799 Comments

Thank you Heather, thank you President Abraham Lincoln and thank you Judge J. Michael Luttig.

“I wanted to do this for America and I understood I had an obligation to do it for America. It was my ‘moment’ in my life to stand up, step forward, and bear witness to what I believe and what I do not believe.”

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Heather, I have a feeling this was an emotion-laden piece for you to write as a historian of the Republican Party. Judge Luttig's proclamation crystalized the destructively reactionary impact of the current Republican Party on our democracy, followed by the Texas Republican Party's rub-salt-in-the-wound unequivocal plan to keep power and privilege for the monied heterosexual white male statistical minority and their token adjacents. A real double whammy. A clarion call to raise hell through our democratic process:

Register voters!

Get Out The Vote!

Press to hold accountable the perpetrators of this criminal conspiracy against American democracy!

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Right now, the greatest danger to democracy in America is no longer the defeated former president and those who aided his efforts to overthrow the 2020 election. Enforcing the rule of law to hold them accountable will take decades of litigation, time that we cannot afford to take. The danger is immediate and present and it is the Republican Party, whose true nature the Texas G.O.P. was not ashamed to to document in its platform. That party must be overwhelmed at the polls at all levels, from village dogcatchers on up to Congress and the White House. The Democratic Party must ask all voters if they agree with the Texas Republican platform or with Abraham Lincoln in the 1850's and Judge Luttig last week. (Why is it that so many who will claim to disagree with that platform will still vote Repubican? What secret prejudices do they hide? That's another problem.) But Go Ahead, Register voters! Get Out the Vote!

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Jack Lippman, no truer words... if you can keep it... Sandy

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Addressing your parenthetical questions: In my upstate Hudson Valley Town of under 2000 active voters, the Democrats create a third party ballot line before each election so that those who abhor voting Democratic have a an alternative way to vote for the Democratic candidate. In a community where the Dem. vote will run maybe 400 vs. Rep. 700, the third party will show 20-30 votes. There seems to be an ingrained sense of "otherness" that they can't shake.

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It's more than 'otherness.' I think it has something to do with fearing the redistribution of wealth based on need.

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Yeah....theys got it and theys got the money to build the casstles and the mote...., a mote filled with lawyers....and those bastards will getcha!!

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Whewww You nailed that one BLAMMMMMO BLAM MMO they are some sick puppies. SICK SICK SICK SICK......EEgaddddds!!

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Not to mention all those who are trying to maintain their power have to be Christian as well.

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True Christians should know better. We are to love unconditionally as we have been loved and we are to forgive as we have been forgiven. Recall ... Christ was brought to trial, beaten and abused and murdered by arrogant religious leaders who were afraid of losing power.

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They have twisted Christianity to being the total opposite of what it was meant to be. They wear it like a badge and permission to dictate hate and intolerance. I have clients I have difficulty being in the same room with due to the twisting of this faith and the constant self rigorousness and hatred in the name of Jesus. I’m not a Christian and I feel frightened and confused by this.

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Just like they have twisted “liberty”, “patriot”, and “freedom”.

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They twist and distort EVERYTHING to suit their purposes. Nazis in Germany in the '20s and '30s did the very same thing. Holy Scripture, the Constitution, all of it gets distorted. And their zealot followers will unquestioningly believe every single word of it.

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Nice comparison.

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Elaine, yes, “They have twisted Christianity to being the total opposite of what it was meant to be.” I’m not Christian, but these twisted actions and policies connected to religion, many religions, are historic worldwide from the beginning. We, some of us, thought we the people, we in America, had evolved.

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These pseudo and very loud "Christians haven't the foggiest what the first three Gospels say. No love only hate for them. And after they have "found Jesus" and been "saved", they walk on water. So hubris as well.

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I do not question your own faith or capability for love, but please recall as well that monotheistic religions in general and Christianity in particular have been arguably the most murderous force in human history. "Arrogant religious leaders" have manipulated believers into performing heinous act after heinous act in the name of Jesus Christ - the Crusades, the Inquisition, the genocide of indigenous peoples, and on and on. What is happening in Texas - and in our nation - is not at all new.

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And it is so sad. I always thought the Christian religion was about love and not fighting and war. The first I realized that was when there was an uprising in Ireland some years ago. The Catholics fighting the Prostestants.

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Totally true!

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You fail to mention the primary and essential role of the local Roman authoriites in his trial and death. Which leads me to suspect that you are simply reciting tired tales of Jewish conspiracy. Governments will always find a few individuals to endorse authoritarian mischief and further their own interests. Shame on your "unconditional" Christian love.

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Richard We do not know, from Gospels written decades later for diverse reasons, what precisely happened in the capture, trial, and crucifixion of Jesus. Robin Fox has a chapter on the dialogue between Jesus and Pontius Pilate, ending with the quote “What is truth?”

As an historian I wonder who witnessed and reported this conversation. There is nothing in official Roman records and Jesus was otherwise occupied after this purported meeting. There were a number of ‘agitators’ who were arrested and dispatched during such holy days. I wonder whether Pontius Pilate would spend time with one such ‘agitator.’ As for the relationship between the traditional Jewish hierarchy in the Temple and the role of the Romans, I wonder how much of this is ex post facto hearsay.

Folks have spun numerous tales about this situation, while no one can speak definitely about what actually occurred—including Barrabas, about whom a movie (Anthony Quinn) was made, although biblical scholars doubt the entire Barrabas story.

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Jesus was no friend to the Temple hierarchy and those are the ones who cooperated with the Romans. To understand their role is not to believe or to recite Jewish conspiracies.

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What Jesus or the "Temple hierarchy" did or did not do is based on hear-say and fantasy, "made-up as they went along," not on historical record. Whatever records might are accessible now have been so manipulated to fit the purposes of the organized church as to be virtually valueless. To believe otherwise is to pretend, the equivalent of a belief in goblins and fairies, fit for children or the psychotic. Appreciating Jesus's attributed teachings in love for one's fellow man is another matter, and I'm all for that. Turning him into a god done wrong by evil Jewish priests is nonsense.

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Texas Ministers, Priests,Rabbi’s, all spiritual leaders, churches, synagogues, Mosques etc should immediately speak out in unison across Texas denouncing the R’s plank of ‘christian nationalism’. This is so dangerous. It is aligned with Orban’s Hungry and Putin’s Russia. It is unconstitutional. It is antithetical to American principles and aspirations.

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"Christian" Nationalism - a horrific oxymoron, making it easy to despair.

My Thoughts, and an Invitation to Action!

I would like to borrow and build on Robert Hubble's approach to all of this horror that we witness. (My only other daily newsletter). Yes, it is so important to recognize evil. At the same time, we must do what we can to counter the despair that evil can inspire with a stronger statement of what is possible when people of good hearts come together and take action.

I believe in the power of love. Not the mushy romantic love which mostly depends on the feelings of the moment (as fun as that can be!), but rather the love that is the energy of creation, spirit, the divine, Allah, Yahweh, God, Goddess, whatever one calls the Non-physical aspect of life. It is there for us to draw upon as we show up in whatever way we feel called. So I asked, what can I do? Whom can I join?

Inspired, I googled "Christians against christian nationalism" and guess what! There is an organization with that name! Christians Against Christian Nationalism! They include an impressive gathering of Christian leaders, with three of my favorites, Jim Wallis of Sojourners, Most Rev. Michael Curry (American episcopal bishop who spoke at Meghan and Harry's wedding) and Sister Simon Campbell, ED of Network Lobby for Catholic Social Justice. They offer ways to get involved, including signing their statement condemning Christian Nationalism and forwarding an invitation to others to sign. So I've signed, Tweeted, FB'd and now I'm inviting you! Please check it out and consider signing. https://www.christiansagainstchristiannationalism.org

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Live Agape!

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Amen, Alleluia!!!

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CINO = Christian In Name Only

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Nicely written. "(L)ove that is the energy of creation, spirit, the divine..."I also have deep respect for the Christian leaders you mention.

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Thank you Hope! I love your name....and it touches my heart that you know the leaders I admire.

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And yet they will not.

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Hopefully, some will, but certainly not all. Not enough.

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As usual, it’s all about the money.

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Please do not paint all of us with the same brush. These people are not followers of what Jesus taught. But like the Republican Party, these extremists have taken their own biases and rewritten Biblical history and the Bible to reflect these biases. We must continue to fight against both of these takeovers.

Read Diana Butler Bass’s latest Sunday Musing about today’s appointed scripture as being not a miracle but a political commentary.

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I wasn't doing the "painting" just stating what I understand is their version of an acceptable person - being male, white, heterosexual, monied and Christian.

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BTW, I'm all of the above, excepting the last. As far as the New Testament is concerned, it is sparse on facts and laden with contradictions. It is an unsteady foundation for reaching for spiritual understanding. Little wonder it has been relied upon for the most un-Christlike of practices, as well as for what might be the truest.

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Good to point out that being a monied white heterosexual “Christian “ male simply bestows privilege, but does not necessarily mean you join that quest for power. There’s a big difference between white-adjacent people of color, poor, and/or LGBTQ who do step on others’ necks, and allies who are privileged but work for equality and justice for all—all of us this time.

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Not rewritten Biblical history so much as not knowing and not understanding and not wanting to know or wanting to understand Biblical history. The cost of believing in a literal interpretation of the Bible. After reading Diana Butler Bass, I am realizing how much of the Gospels is based on political commentary that Christians haven’t understood because we interpret the Bible according to our present culture and present understanding of language. It’s sad and it’s dangerous!

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While the King James Version and the works of Shakespeare have stabilized English, there are about 300 everyday words in the KJV that have changed meaning in the last 400 years, words like offend, prevent, perfect. And of course the eye of a needle isn’t the eye of a needle. So, seek and ye shall find, whether it’s there or not. These evangelical proponents of a muscular Christianity think Jesus was a kick-ass guy. It is their justification for authoritarianism. If Jesus had been a kick-ass guy he would have joined the zealots and driven the romans out of Judaea. It’s interesting that in ancient and modern times there are four ways to respond when society is under pressure. You can go along to get along like the Pharisees and the United States senate; you can take up armed resistance like the zealots or the weathermen; you can drop out like the Essenes and the hippies; you can go the way of Jesus and MLK Jr, non-violent resistance. meanwhile, tho I have to agree with the words of judge Luttig, I’d rather read them than listen to him. What a puffed up blowhard, and with the nerve to call himself a hero. He reminded me of that Bob and Ray routine in which Bob is the president of a group called The Slow Talkers of America. Would I rather be nailed to a cross or forced to listen to Luttig for an hour. Let me think about it.

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I do not paint all Christians with the same brush and I have had this argument with my spouse many times. Unfortunately, the ones we are talking about are loud, in your face types who want a theocracy. The most grounded person I know is a devout Christian.

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If people have to tell you they are Christians, I write them off immediately. By their deeds shall ye know them. Learned that the hard way.

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Yes. I always note what people do not what they say. Since I am an introvert and do not feel compelled to talk, I just often observe.

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I just read it. New to me but I am not a bible scholar in that sense. The organization I used to belong to discouraged that sort of thing. I will continue to read her posts

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Allen!! Hope you and your wife are doing well!

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We are. Thank you, She is getting 37/40 on her English exams and is upset that it is not 40/40. I am just holding down the fort. We talk to the home front every day. All is well with our town, home and pets. The granddaughters and their mother are doing OK in Poland and their dad is busy with the Territorial Defense Force for out town

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Mary Beth, I agree about not painting everyone with the same brush. To avoid this, religious leaders and members of faith communities must gather and speak louder than those who are threatening our Democracy and freedom. We often say “Silence is consent.” But here’s an essay that describes why many people do not speak out. “Silence Does Not Equal Consent.” https://link.medium.com/8d8Xj3CzZqb

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Absolutely scary for those of us who are not christian...

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You don't have to be "not Christian" to be deeply frightened.

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It should frighten everyone, AnnaKuz, as Mary Beth has stated so well, below.

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I don't think it's accurate to call these Christo-fascists either fanatics or fringe elements of the religion. They are really right in the center of what Christianity is and has always been.

The Jesus stories place the foundation of the religious movement in roughly CE 30. By CE 65, emperor Nero was burning them on crosses at a garden party.

Think about this. Nero was Roman, concerned with Roman matters, and Judea was an outlying protectorate where Roman administrators were sent as a sign of imperial disfavor. In a mere 30 years, they had become such trouble in Rome that the Emperor of Rome was singling them out? Personally, I think this argues for a much earlier origin of the Christian sects, with close ties to the general "Judaean Problem" that Rome faced as soon as it intervened in Jewish matters in the BCE 60's. The subsequent history of the "Christians" within Rome was an unending cycle of pogroms and amnesty, and Constantine's eventual codification of Christianity in the early fourth century has always struck me as a capitulation. If you can't beat 'em, join 'em. By the end of the fourth century, the Christians had taken over Rome, destroyed Pagan worship, and captured the rule of the Empire on both sides of the Bosporus.

Christianity continued to destroy all local worship, capture local governing powers, and abolish or "Christianize" all cultural traditions it encountered for the next seventeen centuries. It moved westward through Europe, North and East toward the Russ, South into Heathen Africa, across the ocean into the Americas. There are many theories as to why it never took root in India, and why it never significantly disrupted the Orient.

"True Christians" -- the ones who always called themselves that -- were opposed to every non-hierarchical government they encountered, calling it "savagery," and every hierarchical government they could not capture under their own power. They carried with them slavery, cultural disruption, impoverishment, and exploitation.

The American democracy was created by Deists, Theists, Gnostics, Quakers, Free-thinkers and other "heretics" to the True Christian Faith. These heretics explicitly barred religious tests from their government, and while they guaranteed the right to free exercise of religion, it seems pretty clear that the point was to prevent the True Christians from taking over through their time-tested method of persecuting "false" faiths until they gave in and joined with their persecutors.

This is a 2000 year history of conquest and oppression under the True Christian faith, that somehow "accidentally" came out of a religion of goodness and light and love.

Santa Claus is more plausible.

What we are seeing right now is EXACTLY what Christianity always was, and is.

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Yes, I hear you and I understand the argument. I am a rational person. And yet, I can tell you that quite apart from the organisations of Christian religions there is something else going on. There is a mystical body of followers that is lead by something above and beyond the mundane politics of humanity. I have met that something and it is love. This planet and the human race is involved in a great transformation. And there has been help and comfort from a higher power for me, Completely apart from any church or organisation that claims they know whats right or what’s really going on. For that I am very grateful.

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Robin, Your generosity of spirit was felt as, perhaps, the signally of love.

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Signally!! A new word for me.

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And I, too, have experienced that, but only occasionally within the context of my "milk religion," which was Christianity. When I shifted to neo-Pagan traditions, I got a very strong inner signal of that same universal love. It isn't something in the religion, and if it is real at all, there's no reason think it would or should be. It is like air. You want to be where the air is fresh and wholesome.

One of the things Christianity does is to declare unequivocally that there is no approaching that universal love outside the framework of Christ, meaning Christ as defined, guarded, and carefully dispensed by the Christian faith. That gives the church control over your experience. From there, it is a short step toward praying for your (legitimate) President, and voting for him.

Here is an experiment. I don't know your tradition, but let's say that your Christian tradition is to pray with your head lowered, eyes closed, and your hands together in a gesture of submission and supplication, and to pray silently. This is a common practice. The next time you pray, tilt your head back, eyes open, arms spread wide in a gesture of love and transformation. Sing your prayer aloud.

Now try this in church. Unless you are in an ecstatic tradition -- Black pentacostalism, for instance -- you are going to feel very, VERY out-of-place. And right there is where you meet the distinction between God and church.

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God and church as a contradiction does not matter to me. God is not and has never been trapped in any human box. My own connection To love comes from a high catholic church/ pentecostal experience. Everything from the biggest shout to the smallest whisper. I’m sorry your experience in various churches has been unfortunate…. But as you well know that is not the only dwelling place to find grace and love and connection. i wish you well on your journey.

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" I have met that something and it is love." Same thing happened to me, apart from any faith. (Do I see a Welsh flag?)

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Heart

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I am very okay that this is what you believe. I choose to stay a progressive Christian. I am not asking everyone to believe as I do. However and whatever you believe is okay with me unless you are injuring me. A case in point for me is climate change. I know well this country was not founded as a Christian nation. Eisenhower did us no favors by caving to the words “under God” being added to the Pledge of Allegiance. I was a young adult in the sixties. We wanted to make love not war. Guess I am still thinking that’s still a good idea

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My mother never thought adding “under God” was a good idea. My parents were Holocaust victims who settled in little town USA in the state of NC. My sister and I were brought up in Bible belt country. Our synagogue was in another town, 18 miles away. For me, I see hypocrisy in all religions. I feel they purposely set up all kinds of barriers and I have never been comfortable with that. I marched against the Vietnam War. I wanted the ERA to succeed. Fought for abortions…look where we are now! Fighting for the same damned things!

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Thus wrote Joseph Nemeth, a succinct and self-assured summary of Christianity. As a non-Christian without a great deal of knowledge about the religion, I am not in a position to comment on its scholarly merit. I do wonder whether Joseph went out on a limb when stating that Santa Claus was more plausible than Christianity as a religion of '...goodness and light and love.' So Joe, did that imply that you will not be targeting Santa for a round of critical thinking?

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No, I won't be targeting Santa Claus. I don't need to. He's widely known as a fictional character, and the people who do believe in him are far too young for me to browbeat. :-)

Though I could say a few things about his history.

Santa Claus as WE know him dates only to a 1931 Coca Cola advertisement.

This jolly, bearded man in red was, in turn, based on the Saint Nick from the 1822 poem by Clement Clark Moore, titled "A Visit from Saint Nicolas," but more commonly known as, "'Twas the Night Before Christmas," in which he is called "a right jolly old elf" with "a little round belly," small enough to fit down a chimney.

Christmas, as a holiday, was outlawed in Puritan Boston from 1659 to 1681, and anyone displaying "Christmas spirit" was fined. It was banned in England through the entirety of Oliver Cromwell's reign. Christmas did not become a national holiday in the US until 1870. Many of our "Christmas Traditions" come from stories by Washington Irving and (of course) Charles Dickens in the early 1800's, mostly extolling peaceful relations between the classes in British society, which were (in reality) anything but.

Going back any further, "Santa Claus" effectively vanishes. There was the tall, thin "Saint Nicholas" who would leave gifts for the poor, and "The Krampus," who would snatch up disobedient children in a great bag and beat them with sticks. Every local community had its own traditions for celebrating the Longest Night.

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😉

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Joseph, Thank you for your glimpses of Santas, Saint Nicolas and that tall, thin one. Might there be an adventure story or Santa sonata from you in the future? I'm smiling at the prospect of what you may bring to this 'merry', light, dark and magical endeavor.

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It isn't pretty!

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Oh, here we go again: please remember the United States of America separates church and state. And for a very good reason: discussions about religion causes polarization. We all have a right to choose a religion that suits our spiritual needs and a responsibility to let others choose their own, so please keep it out of politics. None of the signers of the Declaration were Christians: they were all PHILOSOPHERS.

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I agree. We also have the right to be free from religion. Those of us who are not believers are here as well and every time a policy is shaped based on religious beliefs, it affects the choices of non-believers as well.

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These are the fake Christians!

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hahahahaaaa..."onwarrrrdd chrizzz-chen warrryy orrrs.., marching off to .... huh. WTF???

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Ellie, I thought that HCR's Letter today was more than a tribute to Judge J. Michael Luttig's statements on behalf of the principles, upon which American Democracy was founded, and in support of the Rule of Law, it also signaled that the Judge's words would influence Republican lawmakers.

'Luttig's words carry weight among Republican lawmakers.' (Letter)

I see no signs of that. Have Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and John Eastman, both of whom clerked for Judge Luttig, responded? Has Mitch McConnell responded? Have any Republican lawmakers responded?

'Amid Jan 6 Revelations, Election Lies Still Dominate the GOP'

'Like mint in the garden, the seeds that the Trump team planted between Election Day 2020 and Jan 6, 2021 are now growing out of control, aided by the former president's allies.' (NYTimes, 6/17). Sorry subscribers that I cannot provide a link to this article because of computer malfunction.

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Fern, for McConnell, et al to respond, they would be bestowing credibility on Luttig's views, and they cannot risk that. If they mention any of his recently shared views, then they'll have to describe him as having fallen under the spell of the Democrats.

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Nancy, I'm not calling the shots for McConnell et al., which way the wind will blow re the American public, and the views of some significant Donors and Big Business. The LIE is central to the party; has the dye been cast as you suggest? Any more and more influential people than Luttig going to come forward? Without rose-colored glasses, I thought HCR's Letter uncharacteristically hopeful. While you and I are thinking along the same lines, I am open to positive news ___ and even a miracle.

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Fern, I agree. I've seen some indications of softening from those who don't appear to populate the trump base. I never believed that McConnell loved trump, but used him when he could profit from his behavior. He's a strategist at his core, and if he could benefit from the anger, he used it. Others feared trump's power to ruin them, so they went along. HCR is extremely well qualified to read the prevailing sentiments, and I continue to hope that perhaps the right wing has felt free to air their extreme views because they believe that the economy and other woes will finish off the Democrats in these fraught times, but hopefully they have taken enough rope to hang themselves. Like you, I prefer to be positive, and I've seen unexpected consequences come out of seemingly hopeless situations. With all of the problems, we still outnumber the opposition, and the discovery that a huge number of Democrats "crossed over" in the recent Georgia primaries to qualify less radical Republicans, but will vote for Democrats in November, is comforting. We had a huge turnout that surpassed even the 2020 election. When I realized that the Republican candidates got over 70,000 more votes than the Democrats, I was despondent, until the truth was revealed, so our guys took an old page from the Republicans and tweaked it to work in their favor. November could provide the "unexpected consequence."

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Republican Party silence on the J6 hearings, including all the Republican witnesses, proves the adage that negative PR is better than no PR, and they are giving no PR. For us, it’s full court press now as well as a long haul ahead for the rule of law to unfold.

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Thank you,, partner.

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Link not required. Memory matters.

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Sandy, I agree that exercising my memory will hopefully keep it strong, until it may fade bit by bit. Readers often want to read the article for themselves, including portions of it that were not included. Your contributions on the forum, Sandy, have filled in important historical facts and human stories, which enhance our knowledge and spur interest. Salud!

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I have my 200 Get Out the Vote postcards to Arizona Voters. Better get some Texas cards ready. These are to registered Dem voters. Hoping.

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👍🏼

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Let's hope it helps to vote!

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19 States have changed the process of voting certification, making it controlled by Republicans, if I remember Heather's recent chat correctly. With such move comes the power of corrupt, lawless and unscrupulous people to subvert election results. This is how Putin stays in power

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Positively the most frightening aspect of this entire sect of the R party.

Esp in Tx

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Exactly!

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Thank you for all who recognize the insanity percolating in the Republican Party!

“And, as if in confirmation, delegates to a convention of the Texas Republican Party today approved platform planks rejecting ‘the certified results of the 2020 Presidential election, and [holding] that acting President Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. was not legitimately elected by the people of the United States’, requiring students ‘to learn about the dignity of the preborn human,’ including that life begins at fertilization; treating homosexuality as ‘an abnormal lifestyle choice’; locking the number of Supreme Court justices at 9; getting rid of the constitutional power to levy income taxes; abolishing the Federal Reserve; rejecting the Equal Rights Amendment; returning Christianity to schools and government; ending all gun safety measures; abolishing the Department of Education; arming teachers; requiring colleges to teach ‘free-market liberty principles’; defending capital punishment; dictating the ways in which the events at the Alamo are remembered; protecting Confederate monuments; ending gay marriage; withdrawing from the United Nations and the World Health Organization; and calling for a vote ‘for the people of Texas to determine whether or not the State of Texas should reassert its status as an independent nation.’”

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Unf**kingbelievable. They didn’t leave out a thing that the slime of the country have wanted for 40+ years. Well yes, they did. Eject all immigrants and make white MAN rule the law of the land. However, these idiotic proposals would accomplish that in a nanosecond. Go ahead Texas, become the capitol of the confederacy. I’ll take my infirm husband and crawl to…anywhere else.

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We got out of TX as soon as we could. I’ve grown to hate every square inch of my effing birthstate. Hey, Jeri, if you need transportation, I’ll hop in a U-haul, drive back and under cloak of darkness, collect you two!

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I was born in OK but even Bezos and Musk combined couldn't pay me enough to live in my birthstate or the unspeakable state to it's immediate south.

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I was born and raised in Indiana. While it's not Texas, I would not live there again for all the money in the world. I live in Oregon where fortunately there is enough population in the Willamette Valley and increasingly in places like Bend to keep us blue....maybe.

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I'll help with that, Joan.

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👍🏻

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We complained that Republicans didn't have a platform. We were wrong.

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Precisely. They have a platform. They’ve just been too cowardly to show it. Until now.

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That AH Rick Scott laid it out for all to see. McTurtle was PO'd, not because he disagreed, but because Scott couldn't keep his yap shut and gave it up before the elections

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We left out the adjective “secret”. Now they are emboldened!

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Actually, rejection of ERA is exactly that: rejection of anything but white cis heterosexual males as lords and overseers.

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Also left out interracial marriage.

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Gotta protect Thomas

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They don’t want to be called out as racist. 😂😂😉

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I’m sure outlawing interracial marriage was in an earlier draft, and then edited out.

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Too late. It’s obvious to any person who isn’t racist.

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That and women’s sufferage, will be in round two.

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What they have in mind is to allow the male to check on his spouse ballot before she turns it in. (Easier than changing suffrage.)

Think this can't happen, as late as 1980 they were still buying votes in my country in western NC. This how the system worked, you filled out your ballot, showed it to the man, if it was correct he gave you a shoe tack and then you went across the street to the shoe repair shop and turn in your tack and got your dollar.

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Didn't want to loose a SC vote.

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That’s their assumption. Anything left out is a given. So they don’t have to keep on rewriting they can just be racist, homophobic, Antisemitic, misogynistic and every ism that reverses equality and Justice.

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I have this fantasy to take Colorado (leave Lauren B behind, of course) and move it next to California and hope we could all fend off the repubs

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In every state, right now it’s a vicious cat fight. Racism and sexism are like a cornered rat, fighting for its life.

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Hi Jeri. I have another view. What if this extremist position is a sign that the Texas Republican Party might be going the way of the California Republican Party: an endangered species. A party that no longer has anything to gain politically will just become more honest and transparent about its extremism that has been kept under wraps. Like the wicked witch of the West: “You cursed brat! Look what you’ve done! I’m melting … melting …”

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In other words: what if this extremist platform is a sign that the Texas Republican Party is dying, and that it’s a good time to be a Texan. I don’t know, I’m just speculating. Texas is like a foreign country to me, no more familiar than Bolivia.

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Optimism! ! !

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Ha, ha ha, ha, ha!

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Their message is that they're their own country. Time to secede and be banned for incorporating "America" in their name....

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Percolating is apt. I’ll counter that some of us are sizzlin’, Rowshan, sizzlin’.

Salud, Sister!

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Salud, my sister! I was thinking more in terms of the witches’ brew in Macbeth:

“Double, double, toil and trouble,

Fire burn and cauldron bubble….

For a charm of powerful trouble,

Like a hell-broth boil and bubble.”

😉

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Complete with eye of Newt.

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“… and Bannon’s blog,

Wool of Trump and tongue of dog.

Abbott’s fork and Marjorie’s sting,

Cawthorn’s leg, and Hawley’s wing,--

For a charm of powerful trouble,

Like a hell-broth boil and bubble."

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O well done! I commend thy pains.

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And whatever else is left of him!

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Wonderful stuff, Rowshan. Especially important that the 3 witches also told the "Thane of Glamis" that that he would be king but it is Banquo that would father kings. Somewhat worrying ......

Don't forget their first line in Act 1

"When shall we three meet again? In thunder, lightning, or in rain? When the hurly-burly's done, When the battle's lost and won.

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“Fair is foul, and foul is fair

Hover through the fog and filthy air.”

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A great deal of that about these days...a real epidemic.

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“Hell-broth”. That’s some soup to those Texas dimwit delegates. 😵‍💫

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If Drumpf's bossman in the Kremlin drank from the cauldron, he bathed in it...

Big cauldron!

So he takes himself for Superman... despite the superannuation...

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Dang it, Peter. I love when you use a word that I’m not sure of (which is your usual scholarly approach) and then I have to look it up. Right on ‘bout Putin. Too many infirmities and too out of date to be a Superman for the Russian people. And…just too damn mean with that dark void of a conscience in his pea brain.

(Last statement does not include any words that you have to look up.) I will try at some point to get you to reach for the dictionary.

Unidad! 🗽

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🧙‍♀️

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Texass Repubs are clearly planning to drag their state--as well as the rest of the country, if they possibly can--back into the late 1700's. Reactionary fools. If it were not for the sanctity of the Union, I'd say let 'em. Let 'em declare independence and then the Fed can promptly withdraw all federal monies and every other Federal level piece of support that they receive and see how well the reactionary ingrates fare.

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Someone please tell me why it is a bad idea for Texas to secede. I'd pay for a way around that state.

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See The Civil War.

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Do remember that this appears to be a "wish list" by the hard line Repugs, not a proposed legislative slate.

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Do remember? Platform planks are just that. What they will be proposing. It’s not wishing or washy.

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Wishes turn into rules.

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Sadly, you maybe correct.

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And what do we hear from regular gop? Crickets!

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There is no regular GOP to speak of anymore. The good conservatives stay silent knowing they are looking at their own demise.

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👍🏼

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Wish list...??? Yes. But a list of items they really believe in or merely support. Whatever way, we've been at this crossroad before historically, and Judge Luttig implicitly acknowledged that before stepping forward.

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Read the Plan for America by the Chairman of the Republican Senatorial Re-election Committee Sen. Rick Scott a plan eviscerate the Federal branch of government.

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Rick Scott - crime pays...

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Scott’s plan is at rescueamericaDOTcom. If you prefer not to visit his website and give him your eyeballs, many news organizations have posted critiques. I don’t seem to be able to paste in their links right now.

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Hugh Spencer, the fact that they felt comfortable expressing these goals, in writing, in 2022 is beyond frightening. There are way too many citizens in our country that sign on to this backward philosophy, something 2016 proved beyond a shadow of a doubt.

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More like a fever dream.

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By the Grace of God, I was born in Texas, grew up in Texas, and had the pure, blind luck to leave Texas and move to Western Washington in 1997. While grieved, I’m not surprised that this is the current R platform in Texas. I first heard the co-option of “Christianity” in the South in the 1970s. From then to now, nobody felt the real danger of trying to merge religion and politics, even though we had the ongoing evidence of what would happen from watching the Middle East in turmoil for How long?

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Christian America is our version of the Taliban. Isn’t that a lovely thought? Of course I am not including the readers here, these Christians are moral giants.

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Disturbing, BUT, but, but in its clarity, that insane rant gives Beto and the Democrats a whole lot to run against.

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And I hope that Democrats will find a way to say how un-Christian the "ethics" of that Republican party are. Hard for me to imagine Jesus as a gun fetishist or upholder of the Confederacy.

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Not to mention blonde and blue eyed!

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Apparently it wasn't hard for Bobert to visualize Jesus w/an AR-15 but bemoaned the fact he didn't have enough AR-15's

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Good bye Texas! Good luck on your own, without blue state tax support and all the federal facilities, both civilian and military! It was real!

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How long do you think it would take for the cartels to take over in Texas?

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Let’s take comfort in the fact that most people in Texas are not Republicans.

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But do the Texans who are not Republicans vote?

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My son and his family live just outside of Houston (which I admit is different from the rural areas) and his take is that there is a growing and strengthening movement against the crazy Republicans in the State- hopefully their insane platform gets media coverage in Texas. My question is why isn’t the main stream media covering it- this should be major headlines- sigh.

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Is that true? Certainly Texas is not known for being Democrat or progressive. Maybe Austin.

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Most Texas voters are Democrats or independents. As Casey Stengel said, You could look it up.

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According to the US Census Bureau, nonHispanic white people comprise 41% of the population, and Latino voters comprise 40%. According to Texas political expert Lawrence Wright (https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2017/07/10/americas-future-is-texas), Texas Democrats believe that if the percentage of Latinos who cast votes in Texas were as high as it is in California, Democrats would win all the statewide elections (governor, lt gov, US Senate, Secretary of State, Railroad Commission, etc). Even now, the big population centers in Texas (Houston, San Antonio, Austin, and even Dallas) vote mostly Democratic. However, another expert, Ian Haney-López (a UC Berkeley professor of law, not a Texan), in his book on dog whistle politics, cautions that it is unwise for Democrats to count on the Latino vote. It's likely to drift in the Republican direction, Haney-López says, because Latino culture favors center-right politics and would probably go that direction if Republicans were not so blatantly racist.

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Insanity, indeed.

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Secession should be next. Isn’t this where they are headed? The Texas platform reverses all progress since the Civil War. States and politicians that want to return to pre-Civil War laws and racism and inequality are so radical yet becoming normalized in the repub party. The corrupt election and gerrymandering are their pathways to their version of USA. This is not covert. They are banking on the distraction and ignorance of voters in order to dismantle current laws and protections and the constitution. This is too crazy to believe but there it is in plain sight.

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I too noted the weight and his great sadness as Judge Luttig stated that. I also felt a great loneliness in him as he spoke those words and in his entire testimony, actually. The loneliness born of fatality brought on by the quiet banding together of men whom he tutored and aided in their ascension as lawyers and legal and political careers around the power of words, lies, twists in logic and precedents being used so blatantly because they work in shaping what so many Americans will believe. I recall, with uncertainty, that Chair Thompson, when introducing his testimony, said that Judge Luttig was the only conservative appointed judge to share this opinion with the Committee.

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Thanks, Fred, for sharing that.

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This statement brought tears to my eyes. Rereading the Texas Republican platform just made me wonder who would want to live under such a rigid system? How do any of those proposals make life better for me or my neighbor? How dare they promote this kind of exclusive crap. It is horrible.

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YouTube has already sprouted remarks about his mental impairment.

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And he has sprouted right back as to why his speech was measured and deliberate.

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His response was brilliant.

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Heart failure again (but, like the Judge, let me assure you I've never felt fitter) - isn't he MARVELLOUS! That's superb. I'll have another try at turning the heart red.

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💕💕💕

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Nothing sluggish about your heart thing, Gailee!

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He is indeed MARVELLOUS! Yeah, the heart thing is sluggish this morning.

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Suggestion to restore the ability to use our red heart option: Go to the top of the page then look to the left of the search bar. You'll see an incomplete circle w/ an arrow at the end. Click on that. Your ability to use the red heart should return but it may not last long and you may have to repeat the process.

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Thanks, Barbara. I find that refreshing doesn't usually work for me! but I have other ways of making it blush. Eventually...

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He is brilliant!

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For those with diminished intelligence, comfortable with the incoherent blathering of the Fat Man from Maralago thought out and intelligent speech is incomprehensible. F**k the Rs

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What did he say? Do you have a link to his retort?

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This was posted by a commenter in LFAA in letter after 3rd hearing. https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1538266496371245057.html

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This link goes to a worthwhile read in Judge Luttig's own words of commentary on his testimony before the Jan. 6 committee. In addition to his affirmation of the "clear and present danger" of the Republican Party, he assures us that his measured speech was to make his words distinctly clear with deep understanding of the gravity of his message--and not because he had a stroke.

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A great jurist.

And 1000% human, as every true man of law must be...

(Alas, we've been seeing less than 100% in far too many high places... where the professional has swallowed the human...)

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Even if he did, does not appear to have impaired his “judgment” in any dang way.

Shows how much his naysayers know about strokes and the amazing recovery and healing technologies of today.

What dimwits.

Unitad, fab Ellie. 🗽

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Thank you for supplying that link. I

His Honor's response was perfect.

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I thought what Judge Luttig wrote as his testimony before the Jan. 6 Committee could not be surpassed to make me admire him, but this tweet makes me think of him even more as an American hero:

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Thank you Christine for this link. I read--and am guilty of passing along--some misinformation (about the non-existent stroke) written by a friend who has always been quite impeccable about verification.

I'm sorry to say I was in a hurry because I was intensely irritated by some comments made about how "ill-timed and snooze-worthy" the Judge's testimony was in the third hearing and I was anxious to refute. My fault for not double checking. I copied and passed along your link to my "impeccable" friend.

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TL- I also passed that inaccurate info after a higher up on Nasty Women's Movement posted re a stroke. I also came across his post and shared it back to that group today.

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Thank you, Christine, for this link. It certainly blows away all of the misinformation I have seen on social media. What a national treasure he is. I hope we will continue to hear from him.

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Brilliant! Thanks for sharing the link!

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Thank you for supplying this link. I listened to Judge Luttig's testimony and was struck by how profoundly his words came across. Nothing to do with his health in his delivery, just measured and appropriate to convey the gravity and seriousness of the situation. God bless that man.

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And a pox on those who though Judge Luttig's testimony was "ill-timed and snooze-worthy".

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Thank you Christine. I loved reading the judge’s response: not only brilliant but light-hearted.

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Thank you, Christine!

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Thank You Christine! Just as I thought!

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Thank you, Ally for this link. Although I watched Judge Luttig’s testimony in its entirety, having this transcript more than confirms my feeling of the rightness of that testimony. I have tears of gratitude.

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Thanks!

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If you have the link to Luttig’s reply, would you share it please?

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There’s an NPR link at the end of HCR’s post today.

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You know, out of the entire situation that is our world today, Dr. Richardson's bookends of Ted Cruz and Texas pushing against Dr. Luttig and the Law, one thing strikes me this morning. The party of Donald Trump and his cheerleaders, the party of that shrieking banshee, Lindsey Graham, always pulls out the accusation of some kind of feeble-mindedness against their opponents. Are you kidding me? Joe Biden doesn't sound like someone with dementia, for heaven's sake. He sounds like Joe Biden.

It's this kind of poisonous nonsense that seeps through the cracks and scares me to death. As a very wise friend often says, 'This isn't the end of the world, but you can see it from here."

Windmills and bleach! And Luttig speaks too slowly!!

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Not like the former guy had any issues with speech, diction, and usage.

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Seriously.

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One of our commenter group yesterday pointed out the DARVO structure of all gop response. Deflect, Attack, Reverse Victim and Offender. When gop comment this way we need to just start calling it out for what it is “DARVO!”

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Darvo! I'm practicing. Thanks Michele.

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Unbelievable.

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Our heroes come from strange places these days…

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Judges ought to be worthy of the high honor bestowed when we select them to interpret the law. Judge Luttig clearly is worthy.

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Attempted like

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Probably one of the most significant quotes that I have heard from a Republican though these many days🌿

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[The Texas Republican Party today approved a platform plank] "calling for a vote “for the people of Texas to determine whether or not the State of Texas should reassert its status as an independent nation.”

Good riddance. When and if Texas withdraws from the Union they will find some dazzling challenges ahead of them. Services provided or subsidized by the federal government would be withdrawn. Federal monies and subsidies would cease to flow to Texas. Frankly, I think "TEXIT" is just what the people of the United States need to see. I'm fairly certain any number of large and small business would pull up stakes and move elsewhere. TEXIT would leave Texas a pathetic cross between the societies described in The Handmaid's Tale and the Hunger Games. I hope clear thinking Texans have the gumption and financial wherewithal to pull up stakes and relocate as well.

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How about a Mexican government of over 4 times the number of Texas residents deciding they would like their land back? Texas GQP is a joke of Dr. Seuss proportions.

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Today, Juneteenth we celebrate the day 2.5 months after the end of the Civil War when Texas FINALLY got the word that its slaves were free. Today, 157 years later Texas is still a laggard as reflected by its GQP planks.

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Wasn’t it 2.5 years???

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2.5 years after the Emancipation Proclamation, months after the end of the war.

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Thanks for clarifying.

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Truth

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That certainly is an interesting idea. I don't think México wants the white faux Christians who dwell on the land, though.

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Faux christians?....hahahahhaaaahaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhahhaaaaaaaa...yeah..GMAFB! And, help me... I who have boarded with Presbyterians, Mormans, Southern Baptists, baptists, Hebrews, Italians(catholics), and farmers....tell me...wtf "IS" a christian, anyway?

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Bradley,

I think the Mexican government ALREADY decided to convert Texas into a Mexican state.

If you have visited Texas any time in the last 10 years, you will heartily agree.

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Nope, deadly serious. Texans love their weapons.

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Daria Texas reminds me of all those museums that are being obliged to return treasures that had been stolen from other countries. I believe that Texas is in this category.

General Santa Anna, after being captured in 1836, was obliged to sign a document granting Texas independence from Mexico. Clearly this was under unacceptable coercion.

Then in 1846 President Polk authorized an American invasion into what was clearly Mexican territory. [Congressman Lincoln kept insisting that Polk show the ‘spot’ where this incursion occurred.] After a two-year war, America captured Mexico City and imposed a ‘peace treaty’ in which we took over one third of Mexico for our own—Texas, California, and some smaller states.

Currently we have problems with Mexico and its current president. As a sign of Good Neighborlyness, I recommend that we offer to return Texas to Mexico. Wouldn’t that reduce the border immigration problem? Also, Ted Cruz would no longer need a passport when he flees to Cancun.

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Keith, you are ever the statesman!

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Daria I am even willing to surrender Wheelock TX (which actually is 12 miles from North Zulch TX). In the early 1830s L. B. R. Wheelock fled New York because of an ‘affair of the heart’—I’ll let you figure out what this meant. He established a namesake town in Texas. (He was smart enough not to be buried there). The river changed its course and Wheelock became an abandoned town dominated by old women dressed in black with rolled up stockings. When I briefly visited this ‘family memento,’ I was careful not to mention my family connection. Bye bye Wheelock—go back to Mexico with my regards.

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Keith, that is a great story!

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👋 👋 👋

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TEXIT. Your term, Daria? LOVE IT!

And yes, good riddance!

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Strongly agree.

Good riddance to any state that wants to exit the United States. Let's see how it goes this time instead of wasting 2 million young lives not hardly changing anything.

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Division works both ways.

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Rose, as far as I know it is. 😉

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Well done Daria.

TEXIT it is. I fully spport letting TEXIT proceed and letting TEXANS do whatever they want and letting TEXANS suffer the consequences of their own choices instead of making a bunch of young people in the north die to try to stop them again.

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How many citizens of Texas are not Republicans? How many Texans don’t want Texit?

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Yes, let us invite our clear-minded brothers and sisters in Texas to move to AZ, GA, PA, MI, WI, and NC to tip the balance in all and be rid of minoritarian rule in the USA.

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Thank you for your nice comment.

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Alot! We are the majority being run by a minority. Please don’t define us by this radical right wing extremism. SB 1, voter suppression laws, will be challenging to over come. But it will affect their R voters just the same.

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Good question. Those who do not want TEXIT need to stand up, be heard and VOTE!

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🙏 and what about those Texans in heavily gerrymandered districts? What other laws keep other citizens from voting in Texas? How are schools funded/defunded in Texas? How does a lack of quality in Texas education affect voting? To me, it keeps coming back to institutionalized inequality.

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We are.

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Many of us!

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While I am in sympathy with "Texit", you raise a key point. The answer is a "large minority". What of them?

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I think the answer is the majority of Texans do not want Texit. (Democrats + independent + undeclared voters).

When we listen to Judge Luttig, He is warning us all, but I fear the Judge may be too late.

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You do realize this state is run by a minority.

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true, but the majority too often votes against their own self interests.

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Then there must be a huge "minority" because these folks like Abbot, Cruz etc. keep getting voted into office.

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18% in the first primary and 8% in the run offs for voter turnout. But factor in the new voter restrictions that went into place. Ex: mail in ballot application, the mail in ballot is confusing and requires a lot of information that is complicated especially for the senior citizens, 90% provisional ballots get thrown out. Name changes ( mostly affect women), address changes, signature matches. Regulations that cost money that the TXLege did not fund, mainly aimed at large Dem leaning counties. My husband is a poll watcher and he saw a lot.

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8% in the first primary and 8% in the run offs for voter turnout." How would those numbers change with a massive massive voter turnout that was able to overwhelm. How long has Texans been voting for the like of Cruz even before the massive voter restrictions?

In terms of my State. 19% voted in the Primary in May. Kentucky is a gold standard for equitable voting. I personally know of a number of educated Democrats who not only ignored the Primary election but consider themselves above politics.

My overall point is the Republicans appear to be much more energized.

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It was 18% in the first primary and I agree with you. Republicans are more energized, organized and they stick together like glue. Democrats, all over the map and unorganized and fight amongst each other. We live in a Red Co with a handful of Democrats (there may be more but they are probably afraid to admit it). This handful is divided with in-fighting, fighting over stupid stuff. They aren’t seeing the big picture, it’s frustrating and unbelievable. Beto came 3 or 4 points in 2018. The closest anyone has come. He lost because of South Texas, no Democrats went out there to campaign. So, they voted Republican, now wrap your head around that one. All those Latinos voting Republican! There are even some MAGA latinos, one just won a seat that was vacated by a Dem. However, it’s just until November but the Republicans are riding that wave. A Democrat will probably take the seat back in November.

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Text is an inspiring term. Hope to see it catch on.

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Spell check doesn't like it!

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Screw spell check, and why are we all up so early?

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Damn spellcheck. Texti!

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I hate spellcheck

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🤣🤣

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"Good riddance".

I wholeheartedly and thoroughly agree. Let Texas do whatever it wants as an "independent nation".

And let us make sure we do not waste even one young life trying to stop stupidity in Texas.

Let Texans deal with Texas however they want and keep young people, not living in Texas, out of the mess they "might" create there.

No more dead bodies regarding the US Southern States. Not one.

However, don't give up on Texas yet. I have family there that are not crazy, do not condemn everyone different from them, and, would not agree to become an "independent" nation.

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I think the Texas power grid illustrates how well Texas can look after itself.

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That’s a classic example of how well go it alone Texas has worked in an inner connected world, how many hundreds died because of the failure of the state to provide electricity all because they didn’t want to be on the national grid. The Republicans in Texas have a wish list from hell, and the saddest thing is, that’s really how they think, it astounds me that so many educated people could have their heads so far up their own ass’s.

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It boggles the mind. An entire state political party living in the Stone Age. I wonder if they know what a smart phone is. I wonder if they are aware that slavery and lynching are no longer legal.

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Yes, Greg Abbott would make a fine, fine leader of that nation.

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Hey, Mike. What's the reference to "young people, not living in Texas..." Sorry, I must have missed the back story to that.

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Dr. Richardson, not infrequently, alludes to the Civil War that ended in 1865.

Today she notes that 2 million young men NOT living in the south died bringing the South back into the Union.

I am arguing that this time, we do NOT waste even one young person (in the north) on a southern state that wants to leave the Union.

This time, we force the southern folks to deal with the consequences of their own choices without wasting even one life external to a state that wishes to leave.

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Thank you, Mike. It's so obvious, now that you've explained it. And I agree wholeheartedly; if they want to "run away from home," they need to take care of their own sorry selves.

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What happens to the reasonable people in Texas - the ones with healthy, good values? The ones who can't afford to move? I would like to hope that this GQP platform will provide Beto with a campaign tool. Maybe, it could tip the balance? But if not...

Perhaps the sane states could offer to accept Texas immigrants on a pro-rated basis. And then the Nation of Texas can be the independent Nation of Idiocy.

I think what we are reading here is the result of disgust and exhaustion. Let the bigots and haters have their own nation. In pure principle, it makes sense.

Speaking of which, Daria, you mention the challenges Texas would face as a nation. Won't it be interesting to see how they handle the immigration crisis - without Federal support? Hmmm. The incredible irony of the flood of desperate people fleeing the results of Climate Change to find safety in a country that dumped so much CO2 into the atmosphere is the stuff of sci-fi movies.

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Bill, if reasonable Texans can't make themselves be heard and they want to leave Texas then they need a way to migrate out of Texas safely. Financial resources must be made available. We pour vast amounts of money as, a nation and as individuals, into places like Ukraine. We must be willing to provide the same sort of support to our own.

Texas without Federal support will be one serious hell hole.

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I had a former coworker, and a recruit of mine just retire and move, within the week, to Texas. He was always of the mind that god and guns were the way to go.

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Oh boy.😔

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Disinformation, Division, destabilization, Annexation. These are the goals of Russian ‘Active Measures’ to Break up the EU, Destabilize America, Russia can’t compete, so bring other countries down to their level. Sure seems like Texans fell in the trap. Texit like brexit is an ‘active measure’.

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I believe you are right

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Russia is a Third World country. A failed nation. They are stealing Ukraine’s agricultural crops, if you can believe it. Anyone who thinks for even a second that Russia is a peer of any democratic country is sadly deluded.

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There is always secession talk every election by a few but it isn't taken seriously - usually. Please don't forget that whites are now in the minority in Texas. Texas Republicans are doing everything they can to keep their base voting for them. Problem is they may be going too far now and alienating the moderates and growing left. But please don't say good riddance to people like me.

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Nor me. I am hopeful that this public declaration of abominable beliefs can be used now by right thinking Texans to elevate to our state offices, people with brains and hearts and a commitment to upholding the laws. This "platform" reads like a death sentence for most of the people I know. They vote. I, for one, am going to post it every single day on my FB page from now until November. I wish we could initiate a billboard response and plaster it all over the state. I guarantee that my LGBTQ friends who now enjoy being married will do THEIR part to unseat these hate-filled idiots. Sorry, Cathy, for the rant!

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This is a good rant. Let's go make some Good Trouble and channel our anger with non-violent actions. We, the People, all of us this time!

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Thanks for the reminder. We have family in Austin. My comments about "Texit" reflect a growing and seemingly never ending frustration. The Texas GQP platform just sent me reeling. Hope you are correct that they have gone too far. That list alienates just about everyone except the Klu Klux Klan.

I sent money to Beto.

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Thank you.

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Thank you.

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Thank you Cathy for this reality check. I get passionate and heated and want to throw

“Fill-in-the-blank-group” under the bus because I have no other action I can do in the moment to effect change in the situation. And so, when someone like you speaks up and says “Hey, wait a minute!” I really appreciate it!!! We are not groups we are people conveniently put in groups for other’s purposes. I hope in your sphere of influence down there in Texas, you can inspire pushback to what the gop are doing. Best Wishes and Good Luck.

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I stand with you, Cathy.

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Thank you! And, I with you.

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I am in your same shoes in Kentucky. I stopped being hurt by peoples' vitriol towards Kentucky because it is well deserved. I guess we are in the position of guilt by association Cathy.

It might do those radical Texans good to realize a fair amount of the people in the USA would advise them to not let the door hit them on the way out.

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Cathy, of course I don't say good riddance to you and other clear headed Texans. I hope that the latest Extreme Right planks horrify enough Republicans and Independents to vote Blue. I also hope that enough people outside of Texas recognize what's going on in Texas so they can work to nip it in the bud in their own states. (Like mine, WV. Don't think I don't understand insidious politicians.) I'm not very optimistic right now.

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Daria, You can help Texas and the entire country by getting rid of Senator Manchin and the filibuster and reform the Senate into a democratic republic institution rather than a minority veto obstructionism. We, the People, all of us this time.

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Cathy, I hear you. I get Manchin's self promoting newsletter every week. Every week he asks his constituents how he can help make their lives better. Every week I write a respectful e mail. Most weeks I get an infuriating response saying he is doing what's best for WV. Not hardly. Trust me, I get you.

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Indeed I would, Ted Cruz being greeted as a rock star made me heave.

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Ted Cruz - the worm who readily turns the other cheek and bends his knee in fealty to the mafioso who smeared his wife, Heidi, and his father - the worm who slithered off to CanCun... Ted Cruz, p-l-e-a-s-e....

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He clerked for Luttig!!

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You might note that, contrary to Jacobs, Luttig’s did not acknowledge him.

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Thing is Jacob[s?] is an ex post facto kind of guy.

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A jerk of a clerk.

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Ha haha, you ain’t kiddin’

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Agreed! Voted for Beto.

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Jeri,

I think they were showing their enthusiasm for how many pancakes, hamburgers and home fries that Cruz ate for Breakfast at the morning gathering. They were all impressed.

However, I heard that Cruz ran everyone out of the men's bathroom for most of the afternoon.

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TEXIT is such an appropriate term, Daria!

I am so relieved my son did not take a job at a small college in Texas! But, I do have a S. Sudanese family (former refugees, naturalized US citizens) who moved to the Dallas-Fort Worth area from Massachusetts (they both work at a large national financial services firm) who I never stop worrying about. They have achieved the "American Dream" of homeownership, financial security, and are enjoying raising 4 children. However, because they live in Texas, I fear they will always (literally) have a target on their backs for being Black in America.

While South Sudan continues to be one of the largest humanitarian disasters in the world (as well as the poorest country) with mass starvation (made even worse by the Russian block of 20 million tons of grain from leaving Ukraine) and continuous war, several families are currently getting re-acquainted with relatives in their homeland and Kenya, where they have not been in decades.

All the S. Sudanese I know are appalled at what they see happening in the U.S.; the level of violence and love affair with guns, irreparable division between people who used to share worthy common goals and compassion, dangerous acts of discrimination, tremendous economic inequality, and abject crazy men at the helm. They have seen it before (as have we) and it does not have a good ending.

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Janet, I know you must be constantly concerned about your S Sudanese family. What the adults have been through is unimaginable. I know I was a wreck when my daughter worked as a cops and crimes reporter in Texas. She finally left because she did not feel safe. Go Beto is right!

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We never stop worrying! And, republicans have given us all so many more reasons to fret. Hopefully, Beto and like-minded Texans will continue to gain traction.

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Just a side note: John Grisham wrote Sooley, about a South Sudanese basketball player getting a chance to play in the US…the chapters alternated with him and then his family left in a refugee camp. At the same time there is a documentary about 3 South S. brothers being sponsored through basketball in So CA….I couldn’t put the book down, was alternately fascinating and sad and horrendous. Thank you for your help with them.

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Thanks for the tip on the Grisham book; I missed that one. Two others:

1) "What is the What" by Dave Eggers who "illuminates the history of the civil war in Sudan through the eyes of Valentino Achak Deng, a refugee now living in the United States" and

2) "What They Meant For Evil" by Rebecca Deng. I read Rebecca's book on a flight from Boston to LA and couldn't put it down- Carol you summed it up perfectly - fascinating, sad, and horrendous. She is a motivational speaker today and still only in her mid-30's. The resilience of people absolutely amazes and inspires me!

The 2014 film with Reese Witherspoon is worth a watch as well. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2652092/ It has some flaws but definitely hits the mark. Some of our guys were consulted for the film and were on a panel after its release in an independent theater near Boston. Parts were tough for our guys to watch and we all gripped hands as our tears streamed. There were also the parts where we all laughed and nodded about our shared and lighter experiences when they came to the U.S.

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Sooley was great book. I have read every Grisham novel. This was quite different and very moving.

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Carol, I will check this book out today. Thanks.

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I am in Texas and there are a lot of good Democrats here. Huffines and West got 12% each in the gubernatorial primary and that was most of the people at the convention. They were attacking Dan Chrenshaw, calling him “eye patch McCain”. That is straight from Tucker Carlson’s mouth. John Cornyn got booed. Abbott’s people were totally outnumbered at the convention and this was a convention of radical extremists in Texas. It’s frightening but we are not giving up the fight. So, don’t kick us to the curb quite so fast. Instead, donate to Beto O’Roarke and help us out. We are retired teachers, we have family here: my parents, my children, my grandchildren etc. We can’t just pull up stakes and relocate plus there is no guarantee this radical extremism will not rear it’s ugly head in any other state. Your TEXIT comment isn’t helping, we need compassionate understanding.

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I hear you loud and clear. I live in Kentucky. McConnell Country. What I do realize is that until the people of my State and yours wake up and raise their voices this will not change. And frankly I've come to realize there are a lot more trumpers in my blue City than I thought. People may say one thing or not say anything and vote MAGA. There is a good reason these folks get elected. More than the radical element (12% or so) are voting them in.

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They are like Zombies going to the polls and voting R. No research on the candidates, what they stand for, what their policy strategies are. I also think they have been so brainwashed into thinking a vote for a Democrat is like a death vote. Communist! Socialist! The Republicans are good at scaring people.

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Until their Social Security Disability, Medicaid checks stop coming they don't care or realize it is the Republicans who want to take it all away. They sure cashed those Child Care Tax Credit checks and the Recovery Act checks and fail to see the absolute hypocrisy in their thinking. They are indeed brainwashed.

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If they get back in control they will be stepping on the necks of their own voters without hesitation.

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The Republicans have been using scare tactics for decades and they are very, very good at it. They hit their base's emotional buttons with unerring precision. Alas, Dem messaging tends to be factual and dry. Great for those with critical thinking skills...it doesn't connect or sink in with those who have not those skills.

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Barbara Perhaps you might follow the suggestion from The Mikado: “I have a little list. They never would be missed.”

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Rachel. I hear you! I am being facetious. I have family in San Antonio and elsewhere in Texas. Permit me a bit of foolish hyperbola on Father’s Day.

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Happy Father’s Day, Keith!

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Thank you Rachel this was lovely to hear

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Daria, there are many in Texas who are appalled by this, not all Texans are right wing MAGA extremists. We may be outnumbered but we won’t go down without a fight!

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Maria-Elena, I do know that, believe me.

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And, unfortunately the fact that guns can (and do) have such a dominant influence is the line we live on now. There is no assist from legislation and good, educated people can't stop bullets. 400 million guns (20 million AR-15 style weapons) in the hands of civilians and a culture that freely embraces misplaced manhood and bravado that encourages the lunacy. I have been to the NRA website once and was sick afterwards. And, that's really only the tip of the iceberg. As long as we allow guns to rule, democracy will end through violence, not by rule of law.

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So how do we turn their gun dominance into a weakness? Start making their support for gun violence as visceral as they try to make pro-choice supporters. Let’s start flooding the zone with the aftermath of gun violence that they support. Let’s show the “protection” Hearts and Prayers gives really. Let talk to the emergency room workers dealing with bodies riddled with bullets -or more accurately blown apart by bullets. Let’s show over, and over, and over again, the statistics of gun suicides. Let’s get our artists and creative supporters to come up with ridicule for this insanity. Like a teacher’s lesson plan to teach smearing blood on yourself and playing dead to survive a day in school. Surviving a shopping trip to the grocer by putting on flack jackets and commando crawling the frozen food aisle for ice cream. Flip the Script and create a film where heterosexuality is a sin and parents try desperately to forbid their children from it, banish family members from their lives for it, get people fired from their job for it, and best of all: are made to live opposite from it, because “Hey! it’s just a choice”. Flood the Zone!

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Without “Made in the USA” on the label inside their hats anymore, Mexico would annex Texit back as a territory. And then build a trump wall to keep the varmints from sneaking out. 😁

Salud, fab Daria!

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Salud, my dear Christine!

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You two are cute

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Texas thinks it can survive on its own. The threat that any European country could use the breakup of the United States as an entry port for invasion ( US Civil War in 1861) is now past. Let them put it to a vote. Let them go. Proud Boys Proud

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Not to worry, Sen Cruise and the rest of the grandstanding gop will never give up the power, or the stage. And, they sure as hell won’t give up being a welfare recipient State. Too bad.

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Even omitting the possibility of secession, the regressive society they envision for their state is, as you correctly note, is right out of a dystopian sci-fi novel or movie. I get a chilling, sinking feeling not unlike when I saw this scene in the TV version of Atwood's Handmaid's Tale:

https://images.app.goo.gl/GXcwzCoZGU6Dagtf6

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Daria, this is one of your best, especially the TEXIT reference. I had to read twice the rethuglican plank and both times shaking my head. WTF do they think, although I'm not sure "thinking" is something easily done by that crew. As I mentioned earlier, I think the only thing left out was interracial marriage. GO BETO!

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Judge Lettig’s stark and accurate assessment will not, tragically, sway Republican leaders to change their ways. They appear beyond redemption. If so, they are tacitly embracing efforts to end democracy.

As for the Texas GOP, they have declared in essence that if they remain in power the state will go rogue and declare its independence. Only the influence of powerful corporate interests there can stop this madness.

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Are we feeding the end of Democracy in our self righteousness? The hard work of dialogue and seeing and honoring our differences is what democracy requires. When I hear Liz Cheney, judge Lettig’s testimony and others take the risk to speak their truth I feel honored to be able to bear witness to seeing Democracy work. Calling each other names and an unwillingness to engage in dialog only with people who think like us is what perpetuates the divide in this country. I have noticed in our group we call people trolls if they offer an opposing opinion. I think Liz Cheney’s ability to stand up for Democracy and work so well on this committee of Mainly Democrats is breathtaking. I think the Acknowledgment Thompson and Cheney shared of how much they have appreciated working together is something that has been life changing for me. I am being awaken to how my self righteousness only perpetuates the divide in this country.

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I do my best to live the golden rule, but the cult will never compromise or see us as anything but the enemy. Sad but true.

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Your comment sums up my own perspective.

I agree that the long demonization of Democrats that started with demonizing FDR and his New Deal has taken such strong hold due to the ignorance of many Americans that it will likely not change anytime in my own lifetime (say, within the next 30 years).

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Even the Democrats put themselves and each other down. Drives me nuts.

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Always and forever their own worst enemy. It’s very hard to watch as a Democrat for so many decades.

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You just made my point.

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Sounds like you see the cult as never compromising and see them as anything but the enemy. As Mike says they demonize the Democrats. We are experts at seeing others demon but not our own.

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Honoring differences requires mutual cooperation and a willingness to use verifiable facts in the exchange.

I see some comments here from the “ opposing view” that dismiss facts out of hand, use debunked examples, and grandstand their opinions as if their beliefs trump facts

Calling those people trolls is an apt description

Its pretty easy to determine when someone with an opposing view is interested in a honest exchange of facts and logic, and when they aren’t

But I empathize with your point, we need an honest exchange; however when facts can be unilaterally denied, by any participant, the effort is futile

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"Honoring differences requires mutual cooperation and a willingness to use verifiable facts in the exchange."

Some people are utterly convinced that they are right. I call them "True Believers."

I don't follow that approach. I don't "believe." Instead, I trust that what I understand of the world can be tested, and either confirmed or adjusted, as needed.

And, I feel better (sometimes chastened, but overall better) when I find that my thinking needs "adjustment."

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Thank you for your clarity. I agree the openness I have to looking at what I understand of the world shifts as I continue to be open to dialogue and learning and using my critical thinking skills.

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Unfortunately over the past few years the only ones doing the bending and compromising are the Democrats. Please know that there is zero interest in the Former Republican Party for compromise. The Senate is a powerful example of this. The January 6 Committee is an anomaly in the world of politics today. Judging by how the Republicans have responded to the January 6 Committee it doesn't look like they are going down the path of collegiality anytime soon.

As to name calling. I have said before in my comments that I don't like this at all. It began with TFG and unbelievably caught on in the USA. Since when did anyone want to emulate him?!

As to this comments board. This is a refuge point in the storm of politics. And, frankly there have been trolls from time to time. There is a huge difference between offering an opposing opinion and rambling on in a word salad of disinformation lies and hyperbole.

I recoil from the label "self righteous to Democrats. Why is it that when Democrats speak out, fight back and otherwise stand up the labels come out such as being called self-righteous? Frankly how can anyone not survey the current state of the Republican politicians and not feel some degree of outrage self righteousness? How damn dare they try and destroy Democracy for their own purposes of greed and craven power?

Each person has to examine their own possibility of self-righteousness. I worked through being filled with hatred when TFG was in office because I didn't want to become that kind of person. I applaud you being willing to course correct yourself. Don't count on the Republicans nor their cult followers to do the same.

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Group think is a dangerous behavior.

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Yes it is. Dissent is also welcomed on this comments section. I know this because I have dissented and some really excellent back and forth conversations have happened.

The Republicans are masters at group think.

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🤔❤️

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❤️

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Thank you Susan. Prof Richardson’s Letters are for an opportunity to learn and grow our historical and intellectual capacities together. Be energized and reawakened to our ability to expand our voice for constructive thought and action. Be hopeful that older (historically and literally) thought and actions have continued building & supporting our “democratic experiment”

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I am very thankful for this forum and Heather’s ability to put in context our current events. Without context it is easy to miss the significance of the Republican’s Judge’s testimony.

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I heard one member of the J6 committee—can’t remember who—say another member of Congress commented to him or her how envious that person was of the collaboration the committee demonstrated.

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One can only engage in dialogue with someone who acknowledges your right to have an opinion, nay, to exist, is present. One can only engage in dialogue when, after presenting documentation about a position (or a counter to their position that is based on their "sincere belief", like being a woman and a lesbian means that I am lower than dirt) they actually think about it, rather than spouting off with Faux talking point, or that stellar institution, Prager U.

This is not self-righteousness. This is self-preservation. I have no one in my circle of Republiqan friends that rises to the level of Liz Cheney or Judge Luttig.

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Hear hear.

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I agree with you, Susan! While Cheney’s voting record has often sided with the Republican majority, her performance in the J6 Committee has been remarkable and praiseworthy, and illustrates that dialogue across political divides can be possible. (Susan, I suspect there is a typo in this fragment of your statement: "unwillingness to engage in dialog only with people who think like us…”. Perhaps you meant to say “willingness”?)

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Yes a typo. Thank you.

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My opinion is that Judge Lettig’s dialogue reached some corporate boardrooms. Emphatically. Let’s watch and see.

Unita, Michael! 🗽

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Michael.

IF we are hoping for Corporate America to save Democracy then, we have a great False Hope paradox.

Corporate governance looks much more like Nazi Germany than any Democracy on earth.

Corporations are dictatorships by a small number of highly privileged men over a very large number of people who better stand in line and smile or else.

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E.g., Elon Musk

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From a Corporate American escapee, I share your sentiment

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👍🏼

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My underlying point is that business can rein in right-wing politicians by slashing campaign contributions. The chaos and strife that appear to loom on the horizon would hurt balance sheets, and big companies could take action. I don't claim to put a lot of hope into this possibility, however.

I've worked for two Fortune 500 companies. Definitely not democracies, but I disagree with your "more like Nazi Germany."

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This NYT article names corporations that continue to donate to members of Congress who support the big lie. It also lists those who have withdrawn their support.

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/06/15/opinion/jan6-companies-donate.html

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Maybe chump can be the leader of the Texas vermin, live in the Alamo, wear a coon skin cap. Go Beto, and hurry…

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Jeri,

The really sad thing about what the leaders of the Republican Party working with Fox News have accomplished is:

The true believers of the Republican lies are actually not vermin. Ignorance does not make one ratlike or a bad person. In fact, if you went to one of their Sunday afternoon dinners you would be welcomed and impressed with how nice folks are.

Jeri, I can clearly remember when I believed the lies Ronald Reagan was throwing about the last really good President the US had: Jimmy Carter.

I was not a vermin, but, I was profoundly ignorant, significantly religious, and, because of both of those attributes, very easily swayed by lies. I simply had not run across someone who was so facile and easy with lying as Reagan and could not imagine he was lying.

Until much later.....after the invasion of Iraq. Republican lies were so big by then, and, my analytical analyis ability so large, that I could tell Bush was lying. And, then, one day I looked back and realized everyting about Republicans was a lie.

Last but not least, I read HCR's "To Make Men Free". Any part of my brain that was not already awake to Republican lies, deceit and repugnancy was fully made clear by that book.

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The Journey away from Republican roots takes the willingness to accept that we, ourselves once drank the koolaid. Humility in recognizing our own past ignorance is a heavy lift in the beginning transition

It gets easier as the myth cracks in the face of reality, brother

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Read Stuart Stevens book, “It Was All a Lie.”

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This is such an important perspective.

Yes, they want to demonize us. But as they attempt that magical transformation, it only occurs in their heads. WE DO NOT BECOME DEMONS.

And neither do Those People become demons.

Instead, I would give them limited trust. Trust them, but watch them. Stay alert.

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I trust them to do exactly what they want to do. Nothing would give these people more delight to see me exterminated. I cannot trust someone who sees me as nonhuman.

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In 1930's Germany, optimists went to the camps.

Pessimists went to New York.

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I wish you were right about corporate interests in Texas, but I don’t think you are, I watched as AT&T looked like they would defend democracy only to return to their corporate funding of the hand that feeds them, when they did that, I and many I know switched to Verizon.

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They'll be more inclined to defend democracy when they see autocracy as a threat to their bottom line. Their first problem may be a brain drain. Finding and retaining talent, always a challenge, will become more daunting as states like Texas, Florida, and others strip away basic rights.

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When I vowed a few weeks ago never to vote for any Republican for any office at the local, state and federal level, I still would have not have anticipated such a deplorable platform for the RPINO (Republican Party in Name Only). It horrifies me that there are 5,100 delegates and alternates who would vote for such an abominable platform. Please read the two Texas Tribune articles Heather listed above. What a formula for disaster! As a resident of Texas I want everyone to know that the Texas Republican Party does not represent the majority of Texans. I also understand that far right activist Republicans in several states are already disrupting the election process by flooding County officials with FOIA requests simply to disrupt and take up their time. Judge Luttig's speech is may well be the speech of our time that will be studied for generations. It is worth reading the entire speech once again: https://www.politico.com/news/2022/06/16/j-michael-luttig-opening-statement-jan-6-hearing-00040255 "A stake was driven through the heart of democracy on January 6th..." We must give the election officials and workers all the support and protection we can. We need to get out the vote. We need to tell Republicans - all of them - that they are being held accountable for the dismantling of democracy and the criminal conspiracy driving their "party". We must encourage the DOJ to hold the conspirators criminally accountable starting at the top with Donald J. Trump. We must go forward with determination and non-violent action to assure our unalienable rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. We are at a cusp point of history and we are fully in control of bending it toward a new democracy that truly sheds the flaws of the original Constitution which allowed the inequality and cruelty of slavery to thrive. This is our moment whether we chose it or not to create a special future for all of us, our children and generations to come. Let's make them proud to stand on our shoulders!

We the People, All of Us Equal this time!

¡Nosotros la gente, todos nosotros iqual esta vez

The Chilean Revolutionary song ¡El pueblo unido jamás será vencido!

The people united shall never be defeated! fits this moment.

https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=bH1B-Th813Q

(The Texas flag with the lone star looks so similar to the Chilean flag.)

Here are the English lyrics:

The people united will never be defeated,

The people united will never be defeated...

Arise, sing we are going to win.

Flags of unity

are now advancing.

And you will come

marching together with me,

and so you'll see

your song and your flag blossom.

The light

of a red dawn

already announces

the life to come.

Arise, fight

the people are going to win.

The life to come

will be better.

To conquer

our happiness.

and a clamor

of a thousand fighting voices will rise,

speaking

a song of freedom.

With determination

the fatherland will win.

And now the people,

who are rising in struggle

with a giant voice

crying out: Forward!

The people united will never be defeated,

The people united will never be defeated...

The fatherland is

forging unity,

from north to south

they're mobilizing.

From the salt mines

burning and mineral

to the southern forests.

united in struggle and labor

they go

covering the fatherland.

Their steps already

Announce the future.

Arise, sing

the people are going to win

millions now

are imposing the truth

Their steel battalions

are on fire,

taking in their hands

justice and reason.

Woman

with fire and courage

is already here

Along side the worker.

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"When I vowed a few weeks ago never to vote for any Republican for any office at the local, state and federal level"

I took this vow on the day we, the USA, invaded Iraq based on what were known and obvious lies about "Weapons of Mass Desrusion (Bush's pronunciation of Destruction".

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👍🏼

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Cathy, you say, “the Texas Republican Party does not represent the majority of Texans.” Don’t forget, the Confederate party did not have the allegiance of the majority of Southerners who saw the war as a rich plantation owners’ war, but who were cowed into submission, and then generally swayed in the Jim Crow and KKK era.

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It may be different now since Whites are no longer the majority in Texas. Texas is now under minority rule. It will depend on who gets out the vote and whether it will overcome the gerrymandering. I think issues like overturning Roe and the gun violence could very well turn the tide away from Republicans.

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Salud, Cathy. I’ve loved this song of revolution and the voices of the people singing it since you posted it another time. Indeed it fits our voices.

Here is my favorite version. It calls to my freedom.

🙋🏻🙋🏼🙋🏽🙋🏾🙋🏿🗽 https://youtu.be/rd6clK9s7mY

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Especially when one recollects who put the military in power in Chile.

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Thank you for this.

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la gente - todos nosotros esta vez.

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I think the Texas GOP has declared what they are. They aren't any different than those who left the USA, formed the Confederacy, used a military operation to murder how many people, and were for the assassination of the US President Lincoln.

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You're exactly correct. These folks want to go back to 1850. Straight, white men rule. They are the Taliban in suits & ties with red MAGA hats, Trump banners and Confederate battle flags on their huge white pickup trucks. J6 is their new Alamo...from the outside in.

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I know them, you are right. Cult nuts

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Indeed.

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Black pick up trucks. Go figure

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The Jan. 6th committee is effective because all its witnesses are Republicans. Luttig, Trumps inner circle of enablers like Barr, The Lincoln Project, Cheney, Kinzinger, Raffensperger et al...and Republicans yet to emerge are our only hope if our democracy is to be saved. Only Republicans themselves can 'right the ship' of their party and stop sinking our Democracy. Just as in Watergate, Nixon was not finished until Republicans emerged in the administration and Congress who decided it was so. THIS scares me, I have little faith in the current GQP.

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Terrifies me to my bones

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Mitch is a survivor who plays the long game. Romney is sane enough. Trump's circle is shrinking, not expanding. I just worked the Bradley Awards in DC a few weeks ago. They are VERY conservative. Trump's name was never mentioned once. There was no one there to represent him...and it was the HOT conservative ticket in town that night. My whole crew thought a lot of what they heard from the stage was BS...BUT it was about a conservative future with no Trump in a leadership roll.

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DeSantis being anointed is no less scary.

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DeSantis terrifies me. This is not hyperbole. He looks more and more like the Nazi Germany Leader every day. And he governs just like him.

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Same here.

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He’s playing smart, having just vetoed a major Everglades bill written by Big Sugar.

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Is he battling them like he is Disney?

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But we would be well on our way to saving our democracy if Texas and Florida take their toys and go home.

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No faith in them. At. All.

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It seems as if, with that long list of complaints and demands, the Texas Republican Party could start with the last item first and try to persuade the people of Texas to secede. That way, you see, whether they accept that Biden is president, and whether they can limit the number of Supreme Court justices to nine in perpetuity, and whether they get their way on all the other measures, it wouldn't matter. They could just check out and leave running the country to the rest of us.

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Good point, Nervoustrumpezpas!

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Lol

Ne vous trumpez pas

Roughly,

"Don't Trumpize us" or, a pun 😆

"Do not deceive yourself"

(Verb "tromper")

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Hey! I didn’t ever catch that and I love French. Nice one.

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Thanks for the revelation.

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Good point.

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"Luttig’s words carry weight among Republican lawmakers."

It remains to be seen whether that statement remains true, or should read "Luttig's words used to carry weight among Republican legislators."

If the latter statement turns out to be true, it remains to be seen what Judge Luttig, and any Republicans who agree with him, are going to do about it. They are the critical weight needed to tip the political scale toward the preservation of our democracy, or do nothing and watch it die.

Liz Cheney cannot carry the weight by herself.

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It appears the Federalists and Heritage Society have usurped the idea of the rule of law.

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The rogue racist psychotics of today’s Texas Republican Party make it easy. Fascism or freedom, racism or tolerance, civilization or nihilism, backwards or forward, Blacks destroyed or loved, a republic if you can keep it: Common Sense akin to Thomas Paine.

We face what President Abraham Lincoln faced with slavery spreading: stop it and go to war, or witness the banality if evil moving west.

Texas Republican rogues are the GOP of Trump and enduring fascism..

Judge Michael Luttig at 68 has decided to lead us to the promised land of brotherhood and decency, of federalism and fealty to our constitution. Luttig rejects Ted Cruz, Josh Hawley, Greg Abbott, Donald Trump, Ron DeSantis and the Big Lie.

Judge Luttig asks Americans to vote, to fight to save our struggling democracy, and he rejects today’s racist radicals of the Big Lie.

Justice John Michael Luttig joins with Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson in freedom’s march.

It’s a time for love, not hate, for tolerance not fascism. Luttig stands for the Golden Rule. He stands for Christain values, for Jewish values, for American values as spoken by Abraham Lincoln.

It’s simple. Good or evil. God is testing us, the Devil is testing us. The Book of Job lays it out.

Stand and Deliver, it’s show time, this isn’t dress rehearsal. We can do it. Let’s roll.

To Judge Luttig. To Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson.

To President Joe Biden.

Joe Knows Us. All of us.

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Well spoken. Joyous Juneteenth.

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Thank you for your clear-sighted commentary and analysis. One of the most important things to remember now and until the Republican Party resumes some semblance of ethical comportment—All Republicans are complicit, unless they speak up. While I’m not a great fan of Cheney and Pence. I acknowledge their efforts. it’s also true that we shouldn’t have to praise people for doing the right thing. Thank them yes, but let’s not fetishize them.

“On Thursday, Judge Luttig examined the ongoing danger to democracy and located it not just on former president Donald Trump and his enablers, but on the entire Republican Party of today, the party that embraces the Big Lie that Trump won the 2020 election, the party that continues to plan to overturn any election in which voters choose a Democrat.”

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Yes! I am troubled by the sanctification of Mike Pence. Yes, he stood up for the constitution on January 6. But where the hell was he on all those other days of the Trump presidency? Days during which our democracy was also threatened. Days during which Trump’s lack of fitness for office was amply demonstrated. Where was he then? He was silent, he and the rest of the toadies declaring their loyalty and gratitude like medieval flunkies to their high king, that’s where. Because, as Lindsay Graham recently said, they were all afraid of him, and glad of it, misinterpreting meanness as legitimate power.

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Yes, KR. Where was he? And, let's not lionize Pence for doing what he was supposed to do.

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IMHO, none of the witnesses deserve exoneration or our praise for coming forward (possibly excepting Luttig, we're he a sitting judge). Thank you for your honest testimony, for sure as they (finally) performed (testified) in keeping with the oaths they swore to as lawyers, elected representatives of We the People, and members of OUR government. Did this take courage? Sure. Are their careers now at risk? Probably not as much as we might think or as much as they would have been when it really mattered: When tfg should have been stopped. We are hearing the final days of misadventures multiply committed across nearly six years. Glad they are testifying? Damn right. They are not brave, God fearing angels (even with big ears and a puppy dog demeanor). They were all operatives doing the bidding of tfg, swallowing hard sometimes, but going along because they like the power and authority of serving under an autocrat with autocratic goals they continue to share. IMHO, it has just got too messy for them and those goals are at a stake, not their virtue, which many (most?) would again compromise as they may well be doing in this forum. Bravery happens before your commander is caught.

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I understand your position. Perhaps of late we tend to praise Republicans who take a stand and do what’s right because they are a very small minority and because we recognize the tremendous forces of the Party that will turn against any voice that disagrees with the Republican cultist tenets.

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No doubt you are right. We are looking for partners in Congress to get back to the business of governing. Cheney could not or did not support voting rights legislation. Voting is one of the most important democratic tools we have. I’m not saying that her courage and commitment is not important, but it’s not enough. Course correction is essential now.

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and they will, coming up in Nov. wake up America

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Today and probably for the rest of this year the political momentum is with the Republicans. That will probably change a little less than a year from now once the newly elected members of the Republican lunatic fringe start passing insane laws like the ones you've pointed out in Texas.

But the real turning point will be the impeachment of President Biden. Why will he be impeached? I can sum it up in three little words - Tit for Tat.

There was no chance that Trump was going to be removed from office but both times he was impeached for serious reasons.

There is no chance that Biden is going to be removed from office but he will impeached for spite.

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I'm sorry, but I don't agree with your assessment at all that, "the political momentum is with the Republicans". I believe it's quite the opposite. Do they have a momentum in Texas as described...yes they do, but their position is rejected by a LARGE number of people across this country...and the TRUTH and the FACTS are not on their side. This political experiment almost was shattered into several pieces in the 1860's. and each piece would have claimed to represent democracy and what the founders intended. The Texas GOP has been taken over by a faction...it's not the majority of Texans. It happened here in MD about 30 years ago...the conservative Christians took over the MD GOP. That lasted exactly one election cycle. I was working with and for MD GOP candidates at the time...who were VERY moderate, even liberal by todays standards...and the Conservative Christians somehow trusted me enough that I got to see the real them. It was VERY ugly. They were petty, juvenile and clueless. Congresswoman Helen Bentley led the opposition to get the party back from them...and she was successful. I learned a lot about real politics, organizing, counting votes and winning from her. It ain't over till it's over...and if you throw in the towel...it's over. Helen always worked both sides of the aisle. She was the one republican that Union dock workers in the Port of Baltimore would vote for. She understood compromise. I'm proud to have become her friend and collaborator. I believe that if she was still in Congress, she'd be doing exactly what Liz Cheney is doing today. Man up and fight for Democracy, the rule of law & the truth.

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Unfortunately, "the majority" outside Texas also have experienced party operatives of TWO parties ignore their needs and aspirations for too long as well <https://scholar.princeton.edu/sites/default/files/mgilens/files/gilens_and_page_2014_-testing_theories_of_american_politics.doc.pdf>

When people are fed up with the corruption and feeling hopeless, they no longer employ logic or reason or comply with parties that they see as long abandoning them and playing games. They can react with a "just burn it all down" expression of rage and a destructive vote that turns over the reins to a "strongman" who likely installs a police-state dictatorship. The people have lost patience, and that makes the present time very dangerous.

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Yes, this is a dangerous time, no doubt about it. But there's going to be push & pull forever in this system of ours. There's nothing new about that. The 1860's, the 1960's...there's a group, let's call them the "Mayflower-DAR people." with no real offense intended to them...who want a white, Christian led America...or at least their version of what they believe that looks like. They are afraid of immigrants, black folks, gay folks, Hollywood folks....on & on, don't even get started on Trans folks.... And that fear is stoked by Fox and by Trump. and abortion and gun rights are a battle cry for them., which is a really disjointed combo...think about it... If you look at the data and the polling,,,these folks are a minority on these issues...by a lot. I can tell you that I believe in Peace and that "love wins"....but I understand military tactics and will defend my values and my family, no matter the cost from a "strongman". I will not for a moment tolerate a Putin here...that's one of the reasons I read and participate in this excellent forum. I engage with my conservative friends who I believe are being used by forces beyond their understanding. Too many of us have lived free to be put in a cage.

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Mike, please! Your label, "Mayflower-DAR people" is beyond unfair even if you do quickly add "with no real offense." DAR of today has hundreds of African American members, and Daughters of American Revolution know who their ancestors are and they build on that knowledge to contribute to the Republic in ways that include support of First Americans and tireless work for Veterans. I did not wish to graduate from high school and walk across the stage of Constitution Hall because of Marian Anderson's astounding rejection by DAR. But, for my parents I did participate. Decades later, I did join DAR with no regrets as it has led me to years of engagement with historic preservation. Mike, your broad brush is painting unfair stuff. DAR has evolved and grown which is not a bad model for us all. I have no link to the Mayflower either. I do descend from Matthias Claesson Holstein who arrived with the Swedes and they sailed here on board the Kalmyr Nyckle. (sp. ?). My DNA is a tossed salad.

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Carla, I hear you. I debated using that label...and I have to say it comes from dealing with those folks...both groups, mostly years ago. So let's call it my 1970's lapse...I have shot numerous shows at DAR and some are real conservative, even in recent years...I don't see much diversity in them.

I have sailed on the repro Kalmyr Nyckle and video recorded her. It's a wonderful experience if you've never done it.

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We've been there but have not sailed. Just know that there are plenty of DAR members who don't have elbow length white gloves with sashes filled with pins. I just have to say, that researching and knowing who my ancestors are fuels my will to fight today's erosion of the democracy. It pretty much keeps my hand wrapped in a heating pad after writing postcards to registered voters who haven't voted in a long time.

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Mike, shooting shows at DAR is not reflective of the whole membership.

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Here's a push that is going to pull your answer to "What Democracy Looks Like" into the Twilight Zone. Don't forget to check the size of the bubble we live in on this forum.

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I understand the "bubble". I get that. But I also operate in the DC world where I get to see both parties and a lot of the organizations that lobby both of them through my live event work. We are the flies on the elephant. We do a lot of non-public events and sometimes have to sign non-disclosure to work those events. So I feel pretty well informed. I also worked politics, mostly for the GOP 30 years ago. I did TV spots, video coaching and worked with a lot of high paid "out of town" consultants. Some VERY good...some, not so much. So I understand how that works...and choose to not do it anymore.

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What any individual may "understand" does not determine what happens to a nation or its citizens. The really destructive decisions occur when a critical mass of people act without understanding. When we have a corporate media that does its best to promote deceit and misunderstanding, we are witnessing a destructive decision in the making by design.

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👍🏼

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❤️

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Ed, this is a very astute answer. In Criminal Justice Studies, the answer to the question, "Why do people become criminals?" is this: "A redefining of the desirable." IOW, when someone cannot attain goals, acceptance, and validation through civilly accepted means, they turn to whatever means are available to them. Soul-searching the gap between words and realistic expectations is a necessity for both parties. That leads one to ask which political party has done more to narrow that gap, even if insufficiently? If you want to break stalemates in Congress, if you want more progress towards equal access to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, then you must choose one party to dominate, even if only temporarily. And the choice of which party would accomplish that progress for the most Americans is clear.

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It seems to me that with the actual naming of their platform, rather than the innuendo of wink wink, nod nod, they’ve exposed themselves as villagers with pitch forks hunting witches. Easier to fight a platform than smoke and mirrors. May the platform be thoroughly rebuked.

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Trump is basically feeding red meat to the MAGA FoxNews crowd. They see the hearings as the Democrats and the two traitor Republicans as trying to justify stealing the White House from them and Trump. Every single one of them will vote come hell or high water. They will "OWN THE LIBS!"

The Libs, on the other hand have real lives to live, jobs to go to, children to raise. They can't spend ten or more hours a day in front of their TV's being told how angry the should be.

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What you need to understand is the GOP is fractured right now. Those loyal to Trump and those not. They are in the beginning of "survival" mode and calculating what to do next. The pursuit of truth and facts brought Nixon down after winning in a landslide. Thinks about that. Trump could not win re-election...and he is on the legal ropes. He is not in a position of power, except among his cult. It's not sustainable....and Mitch hates him.

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Mike, recent primary elections show that the Trump wing of the Republican Party is large enough to make the not Trump wing irrelevant.

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It depends on how the "Non" wing votes in general elections, not primaries. Here in MD Helen Bentley lost her GOP primary for Governor to a very conservative woman. The conservative was trounced in the general election. Helen would have had a fighting chance...much like Larry Hogan, our current Gov. Watch Hogan as things heat up for Prez in the GOP. He never backed Trump and he now places himself as the alternative to Biden & Trump...which I feel is a smart move. But I'm not sure Joe will be the Dem nominee. He could pull an LBJ or just not win the primary. Personally I like Jamie Raskin a lot. I've seen him up close here during the Fracking debate and now on the J6 thing. He's smart and dedicated.

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And Rupert keeps stirring the pot.

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Rupert is America’s Goebbels.

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I think you meant:

They canNOT spend ten or more hours a day in front of their TV's being told how angry theY should be.

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Check. And then checkmate.

Unita, Mike! 🗽

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thank you. Living the experience has value.

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It does indeed. The ultimate credibility of "been there, done that."

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"The Texas GOP has been taken over by a faction...it's not the majority of Texans."

Mike, the above hypothesis remains to be proven by any voting pattern of the majority of Texans. I can tell you, since I lived there until 1992 and still have many friends and family there that the probability of a sustained Republican majority in Texas is high to very high.

Sure. In Austin, which has a large number of not ignorant Texans, there are some folks against what the Republicans want.

But, step out of Austin in almost any direction? You will find highly religious people (trained from birth) who are very easily lied to having trained themselves to listen to a preacher make stuff up and swallow it on Sunday morning.

Don't underestimate the power of the religious to convince themselves of lies. The ability to choose to "believe" and have "faith" in the complete absence of any data is an amazing ability that is hard to overcome.

It can be done, but, is very difficult.

Do not ask me how I know.

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I've seen that first hand. We did a large Conservative Christian event on the Mall in DC back before covid, soon after Trump was in office. I asked them how they could support a man like him. The reply was "we forgive" and he supports "our issue" meaning abortion. That is all that mattered to them. Now these same people would be all over Obama if he was the nasty human being Trump is. Texas may be a hard case, I admit it...but we have to work it. If enough folks in the middle reject what the right is pushing...that's the battlefield on this.

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✔️✔️✔️

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Exactly so.

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How do you know ? ( I had to ask..😊)

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know what ? Abortion ? because that's a large part of what the rally was about.

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I really believe we can win the midterms. Why not? Believe it!

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They will surely try. May the tide turn. Jumped the shark, I hope. Beto surge coming up or we are sunk.

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We ALL need to support Beto. The ship has been in bad shape...grounded...but never sunk. There is always hope.

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Mike,

Beto is, whether I like him or not, widely perceived as a "weak" candidate in Texas. This may not be a fair assessment, but, it is a widely held assessment.

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"weak" why ? He's gotten a lot of votes in Texas over the years. Is there someone better ? That can win ?

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Maybe someone who doesn’t livestream his dental visit?

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Yes

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Twice monthly. It is critical, but the gun lobby wants him dead, literally or figuratively

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No tit for tat. Please. I think not. They wouldn’t dare. I have a dream. Great Expectations. Trump may be charged by Labor Day, or the 4th. This thing is going to get sticky. Civil War Confederacy criminal behavior was essentially ignored. That stuff will be ostracized. Slave owners walked. Murder was ignored. Hanging was ignored. George C. Wallace ran on segregation. AG Nicholas de B. Katzenbach faced him down with force. But the culture did not change. It will. Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson survived the monsters in their senatorial guise. Trump made Fascist Great Again. Her presence on Roberts’ Court will matter. I have a dream. Our grandchildren will be proud, not ashamed, I have a dream. Reparations will be paid. DeSantis will lose. The polls will be honored, guns will be removed, I have a dream. Black women will rise to lead us, their lives will matter. White historians will tell the truth, the whole truth, So Help Me God. I have a dream.

It’s 6:45, and Gus, our brilliant Border Collie, pounced. I just awoke. It’s warming in The North Country. Lying fascists led by Rep. Elise Stefanik pulled Pulled a Nimby ... she’s running to be Trump’s VP - my dream was fantasy.

I was delusional. I need personal help. A cold bath.

The Nightmare continues. The Civil War continues.

Denial Rules. Texas leads. We’re at the brink.

Texas doesn’t care. Uvalde doesn’t matter.

Blacks will be restrained at the polls. Wetbacks will be turned away.

Warming is a phantasy.

We’re fine. Go back to sleep, America. Ukraine is the future.

Tump and daily mass murder is good. It’s our lot.

Jaimie Raskin is not prescient. His son’s loss was predictable. The January 6th Committee is intramural, not more.

The Big Lie lives in Texas. Texas may secede from the Union.

Trump is rising again. Bill Barr’s Bull is fiction. He’s going to replace Garland.

Dreams don’t matter. The willing wet nurse is forgotten. Her milk has been replaced by formula.

Babies can stuff if. White women don’t nurse. They are better than that.

And Oscar Wilde? He was nuts.

The Stranger was indifferent about his mother.

Existentialism taught us nothing.

MAD and Putin and Chernobyl are the future.

The nightmare and Cider House rules.

Time for black coffee. Gus needs a walk.

We’re losing what matters. Daily mass killings and Uvalde are the future.

Texas rules.

Don’t worry. Just obey. The people like Trump.

He’s our president for life. Pence will be hung. 

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WOW. Yes it has and continues to be a wild ride. Dreams. Nightmares.

I'm going to be in Gettysburg twice in the next week or two.

It has become a VERY strange place to be.

A beach resort with no sand...

But lots of Ghost Tours

Trump rules in that part of PA.

Rebel re-enactors still show up.

Hoping to somehow win.

Heritage Not Hate is their battle cry

I will report back

Postcards from the edge

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Biden will be impeached 3 times with Republicans in power—unless convicted by a Republican Senate for the first one.

Trump will insist his 2 impeachments be bested.

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Proving that the Texas Republican Party has been insane since back when "White Texas Democrats" ran the state - then they brought their "White Texas Democtacy" to the party in the 80s. But they were this nuts 50 years ago. I'm surprised they aren't still calling for a return to the Gold Standard.

And this native Texan would be just fine with turning that place into "A Whole Other Country," (so long as all the good people could be evacuated first since "Texas Good People" are *really* good) and then we build a 20-foot high wall around it.

And then we nuke it.

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No surprise that Musk moved to Texas.

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Yes, Mr. Muck is a perfect "contemporary Texan." Completely full of shit.

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Elan Muck.

Great!!

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He is a white South African, after all...

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I can’t help it. Sizzlin, TC. That last sentence is a barnburner.

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Another marvelous essay. But why oh why should it take a Judge Luttig in 2022 to say what was clear as day back in 2016? And why is Judge Luttig or any non-Republican still clinging to the notion that a Party now operating as a personality cult can ever come to its senses? ("Luttig said that Republicans must start speaking to Democrats as ”fellow Americans that have a shared destiny and shared hopes and dreams for America.") The virus that has overcome the GOP was already deep in its DNA. Dr. Richardson reminded us of that in yesterday's excellent Watergate summary. And it is working with cunning to infect us all.

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CLEAR AND PRESENT DANGER is a marvelous ‘Tonto’ for Lone Rangers Thompson/Cheney/Raskin on the House 1/6 Committee. Republican legal giant Judge Luttig said “The former president and his party are today a clear and present danger for American democracy.”

Woozer doozer, straight from Tom Clancy’s best Selling Clear and Present Danger and from the movie when Harrison Ford (CIA’s Jack Ryan) closed the net on a duplicitous and rotten American president.

Let CLEAR AND PRESENT DANGER ring across our nation—even some Trumpies would get this message.

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At least one Republican recognized the need to wake up from a very bad dream. Now I see why the mafia wing of that party hate "the woke." They want all of us to live in their nightmare.

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I read a number of political blogs written by very smart journalists who are extremely well "plugged in." When I complain to them that they are too hard on Biden for not doing enough on this or that, especially when the Republicans have sinned against the very soul of America, they alway retort the same way, "go read HCR," and I do. And I feel in that we will somehow be fine. Thank you dear lady.

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