There are good and bad people everywhere on earth. Unfortunately, we hear about the bad more so than the good. I cannot understand how anyone can say 'all southerners are rascist', as an example. I would want to know if they actually know all of the southern people in order to make such a statement. Ignorance.
Exactly..and while many Afrikkaners are pleasant to socialize with, I believe the majority still hold the tenets of Apartheid very close to being a spiritual path.
When we visited South Africa on a trip (we won it from All Classical) a while back, we noted that there were plenty of walled houses and poor townships, some with housing and some with lots of shacks. The white South Africans were lucky with Nelson Mandela. We saw a large and I mean large government building from the apartheid era where they kept records of everyone's race and also Robbins Island where Nelson Mandela was held for a while. Their racial problems are not over.
And how many of us descend from southern slaveowners and post-war White SSupremacists?
My ancestry is 3/16 southern, but they were all out of the South by 1845. My Wallace ancestors, from South Carolina, ended up in Kansas after the Civil War, where they found it prudent to lie about their origin.
I have a couple of White South African friends, who may be descended from Afrikaners, but they are not Afrikaners in their politics. They live in the US.
Thank You! When I searched for a definition I found: an Afrikaans-speaking person in South Africa, especially one descended from the Dutch and Huguenot settlers of the 17th century.
So, I didn’t understand. Thanks to all of you here for educating me.
He's (TC) using shorthand for what many understand as the AWB, or Weerstandsbeweging who were an extreme right wing white South African political group committed to either continuing apartheid or creating their own separate South Africa nation. They were brutal thugs Evelyn.
Elon Musk's ancestry is mostly English and American (through Canada), with one line going back to colonial Connecticut. There is an Afrikaner element in his ancestry, about an eighth.
Yes. I have not only read complaints about him racially, but also sexually. Also, one is judged by the company one keeps. Look at his Twitter company. He embraces the right wing as a member.
Here is a discussion that might clarify that even if the Afrikaner's are not in power they continue to exist in South Africa as cruel, racist, violent, White people.
When I studied African history, my professor shared the violent means of oppression of different groups. I remember the Germans (my people), Belgians and Dutch being particularly brutal, but it was all brutal if you ask me. The Dutch became the Afrikaners of South Africa and Rhodesia, and ruled with apartheid until it was overthrown. Racism is so hateful and insidious and is on the rearing its ugly head very blatantly in the Repugnicant party here in the Good Ole US of A.
Timmy, I repeat the idea because I read Prof Kathleen Belew's book Bring the War Home: The White Power Movement and Paramilitary America. I consider her book quintessential to read to have a bigger take on what is going on in our country. She appeared in a lot of workshops that I attended a few years ago, and I knew some young Southern White men that had come to U of C and were interested in studying about White Supremacy with her. Anyway, reading her led to investigating the the topic in Europe too. Not because I believe that there are different races, I do not believe in race. Our family fills out our census forms with the word "human" when asked what race or ethnicity we are. While I do not believe in the concept of races, I do believe in racism, which is buying into the idea that different physical appearances can be categorized into races. I also happen to live in a community where this is discussed a lot. It is the community that Barack Obama comes from. My morning walk is with a friend that many would call White, and her husband, but their son is dark brown. I have many friends who have adopted across skin color, and in some case culture. Families where I live are many things, but different races is not what we are. This is true in my family too. We are many different colors and yet, we are one race. So, I understand that Racism is based on a lie, but many don't even know that. I was told by some in my job when I mentioned this that I was too ahead of everyone else and don't confuse them, and others felt that I did not understand. I repeat the idea of racism not race, and frankly in my household we do not view people as Black or White, but everyone is some shade of Brown. When you have a painting class and you have to look at everything on the gray scale, like it were a black and white photograph, well I see people on the Brown scale, and when my students painted skin color they basically used primary colors. They would make collages of themselves, and paint paper to get their skin color. However, I think that Angélica Dass illustrates what I am talking about best with her Pantone scale. https://angelicadass.com/photography/humanae/
I also talk about colorism. In Europe there is much more discussion of colorism than there is here.
Just read the link and look up Afrikaner. I knew Brits who were involved in trying to feed blacks in South Africa. They had to leave. (One later became head of Public Health at UNC-CH.)
Evelyn, we have to actually be in a declared war for anyone to be a traitor. Elon (like TFG) is solely looking out for himself. He’s taking advantage of the laws (or lack of laws) protecting against monopolies. We’ve seen (in the baby formula crisis) what can happen when an important product is produced by a virtual monopoly.
As for Elon, Rod Hilton summed it up when he posted on December 22,2022 on Mastodon “ He talked about electric cars. I don't know anything about cars, so when people said he was a genius I figured he must be a genius.
Then he talked about rockets. I don't know anything about rockets, so when people said he was a genius I figured he must be a genius.
Now he talks about software. I happen to know a lot about software & Elon Musk is saying the stupidest shit I've ever heard anyone say, so when people say he's a genius I figure I should stay the hell away from his cars and rockets.”
Getting this into circulation along with the rest of our tribe’s ( noting a few -no names are needed- who for the sake of skuttelry poise as one of us and pen nonsense or quote some Russian ‘righter’ and who I easily now skip over) amplification of truth is paramount.
August 8 a big showdown in Ohio, I am sending notes of encouragement for friends there to get-out-the-early-vote and show yet again the🗣️ 💙BLUE TSUNAMI💙 in progress 🤞🙏👍🫶💙.
Get-out-the-early-vote in every state’s affidavit, election, truth positive banner headline
“WE ARE ENDING THIS LOUDLY‼️⚫️ 👈that’s a BIG PERIOD”
Our country’s decency and legacy is at stake.
WE have an admitted amount of correcting to do, WE have a lesson as Jim Crow/McCarthyism/and now MAGA has underscored. And for those who ‘went along’ - the complicit, the planners, the financiers, the coat-tail riders... those specifically complicit need an adjoining cell, banned forever, and boo-ed along their final walk.
This isn’t judgement -but it sure is justice.
Let’s get on our boots ( not like those ghastly white ones the Governor wore 🤦♀️ who dressed him that day anyhow,huh?) sorry Florida ..just saying ....haul in our belts, hitch up our pants and make this clean up a FIRM SWEEP.
He's also the guy who keeps talking about colonizing Mars--which is an absolutely uninhabitable planet for multiple reasons--invoking the word, "terraforming," which in the case of Mars is magical thinking.
There must a law enforce by our government to restrict their limitations of what they can do in space. Billionaires like Musk can be dangerous. Space is for NASA to explore and research for man to learn. Not for billionaires like Musk to do what they want.
Rod Hilton might know about software, so he's taking his own expertise to make a judgement about areas he's not an expert in. He's welcome to do that. But for me personally, to take Hilton's opinion as my own because I don't have the expertise to form my own would be like accepting that all Democrats are evil Socialists because FOX News said so in an entertaining way.
And having been a coder myself in an early phase of my career, I can tell you that Hilton is speaking hyperbolically. The reality is that the best software results came when one thought of what functionality should be available and then work to make it so, if you can. But first, the vision should be stated. That's how one expands one's capabilities.
Jerry—Hilton’s statement was sent to me by a good friend in the field who prefaced it with the statement “See, that’s what I’ve been saying about how he’s running Twitter!” I trust my friend (who’s been cracking purchased commercial game software to play the way he wants it to play since his teens) a whole lot more than Musk.
Musk himself said buying Twitter might be his biggest mistake. Running Twitter isn't the same as writing the code. Musk just knows he wants it, and how it interacts worh government, to be different than it had been and is willing to break a few things to make it so. He's successful with Space-X, with Starlink, with Tesla e-cars and with Tesla power banks. He built none of their components. What he's going to do with Tesla is opaque to me, but it will have to do with more than just software.
Though Elon Musk has done incredibly well in bringing us innovations that the world needs more than ever, his impulsive, instant decision-making is backsliding the gains that he is already making. Elon Musk, with a don't-care attitude, don't factor in the consequences of his decisions. He rarely relies on bearaucratic, legal structures to make announcements because the major driving factor of his decisions is his emotional faculty that mostly depends on his feel-good moments. I am not surprised with his u-turn moments of his projects. But, to make his satellite Internet unavailable when Ukraine soldiers need it most is tantamount to jeopardising the whole strategy. It inconvenienced Ukraine soldiers in the battlefield as the consequences of missing information is detrimental. There is evidence pointing out that Ukraine soldiers were killed during the fight with Russia for every failure of communication because Russia, when they were sensing defeat, destroyed their network boosters to capitalize on their confusion and lack of signal. If Elon Musk has been allowed to operate in battleground field by US and its allies, then he shouldn't be allowed to make impulse decisions because this is sensitive and can risk the lives of Ukrainian soldiers. Should that happened, he should be penalized and another satellite Internet company given a chance.
. . . or the US gov’t should get back in the military communications space game! Not that I know US military communications structure, but, just imagine Musk shutting down US military communications at some critical battlefield moment. There are things that only a government should control - as opposed to some whimsical private citizen billionaire!
And, yet another sound reason to keep the defeated FORMER president out of government....."There are things only gov't should control as opposed to some whimsical"......and in both cases, unbalanced and unsavory unqualified and selfish....
Who is it that shapes our government? We, the voters. What makes democracy dangerous is stupid people. I am appalled that at least 28% of Americans are truly stupid, or for a better description--non-critical thinkers. They are willing to give trump the presidency again and bring about their own demise...something I can't wrap my head around....
Correction: military communications should be in the hands of the military, just as potato peeling should be back in the hands of the military instead of being contracted out. Time to get real!
Perhaps government ultimately serves our interests by contracting out potato peeling, but there are some functions of our society's interests that are best held under complete public supply and control, not only because they are vital, but because misuse of them is dangerous. I would put the whole Blackwater, Wagner thing clearly in that category, as well as policing, prisons, certain functions of public health, and any of a number of functions in which folding in the profit motive risk inherent conflicts of interest with the common weal and/or insufficient public supervision ans control. I believe in both a robust private and a public sector, but neither is appropriate for all tasks.
As for Musk, Trump built his reputation in business by using, sometimes exploiting, the talents of others, which he could do because he controlled tremendous wealth. I am unclear how much of Musk success is due to his personal innovation and how much is the ability to buy other's talents.
Elon Musk is a spoiled child who unfortunately happens to be smart. He is obsessed with getting attention by shocking us with his fascist and dangerous antics. He should be tried for treason for adjusting his technology to deliberately hurt and kill Ukrainians and sent to prison so he can play with himself all day.
It's like Twitter, but worse. People sobbed and cried when Musk took over Twitter, but if you put all your eggs in one basket, you've got to take responsibility for making that choice. Who were the chumps who trusted Musk enough to invest in SpaceX and allow this dangerous monopoly to grow?
And where is the lost task of government exerting some control over industry and monopolies...we are circling around to the wealth and control of the less than 1%.
Usually monopolies happen because there has never been enough competition to stop them. But in this case, the industry failed itself. It's just like Twitter, really. Nobody ever said, "Whoa, this one company is the only one of its kind. It's a monopoly raking in billions in advertising and sales revenue, and it's become a political entity."
now, that would restrict billionaires like Musk from doing what they want in space. This is dangerous. Men with money and power will always be a threat to space.
Why another company? Seems to me something so vital to just about every aspect of life should be in the hands of a neutral entity. Certain utilities should be the under the provenance of all the people. Nationalize it. Or give it to a completely independent bipartisan commission.
While we're at it let's include all the internet robber barons!
Private entities like that of Elon Musk are ahead in regard to improved processes and innovations. What is only required from them is abiding by the rules of the military game for successful win over enemies. Their mission should not be to test whether the product is working or not but understand why their product is being used. In this case, satellite technology.
Posts where another Substack author says "read my posts" or posts links to them. As a for instance, if I were to say something along the lines of "I address this in my essay here on Substack" and provide a link to it.
Inconvenienced Ukrainian soldiers? They were killed!
Scariest paragraph I’ve ever read in LTAM:
“A study by New York Times reporters on Friday noted that Elon Musk has steadily come to dominate satellite internet technology with the Starlink technology made by his SpaceX rocket company, and that he has used that dominance to restrict the activities of Ukraine’s military. Musk began to launch satellites into space in 2019, and currently has in position more than 4,500 of the 42,000 satellites he plans. He controls more than 50% of the globe’s working satellites.”
Elon Musk should work as per military rules and not his business playbook. Military and hospitals almost operate under the same umbrella; caution, one flow of information, and slow to make mistakes.
Elon Musk is a South African racist. Period. The money has obscured for some Americans that simple fact. How does this connect to X, etc.? As we used to say, it’s all about money.
He is an Afrikaner, and as such, is not loyal to the USA's agenda. He is loyal to Trump, not Biden. Causes a problem. I think that he should not be allowed to decide who gets support if the government is paying for the usage of the satellites. However, it sounds like NATO needs their own. Is Musk wealthier than NATO?
Linda Weide: The population of South Africa is over 60 million. Afrikaners make up 4 million of that population. The EFF (Economic Freedom Fighters) led by Julius Malena, openly calls for the murder of whites in South Africa. They sing a song about killing Afrikaners. An Afrikaner farm couple was attacked yesterday. The husband died and the wife barely survived. This happens often in South Africa.
Evelyn, we are trying to avoid a broader war, so while we're supporting Ukraine in its war, we're avoiding being dragged in so we can avoid WW3. Do you really want to nationalize Starlink to match our ideology?
I understand that we’re trying to avoid getting involved in a larger war Jerry. It doesn’t seem right to have Musk in charge of of a system that can deter our efforts to that end.
You're right But Musk built it at his own expense and considerable risk, and we are not at war now to provide an excuse to take Starlink over. That wasn't even done in WW2, but it wasn't needed becsuse it was a declared war.. If we want our own constellation to operate as we wish, we could commission one at a fraction of the cost.
If not from Starlink, then there are other such companies, such as Iridium. There are also other launch companies besides Space-X. For instance, Astrium (European Union), but Space-X has the most efficient system that I know of.
If we take over a private company's operations, we would be no better than Russia or Venezuela.
Double, yes, but I don't believe it was done by mistake :). I get annoyed by the constant complaining in most of the posts of this forum, but I don't tell anyone not to post. Having someone who puts out thoughtful posts that don't simply repeat others points is refreshing, advertisements or not. But please, leave the double posting to Smeagle, or Smeekle, or what ever his name is.
Musk is becoming more and more, a walking id. Unless we work hard at it, most of us will get worse as we age. We work at it because we need each other. Some powerful people are insulated from this need - hence people like Musk, Trump, that awful boss you once had, etc.
Off topic, put any group of individuals together, and group process happens! Roles are filled. Thanks, Steve!
Back to the conversation, Trump, Musk, and the awfullest boss I ever had, all suffer from the delusion that they know best, and therefore can do what they want. My awfullest boss made the error of forcing himself on an extremely mentally ill woman during a therapy session. She left the room, went down one floor to the partial care unit where she spent a lot of time, laid down on a pool table and said, loudly,”Call an ambulance. Bring a rape kit. The boss of this whole place just had sex with me.” The rape kit was utilized,evidence was procured, and the boss spent 7 years in jail. My supervisor told me that he asked the boss why he did it. The boss answered,”I thought she was too crazy to tell anyone, and if she did, they wouldn’t believe her.” The day I started work there that guy had invaded my boundaries, standing a little too close, a little too long. I had avoided being alone with him. I was surprised so many other people who worked there were surprised. People generally don’t hesitate to show you who they are. Why so many people can’t see Trump for who he really is continues to astound me.
Meredith Russell: Women should carry protection of some type at all times both at work and elsewhere. I've known too many women who were raped. (They were all raped by African-American men.)
At least the rapist spent 7 years in jail in your story.
When the two girls living below where my roommate and I lived were raped by a very large black man, my roommate went to the local police and told them about the rapist.
The cops staked out our apartment building and caught the rapist when he came back for more.
One of the two girls was able to handle the rape. The other girl went to a mental institution.
Elon Musk needs to be arrested as the traitor he is, government contracts need to be cancelled and Space-X taken over by the government on national security grounds.
And it turns out anyone still dumb enough to buy one of his tinny toys is being conned by him about the actual performance/range of said tinny toys. He's so dedicated to supporting his products that he has a secret office dedicated to canceling the service appointments people make to get their cars checked, and if the "remote review" finds any other problems with the car, they don't tell the owner.
Detroit at their worst never did things like that! But every over-educated under-intelligent yuppie moron who thinks he's a genius (he is a genius - at conning the world into thinking he's something besides a con artist) is convince - like Trumpmorons - that poor Elon is being "canceled."
Aargh. A friend just bought a Tesla after many months waiting in line. She researches everything, but obviously not this. I was flabbergasted she carried through with the deal, as was my “car guy” husband. I hope she doesn’t have to join a class action.
TC, as noxious as Musk may be personally, he HAS been a genius at getting our attention, not unlike TFG. Looked at from a broader perspective, say a global perspective, Musk HAS ignited a critical boost to the Electric Vehicle industry when others like Toyota with nearly as old a footprint in hybrid EVs (think Prius) have failed to generate that kind of excitement. [Full disclosure: I was sufficiently galvanized by the opportunity to let go of my Porsche/Audi-type performance cars to get a performance car (Model S) which DIDN'T generate any CO2]. Tesla remains the only new auto manufacturing company to survive and begin turning a profit in half a century. Most car-related publications continue to perceive Tesla as the company to catch up to for state-of-the-art battery and vehicle technology despite the many specific or fairly public failings of any particular model and/or "self-driving" technology. As a nation and world simmering in our own climate-warming soup we NEED to be moving toward zero CO2 emission vehicles ASAP ...and Tesla has provided significant incentive for consumers to make that crucial switch. Major movers and shakers (think "move fast and break things" like Henry Ford, Thomas Edison) are often not very appealing personalities.
I’ve been calling Schmeeckle out as a troll before T.C., before Bryan and anyone else I know of here. I saw T.C. next and very shortly after him Bryan. I’m watching for Schmeeckle. I never engaged with his comments in any way, when I warned of his trolling, he called me a bare faced liar when I was not addressing him. So much for name calling. Bryan is correct on platform security. S is here to disrupt this platform. If you haven’t bothered to read S’s posts, they’re nonsensical rubbish put here particularly to piss people off. He is a troll. Calling someone else a troll for calling him out is gaslighting. Pay no mind to “Mommy! T.C. is calling me names!” It’s what he’s looking for.
Bryan, you keep working on your thing, if you you need me to help get him off this site, I will do what I can.
T.C., others don’t get your anger, but I do. (Yes, I do enjoy when you’re off the hook about this person). He’s been here for longer than most people realize, and yes, he’s a troll. Here to disrupt.
Loudmouth the Troll has a problem with his blood pressure. His doctor told him to take a valium (or two or three) and stop eating so many cheeeeezburgers. The problem is, that fuels his vitriolic farts, especially the cheap mustard and relish.
EDIT: Did Loudmouth the troll just dog-whistle his contempt for trans people on puberty blockers?
Please gentlemen. Take it outside. This is a civil Substack site. Enough name calling please!!! It’s not necessary to name call brawl. Use your intelligence and practice/model civility. Thank you
Seth, review the 2023 Publisher's Agreement please. It is the contractual duty of Substack Inc to remove a Troll disrupting the Platform while making personal attacks on contractually defined "Readers". Platform security is a 'Thing' particularly when Troll links to foreign disinformation like yesterday [ "ru"]. "Twitter" now "X" or "wtf" is attacking a major non-profit that tracks Hate Speech.
Loudmouth the Troll has just been promoted to Special Agent Loudmouth the Troll, in charge of radicalizing HCR's readership and normalizing expressions of violent hate.
The MAGA are trying to "bring down" a legitimately elected president who is doing a stellar job serving the American people with honesty and integrity. And they DARE to call themselves patriots. They are traitors to this country, trying to undermine the results of free and fair election. The rest of us must stop them.
They dare to call themselves working politicians?!?!?! Follow the Republican House Caucus, and it sounds like they are papering their walls with legislation, when in fact, they murder trees writing “resolutions “ that carry NO POLITICAL MEANING OR CONSEQUENCE! It’s one long scroll of hatred - of Biden’s successes, of inclusion and equality, and of the diversity that really makes America great.
The Trump Administration’s financing of Yellow Trucking benefitted Apollo by supporting outstanding credit Apollo had extended the struggling trucking firm. Apollo’s founder and longtime CEO and Board Chair was Leon Black. Mr. Black resigned his positions at Apollo when it became public he had been Jeffrey Epstein’s frequent guest at gatherings held for the purpose of sex trafficking young women and girls. Perhaps when James Comer and his House Oversight Committee are done with their Hunter Biden fever dream they can investigate just why the Trump Administration tried to ride to Leon Black’s rescue and cost American taxpayers about 500 million dollars.
Mas, thank you for shifting the conversation away from Musk and back to our current domestic political tragedy. I do agree that Musk's control of satellite communications must be challenged by our government.
So nice that the results of the closed door committee meeting got leaked ... by Republicans who attended long enough to find out there was not any meat in the Biden Crime Burger. Thanks to star witness, Biden's son's business partner.
What I find so difficult is how the congressional Republican none sense drowns out the reality of Biden’s success in avoiding a recession and stabilizing and even increasing the strength of the economy. The front page of The Washington Times, a conservative paper, trumpeted statements from Andy Biggs (chairman of the committee who spoke to Archer along with Marjorie Greene that Archer said Joe Biden was influence peddling throughout his VP days. I’m sure that was picked up by Fox and other right-wing news outlets.
It’s hard not to see Trump, his allies in Congress, and MAGAs becoming increasingly desperate as criminal charges pile up and defeat in 2024 looms ever larger.
We know that Trump will stop at nothing to avoid prison. What crimes against the nation is he planning?
It's hopeful to see news of Rs turning against him. This group, the Republican Accountability Project, is spending $1.5 million on ads aimed at likely Trump voters in Iowa. Of course I don't agree with their goals (to sink tffg to get an electable R on the ticket) but It was always some comfort to me during the last election to watch Lincoln Project ads.
Yes! During the last election in 2020, my favorite adds were the Lincoln Project. I also enjoy listening to Michael Steele, Charlie Sykes, and Tim Miller on MSNBC. They have recently added David Jolly, a former Republican Congressman from Florida. Then there is Joe Scarborough on Morning Joe,
who rips the present Republicans over the Coals on a daily basis! It makes for a lively morning with my coffee and overnight oats.
Me too! - I'm obsessed with R takedowns of tffg. I learned my lesson the hard way - I'm too liberal and female to convince a R of anything, but I feel better about the state of things when I can watch evidence that there are some marginally sane ones. I'm not sure there are any moral ones except the defectors.
Most of the Pubs are on their knees genuflecting at Trump. He is their Messiah of the modern times.
Trump is leading the Pubs to the promised land of no black people, no immigrants, no gay folks, no women working or thinking; just white folks with the white male "in charge" (meaning sitting on ass at home while everyone else works to serve him as if he is some kind of king).
Mike, agreed - but not that many have to peel off for him to go down in this election. And then, hopefully - prison. Or spontaneous combustion, either is fine with me.
Not many need to stick with Trump to elect him. Here is a quote from a NY Times poll on their website today.
"A New York Times/Siena College poll found that President Biden is on stronger footing than he was a year ago — but he is neck-and-neck in a possible rematch against Donald Trump."
Like Hitler's hate attracted the human Nazi rats, so is Trump's hate attracting the human Nazi American rats.
And? There are LOTS of them as Trump would so inelegantly say.
Mike, I'm not counting on anything. It's terrifying how many of them there are. In practical terms the weak go-alongs are as bad as the all-out evil ones. But we have to have hope or how could we keep going?
I’m hoping now that some Rs are willing to speak out against Trump this early in the season is a good indication that those Rs are encouraging others who’d never, ever support a dolt so freakishly stupid and at the same time have the ability to get those just like him on board his MAGA clown bus.
There are plenty of Republicans who are horrified by Trump, the SCOTUS, the circus that was the House of Representatives are finally mortified enough to openly agree with what other never-Trumper Republicans are saying. I expect this movement to become larger as we go.
All red state Governors and legislators are legislating their jobs away. The insane abortion ban, voter suppression and white supremacy is beginning to wear very thin on it’s constituents. Women are waiting to vote them out.
Trumps pity party rallies are redundant, repetitive and it’s the same people over and over.
I know this all sounds overly optimistic at this point, and I am wary of my own predictions, but as the indictments continue to roll in, Trump continues to hurl empty threats of retaliation of blocking re-election toward Republican members of Congress who’s support is wavering for him because they are no longer willing to look as ridiculous or guilty as he does. He’s a blow hard grifter who continues to take money from supporters for his self inflicted legal battles. His relationship with the likes of Jeffery Epstein and his nonstop open lust for his own daughter is so disconcerting it turns the stomach.
But that aside, if anything is being peeled away, it’s the phony facade that Trump is going to save them from “the libs”.
Trump is here to collect his tribute from his supporters and hand what ever top secret documents he’s copied to the highest bidder. He doesn’t have the ability to keep his mouth shut, so I’m sure we’ll know more as he confesses all. Talk about being your own worst enemy...
This is the statement of his plan for a second term. This is the plan for replacing democracy with a fascist dictatorship. Talk about Great Replacement Theory!!
The Heritage Foundation, seeking to bring back the Golden Era of the Robber Barons, hoping that it will flourish for a thousand years...what a misnomer, huh?
We are the majority...but third-party candidates and a predicted low turnout among Black voters are big concerns. Remember, third-party candidates threw the election to Trump in 2016.
Yes I remember what happened in 2016. The Democratic party wasn't united or the voters. I feel black voters are more determined now then ever to vote. You can't believe predictions or polls. Yes I agree about third-party candidates. I hope they will drop out and support Biden. The Democratic party has a responsibility to be united and to motivate voters
to vote, by reaching out to them. They
must be blunt and to the point about our democracy.
well, he still possesses his passport and a plane with adequate range to reach Australia (or somewhere far away) I'd think more of him as a fugitive than presidential candidate!
Yeah JS, why does he still have his passport? No other American facing these indictments would be free to leave the country on a whim. Working that two tiered justice system we have in place now.
Put there by SCOTUS, some who are being treated as though the law doesn’t apply to them. Even having the self-aggrandizement to proclaim the law doesn’t apply to them. Is that so?
That, plus potentially more dangerous actions. Run of the mill MAGAs likely learned a lesson, given 1,000 or so of them have been convicted of Jan. 6 crimes. And while Trump no longer has the power of the federal government to use, he knows some very dangerous people.
I think you have not ingested the lessons of Reagan well enough:
1. IF we allow all of the money to flow upward to the rich, things will be GREAT.
2. IF we remove all regulations so those in #1 above do not have any restrictions on what they spend their money on or what environment they can destroy, things will be GREAT.
3. IF we ALSO give huge sums of money to those in #1, otherwise knowns as "Pandemic loans", (or welfare for white people), then everything will be GREAT.
4. IF we just print money from the Treasury and give it to our campaign donors, we can do whatever we WANT whenever we WANT.
Heather this was a ‘master assessment’ of the present political scene with Kudos to Bidenomics…Happy Days are here again….and so much else….but I especially enjoyed/laughed at the assessment of the Republican attacks on Biden …….
“As Smith wrote, the relative weakness of attacks on policy positions means that Republicans are pivoting to attacks on Biden’s character, not a bad move considering their own front runner appears to be weak on that front.”
I loved the ‘not a bad move’ since I expect that tomorrow or Thursday we will have God only knows how many MORE indictments against the Orange one (weak on the ‘moral front’) for his attempts to kill our democracy…..’weak in that front’ doesn’t begin to even remotely assess the evil that horrible man has done…..
I had to laugh when Musk himself called a Tweet a Xeet (and presumably Retweet ReXeet). Just thinking how to pronounce that nonsense, people came up with: Shiit and ReShiit. 😂
Musk is an interesting case of starting out rich and getting richer. A real genius that one, for sure. Who knew if you were born rich you take take risks others cannot?
What a genius. Turned being rich into being rich. Who knew?
Bryan, Musk is an enemy of freedom...plan and simple. He has the money and the ability to harm our planet home as well as to interfere with countries who want to be free.
These are serious issues and he is not alone.
We as citizens of the world must not sit around but work diligently against such forces. Actions must be taken NOW...we will continue to experience the loss of freedoms worldwide. Obviously we are already late in addressing this problem.
Mike, I am sorry to report their are too many supplicants on their knees at the mansion-temple to easily reach the front of the line. :( There is some good news ... musk has reportedly changed his name to WTF.
Let’s not forget that Republicans have been doing everything to rig elections. They have a media juggernaut they took decades to assemble. People who get their “news” from their propaganda machine believe what it’s putting out. And they’re united behind a conman who can get out of his legal troubles if he’s elected. They have taken over the Supreme Court. They appeal to their base through their chaos caucus.
Climate change and inequality are causing many millions to struggle, and there’s no bipartisan agreement to tackle homelessness and addiction to fentanyl and synthetic meth. This makes cities hard to govern, and voters typically blame who’s in office. We’re not out of the woods yet.
Tfg and the GOP have amassed much power and are still very dangerous. I’m not ready to get comfortable mocking their difficulties. Democrats are challenged to get out the vote and unite behind President Biden. Let’s get to work.
Yes I agree Democrats, failure isn't a option. Democrats must be aggressive in getting their message out to the American people, because democracy is irreplaceable.
Trump and his cult of personality or Musk and his accumulation of power through monopolies. Regardless of who is the bigger threat, I can’t Stand the Smug looks of superiority perpetually on either man’s face.
Don’t forget Charles Koch, Leonard Leo and allies, along with their billions and coordinated ubiquitous network of organizations & training and education programs. They constantly promote and fund anti-democracy efforts. A large majority of people in tfg’s former Administration had ties to Koch. Tfg wasn’t Koch’s choice, but once in place, Koch used him to his maximum benefit. Sources: MacLean’s Democracy in Chains, Mayer’s Dark Money, Nelson’s Shadow Network, Whitehouse’s The Scheme, and many articles.
Both are a threat. This is why democrats must be aggressive in getting their message out to the American people. The time of being nice is over. They must be blunt and to the point. It's time to shake up the American people and make them
realize what the consequences will be, if we don't win.
‘When it comes to Trump, today’s letter honks with the news that ‘…the first New York Times/Sienna College poll of the 2024 campaign shows Trump winning 54% of the votes of likely Republican primary voters. The next closest challenger is Florida governor Ron DeSantis, at 17%. It appears Trump still has a lock on his base,…’
Why wouldn’t that be good news for Biden?
‘A full 56% of Republican primary voters say they prefer the nominee be closest to them on the issues, compared to 39% who prioritize beating Biden. The sentiment holds across virtually all demographics, except for voters aged 65 or older and those who consider themselves "somewhat conservative," who are split. (NBCnews)
‘Here’s the challenge: While Republican primary voters will choose their nominee, independent voters will choose the next president and Congress. That’s just reality’.
‘Trump has an “independent problem” that isn’t going away. His win-loss record in the past three elections, especially with independents, may well be his Achilles’ heel in the primaries if his opponents can articulate not only why winning in 2024 is so crucial but also how they can bring back independents to the GOP.’ (RollCall)
‘Even allowing for how he has changed perceptions of American politics in the past eight years, and made the unprecedented seem routine, the current situation is extraordinary. On Thursday, federal prosecutors in Florida added three more charges against Trump relating to his retention of classified documents after leaving office, including a new obstruction-of-justice count. In the next couple of weeks, state prosecutors in Fulton County, Georgia, will likely indict the former President on charges of trying to overturn the 2020 election result in Georgia, and federal prosecutors in Washington, D.C., will likely indict him on charges relating to his actions after the 2020 election and in the run-up to the January 6th riots on Capitol Hill.’
‘Assuming the courts don’t remand Trump in custody, he will, as Christie said, be free on bail—a privilege that he will surely continue to exploit by galvanizing his supporters and bullying elected Republicans, and his fellow 2024 hopefuls, into repeating his cries of “witch hunt.”
‘The thing that is more difficult to gauge, largely because of the lack of precedent, is how the American public will process Trump’s legal drama between now and November, 2024. Will the accumulation of charges and evidence, and maybe even actual trials, gradually turn opinion decisively against the former President, especially among voters who aren’t highly partisan? Will things swing in his favor? Or will things stay where they are now, with views highly polarized on partisan lines?’
‘…the latest opinion survey from Bright Line Watch, a group of political scientists that monitors threats to democracy. The survey, which was published last week, was carried out before the latest charges against Trump were filed. On the face of things, it confirmed the familiar picture that, when it comes to anything having to do with the former President, universally acknowledged truths hardly exist. Fewer than one in six Republican voters said they believed that Trump had committed crimes in trying to overturn the 2020 election, in his actions before the January 6th riots, or in making hush-money payments to Stormy Daniels.’
'Among self-identified independents who don’t lean toward either party, the survey yielded more ambiguous results. Fewer than half of these respondents—between thirty-seven per cent and forty-six per cent, depending on the specific cases—said they believed that Trump had committed a crime. And about half of these respondents said that the charges were politically motivated. But, although these findings seem encouraging for Trump and his supporters, the survey also found that the number of independents who believe that Trump has done something criminal is growing, especially in relation to the classified-documents case. In a Bright Line Watch survey carried out last October, thirty-four per cent of independents said that a crime had been committed in that case. In the latest poll, that number had grown to forty-six per cent.'
'This suggests that, as prosecutors release more details of the charges and evidence against Trump, opinion is slowly shifting against him among less partisan voters. The survey even showed evidence of movement among Republicans. Since last October, the percentage of Republicans who said they believed that Trump had committed a crime in handling classified documents rose from nine to twenty-five. “We have to keep two things in mind at the same time,” Brendan Nyhan, a political scientist at Dartmouth who co-founded Bright Line Watch, told me on Monday. “On the one hand, the public is incredibly polarized on these cases. On the other hand, the new evidence does seem to be moving the needle.”(JohnCassidy, NewYorker) Sorry, not gifting privilege.
Fern, your research shows the underbelly of how political polls can be misleading to the average bloke. While I’m surprised at how some independants still believe Trump committed no crimes, it goes to show me that some people still cannot process information critically. We need better public education
The range of your news gathering is so impressive, madam, that I am breathless. Ukraine's asking Saudi Arabia's to conduct peace talks seems a little frightening, but I guess we'll have to see how that turns out. And thank you once again for recognizing the many journalists hard at work on the myriad aspects of our situation. Newspapers may be failing, but journalists seem to be thriving.
I'm way beyond uncomfortable with peace talks being held in such a repressive country. I understand the strategy to use SA to get China, but SA's crimes against humanity outweigh that, surely?
Zelensky is thinking broadly and deeply, it would seem. Marginalizing Russia and making Ukraine a participant on the world stage in one fell swoop. I think NATO better start making good faith efforts to include Ukraine, before Zelensky decides to make his own re-alignment with trading partners interested in grain and power moves against Russian hegemony in Northern Asia.
Meredith, Zelenskyy is already doing that with G7 countries. He is leaving no stone unturned in that regard. I just wish I trusted him more. I believe after the war he might be a problem with all that hardware.
Really? I think after Russia is brought to heel, Russia won’t have the resources to rebuild Ukraine, and Zelensky will try to trade it back to the countries he got it from for building materials. I mean who do you think he would point those weapons at? Try to repatriate the Ukrainian speaking part of Moldova? Transnistria? Hungary? He seems pretty laser focused on saving his country, not seeking world domination, and he looks tired, and his pretty wife looks tired. They were having a pretty good time being a celebrity family in their home town. I doubt very much that his long term plans included refusing to be co-opted by a corrupt American President, and then talking the rest of the free world into arming his country to fight Russia.So far, he has said pretty much what he wanted to do, and then done what he had said, with the help of that genius general. They are fighting fascism, not trying to put one over on anybody. Why do you not trust him?
You are quite right to challenge me regarding that statement of trust. I'll try to explain by initially retracting the statement. It was too harsh and I am not sure I will be able to explain without us knowing each other but I will try. Yes, I have apprehension that one man, by himself, can do all that is needed for Ukraine going forward. I do worry he has limited help for his vision. He does not take criticism well. There is not adequate backup if he should die, for example. Then what? He has no country per se. This entire fiasco started over a reasonable view that Ukraine citizens valued EU membership and the people are simply tired of corruption and brute force used against them. They wish to live with some rights like we are used to here in the US. As long as Ukraine behaved as a Russia puppet, there was no alarm from Russia. NATO is a huge problem for Vlad due to decades of propaganda and the volatile history of the region for the last 1000 years. History does not go away. Gorby went against the grain, and he was moved aside. Kruschev gave Crimea away in 1954. USSR was disbanded. Boil the circumstances down to a reliability on one man to solve what is needed for the short and long term stability issues and he will/might come up short. There is no national structure to maintain their country and it is being destroyed economically and physically. Poland and other countries are being drawn into the fray. I do not know who the foreign minister is. Do you? The problems are endless and what I was attempting to say was that he needs help. He is a great political asset and so far he has managed to hold Russia at bay. It is wishful thinking that he alone with foreign assets will be able to outlast Russia even if Russia is weakened. Ukraine's eastern regions might be lost forever. Like it or not, they identify with Russia. Okay, I'll stop because I could write until next Friday why the job is too big for him. It is not his fault, of course. Do you remember Vietnam and the progression or are you too young? I lived through that history and the US lost 50k Americans to keep that area stable. What will be needed here is the same kind of commitment. No one will consider that but the US. Yes, I know this is a rant and I am tempted to delete everything but I won't.
HCR’s July 31st post is an enormous masterpiece in scope (Ukraine’s 10 Point Peace Plan, Biden Economics emergence as a success story of historic proportion, Yellow Truck bankruptcy another epic Trump corruption scandal, Musk “conducting foreign & military policy in conflict with that of the United States,” and House Oversight Committee digs in futility for Biden scandals rather than scratching the surface of Trump’s scandals) yet she covers all that ground with a remarkable depth of sources and economy of words, carefully curated and flowing seamlessly to produce yet another lucid and cognitively transparent tapestry, thereby connecting the day’s most important news strands, and as usual, extracting and filtering signals from noise!
But some candidates can say it like they mean it. They probably won’t be the most polished speakers, or have the most money. Vote for them anyway. If you can’t for sure ask them questions, like a job interview. “Tell us about the time someone offered you money to do something illegal. What did you do?” That sort of thing.
Meredith Russell: So many politicians and bureaucrats lie to keep their jobs and the bribery (campaign contribution money) flowing that I quit voting. They say one thing in campaign season and do another in Congress.
Yes, that is part of the exercise. If the candidate won’t give you straight answers to hard questions, don’t vote for her either. I have 2 jobs because I was asked to do something illegal. One, falsify data. The other, pretend my boss was not a sexual predator. Have you ever quit a job because someone asked you to do something illegal? If they say no, the next question is, have you been asked or told to do something illegal? The stories one gets are very entertaining. We need to start electing a better class of politicians.
Meredith Russell: Republics always end in tyranny. Historians say it is because the politicians are always captured by wealthy private interests. The Roman Republic in ancient times is a good example. The ancient Greek democracies suffered the same fate.
My opinion is that there is no saving the Republic now. The Republic will fail and collapse when the dollar collapses and DC goes bankrupt.
Then the USA will split up into parts like the Soviet Union did in 1991.
That will be the time to decide what kind of government we want and what its job will be and most important, how big that government will be.
Timmy, well, thank goodness, you at least aren’t poisoning our electoral system by voting for tffg and his ilk...Just stay in your nice, warm corner of the interwebs and twiddle your thumbs like a good boy.
Timmy: I beg to differ with you. I neither called you any names nor am I debating you. Debating someone requires a point/counter-point format. You are not providing any facts to back up your statements (opinions). You are just throwing them out with a flourish and saying “Ta Da!,” leaving them lying on the floor like rotten fish. I’m just encouraging you to leave the floor so the grown ups can talk and debate.
PS: tffg = the f****ing former guy, ie Trump. Nothing to do with you at all.
Unfortunately the republican voters have an attention span of nano-seconds which makes them perfect targets for trump and the republican 'leadership' lies and entertainment instead of leadership and policy.
Isn't trump's pac grifting money from donors to pay for the legal defense of his fellow criminals paramount to bribery of potential witnesses against him...or in other words witness tampering? Not to mention how sad it is that an alleged billionaire has to steal money from donors to pay his legal fees for crimes he committed against them.
Finally musk is an enigma. Nobody will ever be able to explain his actions or lack of morality.
I suspect in both of their cases, it was their upbringing. With Trump, his niece Mary labeled her biography and psychological analysis of him as "Too Much and Never Enough!" I wouldn't be surprised if the same didn't apply to Musk.
“ it is 100% insane to have a president opposed by basically his whole cabinet”
Yes it is. And I would like to add that it’s a full 1000% insane to have a president who incited an angry mob to go and hang his own vice president.
And Elon Musk should be in prison for being the traitor to Ukraine and democracy that he is. I definitely wouldn’t mind seeing this fascist Putin-fanboy go to jail, where he belongs. He’s courting people with his image of the autistic genius. Nice try, but being a narcissistic tech bro doesn’t make you a genius, and being autistic doesn’t make you immune to being an *sshole.
The peace talks are a surprise. I like the ten points. Is there the remotest chance that Putin will agree? I am so glad that at least some journalists are reporting favorably on 'Bidenomics' We need that for all of Americans to prosper. The Party of Trump is in trouble? Good, they deserve to remain in trouble. I just hope there are a few, non-fascist Republicans left to reclaim the real Republican Party, pre-trump and the tea party.
Why on earth, did the United States of America allow an unstable imbecile like Elon Musk to gain control of something as important as Star Link, he can and will wreak havoc. The atmosphere is supposed to belong to all nations, how did Musk come to manipulate to his own impulsive advantage?
Hi Fay. Elon Musk got to launch 4,500 satellites into low earth orbit (and is launching dozens more per week) because the regulators (FCC, FAA, SEC, DOJ) have looked the other way. For some insights into how this works:
We’re kind of at war…doesn’t that make Elon a traitor? Or just another small man compensating?!!
He's your standard-issue Unreconstructed Afrikaner white supremacist lover of fascists.
I get all that TC, but not sure what you mean by unreconstructed Afrikaner.
Afrikaans were the White Supremacist authors of Apartiade. Very fascist and minority rule mentality. Unreconstructed= non- repented!
Not by any means all of them. I've met some very pleasant Afrikaners. Not that I think I'd enjoy meeting Musk.
There are many very good ones, as there are many very good white American southerners. Both places have the unregenerates.
There are good and bad people everywhere on earth. Unfortunately, we hear about the bad more so than the good. I cannot understand how anyone can say 'all southerners are rascist', as an example. I would want to know if they actually know all of the southern people in order to make such a statement. Ignorance.
Exactly..and while many Afrikkaners are pleasant to socialize with, I believe the majority still hold the tenets of Apartheid very close to being a spiritual path.
When we visited South Africa on a trip (we won it from All Classical) a while back, we noted that there were plenty of walled houses and poor townships, some with housing and some with lots of shacks. The white South Africans were lucky with Nelson Mandela. We saw a large and I mean large government building from the apartheid era where they kept records of everyone's race and also Robbins Island where Nelson Mandela was held for a while. Their racial problems are not over.
That "while" during which Nelson Mandela was in prison was 27 years.
And how many of us descend from southern slaveowners and post-war White SSupremacists?
My ancestry is 3/16 southern, but they were all out of the South by 1845. My Wallace ancestors, from South Carolina, ended up in Kansas after the Civil War, where they found it prudent to lie about their origin.
I’m related to Robert E Lee- they’re first born girls in my family were all named Lee… My family’s past generations all worshiped him and his family.
I have a couple of White South African friends, who may be descended from Afrikaners, but they are not Afrikaners in their politics. They live in the US.
Louise, perhap we should recall that condemning an entire ethnic with a broad brush is the very picture of bigotry.
Afrikaaners were also victims of the very first concentration camps, during the Boer War in 1902.
Thank You! When I searched for a definition I found: an Afrikaans-speaking person in South Africa, especially one descended from the Dutch and Huguenot settlers of the 17th century.
So, I didn’t understand. Thanks to all of you here for educating me.
He's (TC) using shorthand for what many understand as the AWB, or Weerstandsbeweging who were an extreme right wing white South African political group committed to either continuing apartheid or creating their own separate South Africa nation. They were brutal thugs Evelyn.
Peter Tosh"s song "Fight Apartheid" sums it up:
https://youtu.be/jp92k25SuII
John Schmeeckle - Peter Tosh"s song "Fight Apartheid" sums it up:
You in a me land - quite illegal.
You're in a me land - a dig out me gold.
In a me land - digging out my diamonds.
In a me land - digging out me uranium.
Now we gonna fight, fight, fight, fight 'gainst apartheid.
My brothers gonna fight, fight, fight, fight 'gainst apartheid.
You're in a me land - you no build no school for my children.
You're in a me land - no hospital for my people.
You're in a me land - all you build is prison, prison, prison.
You're in a me land - set up your army, camp, camp, camp.
You break off - break off from Britain.
You're quite illegal - right where you are.
You get your forces - from colonial powers.
Taking my diamonds - financing your ballistic missiles.
Now we gonna fight, fight, fight, fight 'gainst apartheid.
My brothers gonna fight, fight, fight, fight 'gainst apartheid.
(..)
Come outta mi land.
Come outta mi land.
Come outta mi land.
Come outta mi land.
Now we gonna fight, fight, fight, fight 'gainst apartheid.
My brothers gonna fight, fight, fight, fight 'gainst apartheid.
Come outta mi land - you're illegal.
Come outta mi land - you're victimization.
Come outta mi land - robbing all of my resources.
Come outta mi land - I say you're in there too long now, now.
We gonna fight, fight, fight, fight 'gainst apartheid.
My brothers gonna fight, fight, fight, fight 'gainst apartheid.
Come outta mi land - you know that you wrong, boy.
Come outta mi land - everything you do upside down.
Come outta mi land - you buried down yourself, too deep.
Come outta mi land - I say, you're inna my momma's land, too long.
We gonna fight, fight, fight, fight 'gainst apartheid.
My brothers gonna fight, fight, fight, fight 'gainst apartheid.
We are gonna fight, fight, fight, fight 'gainst apartheid.
Don't care, we gonna fight, fight, fight, fight 'gainst apartheid.
We gonna fight, fight, fight, fight..
I say we gonna fight, fight, fight, fight 'gainst apartheid.
We gonna fight, fight, fight, fight 'gainst apartheid.
Everybody gonna fight, fight, fight, fight 'gainst apartheid..
Note:
See also a slightly different version, by Peter Tosh.
It's called Apartheid and was released in 1977.
Louise explained it.
Elon Musk's ancestry is mostly English and American (through Canada), with one line going back to colonial Connecticut. There is an Afrikaner element in his ancestry, about an eighth.
As most of us should know by now, one doesn’t need to be an Afrikaner to espouse Afrikaner beliefs.
I have never seen Elon Musk accused of being a racist. Perhaps you have?
https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-news/elon-musk-racist-rhetoric-twitter-advertisers-1234710991/
Yes. I have not only read complaints about him racially, but also sexually. Also, one is judged by the company one keeps. Look at his Twitter company. He embraces the right wing as a member.
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/mar/01/elon-musks-defense-of-scott-adams-shows-why-he-is-misguided-and-dangerous
https://www.latimes.com/business/story/2022-03-25/black-tesla-employees-fremont-plant-racism-california-lawsuit
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2022/feb/18/tesla-california-racial-harassment-discrimination-lawsuit
https://qz.com/tesla-penalty-racism-lawsuit-reduced-elon-musk-1850297516
Afrikaners were mostly of Dutch ancestry, since even the word is a Dutch one.
Here is a discussion that might clarify that even if the Afrikaner's are not in power they continue to exist in South Africa as cruel, racist, violent, White people.
https://www.cfr.org/blog/transnational-white-supremacist-militancy-thriving-south-africa
When I studied African history, my professor shared the violent means of oppression of different groups. I remember the Germans (my people), Belgians and Dutch being particularly brutal, but it was all brutal if you ask me. The Dutch became the Afrikaners of South Africa and Rhodesia, and ruled with apartheid until it was overthrown. Racism is so hateful and insidious and is on the rearing its ugly head very blatantly in the Repugnicant party here in the Good Ole US of A.
Thanks for the link Linda.
Linda Weide: You mention race and racism more than anyone on this site. Race is an invention of the eugenicists. Hitler believed in this race crap.
Skin color means nothing more than skin pigmentation. All the rest is in the human mind. Race is a lie. Racism is based upon a lie.
Why do you keep repeating the idea of race?
Timmy, I repeat the idea because I read Prof Kathleen Belew's book Bring the War Home: The White Power Movement and Paramilitary America. I consider her book quintessential to read to have a bigger take on what is going on in our country. She appeared in a lot of workshops that I attended a few years ago, and I knew some young Southern White men that had come to U of C and were interested in studying about White Supremacy with her. Anyway, reading her led to investigating the the topic in Europe too. Not because I believe that there are different races, I do not believe in race. Our family fills out our census forms with the word "human" when asked what race or ethnicity we are. While I do not believe in the concept of races, I do believe in racism, which is buying into the idea that different physical appearances can be categorized into races. I also happen to live in a community where this is discussed a lot. It is the community that Barack Obama comes from. My morning walk is with a friend that many would call White, and her husband, but their son is dark brown. I have many friends who have adopted across skin color, and in some case culture. Families where I live are many things, but different races is not what we are. This is true in my family too. We are many different colors and yet, we are one race. So, I understand that Racism is based on a lie, but many don't even know that. I was told by some in my job when I mentioned this that I was too ahead of everyone else and don't confuse them, and others felt that I did not understand. I repeat the idea of racism not race, and frankly in my household we do not view people as Black or White, but everyone is some shade of Brown. When you have a painting class and you have to look at everything on the gray scale, like it were a black and white photograph, well I see people on the Brown scale, and when my students painted skin color they basically used primary colors. They would make collages of themselves, and paint paper to get their skin color. However, I think that Angélica Dass illustrates what I am talking about best with her Pantone scale. https://angelicadass.com/photography/humanae/
I also talk about colorism. In Europe there is much more discussion of colorism than there is here.
https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2019/apr/09/colorism-racism-why-black-people-discriminate-among-ourselves
Linda: Thanks for you excellent comment. I agree with it completely.
Just read the link and look up Afrikaner. I knew Brits who were involved in trying to feed blacks in South Africa. They had to leave. (One later became head of Public Health at UNC-CH.)
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill has an excellent public health department.
Don’t you think he also wants to be a new reincarnation Ernest Blofeld, Bond’s nemesis?
Once again, you nailed it.🙏
Exactly.
What do you base that assessment on, TCinLA?
Finding his twitter account - full of the same crap he posts here
Evelyn, we have to actually be in a declared war for anyone to be a traitor. Elon (like TFG) is solely looking out for himself. He’s taking advantage of the laws (or lack of laws) protecting against monopolies. We’ve seen (in the baby formula crisis) what can happen when an important product is produced by a virtual monopoly.
As for Elon, Rod Hilton summed it up when he posted on December 22,2022 on Mastodon “ He talked about electric cars. I don't know anything about cars, so when people said he was a genius I figured he must be a genius.
Then he talked about rockets. I don't know anything about rockets, so when people said he was a genius I figured he must be a genius.
Now he talks about software. I happen to know a lot about software & Elon Musk is saying the stupidest shit I've ever heard anyone say, so when people say he's a genius I figure I should stay the hell away from his cars and rockets.”
This was a concise statement. Well done Mary.
Getting this into circulation along with the rest of our tribe’s ( noting a few -no names are needed- who for the sake of skuttelry poise as one of us and pen nonsense or quote some Russian ‘righter’ and who I easily now skip over) amplification of truth is paramount.
August 8 a big showdown in Ohio, I am sending notes of encouragement for friends there to get-out-the-early-vote and show yet again the🗣️ 💙BLUE TSUNAMI💙 in progress 🤞🙏👍🫶💙.
Get-out-the-early-vote in every state’s affidavit, election, truth positive banner headline
“WE ARE ENDING THIS LOUDLY‼️⚫️ 👈that’s a BIG PERIOD”
Our country’s decency and legacy is at stake.
WE have an admitted amount of correcting to do, WE have a lesson as Jim Crow/McCarthyism/and now MAGA has underscored. And for those who ‘went along’ - the complicit, the planners, the financiers, the coat-tail riders... those specifically complicit need an adjoining cell, banned forever, and boo-ed along their final walk.
This isn’t judgement -but it sure is justice.
Let’s get on our boots ( not like those ghastly white ones the Governor wore 🤦♀️ who dressed him that day anyhow,huh?) sorry Florida ..just saying ....haul in our belts, hitch up our pants and make this clean up a FIRM SWEEP.
Thanks Heather 🫶🙌
💙💙VOTE💙💙VOTE EARLY💙💙VOTE PROUD💙💙
I am phone banking for Ohio right now!!
Thank you Lee, and all of you...makes me so grateful, proud , excited.
AMEN ! , Patricia ! COME ON !, DEMS ! Lets DO IT ! , TO IT ! VOTE !!
YES. YES. A thousand times YES👍
Super well said by Ron Hilton, thanks for quoting.
He's also the guy who keeps talking about colonizing Mars--which is an absolutely uninhabitable planet for multiple reasons--invoking the word, "terraforming," which in the case of Mars is magical thinking.
Yes, he sounds like he read the Kim Stanley Robinson books about Mars, and thought they were not fiction.
There must a law enforce by our government to restrict their limitations of what they can do in space. Billionaires like Musk can be dangerous. Space is for NASA to explore and research for man to learn. Not for billionaires like Musk to do what they want.
Perfect!
And then of course he has Asperger‘s disorder.
Rod Hilton might know about software, so he's taking his own expertise to make a judgement about areas he's not an expert in. He's welcome to do that. But for me personally, to take Hilton's opinion as my own because I don't have the expertise to form my own would be like accepting that all Democrats are evil Socialists because FOX News said so in an entertaining way.
And having been a coder myself in an early phase of my career, I can tell you that Hilton is speaking hyperbolically. The reality is that the best software results came when one thought of what functionality should be available and then work to make it so, if you can. But first, the vision should be stated. That's how one expands one's capabilities.
Jerry—Hilton’s statement was sent to me by a good friend in the field who prefaced it with the statement “See, that’s what I’ve been saying about how he’s running Twitter!” I trust my friend (who’s been cracking purchased commercial game software to play the way he wants it to play since his teens) a whole lot more than Musk.
Musk himself said buying Twitter might be his biggest mistake. Running Twitter isn't the same as writing the code. Musk just knows he wants it, and how it interacts worh government, to be different than it had been and is willing to break a few things to make it so. He's successful with Space-X, with Starlink, with Tesla e-cars and with Tesla power banks. He built none of their components. What he's going to do with Tesla is opaque to me, but it will have to do with more than just software.
Though Elon Musk has done incredibly well in bringing us innovations that the world needs more than ever, his impulsive, instant decision-making is backsliding the gains that he is already making. Elon Musk, with a don't-care attitude, don't factor in the consequences of his decisions. He rarely relies on bearaucratic, legal structures to make announcements because the major driving factor of his decisions is his emotional faculty that mostly depends on his feel-good moments. I am not surprised with his u-turn moments of his projects. But, to make his satellite Internet unavailable when Ukraine soldiers need it most is tantamount to jeopardising the whole strategy. It inconvenienced Ukraine soldiers in the battlefield as the consequences of missing information is detrimental. There is evidence pointing out that Ukraine soldiers were killed during the fight with Russia for every failure of communication because Russia, when they were sensing defeat, destroyed their network boosters to capitalize on their confusion and lack of signal. If Elon Musk has been allowed to operate in battleground field by US and its allies, then he shouldn't be allowed to make impulse decisions because this is sensitive and can risk the lives of Ukrainian soldiers. Should that happened, he should be penalized and another satellite Internet company given a chance.
. . . or the US gov’t should get back in the military communications space game! Not that I know US military communications structure, but, just imagine Musk shutting down US military communications at some critical battlefield moment. There are things that only a government should control - as opposed to some whimsical private citizen billionaire!
And, yet another sound reason to keep the defeated FORMER president out of government....."There are things only gov't should control as opposed to some whimsical"......and in both cases, unbalanced and unsavory unqualified and selfish....
Who is it that shapes our government? We, the voters. What makes democracy dangerous is stupid people. I am appalled that at least 28% of Americans are truly stupid, or for a better description--non-critical thinkers. They are willing to give trump the presidency again and bring about their own demise...something I can't wrap my head around....
You have 'stupid' people when less than half of the pop. voted. You didn't care about education .
COME ON !! TELL IT ! A, Y !!
I suggest Elon should be made play by the rules of the military and sign a non-interference contract as long as agreed terms are honored.
How about requiring he serve in the military, starting with basic training....
Surely it is treasonous to interfere with the US Military in action.
May be basic training only
And a quick court marshal
Better to put communications in the hands of the military.
Correction: military communications should be in the hands of the military, just as potato peeling should be back in the hands of the military instead of being contracted out. Time to get real!
Perhaps government ultimately serves our interests by contracting out potato peeling, but there are some functions of our society's interests that are best held under complete public supply and control, not only because they are vital, but because misuse of them is dangerous. I would put the whole Blackwater, Wagner thing clearly in that category, as well as policing, prisons, certain functions of public health, and any of a number of functions in which folding in the profit motive risk inherent conflicts of interest with the common weal and/or insufficient public supervision ans control. I believe in both a robust private and a public sector, but neither is appropriate for all tasks.
As for Musk, Trump built his reputation in business by using, sometimes exploiting, the talents of others, which he could do because he controlled tremendous wealth. I am unclear how much of Musk success is due to his personal innovation and how much is the ability to buy other's talents.
Elon Musk is a spoiled child who unfortunately happens to be smart. He is obsessed with getting attention by shocking us with his fascist and dangerous antics. He should be tried for treason for adjusting his technology to deliberately hurt and kill Ukrainians and sent to prison so he can play with himself all day.
What has the United Nations sanctioned Russia for? shouldn't Elon be sanctioned also and put in jail in the good ole US of A
It's like Twitter, but worse. People sobbed and cried when Musk took over Twitter, but if you put all your eggs in one basket, you've got to take responsibility for making that choice. Who were the chumps who trusted Musk enough to invest in SpaceX and allow this dangerous monopoly to grow?
And where is the lost task of government exerting some control over industry and monopolies...we are circling around to the wealth and control of the less than 1%.
Usually monopolies happen because there has never been enough competition to stop them. But in this case, the industry failed itself. It's just like Twitter, really. Nobody ever said, "Whoa, this one company is the only one of its kind. It's a monopoly raking in billions in advertising and sales revenue, and it's become a political entity."
Our government must enforce a law
now, that would restrict billionaires like Musk from doing what they want in space. This is dangerous. Men with money and power will always be a threat to space.
Why another company? Seems to me something so vital to just about every aspect of life should be in the hands of a neutral entity. Certain utilities should be the under the provenance of all the people. Nationalize it. Or give it to a completely independent bipartisan commission.
While we're at it let's include all the internet robber barons!
Private entities like that of Elon Musk are ahead in regard to improved processes and innovations. What is only required from them is abiding by the rules of the military game for successful win over enemies. Their mission should not be to test whether the product is working or not but understand why their product is being used. In this case, satellite technology.
Thanks for that good analysis. Please don't keep advertising your newsletter - we got the message in earlier posts, and it starts to get annoying.
please, can you keep it free of advertising???
I am sayin' it as well. Plesse no advertisements. Thx
Keep what free of advertising?
Posts where another Substack author says "read my posts" or posts links to them. As a for instance, if I were to say something along the lines of "I address this in my essay here on Substack" and provide a link to it.
Inconvenienced Ukrainian soldiers? They were killed!
Scariest paragraph I’ve ever read in LTAM:
“A study by New York Times reporters on Friday noted that Elon Musk has steadily come to dominate satellite internet technology with the Starlink technology made by his SpaceX rocket company, and that he has used that dominance to restrict the activities of Ukraine’s military. Musk began to launch satellites into space in 2019, and currently has in position more than 4,500 of the 42,000 satellites he plans. He controls more than 50% of the globe’s working satellites.”
Agreed. That is dangerous.
Sure. That's too dangerous for the Ukrainian soldiers.
Elon Musk should work as per military rules and not his business playbook. Military and hospitals almost operate under the same umbrella; caution, one flow of information, and slow to make mistakes.
Absolutely. Clearly, we can't rely on Musk to follow any law beyond his whim. Ukraine deserves more.
Military is a business! A business that has Congress in it’s pocket!
Unless US and its allies do not have the interests of Ukraine at heart.
The comment section is not a platform for advertising any business. Suggest you refrain from doing so.
I agree 100%
It should be said that Musk did not do the innovating. He bought Tesla, and he bought SpaceX.
Or both?
The later.
Elon Musk is a South African racist. Period. The money has obscured for some Americans that simple fact. How does this connect to X, etc.? As we used to say, it’s all about money.
He seems like a super villain to me.
He is an Afrikaner, and as such, is not loyal to the USA's agenda. He is loyal to Trump, not Biden. Causes a problem. I think that he should not be allowed to decide who gets support if the government is paying for the usage of the satellites. However, it sounds like NATO needs their own. Is Musk wealthier than NATO?
Linda Weide: The population of South Africa is over 60 million. Afrikaners make up 4 million of that population. The EFF (Economic Freedom Fighters) led by Julius Malena, openly calls for the murder of whites in South Africa. They sing a song about killing Afrikaners. An Afrikaner farm couple was attacked yesterday. The husband died and the wife barely survived. This happens often in South Africa.
Yes it makes Elon Musk a traitor. Billionaires must have a law to restrict their limitations in space.
What Musk is doing , is wrong and dangerous.
Evelyn, we are trying to avoid a broader war, so while we're supporting Ukraine in its war, we're avoiding being dragged in so we can avoid WW3. Do you really want to nationalize Starlink to match our ideology?
I understand that we’re trying to avoid getting involved in a larger war Jerry. It doesn’t seem right to have Musk in charge of of a system that can deter our efforts to that end.
You're right But Musk built it at his own expense and considerable risk, and we are not at war now to provide an excuse to take Starlink over. That wasn't even done in WW2, but it wasn't needed becsuse it was a declared war.. If we want our own constellation to operate as we wish, we could commission one at a fraction of the cost.
If not from Starlink, then there are other such companies, such as Iridium. There are also other launch companies besides Space-X. For instance, Astrium (European Union), but Space-X has the most efficient system that I know of.
If we take over a private company's operations, we would be no better than Russia or Venezuela.
Might be time to move on to another source.
Double, yes, but I don't believe it was done by mistake :). I get annoyed by the constant complaining in most of the posts of this forum, but I don't tell anyone not to post. Having someone who puts out thoughtful posts that don't simply repeat others points is refreshing, advertisements or not. But please, leave the double posting to Smeagle, or Smeekle, or what ever his name is.
Musk is becoming more and more, a walking id. Unless we work hard at it, most of us will get worse as we age. We work at it because we need each other. Some powerful people are insulated from this need - hence people like Musk, Trump, that awful boss you once had, etc.
Off topic, put any group of individuals together, and group process happens! Roles are filled. Thanks, Steve!
Back to the conversation, Trump, Musk, and the awfullest boss I ever had, all suffer from the delusion that they know best, and therefore can do what they want. My awfullest boss made the error of forcing himself on an extremely mentally ill woman during a therapy session. She left the room, went down one floor to the partial care unit where she spent a lot of time, laid down on a pool table and said, loudly,”Call an ambulance. Bring a rape kit. The boss of this whole place just had sex with me.” The rape kit was utilized,evidence was procured, and the boss spent 7 years in jail. My supervisor told me that he asked the boss why he did it. The boss answered,”I thought she was too crazy to tell anyone, and if she did, they wouldn’t believe her.” The day I started work there that guy had invaded my boundaries, standing a little too close, a little too long. I had avoided being alone with him. I was surprised so many other people who worked there were surprised. People generally don’t hesitate to show you who they are. Why so many people can’t see Trump for who he really is continues to astound me.
Meredith Russell: Women should carry protection of some type at all times both at work and elsewhere. I've known too many women who were raped. (They were all raped by African-American men.)
At least the rapist spent 7 years in jail in your story.
When the two girls living below where my roommate and I lived were raped by a very large black man, my roommate went to the local police and told them about the rapist.
The cops staked out our apartment building and caught the rapist when he came back for more.
One of the two girls was able to handle the rape. The other girl went to a mental institution.
Edwin, this is a double. Could you delete one of them?
Sorry. I didn't realize it was repeated. Thank you
Aha, I thought it must have just been a slip of the finger! No harm done.
Welcome Anne and thank you for being in this space.
Elon Musk needs to be arrested as the traitor he is, government contracts need to be cancelled and Space-X taken over by the government on national security grounds.
And it turns out anyone still dumb enough to buy one of his tinny toys is being conned by him about the actual performance/range of said tinny toys. He's so dedicated to supporting his products that he has a secret office dedicated to canceling the service appointments people make to get their cars checked, and if the "remote review" finds any other problems with the car, they don't tell the owner.
Detroit at their worst never did things like that! But every over-educated under-intelligent yuppie moron who thinks he's a genius (he is a genius - at conning the world into thinking he's something besides a con artist) is convince - like Trumpmorons - that poor Elon is being "canceled."
He ought to be canceled. Permanently.
Yes, please!
I agree with your definition of Musk., Right on TC
Aargh. A friend just bought a Tesla after many months waiting in line. She researches everything, but obviously not this. I was flabbergasted she carried through with the deal, as was my “car guy” husband. I hope she doesn’t have to join a class action.
TC, as noxious as Musk may be personally, he HAS been a genius at getting our attention, not unlike TFG. Looked at from a broader perspective, say a global perspective, Musk HAS ignited a critical boost to the Electric Vehicle industry when others like Toyota with nearly as old a footprint in hybrid EVs (think Prius) have failed to generate that kind of excitement. [Full disclosure: I was sufficiently galvanized by the opportunity to let go of my Porsche/Audi-type performance cars to get a performance car (Model S) which DIDN'T generate any CO2]. Tesla remains the only new auto manufacturing company to survive and begin turning a profit in half a century. Most car-related publications continue to perceive Tesla as the company to catch up to for state-of-the-art battery and vehicle technology despite the many specific or fairly public failings of any particular model and/or "self-driving" technology. As a nation and world simmering in our own climate-warming soup we NEED to be moving toward zero CO2 emission vehicles ASAP ...and Tesla has provided significant incentive for consumers to make that crucial switch. Major movers and shakers (think "move fast and break things" like Henry Ford, Thomas Edison) are often not very appealing personalities.
Loudmouth the Troll is being hateful again.
Hey shit for brains permanent 12 year old pre-pubescent little troll - mommie wants her computer back, you telentless asswipe.
Have you paid off your college loans at Dartmouth yet?
Okay ... we’ll go this route.
I’ve been calling Schmeeckle out as a troll before T.C., before Bryan and anyone else I know of here. I saw T.C. next and very shortly after him Bryan. I’m watching for Schmeeckle. I never engaged with his comments in any way, when I warned of his trolling, he called me a bare faced liar when I was not addressing him. So much for name calling. Bryan is correct on platform security. S is here to disrupt this platform. If you haven’t bothered to read S’s posts, they’re nonsensical rubbish put here particularly to piss people off. He is a troll. Calling someone else a troll for calling him out is gaslighting. Pay no mind to “Mommy! T.C. is calling me names!” It’s what he’s looking for.
Bryan, you keep working on your thing, if you you need me to help get him off this site, I will do what I can.
T.C., others don’t get your anger, but I do. (Yes, I do enjoy when you’re off the hook about this person). He’s been here for longer than most people realize, and yes, he’s a troll. Here to disrupt.
I think I have found out who he is and where he trolls from. Trolls usually don't like getting doxxed.
Well said, Karen.
Loudmouth the Troll has a problem with his blood pressure. His doctor told him to take a valium (or two or three) and stop eating so many cheeeeezburgers. The problem is, that fuels his vitriolic farts, especially the cheap mustard and relish.
EDIT: Did Loudmouth the troll just dog-whistle his contempt for trans people on puberty blockers?
Please gentlemen. Take it outside. This is a civil Substack site. Enough name calling please!!! It’s not necessary to name call brawl. Use your intelligence and practice/model civility. Thank you
Seth, review the 2023 Publisher's Agreement please. It is the contractual duty of Substack Inc to remove a Troll disrupting the Platform while making personal attacks on contractually defined "Readers". Platform security is a 'Thing' particularly when Troll links to foreign disinformation like yesterday [ "ru"]. "Twitter" now "X" or "wtf" is attacking a major non-profit that tracks Hate Speech.
Seth, this is the second day in a row that TCinLA has wished death on someone.
All the more reason to keep the dialogue civil. Name calling and threats are antithetical to civil discourse
Yep, gotta be nice to poor widdle Elon.
Or have some solid criticism at least, instead of empty, hateful contempt.
Agreed 👍
Loudmouth the Troll has just been promoted to Special Agent Loudmouth the Troll, in charge of radicalizing HCR's readership and normalizing expressions of violent hate.
The MAGA are trying to "bring down" a legitimately elected president who is doing a stellar job serving the American people with honesty and integrity. And they DARE to call themselves patriots. They are traitors to this country, trying to undermine the results of free and fair election. The rest of us must stop them.
They dare to call themselves working politicians?!?!?! Follow the Republican House Caucus, and it sounds like they are papering their walls with legislation, when in fact, they murder trees writing “resolutions “ that carry NO POLITICAL MEANING OR CONSEQUENCE! It’s one long scroll of hatred - of Biden’s successes, of inclusion and equality, and of the diversity that really makes America great.
White supremists are lives made of fear.
Yes we will in 24, with out a doubt.
The Trump Administration’s financing of Yellow Trucking benefitted Apollo by supporting outstanding credit Apollo had extended the struggling trucking firm. Apollo’s founder and longtime CEO and Board Chair was Leon Black. Mr. Black resigned his positions at Apollo when it became public he had been Jeffrey Epstein’s frequent guest at gatherings held for the purpose of sex trafficking young women and girls. Perhaps when James Comer and his House Oversight Committee are done with their Hunter Biden fever dream they can investigate just why the Trump Administration tried to ride to Leon Black’s rescue and cost American taxpayers about 500 million dollars.
Mas, thank you for shifting the conversation away from Musk and back to our current domestic political tragedy. I do agree that Musk's control of satellite communications must be challenged by our government.
Well this is a bit of news. Can you imagine if Epstein hadn’t been killed in prison. Scary.
Wish What’s-her-name, Epstein’s erst-while girlfriend and partner in crime, would write her book, already!
Meredith, she’s probably been informed that would be um, er “unhealthy”
It is correctly labeled "admissions against interest" a FRE hearsay exception that can be used against co-perps.
So nice that the results of the closed door committee meeting got leaked ... by Republicans who attended long enough to find out there was not any meat in the Biden Crime Burger. Thanks to star witness, Biden's son's business partner.
What I find so difficult is how the congressional Republican none sense drowns out the reality of Biden’s success in avoiding a recession and stabilizing and even increasing the strength of the economy. The front page of The Washington Times, a conservative paper, trumpeted statements from Andy Biggs (chairman of the committee who spoke to Archer along with Marjorie Greene that Archer said Joe Biden was influence peddling throughout his VP days. I’m sure that was picked up by Fox and other right-wing news outlets.
It’s hard not to see Trump, his allies in Congress, and MAGAs becoming increasingly desperate as criminal charges pile up and defeat in 2024 looms ever larger.
We know that Trump will stop at nothing to avoid prison. What crimes against the nation is he planning?
It's hopeful to see news of Rs turning against him. This group, the Republican Accountability Project, is spending $1.5 million on ads aimed at likely Trump voters in Iowa. Of course I don't agree with their goals (to sink tffg to get an electable R on the ticket) but It was always some comfort to me during the last election to watch Lincoln Project ads.
https://baggagefree.gop/#testimonials
Yes! During the last election in 2020, my favorite adds were the Lincoln Project. I also enjoy listening to Michael Steele, Charlie Sykes, and Tim Miller on MSNBC. They have recently added David Jolly, a former Republican Congressman from Florida. Then there is Joe Scarborough on Morning Joe,
who rips the present Republicans over the Coals on a daily basis! It makes for a lively morning with my coffee and overnight oats.
Me too! - I'm obsessed with R takedowns of tffg. I learned my lesson the hard way - I'm too liberal and female to convince a R of anything, but I feel better about the state of things when I can watch evidence that there are some marginally sane ones. I'm not sure there are any moral ones except the defectors.
I check out Politics Girl as often as possible.
Yes, she is very articulate. I find her posts refreshing and to the point.
Politics Girl, YES!
I used to think tfg stuff for something other than the former guy. Does tffg incorporate that other word?
Let’s not forget, the LP folks were against us before they were with us!
Alexandra,
Most of the Pubs are on their knees genuflecting at Trump. He is their Messiah of the modern times.
Trump is leading the Pubs to the promised land of no black people, no immigrants, no gay folks, no women working or thinking; just white folks with the white male "in charge" (meaning sitting on ass at home while everyone else works to serve him as if he is some kind of king).
Pretty funny if it were not true.
Mike, agreed - but not that many have to peel off for him to go down in this election. And then, hopefully - prison. Or spontaneous combustion, either is fine with me.
Alexandra,
Not many need to stick with Trump to elect him. Here is a quote from a NY Times poll on their website today.
"A New York Times/Siena College poll found that President Biden is on stronger footing than he was a year ago — but he is neck-and-neck in a possible rematch against Donald Trump."
Like Hitler's hate attracted the human Nazi rats, so is Trump's hate attracting the human Nazi American rats.
And? There are LOTS of them as Trump would so inelegantly say.
Mike, I'm not counting on anything. It's terrifying how many of them there are. In practical terms the weak go-alongs are as bad as the all-out evil ones. But we have to have hope or how could we keep going?
Mike and Alexandra,
I’m hoping now that some Rs are willing to speak out against Trump this early in the season is a good indication that those Rs are encouraging others who’d never, ever support a dolt so freakishly stupid and at the same time have the ability to get those just like him on board his MAGA clown bus.
There are plenty of Republicans who are horrified by Trump, the SCOTUS, the circus that was the House of Representatives are finally mortified enough to openly agree with what other never-Trumper Republicans are saying. I expect this movement to become larger as we go.
All red state Governors and legislators are legislating their jobs away. The insane abortion ban, voter suppression and white supremacy is beginning to wear very thin on it’s constituents. Women are waiting to vote them out.
Trumps pity party rallies are redundant, repetitive and it’s the same people over and over.
I know this all sounds overly optimistic at this point, and I am wary of my own predictions, but as the indictments continue to roll in, Trump continues to hurl empty threats of retaliation of blocking re-election toward Republican members of Congress who’s support is wavering for him because they are no longer willing to look as ridiculous or guilty as he does. He’s a blow hard grifter who continues to take money from supporters for his self inflicted legal battles. His relationship with the likes of Jeffery Epstein and his nonstop open lust for his own daughter is so disconcerting it turns the stomach.
But that aside, if anything is being peeled away, it’s the phony facade that Trump is going to save them from “the libs”.
Trump is here to collect his tribute from his supporters and hand what ever top secret documents he’s copied to the highest bidder. He doesn’t have the ability to keep his mouth shut, so I’m sure we’ll know more as he confesses all. Talk about being your own worst enemy...
YES! Alexandra ! FAITH !! GO ! DEMS !
Perhaps a Rapid Unscheduled Disassembly?
Works for me!
NO NO , Jim CROW ! LORD ! , Have MERCY !! ( Thanks! Mike !)
I’m concerned that with or without Trump, the Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025 will be enacted by any winning MAGA candidate.
This is the statement of his plan for a second term. This is the plan for replacing democracy with a fascist dictatorship. Talk about Great Replacement Theory!!
The Heritage Foundation, seeking to bring back the Golden Era of the Robber Barons, hoping that it will flourish for a thousand years...what a misnomer, huh?
Indeed, and they tell us, front and center
Yes, they are so convinced they are right, they don’t bother to hide it!
Proud fools, they used to have a little shame…now it’s policy
The majority of us in this country believe in democracy. We will win in 24. The American people won't tolerate autocratic rule by a dictator.
We are the majority...but third-party candidates and a predicted low turnout among Black voters are big concerns. Remember, third-party candidates threw the election to Trump in 2016.
Yes I remember what happened in 2016. The Democratic party wasn't united or the voters. I feel black voters are more determined now then ever to vote. You can't believe predictions or polls. Yes I agree about third-party candidates. I hope they will drop out and support Biden. The Democratic party has a responsibility to be united and to motivate voters
to vote, by reaching out to them. They
must be blunt and to the point about our democracy.
Hope you're right about Black voters and the polls. The third-party candidates, it appears, are funded by deep-pocket Republicans to hurt Biden.
I believe in hope and faith. You have be optimistic. What they say and what the majority of believe , is a victorious win in 24.
well, he still possesses his passport and a plane with adequate range to reach Australia (or somewhere far away) I'd think more of him as a fugitive than presidential candidate!
Not Australia, thank you very much. How about Northern Thailand? He could take his little sub back and try it out in the underwater caves
maybe we can book a MAGA rally at the bottom of the Marianis Trench?
That might be too deep for them. Intellectually, I mean, of course...
Yeah JS, why does he still have his passport? No other American facing these indictments would be free to leave the country on a whim. Working that two tiered justice system we have in place now.
Put there by SCOTUS, some who are being treated as though the law doesn’t apply to them. Even having the self-aggrandizement to proclaim the law doesn’t apply to them. Is that so?
Exiled forever in Russia with his financial accounts frozen.
Michael ! , How Bout a Permanant EXILE, and STAY ! , with HIS "SWEETIE !" KIM JONG UNN ??!
Trump would not last 2 minutes in Russia. Everyone with a mouth as noisy as his has been dead since Stalin.
I know it's a pipe dream. No way he escapes the U.S. But imagine Putin taking him in as propaganda.
Yes! I see him as a flight risk. I’m surprised they didn’t at least take his passport.
Whatever mischief they can uncover in a loophole previously unknown, no doubt!
That, plus potentially more dangerous actions. Run of the mill MAGAs likely learned a lesson, given 1,000 or so of them have been convicted of Jan. 6 crimes. And while Trump no longer has the power of the federal government to use, he knows some very dangerous people.
Mr. X guy & tRump are a threat to our country, period. Why are they allowed to do this????
D Allen, Its Called MANKINDS Apathy,, to GOD !
Money & satelllites under angry-evil control makes for a scientific horror scenario.
Victoria,
I think you have not ingested the lessons of Reagan well enough:
1. IF we allow all of the money to flow upward to the rich, things will be GREAT.
2. IF we remove all regulations so those in #1 above do not have any restrictions on what they spend their money on or what environment they can destroy, things will be GREAT.
3. IF we ALSO give huge sums of money to those in #1, otherwise knowns as "Pandemic loans", (or welfare for white people), then everything will be GREAT.
4. IF we just print money from the Treasury and give it to our campaign donors, we can do whatever we WANT whenever we WANT.
See? :-)
Heather this was a ‘master assessment’ of the present political scene with Kudos to Bidenomics…Happy Days are here again….and so much else….but I especially enjoyed/laughed at the assessment of the Republican attacks on Biden …….
“As Smith wrote, the relative weakness of attacks on policy positions means that Republicans are pivoting to attacks on Biden’s character, not a bad move considering their own front runner appears to be weak on that front.”
I loved the ‘not a bad move’ since I expect that tomorrow or Thursday we will have God only knows how many MORE indictments against the Orange one (weak on the ‘moral front’) for his attempts to kill our democracy…..’weak in that front’ doesn’t begin to even remotely assess the evil that horrible man has done…..
I agree with Joan. Dr. Heather your assessment and explanations are superb!
Dr HEATHER ! You are LOVED ! , By Your TRUE Followers !! ( Thanks Linda !)
I couldn’t agree more.
Elon Musk puts the Twit in Twitter. Oops, new name. Can we X him out of SpaceX?
X him out of everything.
I had to laugh when Musk himself called a Tweet a Xeet (and presumably Retweet ReXeet). Just thinking how to pronounce that nonsense, people came up with: Shiit and ReShiit. 😂
Lisa, your post is the funniest of the day.
Musk is an interesting case of starting out rich and getting richer. A real genius that one, for sure. Who knew if you were born rich you take take risks others cannot?
What a genius. Turned being rich into being rich. Who knew?
Here’s a good read about the X sign: https://open.substack.com/pub/platformer/p/is-x-bracing-for-exodus?r=73vlo&utm_medium=ios&utm_campaign=post
I will do. Thank you. Personally, I thought X was the Xerox logo and, it was for a while, but, they changed it.
Hehe! He duplicated something from Xerox 😂
Ha-ha!
The “X” reminds me of a Swastika... I am not surprised.
X was at the heart of "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade"...
The giant "X" he lit up on his SF building has been taken down by the City.
Bryan, Musk is an enemy of freedom...plan and simple. He has the money and the ability to harm our planet home as well as to interfere with countries who want to be free.
These are serious issues and he is not alone.
We as citizens of the world must not sit around but work diligently against such forces. Actions must be taken NOW...we will continue to experience the loss of freedoms worldwide. Obviously we are already late in addressing this problem.
Emily,
BUT, I need Musk's campaign contributions to win my next election. So, when you see me on my knees outside his mansion, don't be surprised.
Or, if you see anyone else begging him for campaign contributions, don't be surprised.
Mike, I am sorry to report their are too many supplicants on their knees at the mansion-temple to easily reach the front of the line. :( There is some good news ... musk has reportedly changed his name to WTF.
Hat tip Andy Borowitz.
Ha! Hahaha!😁
I love that Musk failed to get city approval for his gigantic sign. Regulations, what regulations?! He doesn't think they apply to him.
Lol
Let’s not forget that Republicans have been doing everything to rig elections. They have a media juggernaut they took decades to assemble. People who get their “news” from their propaganda machine believe what it’s putting out. And they’re united behind a conman who can get out of his legal troubles if he’s elected. They have taken over the Supreme Court. They appeal to their base through their chaos caucus.
Climate change and inequality are causing many millions to struggle, and there’s no bipartisan agreement to tackle homelessness and addiction to fentanyl and synthetic meth. This makes cities hard to govern, and voters typically blame who’s in office. We’re not out of the woods yet.
Tfg and the GOP have amassed much power and are still very dangerous. I’m not ready to get comfortable mocking their difficulties. Democrats are challenged to get out the vote and unite behind President Biden. Let’s get to work.
Yes I agree Democrats, failure isn't a option. Democrats must be aggressive in getting their message out to the American people, because democracy is irreplaceable.
I can’t decide who most threatens our republic.
Trump and his cult of personality or Musk and his accumulation of power through monopolies. Regardless of who is the bigger threat, I can’t Stand the Smug looks of superiority perpetually on either man’s face.
They're twin evils, for sure.
Don’t forget Charles Koch, Leonard Leo and allies, along with their billions and coordinated ubiquitous network of organizations & training and education programs. They constantly promote and fund anti-democracy efforts. A large majority of people in tfg’s former Administration had ties to Koch. Tfg wasn’t Koch’s choice, but once in place, Koch used him to his maximum benefit. Sources: MacLean’s Democracy in Chains, Mayer’s Dark Money, Nelson’s Shadow Network, Whitehouse’s The Scheme, and many articles.
Forgot to mention that this has been addressed by Professor Richardson in a number of LFAAs.
Both are a threat. This is why democrats must be aggressive in getting their message out to the American people. The time of being nice is over. They must be blunt and to the point. It's time to shake up the American people and make them
realize what the consequences will be, if we don't win.
W A K E UP !! , DEM s Lets DO IT ! , THIS Time !! (Right ON ! , Pat !)
‘When it comes to Trump, today’s letter honks with the news that ‘…the first New York Times/Sienna College poll of the 2024 campaign shows Trump winning 54% of the votes of likely Republican primary voters. The next closest challenger is Florida governor Ron DeSantis, at 17%. It appears Trump still has a lock on his base,…’
Why wouldn’t that be good news for Biden?
‘A full 56% of Republican primary voters say they prefer the nominee be closest to them on the issues, compared to 39% who prioritize beating Biden. The sentiment holds across virtually all demographics, except for voters aged 65 or older and those who consider themselves "somewhat conservative," who are split. (NBCnews)
‘Here’s the challenge: While Republican primary voters will choose their nominee, independent voters will choose the next president and Congress. That’s just reality’.
‘Trump has an “independent problem” that isn’t going away. His win-loss record in the past three elections, especially with independents, may well be his Achilles’ heel in the primaries if his opponents can articulate not only why winning in 2024 is so crucial but also how they can bring back independents to the GOP.’ (RollCall)
https://www.rollcall.com/2023/07/12/republican-presidential-primary-more-at-stake-than-just-the-white-house/
‘Even allowing for how he has changed perceptions of American politics in the past eight years, and made the unprecedented seem routine, the current situation is extraordinary. On Thursday, federal prosecutors in Florida added three more charges against Trump relating to his retention of classified documents after leaving office, including a new obstruction-of-justice count. In the next couple of weeks, state prosecutors in Fulton County, Georgia, will likely indict the former President on charges of trying to overturn the 2020 election result in Georgia, and federal prosecutors in Washington, D.C., will likely indict him on charges relating to his actions after the 2020 election and in the run-up to the January 6th riots on Capitol Hill.’
‘Assuming the courts don’t remand Trump in custody, he will, as Christie said, be free on bail—a privilege that he will surely continue to exploit by galvanizing his supporters and bullying elected Republicans, and his fellow 2024 hopefuls, into repeating his cries of “witch hunt.”
‘The thing that is more difficult to gauge, largely because of the lack of precedent, is how the American public will process Trump’s legal drama between now and November, 2024. Will the accumulation of charges and evidence, and maybe even actual trials, gradually turn opinion decisively against the former President, especially among voters who aren’t highly partisan? Will things swing in his favor? Or will things stay where they are now, with views highly polarized on partisan lines?’
‘…the latest opinion survey from Bright Line Watch, a group of political scientists that monitors threats to democracy. The survey, which was published last week, was carried out before the latest charges against Trump were filed. On the face of things, it confirmed the familiar picture that, when it comes to anything having to do with the former President, universally acknowledged truths hardly exist. Fewer than one in six Republican voters said they believed that Trump had committed crimes in trying to overturn the 2020 election, in his actions before the January 6th riots, or in making hush-money payments to Stormy Daniels.’
'Among self-identified independents who don’t lean toward either party, the survey yielded more ambiguous results. Fewer than half of these respondents—between thirty-seven per cent and forty-six per cent, depending on the specific cases—said they believed that Trump had committed a crime. And about half of these respondents said that the charges were politically motivated. But, although these findings seem encouraging for Trump and his supporters, the survey also found that the number of independents who believe that Trump has done something criminal is growing, especially in relation to the classified-documents case. In a Bright Line Watch survey carried out last October, thirty-four per cent of independents said that a crime had been committed in that case. In the latest poll, that number had grown to forty-six per cent.'
'This suggests that, as prosecutors release more details of the charges and evidence against Trump, opinion is slowly shifting against him among less partisan voters. The survey even showed evidence of movement among Republicans. Since last October, the percentage of Republicans who said they believed that Trump had committed a crime in handling classified documents rose from nine to twenty-five. “We have to keep two things in mind at the same time,” Brendan Nyhan, a political scientist at Dartmouth who co-founded Bright Line Watch, told me on Monday. “On the one hand, the public is incredibly polarized on these cases. On the other hand, the new evidence does seem to be moving the needle.”(JohnCassidy, NewYorker) Sorry, not gifting privilege.
https://www.newyorker.com/news/our-columnists/public-opinion-about-trumps-criminality-is-shifting-a-bit
I see a loser in all this and it isn't Democracy or President Biden.
Fern, your research shows the underbelly of how political polls can be misleading to the average bloke. While I’m surprised at how some independants still believe Trump committed no crimes, it goes to show me that some people still cannot process information critically. We need better public education
The Repub cheating is a master class. Dems had better be ready for that. No conceding in that case. W still rankles me.
The range of your news gathering is so impressive, madam, that I am breathless. Ukraine's asking Saudi Arabia's to conduct peace talks seems a little frightening, but I guess we'll have to see how that turns out. And thank you once again for recognizing the many journalists hard at work on the myriad aspects of our situation. Newspapers may be failing, but journalists seem to be thriving.
I'm way beyond uncomfortable with peace talks being held in such a repressive country. I understand the strategy to use SA to get China, but SA's crimes against humanity outweigh that, surely?
Agreed. Manipulating his way into such a pivotal position has my spidey senses tingling. He’s as repugnant a person as his ally, tfg.
Zelensky is thinking broadly and deeply, it would seem. Marginalizing Russia and making Ukraine a participant on the world stage in one fell swoop. I think NATO better start making good faith efforts to include Ukraine, before Zelensky decides to make his own re-alignment with trading partners interested in grain and power moves against Russian hegemony in Northern Asia.
Meredith, Zelenskyy is already doing that with G7 countries. He is leaving no stone unturned in that regard. I just wish I trusted him more. I believe after the war he might be a problem with all that hardware.
Really? I think after Russia is brought to heel, Russia won’t have the resources to rebuild Ukraine, and Zelensky will try to trade it back to the countries he got it from for building materials. I mean who do you think he would point those weapons at? Try to repatriate the Ukrainian speaking part of Moldova? Transnistria? Hungary? He seems pretty laser focused on saving his country, not seeking world domination, and he looks tired, and his pretty wife looks tired. They were having a pretty good time being a celebrity family in their home town. I doubt very much that his long term plans included refusing to be co-opted by a corrupt American President, and then talking the rest of the free world into arming his country to fight Russia.So far, he has said pretty much what he wanted to do, and then done what he had said, with the help of that genius general. They are fighting fascism, not trying to put one over on anybody. Why do you not trust him?
You are quite right to challenge me regarding that statement of trust. I'll try to explain by initially retracting the statement. It was too harsh and I am not sure I will be able to explain without us knowing each other but I will try. Yes, I have apprehension that one man, by himself, can do all that is needed for Ukraine going forward. I do worry he has limited help for his vision. He does not take criticism well. There is not adequate backup if he should die, for example. Then what? He has no country per se. This entire fiasco started over a reasonable view that Ukraine citizens valued EU membership and the people are simply tired of corruption and brute force used against them. They wish to live with some rights like we are used to here in the US. As long as Ukraine behaved as a Russia puppet, there was no alarm from Russia. NATO is a huge problem for Vlad due to decades of propaganda and the volatile history of the region for the last 1000 years. History does not go away. Gorby went against the grain, and he was moved aside. Kruschev gave Crimea away in 1954. USSR was disbanded. Boil the circumstances down to a reliability on one man to solve what is needed for the short and long term stability issues and he will/might come up short. There is no national structure to maintain their country and it is being destroyed economically and physically. Poland and other countries are being drawn into the fray. I do not know who the foreign minister is. Do you? The problems are endless and what I was attempting to say was that he needs help. He is a great political asset and so far he has managed to hold Russia at bay. It is wishful thinking that he alone with foreign assets will be able to outlast Russia even if Russia is weakened. Ukraine's eastern regions might be lost forever. Like it or not, they identify with Russia. Okay, I'll stop because I could write until next Friday why the job is too big for him. It is not his fault, of course. Do you remember Vietnam and the progression or are you too young? I lived through that history and the US lost 50k Americans to keep that area stable. What will be needed here is the same kind of commitment. No one will consider that but the US. Yes, I know this is a rant and I am tempted to delete everything but I won't.
➡️ "Newspapers may be failing, but journalists seem to be thriving."
OMG!
HCR’s July 31st post is an enormous masterpiece in scope (Ukraine’s 10 Point Peace Plan, Biden Economics emergence as a success story of historic proportion, Yellow Truck bankruptcy another epic Trump corruption scandal, Musk “conducting foreign & military policy in conflict with that of the United States,” and House Oversight Committee digs in futility for Biden scandals rather than scratching the surface of Trump’s scandals) yet she covers all that ground with a remarkable depth of sources and economy of words, carefully curated and flowing seamlessly to produce yet another lucid and cognitively transparent tapestry, thereby connecting the day’s most important news strands, and as usual, extracting and filtering signals from noise!
Steve, that is a perfect description of the genius HCR displays in writing her daily Letters from an American.
I am keeping it simple. When I mark my ballot in the November 2024 election, I will be voting for sanity, truth, and the rule of law.
Greg Leichner: They aren't on the ballot.
But some candidates can say it like they mean it. They probably won’t be the most polished speakers, or have the most money. Vote for them anyway. If you can’t for sure ask them questions, like a job interview. “Tell us about the time someone offered you money to do something illegal. What did you do?” That sort of thing.
Meredith Russell: So many politicians and bureaucrats lie to keep their jobs and the bribery (campaign contribution money) flowing that I quit voting. They say one thing in campaign season and do another in Congress.
They also never answer questions directly.
Yes, that is part of the exercise. If the candidate won’t give you straight answers to hard questions, don’t vote for her either. I have 2 jobs because I was asked to do something illegal. One, falsify data. The other, pretend my boss was not a sexual predator. Have you ever quit a job because someone asked you to do something illegal? If they say no, the next question is, have you been asked or told to do something illegal? The stories one gets are very entertaining. We need to start electing a better class of politicians.
PS: California and Texas are both big enough and with plenty of resources to be their own countries.
Meredith Russell: Republics always end in tyranny. Historians say it is because the politicians are always captured by wealthy private interests. The Roman Republic in ancient times is a good example. The ancient Greek democracies suffered the same fate.
My opinion is that there is no saving the Republic now. The Republic will fail and collapse when the dollar collapses and DC goes bankrupt.
Then the USA will split up into parts like the Soviet Union did in 1991.
That will be the time to decide what kind of government we want and what its job will be and most important, how big that government will be.
Quit two jobs ... I swear I didn’t not type that word...
Meredith Russell: The computer spell checker/grammar checker programs change my writing all the time. I try and catch it but sometimes don't.
Timmy, well, thank goodness, you at least aren’t poisoning our electoral system by voting for tffg and his ilk...Just stay in your nice, warm corner of the interwebs and twiddle your thumbs like a good boy.
Leslee C: Insulting people you are trying to debate is a loser's game. Only people losing a debate resort to personal attacks. What is "tffg"?
You lose the debate.
Timmy: I beg to differ with you. I neither called you any names nor am I debating you. Debating someone requires a point/counter-point format. You are not providing any facts to back up your statements (opinions). You are just throwing them out with a flourish and saying “Ta Da!,” leaving them lying on the floor like rotten fish. I’m just encouraging you to leave the floor so the grown ups can talk and debate.
PS: tffg = the f****ing former guy, ie Trump. Nothing to do with you at all.
Unfortunately the republican voters have an attention span of nano-seconds which makes them perfect targets for trump and the republican 'leadership' lies and entertainment instead of leadership and policy.
Isn't trump's pac grifting money from donors to pay for the legal defense of his fellow criminals paramount to bribery of potential witnesses against him...or in other words witness tampering? Not to mention how sad it is that an alleged billionaire has to steal money from donors to pay his legal fees for crimes he committed against them.
Finally musk is an enigma. Nobody will ever be able to explain his actions or lack of morality.
I suspect in both of their cases, it was their upbringing. With Trump, his niece Mary labeled her biography and psychological analysis of him as "Too Much and Never Enough!" I wouldn't be surprised if the same didn't apply to Musk.
“ it is 100% insane to have a president opposed by basically his whole cabinet”
Yes it is. And I would like to add that it’s a full 1000% insane to have a president who incited an angry mob to go and hang his own vice president.
And Elon Musk should be in prison for being the traitor to Ukraine and democracy that he is. I definitely wouldn’t mind seeing this fascist Putin-fanboy go to jail, where he belongs. He’s courting people with his image of the autistic genius. Nice try, but being a narcissistic tech bro doesn’t make you a genius, and being autistic doesn’t make you immune to being an *sshole.
Mike - well put.
Also like, "narcissistic tech bro"!
The peace talks are a surprise. I like the ten points. Is there the remotest chance that Putin will agree? I am so glad that at least some journalists are reporting favorably on 'Bidenomics' We need that for all of Americans to prosper. The Party of Trump is in trouble? Good, they deserve to remain in trouble. I just hope there are a few, non-fascist Republicans left to reclaim the real Republican Party, pre-trump and the tea party.
Why on earth, did the United States of America allow an unstable imbecile like Elon Musk to gain control of something as important as Star Link, he can and will wreak havoc. The atmosphere is supposed to belong to all nations, how did Musk come to manipulate to his own impulsive advantage?
Hi Fay. Elon Musk got to launch 4,500 satellites into low earth orbit (and is launching dozens more per week) because the regulators (FCC, FAA, SEC, DOJ) have looked the other way. For some insights into how this works:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regulatory_capture
Thank you for this link. Kind of like the "too big to fail" claim. If we stop Musk, who will pay our bribes?
Fascinating and disturbing. Thank you, William.
Fay,
Musk was thinking and planning while we were not ....