While President Donald Trump is trying to project strength by ordering a federalized National Guard and the Marines into Los Angeles, a new Quinnipiac poll of American registered voters out today reinforces that both Trump and his policies are unpopular.
Ok Sen Paul. Put your money where your mouth is. Change parties. Eschew MAGA, the current iteration of what used to be the Republican Party. Can’t stomach joining the Democrats? At least change to Independent and vote against this shit. Dude. Step up. Otherwise, you’re just another zombie KoolAid drinker.
I snorted with laughter at Rand Paul’s comment. Really, Senator Paul? Takes an immature person to know one… Remember when you pissed off your neighbor by blowing your leaves onto his lawn so often that he tackled you and broke your ribs? We do! Now grow up and grow a real spine!
Who will be the 5 sniveling racist Republican Senators that will vote against the BBB? If the R's increase the corporate and individual tax rate by 4% for corporations and 3% for those earning over $250K it would come a long way to balancing the bill.
But, there are so many draconian cuts which mostly harm the vulnerable populations and the health of the entire planet, that the BBB should be burned and started over.
It is a travesty beyond belief that this POS passed the House.
They didn’t read it, they just voted for it because their lord and master demanded it. Cowards just like their silence or namby pamby ‘we support Trump’ on deploying troops to LA.
The tax cuts currently in the bill are going to cost me $700 because my income isn’t HIGH enough! If I had the lowest middle income amount, $53,600, it wouldn’t cost me a penny! And all so the billionaires, and millionaires can get $389,000! (pardon all the exclamation marks, GJ)
I think it would be better to increase the corporate tax rate as you said, and then tax the billionaires, as Warren Buffett has said. The use of a billionaire tax is mighty-- there are not that many of them, and all of them can afford it. Proportional justice would be served. The people who are already paying a 35-40% tax are in the under-a-million group. For family farmers, and retired professional people who are still trying to be of help in enhancing social justice, taxing this group more is not going to be so helpful. Some will give up the charities they have been trying to support.
Agreed, Linda--and also, we don't want him. I have to admit that one of the things I hate most (à la Andy Borowitz) is that this maladministration and the Felon in Chief have led me to agree with horrific people like Dick Cheney and Rand Paul.
We want him to help us defeat the disastrous Bill. Politics makes strange bedfellows and this one of those times. Being a purist and turning up our nose at potential allies in a battle is self-defeating.
I've said it before and I'll say again here. We are all born openminded and immature, and by the time our physical bodies have matured, we've left one of those two traits behind and retained the other.
Emotional maturation is a process involving expanding one's circle of concern until it encompasses one's circle of influence. Emotional maturation is never easy, but the best time is before becoming an adult. Unfortunately, instead of sitting him on a stool facing the corner with a dunce cap on his head, his constituents gave Rand a U.S. senate seat. What were they thinking?
They got the votes from him they wanted. RP will either vote the party line or, if there are enough votes to cover the spread, vote 'present' or some such.
Do the people that were polled even understand the substance of the question ? ( i.e .. language associated with titles and responsibilities of people in our local, State and Federal governments (of, by and for the people), I.e. our Democracy vs Oligarchic (sp) autocracy ? ) just asking , and " thinkin".
Good question. Go back to my definition of maturity in my comment that you replied to. It is unambiguous. When used in everyday conversation, the implicit definition of the word is very ambiguous. Why? Bob Dylan hit the nail on the head six decades ago when he asked, "How many times can a man turn his head and pretend that he just doesn’t see?" The answer, my friend, is smacking us all in the face every day, and almost no one wants to face an inconvenient truth.
If you're interested in having a conversation about this subject, I suggest reading the following essay, subscribing to my fee-free newsletter, and then give me some feedback. Regardless, thank you for your comment.
Good Rib Reminder, Linda! Thanks! I was doing some “remembering,” too this morning, as I was “talking” to Senator Paul:
Just curious, Senator Rand Paul: You are NOT going to Trumpie’s expensive parade on Flag Day - and, by your own admission, you “love parades,” right? AND, you just found out that you ain’t invited to the Big Beautiful White House Picnic? Let me ask, Sir, are you JUST NOW DISCOVERING that Trump is “incredibly petty” and that his “level of immaturity is beyond words?” This is new news to you?
Most of us reading this “Letter from an American” discovered Trump’s pettiness and immaturity, for sure, as we saw him floating down the Trump Tower Golden Escalator as he waved to “the crowds” that he PAID to be there. That was ten years ago. Such pettiness and immaturity had been on full display for many years before that, but this was a major experience - a WakeUp Alarm Call Knock Out - WACKO, for short. Senator Paul, you have had ten years to uncover this guy’s pettiness and immaturity! That event was on June 16, 2015. Ain’t you got a TV, Senator? Where ya been?
There were several dozen people at that “event,” but in his speech that day, Trump claimed that there were THOUSANDS at the “event.” Dozens do not equal Thousands. ALL Americans know that, even my 5 year old grandniece.
A few days later, this “Casting Call” was uncovered and it stated: “We are looking to cast people for the event to wear T-shirts and carry signs and help cheer him in support of his announcement.” The payment was 50 bucks and (probably) ya got to keep the T-shirt, but ya had to turn in the signs - undamaged! (The “signs” quip is just a joke, Rick.)
Now, Senator Paul, I believe in our nation’s tradition of a Secret Ballot, but…just guessing here…you have probably voted for him THREE TIMES. Did you really vote for a Petty Immature President - a PIP? Three times?
Maybe Petty Old Obtuse President is better, huh? (Thanks, Michele!) I guess that would be POOP, right? (Time for some more coffee, Papa!)
Papa, you nailed it. What do these spineless GOPers think they are accomplishing by blindly following tRump? Does Puppy Dog Paul think that his voters are stupid?
What does he do all day? Thinking certainly isn't on the list. It doesn't take a genius to see the decimation of our democracy wrought by Paul and his GOP collaborators in their crimes against humanity. Yes, HUMANITY.
Right on, skayen! It took Senator Paul 10 years (at least) to come up with petty and immature? Apparently, he has decided he doesn’t need Trump anymore. Or, perhaps, he is telling Trump, “Hey, Petty Old Obtuse President, I don’t need YOU, but YOU will be needing me and my vote on your OBBB. Deal with it, POOP!”
Linda, Well, yes, i am no fan of Rand, but he does show how petty the regime is. Kiss my ass or you don't get invited to the traditional picnic. Wonder what they serve?
Uninviting Paul to the picnic is not petty or immature... it is simply true to the general intimidation policies and probably very effective... unfortunately.
So you mean our legislators have sunk to such a state of blind spinelessness that they fear the mere anticipation of getting snubbed by Trump in being refused tickets to that picnic? These are the days when showing up to eat Trump's baked beans has become a critical demonstration of political loyalty to the man. And being allowed to show up and eat those baked beans a coveted sign that Trump still likes them.
I have to say that I was surprised that more Republicans are not going to the 47 mil dollar parade, with an additional 17 million to repair the streets, and I don't know how much using the National Guard is costing, but a lot of people are not getting health care and children not getting food for that bit of performance. We should not only go out on June 14, but make sure to boycott all coverage of the parade. It seems like many corporations are sponsoring it, so we need to let them know we will not be using their businesses if we can.
Many times I have railed against the trustifarians here, but I was heartened yesterday to see Christy Walton support the protests on Saturday. But then I learned that she is the widow of John T. Walton, son of Sam and she is worth around $19.3 billion. Like so many other wealthy women (Mackenzie Scott, Melinda Gates, Susan Buffett, etc.) she is using her wealth to fight for our democracy. Hopefully, some of the other Waltons will be as generous. Walmart and Sam's Club have bankrupted thousands of mom and pop retail outlets across the country, while helping move our manufacturing to third world countries.
I am thinking of how Homeland security is in charge of terrorism, and they have no one minding the shop according to ProPublica, which means that terror acts are not going to be prevented.
January 6 was Insurrection and terrorism, yet the perpetrators were encouraged and egged on by DJT, while he sat in the White House dining room watching the horror on TV, doing nothing to stop it. One of his first acts when he somehow got into the White House for a 2nd term, was to pardon the January 6 insurrectionists and terrorists.
How is this allowed to happen?
How is a rapist, convicted felon, compulsive liar, divider of people, even allowed to run for President of the United States of America?
How is FOX News allowed to remain on the air after proven to spread lies and conspiracy theories ?
Isn't it interesting, GJ, that it is the WOMEN in those families whose male members gleefully prey upon everyone else in order to become disgustingly wealthy are the ones who are saying "wait a minute" and using their vast wealth for good? It started with the Joan Kroc Foundation's massive gift decades ago to NPR. She was the heiress of McDonald's founder Ray Kroc. Now if only the boyz would realize that their sisters, ex-wives, and mothers have it right . . .
As Warren Buffet reminds us, "Giving money to the wealthy children that never did anything to earn it, is like picking your olympic team on the basis of being children of former champions." He actually approves of inheritance tax. It is the trust fund babies that are killing this planet. Some are trying to save it, but they seem to be in the minority.
Yes. I am also hearing that the National Guard are not officially sent out in LA with their orders papers, so they are currently not getting paid. It would be good for someone with the skills to do this, to keep track of what Trump claims to save and how much more things are costing.
A former Guardsman mentioned this in a comment in the Washington Post yesterday. The financial hardship being demanded of them (on top of no orders and not being wanted by local police) is something almost nobody has talked about.
It's Congress's oversight job to do this, but they're not doing it particularly well. Most of the bizarre savings claims by DOGE, for example, were torpedoed by the media.
Most National Guardsmen from the first deployment were already under-occupied so the further deployment of 2,000 more was just a costly stunt by Trump to reinforce his false claims that the entire city was under threat when only 2% of the greater LA area has been affected by the protests. It wasn't that long ago that the National Guard was close to financial collapse.
My LMT, a vet and I were talking about the treatment of National Guard in LA....the pictures of them sleeping on the floor and he said they were eating meals ready to eat. They would have been better to visit a local restaurant.
Well, I don't know how you boycott Palantir, but I do know that you boycott Coke by telling them that you are not buying their product anymore. I don't anyway, but I will make sure my husband does not.
I don't drive Dodge or a Jeep, but I suppose one could target them like Tesla. Not the same though because I bet MAGAs are fine driving them. I don't shop at Walmart, and Germany where I mainly live kicked them out for their business model not meeting Germany's work standards.
If someone finds a better source for a list, please share it.
Ironic that Coca Cola is sponsoring the birthday parade, in light of the effect Trump's aluminum tariff is having on Coke's production costs. I saw a report that Coke CEO James Quincey is considering moving U.S. soft drink production offshore because the tariff could increase the retail cost of Coke products by as much as 50¢ per can, which consumers would reject.
But then, parade sponsorship might be Coke's bribe to make a tariff exception for aluminum imported to make cans. Donald responds favorably to bribes.
Oh, I'll be out! US flag, tee shirt about an issue I care about & my No Kings sign. I just hope people who are in DC do not give Orange Turd a chance to fulfill Hegseth's wet dream of loosing the military on a crowd. Silence IS a statement!
Constance, I can't even imagine what such a gathering is like. I am guessing there are long lines just waiting to either smooch the Trump Rump or kiss the ring. Trump has only power to offer anyone, so the folks in those lines are not people anyone who cares about this nation would want to know.
Since the days of Gingrich and Reagan, Republican lawmaker have been indoctrinated on the Golden Rule: bend the knee to the party fathers or be primaried and lose access to the jobs that provide them with the gold. By now it's become a feral instinct among Republican reps. Following the party bosses is the only way they can survive in Washington.
The only thing that will break the pattern is for political conditions to change so these spineless toadies can only keep their jobs by actually representing their constituents. No Kings Day is a step down that road.
Can you even imagine wanting to go to any picnic where the insipid orange turd was present, female family members would stand a good chance of being grabbed by the pussy and kissed against their will. Never forget what he said, he spoke the truth for once and maybe the only time in his miserable life. The fact that Rand Paul was disturbed at being disinvited speaks volumes, you or I would probably see that as the universe putting in a needed correction.
Christopher, Paul should be grateful not to have to be serenaded by anyone as ignorant, uncaring, OK, evil as Donald Toddler-Trump. Trump has no idea what he is actually saying or doing except that it is designed by someone to do a maximum of harm within a given range. Right now, we are just waiting for the National Guardspersons or Marines to kill a citizen or two or even an immigrant for media coverage to open the door wide to all the EVIL the Kiddies Kindergarten Klan with their Toddler-Trump can do to We the People. There are more of us than them, so we need to start acting like it.
I was surprised thevWH was planning something like that and of course so partisan. It’s a poor look all the way around. More like kindergarteners in charge of putting on a tea party.
Graciousness , etiquette would be invite all parties.
No Russell, Pinocchio is already installed in the White House and doing a great job every minute of every day. His nose is growing longer than his tie. Going into Pinochet's direction it's much ,much worse but given time, we'll get there since according to HCR numbers, about 40% of voters still support the scumbag president and Proyect 2025. So many morons, so little time. 😒
He is a Libertarian. The "Dude" is not railing against MAGA. His core beliefs center around the Libertarian mindset of smaller government. "Furthermore, libertarians tend to believe that most (if not all) of the claims to special authority made by the various governments around the world are unjustifiable. Governments assert wide-reaching powers to control people’s day-to-day conduct, take their belongings, and even conscript them into fighting wars. If they offer any justification for these powers, it’s only as an afterthought."
In addition, Senator Paul was a member of the Tea Party movement which began in 2007. "Participants in the movement called for lower taxes and for a reduction of the national debt and federal budget deficit through decreased government spending."
So. you see between wanting to see a smaller government and lower spending Senator Paul would be adamantly opposed to what this regime is doing.
I remember his behavior vividly at a hearing during the pandemic where Dr. Anthony Fauci testified. Dr. Rand Quack tried to smear him by rambling on about puppies in labs or something, whereupon the REAL doctor in the room just looked at him and said, "Senator, you do not know WHAT you are talking about." Oh, but you should have seen Paul's leg jiggle up and down with scarcely contained outrage! Fancy one of the little people telling His Poobahness that he's full of beans, the nerve! The nerve!
I don’t even think it sounds good. Early humans would listen to that mindset and throw them off a cliff. We survive when everyone contributes to the survival of the group. It’s a little more complicated in a modern society but it’s based on the same principles. Libertarians want a free ride.
I heard exactly what you said, Barbara. I think any space talking about Rand maliciously is wasted. I, for one, am glad this particular correspondent from CNN thought to get comment from a Libertarian. This is a party that represents people that have NO qualms speaking against the Admin’s policy and tactics. It is important that opposition includes all parties, e.g Dems, Republicans, Independents and Libertarians representing in this case as a coalition. Because opposition to the BBB, can mean a vote against it. Times such as these serve to bring people of different tents into one. I applaud it.
The "everyone is an enemy but us" mindset has got to go if we are to win against this regime (it is not an Administration). If we get really tactical and sharp, we can defeat these people. There are more of us than them. And we will win.
I parted with Libertarians I generally was on good terms with finding even the best of them ignored areas where the government could do far more basic stuff than any disjointed private or even cooperative enterprises would do at the levels most beneficial to all.
My grandfather was a reasonably progressive Republican Dairy Farmer and retired as the Chief Dairy Inspector for the state (and all dairies and milk processing plants that sold milk in the state), to me much in the mold of the best county agricultural agents that came from the land grant colleges started in Abraham Lincoln's first term with the first Morrill Act of 1862. Buchanan had vetoed the bill in 1859, but it was reintroduced in 1861 and Lincoln signed it in 1862. Of the initial 57 colleges and universities, friends and relatives attended (and some earned top degrees and honors from, UC - Riverside most recently), some of the original land grant universities such as the University of Massachusetts, University of Maine, University of Florida, Virginia Tech, Cornell, Penn State.
A key point, to me , expanding engineering vs proficiency in dead languages aimed more at teaching ministers back when you couldn't create a town without having a minister for the church in town), is included in https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morrill_Land-Grant_Acts
"...The land grant colleges transformed engineering education in America and boosted the United States into a position of leader in technical education. Before the Civil War, American colleges primarily trained students in classical studies and the liberal arts. For the most part, only the relatively affluent could afford higher education, and entrance requirements often required proficiency in the dead languages of Latin and Ancient Greek. The first Bachelor of Science (B.S.) degrees, which typically required no Latin, came into being around 1850.[15] American engineers were mostly educated at the United States Military Academy, on fortress construction, and their instructors were the authors of most engineering texts of the day. The Morrill Act changed all of that. Though the Congressional debates about the Act were largely focused on benefits to agriculture, the mechanic arts were specifically included in the Act's language, meaning applied sciences and engineering. The Act prohibited spending the endowment on constructing buildings as expensive and unnecessary, so instead the tools for engineering education increased, such as textbooks, laboratories and equipment. The number of engineers skyrocketed. Whereas in 1866 there were around 300 American men who had graduated with engineering degrees and only six reputable colleges granting them, just four years later there were 21 colleges offering engineering degrees and the total number of engineers graduated had tripled to 866. The following decade added another 2,249 engineers, and by 1911 the United States was graduating 3,000 engineers a year, with a total of 38,000 in the work force. At the time, Germany was graduating 1,800 engineers per year. The US had become the leader in technical education just 50 years after passage of the Morrill Act..."
The part about requiring a minister comes from a visit to the Pejepscot History Center at the Joushua L. Chamberlain Museum in Brunswick Maine. It seems Bowdoin College was started to make up for the inability for Harvard to train the numbers needed, in the time they wanted them.
Seems this administration is hell bent on destroying the educational advances that helped us gain the leadership in the world, much in the way Heather and Pete Buttigieg described it at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4diHMLyJPx0
When is the ACLU going to call for a general strike? Are soldiers (NG and Marines) who violate their oath to the constitution going to be court martialed and dishonorably discharged? Trust in every institution in the land has been destroyed because actions don't have consequences. This is BSC.
Heir Donald at age 5 was famous for being a rich sandbox bully in Queens, throwing tantrums and stealing other kids toys. Nothing much has changed except he's expanded his audience to 35% of the voting public. What an embarrassment for America
Politico reports that Rand Paul and his family have after all been invited to the picnic. However, Kentucky senator Thomas Massie has been disinvited. He hadn't intended to go anyway - he says he would have given the tickets to his staff.
I think I'd rather see Paul pulling the Republican Party back to the center than pulling the Democratic Party even farther to the right. Let him stay Republican, or go Independent. At least that way he won't increase the damage.
Seriously?? The Democratic Party has enough problems without welcoming the likes of Rand Paul, or even so-called "moderate," overwhelmingly white Republicans who are disgusted with Trump but were apparently OK with Reagan, Bush I, and Cheney/Bush II.
All I want is a majority. Which means strange bedfellows at least in the near term. And I’d Randy Paul votes with the Dems, he may not win his seat when u- for re-election.
That raises the question, would he have more influence inside the party to resist Trump or as an independent? Might not fighting inside the GOP at this time require more "spine"? It seems insiders willing to start to speak up are what helped stall, if not kill the BBB.
Sky High, I am not sure how Paul really feels about anything. It seems to me, though he should know better, he has supported the wrong people for a long time as well as the wrong issues. Now claiming a few things he doesn't like about Trump's "policies" sounds a bit disingenuous. I just don't see him leaving anything as important to him as the Republican Party
My positive visualization has Pete Buttigieg as Secretary of State. In some administrations this position has been THE most important. The department touches almost every subject and its leader has been THE top adviser to the president. Who could be better?
Of course, the role is now filled by an opportunistic puppet and murderer.
Yes, Kari—well said. I’ve been thinking a lot about that quote from Secretary Buttigieg too. Without shared truths, it becomes so easy to feel unmoored. I’m grateful for voices like Heather’s that help us see clearly and stay anchored in integrity.
Christy, over the years since a friend "introduced" me to Heather, I swear this community has been like an extended family. Many of us have dropped little comments about our lives, so I've come to "know" many here. I will talk to my husband about what various commentors here say, and he "knows" them like they are my blood cousins! LOL When I don't see anyone posting for awhile, I actually get a bit concerned. (Where are you Apache? Haven't seen you in a few.) Some leave, and I miss them (Fern always added so much!)
This group is all over the country and around the world. I value how they expand upon what Heather tells us, with their personal knowledge or links to more information they share. Long time readers have rooted for lin+ in the fight with Leonard Leo. We held our breath as Allen left the Ukraine for Canada. We learned middle east history from Keith thanks to his official experience, Bryan keeps us informed of the legal battles against MAGA, Ally adds her knowledge from her years in the police, TC ended up on Nixon's enemies list and continues to fight with his "That's Another Fine Mess" substack.
I could go on and on, and I apologize for anyone I'm leaving off here.
I'm fortunate to be in a blue area in a blue state, but even still, I am grateful for the people here who also shake their heads in dismay, or cheer the wins! I can imagine that this is a lifeblood to those stuck in red areas.
Miselle, I'm a relative newcomer here, but already, I feel the kinship you describe. I'm one of those blue specks in a red – and especially ignorant – red state.
Being new to this community, I already feel the depth of connection and care that runs through it. Reading your comment reminds me that even in the most difficult times, we can find strength in each other. It is truly moving to see how people show up here—not just with information, but with heart. I’m grateful to be part of it now, and I look forward to learning and growing alongside all of you.
The outpouring I recieved when my brother died of Alzheimers exacerbated by COVID was incredible. In my journey to get any of my manuscripts traditionally published, I've also received direct communication and valuable assistance from two successful published authors who comment on here. The odds are against me, but I'm gonna get there!
We have a virtual "bookclub" where people here recommend books. I've read amazing books thanks to their input. Through Ellie Kona, I discovered postcarding for political campaigns, which has helped me feel I was DOING something. (Although I regret my many postcards for Fetterman). Megan daily posts a spreadsheet of phone numbers to Congress.
The family on here has impacted me personally, and I am awed by finding this group. Welcome to you, Christy. You're gonna love it here.
Miselle, I’ve been a member of this community since the early Trump years. I agree, it’s good to continue to see folks who have been a part of these discussions for years. Thank you for mentioning familiar names. Heather’s letters and our community conversations have provided much insight and encouragement throughout good times and bad.
Thirty-eight percent of voters approve of the way Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is handling his job; 53% disapprove. Thirty-seven percent of voters approve of the way Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth is handling his job, while 46% disapprove. Thirty-eight percent approved of the work billionaire Elon Musk did, while 57% said it was either “not so good” or “poor.”
You can fool all of the people some of the time, and some of the people all of the time...
KKK is still active & some tough-guy R. pols are members, Texas Agg Commissioner Sid Miller being an example of at least a sympathizer: https://americanjournalnews.com/sid-miller-stephen-texas-agriculture-commissioner-bigotry-lawsuit-racism/ Check out his promo material. Like 47, he’s playing a dramatic role in Texas’ fake reality teevee world. I thought at first look that it was a shot of Larry Hagman, as the star of the TV series, Dallas
47's misadministration is crawling with Nazis, Steven MIller maybe the most openly viscious one of them. It appeals to the most radical, born again "Christian" survivalist freaks in MAGA-world, the ones they seem to be recruiting to do the dirty work of terrorizing immigrants of all status and anyone not of the MAGA tribe. It's a real social pathology. I don't know how long it can self sustain. Dr. Bandy X. Lee writes about this stuff at least a few times / week. Her insight is valuable.
Also voter suppression snd other election subversion techniques, a Federal Judiciary loaded with right wing ideologues, and big money domination of politics and media.
Would be interesting to see what proportion of that 38% relied on some form of govt assistance. What level of pain is required to alter that number. I guess we'll see in real time in the coming months...
I wish I could think that that would change those cultist minds--and it probably will, for a small number.
Unfortunately the real die-hard MAGA base will accept & tolerate any hardship as long as they can believe that those they hate and despise are also suffering.
I'm repeating myself, but I must remind you all of the important role evangelicalism plays in MAGA World. Two theorems govern the evangelical culture: 1. Good things in life are "God's blessings" and bad things in life are "God's will." 2. Suffering is the inevitable condition of "good Christians" and should be welcomed as a badge of honor.
This dissociative line of thinking expands to even those who don't consider themselves to be religious.
In a culture that regards Donald as "the new messiah," thinking or suggesting that he did something harmful is heresy. Don't expect those base numbers to change.
Would Richard Dawkins book on a specific "delusion" help them? Some Python perhaps? I suspect, as you indicate, that cohort is a lost cause. If you're only a strong as your weakest link, then this is a serious problem.
One-third the country remains under the control of a disembodied orange "brain" preserved in a jar of electrolytes on a distant planet orbiting a forgotten star in an alternative galaxy far, far away. I don't think you'll ever bring these people back to anything resembling reality.
They just go about leading their lives—they are to busy getting the kids to school and going to two jobs to pay the bills and they don’t bother with reading opposing views or investigating whether something is true or think about the future. They have their routines and tune into Fox at night and things seem fine to them. They wonder why we are bellyaching. ANYTHING Trump does is ok with the cuz the don’t really get it anyway.
It's hard to acknowledge, but the fact is that the U.S. was born from violence and white supremacy. In the tree of a thousand colorful branches that has grown over the past two centuries, that core of white, brittle hardwood remains, extending all the way down to the roots. When the tree is damaged, that white core that stinks of violence and racism is exposed. When we join together and heal the damage, we make them disappear, but we can't get rid of them.
I think that 37% to 38% represents 47's most hardened MAGAt base...those cultists who will never give up their belief in him. That percentage has been fairly steady from the outset, and they are the ones who will go to their graves believing in 47.
Trump relies on being able to fool enough of the people some of the time, especially at elections. Seriously though, you make a very good point and his decision to appoint only idiots and sycophants to his cabinet is bound to have adverse consequences for his administration, as indeed we've already seen on numerous occasions.
on the other hand, it's a gang that is not likely to vote for his removal as incapable, under the 25th Amendment. So safety in numbers (of clowns, but loyal ones).
But not all of the people all of the time…who are these “people “ in the 38%? I get those surveys very often and I don’t fill them out. Perhaps we should all start so they see these disapproval numbers as they really are.
Colette, in my very early retirement (which started 2/1/2020!!) I was stuck inside and I used to do surveys on surveyjunkie.com. You actually get paid a bit for them, but not much--anything from 25 cents to a buck or two depending upon the time. I enjoyed them, as I liked to see possible new products (actually got a few sent to me to test) and I LOVED the political ones as I could trash Trump! There were endless ones on cars, banks and phones which I found boring. Once I hit age 65, I didn't qualify for many anymore, so I gave up looking at it. (They all start with qualifying questions, so they are looking for a certain demographic) Amazingly, one that stands out in my mind was a LONG one that showed me profiles of six potential running mates for Biden, before he picked Harris!
Currently, I'm signed up to yougov. They send me an email alert about one a week. For them, they issue points, which when they accrue, you can turn into cash in your bank account, or dozens of different gift cards. I enjoy these, and have told friends who've signed up. I am so so so so so happy when I get political surveys!! ;-D
I've seen "who answers the phone for surveys" and I suspect very few are done by phone these days. YouGov doesn't ask qualifying questions--apparently they preselect.
That being said, I read a FASCINATING book years ago, and a section in it deals with the bias in surveys. I was astounded to read it and see how the many surveys I had completed had bias in it! One that struck me was the question "Is the country going in the wrong direction?" How many times have you seen that? Well, if I agree it is, is it because I'm a MAGA and I hate trans people? Or it because I am liberal, and I disagree with book bans? This really opened my eyes--as you don't know WHO commissioned the survey and how they will use the results! Anyone interested in this, do read this book. It isn't at all boring!
"The Number Bias: How numbers Lead and Mislead Us" by Sanne Blauw
Thank you Miselle for all this information! I will take a look. I am also retired but when I was working in corporate America I was often involved with surveys, sometimes from the perspective of how a certain demographic would react, sometimes I would have displays in stores and although we wouldn’t ask questions, we would watch to see if the displays would draw people to look. We would also add or take away things in displays to see what made people be more interested. Although technically not a survey, the data collected was very important. We had a department that wrote or hired people to write surveys and they would bring us the information and feedback. It was very interesting but you are VERY right, depending on who has commissioned the surveys they can be very slanted to give the “owner” justification.
We have a very stupid 40% plus or minus population. I am bewildered by polls these days. How are they conducted? Who's being polled? This is not the USA of 30 years ago.I doubt the accuracy.
W is probably satisfied that Trump has displaced him and will now and forever take the top place in a list of the country's worst Presidents...or at least, so I hope.
While I think there is an education component to who is most easily misled, I doubt it is primarily a matter of innate intellectual capacity which I would expect to reveal a similar profile around the world. My guess is that it has more to do with what we are taught about how to identify which information is reliable. Does it come primarily from a human "authority" or is it drawn or vetted through disciplined testing and logic? That's a developed skill, and also a culture. Some household perpetuate an authoritarian standard both as a model in the home and in overall society. I think such people are reassured by Trump and his ilk BECAUSE presents as an authoritarian, not in spite of it.
So true, I watched a brilliant family (parents and four children) become chump idiots. One rebel among the MAGAts. Mom was smartest woman I knew, dad was a “my way or the highway” type. In 1996, they had Fox on tv 24 hours a day. Not a typo. They stayed up late.
I have seen a number of demonstrably clever and "well educated" people become full out MAGA. One to whom I am related by marriage watched Fox for hours. His proof of his concepts was "people I trust say ..." . There are people I trust for good information as well, but not quite the same way. Anyone could be mistaken, myself most certainly included, but how does what is said fit with with my store of testable evidence?
Obviously there is a massive amount that I cannot test completely, but look for pieces of the puzzle that mesh from multiple approaches. What models appear to work when you actives seek to uncover their flaws? "Experts", such as scientists, can and do get it wrong, but the trustworthy ones make every effort not to, and they endlessly test and revise. As a general rule, whose counsel is more reliable: scholars or politicians? It's amusing to watch politicians belligerently say that they "never said" 'such and such', run in tandem with news "footage" in which they said exactly that. Not that it seems to slow them down any.
In 1996. Fox was so over the top ridiculous that I was gob smacked by these friends. Their “fair and balanced” was so patiently bull schitt, anybody should have spotted it. Sadly, didn’t happen.
I was reading an article yesterday with numbers on approval/disapproval of troop deployment in LA. It seemed that in the end the people who disapprove are the ones who are actually following closely what’s going on. The ones who approve are just parroting the cult, just like their silence GOP who refuse to say a word against their cult leader.
Trump is literally trying to kill our economy, destroy our constitution and make a mockery of our US armed forces. Meanwhile, there is a potential scary war between Iran, Israel & America, and Americans are quietly leaving embassies. No media is covering this bc they’re so focused on the distraction Trump has created in LA.
Ricardo, the only reason Donald is getting richer faster at the moment is that he's not personally managing these grifts. IF – and that's very big IF – he is removed from the White House before he dies, and IF he evades imprisonment, and he takes control of the wealth he's accruing now, he will lose it all.
Recall that he started out in his adult life with millions of inherited dollars, but still had to be bailed out numerous times until his paternal ATM died. He lost all that money and had to borrow vast sums to continue his businesses. He achieved the impossible by bankrupting no less than 4 casinos. All of his non-real estate ventures failed and his actual stake in his remaining businesses is minuscule.
Only a fool would let him manage anything – unless his indebtedness could be turned into favors of a different kind, as Vladimir Putin has done.
No normal people, knowing his administrative history would vote for him for anything. However, there he is, nested in the White House destroying everything he can reach and beyond. As for too many voters, I always say there's mo cure for stupidity. Thanks for your comment Dale.
Destruction is the goal. Fast and complete. They told us while chump was blathering about his ability to solve every problem. Carnival barker sold his freak show.
Yeah, I find those poll numbers cited by Heather pretty astounding, but for a different reason! On average 38% of our fellow Americans are ready to embrace an authoritarian demise of our democracy!! A 2011 CNN poll found that 23% of Americans identified more with the former Confederacy than the Union, the fertile ground for Trumpism. Same damn people who suck resources from the federal government at a higher rate than they pay taxes are ready to destroy our country. Let them all secede and wallow in their hatred and poverty.
I don't ignore your numbers or statement. My concern is with the military sycophants who willingly volunteered to attend Trump's address to the troops. I have to wonder how many of them were from deep southern states that align with Trump and his machismo leanings. I was taken in by the demand that he didn't want any "fat" soldiers attending. I was on Facebook yesterday and came across this golden nugget of a post from Harlow's Musings. I can't find out who "Harlow" is, as Google states that the individual' name is unknown. However, his post is quite the "calling out" of all those Southern gentlemen who tend to suck up to Trump. Here is his full post. It's a doozy! https://www.facebook.com/reel/23992446607015427
Fox "news" plays all day at military commissaries - so the armed forces have no reality check to what the commander-in-chief tells them. And the main purpose of Fox is to make people angry, so it's a motivation...
Ya.,. Ally. Pretty disgusting. I can understand that individual military personnel may have their personal opinions about a dem or a repub., but they all swore an oath to the Constitution that is supposed to put all of them well above that. When tRump is gone, the new administration is going to have to work really hard to relegitimize (if I can use such a word) the non-partisan honor of all US forces.
Some might agree with him, some might just wanted to have bragging rights of being there. And some might have the same fascination as those who slow down to look at a train wreck.
In the military you cannot refuse to attend anything. But you can bet they all cheered on demand and it was as setup as picking which troops would be seen. I am surprised they were not all white men.
I am wondering if it’s more likely the blue states secede. To paraphrase the moron president, we hold all the cards when it comes to economic power. He needs us way more than we need him.
Here is an interesting way to flip your negative, so the slogan you paint on this weekends PROTEST SIGN will agree with your values…frame it in the positive.
click on the link,
Simon Sinek - Human Brain Cannot Comprehend The Negative (ie: MAGA convert)
…”It may help if we think of ourselves as protectors instead of protesters. We protect the rule of law. We protect due process. We protect our government from unelected oligarchs. We go to the streets to protect our democracy.” - public comment.
but do most of those people still supporting Trump even know about the fraud, or if they do (that jet was pretty visible), care? They don't condone it in the abstract, but they don't worry about it in the real world. Just Trump being Trump, he's never cared about anything besides money, nothing to look at here...
I read that Texas is worried about losing seats to Democrats so they’re planning on redistricting to dilute votes and try to retain power. Not the first time they’ve done this.
I really like and admire HCR, and I value the work she does to bring Americans this information. This comment isn’t made as a criticism of her. But. We have got to stop looking at polls and nodding happily and thinking that Trumpism is near collapse. The simple fact of the matter is that Trump has a stranglehold on our country. His poll numbers were this low at various points during his first term, and that did nothing to rid us of him. Like a bacteria temporarily quelled by a quasi-effective antibiotic, he’s simply come back stronger.
So true! Trump is the Major Domo, out in front doing his dance to get all the attention! I fear the polls reflect the distraction of his antics and not the reaction to the REAL questions we are all asking in the moment. What has happened to our Government in the last five months is a halt, a full stop to all the checks and balances so carefully created in the last seventy years. All humanitarian support has been withdrawn from the world, WE HAVE ABANDONED OUR TRUSTED ALLIES. They are slowly recovering from their shock that has been replaced with anger, lack of respect and an overwhelming need to to let us know that they will not forget and they will move on without us. And how is one to interrpret that. We have lost our ability to make ourselves safe by eliminating thousands of workers whose jobs were to keep our food safe, and recall what is not safe. The drugs we take will no longer have personnel to look at their safety and efficacy much less interpret existing drug research or move forward with the process of reviewing new drugs. We are in the midst of global climate change resulting in weather that is so bizzare it's terrifying to look at the distruction and deadly weather events on the morning forcast. Hurricane Season is upon us and and our trusted forecasters at the National Weather Service and The National Hurricane Center are GONE! And what about FEMA!? Leave it to the States? Really?! Polls are great , so there is a foot in the door. I fear the worst is yet to come. Whos minding the store where do we go from here , how do we keep safe , keep our familys safe , move forward . How do we move forward with the loss of our government. how do we repair the damage that has already been done. Who is working on this? ? The coup was won. Our elected officials are totally absorbed in fund raising and the next elections. Our democracy is slipping away. How are we to move forward with the process of living. And now we are facing a Brain Drain. We have become accustomed to solving problems because we attract the smartest and brightest to study here and help us solve so many of of the EARTHS problems. The smart people want to study , learn, create and solve problems. They will go elsewhere. where they are welcomed as they should be. We have a new country, it's becoming a new world. so many things are not the same. Where do we go from here. Keeps me awake at night. who will bring my neighbor her breakfast? who is minding the store.
She is reporting the facts as she finds them. I agree that WE can no longer look at this in a normal way. This is not normal. This is the Lewis Powell Memo, 7 Mountains, Protocols of the Elders of Zion, Handmaid's Tale, 1984 stuff in action....did I miss anything?
What is clear to me is that he is immune to polls and the numbers reflected. Narcissists could care less about what others think or are saying about them. His attitude may well be the determining act that self-inflicts his demise. The problem is, I have trouble waiting that long for it to happen.
Yet again, our intrepid historian has captured the essence of current events in the context of our long and convoluted history. Never, in my 91 years, after serving as a Navy pilot, attempting to make a difference as president of seven non-profit organizations, one of them statewide in California, voting in every election since Dwight David Eisenhower’s second term, and attempting to stay abreast of current events as a responsible citizen, would I have imagined ending up with this sentiment about my Country’s behavior: ashamed. It is beyond painful.
Still, despite that brutal sentiment, I assert there are enough Americans, whatever their emotional state, who believe in our Great American Experiment and will do whatever they can to restore a legitimate return to our trajectory. That commitment will be energized by appreciating in real time the damage those who would destroy our endeavor are willing to impose.
Heather and so many others seek to clarify that. They are patriots in every sense of the word.
I have no idea when I will utter my last word on this matter. What I do know is that I am not alone. This community of Americans--and so many others-- remind of that virtually every day.
I’m sorry you have to see this circus play out after a lifetime of service to the American people. I often think about my Grandfather and what he would think if he were here… he fought in WWII, and while we are Australian he would be hanging his head in shame at what our world has become. Particularly the fascism that has been allowed to proliferate unchecked, the very thing he fought against. Sending our support from the Southern Hemisphere 🙏🏻
Al, your comment reminds me that the majority of Americans have lost the definition of "patriot." It is not someone who applauds their homeland, no matter what it may do. A patriot does not think their homeland is the best in the world.
Few of us do not have imperfect family members. Some of us come from ideal families imbued with love and harmony. But some of us were beaten or sexually molested by family members. Some of us have parents who misused substances. Some of us have been abandoned by parents. Some of us have parents who didn't know how to parent and they made a mess of it. Some of us have children who made these mistakes. We know they screwed up, but we still love them anyway, and want them to be their best selves.
Real patriots can acknowledge both the successes and failures of their country, but love it anyway, wanting their homeland to be the best it can be, working to help it rise to its potential.
Thanks for that clarification, Dale. Yes: "the best it can be, helping it rise to its potential" says it exceptionally well. Perfect is not currently available on Planet Earth, or any part of it. I suspect you and I would agree that some of our most dedicated patriots demonstrated that quality by means of searing criticism--and then went on to do something constructive about it. I, too, think of patriotic as applauding the idea and aspirations of America, not ignoring the many failures and transgressions we have embraced over our almost 250 year experiment. Rather, acknowledging and learning from them. I hope our exchange here is a useful contribution to the dialogue Heather regularly inspires. You just proved that I am not alone, Dale.
I appreciate the thoughtfulness of the rejoinders, including yours. It is precisely this quality of exchange that I believe Heather's "Letters" seek to inspire. Just for the record, I have no intention of giving up and I don't think you do either.
“I love parades, but I’m not really excited about $40 million for a parade. I don’t really think the symbolism of tanks and missiles is really what we’re all about…. All the images that come to mind are Soviet Union and North Korea.”
Nah. He's focused ONLY upon the number with a dollar sign in front of it. That is only and ever what RP's grift consists of: throwing high dollar amounts around to outrage his otherwise inattentive base.
Thank you so much for your daily letters. Absolutely crucial right now.
Call. Write. Email. Protest. Unrelentingly.
Use/share this spreadsheet as a resource to call/email/write members of Congress, the Cabinet and news organizations. Reach out to your own reps, as well as those in other states on a specific committee important to a topic you’re sharing. Use your voice and make some “good trouble.”
The poll shows that 38% of registered voters approve of the way Trump is handling his job as president; 54% disapprove.<<<
Sadly, these numbers are *not* remarkable. They reflect the same percentage of intractable, entrenched MAGA cult voters as back in November, as well as about the same number who disapproved of Trump.
All of the narratives constantly being repeated, especially by the liberal media and various substacks, about Trump and his authoritarian vision and impulses (which are completely true), are not moving the dial. I fear for our country and what has to happen before that dial actually really does start to move. For certain, a whole lot of working class MAGA voters are going to have to understand who is responsible for the economic pain they are feeling, and it's not going to be "short-term for the future good," as they console themselves with this fantasy in the present. And a whole lot more voters need to step up and start registering their disapproval beside barely above 50%. Looking at you, Independents, who sat on the fence until the election (and even then many of you voted for Trump) when the choice was clear as a bell. And looking at you voters, some 90 million, who didn't vote at all.
Ya... I agree Michael. In looking at the numbers, I wasn't too impressed with them. For all the trauma that is now befalling this nation, the percentage gaps demonstrated are, for me, not nearly wide enough. They need to be far wider.
I understand what you’re saying; emotionally, my heart says “how can anyone listen to tRump’s rambling, mean-spirited nonsense for 5 seconds and still “approve” of him at all?
But if you imagine yourself as a voter who is not paying attention to the news, what signs would tell you that we’re in a crisis? Other than those fired by DOGE, or disappeared off the streets by masked thugs, or sick with measles, life is pretty similar to a year ago. Most things in this great country still seem to be ticking along as usual. Citizens *should* be paying more attention to the news, of course, but if you don’t make the effort to know what the tRump regime is doing, you probably have not yet been directly impacted by his idiocy. And I’m not even talking about Fox addicts, who are contributing to the approval rates.
BUT: GOP politicians know they cannot win elections with the sort of approval rates that HCR has cited. They know that they can’t win primaries by splitting from tRump and they can’t win General elections by sticking with him when he is so unpopular. Soon, many GOP politicians will probably start declaring their retirement.
These low approval ratings are a bigger deal than our hearts tell us.
"I don’t really think the symbolism of tanks and missiles is really what we’re all about…. All the images that come to mind are Soviet Union and North Korea.”
We are at a significant point of inflection: King Baby is deteriorating before our eyes,and his policies are provoking significant spontaneous public reaction. The cracks in the dam are visible.
It's not the level of immaturity that's beyond words, but something much worse. Depravity.
I’m reading right now a novel on this by Natsuo Kirino called “Grotesque.”
I might have read it anytime in the past 18 years since its English translation (from the Japanese) came out – if anyone had nodded in its direction.
None so nodded. One reason might be the extremes of depravity Ms. Kirino fathoms in girls, young women. Our far-right censors could make cases for banning such a work. Though for Ms. Kirino “Grotesque” makes poetic justice, balancing out the extreme depravity in her earlier novel, “Out” which set up four very different women to indict Japan’s patriarchal society.
Could fictional depravity help America see its extents of that in its criminal in the White House, in the extreme cowardice and unctuous hypocrisies in MAGA’s House Speaker, in the massive corruption of the Supreme Court’s Clarence as he’s made a career toadying to the U.S. rich, and any number of high tech or other billionaires paying for more, more, more depravity?
I so want to believe that the CraigsList ad is real! But regardless, I think we need to talk much more about it. Make them prove that it is false, if it is (as the tRump team well knows, total lies are not easy to rebut with facts!).
Then make their denial of the ad into another news cycle.
Use their own play book against them, instead of avoiding false information out of old fashioned “Democrat Decency”.
My cursory dive did not find any listing for "T-Melon Events". Timothy Melon is a top ffpotus donor. 1 K in imaginary money sounds like an interesting deal.
I suspect, sadly, that it was a "false flag" operation, but it would be interesting to do a cast out for anyone who may have replied to the ad before it was removed.
You know, I would like to know who are the people answering the polling questions and how many were asked to submit answers. I’d also like to see the questions that are being asked because they may be skewed. Nonetheless, the percentages show that people are unhappy with this regime and that’s a good thing. Thank you,Heather, for Morris’ graph (located in footnotes) showing progress of the Dems in questionable states. The info on Oklahoma blew me away where a Native American won overwhelmingly smashing a record of winning by 70 points over her Republican opponent. If I read the article correctly, this is a district that is predominately Black and educated. Talk about a WIN-WIN!
Too many things the criminal in chief is doing just too patently, too flagrantly look criminal, in-your-face scornful as is he towards the law, America's long-held allies, and democracy itself.
Hopefully our No King day will see amazing numbers of souls turn out, everywhere.
Trump is unusual because the lowest numbers in those polls (34-38%) is the LOWEST he can possibly go. If one subtracts the “Trump can do no wrong MAGA faithful” he’s basically at 0.
That was my thought on reading the poll numbers; 34% of the total voting eligible population that voted cast their votes for him. There are some who voted for him that are questioning his policies, many of them audibly and publicly.
But in the end they know he can’t hold office again and refuse to blame the rest of the GOP for giving away their power to him so they will continue to vote for Republicans.
Marlene, thanks for pointing out Morris’ graph about the Special Election.Sharing.📣
I’m in Fl SD-19.Our candidate lost by only 9% to a Trump-endorsed MAGA with name recognition and a huge fundraising advantage .169k vs 16k.
The Dem candidate also lost ( same Senate seat) in November by 20% to another Trump-endorsed MAGA who resigned to run for Waltz’ US Rep seat in an adjacent county.This MAGA( the one who thinks we should “nuke” GAZA) greatly underperformed in another uber-red county.
I hope our candidate runs again.She is fearless and desires to be the first openly transgender legislator in Florida legislature.Of course….the opponents’ flyers were horrible.
Phil, I just finished The Eighth Life by Nino Haratischvili about, mostly, the women of one Georgian family, who tried to live whole lives during the rise, entrenchment, and quasi dissolution of the Soviet empire. It too is haunting to read and absorb while this current regime unfolds this misogynistic and militaristic remaking of America. It is a really powerful and poetic and heartrending.
"Repentance" -- a perestroika-era film by Georgian filmmaker Tengiz Abuladze should make a comeback right about now in preparation for Trump's death (which cannot come too soon). The play is a reverse Antigone, where the daughter of the dead dictator keeps digging up her father's corpse to drag it to the central square of town, forcing everyone to look at it, ponder their role in his reign of terror and sadism. As long as they choose to forget, the corpse keeps re-appearing. There is no forgiveness, no repentance, no reconciliation for Republicans without confrontation, without confession, without profound remorse. They did this to us, to themselves....
I will look for it…In the saga of this amazing and deliciously long….ala a great Tolstoy novel….the peril of filmmaking about the repression is one of the tides that turns the lives of the international protagonists…along with a family chocolate recipe that is implicated in some rather key twists in their personal and the greater political history. I so highly recommend this book.
Phil, I am back because I have been thinking sooo much about the wide expanse between what I thought I knew/know as a liberal arts educated white, economically middle class American woman with a JD, and what most of the people, in most of the world were experiencing since this ’me’ was born in the mid 1960s in a very white middle American environment. (Nuance here but suffice it to say that I was white, blond and blue eyed in a state that was 99.9-radio-call-station upper case WHITE ….but my dear brothers were not.)
I know you are all in on the power of an education that is rounded around liberal arts..humanities…the need to feed our souls and our more materialistic calculations with the lessons that the more nuanced, I am thinking the quantum story of human interconnection…well that is our sonar signal. All to say, can we move away from the ’education ’ protocol and look for a historically informed (this is an HCR group after all) re-experiencing of the past, present, and future dynamically, pitfalls and possibilities. I guess that I am wondering if any ’public’ school system…the origins of which is training up the necessary cogs in the wheel of the current economic schematic…can achieve the kind of integrated and expansive coalescence that is necessary to weather the polycrisis of this now. I went through private and public schools as a child; we invested in private and, then, relented to public schools for our three children cum adults. Now, they are trying to make their way in this strange new foggy economic environment…they are all in Europe btw…and I can see pros and cons in comparing their circumstances to those my life partner and I ..and they faced unwittingly…say 15 to 20 years past. But in a sense the ’circumstances’ were imaginary? No?
Which brings me back to the origins of this discussion arising from the literature of ’other’ peoples in other but resonating historical circumstances; how do we absorb these amazing stories that resound in our inner core and then, I am thinking, repay their courage with our own.
And, I don’t think you need to go to a university to understand THAT.
So as a post script of anticipation….i get that the social media feeds are not from people…if they really are people and not bots…but enrolling in a wrenchingly expensive college degree is just not going to get young people to read Tolstoy, Dickens, Shakespeare, and the un countable authors …particularly women…whose works have been sidelined in the ’mainstream.’ But I. My heart of heart and my head of heart I do know that these human beings are searching for a veracity and resonance and unhappy with the discordance. We know, from history, too well, that this will not stop them conforming to the perceived momentum of power in the hope that they can swim upstream….but nothing is set in stone and stones…the underestimated hero’s off metaphor ….can bolster us and rebuff the assumptions of a smooth ascension.
Would love it so much more if, here and there, you might pepper your sentences with relative clauses, similes, and other vehicles citing, say, any of the four female protagonists of Natsuo Kirino's "Out," Mary Karr's "The Liars' Club," Barbara Kingsolver's "Demon Copperhead," Joan Didion's "Where I Was From," Barbara Ehrenreich's "Nickel and Dimed," Erin Gruwell's "The Freedom Writers' Diary," or Miyuki Miyabe's "All She Was Worth."
When I say "pepper your sentences," I'm not talking seasoning only. When one's literacy turns to specific women, and their specific characters, one's vision changes, energizes, sheds abstractions totally.
The New Yorker's Evan Osnos wrote an article on 26 May 'Donald Trump’s Politics of Plunder' about how America's billionaire oligarchs have rallied round the president from setting up new exclusive clubs to promoting the idea of 'freedom cities' where they can pretty much do anything they want free from regulation in the US and elsewhere.
Yeah. Like sci.-fi. literature, such a book can be an effective vehicle for criticism of the larger society, except the larger society, in Trump's gangster régime put the book to shame when it comes to fantasy.
About 10 years ago at this time, I asked my recent college graduate son what he thought of a Donald Trump presidency and he said “Are you f#&king kidding me?” Today, he just says “Sh$t!”.
I worry about that 35-45% percent of the electorate who continue to support Trump. Other voters throughout history have supported tyrants similarly. What can truly disillusion them ?
How many Germans continued to think Hitler was right? Sadly, nothing you do or say will change the minds of the Stephen Millers of the world. I just didn't realize they we 1/3 of the population.
We need, as David Hogg has said, to offer the voters candidates who are in tune with people's wants and needs. Like Bernie, he is being forced out of his position of leadership. I have stopped donating to the DNC or to any PACs (got a letter from Chuck Schumer yesterday begging for a donation) since it only makes sense to me to give money to specific candidates I support.
While I’m none too pleased with the DNC the perception that Hogg is being forced out because of his positions on primaries is untrue. Suit was filed long before Hogg took his position. The issue is that the DNC failed to follow its own policies and procedures in the election.
I stopped donating to the Party in 2018. That was when they opposed Katie Porter in the primary. Since then I only donate to specific candidates. I also do phone banking for specific candidates.
I am so done with the constant barrage of "send us more money". I donated specifically to candidates locally, and a couple of senate races (Tester in MT and Gallegos in AZ).
Anyone else getting these "democratic surveys" that end with "send us more money"?
They didn’t sit it out, they were gob smacked and had the election stolen. True that they should have known the immigration hatred ruled, but they believed in our better angels. Since the shocking outcome, playing dead was a poor option. A rudderless party is hog tied to a great extent.
Uninvited to the White House picnic but not to be told until, on showing up to get his tickets, Senator Rand Paul is exposed to (possible) humiliation by being turned away. No tickets for Trump's picnic for him! Senator Paul, for his part, exposed the disgrace of the entire Trump administration: The “level of immaturity is beyond words.”
When I majored in music, I majored in the Baritone Horn. I always wanted to play the movement titled "Bydlo". Never did get the chance. Not once was that composition played in a concert. My pianist friend, however, did perform Pictures at an Exhibition. Tough piece to play. I listened to Vladamir Horowitz perform it on a recording and noticed two minor mistakes. In 1968, when I attended, Horowitz was as good as one could get.
I got to watch a YouTube video of a friend of mine play Bydlo on the F tuba as a 2nd tuba (Gene Pokorny, who is the principal tuba there recommended him. He’s a UO kid who got his DMA at Northwestern). It was awesome!
Ok Sen Paul. Put your money where your mouth is. Change parties. Eschew MAGA, the current iteration of what used to be the Republican Party. Can’t stomach joining the Democrats? At least change to Independent and vote against this shit. Dude. Step up. Otherwise, you’re just another zombie KoolAid drinker.
I snorted with laughter at Rand Paul’s comment. Really, Senator Paul? Takes an immature person to know one… Remember when you pissed off your neighbor by blowing your leaves onto his lawn so often that he tackled you and broke your ribs? We do! Now grow up and grow a real spine!
Who will be the 5 sniveling racist Republican Senators that will vote against the BBB? If the R's increase the corporate and individual tax rate by 4% for corporations and 3% for those earning over $250K it would come a long way to balancing the bill.
But, there are so many draconian cuts which mostly harm the vulnerable populations and the health of the entire planet, that the BBB should be burned and started over.
It is a travesty beyond belief that this POS passed the House.
or just let the 2017 cuts expire as scheduled. The economy was not so terrible in 2016.
Tax cuts for those making, say, over $500k should expire. Let those at the bottom of the earnings scale keep theirs.
And, say, a 10% increase would do even more. Plus an increase on the max for SSA taxes.
They didn’t read it, they just voted for it because their lord and master demanded it. Cowards just like their silence or namby pamby ‘we support Trump’ on deploying troops to LA.
Bottom feeders all.
The tax cuts currently in the bill are going to cost me $700 because my income isn’t HIGH enough! If I had the lowest middle income amount, $53,600, it wouldn’t cost me a penny! And all so the billionaires, and millionaires can get $389,000! (pardon all the exclamation marks, GJ)
I think it would be better to increase the corporate tax rate as you said, and then tax the billionaires, as Warren Buffett has said. The use of a billionaire tax is mighty-- there are not that many of them, and all of them can afford it. Proportional justice would be served. The people who are already paying a 35-40% tax are in the under-a-million group. For family farmers, and retired professional people who are still trying to be of help in enhancing social justice, taxing this group more is not going to be so helpful. Some will give up the charities they have been trying to support.
Well said, GJ
Agreed, Linda--and also, we don't want him. I have to admit that one of the things I hate most (à la Andy Borowitz) is that this maladministration and the Felon in Chief have led me to agree with horrific people like Dick Cheney and Rand Paul.
We want him to help us defeat the disastrous Bill. Politics makes strange bedfellows and this one of those times. Being a purist and turning up our nose at potential allies in a battle is self-defeating.
Linda, it is maddening, but shows you how bad death star is.
Why do you hate Andy Borowitz? Im just curious!
"A la" means "according to" or "in the manner of". She does not hate Andy Borowitz.
Oh, I get it! Thank you!
I ADORE Andy! He has stated many times how much he resents agreeing with these despicables b
His piece today was about hatred *from* Miller, the truth of which ABC didn't want reported.
The guy is a fruit loop and a half. Even a cuckoo clock is right twice a day....
A broken cuckoo clock...
Mama Mia. I’m making pizza today.
I've said it before and I'll say again here. We are all born openminded and immature, and by the time our physical bodies have matured, we've left one of those two traits behind and retained the other.
Emotional maturation is a process involving expanding one's circle of concern until it encompasses one's circle of influence. Emotional maturation is never easy, but the best time is before becoming an adult. Unfortunately, instead of sitting him on a stool facing the corner with a dunce cap on his head, his constituents gave Rand a U.S. senate seat. What were they thinking?
They got the votes from him they wanted. RP will either vote the party line or, if there are enough votes to cover the spread, vote 'present' or some such.
Bold! Spineless!
BOLD AND SPINELESS!!
He likes being contentious. It’s the next best thing to being brave.
Kimberly, good one. He doesn't have to be brave at all like using too much salt to cover the fact that the cook does not know jack about cooking.
Do the people that were polled even understand the substance of the question ? ( i.e .. language associated with titles and responsibilities of people in our local, State and Federal governments (of, by and for the people), I.e. our Democracy vs Oligarchic (sp) autocracy ? ) just asking , and " thinkin".
Werner Muller
Good question. Go back to my definition of maturity in my comment that you replied to. It is unambiguous. When used in everyday conversation, the implicit definition of the word is very ambiguous. Why? Bob Dylan hit the nail on the head six decades ago when he asked, "How many times can a man turn his head and pretend that he just doesn’t see?" The answer, my friend, is smacking us all in the face every day, and almost no one wants to face an inconvenient truth.
If you're interested in having a conversation about this subject, I suggest reading the following essay, subscribing to my fee-free newsletter, and then give me some feedback. Regardless, thank you for your comment.
https://jamesrcarey.substack.com/p/being-human-e10
Good Rib Reminder, Linda! Thanks! I was doing some “remembering,” too this morning, as I was “talking” to Senator Paul:
Just curious, Senator Rand Paul: You are NOT going to Trumpie’s expensive parade on Flag Day - and, by your own admission, you “love parades,” right? AND, you just found out that you ain’t invited to the Big Beautiful White House Picnic? Let me ask, Sir, are you JUST NOW DISCOVERING that Trump is “incredibly petty” and that his “level of immaturity is beyond words?” This is new news to you?
Most of us reading this “Letter from an American” discovered Trump’s pettiness and immaturity, for sure, as we saw him floating down the Trump Tower Golden Escalator as he waved to “the crowds” that he PAID to be there. That was ten years ago. Such pettiness and immaturity had been on full display for many years before that, but this was a major experience - a WakeUp Alarm Call Knock Out - WACKO, for short. Senator Paul, you have had ten years to uncover this guy’s pettiness and immaturity! That event was on June 16, 2015. Ain’t you got a TV, Senator? Where ya been?
There were several dozen people at that “event,” but in his speech that day, Trump claimed that there were THOUSANDS at the “event.” Dozens do not equal Thousands. ALL Americans know that, even my 5 year old grandniece.
A few days later, this “Casting Call” was uncovered and it stated: “We are looking to cast people for the event to wear T-shirts and carry signs and help cheer him in support of his announcement.” The payment was 50 bucks and (probably) ya got to keep the T-shirt, but ya had to turn in the signs - undamaged! (The “signs” quip is just a joke, Rick.)
Now, Senator Paul, I believe in our nation’s tradition of a Secret Ballot, but…just guessing here…you have probably voted for him THREE TIMES. Did you really vote for a Petty Immature President - a PIP? Three times?
Maybe Petty Old Obtuse President is better, huh? (Thanks, Michele!) I guess that would be POOP, right? (Time for some more coffee, Papa!)
Papa, you nailed it. What do these spineless GOPers think they are accomplishing by blindly following tRump? Does Puppy Dog Paul think that his voters are stupid?
What does he do all day? Thinking certainly isn't on the list. It doesn't take a genius to see the decimation of our democracy wrought by Paul and his GOP collaborators in their crimes against humanity. Yes, HUMANITY.
Right on, skayen! It took Senator Paul 10 years (at least) to come up with petty and immature? Apparently, he has decided he doesn’t need Trump anymore. Or, perhaps, he is telling Trump, “Hey, Petty Old Obtuse President, I don’t need YOU, but YOU will be needing me and my vote on your OBBB. Deal with it, POOP!”
Papa, I like the acronym, but I had a lovely fat yellow tabby named Pip after the Dickens character.
Awwww… perhaps I should change Petty Immature President to Petty Old Obtuse President? Will that work?
Actually Papa, the new one is excellent because he is a pos.
Linda, Well, yes, i am no fan of Rand, but he does show how petty the regime is. Kiss my ass or you don't get invited to the traditional picnic. Wonder what they serve?
Crow with chitterlings to the sniveling cowards.
RP doesn't show the pettiness, the regime shows it. I For him it's like a photo op, "See what a great guy I am!?!
I wondered if any Democrats were invited to the picnic. How about Thomas Massie?
.
Uninviting Paul to the picnic is not petty or immature... it is simply true to the general intimidation policies and probably very effective... unfortunately.
So you mean our legislators have sunk to such a state of blind spinelessness that they fear the mere anticipation of getting snubbed by Trump in being refused tickets to that picnic? These are the days when showing up to eat Trump's baked beans has become a critical demonstration of political loyalty to the man. And being allowed to show up and eat those baked beans a coveted sign that Trump still likes them.
I have to say that I was surprised that more Republicans are not going to the 47 mil dollar parade, with an additional 17 million to repair the streets, and I don't know how much using the National Guard is costing, but a lot of people are not getting health care and children not getting food for that bit of performance. We should not only go out on June 14, but make sure to boycott all coverage of the parade. It seems like many corporations are sponsoring it, so we need to let them know we will not be using their businesses if we can.
Many times I have railed against the trustifarians here, but I was heartened yesterday to see Christy Walton support the protests on Saturday. But then I learned that she is the widow of John T. Walton, son of Sam and she is worth around $19.3 billion. Like so many other wealthy women (Mackenzie Scott, Melinda Gates, Susan Buffett, etc.) she is using her wealth to fight for our democracy. Hopefully, some of the other Waltons will be as generous. Walmart and Sam's Club have bankrupted thousands of mom and pop retail outlets across the country, while helping move our manufacturing to third world countries.
https://www.yahoo.com/news/fact-check-walmart-heiress-christy-224200768.html
I am thinking of how Homeland security is in charge of terrorism, and they have no one minding the shop according to ProPublica, which means that terror acts are not going to be prevented.
https://www.propublica.org/article/trump-dhs-thomas-fugate-cp3-terrorism-prevention
People in LA protesting is not terrorism, but Trump is destroying his own safety by his antics. We shall see.
January 6 was Insurrection and terrorism, yet the perpetrators were encouraged and egged on by DJT, while he sat in the White House dining room watching the horror on TV, doing nothing to stop it. One of his first acts when he somehow got into the White House for a 2nd term, was to pardon the January 6 insurrectionists and terrorists.
How is this allowed to happen?
How is a rapist, convicted felon, compulsive liar, divider of people, even allowed to run for President of the United States of America?
How is FOX News allowed to remain on the air after proven to spread lies and conspiracy theories ?
Correction - OUR SAFETY. He will be just fine.
Isn't it interesting, GJ, that it is the WOMEN in those families whose male members gleefully prey upon everyone else in order to become disgustingly wealthy are the ones who are saying "wait a minute" and using their vast wealth for good? It started with the Joan Kroc Foundation's massive gift decades ago to NPR. She was the heiress of McDonald's founder Ray Kroc. Now if only the boyz would realize that their sisters, ex-wives, and mothers have it right . . .
In the Judeo/Christian world women are dispensable.
As Warren Buffet reminds us, "Giving money to the wealthy children that never did anything to earn it, is like picking your olympic team on the basis of being children of former champions." He actually approves of inheritance tax. It is the trust fund babies that are killing this planet. Some are trying to save it, but they seem to be in the minority.
As you are probably aware, Warren called inheritance - "welfare for the rich."
He wasn't wrong.
I also read MAGA will now boycott Walmart.
We should boycott them too. They are one of the sponsors of this Military Parade on Saturday.
It has been decades since I stepped foot on Walmart property. I am fortunate to have other shopping choices. Many do not.
OMG! Will the poor lady be able to afford porridge for supper after this munificence?!?
Those cited costs are likely to be under-estimates. Trump still owes money from election rallies.
https://www.newsweek.com/donald-trump-chased-over-unpaid-debts-his-rallies-1961765
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/trump-rally-el-paso-payment-b2595353.html
https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/trump-campaign-leaving-cities-hundreds-thousands-unpaid-bills/story?id=115415455
Yes. I am also hearing that the National Guard are not officially sent out in LA with their orders papers, so they are currently not getting paid. It would be good for someone with the skills to do this, to keep track of what Trump claims to save and how much more things are costing.
A former Guardsman mentioned this in a comment in the Washington Post yesterday. The financial hardship being demanded of them (on top of no orders and not being wanted by local police) is something almost nobody has talked about.
It's Congress's oversight job to do this, but they're not doing it particularly well. Most of the bizarre savings claims by DOGE, for example, were torpedoed by the media.
Most National Guardsmen from the first deployment were already under-occupied so the further deployment of 2,000 more was just a costly stunt by Trump to reinforce his false claims that the entire city was under threat when only 2% of the greater LA area has been affected by the protests. It wasn't that long ago that the National Guard was close to financial collapse.
https://thehill.com/opinion/national-security/569660-ignoring-the-national-guard-is-dangerous/
My LMT, a vet and I were talking about the treatment of National Guard in LA....the pictures of them sleeping on the floor and he said they were eating meals ready to eat. They would have been better to visit a local restaurant.
Good point. Boycotts are effective.
I could only find Reddit posting who is sponsoring the parade, but I did see somewhere that everyone from Palantir to Coca Cola was sponsoring it.
https://www.reddit.com/r/50501/comments/1l4u6qm/corporate_sponsors_for_trumps_military_parade/
Well, I don't know how you boycott Palantir, but I do know that you boycott Coke by telling them that you are not buying their product anymore. I don't anyway, but I will make sure my husband does not.
I don't drive Dodge or a Jeep, but I suppose one could target them like Tesla. Not the same though because I bet MAGAs are fine driving them. I don't shop at Walmart, and Germany where I mainly live kicked them out for their business model not meeting Germany's work standards.
If someone finds a better source for a list, please share it.
Ironic that Coca Cola is sponsoring the birthday parade, in light of the effect Trump's aluminum tariff is having on Coke's production costs. I saw a report that Coke CEO James Quincey is considering moving U.S. soft drink production offshore because the tariff could increase the retail cost of Coke products by as much as 50¢ per can, which consumers would reject.
But then, parade sponsorship might be Coke's bribe to make a tariff exception for aluminum imported to make cans. Donald responds favorably to bribes.
I haven’t heard Musk condemn this waste of spending.
Every penny our government spends on Musk is a waste of spending. I felt Biden should appropriate Starlink when Musk cut it off on Ukraine, our ally.
He claims that he is giving it to them for free, but I know that Poland is paying a lot of money to provide it for Ukraine.
Hey, anyone know if the Starlink crap is off the white house roof? Capitol building?
Oh, I'll be out! US flag, tee shirt about an issue I care about & my No Kings sign. I just hope people who are in DC do not give Orange Turd a chance to fulfill Hegseth's wet dream of loosing the military on a crowd. Silence IS a statement!
You've summed it up concisely. Donald is the Bean Nazi -
LEAVE MY PICNIC, NO BEANS FOR YOU!!
And no cole slaw either... So there.
No Cole slaw sprinkled with chia seeds? ☹️
I was thinking they would serve McDonald's hamburger and fries. Lots of ketchup.
Garrett, plenty of hot air at the WH, no need for beans.
Ooooh! Very good Michele
Yes, Constance. Actually far worse than you say.
Constance, I can't even imagine what such a gathering is like. I am guessing there are long lines just waiting to either smooch the Trump Rump or kiss the ring. Trump has only power to offer anyone, so the folks in those lines are not people anyone who cares about this nation would want to know.
I bet the White House serves
"Bush's Baked Beans"! (Hey there's another BBB for you!) Only the White House will label them 'trump beautiful beans'.
I am the baked bean queen at our gatherings….I’d be happy to make them for uncle don…hehe
Since the days of Gingrich and Reagan, Republican lawmaker have been indoctrinated on the Golden Rule: bend the knee to the party fathers or be primaried and lose access to the jobs that provide them with the gold. By now it's become a feral instinct among Republican reps. Following the party bosses is the only way they can survive in Washington.
The only thing that will break the pattern is for political conditions to change so these spineless toadies can only keep their jobs by actually representing their constituents. No Kings Day is a step down that road.
Can you even imagine wanting to go to any picnic where the insipid orange turd was present, female family members would stand a good chance of being grabbed by the pussy and kissed against their will. Never forget what he said, he spoke the truth for once and maybe the only time in his miserable life. The fact that Rand Paul was disturbed at being disinvited speaks volumes, you or I would probably see that as the universe putting in a needed correction.
Christopher, Paul should be grateful not to have to be serenaded by anyone as ignorant, uncaring, OK, evil as Donald Toddler-Trump. Trump has no idea what he is actually saying or doing except that it is designed by someone to do a maximum of harm within a given range. Right now, we are just waiting for the National Guardspersons or Marines to kill a citizen or two or even an immigrant for media coverage to open the door wide to all the EVIL the Kiddies Kindergarten Klan with their Toddler-Trump can do to We the People. There are more of us than them, so we need to start acting like it.
I was surprised thevWH was planning something like that and of course so partisan. It’s a poor look all the way around. More like kindergarteners in charge of putting on a tea party.
Graciousness , etiquette would be invite all parties.
Sen Paul and so many others should be doing that now, or they are part of a government that is going in a Pinochet like direction.
It seems Paul is finally understanding how juvenile we find all of the Republican antics to be.
Did you mean Pinocchio-type direction?
No Russell, Pinocchio is already installed in the White House and doing a great job every minute of every day. His nose is growing longer than his tie. Going into Pinochet's direction it's much ,much worse but given time, we'll get there since according to HCR numbers, about 40% of voters still support the scumbag president and Proyect 2025. So many morons, so little time. 😒
He is a Libertarian. The "Dude" is not railing against MAGA. His core beliefs center around the Libertarian mindset of smaller government. "Furthermore, libertarians tend to believe that most (if not all) of the claims to special authority made by the various governments around the world are unjustifiable. Governments assert wide-reaching powers to control people’s day-to-day conduct, take their belongings, and even conscript them into fighting wars. If they offer any justification for these powers, it’s only as an afterthought."
In addition, Senator Paul was a member of the Tea Party movement which began in 2007. "Participants in the movement called for lower taxes and for a reduction of the national debt and federal budget deficit through decreased government spending."
So. you see between wanting to see a smaller government and lower spending Senator Paul would be adamantly opposed to what this regime is doing.
Source: Wikipedia
I remember his behavior vividly at a hearing during the pandemic where Dr. Anthony Fauci testified. Dr. Rand Quack tried to smear him by rambling on about puppies in labs or something, whereupon the REAL doctor in the room just looked at him and said, "Senator, you do not know WHAT you are talking about." Oh, but you should have seen Paul's leg jiggle up and down with scarcely contained outrage! Fancy one of the little people telling His Poobahness that he's full of beans, the nerve! The nerve!
I love and admire Dr Anthony Faucci.
While libertarianism sounds good and like common sense, it can never survive in a society. Give A Libertarian Walks Into A Bear by Matthew Hetling
I don’t even think it sounds good. Early humans would listen to that mindset and throw them off a cliff. We survive when everyone contributes to the survival of the group. It’s a little more complicated in a modern society but it’s based on the same principles. Libertarians want a free ride.
Well said, Kimberly.
I did not say it was a good idea.
I heard exactly what you said, Barbara. I think any space talking about Rand maliciously is wasted. I, for one, am glad this particular correspondent from CNN thought to get comment from a Libertarian. This is a party that represents people that have NO qualms speaking against the Admin’s policy and tactics. It is important that opposition includes all parties, e.g Dems, Republicans, Independents and Libertarians representing in this case as a coalition. Because opposition to the BBB, can mean a vote against it. Times such as these serve to bring people of different tents into one. I applaud it.
Salud, Barbara.
🗽
The "everyone is an enemy but us" mindset has got to go if we are to win against this regime (it is not an Administration). If we get really tactical and sharp, we can defeat these people. There are more of us than them. And we will win.
Ordered it.
I parted with Libertarians I generally was on good terms with finding even the best of them ignored areas where the government could do far more basic stuff than any disjointed private or even cooperative enterprises would do at the levels most beneficial to all.
My grandfather was a reasonably progressive Republican Dairy Farmer and retired as the Chief Dairy Inspector for the state (and all dairies and milk processing plants that sold milk in the state), to me much in the mold of the best county agricultural agents that came from the land grant colleges started in Abraham Lincoln's first term with the first Morrill Act of 1862. Buchanan had vetoed the bill in 1859, but it was reintroduced in 1861 and Lincoln signed it in 1862. Of the initial 57 colleges and universities, friends and relatives attended (and some earned top degrees and honors from, UC - Riverside most recently), some of the original land grant universities such as the University of Massachusetts, University of Maine, University of Florida, Virginia Tech, Cornell, Penn State.
A key point, to me , expanding engineering vs proficiency in dead languages aimed more at teaching ministers back when you couldn't create a town without having a minister for the church in town), is included in https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morrill_Land-Grant_Acts
"...The land grant colleges transformed engineering education in America and boosted the United States into a position of leader in technical education. Before the Civil War, American colleges primarily trained students in classical studies and the liberal arts. For the most part, only the relatively affluent could afford higher education, and entrance requirements often required proficiency in the dead languages of Latin and Ancient Greek. The first Bachelor of Science (B.S.) degrees, which typically required no Latin, came into being around 1850.[15] American engineers were mostly educated at the United States Military Academy, on fortress construction, and their instructors were the authors of most engineering texts of the day. The Morrill Act changed all of that. Though the Congressional debates about the Act were largely focused on benefits to agriculture, the mechanic arts were specifically included in the Act's language, meaning applied sciences and engineering. The Act prohibited spending the endowment on constructing buildings as expensive and unnecessary, so instead the tools for engineering education increased, such as textbooks, laboratories and equipment. The number of engineers skyrocketed. Whereas in 1866 there were around 300 American men who had graduated with engineering degrees and only six reputable colleges granting them, just four years later there were 21 colleges offering engineering degrees and the total number of engineers graduated had tripled to 866. The following decade added another 2,249 engineers, and by 1911 the United States was graduating 3,000 engineers a year, with a total of 38,000 in the work force. At the time, Germany was graduating 1,800 engineers per year. The US had become the leader in technical education just 50 years after passage of the Morrill Act..."
The part about requiring a minister comes from a visit to the Pejepscot History Center at the Joushua L. Chamberlain Museum in Brunswick Maine. It seems Bowdoin College was started to make up for the inability for Harvard to train the numbers needed, in the time they wanted them.
Seems this administration is hell bent on destroying the educational advances that helped us gain the leadership in the world, much in the way Heather and Pete Buttigieg described it at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4diHMLyJPx0
When is the ACLU going to call for a general strike? Are soldiers (NG and Marines) who violate their oath to the constitution going to be court martialed and dishonorably discharged? Trust in every institution in the land has been destroyed because actions don't have consequences. This is BSC.
Heir Donald at age 5 was famous for being a rich sandbox bully in Queens, throwing tantrums and stealing other kids toys. Nothing much has changed except he's expanded his audience to 35% of the voting public. What an embarrassment for America
And now he's soiling the sand traps of the Eastern Seaboard!
You're looking to get your name crossed off that picnic invitation list, aren't you?
Reminds me of one version of Grocho Marx rejecting "membership":
Dear Board,
I don’t want to belong to any club that would have me as a member.
Sincerely yours,
Groucho Marx.
https://quoteinvestigator.com/2011/04/18/groucho-resigns/
Politico reports that Rand Paul and his family have after all been invited to the picnic. However, Kentucky senator Thomas Massie has been disinvited. He hadn't intended to go anyway - he says he would have given the tickets to his staff.
Randie "where's my hamburger" Paul is a weak kneed acolyte.
I'll glady pay you Tuesday for a hamburger today.
HaHaHa!
I think I'd rather see Paul pulling the Republican Party back to the center than pulling the Democratic Party even farther to the right. Let him stay Republican, or go Independent. At least that way he won't increase the damage.
Seriously?? The Democratic Party has enough problems without welcoming the likes of Rand Paul, or even so-called "moderate," overwhelmingly white Republicans who are disgusted with Trump but were apparently OK with Reagan, Bush I, and Cheney/Bush II.
All I want is a majority. Which means strange bedfellows at least in the near term. And I’d Randy Paul votes with the Dems, he may not win his seat when u- for re-election.
That raises the question, would he have more influence inside the party to resist Trump or as an independent? Might not fighting inside the GOP at this time require more "spine"? It seems insiders willing to start to speak up are what helped stall, if not kill the BBB.
Sky. Well said!
Sky High, I am not sure how Paul really feels about anything. It seems to me, though he should know better, he has supported the wrong people for a long time as well as the wrong issues. Now claiming a few things he doesn't like about Trump's "policies" sounds a bit disingenuous. I just don't see him leaving anything as important to him as the Republican Party
Thank you, Sky. Totally agree with you!
He'd neve r become a Dem, and we have no use for him.
He's always been mad when he was disrespected, including starting his own optical professional org when the existing one wouldn't certify him.
Broken clock and all.
Words are cheap!
Thank you Heather for continuing to provide us with clarity during these most challenging times.
As Secretary Pete Buttigieg states, we are lacking a set of truths we all can rely on. Your interview with him here:
https://open.substack.com/pub/heathercoxrichardson/p/conversation-with-secretary-buttigieg-d62?r=9vmv5&utm_medium=ios
Great discussion, this. Well worth watching.
My positive visualization has Pete Buttigieg as Secretary of State. In some administrations this position has been THE most important. The department touches almost every subject and its leader has been THE top adviser to the president. Who could be better?
Of course, the role is now filled by an opportunistic puppet and murderer.
As far as I'm concerned, Buttigieg can have his pick of roles in a future cabinet. I have no doubt that he'd excel at any of them.
Rubio denied a request by Bill Gates to meet with him.
This was another great interview by HCR.
Oh, brilliant! I'll watch it again, not when I'm supposed to be asleep. But wasn't.
I just watched the Buttigieg interview on YouTube. It was great.
Yes very nice surprise to see this morning(in California).
2 great interviews with Heather this week.
The other was Monday morning's Grounded podcast:
https://substack.com/@groundedpodcast/note/c-124264819?utm_source=notes-share-action&r=i06a
Horhai, thank you so much for this link. What a great discussion with Heather!!
Yes, Kari—well said. I’ve been thinking a lot about that quote from Secretary Buttigieg too. Without shared truths, it becomes so easy to feel unmoored. I’m grateful for voices like Heather’s that help us see clearly and stay anchored in integrity.
Christy, over the years since a friend "introduced" me to Heather, I swear this community has been like an extended family. Many of us have dropped little comments about our lives, so I've come to "know" many here. I will talk to my husband about what various commentors here say, and he "knows" them like they are my blood cousins! LOL When I don't see anyone posting for awhile, I actually get a bit concerned. (Where are you Apache? Haven't seen you in a few.) Some leave, and I miss them (Fern always added so much!)
This group is all over the country and around the world. I value how they expand upon what Heather tells us, with their personal knowledge or links to more information they share. Long time readers have rooted for lin+ in the fight with Leonard Leo. We held our breath as Allen left the Ukraine for Canada. We learned middle east history from Keith thanks to his official experience, Bryan keeps us informed of the legal battles against MAGA, Ally adds her knowledge from her years in the police, TC ended up on Nixon's enemies list and continues to fight with his "That's Another Fine Mess" substack.
I could go on and on, and I apologize for anyone I'm leaving off here.
I'm fortunate to be in a blue area in a blue state, but even still, I am grateful for the people here who also shake their heads in dismay, or cheer the wins! I can imagine that this is a lifeblood to those stuck in red areas.
We'll survive this. We have to.
Miselle, I'm a relative newcomer here, but already, I feel the kinship you describe. I'm one of those blue specks in a red – and especially ignorant – red state.
Well, Dale, welcome to the community!! We're glad to have you!
Being new to this community, I already feel the depth of connection and care that runs through it. Reading your comment reminds me that even in the most difficult times, we can find strength in each other. It is truly moving to see how people show up here—not just with information, but with heart. I’m grateful to be part of it now, and I look forward to learning and growing alongside all of you.
The outpouring I recieved when my brother died of Alzheimers exacerbated by COVID was incredible. In my journey to get any of my manuscripts traditionally published, I've also received direct communication and valuable assistance from two successful published authors who comment on here. The odds are against me, but I'm gonna get there!
We have a virtual "bookclub" where people here recommend books. I've read amazing books thanks to their input. Through Ellie Kona, I discovered postcarding for political campaigns, which has helped me feel I was DOING something. (Although I regret my many postcards for Fetterman). Megan daily posts a spreadsheet of phone numbers to Congress.
The family on here has impacted me personally, and I am awed by finding this group. Welcome to you, Christy. You're gonna love it here.
Yes, this and a few other Substackers are a lifeline to this blue dot.
Miselle, I’ve been a member of this community since the early Trump years. I agree, it’s good to continue to see folks who have been a part of these discussions for years. Thank you for mentioning familiar names. Heather’s letters and our community conversations have provided much insight and encouragement throughout good times and bad.
Thanks all! We’ll get through this together 🌸
Brilliant! Thank you for posting, Kari.
Thirty-eight percent of voters approve of the way Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is handling his job; 53% disapprove. Thirty-seven percent of voters approve of the way Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth is handling his job, while 46% disapprove. Thirty-eight percent approved of the work billionaire Elon Musk did, while 57% said it was either “not so good” or “poor.”
You can fool all of the people some of the time, and some of the people all of the time...
The approvals being so similar in percentages implies that the Trumpanzee base is roughly a third of the voters.
The MAGA former GOP KKK base has always been 30%, they even supported Nixon after he resigned.
KKK is still active & some tough-guy R. pols are members, Texas Agg Commissioner Sid Miller being an example of at least a sympathizer: https://americanjournalnews.com/sid-miller-stephen-texas-agriculture-commissioner-bigotry-lawsuit-racism/ Check out his promo material. Like 47, he’s playing a dramatic role in Texas’ fake reality teevee world. I thought at first look that it was a shot of Larry Hagman, as the star of the TV series, Dallas
What about Hegseth? His actions and statements align perfectly with those of the KKK>
47's misadministration is crawling with Nazis, Steven MIller maybe the most openly viscious one of them. It appeals to the most radical, born again "Christian" survivalist freaks in MAGA-world, the ones they seem to be recruiting to do the dirty work of terrorizing immigrants of all status and anyone not of the MAGA tribe. It's a real social pathology. I don't know how long it can self sustain. Dr. Bandy X. Lee writes about this stuff at least a few times / week. Her insight is valuable.
HE needs AA, not KKK.
We can hope his drinking leads to the obvious medical condition. Soon.
His decals leave a lot to be desired; cracks me up, until I wail, that Hegseth is overseeing deportation of people in part over their decals.
Not to mention the reality show that saw his father arrested at a K.K.K. rally in 1927 and a member of the fascist German American Bund.
It hasn't budged in decades. The only reason why they are elected is because of gerrymandering and lies.
Also voter suppression snd other election subversion techniques, a Federal Judiciary loaded with right wing ideologues, and big money domination of politics and media.
Would be interesting to see what proportion of that 38% relied on some form of govt assistance. What level of pain is required to alter that number. I guess we'll see in real time in the coming months...
I wish I could think that that would change those cultist minds--and it probably will, for a small number.
Unfortunately the real die-hard MAGA base will accept & tolerate any hardship as long as they can believe that those they hate and despise are also suffering.
It is but my better self, but I hope so, too. Pain is a great teacher.
I’d also be interested in what they watch on tv-what is the education level-how often they voted-how many own guns…
I'm repeating myself, but I must remind you all of the important role evangelicalism plays in MAGA World. Two theorems govern the evangelical culture: 1. Good things in life are "God's blessings" and bad things in life are "God's will." 2. Suffering is the inevitable condition of "good Christians" and should be welcomed as a badge of honor.
This dissociative line of thinking expands to even those who don't consider themselves to be religious.
In a culture that regards Donald as "the new messiah," thinking or suggesting that he did something harmful is heresy. Don't expect those base numbers to change.
Would Richard Dawkins book on a specific "delusion" help them? Some Python perhaps? I suspect, as you indicate, that cohort is a lost cause. If you're only a strong as your weakest link, then this is a serious problem.
One-third the country remains under the control of a disembodied orange "brain" preserved in a jar of electrolytes on a distant planet orbiting a forgotten star in an alternative galaxy far, far away. I don't think you'll ever bring these people back to anything resembling reality.
MAGA is a cult. They are lost.
They are Nazis. The comparison to 1930's Germany is unmistakable.
We have learned nothing. How can they not see themselves as the villains in this?
Because they live in the upside-down trump world. WE are the villains; we oppose Dear Leader. THAT is what makes them Nazis.
Propaganda, which tfg and his buddies have been spewing for a decade, is their reality.
The mental gymnastics must be exhausting!
Fox poisoning, a terminal case.
None of us are the villains of our own stories.
Double think!
They just go about leading their lives—they are to busy getting the kids to school and going to two jobs to pay the bills and they don’t bother with reading opposing views or investigating whether something is true or think about the future. They have their routines and tune into Fox at night and things seem fine to them. They wonder why we are bellyaching. ANYTHING Trump does is ok with the cuz the don’t really get it anyway.
It's hard to acknowledge, but the fact is that the U.S. was born from violence and white supremacy. In the tree of a thousand colorful branches that has grown over the past two centuries, that core of white, brittle hardwood remains, extending all the way down to the roots. When the tree is damaged, that white core that stinks of violence and racism is exposed. When we join together and heal the damage, we make them disappear, but we can't get rid of them.
A great deal of truth in that.
Some of the people that you can fool all the time its almost 40% of the voters J L. That's terrible, that's huge, its a national embarrassment 😳
I think that 37% to 38% represents 47's most hardened MAGAt base...those cultists who will never give up their belief in him. That percentage has been fairly steady from the outset, and they are the ones who will go to their graves believing in 47.
Not soon enough
🤣🤣🤣🤣
Trump relies on being able to fool enough of the people some of the time, especially at elections. Seriously though, you make a very good point and his decision to appoint only idiots and sycophants to his cabinet is bound to have adverse consequences for his administration, as indeed we've already seen on numerous occasions.
on the other hand, it's a gang that is not likely to vote for his removal as incapable, under the 25th Amendment. So safety in numbers (of clowns, but loyal ones).
If they tried to do this, Trump's lawyers would no doubt mount the 'Pot, Kettle, Black' defence.
But not all of the people all of the time…who are these “people “ in the 38%? I get those surveys very often and I don’t fill them out. Perhaps we should all start so they see these disapproval numbers as they really are.
Colette, in my very early retirement (which started 2/1/2020!!) I was stuck inside and I used to do surveys on surveyjunkie.com. You actually get paid a bit for them, but not much--anything from 25 cents to a buck or two depending upon the time. I enjoyed them, as I liked to see possible new products (actually got a few sent to me to test) and I LOVED the political ones as I could trash Trump! There were endless ones on cars, banks and phones which I found boring. Once I hit age 65, I didn't qualify for many anymore, so I gave up looking at it. (They all start with qualifying questions, so they are looking for a certain demographic) Amazingly, one that stands out in my mind was a LONG one that showed me profiles of six potential running mates for Biden, before he picked Harris!
Currently, I'm signed up to yougov. They send me an email alert about one a week. For them, they issue points, which when they accrue, you can turn into cash in your bank account, or dozens of different gift cards. I enjoy these, and have told friends who've signed up. I am so so so so so happy when I get political surveys!! ;-D
I've seen "who answers the phone for surveys" and I suspect very few are done by phone these days. YouGov doesn't ask qualifying questions--apparently they preselect.
In case anyone is curious:
https://today.yougov.com/
That being said, I read a FASCINATING book years ago, and a section in it deals with the bias in surveys. I was astounded to read it and see how the many surveys I had completed had bias in it! One that struck me was the question "Is the country going in the wrong direction?" How many times have you seen that? Well, if I agree it is, is it because I'm a MAGA and I hate trans people? Or it because I am liberal, and I disagree with book bans? This really opened my eyes--as you don't know WHO commissioned the survey and how they will use the results! Anyone interested in this, do read this book. It isn't at all boring!
"The Number Bias: How numbers Lead and Mislead Us" by Sanne Blauw
Thank you Miselle for all this information! I will take a look. I am also retired but when I was working in corporate America I was often involved with surveys, sometimes from the perspective of how a certain demographic would react, sometimes I would have displays in stores and although we wouldn’t ask questions, we would watch to see if the displays would draw people to look. We would also add or take away things in displays to see what made people be more interested. Although technically not a survey, the data collected was very important. We had a department that wrote or hired people to write surveys and they would bring us the information and feedback. It was very interesting but you are VERY right, depending on who has commissioned the surveys they can be very slanted to give the “owner” justification.
I am seeing mainstream media distort those numbers to manipulate. Shame!
See my above comment regarding the book about number bias!
We have a very stupid 40% plus or minus population. I am bewildered by polls these days. How are they conducted? Who's being polled? This is not the USA of 30 years ago.I doubt the accuracy.
W’s quote. And those are the ones you want to concentrate on. W is silent these days.
W is probably satisfied that Trump has displaced him and will now and forever take the top place in a list of the country's worst Presidents...or at least, so I hope.
He has not had a discouraging word about Republican evil. He was just the practice.
Glaringly so.
While I think there is an education component to who is most easily misled, I doubt it is primarily a matter of innate intellectual capacity which I would expect to reveal a similar profile around the world. My guess is that it has more to do with what we are taught about how to identify which information is reliable. Does it come primarily from a human "authority" or is it drawn or vetted through disciplined testing and logic? That's a developed skill, and also a culture. Some household perpetuate an authoritarian standard both as a model in the home and in overall society. I think such people are reassured by Trump and his ilk BECAUSE presents as an authoritarian, not in spite of it.
So true, I watched a brilliant family (parents and four children) become chump idiots. One rebel among the MAGAts. Mom was smartest woman I knew, dad was a “my way or the highway” type. In 1996, they had Fox on tv 24 hours a day. Not a typo. They stayed up late.
I have seen a number of demonstrably clever and "well educated" people become full out MAGA. One to whom I am related by marriage watched Fox for hours. His proof of his concepts was "people I trust say ..." . There are people I trust for good information as well, but not quite the same way. Anyone could be mistaken, myself most certainly included, but how does what is said fit with with my store of testable evidence?
Obviously there is a massive amount that I cannot test completely, but look for pieces of the puzzle that mesh from multiple approaches. What models appear to work when you actives seek to uncover their flaws? "Experts", such as scientists, can and do get it wrong, but the trustworthy ones make every effort not to, and they endlessly test and revise. As a general rule, whose counsel is more reliable: scholars or politicians? It's amusing to watch politicians belligerently say that they "never said" 'such and such', run in tandem with news "footage" in which they said exactly that. Not that it seems to slow them down any.
In 1996. Fox was so over the top ridiculous that I was gob smacked by these friends. Their “fair and balanced” was so patiently bull schitt, anybody should have spotted it. Sadly, didn’t happen.
I was reading an article yesterday with numbers on approval/disapproval of troop deployment in LA. It seemed that in the end the people who disapprove are the ones who are actually following closely what’s going on. The ones who approve are just parroting the cult, just like their silence GOP who refuse to say a word against their cult leader.
Trump is literally trying to kill our economy, destroy our constitution and make a mockery of our US armed forces. Meanwhile, there is a potential scary war between Iran, Israel & America, and Americans are quietly leaving embassies. No media is covering this bc they’re so focused on the distraction Trump has created in LA.
BBC World Service is covering it.
I record " BBC World News America" daily. 👍
I'll remember that, when I listen in Melbourne!
Trump may have called Netanyahu. The Trump regime is negotiating with Iran. Netanyahu is under criminal investigation in Israel.
Trump is a multi count convicted felon. The movement ordered could be a way to put more pressure on Iran.
Netanyahu would probably be willing to go along because the Israelis don’t want Iran to get nuclear capability.
Again - Trump caused the problem by breaking up the original deal.
But it’s probably a distraction from the mess Trump made here.
Everything Trump touches turns to shit. There are no exceptions.
That's unfair CTT, he is getting richer faster than ever before. The s*it is what he leaves behind for us to clean up.
Ricardo, the only reason Donald is getting richer faster at the moment is that he's not personally managing these grifts. IF – and that's very big IF – he is removed from the White House before he dies, and IF he evades imprisonment, and he takes control of the wealth he's accruing now, he will lose it all.
Recall that he started out in his adult life with millions of inherited dollars, but still had to be bailed out numerous times until his paternal ATM died. He lost all that money and had to borrow vast sums to continue his businesses. He achieved the impossible by bankrupting no less than 4 casinos. All of his non-real estate ventures failed and his actual stake in his remaining businesses is minuscule.
Only a fool would let him manage anything – unless his indebtedness could be turned into favors of a different kind, as Vladimir Putin has done.
No normal people, knowing his administrative history would vote for him for anything. However, there he is, nested in the White House destroying everything he can reach and beyond. As for too many voters, I always say there's mo cure for stupidity. Thanks for your comment Dale.
Destruction is the goal. Fast and complete. They told us while chump was blathering about his ability to solve every problem. Carnival barker sold his freak show.
Yeah, I find those poll numbers cited by Heather pretty astounding, but for a different reason! On average 38% of our fellow Americans are ready to embrace an authoritarian demise of our democracy!! A 2011 CNN poll found that 23% of Americans identified more with the former Confederacy than the Union, the fertile ground for Trumpism. Same damn people who suck resources from the federal government at a higher rate than they pay taxes are ready to destroy our country. Let them all secede and wallow in their hatred and poverty.
I don't ignore your numbers or statement. My concern is with the military sycophants who willingly volunteered to attend Trump's address to the troops. I have to wonder how many of them were from deep southern states that align with Trump and his machismo leanings. I was taken in by the demand that he didn't want any "fat" soldiers attending. I was on Facebook yesterday and came across this golden nugget of a post from Harlow's Musings. I can't find out who "Harlow" is, as Google states that the individual' name is unknown. However, his post is quite the "calling out" of all those Southern gentlemen who tend to suck up to Trump. Here is his full post. It's a doozy! https://www.facebook.com/reel/23992446607015427
Fox "news" plays all day at military commissaries - so the armed forces have no reality check to what the commander-in-chief tells them. And the main purpose of Fox is to make people angry, so it's a motivation...
Why is this allowed?
Wow. Nails it. I live among ‘em.
It was no accident, Riad. Yes, it is horrible that there are such "military sycophants", but check into this:
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/trump-fort-bragg-speech-soldiers-screened-appearance-b2768400.html
Ya.,. Ally. Pretty disgusting. I can understand that individual military personnel may have their personal opinions about a dem or a repub., but they all swore an oath to the Constitution that is supposed to put all of them well above that. When tRump is gone, the new administration is going to have to work really hard to relegitimize (if I can use such a word) the non-partisan honor of all US forces.
I just hope that we can recover our non-political armed forces.
Thank you JD . Have a great day !
Some might agree with him, some might just wanted to have bragging rights of being there. And some might have the same fascination as those who slow down to look at a train wreck.
In the military you cannot refuse to attend anything. But you can bet they all cheered on demand and it was as setup as picking which troops would be seen. I am surprised they were not all white men.
Full of toxic masculinity, but at least he sees through Trump’s lies and understands that MAGA is hurting its adherents along with the rest of us.
Same battle, same insanity. Civil War redux. Hate doesn’t die, just goes underground for a while.
Sadly true
I am wondering if it’s more likely the blue states secede. To paraphrase the moron president, we hold all the cards when it comes to economic power. He needs us way more than we need him.
I sure wish California would.
Given their lousy track record, polls are mostly BS.
Ask virtually anyone whether they condone fraud and theft and they don't.
Here is an interesting way to flip your negative, so the slogan you paint on this weekends PROTEST SIGN will agree with your values…frame it in the positive.
click on the link,
Simon Sinek - Human Brain Cannot Comprehend The Negative (ie: MAGA convert)
https://www.instagram.com/reel/DJ5XnSfhwlm/?igsh=MTJwdHBzNWFiZHhrNg==
…”It may help if we think of ourselves as protectors instead of protesters. We protect the rule of law. We protect due process. We protect our government from unelected oligarchs. We go to the streets to protect our democracy.” - public comment.
"THANKS, but NO TANKS!"
Positive enough for ya?
I like that!!
Where I live, "Trump no!" has profoundedly deep meaning in several languages.
"Cono no!" works in Hialeah.
haha right on✊
OKay, Daniel, you caused me to google that.
LOL, thanks for that one!!
I have a US flag and this: defend against all enemies, foreign and domestic.
The flip will have the flag (mounted to the side of the sign) and
NO Kings
I’m thinking of flying my flag upside down on the 14th.
I’ll probably do that with the National Colors, if my wife ok’s it.
but do most of those people still supporting Trump even know about the fraud, or if they do (that jet was pretty visible), care? They don't condone it in the abstract, but they don't worry about it in the real world. Just Trump being Trump, he's never cared about anything besides money, nothing to look at here...
In voir dire thay are merely asked whether they can convict for fraud.
Speak to MAGATs & ask them whether they know that the Trump family has made $5.9 billion since the election. They do and they don't like it.
Many of the pols are "push polls," meaning they are set ups. Have no credibility.
In the real world, most people lost bigly under # 45. So soon we forget. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gdstZDCCgAc
Aw, but they do when it affects them!
I read that Texas is worried about losing seats to Democrats so they’re planning on redistricting to dilute votes and try to retain power. Not the first time they’ve done this.
I really like and admire HCR, and I value the work she does to bring Americans this information. This comment isn’t made as a criticism of her. But. We have got to stop looking at polls and nodding happily and thinking that Trumpism is near collapse. The simple fact of the matter is that Trump has a stranglehold on our country. His poll numbers were this low at various points during his first term, and that did nothing to rid us of him. Like a bacteria temporarily quelled by a quasi-effective antibiotic, he’s simply come back stronger.
So true! Trump is the Major Domo, out in front doing his dance to get all the attention! I fear the polls reflect the distraction of his antics and not the reaction to the REAL questions we are all asking in the moment. What has happened to our Government in the last five months is a halt, a full stop to all the checks and balances so carefully created in the last seventy years. All humanitarian support has been withdrawn from the world, WE HAVE ABANDONED OUR TRUSTED ALLIES. They are slowly recovering from their shock that has been replaced with anger, lack of respect and an overwhelming need to to let us know that they will not forget and they will move on without us. And how is one to interrpret that. We have lost our ability to make ourselves safe by eliminating thousands of workers whose jobs were to keep our food safe, and recall what is not safe. The drugs we take will no longer have personnel to look at their safety and efficacy much less interpret existing drug research or move forward with the process of reviewing new drugs. We are in the midst of global climate change resulting in weather that is so bizzare it's terrifying to look at the distruction and deadly weather events on the morning forcast. Hurricane Season is upon us and and our trusted forecasters at the National Weather Service and The National Hurricane Center are GONE! And what about FEMA!? Leave it to the States? Really?! Polls are great , so there is a foot in the door. I fear the worst is yet to come. Whos minding the store where do we go from here , how do we keep safe , keep our familys safe , move forward . How do we move forward with the loss of our government. how do we repair the damage that has already been done. Who is working on this? ? The coup was won. Our elected officials are totally absorbed in fund raising and the next elections. Our democracy is slipping away. How are we to move forward with the process of living. And now we are facing a Brain Drain. We have become accustomed to solving problems because we attract the smartest and brightest to study here and help us solve so many of of the EARTHS problems. The smart people want to study , learn, create and solve problems. They will go elsewhere. where they are welcomed as they should be. We have a new country, it's becoming a new world. so many things are not the same. Where do we go from here. Keeps me awake at night. who will bring my neighbor her breakfast? who is minding the store.
As the Republican Party collapsed into a pile of excrement. It took more than chump, but the Rupert propaganda machine helped.
She is reporting the facts as she finds them. I agree that WE can no longer look at this in a normal way. This is not normal. This is the Lewis Powell Memo, 7 Mountains, Protocols of the Elders of Zion, Handmaid's Tale, 1984 stuff in action....did I miss anything?
You are getting there, but the essence consists of 2 things:
• Tramp cares only about media dominance
• Tramp does not care about truth
Media dominance assures untruth prevails.
What is clear to me is that he is immune to polls and the numbers reflected. Narcissists could care less about what others think or are saying about them. His attitude may well be the determining act that self-inflicts his demise. The problem is, I have trouble waiting that long for it to happen.
He’s like lice.
Over a third of the country are solid for Trump. That’s A LOT.
Yet again, our intrepid historian has captured the essence of current events in the context of our long and convoluted history. Never, in my 91 years, after serving as a Navy pilot, attempting to make a difference as president of seven non-profit organizations, one of them statewide in California, voting in every election since Dwight David Eisenhower’s second term, and attempting to stay abreast of current events as a responsible citizen, would I have imagined ending up with this sentiment about my Country’s behavior: ashamed. It is beyond painful.
Still, despite that brutal sentiment, I assert there are enough Americans, whatever their emotional state, who believe in our Great American Experiment and will do whatever they can to restore a legitimate return to our trajectory. That commitment will be energized by appreciating in real time the damage those who would destroy our endeavor are willing to impose.
Heather and so many others seek to clarify that. They are patriots in every sense of the word.
I have no idea when I will utter my last word on this matter. What I do know is that I am not alone. This community of Americans--and so many others-- remind of that virtually every day.
I am so grateful.
Sending deep respect and a firm hug your way, Al.
I’m sorry you have to see this circus play out after a lifetime of service to the American people. I often think about my Grandfather and what he would think if he were here… he fought in WWII, and while we are Australian he would be hanging his head in shame at what our world has become. Particularly the fascism that has been allowed to proliferate unchecked, the very thing he fought against. Sending our support from the Southern Hemisphere 🙏🏻
Thank you for your service - all of it!
Al, your comment reminds me that the majority of Americans have lost the definition of "patriot." It is not someone who applauds their homeland, no matter what it may do. A patriot does not think their homeland is the best in the world.
Few of us do not have imperfect family members. Some of us come from ideal families imbued with love and harmony. But some of us were beaten or sexually molested by family members. Some of us have parents who misused substances. Some of us have been abandoned by parents. Some of us have parents who didn't know how to parent and they made a mess of it. Some of us have children who made these mistakes. We know they screwed up, but we still love them anyway, and want them to be their best selves.
Real patriots can acknowledge both the successes and failures of their country, but love it anyway, wanting their homeland to be the best it can be, working to help it rise to its potential.
Thanks for that clarification, Dale. Yes: "the best it can be, helping it rise to its potential" says it exceptionally well. Perfect is not currently available on Planet Earth, or any part of it. I suspect you and I would agree that some of our most dedicated patriots demonstrated that quality by means of searing criticism--and then went on to do something constructive about it. I, too, think of patriotic as applauding the idea and aspirations of America, not ignoring the many failures and transgressions we have embraced over our almost 250 year experiment. Rather, acknowledging and learning from them. I hope our exchange here is a useful contribution to the dialogue Heather regularly inspires. You just proved that I am not alone, Dale.
I appreciate the thoughtfulness of the rejoinders, including yours. It is precisely this quality of exchange that I believe Heather's "Letters" seek to inspire. Just for the record, I have no intention of giving up and I don't think you do either.
“I love parades, but I’m not really excited about $40 million for a parade. I don’t really think the symbolism of tanks and missiles is really what we’re all about…. All the images that come to mind are Soviet Union and North Korea.”
On this, I agree with Senator Paul.
"Republican barking mad"; not news.
"Republican talks sense"; news.
Yes but he’s just now realizing how petty and immature Donold is?
Nah. He's focused ONLY upon the number with a dollar sign in front of it. That is only and ever what RP's grift consists of: throwing high dollar amounts around to outrage his otherwise inattentive base.
Did it take getting disinvited to a little picnic to convince Paul that The Orange Fatty is immature and childish?
Thank you so much for your daily letters. Absolutely crucial right now.
Call. Write. Email. Protest. Unrelentingly.
Use/share this spreadsheet as a resource to call/email/write members of Congress, the Cabinet and news organizations. Reach out to your own reps, as well as those in other states on a specific committee important to a topic you’re sharing. Use your voice and make some “good trouble.”
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/13lYafj0P-6owAJcH-5_xcpcRvMUZI7rkBPW-Ma9e7hw/edit?usp=drivesdk
>>>The numbers are remarkable.
The poll shows that 38% of registered voters approve of the way Trump is handling his job as president; 54% disapprove.<<<
Sadly, these numbers are *not* remarkable. They reflect the same percentage of intractable, entrenched MAGA cult voters as back in November, as well as about the same number who disapproved of Trump.
All of the narratives constantly being repeated, especially by the liberal media and various substacks, about Trump and his authoritarian vision and impulses (which are completely true), are not moving the dial. I fear for our country and what has to happen before that dial actually really does start to move. For certain, a whole lot of working class MAGA voters are going to have to understand who is responsible for the economic pain they are feeling, and it's not going to be "short-term for the future good," as they console themselves with this fantasy in the present. And a whole lot more voters need to step up and start registering their disapproval beside barely above 50%. Looking at you, Independents, who sat on the fence until the election (and even then many of you voted for Trump) when the choice was clear as a bell. And looking at you voters, some 90 million, who didn't vote at all.
Ya... I agree Michael. In looking at the numbers, I wasn't too impressed with them. For all the trauma that is now befalling this nation, the percentage gaps demonstrated are, for me, not nearly wide enough. They need to be far wider.
I understand what you’re saying; emotionally, my heart says “how can anyone listen to tRump’s rambling, mean-spirited nonsense for 5 seconds and still “approve” of him at all?
But if you imagine yourself as a voter who is not paying attention to the news, what signs would tell you that we’re in a crisis? Other than those fired by DOGE, or disappeared off the streets by masked thugs, or sick with measles, life is pretty similar to a year ago. Most things in this great country still seem to be ticking along as usual. Citizens *should* be paying more attention to the news, of course, but if you don’t make the effort to know what the tRump regime is doing, you probably have not yet been directly impacted by his idiocy. And I’m not even talking about Fox addicts, who are contributing to the approval rates.
BUT: GOP politicians know they cannot win elections with the sort of approval rates that HCR has cited. They know that they can’t win primaries by splitting from tRump and they can’t win General elections by sticking with him when he is so unpopular. Soon, many GOP politicians will probably start declaring their retirement.
These low approval ratings are a bigger deal than our hearts tell us.
Marcia… all excellent points. I hope they all pan out.
"I don’t really think the symbolism of tanks and missiles is really what we’re all about…. All the images that come to mind are Soviet Union and North Korea.”
NOT coincidentally.
We are at a significant point of inflection: King Baby is deteriorating before our eyes,and his policies are provoking significant spontaneous public reaction. The cracks in the dam are visible.
I read it wrong the first time--I read "a significant point of infection." Or maybe I read it correctly...
Same here, Betsy. That dyslexia is something else...
Or maybe you are a little bit dyslexic as I am Betsy 😄. I read the same thing as you. In any case our mind, not our eyes read it correctly.
A real Kakistocrat.
A Ku coup caca kleptocratic autocratic petulant kakistocrat.
Keep going horhai, don't be shy....
It's not the level of immaturity that's beyond words, but something much worse. Depravity.
I’m reading right now a novel on this by Natsuo Kirino called “Grotesque.”
I might have read it anytime in the past 18 years since its English translation (from the Japanese) came out – if anyone had nodded in its direction.
None so nodded. One reason might be the extremes of depravity Ms. Kirino fathoms in girls, young women. Our far-right censors could make cases for banning such a work. Though for Ms. Kirino “Grotesque” makes poetic justice, balancing out the extreme depravity in her earlier novel, “Out” which set up four very different women to indict Japan’s patriarchal society.
Could fictional depravity help America see its extents of that in its criminal in the White House, in the extreme cowardice and unctuous hypocrisies in MAGA’s House Speaker, in the massive corruption of the Supreme Court’s Clarence as he’s made a career toadying to the U.S. rich, and any number of high tech or other billionaires paying for more, more, more depravity?
According to Craigslist DC, they are paying $1000 in crypto to seat fillers for the big parade.
There's also a good chance of rain.
We're due to have some things go our way.
Thunderstorm? (Rubs hands together).
And lightning.
Hail to the chief.
Hailstones big as golfballs.
ISWYDT...thanks for the guffaw!
Maybe a tornado to suck all these leeches away.
Forked.
Very very frightening
That would bring the wrath of MTG on your heads!
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/oct/07/marjorie-taylor-greene-hurricane-helene
Eek.
Paying in crypto? Guess chump plans to make it our official currency, eventually.
Crypto is a major scam.
Indeed, it will destroy our economy if they continue to push it.
I don't think that Craigslist ad was real, but it was dramatic.
I so want to believe that the CraigsList ad is real! But regardless, I think we need to talk much more about it. Make them prove that it is false, if it is (as the tRump team well knows, total lies are not easy to rebut with facts!).
Then make their denial of the ad into another news cycle.
Use their own play book against them, instead of avoiding false information out of old fashioned “Democrat Decency”.
Here is a link to the ad, as discussed on SezUs:
https://sez.us/post/6849dd05b3831cf4529cc119?1JXJ0PNSS=
https://washingtondc.craigslist.org/doc/tlg/d/washington-seat-fillers-needed-june/7857143452.html
https://www.threads.com/@michelestillman/post/DK12LChxrPR?xmt=AQF0Smk6hGay--ttSnYlsE_EphIpppFmdTup0UK5YrEwOQ
Rep Stansbury indicates that it was real.
My cursory dive did not find any listing for "T-Melon Events". Timothy Melon is a top ffpotus donor. 1 K in imaginary money sounds like an interesting deal.
I suspect, sadly, that it was a "false flag" operation, but it would be interesting to do a cast out for anyone who may have replied to the ad before it was removed.
https://washingtondc.craigslist.org/doc/tlg/d/washington-seat-fillers-needed-june/7857143452.html
Yes, and the post was removed. I’ve read several sources that could not independently determine it was true or a false flag op.
https://www.threads.com/@michelestillman/post/DK12LChxrPR?xmt=AQF0Smk6hGay--ttSnYlsE_EphIpppFmdTup0UK5YrEwOQ
Rep Stansbury said it was real.
You know, I would like to know who are the people answering the polling questions and how many were asked to submit answers. I’d also like to see the questions that are being asked because they may be skewed. Nonetheless, the percentages show that people are unhappy with this regime and that’s a good thing. Thank you,Heather, for Morris’ graph (located in footnotes) showing progress of the Dems in questionable states. The info on Oklahoma blew me away where a Native American won overwhelmingly smashing a record of winning by 70 points over her Republican opponent. If I read the article correctly, this is a district that is predominately Black and educated. Talk about a WIN-WIN!
Yes, Marlene, things could be turning.
Too many things the criminal in chief is doing just too patently, too flagrantly look criminal, in-your-face scornful as is he towards the law, America's long-held allies, and democracy itself.
Hopefully our No King day will see amazing numbers of souls turn out, everywhere.
AMEN, Phil!
In certain sneak close-ups, his face could be described with that old-fashioned word, "choleric".
Trump is unusual because the lowest numbers in those polls (34-38%) is the LOWEST he can possibly go. If one subtracts the “Trump can do no wrong MAGA faithful” he’s basically at 0.
That was my thought on reading the poll numbers; 34% of the total voting eligible population that voted cast their votes for him. There are some who voted for him that are questioning his policies, many of them audibly and publicly.
But in the end they know he can’t hold office again and refuse to blame the rest of the GOP for giving away their power to him so they will continue to vote for Republicans.
Marlene, thanks for pointing out Morris’ graph about the Special Election.Sharing.📣
I’m in Fl SD-19.Our candidate lost by only 9% to a Trump-endorsed MAGA with name recognition and a huge fundraising advantage .169k vs 16k.
The Dem candidate also lost ( same Senate seat) in November by 20% to another Trump-endorsed MAGA who resigned to run for Waltz’ US Rep seat in an adjacent county.This MAGA( the one who thinks we should “nuke” GAZA) greatly underperformed in another uber-red county.
I hope our candidate runs again.She is fearless and desires to be the first openly transgender legislator in Florida legislature.Of course….the opponents’ flyers were horrible.
💪💙
https://poll.qu.edu/images/polling/us/us06112025_demos_usfa29.pdf
Depravity it is. In the extreme. So odd (and alarming) that that can be "normalized".
Phil, I just finished The Eighth Life by Nino Haratischvili about, mostly, the women of one Georgian family, who tried to live whole lives during the rise, entrenchment, and quasi dissolution of the Soviet empire. It too is haunting to read and absorb while this current regime unfolds this misogynistic and militaristic remaking of America. It is a really powerful and poetic and heartrending.
"Repentance" -- a perestroika-era film by Georgian filmmaker Tengiz Abuladze should make a comeback right about now in preparation for Trump's death (which cannot come too soon). The play is a reverse Antigone, where the daughter of the dead dictator keeps digging up her father's corpse to drag it to the central square of town, forcing everyone to look at it, ponder their role in his reign of terror and sadism. As long as they choose to forget, the corpse keeps re-appearing. There is no forgiveness, no repentance, no reconciliation for Republicans without confrontation, without confession, without profound remorse. They did this to us, to themselves....
I will look for it…In the saga of this amazing and deliciously long….ala a great Tolstoy novel….the peril of filmmaking about the repression is one of the tides that turns the lives of the international protagonists…along with a family chocolate recipe that is implicated in some rather key twists in their personal and the greater political history. I so highly recommend this book.
I didn’t read a review prior to diving in but after I finished I did come across this thoughtful take on the role of this narrative vis-a-vis the Western audience. https://chytomo.com/en/the-eighth-life-by-nino-haratischvili-georgia-for-western-consumption/‘The Eighth Life’ by Nino Haratischvili: Georgia for Western consumption
And we did help quite a lot by being too proper and by the book all the time. Look at the consequences now ICTT.
Very big thanks, KSC, for letting me know.
Will definitely get this and read it. Have already read all the memoirs, histories, and books of reportage on this era you cite.
So chilling that the U.S. tumbles down the same rats' nest.
Phil, I am back because I have been thinking sooo much about the wide expanse between what I thought I knew/know as a liberal arts educated white, economically middle class American woman with a JD, and what most of the people, in most of the world were experiencing since this ’me’ was born in the mid 1960s in a very white middle American environment. (Nuance here but suffice it to say that I was white, blond and blue eyed in a state that was 99.9-radio-call-station upper case WHITE ….but my dear brothers were not.)
I know you are all in on the power of an education that is rounded around liberal arts..humanities…the need to feed our souls and our more materialistic calculations with the lessons that the more nuanced, I am thinking the quantum story of human interconnection…well that is our sonar signal. All to say, can we move away from the ’education ’ protocol and look for a historically informed (this is an HCR group after all) re-experiencing of the past, present, and future dynamically, pitfalls and possibilities. I guess that I am wondering if any ’public’ school system…the origins of which is training up the necessary cogs in the wheel of the current economic schematic…can achieve the kind of integrated and expansive coalescence that is necessary to weather the polycrisis of this now. I went through private and public schools as a child; we invested in private and, then, relented to public schools for our three children cum adults. Now, they are trying to make their way in this strange new foggy economic environment…they are all in Europe btw…and I can see pros and cons in comparing their circumstances to those my life partner and I ..and they faced unwittingly…say 15 to 20 years past. But in a sense the ’circumstances’ were imaginary? No?
Which brings me back to the origins of this discussion arising from the literature of ’other’ peoples in other but resonating historical circumstances; how do we absorb these amazing stories that resound in our inner core and then, I am thinking, repay their courage with our own.
And, I don’t think you need to go to a university to understand THAT.
So as a post script of anticipation….i get that the social media feeds are not from people…if they really are people and not bots…but enrolling in a wrenchingly expensive college degree is just not going to get young people to read Tolstoy, Dickens, Shakespeare, and the un countable authors …particularly women…whose works have been sidelined in the ’mainstream.’ But I. My heart of heart and my head of heart I do know that these human beings are searching for a veracity and resonance and unhappy with the discordance. We know, from history, too well, that this will not stop them conforming to the perceived momentum of power in the hope that they can swim upstream….but nothing is set in stone and stones…the underestimated hero’s off metaphor ….can bolster us and rebuff the assumptions of a smooth ascension.
Love what you say here, KSC.
Would love it so much more if, here and there, you might pepper your sentences with relative clauses, similes, and other vehicles citing, say, any of the four female protagonists of Natsuo Kirino's "Out," Mary Karr's "The Liars' Club," Barbara Kingsolver's "Demon Copperhead," Joan Didion's "Where I Was From," Barbara Ehrenreich's "Nickel and Dimed," Erin Gruwell's "The Freedom Writers' Diary," or Miyuki Miyabe's "All She Was Worth."
When I say "pepper your sentences," I'm not talking seasoning only. When one's literacy turns to specific women, and their specific characters, one's vision changes, energizes, sheds abstractions totally.
Ordered it.
You will not be disappointed…I do believe
The New Yorker's Evan Osnos wrote an article on 26 May 'Donald Trump’s Politics of Plunder' about how America's billionaire oligarchs have rallied round the president from setting up new exclusive clubs to promoting the idea of 'freedom cities' where they can pretty much do anything they want free from regulation in the US and elsewhere.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/article/2024/may/26/trump-project-2025-sanctuary-cities
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/jul/05/honduras-land-rights-fight-crypto-colonialists
Yeah. Like sci.-fi. literature, such a book can be an effective vehicle for criticism of the larger society, except the larger society, in Trump's gangster régime put the book to shame when it comes to fantasy.
Dammit! I hate it when I agree with Rand Paul!
Right???? It’s the upside down world where Rand Paul and Kim kardashian are voices of reason. What the freak???????lol
About 10 years ago at this time, I asked my recent college graduate son what he thought of a Donald Trump presidency and he said “Are you f#&king kidding me?” Today, he just says “Sh$t!”.
I console myself by remembering that even a broken clock is right twice a day.
I worry about that 35-45% percent of the electorate who continue to support Trump. Other voters throughout history have supported tyrants similarly. What can truly disillusion them ?
How many Germans continued to think Hitler was right? Sadly, nothing you do or say will change the minds of the Stephen Millers of the world. I just didn't realize they we 1/3 of the population.
Who cares? We don’t need them to win most of the time. We don’t need to convert MAGA heads.
We just need to get the Democrats that sat out the last election up and into voting.
We need, as David Hogg has said, to offer the voters candidates who are in tune with people's wants and needs. Like Bernie, he is being forced out of his position of leadership. I have stopped donating to the DNC or to any PACs (got a letter from Chuck Schumer yesterday begging for a donation) since it only makes sense to me to give money to specific candidates I support.
While I’m none too pleased with the DNC the perception that Hogg is being forced out because of his positions on primaries is untrue. Suit was filed long before Hogg took his position. The issue is that the DNC failed to follow its own policies and procedures in the election.
I stopped donating to the Party in 2018. That was when they opposed Katie Porter in the primary. Since then I only donate to specific candidates. I also do phone banking for specific candidates.
I am so done with the constant barrage of "send us more money". I donated specifically to candidates locally, and a couple of senate races (Tester in MT and Gallegos in AZ).
Anyone else getting these "democratic surveys" that end with "send us more money"?
They didn’t sit it out, they were gob smacked and had the election stolen. True that they should have known the immigration hatred ruled, but they believed in our better angels. Since the shocking outcome, playing dead was a poor option. A rudderless party is hog tied to a great extent.
Ike
Uninvited to the White House picnic but not to be told until, on showing up to get his tickets, Senator Rand Paul is exposed to (possible) humiliation by being turned away. No tickets for Trump's picnic for him! Senator Paul, for his part, exposed the disgrace of the entire Trump administration: The “level of immaturity is beyond words.”
"Trump's picnic" evokes thoughts of Mussorgsky's "Night on Bald Mountain".
Gonna put that on my protest playlist!! Thanks for the suggestion!
Mussorgsky is one of my favorites. Great choice for the protest, Ally.
Playing “The Great Gate of Kiev” on tuba is an experience!
When I majored in music, I majored in the Baritone Horn. I always wanted to play the movement titled "Bydlo". Never did get the chance. Not once was that composition played in a concert. My pianist friend, however, did perform Pictures at an Exhibition. Tough piece to play. I listened to Vladamir Horowitz perform it on a recording and noticed two minor mistakes. In 1968, when I attended, Horowitz was as good as one could get.
I got to watch a YouTube video of a friend of mine play Bydlo on the F tuba as a 2nd tuba (Gene Pokorny, who is the principal tuba there recommended him. He’s a UO kid who got his DMA at Northwestern). It was awesome!
Whoa JL ... you score soundtracks too?
Two (2) thumbs up 👍👍
Truer words may well be never spoken.