We honor some for their service, but in recognition of their courage, competence, integrity, and devotion to our nation as a whole. THAT is what is worth celebrating. All for one, one for all, as it were. E Pluribus Unum. It's even on our sacred money.
And we wait — years and decades even — to do that. No Washington Monument could ever have been built during our first President’s life. The author of the Virginia Bill of Rights waited for his Memorial for an entire century. Abraham Lincoln was permitted to gaze at George Washington’s great obelisk, turning his back on the former mansion of Robert E. Lee only decades after the Union had won the greatest battle for its existence.
The only ones who protest this are pissy, petty, tiny, whinybitchy little brats, who throw themselves onto the floor in sugar-filled tantrums, stomping their little hands and feetses with rage at the terrible, horrible injustice of it all.
THAT my friend was one of the best list of connected adjectives I've ever read in a political column! And the "little hands and feetses" just put a crown on it!
Disregard the voices of phony experts telling “we the people” how to think and what to do. Listen instead for the harmony ringing true in the voices of real experts like Baptist preacher Jimmy Causey (to his grandson James Talarico) when he said, “practicing Christianity is hard, but it’s simple.” Albert Einstein said practicing science is hard but it’s simple when he said, “I have no special talent. I am only patiently curious.” Abraham Lincoln said defeating authoritarianism is hard but it’s simple when he said, “With public sentiment, nothing can fail; without it, nothing can succeed.”
Todd Blanche won’t say what his actions clearly imply: “You so-called moral people are the hypocrites. We’re not like you. We’re not bad people pretending to be good. We’re just bad.”
This is not a left versus right (progressive versus conservative) battle. This is a good versus evil (morality versus hypocrisy) war in which authoritarianism dies if it gets killed by a secret weapon, the day enough people in the pro-democracy movement are sharing a simple and explicit definition of morality. Otherwise, we’ve failed to disprove their distorted rationalization for their distorted worldview by collectively pretending we don’t have to address the issue the authoritarians have placed in our collective faces.
The political “left” progressively challenges the status quo. The political “right” conservatively protects the status quo. The political “up” morally serves the common interest at the short-term expense of two conflicting interests so all three benefit in the long term from the strength of the relationship (right makes might). The political “down” hypocritically serves a limited interest at the short-term expense of the common interest so that all three suffer in the long term from the weakness of the relationship (might makes right).
Start with the person in the mirror, then think globally while acting locally within the pro-democracy movement. Let the metaphorical matador start to get nervous by noticing we’ve stopped pointing our metaphorical horns at the metaphorical cape.
It’s hard, but it’s simple because we all have the same born-with knowledge of the difference between right and wrong.
You've suggested something very important: There are not two sides to every story. Sometimes it is good vs evil. Sometimes a lie is just a lie and not just another perspective. We've been deluded into thinking that all perspectives are equally valid. They are not. Hence, the value of propaganda and advertising, to convince us. Truth is not self-evident it it's a lie, even if, as DJT often says, everybody knows it. A lie can be a lie even if everybody knows it (which they never do in this case) and some subscribe to it.
Your comment reminded of the true story of the two people who saved the world from self-destruction during the Cuban missile crisis six and a half decades ago. In The Courier (2020 movie), Oleg Penkovsky (Merab Ninidze) says to Greville Wynne (Benedict Cumberbatch), “We are only two people … but that is how things change.”
A plot as old as TIME…in many different ‘tellings’, but always with the same outcome. “V”…
Donald Trump sits there munching on his triple-buttered popcorn ROOTING FOR THE EVIL VILLAINS…his alter ego, like Hitler is.
Right now he doesn’t have a brilliant propaganda spinner like Adolf’s Josef Goebbels, but his hand-picked circle of sycophants do what they are TOLD, as per a Dictator’s handbook. If they don’t…or if some mistake is made and HE needs a scapegoat…🪓
Trump’s mother (a non English speaking IMMIGRANT BTW) taught her offspring the life lessons of clammering over other people with cleats on > 🏌️♂️!
She LIED to remain in the country and rewarded her kids ‘street smarts’ as did Big Daddy ‘FRED’.
Why am I reiterating this? Sorry…but, maybe a few of you just didn’t bother to investigate the GOP’s sterling candidate - you know, the one “lying for the truth”…a method used by CULTS…look that up!
So, to ultimately defeat the forces of evil now ‘having their inning’ ⚾️…and with Trump creating more & more frequent blow ups when he ‘takes his ball and goes home’…
‘GOOD’ has no choice but to protest…even if it COSTS DEARLY 😔!
A ‘REVOLUTION’ is only as strong as the members are DESPERATE!
To get from “enlightenment” (at top-dead center where we constrain our own ignorance) to “the dark side” (at bottom-dead centre where ignorance is unconstrained), Todd Blanche could have gone too far to the left (moving counterclockwise past 9 o’clock). Instead, he went too far to the right (moving clockwise past 3 o'clock). The only way to tell the difference? Know the history.
I always knew that Trump and his cabal all had little handses (just made the correction, thanks to Dutch Mike) and feetses. What Trump confused about his own little "feetses" was another word, similar in fact, his immense "feces", which only goes to show, he's always been full of it.
Jon, this is off subject for this thread, but I checked with my husband about what we heard while visiting Madison's plantation about his slaves. He remembers it as I do that his intent was to free them, but that it is did not happen because of Dolly's need to finance her reprobate son. I even remember the room we were in when the guide explained this. We did have a Madison scholar talk to us, but the book I was thinking of we remember as being written by Madison's valet (for lack of a better word).
Madison was in the room with other Slave owners when the Constitution was written. Those men wrote into our Constitution Slavery and No Rights for Women. It does not matter what a Slave owner "planned to do" or actually did upon their own death. What matters is the fact that they needed slaves to provide a life-style of wealth and privilege. While they were living that life-style. They were arrogant and short-sighted all for their own comfort.
My post to Jon was about something we discussed a few days ago. It was about Madison and his intent to free his slaves, not about what the Founders did while writing the Constitution. I was merely clarifying for Jon what we were talking about. I am fully aware of their shortcomings and the problems around writing the Constitution. It is also clear that some of them were bothered by slavery. I think that is important to know. I am not going to continue this discussion with you either.
As Maurice Sendak wrote in Where the Wild Things Are, "roared their terrible roars, gnashed their terrible teeth, rolled their terrible eyes..." We are "Max" who yells, Be still!
It's Come to This, you have the toddler pool down to a T! I am glad others are noting what I am, in this case the toddleresque behavior of the incompetent, unqualified, otherwise insignificant fools of Trumplandia.
And may I add "petulant." I tried to watch the scene at the Kennedy Center for a few minutes last night. What a farce! The "workers" were obviously instructed to move at 'negative speed.' Probably paid a bonus for not finishing on time. All Trump et al accomplished was to further embarrass THEMSELVES. "It's Come to This" used the most appropriate adjectives to describe this moronic multi-blob of human flesh, I'm not going to mess with it, other to add petulant.
Mary, it's too bad there wasn't a huge fine for each of the perpetrators of the whole Kennedy Center stupidity if they didn't have the name off on time. Trump having to pay say $10 million from his personal account, the contractors say, $2 million, and the rest of the crew involved at only slightly less. That's the problem; there are no consequences for anything Trumplandia does. They believe they are not only invincible but there is no accountability required for anything they do.
So I guess we need to take down the Kennedy Center…THE Lincoln memorial. THE Washington monument and Jefferson memorial. Heck let’s change the name of Washington DC. !!
Do you liberals ever consider using logic in your posts or common sense as a bare minimum? Instead of hate.
By the way, the supermarkets are out of popcorn. It’s all being sold to independents and Republicans for celebrating and having a party in their own homes to watch the no kings parade. Especially when we don’t have a king. Because if you have a king and you wanna have a parade about not having one you’re gonna die, you’re gonna have your head removed and not very gently. Ooooops that’s why it’s a joke and a farce. Plus, we love the costumes.
I’VE often wondered about why we wait for someone to die to say thank you publicly. Would it be nicer when someone did something great like these people I mentioned above able to thank them for their work while they’re alive so they can appreciate that they were appreciated to that extent. ?
OMG, Rick is back! The inanity of your comments is so entertaining. It is the logic of a 5-year-old, just a couple of years in age past that of Donald Trump who has hardly accomplished the reasoning of a 3-year-old, at least partly due to his dementia. Amazing the conservative/ultra-right toddlerism on display from our white house and among Republicans in Congress and state legislatures across the country. They are all competing to see who can come up with the dummest bills and laws, then getting their pathetic governors to sign them. Not one of them has anything positive to offer anyone, probably because badly-parented toddlers are too wrapped up in themselves to have anything positive to offer anyone!
Gee, Rick, I hate to lay this on you but your post is so vapidly devoid of reason that your criticism of “liberals’ lack of logic” really doesn’t come off well. But keep trying. I’m sure you’ll get there with practice.
No, he won't. He never lists a single source backing up his claims. I am now trolling all his responses on HCR and providing facts to counter his idiotic claims.
Kent, OMG, how can you stand that! I am thinking there is a touch of CHAT GPT going on here. The entries in Rick's contributions make little to no sense, as intended. It reminds me of a bratty 5-year-old whining that he is smarter than anyone else but with absolutely no evidence of it!
No. All monuments are legally built, and only illegal stuff gets taken down - such as trying to put your name, as a politician, on something that belongs to the people, and without following the law to do so (= having the people's Congress pass a bill).
Not that complicated to understand, is it? :-)
Moreover, the GOP fully controls DC, so if Trump can't convince them to pass such a bill, it only shows how weak he actually is...
Did anyone suggest taking down monuments to Washington, Lincoln or Jefferson---although there is certainly an argument to be made for doing so:
George Washington was the first President of the US and a lifelong enslaver who held hundreds of enslaved people at his Mount Vernon estate.
He implemented a system of rotating enslaved people between Mount Vernon and Philadelphia. This was to exploit a loophole in a Pennsylvania law to keep slaves indefinity.
As President, he signed the Fugitive Slave Act of 1793. The law made it a federal crime to help a formerly enslaved person.
But unlike Republicans today, Washington repented and freed his slaves -- but only after Martha's death. He would make a fine Republican today.
Thomas Jefferson authored the Declaration of Independence. He also owned hundreds of enslaved people.
He had a complex relationship with one of his slaves, Sally Hemings. Who bore several of his children.
It is said that Jefferson wanted to get rid of his slaves but could not. As he was deeply in debt. (same source)
Republicans always say "it costs too much money to do the right thing for other people." But they are happy to see other suffer in poverty to get another tax break for themselves.
Lincoln and the Emancipation Proclamation:
Lincoln did not free all slaves with his edict: Lincoln faced significant political pressure from various factions, including abolitionists who demanded immediate emancipation and pro-slavery Unionists who opposed it. He sought a middle ground that would preserve the Union while also addressing the issue of slavery.
But he opposed slavery from the beginning--like many moderates on black rights he believed in incremental change. (source: Smithsonian Institute--before Trump began scrubbing data).
I'm here to point out that Rick Sender NEVER uses logic. NEVER considers the nuances involved in history, and ALWAYS makes statements with no linked sources.
Beware of Rick Sender posts. They are similar in fact to Chinese trolls.
I dare him to link any source.
Full disclosure: I am his die-hard political enemy on HCR's page.
By the way, Rick, have you seen how many people are commenting that your remarks are "stupid?" But like most MAGAs you haven't the ability to change your approach. You repeat history thinking you'll get a different result. Remember where you told me history didn't predict the future? I'm predicting that if you cannot provide sources backing your opinions with facts, you're going to see "stupid" in a lot more responses.
Ok, Rick is back. This area is not just for the Dems. It is important for us to understand each other, or we are going no-where with the future of our country. There was a Liberal African American man who wore a MAGA hat for a week to everywhere including the gas station, barber shop, church, sporting events etc. He learned an incredible amount about people on both sides of the political spectrum in one week, simply by wearing a MAGA hat. He remains liberal, for numerous reasons, but to be clear we are all Americans. Everyone has the right to their opinion, and we all need to listen to each other. Why are we letting one man and his cronies pull us apart to become the weakest country in the world? Both parties and our system lose big time. So, in my opinion, we all need to listen, because under the sarcasm of conversation, there are strong feelings that have to be recognized and worked with. Our country is only as strong as our people no matter how we feel about the guy at the top!!
Barbara, yes we all do need to listen to one another, but like so much that happens under our toddler-president, when only one side is listening, little will change. I have not encountered a MAGA who is willing to listen to anyone outside MAGA. I get it they are afraid they might have their positions challenged if they hear some truth, but that also means they hold their positions, not because they have thought about them but because they think they will gain something by holding them: belonging to the Trump club, gaining some wealth or position, getting to insult or otherwise do harm to people they neither like nor understand, a feeling of superiority that gives something the rest of their life experiences don't.
Full disclosure, I am a licensed lawyer but, any person who acts as his own lawyer is definitely batsh' crazy particularly in a case where millions tune in just to watch the scaffolding being built to carry out the court's order.
Noted, Axios News published a photo [ historical photo credit to Anna M.] of the delivery truck pulling up loaded with the needed scaffolding.
All of this before a psychotic 6/14 birthday tableau.
Not to mention Bryan the millions (perhaps billions) of our tax dollars Trump has wasted with his frivolous batshit crazy lawsuits as well as the delay tactics.
As the son and nephew of several WWII veterans, I am insulted not only by the draft dodging Trump building a memorial to himself close to Arlington National Cemetery. He has dishonored EVERY veteran and their families that have ever served in the military especially those who have paid the ultimate price with their lives and those that returned from war with mental and physical disabilities.
And he's still doing that with the chaotic and stupid war with Iran.
And make no mistake, he is doing this with the full support of EVERY Republican in the Senate and the House. What a total embarrassment they are.
" ... EVERY veteran and their families that have ever served ..." including the deceased Union soldiers who are buried in garden of the traitor Confederate General overlooking the Capitol which later became Arlington National Cemetery.
My dad came home from WWII as a DAV as well. He lost 3 fingers on his right hand and had trouble getting a decent job after getting his accounting degree. Nobody, it seemed wanted a bookkeeper that had to use an adding machine with only his left hand. He ended up working for the IRS for 30 years and was never promoted beyond GS-3 due to his disability. My mom was one of the few moms in our neighborhood that worked full time when I was growing up. Her mother lived with us and took care of us while my parents were at work. I never heard them complain about their situation though and us kids never missed a meal. It could have been much worse.
Apparently, they put up plastic around the scaffolding to try to spoil the moment. It didn't work as they sang Woody Guthrie's "This land is your land."
BUT nature May make the cage fight a pressure cooker with both 91 degrees and high humidity which inside a metal structure that will have absorbed lots of heat, create a potential PO pressure cooker for people. Heat stroke can occur in such a space. Like building a patio from the Rose Garden concrete and the Hot road surfaces on Sunday he asked for a terrible place to hold such a heat wave event in downtown Washington DC in early summer! I have lived in the past in DC in summer. It's why the locals are go to the beach, the mountains and the lakes. Fool's hardy. Stupid idea more like it!
And positively miserable is the land that settles for a reality TV host, a wrestling ring on the White House lawn, and a birthday parade as a substitute for governing. At this point America feels less like a democracy and more like a B-grade television show made for a banana republic.
Hello Kazz... Today From HCR: "Today Elon Musk, who poured more than $290 million into the 2024 election to elect Trump and other Republicans, became the world’s first trillionaire—on paper, at least—when shares of his rocket company SpaceX were offered to the public."... || Elon Musk, the Apartheid South African Emigree, got rich from NASA Contracts, and EV Tax Incentives... Since the debut of DJT 2.0, Elon's DOGE has stolen the personal data of Millions, cost 100,000s their Jobs, starved thousands with the destruction of USAID, and quadrupled his personal wealth... Because Space-X is now part of the NASDAQ 100, people that invest in the American Stock Market, are now exposed in Elon's Companies... Elon Musk is not known to give to any Charity...
$290 million is a lot of money to pour into a campaign to 'secure' a win. Anyone want to guess what would have happened had musk poured that much money into Kamala's campaign instead of trump?
Apache, add to Musk's faults, his intervention with AI in the 2024 election, in the swing states, maybe Texas and Florida too, changing enough votes for Trump and some of Trump's sycophants to make sure he would control all three branches of government in order to impose Project 2025 (that Trump claimed he knew nothing about), on the people of this nation. This is very close to treason, maybe actually crossing the line!
And I'm convinced it happened in recent primaries (Tennessee, Louisiana, possibly SC) and is in the works for the mid-terms. We should not be confident about a blue tsunami.
Elon stole and then SOLD the personal data of millions, like 340 million people and then the DOGE boys flagged many of the living SS recipients as "dead".
As you know, it is very very hard to be resurrected in the Federal databases once you are dead.
Vox Populi, it is looking more and more like treason. Now, what must we do to prove it and hold the superrich accountable for their treasonous actions, all done for their own mostly personal benefit?
Jon, it is reality TV, which has nothing in common with reality and is being orchestrated by the directors to play out in whatever way they choose. We are all supposed to just watch and play along, pretending it is real even though it is a constant flow of lies, cheating, theft, and destruction. The attacks on our neighbors and people we respect are supposed to entertain us while we are made complicit in the cruelty and anti-constitutional actions.
Kazz, isn't that exactly what we have in charge? That's why I refer to them as the white house toddler pool. It's all about them and no one else can count with them because there isn't enough room in their bloated brains, stuffed with the blather of an old man with dementia!
Kazz, you've hit the nail on the head. I wish I were more versed in Lord of the Rings or Harry Potter lore so I could find a literary comparison as ICCT has done here.
The word "hero" seems often applied a number of different ways. I think of a real hero as someone who labors and/or sacrifices to make things better for others, often for others with whom the hero has no special relationship except sharing humanity. Such people are always needed, within society, and within ourselves.
Recalling Barty Crouch, Jr. from “Harry Potter” who, when told he was being taken straight to Azkaban, the prison for magical miscreants, yells out in defiance “I’ll be welcomed like a hero!“ “Perhaps,”responds Professor Dumbledore calmly. “Personally, I’ve never had much time for heroes.”
Anne-Louise, we have many heroes in this nation. The problem, our media is too much owned by billionaires. They are wrapped up with their pathetic antics and their inability to accept responsibility for any of their bad actions, while dumping on everyone who doesn't agree with them or go along with their ?BS.
One thing is certain, neither Trump nor anyone else in the white house toddler pool will be remembered as a hero, just a traitor to our democracy!
Building housing for those who are in need sounds like a great idea! How about making sure "no child is left behind"! Our youngest ones must have the opportunity to be taught by teachers who are well trained and receive a salary on which they can reasonably live. A good education for all is necessary for our citizenry to survive!!!
Extended training should be required to assist graduates of high school or college to find appropriate jobs. As a nation, we must work together to provide opportunities for as many as possible. Sadly, we will always have problems with those who choose a wrong path, but there are more who want a chance to improve their circumstances.
It is heart breaking to watch the priorities of a President ie choosing to use taxpayer dollars to build monuments to himself rather than to help improve the lives of Americans with great ability but who need assistance financially.
A ‘silly moron’ wearing an ID tag that says ‘POTUS’ is making up false stories - about historical events, and even ‘inventing’ some to illustrate his LIES.
TEACHERS have a responsibility to protect students from inaccurate information…a tall order when they are taught that their ‘President’ is incapable of wrong-doing, a pinnacle of virtue and someone they can TRUST.
I’m sure modern media sources which spread POTUS #47’s lies are reaching more innocent minds than the school system.
The country is - therefor - in trouble, and a whole generation doomed to believe some pretty ridiculous ‘stories’; suffer shameless bragging; and learn to HATE from the despicable Donal J. Trump, who surely did not garner the majority vote ‘honestly’ with Musk ‘buying’ the election.
But, remember the day the statues of Saddam Hussein were toppled…and the Nazi symbols torn down and burned!
I have had to face the horrible fact that many of my beloved Christian friends have been the most vulnerable by believing and receiving information that "Trump" is the candidate of the Christians???
On what planet can this falsehood be received???? Where in reality can this idea be believed????
Our current president has lived a life of "wrong-doing". Maybe the fact that he has gotten away with it and has made money off of it is more impressive than an intelligent, truth honoring, patriot type of human being???
Emily Pfaff, I agree. I hated the slogan "No Child Left Behind" because of what it did to education. Still, I agree with the sentiment. As a retired teacher, who I believe was effective, I agree that education is important. In fact, my daughter is attending a public university which does not charge tuition and only a nominal fee, because I believe that a free, quality education should go through university.
With or without jobs our graduates should be provided housing if they cannot still live with their families. Our president is sickening to me. Absolutely sickening. He doesn't understand his job, and neither do the people who support him. We do. His job is to serve and protect the people of the USA.
We need a leader that, as historians may say, rhymes with FDR. The combined wealth of Henry Ford and JD Rockefeller, in current $s would be $600-$800 billion. Musk may have hit $1Triillion. And for what value?
I agree. Hungary, Albania and South Korea as well as Brazil removed their autocratic leaders. The Trump administration is sick, sick, sick! It is making our country ill by spreading its evil, vile, violent incompetent methods of running the country like a disease.
Yes. I have seen several films and read some discussions of their housing first program, which Biden wanted to follow but was substantively missing how it was set up. Trump on the other hand wants to house the unhoused in prisons and use them as slave labor.
No Gods Day?? I'm in. The Republicans have taken away the right to choose an abortion from millions of women in the name of their god. But, yet they say nothing about the pedophiles and sex traffickers in power not only in the WH, Congress and SCOTUS, but also in the corporate world.
A Day to honor all of US who are working to rid US of current tyrants: the press people who work overtime, the members of Congress who show up for interviews looking exhausted, those who march, who make and/or hold signs
EVERYWHERE, those who write reminder postcards to voters, and everyone who watches DT’s name come off the Kennedy Center! Et cetera, et cetera, and so forth!
PS Trump has his RED 🧢’s with the MAGA text, borrowed-from-the-Nazi’s, ‘Make Germany Great Again’ slogan, invented by the master propaganda director, Josef Goebbels)…so, how about a scarf, or tie with a “✊” and the word HOME ↔️🇺🇸.
they are never satisfied. Like a domestic abuser. They relentlessly threaten to harm everything precious to you until they either kill them or you. Trump is killing America
There is something almost perfect about Trump’s name going up on the Kennedy Center in hours, but needing scaffolding, court orders, emergency appeals, and public embarrassment to come back down. That is the whole Trump era in one image: vanity installed quickly, democracy repaired slowly.
The Kennedy Center was named by Congress for John F. Kennedy, a president associated with public service, the arts, and a certain national idealism. Naturally, Trump looked at that and thought, “This historic public institution is missing one thing: me.”
So his loyalists tried to turn it into the “Trump Kennedy Center,” because nothing says American culture like stapling one man’s ego to a building he did not build, fund, or earn. Then, when a judge reminded them that Congress, not the royal branding department, controls the name, the board argued that removing the letters would confuse the public.
Yes, imagine the national crisis. Americans wandering helplessly through Washington, unable to find music, theater, or ballet unless the building had Trump’s name attached to it like a coupon code.
The joke is obvious, but the lesson is serious. This is what authoritarian politics does. It treats public institutions as personal property. It treats history as empty wall space. It treats law as an inconvenience and culture as another surface for self-advertising.
But the letters had to come down. And maybe that is the useful image. Ego goes up fast. Accountability takes scaffolding. But even scaffolding is progress when the job is removing a name that never belonged there.
The Kennedy Center named after a man from a wealthy family who contributed during war times and felt obligated to serve this country...."ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country".....
A "far cry" from the Trump family who believe they have the right to take ...to control for their own benefit...anything and everything this country has to offer!
Michael, the accursed name went up in a matter of a few hours because a group of scissor-lifts was used. The same equipment could have been used to effect an even hastier removal of the offending letters.
The scaffolding erection was performance art used as a delay tactic that Donald is notorious for using against the courts when they force him to do what he doesn't want to. It's a response similar to when a toddler suddenly "goes limp" and seems to gain 10 pounds, making it difficult for the parent to contain the child and get where they need to go.
Well…all those of the Christian Right…Jesus WOULD HAVE WEPT!! I had the phenomenal luck to have been in the cast of a semi-pro production of “Jesus Christ Superstar”, to have directed a Highschool Glee Club production of JC SUPERSTAR that turned away the most number of people ever at the local theatre, and can SING the whole show from start to finish. 😌
Jesus was the soul of ‘humility’ and would be astonished to hear the self aggrandizement coming out of POTUS #47. 😳
Also…Jesus would not ignore the obvious mental illness of Donald Trump. He is a seriously unhappy camper, and is now flailing…pretty much ALONE!
If the nation has any true sympathy in its PEOPLE, then even someone responsible for killing fishermen and illegally deploying military that is RESULTING in US soldiers dying, still deserves a TRIAL…and just sentence! He IS GUILTY > the WORLD IS WITNESS.
He is also demented, so, two physicians agreeing on this diagnosis are necessary for him to receive treatment.
From my ‘perch’, I am aware that the POTUS’S TITLE is sacrosanct and ‘not to be frivolously questioned’…BUT…SERIOUSLY?? 🙄
You will never teach this ‘old dog’ the new trick of putting America before his narcissistic desires.
He will cause MILLIONS of deaths because of cancelled aid/WAR/ deportations/ CIVIL UNREST > ABOUT TO BECOME WIDESPREAD AND VIOLENT.
SAVE YOURSELF AMERICA…and get your POTUS…whom you are ‘taught’ to LOVE…despite any failings…NEEDED HELP!
FYI: in democratic monarchies, kings aren't above the law.
You're confounding monarchy and fascism.
Those are two entirely different things.
Aside from that, democracies obviously build monuments to one person. But it's usually not a sitting politician or king building them for himself. That happens only in fascist regimes.
As for the Arch, the Reagan Airport is already difficult. An arch would be one of the highest structures in DC right on the path for planes for Runway 15, about 10,000 feet away. The planes would be just a few hundred feet above the arch, about 40 seconds before the plane's touchdown. We hope that FAA will intervene and so many passengers will not be in danger. Congress people use that airport a lot, and maybe that might give them a thought.
I posted this on Ohh ... That's Rich yesterday, but it seems appropriate to repeat it here.
In the late 18th Century, France was ruled by a jackass who loved gold and spent taxpayers’ money building vanity projects. French subjects had protested and petitioned and still, King Louis XVI, with his excessive makeup and ridiculous hairstyle continued to bleed the citizens dry while he stuffed their money into his pockets. His imported rent-a-wife, Marie, wore expensive gowns embroidered with messages like “I don’t really care. Do U?” and “Have some cake, peasant.”
On July 14, 1789, French citizens had had enough of the royal bullshit that was making their lives unaffordable and miserable. They stormed a government detention center named Bastille and shortly thereafter, Big Lou and Marie lost their heads … literally. And that was the end of French monarchy.
I’m not foolish enough to predict a date, but I’m getting a strong Bastille vibe here in the colonies. Depends on how things go this November.
I guess you just moved to this country, huh? Either that or you’re blind, deaf, dumb or stupid.
So I guess we need to take down the Kennedy Center…THE Lincoln memorial. THE Washington monument and Jefferson memorial. Heck let’s change the name of Washington DC. !!
Do you liberals ever consider using logic in your posts or common sense as a bare minimum? Instead of hate.
By the way, the supermarkets are out of popcorn. It’s all being sold to independents and Republicans for celebrating and having a party in their own homes to watch the no kings parade. Especially when we don’t have a king. Because if you have a king and you wanna have a parade about not having one you’re gonna die, you’re gonna have your head removed and not very gently. Ooooops that’s why it’s a joke and a farce. Plus, we love the costumes.
Never encountered a true leech like that, sucking the lifeblood out, filling these pages with his psychotic, condescending inanities. The true definition of wretchedness.
This must be just the first step. First the name comes off. then The board should be replaced with legitimate members of the artistic community. Only THEN the money will pour in to repair all the damage. As it is, no self-respecting artist will play the venue.
And…that new opera Elon Musk is commissioning>>>the story of a boy from humble beginnings who forgot being humble and flew to Mars in a solar rocket…where he hid from the Big, Scary Orange Ogre, driven mad because the boy had cheated millions to become a Trillionaire and the ogre Waa! Waa! Waa! Wanted to be first…ladt…and only “Richest Man in the World”.
Cancel ALL of Elon’s government contracts and see how long that trillionaire status lasts. Plus audit all of Elon’s businesses, so that he pays his fair share. Same with Bezos, Zuckerberg, and the Ellisons.
Musk took the teeth out of the agencies that over see his businesses. That was the whole purpose of DOGE and Trump's payback to Musk for helping him win the election.
Um…might get a challenge re copyright of ‘The Boy Who Cried Wolf’, but, these days cases as trivial as that will have to ‘wait their turn’…good thing too…if the ‘inspiration’ for the Big Scary Orange Ogre happens to take offence and flex his overly-developed litigation muscle.
However, chances of Trump attending an OPERA are same as Epstein’s ghost haunting the White House…oh! 😬…
Not sure that I understand what Krugman was saying in his explanation of Musk as a Human Ponzi Scheme. His statement that because the exchange allowed the SpaceX stock to immediately be added to the index, the mutual funds “must” add SpaceX stock to their portfolios. WHY? Do these “financial geniuses” not have the good sense to not fall for this shell game ? I will be scouring my holdings to see if any of the funds I hold have added any of this crap to their holdings, and act accordingly in my OWN interest.
I don’t know if they will be back like a shot. If we elected someone like Trump or Reagan twice it would be some time before I trusted the US again. Just like the trust of our former allies will take years to rebuild.
I remember the worldwide consternation when Baby Bush was elected the second time. We have been losing the trust and respect of the world for years. Nixon was the first, Reagan was a huge step in the wrong direction, then it was Baby Bush and the final degradation of our presidency with the Orange Felon. Is there a lesson to be learned in that each of these failures of sanity on the part of the voters have been Republican Candidates? I believe that there is.
I don't trust America to hold anyone in government accountable. History tells us you don't want to put your big boy pants on. Civil war, Nixon ,Reagan, J6 trump coup attempt.
Yes, the Kennedy Center board must be committed to a world-class arts venue AND insulated from Trump's and MAGA's interference before the Center safely can get the funds necessary for repairs, maintenance, and new programming.
I will be surprised if Trump complies with the court order to remove his name from the Kennedy Center by June 13 or by any other day. We will have to remove it when he leaves office. While we’re at it, we can demolish and dispose of any portions of his White House ballroom or his arch that have been constructed by then. Add to that the removal of all other traces of his regime that might be left in Washington DC after his departure.
Hmmm... Take all the residue from the disassembly of all his junk, put it in a single large pile and bolt it together so it cannot be moved. Then place a placard on the pile "In honor of Donald J. Trump, who singlehandedly tried to destroy our democracy."
Leslie, I think the best use of Donald's leavings is to burn what is combustible and use the remainder to fill various sinkholes that have developed across the nation. There are several in Florida, which seems appropriate.
As a direct response to Donald, who is busy trying to build monuments to himself, there should be no physical reminder of him anywhere on the planet. The only trace of his memory should be disparaging words in history books that can be closed when not in use. And those history books should be used to teach students how to recognize autocrats and prevent them from rising to power.
Lauriemcf, the horses were, indeed, gilded, but the history of these sculptures is fraught with budget delays and numerous rounds of Congressional approvals. The process used was called "fire-gilding" and was performed in Italy because it couldn't be done in the U.S.
I suspect that what is being done today will look too bright and tacky. It will also not hold up for long, making the sculptures look worse than they did before.
That’s a nice thought, Mr. Page. But now that the slimy orange THING in the People’s House has removed/stolen funds from every government project, and underfunded everything he couldn’t steal, I have to ask, where is the funding for replacing what he has stolen, torn down, ruined? You know, “Show Me The Money!” 💵 💰
That funding depends on the voters. Since the 77 million people who voted for Trump, or perhaps all but a few of them, will be with us for a long time, getting the electorate to follow through on the aspiration in my comment is a tall order. i’m not optimistic about the chances of that happening but I’m doing all I can to increase the ofds.
Millions of them are dying every year and they are being replaced by Gen-Zers who are struggling to find jobs and for some reason they aren't interested in picking fruit and vegetables in the sweltering heat.
With inflation at 4.2% and likely to continue to climb until Election Day or close to it, coupled with their wages not keeping pace, how long will they remain and vote Republican?
Consumer confidence and support for the Orange Julius is the worst for any President since they started keeping track.
I don't care who is running for any public office, if they swear allegiance to the Republican Party, they need to be defeated in November.
The mindset that leads people to fundementalist religions is fertile soil for rightwing political belief, and vice-versa. We can only outnumber them. Expecting them to have a sudden burst of rationality is futile.
A few percent. To win, Democrats will need an unprecedented turnout, even better than the one that elected Obama, and sustained over several election cycles. Not likely but worth working for.
I think Trump himself should pay for the removal, restoration of the KC and money lost due to his hamhanded takeover. This is all his doing. He should be held accountable.
Annabel, it's necessary that after this ilegal board it's replaced, they should be brought to justice and make them return all the money wasted in the name of this regime and the scumbag president.
Seems a black shroud over the Kennedy Center (except for the original name, well-lit) is appropriate counterpoint to horses covered in guilt (I know gold leaf is gilt). The grief is real, it doesn't go away until original intention of Congress is carried out, artists compensated and appreciated. JFK, the man and also his assasination began our Cultural Adjustment to blatant violence, corruption, and collusion, Solemn times call for solemn symbols. No Sugar Coating.
The crown jewel of Maine's parks is Acadia National Park which hosts around 4 million visitors a year. Trump confiscated millions of Congressionally allocated maintenance dollars from most of the National Parks to fund his Washington DC vanity projects.
And because it's Federal land, Maine cannot use state, local or private funds to maintain the roads, bridges, beaches, trails, etc. in the park.
And Congress is doing nothing to restore these funds to the dozen or so states and visitors that are getting fucked over. (Any wonder why Mainers hate Susan Collins so much?)
When the letters come off of the Kennedy Center we will see what damage has been done to the marble. Probably some stain outlining Trump's name will remain - or is being painted on behind the curtains - which will cost us $millions to remove.
The detail that doesn't resolve easily here is the Washington National Opera's money: funds donated to the opera over fifteen years, held by the Kennedy Center under a contractual arrangement, and then used as collateral for the center's own line of credit after the affiliation ended.
It is a straightforward question of fiduciary obligation, and it's making its way through the courts separately.
The two cases together are worth watching as a window into how institutional governance breaks down when a board's primary loyalty shifts away from the institution's mission.
Those who breach their fiduciary duties while managing funds are personally liable for the results of their malfeasance. Perhaps adding the named individual board members responsible for these actions as defendants and seeking attachments against them might expedite the process. I wonder if their E@O policies cover theft, embezzlement or misappropriation of funds ? And whether "But I did not take them for myself; I took them for the organization" is a valid defense ? Or, "Our lawyers said it was alright to do it". Or, "I was just following orders" ?
Funniest thing of all is, you’re gonna have to play the role of Mona Lisa Vito from my cousin Vinny , very soon . Remember her immortal words. As soon as this peace deal is signed…
“one of these days you’re gonna have to go up to somebody and you’re gonna have to say thank you Donald. Oh my god what a nightmare.” Lmao.
“The Kennedy Center’s main concert hall has emptied into the plaza in front of the building during the National Symphony Orchestra‘s intermission. People in evening clothes and high heels are mixing with sweaty protesters in T-shirts and tank tops as the crowd cheers and films the crew while it assembles the scaffolding….”
The most uplifting, joyous thing I’ve read in the New York Times in months. Spontaneous choruses of “This Land is Your Land” broke out earlier. He keeps trying to postpone the inevitable, but you can practically hear all the animals from “Animal Farm” singing…
Funniest thing of all is, you’re gonna have to play the role of Mona Lisa Vito from my cousin Vinny , very soon . Remember her immortal words. As soon as this peace deal is signed…
“one of these days you’re gonna have to go up to somebody and you’re gonna have to say thank you Donald. Oh my god what a nightmare.” Lmao.
and this here is a prime example of America elected a democidal sociopathic malignant narcissist felon rapist. Someone this ignorant of history and how despots get into power. Oh America, you've got so much work ahead of you to educate your citizens.
Funniest thing of all is, you’re gonna have to play the role of Mona Lisa Vito from my cousin Vinny , very soon . Remember her immortal words. As soon as this peace deal is signed…
one of these days you’re gonna have to go up to somebody and you’re gonna have to say thank you Donald. Oh my god what a nightmare. Lmao.
LOL, peace deal my ass . Trump has lost interest in the f'n war. A war he started ( an own-goal) cuz he had to rip up an agreement that was working but was created during Obama's term and cuz trump is a racist. The deal trump will bend to will likely give Iran ability to have nuclear weapons capability and some form of tolling the Strait. Trump screws the world over yet again.Trump is a chump.
I’ve read 1984 and studied in class in school. I’m sorry was that a nonfiction book or a fiction book or a theory or a Nostradamus like analogy.
What I love about most of your people Bonnie is that you seem to live your lives in ancient history in fables in the accounts of chivalry, that is long past.
I find it amazing that most of you don’t understand that it’s June 2026 and one of the smartest most incredible men we’ve ever seen on the planet decided to become an American and actually a Trump supporter and decided to live in the greatest country in the world.
If you would like to keep living in the year 1984 and reread to get your rocks off
Then you should go for that. As soon as you get to the end, put it down and go
Wow, how did 40 years passed so quickly and change the world so much.
Specially, that we have a leader, who might just be the greatest peacemaker who has ever lived. Uh oh.
The peacemaker who has authorised the bombing of six countries since returning to office? The guy who has sent the National Guard into US cities and threatened to send the army in as well? The president who threatened to wipe out the Iranian civilisation? The president who has got the US into another Middle East war that he doesn't know how to end? Are we discussing the same person, Rick?
I do not believe he knows the American people very well.
How many persons/friends have we heard complaining that our lives...our future would be better if we were ruled by a "king"??? I do not know one American who likes to be told what to do ...given no choice....but forced to do ANYTHING!!!
In my opinion Trump is unstable. He is using the power of the President in irrational ways. I am grateful there are a few patriots who are trying to keep him from destroying 'THINGS' ie anyTHING he touches!!!
Similar to your resource, Megan, I just finished (this evening!) this mobile-friendly toolkit to be encouraging and empowering, given that fascist regimes want us to be beaten down and silent:
The 80:20 List: Pro-democracy Resources for Hope & Action
I would like to see you grow a brain, which is the thing about 3 feet above your ass when you talk about fascism you blow any possible credibility that you have
In fact you’re one of the any morons Who will prorate around 11 ridiculous costume, protesting a king that we don’t have. And even you’re smart enough, but ignorant enough to realize that if you have a king and you’re out in public, protesting the king with signs, you’re gonna lose that thing, 3 feet above your ass that I mentioned earlier. Going to get chopped off. Incredibly every single person that’s been involved in these parades has survive. What a story of heroism. Lololll
Since I’m a world traveler that’s been to 137 countries including island nations and all 50 states I’ve been to Berlin where there was a sign there and the sign said this dedicated to the 6 million Jews murdered during the Second World War
Now, when you see an American president try killing Americans let me know
Because you won’t name the ones that did. Unfortunately, for you, most of them were Democrats. Lyndon Johnson took it upon himself to MURDER 56,000 INNOCENT youth.. Joe Biden was kind enough rather than AT LEAST TRY to make peace like Donald Trump did with Putin and Zelensky. Instead decided to allocate $180 BILLION TO UKRAINE which killed 200,000 innocent citizens in Russia and Ukraine. Precisely when both sides were wearing down because they were spending too much money they didn’t have, but Biden was nice enough to pour some gasoline on the fire.
Not to mention that nobody seems to understand why Ukraine is in the position that it’s in right now, and Y is having a war with Russia you have no freaking idea and it’s actually embarrassing with people that seem to lean on history for an answer
Would you like a hint? It’s the fault of one of my favorite presidents and it was a Democrat and he did a great job as president but he made three huge mistakes
Even educated Stamford graduates like you don’t know why I don’t know what the hell I’m talking about but I’d love for you to look it up and get a realization of life
Why is Ukraine in the position that it’s in right now and why is it in the war with Russia?
Let me add this other little two tidbits that are not as important as the question I asked, but why did Barack Obama sit on his vagina and watch Putin take over the entire peninsula of Crimea and then why did Joe Biden sit on his vagina and watch Putin take over the entire East Coast of Ukraine? And I love it every time people talk about Trump, kissing Putin‘s ass Talk about upside down!!
Anyway, Mr. education wanted to let me know what you answer to my very simple and obvious question is But I want to hear from you again because you won’t like the answer
RS is one truly fucked-up, desperate, condescending lout without a speck of honor or shame — no wonder he’s psychiatrically drawn to another fucked-up, cowardly, twice-impeached, lawbreaking asshole who tweets shit in the middle of the night because he can’t stand the nightmares that must be his constant companion.
Thank you, Megan, for tirelessly reminding us that we are not potted plants and can speak up against these moronic illegal self-aggrandizing actions that the current regime keeps enacting against the greater good of We the People.
Agree wholeheartedly! When I was a first year subscriber to “LfaA” five years ago, a friend told me that if I liked Heather Cox Richardson I needed to also read Robert Hubbell. She was right! He became my second paid subscription. A bonus is that you can hear his own reassuring voice read “Today’s Edition” no matter how early you turn to it.
Yeah, I got a perfect one for you, Jean you’re just gonna love this one.
Funniest thing of all is, you’re gonna have to play the role of Mona Lisa Vito from my cousin Vinny , very soon . Remember her immortal words. As soon as this peace deal is signed…
“one of these days you’re gonna have to go up to somebody and you’re gonna have to say thank you Donald. Oh my god what a nightmare”. . Lmao.
So I guess we need to take down the Kennedy Center…THE Lincoln memorial. THE Washington monument and Jefferson memorial. Heck let’s change the name of Washington DC. !!
Do you liberals ever consider using logic in your posts or common sense as a bare minimum? Instead of hate.
By the way, the supermarkets are out of popcorn. It’s all being sold to independents and Republicans for celebrating and having a party in their own homes to watch the no kings parade. Especially when we don’t have a king. Because if you have a king and you wanna have a parade about not having one you’re gonna die, you’re gonna have your head removed and not very gently. Ooooops that’s why it’s a joke and a farce. Plus, we love the costumes.
And as I said to others above. Can anyone really figure out why we wait till someone’s dead to say thank you by putting their name on a public building ?
Do you know before my mother died? I wrote her a beautiful poem, and my very own song, and I had a etched into a beautiful piece of metal and had it framed, which described everything she did for me as a child, growing up who turned me into the man that I became. And I handed it to her before she died probably five years before she died. She said it was the proudest moment she’d ever had
Don’t you think our heroes I need to feel the same or should we keep it a secret until after their death?
Funniest thing of all is, you’re gonna have to play the role of Mona Lisa Vito from my cousin Vinny , very soon . Remember her immortal words.
As she tells Vinny one of these days you’re gonna have to go to somebody and you’re gonna have to say “thank you Donald” . Oh my god what a nightmare. Lmao.
It’s time Little Marco put those size 13 1/2 Florsheims to some good use. None of us would mind much seeing JD Wanker’s soft, pudgy little bearded, Pillsbury Doughboy face get in the way.
Funniest thing of all is, you’re gonna have to play the role of Mona Lisa Vito from my cousin Vinny , very soon . Remember her immortal words. As soon as this peace deal is signed…
“one of these days you’re gonna have to go up to somebody and you’re gonna have to say thank you Donald. Oh my god what a nightmare.”
A terrific cover! Looks like JD’s eyes are blinded by mascara-filled tears after that timely pounding by Little Marco. And in the audience, I presume, is Mad King Donald, whose massive use of bronzer puts every Drag Queen to shame!
My favorite New Yorker cover this year was the one several weeks ago of George Washington sitting at a table with cigarettes, a martini and a noisemaker in his mouth, with a wistful expression on his face that suggested that he wasn't sure it was all worth it!
Under a flailing autocracy, small acts of legal and moral resistance assume a legitimacy and take on a vastness all their own, driven both by rage as well as relief. At the drop of a hat, a tiny act of non-compliance with greed and evil can suddenly metamorphose into a sweeping public movement. There’s a special power that manifests when people actually see the regime’s power start to crack and give way with their own eyes.
Trump knows this. All dictators lie awake at night contemplating it, tossing and turning over the grim possibility that despite everything they do, history itself may sweep them into oblivion in just this way.
Both those courts know it, too. So do the dictator’s lackeys. So do we. The 24/7 cameras set up by MS NOW and C-SPAN will capture each agonizing, joyful second of it for posterity. Once loosened, the rolling stone becomes an avalanche at the blink of an eye, even if the King himself tries to throw a tarp over it.
Funniest thing of all is, you’re gonna have to play the role of Mona Lisa Vito from my cousin Vinny , very soon . Remember her immortal words. As soon as this peace deal is signed…
“one of these days you’re gonna have to go up to somebody and you’re gonna have to say thank you Donald. Oh my god what a nightmare”
Albania is now 11 days into their nationwide protests against Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump’s $1.4 billion luxury resort being built on protected land. Crowds are getting bigger by the day.
Just two more slime bags. Listening to Ivanka the other day saying she and Jared had discovered a beautiful island never seen by ANYONE before! The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree in that family…
ICYMI: Good news that shows that “We the People” are not powerless if we stand together. A lesson for Democrats to UNITE. E Pluribus Unum!
LA LABOR UNION STANDS UP TO OLIGARCHS AND WINS
Kurt Petersen J.D. (Yale Law), Co-President of UNITE HERE Local 11 - a powerful labor union representing >32,000 hotel, airport, stadium and food service workers across Southern California and Arizona - negotiated and won contracts to secure raises to over $40/hr, worker housing, worker privacy protections, protection against federal immigration enforcement, etc. just days before the World Cup which begins in LA on Friday 6/12. He is interviewed on Legal AF by Associate Dean and Chair in Law and Technology at Albany Law School in Albany, NY. “Legal AF interviews Kurt Petersen UNITE HERE contract with FIFA” https://michaelpopok.substack.com/p/labor-scores-major-win-right-before?r=1d2cea&utm_medium=ios
Funniest thing of all is, you’re gonna have to play the role of Mona Lisa Vito from my cousin Vinny , very soon . Remember her immortal words. As soon as this peace deal is signed…
“one of these days you’re gonna have to go up to somebody and you’re gonna have to say thank you Donald. Oh my god what a nightmare. “
A former federal prosecutor in Detroit, and currently a professor of law at the University of Michigan, Barbara McQuade is most recently author of “The Fix: Saving America from the Corruption of a Mob-Style Government.”
Listening to their conversation, one returns to the theme of how criminal Donald so successfully extorted elite law, top universities, legacy media, and now, too, all the billionaires hewing social media to their algorithms for hatreds and sensationalism.
How did so many Americans (and white South African imported racists) so passively fall to rapist Donald’s mob-style extortions?
If American schools keyed instruction to integrity-nurturing essay writing, humanities, and civics, we’d not have the cowardice long inherent now in all our elites – all who shone so in learning the passivity in all testing’s “We ask all the questions, you just answer.”
Can our schools emerge from their years’-long submission to those passivity-setting instruments?
Can we again center the arts so we’re equipped not so to “surrender in advance,” as Timothy Snyder has asked?
Speaking of Michigan. Trump and his Fascist oligarchs have been preventing the new Gordie Howe Bridge between Detroit and Windsor from opening for weeks. This is total BS of course. Imagine Trucks being about to cross the border without the ridiculous delays of the two older bridges. All of this because, Trump's buddy makes millions from tolls.
Hopefully, something good comes from this, like Mike Rogers getting soundly defeated by Mallory McMorrow in November.
John Oliver on how the New College experiment by DeSantis et al has been a complete 💩 show.
“But then money has seemingly been no object when it comes to this project. In fact, a state audit last year found that the public cost to produce a degree at New College had swelled in 2024 to nearly $500,000, dwarfing what has been spent per student at any other public university…
So taxpayers[?] paid more for the material as well as the time/labor to put the material up and then take it down. The board should pay that back. I literally want to know the actual additional cost to the penny - and also the overtime for waiting so late to comply with the order. Are these employees or contracted from a vendor?
With multiple networks maintaining live video of the Kennedy Center, the scaffolding, four workers and hundreds of people gathering to watch, it was clear the workers were in no hurry to begin, much less complete their task. Much of the time they seemed almost lackadaisical, wandering around on the scaffolding somewhat aimlessly, slowly adding another bit of scaffolding every now and then, clearly in no rush to complete by the deadline. With hundreds of spectators watching and under multiple media and personal cameras, they showed no apparent
concern for their lack of progress. Indeed, it seemed likely they had been instructed not to complete the scaffolding and begin the dismantling of the sign. When the 12:00 a.m. deadline was reached, they had not touched a single letter.
Im in two minds about taking his name off the Kennedy Center on the 12th or 13th. They really should have waited for the 14th, his loathsome birthday. "Happy Birthday, Mr. President! Here's a preview of what we're going to do everywhere as soon as you're GONE!"
The level of their barefaced shamelessness makes my head spin. And it keeps on rising. The Republican-controlled Congress and Supreme Court are just as treasonous as Vought, Miller, and all others behind tfg for letting the gutting continue. They all deserve to be behind bars for the rest of their lives.
With this autocrat ailing and flailing, and corruption and criminality on a scale never before seen in this country's quarter millennium, horror follows horror and outrage piles on outrage. Are we exhausted yet? Hell yes, and hell NO! I made this mobile-friendly toolkit to be encouraging and empowering, given that fascist regimes want us to be beaten down and silent:
The 80:20 List: Pro-democracy Resources for Hope & Action
Embedded is a GOTV BLUNAMI guide with actions any of us can take to help create turnout such that November's election results are TOO BIG TO RIG. We are going to win!
A democracy does not build monuments to one person. It builds institutions that serve everyone.
That was the entire point.
No kings. No rulers above accountability. Public service was never supposed to become personal worship.
We honor some for their service, but in recognition of their courage, competence, integrity, and devotion to our nation as a whole. THAT is what is worth celebrating. All for one, one for all, as it were. E Pluribus Unum. It's even on our sacred money.
And we wait — years and decades even — to do that. No Washington Monument could ever have been built during our first President’s life. The author of the Virginia Bill of Rights waited for his Memorial for an entire century. Abraham Lincoln was permitted to gaze at George Washington’s great obelisk, turning his back on the former mansion of Robert E. Lee only decades after the Union had won the greatest battle for its existence.
The only ones who protest this are pissy, petty, tiny, whinybitchy little brats, who throw themselves onto the floor in sugar-filled tantrums, stomping their little hands and feetses with rage at the terrible, horrible injustice of it all.
THAT my friend was one of the best list of connected adjectives I've ever read in a political column! And the "little hands and feetses" just put a crown on it!
Disregard the voices of phony experts telling “we the people” how to think and what to do. Listen instead for the harmony ringing true in the voices of real experts like Baptist preacher Jimmy Causey (to his grandson James Talarico) when he said, “practicing Christianity is hard, but it’s simple.” Albert Einstein said practicing science is hard but it’s simple when he said, “I have no special talent. I am only patiently curious.” Abraham Lincoln said defeating authoritarianism is hard but it’s simple when he said, “With public sentiment, nothing can fail; without it, nothing can succeed.”
Todd Blanche won’t say what his actions clearly imply: “You so-called moral people are the hypocrites. We’re not like you. We’re not bad people pretending to be good. We’re just bad.”
This is not a left versus right (progressive versus conservative) battle. This is a good versus evil (morality versus hypocrisy) war in which authoritarianism dies if it gets killed by a secret weapon, the day enough people in the pro-democracy movement are sharing a simple and explicit definition of morality. Otherwise, we’ve failed to disprove their distorted rationalization for their distorted worldview by collectively pretending we don’t have to address the issue the authoritarians have placed in our collective faces.
The political “left” progressively challenges the status quo. The political “right” conservatively protects the status quo. The political “up” morally serves the common interest at the short-term expense of two conflicting interests so all three benefit in the long term from the strength of the relationship (right makes might). The political “down” hypocritically serves a limited interest at the short-term expense of the common interest so that all three suffer in the long term from the weakness of the relationship (might makes right).
Start with the person in the mirror, then think globally while acting locally within the pro-democracy movement. Let the metaphorical matador start to get nervous by noticing we’ve stopped pointing our metaphorical horns at the metaphorical cape.
It’s hard, but it’s simple because we all have the same born-with knowledge of the difference between right and wrong.
Frodo lives!
You've suggested something very important: There are not two sides to every story. Sometimes it is good vs evil. Sometimes a lie is just a lie and not just another perspective. We've been deluded into thinking that all perspectives are equally valid. They are not. Hence, the value of propaganda and advertising, to convince us. Truth is not self-evident it it's a lie, even if, as DJT often says, everybody knows it. A lie can be a lie even if everybody knows it (which they never do in this case) and some subscribe to it.
With Samwise at his side!
Your comment reminded of the true story of the two people who saved the world from self-destruction during the Cuban missile crisis six and a half decades ago. In The Courier (2020 movie), Oleg Penkovsky (Merab Ninidze) says to Greville Wynne (Benedict Cumberbatch), “We are only two people … but that is how things change.”
So…”STAR WARS” is REAL…I KNEW IT!
A plot as old as TIME…in many different ‘tellings’, but always with the same outcome. “V”…
Donald Trump sits there munching on his triple-buttered popcorn ROOTING FOR THE EVIL VILLAINS…his alter ego, like Hitler is.
Right now he doesn’t have a brilliant propaganda spinner like Adolf’s Josef Goebbels, but his hand-picked circle of sycophants do what they are TOLD, as per a Dictator’s handbook. If they don’t…or if some mistake is made and HE needs a scapegoat…🪓
Trump’s mother (a non English speaking IMMIGRANT BTW) taught her offspring the life lessons of clammering over other people with cleats on > 🏌️♂️!
She LIED to remain in the country and rewarded her kids ‘street smarts’ as did Big Daddy ‘FRED’.
Why am I reiterating this? Sorry…but, maybe a few of you just didn’t bother to investigate the GOP’s sterling candidate - you know, the one “lying for the truth”…a method used by CULTS…look that up!
So, to ultimately defeat the forces of evil now ‘having their inning’ ⚾️…and with Trump creating more & more frequent blow ups when he ‘takes his ball and goes home’…
‘GOOD’ has no choice but to protest…even if it COSTS DEARLY 😔!
A ‘REVOLUTION’ is only as strong as the members are DESPERATE!
THE MAN HAS BEEN MEASURED…
Truly he wants gigantic arches and lies about the heights of his building because he knows inside he's a mewling tiniest unworthy person.
Great observation.
To get from “enlightenment” (at top-dead center where we constrain our own ignorance) to “the dark side” (at bottom-dead centre where ignorance is unconstrained), Todd Blanche could have gone too far to the left (moving counterclockwise past 9 o’clock). Instead, he went too far to the right (moving clockwise past 3 o'clock). The only way to tell the difference? Know the history.
I always knew that Trump and his cabal all had little handses (just made the correction, thanks to Dutch Mike) and feetses. What Trump confused about his own little "feetses" was another word, similar in fact, his immense "feces", which only goes to show, he's always been full of it.
Stormy Davis testified about another mushroomed shaped appendage.
Now that Nipplegate has surfaced, maynbe there's more about his anatomy in the 3,000,000 unreleased EPSTEIN files.
Shudda said Daniels.
Jon, this is off subject for this thread, but I checked with my husband about what we heard while visiting Madison's plantation about his slaves. He remembers it as I do that his intent was to free them, but that it is did not happen because of Dolly's need to finance her reprobate son. I even remember the room we were in when the guide explained this. We did have a Madison scholar talk to us, but the book I was thinking of we remember as being written by Madison's valet (for lack of a better word).
Madison was in the room with other Slave owners when the Constitution was written. Those men wrote into our Constitution Slavery and No Rights for Women. It does not matter what a Slave owner "planned to do" or actually did upon their own death. What matters is the fact that they needed slaves to provide a life-style of wealth and privilege. While they were living that life-style. They were arrogant and short-sighted all for their own comfort.
My post to Jon was about something we discussed a few days ago. It was about Madison and his intent to free his slaves, not about what the Founders did while writing the Constitution. I was merely clarifying for Jon what we were talking about. I am fully aware of their shortcomings and the problems around writing the Constitution. It is also clear that some of them were bothered by slavery. I think that is important to know. I am not going to continue this discussion with you either.
As Maurice Sendak wrote in Where the Wild Things Are, "roared their terrible roars, gnashed their terrible teeth, rolled their terrible eyes..." We are "Max" who yells, Be still!
Dangerous adolescents
It's Come to This, you have the toddler pool down to a T! I am glad others are noting what I am, in this case the toddleresque behavior of the incompetent, unqualified, otherwise insignificant fools of Trumplandia.
It should be “little handses and feetses”, my precious…
Yes, with a gollum gollum croak added.
😁🤣🤣🤣
He has turned into a golem and come from the Golem Heights.
That's totally unfair to golems everywhere Mike. /s
Handsies and feetsies?
that's just too funny! 😂🤣🤣
To all of you above: thank you. And thanks to all who brought us up to the fun of nonsense.
And may I add "petulant." I tried to watch the scene at the Kennedy Center for a few minutes last night. What a farce! The "workers" were obviously instructed to move at 'negative speed.' Probably paid a bonus for not finishing on time. All Trump et al accomplished was to further embarrass THEMSELVES. "It's Come to This" used the most appropriate adjectives to describe this moronic multi-blob of human flesh, I'm not going to mess with it, other to add petulant.
Mary, it's too bad there wasn't a huge fine for each of the perpetrators of the whole Kennedy Center stupidity if they didn't have the name off on time. Trump having to pay say $10 million from his personal account, the contractors say, $2 million, and the rest of the crew involved at only slightly less. That's the problem; there are no consequences for anything Trumplandia does. They believe they are not only invincible but there is no accountability required for anything they do.
Tdump knows that these things would never happen if left up to others. The level of corruption is truly amazing.
Bonnie, I agree! But that there’s no one who dare stop the spread of corruption by this president and his administration. Shame, shame, shame!
I love your description of Trump and his minions protesting the judges decision.
Brought a smile to my face, which doesn’t happen very often anymore!
So I guess we need to take down the Kennedy Center…THE Lincoln memorial. THE Washington monument and Jefferson memorial. Heck let’s change the name of Washington DC. !!
Do you liberals ever consider using logic in your posts or common sense as a bare minimum? Instead of hate.
By the way, the supermarkets are out of popcorn. It’s all being sold to independents and Republicans for celebrating and having a party in their own homes to watch the no kings parade. Especially when we don’t have a king. Because if you have a king and you wanna have a parade about not having one you’re gonna die, you’re gonna have your head removed and not very gently. Ooooops that’s why it’s a joke and a farce. Plus, we love the costumes.
I’VE often wondered about why we wait for someone to die to say thank you publicly. Would it be nicer when someone did something great like these people I mentioned above able to thank them for their work while they’re alive so they can appreciate that they were appreciated to that extent. ?
OMG, Rick is back! The inanity of your comments is so entertaining. It is the logic of a 5-year-old, just a couple of years in age past that of Donald Trump who has hardly accomplished the reasoning of a 3-year-old, at least partly due to his dementia. Amazing the conservative/ultra-right toddlerism on display from our white house and among Republicans in Congress and state legislatures across the country. They are all competing to see who can come up with the dummest bills and laws, then getting their pathetic governors to sign them. Not one of them has anything positive to offer anyone, probably because badly-parented toddlers are too wrapped up in themselves to have anything positive to offer anyone!
America should geld the president before he gilds his pockets any further
Or at least let Mad King Donald embrace monorchism.
Thanks Ruth, reading Rick is simple enough..., even better from a distance.
Are you one of those stupid MAGA fuckers who spent $600 on a Rump watch?
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/Te7fqMXCOqs
Your president is such a con artist but he depends on idiots like you.
Husband of Ruth writing:
Gee, Rick, I hate to lay this on you but your post is so vapidly devoid of reason that your criticism of “liberals’ lack of logic” really doesn’t come off well. But keep trying. I’m sure you’ll get there with practice.
No, he won't. He never lists a single source backing up his claims. I am now trolling all his responses on HCR and providing facts to counter his idiotic claims.
Kent, OMG, how can you stand that! I am thinking there is a touch of CHAT GPT going on here. The entries in Rick's contributions make little to no sense, as intended. It reminds me of a bratty 5-year-old whining that he is smarter than anyone else but with absolutely no evidence of it!
Ruth, it is possible Rick will get to something like logic, but I wouldn't bet on it!
It must hurt to be this stupid.
It assuredly hurts watching someone be that stupid.
🙄
No. All monuments are legally built, and only illegal stuff gets taken down - such as trying to put your name, as a politician, on something that belongs to the people, and without following the law to do so (= having the people's Congress pass a bill).
Not that complicated to understand, is it? :-)
Moreover, the GOP fully controls DC, so if Trump can't convince them to pass such a bill, it only shows how weak he actually is...
Did anyone suggest taking down monuments to Washington, Lincoln or Jefferson---although there is certainly an argument to be made for doing so:
George Washington was the first President of the US and a lifelong enslaver who held hundreds of enslaved people at his Mount Vernon estate.
He implemented a system of rotating enslaved people between Mount Vernon and Philadelphia. This was to exploit a loophole in a Pennsylvania law to keep slaves indefinity.
As President, he signed the Fugitive Slave Act of 1793. The law made it a federal crime to help a formerly enslaved person.
https://www.historyoasis.com/post/founding-fathers-who-owned-slaves#:~:text=George%20Washington%20was%20the%20first%20President%20of%20the,rotating%20enslaved%20people%20between%20Mount%20Vernon%20and%20Philadelphia.
But unlike Republicans today, Washington repented and freed his slaves -- but only after Martha's death. He would make a fine Republican today.
Thomas Jefferson authored the Declaration of Independence. He also owned hundreds of enslaved people.
He had a complex relationship with one of his slaves, Sally Hemings. Who bore several of his children.
It is said that Jefferson wanted to get rid of his slaves but could not. As he was deeply in debt. (same source)
Republicans always say "it costs too much money to do the right thing for other people." But they are happy to see other suffer in poverty to get another tax break for themselves.
Lincoln and the Emancipation Proclamation:
Lincoln did not free all slaves with his edict: Lincoln faced significant political pressure from various factions, including abolitionists who demanded immediate emancipation and pro-slavery Unionists who opposed it. He sought a middle ground that would preserve the Union while also addressing the issue of slavery.
But he opposed slavery from the beginning--like many moderates on black rights he believed in incremental change. (source: Smithsonian Institute--before Trump began scrubbing data).
I'm here to point out that Rick Sender NEVER uses logic. NEVER considers the nuances involved in history, and ALWAYS makes statements with no linked sources.
Beware of Rick Sender posts. They are similar in fact to Chinese trolls.
I dare him to link any source.
Full disclosure: I am his die-hard political enemy on HCR's page.
By the way, Rick, have you seen how many people are commenting that your remarks are "stupid?" But like most MAGAs you haven't the ability to change your approach. You repeat history thinking you'll get a different result. Remember where you told me history didn't predict the future? I'm predicting that if you cannot provide sources backing your opinions with facts, you're going to see "stupid" in a lot more responses.
Have a nice day! ;)
Ok, Rick is back. This area is not just for the Dems. It is important for us to understand each other, or we are going no-where with the future of our country. There was a Liberal African American man who wore a MAGA hat for a week to everywhere including the gas station, barber shop, church, sporting events etc. He learned an incredible amount about people on both sides of the political spectrum in one week, simply by wearing a MAGA hat. He remains liberal, for numerous reasons, but to be clear we are all Americans. Everyone has the right to their opinion, and we all need to listen to each other. Why are we letting one man and his cronies pull us apart to become the weakest country in the world? Both parties and our system lose big time. So, in my opinion, we all need to listen, because under the sarcasm of conversation, there are strong feelings that have to be recognized and worked with. Our country is only as strong as our people no matter how we feel about the guy at the top!!
Barbara, yes we all do need to listen to one another, but like so much that happens under our toddler-president, when only one side is listening, little will change. I have not encountered a MAGA who is willing to listen to anyone outside MAGA. I get it they are afraid they might have their positions challenged if they hear some truth, but that also means they hold their positions, not because they have thought about them but because they think they will gain something by holding them: belonging to the Trump club, gaining some wealth or position, getting to insult or otherwise do harm to people they neither like nor understand, a feeling of superiority that gives something the rest of their life experiences don't.
It's....as always, your posts make me smile.
It's Come to This, you must have watched the Kristen Welker interview.lol
Saturday, Morning, 6/13/26 Update per The Guardian, UK, a half hour ago:
"In the dead of night, behind a screen, the president’s name started to be purged from the facade of the Washington building."
The name removal has been confirmed on the MS Now show 'The Weekend' co-anchored by the solid, Jackie Alemany, a few minutes ago.
The court has granted to noon Saturday fully complete the name removal.
************************************************************************************
Friday 6/12/26 Night:
Full disclosure, I am a licensed lawyer but, any person who acts as his own lawyer is definitely batsh' crazy particularly in a case where millions tune in just to watch the scaffolding being built to carry out the court's order.
Noted, Axios News published a photo [ historical photo credit to Anna M.] of the delivery truck pulling up loaded with the needed scaffolding.
All of this before a psychotic 6/14 birthday tableau.
Not to mention Bryan the millions (perhaps billions) of our tax dollars Trump has wasted with his frivolous batshit crazy lawsuits as well as the delay tactics.
As the son and nephew of several WWII veterans, I am insulted not only by the draft dodging Trump building a memorial to himself close to Arlington National Cemetery. He has dishonored EVERY veteran and their families that have ever served in the military especially those who have paid the ultimate price with their lives and those that returned from war with mental and physical disabilities.
And he's still doing that with the chaotic and stupid war with Iran.
And make no mistake, he is doing this with the full support of EVERY Republican in the Senate and the House. What a total embarrassment they are.
" ... EVERY veteran and their families that have ever served ..." including the deceased Union soldiers who are buried in garden of the traitor Confederate General overlooking the Capitol which later became Arlington National Cemetery.
It sickens me that my dad came home a DAV - fighting for our freedoms - and now this bs.
My dad came home from WWII as a DAV as well. He lost 3 fingers on his right hand and had trouble getting a decent job after getting his accounting degree. Nobody, it seemed wanted a bookkeeper that had to use an adding machine with only his left hand. He ended up working for the IRS for 30 years and was never promoted beyond GS-3 due to his disability. My mom was one of the few moms in our neighborhood that worked full time when I was growing up. Her mother lived with us and took care of us while my parents were at work. I never heard them complain about their situation though and us kids never missed a meal. It could have been much worse.
And those Veterans voted for Trump three times and will vote for Republicans to continue the carnage in November!
Fortunately, many of the Republican cult are dying off each year.
I hope the crowd sang Happy Birthday as the letters came down!
"How mad are you now? How mad are you now? How mad are you, Donald? How mad are you now?"
I want to give your post 5 stars Laurie!
If I may assist:
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Apparently, they put up plastic around the scaffolding to try to spoil the moment. It didn't work as they sang Woody Guthrie's "This land is your land."
BUT nature May make the cage fight a pressure cooker with both 91 degrees and high humidity which inside a metal structure that will have absorbed lots of heat, create a potential PO pressure cooker for people. Heat stroke can occur in such a space. Like building a patio from the Rose Garden concrete and the Hot road surfaces on Sunday he asked for a terrible place to hold such a heat wave event in downtown Washington DC in early summer! I have lived in the past in DC in summer. It's why the locals are go to the beach, the mountains and the lakes. Fool's hardy. Stupid idea more like it!
Brecht: "Unhappy is the land that needs heroes".
And positively miserable is the land that settles for a reality TV host, a wrestling ring on the White House lawn, and a birthday parade as a substitute for governing. At this point America feels less like a democracy and more like a B-grade television show made for a banana republic.
Hello Kazz... Today From HCR: "Today Elon Musk, who poured more than $290 million into the 2024 election to elect Trump and other Republicans, became the world’s first trillionaire—on paper, at least—when shares of his rocket company SpaceX were offered to the public."... || Elon Musk, the Apartheid South African Emigree, got rich from NASA Contracts, and EV Tax Incentives... Since the debut of DJT 2.0, Elon's DOGE has stolen the personal data of Millions, cost 100,000s their Jobs, starved thousands with the destruction of USAID, and quadrupled his personal wealth... Because Space-X is now part of the NASDAQ 100, people that invest in the American Stock Market, are now exposed in Elon's Companies... Elon Musk is not known to give to any Charity...
Yes Apache, that kind of wealth is obscene, especially when you think about all the good it could do in the right hands.
And then there is Melinda Gates who knows she can give away lots of her money, and does, and still live a grande life. Evil vs Good.
$290 million is a lot of money to pour into a campaign to 'secure' a win. Anyone want to guess what would have happened had musk poured that much money into Kamala's campaign instead of trump?
But … it makes Musk the most manly man of the universe!!!
Apache, add to Musk's faults, his intervention with AI in the 2024 election, in the swing states, maybe Texas and Florida too, changing enough votes for Trump and some of Trump's sycophants to make sure he would control all three branches of government in order to impose Project 2025 (that Trump claimed he knew nothing about), on the people of this nation. This is very close to treason, maybe actually crossing the line!
And I'm convinced it happened in recent primaries (Tennessee, Louisiana, possibly SC) and is in the works for the mid-terms. We should not be confident about a blue tsunami.
Elon stole and then SOLD the personal data of millions, like 340 million people and then the DOGE boys flagged many of the living SS recipients as "dead".
As you know, it is very very hard to be resurrected in the Federal databases once you are dead.
Vox Populi, it is looking more and more like treason. Now, what must we do to prove it and hold the superrich accountable for their treasonous actions, all done for their own mostly personal benefit?
How bitterly true.
I only wish there was a lower -grade than B-grade to describe this. It really insults all the great B-grade television shows I watched growing up! :-)
Is more like cheesy infomercials, relentlessly pushing what you're better off without.
Jon, it is reality TV, which has nothing in common with reality and is being orchestrated by the directors to play out in whatever way they choose. We are all supposed to just watch and play along, pretending it is real even though it is a constant flow of lies, cheating, theft, and destruction. The attacks on our neighbors and people we respect are supposed to entertain us while we are made complicit in the cruelty and anti-constitutional actions.
A mass narcissistic projection of a protector on a con man. Same tiresome old script with an ever-changing cast.
. . . . ever-changling cast, ever-mounting cost . . . .
Kazz, isn't that exactly what we have in charge? That's why I refer to them as the white house toddler pool. It's all about them and no one else can count with them because there isn't enough room in their bloated brains, stuffed with the blather of an old man with dementia!
Absolutely Ruth! The sad part is that toddlers know more about sharing their toys and playing nicely than these grown men - crooks in diapers.
A Spoof on the Donald Trump John Kennedy Center
DonaldTrumpJohnKennedyCenteror.godaddysites.com.
Very well put, Kazz…
Kazz, you've hit the nail on the head. I wish I were more versed in Lord of the Rings or Harry Potter lore so I could find a literary comparison as ICCT has done here.
The word "hero" seems often applied a number of different ways. I think of a real hero as someone who labors and/or sacrifices to make things better for others, often for others with whom the hero has no special relationship except sharing humanity. Such people are always needed, within society, and within ourselves.
As Mr. Rogers said, "if something bad happens, look for the helpers"
Hello JL... That was the original Classical Greek Definition Of 'Hero'....
Yes JL, I would also add a hero is the person who does good deeds for others - Quietly. Doing something nice for others counts more if done quietly.
Recalling Barty Crouch, Jr. from “Harry Potter” who, when told he was being taken straight to Azkaban, the prison for magical miscreants, yells out in defiance “I’ll be welcomed like a hero!“ “Perhaps,”responds Professor Dumbledore calmly. “Personally, I’ve never had much time for heroes.”
Anne-Louise, we have many heroes in this nation. The problem, our media is too much owned by billionaires. They are wrapped up with their pathetic antics and their inability to accept responsibility for any of their bad actions, while dumping on everyone who doesn't agree with them or go along with their ?BS.
One thing is certain, neither Trump nor anyone else in the white house toddler pool will be remembered as a hero, just a traitor to our democracy!
Bravo!
Exactly.
Sacred money? Strange!
Trump translates “Unum” as “Trump.”
¿If Trump walks like a traitor; acts like *a traitor; poofs like a traitor; and cracks like a traitor . . . .
Is a fricken traitor.
Nobody post as clearly as you Bill. Nothing left to the imagination ....😅
We need to build housing for the unhoused, and not monuments to violent dictator wannabes.
Linda Weide,
Building housing for those who are in need sounds like a great idea! How about making sure "no child is left behind"! Our youngest ones must have the opportunity to be taught by teachers who are well trained and receive a salary on which they can reasonably live. A good education for all is necessary for our citizenry to survive!!!
Extended training should be required to assist graduates of high school or college to find appropriate jobs. As a nation, we must work together to provide opportunities for as many as possible. Sadly, we will always have problems with those who choose a wrong path, but there are more who want a chance to improve their circumstances.
It is heart breaking to watch the priorities of a President ie choosing to use taxpayer dollars to build monuments to himself rather than to help improve the lives of Americans with great ability but who need assistance financially.
A ‘silly moron’ wearing an ID tag that says ‘POTUS’ is making up false stories - about historical events, and even ‘inventing’ some to illustrate his LIES.
TEACHERS have a responsibility to protect students from inaccurate information…a tall order when they are taught that their ‘President’ is incapable of wrong-doing, a pinnacle of virtue and someone they can TRUST.
I’m sure modern media sources which spread POTUS #47’s lies are reaching more innocent minds than the school system.
The country is - therefor - in trouble, and a whole generation doomed to believe some pretty ridiculous ‘stories’; suffer shameless bragging; and learn to HATE from the despicable Donal J. Trump, who surely did not garner the majority vote ‘honestly’ with Musk ‘buying’ the election.
But, remember the day the statues of Saddam Hussein were toppled…and the Nazi symbols torn down and burned!
KARMA my friend. And K has a LONG MEMORY! 👍
Jean Hanlon,
I have had to face the horrible fact that many of my beloved Christian friends have been the most vulnerable by believing and receiving information that "Trump" is the candidate of the Christians???
On what planet can this falsehood be received???? Where in reality can this idea be believed????
Our current president has lived a life of "wrong-doing". Maybe the fact that he has gotten away with it and has made money off of it is more impressive than an intelligent, truth honoring, patriot type of human being???
It is heartbreaking to see the misuse of funds by Trump for his own enrichmentand glorification, but it was also entirely predictable.
Emily Pfaff, I agree. I hated the slogan "No Child Left Behind" because of what it did to education. Still, I agree with the sentiment. As a retired teacher, who I believe was effective, I agree that education is important. In fact, my daughter is attending a public university which does not charge tuition and only a nominal fee, because I believe that a free, quality education should go through university.
With or without jobs our graduates should be provided housing if they cannot still live with their families. Our president is sickening to me. Absolutely sickening. He doesn't understand his job, and neither do the people who support him. We do. His job is to serve and protect the people of the USA.
There is absolutely no reason on this earth that anyone should be homeless or go hungry in this country!
The people in power are greedy SOBs who are more interested in expanding the billionaires club than in public service they were elected to.
We need to take lesson from Hungary and Albania and get rid of them.
We need a leader that, as historians may say, rhymes with FDR. The combined wealth of Henry Ford and JD Rockefeller, in current $s would be $600-$800 billion. Musk may have hit $1Triillion. And for what value?
Paul Krugman defined Elon Musk as a Ponzi schemer. Apparently many in the US are ripe for the plucking.
https://paulkrugman.substack.com/p/elon-musk-human-ponzi-scheme?r=f0qfn&utm_campaign=post-expanded-share&utm_medium=web
I agree. Hungary, Albania and South Korea as well as Brazil removed their autocratic leaders. The Trump administration is sick, sick, sick! It is making our country ill by spreading its evil, vile, violent incompetent methods of running the country like a disease.
On that note, Finland solved its homelessness problem by actually caring about its most vulnerable citizens.
https://youtube.com/shorts/Lpkl06q-J1o?si=w3cOKhq1uHGBI1y3
Yes. I have seen several films and read some discussions of their housing first program, which Biden wanted to follow but was substantively missing how it was set up. Trump on the other hand wants to house the unhoused in prisons and use them as slave labor.
So…an ‘upgrade’ from “KING 👑” to “GOD” (…”worship me or DIE!…”)
I guess it had to happen, since malignant narcissists are NEVER SATISFIED.
Didn’t Trump say he was ‘getting bored’ with the war in Iran?
Too bad the military employed - ILLEGALLY - can’t sight boredom and come home safely to their families! 😢
No Gods Day?? I'm in. The Republicans have taken away the right to choose an abortion from millions of women in the name of their god. But, yet they say nothing about the pedophiles and sex traffickers in power not only in the WH, Congress and SCOTUS, but also in the corporate world.
A Day to honor all of US who are working to rid US of current tyrants: the press people who work overtime, the members of Congress who show up for interviews looking exhausted, those who march, who make and/or hold signs
EVERYWHERE, those who write reminder postcards to voters, and everyone who watches DT’s name come off the Kennedy Center! Et cetera, et cetera, and so forth!
PRIORITIES! 🫤
How about - No Kings Day. No Republicans Day. No Demagogues Day?
How can we wrap those into one?
🚫👑🚫🐘🚫😈
+
🚫🤡🚫🤒🚫🕸️🕷️(🦧<(what a rape victim sees!)
🤮
PS Trump has his RED 🧢’s with the MAGA text, borrowed-from-the-Nazi’s, ‘Make Germany Great Again’ slogan, invented by the master propaganda director, Josef Goebbels)…so, how about a scarf, or tie with a “✊” and the word HOME ↔️🇺🇸.
they are never satisfied. Like a domestic abuser. They relentlessly threaten to harm everything precious to you until they either kill them or you. Trump is killing America
💥💥💥TRUER WORDS WERE NEVER SPOKEN💥💥💥
Here’s hoping that EVERYONE gets your message…in time to save what can be saved right now, and go into OVERDRIVE once the orange dandruff settles!
Thanks!
The Scaffolding of the Ego
There is something almost perfect about Trump’s name going up on the Kennedy Center in hours, but needing scaffolding, court orders, emergency appeals, and public embarrassment to come back down. That is the whole Trump era in one image: vanity installed quickly, democracy repaired slowly.
The Kennedy Center was named by Congress for John F. Kennedy, a president associated with public service, the arts, and a certain national idealism. Naturally, Trump looked at that and thought, “This historic public institution is missing one thing: me.”
So his loyalists tried to turn it into the “Trump Kennedy Center,” because nothing says American culture like stapling one man’s ego to a building he did not build, fund, or earn. Then, when a judge reminded them that Congress, not the royal branding department, controls the name, the board argued that removing the letters would confuse the public.
Yes, imagine the national crisis. Americans wandering helplessly through Washington, unable to find music, theater, or ballet unless the building had Trump’s name attached to it like a coupon code.
The joke is obvious, but the lesson is serious. This is what authoritarian politics does. It treats public institutions as personal property. It treats history as empty wall space. It treats law as an inconvenience and culture as another surface for self-advertising.
But the letters had to come down. And maybe that is the useful image. Ego goes up fast. Accountability takes scaffolding. But even scaffolding is progress when the job is removing a name that never belonged there.
Emily Pfaff,
The Kennedy Center named after a man from a wealthy family who contributed during war times and felt obligated to serve this country...."ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country".....
A "far cry" from the Trump family who believe they have the right to take ...to control for their own benefit...anything and everything this country has to offer!
Michael, the accursed name went up in a matter of a few hours because a group of scissor-lifts was used. The same equipment could have been used to effect an even hastier removal of the offending letters.
The scaffolding erection was performance art used as a delay tactic that Donald is notorious for using against the courts when they force him to do what he doesn't want to. It's a response similar to when a toddler suddenly "goes limp" and seems to gain 10 pounds, making it difficult for the parent to contain the child and get where they need to go.
Excellent observation and absolutely true.
Well…all those of the Christian Right…Jesus WOULD HAVE WEPT!! I had the phenomenal luck to have been in the cast of a semi-pro production of “Jesus Christ Superstar”, to have directed a Highschool Glee Club production of JC SUPERSTAR that turned away the most number of people ever at the local theatre, and can SING the whole show from start to finish. 😌
Jesus was the soul of ‘humility’ and would be astonished to hear the self aggrandizement coming out of POTUS #47. 😳
Also…Jesus would not ignore the obvious mental illness of Donald Trump. He is a seriously unhappy camper, and is now flailing…pretty much ALONE!
If the nation has any true sympathy in its PEOPLE, then even someone responsible for killing fishermen and illegally deploying military that is RESULTING in US soldiers dying, still deserves a TRIAL…and just sentence! He IS GUILTY > the WORLD IS WITNESS.
He is also demented, so, two physicians agreeing on this diagnosis are necessary for him to receive treatment.
From my ‘perch’, I am aware that the POTUS’S TITLE is sacrosanct and ‘not to be frivolously questioned’…BUT…SERIOUSLY?? 🙄
You will never teach this ‘old dog’ the new trick of putting America before his narcissistic desires.
He will cause MILLIONS of deaths because of cancelled aid/WAR/ deportations/ CIVIL UNREST > ABOUT TO BECOME WIDESPREAD AND VIOLENT.
SAVE YOURSELF AMERICA…and get your POTUS…whom you are ‘taught’ to LOVE…despite any failings…NEEDED HELP!
IF THERE IS A WILL…THERE IS A WAY.
***with my very best of intentions***
🇨🇦🤝🇺🇸
the fathers of the concept of democracy are crying in their graves seeing what has come of it almost 2.5 centuries later...
FYI: in democratic monarchies, kings aren't above the law.
You're confounding monarchy and fascism.
Those are two entirely different things.
Aside from that, democracies obviously build monuments to one person. But it's usually not a sitting politician or king building them for himself. That happens only in fascist regimes.
As for the Arch, the Reagan Airport is already difficult. An arch would be one of the highest structures in DC right on the path for planes for Runway 15, about 10,000 feet away. The planes would be just a few hundred feet above the arch, about 40 seconds before the plane's touchdown. We hope that FAA will intervene and so many passengers will not be in danger. Congress people use that airport a lot, and maybe that might give them a thought.
“WE”, the supposéd ‘thinking animals’ (although I have had dogs smarter than Hegseth 😆) are guided by ‘SELF PRESERVATION’.
Take Trump on that flight path in a Blackhawk and give him a needed SCARE!
Just saying…
I posted this on Ohh ... That's Rich yesterday, but it seems appropriate to repeat it here.
In the late 18th Century, France was ruled by a jackass who loved gold and spent taxpayers’ money building vanity projects. French subjects had protested and petitioned and still, King Louis XVI, with his excessive makeup and ridiculous hairstyle continued to bleed the citizens dry while he stuffed their money into his pockets. His imported rent-a-wife, Marie, wore expensive gowns embroidered with messages like “I don’t really care. Do U?” and “Have some cake, peasant.”
On July 14, 1789, French citizens had had enough of the royal bullshit that was making their lives unaffordable and miserable. They stormed a government detention center named Bastille and shortly thereafter, Big Lou and Marie lost their heads … literally. And that was the end of French monarchy.
I’m not foolish enough to predict a date, but I’m getting a strong Bastille vibe here in the colonies. Depends on how things go this November.
Yes Apache, that kind of wealth is obscene, especially when you think about all the good it could do in the right hands.
I hope when trump is finally gone everything he left behind is also gone from our sight, our memories and our history.
Bravo, Kelli!
Be fun watching them get torn down. Only reminder of Trump will be pamper and huggie commericals
I guess you just moved to this country, huh? Either that or you’re blind, deaf, dumb or stupid.
So I guess we need to take down the Kennedy Center…THE Lincoln memorial. THE Washington monument and Jefferson memorial. Heck let’s change the name of Washington DC. !!
Do you liberals ever consider using logic in your posts or common sense as a bare minimum? Instead of hate.
By the way, the supermarkets are out of popcorn. It’s all being sold to independents and Republicans for celebrating and having a party in their own homes to watch the no kings parade. Especially when we don’t have a king. Because if you have a king and you wanna have a parade about not having one you’re gonna die, you’re gonna have your head removed and not very gently. Ooooops that’s why it’s a joke and a farce. Plus, we love the costumes.
?
The more we ignore him (RS) the more it gets under his skin. He’s just a bot. Drank too much kool aid.
Never encountered a true leech like that, sucking the lifeblood out, filling these pages with his psychotic, condescending inanities. The true definition of wretchedness.
Glad I don’t have to live inside his head! Sad little man.
🤖
This must be just the first step. First the name comes off. then The board should be replaced with legitimate members of the artistic community. Only THEN the money will pour in to repair all the damage. As it is, no self-respecting artist will play the venue.
The self-respecting artists withdrew as soon as Trump named himself Chairman. They'll be back, like a shot, as soon as he's out.
And…that new opera Elon Musk is commissioning>>>the story of a boy from humble beginnings who forgot being humble and flew to Mars in a solar rocket…where he hid from the Big, Scary Orange Ogre, driven mad because the boy had cheated millions to become a Trillionaire and the ogre Waa! Waa! Waa! Wanted to be first…ladt…and only “Richest Man in the World”.
The ENDING isn’t written yet…
THAT’S UP TO ‘YOU’, AMERICAN CITIZENS.
Only happy endings, please…🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏
Cancel ALL of Elon’s government contracts and see how long that trillionaire status lasts. Plus audit all of Elon’s businesses, so that he pays his fair share. Same with Bezos, Zuckerberg, and the Ellisons.
‼️❗️👍👍👍
Musk took the teeth out of the agencies that over see his businesses. That was the whole purpose of DOGE and Trump's payback to Musk for helping him win the election.
Don’t you need a part where the orange boy cries “corruption only i can fix” multiple times each day?
Um…might get a challenge re copyright of ‘The Boy Who Cried Wolf’, but, these days cases as trivial as that will have to ‘wait their turn’…good thing too…if the ‘inspiration’ for the Big Scary Orange Ogre happens to take offence and flex his overly-developed litigation muscle.
However, chances of Trump attending an OPERA are same as Epstein’s ghost haunting the White House…oh! 😬…
Not sure that I understand what Krugman was saying in his explanation of Musk as a Human Ponzi Scheme. His statement that because the exchange allowed the SpaceX stock to immediately be added to the index, the mutual funds “must” add SpaceX stock to their portfolios. WHY? Do these “financial geniuses” not have the good sense to not fall for this shell game ? I will be scouring my holdings to see if any of the funds I hold have added any of this crap to their holdings, and act accordingly in my OWN interest.
I don’t know if they will be back like a shot. If we elected someone like Trump or Reagan twice it would be some time before I trusted the US again. Just like the trust of our former allies will take years to rebuild.
I remember the worldwide consternation when Baby Bush was elected the second time. We have been losing the trust and respect of the world for years. Nixon was the first, Reagan was a huge step in the wrong direction, then it was Baby Bush and the final degradation of our presidency with the Orange Felon. Is there a lesson to be learned in that each of these failures of sanity on the part of the voters have been Republican Candidates? I believe that there is.
I don't trust America to hold anyone in government accountable. History tells us you don't want to put your big boy pants on. Civil war, Nixon ,Reagan, J6 trump coup attempt.
ASAP should be a nice coda for your post Anne-Louise. 🤞
Yes, the Kennedy Center board must be committed to a world-class arts venue AND insulated from Trump's and MAGA's interference before the Center safely can get the funds necessary for repairs, maintenance, and new programming.
I will be surprised if Trump complies with the court order to remove his name from the Kennedy Center by June 13 or by any other day. We will have to remove it when he leaves office. While we’re at it, we can demolish and dispose of any portions of his White House ballroom or his arch that have been constructed by then. Add to that the removal of all other traces of his regime that might be left in Washington DC after his departure.
Hmmm... Take all the residue from the disassembly of all his junk, put it in a single large pile and bolt it together so it cannot be moved. Then place a placard on the pile "In honor of Donald J. Trump, who singlehandedly tried to destroy our democracy."
I like the concept -perhaps launch it to outer space ? Or maybe a makeshift jail cell that can be seen from all sides-put all that blob in that
and dump manure on it
Leslie, I think the best use of Donald's leavings is to burn what is combustible and use the remainder to fill various sinkholes that have developed across the nation. There are several in Florida, which seems appropriate.
As a direct response to Donald, who is busy trying to build monuments to himself, there should be no physical reminder of him anywhere on the planet. The only trace of his memory should be disparaging words in history books that can be closed when not in use. And those history books should be used to teach students how to recognize autocrats and prevent them from rising to power.
And get rid of all that tacky gilding.
Yes - I was wondering if the horses were gilded originally or if this is just more tackiness being added.
Lauriemcf, the horses were, indeed, gilded, but the history of these sculptures is fraught with budget delays and numerous rounds of Congressional approvals. The process used was called "fire-gilding" and was performed in Italy because it couldn't be done in the U.S.
I suspect that what is being done today will look too bright and tacky. It will also not hold up for long, making the sculptures look worse than they did before.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Arts_of_War_and_The_Arts_of_Peace
Yes. Every trace of Trump and his family, all the way down to the gold drapes.
That’s a nice thought, Mr. Page. But now that the slimy orange THING in the People’s House has removed/stolen funds from every government project, and underfunded everything he couldn’t steal, I have to ask, where is the funding for replacing what he has stolen, torn down, ruined? You know, “Show Me The Money!” 💵 💰
That funding depends on the voters. Since the 77 million people who voted for Trump, or perhaps all but a few of them, will be with us for a long time, getting the electorate to follow through on the aspiration in my comment is a tall order. i’m not optimistic about the chances of that happening but I’m doing all I can to increase the ofds.
I’m realistic. What do you think the % of people who voted for Trump will have changed their minds when he is no longer in office?
Millions of them are dying every year and they are being replaced by Gen-Zers who are struggling to find jobs and for some reason they aren't interested in picking fruit and vegetables in the sweltering heat.
With inflation at 4.2% and likely to continue to climb until Election Day or close to it, coupled with their wages not keeping pace, how long will they remain and vote Republican?
Consumer confidence and support for the Orange Julius is the worst for any President since they started keeping track.
I don't care who is running for any public office, if they swear allegiance to the Republican Party, they need to be defeated in November.
The mindset that leads people to fundementalist religions is fertile soil for rightwing political belief, and vice-versa. We can only outnumber them. Expecting them to have a sudden burst of rationality is futile.
A few percent. To win, Democrats will need an unprecedented turnout, even better than the one that elected Obama, and sustained over several election cycles. Not likely but worth working for.
there will need to be a massive smudging ceremony take place in the WH
The law of affairs Trump: anything and anyone Trump touches is doomed to opprobrium eternal. Trump is evil. Trump is fascist.
I wonder what happened to all the art that Dumpty removed. I was only in the building once. But I recall some historical pieces being there.
I think Trump himself should pay for the removal, restoration of the KC and money lost due to his hamhanded takeover. This is all his doing. He should be held accountable.
Annabel, it's necessary that after this ilegal board it's replaced, they should be brought to justice and make them return all the money wasted in the name of this regime and the scumbag president.
Annabel Ascher,
Appreciated your comment ie " the board replaced with legitimate members of the artistic community."
Anne-Louise Luccarini,
Thank you! "The self-respecting artists will be back as soon as Trump is OUT!
Seems a black shroud over the Kennedy Center (except for the original name, well-lit) is appropriate counterpoint to horses covered in guilt (I know gold leaf is gilt). The grief is real, it doesn't go away until original intention of Congress is carried out, artists compensated and appreciated. JFK, the man and also his assasination began our Cultural Adjustment to blatant violence, corruption, and collusion, Solemn times call for solemn symbols. No Sugar Coating.
The crown jewel of Maine's parks is Acadia National Park which hosts around 4 million visitors a year. Trump confiscated millions of Congressionally allocated maintenance dollars from most of the National Parks to fund his Washington DC vanity projects.
And because it's Federal land, Maine cannot use state, local or private funds to maintain the roads, bridges, beaches, trails, etc. in the park.
And Congress is doing nothing to restore these funds to the dozen or so states and visitors that are getting fucked over. (Any wonder why Mainers hate Susan Collins so much?)
Exactly why I want to ceremonialuze grief, with specifics, so the consequences are remembered and then some sort of amends.
When the letters come off of the Kennedy Center we will see what damage has been done to the marble. Probably some stain outlining Trump's name will remain - or is being painted on behind the curtains - which will cost us $millions to remove.
The detail that doesn't resolve easily here is the Washington National Opera's money: funds donated to the opera over fifteen years, held by the Kennedy Center under a contractual arrangement, and then used as collateral for the center's own line of credit after the affiliation ended.
It is a straightforward question of fiduciary obligation, and it's making its way through the courts separately.
The two cases together are worth watching as a window into how institutional governance breaks down when a board's primary loyalty shifts away from the institution's mission.
Those who breach their fiduciary duties while managing funds are personally liable for the results of their malfeasance. Perhaps adding the named individual board members responsible for these actions as defendants and seeking attachments against them might expedite the process. I wonder if their E@O policies cover theft, embezzlement or misappropriation of funds ? And whether "But I did not take them for myself; I took them for the organization" is a valid defense ? Or, "Our lawyers said it was alright to do it". Or, "I was just following orders" ?
Excellent questions, Tyler.
Funniest thing of all is, you’re gonna have to play the role of Mona Lisa Vito from my cousin Vinny , very soon . Remember her immortal words. As soon as this peace deal is signed…
“one of these days you’re gonna have to go up to somebody and you’re gonna have to say thank you Donald. Oh my god what a nightmare.” Lmao.
By 9pm last night…
“The Kennedy Center’s main concert hall has emptied into the plaza in front of the building during the National Symphony Orchestra‘s intermission. People in evening clothes and high heels are mixing with sweaty protesters in T-shirts and tank tops as the crowd cheers and films the crew while it assembles the scaffolding….”
The most uplifting, joyous thing I’ve read in the New York Times in months. Spontaneous choruses of “This Land is Your Land” broke out earlier. He keeps trying to postpone the inevitable, but you can practically hear all the animals from “Animal Farm” singing…
“Beasts of England, Beasts of Ireland,
Beasts of every land and clime.
Hearken to the Joyful Tidings
Of the golden future time!”
Thank you, George Orwell…. 🙏
And thank you Woody Guthrie for giving us this inspirational song.
Come on, you gotta be kidding me …the New York times that’s all do is post , joyous things for losers like you.
Yeah, and then you think a fantasy writer? Wow
You should read 1984. It will explain how your brain works.
This one’s for you, Barney.
Funniest thing of all is, you’re gonna have to play the role of Mona Lisa Vito from my cousin Vinny , very soon . Remember her immortal words. As soon as this peace deal is signed…
“one of these days you’re gonna have to go up to somebody and you’re gonna have to say thank you Donald. Oh my god what a nightmare.” Lmao.
By the way, Barney, my brain lives in June 2026. Apparently you’d rather live in the fantasy of 1984.
🤖
and this here is a prime example of America elected a democidal sociopathic malignant narcissist felon rapist. Someone this ignorant of history and how despots get into power. Oh America, you've got so much work ahead of you to educate your citizens.
Funniest thing of all is, you’re gonna have to play the role of Mona Lisa Vito from my cousin Vinny , very soon . Remember her immortal words. As soon as this peace deal is signed…
one of these days you’re gonna have to go up to somebody and you’re gonna have to say thank you Donald. Oh my god what a nightmare. Lmao.
LOL, peace deal my ass . Trump has lost interest in the f'n war. A war he started ( an own-goal) cuz he had to rip up an agreement that was working but was created during Obama's term and cuz trump is a racist. The deal trump will bend to will likely give Iran ability to have nuclear weapons capability and some form of tolling the Strait. Trump screws the world over yet again.Trump is a chump.
I’ve read 1984 and studied in class in school. I’m sorry was that a nonfiction book or a fiction book or a theory or a Nostradamus like analogy.
What I love about most of your people Bonnie is that you seem to live your lives in ancient history in fables in the accounts of chivalry, that is long past.
I find it amazing that most of you don’t understand that it’s June 2026 and one of the smartest most incredible men we’ve ever seen on the planet decided to become an American and actually a Trump supporter and decided to live in the greatest country in the world.
If you would like to keep living in the year 1984 and reread to get your rocks off
Then you should go for that. As soon as you get to the end, put it down and go
Wow, how did 40 years passed so quickly and change the world so much.
Specially, that we have a leader, who might just be the greatest peacemaker who has ever lived. Uh oh.
The peacemaker who has authorised the bombing of six countries since returning to office? The guy who has sent the National Guard into US cities and threatened to send the army in as well? The president who threatened to wipe out the Iranian civilisation? The president who has got the US into another Middle East war that he doesn't know how to end? Are we discussing the same person, Rick?
Russell John Netto,
The "insane person" who imagines he is a king???"
I do not believe he knows the American people very well.
How many persons/friends have we heard complaining that our lives...our future would be better if we were ruled by a "king"??? I do not know one American who likes to be told what to do ...given no choice....but forced to do ANYTHING!!!
In my opinion Trump is unstable. He is using the power of the President in irrational ways. I am grateful there are a few patriots who are trying to keep him from destroying 'THINGS' ie anyTHING he touches!!!
You are delusional
How many people in Congress can you contact before the letters come down…
Trump/the administration/Congress is dangerous for our country/the world 💔🤍💙 Don’t just doom scroll about everything! Read and speak up!
Resource below to easily contact all of Congress - Be LOUD. Unrelentingly.
Use/share this spreadsheet (bit.ly/Goodtrouble) to contact members of Congress, the Cabinet and news organizations. Call. Write. Email. Protest.
Reach out (beyond your own) to as many in the Senate and House as you can. All of this is bigger than “I only represent my constituents” issues.
Comments/reactions help keep this bumped ✊
Similar to your resource, Megan, I just finished (this evening!) this mobile-friendly toolkit to be encouraging and empowering, given that fascist regimes want us to be beaten down and silent:
The 80:20 List: Pro-democracy Resources for Hope & Action
https://the80-20list-prodemocracyresources.netlify.app/
Any improvements anyone would like to see, please let me know!
Eric, although I enjoy reading Rebecca Solnit, that number one spot belongs to Heather Cox Richardson and her Letters from an American. Thanks
Agreed re:HCR
I would like to see you grow a brain, which is the thing about 3 feet above your ass when you talk about fascism you blow any possible credibility that you have
In fact you’re one of the any morons Who will prorate around 11 ridiculous costume, protesting a king that we don’t have. And even you’re smart enough, but ignorant enough to realize that if you have a king and you’re out in public, protesting the king with signs, you’re gonna lose that thing, 3 feet above your ass that I mentioned earlier. Going to get chopped off. Incredibly every single person that’s been involved in these parades has survive. What a story of heroism. Lololll
As a Stanford student I lived in Germany and studied the history of that country. I understand in detail the definitions of fascism.
Since I’m a world traveler that’s been to 137 countries including island nations and all 50 states I’ve been to Berlin where there was a sign there and the sign said this dedicated to the 6 million Jews murdered during the Second World War
Now, when you see an American president try killing Americans let me know
Because you won’t name the ones that did. Unfortunately, for you, most of them were Democrats. Lyndon Johnson took it upon himself to MURDER 56,000 INNOCENT youth.. Joe Biden was kind enough rather than AT LEAST TRY to make peace like Donald Trump did with Putin and Zelensky. Instead decided to allocate $180 BILLION TO UKRAINE which killed 200,000 innocent citizens in Russia and Ukraine. Precisely when both sides were wearing down because they were spending too much money they didn’t have, but Biden was nice enough to pour some gasoline on the fire.
Not to mention that nobody seems to understand why Ukraine is in the position that it’s in right now, and Y is having a war with Russia you have no freaking idea and it’s actually embarrassing with people that seem to lean on history for an answer
Would you like a hint? It’s the fault of one of my favorite presidents and it was a Democrat and he did a great job as president but he made three huge mistakes
Even educated Stamford graduates like you don’t know why I don’t know what the hell I’m talking about but I’d love for you to look it up and get a realization of life
Why is Ukraine in the position that it’s in right now and why is it in the war with Russia?
Let me add this other little two tidbits that are not as important as the question I asked, but why did Barack Obama sit on his vagina and watch Putin take over the entire peninsula of Crimea and then why did Joe Biden sit on his vagina and watch Putin take over the entire East Coast of Ukraine? And I love it every time people talk about Trump, kissing Putin‘s ass Talk about upside down!!
Anyway, Mr. education wanted to let me know what you answer to my very simple and obvious question is But I want to hear from you again because you won’t like the answer
A Lancet study in May finds that Trump's decision to dismantle USAID will lead to the deaths of over 9 million people by 2030.
https://www.thelancet.com/journals/langlo/article/PIIS2214-109X(26)00008-2/fulltext
Compare that with your silly make-believe figures for other US presidents.
RS is one truly fucked-up, desperate, condescending lout without a speck of honor or shame — no wonder he’s psychiatrically drawn to another fucked-up, cowardly, twice-impeached, lawbreaking asshole who tweets shit in the middle of the night because he can’t stand the nightmares that must be his constant companion.
Thank you, Megan, for tirelessly reminding us that we are not potted plants and can speak up against these moronic illegal self-aggrandizing actions that the current regime keeps enacting against the greater good of We the People.
A idea for a new protest sign…
”I am not a potted plant. Not through me. Not with my consent. Not on my watch.”
Hat tip to Robert Hubbell for that turn of phrase, that "we are not potted plants."
If you are not already familiar with his newsletter, it is worth reading and subscribing. Pragmatic optimism along with relevant news.
https://roberthubbell.substack.com/p/deja-vu-all-over-again-redux?r=3yu7b&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web
Agree wholeheartedly! When I was a first year subscriber to “LfaA” five years ago, a friend told me that if I liked Heather Cox Richardson I needed to also read Robert Hubbell. She was right! He became my second paid subscription. A bonus is that you can hear his own reassuring voice read “Today’s Edition” no matter how early you turn to it.
🎶Send ‘em to the moon 🌛
Or penal colony on Mars
The Orange Lump of 💩
And Mogul of electric cars…
In other words
DO WHAT’S RIGHT…
In other words
Don’t just TEASE me…🎶
(Holding my breath that the Kennedy Centre will escape from the 🕸️🕸️🕸️and the 🕷️ will not come creeping back on the shoulder of a SCOTUS Justice! 😖
Yeah, I got a perfect one for you, Jean you’re just gonna love this one.
Funniest thing of all is, you’re gonna have to play the role of Mona Lisa Vito from my cousin Vinny , very soon . Remember her immortal words. As soon as this peace deal is signed…
“one of these days you’re gonna have to go up to somebody and you’re gonna have to say thank you Donald. Oh my god what a nightmare”. . Lmao.
Thank you Megan!
So I guess we need to take down the Kennedy Center…THE Lincoln memorial. THE Washington monument and Jefferson memorial. Heck let’s change the name of Washington DC. !!
Do you liberals ever consider using logic in your posts or common sense as a bare minimum? Instead of hate.
By the way, the supermarkets are out of popcorn. It’s all being sold to independents and Republicans for celebrating and having a party in their own homes to watch the no kings parade. Especially when we don’t have a king. Because if you have a king and you wanna have a parade about not having one you’re gonna die, you’re gonna have your head removed and not very gently. Ooooops that’s why it’s a joke and a farce. Plus, we love the costumes.
And as I said to others above. Can anyone really figure out why we wait till someone’s dead to say thank you by putting their name on a public building ?
Do you know before my mother died? I wrote her a beautiful poem, and my very own song, and I had a etched into a beautiful piece of metal and had it framed, which described everything she did for me as a child, growing up who turned me into the man that I became. And I handed it to her before she died probably five years before she died. She said it was the proudest moment she’d ever had
Don’t you think our heroes I need to feel the same or should we keep it a secret until after their death?
Funniest thing of all is, you’re gonna have to play the role of Mona Lisa Vito from my cousin Vinny , very soon . Remember her immortal words.
As she tells Vinny one of these days you’re gonna have to go to somebody and you’re gonna have to say “thank you Donald” . Oh my god what a nightmare. Lmao.
If you don't get The New Yorker, here's today's (June 15, 2026) cover: https://www.newyorker.com/culture/cover-story/cover-story-2026-06-15
Every time I look at it, it makes me laugh. Hope it does the same for you.
It’s time Little Marco put those size 13 1/2 Florsheims to some good use. None of us would mind much seeing JD Wanker’s soft, pudgy little bearded, Pillsbury Doughboy face get in the way.
They fight barefoot--wonder if there are regulations on toenail length.
Deeply Perverted’: MS NOW Host Roasts Marco Rubio for Comparing White House UFC Event to Moon Landing
https://www.mediaite.com/media/tv/deeply-perverted-ms-now-host-roasts-marco-rubio-for-comparing-white-house-ufc-event-to-moon-landing/
Funniest thing of all is, you’re gonna have to play the role of Mona Lisa Vito from my cousin Vinny , very soon . Remember her immortal words. As soon as this peace deal is signed…
“one of these days you’re gonna have to go up to somebody and you’re gonna have to say thank you Donald. Oh my god what a nightmare.”
Lmao.
Clearly, no winner there.
A terrific cover! Looks like JD’s eyes are blinded by mascara-filled tears after that timely pounding by Little Marco. And in the audience, I presume, is Mad King Donald, whose massive use of bronzer puts every Drag Queen to shame!
Mr. Trump is indeed in the audience, falling asleep since he really doesn't care who wins...
Love seeing the fat, jowly, mega obese one in ringside seat sleeping away.
While two of his least backboned pimps perform in new ways of suck-up.
Thank you Betsy for my morning chuckle!
I do subscribe to The New Yorker, and I had a good chuckle when I opened the mailbox this week!
Betsy, I do subscribe and had a good chuckle when I opened the mailbox a few days ago! 🥊😁
My favorite New Yorker cover this year was the one several weeks ago of George Washington sitting at a table with cigarettes, a martini and a noisemaker in his mouth, with a wistful expression on his face that suggested that he wasn't sure it was all worth it!
I've been getting that magazine since 1996. The post office has been "accidentally" destroying the covers lately.
Bring one in and ask them to replace it.
That was great Betsy, but wow, $10.99 for the New Yorker now? YIKES!
That's the newsstand price. You can get a yearly subscription for not much more.
Under a flailing autocracy, small acts of legal and moral resistance assume a legitimacy and take on a vastness all their own, driven both by rage as well as relief. At the drop of a hat, a tiny act of non-compliance with greed and evil can suddenly metamorphose into a sweeping public movement. There’s a special power that manifests when people actually see the regime’s power start to crack and give way with their own eyes.
Trump knows this. All dictators lie awake at night contemplating it, tossing and turning over the grim possibility that despite everything they do, history itself may sweep them into oblivion in just this way.
Both those courts know it, too. So do the dictator’s lackeys. So do we. The 24/7 cameras set up by MS NOW and C-SPAN will capture each agonizing, joyful second of it for posterity. Once loosened, the rolling stone becomes an avalanche at the blink of an eye, even if the King himself tries to throw a tarp over it.
“Can You Hear the People Singing?”
The only thing missing here is the link to your excellent and more complete Substack post.
https://sylvestercat.substack.com/p/can-you-hear-the-people-singing?r=3hlhv&utm_campaign=post-expanded-share&utm_medium=post%20viewer
At your service, northern neighbor!
Oh, I’m well aware, but thought other HCR readers might benefit. I’m a subscriber to *Come to This* – and already commented on his Substack.
Funniest thing of all is, you’re gonna have to play the role of Mona Lisa Vito from my cousin Vinny , very soon . Remember her immortal words. As soon as this peace deal is signed…
“one of these days you’re gonna have to go up to somebody and you’re gonna have to say thank you Donald. Oh my god what a nightmare”
. Lmao.
Americans need to do this, everyday in every way!
Albania is now 11 days into their nationwide protests against Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump’s $1.4 billion luxury resort being built on protected land. Crowds are getting bigger by the day.
Just two more slime bags. Listening to Ivanka the other day saying she and Jared had discovered a beautiful island never seen by ANYONE before! The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree in that family…
The incomparable Lisandra Vasquez getting Ivanka Trump’s empty little face with its blank, entitled nothingness down pat.
https://substack.com/@sylvestercat/note/c-275257790
ICYMI: Good news that shows that “We the People” are not powerless if we stand together. A lesson for Democrats to UNITE. E Pluribus Unum!
LA LABOR UNION STANDS UP TO OLIGARCHS AND WINS
Kurt Petersen J.D. (Yale Law), Co-President of UNITE HERE Local 11 - a powerful labor union representing >32,000 hotel, airport, stadium and food service workers across Southern California and Arizona - negotiated and won contracts to secure raises to over $40/hr, worker housing, worker privacy protections, protection against federal immigration enforcement, etc. just days before the World Cup which begins in LA on Friday 6/12. He is interviewed on Legal AF by Associate Dean and Chair in Law and Technology at Albany Law School in Albany, NY. “Legal AF interviews Kurt Petersen UNITE HERE contract with FIFA” https://michaelpopok.substack.com/p/labor-scores-major-win-right-before?r=1d2cea&utm_medium=ios
E losers unum.
Funniest thing of all is, you’re gonna have to play the role of Mona Lisa Vito from my cousin Vinny , very soon . Remember her immortal words. As soon as this peace deal is signed…
“one of these days you’re gonna have to go up to somebody and you’re gonna have to say thank you Donald. Oh my god what a nightmare. “
Lmao.
Heather today had Barbara McQuade on her podcast.
A former federal prosecutor in Detroit, and currently a professor of law at the University of Michigan, Barbara McQuade is most recently author of “The Fix: Saving America from the Corruption of a Mob-Style Government.”
Listening to their conversation, one returns to the theme of how criminal Donald so successfully extorted elite law, top universities, legacy media, and now, too, all the billionaires hewing social media to their algorithms for hatreds and sensationalism.
How did so many Americans (and white South African imported racists) so passively fall to rapist Donald’s mob-style extortions?
If American schools keyed instruction to integrity-nurturing essay writing, humanities, and civics, we’d not have the cowardice long inherent now in all our elites – all who shone so in learning the passivity in all testing’s “We ask all the questions, you just answer.”
Can our schools emerge from their years’-long submission to those passivity-setting instruments?
Can we again center the arts so we’re equipped not so to “surrender in advance,” as Timothy Snyder has asked?
The buck ultimately stops with us, at every age and walk of life. Government of, by and for the people. Voila!
If not us, who?
Too many people consider the arts and humanities as 'fluff' in education, when in fact they are core to our humanity.
Speaking of Michigan. Trump and his Fascist oligarchs have been preventing the new Gordie Howe Bridge between Detroit and Windsor from opening for weeks. This is total BS of course. Imagine Trucks being about to cross the border without the ridiculous delays of the two older bridges. All of this because, Trump's buddy makes millions from tolls.
Hopefully, something good comes from this, like Mike Rogers getting soundly defeated by Mallory McMorrow in November.
John Oliver on how the New College experiment by DeSantis et al has been a complete 💩 show.
“But then money has seemingly been no object when it comes to this project. In fact, a state audit last year found that the public cost to produce a degree at New College had swelled in 2024 to nearly $500,000, dwarfing what has been spent per student at any other public university…
https://higheredheist.substack.com/p/novo-collegian-alliance-applauds?r=fqsxl&utm_medium=ios
Now the scaffolding is being shrouded so the crowd cannot watch the letters being removed. 1:37 am Eastern time, 6/13/26.
So taxpayers[?] paid more for the material as well as the time/labor to put the material up and then take it down. The board should pay that back. I literally want to know the actual additional cost to the penny - and also the overtime for waiting so late to comply with the order. Are these employees or contracted from a vendor?
Trump will Sue for billions because of the harm this removal will do to his reputation and ego.
With multiple networks maintaining live video of the Kennedy Center, the scaffolding, four workers and hundreds of people gathering to watch, it was clear the workers were in no hurry to begin, much less complete their task. Much of the time they seemed almost lackadaisical, wandering around on the scaffolding somewhat aimlessly, slowly adding another bit of scaffolding every now and then, clearly in no rush to complete by the deadline. With hundreds of spectators watching and under multiple media and personal cameras, they showed no apparent
concern for their lack of progress. Indeed, it seemed likely they had been instructed not to complete the scaffolding and begin the dismantling of the sign. When the 12:00 a.m. deadline was reached, they had not touched a single letter.
All doing anything related to criminal Donald must show contempt for law, contempt for judges, Candace.
Maybe they are afraid of the golden P at the end.
Now, Craig, there's a tape Putin cherishes.
Im in two minds about taking his name off the Kennedy Center on the 12th or 13th. They really should have waited for the 14th, his loathsome birthday. "Happy Birthday, Mr. President! Here's a preview of what we're going to do everywhere as soon as you're GONE!"
At the rate they are going it may just be the 14th.
The level of their barefaced shamelessness makes my head spin. And it keeps on rising. The Republican-controlled Congress and Supreme Court are just as treasonous as Vought, Miller, and all others behind tfg for letting the gutting continue. They all deserve to be behind bars for the rest of their lives.
Hear, hear!!
A comment period for this project (Tumpfull Arch) closes Jun 15, 2026:
https://parkplanning.nps.gov/projectHome.cfm?projectId=136973
Thank you for this!
I just submitted this comment: Historically who has been more corrupt than Trump, his family, and the Republican Party of 2026?
Trump, his family, and the Republican Party have been shamelessly robbing Americans in every way they can.
Do you really expect us to hovel at the feet of this Golden Calf?
How does this monument benefit America in any way?
Comment ID: 2685702-151576/70791
Will they delete it?
And I am sure there will be a plaque on it that repeats some Trump lies.
I replied !!!!
With this autocrat ailing and flailing, and corruption and criminality on a scale never before seen in this country's quarter millennium, horror follows horror and outrage piles on outrage. Are we exhausted yet? Hell yes, and hell NO! I made this mobile-friendly toolkit to be encouraging and empowering, given that fascist regimes want us to be beaten down and silent:
The 80:20 List: Pro-democracy Resources for Hope & Action
https://the80-20list-prodemocracyresources.netlify.app/ (Yes, HCR is on the list of 25 sources!)
Embedded is a GOTV BLUNAMI guide with actions any of us can take to help create turnout such that November's election results are TOO BIG TO RIG. We are going to win!