"As the atmosphere around Trump gets hotter, there are cracks appearing in the Republican Party’s support for the former president."
The cracks will widen. Republican leaders know that from here, the case against Trump and his people will intensify. The J6 Committee has the goods and if Thursday night was any indication, they will be delivered in compelling narratives.
Let's hope the cracks create a chasm that the seditionists tumble down and, at the bottom, reach prison.
Nice to see a few cracks and I too hope for a chasm. I look forward to watching the other presentations of the committee. I am delighted too that those thugs in Idaho were arrested. Salem's rally for better gun laws was today because yesterday was a pride event. It was raining, but on a live feed, it looked like many people were there. We have a red flag law here in Oregon. If Machine Gun Betsy gets elected, I don't know what will happen on this and many other fronts.
Betsy Johnson worries me. Her TV ads no doubt appeal to many people. To me they're trite and add up to nothing, but positioning herself as a no-nonsense independent who can bring both sides together could prove effective in a three-way race. Or she might drain more votes from the GOP candidate. Or maybe I'm just paranoid. Would Oregon really elect a Republican governor for the first time in 40 years?
The problem is that were it not for Portland, Oregon would be a red state, and pretty damn red at that. Bundys and Bundy wannabes are popular in Oregon outside the Portland area and a few, small coastal communities. Similar analysis applies just about everywhere.
Oh, I wouldn't say that. There are more little blue dots out here than you might think.
We travel the state each summer volunteering for Oregon State Parks and we find friends wherever we go. The loudmouths may have signs saying they want to move the border, but they aren't everywhere. From Sumpter, Oregon.
This is what worries me, the acceptance of the lie and it's uses in Republican elections campaigns. It now seems evident that the American public can't readily distinguish between lies and old fashioned spin.
This is hard to read. I think she will draw more votes from Rs rather than Ds. At least that is my hope. The R candidate is not Vic Atiyah (sp?) either. I have a former R Marion County Commissioner as my next door neighbor and my bet is that he will vote D as he is totally disgusted with the R party.
This is what 'draining the swamp' looks like ... now let's double down on leaky pipelines being constructed in violation of environmental protection laws on the books ... n.o.w. ....
While the cracks may widen, I am eager to see the endgame. Who will be prosecuted and convicted? Do Garland and DOJ have the stones? Some worry about violence if Trump is convicted. Well, prepare for the worst and hope for the best. If this demon is not quelled, the U.S. will become a mere shadow of herself. I worry that Garland already is not functioning out of fear. Hopefully, I will be proven wrong.
If Garland concludes that Trump broke the law and the violations can be proved, he will be bring the cases to trial. There's nothing in his career or about his reputation that indicates otherwise.
And this sentence of your just nails the crux of everything: "If this demon is not quelled, the U.S. will become a mere shadow of herself."
I do worry with baited breath. I was born 78 years ago today, one week to the day after D-Day. I have embraced that fact through the years with honor and reverence. When I was a very young U.S. Air Force Staff Sergeant, I would have surrendered my life for my country. No b/s! If that was what I was called to do, then so be it. God in Heaven, I cannot wrap my head around the horrors that I now witness.
I am fully non-plused by the toxic slime traitors such as Trump and his minions. They all belong on the gallows; not Mar-a-Lardo.
My family can be traced back to the Mayflower 1620 (2x) then there are 3 additional lines who arrived in the now USA in the mid 1600s. We have been through every war, been slaves, been slave holders, inter married, had kkk members, etc. we've been in every upheavel (both sides). Whatever political event happened in the USA... you name it, we've been there. Yet, here we are. With a president who pretended he had bad feet so he could not go into the military to defend what he is now trying to subvert, the democratic process of the USA. It's truly unbelievable that after 400 years of struggle and strife, we have done a 180 in our efforts to create a fair and cohesive society, and headed down the rabbit hole into chaos, hatred, and pure hell because of the greed of a few. Like you, I am hoping that before my time is up that I see America pull itself together and get back on track.
My dad's side came over in the 1600s through what now is known as The Chesapeake. I doubt we were posh enough to journey on the Mayflower or any of the three ships which I believe followed her. We are Scots/Scots-Irish (Celts, which is why use "Keltik" or “Keltus” as my nom de plume). My mother's side, as best we know, is Scots/Welsh. We were tobacco farmers; violin makers; hard hewn but well spun.
My distant paternal grandfather fought in the American Revolutionary War, Virginia 9th Regiment, Battles of Germantown and Brandywine; discharged out of Valley Forge. By right of that, I am a Son of the American Revolutionary War. Our family lived in Kentucky at the time of the Civil War, a neutral state. Two uncles served during WWII: Korea, Japan and Germany. My older uncle retired at the rank of Lt. Colonel, U.S. Army in 1962; the year I joined our USAF. I exited honorably, Staff Sergeant/E5, with commendations.
The rage and anger I feel at this juncture in our Republic's history. I am fully disgusted with most Members of Congress, both sides. Where in hell is the leadership; the bold, the brave, the robust? Republicans are the domestic archenemy, the bully. The Democrats are wimps, actually walking in fear of the bully. You want to know what I believe will be the worst of it? Trump will walk. Cowardice and tyranny make for a toxic and volatile brew. That concoction also makes way for acquittal. I still await the real, true and authentic profile in courage.
I get your rage. (Nice to meet another genealogist. Knowing one's history is important, and can be very interesting and fun too. :-)) As for Trump, maybe the committee will provide hard proof as it progresses. At the very least, it will go in the public record and those choosing to vote him in cannot pretend he is a saint. However, while I too am not sure this will result in his incarceration, I am pinning my hopes on him being taken down for tax evasion/tax fraud. Atty' Gen Letitia James is determined to lock him up. :-) If anyone can do it, it is her. And I can hardly wait. Those black & white federal tax laws are not to be ignored as fake news, and Trump would not be the first "billionaire" to end up behind bars. However, this still leaves the problem of Americans voting in Trump in the first place. I was just told that an analysis of voters shows that it is the middleclass that pretty much supports Trump because he promised them lower taxes and tax breaks for their businesses, while the lower class votes for Biden in order to secure social program funding. I was also told that %34 of American households make less than $52,000 per year. They don't vote for Trump. Perhaps in the end, globalization (which encourages industry to look for the cheapest labor/production costs) and practicing American style capitalism (save financial institutions and let everyone else crash and burn) is the reason people see the American dream is never going to happen, so they better take what little they can (lower taxes) no matter what happens to society. Otherwise, I have no answers. Meanwhile, thanks for sharing. I hope we see a light at the end of this tunnel.
Happy birthday, Vince. Up until 2016, I would have never imagined the direction America has taken. There's still time to claw our way back to sanity, but as we know there are no guarantees.
We need and require ROBUST figures to do battle with our domestic enemies. Sadly, I see not even one truly robust figure among Democrats. They wallow in fear, weak-kneed, hoping the Republicans will simply go away.. I only mention my b'day because of its significance to me as an historical marker. Your "claw back" is apropos. Careerist politicians have been clawing toward fascism for decades. Their tunnel vision is killing our Republic.
What exactly, Keltik Warrior, would you have the “wallow(ing) in fear, weak-kneed” Democrats do? What could possibly be more fundamental, more noble, more dramatic, more laser-targeted than an exhaustive investigation and subsequent exposure of the crimes of the Orange Idiot and his sycophants? A Shoot-’em-up, rough-riding, blood-lust-satisfying meleé? What? What’s your solution?
I for one am UPTOHERE with criticism of Democrats that is not then tempered with at least one ONE better idea for how we should be saving this nation’s soul.
I share your views, and have posted previously my concern that fears of violent civil unrest by Trump's deluded loyalist Brownshirts will undermine the legal process. And while we're sharing worst-case scenarios, how about this one? - The GOP takes back the White House in 2024 and, if the case has not been concluded, fires Garland and replaces him with a stooge that ends it, OR if it has been successfully prosecuted, the new President pardons him. But I'll continue to hope - and work - for the best.
Say "Hello!" to America's banana republic. Hopefully, that will not be the case. I own NO weapons. (Well, one very fine Japanese Hisatsu knife!) But, I am beginning to contemplate: Should I get a sidearm? Nah.
Remember Watergate. Over 70 were implicated. President Nixon required a Ford presidential pardon to avoid criminal prosecution. Agnew was proven guilty and damned. Many were jailed, including AG John N. Mitchell, H. R. Bob Haldeman and John Erlichmann. John Dean was slammed. And W. Mark Felt’s wife committed suicide in their kitchen with his service revolver as she snapped under the pressure they endured with threats from G. Gordon Liddy, Agnew, Nixon, Mitchell and the GOP criminal element.
I had completely forgotten about the Felt suicide. And, Agnew. OMG! But, today, I doubt any of the contemporary members of this rogues' gallery will commit suicide. Perjury, perhaps. Treachery, of course. Unethical and immoral acts, most assuredly. Today's R's have no moral compass, which makes their tyranny, deceptions and disloyalty all the easier for them.
President Trump will be charged, he will be convicted of a number of crimes - federal and state. He will be jailed.
Essentially, good news.
Fascists belong jailed. Alcatraz might be opened for the GOP mob that worries AG Garland. The lying GOP mob belongs jailed - with President Donald J. Trump, the liar of liars...
Any takers?
Second...
We are going to experience a Crash, run away inflation, and Deflation, deflation of the common denominator, failure of equity and debt markets, a version of September 21, 1987, a Monday - till late afternoon - but there will not be the Tuesday recovery.
How does this work? Every attorney takes an unconditional oath to support the Constitution. I do not think there are exclusions for insurrections either. The oaths may vary by state except with support for the constitution. Pence is an attorney. His attorney Greg Jacob writing a three-page letter (redundant alert) is an attorney. Greg is writing about what the "president and his supporters were demanding Pence do the next day would break the 1887 Electoral College Act." Really? John Eastman is an attorney. Most of Congress are attorneys. They all swore oaths to support the constitution.
Seems to me we can hold a mass disbarment of those who failed to take action in warning people of the insurrection on the 6th (Pence and Jacob) and those who were silent. The committee already has the evidence. These people need to experience what the inside of a jail cell looks like.
Why are there exceptions for these critters while the insurrectionists who showed up on the 6th are being dealt with in courts and jail cells. Why do they get a by? In comparison, these people are worse than the insurrectionists. They knew, sat back, and "let" it all happen.
Law school, the Bar exams ... much of it is a haze, but I recall taking the Oath like it was yesterday. Members of Congress swore another Oath when they took office.
There was a time when an Oath meant something - people were held to account if they violated it.
It still means something the same as the oath I took to enter the Marine Corps in 68 and later as an NCO. There was no ignoring it or writing a letter. I would have gone to the Brig like so many I took there for disobeying their oath.
They should be jailed or charged just like the insurrectionists attacking the capitol. It is not an idea, it is a fact.
Attorneys are not protected from the law. They incited a riot. They failed to warn authorities. They n should be disbarred also. Their is no freedom from an oath,
His brother Charles was part of this too, and he holds a command post in the Navy. We must try to get all of them we possibly can. Bag 'em, tag 'em, and ship them to Gitmo for an extended, offline vacation.
I, too, swore an oath, and as one who holds a retired commission card, I still uphold it. Those are not just words you mouth as you raise your right had and swear, to the best of your ability, to (whatever version of "protect and defend the Constitution of the United States to the best of my ability" your particular oath held; mine also included "keep my private life unsullied, and to obey the laws of the land") but it is a promise to do just that. Apparently, an oath means nothing to some people. Not to me.
Ah, but remember, these people interpret the Constitution in their "own" way, twisting meanings to suit their warped views that many of us cannot agree with or understand the thought process behind. Similar to the supposed "originalist" judges who band together for their backwards viewpoints.
The oath they took says they will support the constitution, not interpret it to suit their individual beliefs. Upon enlisting or being drafted, the oath I took:
"I, (name), do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same . . . "
There is nothing there which says I can interpret it differently. The oath is different than the Constitution. Court may interpret it differently, this we know. This court is made up of "originalists." I believe they would hold to the same words even though law is interpretive. The oath is not law even though it is assertion. I would call it a rule.
I was bound by the UCMJ. If there was nothing in the UCMJ which covered an issue, there was always Article 38 which was called the "Captain's Cloak," which covered anything unspecified. This is outside of the topic.
I still believe many of those you mention will eventually be prosecuted. Some also may well be disbarred.
In large conspiracy cases like this one, the I vestigations are long and deep. They build from the bottom up, so the footsoldiers always get arrested first. Some will probably flip and give evidence against those further up the chain of command.
We have no guarantee, but the Committee cannot prosecute. It is laying out the evidence.
DOJ is, slowly, it seems, beginning to move up the chain. Wewill get there.
We must get there! If not, we may well lose our country in the next coup attempt.
The next 'attempt' is already well under way. Armed poll watchers? Ongoing tampering with election infrastructure, and democratic majorities being ruled by an illegitimate minority.
Apparently, they see the Constitution as an ink blot which affords them the freedom to interpret it anyway they choose. If so, their interpretation provides us with a roadmap to a diagnosis (charge) and treatment (punishment). Let’s get on with it.
I don’t see it that way. He did nothing to ”decide” not to be a traitor until he consulted with others who warned and counseled him. I remember thinking at the time….he had to be convinced? Please. He is a minion.
An attorney does not commit a crime by breaking her/his oath of admission to the bar, but bar discipline up to disbarment is possible. In the case of those who participated actively in T___p’s attempt to overthrow the Constitution, I expect that a number of them will become cooperating witnesses for the prosecutions that I devoutly hope are coming down the road. Most of those will probably escape prosecution, but they may well loses their law licenses, viz. John Dean.
Bill, the image of a mass disbarment is in the realm of spectacular disbelief - - it would be a perfect summation of the preamble of the constitution. Is it more movie than reality? Leave it to Spike Lee or Quentin Tarantino? I would rather see it live at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C.
Great sermon! I like your mass disbarment idea. Besides lawyers taking an oath to support the Constitution, I am pretty sure all Congressional members must take this type of oath too. That would also include the POTUS. Whether or not these Republicans who were involved in this believe in the Big Lie or not, their fealty is to their constituents. How can these people honestly represent said constituents when they believe(?) that Trump is still POTUS?
Oaths obviously depend on the character and integrity of the person taking the oath. Oaths are sacred, as they should be, to those responding here. As we have seen throughout the last 5 years, with impeachment hearings as a glaring example, many of our elected officials have neither character nor integrity. They take an oath and hire a lawyer.
If only we paid attention to character and integrity, in addition to platform, as we cast our ballots.
Mitch McConnell is the poster child for this problem. He took the oath; voted against impeachment; publicly admitted Trump’s crimes; said he would vote for him again.
Well said, and precisely what we have all been feeling for months as The Coup II is well under way. We can't permit them to cheat us, lie to us and steal from us anymore.
Oath only lasted as long as they were employed (paid, toted). Moved on once they revised their resumes to appear that they were innocent bystanders/objectors. Reborn honorable. Never knew about the camps. Sad.
This isn't an original thought, it's been expressed before, but seriously the Republican Party could have gotten rid of this goiter on the side of their necks during the last impeachment trial. I don't know how this will end, I am sure the R's will win the majority in the House of Representatives, and of course the investigation at the congressional level will end. And the Trump stain will remain with the Republican Party only in history books. Really sad thing is, it does prove that justice is not handed out evenly or equally. Elections going forward will be under a cloud. There is for the first time in my 68 years a feeling our 'Great Experiment' might be coming to an end. All because of one man's incredible ego, and his ability to take advantage of those who think tribally, forgetting the meaning of the pledge to the flag we all have made countless times: .......indivisable, with liberty and justice for all.
Are you 68 years old or did you not count when you were young? I am 73 and have seen a lot in my 40-something years of working. I sometimes believe I walked uphill both ways to get to where I am today. I was in the Corps at 19 in 68 and that was old in many respects. I had worked with my dad as a laborer when I was 16 till I was 18 and than full time at 18. Those was some tough critters. Boilermakers for lunch and back to the scaffolds many flors up.
Do you remember 2007/8 when Wall Street blew up the economy and Main Street was hammered? We paid a horrendous price for Wall Street and banks gambling with CDS/naked CDS with no reserves or pennies on the dollar. Banks were doing liar mortgages. People lied able income and assets and banks did not checking on the reality of them. Goldman Sachs called in on their CDS which AIG owned. AIG did not have enough cash. The Fed (pretty sure stepped in).
Obama passed the ARRA which was opposed by Republicans. Much of it got through but it was cut, not targeted correctly, and people whined about the debt and people being unemployed longer than expected. He wasn't a failure, he was a Black President stymied by Repubs for political and personal reasons.
Fast forward to 2020, Biden gets into office in spite of Repubs failing to fight an insurrection before it happened. They own this and they are jut s bad as those at the capitol on the 6th, There is no excuse for them or anyone else associated with trump not ratting on this to authorities.
I hold Bidden responsible for student loan issues. He may have learned the lessons from 2008. Everything he did to stimulate the economy has worked where with in two years we are just shy of employment being where it was prepandemic. The fiscal stimulus got into the right hands and people spent the economy back to prosperity. By far we are better off than we were in 2009/2010.
Yes we have inflation, much of it caused by supply chain issues. Some like automotive did the same thing they did in 2008. They did not maintain their orders for things like key fogs, doors and dashes, etc. So the tiers did not order. Just the start up at the NXPs, Panasonics, Infineons, etc. are a month to grow the wafers and a couple of months to bring those fab plants back on line. I lived the same issue in 2008. Company profits are yuge as trump might say.
Gasoline is high but not as high as 2008 when inflation is considered. If people would drive the speed limit, it would ease demand. I worry about healthcare for children and the extra funds going in their direction. That helped them and the economy a lot. We have Manchin blocking the BBB program as he preaches from his house boat "Almost Heaven" to kayaks below picketing him.
Maybe John Denver painted it a bit too rosy. West Virginia has one of the worst opioid problems in the United States. It is ranked near the bottom for living quality and has a decreasing population. Those programs Biden pushed helped West Virginia's population tremendously. There is an article "Senator Manchin Telling a Story" written by some guy called run75441. Good story about opioids and how we got to today.
Maybe I am full of crap (not in the things I am telling you) but in we have a chance to win big if people start to realize what happened after Biden took office. But Dems don't talk, we commiserate. If I did not understand the economics of all of this, I would be thinking just like you. Don't be down, push back.
We can win. This is not a catastrophe. Quite the opposite. It is very positive. Yes there is inflation, the majority caused by business interests. Biden did well.
Thanks Bill, you are right on point on so many things, and thanks for serving our country. Someday I hope to make it out to Arizona to visit that beautiful state once again. I have been active in politics my entire adult life. And you are right, we have had crises that theatened our way of life economically and constitutionally. As you brought up 2008 was 'yuge', hell, 1968, the year you joined the Marine Corps was a test, with King and RFK being assissinated within months of each other, the civil rights disconntent, the Vietnam War. But the constitution to me was always there like strong marble pillars that hold up a building. It held strong during the Nixon debacle, for example. I am going to continue to fight, to continue to be involved here in Pennsylvania (like Arizona without those pesky "cyber ninjas") to maintain democracy for my grandchildren. I live in a hotly contested congressional district and I am not cowering or bailing out! But it is somewhat depressing. Sounds like you grew up in the Northeast? I worked in NYC and lived in North Jersey just a couple years following your boilermaker story, and although I didn't actually see that stuff, I know it was happening. But I am getting off point. Your points on Biden are very well articulated by the way!
Don't be so sure Repubs will take over the majority this November. I have my fears too, but being sure of loss is not helpful. It only helps bring about what you expect.
As many know, insanity is increasing and is actually contagious, much like a virus with no vaccine. And political insanity is frighteningly common and exceedingly dangerous. Suicide is contagious. And violence can be addictive. Brazil has been unstable for decades. And Maureen Dowd’s Frankenstein is a monster and Donald Trump hides his transcripts for a good reason.
I grew up around the kind of people that today we call MAGA. They are dangerous people and I know why. I know why they are drawn to Trump like iron filings to a magnet. He, and they, are victims of grotesque and horrific childhood trauma. All of them have been abused... verbally, emotionally, physically, sexually. Trump is the avatar for under-educated, artless, self-loathing White Christian heterosexuals, severely damaged souls, souls who, until Trump, have never experienced the taste of political power. These souls, MAGA, have no interest in what we on the Left call reality. Why would they want to return to the reality that destroyed them?
I agree with Lin that there is more to it than that. The MAGAs I know well and grew up with were not abused in any way. They were bitter from childhood, privileged, selfish, racist, seemed almost to be born that way. I am sure many damaged souls are empathetic democrats. My family MAGAs carried the bitterness and resentment into adulthood and found FOX entertainment to support their habit and give them the endorphin rush of self - righteousness, superiority and hatred. They found a FOX white supremacist community in a country that really lacks true loving community. The roots of the sickness and the alienation from earth Mother and each other can be found in the centuries of Churchianity and all the horrors it has waged upon us.
I am one of those Dems, Fox held no allure for me, but captured my best friend, whose privileged husband had captured her. An American tragedy by any measure.
As I no longer recognize most of my "brotherhood" of airplane nuts. Perhaps a much less important segment of society (we can't arrest anyone), but it's always hard to lose people you've trusted for whatever reason, gone through difficulties of whatever kind, and then you find this. As I've said, it's like the scene in Cabaret where Michael York's character sees his "good German" friend in his full SS regalia for the first time.
Wendy, I agree. The MAGAs I know are wealthy, educated, successful and claim to be Christians. They've always had a mean, selfish streak...not prone to charity or compassion. Donald gave them permission to express their hatred and narrow mindedness. Now, more than ever, they believe someone is going to deprive them of their wealth and status. And, of course, those people are BIPOC, and they must be despised and driven "underground".
I think people place too much emphasis on the ignorant, under educated MAGA. They are not the ones driving the movement. They are a convenient scapegoat because they are the ones we see foaming at the mouth at rallies, marches and school board meetings. They are a useful, powerful visual for those teetering on the edge. But they are not in charge.
And they were not indoctrinated into racism and white supremacy or religious fanaticism in their youth. None of that. The predisposition to racism etc was just there early on and The Christian fanaticism came later as a tool be superior and judge others, to feel powerful. Trump and Fox have given them a way to be collectively superior.
Wendy, I agree with you. The MAGAs in my family are like that (East/Southern Texas). I’ve been mystified at their viewpoints…. I agree about Fox (& newsmax & America first or whatever that third network is). You have a good point about violence being addictive, as are anger and outrage. These are frightening folks, especially since so many are heavily armed.
Don't be so sure they weren't abused. Many people (I was once one of them) deny it happened (I thought I had had a "normal" childhood, that everyone had that kind of bad, and tried always to focus on what little "good" had been there). Over the long years since, literally every one of my friends from back then who I have stayed in touch with (except one, and I can attest she wasn't - her mother was my mother's good friend and recognized "something was going on") has revealed some often-horrific things that were going on for them, that no one would have suspected from the way they acted at the time.
Watching "Gaslit" I was interested in the portrayal of the relationships G. Gordon Liddy had with his children, which are horrific. Yet to this day his son maintains he had a "wonderful" childhood with a "good" father (and surprise surprise he's as politically nuts as the old man).
Wendy, You nailed with "The roots of the sickness and the alienation from earth Mother and each other can be found in the centuries of Churchianity and all the horrors it has waged upon us."
I think there is something to how you describe the backgrounds of some MAGA folks. But please let me add on to it. First, the MAGA crowd is funded by some very rich Oligarchs who have stirred up residual anger within MAGAs who think they are being replaced. And they ARE being outnumbered - by the natural process of a nation becoming more and more diverse. That anger is funded and fueled by the Kochs, Mercers, Thiels, etc. Our MAGA folks are tools for them. They have effectively employed them as pathetic puppets.
I view diversity as a healthy thing. New blood, new energy. It's an American tradition and we are all here because of it. A healthy America would welcome those who would come here, work hard and pay taxes. A frightened and bigoted America would demonize the immigrant. And so it has been for centuries. The truth is we are desperate for more workers. This is not a zero sum game. I say increase immigration!
And I am a fan of the impact of epigenetics or something close to it. Combine that with early childhood indoctrination of bigotry, fear and hate of the other and the results are huge swaths of America who live in a psychology passed down from one generation to the next. Hatred as if it were a religious tenet. Bigotry as dogma. Fear in the DNA.
And consider that millions have grown up embedded with religious "unreality". If you can believe in a vengeful magic man in the sky (a white god that is yours alone) you can believe that the Democrats are evil and out to destroy you.
This Democrat does not want to destroy you, Mr. MAGA. We want you to have a good job, a good home, good health and plenty of food on the table for your family. We want your kids to have a level playing field for education. And when those kids are adults, we would prefer that they not have to deal with the devastating effects of Climate Change. Yeah, Mr. MAGA, we want your kids to have adequate supplies of potable water and not have to worry about wildfires consuming their homes, etc.
And Mr. MAGA, despite our concerns about how your genetically altered kids might vote, we want them to participate easily in every election with the faith that it will be an election with integrity - with every vote counted with no interference.
Yes, the American oligarchs who prefer ‘their’ dictator/puppet to democracy! No regulations, don’t tread on me, today’s Carnegie robber barons who have lowered capitalist greed to a new nadir!
"I view diversity as a healthy thing. New blood, new energy." I agree completely, Bill. I have long believed that immigration is vital to the U.S. economy, especially in terms of entrepreneurship and innovation.
Apropos to the reductivist comment. But problematic in itself.
"The song “Gee, Officer Krupke” illustrates, for Slavoj Zizek, the function of cynical ideology. “They don’t know what they are doing but they are nonetheless doing it” is, for Zizek, the old Marxist notion of ideology. But “cynical ideology functions in the mode of ‘I know very well what I am doing but I am still nonetheless doing it,'” as indicated by the gang members’ hypothetical plea to Officer Krupke. The paradox is how they can know this and still do what they do."
When will train and teach our children the miracle of good mental health. Will we ever have masses of people who don’t have to look down on others in order to feel good about themselves?
Sadly, it's an aspect of the human condition. Unless one self examines and decides to be open to new facts and grow psychologically and spiritually, we will always have this in our world.
Neuroplasticity of the brain. We know so much more than we ever did. We just need get out of the rut of our stinking thinking and change. Teaching our youngest the best of brain care. Knowledge is so powerful
I know them well. Could have been one of them, but this country gave options. I had more than many and I had flawed but competent parents. It always helps to have had such. That taste of political power came from Rupert (our other monster masquerading as a journalist) and he promises more as we teeter on the brink. We should all remember that Humpty Dumpty, after the fall, cannot be put back together again.
I had to read this several times (coffee hadn't kicked in yet); most of the MAGAts that I know were not the victims of abuse/childhood trauma as I know it (from my very skewed perspective of one who had to investigate family abuse cases of all varieties). I then applied your reference to the Christian orthodoxy and how it is practiced in some religions, and it all made sense to me.
I'd go one further; it isn't just returning to the reality that damaged them, it is returning to an authority that is an artificial construct of the "order of things" that, in their mind, favors them in appearance while it actually dumps them in with the rest of us as "unworthy".
Nailed it! 🙏 and more unwanted children create more “monsters” (Madison Cawthorn’s clarion call) in families without resources. On what planet do they see themselves forever loved by these “monsters”? 🤷🏻♀️
In truth, basic tribal behavior underlies prejudice and it is not new: earliest humans were tribal. Most still are. Ignorance and fear drive prejudice. Better and more educated humans do not fear differences and are more tolerant, some more rare are actually fascinated by and attracted to those that are different.
And this is one reason that Republicans are trying to infiltrate and control the US educational system, getting on school boards, changing curriculum, banning certain topics of discussion.
Wish it were true that "better educated people do not fear differences and are more tolerant". It's not just education but also environment. Nature/nurture/human condition!
Wow! I think we could drive a truck through McConnell's weasel words of "support" for the bi-partisan plan. I expect amendments to come from Republicans that will further weaken an already weak plan. Perhaps I've just become too jaded and cynical!
Much of the plan seems to rely on each state enacting gun control steps. I wonder if most or any of the hard core red states will actually support the plan
If you think about states controlling the money for mental health services, look no further than Abbott taking millions away for border shenanigans involving the National Guard. I don't trust Abbott to do the right thing because he hasn't in the past.
Once upon a time... (Children, are you sitting comfortably? Are you listening?)
Once upon a time, there was another country, and in that other country, there was a political party that called itself Republican and saw and sold itself as The Party of Business.
Since the business of that other country was business, politicians passed laws that supported business interests, in the faith that what's good for business will be good for people.
Correspondingly, government left the implementation of pro-business laws to business.
This worked wonderfully ( i.e. most lucratively) in the health sector... where pharmaceutical corporations, hospitals, insurance companies, lawyers and ambulance chasers colluded and prospered, and since prices were consequently "fixed" several times higher than anywhere else in the Universe, "uneconomic" persons such as the unlucky and the undeserving poor were left to their own devices. Funeral services thus gained business.
So, in this other country where the Constitution guaranteed citizens the right to own and carry arms, including rifles described as "semi-automatic" with firepower equivalent to that of an entire company of musketeers, the Party of Business passed laws obliging the owners of cars and guns to buy insurance.
And since Holy Market In Its Wisdom was thus left to its devices, untrammeled by government or squeamish libtards, actuaries prospered mightily, and risk assessment soon had the gun problem completely under control.
But that was in another country, somewhere in the perfect past. Yes... they did things differently there...
But I keep noticing how my atheist friends all fail to take account of tbe biggest cults of all, Mammon, Markets, Moloch, and all those millions upon millions of blind believers...
Thank you, and I appreciate the reminder. After all, many, maybe most of my good friends and family are atheists, those who aren't are agnostics, while the religious are anything but church mice... And most are free from the great blind patches anf intolerance of atheist missionaries...
But I did get irritated by scientistic English fanatics parroting Dennett's beliefs and unbelief... even after the poor man had begun to get the measure of his compatriots' credulous irrationality. No one has a monopoly of superstition; and perhaps the most superstitious man I ever met is an atheist, a materialist and a distinguished university professor...
Only the choir knows the danger we’re in. If voting in Republican-controlled states is gerrymandered or suppressed enough, the fact-holders will lose and the totally deluded will win. The latter have absolutely no idea what awaits them. They think they’re saving the Nation. Wait till they lose health insurance, Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security.
We were recently gerrymandered into a heavily Republican district. My husband and I were filled with feelings of frustration and helplessness. I personally agree with you about the totally deluded. If the Republicans take over congress we all may lose our Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security just as that senator from Florida whose plans leaked sometime earlier this year wants to do. Very scary people.
Get out and register people to vote! Or write postcards. Or be a poll worker. Gerrymandering is maybe the worst form of voter suppression but we can't give up. Action is the antidote to despair.
Remember, rich f*cks don't donate to politicians, they invest in them. Since the politicians have to give them more money in return than they receive (that's good business, eh?) in order to continue receiving "investments," they have to use tax payer money (the only money politicians have) stripped from government social programs. The only thing that protects us from full-on kleptocracy is...the oath of office.
Seems small, doesn't it? But few things are as powerful as an honorable person, in a position of responsibility, who cares more for their oath than for money.
Yup. The system has assumed the good faith of our public servants, and the four years under TFG showed us the weakness of that assumption. It's harder and harder for our MOCs to act in good faith thanks to Citizens United making them bought and paid for by the highest bidder.
Oh, you betcha, having to hold to one's oath while being tempted by gobs of free money on one hand and the threat of ignoble defeat on the other seems to call for superhuman rectitude. (See how priggish that word sounds to our ears, "rectitude?" But all it means is "morally correct behavior or thinking" -- a bad thing?) In the end, that fragile oath is the only thing that guards us, for no amount of law can forever stop the rapaciousness of the venal and corrupt.
Trump put in place a plan to privatize Medicare of those who have original Medicare. Biden is continuing implementing it with those people who have chosen original Medicare having no say at all. So losing Medicare comes under the democrats as well.
"Weak sauce" is an excellent description of today's announcement of a Senate "framework" on gun safety. The actual wording of the legislation has not been written and the 10 Republican senators who signed on to today's announcement have not committed to the actual legislation until they see the final wording. Translation: we can bail at any moment at which point nothing will pass the filibuster 60-vote threshold. Today's framework is nothing more than the chance for Republicans to claim that they're doing something on gun safety so that they can change the conversation back to inflation in time for the November election. It's a cheap political ploy. Let's hope (although I'm doubtful) that the Dems see through it and write a law that will actually accomplish something and force the Repubs to either put up or shut up. Let's not give away the powerful issue of gun safety in the November election in exchange for these meager, pathetic "solutions." Have some guts, write laws that will have an impact (banning assault weapons, banning high-count magazines, raising the age for assault weapons, rescinding the laws that exempt gun manufacturers from liability and more) and make the Rs show their true colors. Hammer it relentlessly from now until November.
Dems are playing into the ongoing disgraceful behaviors of Republicans by agreeing to this weak legislation. It means nothing and will come back on Democrats during the midterm elections. Strength and conviction are needed here to really address what the majority of Americans want - ban of semiautomatic weapons, raise age to purchase to 21, universal background checks.
We are just over one week away from the Mass Poor People and Low-Wage Workers’ Assembly and Moral March on Washington and to the Polls!
June 18, 2022, is more than a day, it is a declaration of the pain, power and brilliance of the poor and low-wealth people in this country. We are hurting, but, in the face of ongoing injustice, we will not be silent anymore!
The Seattle Regional PPC in partnership with the Well and the WA PPC is excited to invite Dr. Cornel West to virtually join us for a talk on King's Philosophy of Nonviolence. During his talk, Dr. West will remind us that nonviolence is not a temporary behavior we adopt while taking action- it is a way of life for people who believe, as he does, "that justice is what love looks like in public".
Dr. West will also connect King's Philosophy of Nonviolence with the current struggles of the Poor People's Campaign to shift the narrative, to build power among people living in poverty and low wealth, and to secure policies that reconstruct society from the bottom up. This gathering will ground us and prepare us for the Mass Poor People's and Low Wage Workers' Assembly and Moral March on Washington DC and to the Polls.
The House wrote gun safety laws - not the ban on semi-automatic weapons that we need, but at least raising the age to 21. They will not pass the senate. Even the ‘weak sauce’ won’t pass the senate without continuing demonstrations.
It’s a start, at least. Before, these jerks would even come to the table. Now thry realize even their own constituents Re breathing down their throats.
The Senate itself is an anti-democratic institution set up to satisfy the slave owners that they could keep the House from doing anything they didn't want even as the minority. The filibuster is an anti-democratic tool. Why are states rights given such power and priority over individual rights? Do we have to keep reliving the major flaw in the Constitution that makes some people (including blacks and women) property of the privileged white male? Justice Alito wants to leave abortion to the states saying it would put it back in the hands of the People. No, it doesn't. Not in Texas where there is minority rule by white men. Not is 19 states under minority rule. Like the NRA and guns, legislative power is under the thumb of the donors no matter what the People may want. Until we overturn Citizens United and the gutting of the voting rights act this will only get worse. Now it is time for me to go write to "Senator" Cornyn, the NRA's dupe, congratulating him on keeping his A+ rating from the NRA. As Representative Cheney said Thursday, "Your dishonor will remain". We the People, freedom for all of us from the tyranny of the Senate.
Totally agree with you, Cathy. Individual states cannot be trusted to be bothered to support justice. That is definitely a flaw in the Constitution and we must demand that these new laws be federally based. Thank you for writing to that POS Cornyn!
Exactly, Cathy ! And you’ve encouraged me to contact,again, 11 Step Rescue-Not-Scott and 3mill+ NRA donee Rifle Rubio.
Several weeks ago I called my Freedom Caucus Reptile.The nice gentleman who answered the phone deflected and didn’t want to admit Rep had not supported House bills 8,1446.
We need to be calling out these congresscritters.(< thanks to commenter who penned:)
Trump is not the disease, he's the symptom. Many Americans feel they are losing economically and socially. Fertile ground for the next populist demagogue. Trump's on the way down but Congress is a useless maze of special interest lackeys and the Supreme Court is not even trying to hide their antidemocratic rulings.
With the inevitable migration pressures resulting from climate change and political disruptions,
totalitarian regimes are predominating worldwide. Efforts to gain rights for women seem to be regressing. Women and girls are increasingly victims of sexual assault (rape). Some of these oppressions are patriarchal, some are based in religious interpretations, others are hierarchal power domination.
In the past, a democratic system held hope that the voices of many would be heard and heeded. That made objectives worth working toward, rather than fleeing, the threats of "moving out of the country." The question has now become "where else can I go?" The looming loss of bodily autonomy, the moral imposition of biologically unrealistic laws, and the resulting loss of life and potential make living in certain states untenable. With the uniquely American existence of gun violence on an epidemic public health scale, lack of security and safety will cause the breakdown of functioning society - no tourism, no public education, no commerce, no peace. Just mounting body counts.
Thank you for your fine words, Beverly. I had a friend tell me yesterday she was thinking about leaving the country and we had a long discussion on where we would go. Perhaps Iceland which treats women like full citizens or the Nordic countries.
Those thoughts have come to my mind too, following this substack. I guess the decay of public life in our small Nordic countries, along with the global trend, will happen sooner than your dreams of them go away. You know how many people live on Iceland? Finland has a remarkable history of male/female relationship. Half of their national myth, Kalevala, is about the marriage between a woman from a matriarch society and a man from a patriarch society.
Splitting the nation in one blue and one red block I suppose is the major migrating project ahead, but that would undo the foundation of that government. Trump may not have gotten it yet, but I'm sure his paymaster Putin has.
Very interesting article; and much of what is said about recent development in Finland also goes for Sweden. Distribution of wealth in Sweden has been going even worse, and is among the worse in Europe. The decay of Social Democracy has been going on for a long time, along with the decay of the Welfare State, but it is still a major part of the national myth that carries us. If Norway and Denmark has been members of NATO for a long time, and still has had Social Democratic governments now and then, I don't see why Finland and Sweden should be any different. This "now and then", I think, is part of a general decay of voting in democracies: voters, lazy and ignorant, tend to vote against a former policy instead of for a coming future; often on very lose ground, and unfair blaming.
Putin has declared war on "nazi"Ukraine, but what he is really scared of is democratic Ukraine. To this end he is successfully supporting right wing extremists all over Europe to cause social splits. I'm glad Sweden has now realized where we also today have our enemy: an attempted Russian empire from Vladivostok to Lisbon. Russian Foreign minister said our former neutrality was serving peace, but what he really thinks he is losing are two small countries, easy to conquer if they have no support, and an easy access to the Atlantic Ocean, which would be the first and easiest step to that Russian empire, after Donbas and the Crimean naval base.
Thank you Olof. I have to admit, it is a bit over my head. It seems to me like we all will be faced with the necessity to accommodate global economic dynamics, whoever we are - that it will become more a question of contingencies within and across national boundaries more than countries opposing or cooperating with each other ... however economic pressures influence regional politics, people on the ground will be challenged to adapt as cultures evolve (or devolve) accordingly.
This leads me to look at guiding principles and 'mythologies' at the root of different cultures that give people the strength to persevere - to identify with heritage more deeply than transient opportunism of current changing times ... as little as I know about root cultures in that part of the world, it seems possible that the Russian proletariat could view Ukrainian culture as fascist (democratic or not) as Ukrainians have fought and survived for a long, long time to preserve ancient traditions (just look at their music, traditional clothing and design art - deep roots!)
I don't know about Swedish culture, but I have seen a bit about the Finnish Kalevala - more than a myth, an ancient song with associated dance patterns - I have the impression this 'creation myth' is more than just a story - more, a dynamic methodology embodying creative process guiding cultural character and growth - which is why traditions are considered so vital to cultural integrity.
Compare that to the motivating mythology and non-traditional trending of popular culture in the more materialistic industrialized consumer society threatening to subsume traditions that distinguish cultures, one from another into an amorphous mass of humanity - maybe one reason so many people commit suicide in this 'happiest' of all countries by modern standards.
I wonder if this is reflected in the part of the Kalevala that refers to the old oak tree that grows so big, it takes all the ground so nothing else can grow - blots out the sunlight, keeps the winds from circulating - not even the birds can fly - how can the living world survive? The old God, Vainamoinen calls to the Mother Ocean to send him a water hero to help solve the problem. Out of the water comes a little person no bigger than the old God's thumb. Long story short, to Vainamoinen's amazement, the little fellow grows and grows until his trousers span the continents and his head pierces the sky. With three mighty steps, he strides across the continents to where the old oak grows. With three mighty strokes of his ax, he fells the old oak which comes crashing down to the ground, splintering into thousands of pieces. People come from every direction to gather the pieces, take them home and use them to build anew.
That is just part of the story that stuck with me, from a book, {{"SUN SONGS - CREATION MYTHS FROM AROUND THE WORLD - edited, introduced with commentary by Raymond Van Over}} ... the story is much longer - and I have a feeling, it is more than just a story - like some other ancient languages in which the sounds and intonation of the words with associated movements compel creative energies as cycles of history circulate through the ages ... legend has it that the world was sung into being ... maybe, if we can find our place in the song today, and bring it forward in what we choose ... maybe that is how we will find our way through these challenging times ... does that make any sense to you?
... and, on that note, though it may seem a bit off topic, this upcoming Sound Healing Summit looks to be full of useful information and serious inspiration toward finding the song of creation as it resonates in the coalescence of today's transforming world ... maybe we - as individuals, nations and cultures are like amoebae combining to form more complex organisms in the ever evolving cosmic body of life ... emerging from the three dimensions\al bind of polarized political strife and contention ... here's the link:
Before I settled on Australia, my then-partner and I tried Denmark (one of my mother's cousins lived there), but they weren't taking anybody. Of course, things may have changed since the 1980s.
Problem of seeking a better place is that where goes the United States eventually goes the world. Witness Nordic countries beginning the same path as the United States. That said I am keeping a long move in back of mind. Canada,NZ or Australia. They may have prohibitive fees so another issue.
Thank You Beverly, for the wake up call. In the U.S. we must go to the streets in protest, door-to-door to educate a bamboozled electorate, and, today, to the airwaves to see a democratic process that still works For The People, All Of Us This Time.
There seems to be coalesence among sentient analysts that the Thompson-Cheney hearings are going to lay down a powerful narrative for history.
I understand that history is your gig, but I hope people today will listen to and understand the importance of your (and others') analyses for the future of...of...our government.
Thx for the link, John. I missed this podcast but have huge respect for Dahlia (who I first became aware of via Heather’s copious Notes); the interview w Prof Goodman should be a must-read for everyone here.
Let's remember that not all politicians change their values to fit changing circumstances. The US is fortunate to still have a good number of people of integrity serving in office.
Maybe I'm just cranky but it doesn't seem like a majority of politicians who put their personal integrity above their ambitions. Maybe it's worse on the GOP side right now as regards Trump's big lie but I don't recall seeing a mass uprising on the Democratic side regarding Congressional insider trading.
That's because there wasn't a mass uprising amongst the Democrats. People like to place the Democratic Party on an altar of high ethical goodness that doesn't exist. It's all about getting re-elected not about the greater good. I'm cranky too.
He's going to be out, and the next Republican Governor who replaces him is going to be Trump loving Sara Huckabee. Since he has no future career to worry about now, and a retired governor's salary is a comfortable living in Arkansas, he can afford to have a new moral compass. But he's still a fucking Republican who never said anything before.
TC, you are correct on all counts. Sara Huckabee will thrust Arkansas deeper into the sludge. Evidently, southern white Republicans are amongst the dumbest on the planet. They won't be happy until most of their states' residents are poverty stricken and scratching dirt for food.
TC Retiring ARK governor’s ‘sane words’ reminds me of Blah Blah Barr, who, as Attorney General, was frequently Trump’s puppy dog. Much later he sought to clean up his copy book saying that the election results were accurate and then wrote a ‘good-boy’ Barr book. The stench of both remains—and they both stink.
And Barr, even after admitting that Trump is a liar, a criminal, and a wannabe dictator, bluntly said that he would vote for him again. What kind of moral compass is that?
Gawd. O'Reilly the "historian"? And no, I think Kellyanne is far uglier than Sara. Kellyanne is very well educated and actually knows better. Her exterior ugliness is a reflection of her duplicity and ambition.
"The woman saith unto him, I know that MESSIAS cometh, which is called Christ: when he is come, he will tell us all things. Jesus saith unto her, I that speak unto thee am he." ( John 4:25-26 )
"... clean and safe. “For the love of God,”" speaking for the LORD, no less ...?
Bill Clinton is a total sleaze-ball. From now on we should call anything evil and ignorant a “ McCarnell”. It is a crossbreed of two bastards: McConnell and McCarthy.
But stoats are adorable. If I had to give an animal analogy, I would go with “an ancient turkeys naked wattle” but that’s just what comes to mind immediately. I’m sure I could be more creative, given enough time.
Well, that's a perfect portrait, but without any moral inferences. Actually, we could have some frivolous fun allocating animal analogies - meerkat, for example...
7 AM Arizona time. I will probably be up drinking my black coffee. Neat thing today, is you can watch it from the beginning on cable even if you are late in turning it on! Gone are the days of only 5 channels.
7am - yikes! Need to set an alarm (rare in retirement) so the pets are fed and coffee in the mug before more fun revelations. Anyone else feel the GQP unraveling accelerating? I’m hopeful for the first time in 6 years. I believe justice will prevail.
The Jan 6 Committee has a YouTube channel where they post the video of the public hearings. Anyone can watch at whatever time is most convenient. Great option for anyone who can't watch live.
So glad that the J6 committee will continue to pull the pieces together with facts. Just watched CNN's special on InfoWars and Alex Jones. I had no idea thst he's been causing problems since before 9 /11. How do these sociopaths have the ability to be on the airwaves for 25+ years? Very scary stuff, especially how Trump partnered with him beginning in 2015. And interesting/scary to see the role Alex Jones played in January 6th.
"As the atmosphere around Trump gets hotter, there are cracks appearing in the Republican Party’s support for the former president."
The cracks will widen. Republican leaders know that from here, the case against Trump and his people will intensify. The J6 Committee has the goods and if Thursday night was any indication, they will be delivered in compelling narratives.
Let's hope the cracks create a chasm that the seditionists tumble down and, at the bottom, reach prison.
Nice to see a few cracks and I too hope for a chasm. I look forward to watching the other presentations of the committee. I am delighted too that those thugs in Idaho were arrested. Salem's rally for better gun laws was today because yesterday was a pride event. It was raining, but on a live feed, it looked like many people were there. We have a red flag law here in Oregon. If Machine Gun Betsy gets elected, I don't know what will happen on this and many other fronts.
Betsy Johnson worries me. Her TV ads no doubt appeal to many people. To me they're trite and add up to nothing, but positioning herself as a no-nonsense independent who can bring both sides together could prove effective in a three-way race. Or she might drain more votes from the GOP candidate. Or maybe I'm just paranoid. Would Oregon really elect a Republican governor for the first time in 40 years?
That is my worry Michael. I certainly hope not. And Betsy is a disaster. I just hope she takes more Republican votes than Democratic
If she has an R in her campaign, no democrat would vote for her. We are not voting for ANY republican, anywhere.
That's my feeling too. I haven't voted for any R for years.
The problem is that were it not for Portland, Oregon would be a red state, and pretty damn red at that. Bundys and Bundy wannabes are popular in Oregon outside the Portland area and a few, small coastal communities. Similar analysis applies just about everywhere.
Bend is now more D and Eugene of course. I would say if not for the population in the Willamette Valley more broadly.
Oh, I wouldn't say that. There are more little blue dots out here than you might think.
We travel the state each summer volunteering for Oregon State Parks and we find friends wherever we go. The loudmouths may have signs saying they want to move the border, but they aren't everywhere. From Sumpter, Oregon.
Republicans do know how to message, albeit lies, lies, lies
This is what worries me, the acceptance of the lie and it's uses in Republican elections campaigns. It now seems evident that the American public can't readily distinguish between lies and old fashioned spin.
Republicans have always known how to message: I like Ike
This is hard to read. I think she will draw more votes from Rs rather than Ds. At least that is my hope. The R candidate is not Vic Atiyah (sp?) either. I have a former R Marion County Commissioner as my next door neighbor and my bet is that he will vote D as he is totally disgusted with the R party.
May Tina and good sense prevail.
This is what 'draining the swamp' looks like ... now let's double down on leaky pipelines being constructed in violation of environmental protection laws on the books ... n.o.w. ....
We still need to clean out all the garbage Tfg left behind, like DeJoy, Charles Flynn, and a hornets nest of others.
While the cracks may widen, I am eager to see the endgame. Who will be prosecuted and convicted? Do Garland and DOJ have the stones? Some worry about violence if Trump is convicted. Well, prepare for the worst and hope for the best. If this demon is not quelled, the U.S. will become a mere shadow of herself. I worry that Garland already is not functioning out of fear. Hopefully, I will be proven wrong.
If Garland concludes that Trump broke the law and the violations can be proved, he will be bring the cases to trial. There's nothing in his career or about his reputation that indicates otherwise.
And this sentence of your just nails the crux of everything: "If this demon is not quelled, the U.S. will become a mere shadow of herself."
I do worry with baited breath. I was born 78 years ago today, one week to the day after D-Day. I have embraced that fact through the years with honor and reverence. When I was a very young U.S. Air Force Staff Sergeant, I would have surrendered my life for my country. No b/s! If that was what I was called to do, then so be it. God in Heaven, I cannot wrap my head around the horrors that I now witness.
I am fully non-plused by the toxic slime traitors such as Trump and his minions. They all belong on the gallows; not Mar-a-Lardo.
My family can be traced back to the Mayflower 1620 (2x) then there are 3 additional lines who arrived in the now USA in the mid 1600s. We have been through every war, been slaves, been slave holders, inter married, had kkk members, etc. we've been in every upheavel (both sides). Whatever political event happened in the USA... you name it, we've been there. Yet, here we are. With a president who pretended he had bad feet so he could not go into the military to defend what he is now trying to subvert, the democratic process of the USA. It's truly unbelievable that after 400 years of struggle and strife, we have done a 180 in our efforts to create a fair and cohesive society, and headed down the rabbit hole into chaos, hatred, and pure hell because of the greed of a few. Like you, I am hoping that before my time is up that I see America pull itself together and get back on track.
My dad's side came over in the 1600s through what now is known as The Chesapeake. I doubt we were posh enough to journey on the Mayflower or any of the three ships which I believe followed her. We are Scots/Scots-Irish (Celts, which is why use "Keltik" or “Keltus” as my nom de plume). My mother's side, as best we know, is Scots/Welsh. We were tobacco farmers; violin makers; hard hewn but well spun.
My distant paternal grandfather fought in the American Revolutionary War, Virginia 9th Regiment, Battles of Germantown and Brandywine; discharged out of Valley Forge. By right of that, I am a Son of the American Revolutionary War. Our family lived in Kentucky at the time of the Civil War, a neutral state. Two uncles served during WWII: Korea, Japan and Germany. My older uncle retired at the rank of Lt. Colonel, U.S. Army in 1962; the year I joined our USAF. I exited honorably, Staff Sergeant/E5, with commendations.
The rage and anger I feel at this juncture in our Republic's history. I am fully disgusted with most Members of Congress, both sides. Where in hell is the leadership; the bold, the brave, the robust? Republicans are the domestic archenemy, the bully. The Democrats are wimps, actually walking in fear of the bully. You want to know what I believe will be the worst of it? Trump will walk. Cowardice and tyranny make for a toxic and volatile brew. That concoction also makes way for acquittal. I still await the real, true and authentic profile in courage.
I get your rage. (Nice to meet another genealogist. Knowing one's history is important, and can be very interesting and fun too. :-)) As for Trump, maybe the committee will provide hard proof as it progresses. At the very least, it will go in the public record and those choosing to vote him in cannot pretend he is a saint. However, while I too am not sure this will result in his incarceration, I am pinning my hopes on him being taken down for tax evasion/tax fraud. Atty' Gen Letitia James is determined to lock him up. :-) If anyone can do it, it is her. And I can hardly wait. Those black & white federal tax laws are not to be ignored as fake news, and Trump would not be the first "billionaire" to end up behind bars. However, this still leaves the problem of Americans voting in Trump in the first place. I was just told that an analysis of voters shows that it is the middleclass that pretty much supports Trump because he promised them lower taxes and tax breaks for their businesses, while the lower class votes for Biden in order to secure social program funding. I was also told that %34 of American households make less than $52,000 per year. They don't vote for Trump. Perhaps in the end, globalization (which encourages industry to look for the cheapest labor/production costs) and practicing American style capitalism (save financial institutions and let everyone else crash and burn) is the reason people see the American dream is never going to happen, so they better take what little they can (lower taxes) no matter what happens to society. Otherwise, I have no answers. Meanwhile, thanks for sharing. I hope we see a light at the end of this tunnel.
Happy birthday, Vince. Up until 2016, I would have never imagined the direction America has taken. There's still time to claw our way back to sanity, but as we know there are no guarantees.
We need and require ROBUST figures to do battle with our domestic enemies. Sadly, I see not even one truly robust figure among Democrats. They wallow in fear, weak-kneed, hoping the Republicans will simply go away.. I only mention my b'day because of its significance to me as an historical marker. Your "claw back" is apropos. Careerist politicians have been clawing toward fascism for decades. Their tunnel vision is killing our Republic.
What exactly, Keltik Warrior, would you have the “wallow(ing) in fear, weak-kneed” Democrats do? What could possibly be more fundamental, more noble, more dramatic, more laser-targeted than an exhaustive investigation and subsequent exposure of the crimes of the Orange Idiot and his sycophants? A Shoot-’em-up, rough-riding, blood-lust-satisfying meleé? What? What’s your solution?
I for one am UPTOHERE with criticism of Democrats that is not then tempered with at least one ONE better idea for how we should be saving this nation’s soul.
Happy Birthday.
Thank you so much!! 😊👏👍🍀
Happy Vince Day!
Why, THANK YOU! (Love the Ukraine avatar.) 🤗❤👏🍀🎶
They do. Faux is also in their crosshairs. Hopeful and excited.
I share your views, and have posted previously my concern that fears of violent civil unrest by Trump's deluded loyalist Brownshirts will undermine the legal process. And while we're sharing worst-case scenarios, how about this one? - The GOP takes back the White House in 2024 and, if the case has not been concluded, fires Garland and replaces him with a stooge that ends it, OR if it has been successfully prosecuted, the new President pardons him. But I'll continue to hope - and work - for the best.
Say "Hello!" to America's banana republic. Hopefully, that will not be the case. I own NO weapons. (Well, one very fine Japanese Hisatsu knife!) But, I am beginning to contemplate: Should I get a sidearm? Nah.
From your mouth to the Force’s ears!
Remember Watergate. Over 70 were implicated. President Nixon required a Ford presidential pardon to avoid criminal prosecution. Agnew was proven guilty and damned. Many were jailed, including AG John N. Mitchell, H. R. Bob Haldeman and John Erlichmann. John Dean was slammed. And W. Mark Felt’s wife committed suicide in their kitchen with his service revolver as she snapped under the pressure they endured with threats from G. Gordon Liddy, Agnew, Nixon, Mitchell and the GOP criminal element.
I had completely forgotten about the Felt suicide. And, Agnew. OMG! But, today, I doubt any of the contemporary members of this rogues' gallery will commit suicide. Perjury, perhaps. Treachery, of course. Unethical and immoral acts, most assuredly. Today's R's have no moral compass, which makes their tyranny, deceptions and disloyalty all the easier for them.
I will bet, make a wager.
President Trump will be charged, he will be convicted of a number of crimes - federal and state. He will be jailed.
Essentially, good news.
Fascists belong jailed. Alcatraz might be opened for the GOP mob that worries AG Garland. The lying GOP mob belongs jailed - with President Donald J. Trump, the liar of liars...
Any takers?
Second...
We are going to experience a Crash, run away inflation, and Deflation, deflation of the common denominator, failure of equity and debt markets, a version of September 21, 1987, a Monday - till late afternoon - but there will not be the Tuesday recovery.
This one will last till the equivalent of 1938.
Yikes!
It's a good thing that generally, human beings are really bad at predicting the future - too many variables.
Dear Sandy, you had me up until “Second.”
Sandy, you predict the second why? Im interested in your take on the reasons you predict this.
How does this work? Every attorney takes an unconditional oath to support the Constitution. I do not think there are exclusions for insurrections either. The oaths may vary by state except with support for the constitution. Pence is an attorney. His attorney Greg Jacob writing a three-page letter (redundant alert) is an attorney. Greg is writing about what the "president and his supporters were demanding Pence do the next day would break the 1887 Electoral College Act." Really? John Eastman is an attorney. Most of Congress are attorneys. They all swore oaths to support the constitution.
Seems to me we can hold a mass disbarment of those who failed to take action in warning people of the insurrection on the 6th (Pence and Jacob) and those who were silent. The committee already has the evidence. These people need to experience what the inside of a jail cell looks like.
Why are there exceptions for these critters while the insurrectionists who showed up on the 6th are being dealt with in courts and jail cells. Why do they get a by? In comparison, these people are worse than the insurrectionists. They knew, sat back, and "let" it all happen.
Sermon complete.
Amen and good idea, Bill.
Law school, the Bar exams ... much of it is a haze, but I recall taking the Oath like it was yesterday. Members of Congress swore another Oath when they took office.
There was a time when an Oath meant something - people were held to account if they violated it.
Again - a great idea!
R Dooley:
It still means something the same as the oath I took to enter the Marine Corps in 68 and later as an NCO. There was no ignoring it or writing a letter. I would have gone to the Brig like so many I took there for disobeying their oath.
They should be jailed or charged just like the insurrectionists attacking the capitol. It is not an idea, it is a fact.
Attorneys are not protected from the law. They incited a riot. They failed to warn authorities. They n should be disbarred also. Their is no freedom from an oath,
And lose healthcare, pensions and pay back pay for when they began to break their oaths of office and to We The People— their employers.
Think Michael Flynn. I still think he should have been recalled to the military, put on trial, convicted and thrown in the brig.
His brother Charles was part of this too, and he holds a command post in the Navy. We must try to get all of them we possibly can. Bag 'em, tag 'em, and ship them to Gitmo for an extended, offline vacation.
Well said. There is no freedom from an oath, only the responsibility to uphold it.
AGREE!
This.
I, too, swore an oath, and as one who holds a retired commission card, I still uphold it. Those are not just words you mouth as you raise your right had and swear, to the best of your ability, to (whatever version of "protect and defend the Constitution of the United States to the best of my ability" your particular oath held; mine also included "keep my private life unsullied, and to obey the laws of the land") but it is a promise to do just that. Apparently, an oath means nothing to some people. Not to me.
The so-called "Oath Keepers" would more accurately be referred to as the "Oath BREAKERS."
Ah, but remember, these people interpret the Constitution in their "own" way, twisting meanings to suit their warped views that many of us cannot agree with or understand the thought process behind. Similar to the supposed "originalist" judges who band together for their backwards viewpoints.
The oath they took says they will support the constitution, not interpret it to suit their individual beliefs. Upon enlisting or being drafted, the oath I took:
"I, (name), do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same . . . "
There is nothing there which says I can interpret it differently. The oath is different than the Constitution. Court may interpret it differently, this we know. This court is made up of "originalists." I believe they would hold to the same words even though law is interpretive. The oath is not law even though it is assertion. I would call it a rule.
I was bound by the UCMJ. If there was nothing in the UCMJ which covered an issue, there was always Article 38 which was called the "Captain's Cloak," which covered anything unspecified. This is outside of the topic.
Just like the evangelical rabid right "interpreted" their professed Scripture in their lust for temporal power.
Yep.
I still believe many of those you mention will eventually be prosecuted. Some also may well be disbarred.
In large conspiracy cases like this one, the I vestigations are long and deep. They build from the bottom up, so the footsoldiers always get arrested first. Some will probably flip and give evidence against those further up the chain of command.
We have no guarantee, but the Committee cannot prosecute. It is laying out the evidence.
DOJ is, slowly, it seems, beginning to move up the chain. Wewill get there.
We must get there! If not, we may well lose our country in the next coup attempt.
The next 'attempt' is already well under way. Armed poll watchers? Ongoing tampering with election infrastructure, and democratic majorities being ruled by an illegitimate minority.
Apparently, they see the Constitution as an ink blot which affords them the freedom to interpret it anyway they choose. If so, their interpretation provides us with a roadmap to a diagnosis (charge) and treatment (punishment). Let’s get on with it.
Leading off with Ginni Thomas.
McCarthy first, then Ginni. I suspect it will be Meadows and Scavino, though.
I’d say, disbar and charge Eastman first.
Absolutely. Many at center of power have law degrees from Ivy League schools. For sure something not working correctly.
A bunch of those ivy graduates are not smart enough to stop publicly incriminating themselves.
In itself amazing.
Hmm, only, Pence is being painted as a hero who refused to break the law ...?
A hero would have reported what was going on before during and after the election leaving nothing out
Maybe he will be a "surprise witness" for the 1/6 committee.
Not a chance, unfortunately. He and Mother still think God is calling him to be POTUS. The base would never support him if he helped the committee.
Wouldn't that be great but I doubt it
Seems "hero" has been cheapened in our vernacular.
I don’t see it that way. He did nothing to ”decide” not to be a traitor until he consulted with others who warned and counseled him. I remember thinking at the time….he had to be convinced? Please. He is a minion.
An attorney does not commit a crime by breaking her/his oath of admission to the bar, but bar discipline up to disbarment is possible. In the case of those who participated actively in T___p’s attempt to overthrow the Constitution, I expect that a number of them will become cooperating witnesses for the prosecutions that I devoutly hope are coming down the road. Most of those will probably escape prosecution, but they may well loses their law licenses, viz. John Dean.
Expelled from office and prohibited from holding office for life.
Bill, the image of a mass disbarment is in the realm of spectacular disbelief - - it would be a perfect summation of the preamble of the constitution. Is it more movie than reality? Leave it to Spike Lee or Quentin Tarantino? I would rather see it live at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C.
Great sermon! I like your mass disbarment idea. Besides lawyers taking an oath to support the Constitution, I am pretty sure all Congressional members must take this type of oath too. That would also include the POTUS. Whether or not these Republicans who were involved in this believe in the Big Lie or not, their fealty is to their constituents. How can these people honestly represent said constituents when they believe(?) that Trump is still POTUS?
Not one of them believed it.
Check General Mark Hertling’s Twitter feed about the Constitutional oath. Says it all.
Oaths obviously depend on the character and integrity of the person taking the oath. Oaths are sacred, as they should be, to those responding here. As we have seen throughout the last 5 years, with impeachment hearings as a glaring example, many of our elected officials have neither character nor integrity. They take an oath and hire a lawyer.
If only we paid attention to character and integrity, in addition to platform, as we cast our ballots.
Mitch McConnell is the poster child for this problem. He took the oath; voted against impeachment; publicly admitted Trump’s crimes; said he would vote for him again.
Well said, and precisely what we have all been feeling for months as The Coup II is well under way. We can't permit them to cheat us, lie to us and steal from us anymore.
🙏
Oath only lasted as long as they were employed (paid, toted). Moved on once they revised their resumes to appear that they were innocent bystanders/objectors. Reborn honorable. Never knew about the camps. Sad.
Yuk.
Start with low-hanging fruit?
This isn't an original thought, it's been expressed before, but seriously the Republican Party could have gotten rid of this goiter on the side of their necks during the last impeachment trial. I don't know how this will end, I am sure the R's will win the majority in the House of Representatives, and of course the investigation at the congressional level will end. And the Trump stain will remain with the Republican Party only in history books. Really sad thing is, it does prove that justice is not handed out evenly or equally. Elections going forward will be under a cloud. There is for the first time in my 68 years a feeling our 'Great Experiment' might be coming to an end. All because of one man's incredible ego, and his ability to take advantage of those who think tribally, forgetting the meaning of the pledge to the flag we all have made countless times: .......indivisable, with liberty and justice for all.
John:
Are you 68 years old or did you not count when you were young? I am 73 and have seen a lot in my 40-something years of working. I sometimes believe I walked uphill both ways to get to where I am today. I was in the Corps at 19 in 68 and that was old in many respects. I had worked with my dad as a laborer when I was 16 till I was 18 and than full time at 18. Those was some tough critters. Boilermakers for lunch and back to the scaffolds many flors up.
Do you remember 2007/8 when Wall Street blew up the economy and Main Street was hammered? We paid a horrendous price for Wall Street and banks gambling with CDS/naked CDS with no reserves or pennies on the dollar. Banks were doing liar mortgages. People lied able income and assets and banks did not checking on the reality of them. Goldman Sachs called in on their CDS which AIG owned. AIG did not have enough cash. The Fed (pretty sure stepped in).
Obama passed the ARRA which was opposed by Republicans. Much of it got through but it was cut, not targeted correctly, and people whined about the debt and people being unemployed longer than expected. He wasn't a failure, he was a Black President stymied by Repubs for political and personal reasons.
Fast forward to 2020, Biden gets into office in spite of Repubs failing to fight an insurrection before it happened. They own this and they are jut s bad as those at the capitol on the 6th, There is no excuse for them or anyone else associated with trump not ratting on this to authorities.
I hold Bidden responsible for student loan issues. He may have learned the lessons from 2008. Everything he did to stimulate the economy has worked where with in two years we are just shy of employment being where it was prepandemic. The fiscal stimulus got into the right hands and people spent the economy back to prosperity. By far we are better off than we were in 2009/2010.
Yes we have inflation, much of it caused by supply chain issues. Some like automotive did the same thing they did in 2008. They did not maintain their orders for things like key fogs, doors and dashes, etc. So the tiers did not order. Just the start up at the NXPs, Panasonics, Infineons, etc. are a month to grow the wafers and a couple of months to bring those fab plants back on line. I lived the same issue in 2008. Company profits are yuge as trump might say.
Gasoline is high but not as high as 2008 when inflation is considered. If people would drive the speed limit, it would ease demand. I worry about healthcare for children and the extra funds going in their direction. That helped them and the economy a lot. We have Manchin blocking the BBB program as he preaches from his house boat "Almost Heaven" to kayaks below picketing him.
Maybe John Denver painted it a bit too rosy. West Virginia has one of the worst opioid problems in the United States. It is ranked near the bottom for living quality and has a decreasing population. Those programs Biden pushed helped West Virginia's population tremendously. There is an article "Senator Manchin Telling a Story" written by some guy called run75441. Good story about opioids and how we got to today.
Maybe I am full of crap (not in the things I am telling you) but in we have a chance to win big if people start to realize what happened after Biden took office. But Dems don't talk, we commiserate. If I did not understand the economics of all of this, I would be thinking just like you. Don't be down, push back.
John:
We can win. This is not a catastrophe. Quite the opposite. It is very positive. Yes there is inflation, the majority caused by business interests. Biden did well.
Thanks Bill, you are right on point on so many things, and thanks for serving our country. Someday I hope to make it out to Arizona to visit that beautiful state once again. I have been active in politics my entire adult life. And you are right, we have had crises that theatened our way of life economically and constitutionally. As you brought up 2008 was 'yuge', hell, 1968, the year you joined the Marine Corps was a test, with King and RFK being assissinated within months of each other, the civil rights disconntent, the Vietnam War. But the constitution to me was always there like strong marble pillars that hold up a building. It held strong during the Nixon debacle, for example. I am going to continue to fight, to continue to be involved here in Pennsylvania (like Arizona without those pesky "cyber ninjas") to maintain democracy for my grandchildren. I live in a hotly contested congressional district and I am not cowering or bailing out! But it is somewhat depressing. Sounds like you grew up in the Northeast? I worked in NYC and lived in North Jersey just a couple years following your boilermaker story, and although I didn't actually see that stuff, I know it was happening. But I am getting off point. Your points on Biden are very well articulated by the way!
Don't be so sure Repubs will take over the majority this November. I have my fears too, but being sure of loss is not helpful. It only helps bring about what you expect.
As many know, insanity is increasing and is actually contagious, much like a virus with no vaccine. And political insanity is frighteningly common and exceedingly dangerous. Suicide is contagious. And violence can be addictive. Brazil has been unstable for decades. And Maureen Dowd’s Frankenstein is a monster and Donald Trump hides his transcripts for a good reason.
I grew up around the kind of people that today we call MAGA. They are dangerous people and I know why. I know why they are drawn to Trump like iron filings to a magnet. He, and they, are victims of grotesque and horrific childhood trauma. All of them have been abused... verbally, emotionally, physically, sexually. Trump is the avatar for under-educated, artless, self-loathing White Christian heterosexuals, severely damaged souls, souls who, until Trump, have never experienced the taste of political power. These souls, MAGA, have no interest in what we on the Left call reality. Why would they want to return to the reality that destroyed them?
I agree with Lin that there is more to it than that. The MAGAs I know well and grew up with were not abused in any way. They were bitter from childhood, privileged, selfish, racist, seemed almost to be born that way. I am sure many damaged souls are empathetic democrats. My family MAGAs carried the bitterness and resentment into adulthood and found FOX entertainment to support their habit and give them the endorphin rush of self - righteousness, superiority and hatred. They found a FOX white supremacist community in a country that really lacks true loving community. The roots of the sickness and the alienation from earth Mother and each other can be found in the centuries of Churchianity and all the horrors it has waged upon us.
I am one of those Dems, Fox held no allure for me, but captured my best friend, whose privileged husband had captured her. An American tragedy by any measure.
Sorry for your loss. Many of my friends have also gone down this hole. I’m buoyed by the close music community around me
Likewise. I no longer recognize my "brotherhood" of law enforcement.
As I no longer recognize most of my "brotherhood" of airplane nuts. Perhaps a much less important segment of society (we can't arrest anyone), but it's always hard to lose people you've trusted for whatever reason, gone through difficulties of whatever kind, and then you find this. As I've said, it's like the scene in Cabaret where Michael York's character sees his "good German" friend in his full SS regalia for the first time.
Wendy, I agree. The MAGAs I know are wealthy, educated, successful and claim to be Christians. They've always had a mean, selfish streak...not prone to charity or compassion. Donald gave them permission to express their hatred and narrow mindedness. Now, more than ever, they believe someone is going to deprive them of their wealth and status. And, of course, those people are BIPOC, and they must be despised and driven "underground".
I think people place too much emphasis on the ignorant, under educated MAGA. They are not the ones driving the movement. They are a convenient scapegoat because they are the ones we see foaming at the mouth at rallies, marches and school board meetings. They are a useful, powerful visual for those teetering on the edge. But they are not in charge.
Bingo.
And they were not indoctrinated into racism and white supremacy or religious fanaticism in their youth. None of that. The predisposition to racism etc was just there early on and The Christian fanaticism came later as a tool be superior and judge others, to feel powerful. Trump and Fox have given them a way to be collectively superior.
Wendy, I agree with you. The MAGAs in my family are like that (East/Southern Texas). I’ve been mystified at their viewpoints…. I agree about Fox (& newsmax & America first or whatever that third network is). You have a good point about violence being addictive, as are anger and outrage. These are frightening folks, especially since so many are heavily armed.
Don't be so sure they weren't abused. Many people (I was once one of them) deny it happened (I thought I had had a "normal" childhood, that everyone had that kind of bad, and tried always to focus on what little "good" had been there). Over the long years since, literally every one of my friends from back then who I have stayed in touch with (except one, and I can attest she wasn't - her mother was my mother's good friend and recognized "something was going on") has revealed some often-horrific things that were going on for them, that no one would have suspected from the way they acted at the time.
Watching "Gaslit" I was interested in the portrayal of the relationships G. Gordon Liddy had with his children, which are horrific. Yet to this day his son maintains he had a "wonderful" childhood with a "good" father (and surprise surprise he's as politically nuts as the old man).
Gaslit was fabulous!
Wendy, You nailed with "The roots of the sickness and the alienation from earth Mother and each other can be found in the centuries of Churchianity and all the horrors it has waged upon us."
I think there is something to how you describe the backgrounds of some MAGA folks. But please let me add on to it. First, the MAGA crowd is funded by some very rich Oligarchs who have stirred up residual anger within MAGAs who think they are being replaced. And they ARE being outnumbered - by the natural process of a nation becoming more and more diverse. That anger is funded and fueled by the Kochs, Mercers, Thiels, etc. Our MAGA folks are tools for them. They have effectively employed them as pathetic puppets.
I view diversity as a healthy thing. New blood, new energy. It's an American tradition and we are all here because of it. A healthy America would welcome those who would come here, work hard and pay taxes. A frightened and bigoted America would demonize the immigrant. And so it has been for centuries. The truth is we are desperate for more workers. This is not a zero sum game. I say increase immigration!
And I am a fan of the impact of epigenetics or something close to it. Combine that with early childhood indoctrination of bigotry, fear and hate of the other and the results are huge swaths of America who live in a psychology passed down from one generation to the next. Hatred as if it were a religious tenet. Bigotry as dogma. Fear in the DNA.
And consider that millions have grown up embedded with religious "unreality". If you can believe in a vengeful magic man in the sky (a white god that is yours alone) you can believe that the Democrats are evil and out to destroy you.
This Democrat does not want to destroy you, Mr. MAGA. We want you to have a good job, a good home, good health and plenty of food on the table for your family. We want your kids to have a level playing field for education. And when those kids are adults, we would prefer that they not have to deal with the devastating effects of Climate Change. Yeah, Mr. MAGA, we want your kids to have adequate supplies of potable water and not have to worry about wildfires consuming their homes, etc.
And Mr. MAGA, despite our concerns about how your genetically altered kids might vote, we want them to participate easily in every election with the faith that it will be an election with integrity - with every vote counted with no interference.
Yes, the American oligarchs who prefer ‘their’ dictator/puppet to democracy! No regulations, don’t tread on me, today’s Carnegie robber barons who have lowered capitalist greed to a new nadir!
"I view diversity as a healthy thing. New blood, new energy." I agree completely, Bill. I have long believed that immigration is vital to the U.S. economy, especially in terms of entrepreneurship and innovation.
Bravo!
"Gee, Officer Krupke, we're very upset;
We never had the love that every child oughta get
We ain't no delinquents
We're misunderstood
Deep down inside us there is good!" - West Side Story
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ym6XVvHbcfA
There is much more to it than that. Simplistic 'analyses' are part of the problem we are up against.
I still love that scene.
Perfect song for today's times. Thanks, Lin.
Apropos to the reductivist comment. But problematic in itself.
"The song “Gee, Officer Krupke” illustrates, for Slavoj Zizek, the function of cynical ideology. “They don’t know what they are doing but they are nonetheless doing it” is, for Zizek, the old Marxist notion of ideology. But “cynical ideology functions in the mode of ‘I know very well what I am doing but I am still nonetheless doing it,'” as indicated by the gang members’ hypothetical plea to Officer Krupke. The paradox is how they can know this and still do what they do."
Sadly, correct.
Sad indeed ....
You are correct. They are wayward souls who need or want to belong somewhere, to something, to someone.
Yeah, you're exactly right.
When will train and teach our children the miracle of good mental health. Will we ever have masses of people who don’t have to look down on others in order to feel good about themselves?
Sadly, it's an aspect of the human condition. Unless one self examines and decides to be open to new facts and grow psychologically and spiritually, we will always have this in our world.
Neuroplasticity of the brain. We know so much more than we ever did. We just need get out of the rut of our stinking thinking and change. Teaching our youngest the best of brain care. Knowledge is so powerful
I know them well. Could have been one of them, but this country gave options. I had more than many and I had flawed but competent parents. It always helps to have had such. That taste of political power came from Rupert (our other monster masquerading as a journalist) and he promises more as we teeter on the brink. We should all remember that Humpty Dumpty, after the fall, cannot be put back together again.
I had to read this several times (coffee hadn't kicked in yet); most of the MAGAts that I know were not the victims of abuse/childhood trauma as I know it (from my very skewed perspective of one who had to investigate family abuse cases of all varieties). I then applied your reference to the Christian orthodoxy and how it is practiced in some religions, and it all made sense to me.
I'd go one further; it isn't just returning to the reality that damaged them, it is returning to an authority that is an artificial construct of the "order of things" that, in their mind, favors them in appearance while it actually dumps them in with the rest of us as "unworthy".
Brilliant!
Nailed it! 🙏 and more unwanted children create more “monsters” (Madison Cawthorn’s clarion call) in families without resources. On what planet do they see themselves forever loved by these “monsters”? 🤷🏻♀️
This, from WAPO. I tried to gift it with no luck. Shattered my day. https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2022/06/12/election-suspicion-georgia-greene-trump/
https://wapo.st/3HmrBWC Here it is gifted. Shattering indeed.
Can't read it. I mean I CAN read it -Thanks for the access Ally - but the subject is too awful.
Wow Greg, this says it all.
And let’s not forget racial hatred and prejudice: President Trump and his 70 million followers would be lost if they were suddenly to try tolerance.
The driver, spewed by Rupert, grown from seed by Fred Trump and Roy Cohn. But the seed had a history in America…
In truth, basic tribal behavior underlies prejudice and it is not new: earliest humans were tribal. Most still are. Ignorance and fear drive prejudice. Better and more educated humans do not fear differences and are more tolerant, some more rare are actually fascinated by and attracted to those that are different.
And this is one reason that Republicans are trying to infiltrate and control the US educational system, getting on school boards, changing curriculum, banning certain topics of discussion.
Wish it were true that "better educated people do not fear differences and are more tolerant". It's not just education but also environment. Nature/nurture/human condition!
Wow! I think we could drive a truck through McConnell's weasel words of "support" for the bi-partisan plan. I expect amendments to come from Republicans that will further weaken an already weak plan. Perhaps I've just become too jaded and cynical!
Nope. You are spot on.
Much of the plan seems to rely on each state enacting gun control steps. I wonder if most or any of the hard core red states will actually support the plan
If you think about states controlling the money for mental health services, look no further than Abbott taking millions away for border shenanigans involving the National Guard. I don't trust Abbott to do the right thing because he hasn't in the past.
And never will
Once upon a time... (Children, are you sitting comfortably? Are you listening?)
Once upon a time, there was another country, and in that other country, there was a political party that called itself Republican and saw and sold itself as The Party of Business.
Since the business of that other country was business, politicians passed laws that supported business interests, in the faith that what's good for business will be good for people.
Correspondingly, government left the implementation of pro-business laws to business.
This worked wonderfully ( i.e. most lucratively) in the health sector... where pharmaceutical corporations, hospitals, insurance companies, lawyers and ambulance chasers colluded and prospered, and since prices were consequently "fixed" several times higher than anywhere else in the Universe, "uneconomic" persons such as the unlucky and the undeserving poor were left to their own devices. Funeral services thus gained business.
So, in this other country where the Constitution guaranteed citizens the right to own and carry arms, including rifles described as "semi-automatic" with firepower equivalent to that of an entire company of musketeers, the Party of Business passed laws obliging the owners of cars and guns to buy insurance.
And since Holy Market In Its Wisdom was thus left to its devices, untrammeled by government or squeamish libtards, actuaries prospered mightily, and risk assessment soon had the gun problem completely under control.
But that was in another country, somewhere in the perfect past. Yes... they did things differently there...
Ronnie Repubs in charge
The Holy Market. Yes.
Myself, I don't like...
But I keep noticing how my atheist friends all fail to take account of tbe biggest cults of all, Mammon, Markets, Moloch, and all those millions upon millions of blind believers...
Oh, I do take them into account. Daily.
Peter, Perhaps, the problem is your selection of atheists. I know one of them does not match you're description.
Thank you, and I appreciate the reminder. After all, many, maybe most of my good friends and family are atheists, those who aren't are agnostics, while the religious are anything but church mice... And most are free from the great blind patches anf intolerance of atheist missionaries...
But I did get irritated by scientistic English fanatics parroting Dennett's beliefs and unbelief... even after the poor man had begun to get the measure of his compatriots' credulous irrationality. No one has a monopoly of superstition; and perhaps the most superstitious man I ever met is an atheist, a materialist and a distinguished university professor...
Nah, promise they won’t. It’s an exercise in political theater
“No matter how cynical I get, I just can't keep up.” – Lily Tomlin
Me and Lily on the same page
"Addertongue!!"
I agree with Daria. This "bipartisan agreement" will be whittled down to nothing as soon as the rethugicans can get their hands on it.
It's already weak
Such an insult to any human who cares
Ditto
Only the choir knows the danger we’re in. If voting in Republican-controlled states is gerrymandered or suppressed enough, the fact-holders will lose and the totally deluded will win. The latter have absolutely no idea what awaits them. They think they’re saving the Nation. Wait till they lose health insurance, Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security.
We were recently gerrymandered into a heavily Republican district. My husband and I were filled with feelings of frustration and helplessness. I personally agree with you about the totally deluded. If the Republicans take over congress we all may lose our Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security just as that senator from Florida whose plans leaked sometime earlier this year wants to do. Very scary people.
Get out and register people to vote! Or write postcards. Or be a poll worker. Gerrymandering is maybe the worst form of voter suppression but we can't give up. Action is the antidote to despair.
You're right and that's what I intend to do.
FieldTeam6.org with the motto: Register Democrats, Save the World. They work to register Dems in swing states. You can help out!
“Some go from denial to despair without stopping at action.” Al Gore re climate change. But it can apply to all our woes…
And I think Gore also said that the thing that denial and despair have in common is that you don't have to do anything!
Accurate assessment.
Yes!
Remember, rich f*cks don't donate to politicians, they invest in them. Since the politicians have to give them more money in return than they receive (that's good business, eh?) in order to continue receiving "investments," they have to use tax payer money (the only money politicians have) stripped from government social programs. The only thing that protects us from full-on kleptocracy is...the oath of office.
Seems small, doesn't it? But few things are as powerful as an honorable person, in a position of responsibility, who cares more for their oath than for money.
Yup. The system has assumed the good faith of our public servants, and the four years under TFG showed us the weakness of that assumption. It's harder and harder for our MOCs to act in good faith thanks to Citizens United making them bought and paid for by the highest bidder.
Oh, you betcha, having to hold to one's oath while being tempted by gobs of free money on one hand and the threat of ignoble defeat on the other seems to call for superhuman rectitude. (See how priggish that word sounds to our ears, "rectitude?" But all it means is "morally correct behavior or thinking" -- a bad thing?) In the end, that fragile oath is the only thing that guards us, for no amount of law can forever stop the rapaciousness of the venal and corrupt.
Exactly.
Trump put in place a plan to privatize Medicare of those who have original Medicare. Biden is continuing implementing it with those people who have chosen original Medicare having no say at all. So losing Medicare comes under the democrats as well.
Rosalie, can you please provide a reference for your information? This is new to me, and I'm on Medicare.
Google Branko Marcetic and Medicare. I think the Washington Post had an article on it as well. I originally read about it on zcomm.org
Exactly, 100%, right on, and Rupert still spews the hate and self-righteous fervor. And will continue to blame the “libtards.”
"Weak sauce" is an excellent description of today's announcement of a Senate "framework" on gun safety. The actual wording of the legislation has not been written and the 10 Republican senators who signed on to today's announcement have not committed to the actual legislation until they see the final wording. Translation: we can bail at any moment at which point nothing will pass the filibuster 60-vote threshold. Today's framework is nothing more than the chance for Republicans to claim that they're doing something on gun safety so that they can change the conversation back to inflation in time for the November election. It's a cheap political ploy. Let's hope (although I'm doubtful) that the Dems see through it and write a law that will actually accomplish something and force the Repubs to either put up or shut up. Let's not give away the powerful issue of gun safety in the November election in exchange for these meager, pathetic "solutions." Have some guts, write laws that will have an impact (banning assault weapons, banning high-count magazines, raising the age for assault weapons, rescinding the laws that exempt gun manufacturers from liability and more) and make the Rs show their true colors. Hammer it relentlessly from now until November.
Dems are playing into the ongoing disgraceful behaviors of Republicans by agreeing to this weak legislation. It means nothing and will come back on Democrats during the midterm elections. Strength and conviction are needed here to really address what the majority of Americans want - ban of semiautomatic weapons, raise age to purchase to 21, universal background checks.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=AKgm9ARmOMM&feature=emb_imp_woyt
I love that and remember them singing it then. That was actor, writer, Ozzie Davis, who introduced them.
In that same vein ...:
JUNE 18, 2022 – 9:30AM @ 3RD & PENNSYLVANIA AVE. NW
POOR PEOPLE’S AND LOW-WAGE WORKERS’ ASSEMBLY AND
MORAL MARCH ON WASHINGTON AND TO THE POLLS
We are just over one week away from the Mass Poor People and Low-Wage Workers’ Assembly and Moral March on Washington and to the Polls!
June 18, 2022, is more than a day, it is a declaration of the pain, power and brilliance of the poor and low-wealth people in this country. We are hurting, but, in the face of ongoing injustice, we will not be silent anymore!
https://www.poorpeoplescampaign.org/june18/
************
Dr. Cornel West: Poor People's Campaign and King's Philosophy of Nonviolence
Monday, June 13, 2022• 6:00 PM • Pacific Daylight Time (US & Canada) (GMT-07:00)
https://actionnetwork.org/events/dr-cornel-west-kings-philosophy-of-nonviolence?source=direct_link&
The Seattle Regional PPC in partnership with the Well and the WA PPC is excited to invite Dr. Cornel West to virtually join us for a talk on King's Philosophy of Nonviolence. During his talk, Dr. West will remind us that nonviolence is not a temporary behavior we adopt while taking action- it is a way of life for people who believe, as he does, "that justice is what love looks like in public".
Dr. West will also connect King's Philosophy of Nonviolence with the current struggles of the Poor People's Campaign to shift the narrative, to build power among people living in poverty and low wealth, and to secure policies that reconstruct society from the bottom up. This gathering will ground us and prepare us for the Mass Poor People's and Low Wage Workers' Assembly and Moral March on Washington DC and to the Polls.
Forward Together. Not One Step Back.
washington@poorpeoplescampaign.org
The House wrote gun safety laws - not the ban on semi-automatic weapons that we need, but at least raising the age to 21. They will not pass the senate. Even the ‘weak sauce’ won’t pass the senate without continuing demonstrations.
It’s a start, at least. Before, these jerks would even come to the table. Now thry realize even their own constituents Re breathing down their throats.
Here, here
The Senate itself is an anti-democratic institution set up to satisfy the slave owners that they could keep the House from doing anything they didn't want even as the minority. The filibuster is an anti-democratic tool. Why are states rights given such power and priority over individual rights? Do we have to keep reliving the major flaw in the Constitution that makes some people (including blacks and women) property of the privileged white male? Justice Alito wants to leave abortion to the states saying it would put it back in the hands of the People. No, it doesn't. Not in Texas where there is minority rule by white men. Not is 19 states under minority rule. Like the NRA and guns, legislative power is under the thumb of the donors no matter what the People may want. Until we overturn Citizens United and the gutting of the voting rights act this will only get worse. Now it is time for me to go write to "Senator" Cornyn, the NRA's dupe, congratulating him on keeping his A+ rating from the NRA. As Representative Cheney said Thursday, "Your dishonor will remain". We the People, freedom for all of us from the tyranny of the Senate.
Totally agree with you, Cathy. Individual states cannot be trusted to be bothered to support justice. That is definitely a flaw in the Constitution and we must demand that these new laws be federally based. Thank you for writing to that POS Cornyn!
United no more if states rule. Who doesn’t know that…
Exactly, Cathy ! And you’ve encouraged me to contact,again, 11 Step Rescue-Not-Scott and 3mill+ NRA donee Rifle Rubio.
Several weeks ago I called my Freedom Caucus Reptile.The nice gentleman who answered the phone deflected and didn’t want to admit Rep had not supported House bills 8,1446.
We need to be calling out these congresscritters.(< thanks to commenter who penned:)
Trump is not the disease, he's the symptom. Many Americans feel they are losing economically and socially. Fertile ground for the next populist demagogue. Trump's on the way down but Congress is a useless maze of special interest lackeys and the Supreme Court is not even trying to hide their antidemocratic rulings.
With the inevitable migration pressures resulting from climate change and political disruptions,
totalitarian regimes are predominating worldwide. Efforts to gain rights for women seem to be regressing. Women and girls are increasingly victims of sexual assault (rape). Some of these oppressions are patriarchal, some are based in religious interpretations, others are hierarchal power domination.
In the past, a democratic system held hope that the voices of many would be heard and heeded. That made objectives worth working toward, rather than fleeing, the threats of "moving out of the country." The question has now become "where else can I go?" The looming loss of bodily autonomy, the moral imposition of biologically unrealistic laws, and the resulting loss of life and potential make living in certain states untenable. With the uniquely American existence of gun violence on an epidemic public health scale, lack of security and safety will cause the breakdown of functioning society - no tourism, no public education, no commerce, no peace. Just mounting body counts.
Thank you for your fine words, Beverly. I had a friend tell me yesterday she was thinking about leaving the country and we had a long discussion on where we would go. Perhaps Iceland which treats women like full citizens or the Nordic countries.
(Sweden)
Those thoughts have come to my mind too, following this substack. I guess the decay of public life in our small Nordic countries, along with the global trend, will happen sooner than your dreams of them go away. You know how many people live on Iceland? Finland has a remarkable history of male/female relationship. Half of their national myth, Kalevala, is about the marriage between a woman from a matriarch society and a man from a patriarch society.
Trump republicans seem to be heading for eternal government; of what? Timothy Snyder has written very well about this question. (https://snyder.substack.com/p/a-dream-of-power-an-awakening-to?s=r)
Splitting the nation in one blue and one red block I suppose is the major migrating project ahead, but that would undo the foundation of that government. Trump may not have gotten it yet, but I'm sure his paymaster Putin has.
What do you think of this, Olof?
NATO Membership May Spell the End of Finland and Sweden as Social Democracies
https://truthout.org/articles/nato-membership-may-spell-the-end-of-finland-and-sweden-as-social-democracies/
Very interesting article; and much of what is said about recent development in Finland also goes for Sweden. Distribution of wealth in Sweden has been going even worse, and is among the worse in Europe. The decay of Social Democracy has been going on for a long time, along with the decay of the Welfare State, but it is still a major part of the national myth that carries us. If Norway and Denmark has been members of NATO for a long time, and still has had Social Democratic governments now and then, I don't see why Finland and Sweden should be any different. This "now and then", I think, is part of a general decay of voting in democracies: voters, lazy and ignorant, tend to vote against a former policy instead of for a coming future; often on very lose ground, and unfair blaming.
Putin has declared war on "nazi"Ukraine, but what he is really scared of is democratic Ukraine. To this end he is successfully supporting right wing extremists all over Europe to cause social splits. I'm glad Sweden has now realized where we also today have our enemy: an attempted Russian empire from Vladivostok to Lisbon. Russian Foreign minister said our former neutrality was serving peace, but what he really thinks he is losing are two small countries, easy to conquer if they have no support, and an easy access to the Atlantic Ocean, which would be the first and easiest step to that Russian empire, after Donbas and the Crimean naval base.
Thank you Olof. I have to admit, it is a bit over my head. It seems to me like we all will be faced with the necessity to accommodate global economic dynamics, whoever we are - that it will become more a question of contingencies within and across national boundaries more than countries opposing or cooperating with each other ... however economic pressures influence regional politics, people on the ground will be challenged to adapt as cultures evolve (or devolve) accordingly.
This leads me to look at guiding principles and 'mythologies' at the root of different cultures that give people the strength to persevere - to identify with heritage more deeply than transient opportunism of current changing times ... as little as I know about root cultures in that part of the world, it seems possible that the Russian proletariat could view Ukrainian culture as fascist (democratic or not) as Ukrainians have fought and survived for a long, long time to preserve ancient traditions (just look at their music, traditional clothing and design art - deep roots!)
I don't know about Swedish culture, but I have seen a bit about the Finnish Kalevala - more than a myth, an ancient song with associated dance patterns - I have the impression this 'creation myth' is more than just a story - more, a dynamic methodology embodying creative process guiding cultural character and growth - which is why traditions are considered so vital to cultural integrity.
Compare that to the motivating mythology and non-traditional trending of popular culture in the more materialistic industrialized consumer society threatening to subsume traditions that distinguish cultures, one from another into an amorphous mass of humanity - maybe one reason so many people commit suicide in this 'happiest' of all countries by modern standards.
I wonder if this is reflected in the part of the Kalevala that refers to the old oak tree that grows so big, it takes all the ground so nothing else can grow - blots out the sunlight, keeps the winds from circulating - not even the birds can fly - how can the living world survive? The old God, Vainamoinen calls to the Mother Ocean to send him a water hero to help solve the problem. Out of the water comes a little person no bigger than the old God's thumb. Long story short, to Vainamoinen's amazement, the little fellow grows and grows until his trousers span the continents and his head pierces the sky. With three mighty steps, he strides across the continents to where the old oak grows. With three mighty strokes of his ax, he fells the old oak which comes crashing down to the ground, splintering into thousands of pieces. People come from every direction to gather the pieces, take them home and use them to build anew.
That is just part of the story that stuck with me, from a book, {{"SUN SONGS - CREATION MYTHS FROM AROUND THE WORLD - edited, introduced with commentary by Raymond Van Over}} ... the story is much longer - and I have a feeling, it is more than just a story - like some other ancient languages in which the sounds and intonation of the words with associated movements compel creative energies as cycles of history circulate through the ages ... legend has it that the world was sung into being ... maybe, if we can find our place in the song today, and bring it forward in what we choose ... maybe that is how we will find our way through these challenging times ... does that make any sense to you?
... and, on that note, though it may seem a bit off topic, this upcoming Sound Healing Summit looks to be full of useful information and serious inspiration toward finding the song of creation as it resonates in the coalescence of today's transforming world ... maybe we - as individuals, nations and cultures are like amoebae combining to form more complex organisms in the ever evolving cosmic body of life ... emerging from the three dimensions\al bind of polarized political strife and contention ... here's the link:
https://soundhealingglobalsummit.com/
Peace and Love All,
k. allen
https://tahomahome.weebly.com/
Before I settled on Australia, my then-partner and I tried Denmark (one of my mother's cousins lived there), but they weren't taking anybody. Of course, things may have changed since the 1980s.
Danish attitudes have changed since then, but not for the better in that respect, and Sweden has followed the same path.
Problem of seeking a better place is that where goes the United States eventually goes the world. Witness Nordic countries beginning the same path as the United States. That said I am keeping a long move in back of mind. Canada,NZ or Australia. They may have prohibitive fees so another issue.
Thank You Beverly, for the wake up call. In the U.S. we must go to the streets in protest, door-to-door to educate a bamboozled electorate, and, today, to the airwaves to see a democratic process that still works For The People, All Of Us This Time.
Wonderful assemblage of strands, as usual, Professor Richardson. Thank you.
I found the podcast by Slate's Dahlia Lithwick (published Saturday) particularly valuable. She interviewed "Just Security’s" Ryan Goodman (he's a law prof with a chair, no?). https://slate.com/transcripts/eW4zL3RQTW8ycVlxTlZuZ1hGZHpPUFFndERDQ0FtcWFMZCttQi81STMrST0=
The analysis on NPR's Morning Edition on Friday was, in my view, excellent. https://www.npr.org/2022/06/10/1104109765/breaking-down-yesterdays-jan-6-hearing
There seems to be coalesence among sentient analysts that the Thompson-Cheney hearings are going to lay down a powerful narrative for history.
I understand that history is your gig, but I hope people today will listen to and understand the importance of your (and others') analyses for the future of...of...our government.
So, once again, tnx!
Thx for the link, John. I missed this podcast but have huge respect for Dahlia (who I first became aware of via Heather’s copious Notes); the interview w Prof Goodman should be a must-read for everyone here.
Goodness gracious! Has Asa Hutchinson grown a backbone? Unearthed a moral compass? Only time will tell.
Or is he the first to feel public opinion shifting and, like any politician, he is ready to change his values to meet the new circumstances?
Let's remember that not all politicians change their values to fit changing circumstances. The US is fortunate to still have a good number of people of integrity serving in office.
Not in Arkansas.
Maybe I'm just cranky but it doesn't seem like a majority of politicians who put their personal integrity above their ambitions. Maybe it's worse on the GOP side right now as regards Trump's big lie but I don't recall seeing a mass uprising on the Democratic side regarding Congressional insider trading.
That's because there wasn't a mass uprising amongst the Democrats. People like to place the Democratic Party on an altar of high ethical goodness that doesn't exist. It's all about getting re-elected not about the greater good. I'm cranky too.
I don't know enough to say that a majority work with integrity, but I know of a few who do, including a number of our local and county electeds.
And those who have integrity should be supported! Always.
Yup!
He's going to be out, and the next Republican Governor who replaces him is going to be Trump loving Sara Huckabee. Since he has no future career to worry about now, and a retired governor's salary is a comfortable living in Arkansas, he can afford to have a new moral compass. But he's still a fucking Republican who never said anything before.
TC, just thinking about Sara Hucka- b***h Saunders being a governor just makes me ill to the core!
Yes indeed. How stupid are southern white people? Stupid enough to do that.
Stupidity is everywhere, north, south east and west throughout the world.
Pinpointing one geographical location harms the idea we are trying to put forth. Ouch!
It is. but Arkansas, which was the topic, is only in one of them.
Exactly so.
TC, you are correct on all counts. Sara Huckabee will thrust Arkansas deeper into the sludge. Evidently, southern white Republicans are amongst the dumbest on the planet. They won't be happy until most of their states' residents are poverty stricken and scratching dirt for food.
TC Retiring ARK governor’s ‘sane words’ reminds me of Blah Blah Barr, who, as Attorney General, was frequently Trump’s puppy dog. Much later he sought to clean up his copy book saying that the election results were accurate and then wrote a ‘good-boy’ Barr book. The stench of both remains—and they both stink.
And Barr, even after admitting that Trump is a liar, a criminal, and a wannabe dictator, bluntly said that he would vote for him again. What kind of moral compass is that?
Dirk At least Barr is consistent in setting a low bar.He must be a skilled limbo dancer, as his ass is dragging on the ground.
👍🏼
Second ugliest, stupid bitch in chump land, only outdone by Kellyanne (best selling author now along with O’REILLY). They never go away.
Gawd. O'Reilly the "historian"? And no, I think Kellyanne is far uglier than Sara. Kellyanne is very well educated and actually knows better. Her exterior ugliness is a reflection of her duplicity and ambition.
Ha, ha. Trying to pull out of the swamp maybe?
Too late for that, I'm afraid.
So glad this Letter is here earlier than your usual time lately; go to bed, Dr. Heather! 💜 Thank you!!!
At some point Trump's own hubris may be the force that undoes him. Or at least we can only hope.
Prayed that for years, yet Rupert still edits him into a human, a superhuman, at that.
Happy Sunday June 12, 2022, Professor Richardson! Hope you’re tucked in already (it’s after 11pm East Coast time😴)
Hope she manages to get to sleep after this. Breathtaking stuff. We have evidence, says Schiff, and they know now that if he says so, it is so.
And Bolsonaro! Bolsonaro! Middle name "Messias". If he loses, it will be because of fraud - gee! what an awful thought!
So McConnell takes care not to use the word "gun"; he's covered, if he has to backtrack.
Messias: "Anointed One."
"The woman saith unto him, I know that MESSIAS cometh, which is called Christ: when he is come, he will tell us all things. Jesus saith unto her, I that speak unto thee am he." ( John 4:25-26 )
"... clean and safe. “For the love of God,”" speaking for the LORD, no less ...?
Religious, self-righteous bull Schitt, always
I wonder if that is his real middle name, or assumed ... oh, divine prophesy fulfilled!!
I noticed the middle name...WTH. Mitchy is a weasel.
Please do not insult weasels with such a loathsome comparison. 💥
No intent to insult real weasels. Btw, in her book These Truths (a fairly recent history of the US) Jill Lapore called Bill Clinton a weasel.
Bill Clinton is a total sleaze-ball. From now on we should call anything evil and ignorant a “ McCarnell”. It is a crossbreed of two bastards: McConnell and McCarthy.
Oh dear! and he thought he was a silver fox.
...stoat?
But stoats are adorable. If I had to give an animal analogy, I would go with “an ancient turkeys naked wattle” but that’s just what comes to mind immediately. I’m sure I could be more creative, given enough time.
Well, that's a perfect portrait, but without any moral inferences. Actually, we could have some frivolous fun allocating animal analogies - meerkat, for example...
"The January 6 committee will hold its second hearing tomorrow, at 10:00 a.m. Eastern time." Wooooo can't wait!!!!!
7 AM Arizona time. I will probably be up drinking my black coffee. Neat thing today, is you can watch it from the beginning on cable even if you are late in turning it on! Gone are the days of only 5 channels.
Yes thankfully because I’m on PST and will be at work.
7am - yikes! Need to set an alarm (rare in retirement) so the pets are fed and coffee in the mug before more fun revelations. Anyone else feel the GQP unraveling accelerating? I’m hopeful for the first time in 6 years. I believe justice will prevail.
The Jan 6 Committee has a YouTube channel where they post the video of the public hearings. Anyone can watch at whatever time is most convenient. Great option for anyone who can't watch live.
Me too Bill, also AZ! I need to walk the dog extra early this morning
Thanks for the reminder. I am sitting here drinking my tea. I hope it is on MSNBC.
Gotta set my alarm. That’s 7am PST!
So glad that the J6 committee will continue to pull the pieces together with facts. Just watched CNN's special on InfoWars and Alex Jones. I had no idea thst he's been causing problems since before 9 /11. How do these sociopaths have the ability to be on the airwaves for 25+ years? Very scary stuff, especially how Trump partnered with him beginning in 2015. And interesting/scary to see the role Alex Jones played in January 6th.
Oh yes he has! Ask his exes!