Vance has only 18 months experience in public life and Trump has only four disastrous years. Even if they were both decent humans they do not belong in that high office.
Let them keep running their mouths--they are burying their own campaign.
"Trump cannot bear to see the enthusiasm building behind Harris, not only because of its electoral meaning, but also because it reveals how small his own following is and how much people loathe him."
No! Let's not kid ourselves. Let's not repeat the 2016 unforced error of underestimating Trump's popularity. Trump's following is not small. And even more than he is loathed, Trump is adored and adulated. The Republican base is enthralled, and the entire right wing apparatus has fallen in line. Our next 96 days will be all up hill. We will have to sustain the momentum even when the work becomes a slog. Acknowledging the actual extent of the threat and the real possibility of a Trump win should spur us on.
I agree. There does seem to be change in the air, and Things are going so well for Harris right now, but we cannot allow ourselves to become complacent! The other side will get very, very nasty. Remember 2016. There’s always an October surprise!
Once upon a time, quality republicans ran for office. On second thought, I can’t recall any accept Eisenhower and I was too young to appreciate him. Next was Nixon a dishonest disaster. Then Goldwater the Nuker. Nixon run out of town. Ford the Forgiver. Trickle down wee wee economics Ronald Reagan. Herbert Walker sending Uncle Clarence Thomas to court. George W and his disastrous wars. And you know what not who, followed in 2016. My God how can this country survive?
Bill. I have had the good fortune to have some amazing neighbors a couple of real Uncle Toms. Tom Osborne and Tom Harkin.
My senior year in college Congressman Tom Harkin and his wife Ruth and daughter were our neighbors. Occasionally Tom would come outside and have a beer or two with us and chat. Little did we know what an impressive career he would have and his wife as well. They were just good neighbors to three college students living on a shoe string.
Years later, when we were living in Lincoln, NE, Dr. Tom Osborne would walk his dog in our neighborhood. He wasn't very chatty and we only had a couple of conversations -- and never about politics. He is a man of integrity and also religious but he never forced his religion or political views on anyone.
I have shaken hands with other Republican politicians over the years, a few of whom I would describe as swarmy.
When Chuck Hagel ran for the Senate in Nebraska he ran the only campaign I have ever witnessed that never said a negative word about his opponent. He toured Iraq with then Senator Obama and Obama even selected him as Secretary of Defense, which didn't work out well for either of them.
But, if you fast forward to 2015, the Party of Trump has replaced or turned most of the Republican politicians into sniveling sycophants that have done nothing for their constituents.
I would add to your comment regarding "politicians" who follow DT. They are only in it for personal power and know very little about governing FOR THE PEOPLE....ALL OF THE PEOPLE WHO MAKE UP THIS GREAT NATION!!!! They know little to nothing about building relationships that promote and protect world peace. They care nothing for those suffering under the harsh realities of existence in this world....with wars...with natural disasters....with a persons circumstances from just being birthed with physical or mental struggles.
President Joe Biden has a heart for everyone. He has lived a steady life of faith. The reality of that faith has been lived out in a personal life with personal struggles which he has met with wisdom, with love, with care that his actions will affect others, not just for himself.
President Joe Biden has shown himself to be a great American, from the depth of his soul, through his words...through his actions. We have been blessed to have him lead.
Kamala Harris has proven herself. She is and will be a great leader. We would not just be blindly giving her our support. Kamala Harris is deserving of our support. She rolls up her sleeves and does the necessary work.
Our current GOP Supervisor of Elections is a man of integrity and very well-respected in our community….except by the MAGA GOP who are trying to oust him.I’m now unable to vote in the primary as the MAGA ,who until recently was the only other SOE candidate, recruited a write-in candidate that effectively eliminates Dems and NPA/independents from the vote.
These races are so critical yet I find so many, including Dems, are tuned out. It all starts at the local level !!! GOTV
Voting should be an obligation of citizenship. Voting should be mandatory.
Then we would waste neither time nor energy or whether or not any citizen was entitled to vote. And we could cast our votes in a variety of ways such that everyone could do it conveniently - young or old, at home or away, of color or colorless.
Everyone! Everywhere!
And there would be consequences - both intended and not so much. L&B&L
When there is a conflict of interest between any two individuals or groups, there is one moral "treat others the way you would want to be treated if the shoe was on the other foot" principle. Ideally, both parties are adhering to that principle. Otherwise, one or both parties adopted the immoral "do unto to others before they do unto you" principle. And people who are not willing to take advantage of the short-term benefit of acting immorally have been drummed out of today's Republican party.
Gary, your two Toms and Chuck Hagel were adhering to the moral principle. So did a Republican politician from Maricopa County, Arizona. His name is Bill Gates. He ended up in therapy for PTSD caused by the treatment he received from MAGA protesting outside his home for the sin of refusing to break the law in Trump's favor in the 2020 election. Ref: The Axe Files podcast, E539.
To be wise is to understand that the small short-benefit of an immoral act has an enormous long-term cost, and the small short-term cost of a moral act has an enormous long-term benefit.
My prediction is that "long-term" is November, "enormous benefit" will be a landslide D victory, and that that will be the final nail in MAGA's coffin. My expectation is the delinquents will be drummed out, and then the grownups can take back what's left of the real Republican party.
If the Republican Party were to reconstruct (and that’s a big if) they will need to make their policies about people instead of profit and loss. Because profit at all costs has been their thing. A friend of mine talks about the job creators (meaning the corporate employers) as though they are a priestly class. In fact the GOP has been busy preserving kleptocratic and exploitive methods over taking care of the citizenry. Their altar has been the so called free market which they bail out and prop up over helping people obtain safe housing, food and water and other essentials. It is the U.S. version of a guillotine happening now. Off with their heads. The grownups of the GOP ran for their lives I guess.
I was in Berlin, NH the year he, Bill Clinton, and Kerry of Nebraska all ran for President. I got to listen to all of them speak in a small group setting and to meet them. They were all good candidates and Clinton impressed me as the best stand up speaker I had ever met outside a classroom. But I voted for Harkin. He was the coin I bit and was satisfied. Plain, honest, authentic, well intentioned, and convincing. No razzle dazzle.
Today, the choice between the parties is clear and could not be more critical. As the American Republic enters a new growth phase, it represents a stress test upon the knowledge, wisdom, and intentions of the American people, to see if they have the sense, the desire, and the will to survive as a nation, or whether they will vote for destruction and chaos. In that sense it is a test of the results of America’s commitment thus far to public education.
Since 1991, the quality of American political discourse has declined. Democrats at this point are just plain lucky to have K Harris to succeed Biden. In the future, they will need to find a way to find, develop, and promote leaders like Harkin, Clinton, and Kerry of Nebraska, (and Massachusetts). They will actually need to find a way to become a political party in the European sense, as opposed to a portion of the voting public with a loose presumed sense of identity.
Ah… but still a Tom. To enlarge the subject, I will take an unpopular stance and suggest that the ending post-colonial British devised the Belfor Declaration of 1917 which set Palestine as an official homeland for European Jews on lands already thriving with Arab Muslims. After decades of ethnic clensing Israel today after innumerable wars, is now facing its largest military event likely bringing in Iran and possibly Turkey who threatened Israel. If they carry out their protectionist threat, this could be the unraveling of NATO. The Belfor Declaration lite the flame. I am not antisemitic. Maybe kinda had to be with half of my family from Jewish culture.
And he still is at 84 years old. His wife Ruth is also an amazing woman and a good prosecutor in her day.
I did mean to point out that he was a Democrat -- and also a man of integrity. I hated to see him step down, but I'm glad he did because he knew it was time.
If only his dim-witted replacement Joni Ernst would step-down. As they say in Iowa, she's as worthless as tits on a boar.
You do know Tom Harkin is an Iowa Democrat? He spent spent 4 distinguished decades in the House and Senate, retiring in 2014. Unfortunately his retirement opened the doors wide to a Republican take over of our once proud and beautiful state. Your narrative indicates a description of note worthy former as well as decent Republican Senators.
I know a woman who grew up in Scranton and knew the Biden and Casey families. Good decent people. Robert Casey Sr was treated poorly by liberal Democrats over what might now be considered common sense approach to abortion.
Bill, wouldn’t it be lovely if high school (or even middle school) history classes assigned student groups to each research a President’s positive and negative, domestic and foreign achievements? I’m thinking maybe just post WW2? Then present each to the class and write a summary. I imagine they would eventually figure out that the Republican Presidents did not represent their interests. Followed by a class on voting!
Well, I was toying with the idea of closing high schools and save billions. Taxes go way down. Kids can then play on their devices all day long unimpeded. And get a good and proper education on social media. What the heck do we need high schools for?
Marge, the human race is racing itself to the bottom. Everything is a mirage nothing is real. Even AI isn’t real. Take LSD tune in, turn on and drop out. Bring my friend Jimi Hendrix back.
Go back 100 years before present, so include the presidents in office in the "roaring 20s", Great Depression, WWII, whatever was going on in the US in the 50s, the Civil Rights movement, women's rights movement, gay rights movement, and onward.
I do. We vote for presidents based not on intellect and wise decision making. We vote based on theatrics. Ronny was an actor and he used it well to communicate to the people. Remember Death Valley Days I think he narrated the show. But clearly, most if not all republican candidates support big business over the needs of the people. Then the democrats come in and keep wanting to spend on every god forsaken project inventable. There you have it. I am a democrat under protest.
I’d like to know what projects you object to: feeding hungry children, the Environmental Protection Agency, Head Start, rural electrification (this time with solar panels), Medicare, Social Security, Medicaid, water quality, Covid vaccinations and tests, the CDC, the Consumer Protection Agency? Please let me know
Reagan won 59% of the popular vote in 84, virtually sweeping the electoral college. Any thought the persistent conservative trends were in reaction to call it the hippie counter culture waves of the 60s?
I grew up in MA. The GOP here and elsewhere in New England was a rational political party, at least at the state and local level. Most of my relatives, except for my father (who claimed to be only the 4th person to register as a Dem in our town, in 1942), were Republicans. I might well have voted for the likes of Frank Sargent, Elliot Richardson, and Ed Brooke if I'd been old enough or, a little later, living elsewhere. Massachusetts, it was said, loves its Republican governors: we had one, Charlie Baker, as recently as 2022, when he decided not to run for a third term. By then the MA GOP had gone full MAGA but it took a longer than it did elsewhere.
How did those disastrous Republicans get elected? Not by their base. Presidents are elected based on likability - PERIOD. Presidential elections are "beauty contests" where all the misinformed, undecided voters base their vote on who they like more. This is true for every election since Ike, with one exception, i.e. Nixon won due to the backlash to the Vietnam War.
They also got elected by a form of default - as a consequence of the vast numbers of people who failed to vote, or voted, disastrously, for some 3d party candidate. You'd think the electorate would have learned that EVERYONE who can MUST vote, and that no one should hold the office of President who hasn't held at least one serious elected office previously (high State government, US House or Senate) for at least one full term. I mean, look at Ray-gun, look at tRump! Granted, some other people (Bush I and Shrub, notably) were terrible presidents, so prior office holding isn't a guarantee of decent performance as president, but their failed presidencies can't hold a candle in the "abysmal" race to the awfulness of tRamp or Ray-gun.
Third-party support can influence one of the two parties. Their supporters belong to the mentality that thinks that both parties are essentially the same. They are not but they do have their more extreme wings that at times can be influential.
Eisenhower was the first president I was relatively well aware of (he was elected when I was seven and again when I was eleven) albeit in a child’s way. I still have an IKE tie clip.
But of course he was the President who helped enable the process of formally Christianizing capitalism in response to 'godless Communism'. It was during his administration that “In God We Trust” was added to the currency and 'under God’ was added to the Pledge of Allegiance. Thus began this march toward Christian Nationalism. All such marches tend to start innocuously while few except the committed really aware of what is underway. And it was Eisenhower who enabled and oversaw some of the worst excesses of the CIA’s foreign ‘entanglements', including the Bay of Pigs fiasco.
As to Democratic presidents - we should not forget that a Democrat got us into Vietnam and another who kept us there until our involvement killed 50,000 of my generation, millions of Vietnamese, reduced whole portions of their country to rubble, and tore this country apart in a way we have yet to match even with Trumpism.
We get the leaders we choose. They do not arrive, fully grown from the Head of Zeus. And the recored of our choices is hardly one to inspire some vast level of trust in the process of selection on either side. To my mind we’ve had two great ones, a number of competent if flawed ones, some utter nonentities, and at least three near disasters (Jackson, Johnson, and Trump)
The price paid for being anti-communism not to mention the Cold War and Vietnam and the MacCarthy hearings. Communism never really existed anywhere and where it was called communism it was a failed system of government. Capitalism is a failed system without regulations and wealth redistribution.
Communism never really existed because it always required authoritarians to run it. While idealistic in its conception, it completely failed to take into account the fact that humanity is at least as selfish as it is either empathetic or idealistic. The communist suppression of individual initiative and thus the personal rewards gained thereby reduced producers to virtual automatons, a form of existence not possible unless it is mandated and controlled by force, and even then the current of opposition was always going to make the society too unstable for long duration.
Capitalism, on the other hand, has hardly failed precisely because it greatly rewards the personal intuitive that communism suppresses, although its predatory nature and its regular, savage depredations along with its inherent inequality keep roiling society with jealousy and grievance. But there are too many at the top of the food chain with great incentive to maintain it. and they have too great a capacity for control of the political scene through the power of financial influence and collusion for any kind of failure.
You could also say that our involvement began when we backed the French in Vietnam so that they would back us in Europe against the Russians, something we are now doing in the Ukraine among other far lesser known places. And incidentally, of course, we failed to learn the lessons of the French failure.
We’ve sent military advisors to a number of countries - including South Korea (KMAG of which my best friend was a member) without getting involved in a shooting war, although it is certainly true that some of the ones sent to Vietnam did get involved in actual fighting.
Our Vietnam problem, however, didn’t really begin until we started using our own combat troops against the Viet Cong. Up until then, we could have pulled out of a situation that was already going downhill because of the corruption of the South Vietnamese government and the general lack of purpose and initive in the South Vietnamese military. We decided, unfortunately not for the last time, that the US Army was capable of nation building in addition to making war.
It is ironic to me that the Republicans are making so much of Biden’s pullout from Afghanistan when our pullout from Vietnam under a Republican president was far more humiliating and disastrous. There is no good way out of a bad war.
And then we had one of the finest presidents in the 20th century go down on account of the Vietnam War which was a legacy all leaders believed was necessary post WWII to fight communism. It’s a tale we shouldn’t forget; that a really good president can be brought down by one bad but really bad decision.
You are referring to Lyndon Johnson, of course, but it wasn’t just one bad decision - it was an escalating string of them all in defiance of a growing awareness (see the Pentagon Papers) that we were engaged in a war we couldn’t win and probably should never have gotten involved in in the first place.
Had Johnson’s legacy been his civil rights agenda, yes, he would have gone down as one of the great ones. His long and thorough preparation for the job was probably one of the best ever. But as in classic tragedy, his own somewhat chaotic and contradictory character was his undoing, and his pursuit of the war and the lies he and other told in its defense left a legacy of distrust in the government that lingers and increases to this day.
Bring on the October surprise. I will early vote for Harris on 9/20 or in the week after. I will be volunteering to bring other likely Harris voters to the county seat for early voting on any day following 9/20.
And in every day between now and 11/5 we should be demonstrating the FUN we are having in enabling our vision of America's great future. The Dark Lord does not understand and cannot combat FUN.
Susan, and Trump's campaign is employing an army of people to dig up as much dirt as possible on anyone who might get in Trump's way. They will make up things, lie, get the Supreme Court to rule for Trump, and figure out ways to subvert our Constitution all on behalf of Trump a toddler-man with no moral compass and dementia that is taking away any ability to reason. We can never let down our guard and we need to find ways to ramp up the positive feelings for Harris.
I mean one problem is the electoral college system. One cannot get complacent and be happy about winning the popular vote, say by 3 million votes like Hillary did. You've gotta flip Georgia and maybe even Florida, and keep Pennsylvania with its fracking lovers.
Biden won by 7 million. FT 6 has identified 9 million unregistered folk who trend heavily Democratic. Register Democrats, get them to the polls and we can sweep.
Yes the Electoral College system is seriously flawed and inherently unfair. But false claim that 'the rest of us are of lesser importance' is a form of voter suppression akin to 'my vote doesn't count.'
Every vote and every Electoral College vote counts. They add up.
And every vote in every Red or Blue state counts. That identification can change depending on who votes.
For sure, it's electoral colleges, I have to wonder if denier appointments to some of the battleground counties will screw up 2024 if the Dems take it in Nov. I do hear there is Dem counterplay however. There is worse things than fracking in this world, the sheer scale of the petroworld in and of itself. Coal, oil, gas collectively provide something like 85% of all energy production. They likely have really no idea how they're going to wean themselves off most of that.
But there is truth in that statement. Rump always must be the center of attention, and I mean ALWAYS. He's probably seething with anger seeing people celebrating Kamala like that, envious of the adoration she gets - and not he. If we can keep this up, he'll probably explode out of sheer rage and jealousy, and we'll be rid of him. That would be nice. The biggest dangers I'm seeing is the Supreme Court simply overruling the election and handing the presidency to Rump, and some deranged gun-bunny MAGAt making an attempt on Kamala's life...
Of course Trump feels attention should be always on him. He is a malignant narcissist and that is how they think. In this respect, he reminds me of the last German emperor, Wilhelm II.
I’m familiar with the concept of playing the dozens. Trump takes himself far too seriously and hates any criticism or mockery of himself, no matter how well deserved.
He sure got it yesterday from the NABJ!! How I LOVED hearing him being laughed at by the audience. And then, it was the lead story this morning on CBS. Hopefully, on every network news channel. I think we got to witness the beginning of the end of the trump era yesterday; hopefully, the end of the MAGAt era, as well.
For sure, but just look at the extraordinary aristocratic pomp and ceremony of the age. These days I'm always struck by the sheer panoply of medals et al adorning the chests and shoulders of top military and more.
Not only that, but he encompasses the whole of the "dark triad": narcissism, machiavellism and psychopathy. That's what makes him especially dangerous and vile.
Dutch, kudos to Rachel Scott for starting off the interview with questions that the mainstream media has been afraid to ask Donald Trump.
Of course he resisted answering the questions!! Of course he struck back in a defensive stance! He doesn't know how to answer questions that put him on the spot, and attempt to hold him responsible for his racist and inane words and actions.
If his followers can't see through his false "Christianity", his selfishness, his lack of integrity, then any crazy, unhinged answers he gives to valid questions will be met with applause and adulation.
Trevy, you're right about that and I still say "Shame on them" for overlooking his desires to tell everyone how to live and what to think. People that love ans respect him are anything but "Christian" in my book, and I could write a book about how I feel and have felt about Donald Trump for the last 8 years.
As someone wrote so eloquently (sadly, I can't remember who it was): "Trump's followers aren't shocked by his scandals, they are strengthened by them. Trump is an asshole. And he teaches his followers that it's okay to be an asshole. They vote for him BECAUSE he's an asshole. They vote for him because they WANT to be a racist, misogynistic, egocentric, pussy-grabbing and money-grabbing asshole just like their idol."
I've long fretted over the thought that SCOTUS would simply hand over the keys to Trump.
Right now I'm chasing a theory: SCOTUS decisions aren't self-executing; they depend on the Executive Branch for enforcement according to the Constitution.
Is there some process in place that can somehow prevent such a Judicial coup without creating a constitutional crisis??
“John Marshall has made his decision, now let him enforce it”. Andrew Jackson.
So there's that - outright rebellion is another. I think SCOTUS knows what the consequences of such an attempt - giving tRump the WH - would be, for them at least, especially now that they've given President Biden an unprecedented degree of immunity.
Exactly, Kathleen. The Extreme Court gets to decide when the president gets immunity, and when he doesn't. It doesn't take higher maths to figure out they will give Rump significantly more leeway than Biden...
It is Biden right now, however, until January 20, 2025. I don't think Pres Biden would abuse his office, but the grant of immunity is there, and let it percolate through the courts. Not that I'm advocating for anything of the sort, but sauce for the goose . . .
Me too. In fascist circles, very often a war of succession breaks out once the "strong man" *cough cough* or idol dies. Let the MAGAts squabble among themselves and put a dagger in their own collective backs, I say, and be done with 'em.
One in 4 Americans believe that an armed revolt is ok in order to "take back" the country. Let us hope that the other 75% vote that monster into oblivion, and prison sentence.
i hope that the media-journalists in particular-stop putting his face on the front page over and over. it is the media that elected this nation in 2016 and it will do it again if not careful!
So it is. Don't forget that massive amounts of money are being poured in the media by Murdoch, Thiel et al. Kameradski Musk is also vying for Rump: they want him to destroy democracy so they can do as they wish, without any nasty rules made by common people to hinder them from becoming even more insanely rich.
They love Laissez-faire. They would do fine under a fascist government. But capitalists they are not, for capitalism to work long term it must be regulated and have wealth redistributed, i.e. taxed to raise the revenue to benefit the majority.
I totally agree! And as much as i love whats happening with VP Harris right now, i worry we will be blinded by the euphoria, enthusiasm, and Schadenfreude of the moment. Let’s enjoy the moment but never take our eye off Trump and the MAGA contingent. He still a very serious threat. As Robert Hubble says, “we have every reason to be hopeful, no reason to be complacent.”
Yes, let's keep our shoulders to the wheel but "let's enjoy the moment", every one of them till the Harris inauguration and beyond. MAGA must know we are enjoying all the moments and are adamant about "not going back". It is very difficult, if not impossible, to combat fun and enjoyment with lies and bullying. When Trump lies or threatens, we laugh and keep building the future he cannot even imagine.
Also remember that in 2016 Hillary was obviously going to win, right up until Comey said he was reopening the investigation of the emails. It’s not going to be over until it’s over. It won’t be over until Kamala Harris is inaugurated. Even then there will be backlash.
I agree...we cannot underestimate the level of organization the Republicans have. Even if it isn't there ...we have to OVERREACT. We have to do something about the known 70 election deniers in charge of certifying the 2024 election.
Agreed. And we have to win twice, once with actual voting and second with getting past the 70 election-denying goons that have been installed as local vote certification officials. Listen to Maddow about that one. In her interview with Elizabeth Warren, the conclusion that we all need to keep working and trying our hardest despite the coming big cheat is totally true - but I really hope the Biden administration is drawing up contingency plans to deal with the compromised certifiers - perhaps with a creative interpretation and application of the insurrection act against them.
From Jennifer Rubin, today : "As journalist Joe Conason put it, 1930s-era dictators “were mocked as buffoons in their day, but when they suddenly came to power the joke was no longer quite so funny.” In some sense, Trump’s misplaced vanity, narcissism and ignorance are laughable. But we should never forget that those very qualities make him impervious to shame and contemptuous of social norms and legal restraints."
Definitely we can't take anything for granted and must continue to act like we're the underdog (which I guess we are). That being said, I think Trump smells his blood in the water (sharks are on their way). He cannot STAND someone else being the center of attention.
Thanks for this reminder, lin. We can’t let up. We need to keep up the momentum and get out the vote every way we can. If I lived in a swing state I would be going door to door, but at least I can phone bank from California.
Absolutely!! Take nothing for granted. Get every vote possible to the polls. Let’s never forget 2016!! Let’s go for the biggest win of our lifetime. We can do it. Keep the momentum going until victory is unequivocally declared.
Yes and remember that Trump serves the goals of the 2025 project. The organizations, institutions and wealthy people who have been dreaming of its implementation are not going to give up - Trump's candidacy is for them
Thank you. Thank you! I remember the Time magazine covers showing Trump slowly melting down- until election night and the look on New York Times columnist David Brooks face when it dawned on him that the loud mouthed vulgar pus ball was going to be our president. Famous last words: “oh the Republicans will step up and do the right thing “ and “ not to worry the Democrats will have our backs “.
In those four disastrous years, he didn't learn how to run a government as large as the US. His only prior experience was running a small, corrupt business. We all payed the price for this inept little boy.
We sure have John Maguire! Except I would add that he only had experience hading corrupt businesses and failing businesses. He wanted the same for US. My new mantra is “Don’t Go Back! Won’t Go Back! Got Your Back, Harris 2024!”
I find it painful to watch these two hucksters and I keep wondering how did we get 'here'? Maddow said tonight that there are a large number of vote certifiers who have already announced they are not going to certify votes. And Trump is saying don't vote, I don't want or need your vote. Which means there is something going on. Like it was in 2016 . It's possible that Gen Z who are the largest number of voters ever and they are the ones who could be the ones who 'decide' the outcome. And they already announed their intention to vote. And wouldn't that be exciting!
THIS!! It won’t matter if we get a bazillion popular votes for Kamala if this certification corruption goes down. We all know who SCOTUS would choose for president.
Danae Cedar. It is not about our individual feelings. Positive or Negative. It's about all of us uniting in the joint exercise of getting Democrat Kamala Harris elected and electing a Democratic majority Congress.
A couple of sites that have information about helping keep our elections free, fair, and secure from unfounded denials, claims of fraud, other trumpian-type lies, and threats to election workers: https://statesuniteddemocracy.org/ and https://electiondeniers.org/. Sign up to be an election worker and stand up for democracy.
JUSTIN GLAWE, is the 7/29/24 'Rolling Stone" Author. My training as a CA County November Election worker has just begun. Justins' report is very important.
I share your alarm about this issue. I don't see clear answers anywhere about election officials who may be intent on denying certification no matter what the vote. Perhaps someone here can elucidate?
Here's hoping the DoJ and others are looking into and preparing in some manner for these 70 denialists pointed out by Maddow and Rolling Stone Magazine.
UPDATE: Robert Hubbell has a good take on the 70 faithless electors, (about 1/3 down.)
I was listening to an episode of the podcast The New Abnormal this week and they interviewed the author of the new book The Longest Con which may answer the question "how did we get here" at least in part. Sounds like a good, if infuriating, read.
They have managed to get 70 election denying MAGA loyalists elected and or appointed to election offices in swing states who are there to not certify votes they did not agree with. The intent is to corrupt the election, cause chaos, delay and confusion, increase distrust in our elections to ensure that they can steal the election
As someone mentioned above, you should read Robert Hubble's Today's Edition from this AM for a more thorough explanation of the actual threat from these deniers. Not that we should be complacent, but Maddow only did half the job by discussing the RS article and not providing the history of previous attempts and the solutions that have been pointed out elsewhere.
I agree. However, he may have know exactly what he was doing as he continues firing up the basest of his base. He and his wolf-pack may well be more dangerous today than ever. And don't forget that he almost always fails upward. It's an terrible superpower he has. So. till he's actually dead and gone, I would not recommend turning our backs to him. That being said, I think he was truly stripped bare, exposing the real monster he is and the threat he and his army pose to our country and the world. I am still afraid, but I continue to act and feel empowered, especially in the wake of all the enthusiasm that's come since President Biden stepped aside, allowing VP Kamala Harris to tale the wheel. Such exciting times to be alive!
Speaking of experience, this vid. by Beau Q-T talks about needed outreach to rural America, a key coalition constituency of the New Deal. In the vid., Beau's anima drops an f-bomb. No, not THAT f-bomb, but a fact-bomb. https://youtu.be/SXAT7Otqzic
Technically, Trump does not have "four disastrous years as president", he has one days experience about 1440 times. He certainly accomplished little that truly helped the American people in his time in office.
It's pretty clear that not only TFG and Vance, but the rest of the GOP, have zero understanding of the First Rule of Holes: When you are in one, stop digging.
I'm seriously considering coughing up cash to buy them more shovels.
“I think we’re getting the first view of imploding Donald Trump as he realizes that what was his for the taking ten days ago is slipping away and he’s likely to go to prison rather than the White House. He [is] being dominated and humiliated by Harris and he’s losing it.”
I betting he doesn't make it until November 5th without a complete and total breakdown...
I just got on this thread and saw your comment. I was going to say something similar; you beat me to it. Let Trump cook his own goose. He's doing a fine, fine job of it.
WOW! I did not know about how close Trump was to invoking the Insurrection Act! Barr Nun should be jailed too, along with Jeff Sessions and Stephen Miller. They can share a cell. Anyway, I saw the entire NABJ event and if I could have, I would’ve reached through the TV and strangled Trump. He was insolent, demeaning, and showed his true colors as a racist. He’s a pig! He made comments about how Kamala is “all of a sudden Black, but now is Indian”. The hosts of the event told him she went to an HBCU and was indeed Black. I thought the questioning was articulate and fair. He thought it was a “disgrace”. Then the proverbial hook came out to get him off the stage. He does not belong on center stage anywhere but he does belong in prison. I cannot wait for Kamala, whomever she picks as her VP, and a new AG to cast a wide net over him and his sycophants.
Wasn’t that just a trip about the Later Day Saints for Harris?? Almost fell off of my chair!
Me too, Marlene -- when Republicans lose the Mormons... (I know not all Mormons are Republican, and not all support the felon, but still, it's a bit mind-blowing, like the +/-500 Harris supporters in The Villages in Florida.)
Another raging dumpster fire. Twitter is going wild, with #WhenITurnedBlack trending this morning. I love the meme: The liberal Plot to Make Trump Look Stupid, also known as "Operation Just Let Him Speak" is working splendidly. Can't wait to see what TikTok does with this latest.
It doesn’t surprise me at all that Trump’s “interview” with NABJ members didn’t go well. He thought of his audience as a collection of stereotypes, rather than men and women whose job is to inform and educate the public, and who want to be treated with dignity and respect. Of course, Trump displayed neither dignity or respect in condescending to the reporters.
Drumpf is attacking the NABJ --interviewed by women-- because he is impotent at attacking Harris Theyre her surrogate, and if this is what he says in public imagine how he's seething constantly.
Were there to be a military coup, it would not be tanks rolling up to the portico but senior officers belaying orders and refusing to deal with President Trump.
Honestly, I was shocked he did NOT invoke it. His last year, I kept waiting for him to spring that on us. I thought for sure he would that day in Washington DC, after he had police shoot, gas, and assault peaceful protesters and journalists, just to walk to a church and defile it for optics…
He spent that entire interview shooting himself in the foot, then putting it in his mouth. As offended as I was by his words, I saw it as watching him self destruct.
Marlene, my hypothesis is that 45 was desperately trying to find anything that would dissuade black voters from voting for Harris, so he (or someone else, came up with the idea to advance (not a pun) the idea that she acknowledged her black genes only for political purposes.
T***p obviously wasn't in Chicago to try and appeal to voters of color. He was there solely to rile up the racists in his base. It was disgusting. Like Joyce Vance mentioned in her essay tonight, we really shouldn't try and muzzle T***p and keep people from hearing his vile rhetoric. No. Put it ALL out there in the harsh glare of public scrutiny, so that he cannot deny he said the things he says. And he needs to be called on it at every single opportunity. The contrast with Harris's rally in Atlanta could not be more obvious. I was SO proud of my city! I think with regard to T***p's campaign, we're seeing absolute desperation, but that desperation could in all likelihood turn even nastier. Get ready, and "keep your powder dry" as they say!
Yeah, that was my thought. He wasn't there to showcase what he could do for the Black community, he was there to cement his position with all the racists in the country.
Yes, he planned what to do, and why. Then he did it. His point was to show his base: " See, I can go right up to these Black people and insult them to their face. I can stand right up to them. See me doing it? " and now he's the one we're talking about, again. He dominates the TV news shows and everywhere else. He gets a perfect score for doing all this in 35".
I'm not sure how deliberately he can do anything these days. He is a clueless narcissist who automatically claps back with "you're being mean to me so I'm justified in anything I say."
That's about as simple a way of explaining the narcissist as I've ever heard. Having married one, I can say you're exactly right. And they never ever get over their sense of outrage at how horribly they were treated.
What do you mean “wouldn’t allow”? Why is he in charge of fact-checking anything? Why wouldn’t they just have fact-checking at the ready? Why don’t ALL journalists face fact checkers on hand for ALL of his “interviews”?
I wasn't there, but from my experience working for a news broadcaster I must suppose that out of courtesy they mentioned before going on stage that there would be a fact checker. We know that he then refused to go ahead. It took half an hour to get him on stage.
They needed a fact checker at Trump’s debate, but Dana Bash and Jake Tapper weren’t willing to call Trump out on his Gish gallop of lies and misstatements.
Wow. I didn’t know that’s how it worked. That is appalling. No wonder we are in the Orwellian sh*tshow we are in. The less intelligent among us have been gobbling up Fox News for decades and then watching interviews where the fact checkers aren’t “allowed” because the liar won’t have it. Utterly appalling that WE THE PEOPLE “allow” our rights to facts and truth be so diminished and twisted by fascists and demagogues.
As I recall, when he told the story on his website he added the qualifier "or something". I don't follow him (surprise), and now I can't find where this was reported, but that "or something" has a familiar ring.
Finally. Rachel Scott. HERO! She’s a reporter with guts. Guts enough to call to account a fascist and convicted criminal and rapist. It took a woman to get the job done. And done right. An African American woman at that.
Where have all the male reporters gone? Long time passing?
“One hundred and forty police officers were assaulted that day [January 6, 2021],” Rachel said. Their injuries included broken bones, at least one police officer lost an eye, one had cracked ribs, two smashed spinal discs, another had a stroke.”
Rachel asked, “Were the people who assaulted these 140 officers ... patriots who deserve pardons?”
Rachel Scott did an amazing job. We're so used to seeing the media lob soft balls at DonOld and he still rarely answers their questions. But he also doesn't lose his cool like he did with Ms. Scott.
Imagine DonOld on stage with Kamala for 90 minutes and her harassing him the entire time. I could see him losing it like the politician did in Network that held the baby in front of him for protection.
If he can't handle a journalist's basic question, how is he supposed to deal with world leaders? He's just going to say, ”Oh that's such a rude question." Wimp.
Harris team’s response to the NABJ interview was masterful. They didn’t get into any back and forth racism response but tied Trump to his overall larger hostility and chaos themes and then added in his Project 2025 agenda to top it off! BRAVO! Amazing messaging strategy.
Biden is too nice & seems to not anticipate t’s sharp rudeness & is completely thrown off when tRumP doesn’t play by the rules. Harris is fresh for the job & she won’t hold back! tRumP should be afraid, very afraid. He is about to get his come uppance!!!
I don’t think it is that Biden is too nice, I think it is because he is both too deep a thinker and has been through and learned from too much life grief to be able to honestly not ‘take a beat’ before replying to any question. Unfortunately, it looks like nice weakness on an emotion flattening TV screen 🐈⬛
Joe was too much the true politician. Too nice to say it properly. A typical democrat in response. Think about how gingrich rose. He was doing ALL the things he accused democrats of doing and they just murmured how dare he rather than nailing him. Think about the Willie Horton ad, the welfare queen ad, the swift boat ad, all of them were met with gathered muted responses. Now VP Harris, not gonna take it without dishing it right back. Love Joe, and God bless him for his masterful timing.
It was like watching a train wreck in slow motion when Scott used the initials D.E.I. and Trump asked her what that was and she told him, Diversity Equity and Inclusion and he asked her to give him a definition 🤪🤣
I think it's all in this quote: "But it is also possible that Trump cannot bear to see the enthusiasm building behind Harris, not only because of its electoral meaning, but also because it reveals how small his own following is and how much people loathe him. "
There's two things that the Orange Felon absolutely cannot stand: 1) losing, because he always HAS to be the winner; 2) not being the center of attention and getting all the adoration. If we can make this happen before November, there is a chance he will become SO angry that he will simply explode.
I am sorry sir, I know what it is, but I am asking you, so please define it as you see it for the American people. Rule when interviewing an idiot, never define anything for them. Only correct them.
Trump and his groupies want to define their opponents rather than letting their opponents state who they are and why they oppose him. The Republicans have a constant strategy of marketing to fear, and unfortunately it’s been successful. Usually, th fears are of things that are NOT happening or outside the government’s control, or about small groups of the population they don’t like (such as gay and transgender people.)
Thank you, Heather, for taking us back to June 1, 2020...
---------------------------------
... although the protests were largely peaceful, Trump was desperate to get 2,000 federal officers into the area around the White House ... to increase federal control of the city. To the frustration of the people in charge of the agencies, he could not articulate a mission, only that he wanted 2,000 people around him. With only about 90 officers from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms, the Bureau of Prisons, and the U.S. Marshals Service on hand early on the morning of June 1, Barr told a conference call with Justice Department leadership that Trump wanted “max strength” on the streets, and to “dominate the streets.”
Trump then echoed that language in a call with the nation’s governors, saying, “If you don’t dominate your city and your state, they’re [going to] walk away with you. And we’re doing it in Washington, in D.C., we’re going to do something that people haven’t seen before. But you’re going to have total domination.”
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I hope everyone realizes that "domination" is what Trump thinks about from the moment he wakes up to the moment he goes to sleep. This is the 'mental mantra" of a malignant narcissist... of a man who lives to bully people. He attempted to bully the women who interviewed him at the NABJ conference today and - by saying "She only recently became Black" (I'm paraphrasing a bit) - attempted to dominate Kamala Harris.
I am thrilled we are living in a time when such bullying is no longer being tolerated (except within the Trump cult and by those wealthy supporters who want Trump to win for their own benefit). My mother was bullied by my father literally every day of their 20 year long married (from 1947-1967... a very different time in American culture). I cannot wait for Kamala Harris to become President of the United States and for the legal cases against Trump to continue. He belongs in prison not in the Oval Office.
I’m sorry you had to live through that. My own father, while not as bad as you describe yours, was likewise a bit of a bully. I marvel at what wonderful men, fathers, and husbands my brothers are, having grown up with such an example. I once asked one of them how he did it, and he said “I just ask myself what Dad would do, and then do the opposite.”
I'm happy you had brothers to help you deal with the damaging behavior of your father. I found alternatives to the example my father set on television. There were some great role models on TV when I was growing up.
Yup. There are many of us way too familiar with abuse & recognize it a mile away. Then there are people that don't come from these backgrounds but know full well it's not healthy. Together we will demonstrate to those confused, this world isn't run by dominance & deception.
True. He thinks of himself as king of the world when he's hurting others, but tantrums like a baby when he is frustrated. I don't usually listen to Trump, but my wife played the audio of Trump's remarks to black journalists. The transcript does not really capture the depth of his petulant, juvenile, self-aggrandizement.
mmm Are we living in a time when such bullying is (really) no longer being tolerated?
Our media press isn't consistent with advocating to change many of the most extreme white supremacist concepts as they blast 'fears of white genocide through immigration' across our communication channels...We try to act civilized and take one step forward, and our press media sends us two step backwards...
The Heritage Foundation is complaining about the Democrats money spending on DEI, because they want money to build out a war chest for a 'War of this Decade'.
Project 2025 says we should go without social services so we have money to "regain American competitiveness with a successful renaissance in American shipping that will allow us to build momentum and set conditions for a sustained revival in America’s maritime industry. One way is creating a 'maritime security trust fund' funded through increased port user fees to non U.S. flagged ships, tariff Chinese shippers who support their military."
I support policies for our Climate Crisis, and I'm worried the Republicans will sell pro-War to the Red voter. Can we look at the scope of what Republican agenda Harris is not talking about?
Thank you for bringing up the media. I mistakenly forgot that bullying **is** tolerated (I guess because it's "drama" and news people love "drama") by journalists. But what was on my mind when I wrote my comment is that regular people don't tolerate it these days... unless, as I said, they are in the Trump cult or want him to win for other reasons. The anti-bullying efforts by celebrities some to mind... along with anti-child trafficking. I believe that even if news organizations like The NY Times continue to make excuses for Trump that the voters will reject him in a big way in November... and then journalists will have to get used to covering a President who comes from joy instead of hate. I hope they don't have a meltdown when confronted by positive rather than negative emotions. I hope they don't try to tear Kamala Harris down because they themselves are unhappy people. (Sorry. I don't have a positive opinion about journalists in general these days... although there are wonderful exceptions.)
I expect have already encountered Les Moonves 2016 remarks about Trump:
“It May Not Be Good for America, but It’s Damn Good for CBS”
“I’ve never seen anything like this, and this going to be a very good year for us. Sorry. It’s a terrible thing to say. But, bring it on, Donald. Keep going,”
We ALL bear a share of responsibility for the quality of our society, if government of the people, by the people, for the people is to be more than a slogan. If not us, then who?
"We try to act civilized and take one step forward, and our press media sends us two step backwards."
When I was growing up, media my understanding was that media companies we restricted from owning to big of a market share in any one area. Then we all but abandoned anti-trust. Power tends to corrupt, and money is power, as is political authority, as is violence; and the more corrupted the society, the more the three converge. For those whose greed has replaced their soul, it is intolerable that the masses receive more than a minimal share of the wealth they want for themselves. There are exceptions, but often the richer, the greedier, and those are the people who "Reaganomics" relieved of social responsibility, and touted as leadership. Collectively we were fools to let it happen.
"This is what I mean by my constant insistence upon “moderation” in government. Should any political party attempt to abolish social security, unemployment insurance, and eliminate labor laws and farm programs, you would not hear of that party again in our political history. There is a tiny splinter group, of course, that believes you can do these things. Among them are H.L. Hunt (you possibly know his background), a few other Texas oil millionaires, and an occasional politician or business man from other areas. Their number is negligible and they are stupid." - Dwight Eisenhower, 1954
If Trump is the Anti-Christ then Jesus has returned as a Black woman...several of them: Prosecutors, politicians, entertainers and reporters; collectively they are bringing him down.
I am not a "believing" Christian, but I respect (when taken seriously) the saying of "What would Jesus do?" From what we read of him, it seems nutso to associate his behavior with that of Trump, although there has long been a certain version of the church that seems more like the mindset of the Roman occupiers than Jesus' prescription for an open heart.
The dominance tactic also fits within Trump’s sociopathy as well. Trump’s malignant narcissism and sociopathy are so intertwined that it is hard to tell where one personality disorder ends and the other begins.
Kathy, I am reading Bandy Lee's deep dive into that sociopathy in her latest book "Trump Contagion" and how by giving him any platform of power his deep seated disorder gets projected and spread out into society at large. It becomes, in her words, a public health danger-- like an epidemic that, without containment, becomes a pandemic. Message: stop him now!
Bandy Lee's point of view is very important. We are normalizing dysfunctional, destructive behavior. There are people who will see Trump having the position in society he has been granted and say "I want to be like him". He should have been laughed off the national stage in 2015, but news organizations treated him as legitimate and talk shows (Letterman, et al) brought him on as a guest. Not good.
I have not researched it, but I see a parallel between a computer virus and the dynamics of a true cult. The cult becomes it's own circular point of reference, rejecting and punishing (unless forced to by circumstances, and sometimes not even then) any intrusions of contrasting reality. I recall reading an account of a nurse who cared for patients dying of COVID, some of whom insisted COVID was a hoax to their dying breaths.
A sense of "normalcy" is dangerous if not unceasingly reexamined. Slavery was normalized for a great many people, even US presidents. Restricted citizenship for women was "normal", along with other moral outrages most of us recognize as injustice today. Successful protest has carefully pointed to an injustice, relentlessly and concertedly. Evil can hide behind what comes to be considered "normal".
"A shrewd victor will, if possible, always present his demands to the vanquished in installments. And then, with a nation that has lost its character -and this is the case of every one which voluntarily submits - he can be sure that it will not regard one more of these individual oppressions as an adequate reason for taking up arms again." - Mein Kampf
I will tack on the new research that shows that AI spits out rubbish when it trains on itself. Sort of like inbreeding.
" A particular picture or copy of verses, if it do not awaken the same train of images, will yet superinduce the same sentiment as some wild mountain walk, although the resemblance is nowise obvious to the senses, but is occult and out of the reach of the understanding. Nature is an endless combination and repetition of a very few laws. She hums the old well-known air through innumerable variations. - Emerson on "History"
The human urge to dominate, to subjugate or destroy other people has be our species own worst enemy throughout recorded history. Seemingly the source of most of humanity's avoidable suffering.
Today’s letter and your comments brought me back to the summer of 2020 and the federal crackdown in Portland, Oregon, aka Operation Diligent Valor. It was so chilling for Trump to think it was OK to override local and state authorities in sending us people in unmarked uniforms to harm and detain peaceful protesters, taking many away in unmarked vehicles. Bizarrely, they seemed to let everyone go. It became clear they were focused creating images for journalists, photographers and citizens to share far and wide, to make it look like there was widespread chaos. There were a few miscreants who caused damage after the majority of the anti-racist, BLM protesters went home with their children, but Trump's action was thuggish staging. It was like we were living in a different country with fewer rights. It was wrong and scary...and I don't want to see that return!
Love your word play, Doug. I was thinking remnant of a human being more than a political remnant. Of course you are right... though, remnants are usually heavily discounted to get them off store shelves, sold cheap... in a way, that fits too.
Lynn, the fabric remnant meaning also came to my mind, but I immediately thought no, we mustn't discount this man -- we must take him at face value, for he is ever more dangerous, in the manner of a cornered animal.
Trump's saying this, "Historically, the choice of a vice president makes no difference” jumped out at me. He chose Vance because he trusts that Vance will do whatever illegal actions Trump demands of him. Had Pence, the VP Trump picked at least in part because of Pence's servility, not stood up to him and continued with the VP's responsibility of registering the Electoral College votes, things might have turned out differently. Vice Presidents often don't get the respect that they deserve for their role in supporting their administration's goals. Mike Pence's actions performing his role made a tremendous difference to our democracy.
And just for the record, I wore my ASK ME ABOUT PROJECT 2025 to lunch with a friend, but she was the only one who even noticed it. She asked me just to give me a little practice. So I'll wear it again soon, and see what happens.
There should be a lot of excitement at the Democratic National Convention. There always is at a convention, but this one should be amazing. I hope that Kamala's stepdaughter gives a speech. She seems like a very level headed young lady and she has the potential to bring in a lot of the Gen-X, Gen-Z and Millenial voters.
But just as important are all of the Representatives running in the House and the Senate. There are lots of vulnerable Republicans out there. Hopefully the voters will realize this was the least productive Congress --- EVER and it's totally the fault of the Republicans.
Thank you, Gary Loft. As voters, we owe it to the incoming Harris administration (there, my optimism's showing) and to ourselves for the good of the country, to deliver a Democratic filibuster-proof US Senate and a clear Democratic majority in the House of Reps. We owe it to ourselves to elect incorruptible election officials, e.g., secretaries of state and county clerks. And all the way down the ticket. So we need not just to rely on the Harris campaign to deliver our country to safety. We must help register voters, especially young people, write postcards, walk precincts, attend meetings and candidate forums, ask great questions, talk to friends and neighbors and enlist their help, make donations within our means. And do it all with enthusiasm.
Unlike Mike Pence, JD Vance would do whatever Trump asked, no matter how illegal or immoral, without batting an eye. Vance is a sheer opportunist. He is Spiro Agnew to Trump’s wannabe Richard Nixon.
How close we were in 2020 to reaching critical mass in the streets is even more apparent now with the report citing the preparation of the Insurrection Act. It also seems to answer the question of identity of the so-called "little green men" that assembled in DC -- that was frightening at the time, as it wasnt clear if they were military, police or militia.
Also, and I can't remember the exact quote, but George Conway posted something today that basically said whose ever idea it was to invite CF45 to the NABJ conference today should be given a medal, as it was pure genius.
He also said that the mocking should continue, as the felon's personality disorder is causing him to implode.
OK, it's plain as the nose on our faces what trump has in mind for trump 2.0.
What should also be plain is that he absolutely intends to take the White House come next January. He has the election denying officials in place to refuse to certify the election. He has the Proud Boys ready again & who know how many other militias are ready to respond. He may be a lunatic but he has a lunatic with about 1/4 to 1/3 of the country behind him & many of them are heavily armed & just waiting for the call.
Will we be ready? Will our government have plans to handle the confusion that will be created when states refuse to certify the election which will throw it to the House, with its MAGA majority. I hardly think any of the weakwilled republicans will miraculously grow a spine & vote against him. Or perhaps, it will go to the Supremes, well we really know what will happen there, even if John Roberts shows a modicum of courage & votes with liberals that still is only 4. Do we think Kavanaugh, Gorsuch or Barret will do what's right? I guess there is a snowballs chance in hell that one of them may but I wouldn't count on it.
The country needs to be prepared for confusion, chaos & violence. We have to be prepared for intimidation at polling places, we need to know if our people in blue will be on the side of the government or will they be MAGA supporters more than willing to allow or support the intimidators. We've watched the riots & fighting in the streets in other countries, you know those banana republics trump's lackeys like to compare us to. Well, we could see that right here. Remember the leader of 2025 told us there would be a second American Revolution & it will be peaceful if the liberals/democrats allow it! Let's take him at his word & plan accordingly.
I share your concerns about Trump’s groupies being ready to start violence whether he wins or loses. Trump is a creature of habit, and if he loses, he would use tactics like mass insurrection again.
Yes. Or in my house “The Before Times.” I really, really hope Harris knocks Trump and MAGA so deep and so hard in the dirt that there’s no possible way for these states to get away with their fascist scheme to not certify the results. I can’t live in a country run by Project 2025’s Nazis.
What can we do? As individuals, I think we could go back to the post 9/11 mantra, if we see something, say something. Those of us in areas where we know there are militia groups could just be more aware of what we see or hear. If we come across some website that supports violence report it to the service provider. Figure out what side your Congress people are on & question them on their stance about accepting the results of the election. For those of us in open carry states be aware of activities around us. Watch for problems at polling places, intimidating tactics, interference with drop boxes.
Basically be aware of what's going on in your community & state. Voice your objection to your elected representatives. If they only hear from one side they will think that everyone feels that way.
And while I'm an atheist & have no belief system like that if you do believe throw a couple of prayers to your chosen "Eye in the Sky". I may not believe in prayer as such but it can be a positive thought & we need more positivity in our country.
Something we can do: become Poll Observers. Contact your State Democratic organization and volunteer. I'm an observer for the primary and will re-up for the Election. Simple rules & phone numbers provided. Stop the magats. Do it now.
Something we can do: become Poll Observers. Contact your State Democratic organization and volunteer. I'm an observer for the primary and will re-up for the Election. Simple rules & phone numbers provided. Stop the magats. Do it now.
For once, at the NABJ conference, Trump is held to account for the things he has said and done and his refusal to answer questions. Finally, three polite but well prepared and persistent journalists asked factually accurate, serious questions without backing down and the audience listened and responded appropriately. Thank you. We've waited to long for this.
Yes, the orange felon insults. As semi-retired Chris Matthews argues: nab him as the bully he is.
This fits Matthews' larger argument that Kamala and the Dems should stay on offense – attack the sewage of lies and pro-criminality in which Republicans wallow.
The lies spew MAGA sensationalism – fears of hordes at the southern border, fears of them as murderers, rapists, parasites, further fears of them as takers of what Republicans shill as “black jobs,” “Hispanic jobs.”
The personal buoys whomever goes best on offense. For Kamala and Dems to do that, they’ve got to draw on, highlight the personal.
Here in Japan, where I live in the mountains of Kyushu, schools all ape U.S. standardized testing. It fits all life to numbers: measurable units, abstracted categories, 1-2-3 chronologies. As Minae Mizumura has written (“The Fall of Language in the Age of English”), no school in Japan anymore asks students to read any novel from beginning to end. The personal? Gone – disappeared for testers to fragment all to, for testing.
Can Dems vault how schools produce most now bereft of humanities? Can Dems lift anything well humanly personal over the MAGA sewers?
Hi Phil, I also live in Japan, in Tokyo. My friends who teach English at universities and high schools in Japan have mentioned to me how frustrated they are becoming. I was teaching art at a university until the pandemic and was quite shocked at students’ lackadaisical attitude. I quit giving homework because they invariably didn’t do it.
The problem is worse is America, which is why critical thinking skills are nearly non-existent.
Is This the End of Reading? By Beth McMurtrie MAY 9, 2024
“Theresa MacPhail is a pragmatist. In her 15 years of teaching, as the number of students who complete their reading assignments has steadily declined, she has adapted. She began assigning fewer readings, then fewer still. Less is more, she reasoned. She would focus on the readings that mattered most and were interesting to them. For a while, that seemed to work. But then things started to take a turn for the worse. Most students still weren’t doing the reading. And when they were, more and more struggled to understand it. Some simply gave up. Their distraction levels went “through the roof,” MacPhail said. They had trouble following her instructions. And sometimes, students said her expectations — such as writing a final research paper with at least 25 sources — were unreasonable.”
Hurts me to see so many students, at all levels, clearly needing guidance, teaching, further examples, parallels, perspectives in handling the personally difficult.
In Japan it hurts more, too, because without personal learning, of personally-needed, personally-challenging matters (and how others faced these things in apt novels), Japanese youth just off themselves. Three times the rate of suicide of American youth the same age.
And then there's the new phenomenon of so many Japanese young adults not dating, not having any personal life -- corroborated in the U.S. by similar age young adults glommed unto social media too many hours a day, blotting out possibilities of getting out for real lives with others in any number of various public venues.
Not good, Kristin. So thanks again for yours from Tokyo.
Look at America, where the orange felon parades the success of just lying egregiously, enacting contempt at democratic institutions, calling for stochastic violence, routinely committing fraud, raping, abusing, insulting women.
An entire Republican party falls over itself to fall in line for the theatricality.
That Clarence court rather likes sensationalized criminality, rules it above the law (same law, or sets of laws that in their view permit their own perjury, condone their own brazenly taking bribes). Same court that has just ruled, too, to free our worst predators from the federal agencies who had regulated for public health, safety, and the environment.
The rule of commercial vulgarity, dark money, schools stripped of humanities bodes ill for all democracies, dark ages for all who have, or used to have, real cultures respecting individuals and all those nuances, subtleties, respect for life's complications -- what poet Joseph Brodsky reveled in calling our civilizational "loose ends."
But maybe, Kristin, American will turn out landslide fashion for our democracy, against the many ur-vulgar elites.
I heard the conference live this afternoon and such crap came out of his mouth! Why would a black person, male or female support him and any race? It's beyond me! Someone posted on Stitch.net today and I would like to post it here explaining about the Trump Maga people.
From a woman named Jeri in Seattle, WA.
I believe many of them do know what they are voting for, but they are so far gone down the rabbit hole, they believe he is their messiah of sorts. I see over and over again that those people don't believe in facts. They have a distorted view of the world that makes them believe they have some kind of special knowledge - that there is a whole army of them across the nation who have a special understanding that only "the chosen" can attain. It's the same kind of brain that accepts absurdities in their religion and allows them to ignore huge discrepancies that would prove them wrong if they were to acknowledge them. That's why so many religious people support this nonsense. They already had the kind of brain that prefers emotion to logic. Humans tend to be that way anyway. You have to train yourself to think logically. That leaves the intellectually lazy vulnerable to demogoguery. Science has discovered that politically conservative people have larger amygdala, the part of the brain that reacts to fear and perceived threats, and liberals have larger cingulate cortexes, the area of the brain that helps detect errors and resolve conflicts. When we lived in tribes, both of these kinds of brains were beneficial for the survival of the group, but now that we don't live with the constant threat of being eaten by tigers and bears, those overactive amygdala have to find threats even if they are imaginary. That leaves them wide open to a strongman type who will tell them, "I, and I alone, can protect you." The article is below from The Scientific American.
You can read this article and understand because you believe science is an independent venture aimed at arriving at knowledge, but one of Trump's supporters will only read a "liberal plot" to trick the public. Science, statistics, climate data, history, etc, are all threats to them now thanks to manipulative, power-hungry fools who think money is the only currency that counts.
What do you think? It makes a lot of sense to me. They don't understand about Critical Thinking at all! I'm not used to that as I am educated and grew up in a family that values education.
Lisa, you made an excellent point about how religiously-minded people have dulled down their critical thinking skills in no order to be loyal to their religious beliefs. Fanatics who believe that the Earth is only 6,000 years old use the same impaired mind to believe that Trump would be a good president. A conservative cult is easy to manipulate.
What the nation needs is critical thinking skills taught at every level of school beginning with kindergarten. Of course, conservative politicians will be against this. Like Trump, they prefer the “poorly educated” cult.
45 is going to be increasingly dangerous as reality sets in. He is eager to initiate a violent takeover to install himself into power. If not law enforcement and the military, his para-militia anti-government base that has been arming themselves for a second Civil War for decades if not generations.
A friend pointed out something I had not considered -
At the NABJ, 45 make the claim Vice President Harris had only recently referred to herself as Black.
That was generally reported as a version of the birtherism lie he fanned the flames of regarding Barack Obama not being born a U.S. Citizen.
Here is the surprisingly more clear and simple reason proposed by my friend.
It appears his deteriorating mental state has him confusing Kamala Harris with Nicki Haley.
Just as he referred to Nicki Haley when he meant Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi,
he appears to be referring to Nicki Haley having no African ancestry, only Indian heritage.
The addition of Vance to the ticket has added to his confusion, as Vance's wife is also of Indian heritage, and he spent much of the Convention (when he wasn't falling asleep) with the families positioned in adjoining boxes.
Speaking of Niki Haley, I bet the Republicans are wishing they had backed Haley, a Haley Harris election would have been really interesting, especially if you could Haley way from the MAGA talking points.
Two references in two comments pertaining to the fiasco of 45's disastrous appearance at the NABJ Convention in Chicago:
1 of 2:
45 takes the side of the rioters he summoned and directed to the Capitol on January 6, 2021 in an attempted coup.
45 again promised to pardon "J6" rioters who were identified, charged, tried in accordance with the law, many of whom pled guilty, and subsequently given verdicts and consequences. Those imprisoned he has routinely referred to as hostages instead of insurrectionists. He defended the rioters instead of law enforcement. He specifically referenced the one fatality due to gunfire - saying the woman was shot in the face.
She had participated in the attack and was attempting to climb into the U.S. Capitol building through a shattered window.
The officer involved was cleared of any charges in acknowledgment he was performing his duty protecting the Congress, staff and facility.
Although he did not add the additional details, the rioter was a white woman, the law enforcement officer was a Black man.
45 takes the side of law enforcement and pledges to give them total immunity,
along the lines of the ruling of his hand-picked Supreme Court Justices placing him above the law.
The case of Sonya Massey.
One of the female panelists at NABJ posed the question about his stated intention to grant total immunity to law enforcement officers.
Sonya Massey was a Black woman who called 911 for help, fearing there was a prowler.
She was shot in the face and killed by an officer who had been discharged from the military, and cycled through six law enforcement agencies in four years.
She was unarmed, in her own home, and was trying to take a pot of boiling water off of the stove at the officers' direction.
The officer who killed her did not have his body cam operating. The incident was captured by the accompanying officer on his body cam.
The family was not initially informed her death was an officer-involved-shooting.
45 escalated the protests after the murder of George Floyd,
and the multiple high-profile cases publicized by the BLM movement.
He tries to give false equivalency to the situations, whose causes are wildly unrelated.
He decided to claim "Antifa" was the cause of protests and destruction in the wake of George Floyd's murder.
The reality is "when George Floyd called for his mama, he called for all the mamas."
The protests and outrage were people of good conscience who saw an injustice done and refused to silently stand by.
Just as the protests against the Netanyahu response to the horrors of October 7, 2023, have resulted in the collateral deaths and destruction of tens of thousands, mostly children, and the destruction and displacement of millions.
Netanyahu, more than the Israelis themselves, has been considered as engaging in war crimes, even genocide.
President Biden has been attempting to thread the needle on supporting Israel and attempting to affect a more measured response related to the Palestinians, for the potential of solutions rather than retaliations.
The differences in the mindset of 45 and Netanyahu,
vs Biden and Harris, whose husband, Doug Emhoff is Jewish,
is the difference between using a sledgehammer when a precision-instrument, like a scalpel, is more effective.
The same way 45 wants to isolate from the rest of the world and end alliances like NATO, then use military force to enter Mexico and hunt for drug dealers;
while the Biden/Harris administration has pinpointed leadership and apprehended wanted individuals while avoiding initiating a war or creating a crisis that would result in more refugees along the Southern border of peoples 45 refers to in Hitler-esque terms as "vermin" and "illegal."
Vance has only 18 months experience in public life and Trump has only four disastrous years. Even if they were both decent humans they do not belong in that high office.
Let them keep running their mouths--they are burying their own campaign.
"Trump cannot bear to see the enthusiasm building behind Harris, not only because of its electoral meaning, but also because it reveals how small his own following is and how much people loathe him."
No! Let's not kid ourselves. Let's not repeat the 2016 unforced error of underestimating Trump's popularity. Trump's following is not small. And even more than he is loathed, Trump is adored and adulated. The Republican base is enthralled, and the entire right wing apparatus has fallen in line. Our next 96 days will be all up hill. We will have to sustain the momentum even when the work becomes a slog. Acknowledging the actual extent of the threat and the real possibility of a Trump win should spur us on.
I agree. There does seem to be change in the air, and Things are going so well for Harris right now, but we cannot allow ourselves to become complacent! The other side will get very, very nasty. Remember 2016. There’s always an October surprise!
Once upon a time, quality republicans ran for office. On second thought, I can’t recall any accept Eisenhower and I was too young to appreciate him. Next was Nixon a dishonest disaster. Then Goldwater the Nuker. Nixon run out of town. Ford the Forgiver. Trickle down wee wee economics Ronald Reagan. Herbert Walker sending Uncle Clarence Thomas to court. George W and his disastrous wars. And you know what not who, followed in 2016. My God how can this country survive?
Bill. I have had the good fortune to have some amazing neighbors a couple of real Uncle Toms. Tom Osborne and Tom Harkin.
My senior year in college Congressman Tom Harkin and his wife Ruth and daughter were our neighbors. Occasionally Tom would come outside and have a beer or two with us and chat. Little did we know what an impressive career he would have and his wife as well. They were just good neighbors to three college students living on a shoe string.
Years later, when we were living in Lincoln, NE, Dr. Tom Osborne would walk his dog in our neighborhood. He wasn't very chatty and we only had a couple of conversations -- and never about politics. He is a man of integrity and also religious but he never forced his religion or political views on anyone.
I have shaken hands with other Republican politicians over the years, a few of whom I would describe as swarmy.
When Chuck Hagel ran for the Senate in Nebraska he ran the only campaign I have ever witnessed that never said a negative word about his opponent. He toured Iraq with then Senator Obama and Obama even selected him as Secretary of Defense, which didn't work out well for either of them.
But, if you fast forward to 2015, the Party of Trump has replaced or turned most of the Republican politicians into sniveling sycophants that have done nothing for their constituents.
Gary Loft,
I would add to your comment regarding "politicians" who follow DT. They are only in it for personal power and know very little about governing FOR THE PEOPLE....ALL OF THE PEOPLE WHO MAKE UP THIS GREAT NATION!!!! They know little to nothing about building relationships that promote and protect world peace. They care nothing for those suffering under the harsh realities of existence in this world....with wars...with natural disasters....with a persons circumstances from just being birthed with physical or mental struggles.
President Joe Biden has a heart for everyone. He has lived a steady life of faith. The reality of that faith has been lived out in a personal life with personal struggles which he has met with wisdom, with love, with care that his actions will affect others, not just for himself.
President Joe Biden has shown himself to be a great American, from the depth of his soul, through his words...through his actions. We have been blessed to have him lead.
Kamala Harris has proven herself. She is and will be a great leader. We would not just be blindly giving her our support. Kamala Harris is deserving of our support. She rolls up her sleeves and does the necessary work.
I would bet that most of DT's followers couldn't pass a citizenship test.
Yes, I totally agree abut your overview of Joe. He wasn't my first choice at the time, but he's been the best President of my lifetime.
Our current GOP Supervisor of Elections is a man of integrity and very well-respected in our community….except by the MAGA GOP who are trying to oust him.I’m now unable to vote in the primary as the MAGA ,who until recently was the only other SOE candidate, recruited a write-in candidate that effectively eliminates Dems and NPA/independents from the vote.
These races are so critical yet I find so many, including Dems, are tuned out. It all starts at the local level !!! GOTV
🚶♀️📲💲✍️🪧👕🛒
Voting should be an obligation of citizenship. Voting should be mandatory.
Then we would waste neither time nor energy or whether or not any citizen was entitled to vote. And we could cast our votes in a variety of ways such that everyone could do it conveniently - young or old, at home or away, of color or colorless.
Everyone! Everywhere!
And there would be consequences - both intended and not so much. L&B&L
It all starts at the local level. Get out the vote!!!
When there is a conflict of interest between any two individuals or groups, there is one moral "treat others the way you would want to be treated if the shoe was on the other foot" principle. Ideally, both parties are adhering to that principle. Otherwise, one or both parties adopted the immoral "do unto to others before they do unto you" principle. And people who are not willing to take advantage of the short-term benefit of acting immorally have been drummed out of today's Republican party.
Gary, your two Toms and Chuck Hagel were adhering to the moral principle. So did a Republican politician from Maricopa County, Arizona. His name is Bill Gates. He ended up in therapy for PTSD caused by the treatment he received from MAGA protesting outside his home for the sin of refusing to break the law in Trump's favor in the 2020 election. Ref: The Axe Files podcast, E539.
To be wise is to understand that the small short-benefit of an immoral act has an enormous long-term cost, and the small short-term cost of a moral act has an enormous long-term benefit.
My prediction is that "long-term" is November, "enormous benefit" will be a landslide D victory, and that that will be the final nail in MAGA's coffin. My expectation is the delinquents will be drummed out, and then the grownups can take back what's left of the real Republican party.
If the Republican Party were to reconstruct (and that’s a big if) they will need to make their policies about people instead of profit and loss. Because profit at all costs has been their thing. A friend of mine talks about the job creators (meaning the corporate employers) as though they are a priestly class. In fact the GOP has been busy preserving kleptocratic and exploitive methods over taking care of the citizenry. Their altar has been the so called free market which they bail out and prop up over helping people obtain safe housing, food and water and other essentials. It is the U.S. version of a guillotine happening now. Off with their heads. The grownups of the GOP ran for their lives I guess.
I have hope in your prediction, James! Thank you for your thoughts.
Tom Harkin was a Democrat.
I was in Berlin, NH the year he, Bill Clinton, and Kerry of Nebraska all ran for President. I got to listen to all of them speak in a small group setting and to meet them. They were all good candidates and Clinton impressed me as the best stand up speaker I had ever met outside a classroom. But I voted for Harkin. He was the coin I bit and was satisfied. Plain, honest, authentic, well intentioned, and convincing. No razzle dazzle.
Today, the choice between the parties is clear and could not be more critical. As the American Republic enters a new growth phase, it represents a stress test upon the knowledge, wisdom, and intentions of the American people, to see if they have the sense, the desire, and the will to survive as a nation, or whether they will vote for destruction and chaos. In that sense it is a test of the results of America’s commitment thus far to public education.
Since 1991, the quality of American political discourse has declined. Democrats at this point are just plain lucky to have K Harris to succeed Biden. In the future, they will need to find a way to find, develop, and promote leaders like Harkin, Clinton, and Kerry of Nebraska, (and Massachusetts). They will actually need to find a way to become a political party in the European sense, as opposed to a portion of the voting public with a loose presumed sense of identity.
Ah… but still a Tom. To enlarge the subject, I will take an unpopular stance and suggest that the ending post-colonial British devised the Belfor Declaration of 1917 which set Palestine as an official homeland for European Jews on lands already thriving with Arab Muslims. After decades of ethnic clensing Israel today after innumerable wars, is now facing its largest military event likely bringing in Iran and possibly Turkey who threatened Israel. If they carry out their protectionist threat, this could be the unraveling of NATO. The Belfor Declaration lite the flame. I am not antisemitic. Maybe kinda had to be with half of my family from Jewish culture.
And he still is at 84 years old. His wife Ruth is also an amazing woman and a good prosecutor in her day.
I did mean to point out that he was a Democrat -- and also a man of integrity. I hated to see him step down, but I'm glad he did because he knew it was time.
If only his dim-witted replacement Joni Ernst would step-down. As they say in Iowa, she's as worthless as tits on a boar.
Still is.
You do know Tom Harkin is an Iowa Democrat? He spent spent 4 distinguished decades in the House and Senate, retiring in 2014. Unfortunately his retirement opened the doors wide to a Republican take over of our once proud and beautiful state. Your narrative indicates a description of note worthy former as well as decent Republican Senators.
I know a woman who grew up in Scranton and knew the Biden and Casey families. Good decent people. Robert Casey Sr was treated poorly by liberal Democrats over what might now be considered common sense approach to abortion.
you mean 2023?
Bill, wouldn’t it be lovely if high school (or even middle school) history classes assigned student groups to each research a President’s positive and negative, domestic and foreign achievements? I’m thinking maybe just post WW2? Then present each to the class and write a summary. I imagine they would eventually figure out that the Republican Presidents did not represent their interests. Followed by a class on voting!
Marge, this is a great idea. And it would help students develop their critical thinking skills.
Well, I was toying with the idea of closing high schools and save billions. Taxes go way down. Kids can then play on their devices all day long unimpeded. And get a good and proper education on social media. What the heck do we need high schools for?
Marge, the human race is racing itself to the bottom. Everything is a mirage nothing is real. Even AI isn’t real. Take LSD tune in, turn on and drop out. Bring my friend Jimi Hendrix back.
Go back 100 years before present, so include the presidents in office in the "roaring 20s", Great Depression, WWII, whatever was going on in the US in the 50s, the Civil Rights movement, women's rights movement, gay rights movement, and onward.
I never could understand what Americans could see in Reagan, the "evil empire" guy, wiped out the controllers' union at the front of his term.
I do. We vote for presidents based not on intellect and wise decision making. We vote based on theatrics. Ronny was an actor and he used it well to communicate to the people. Remember Death Valley Days I think he narrated the show. But clearly, most if not all republican candidates support big business over the needs of the people. Then the democrats come in and keep wanting to spend on every god forsaken project inventable. There you have it. I am a democrat under protest.
I’d like to know what projects you object to: feeding hungry children, the Environmental Protection Agency, Head Start, rural electrification (this time with solar panels), Medicare, Social Security, Medicaid, water quality, Covid vaccinations and tests, the CDC, the Consumer Protection Agency? Please let me know
Reagan won 59% of the popular vote in 84, virtually sweeping the electoral college. Any thought the persistent conservative trends were in reaction to call it the hippie counter culture waves of the 60s?
I grew up in MA. The GOP here and elsewhere in New England was a rational political party, at least at the state and local level. Most of my relatives, except for my father (who claimed to be only the 4th person to register as a Dem in our town, in 1942), were Republicans. I might well have voted for the likes of Frank Sargent, Elliot Richardson, and Ed Brooke if I'd been old enough or, a little later, living elsewhere. Massachusetts, it was said, loves its Republican governors: we had one, Charlie Baker, as recently as 2022, when he decided not to run for a third term. By then the MA GOP had gone full MAGA but it took a longer than it did elsewhere.
How did those disastrous Republicans get elected? Not by their base. Presidents are elected based on likability - PERIOD. Presidential elections are "beauty contests" where all the misinformed, undecided voters base their vote on who they like more. This is true for every election since Ike, with one exception, i.e. Nixon won due to the backlash to the Vietnam War.
They also got elected by a form of default - as a consequence of the vast numbers of people who failed to vote, or voted, disastrously, for some 3d party candidate. You'd think the electorate would have learned that EVERYONE who can MUST vote, and that no one should hold the office of President who hasn't held at least one serious elected office previously (high State government, US House or Senate) for at least one full term. I mean, look at Ray-gun, look at tRump! Granted, some other people (Bush I and Shrub, notably) were terrible presidents, so prior office holding isn't a guarantee of decent performance as president, but their failed presidencies can't hold a candle in the "abysmal" race to the awfulness of tRamp or Ray-gun.
Third-party support can influence one of the two parties. Their supporters belong to the mentality that thinks that both parties are essentially the same. They are not but they do have their more extreme wings that at times can be influential.
Nixon won because he convinced North Vietnam to walk away from the negotiations
to end the war thus prolonging this disaster.
Eisenhower was the first president I was relatively well aware of (he was elected when I was seven and again when I was eleven) albeit in a child’s way. I still have an IKE tie clip.
But of course he was the President who helped enable the process of formally Christianizing capitalism in response to 'godless Communism'. It was during his administration that “In God We Trust” was added to the currency and 'under God’ was added to the Pledge of Allegiance. Thus began this march toward Christian Nationalism. All such marches tend to start innocuously while few except the committed really aware of what is underway. And it was Eisenhower who enabled and oversaw some of the worst excesses of the CIA’s foreign ‘entanglements', including the Bay of Pigs fiasco.
As to Democratic presidents - we should not forget that a Democrat got us into Vietnam and another who kept us there until our involvement killed 50,000 of my generation, millions of Vietnamese, reduced whole portions of their country to rubble, and tore this country apart in a way we have yet to match even with Trumpism.
We get the leaders we choose. They do not arrive, fully grown from the Head of Zeus. And the recored of our choices is hardly one to inspire some vast level of trust in the process of selection on either side. To my mind we’ve had two great ones, a number of competent if flawed ones, some utter nonentities, and at least three near disasters (Jackson, Johnson, and Trump)
The price paid for being anti-communism not to mention the Cold War and Vietnam and the MacCarthy hearings. Communism never really existed anywhere and where it was called communism it was a failed system of government. Capitalism is a failed system without regulations and wealth redistribution.
Communism never really existed because it always required authoritarians to run it. While idealistic in its conception, it completely failed to take into account the fact that humanity is at least as selfish as it is either empathetic or idealistic. The communist suppression of individual initiative and thus the personal rewards gained thereby reduced producers to virtual automatons, a form of existence not possible unless it is mandated and controlled by force, and even then the current of opposition was always going to make the society too unstable for long duration.
Capitalism, on the other hand, has hardly failed precisely because it greatly rewards the personal intuitive that communism suppresses, although its predatory nature and its regular, savage depredations along with its inherent inequality keep roiling society with jealousy and grievance. But there are too many at the top of the food chain with great incentive to maintain it. and they have too great a capacity for control of the political scene through the power of financial influence and collusion for any kind of failure.
James Quinn: for clarity re U.S. involvement in Viet Nam, please read this more extensive discussion. It includes Eisenhower's sending advisors. http://mahargpress.com/wounded/additional-material/timeline-of-vietnamconflict/
You could also say that our involvement began when we backed the French in Vietnam so that they would back us in Europe against the Russians, something we are now doing in the Ukraine among other far lesser known places. And incidentally, of course, we failed to learn the lessons of the French failure.
We’ve sent military advisors to a number of countries - including South Korea (KMAG of which my best friend was a member) without getting involved in a shooting war, although it is certainly true that some of the ones sent to Vietnam did get involved in actual fighting.
Our Vietnam problem, however, didn’t really begin until we started using our own combat troops against the Viet Cong. Up until then, we could have pulled out of a situation that was already going downhill because of the corruption of the South Vietnamese government and the general lack of purpose and initive in the South Vietnamese military. We decided, unfortunately not for the last time, that the US Army was capable of nation building in addition to making war.
It is ironic to me that the Republicans are making so much of Biden’s pullout from Afghanistan when our pullout from Vietnam under a Republican president was far more humiliating and disastrous. There is no good way out of a bad war.
Bill Katz. Yes that is list of terrible leaders, but they won elections. It is an indictment of us.
And then we had one of the finest presidents in the 20th century go down on account of the Vietnam War which was a legacy all leaders believed was necessary post WWII to fight communism. It’s a tale we shouldn’t forget; that a really good president can be brought down by one bad but really bad decision.
You are referring to Lyndon Johnson, of course, but it wasn’t just one bad decision - it was an escalating string of them all in defiance of a growing awareness (see the Pentagon Papers) that we were engaged in a war we couldn’t win and probably should never have gotten involved in in the first place.
Had Johnson’s legacy been his civil rights agenda, yes, he would have gone down as one of the great ones. His long and thorough preparation for the job was probably one of the best ever. But as in classic tragedy, his own somewhat chaotic and contradictory character was his undoing, and his pursuit of the war and the lies he and other told in its defense left a legacy of distrust in the government that lingers and increases to this day.
You hit the nail on the head.
Bring on the October surprise. I will early vote for Harris on 9/20 or in the week after. I will be volunteering to bring other likely Harris voters to the county seat for early voting on any day following 9/20.
And in every day between now and 11/5 we should be demonstrating the FUN we are having in enabling our vision of America's great future. The Dark Lord does not understand and cannot combat FUN.
Susan, and Trump's campaign is employing an army of people to dig up as much dirt as possible on anyone who might get in Trump's way. They will make up things, lie, get the Supreme Court to rule for Trump, and figure out ways to subvert our Constitution all on behalf of Trump a toddler-man with no moral compass and dementia that is taking away any ability to reason. We can never let down our guard and we need to find ways to ramp up the positive feelings for Harris.
I mean one problem is the electoral college system. One cannot get complacent and be happy about winning the popular vote, say by 3 million votes like Hillary did. You've gotta flip Georgia and maybe even Florida, and keep Pennsylvania with its fracking lovers.
Biden won by 7 million. FT 6 has identified 9 million unregistered folk who trend heavily Democratic. Register Democrats, get them to the polls and we can sweep.
https://www.fieldteam6.org/
ThankYou Daniel! This!
"Register Democrats, get them to the polls and we can sweep."
https://www.fieldteam6.org/
From your lips to God’s and voters’ ears!
From our postcards to new voters' polling places!
Yes! Yes! Yes!
Daniel, are those voters in key states for the electoral college? Apparently the rest of us are of lesser importance!
Yes the Electoral College system is seriously flawed and inherently unfair. But false claim that 'the rest of us are of lesser importance' is a form of voter suppression akin to 'my vote doesn't count.'
Every vote and every Electoral College vote counts. They add up.
And every vote in every Red or Blue state counts. That identification can change depending on who votes.
Where else in the world does the candidate who gets the most votes loses.
Swing states.
Daniel, thanks for the recommendation. I write postcards and donate. Field Team 6 is awesome!
the more the merrier
The electoral college is DEI (didn't earn it) for the KKK. We need eliminate it!
For sure, it's electoral colleges, I have to wonder if denier appointments to some of the battleground counties will screw up 2024 if the Dems take it in Nov. I do hear there is Dem counterplay however. There is worse things than fracking in this world, the sheer scale of the petroworld in and of itself. Coal, oil, gas collectively provide something like 85% of all energy production. They likely have really no idea how they're going to wean themselves off most of that.
But the weaning must and is taking place. Anything else is suicidal!
But there is truth in that statement. Rump always must be the center of attention, and I mean ALWAYS. He's probably seething with anger seeing people celebrating Kamala like that, envious of the adoration she gets - and not he. If we can keep this up, he'll probably explode out of sheer rage and jealousy, and we'll be rid of him. That would be nice. The biggest dangers I'm seeing is the Supreme Court simply overruling the election and handing the presidency to Rump, and some deranged gun-bunny MAGAt making an attempt on Kamala's life...
Of course Trump feels attention should be always on him. He is a malignant narcissist and that is how they think. In this respect, he reminds me of the last German emperor, Wilhelm II.
If you know "the dozens," the effective response is to laugh in his face.
"Yo mama" should make him explode out of sheer rage and jealousy, and we'll be rid of him.
I’m familiar with the concept of playing the dozens. Trump takes himself far too seriously and hates any criticism or mockery of himself, no matter how well deserved.
He sure got it yesterday from the NABJ!! How I LOVED hearing him being laughed at by the audience. And then, it was the lead story this morning on CBS. Hopefully, on every network news channel. I think we got to witness the beginning of the end of the trump era yesterday; hopefully, the end of the MAGAt era, as well.
For sure, but just look at the extraordinary aristocratic pomp and ceremony of the age. These days I'm always struck by the sheer panoply of medals et al adorning the chests and shoulders of top military and more.
Not only that, but he encompasses the whole of the "dark triad": narcissism, machiavellism and psychopathy. That's what makes him especially dangerous and vile.
Dutch, kudos to Rachel Scott for starting off the interview with questions that the mainstream media has been afraid to ask Donald Trump.
Of course he resisted answering the questions!! Of course he struck back in a defensive stance! He doesn't know how to answer questions that put him on the spot, and attempt to hold him responsible for his racist and inane words and actions.
If his followers can't see through his false "Christianity", his selfishness, his lack of integrity, then any crazy, unhinged answers he gives to valid questions will be met with applause and adulation.
All I can say is "Shame on them."
Don't forget that he have the Christians something pretty big: abortion. They're willing to overlook the rest.
Trevy, you're right about that and I still say "Shame on them" for overlooking his desires to tell everyone how to live and what to think. People that love ans respect him are anything but "Christian" in my book, and I could write a book about how I feel and have felt about Donald Trump for the last 8 years.
I agree. Unfortunately, they also see it as righteous to tell everyone how to live since they, and only they, answer to a higher call🙄
Chances are that his cult followers (I won't say 'voters' anymore) are malignant narcissists just like him, and they support him because of that.
And yes, definitely a large dose of kudos to Rachel Scott for tearing down his orange mask!
Yes, he has given them permission to act on their narcissistic tendencies.
As someone wrote so eloquently (sadly, I can't remember who it was): "Trump's followers aren't shocked by his scandals, they are strengthened by them. Trump is an asshole. And he teaches his followers that it's okay to be an asshole. They vote for him BECAUSE he's an asshole. They vote for him because they WANT to be a racist, misogynistic, egocentric, pussy-grabbing and money-grabbing asshole just like their idol."
I've long fretted over the thought that SCOTUS would simply hand over the keys to Trump.
Right now I'm chasing a theory: SCOTUS decisions aren't self-executing; they depend on the Executive Branch for enforcement according to the Constitution.
Is there some process in place that can somehow prevent such a Judicial coup without creating a constitutional crisis??
“John Marshall has made his decision, now let him enforce it”. Andrew Jackson.
So there's that - outright rebellion is another. I think SCOTUS knows what the consequences of such an attempt - giving tRump the WH - would be, for them at least, especially now that they've given President Biden an unprecedented degree of immunity.
But doesn't this new-found "immunity" go to whomever the SCOTUS wants it to? And that isn't necessarily Biden.
Exactly, Kathleen. The Extreme Court gets to decide when the president gets immunity, and when he doesn't. It doesn't take higher maths to figure out they will give Rump significantly more leeway than Biden...
It is Biden right now, however, until January 20, 2025. I don't think Pres Biden would abuse his office, but the grant of immunity is there, and let it percolate through the courts. Not that I'm advocating for anything of the sort, but sauce for the goose . . .
I'm hoping for a major neural or cardiac event, because no one will vote for Vance as President.
Me too. In fascist circles, very often a war of succession breaks out once the "strong man" *cough cough* or idol dies. Let the MAGAts squabble among themselves and put a dagger in their own collective backs, I say, and be done with 'em.
One in 4 Americans believe that an armed revolt is ok in order to "take back" the country. Let us hope that the other 75% vote that monster into oblivion, and prison sentence.
i hope that the media-journalists in particular-stop putting his face on the front page over and over. it is the media that elected this nation in 2016 and it will do it again if not careful!
So it is. Don't forget that massive amounts of money are being poured in the media by Murdoch, Thiel et al. Kameradski Musk is also vying for Rump: they want him to destroy democracy so they can do as they wish, without any nasty rules made by common people to hinder them from becoming even more insanely rich.
They love Laissez-faire. They would do fine under a fascist government. But capitalists they are not, for capitalism to work long term it must be regulated and have wealth redistributed, i.e. taxed to raise the revenue to benefit the majority.
Very good analysis. They may call themselves capitalists, but you are right: they are more like fascists, striving for absolute power.
I totally agree! And as much as i love whats happening with VP Harris right now, i worry we will be blinded by the euphoria, enthusiasm, and Schadenfreude of the moment. Let’s enjoy the moment but never take our eye off Trump and the MAGA contingent. He still a very serious threat. As Robert Hubble says, “we have every reason to be hopeful, no reason to be complacent.”
Yes, let's keep our shoulders to the wheel but "let's enjoy the moment", every one of them till the Harris inauguration and beyond. MAGA must know we are enjoying all the moments and are adamant about "not going back". It is very difficult, if not impossible, to combat fun and enjoyment with lies and bullying. When Trump lies or threatens, we laugh and keep building the future he cannot even imagine.
Absolutely! Fight darkness with light! Bullying with joy!!
Also remember that in 2016 Hillary was obviously going to win, right up until Comey said he was reopening the investigation of the emails. It’s not going to be over until it’s over. It won’t be over until Kamala Harris is inaugurated. Even then there will be backlash.
I agree...we cannot underestimate the level of organization the Republicans have. Even if it isn't there ...we have to OVERREACT. We have to do something about the known 70 election deniers in charge of certifying the 2024 election.
...and the amount of money from the billionaires that's being poured into the campaign of making Rump win.
Agreed. And we have to win twice, once with actual voting and second with getting past the 70 election-denying goons that have been installed as local vote certification officials. Listen to Maddow about that one. In her interview with Elizabeth Warren, the conclusion that we all need to keep working and trying our hardest despite the coming big cheat is totally true - but I really hope the Biden administration is drawing up contingency plans to deal with the compromised certifiers - perhaps with a creative interpretation and application of the insurrection act against them.
From Jennifer Rubin, today : "As journalist Joe Conason put it, 1930s-era dictators “were mocked as buffoons in their day, but when they suddenly came to power the joke was no longer quite so funny.” In some sense, Trump’s misplaced vanity, narcissism and ignorance are laughable. But we should never forget that those very qualities make him impervious to shame and contemptuous of social norms and legal restraints."
Definitely we can't take anything for granted and must continue to act like we're the underdog (which I guess we are). That being said, I think Trump smells his blood in the water (sharks are on their way). He cannot STAND someone else being the center of attention.
Thanks for this reminder, lin. We can’t let up. We need to keep up the momentum and get out the vote every way we can. If I lived in a swing state I would be going door to door, but at least I can phone bank from California.
Absolutely!! Take nothing for granted. Get every vote possible to the polls. Let’s never forget 2016!! Let’s go for the biggest win of our lifetime. We can do it. Keep the momentum going until victory is unequivocally declared.
Yes and remember that Trump serves the goals of the 2025 project. The organizations, institutions and wealthy people who have been dreaming of its implementation are not going to give up - Trump's candidacy is for them
Thank you. Thank you! I remember the Time magazine covers showing Trump slowly melting down- until election night and the look on New York Times columnist David Brooks face when it dawned on him that the loud mouthed vulgar pus ball was going to be our president. Famous last words: “oh the Republicans will step up and do the right thing “ and “ not to worry the Democrats will have our backs “.
In those four disastrous years, he didn't learn how to run a government as large as the US. His only prior experience was running a small, corrupt business. We all payed the price for this inept little boy.
We sure have John Maguire! Except I would add that he only had experience hading corrupt businesses and failing businesses. He wanted the same for US. My new mantra is “Don’t Go Back! Won’t Go Back! Got Your Back, Harris 2024!”
I find it painful to watch these two hucksters and I keep wondering how did we get 'here'? Maddow said tonight that there are a large number of vote certifiers who have already announced they are not going to certify votes. And Trump is saying don't vote, I don't want or need your vote. Which means there is something going on. Like it was in 2016 . It's possible that Gen Z who are the largest number of voters ever and they are the ones who could be the ones who 'decide' the outcome. And they already announed their intention to vote. And wouldn't that be exciting!
Here’s the link to what Maddie said the other night.
https://youtu.be/sQJR18y2Fpg
We are not only living in interesting times but highly dangerous times as well.
Damn autocorrect! It’s MADDOW!
I thought you were on a nickname basis with her!!! :-)
I wish! 😂
THIS!! It won’t matter if we get a bazillion popular votes for Kamala if this certification corruption goes down. We all know who SCOTUS would choose for president.
THIS! Thanks for posting. THIS is why I am not optimistic at all, even tho I enjoy the enthusiasm for Kamala.
Don't obey in advance. They want you to be broken in spirit. When we fight we win!
Danae Cedar. It is not about our individual feelings. Positive or Negative. It's about all of us uniting in the joint exercise of getting Democrat Kamala Harris elected and electing a Democratic majority Congress.
Oh, I completely agree. I can fight hard without being optimistic. I was raised by leftist pessimists who never stopped working for justice.
A couple of sites that have information about helping keep our elections free, fair, and secure from unfounded denials, claims of fraud, other trumpian-type lies, and threats to election workers: https://statesuniteddemocracy.org/ and https://electiondeniers.org/. Sign up to be an election worker and stand up for democracy.
This is the Rolling Stone article cited by Maddow: https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-features/trump-swing-state-officials-election-deniers-1235069692/
The Maddow warning was well-timed. It is an invitation to volunteer to do anything you can to further certification.
JUSTIN GLAWE, is the 7/29/24 'Rolling Stone" Author. My training as a CA County November Election worker has just begun. Justins' report is very important.
I share your alarm about this issue. I don't see clear answers anywhere about election officials who may be intent on denying certification no matter what the vote. Perhaps someone here can elucidate?
Read Robert Hubble’s substack from today. He talked about vote certification.
In 2020, the Michigan Courts forced “certifiers” to do their jobs or go to jail. The country isn’t built on certifiers
Check out Marc Elias and Democracy Docket.
https://www.democracydocket.com/analysis/what-happens-when-election-officials-refuse-to-certify-results/
Here's hoping the DoJ and others are looking into and preparing in some manner for these 70 denialists pointed out by Maddow and Rolling Stone Magazine.
UPDATE: Robert Hubbell has a good take on the 70 faithless electors, (about 1/3 down.)
https://roberthubbell.substack.com/p/defying-the-odds-trump-steals-spotlight
https://statesuniteddemocracy.org/states-of-denial/
We have to act now on those election deniers who are saying now they will not certify the 2024 results.
chaos at certification, that is a worry indeed
I was listening to an episode of the podcast The New Abnormal this week and they interviewed the author of the new book The Longest Con which may answer the question "how did we get here" at least in part. Sounds like a good, if infuriating, read.
https://www.theguardian.com/books/article/2024/jul/06/joe-conason-the-longest-con-book
They have managed to get 70 election denying MAGA loyalists elected and or appointed to election offices in swing states who are there to not certify votes they did not agree with. The intent is to corrupt the election, cause chaos, delay and confusion, increase distrust in our elections to ensure that they can steal the election
As someone mentioned above, you should read Robert Hubble's Today's Edition from this AM for a more thorough explanation of the actual threat from these deniers. Not that we should be complacent, but Maddow only did half the job by discussing the RS article and not providing the history of previous attempts and the solutions that have been pointed out elsewhere.
Talk about a sinful synergy.
Vance has changed his name three times. That fact alone is suspicious enough.
As young people Vance's grandparents moved from Appalachia to the Ohio suburbs.
And Fred and Donald Trump lied that the family was from Sweden, when in fact they were from Germany.
Donald's mother was a Scot.
Amen!
I agree. However, he may have know exactly what he was doing as he continues firing up the basest of his base. He and his wolf-pack may well be more dangerous today than ever. And don't forget that he almost always fails upward. It's an terrible superpower he has. So. till he's actually dead and gone, I would not recommend turning our backs to him. That being said, I think he was truly stripped bare, exposing the real monster he is and the threat he and his army pose to our country and the world. I am still afraid, but I continue to act and feel empowered, especially in the wake of all the enthusiasm that's come since President Biden stepped aside, allowing VP Kamala Harris to tale the wheel. Such exciting times to be alive!
Speaking of experience, this vid. by Beau Q-T talks about needed outreach to rural America, a key coalition constituency of the New Deal. In the vid., Beau's anima drops an f-bomb. No, not THAT f-bomb, but a fact-bomb. https://youtu.be/SXAT7Otqzic
Technically, Trump does not have "four disastrous years as president", he has one days experience about 1440 times. He certainly accomplished little that truly helped the American people in his time in office.
I've always thought that Trump was more like a broken clock: he was likely to be right only twice a day. The rest of the time he was always behind.
It's pretty clear that not only TFG and Vance, but the rest of the GOP, have zero understanding of the First Rule of Holes: When you are in one, stop digging.
I'm seriously considering coughing up cash to buy them more shovels.
- Pulled Quote -
“I think we’re getting the first view of imploding Donald Trump as he realizes that what was his for the taking ten days ago is slipping away and he’s likely to go to prison rather than the White House. He [is] being dominated and humiliated by Harris and he’s losing it.”
I betting he doesn't make it until November 5th without a complete and total breakdown...
Yes, political suicide. These guys don't seem to be able to read the room--how stupid can you get....
from your keyboard to God's eyes.
Never forget 74 million Americans voted for Donald J. Trump in 2020. In the states where votes matter -- Biden's win in the EC was not a runaway.
I just got on this thread and saw your comment. I was going to say something similar; you beat me to it. Let Trump cook his own goose. He's doing a fine, fine job of it.
yes, let them speak
Let the church say … AMEN !!!
WOW! I did not know about how close Trump was to invoking the Insurrection Act! Barr Nun should be jailed too, along with Jeff Sessions and Stephen Miller. They can share a cell. Anyway, I saw the entire NABJ event and if I could have, I would’ve reached through the TV and strangled Trump. He was insolent, demeaning, and showed his true colors as a racist. He’s a pig! He made comments about how Kamala is “all of a sudden Black, but now is Indian”. The hosts of the event told him she went to an HBCU and was indeed Black. I thought the questioning was articulate and fair. He thought it was a “disgrace”. Then the proverbial hook came out to get him off the stage. He does not belong on center stage anywhere but he does belong in prison. I cannot wait for Kamala, whomever she picks as her VP, and a new AG to cast a wide net over him and his sycophants.
Wasn’t that just a trip about the Later Day Saints for Harris?? Almost fell off of my chair!
Me too, Marlene -- when Republicans lose the Mormons... (I know not all Mormons are Republican, and not all support the felon, but still, it's a bit mind-blowing, like the +/-500 Harris supporters in The Villages in Florida.)
You could have knocked me over with a feather, with the news of Mormon’s support of Harris!
And The Villages!!
No wonder Trump's panicking. It's a very bad omen for him. His support in Florida is beginning to crumble.
Another raging dumpster fire. Twitter is going wild, with #WhenITurnedBlack trending this morning. I love the meme: The liberal Plot to Make Trump Look Stupid, also known as "Operation Just Let Him Speak" is working splendidly. Can't wait to see what TikTok does with this latest.
Let's get #JustLetHimSpeak trending.
Yes!
Borrowing, er, just taking
Bravo
Of course, that's what it's for! I'm trying to get all the memes out there. The visual works so much better for young voters.
RE “all of a sudden Black": In his racist dementia he clearly is confusing Harris with Haley.
It doesn’t surprise me at all that Trump’s “interview” with NABJ members didn’t go well. He thought of his audience as a collection of stereotypes, rather than men and women whose job is to inform and educate the public, and who want to be treated with dignity and respect. Of course, Trump displayed neither dignity or respect in condescending to the reporters.
Drumpf is attacking the NABJ --interviewed by women-- because he is impotent at attacking Harris Theyre her surrogate, and if this is what he says in public imagine how he's seething constantly.
(Laughter) You could just be right. And every time the interviewer tried to correct that, he just raised his voice and talked over her.
That is so typical of Trump, you could have predicted he would do exactly that.
It was the usual unbroken flow.
The ol’ Gish gallop
Good point!
Yeah, I was shockerooed, too, about the near invocation of the Insurrection Act, In view of tonight's essay by Dr Cox Richardson, here is a prescient essay by a conservative intellectual from eight years ago. https://www.latimes.com/opinion/op-ed/la-oe-kirchick-trump-coup-20160719-snap-story.html 💡
Amazing that that was said 8 years ago! Frightening also.
Were there to be a military coup, it would not be tanks rolling up to the portico but senior officers belaying orders and refusing to deal with President Trump.
Great article, thanks for the link.
You are quite welcome, Shelly.
Honestly, I was shocked he did NOT invoke it. His last year, I kept waiting for him to spring that on us. I thought for sure he would that day in Washington DC, after he had police shoot, gas, and assault peaceful protesters and journalists, just to walk to a church and defile it for optics…
*Latter not Later**
Latter
He spent that entire interview shooting himself in the foot, then putting it in his mouth. As offended as I was by his words, I saw it as watching him self destruct.
Marlene, my hypothesis is that 45 was desperately trying to find anything that would dissuade black voters from voting for Harris, so he (or someone else, came up with the idea to advance (not a pun) the idea that she acknowledged her black genes only for political purposes.
T***p obviously wasn't in Chicago to try and appeal to voters of color. He was there solely to rile up the racists in his base. It was disgusting. Like Joyce Vance mentioned in her essay tonight, we really shouldn't try and muzzle T***p and keep people from hearing his vile rhetoric. No. Put it ALL out there in the harsh glare of public scrutiny, so that he cannot deny he said the things he says. And he needs to be called on it at every single opportunity. The contrast with Harris's rally in Atlanta could not be more obvious. I was SO proud of my city! I think with regard to T***p's campaign, we're seeing absolute desperation, but that desperation could in all likelihood turn even nastier. Get ready, and "keep your powder dry" as they say!
Bruce, as Joyce Vance also said tonight, "It's ok to call a racist a racist".
Please, use politically correct term for racist: equality impaired. 😉
Yeah, that was my thought. He wasn't there to showcase what he could do for the Black community, he was there to cement his position with all the racists in the country.
Yes, he planned what to do, and why. Then he did it. His point was to show his base: " See, I can go right up to these Black people and insult them to their face. I can stand right up to them. See me doing it? " and now he's the one we're talking about, again. He dominates the TV news shows and everywhere else. He gets a perfect score for doing all this in 35".
Trump's in a hole, so he keeps digging.
When we were children, they used to say that if you kept digging you'd come out in China. Be funny if he went askew and came out in Ukraine.
More likely Hungary
Too comfortable. I wanted him to surface amid the destruction and danger.
Made me laugh out loud!😂
Yep, Georgia (our state) stood out yesterday!
And stood up!
Yes, I agree. Trump behaved like this deliberately. I suspect MAGA executives encouraged him to deploy any dirty tactic he could in order to retake the spotlight of global media. They also have form regarding rabble rousing and it is not outside the realm of possibility that they are looking to instigate race riots across the States pre election. This is an interesting post on how they might enable Trump to become POTUS again even if they lose the popular vote: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2024/2/26/2225913/-The-New-Over-the-Top-Secret-Plan-on-How-Fascists-Could-Win-in-2024?detail=emaildkre&pm_source=DKRE&pm_medium=email
I'm not sure how deliberately he can do anything these days. He is a clueless narcissist who automatically claps back with "you're being mean to me so I'm justified in anything I say."
That's about as simple a way of explaining the narcissist as I've ever heard. Having married one, I can say you're exactly right. And they never ever get over their sense of outrage at how horribly they were treated.
Wow. Also known as bringing a gun to a knife fight.
That’s terrifying. And beyond infuriating. What’s our recourse if these fascist scum try to do this??
I don’t know. We are in, for this US historical period, uncharted waters: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=2XxwODX0sDA
And he began the show by holding it up for half an hour - wouldn't
allow them to run a real-time fact check (or any sort of fact check, for that matter).
What do you mean “wouldn’t allow”? Why is he in charge of fact-checking anything? Why wouldn’t they just have fact-checking at the ready? Why don’t ALL journalists face fact checkers on hand for ALL of his “interviews”?
I wasn't there, but from my experience working for a news broadcaster I must suppose that out of courtesy they mentioned before going on stage that there would be a fact checker. We know that he then refused to go ahead. It took half an hour to get him on stage.
They needed a fact checker at Trump’s debate, but Dana Bash and Jake Tapper weren’t willing to call Trump out on his Gish gallop of lies and misstatements.
I didn't know that - he blamed them for the delay, describing it as technical problems.
Yes, well I suppose he would.
Wow. I didn’t know that’s how it worked. That is appalling. No wonder we are in the Orwellian sh*tshow we are in. The less intelligent among us have been gobbling up Fox News for decades and then watching interviews where the fact checkers aren’t “allowed” because the liar won’t have it. Utterly appalling that WE THE PEOPLE “allow” our rights to facts and truth be so diminished and twisted by fascists and demagogues.
Is that what happened? He claims the meeting had technical issues that delayed him, but that makes more sense.
He was livid there was going to be a fact checker! While onstage he blamed it on them not having their equipment running properly ahead of time.
He’s so caught up in his own lies he probably he can’t see or hear anything other than what comes out of his mouth.
As I recall, when he told the story on his website he added the qualifier "or something". I don't follow him (surprise), and now I can't find where this was reported, but that "or something" has a familiar ring.
This is why there likely won't be any debating. Harris will insist on fact checkers in real time and Trump will refuse.
And in that case Harris will say so, in very plain words.
Disgusting.
I think he was there to attack black women because he's afraid to confront Kamala "to her face".
As she continues to call him out, and mock his fear, it will be interesting to see how the wheels come off.
That was Rev Al Sharpton's view also. Interesting.
Now if we could get Mr Trump to talk about those poor whites and “ Christians “ in the same patronizing way.
July 31, 2024
Finally. Rachel Scott. HERO! She’s a reporter with guts. Guts enough to call to account a fascist and convicted criminal and rapist. It took a woman to get the job done. And done right. An African American woman at that.
Where have all the male reporters gone? Long time passing?
“One hundred and forty police officers were assaulted that day [January 6, 2021],” Rachel said. Their injuries included broken bones, at least one police officer lost an eye, one had cracked ribs, two smashed spinal discs, another had a stroke.”
Rachel asked, “Were the people who assaulted these 140 officers ... patriots who deserve pardons?”
Thank you Rachel Scott; you were superb.
Rachel’s best shot was when she graciously held out her hand to shake his and thanked Mr. Trump for coming. Perfect insult.
Rachel Scott did an amazing job. We're so used to seeing the media lob soft balls at DonOld and he still rarely answers their questions. But he also doesn't lose his cool like he did with Ms. Scott.
Imagine DonOld on stage with Kamala for 90 minutes and her harassing him the entire time. I could see him losing it like the politician did in Network that held the baby in front of him for protection.
If he can't handle a journalist's basic question, how is he supposed to deal with world leaders? He's just going to say, ”Oh that's such a rude question." Wimp.
It wouldn't be harassing him. It would be calling him out for every lie he utters.
She's a very experienced prosecutor, well trained and comes naturally to that skill set.
Of course he's terrified.
It would be like my imagined Myopia Firing Squad, only verbal, with him virtually running back and forth across the stage with nowhere to hide.
Harris team’s response to the NABJ interview was masterful. They didn’t get into any back and forth racism response but tied Trump to his overall larger hostility and chaos themes and then added in his Project 2025 agenda to top it off! BRAVO! Amazing messaging strategy.
For those wondering why Biden needed to drop out, when was the last time he mounted an effective response to Trump droppings?
Biden is too nice & seems to not anticipate t’s sharp rudeness & is completely thrown off when tRumP doesn’t play by the rules. Harris is fresh for the job & she won’t hold back! tRumP should be afraid, very afraid. He is about to get his come uppance!!!
I don’t think it is that Biden is too nice, I think it is because he is both too deep a thinker and has been through and learned from too much life grief to be able to honestly not ‘take a beat’ before replying to any question. Unfortunately, it looks like nice weakness on an emotion flattening TV screen 🐈⬛
She's a prosecutor. Dealing with trumps type is exactly in her wheelhouse. It isn't in Biden's.
“Trump droppings”!
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Thanks for that memorable image, which deserves to catch on as much as “weird.”
That’s one of the better descriptions I’ve heard of what Trump says.
Joe was too much the true politician. Too nice to say it properly. A typical democrat in response. Think about how gingrich rose. He was doing ALL the things he accused democrats of doing and they just murmured how dare he rather than nailing him. Think about the Willie Horton ad, the welfare queen ad, the swift boat ad, all of them were met with gathered muted responses. Now VP Harris, not gonna take it without dishing it right back. Love Joe, and God bless him for his masterful timing.
"Trump droppings" that's a good one. Thanks. I'll be sure to pass that on to friends and relatives. Still laughing.
Harris team is the enlargement of the Biden team. Not a slouch among them.
It was like watching a train wreck in slow motion when Scott used the initials D.E.I. and Trump asked her what that was and she told him, Diversity Equity and Inclusion and he asked her to give him a definition 🤪🤣
I think it's all in this quote: "But it is also possible that Trump cannot bear to see the enthusiasm building behind Harris, not only because of its electoral meaning, but also because it reveals how small his own following is and how much people loathe him. "
There's two things that the Orange Felon absolutely cannot stand: 1) losing, because he always HAS to be the winner; 2) not being the center of attention and getting all the adoration. If we can make this happen before November, there is a chance he will become SO angry that he will simply explode.
Clean up at Mar-a-Lardo! Bring an extra bucket and HAZMAT equipment.
Don’t underestimate the size of his “base.”
At which point
I am sorry sir, I know what it is, but I am asking you, so please define it as you see it for the American people. Rule when interviewing an idiot, never define anything for them. Only correct them.
TRUMP: There will be NO diversity in my next administration, NO equity, and NO inclusion. NONE.
He kept on with that - yes, but give me a definition.
Trump and his groupies want to define their opponents rather than letting their opponents state who they are and why they oppose him. The Republicans have a constant strategy of marketing to fear, and unfortunately it’s been successful. Usually, th fears are of things that are NOT happening or outside the government’s control, or about small groups of the population they don’t like (such as gay and transgender people.)
Thank you, Heather, for taking us back to June 1, 2020...
---------------------------------
... although the protests were largely peaceful, Trump was desperate to get 2,000 federal officers into the area around the White House ... to increase federal control of the city. To the frustration of the people in charge of the agencies, he could not articulate a mission, only that he wanted 2,000 people around him. With only about 90 officers from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms, the Bureau of Prisons, and the U.S. Marshals Service on hand early on the morning of June 1, Barr told a conference call with Justice Department leadership that Trump wanted “max strength” on the streets, and to “dominate the streets.”
Trump then echoed that language in a call with the nation’s governors, saying, “If you don’t dominate your city and your state, they’re [going to] walk away with you. And we’re doing it in Washington, in D.C., we’re going to do something that people haven’t seen before. But you’re going to have total domination.”
-------------------------
I hope everyone realizes that "domination" is what Trump thinks about from the moment he wakes up to the moment he goes to sleep. This is the 'mental mantra" of a malignant narcissist... of a man who lives to bully people. He attempted to bully the women who interviewed him at the NABJ conference today and - by saying "She only recently became Black" (I'm paraphrasing a bit) - attempted to dominate Kamala Harris.
I am thrilled we are living in a time when such bullying is no longer being tolerated (except within the Trump cult and by those wealthy supporters who want Trump to win for their own benefit). My mother was bullied by my father literally every day of their 20 year long married (from 1947-1967... a very different time in American culture). I cannot wait for Kamala Harris to become President of the United States and for the legal cases against Trump to continue. He belongs in prison not in the Oval Office.
Thank you for being blunt! Trump is nothing but a high school age “bully” who needs to be removed! Cannot wait.
You're welcome. I think I was as blunt as I was because Trump reminds me every day of what a monster my father was.
I’m sorry you had to live through that. My own father, while not as bad as you describe yours, was likewise a bit of a bully. I marvel at what wonderful men, fathers, and husbands my brothers are, having grown up with such an example. I once asked one of them how he did it, and he said “I just ask myself what Dad would do, and then do the opposite.”
I'm happy you had brothers to help you deal with the damaging behavior of your father. I found alternatives to the example my father set on television. There were some great role models on TV when I was growing up.
Yup. There are many of us way too familiar with abuse & recognize it a mile away. Then there are people that don't come from these backgrounds but know full well it's not healthy. Together we will demonstrate to those confused, this world isn't run by dominance & deception.
Methinks more like 5th Grade.
At his most mature, Trump behaves like a fifth grader. At his least mature, Trump behaves like a toddler.
True. He thinks of himself as king of the world when he's hurting others, but tantrums like a baby when he is frustrated. I don't usually listen to Trump, but my wife played the audio of Trump's remarks to black journalists. The transcript does not really capture the depth of his petulant, juvenile, self-aggrandizement.
that explains "the droppings".
It certainly does!
mmm Are we living in a time when such bullying is (really) no longer being tolerated?
Our media press isn't consistent with advocating to change many of the most extreme white supremacist concepts as they blast 'fears of white genocide through immigration' across our communication channels...We try to act civilized and take one step forward, and our press media sends us two step backwards...
The Heritage Foundation is complaining about the Democrats money spending on DEI, because they want money to build out a war chest for a 'War of this Decade'.
Project 2025 says we should go without social services so we have money to "regain American competitiveness with a successful renaissance in American shipping that will allow us to build momentum and set conditions for a sustained revival in America’s maritime industry. One way is creating a 'maritime security trust fund' funded through increased port user fees to non U.S. flagged ships, tariff Chinese shippers who support their military."
I support policies for our Climate Crisis, and I'm worried the Republicans will sell pro-War to the Red voter. Can we look at the scope of what Republican agenda Harris is not talking about?
Thank you for bringing up the media. I mistakenly forgot that bullying **is** tolerated (I guess because it's "drama" and news people love "drama") by journalists. But what was on my mind when I wrote my comment is that regular people don't tolerate it these days... unless, as I said, they are in the Trump cult or want him to win for other reasons. The anti-bullying efforts by celebrities some to mind... along with anti-child trafficking. I believe that even if news organizations like The NY Times continue to make excuses for Trump that the voters will reject him in a big way in November... and then journalists will have to get used to covering a President who comes from joy instead of hate. I hope they don't have a meltdown when confronted by positive rather than negative emotions. I hope they don't try to tear Kamala Harris down because they themselves are unhappy people. (Sorry. I don't have a positive opinion about journalists in general these days... although there are wonderful exceptions.)
I expect have already encountered Les Moonves 2016 remarks about Trump:
“It May Not Be Good for America, but It’s Damn Good for CBS”
“I’ve never seen anything like this, and this going to be a very good year for us. Sorry. It’s a terrible thing to say. But, bring it on, Donald. Keep going,”
We ALL bear a share of responsibility for the quality of our society, if government of the people, by the people, for the people is to be more than a slogan. If not us, then who?
"We try to act civilized and take one step forward, and our press media sends us two step backwards."
When I was growing up, media my understanding was that media companies we restricted from owning to big of a market share in any one area. Then we all but abandoned anti-trust. Power tends to corrupt, and money is power, as is political authority, as is violence; and the more corrupted the society, the more the three converge. For those whose greed has replaced their soul, it is intolerable that the masses receive more than a minimal share of the wealth they want for themselves. There are exceptions, but often the richer, the greedier, and those are the people who "Reaganomics" relieved of social responsibility, and touted as leadership. Collectively we were fools to let it happen.
"This is what I mean by my constant insistence upon “moderation” in government. Should any political party attempt to abolish social security, unemployment insurance, and eliminate labor laws and farm programs, you would not hear of that party again in our political history. There is a tiny splinter group, of course, that believes you can do these things. Among them are H.L. Hunt (you possibly know his background), a few other Texas oil millionaires, and an occasional politician or business man from other areas. Their number is negligible and they are stupid." - Dwight Eisenhower, 1954
If Trump is the Anti-Christ then Jesus has returned as a Black woman...several of them: Prosecutors, politicians, entertainers and reporters; collectively they are bringing him down.
I am not a "believing" Christian, but I respect (when taken seriously) the saying of "What would Jesus do?" From what we read of him, it seems nutso to associate his behavior with that of Trump, although there has long been a certain version of the church that seems more like the mindset of the Roman occupiers than Jesus' prescription for an open heart.
The dominance tactic also fits within Trump’s sociopathy as well. Trump’s malignant narcissism and sociopathy are so intertwined that it is hard to tell where one personality disorder ends and the other begins.
Kathy, I am reading Bandy Lee's deep dive into that sociopathy in her latest book "Trump Contagion" and how by giving him any platform of power his deep seated disorder gets projected and spread out into society at large. It becomes, in her words, a public health danger-- like an epidemic that, without containment, becomes a pandemic. Message: stop him now!
Bandy Lee's point of view is very important. We are normalizing dysfunctional, destructive behavior. There are people who will see Trump having the position in society he has been granted and say "I want to be like him". He should have been laughed off the national stage in 2015, but news organizations treated him as legitimate and talk shows (Letterman, et al) brought him on as a guest. Not good.
I have not researched it, but I see a parallel between a computer virus and the dynamics of a true cult. The cult becomes it's own circular point of reference, rejecting and punishing (unless forced to by circumstances, and sometimes not even then) any intrusions of contrasting reality. I recall reading an account of a nurse who cared for patients dying of COVID, some of whom insisted COVID was a hoax to their dying breaths.
A sense of "normalcy" is dangerous if not unceasingly reexamined. Slavery was normalized for a great many people, even US presidents. Restricted citizenship for women was "normal", along with other moral outrages most of us recognize as injustice today. Successful protest has carefully pointed to an injustice, relentlessly and concertedly. Evil can hide behind what comes to be considered "normal".
"A shrewd victor will, if possible, always present his demands to the vanquished in installments. And then, with a nation that has lost its character -and this is the case of every one which voluntarily submits - he can be sure that it will not regard one more of these individual oppressions as an adequate reason for taking up arms again." - Mein Kampf
I will tack on the new research that shows that AI spits out rubbish when it trains on itself. Sort of like inbreeding.
" A particular picture or copy of verses, if it do not awaken the same train of images, will yet superinduce the same sentiment as some wild mountain walk, although the resemblance is nowise obvious to the senses, but is occult and out of the reach of the understanding. Nature is an endless combination and repetition of a very few laws. She hums the old well-known air through innumerable variations. - Emerson on "History"
The human urge to dominate, to subjugate or destroy other people has be our species own worst enemy throughout recorded history. Seemingly the source of most of humanity's avoidable suffering.
Yes, he's also a formally recognized psychopath (according to how this mental illness is measured)
Today’s letter and your comments brought me back to the summer of 2020 and the federal crackdown in Portland, Oregon, aka Operation Diligent Valor. It was so chilling for Trump to think it was OK to override local and state authorities in sending us people in unmarked uniforms to harm and detain peaceful protesters, taking many away in unmarked vehicles. Bizarrely, they seemed to let everyone go. It became clear they were focused creating images for journalists, photographers and citizens to share far and wide, to make it look like there was widespread chaos. There were a few miscreants who caused damage after the majority of the anti-racist, BLM protesters went home with their children, but Trump's action was thuggish staging. It was like we were living in a different country with fewer rights. It was wrong and scary...and I don't want to see that return!
I remember when that happened in Portland. OR. It was very disturbing and frightening.
He always goes lower. Soon there will be nothing left of him but a snarling, incoherent remnant.
Isn't he there already?
Lynn -- snarling and incoherent, yes. Unfortunately he's not yet a remnant (and hopefully he'll never become a revenant )
Love your word play, Doug. I was thinking remnant of a human being more than a political remnant. Of course you are right... though, remnants are usually heavily discounted to get them off store shelves, sold cheap... in a way, that fits too.
Lynn, the fabric remnant meaning also came to my mind, but I immediately thought no, we mustn't discount this man -- we must take him at face value, for he is ever more dangerous, in the manner of a cornered animal.
I'm going to have to write a poem about the end of a bolt of sack cloth. LOL
Bolt dolt cloth sloth sack hack plaid sad ok I'll stop.
We can only hope.
"China Syndrome"
Let’s hope so.
Patricia, nicely put. I will have to remember this description.
Trump's saying this, "Historically, the choice of a vice president makes no difference” jumped out at me. He chose Vance because he trusts that Vance will do whatever illegal actions Trump demands of him. Had Pence, the VP Trump picked at least in part because of Pence's servility, not stood up to him and continued with the VP's responsibility of registering the Electoral College votes, things might have turned out differently. Vice Presidents often don't get the respect that they deserve for their role in supporting their administration's goals. Mike Pence's actions performing his role made a tremendous difference to our democracy.
And just for the record, I wore my ASK ME ABOUT PROJECT 2025 to lunch with a friend, but she was the only one who even noticed it. She asked me just to give me a little practice. So I'll wear it again soon, and see what happens.
There should be a lot of excitement at the Democratic National Convention. There always is at a convention, but this one should be amazing. I hope that Kamala's stepdaughter gives a speech. She seems like a very level headed young lady and she has the potential to bring in a lot of the Gen-X, Gen-Z and Millenial voters.
But just as important are all of the Representatives running in the House and the Senate. There are lots of vulnerable Republicans out there. Hopefully the voters will realize this was the least productive Congress --- EVER and it's totally the fault of the Republicans.
Thank you, Gary Loft. As voters, we owe it to the incoming Harris administration (there, my optimism's showing) and to ourselves for the good of the country, to deliver a Democratic filibuster-proof US Senate and a clear Democratic majority in the House of Reps. We owe it to ourselves to elect incorruptible election officials, e.g., secretaries of state and county clerks. And all the way down the ticket. So we need not just to rely on the Harris campaign to deliver our country to safety. We must help register voters, especially young people, write postcards, walk precincts, attend meetings and candidate forums, ask great questions, talk to friends and neighbors and enlist their help, make donations within our means. And do it all with enthusiasm.
Unlike Mike Pence, JD Vance would do whatever Trump asked, no matter how illegal or immoral, without batting an eye. Vance is a sheer opportunist. He is Spiro Agnew to Trump’s wannabe Richard Nixon.
How close we were in 2020 to reaching critical mass in the streets is even more apparent now with the report citing the preparation of the Insurrection Act. It also seems to answer the question of identity of the so-called "little green men" that assembled in DC -- that was frightening at the time, as it wasnt clear if they were military, police or militia.
Also, and I can't remember the exact quote, but George Conway posted something today that basically said whose ever idea it was to invite CF45 to the NABJ conference today should be given a medal, as it was pure genius.
He also said that the mocking should continue, as the felon's personality disorder is causing him to implode.
OK, it's plain as the nose on our faces what trump has in mind for trump 2.0.
What should also be plain is that he absolutely intends to take the White House come next January. He has the election denying officials in place to refuse to certify the election. He has the Proud Boys ready again & who know how many other militias are ready to respond. He may be a lunatic but he has a lunatic with about 1/4 to 1/3 of the country behind him & many of them are heavily armed & just waiting for the call.
Will we be ready? Will our government have plans to handle the confusion that will be created when states refuse to certify the election which will throw it to the House, with its MAGA majority. I hardly think any of the weakwilled republicans will miraculously grow a spine & vote against him. Or perhaps, it will go to the Supremes, well we really know what will happen there, even if John Roberts shows a modicum of courage & votes with liberals that still is only 4. Do we think Kavanaugh, Gorsuch or Barret will do what's right? I guess there is a snowballs chance in hell that one of them may but I wouldn't count on it.
The country needs to be prepared for confusion, chaos & violence. We have to be prepared for intimidation at polling places, we need to know if our people in blue will be on the side of the government or will they be MAGA supporters more than willing to allow or support the intimidators. We've watched the riots & fighting in the streets in other countries, you know those banana republics trump's lackeys like to compare us to. Well, we could see that right here. Remember the leader of 2025 told us there would be a second American Revolution & it will be peaceful if the liberals/democrats allow it! Let's take him at his word & plan accordingly.
I share your concerns about Trump’s groupies being ready to start violence whether he wins or loses. Trump is a creature of habit, and if he loses, he would use tactics like mass insurrection again.
From now till Nov 5, 2024 will forever be remembered as The Good Old Days.
Yes. Or in my house “The Before Times.” I really, really hope Harris knocks Trump and MAGA so deep and so hard in the dirt that there’s no possible way for these states to get away with their fascist scheme to not certify the results. I can’t live in a country run by Project 2025’s Nazis.
How do we prepare exactly? What can we do?
What can we do? As individuals, I think we could go back to the post 9/11 mantra, if we see something, say something. Those of us in areas where we know there are militia groups could just be more aware of what we see or hear. If we come across some website that supports violence report it to the service provider. Figure out what side your Congress people are on & question them on their stance about accepting the results of the election. For those of us in open carry states be aware of activities around us. Watch for problems at polling places, intimidating tactics, interference with drop boxes.
Basically be aware of what's going on in your community & state. Voice your objection to your elected representatives. If they only hear from one side they will think that everyone feels that way.
And while I'm an atheist & have no belief system like that if you do believe throw a couple of prayers to your chosen "Eye in the Sky". I may not believe in prayer as such but it can be a positive thought & we need more positivity in our country.
Something we can do: become Poll Observers. Contact your State Democratic organization and volunteer. I'm an observer for the primary and will re-up for the Election. Simple rules & phone numbers provided. Stop the magats. Do it now.
Something we can do: become Poll Observers. Contact your State Democratic organization and volunteer. I'm an observer for the primary and will re-up for the Election. Simple rules & phone numbers provided. Stop the magats. Do it now.
I sure do like our candidate.
For once, at the NABJ conference, Trump is held to account for the things he has said and done and his refusal to answer questions. Finally, three polite but well prepared and persistent journalists asked factually accurate, serious questions without backing down and the audience listened and responded appropriately. Thank you. We've waited to long for this.
It’s about time someone held him accountable, and Rachel Scott was the perfect person to do it.
Yes, the orange felon insults. As semi-retired Chris Matthews argues: nab him as the bully he is.
This fits Matthews' larger argument that Kamala and the Dems should stay on offense – attack the sewage of lies and pro-criminality in which Republicans wallow.
The lies spew MAGA sensationalism – fears of hordes at the southern border, fears of them as murderers, rapists, parasites, further fears of them as takers of what Republicans shill as “black jobs,” “Hispanic jobs.”
The personal buoys whomever goes best on offense. For Kamala and Dems to do that, they’ve got to draw on, highlight the personal.
Here in Japan, where I live in the mountains of Kyushu, schools all ape U.S. standardized testing. It fits all life to numbers: measurable units, abstracted categories, 1-2-3 chronologies. As Minae Mizumura has written (“The Fall of Language in the Age of English”), no school in Japan anymore asks students to read any novel from beginning to end. The personal? Gone – disappeared for testers to fragment all to, for testing.
Can Dems vault how schools produce most now bereft of humanities? Can Dems lift anything well humanly personal over the MAGA sewers?
Hi Phil, I also live in Japan, in Tokyo. My friends who teach English at universities and high schools in Japan have mentioned to me how frustrated they are becoming. I was teaching art at a university until the pandemic and was quite shocked at students’ lackadaisical attitude. I quit giving homework because they invariably didn’t do it.
The problem is worse is America, which is why critical thinking skills are nearly non-existent.
Is This the End of Reading? By Beth McMurtrie MAY 9, 2024
https://www.chronicle.com/article/is-this-the-end-of-reading
“Theresa MacPhail is a pragmatist. In her 15 years of teaching, as the number of students who complete their reading assignments has steadily declined, she has adapted. She began assigning fewer readings, then fewer still. Less is more, she reasoned. She would focus on the readings that mattered most and were interesting to them. For a while, that seemed to work. But then things started to take a turn for the worse. Most students still weren’t doing the reading. And when they were, more and more struggled to understand it. Some simply gave up. Their distraction levels went “through the roof,” MacPhail said. They had trouble following her instructions. And sometimes, students said her expectations — such as writing a final research paper with at least 25 sources — were unreasonable.”
Thank you, Kristin.
Hurts me to see so many students, at all levels, clearly needing guidance, teaching, further examples, parallels, perspectives in handling the personally difficult.
In Japan it hurts more, too, because without personal learning, of personally-needed, personally-challenging matters (and how others faced these things in apt novels), Japanese youth just off themselves. Three times the rate of suicide of American youth the same age.
And then there's the new phenomenon of so many Japanese young adults not dating, not having any personal life -- corroborated in the U.S. by similar age young adults glommed unto social media too many hours a day, blotting out possibilities of getting out for real lives with others in any number of various public venues.
Not good, Kristin. So thanks again for yours from Tokyo.
It’s really a tragedy! What will happen to Japan’s beautiful culture?
Not just Japan, sadly, Kristin.
Look at America, where the orange felon parades the success of just lying egregiously, enacting contempt at democratic institutions, calling for stochastic violence, routinely committing fraud, raping, abusing, insulting women.
An entire Republican party falls over itself to fall in line for the theatricality.
That Clarence court rather likes sensationalized criminality, rules it above the law (same law, or sets of laws that in their view permit their own perjury, condone their own brazenly taking bribes). Same court that has just ruled, too, to free our worst predators from the federal agencies who had regulated for public health, safety, and the environment.
The rule of commercial vulgarity, dark money, schools stripped of humanities bodes ill for all democracies, dark ages for all who have, or used to have, real cultures respecting individuals and all those nuances, subtleties, respect for life's complications -- what poet Joseph Brodsky reveled in calling our civilizational "loose ends."
But maybe, Kristin, American will turn out landslide fashion for our democracy, against the many ur-vulgar elites.
I heard the conference live this afternoon and such crap came out of his mouth! Why would a black person, male or female support him and any race? It's beyond me! Someone posted on Stitch.net today and I would like to post it here explaining about the Trump Maga people.
From a woman named Jeri in Seattle, WA.
I believe many of them do know what they are voting for, but they are so far gone down the rabbit hole, they believe he is their messiah of sorts. I see over and over again that those people don't believe in facts. They have a distorted view of the world that makes them believe they have some kind of special knowledge - that there is a whole army of them across the nation who have a special understanding that only "the chosen" can attain. It's the same kind of brain that accepts absurdities in their religion and allows them to ignore huge discrepancies that would prove them wrong if they were to acknowledge them. That's why so many religious people support this nonsense. They already had the kind of brain that prefers emotion to logic. Humans tend to be that way anyway. You have to train yourself to think logically. That leaves the intellectually lazy vulnerable to demogoguery. Science has discovered that politically conservative people have larger amygdala, the part of the brain that reacts to fear and perceived threats, and liberals have larger cingulate cortexes, the area of the brain that helps detect errors and resolve conflicts. When we lived in tribes, both of these kinds of brains were beneficial for the survival of the group, but now that we don't live with the constant threat of being eaten by tigers and bears, those overactive amygdala have to find threats even if they are imaginary. That leaves them wide open to a strongman type who will tell them, "I, and I alone, can protect you." The article is below from The Scientific American.
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/conservative-and-liberal-brains-might-have-some-real-differences/
You can read this article and understand because you believe science is an independent venture aimed at arriving at knowledge, but one of Trump's supporters will only read a "liberal plot" to trick the public. Science, statistics, climate data, history, etc, are all threats to them now thanks to manipulative, power-hungry fools who think money is the only currency that counts.
What do you think? It makes a lot of sense to me. They don't understand about Critical Thinking at all! I'm not used to that as I am educated and grew up in a family that values education.
Lisa, you made an excellent point about how religiously-minded people have dulled down their critical thinking skills in no order to be loyal to their religious beliefs. Fanatics who believe that the Earth is only 6,000 years old use the same impaired mind to believe that Trump would be a good president. A conservative cult is easy to manipulate.
What the nation needs is critical thinking skills taught at every level of school beginning with kindergarten. Of course, conservative politicians will be against this. Like Trump, they prefer the “poorly educated” cult.
45 is going to be increasingly dangerous as reality sets in. He is eager to initiate a violent takeover to install himself into power. If not law enforcement and the military, his para-militia anti-government base that has been arming themselves for a second Civil War for decades if not generations.
A friend pointed out something I had not considered -
At the NABJ, 45 make the claim Vice President Harris had only recently referred to herself as Black.
That was generally reported as a version of the birtherism lie he fanned the flames of regarding Barack Obama not being born a U.S. Citizen.
Here is the surprisingly more clear and simple reason proposed by my friend.
It appears his deteriorating mental state has him confusing Kamala Harris with Nicki Haley.
Just as he referred to Nicki Haley when he meant Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi,
he appears to be referring to Nicki Haley having no African ancestry, only Indian heritage.
The addition of Vance to the ticket has added to his confusion, as Vance's wife is also of Indian heritage, and he spent much of the Convention (when he wasn't falling asleep) with the families positioned in adjoining boxes.
As they say, "he can't tell them apart."
interesting observation. Could very well be.
Speaking of Niki Haley, I bet the Republicans are wishing they had backed Haley, a Haley Harris election would have been really interesting, especially if you could Haley way from the MAGA talking points.
Could he be color blind? I think not. He’s a lousy excuse for a human being.
Two references in two comments pertaining to the fiasco of 45's disastrous appearance at the NABJ Convention in Chicago:
1 of 2:
45 takes the side of the rioters he summoned and directed to the Capitol on January 6, 2021 in an attempted coup.
45 again promised to pardon "J6" rioters who were identified, charged, tried in accordance with the law, many of whom pled guilty, and subsequently given verdicts and consequences. Those imprisoned he has routinely referred to as hostages instead of insurrectionists. He defended the rioters instead of law enforcement. He specifically referenced the one fatality due to gunfire - saying the woman was shot in the face.
She had participated in the attack and was attempting to climb into the U.S. Capitol building through a shattered window.
The officer involved was cleared of any charges in acknowledgment he was performing his duty protecting the Congress, staff and facility.
Although he did not add the additional details, the rioter was a white woman, the law enforcement officer was a Black man.
2 of 2:
45 takes the side of law enforcement and pledges to give them total immunity,
along the lines of the ruling of his hand-picked Supreme Court Justices placing him above the law.
The case of Sonya Massey.
One of the female panelists at NABJ posed the question about his stated intention to grant total immunity to law enforcement officers.
Sonya Massey was a Black woman who called 911 for help, fearing there was a prowler.
She was shot in the face and killed by an officer who had been discharged from the military, and cycled through six law enforcement agencies in four years.
She was unarmed, in her own home, and was trying to take a pot of boiling water off of the stove at the officers' direction.
The officer who killed her did not have his body cam operating. The incident was captured by the accompanying officer on his body cam.
The family was not initially informed her death was an officer-involved-shooting.
45 escalated the protests after the murder of George Floyd,
and the multiple high-profile cases publicized by the BLM movement.
He tries to give false equivalency to the situations, whose causes are wildly unrelated.
He decided to claim "Antifa" was the cause of protests and destruction in the wake of George Floyd's murder.
The reality is "when George Floyd called for his mama, he called for all the mamas."
The protests and outrage were people of good conscience who saw an injustice done and refused to silently stand by.
Just as the protests against the Netanyahu response to the horrors of October 7, 2023, have resulted in the collateral deaths and destruction of tens of thousands, mostly children, and the destruction and displacement of millions.
Netanyahu, more than the Israelis themselves, has been considered as engaging in war crimes, even genocide.
President Biden has been attempting to thread the needle on supporting Israel and attempting to affect a more measured response related to the Palestinians, for the potential of solutions rather than retaliations.
The differences in the mindset of 45 and Netanyahu,
vs Biden and Harris, whose husband, Doug Emhoff is Jewish,
is the difference between using a sledgehammer when a precision-instrument, like a scalpel, is more effective.
The same way 45 wants to isolate from the rest of the world and end alliances like NATO, then use military force to enter Mexico and hunt for drug dealers;
while the Biden/Harris administration has pinpointed leadership and apprehended wanted individuals while avoiding initiating a war or creating a crisis that would result in more refugees along the Southern border of peoples 45 refers to in Hitler-esque terms as "vermin" and "illegal."