 10 years old, my beloved father died due to cancer. During those difficult days, as he spent time in the hospital, my little brother and I stayed with our older sister. My mom stayed by my father's bed on a cot, caring for him. Only once did a cousin insist she return home to rest...fearing she would die of exhaustion before he died.
Does this sound like the description of a woman that Vance could possibly comprehend?
Such a man does not deserve to hold the honored position of Vice President. Our country requires leaders who will fairly and respectfully govern all of us.
Nor does his mentor, DT who has a history of treating women with disrespect, deserve to hold the sacred office of President of the United States of America!!!!!
I had an old Biden/Harris sign, which I modified and put on my lawn yesterday. I used tape to remove Biden's name and wrote in "Childless" Dog Lady for . . ." I have a standard poodle as my current companion, after decades of belonging to cats. He is the most catlike dog I have ever known, so it's kinda perfect.
Love it , Linda !! 🐩🪧😂
Last night’s discussion while watching the four-legged kids play….
GOP neighbor: Kathy, you need to take down your Biden/Harris sign.
Me: Nope ! I’ve circled Harris and Dark Brandon is looking over (stickers 🕶️on either side of “her”) I’ll take it down when my new ones arrive.
Rolling on the floor and laughing hysterically.
Cats are freedom fighters. Just try to tell one what to do. In this they model an approach for resistance to autocracy. Hence the saying "Like herding cats".
CCT is spot-on.
It seems to me that supporting the family unit IS important; that the family (i.e., a stable parenting home) and the extended family are integral to society. As a life-long bachelor without children, I do feel my life fell short of my values.
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2024/7/29/2258999/-What-s-in-a-name-JD-Vance-has-had-many-of-them
What bugs the scheiße out of me, however, is the contempt shown by Senator 'shady' J.D. Vance et al. toward fellow citizens who choose not to be parents. It is cheap political theater, now a commonplace in our click-bait culture.
Or they say the quiet parts out loud because they have a trick up their sleeve. This is what Rachel Maddow thinks. https://youtu.be/of9OP_a6MNg?si=T7CHdsXmZd9YOVoN.
Speaking of Rachel Maddow - did anyone else watch her show last nite, Monday 29? Rachel said that on a Friday night, before tRumps Saturday announcement that Floridians only needed to vote this 1 last time, that on the Friday, tRump told his MAGA Cult base not to worry to vote at all. He said the fix was in - no votes needed. TERRIFYING.
yes, I saw that. And that Peter Theil owns JD, and Mellon has given hundreds of millions to the GOP ticket. It will be interesting to see who wins the AZ primary where Theil-owned Blake Masters is a candidate.
This is why Trump is so confident: "At least 70 pro-Trump conspiracists are election officials in key battleground counties — and they are poised to make a giant mess on Election Day" https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-features/trump-swing-state-officials-election-deniers-1235069692/ I'm pretty sure that there are attorneys on the democratic side already to take any state election officials to court if they refuse to certify their county's results, as was the case in several states after the 2022 elections.
"Before 2020, local election officials seldom voted against certifying results. But in 2022, conservative officials in North Carolina, Arizona, Nevada, Pennsylvania and New Mexico refused to do so. Some admitted to refusing to certify for political reasons. In all the 2022 cases, the election results eventually were certified, sometimes under a court order.
Election law experts say that these disruptions reveal a weakness in the American electoral system, which relies on thousands of local officials to certify the totals in their counties and municipalities before their results can be aggregated and tallied for state and federal elections.
Local elections officials “could create chaos” all the way up the chain by refusing to certify, said Alice Clapman, a senior counsel in election law at the Brennan Center for Justice. “And in that chaos you have more room for political interference.” Five legal experts described to ProPublica scenarios in which legislatures, courts, secretaries of state or governors could use a failure to certify at the local level to exert partisan influence." https://www.propublica.org/article/election-officials-refused-certify-results-few-held-accountable
"Cochise County, Arizona, provides a prime recent example. In November 2022, the county’s board of supervisors voted against certifying the county’s general election returns, citing vague concerns that the county’s voting machines could not be trusted. But later, one of the supervisors admitted that their refusal to certify was really a protest against the election in nearby Maricopa County, where a ballot printing error ignited a firestorm of conspiracy theories that the glitch resulted in mass election fraud.
The board’s refusal to certify threatened to disenfranchise every voter in Cochise County. Arizona law required state officials to begin gathering county returns no later than December 8. This left them with no choice but to complete the process without the county’s 47,000 votes if the board did not certify in time. In the end, the dispute concluded only after a state judge ordered the board to certify the results without delay, explaining that the board had no discretion to refuse to certify the results under Arizona law.
Cochise County was not an isolated incident. During the 2022 election cycle, rogue local officials in Otero County, New Mexico; Esmeralda County, Nevada; Berks, Fayette, Lancaster, and Luzerne Counties, Pennsylvania; Surry County, North Carolina; and Mohave County, Arizona all refused or threatened to refuse to certify valid election results based on claims rooted in election denialism — the false idea that the 2020 election was stolen and that widespread fraud continues to pervade our election system." https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/analysis-opinion/election-denial-cant-overcome-election-certification-protections
This needs to be published. This needs to be seen, heard and understood by all voters.
When tRump says , Don't bother voting we have it fixed, he is not kidding!!!
This is very alarming, sends up lots of red flags.
Alarm bells have been screeching for a number of years now, haven't they?
LOL all i can say with that. "Greater conservativism predicted more negative evaluations of cats and an overall preference for dogs over cats, even after controlling for relevant demographics." from a University of California Press 2021 analysis. Cats rule with women, too. That go for truck ownership too? Ram 1500s and so on?
Dunno. Owned by two cats and a 2019 Chevy Silverado 1500 which will roll over 100,000 miles today as I drive to Los Gatos, CA to help my wife’s aunt and uncle finish their move out of the house they sold and begin their trek to relocate in Oregon.
I have a bachelor of science degree, and it would offend me if someone told me that because cryptozoologists insist they are scientists, all scientists are like cryptozoologists, whereas cryptozoology is the opposite of real science.
I identify as a progressive, but I feel I need to say something when someone implies that because neoconservatives insist they are conservatives, all conservatives are like neoconservatives, whereas neoconservatism is the opposite of real conservatism.
The ideal team is comprised of real progressives and real conservatives. They are alike in that they are always openminded and skeptical, except the former are more openminded and less skeptical, and the latter are more skeptical and less openminded.
For example, there are three conservative SCOTUS justices doing their best to preserve the status quo, and six neoconservatives doing their best to end the 250-year-old American experiment. The former were appointed by Democrats, and the latter were appointed by Republicans.
I'm not always right, but I do think it's always important to respectfully share conflicting perspectives.
Similar to being Jewish and automatically being considered a Zionist. 2 completely different beliefs.
The sad thing is, so many republican women are echoing that trope. So sad.
do not forget Bears !
And let's not gloss over how twisted and aberrant they are.
To quote American psychologist Mary. L Trump, niece of our Donald -
"It’s weird to worship a fascist game show host while pretending to be a Christian. It’s weird to complain that childless cat ladies are the real problem facing America; it’s weird to believe in “menstrual surveillance...... .”
These people are not just dangerous, they are a very long way away from normal.
It seems Dems have decided to call the fascists "weird". This is not enough. They are nazis wanting to take away many basic rights that were fought for over generations, wiped away in a few short years by FASCISTS! We must call this out. Weird is not strong enough.
I think "weird" is a way of mocking the very strange Donald and the Couch Stain while not freaking people out. Yes they are fascists, yes they are a threat, and rather than being endorsed by a major political party both should be at minimum relegated to a circus side show.
But for those too stupid to see, too ignorant to get a vaccination (I followed a Prius for miles yesterday, with a drumpf bumper sticker and a cartoon Fauci with a clown nose-cognitive dissonance much?), weird might just work.
It's why I always call the guy dumpty, as in fat egg shaped idiot falling off his border wall and cracking apart.
Jen, I agree. And while I can't claim credit for this as I saw it elsewhere, but refer to their ticket as "Couch Humpty and Dumpty". I tried last night to rewrite the verse (Couch Humpty and Dumpty sit on a wall/ pondering policies sure to appall./To subjugate women and empower men/to let Dumpty be president, again and again.)
I'm sure others can do better than this -- where are the Ogden Nashes out there?
Absolutely agree! The words, “weird”, “crazy”, ”insane”, “unhinged”, are all wishy-washy euphemisms for “fascist”. Let’s haul out the standard definition of fascism to drive home to folks that Agenda 2025 is an exact blueprint for it. Let’s drive home what life in a christo-fascist regime will really be like, in video clips targeted to red and swing states.
Yes! This is very serious business. We can’t minimize it!
I was recently called out by a fellow commenter on one of the social media sites for calling Trump and MAGAs “fascists”. They challenged my understanding of the word and wanted me to use ”authoritarian” instead. I replied that I have been around enough years to know what a fascist is and I’ve been calling Trump one for longer than most others around me would admit he was one. So no, I’m not changing my tone or descriptors for political correctness or so as not to offend MAGAs with a “loaded” term. It’s loaded for a reason and is exactly the right term for Trump. He is an authoritarian, but worse than that, he is a fascist authoritarian who only serves himself or people from whom he seeks a favorable transaction. He is a fascist, which to me encapsulates all the other less “loaded” terms people ascribe to him.
I agree with Jen.......weird works where fascist does not.
Weird is more effective than fascist, which seems overly reactionary to people barely paying attention. I applaud the change in emphasis.
As do I, Tim. Hit them with everything we've got. Using that term doesn't exclude all the other pejoratives we can hang around their heads.
I guess it depends on whether weird evokes a smile or not for a particular person. Personally I don't think smiles are in order when dealing with people wanting to be fascist dictators of our country.
It works for the supporters.
Terry, you're correct, but it appears to be part of a multi-prong strategy to attack them, and the thin--skinned MAGAs are objecting to it. The Dems are also attacking MAGA for ProjeQt 20245, SCOTUS, women's rights, the felon redux, and a whole litany of other issues which also stick. The word "weird" weirdly works, in my view, as perhaps it causes a bit of self-reflection ("Am I weird?")
And yet laughing at those fascists really REALLY gets to them in a way that anger and fear only feeds them. I say Laugh! Laughter will burn them up and give us both relief and power.
Yes, but they are ALSO weird. Deadly dangerous, insidious, vastly evil, but also, weird. Hannibal Lecter? Kimberley Guilfoyle? Sharks? Electric-motor boats? How can you describe this any other way than weird?
Yes weird and probably mentally ill.
I agree, Terry.
Yes, Terry, they are Nazis.
George Conway has started a new PAC to highlight Trump's mental illness. Link: https://www.psychopac.org/letter/ Trump does have untreated personality disorders, which can now be more fully addressed with the ageism surrounding Biden (one of my heroes) out of the picture. He has some form of antisocial pathology and narcissism, rendering him unable to feel remorse and needing constant praise and attention. This is dangerous and disruptive for anyone, but horrible if that person is in a position of leadership. Narcissists are also easily manipulated. Leon Panetta played him like a violin, making Trump even more dangerous.
I believe most people who are caught in Trump's web, if not all but the most crass, do not know personality disorder, a form of mental illness. I know this and am tuned in because it's in my family. Anyone who deals with this closely should recognize the abnormality. But people do not. There is no cure that I am aware of- so treatment is not a fix. Such people should be disqualified especially for such a position as POTUS. That said, we all have mental issues big and small, but Trump's are so big and obvious, including the intersection of age with it, and more dangerous. I wonder how this passes; so many are deaf and blind to it.. People are blinded by insecurities, more appealing calls to hate, division, and the need of inclusiveness (belonging). This is so frightening for our country. It takes a lot of waking up and action, education, to put this now mass movement down, if it can be.
Basically the Trump movement is about power, grabbing power in whatever way, amoral, immoral.
Mary Trump knows her uncle well, and we need to heed her insights. She knows her uncle is dangerous.
Kathy....WE know he is dangerous. However, we deeply appreciate Mary Trump's validating our observations with her shared experiences .
Sorry…no edit option (via the three …”’s”) offered on my phone app.
Mary's brother Fred is also speaking the truth about his uncle. Seems the dumph is not a favorite uncle by any stretch of imagination.
I ‘ve read this, and I believe him, just as I do Mary. Apparently Fred III has a child wilts special needs and Donald didn’t want to cover the child’s health insurance and even suggested the child be allowed to die. It is just the sort of cold-blooded remark I’d expect Donald Sr. to make.
Rachel Maddow has a theory. https://youtu.be/of9OP_a6MNg?si=T7CHdsXmZd9YOVoN
Can’t watch Maddow anymore since she has become woefully beholden to the corporate dollars. She is all about click baits and sound bites. 😢
I feel the same way. I was angry that Maddow and company kept the 'Biden is old' issue alive. But I too have wondered, why Donnie keeps saying 'you don't need to vote, we have all the votes we need'. It's easy to assume it is braggadocio....but I think the party's boldness on an unpopular platform indicates something more sinister. She talks about it in the link above
Rachel Maddow's most recent show has answered your Q, Susan.
The orange felon has taken to his "You don't need to vote, we have all the votes we need" perhaps because of the as-of-now 70 election officials across the U.S. on record as 2020 election validity deniers.
The orange felon may feel he has enough such corrupt MAGA in position to deny certification to non-MAGA 2024 results.
Rachel was reporting on a recent Rolling Stone piece which more thoroughly explored this dark side to corrupt MAGA in high places across the swing state map.
Just weird!
Honestly, I can’t abide any bitching about SCOTUS from anybody who couldn’t bring themselves to vote for Hillary in 2016. I was a Bernie bro, but happy to vote for HRC knowing what the stakes were. I look at the Palestinian sympathizers threatening to withhold their votes from Harris and shake my head. As if Trump won’t jump right into bed with Netanyahu.
Chump is already squashed between Putin and Netanyahu
It’s a crowded mattress, with Orban and Mohammed Bone Saw.
My laugh out loud that scared my cats
Just so they’re not on a couch.
OK, Kerry, I'm abandoning the name Mohammed bin Salman for your apter one
It’s not original. Hahaha.
The majority of the voters did vote for her, Kerry, although we both wish it had been more. The first state Kamala Harris campaigned in was a swing state Hillary Clinton never visited in her campaign year...and lost. Kamala Harris noted that health care is a right. Hillary Clinton proclaimed that America would NEVER EVER have single payer health insurance. 500,000 people each year are bankrupted each year by medical bills. Over time, that adds up to a lot more votes than Clinton lost swing states by. So, Let's not blame the citizen voters or start thinking of Kamala Harris as someone other than herself.
The "Palestinian sympathizers" are as aware as the "Netanyahu loyalists" on what Trump will do to the former if he returns to power. Anyone who does not know who backs Trump is the same that backs Netanyahu should fact check more often: https://mediabiasfactcheck.com/aipac-bias-and-credibility/
Given the vibrancy of a fresh start, some hope that we now have, and a positive enthusiasm not seen since Bernie Sanders in 2016, let's keep that going.
Agree to disagree. Citizen voters are exactly the ones to blame, in this country that loves to shift the blame to politicians. Taking responsibility for one’s actions is a prerequisite in a democracy. Let us not forget that Trump campaigned on trashing ACA, and still people remained indifferent when their votes might have counted. And…Palestinian sympathizers angry at Biden don’t at all sound like they are very aware of the consequences of abstaining. It’s the same “purity” arguments and behavior I’ve seen with Humphrey/Nixon, Bush/Gore, and HRC/Trump.
Actually, one of the many things Trump "promised" was a better health care plan, not so different from what Bernie Sanders recognized was needed. The fact that he never intended to deliver on it seems easier to recognize now than to remember the details of all the lies he told. Despite corporate news, some people still gain awareness that a half million of them annually bankrupted by a health care cartel is still really happening along with having "THE ACA" together with a steady stealth privatizing of Medicare. I'm also betting more know the difference between the careless use of "Palestinian sympathizers" and people knowing from the gut that they are justifiably pissed that they have been told, not asked, to shut up, don't protest, and cheer lead for a genocide. If we have a disagreement, it's probably because I have more faith in citizen voters than what you express.
You do indeed have more faith in them. When Russ Feingold was beaten by the same moron for the second time in Wisconsin, I lost my faith. Although I share your outrage at the silencing of the dissenters of American policy towards Israel, I don’t agree that it is careless to refer to them as Palestinian sympathizers. They obviously care and sympathize with them, and are inspired to criticize American support for a murderous regime. And finally, I heartily disagree with your point about Trump and healthcare. He and his party mounted a full throated attack on ACA. Trump repeatedly promised to gut Obamacare, probably hundreds upon hundreds of times. His empty promises to replace it with something better were believed by practically nobody.
I'm with you, Kerry, re: citizen voters. I will NEVER forgive my fellow Buckeyes for voting vance in over the eminently qualified Tim Ryan. And I seriously doubt that all the Ohio slack-jawed yokels have realized the damage they have done, not just here, but nationally.
But the money was backing JD, and still is.
They were obviously believed... which is amazing. It's still amazing that Trump is believed and not known universally as a liar... that so many believe him. This does not bode well for democracy... I mean when people are not engaged with the truth, do not reason, do not take part but succumb to someone such as Trump.
The Rupert Club tells them what to believe.
Kerry, your memory cannot replace recorded facts. https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/ap-fact-check-trumps-promises-health-care His rhetoric was in 2016 not to just repeal but to repeal and replace. If anyone needed a reminder, he did it again a couple weeks ago. https://www.statnews.com/2024/07/19/donald-trump-healthcare-abortion-transgender-medicare-right-to-try/ .
To be anti genocide is to be pro-humanitarian not "Pro-Palestinian" or not soon to be "Pro-Lebanese" and certainly not anti-semitic. To be sure, this is not the only recent genocide, but it is the only one in which the perpetrators have interfered in our governance to the degree of imposing restrictions of speech and "loyalty oaths" on American citizens. Some do take responsibility for that https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mvZ0gupc7k8&t=92s.
As far as Feingold, I don't need your reminder there either. I resided in that state, taught in the UW and was extremely disappointed at his losing, That was when politicians started replacing real academics and scholars as university presidents with their political hacks and the ones at "THE" UW started advocating the UW was the size of a Fortune 500 company so political hacks installed as their presidents and chancellors should be similarly paid. Politicians termed out or placed there in holding tanks where they could gain visibility as they were groomed for public office were delighted! The example that state set was adopted nationally to the detriment of most of our universities. Feingold didn't lose because of who he was or what he did so much as what ushered in the end of the New Deal Democratic Party with the Reagan era of disservice, the rise of Democratic Party neoliberalism as described in "Democracy in Chains," and the eventual catastrophe of Trump.
Like you, I campaigned for Bernie, served as a party delegate at several levels and then supported Hillary even though that was not my first choice, so don't point your "purity" needling in my direction. I didn't expatriate like you did to another country, but I moved to another state which had still managed to keep academics in charge of universities as result of a strong union, and kept installed political hacks from destroying its universities. Mine was a good decision. I hope you found yours equally one of your best. But we can't all leave the country or abandon it to its problems that we ourselves don't have to live with.
I think it’s a fair shot at me for expatriating, but as a college dropout whose business was destroyed by the 2008 crisis, HR people laughed at me while I was trying to get hired in my 50’s. I didn’t have the piece of paper they needed to bother considering me for jobs I was overqualified for. I didn’t want to work at Home Depot or drive a school bus. So, I left. You can justifiably take your shots at me from within academia; I didn’t have any options I much liked, in any state. But don’t point your “abandon” needling at me.
Well, well, well. Looks like I’m on Kamala’s side of this argument and you’re on Donny’s. Hahaha. https://www.newsweek.com/kamala-harris-ad-says-trump-wants-end-affordable-care-act-does-he-1932071
Whatever Trump says cannot be believed, so who knows what his "side"
Harris mentioned two things in her first speech (1) Affordable Health Care and (2) Health care is a right, not only something the wealthy can access. Affordable Health Care is not "affordable" to a lot of citizens. Only universal heath care would seem like health care as a right for citizens, rather than as a "right" for the insurance cartel to continue to keep affordable care hostage as a cash cow health care for-profit system.
I'm an advocate for universal health care. I don't know what Kamala is actually for, but she is the first Democratic presidential candidate to voice health care as a right of citizens. Those for any for-profit system are likely on the side of oligarchs and plutocrats.
I voted for Hillary Clinton and I still adore and admire her. I am working now for Kamala Harris.
But bitching against Mitch McConnell is a valve release and I cannot seen to give it up.
I will never forget the look of shock and terror on TV pundits faces when they realized they were going to have to announce that tRump won against Ms Clinton. She won the popular vote! If only... if only RBG stepped down , if only the electoral college wasn't so rigged , we could be living in a gentler, kinder , humanist world.
It was the media who elected Trump. Their incessant need for entertainment programming disguised as news gave that asshole 24 hours of publicity every day for months, endlessly stoking the bullshit about Hillary’s emails.
Estimates are 2 billion $$$ in free press. They gave him recognition where none existed, and their investment gave their owners and shareholders profit. They are returning with another investment.
Fortunately, Kamala seems to have tons of entertainment value. She can dance. And JD is my favorite vp candidate since Alexander Throttlebottom.
Blinded by American military support for a dubious Israeli political regime, loaded with people who have always been inherently anti-Palestinian, let along Gazan, with a history of settlement encroachment on Palestinian land. How can they possibly miss Trump's "get it done" statement. GOP lines up on anti-Palestinian stances.
- Pulled Quote -
''But today’s Republicans are political extremists who are trying to disrupt elections and who killed immigration reform. “Trump poses a serious threat to our nation,” he wrote. “We can’t have a felon representing us on the national stage, let alone one who would threaten to abandon NATO and ruin our standing abroad.”''
Hitler's playbook is the GOP's Bible. Let's keep this front and center going forward.
Vote!
Hitler’s playbook has been front and center for years. Got banned from FB and T for saying so four years ago.
The Lincolin Project and George Conway are doing a superb join updating this:
The THREE STOOGES - ''I'll Never Heil Again''
https://youtu.be/vEApJmUXamg
Thanks for the grin!
Thanks, Michael, but clicking your link gets only "Video unavailable."
I got the same when I sought the link separately. But eventually I found a link successfully bringing up the skit. (Sorry, Michael, but I found it a bit tiresome -- nothing remotely as direct as the Lincoln Project and George Conway.)
The link is not broken.
Never to be seen in Texas. Thank you
the mayor summed it up nicely, what kind of multiplier effect will his stance have among Never Trumpers among others?
In that area in AZ, Mesa, many will sit up, take notice, and follow Giles' advice.
Wishful thinking that could help lead to a MAGA defeat, followed by a breakup and re-ordering the Republican Party?
This is the most exciting post that I have read. Thank you to ALL REPUBLICANS who are jumping on the band wagon. Happy to see your names here. United we stand. Divided we Fall.
I was absolutely astounded to read about the mayor of Mesa. My dad and stepmother used to live there, and believe me, it's a kind of epicentre for the Christian Right movement.
And how about the 500+ women (maybe some dudes, too) of The Villages in right-wing Florida riding their golf carts with Harris signs!
Ann W,
Your comment regarding HARRIS SIGNS displayed by seniors at The Villages gives me joy and hope!!! Thank you!!!!
Anti antichrist Jesus freaks for Harris. https://www.votecommongood.com/
It is very encouraging to read this. We cannot let up.Remember 2016!! Wed do not want the Electoral College to decide. We need an absolute majority. Volunteer to make it happen.
from Wiki.... "In a 2014 study, academic researchers from MIT and UCLA analyzed over a decade's worth of public opinion surveys. They determined that Mesa was the "most conservative American city of more than 250,000 residents". In 2017, the Pew Research Center also determined that Mesa was the most conservative city in the United States."
I thought it was Colorado Springs, where the ridiculous focus on the family closeted homosexuals preyed on people.
Oh wait, that's what all the homophobic freaks are.
John Giles has been a Trump critic for some time.... so how does he keep his mayor job all this time? or what?
Talia Morris,
I am a Christian who has looked at history and found that there are many times when The Christian Right can be WRONG.
Thank you, Ma'am for another thoughtful essay. For a sudden lame-duck, President Biden is proving to be very much up to his game. The great thing about the President's policy friskiness is that he can stake out the positions and take the heat for being 'wattical' while Vice President Harris simply runs on Admin. policy. Brilliant!
SPEAKING OF A PEAK TIME FOR A PEAK TEAM
Dr Heather Cox Richardson has two 'sub-stacked' soul-sisters out there addressing our current turmoil. Dr Cox Richardson addresses the turmoil in terms of the sweep of U.S. history and discernible lessons learned from it. Two other thinkers from distinct disciplines complement Dr Cox Richardson's profound knowledge of history. Together, these three women show us lessons learned from other times of tumult; the mechanics underlying the subversion of the rule-of-law; and, the social pathology animating a dangerous trend toward political violence. Taken together, the writings of these three women confer upon the reader a nuanced and wholistic sense of what is happening, its mechanics, and a way out of the mire of megalomania.
First is Dr Bandy X. Lee, as a Yale trained psychiatrist nuanced in her thinking by an M.Div., also from Yale. Dr Lee's field work deals principally with violence and its causes within a society, an institution, or an individual; she then proposes and implements remedies to address it. Dr Lee evaluates the psychiatric precariousness of not only President Trump, but also American society facing an accelerating social pathology.. Below is a snip-it of today's thirteenth chapter of 'The Psychology of Trump Contagion: An Existential Threat to American Democracy and All Humankind'.
https://bandyxlee.substack.com/p/the-psychology-of-trump-contagion-39a
"Therefore, we find ourselves in a paradoxical situation where, the more urgent and more dire the circumstances, the more necessary it is to pause—to understand deeply and correctly, not just to know and to take correct action, but to access a space in our psyches that brings out our ultimate strength."
Joyce Vance is a former prosecutor who understands the law and how the current Trump Contagion could end the rule of law. She complements Drs Lee and Cox Richardson by explaining President Trump's attack on democracy in terms of legal maneuvers and affronts. A snip-it from the recent essay, "It is Time to Talk about Misogyny."
https://joycevance.substack.com/p/we-need-to-talk-about-the-misogyny
"There is the deliberate, intentional misogyny Trump and his followers spew like Tennessee Congressman Tim Burchett calling Harris a 'DEI hire.' There is the casual misogyny that many people . . . accept as obvious truths when they are not. The kind of attacks that we saw directed towards Hillary—'she’s shrill' . . . 'not likable'—and that we now see being directed toward the Vice President. Much of it is irresponsible, unthinking commentary that, when injected into the bloodstream of the body politic, gives people an excuse not to vote for Kamala Harris without saying it’s her gender or her race that makes them uncomfortable."
Thank you, Ned. I heartily agree with your shoutout of support for HCR and Joyce Vance. I’m unaware of Dr. Bandy X. Lee but will check her out.
I find that the three together create a textured, multi-layered view. Dr Lee gets a bit too political at times, but she has been injured by the powers that be and is brave in her dissent.
She's writing a book on the pathology dumpty exhibits. Publishing it on her substack in chapters before its release in I think September. It's fairly dense with psychological jargon but well worth diving into.
True, that. The link in the comment from Dr Lee is the thirteenth chapter of the serialized book.
Take your time reading her critique. This won't spread into the general public.
Quite true. Dr Lee's chapters and essays tend to be long. That is likely due to her training and an effort to be clear in what she is saying.
Her audience certainly isn't the general public. Is she an influencer? Hard to say for where it counts come election time. Ie via influential relay. OR, she could learn to "less complicate" her main points
Well, Dr Lee was very much an influencer in 2017 -- not in popularity but in her audience -- when she led the effort by a group of experts to alert the country on President Trump's mental unfitness. The American Psychiatric Association and certain unscrupulous rivals shut her down and interviews dried up.
She is trying to resurrect that group effort by submitting a group-letter to Judge Merchan and by leading an intervention by a panel of experts BEFORE the election.
In the sense of being walking click-bait, Dr Lee is not an influencer in the digital. Her influence, in conjunction with other though-leaders, will be mediated through more public click-baiter.
I remember hearing about concerns of anti-Trump political statements being made by psychiatrists from the APA, diagnoses to boot. You're tagging the APA with "certain unscrupulous rivals"? I see Dr Lee made Wikipedia.... https://www.wikiwand.com/en/Goldwater_rule
Personally, I worry this may open a can of worms, ie retaliatory accusations among political rivals generally. Did you know, btw, that there are studies suggesting a significant number of political and business leaders have sociopathic tendencies? And... one attribute is their social adaptations making it easier for them to take over social organizations? None of which would be identifiable by psychiatrists generally. Tricky business, I admit, and I'm inclined to believe people like Mary Trump anecdotally, though she plainly has some axes to grind.
There is even a name for it, misogynoir. It’s a particular hate that intelligent African American women experience in public and private life. It also is something many African American women face on a daily basis.
Thanks for that Kathy
Yes, I agree with Frank; many thanks.
Unfortunately Burchett is my rep (and Blackburn my senator!)!! Which has led a group of us to start www.bluetennessee.org. These two are “graduates” of the TN legislature. Ugh!
I would love to see those two replaced by Justin Jones and Justin Pearson...they would truly represent Tennessee and honorably serve the whole country...
Oh me too!
You have my deepest sympathy. How are you going to get rid of the pig sticker? (Pigs by the way are very intelligent and funny creatures, neither an attribute Ms Blackburn posesses).
I join Jen in her sympathy. Fortunately, for me, I am too old and too tired to get too upset about anything anymore. That is about the only advantage my age-bracket seems to give me.
I have been subscribed to Joyce Vance for ages but did not know about Dr. Lee -- thank you for the heads up!
You are very welcome, Laurie. Thank you for responding.
Glad to be introduced to Dr Lee. Today’s post cld be daringly called HRC’s best ever.
I actually had that feeling about yesterday's essay by Dr Cox Richardson.
By the way, I am placing similar comments on the thread of Dr Lee's essay from yesterday and on Ms Vance's next essay. I am proud to show my liberal credentials as an equal opportunity bloviator. 🤭⚖️🤝💡😉
Biden is stepping into his role as Elder, revered for wisdom and presenting its possibility. A model for all of us. Doing More in ‘24.
Honoring the Role of Elder is new to the US culture. Biden won’t be put out to pasture. Stepping into sharing his experience and suggesting plausible passages and passkeys.
Friends-Harris is gaining traction and it is a joy to behold. However, I have a huge question. Republicans will not take this quietly, nor will they just go back to slither under their rocks from whence they came. WHY IS TRUMP SAYING PEOPLE DO NOT NEED TO VOTE???? If people have been put in place to deny the votes and they kick it to the House or SCOTUS, we lose no matter the blue tsunami. How can this be stopped? Prevented? What can we do? Action must be taken NOW to prevent their coup from being successful this time. Sorry-reading another substack where they referenced this terrified me. The creepy attitudes and behaviors from the GOP to control the lives of others is out of control and that includes their complete disregard for the Constitution, our bodily autonomy, or the freedom to seek life, Liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. What can we do NOW, what can be put in place NOW to ensure votes are counted and certified?????
My question, too. Rachel Maddow devoted part of her show yesterday to election deniers being appointed (by whom??) to serve on boards that should certify votes correctly… which they might not. It would only take a small number in battleground states to throw the election into chaos.
I wonder what, if anything, can be done - can someone’s credentials be challenged? Can a contestation be contested before the state’s votes are thrown out? The U.S. seems to need the kind of oversight that is given to non-democratic countries.
Too bad Jimmy Carter is unavailable
This is from Rolling Stone - https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-features/trump-swing-state-officials-election-deniers-1235069692/
These Swing State Election Officials Are Pro-Trump Election Deniers
At least 70 pro-Trump conspiracists are election officials in key battleground counties — and they are poised to make a giant mess on Election Day
BY JUSTIN GLAWE JULY 29, 2024
WHEN ELECTION NIGHT comes in November, it will be up to thousands of local election officials to certify election results in their counties. Among those election officials are scores of Donald Trump supporters who believe his lies and conspiracies about stolen elections — and will be in prime position to act on those beliefs to try to aid his campaign in November.
In the swing states of Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, and Pennsylvania, Rolling Stone and American Doom identified at least 70 pro-Trump election conspiracists currently working as county election officials who have questioned the validity of elections or delayed or refused to certify results. At least 22 of these county election officials have refused or delayed certification in recent years.
Certification of election results is what legal experts consider a “ministerial task,” and one required by state and local law. But as Trump’s lies about the 2020 election have taken hold, Republicans nationwide have decided that certification provides them an opportunity to hear fraud allegations — and refuse to officially count their local votes. Republicans have refused to certify election results at least 25 times since Trump lost the 2020 election to President Joe Biden.
Hopefully the rest isn't behind a paywall for anyone interested.
BTW, Rolling Stone has some excellent deep-dive political journalists if you're not familiar.
This is not a surprise to me, living in Texas. But the numbers are. It has been clear for some time that they have an alternative strategy to earning votes. I hope democrats have some way to identify and fight this. Thank you, Rolling Stone and Maddow. Doing the job our MSM has vacated…
"American Doom" is doing the investigating? Sounds ominous to me!
Overwhelming voter turnout. Getting an epic turnout will make it much easier to see through the lies and games the GQP will try to pull. Close elections are much more corruptible than landslides.
In a nutshell - VOTE and get everyone you know (especially young folks that haven't voted before) to register and VOTE (all the way down the ticket - local and state offices are critical).
The biggest threat to Democracy right now (and to Kamala winning the election) is VOTER SUPPRESSION on a vast scale never seen before! Trump could win if it‘s not stopped! Hundreds of thousands of “VIGILANTE VOTER CHALLENGERS” are being deployed by MAGA to all states (especially swing states) to purge voter rolls of any and all likely Democrats, especially Blacks, People of Color, elderly, youth and many others.
Several excellent sources of info about this are:
gregpalast.org (website of investigative journalist Greg Palast)
voteractionproject.org
(who just announced that 160,000 voters—mostly Black—are to be purged from voter rolls in Ohio) and fairfight.com(Suppression in Georgia).
Working on the ground to restore voting rights to people wrongly denied them are
commoncause.org
aclu.org, lwv.org and naacp.org
Please spread the word and support all these folks. They are working to save Democracy and they need our support!
Thanks, Ellen. I agree with you. This is huge.
Very few people are aware of the scale of this so i am posting it everywhere i can, including letters to the editor of my local newspapers. I strongly encourage everyone to do likewise!!
Everyone needs to check in on your voter registration status from time to time.
How do I check my voter registration status?
I typed:
"check my voter registration in Kentucky"
This is what I got
Voter Information Center
Welcome to the Commonwealth of Kentucky's Voter Information Center
You may use this website to do the following:
Check your current KY voter registration information
Find your polling place
And, check the status of your requested absentee ballot
To continue, please enter the following info and click "submit"
Thanks!
@ Ellen Holmes. Just donated and registered to hear Heather Wednesday, August 7, 7:00pm – 8:00pm ET through Force Multiplier, to support the Blue Surge Turnout Fund, a partnership with America Votes. https://secure.actblue.com/donate/forcemultiplier2024bluesurgerichardsonevent?refcode=News_2407&cdmc=2jNugvlusEtDQ2dX7mDlhEYIYOD&refcode2=2jNugvlusEtDQ2dX7mDlhEYIYOD&refcodecdmc=2jNugvlusEtDQ2dX7mDlhEYIYOD
I hope they partner with Field Team 6, which is active in the same races and which is re registering folk purged from the roles.
Focus for Democracy raised more than $5MM the other night for Galvanize and Accelerate Change. IMHO Democrats would be golden if FT 6 raised that kind of money. https://www.fieldteam6.org/fund-the-mission
Also Forgotten Democrats meeting is Friday, August 2 at noon. https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZEscOCopjsqG9JzrFKgkbSrklap79NQnBeJ#/registration
If we check out the recent Venezuelan election, it is easy to see how crooked elections can be. Maduro was behind.
Just in case anybody out there doesn’t know this: 17-year-olds who will be 18 by the election day can register now.
Hey, GeorgeC. I struggle to understand what constitutes a landslide vote. IMO, Biden won in 2020 by a landslide with over approx. seven million votes.
Technically, Hillary Clinton won in a landslide--literally millions more votes than the orange menace. Unfortunately, it's the electoral college that determines outcomes, which is why there's so much focus on swing stares. Republicans have seldom won the popular vote. Bush didn't either. In fact, if The Supreme Court hadn't stopped the Florida recount and declared the election for Bush, Gore would have won.
Stealing from Gore was the one that gave them the gall to keep it up
It didn’t stop them, did it. The courts are now more obvious in their partisan stance.
Silly me, JD. I was hoping there was some magic number that would stop the election aftermath of lawsuits. Ugh!
How I wish, they are like the Whac-A-Mole game. When you whack one, they pop up just beside it with another evil trick. They have been very busy - for a very long time.
True overall. However in a few states, it was very close.
Only country in the world it matters more where you vote than how many voted.
Fatal flaw in Constitution as yet another relic of slavery.
Trump took the Rust Belt in 2016 by far fewer votes than Biden in 2020, though margins in both cases are thin, never heard Trump complain about that? Remember Trump has made lies a cornerstone of his political influence.
Yes!
I had some thoughts on this a while back: https://yadontknow.blogspot.com/2021/01/by-people.html
Exactly! Rachel Maddow highlighted this last night. Senator Warren said that we have to vote in overwhelming numbers. What good does that do if a Trumpist refuses to release the numbers? It’s amazing how Dems have to vote overwhelmingly while Republicans just need that one extra vote. I’m sick of minority rule.
Sounds like what Maduro is doing in Venezuela.
Maduro did exactly what I expected, he cheated. Donald Trump wants to cheat also, just like he’s done all his life.
And it makes him furious when he is finally held accountable. He has won so many cases against people with legitimate claims by delaying cases to the point it is no longer financially feasible to fight them.
And he surrounds himself with other cheaters that enable his heinous tactics.
Exactly, and he manages to get his enablers to reveal their worst real selves.
The system that enables that tactic to succeed needs to be corrected. I believe it will be, in a way that a lot of people will find astonishing. Some here on Substack say “God help us” when something looks dire. But for most it’s just a cry of despair without any faith he will actually do anything. I am convinced the ultimate day of reckoning is really close. Wish I could say how close, but the only thing for sure is that it will be “before it’s too late.” We will not save ourselves. Vote your heart out, you may make a little difference, but the world requires a bigger solution.
Exactly 🤬
Previously, The Felon did his best to subvert the Electoral College, and he personally got away with it. In this go-round, we need to Trimp-Proof the college and the electors beforehand. There shouldn't be any excuse for acting surprised when he tries the same thing again.
In December 2022, Congress passed the Electoral Count Reform and Presidential Transition Improvement Act of 2022. "Any objection made by senators or representatives during the counting of the electoral votes must be made in writing and signed by at least one-fifth of the senators and one-fifth of the members of the House of Representatives. Previously, an objection required the signatures of only one member of each chamber."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electoral_Count_Reform_and_Presidential_Transition_Improvement_Act_of_2022
On 06/20/24, “The Big Picture & Jay Kuo” wrote on Substack addressing this change, which would make it much harder than it was in 2020 to challenge the official results. Plus Kamala Harris will be overseeing the count as Vice President (as opposed to Trump sycophant Pence, who stood up to Trump for the first time ever).
The new Congress takes office on January 3rd, so if the Democrats win over the house, Hakeem Jeffries will be in charge of the House on January 6th, not Mike Johnson.
Thank you, Jean!
Lynell VA, your statutory cite is spot on.
*****
Check out STEVE VLADECK's 7/29 "Long Read" for Steve's pinpoint analysis of one ... just 1, sentence in OHIO vs EPA that has "reshaped equitable relief" by altering he "balancing test" for what constitutionally constitutes "irreparable harm".
Steve is in the weeds but, this weed must be yanked out ASAP.
Thanks, Bryan. Heading over to the "Long Read" to have a look-see!
PS: On Stanton VA, I got family on my mother's side that goes back to Revolutionary Days in the Stanton area, the Lewis sons.
Impressive, Bryan!
And kevin roberts saying "we are winning in ways the left does not even know". I am frightened beyond belief. These people are ruthless as all cultists are. They are devoted to their free market no compromise ideas.
If the democrats are able to get woke up enough to take enough positions all the way down the ballots, they need to take these people to task. Our history is full of examples of just moving on....J6 is the most recent...
As usual trump may be signaling any number of things that could happen:
1. Republicans will be suppressing votes and intimidating voters at the polls
2. Republicans will use violence to overturn the election if they lose
3. SCOTUS will give the election to the Republicans
4. He is confused about the not having to vote in four years statement and thinks that is now
5. According to Rachael Maddow the Republicans are assembling people in counties who will refuse to certify the votes.
Meanwhile. We enact such a massive landslide no violence, Court or craziness can affect.
You are 100% right
I heard him (Trump) say "Christians, get out and vote, just this once, then you will never have to again".
And also "I'm not a Christian" but then neither are they.
He's saying vote this time for him and they'll never need to vote again. He's making it clear that he plans to be a dictator.
Jen, Rachel Maddow last night presented info (that Rolling Stone also reported) saying that 70 election-denying Repubs in 6 or so swing states will be responsible for certifying (or not) their counties' election results, potentially putting state results in limbo.
Hopefully Marc Elias, Rick Hasen and others are preparing fast responses to each if needed.
Rachel maddow had a chilling aanalysis of drumpfs comments that he wouldn't need your votes last night. She says the christofascists have planted 170 election deniers in counties in swing states who will refuse to certify the vote when dumoty loses, thereby stealing the election by sending it to the Extreme Court .
Thank you for highlighting President Biden’s work to improve the Supreme Court. I believe that the idea that the unelected justices can take bribes (it doesn’t count if you have to wait for the bribe)has vastly weakened the whole Department of Justice. President Biden’s shining light on the problems may not get immediate action, but it draws a line in the sand and helps move the Overton Window—one small step closer to the bipartisan independent judiciary that was envisioned.
Corruption runs wild if we don't pay enough attention to it. Biden's stand is the first step toward making it a tangible "issue".
Yes, they've "going out of their way to offend women."
Kamala can make up for this at the debate scheduled for ABC September 10. The felon-coward will be absent, so she can use this absence to stress how he always puts himself and his criminality first. In view of his absence, let video show his key lies:
1) Migrant crime: no, not high – but lower than native-born crime.
2) Migrant hordes at the border: numbers have fallen. Would have fallen more had Republicans honored their own bipartisan border plan.
Stress how it was the felon who had his cult members scuttle their negotiated border plan, for him instead to put sensationalize his lies:
3) Respect for women: not. He was found liable of sexual abuse. Has always abused women. Killing national protections for women to choose just aligns with his long history and bragging of abuse.
4) Respect for law: no. Contempt. His justices got on the nation’s highest court due to lying at nomination hearings where, as to court precedents, all perjured themselves. Then they ruled their felon as above the law.
5) Respect for alliances: no, he serves Putin – has said Putin could do “whatever the hell he likes” even against key American alliances.
Repeat, repeat: how this felon always spews vulgarity, hews to criminality.
Great idea. Knowing that Trump doesn't want to do the debate, Harris should still use the Prime Time slot to connect with voters and maybe have an open town hall. Trump is a known quantity, you aren't going to probably change the minds of people who are on the NAGA train, but for undecided likely voters, infrequent, low information or new voters it is a great way to keep connecting with people directly and offer clear, concise and actionable policy proposals to people.
This positive momentum is pure joy and hope! On Saturday July 20th, I had a conversation with one of our adult sons who said we need to be prepared for the horror of another trump term. Then Sunday, July 21st happened!!! Everything thereafter has lifted the damp heavy pall that caused so many of us to be bereft for too many years.
Joe Biden will go down in history as one of the very best because of his administration's profound accomplishments during a single presidential term, his choice of Kamala Harris as his VP 4 years ago, and his decision to not seek re-election which has unleashed a tsunami of energy! Yes, trump and the cult are still out there but brilliantly being put in their place! There is much work to be done to get the democrats over the finish line (never can sit back on one's laurels!) but how much more pleasant it all is to be where we are now!!
Years ago I was at a Bulls/Celtics game in the Old Chicago Stadium. The Celtics had led the entire game but the Bulls were within striking distance. In the 3rd quarter Scottie Pippen lobbed a pass to Jordan which Jordan grabbed above the top of the backboard and jammed it into the basket. The Stadium erupted and the Celtics were totally deflated. They never were able to regain their momentum and the Bulls easily won behind the excitement of the crowd.
When Kamala entered the game it was a total shift in momentum for the good guys. May DonOld Duck and JD continue to make turnovers at a record pace like they have done everyday for the past couple of weeks.
A seismic shift… maybe. At least a crack in the Insanity Bell. When will more recognize that the Stockholm Syndrome is just the result of a hostile takeover that is crumbling before our eyes. MAGAts, you are free to leave. Republicans, you are free to be ethical. Independents, you are free to choose integrity. Democrats, you have chosen well.
Professor, please know that your extensive references are much appreciated. Even though I rarely check them, I have confidence that they support your observations -- they are more evidence of your credibility and differentiate you from the psuedo-journalists writing for the maga far-right. THANK YOU!
I always “like” her list of references in the comments section of her Facebook post. HCR’s adherence to citing sources shows her respect for the work of others, provides readers with access to more information, and gives her credibility indeed.
Being utterly brazen about being a jerk may be losing its cachet.
I'm not sure if MN Tim Walz is the one who started calling them "weird," but the new adjective has taken off. One thing Trump can't stand is being laughed at. For Harris, laughter is shared pleasure and fun. For Trump, laughter is just another form of meanness. Weird, indeed.
One of the new names for CFDT is DonOld Duck. We'll see if that gets him riled enough to debate Kamala. If he falls behind the margin of error in several swing states, he may reconsider.
I would love to see a Walz/Vance debate. Walz can be brutal, but in a folksy kind of way.
Bullies dish it out but they sure can't take it.
We teach our 3rd graders not to be bullies and we teach bystanders ways to defuse bullying so that they become "upstanders." I guess there are no upstanders among the MAGA crowd.
I think you’re onto something JL. I’m sensing a certain amount of “brazen fatigue” out there as well. This Trump Broadway show may have finally run its course.
Can we dream
Demagoguery never really goes out of style, but it can get tiresome.
When you're hot, you're hot, when you're not, you're not.
Meanwhile, Rachel Maddow reported last night that Trump is saying that he doesn’t need votes. Trumpists have been placed in election oversight positions in more than 20 states, including swing states. Trump is making it clear that he’s going to steal the election by refusals to certify the votes in these states, sending the U.S. into another Constitutional crisis. How is the federal government going to address this? What steps can be taken to assure the integrity of our elections?
Right. Here's the link.
Maddow points out frightening truth about Trump's lack of concern about votes
https://youtu.be/of9OP_a6MNg?si=yRCqde9f11x-1pFm
Peter, thank you so very much for sharing this. I’m posting it on fb. Is there any way to overcome this planned coup? How do we circumvent their plan????
Hi Jen. Well, that's the question isn't it? What can be done about the folks in election oversight. It's very hard to say. For example, if they refuse to certify election results, it's gonna end up in the courts which is what they want. It's like, it's about delay right? They are Trumpers, election denialists, and just like Trump, they are all about court battles and delay. So it's hard to say where this ends. In 2020, all the courts were favorable to the defendants, the people, states etc. that were being sued. Maybe they will be here too, but it doesn't solve the problem of delay. I saw a comment recently that was somewhat hopeful. The thing is, Joe Biden is the president, and Trump is still just a citizen. He'll remain in office until a final decision is made. And the SCOTUS just gave him powers which is possible he could decide to use. And then, as I said, if the court decisions are the same as they were in 2020, there is some safety in that. Perhaps the courts could force these election deniers to certify the results. Anyway😊, who knows what's going to happen. Let's try to keep hope alive, follow these events where they lead and hope for a positive outcome.
Mary, I asked the question “What does he mean” and pulled the quote from the Professor’s Letter a couple days ago. One conservative (and I use that term in its original intent) suggested that since this would be a second term, the implication was vote “for him.” One MAGAt (and I use that term with all it implies) told me that snippet was taken “out of context” and was at the end of a speech to a variety of religious practitioners.
I’ll have to give Rachel a listen when I land for the night (long travel day ahead)