Yesterday, in North Korea, Russian president Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un signed a security partnership between their countries that said they would “provide mutual assistance in case of aggression.” The two authoritarian leaders essentially resurrected a 1961 agreement between North Korea and the Soviet Union. According to the North Korean News Agency, the agreement also calls for the two countries to work together toward a “just and multipolar new world order.”
I feel its important that we acknowledge that the plan to keep Trump viable in this race is expressed. He isn't going away. His cult is willing to stake their existence by rallying around him regardless of what he says next. This nonsense with putting the 10 Commandments in schools is nothing more than testing the waters for the implementation of Project 2025. The Supreme Court is more than willing to help this gameplan if necessary.
It should be clear to all that when Judge Cannon refused to step aside from the Trump case, the fix was in.
Project 2025 is a conservative plan for a future Republican president. It aims to reverse Democratic policies, strengthen presidential power, and potentially shrink agencies like the EPA. Critics fear it weakens institutions and harms social programs, while supporters see it as restoring conservative values.
Michael, having recently started collecting SS and being on Medicare has reinforced what an amazing job this agency is doing. When I have had any questions or issues, they are there to help.
About a month ago my sister-in-law and I went to the local SS office. We took a number and our wait time was about 20 minutes. While we waited, there were a couple of ladies who had not received their most recent payments. They were both on SS disability and the SS agent was able to resolve their issues. Imagine, depending on SS disability for 100% of your needs and not receiving a payment as expected.
And now imagine an incompetent fool like Louis DeJoy running the SS administration.
In 2022 almost 71 million people received benefits from SS and there were over 5.5 million new SS recipient in 2022.
Project 2025 wants to replace 50000 seasoned Federal government workers with far-right religious zealots. CFDT could care less about people becoming homeless or hungry so it's likely to get very ugly very quickly.
The USPS service in ME is awful and getting worse since DeJoy took over and has dismantled it. No one seems to have put 2 and 2 together to figure out that part of the package delivery issues were caused by USPS changes under DeJoy.
The CFDT campaign is feeding on fear from the barrage of misinformation, hate and anger spewed from CFDT and the Murdoch's. It's past time the media starts to report on Project 2025 and what we can expect to happen with the Federal agencies if CFDT is elected.
Past time, Gary. I have had similar experiences in the just over a year that I have been on my "entitlements" programs of Medicare and Social Security.
Confession: I was stumped by "CFDT", even after reading your comment three times. Then (speed reader confession here) i read the last 4 words of your post. The thought that we could elect a convicted felon as president makes my blood run cold, and that doesn't take into account the individual there that is the convicted felon.
Good morning Ally. You pointed out several months ago that "white Christian Nationalists" should own the moniker when I was conflicted about using the word Christian. I thought faux-Christian was more appropriate at the time.
However, I have come around and I think you are correct about them "owning" it.
So, thank you for your comment back then. It allowed me to almost always use "convicted felon Donald Trump" and CFDT so they can own it.
Thanks for sharing the link Patrick, even though the contents of the interview were quite disturbing. As I recall this story didn't get much press or not as much as the Catholic Church pedophile story did.
One of the local men was quite involved with uncovering (no pun intended) the priests committing pedophilia in the Springfield, MA area. He had three teenage sons one of whom was being groomed by their priest. Fortunately, the dad believed the son's story and eventually over 80 priests had been identified. Eventually Archbishop Law who had been aware of the crimes for over 20 years resigned in 2002.
In so many parts of the country the Catholic Church is so powerful, crimes committed by the priests are overlooked and rarely prosecuted.
😀 I am so fortunate to have found this comment board. There are so many wise and experienced people that enlighten us every day. And the camaraderie is a bonus.
You've touched on something that bothers me so much: Trump and his cohorts' sheer incompetency and willful intent to sabotage. One indicator of personality disorders (narcissism, borderline, et al.) is using destructiveness as a way to prevail. (Think of the mythological war gods. ) Building up good for all takes dedication, insight, and teamwork. That is a sign of a healthy mind.
We did really well in eliminating the infamous, dark driven No Labels Party. We can broadcast far and wide the Project 2025 document. We can do this by publishing sections of the documents. That way instead of the amorphous Project 2025 thing it gets real for people.
For Example:
" Implement nuclear modernization and expansion. The United States
manifestly needs to modernize, adapt, and expand its nuclear arsenal. "
And
"Improve military recruiters’ access to secondary schools and require
completion of the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery
(ASVAB)—the military entrance examination—by all students in schools
that receive federal funding."
There is an awful lot of philosophical verbiage and clear propaganda in the Project 2025 paper. However, by scanning through the paper stuff jumps out like the 2 examples I cited above.
Barbara, I am really perplexed by one of the statements you took from Project 25. I think I see the logic of what you’re implying; however, I’d like to offer another perspective. This is regarding the ASVAB and high school students. I retired from teaching high school in 2002. The majority of those years was 11th and 12th grade English (American and English lit.) twenty-two of my 36 years full-time teaching included Journalism ( newspaper and yearbook) and work Experience. I was in a high school attendance area of blue collar workers, as well as professionals in upper middle class. We were ethnically mixed and peaceful.
I developed a program over the years to help my senior students form a plan for post-graduation. I wanted to see what choices they had, and to assess their own abilities and interests. Literature didn’t suffer. They heard weekly speakers that described their careers. I used many of my former students from same community to stress what was possible. I had for-profit technical schools represented, as well as law enforcement and firefighters. The other people I had come in, with permission from administration, were recruiters from all the services. So many of my students could not afford college or were not sure about anything. I started having the ASVAB given on campus every spring. I was not preparing them for nuclear warfare. 1. They got an assessment of English and Math skills. 2. Their vocational strengths and preferences were presented. 3. They had a document to show their parents when discussing their next move after graduation. 4. If they did decide to go into the military, they learned the skill they wanted; they got money for college when the fulfilled their contract ( our son did this.) By the way, I didn’t demand they take the test; I offered extra credit points.
The success rate was tremendous. My students who did join a branch of the military have had impressive careers or just learned the skills necessary to join the American workforce and successfully provide for their families. A few did more than that. One ( female) served as part of military guard at the White House. Another young man who had nothing, been kicked out of house in sr. year by alcoholic father and walked to school daily from uncle’s house 5 miles away, went into motor division of the Army and learned everything about large trucks that gave him a valued skill and stability to raise his family. My favorite is currently just completing a 20- year career in the Navy as a Russian language expert (went and taught at their Foreign Language School in Monterey, as well as sent to Russia as interpreter. ) She is completing career in DC directly under Chief of Navy as a high ranking Chief Petty Officer.
I admit this was just prior to invasion of Iraq and years in Afghanistan. My point is that joining the military is not to be denigrated. The ASVAB is still a useful tool. We absolutely should not allow these Project 25 monster-creators to obscure and negatively change our pride in the military or not see their importance. Don’t throw out the baby with the bath water. Let’s all fight to rid our country of those trying to destroy it. I’m in.
Your work was amazing, Sue, and the outcomes life changing! I fear the 2025 plan's take on it, however, is to REQUIRE ALL students to be READYVTO BE DRAFYED for the many wars the U.S. oligarchs intend to stage.
What a great program for those young people! I wish that those choices had been presented to me as well as my classmates those many years ago. Most of us just stumbled around and did what our friends did. We were generally middle class with many opportunities, but innocent ignorance, of our parents as well as the school system, no doubt prevented us from reaching for so much more.
Look at it positively: the fact that N. Korea, Russia, China, India, Pakistan, Israel, US, UK, ..., are all modernizing their nuclear arsenals, and even talking about using them, will take our minds off of global warming, plastic pollution, overpopulation,... . Every cloud has a silver lining.
It isn't out there near enough. I heard that Heather was on The 11:00 Hour on MSNBC the other night discussing the Project 2025. She needs to be and others need to talk about it every day of the week! I don't think it is discussed on Fox Entertainment and those other fake news programs!
Heather WAS on MSNBC at 11.00 pm. I stayed awake to get my first really good look at her. As impressive “in person” as her writing. We are as lucky to have her as we think we are!
Virginia Witmer, you can catch her most weeks on Tuesdays giving an informal chat in the afternoon on Facebook. It is worth being on Facebook to have that opportunity to listen to these chats. They are taped and you can watch past chats. I am hooked. Recently I have had to watch after the fact....but they are filled with so much information that we don't get in the letters and what is happening today. Look for Heather Cox Richardson and make sure you get her actual page. There is a fake one out there too. She warns about it. Hers has her picture. I wish I knew how to post a link. When she is on the road with promoting her book she may not be able to connect and she is a busy lady! She is a bit younger than my daughter but she is my hero and keeps me fairly sane...or as much as possible. She is down to earth and so honest. I dearly love her!
I'm hearing Project 2025 referenced by many hosts and guests on the MSNBC programs I watch. Problem is that those who watch regularly are more likely to be in the 'choir'.
I am seeing more on MSNBC this weekend. It needs to be continually talked about! We need to get the word out. Hopefully, those that need it will catch on before November! Prayers for all, our country and God Bless our Troops!
Susan, that is very true. When I mentioned Heather's Substack daily Letter to a Trumper, he had never heard of it , but was so quick to classify it as an "underground newspaper".
My wife is hesitant to use Substack because they allowed self labeled Nazi's to post on Substack. So there must me some far right readers and posters out here.
My daughter works for Social Security. She is so helpful to those with issues. She goes way beyond what others do. She lives her job! It is her life! I am so proud of her. She has a hearing disability but is totally amazing!
Andra Watkins is a NYT bestselling author who “escaped” Christian Nationalism years ago.She has read and dissected the almost 1000 page, Project 2025 “Presidential Transition Project” document.
Anyone who thinks that Trump/Putin will not destroy the America we have known since the 18th century is delusional. The outreach of the “useful idiot” to Putin, the bromance with North Korea and the intrasigeance of the “groupies of Putin” have weakened US internationally beyond the imagination of many if not most Americans. Time to think beyond higher prices for food and gasoline, and organize to fight Trump and Climate Change.
Prof Joyce Vance said in her Substack she is planning on doing a book club of the 920 page Project 2025 document. I mentioned this to my leader of Democrats Abroad Germany and he thought we should do a book club of it too. I think there should be book clubs all over America and the Expat world of people reading this document.
Those "big plans" are nothing new. The Republican Study Group and the Federalist Society have been making the same suggestions, sometimes reducing them to writing in legislation. Before Trump won in 2016 the Federalist society identified about 150 judicial positions where Trump could eliminate civil service, eliminate the jobs, and apply the spoils system to appoint nothing but loyalists. My job was one of them. He wasn't able to replace us , but eliminated "merit selection" of judges appointed under Article 2 Section 2 of the constitution. The "Federal register" comprised of people who had commensurate trial experience and could pass a background security test, pass a test on administrative law, have the experienced scored and rated and undergo a staged interview by agency representatives someone representing the public and the ABA. Typically if an opening occurred, a best qualified list of 3 candidates would be sent to the agency for selection.
In anticipation of litigation Trump killed merit selection. Executive Order (E.O.) 13843 titled, “Excepting Administrative Law Judges from the Competitive Service” (83 FR 32755). E.O. 13843 states “that conditions of good administration make necessary an exception to the competitive hiring rules and examinations for the position of ALJ.https://www.govinfo.gov/link/cpd/executiveorder/13843
The rule today. No tests. No trial qualifications. No evaluations of experience. No FBI investigations. The only qualification is loyalty.
Our fate as a nation may be decided in the SDFL hearing before Judge Cannon today.
Old wine, new bottles. GWB threatened to do it. Trump needed an "emergency" to execute the "unitary executive" theory. Usurp Congress and the judiciary.
While I see Trump as the five alarm fire he is for worldwide democracy, I also fear that not having him in the picture will not end the danger for America. As long as there is a Project 2025 agenda in the republicans’ platform, any elected Republican president will do for them what they seek. They won’t let anyone but a purist ideologue get close to the nomination. I fear that their domination of our government is not an “if” but a “when”. If not Trump, the next Republican president. And in American politics it is unrealistic to believe democrats can hold the presidency through enough election cycles for this to die down. Certainly not when it is the culmination of more than fifty years of planning and funding by those with the means, and now the levers of power, to pull it off.
Agreed Sandy, DJT is just the tip of the spear. He’s useful to the powers behind him, but, he’s replaceable. Extremists have taken control of key parts of the judiciary, including SCOTUS. If and when they purge the civil service, our democratic institutions will fold quickly. Just watching how Judge Cannon has gamed the system to delay and perhaps circumvent justice is a warning shot of what’s to come.
Those who can't win election because of the repulsiveness of their ideas had the brilliant idea of legislating via the unelected judicial system. While hamstringing congress with paid for via citizens United whores.
And the next person likely will be smarter, more educated, more self-disciplined, less distracted, and more capable of making and executing an actual plan.
Kinda Trump holding the Bible upside down, but more serious. I can no longer remember but as a kid, 70 or so years ago, religious posters etc were pro forma in Canadian schools, Ten Commandments? not sure. but the Lords Prayer was recited regularly over speakers, and in auditoriums. Funny they don't go on and institute slavery was OK, polygamy just the way it was!
Jenn, thank you for stating this. Good people of faith should be absolutely livid about what is happening. Too often people of faith are judged by the hypocrites and crass opportunists among them.
Jenn, I agree, but I am also concerned about the myriad lessons Jesus teaches and how the white Christian Nationalists act like the Bible is all about hate and anger instead of love, compassion and empathy.
But the media is using Convicted Felon Donald Trump's omnipresence against him more and more. Jennifer Rubin of the WAPO, Joyce Vance, Maggie Haberman, John Fugelseng, Heather Cox Richardson and so many others are constantly reinforcing CFDT's foibles and fails.
The problem being each side live in silos, trust more live in a more secular, religiously tolerant world than those in the MAGA / Evangelical world and that carries through come Nov.
But the mainline newspapers play into the maga handbook and tens of millions of people only get news from social media sources, Fox and Newsmax. In the latter scenario, they are told what to think, they are not informed, and it dulls critical thinking.
Sure, and this may in fact get to independents (it appears to be) but the rest of the crowd is in the fox/newmax silo. Unless a group like The Lincoln Project (or better yet, the Biden campaign) starts creating ads enumerating this stuff and placing them on right wing "news," I fear that this is all just yelling into the void.
"It should be clear to all that when Judge Cannon refused to step aside from the Trump case, the fix was in." Oh it is clear. It continues to amaze me that this kind of corruption can happen in our system of justice. Right before our eyes, and there is nothing that can be done about it. A gigantic loophole in our democratic form of government that has to be fixed if only our governemt had the ability to. Which it currently doesn't thanks to Republicans.
Yep--right on the money, Linda! I admit that I don't engage here as much--although I read the letter every day and a lot of the comments--because the firehose of news is so debilitating.
Many of Trump's henchmen and sycophants have either stated openly, or have been surreptitiously recorded indicating that MAGA Republicans are planning - by hook or crook, to stymie voting, or throw legal wrenches into the gears of our electoral process in order to gain a last gasp win in November. And if they can't "win" by cheating that way, to aggressively attempt to discredit the outcome and/or promote threats of violence against election workers, and possibly intimidate voters. These are desperate moves by a party that no longer has anything meaningful or important to offer. Indeed, the Republican Party, which ought to at least be honest by rebranding as "The New Confederacy", offers nothing but hate, lies, confusion and chaos - in complete service I should add, to Putin and the uniting forces of global authoritarianism.
Yea for Louisiana- the Repubs are pounding nails into their OWN coffins. Sorry Joe has to "debate" with a nutcase, but at least it is on his terms. The more exposure of the insanity before the election, the better.
Something lame for everyone except that M.A.G.A. base that is the cognitive under-class. I suspect the excuse will be that fake media is rigging the debate for fake news.
Ten commandments themselves are the basic behavioral laws that shape the society - in particular 5 to 10. Trump is clearly violating them, and hece 1 to 4.
It's no mistake that Russia, China, and North Korea are hoping Trump will help them become a modern-day version of the axis powers, Nazi Germany, the Kingdom of Italy, and the Empire of Japan. I hope Heather will forgive me if I provide an amateur Historian's attempt to describe something else in the news. There was a man who became outrageously wealthy during the Guilded Age named Andrew Mellon. He was a Republican who had a tremendous amount of power in the US government. He favored low taxes and trickle-down economics (of course), and was US Secretary of the Treasury until 1932. After the start of the Great Depression, he was about to be impeached so he became the Ambassador to Great Briton. But he was never one of those who suffered from the Great Depression. Instead, he handed his money down to Timothy Mellon, who just made a $50 million donation to Trump’s Super PAC. Timothy is also a staunch Republican (who once wanted to help Donald build a wall), and Timothy knew that donations are the wealthy’s way of buying politicians. After all, the politicians don’t give a damn about what the average citizen wants. They care about how much they’re going to have to spend on their campaign. That’s why politicians let wealthy donors decide which laws get passed, and that’s how, by deciding which laws get passed, the wealthy 1% get to take money from the 90%.
Before you cast a vote, think about two things: Think about how you can make the world a better place and think about how you can return the US to having a functioning democracy.
And think about how absolutely corrupt and vile the "Republican Party" has patently become. Handing them absolute power could only be a nightmare come to pass.
This reminds me of all the bumper stickers at the time of the Vietnam War that read: "America - love it or leave it" How do you even begin to explain to someone like this that loving your country also means fighting for it to be a great country and not a hotbed of bigotry and hatred.
That right there is a person who needs help. Someone doesn't become that vile just by chance. In order to hate others that much, she must be hating herself.
I think Trump would qualify as a psychopath, but I also think that those of an authoritarian bent let their "Mr. Hyde" proclivities be called forward by immersing themselves in a self-reinforcing cult, but may also come to reject the cult and it's delusions in some cases where conscience was trampled not strangled.
I tried to find the name of the $50 million donor, thanks for that. I read that the donation was made the day after his conviction. Money is desperate for more power. They are willing to spend a fortune to get a bigger fortune. The odds are obvious to all
The rich idiots think that their compounds will be “safe.” But damn, how will their needed servants survive. May they be alone on their mountaintops with no one to wipe their butts
Except that the last person left alive owes absolutely nothing to anyone and arguably owns that whole world. A solipsistic lifetime ambition fulfilled.
Any evidence that "Russia, China, and North Korea are hoping Trump will help them become a modern-day version of the axis powers, Nazi Germany, the Kingdom of Italy, and the Empire of Japan?" Sounds like complete fantasy and neocon propaganda to me.
You are aware that every both Democratic and Republican administrations since HW Bush have followed the neocon agenda and that agenda is to create a U.S. empire (read US corporations, oligarchs, and banking) that rules the earth and prevent any other power from threatening US hegemony (see Project for a new American Century)? You are aware the US continually tries via intelligence agencies and NGOs to overthrow and destabilize governments around the world and has 1000 military bases? You are aware Genocide Joe Biden is an ardent life long card carrying neocon who has eagerly supported all US wars of aggression and has included some of the most bloodthirsty neocons in his administration?
I spend some time these days reflecting on my emotional response to the unfolding current events surrounding the national election coming in November. I'm long past anger or outrage at the manipulative measures taken to misrepresent our president, our institutions of government, the health of our economy and assaults on individual rights. I would have to choose the word sorrow to reflect the axis around which my emotions revolve. Every marginalized sector of our population is being assaulted these days. Where have compassion, empathy, charity, solidarity gone? Why has xenophobia become a trademark in our public discourse? We are finding the bitter edge of our capacity to reject these repugnant trends. We know a felon can run for the highest office in the land. We know that someone who fomented an insurrection against our government cannot be barred from the ballot. We know that bigots and baldfaced liars can shout their vile proclamations from the rooftops with first amendment protections. So, having lived through 6 decades of the most prosperous eras in human history, I'm disappointed, saddened, sorrowful about where we have landed in our body politic. It's not just the figureheads of this fascist movement, but the substantial fraction of the populace that will march in support of ideas antithetical to those that are foundational to our system of government, our way of life. What are they seeking to achieve? Chaos does not breed a more just society. How blind can one be to the fact that all of us are only a few generations removed from the arrival of our ancestors on this soil, possessions in hand, hoping for a better life. Today's immigrants are fundamentally no different than the rest of us who arrived a bit earlier. Since I can't shout loud enough to drown out the bigotry, what remains for me is to bow my head, close my eyes and try to contain the sorrow I feel and hope against hope that we'll rise above this time of shame that we're experiencing in the approach to our national election. We are so in need of a renewal in spirit, one that might possibly allow us to regard our neighbors with compassion, even love, as we have been admonished to do in times past.
Try to remember that, while a sizeable minority of the American electorate seems to favor authoritarian rule and the abandonment of many basic American values that implies, the segment of the electorate that still values our way of life is still a majority (though small) and growing every day. We have Biden. We have HCR. We have each-other. If nothing else, take heart from two numbers: 320 and 81,000,000. -Oh, and stop listening to poles, they seem to have gotten broken over the past few years.
What scares me are the voters that are totally disengaged yet they vote for only Republicans or only Democrats. I know several people that are going to blindly vote for the candidate whose name they recognize on the ballot. Even someone as vile as Ted Cruz wins even though he has done nothing but spew hate and anger for 12 years.
Please search for Jessica Craven's Substack "Chop Wood, Carry Water".
It took a good six months of Letter reader's recommendation till I finally did, and I'm grateful for the suggestion. I have often felt exactly as you, and her substack is beneficial, especially the weekly GOOD NEWS one.
Authoritarian regimes, especially fascist ones, often struggle with long-term stability and many fail before they even get established. This is due to several factors: repression breeds discontent, leading to potential rebellions; economic strain from military expenses and suppression efforts; dependence on a charismatic leader, causing succession issues; stifling of innovation, hindering adaptation; and costly expansionist aims, weakening the regime through resource depletion.
There is a deep anger in rural and working class America. Those who feel left behind, ignored and disrespected are being exploited by MAGA who have weaponized their anger and mistrust.
Globalization off shored many factory jobs that once provided excellent wages and benefits. College has become unaffordable for many. Even those who obtain degrees are competing for too few jobs. Unions have shrunk, driving wages and befits down for many service workers. Family farms have been liquidated due to debt encouraged by a system that makes few allowances for fluctuating commodity prices.
This discontent has always been a breeding ground for fascism. MAGA has become their instrument of destruction and democracy is their target. Foreign actors like Russia are exploiting the divide and filling social media with disinformation. Oligarchs keep their thumb on the scale. Historians saw the danger years ago; the general population is much slower to recognize the danger. And here we are.
Well said, Diane. There's another layer to that which you describe in paragraph two that I see in my former work cohort (retired cops/spouses) who are terrified that the "others" (be they immigrants, BIPOC, or LGBTQ+) will have the same rights and opportunities as they have taken for granted their entire lives.
Reason doesn’t apply to this problem. Charlatans don’t fix problems, they only exploit them. An enraged mob isn’t interested in facts, they just want to break things.
If the angry mob spent as much energy using the levers we have in our current system (activism, the law, grass roots politics) to effect change as they expend salivating over revolutionary action, they might well be better off with far less disruption around them. Unions thrive when their membership remains active, take sober assessment of what they deliver at the cost of union membership. Local/regional politicians are elected when their message offers something beyond hate and retribution. It may be easier the "throw the bastards out" than to vet and place true civil servents, but mature and patient participation in the political process does not leave blood on the streets and stagnation in the face of civil trench wars.
Ahh, there we go again, using reason, the dullest knife in the emotional drawer. Once anger takes over, the logical brain ceases to function. Much as it distresses me, we must find ways to counter disinformation fueled rage. Sometimes fire must be fought with fire.
We got here by pretending goodness is in all people and that goodness can be revealed thru kindness. Narcissism and psychopathy have supremacy now because of the delusion that goodness and kindness can prevail. "Good christian" values are the reason society looks as you describe.
It's highly ironic that those values, when linked to compassion, inclusion, humility and charity, could actually bring about the better world we seek. I have nothing against promoting famillies, fostering engagement with any and all religions (other than those that promote jihad), acknowledging that our form of government was established and developed in juxtaposition to a dominant faith tradition (not to say that it yielded a "perfect Union" by any stretch of the imagination). It's not the inclusion, but the exclusion that is pulling us apart. It's not the love, but the hate. It's not the compassion, but the xenophopbia that is eroding the foundation of our democracy.
Convicted felon DJT has a strategy in mind. He apparently agreed to not interrupt by having his microphone turned off, he can still interrupt by stalking and in other ways.
Or he might muddle through the debate and then release a long harangue attacking Biden afterwords.
Whatever he does, it will be aimed at his base and it will be filled with hate, anger and misinformation.
What the World needs now is a Great Explainer. Someone who can get through to people with the truth that the battle is not between capitalism and socialism, but between democracy and autocracy (or theocracy). Someone who can explain that it’s not inflation that’s making it so hard to make ends meet. It’s income inequality. Right now, inflation is costing the average US household about $9,000 per year, while the 50-year increase in income inequality is costing the average US household between $48,000 and $63,000 per year. Someone who can get through to people that mass migration, like climate change, is becoming the new normal. Meanwhile, immigrants are a net gain for the US economy. As for Climate Change, the cost of mitigation, and the cost in lives, is only going to go up. You can start paying now, or you can pay far more later.
Hey Heather, have you thought about running for office?
Agreed, Dan, as to the gravity of the growth in income inequality.
Our best Dems could highlight this if they trusted and more often cited our humanities which show what our American working classes have been facing: films like “The Florida Project” and “Winter’s Bone”; novels like Barbara Kingsolver’s “Demon Copperhead,” Walter Mosley’s “Always Outnumbered, Always Outgunned,” and many by Richard Russo and Stephen King; memoirs like Mary Karr’s “The Liars’ Club,” Jeannette Walls’ “The Glass Castle,” and Erin Gruwell’s “The Freedom Writers Diary,” songs like Tim Grimm’s “Broken Truth,” Bob Segers’ “Feel Like a Number,” and any number of Bruce Springsteen or hip hop Ari Melber will cite.
But our schools don't highlight what our humanities in fact powerfully do, Dan, so few, few, few even of our best Dems ever avail themselves of so many of our untouched resources.
And shorn of the human dimension, the income inequality message just will not register.
Dan, somehow the public needs to be made aware of how much inflation 45’s proposed “China tariffs “ and deportation of workers who do jobs that US citizens choose not to do will lead to. Just the “China tariffs” would cost the average US family at least $1,700 a year.
And his rules came straight from Mien Kampf (James Murphy translation) re the "big lie," which repubs use nonstop. Tells exactly how to make them stick.
Are you familiar with "Beau of the Fifth Column"? Many here follow his clips on YouTube, and I've often said I like the way he explains current news. Here's an example I just posted above.
I hope President Biden will make Trump look like a fool during the debate on July 27th. This is great news to hear that Biden has a small lead in the polls.
June 27! Seven days from now. President Biden is using Camp David to do presidential-level debate prep. Trump is going to wing it, of course. No one can criticize him, instruct him or question his statements because that would conflict with his belief that he knows more than everyone about everything. He's also suffering from cognitive dissonance in that he keeps calling the president "Sleepy Joe" while claiming that cocaine is being used to enhance President Biden's performance.
I love that the debate will turn off the microphone of the speaker when it is not their time to speak. How did they get Trump to agree to that? Although, I still remember him stalking around behind Hillary when she was talking. Maybe the rules should include territorial limits.
Biden is a pro at debating. He will set Trump up to provoke him and make him put his foot in his mouth. I do agree with you mentally, Trump has declined.
Just a question. If Biden wins a second term, would it be fair for him to put Judge Cannon on his enemies' list and use whatever means at his disposal, legal or not, to remove her from the bench, assuming that Trump's argument about presidential immunity is correct? (Insert smiley face.)
Biden doesn't need to do any of those things. It has already been reported that Judge Cannon and other conservative judges have also taken gifts from conservative operatives; but unlike the SCOTUS, lower ranking judges have ethics codes they must obey or face consequences. Her acceptance of bribes will come to light.
I hope you're right. RE: SCOTUS...Theoretically, playing by the same rules as the Republicans, I guess Biden could call for his partisans to storm the Supreme Court building and threaten Roberts with a noose if he didn't tally judicial decisions in his favor. Right?
The only way to involuntarily remove a federal judge is by impeachment; accomplishing that requires the vote of 66 Senators for guilt. A judge who is arrested for a crime is also removed from the bench if convicted.
Blessedly, President Biden doesn't have an "enemies list" and he doesn't go outside the four corners of the Constitution. That's not to say that he likes everyone he deals with, just that it's not his nature to be vengeful.
This is so fascinating. What these nihilists and terrorists are demanding to be true would make it possible for Biden to destroy them without consequence. They are counting on Biden's restraint.
Kerry obviously you are a Republican 'want-a-be' with these stupid ideas that are anti-democratic, undermine the independence of the Judiciary and are essentially Trumpista gambits. If this is supposed to be satire, ha ha, you are a joke for saying things so stupid that have no resonance amongst those who believe in the rule of law.
Calm down. I took Kerry's remarks as being ironic. What I would like to see are commercials featuring Trump at his worst, not only with ebbing intellect (if any intellect ever existed), but also with infamous incidents like his flattering Putin abjectly in Helsinki.
Joe Biden is truly in the same position as FDR was in the late 30’s and early 40’s. Unfortunately the difference is the monstrously large right wing media ecosystem. I worry about the debates. It never gets to a deep discussion regarding policy and outcomes. Biden needs to be on the offense but that’s not his character. It should not be about winning or losing but rather substance. We inhabit a world where yes the educated voter is looking for substance but the zombie Maga tribe does not care and vote against their own economic interests. Thanks Heather.
Questions we, in the U.S., and the rest of the West need to ask ourselves:
🤔
¿Are we willing to take the risks necessary for Ukraine to win by giving her what she needs and the freedom to use those weapons as she sees fit?
⚖️
¿Is Jack Smith willing to ask for a new judge and say, if Cannon is not fired from the case, the investigation will include her for obstruction of justice, committed after the fact, in this crime?
🤣
¿Is the U.S. willing to deride the agreement between two psychoes in the U.N.? Perhaps by saying, "¿Who in the HELL would want to invade Russia or North Korea? ¿Who would want that mess? ¿You know what? ¡China can have them! ¡That'll keep her too bizzy to be much trouble to anyone!
🥳
One question answered: ¿will Trump show up to debate in a week? NO CHANCE. 🤭
Anne-Louise, I really do not know. I keep seeing -- not so often anymore -- calls for removing this judge. I suspect publicly announcing the possibility of investigating Judge Cannon for obstruction of justice, no matter how weak the case might be, would snap her into line.
Ned, Anne...really REALLY...threatening investigations of judges is soooo Trumpian, I want to barf!!! BARF!!! Really this is the EXACT SAME as Trump threats at retaliation against Biden, Clinton, Obama et al. First, the law lays out reasons to recuse (ask a judge to remove themselves first, if denied-appeal). Obviously Jack Smith does not think he has any such basis given the status of the law. Secondly, IF IF IF Jack Smith has evidence of possible impropriety between Cannon and Trump his job is to investigate it QUIETLY and either A-indict the case or B-say nothing. The 2 of you are suggesting third world MAGA tactics...making these Trumpian MAGA GOP suggestions...making your cause no better than Trump's, given the damage done to our democracy.
Joyce Vance is one of the best authors on the subject of judicial ethics. Anyone would do well to seek out her commentaries on Judge Cannon. Joyce Vance was the US Attorney for the Northern District of Alabama for years. Her comments are never "over-heated". At the same time, you can always know when she believes someone is out of line.
B.S. She may be obstructing justice and S.C. Smith's requesting expanded authority to investigate that possibility is not Trumpian. Publicly threatening the Judge and her family -- that is Trumpian. Nietzsche was a nut case, but he did have a point that tigers who remove their claws can hardly congratulate themselves for being strong.
That might be a better tactic than calling directly for her to be fired. If she stays on the case after such a call, she would have even more incentive to decide it in favor of Trump on the thinnest of pretexts thus setting him free of jeopardy. Better minds than mine, of which there are many on this site, will no doubt have better suggestions. :-)
Another masterful summary of the important events of the day in widely divergent yet equally important areas. Even dedicated news junkies will find something new and interesting in these letters. In my case it was the statement of the ROK President and what it portends.
We will almost certainly see a ramping-up of our armaments production, both in conventional weapons and in the cutting-edge devices being proven on the battlefields of Ukraine, to supply our own needs as well as those of our allies. The international situation is as ominous as the late 1930s, and we need to be ready.
The ongoing pollution of our media environment, by enemies both foreign and domestic continues unabated. I don't see any short-term solution, certainly not before the election. And if the results of the election are unfavorable to the continuation of liberal democracy, we shall be forever in the land of Newspeak.
As for Judge Cannon, it may be a toxic combination of bias, incompetence, hubris, and personal pique at having been so publicly rebuked by the 11th District that is driving her utter obstinacy in the documents case. "I'll show those guys.....!" Another possibility is that she is following guidance (orders, actually) from those who are sponsoring the defense. I am reluctant to go down that route, but it would make her actions and decisions regarding the case appear more coherent.
I look forward to Dr. Richardson's next letter. It will undoubtedly be informative, well-sourced and well-written. I hope Dr. Richardson can provide some historical precedents that will help us make sense of the current maelstrom.
I fear that the framers of the Constitution may have assumed that we would never allow so many parts of government to be corrupted at once, that we the people would not let it go this far. The "Republican" party has been dedicated for decades to sabotaging the republic from the inside.
Why fear to take seriously that Aileen Cannon "is following guidance (orders actually) from those who are sponsoring the defense"? You saw the images of all the Republican politicians who appeared in the closing days of Trump's criminal trial in New York. All wearing the same clown suit red ties. You know very well, James, that this show is being organized. Well-funded.
Having no expertise in world affairs, I always am particularly grateful for the Professor's global news.
If you want a feel-good perspective, Jay Kuo of the Big Picture publishes some hopeful news about the upcoming election. No, really. It's pretty damned hopeful!
For the bottom-line readers (of which I am one), I'm going to point to two paragraphs Jay writes that I believe backs up his contention that 2024 will not be a repeat of 2020.
"But in November of 2022, something extraordinary happened. Voters in these battlegrounds rejected MAGA extremism and election denialists at the ballot box, and instead elected Democratic governors in Michigan, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, and Arizona. They flipped the state legislatures in Michigan and Pennsylvania, and they elected Democratic secretaries of state and attorneys general in Michigan, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, and Arizona.
"That means that in 2024, the administration, safety, and certification of elections in four of the five 2020 battleground states will be completely in Democratic hands. It is hard to understate the importance of this when it comes to election integrity and protection of the right to vote. These Democratic officials very likely will not tolerate illegal voter intimidation or disruptions of the vote count, and they have learned a lot from their experiences in 2020."
Heather’s review of the Russian/North Korea practical bromance, the nuclear heads up about Iran, and the awkwardness between China’s desired Asian dominance and Putin’s accelerated involvement with Kim highlights the volatility of ‘Cold War’ international relations.
I am reminded of how Trump, when president, clumsily and ineptly screwed up America’s strategic global interests.
1) After a delicately negotiated 6-nation agreement that sharply restricted Iran’s nuclear development, Trump precipitously pulled out. This facilitated an acceleration of Iran’s move towards nuclear weapons and helped trigger the Iranian rogueness throughout the Middle East.
2) Trump scuttled American participation in a multinational Asian economic alliance intended to counter Chinese creeping dominance.
3) Trump initiated a much greater disbalance between Netanyahu and the Palestinians. In addition to acknowledging that Jerusalem effectively was Israeli, Trump also turned a blind eye towards major Israeli encroachments on Palestinian lands.
4) Trump threatened to abandon US lock-step support of NATO, while Putin, his bromance buddy, was increasingly threatening the hegemony of Eastern Europe.
Fortunately, the Biden administration has managed to pursue far more successfully America’s global strategic interests:
1) In response to Putin’s brutal invasion of Ukraine, President Biden has led a remarkable riposte in which NATO countries and others have banded together in support of Ukrainian sovereignty. However, Trump/Republican back sliding delayed imperative military aid to Ukraine for more than half a year.
2) In Asia President Biden has created economic and military alliances that have provided a counter weight to China’s efforts to ‘cherry pick’ in pressuring individual Asian countries.
3) Putin’s recent bromance with Kim may be somewhat upsetting to China, which doesn’t want Russian to infringe on Chinese primacy in Asia. President Biden is dealing with China with sniper shots rather than the shotgun blasts employed by Trump.
4) In the Middle East President Biden is caught between a rock and a hard place in part because Trump and Trumpublicans have been so supportive of Netanyahu.
As I read Heather’s comments and reflect on Anne Applebaum’s writings, I am most fearful, were Trump to return to the White House. There is clear evidence that he would resume his common cause with his authoritarian buddies.
THEN THE PRACTICAL, MUTUAL SELF-INTEREST GLOBAL RELATIONSHIPS THAT THE BIDEN ADMINISTRATION HAS CRAFTED WILL SWIFTLY BE JEOPARDIZED.
As a former Foreign Service Officer, it is crystal clear that President Biden would professionally serve the United States internationally while Trump would again result in wackadoodleism.
Keith, I so appreciate your comments here. The juxtaposition between POTUS and fpotus cannot be more clearly articulated. That, and you have given me a great new word: "wackadoodleism"!
Keith, I am way late to LFAA today and, OMG, so many comments! While I’d love to read them all (really), I must confess I scrolled thru to see if some of my fave commenters had posted….scroll….scroll…scroll….yay, there’s Keith! I so much appreciate your views based on awesome experience and, shall we say, gained wisdom as a result. As I have commented before, reading LFAA (and other SubStacks) and commenters are my “late night continuing education classes”!
Barbara Your prescient comments inspire me to write far more from my heart than my head. I have witnessed much during my 90 years. Presently I am frightened at the prospect that a gutless, cult-fake Messiah could destroy the soul of the America that my grand children will inherit.
Keith, as a “youngster” at nearly 75 to your 90 years, I struggle to find effective ways to “push back” against this authoritarian move to takeover of our country. I lament that so many folks are apathetic to what’s going on….and struggle to understand how that can be. I wish more folks could “see” and appreciate the history that folks like you use as both a cautionary and encouraging tale….bottom line, we need to pay attention!
I am noticing that finally more of the mainstream media sources are beginning to identify the “inflationary period” that we’re in or at least why prices have been slow to come down: “Greed-flation“ as corporations have been artificially holding prices high!!! Presidents - at least most and certainly Biden is in this group - do not wish to attempt imposing “jawboning economic measures” and especially in this political environment and especially so close to the election.
Trump has the potential to destroy the US by making it ungovernable / its institutions (including the election system) no longer trusted (He's already accomplished that wth the SCOTUS and the House of Representatives).... even if he does not become POTUS. This is because he leads a movement that - while it will hugely benefit from him being POTUS (see Project 2025) - will continue to function even if he does not become POTUS. This movement will not accept the results of the 2024 election unless Trump wins. And my gut tells me that America will have a very hard time dealing with the claims the election was rigged (including possible violence) if Trump loses. The MAGA GOP wants to burn down the system. And I have seen nothing to show my Joe Biden knows how to handle such a constitutional crisis. I hope I'm wrong.
If he had to handle such a constitutional crisis alone, I'd share your fears. But one of President Biden's great strengths is the quality of his team, plus his own lifetime of experience.
I appreciate your confidence in the quality of Biden’s team. But to quote a long-ago opinion peace (“Fresh Face” by Leslie R. Gelb), they are “experts in the past.
America doesn’t know how to handle Trump (with his Fox News, Mitch McConnell, Mike Johnson, and billionaire backers). Hillary didn’t know how to handle a system (which included The NY Times and CBS’s Les Moonves) - not just Trump - that wanted her to lose. And now we have an even better organized effort to manipulate Trump either back into office or to burn the system down (as Putin wants Trump to do if Biden wins).
I pray Biden has a plan. It will have to be hugely creative (perhaps on the order of how Hollywood helped unify America during WWII … see the First Motion Picture Unit led by Jack Warner) to prevent the forces of destruction surrounding Trump from winning.
Correct you are, Steve. Any Biden plan would "have to be hugely creative."
You cite Hollywood and its role in WWII aptly. The difference between then and today is that in the interval the far-right foundations that enacted the Powell memo set as their first target getting rid of humanities in American education.
Creative, Steve? If our elites indeed got neutered, that would explain why so few can refer to any of our humanities in touch with the human damage that's been done.
Anne-Louise, I would add that if the Constitution is in jeopardy as a consequence of the election in November, those who have sworn an oath to defend the Constitution, including the US Defense establishment, would rise to defend the Constitution, as well as the President and Commander-in-Chief, who will remain in office at least until inauguration day.
We hope. However we also know of the rot in the ranks of the DoD and National Guard as in Police departments given the role of the Oath Keepers in 2019-2021.
But I do think they are a minority and hope their compatriots will reign them in.
Daniel, thank for the link to the Tour to Save Democracy….I bookmarked it & wish I had a bazillion dollars to support pro-democracy supporters/activists…..alas, that is not the case, but do whatever I can! ☮️
Thank you Heather
I feel its important that we acknowledge that the plan to keep Trump viable in this race is expressed. He isn't going away. His cult is willing to stake their existence by rallying around him regardless of what he says next. This nonsense with putting the 10 Commandments in schools is nothing more than testing the waters for the implementation of Project 2025. The Supreme Court is more than willing to help this gameplan if necessary.
It should be clear to all that when Judge Cannon refused to step aside from the Trump case, the fix was in.
Here we are.
Be safe. Be well.
Project 2025 is a conservative plan for a future Republican president. It aims to reverse Democratic policies, strengthen presidential power, and potentially shrink agencies like the EPA. Critics fear it weakens institutions and harms social programs, while supporters see it as restoring conservative values.
For a critical view, you can explore resources from the Center for American Progress https://www.americanprogress.org/series/project-2025-exposing-the-far-right-assault-on-america/.
For the project's perspective, you can visit their official website https://www.project2025.org/.
Michael, having recently started collecting SS and being on Medicare has reinforced what an amazing job this agency is doing. When I have had any questions or issues, they are there to help.
About a month ago my sister-in-law and I went to the local SS office. We took a number and our wait time was about 20 minutes. While we waited, there were a couple of ladies who had not received their most recent payments. They were both on SS disability and the SS agent was able to resolve their issues. Imagine, depending on SS disability for 100% of your needs and not receiving a payment as expected.
And now imagine an incompetent fool like Louis DeJoy running the SS administration.
In 2022 almost 71 million people received benefits from SS and there were over 5.5 million new SS recipient in 2022.
Project 2025 wants to replace 50000 seasoned Federal government workers with far-right religious zealots. CFDT could care less about people becoming homeless or hungry so it's likely to get very ugly very quickly.
The USPS service in ME is awful and getting worse since DeJoy took over and has dismantled it. No one seems to have put 2 and 2 together to figure out that part of the package delivery issues were caused by USPS changes under DeJoy.
The CFDT campaign is feeding on fear from the barrage of misinformation, hate and anger spewed from CFDT and the Murdoch's. It's past time the media starts to report on Project 2025 and what we can expect to happen with the Federal agencies if CFDT is elected.
Past time, Gary. I have had similar experiences in the just over a year that I have been on my "entitlements" programs of Medicare and Social Security.
Confession: I was stumped by "CFDT", even after reading your comment three times. Then (speed reader confession here) i read the last 4 words of your post. The thought that we could elect a convicted felon as president makes my blood run cold, and that doesn't take into account the individual there that is the convicted felon.
Good morning Ally. You pointed out several months ago that "white Christian Nationalists" should own the moniker when I was conflicted about using the word Christian. I thought faux-Christian was more appropriate at the time.
However, I have come around and I think you are correct about them "owning" it.
So, thank you for your comment back then. It allowed me to almost always use "convicted felon Donald Trump" and CFDT so they can own it.
As for the 10 Commandments, I checked the list of states for ranking quality of life, Louisiana is dead last at 50. Seems like their governor might have other things to worry about. As for "Christians", here is a link to the the Southern Baptist sexual scandals. 700 named abusers. https://www.npr.org/2022/06/02/1102621352/how-the-southern-baptist-convention-covered-up-its-widespread-sexual-abuse-scand
And one can also recall the problems in the Roman Catholic church.
I seem to recall that Jesus was opposed to to churches.
Thanks for sharing the link Patrick, even though the contents of the interview were quite disturbing. As I recall this story didn't get much press or not as much as the Catholic Church pedophile story did.
One of the local men was quite involved with uncovering (no pun intended) the priests committing pedophilia in the Springfield, MA area. He had three teenage sons one of whom was being groomed by their priest. Fortunately, the dad believed the son's story and eventually over 80 priests had been identified. Eventually Archbishop Law who had been aware of the crimes for over 20 years resigned in 2002.
In so many parts of the country the Catholic Church is so powerful, crimes committed by the priests are overlooked and rarely prosecuted.
Then there are U.S. Catholic Dioceses which are filing bankruptcy to protect themselves going forward.
https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/258007/san-diego-diocese-files-for-bankruptcy-to-address-sexual-abuse-claims
https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/253644/which-us-dioceses-have-declared-bankruptcy-here-s-a-map
I love that, Gary!!
😀 I am so fortunate to have found this comment board. There are so many wise and experienced people that enlighten us every day. And the camaraderie is a bonus.
Gary, for me, since his felony conviction I have upped my TFFG to TFFFG—The Felonious F**king Former Guy!
It is deliberate and calculated, and will get worse if people don’t wake up.
You've touched on something that bothers me so much: Trump and his cohorts' sheer incompetency and willful intent to sabotage. One indicator of personality disorders (narcissism, borderline, et al.) is using destructiveness as a way to prevail. (Think of the mythological war gods. ) Building up good for all takes dedication, insight, and teamwork. That is a sign of a healthy mind.
I am grateful to the many Substack writers who are reporting daily on Project 2025.
We did really well in eliminating the infamous, dark driven No Labels Party. We can broadcast far and wide the Project 2025 document. We can do this by publishing sections of the documents. That way instead of the amorphous Project 2025 thing it gets real for people.
For Example:
" Implement nuclear modernization and expansion. The United States
manifestly needs to modernize, adapt, and expand its nuclear arsenal. "
And
"Improve military recruiters’ access to secondary schools and require
completion of the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery
(ASVAB)—the military entrance examination—by all students in schools
that receive federal funding."
There is an awful lot of philosophical verbiage and clear propaganda in the Project 2025 paper. However, by scanning through the paper stuff jumps out like the 2 examples I cited above.
Barbara, I am really perplexed by one of the statements you took from Project 25. I think I see the logic of what you’re implying; however, I’d like to offer another perspective. This is regarding the ASVAB and high school students. I retired from teaching high school in 2002. The majority of those years was 11th and 12th grade English (American and English lit.) twenty-two of my 36 years full-time teaching included Journalism ( newspaper and yearbook) and work Experience. I was in a high school attendance area of blue collar workers, as well as professionals in upper middle class. We were ethnically mixed and peaceful.
I developed a program over the years to help my senior students form a plan for post-graduation. I wanted to see what choices they had, and to assess their own abilities and interests. Literature didn’t suffer. They heard weekly speakers that described their careers. I used many of my former students from same community to stress what was possible. I had for-profit technical schools represented, as well as law enforcement and firefighters. The other people I had come in, with permission from administration, were recruiters from all the services. So many of my students could not afford college or were not sure about anything. I started having the ASVAB given on campus every spring. I was not preparing them for nuclear warfare. 1. They got an assessment of English and Math skills. 2. Their vocational strengths and preferences were presented. 3. They had a document to show their parents when discussing their next move after graduation. 4. If they did decide to go into the military, they learned the skill they wanted; they got money for college when the fulfilled their contract ( our son did this.) By the way, I didn’t demand they take the test; I offered extra credit points.
The success rate was tremendous. My students who did join a branch of the military have had impressive careers or just learned the skills necessary to join the American workforce and successfully provide for their families. A few did more than that. One ( female) served as part of military guard at the White House. Another young man who had nothing, been kicked out of house in sr. year by alcoholic father and walked to school daily from uncle’s house 5 miles away, went into motor division of the Army and learned everything about large trucks that gave him a valued skill and stability to raise his family. My favorite is currently just completing a 20- year career in the Navy as a Russian language expert (went and taught at their Foreign Language School in Monterey, as well as sent to Russia as interpreter. ) She is completing career in DC directly under Chief of Navy as a high ranking Chief Petty Officer.
I admit this was just prior to invasion of Iraq and years in Afghanistan. My point is that joining the military is not to be denigrated. The ASVAB is still a useful tool. We absolutely should not allow these Project 25 monster-creators to obscure and negatively change our pride in the military or not see their importance. Don’t throw out the baby with the bath water. Let’s all fight to rid our country of those trying to destroy it. I’m in.
Your work was amazing, Sue, and the outcomes life changing! I fear the 2025 plan's take on it, however, is to REQUIRE ALL students to be READYVTO BE DRAFYED for the many wars the U.S. oligarchs intend to stage.
I am not implying anything nor did I denigrate the military. What I am doing is directly quoting from the Project 2025 document.
Making this mandatory if a school receives federal funding is interesting.
What a great program for those young people! I wish that those choices had been presented to me as well as my classmates those many years ago. Most of us just stumbled around and did what our friends did. We were generally middle class with many opportunities, but innocent ignorance, of our parents as well as the school system, no doubt prevented us from reaching for so much more.
Thank You, Barbara! I am copying and forwarding your Project 2025 nuggets today. Headline may be: "Under a Trump presidency:"
What a great idea. The two example you gave made my hair stand up on end. We have to stop this.
Wow! Reads like Hitlerjungen.
Look at it positively: the fact that N. Korea, Russia, China, India, Pakistan, Israel, US, UK, ..., are all modernizing their nuclear arsenals, and even talking about using them, will take our minds off of global warming, plastic pollution, overpopulation,... . Every cloud has a silver lining.
Or every cloud could have a radioactive lining...
It isn't out there near enough. I heard that Heather was on The 11:00 Hour on MSNBC the other night discussing the Project 2025. She needs to be and others need to talk about it every day of the week! I don't think it is discussed on Fox Entertainment and those other fake news programs!
Heather WAS on MSNBC at 11.00 pm. I stayed awake to get my first really good look at her. As impressive “in person” as her writing. We are as lucky to have her as we think we are!
Virginia Witmer, you can catch her most weeks on Tuesdays giving an informal chat in the afternoon on Facebook. It is worth being on Facebook to have that opportunity to listen to these chats. They are taped and you can watch past chats. I am hooked. Recently I have had to watch after the fact....but they are filled with so much information that we don't get in the letters and what is happening today. Look for Heather Cox Richardson and make sure you get her actual page. There is a fake one out there too. She warns about it. Hers has her picture. I wish I knew how to post a link. When she is on the road with promoting her book she may not be able to connect and she is a busy lady! She is a bit younger than my daughter but she is my hero and keeps me fairly sane...or as much as possible. She is down to earth and so honest. I dearly love her!
Laura Barrón-López has covered it on PBS NewsHour.
I'm hearing Project 2025 referenced by many hosts and guests on the MSNBC programs I watch. Problem is that those who watch regularly are more likely to be in the 'choir'.
If Project 2025 is discussed on Fox it is to laud it.
I am seeing more on MSNBC this weekend. It needs to be continually talked about! We need to get the word out. Hopefully, those that need it will catch on before November! Prayers for all, our country and God Bless our Troops!
Just thinking that very few - if any - Trump supporters even know what Substack is, much less read any of them.
Susan, that is very true. When I mentioned Heather's Substack daily Letter to a Trumper, he had never heard of it , but was so quick to classify it as an "underground newspaper".
I haven't heard that term since the late 70's. 😆
My wife is hesitant to use Substack because they allowed self labeled Nazi's to post on Substack. So there must me some far right readers and posters out here.
I share on Facebook nearly every day. I have a few friends that follow but ...I am not sure if many even care! So damn sad!
Likewise..I think most of them have blocked me by now!
Amen!
My daughter works for Social Security. She is so helpful to those with issues. She goes way beyond what others do. She lives her job! It is her life! I am so proud of her. She has a hearing disability but is totally amazing!
This a really cogent look at the situation Gary. Spread the word.
Gary, you should post this comment in every Letter to the Editor section of newspapers all over the country!
Gary Loft: "CFDT could care less about people"
(a) What is CFDT?
(b) You probably mean "couldn't care less". A common mistake.
Convicted Felon Donald Trump. I use it as a constant reminder that he is a felon who was convicted by 12 people based on facts and evidence.
Call it what it is - fascist take over.
Andra Watkins is a NYT bestselling author who “escaped” Christian Nationalism years ago.She has read and dissected the almost 1000 page, Project 2025 “Presidential Transition Project” document.
https://project2025istheocracy.substack.com/
John Oliver is hysterically serious about Project 2025.
https://x.com/BlueATLGeorgia/status/1802904289783767542
John nails everything he aims at
Thank you Kathy for mentioning the “John Oliver” think tank!!! Fab!!
Michael, thank you for the links.
Anyone who thinks that Trump/Putin will not destroy the America we have known since the 18th century is delusional. The outreach of the “useful idiot” to Putin, the bromance with North Korea and the intrasigeance of the “groupies of Putin” have weakened US internationally beyond the imagination of many if not most Americans. Time to think beyond higher prices for food and gasoline, and organize to fight Trump and Climate Change.
Prof Joyce Vance said in her Substack she is planning on doing a book club of the 920 page Project 2025 document. I mentioned this to my leader of Democrats Abroad Germany and he thought we should do a book club of it too. I think there should be book clubs all over America and the Expat world of people reading this document.
@ Michel Corthell.
Those "big plans" are nothing new. The Republican Study Group and the Federalist Society have been making the same suggestions, sometimes reducing them to writing in legislation. Before Trump won in 2016 the Federalist society identified about 150 judicial positions where Trump could eliminate civil service, eliminate the jobs, and apply the spoils system to appoint nothing but loyalists. My job was one of them. He wasn't able to replace us , but eliminated "merit selection" of judges appointed under Article 2 Section 2 of the constitution. The "Federal register" comprised of people who had commensurate trial experience and could pass a background security test, pass a test on administrative law, have the experienced scored and rated and undergo a staged interview by agency representatives someone representing the public and the ABA. Typically if an opening occurred, a best qualified list of 3 candidates would be sent to the agency for selection.
In anticipation of litigation Trump killed merit selection. Executive Order (E.O.) 13843 titled, “Excepting Administrative Law Judges from the Competitive Service” (83 FR 32755). E.O. 13843 states “that conditions of good administration make necessary an exception to the competitive hiring rules and examinations for the position of ALJ.https://www.govinfo.gov/link/cpd/executiveorder/13843
The rule today. No tests. No trial qualifications. No evaluations of experience. No FBI investigations. The only qualification is loyalty.
Our fate as a nation may be decided in the SDFL hearing before Judge Cannon today.
https://danielsolomon.substack.com/p/register-democrats-to-save-administrative?utm_source=post-email-title&publication_id=742145&post_id=145721077&utm_campaign=email-post-title&isFreemail=false&r=zc69i&triedRedirect=true&utm_medium=email
This IS something new. Have you read through the Project 2025 document?
Executive order can be overturned which President Biden did in his first days in office.
Project outlines the installation of a fascist State here in America.
Old wine, new bottles. GWB threatened to do it. Trump needed an "emergency" to execute the "unitary executive" theory. Usurp Congress and the judiciary.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unitary_executive_theory#:~:text=Proponents%20of%20a%20strongly%20unitary,from%20presidential%20control%20is%20limited.
It's an over 900 page document. Let's not get stuck in minutiae. I invite you to look through the Project 2025 document.
AS IF I HAVENT!
Read my substack.
While I see Trump as the five alarm fire he is for worldwide democracy, I also fear that not having him in the picture will not end the danger for America. As long as there is a Project 2025 agenda in the republicans’ platform, any elected Republican president will do for them what they seek. They won’t let anyone but a purist ideologue get close to the nomination. I fear that their domination of our government is not an “if” but a “when”. If not Trump, the next Republican president. And in American politics it is unrealistic to believe democrats can hold the presidency through enough election cycles for this to die down. Certainly not when it is the culmination of more than fifty years of planning and funding by those with the means, and now the levers of power, to pull it off.
Agreed Sandy, DJT is just the tip of the spear. He’s useful to the powers behind him, but, he’s replaceable. Extremists have taken control of key parts of the judiciary, including SCOTUS. If and when they purge the civil service, our democratic institutions will fold quickly. Just watching how Judge Cannon has gamed the system to delay and perhaps circumvent justice is a warning shot of what’s to come.
Those who can't win election because of the repulsiveness of their ideas had the brilliant idea of legislating via the unelected judicial system. While hamstringing congress with paid for via citizens United whores.
And the next person likely will be smarter, more educated, more self-disciplined, less distracted, and more capable of making and executing an actual plan.
and the current person is too dumb to realize he is a short timer, he thinks he is going to be king.
Look at Mike johnson
You are right, he is the useful fool, clown with a flamethrower
yes, but he is also quiet, patient and dangerous.
There are plenty waiting in the wings
Spot on, Sandy. Culmination of fifty years of planning and funding on display.
Yes Sandy, you are clearly seeing the dangers about us.
As a person of faith, I resent that items of my faith, like the Ten Commandments, are being weaponized to score political points.
This is a great,short ad to share from the Lincoln Project : “Donald Trump is a living Affront To The Ten Commandments”.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mWGIJscEpUU
So is every Repub in this current crop, especially the SC cretins
Kinda Trump holding the Bible upside down, but more serious. I can no longer remember but as a kid, 70 or so years ago, religious posters etc were pro forma in Canadian schools, Ten Commandments? not sure. but the Lords Prayer was recited regularly over speakers, and in auditoriums. Funny they don't go on and institute slavery was OK, polygamy just the way it was!
Dear god, deliver us from religious zealots.
If they'd be so kind
Yes, from another Canadian. We said the Lord’s Prayer every morning before classes started. It’s not like that now.
What ended that anyway? Gradual? Charter of Rights from the 70s?
Yes, and yes.
It’s a bad joke since they have no intention of following them but want everybody else to.
Jenn, thank you for stating this. Good people of faith should be absolutely livid about what is happening. Too often people of faith are judged by the hypocrites and crass opportunists among them.
Jenn, I agree, but I am also concerned about the myriad lessons Jesus teaches and how the white Christian Nationalists act like the Bible is all about hate and anger instead of love, compassion and empathy.
But the media is using Convicted Felon Donald Trump's omnipresence against him more and more. Jennifer Rubin of the WAPO, Joyce Vance, Maggie Haberman, John Fugelseng, Heather Cox Richardson and so many others are constantly reinforcing CFDT's foibles and fails.
The problem being each side live in silos, trust more live in a more secular, religiously tolerant world than those in the MAGA / Evangelical world and that carries through come Nov.
But the mainline newspapers play into the maga handbook and tens of millions of people only get news from social media sources, Fox and Newsmax. In the latter scenario, they are told what to think, they are not informed, and it dulls critical thinking.
Has been true for Fox since my BFF’s family had it on 24/7 since it went on the air. Rupert rules, and it’s not just fools
Sure, and this may in fact get to independents (it appears to be) but the rest of the crowd is in the fox/newmax silo. Unless a group like The Lincoln Project (or better yet, the Biden campaign) starts creating ads enumerating this stuff and placing them on right wing "news," I fear that this is all just yelling into the void.
Thank you for some penetrating insights, Linda. You nail it.
As always, Beau of the Fifth Column has a great YouTube clip on this situation.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pcn2kEtoEEM
Anyone who uses social media, please do post the clip!
I love this guy. Thank you, Miselle!
https://youtu.be/TqWRcmxa-IU
EDIT: Sir Beau just released this interesting five minute vid. on an effort to repeal the Comstock Act. Quite a little surprise tucked inside.
https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/pill-anthony-comstocks-chastity-laws/
"It should be clear to all that when Judge Cannon refused to step aside from the Trump case, the fix was in." Oh it is clear. It continues to amaze me that this kind of corruption can happen in our system of justice. Right before our eyes, and there is nothing that can be done about it. A gigantic loophole in our democratic form of government that has to be fixed if only our governemt had the ability to. Which it currently doesn't thanks to Republicans.
Here we are indeed, Linda. The fix is in, and the $COTUS is willing to assist as need be.
They certainly are Ally.
Yep--right on the money, Linda! I admit that I don't engage here as much--although I read the letter every day and a lot of the comments--because the firehose of news is so debilitating.
I truly wish that the repubs, especially those SC idiots, would follow the ten comnandments
Fat chance! I bet they can’t even name the Ten Commandments!
No chance in hell, I would guess
Many of Trump's henchmen and sycophants have either stated openly, or have been surreptitiously recorded indicating that MAGA Republicans are planning - by hook or crook, to stymie voting, or throw legal wrenches into the gears of our electoral process in order to gain a last gasp win in November. And if they can't "win" by cheating that way, to aggressively attempt to discredit the outcome and/or promote threats of violence against election workers, and possibly intimidate voters. These are desperate moves by a party that no longer has anything meaningful or important to offer. Indeed, the Republican Party, which ought to at least be honest by rebranding as "The New Confederacy", offers nothing but hate, lies, confusion and chaos - in complete service I should add, to Putin and the uniting forces of global authoritarianism.
Yea for Louisiana- the Repubs are pounding nails into their OWN coffins. Sorry Joe has to "debate" with a nutcase, but at least it is on his terms. The more exposure of the insanity before the election, the better.
With the rules in place, I suspect that Trump will cut-&-run.
https://www.voanews.com/a/rules-for-upcoming-us-presidential-debate-include-mic-muting-and-no-live-audience/7663801.html
Wonder what the excuse will be?
Something lame for everyone except that M.A.G.A. base that is the cognitive under-class. I suspect the excuse will be that fake media is rigging the debate for fake news.
Ten commandments themselves are the basic behavioral laws that shape the society - in particular 5 to 10. Trump is clearly violating them, and hece 1 to 4.
Trump cannot remeber what he said a minute ago. His close circuit can simply use him to control power among themselves. That is even more scary.
It's no mistake that Russia, China, and North Korea are hoping Trump will help them become a modern-day version of the axis powers, Nazi Germany, the Kingdom of Italy, and the Empire of Japan. I hope Heather will forgive me if I provide an amateur Historian's attempt to describe something else in the news. There was a man who became outrageously wealthy during the Guilded Age named Andrew Mellon. He was a Republican who had a tremendous amount of power in the US government. He favored low taxes and trickle-down economics (of course), and was US Secretary of the Treasury until 1932. After the start of the Great Depression, he was about to be impeached so he became the Ambassador to Great Briton. But he was never one of those who suffered from the Great Depression. Instead, he handed his money down to Timothy Mellon, who just made a $50 million donation to Trump’s Super PAC. Timothy is also a staunch Republican (who once wanted to help Donald build a wall), and Timothy knew that donations are the wealthy’s way of buying politicians. After all, the politicians don’t give a damn about what the average citizen wants. They care about how much they’re going to have to spend on their campaign. That’s why politicians let wealthy donors decide which laws get passed, and that’s how, by deciding which laws get passed, the wealthy 1% get to take money from the 90%.
Before you cast a vote, think about two things: Think about how you can make the world a better place and think about how you can return the US to having a functioning democracy.
And think about how absolutely corrupt and vile the "Republican Party" has patently become. Handing them absolute power could only be a nightmare come to pass.
Just one current example: https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/valentina-gomez-juneteenth-missouri-republican-b2565991.html
This reminds me of all the bumper stickers at the time of the Vietnam War that read: "America - love it or leave it" How do you even begin to explain to someone like this that loving your country also means fighting for it to be a great country and not a hotbed of bigotry and hatred.
It a very narcissistic stance.
And the counter to America, Love It or Leave It was America, Fix It or Forget It.
Live through this. I know I did.
That right there is a person who needs help. Someone doesn't become that vile just by chance. In order to hate others that much, she must be hating herself.
This person is a psychopath and there is no proven modality that changes their psychosis.
I think Trump would qualify as a psychopath, but I also think that those of an authoritarian bent let their "Mr. Hyde" proclivities be called forward by immersing themselves in a self-reinforcing cult, but may also come to reject the cult and it's delusions in some cases where conscience was trampled not strangled.
Like birds flock together.
J L - I love seeing these stories in the media. We need more of these blatant stories from white Supremacist homophobes and xenophobes.
Thanks for sharing.
Perhaps highlight the most disturbing. There are now so many such stories that the nation's sense of decency has been fatigued into torpor.
I’d rather greedy bastards left.
She is a piece of work!
I tried to find the name of the $50 million donor, thanks for that. I read that the donation was made the day after his conviction. Money is desperate for more power. They are willing to spend a fortune to get a bigger fortune. The odds are obvious to all
They think their money can protect them from the coming deluge. Nobody wins in this scenario.
The rich idiots think that their compounds will be “safe.” But damn, how will their needed servants survive. May they be alone on their mountaintops with no one to wipe their butts
Except that the last person left alive owes absolutely nothing to anyone and arguably owns that whole world. A solipsistic lifetime ambition fulfilled.
Any evidence that "Russia, China, and North Korea are hoping Trump will help them become a modern-day version of the axis powers, Nazi Germany, the Kingdom of Italy, and the Empire of Japan?" Sounds like complete fantasy and neocon propaganda to me.
You are aware that every both Democratic and Republican administrations since HW Bush have followed the neocon agenda and that agenda is to create a U.S. empire (read US corporations, oligarchs, and banking) that rules the earth and prevent any other power from threatening US hegemony (see Project for a new American Century)? You are aware the US continually tries via intelligence agencies and NGOs to overthrow and destabilize governments around the world and has 1000 military bases? You are aware Genocide Joe Biden is an ardent life long card carrying neocon who has eagerly supported all US wars of aggression and has included some of the most bloodthirsty neocons in his administration?
I spend some time these days reflecting on my emotional response to the unfolding current events surrounding the national election coming in November. I'm long past anger or outrage at the manipulative measures taken to misrepresent our president, our institutions of government, the health of our economy and assaults on individual rights. I would have to choose the word sorrow to reflect the axis around which my emotions revolve. Every marginalized sector of our population is being assaulted these days. Where have compassion, empathy, charity, solidarity gone? Why has xenophobia become a trademark in our public discourse? We are finding the bitter edge of our capacity to reject these repugnant trends. We know a felon can run for the highest office in the land. We know that someone who fomented an insurrection against our government cannot be barred from the ballot. We know that bigots and baldfaced liars can shout their vile proclamations from the rooftops with first amendment protections. So, having lived through 6 decades of the most prosperous eras in human history, I'm disappointed, saddened, sorrowful about where we have landed in our body politic. It's not just the figureheads of this fascist movement, but the substantial fraction of the populace that will march in support of ideas antithetical to those that are foundational to our system of government, our way of life. What are they seeking to achieve? Chaos does not breed a more just society. How blind can one be to the fact that all of us are only a few generations removed from the arrival of our ancestors on this soil, possessions in hand, hoping for a better life. Today's immigrants are fundamentally no different than the rest of us who arrived a bit earlier. Since I can't shout loud enough to drown out the bigotry, what remains for me is to bow my head, close my eyes and try to contain the sorrow I feel and hope against hope that we'll rise above this time of shame that we're experiencing in the approach to our national election. We are so in need of a renewal in spirit, one that might possibly allow us to regard our neighbors with compassion, even love, as we have been admonished to do in times past.
Try to remember that, while a sizeable minority of the American electorate seems to favor authoritarian rule and the abandonment of many basic American values that implies, the segment of the electorate that still values our way of life is still a majority (though small) and growing every day. We have Biden. We have HCR. We have each-other. If nothing else, take heart from two numbers: 320 and 81,000,000. -Oh, and stop listening to poles, they seem to have gotten broken over the past few years.
Steve-
What scares me are the voters that are totally disengaged yet they vote for only Republicans or only Democrats. I know several people that are going to blindly vote for the candidate whose name they recognize on the ballot. Even someone as vile as Ted Cruz wins even though he has done nothing but spew hate and anger for 12 years.
And Allred has little chance against the cheating bastard.
Please search for Jessica Craven's Substack "Chop Wood, Carry Water".
It took a good six months of Letter reader's recommendation till I finally did, and I'm grateful for the suggestion. I have often felt exactly as you, and her substack is beneficial, especially the weekly GOOD NEWS one.
Yes. And most importantly she provides clear actions you can take every day and all the information necessary to do so. Takes five minutes a day.
Practical action is good since I don’t have $50 million.
Jess Craven on Sunday and Jay Kuo on Saturday make for the best w-end, feel good “sandwich”!
https://open.substack.com/pub/chopwoodcarrywaterdailyactions/p/extra-extra-616?r=fqsxl&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web
https://open.substack.com/pub/statuskuo/p/just-for-xeets-and-giggles-061524?r=fqsxl&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web
The good news...
Authoritarian regimes, especially fascist ones, often struggle with long-term stability and many fail before they even get established. This is due to several factors: repression breeds discontent, leading to potential rebellions; economic strain from military expenses and suppression efforts; dependence on a charismatic leader, causing succession issues; stifling of innovation, hindering adaptation; and costly expansionist aims, weakening the regime through resource depletion.
See comments added.
There is a deep anger in rural and working class America. Those who feel left behind, ignored and disrespected are being exploited by MAGA who have weaponized their anger and mistrust.
Globalization off shored many factory jobs that once provided excellent wages and benefits. College has become unaffordable for many. Even those who obtain degrees are competing for too few jobs. Unions have shrunk, driving wages and befits down for many service workers. Family farms have been liquidated due to debt encouraged by a system that makes few allowances for fluctuating commodity prices.
This discontent has always been a breeding ground for fascism. MAGA has become their instrument of destruction and democracy is their target. Foreign actors like Russia are exploiting the divide and filling social media with disinformation. Oligarchs keep their thumb on the scale. Historians saw the danger years ago; the general population is much slower to recognize the danger. And here we are.
Well said, Diane. There's another layer to that which you describe in paragraph two that I see in my former work cohort (retired cops/spouses) who are terrified that the "others" (be they immigrants, BIPOC, or LGBTQ+) will have the same rights and opportunities as they have taken for granted their entire lives.
Yes, the need to have someone subordinate to scapegoat is a deep flaw in the human psyche. Our species swings between heroic and pathetic.
But did the Trump administration 2016-20 do anything to address those issues? Or was it only promises?
I also read Jess Piper’s Substack, so have been learning about the dire economic circumstances in rural Missouri.
Reason doesn’t apply to this problem. Charlatans don’t fix problems, they only exploit them. An enraged mob isn’t interested in facts, they just want to break things.
If the angry mob spent as much energy using the levers we have in our current system (activism, the law, grass roots politics) to effect change as they expend salivating over revolutionary action, they might well be better off with far less disruption around them. Unions thrive when their membership remains active, take sober assessment of what they deliver at the cost of union membership. Local/regional politicians are elected when their message offers something beyond hate and retribution. It may be easier the "throw the bastards out" than to vet and place true civil servents, but mature and patient participation in the political process does not leave blood on the streets and stagnation in the face of civil trench wars.
Ahh, there we go again, using reason, the dullest knife in the emotional drawer. Once anger takes over, the logical brain ceases to function. Much as it distresses me, we must find ways to counter disinformation fueled rage. Sometimes fire must be fought with fire.
Keep it simple with organizing, voting, promoting your political and social ideals.
Sharing your sorrow. Perfect word. I'll add, though, that I also can't shake the hope. It, too, is there.
We got here by pretending goodness is in all people and that goodness can be revealed thru kindness. Narcissism and psychopathy have supremacy now because of the delusion that goodness and kindness can prevail. "Good christian" values are the reason society looks as you describe.
It's highly ironic that those values, when linked to compassion, inclusion, humility and charity, could actually bring about the better world we seek. I have nothing against promoting famillies, fostering engagement with any and all religions (other than those that promote jihad), acknowledging that our form of government was established and developed in juxtaposition to a dominant faith tradition (not to say that it yielded a "perfect Union" by any stretch of the imagination). It's not the inclusion, but the exclusion that is pulling us apart. It's not the love, but the hate. It's not the compassion, but the xenophopbia that is eroding the foundation of our democracy.
If I were a betting person, I'd bet Trump will find a way to weasel out of the debate.
In or out, he will certainly weasel.
The media should bring an olfactometer.
https://scentroid.com/products/olfactometers/#:~:text=Olfactometers%20are%20devices%20used%20to,then%20presented%20to%20a%20panel.
#trumpstinks
Convicted felon DJT has a strategy in mind. He apparently agreed to not interrupt by having his microphone turned off, he can still interrupt by stalking and in other ways.
Or he might muddle through the debate and then release a long harangue attacking Biden afterwords.
Whatever he does, it will be aimed at his base and it will be filled with hate, anger and misinformation.
I can’t imagine that his handlers want him to debate!!!!
I am banking on it.
What the World needs now is a Great Explainer. Someone who can get through to people with the truth that the battle is not between capitalism and socialism, but between democracy and autocracy (or theocracy). Someone who can explain that it’s not inflation that’s making it so hard to make ends meet. It’s income inequality. Right now, inflation is costing the average US household about $9,000 per year, while the 50-year increase in income inequality is costing the average US household between $48,000 and $63,000 per year. Someone who can get through to people that mass migration, like climate change, is becoming the new normal. Meanwhile, immigrants are a net gain for the US economy. As for Climate Change, the cost of mitigation, and the cost in lives, is only going to go up. You can start paying now, or you can pay far more later.
Hey Heather, have you thought about running for office?
Reagan gave us "Voodoo Economics, Trump apparently intends to give us "Screw-You Economics".
He already did
Jeri, correct, unless you’re one of his rich buddies
It’s not a new thing
Agreed, Dan, as to the gravity of the growth in income inequality.
Our best Dems could highlight this if they trusted and more often cited our humanities which show what our American working classes have been facing: films like “The Florida Project” and “Winter’s Bone”; novels like Barbara Kingsolver’s “Demon Copperhead,” Walter Mosley’s “Always Outnumbered, Always Outgunned,” and many by Richard Russo and Stephen King; memoirs like Mary Karr’s “The Liars’ Club,” Jeannette Walls’ “The Glass Castle,” and Erin Gruwell’s “The Freedom Writers Diary,” songs like Tim Grimm’s “Broken Truth,” Bob Segers’ “Feel Like a Number,” and any number of Bruce Springsteen or hip hop Ari Melber will cite.
But our schools don't highlight what our humanities in fact powerfully do, Dan, so few, few, few even of our best Dems ever avail themselves of so many of our untouched resources.
And shorn of the human dimension, the income inequality message just will not register.
Retroactive education would be a boon to all
Dan, somehow the public needs to be made aware of how much inflation 45’s proposed “China tariffs “ and deportation of workers who do jobs that US citizens choose not to do will lead to. Just the “China tariffs” would cost the average US family at least $1,700 a year.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-tariffs-proposal-10-percent-1700-cost-per-us-household/
His ideas are insanity. How his followers don't see it is beyond me. Apparently, the power of groupthink and Religulous is strong in some people.
Propaganda works. WHO knew
Fella named Gobels comes to mind...
And his rules came straight from Mien Kampf (James Murphy translation) re the "big lie," which repubs use nonstop. Tells exactly how to make them stick.
Let's not forget the trillions added to the deficient so his rich friends can be almost exempt from paying taxes.
Are you familiar with "Beau of the Fifth Column"? Many here follow his clips on YouTube, and I've often said I like the way he explains current news. Here's an example I just posted above.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pcn2kEtoEEM
Thanks for the tip! I watched your link, and I'm already a fan. I also bookmarked "Beau of the Fifth Column." I plan to do a lot of listening.
Dan Parker, “Come back to us Will Rogers, come back to us now”
You sound like a pretty good explainer to me Dan. Make it so!
I hope President Biden will make Trump look like a fool during the debate on July 27th. This is great news to hear that Biden has a small lead in the polls.
June 27! Seven days from now. President Biden is using Camp David to do presidential-level debate prep. Trump is going to wing it, of course. No one can criticize him, instruct him or question his statements because that would conflict with his belief that he knows more than everyone about everything. He's also suffering from cognitive dissonance in that he keeps calling the president "Sleepy Joe" while claiming that cocaine is being used to enhance President Biden's performance.
I love that the debate will turn off the microphone of the speaker when it is not their time to speak. How did they get Trump to agree to that? Although, I still remember him stalking around behind Hillary when she was talking. Maybe the rules should include territorial limits.
I love that there will be no audience!
Apparently, DT and others used a lot of Meth on the set of the Apprentice. That is how he developed his fecal incontinence problem.
Those are specific claims. Do you have a source or is it a rumor?
Biden is a pro at debating. He will set Trump up to provoke him and make him put his foot in his mouth. I do agree with you mentally, Trump has declined.
Get Trump mad and he goes off the rails.
Just a question. If Biden wins a second term, would it be fair for him to put Judge Cannon on his enemies' list and use whatever means at his disposal, legal or not, to remove her from the bench, assuming that Trump's argument about presidential immunity is correct? (Insert smiley face.)
Biden doesn't need to do any of those things. It has already been reported that Judge Cannon and other conservative judges have also taken gifts from conservative operatives; but unlike the SCOTUS, lower ranking judges have ethics codes they must obey or face consequences. Her acceptance of bribes will come to light.
I hope you're right. RE: SCOTUS...Theoretically, playing by the same rules as the Republicans, I guess Biden could call for his partisans to storm the Supreme Court building and threaten Roberts with a noose if he didn't tally judicial decisions in his favor. Right?
The only way to involuntarily remove a federal judge is by impeachment; accomplishing that requires the vote of 66 Senators for guilt. A judge who is arrested for a crime is also removed from the bench if convicted.
We've got some electing to do.
Blessedly, President Biden doesn't have an "enemies list" and he doesn't go outside the four corners of the Constitution. That's not to say that he likes everyone he deals with, just that it's not his nature to be vengeful.
Biden may not be vengeful, but I’ll bet he bites his tongue a lot!
Chews it off most likely
Because he is a responsible adult.
According to Trump, a president is an unaccountable autocrat, so sure.
This is so fascinating. What these nihilists and terrorists are demanding to be true would make it possible for Biden to destroy them without consequence. They are counting on Biden's restraint.
Kerry obviously you are a Republican 'want-a-be' with these stupid ideas that are anti-democratic, undermine the independence of the Judiciary and are essentially Trumpista gambits. If this is supposed to be satire, ha ha, you are a joke for saying things so stupid that have no resonance amongst those who believe in the rule of law.
Calm down. I took Kerry's remarks as being ironic. What I would like to see are commercials featuring Trump at his worst, not only with ebbing intellect (if any intellect ever existed), but also with infamous incidents like his flattering Putin abjectly in Helsinki.
Been waiting. Chump’s verbiage and actions would make the best campaign ads. But where are they Dems???
Honestly. outside of, perhaps, the Clintons, the Democrats tend to play too nice.
Time for hardball
Take a deep breath.
Ha ha sooo funny, so clever....just like Trump was 'kidding' when he said 'dictator on day one'. People who say foolish things are ....fools.
Okay. You can stop breathing now.
Ass clown.
readjust your snark-o-meter
EDIT: snitty remark deleted.
Frankly, I am glad to see some fire in the belly around here. 🥳
Trump is out *to destroy our republican governance. 🤢
So, ¿why not stick it to the fat man? Not a beauty contest.🖕
And, yes, I was a Republican and remain a conservative by temperament. 🫣
I took the remarks as being sarcastic -- I don't think she actually meant it!
Joe Biden is truly in the same position as FDR was in the late 30’s and early 40’s. Unfortunately the difference is the monstrously large right wing media ecosystem. I worry about the debates. It never gets to a deep discussion regarding policy and outcomes. Biden needs to be on the offense but that’s not his character. It should not be about winning or losing but rather substance. We inhabit a world where yes the educated voter is looking for substance but the zombie Maga tribe does not care and vote against their own economic interests. Thanks Heather.
I am hoping Pres Biden uses the same tactics he did in the State of the Union. He ran rings around the repubs and made them look like fools.
Yeah, I have had the same feelin for a while. Thankfully, President Biden has a deep moral rudder as did President Roosevelt(s).
Questions we, in the U.S., and the rest of the West need to ask ourselves:
🤔
¿Are we willing to take the risks necessary for Ukraine to win by giving her what she needs and the freedom to use those weapons as she sees fit?
⚖️
¿Is Jack Smith willing to ask for a new judge and say, if Cannon is not fired from the case, the investigation will include her for obstruction of justice, committed after the fact, in this crime?
🤣
¿Is the U.S. willing to deride the agreement between two psychoes in the U.N.? Perhaps by saying, "¿Who in the HELL would want to invade Russia or North Korea? ¿Who would want that mess? ¿You know what? ¡China can have them! ¡That'll keep her too bizzy to be much trouble to anyone!
🥳
One question answered: ¿will Trump show up to debate in a week? NO CHANCE. 🤭
Cannon is an unindicted co-conspirator.
Yes, she is, J.L. 💡Good point. 🤔Time to treat here as such. ⚖️
Question about second question: is it a matter of his being willing?
Anne-Louise, I really do not know. I keep seeing -- not so often anymore -- calls for removing this judge. I suspect publicly announcing the possibility of investigating Judge Cannon for obstruction of justice, no matter how weak the case might be, would snap her into line.
Ned, Anne...really REALLY...threatening investigations of judges is soooo Trumpian, I want to barf!!! BARF!!! Really this is the EXACT SAME as Trump threats at retaliation against Biden, Clinton, Obama et al. First, the law lays out reasons to recuse (ask a judge to remove themselves first, if denied-appeal). Obviously Jack Smith does not think he has any such basis given the status of the law. Secondly, IF IF IF Jack Smith has evidence of possible impropriety between Cannon and Trump his job is to investigate it QUIETLY and either A-indict the case or B-say nothing. The 2 of you are suggesting third world MAGA tactics...making these Trumpian MAGA GOP suggestions...making your cause no better than Trump's, given the damage done to our democracy.
Joyce Vance is one of the best authors on the subject of judicial ethics. Anyone would do well to seek out her commentaries on Judge Cannon. Joyce Vance was the US Attorney for the Northern District of Alabama for years. Her comments are never "over-heated". At the same time, you can always know when she believes someone is out of line.
What does Ms Vance say?
You can see for yourself on her daily substack.
B.S. She may be obstructing justice and S.C. Smith's requesting expanded authority to investigate that possibility is not Trumpian. Publicly threatening the Judge and her family -- that is Trumpian. Nietzsche was a nut case, but he did have a point that tigers who remove their claws can hardly congratulate themselves for being strong.
That might be a better tactic than calling directly for her to be fired. If she stays on the case after such a call, she would have even more incentive to decide it in favor of Trump on the thinnest of pretexts thus setting him free of jeopardy. Better minds than mine, of which there are many on this site, will no doubt have better suggestions. :-)
Just spit-balling here. I do not see pushing back as Trumpian. The judge may be obstructing justice. Sure looks like it to me.
https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2024/05/jack-smith-aileen-cannon-donald-trump-classified-documents-trial-writ-of-mandamus.html
Thanks for jogging my lapsing memory. I read this article last month but had forgotten the actual term "writ of mandamus."
Well, Hell, you read it a month before I did. 🤭🤫😊🤣
Another masterful summary of the important events of the day in widely divergent yet equally important areas. Even dedicated news junkies will find something new and interesting in these letters. In my case it was the statement of the ROK President and what it portends.
We will almost certainly see a ramping-up of our armaments production, both in conventional weapons and in the cutting-edge devices being proven on the battlefields of Ukraine, to supply our own needs as well as those of our allies. The international situation is as ominous as the late 1930s, and we need to be ready.
The ongoing pollution of our media environment, by enemies both foreign and domestic continues unabated. I don't see any short-term solution, certainly not before the election. And if the results of the election are unfavorable to the continuation of liberal democracy, we shall be forever in the land of Newspeak.
As for Judge Cannon, it may be a toxic combination of bias, incompetence, hubris, and personal pique at having been so publicly rebuked by the 11th District that is driving her utter obstinacy in the documents case. "I'll show those guys.....!" Another possibility is that she is following guidance (orders, actually) from those who are sponsoring the defense. I am reluctant to go down that route, but it would make her actions and decisions regarding the case appear more coherent.
I look forward to Dr. Richardson's next letter. It will undoubtedly be informative, well-sourced and well-written. I hope Dr. Richardson can provide some historical precedents that will help us make sense of the current maelstrom.
I fear that the framers of the Constitution may have assumed that we would never allow so many parts of government to be corrupted at once, that we the people would not let it go this far. The "Republican" party has been dedicated for decades to sabotaging the republic from the inside.
Spot on!
Hey, James -- do "go down that route."
Why fear to take seriously that Aileen Cannon "is following guidance (orders actually) from those who are sponsoring the defense"? You saw the images of all the Republican politicians who appeared in the closing days of Trump's criminal trial in New York. All wearing the same clown suit red ties. You know very well, James, that this show is being organized. Well-funded.
Longer comment posted in Facebook.
Professor, Glad you point out Putin has to go "hat in hand" to PARIAH North Korea.
Meanwhile, Ukraine continues to fight, and met with over 100 countries as it is on the verge of joining NATO.
We CANNOT and MUST NOT allow DJT to turn the USA into an AXIS country.
I am supporting government of, by, and for the people.
Joe Biden is my President!
Having no expertise in world affairs, I always am particularly grateful for the Professor's global news.
If you want a feel-good perspective, Jay Kuo of the Big Picture publishes some hopeful news about the upcoming election. No, really. It's pretty damned hopeful!
https://thinkbigpicture.substack.com/p/trump-overturn-biden-election-2024
Good morning, Lynell, and thanks for the link.
Morning, Ally!
For the bottom-line readers (of which I am one), I'm going to point to two paragraphs Jay writes that I believe backs up his contention that 2024 will not be a repeat of 2020.
"But in November of 2022, something extraordinary happened. Voters in these battlegrounds rejected MAGA extremism and election denialists at the ballot box, and instead elected Democratic governors in Michigan, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, and Arizona. They flipped the state legislatures in Michigan and Pennsylvania, and they elected Democratic secretaries of state and attorneys general in Michigan, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, and Arizona.
"That means that in 2024, the administration, safety, and certification of elections in four of the five 2020 battleground states will be completely in Democratic hands. It is hard to understate the importance of this when it comes to election integrity and protection of the right to vote. These Democratic officials very likely will not tolerate illegal voter intimidation or disruptions of the vote count, and they have learned a lot from their experiences in 2020."
So there!
Well said!
‘DIPLOMACY’: BIDEN vs. TRUMP
Heather’s review of the Russian/North Korea practical bromance, the nuclear heads up about Iran, and the awkwardness between China’s desired Asian dominance and Putin’s accelerated involvement with Kim highlights the volatility of ‘Cold War’ international relations.
I am reminded of how Trump, when president, clumsily and ineptly screwed up America’s strategic global interests.
1) After a delicately negotiated 6-nation agreement that sharply restricted Iran’s nuclear development, Trump precipitously pulled out. This facilitated an acceleration of Iran’s move towards nuclear weapons and helped trigger the Iranian rogueness throughout the Middle East.
2) Trump scuttled American participation in a multinational Asian economic alliance intended to counter Chinese creeping dominance.
3) Trump initiated a much greater disbalance between Netanyahu and the Palestinians. In addition to acknowledging that Jerusalem effectively was Israeli, Trump also turned a blind eye towards major Israeli encroachments on Palestinian lands.
4) Trump threatened to abandon US lock-step support of NATO, while Putin, his bromance buddy, was increasingly threatening the hegemony of Eastern Europe.
Fortunately, the Biden administration has managed to pursue far more successfully America’s global strategic interests:
1) In response to Putin’s brutal invasion of Ukraine, President Biden has led a remarkable riposte in which NATO countries and others have banded together in support of Ukrainian sovereignty. However, Trump/Republican back sliding delayed imperative military aid to Ukraine for more than half a year.
2) In Asia President Biden has created economic and military alliances that have provided a counter weight to China’s efforts to ‘cherry pick’ in pressuring individual Asian countries.
3) Putin’s recent bromance with Kim may be somewhat upsetting to China, which doesn’t want Russian to infringe on Chinese primacy in Asia. President Biden is dealing with China with sniper shots rather than the shotgun blasts employed by Trump.
4) In the Middle East President Biden is caught between a rock and a hard place in part because Trump and Trumpublicans have been so supportive of Netanyahu.
As I read Heather’s comments and reflect on Anne Applebaum’s writings, I am most fearful, were Trump to return to the White House. There is clear evidence that he would resume his common cause with his authoritarian buddies.
THEN THE PRACTICAL, MUTUAL SELF-INTEREST GLOBAL RELATIONSHIPS THAT THE BIDEN ADMINISTRATION HAS CRAFTED WILL SWIFTLY BE JEOPARDIZED.
As a former Foreign Service Officer, it is crystal clear that President Biden would professionally serve the United States internationally while Trump would again result in wackadoodleism.
Thanks, Keith. As always succinct and perceptive. I’m saving this for future use, with attribution of course!
Gail Sing this out like Julie Andrews in SOUND OF MUSIC. No need for attribution—-we aren’t even sure that Moses produced the Ten Commandments.
Keith, I so appreciate your comments here. The juxtaposition between POTUS and fpotus cannot be more clearly articulated. That, and you have given me a great new word: "wackadoodleism"!
Tuba I was thinking of you when I created “wackadoodleism.” I would have been morosabled if you had missed it.
Ya got me. No clue what "morosabled" is. Not even GoogleTranslate could tell me.
Tuba ‘morose’ sullen or ill tempered. Thus—disabled by moroseness.
Thank you!!!
🤣
Keith, I am way late to LFAA today and, OMG, so many comments! While I’d love to read them all (really), I must confess I scrolled thru to see if some of my fave commenters had posted….scroll….scroll…scroll….yay, there’s Keith! I so much appreciate your views based on awesome experience and, shall we say, gained wisdom as a result. As I have commented before, reading LFAA (and other SubStacks) and commenters are my “late night continuing education classes”!
Barbara Your prescient comments inspire me to write far more from my heart than my head. I have witnessed much during my 90 years. Presently I am frightened at the prospect that a gutless, cult-fake Messiah could destroy the soul of the America that my grand children will inherit.
Keith, as a “youngster” at nearly 75 to your 90 years, I struggle to find effective ways to “push back” against this authoritarian move to takeover of our country. I lament that so many folks are apathetic to what’s going on….and struggle to understand how that can be. I wish more folks could “see” and appreciate the history that folks like you use as both a cautionary and encouraging tale….bottom line, we need to pay attention!
A walk down memory lane. And where it may lead..
Jeri Tip toe through the tulips and watch out for Trump’s s++t.
It’s spread far, wide and deep. Need hipboots
Jeri Remember that Trump is #1 in #2.
Yes he is, ha
Yeah, don't step in that!
I am noticing that finally more of the mainstream media sources are beginning to identify the “inflationary period” that we’re in or at least why prices have been slow to come down: “Greed-flation“ as corporations have been artificially holding prices high!!! Presidents - at least most and certainly Biden is in this group - do not wish to attempt imposing “jawboning economic measures” and especially in this political environment and especially so close to the election.
Trump has the potential to destroy the US by making it ungovernable / its institutions (including the election system) no longer trusted (He's already accomplished that wth the SCOTUS and the House of Representatives).... even if he does not become POTUS. This is because he leads a movement that - while it will hugely benefit from him being POTUS (see Project 2025) - will continue to function even if he does not become POTUS. This movement will not accept the results of the 2024 election unless Trump wins. And my gut tells me that America will have a very hard time dealing with the claims the election was rigged (including possible violence) if Trump loses. The MAGA GOP wants to burn down the system. And I have seen nothing to show my Joe Biden knows how to handle such a constitutional crisis. I hope I'm wrong.
If he had to handle such a constitutional crisis alone, I'd share your fears. But one of President Biden's great strengths is the quality of his team, plus his own lifetime of experience.
I appreciate your confidence in the quality of Biden’s team. But to quote a long-ago opinion peace (“Fresh Face” by Leslie R. Gelb), they are “experts in the past.
America doesn’t know how to handle Trump (with his Fox News, Mitch McConnell, Mike Johnson, and billionaire backers). Hillary didn’t know how to handle a system (which included The NY Times and CBS’s Les Moonves) - not just Trump - that wanted her to lose. And now we have an even better organized effort to manipulate Trump either back into office or to burn the system down (as Putin wants Trump to do if Biden wins).
I pray Biden has a plan. It will have to be hugely creative (perhaps on the order of how Hollywood helped unify America during WWII … see the First Motion Picture Unit led by Jack Warner) to prevent the forces of destruction surrounding Trump from winning.
Correct you are, Steve. Any Biden plan would "have to be hugely creative."
You cite Hollywood and its role in WWII aptly. The difference between then and today is that in the interval the far-right foundations that enacted the Powell memo set as their first target getting rid of humanities in American education.
Creative, Steve? If our elites indeed got neutered, that would explain why so few can refer to any of our humanities in touch with the human damage that's been done.
Anne-Louise, I would add that if the Constitution is in jeopardy as a consequence of the election in November, those who have sworn an oath to defend the Constitution, including the US Defense establishment, would rise to defend the Constitution, as well as the President and Commander-in-Chief, who will remain in office at least until inauguration day.
We hope. However we also know of the rot in the ranks of the DoD and National Guard as in Police departments given the role of the Oath Keepers in 2019-2021.
But I do think they are a minority and hope their compatriots will reign them in.
Seatbelts and gasmasks, then.
Here's the Tour to Save Democracy video.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5eTsdi_gmnk
The tour is partnering with Field Team 6.
https://www.fieldteam6.org/
Daniel, thank for the link to the Tour to Save Democracy….I bookmarked it & wish I had a bazillion dollars to support pro-democracy supporters/activists…..alas, that is not the case, but do whatever I can! ☮️