I’m 83 and am determined to to stay around long enough to see this solid young man well and truly launched on his path to helping repair the damage Trump and his cronies have inflicted on this country.
Yes, that was a brilliant speech. Brilliant. It isn't Left vs. Right but rather Bottom vs. Top. It's a long, hard, tough slog, overcoming the propaganda and influence peddled by the wealthy through Fox, OAN and other outlets, but this kind of advocacy can make a difference.
This elections isn't about BEING a Democrat or a Republican. But it IS about voting for Democrats only and voting all Republicans out, because today, only Democrats still support the Constitution and are pro-democracy, while the GOP has become a neofascist party trying to destroy democracy both at home and abroad.
Right-wing media exploits male insecurity by reframing it: "Women are taking what's yours, t's the loss of unchallenged male dominance.
Young men grew up expecting automatic advantage. That disorientation is real. The manipulation is deliberate: RW media turns demographic change into a culture war and profits from male rage.
The insecurity is real. The scapegoating is weaponized.
I want ‘Sweet Revenge’ for every Epstein victim of DJT: so that he can’t ‘lie in state’ for all the silly MAGAS to cry their 🐊tears over him… I want him superglued to his ‘Blow-up Barbie’!🤨
Several years ago, I commented on the Washington Post that I would crap on the capital steps when Trump was laid in state. So they banned me for life and I ended my subscription. I think and hope my crapping moment is at hand. Wanna join me?
My banning was more mundane, I called. someone a troll. Oddly, I immediately received several likes, but it apparently like DeSantis some words should never be said or written, terrible words like, "climate change"
Apparently, his list of bad words was too long so he banned the dictionary from schools across Florida.
Oh no way… lol. In 7th grade at a catholic school, one of the few students with a Jewish last name to boot, 2 weeks before summer vacation in the Summer of Love, 1967, Father Emerling the principal told me to get a haircut like his (Butch) or else. I looked at him (I had already had it trimmed twice the last trimming I saved the hair as proof in a brown paper bag) and as I opened the bag and he looked in to see my hair trimming, that’s when I should have kicked him in the shins, he told be to return my home room and collect my stuff I was being expelled. This along with other catholic stories will be in my memoirs.
I grew up across the street from a Catholic school and church. I'm now 78, but one doesn't forget being called a "dirty Jew" when I was about 8 and on my way home for synagogue.
That's the difference between British and American journalism - in the UK, you have to watch your language but they WILL call out anyone who's connected to Epstein.
In the US, you can swear all you like - but the Media will NOT call out a pedo-pal.
Whether he's alive or not, if we started a thread on the many different fantasies we each have for his physical demise it could end up being quite lengthy.
Sadly, he's already cray-cray and the Republicans and MSM have totally normalized it.
Age 86; terminally ill (CHF); with you in shared wish to see Mr.Talarico "well and truly launched." But only if he -- or more appropriately his speech writers -- can broaden the already uniquely uplifting emotional appeal of his pitch to a truly national audience. Can he do that, he can resurrect the New Deal. The pivotal question, of course, is whether he'll at last fulfill the promise implied and broken by every White-Housed Democrat since President John Fitzgerald Kennedy.
If the voices of Talarico, Mamdani, Buttigieg, AOC, Ossoff, Bernie, Obama and others all join together we could have something on a national scale. I'm 75 and I'm hanging on until we are out of this mess (I hope).
79 here. I wake up each day and am stunned that this insanity and abuse is happening. But I'm also determined to see this through.
Another amazing voice to add to your list is the also young Senator John Ossoff of Georgia. His values are spot on and his speeches also hit it out of the park.
KOKO, girl (keep on keeping on) from a 90-year-old. I could never find it but I remember buying and receiving a deed for a two-inch patch of Texas when I was in high school . . . I've traveled a few miles since then.
Me too. 73 here and am heartbroken. We need more of or statespeople to speak up. I cant march or go out and protest but i can open my wallet to the new generation who will need our help to take back all of our rights. There is hope with them.
KOKO, girl (keep on keeping on) from a 90-year-old. I could never find it but I remember buying and receiving a deed for a two-inch patch of Texas when I was in high school . . . I've traveled a few miles since then.
We shall see, although I suspect he may do a fair amount of his own speech-writing.
I certainly remember how I felt about JFK. (I also remember standing out in Lafayette Square watching the helicopters land on the White House Lawn after dark on that terrible day, and two funeral processions on Pennsylvania Avenue.) Are you saying a new New Deal was promised and that was the promise broken?
As for age and health, i look on the combination as a major irritation. I’ve been dealing with RA for 55 years, but CHF is much more serious. I wish you well
There used to be a comedy show on the BBC called " Goodness Gracious Me!" and one of its running sketches was two elderly Indian ladies competing about their sons. "My son the doctor v My son the Consultant"
Among my friends, this now seems to be about competing about your health problems. Every time we get together, we start off with an "Organ Recital." Someone having a hip replaced is outbid by a hip AND knee replacement. Someone with a UTI is slammed by a permanent catheter. Bronchitis beats flu - but is topped by pneumonia!
I just thought I'd let you know - I outbid you AND Loren - I have RA - AND CHF!
(If you come back and tell me you have diabetes, I'm out of the game. . .)
i'm a retired nurse. when i was working on a post op ward of some sort, one of the things i would watch for that would tell me someone was recovering was a sense of humor...and when that goes, life just ain't funny anymore...
A nation can survive disagreement. It cannot survive ownership.
Americans have always argued about politics, faith, culture, and the proper role of government. Those arguments are not signs of national weakness. They are evidence that free people still believe their voices matter.
But today, those voices are being drowned out by money.
Billionaires finance the candidates. Corporations employ the lobbyists. Media owners influence what the public sees and hears. Political operatives redraw districts so elected officials can choose their voters instead of voters choosing their representatives.
This is how a republic is hollowed out. Not in secret, but in full public view. Not all at once, but law by law, election by election, institution by institution.
The people capable of stopping it are deliberately kept at war with one another. Rural Americans are told to fear the cities. Citizens are told to fear immigrants. White workers are turned against workers of color. Religion, race, gender, and party become weapons of distraction.
While Americans fight among themselves, the powerful walk away with the country.
We must refuse to let them.
Republicans, Democrats, and independents will continue to disagree. But no honest political belief requires surrendering our government to its wealthiest bidders. Fair elections are not partisan. Honest government is not partisan. A living wage, an affordable home, a good school, and access to healthcare are not partisan. They are part of the basic promise of American life.
Every expansion of American freedom began when ordinary people challenged those who claimed the right to rule them. Americans confronted monarchy. They confronted slavery. They confronted corporate monopolies, segregation, and the exploitation of workers. They did not prevail because power became generous. They prevailed because people became united.
Now the concentration of wealth is becoming a concentration of political power. Corrupt leaders enable it. Manufactured outrage conceals it. Public division protects it.
The powerful are betting that Americans will remain too angry at one another to recognize what is being taken from them.
I will be celebrating with you on that great day! I have a renewed sense of hope knowing that this young man is in the game pushing hard to restore our democracy!
I am 84, and I want to see Talarico succeed in the beginning of the end of the Trump era.
In this year of our nation's 250th anniversary of independence, we've come as close as we ever have to ending the democracy we've known—because a con man, a failed human, weaponized Americans' greatest fears and hatreds. He got elected twice by tapping into rage.
Now we work to rebuild. To reestablish our values. To stop the hatred of minorities—and to recognize that those minorities bring the culture and values that make America what it always has been, the great melting pot.
Cross-breeding of cultures makes us stronger. Diversity is our inoculation against mediocrity and decline.
We need to prove that love is stronger than hate. All humans have the same basic needs. Those who look different are not different—we are one species. We need to take care of one another.
And, acknowledge that diversity is DIFFICULT! People cling, by nature, to their traditions, their language, their habits......and this makes it difficult to integrate. They always do assimilate however, but we need to be honest about the discomfort 'the other' causes many people DURING that time. We need help accepting others without feeling threatened or compromised and that threads a small needle. THIS is where the efforts need to go. One of the reasons people reject "the other" is because they feel threatened and that needs to be our target.
It's about time a new generation of Democratic voices are finally being heard. John Ossoff, AOC, and Zoran Mamdani all can wind up a crowd, and that is what we need: a new vision of what America can be, policies, and a platform that are in the best interests of the American people while demanding accountability. from the regime.
We have to amplify these voices--the legacy media won't. Listen to the speeches. They gave me hope, and made me proud to be an American again for the first time in 2 years. Tell your neighbors what you heard, what made you hopeful, and which of your needs you heard addressed. What we all want, no, need, to believe is that there is an alternative to the current madness.
The timing couldn't be better as Trump is playing ringmaster to the empty circus that is Freedom 250. We have the perfect contrast of youth vs. age, narcissism vs. empathy, decency vs. corruption, set against a backdrop of complete incompetence.
I do so as one who loves, has long loved, so many American novels, memoirs, histories, biographies, films, music, and other arts. And they link to great international peers, as well.
But best, as you say, John Ossoff, AOC, Zoran Mamdani, and others radiate strength, positivity, healthy neighborliness and acceptance (all strikingly personal) -- qualities testing has otherwise helped keep out of our schools.
Standards of teaching have zero to do with testing's priorities, Anne-Louise.
In Finland, as means to restore teachers to their central role, they let the teachers evict the testers. And from then on Finnish teachers had the respect of their communities and all parents.
Yes. A thousand fold yes. Not just America, but the world is longing for the voices and the leadership that will free us all from the misery, hate and divisiveness flowing out of the White House and MAGA. Our beloved country has been kidnapped by pirates and ghouls. It is way past time they pack their bags and left the world stage.
I feel like I’m living in one of the Star Wars sagas with darth Vader and his evil bunch doing dastardly deeds and the rest of us scrambling to save our lives. Where are our princess leias and Luke skywalkers though? Oh yes that was just a movie. 😞
Susan only shows her face in Kindergarten classrooms, fundraisers by very rich Republicans (Leonard Leo) and events with very friendly faces like Republican meetings while Graham is out there everyday meeting with hundreds of Mainers.
I think age has an important role to play, but each age comes with fortes and foibles, and the union makes us strong. Certainly I am yearning from some new blood in some of our ossified institutions. It seems to me that accountability is the other side of freedom in any societal sense. It seems to me that the American experiment/ideal is cooperation in encouraging and defending the broadest possible responsible (that's the responsibility part) social diversity of the pursuit of happiness. So yes, liberty and accountability are part and parcel of the same thing. Is that not what we teach our children, but often let it drift amid the slings and arrows of adulthood's fortunes?
Exactly! Mamdani was in New York's Gay Pride parade -- and the day before he jumped in a NYC swimming pool in a full suit to signal the opening of pools in the city -- he (and the Knicks) have brought joy back to the city. You can feel it on the streets.
Maybe in NYC, but wiping dirty hands on the flag, advocating the abolishment of the police and prisons, calling other democrats hateful names may not play well in the rest of the country.
New York City...a large urban center located on an island surrounded by reality...
Maybe I am misinterpreting your comment but the description of New York City as being an island surrounded by reality is troubling to me. It brings to mind the pervasive cultural myth that rural Americans are superior or "more American" than city dwelling Americans. We need to embrace diversity and. not expect that every area in this large diverse country will "play well in the rest of the country."
Methinks you have it backwards. In "THE City" are those who see the rest of America as a conglomeration of unrefined, poorly educated, crass bumpkins.
The idea that socialism is a good idea may play there, but the bumpkins aren't buying it. A congressional candidate bragging about wiping her dirty hands on a flag, and advocating the abolishment of the police and prisons may work in "THE City", but most bumpkins are stuck in the unsophisticated "myth" that police serve a purpose, that America is at it's core a good place filled with good people.
Ever see this? This is what they think of the rest of America.
Agree with AOC and Zoran Mamdani as candidates but NOT John Ossoff who is WAY too "in-love with himself". I cannot watch him speak to the crowd. He even pauses to encourage them to express their "praise".....makes my stomach turn!
Regarding "Trump and his family....and his followers"....WHAT IS THE ATTRACTION????
The present belongs to those who united people by attacking Barack Obama and Joe Biden, trans kids and immigrants, espousing racist and misogynistic hate, empty promises, and that is willing to trash the entire Constitution to clench more money and power. I think defeating that very real threat to our representative democracy is a shared purpose.
That's a real keeper; though solidarity against a genuine common enemy has its proper place as well. That said, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.
Talarico is a good man and a great candidate. What a speech. Let’s take that message and that commitment to topple tyrants to every midterm and make this country decent and just again. Talarico reminds me of a biblical verse Thomas Jefferson liked: “Resistance to tyrants is obedience to God.”
Talarico is the real stuff, to paraphrase a remark once said about Ohioan John Glenn, first man to circle the earth. He deserves the long, eloquent quotes Heather accorded him this evening.
Texas is a quirky place. It sends up corrupt scumbags like Ken Paxton and total phonies like Cancun Cruz, but just as quickly replaces them with rare gems like Ann Richards. Once asked as Governor what she thought about an ACLU lawsuit against the Texas Legislature for displaying a crèche at the Capitol Rotunda in Austin, she paused, adding "look at it this way. It's gotta be the first time three wise men ever got this close to the Legislature. Why don't we just let it stay there a few more days, see if any of it rubs off?"
In 1980, two men by themselves decided to take on the Texas Democratic Party at another state convention to see if it would endorse a gay rights platform for Jimmy Carter to campaign on -- whether he wanted to or not. I was one of those two men, getting elected from Houston first as a local, then regional, then state-wide Kennedy delegate to the party’s quadrennial convention in Austin. Delegates had been informed that for the first time anywhere, a gay rights platform had been introduced, with about 20 minutes to debate the issue amongst ourselves first. My cohort from Dallas approached all this with a sense of the strategic I didn't have. 'You take care of East Texas, I’ll take care of the west,’ he said, as he hopped off to the part of the gymnasium filled with delegates from El Paso, Stockton, Pecos, Amarillo — all those empty spaces with more cattle than people, with 2 mesquite trees every 500 square miles or so. At that time, most of those cowboys, ranchers and cattlemen in the bleachers were still technically Democrats.
I went to the other side of the gym, filled with about 250-300 delegates from Houston, Galveston, Corpus Christi, Texarkana, Dallas, Ft. Worth — mostly Black, politically moderate, very socially conservative. I asked for the floor, hopped down and began to speak. I have no recollection about words, other than invoking Martin Luther King, Jr. At some point, I thought, I must be coming across as condescending. Not one person would even look me in the eye. For some reason, I wasn't deterred. You gave it the old college try, I remember thinking.
My partner tried a different track — humor. "If you support this platform,’ he told the cowboys, ‘I promise you sheep in West Texas will suffer less." They thought that was funny, slapped their thighs, laughing out loud -- sure it was kind of a joke you wanted to be in on. When voting time came — those cowboys raised their hands, stood up and 'came out' as closeted gay rights supporters. On the other side of the gym, I just stood on the floor looking up at the bleachers. Maybe a few souls will find bravery this day, I thought. To my astonishment, almost every person in my section stood up -- southern Baptists, ladies in flowered hats and all, raised their hands, and looked straight at me.
A few quiet seconds passed. "The amendment passes; the platform is adopted," the Parliamentarian announced. An enormous audible gasp filled the gym. I still have no idea if it came from astonished friends and supporters (clearly we had many), or from those convinced the Devil himself had just wandered into Austin, Texas. But the vote passed. And because of Texas’s size and influence, the national party platform in 1980 included its language: ”all groups must be protected from discrimination based on race, color, religion, national origin, language, age, sex or sexual orientation" -- the first time such language had ever been inserted into any national political party platform. It's been there ever since.
So that's Texas. More than time for a return to Big Picture politics, as befits a Big State!
and the short one around Ann Richards...i, not surprisingly, never heard that one before and it made me laugh out loud...thanks for ALL of that...and thanks for what you did. democracy has no meaning to me if it's not inclusive.
What a great collection of stories today! First HCR, then this young man from TEXAS whose words hit, each and every time, with the same familiar impact that a young senatorial candidate from Chicago who first addressed the 2004 Democratic presidential convention. It proved true nearly every time he approached the podium. What is it? Elemental truth, dignity, breadth of understanding, humanity? And now, this personal story from ”It’s All Come to This”. Great stories. Now, for some reason, my morning’s full of hope. Thankfully, not all of us have been infected with a kind of brain worm that seems prevalent in todays’s political arena …where words too often reflect bitter, resentful, small minded and petty visions. Thank you. Godspeed, Talarico. And gratitude for the pearls among these comments each day!
There is also the Texas Governors race happening this year. Democratic nominee and state representative Gina Hinojosa is running against Greg Abbott, the Republican governor running for a 4th term.
Abbott is also corrupt(to state the obvious), signed off and began the mid decade redistricting efforts to gerrymander 5 more congressional seats for Republicans. He's been an acolyte and yes-man to Trump for both terms.
It would be great to see him gone in November too...Make Texas Big and Blue again...
So Abbott goes out for a run during a thunderstorm and a large branch falls on him. He is paralyzed for life, sues the home owner and wins $11 million. These are the kind of politicians Texas elects and votes into office time and again.
GJ, I am not quite sure what you are implying. Homeowners are responsible for maintaining their property including their trees. If something happens because a tree branch hurts or kills someone when it breaks during a storm, the homeowner and their insurance policy is responsible, and that is true whether the person who is hurt is Democrat or Republican (or anything else). Abbott's settlement "win" was completely appropriate, he suffered a life-lasting injury of major proportions.
You couple that with your last statement as if his lawsuit win was some kind of nefarious plot. That is idiotic and mean spirited. I sincerely doubt you would say the same thing about a poor Democrat who was injured and won a similar settlement. Read the article you posted the link to and your implication is shown to be bogus and misleading. Shame on you.
If we play by those rules, it makes us worse than the GOP. What a terrible thing to say about Abbott's severe injury. I can't stand the man's politics but I have tremendous empathy for ANYONE who is seriously injured in an accident, especially one which might have been avoided. The homeowner and his insurance company ultimately paid the damages to avoid a trial. That's EXACTLY how things should be done.
I'm not holding my breath. I tried that when Beto ran and almost died from lack of oxygen (just kidding, not really but it felt like it). I sure hope Talarico surprises us, but if I was placing a bet, I'd take the odds on Paxton. He fits into the Texas power structure like a hand in a glove.
Talirico is one of those, seemingly one of a few, thinking and speaking truth. We the People need these kind of people and one has to believe there are more just like this young man, willing, able and ready to do battle for our country. Go forth, Talirico, and succeed. For all of us.
"Young" is the key word. And so many of them are running against old people that are living "on the dole" or enriching themselves with insider trading or other corrupt actions.
One public figure, Talarico, stands in what he terms the great Texas tradition of openness, welcoming, positive views of others.
The other, the criminal in the White House, obviously pushes poisons, divisions, hatreds. He abets and fawns on dictators, mass murderers. Thrills to ICE and CBP thugs torturing ordinary people across the land. It's not only ugly, but also now tiresome for most Americans, who do not at all share the criminal's penchant for protecting the venal wealthy, the corrupt, and the fellow rapists whom he still pointedly covers up.
While not a Texan and cannot vote for this young man, James Talarico. What an inspirational, articulate compassionate man who will do Texas proud. Have seen him on various programs and caught some of his speech in acceptance. When he said, “Texans don’t like tyrants” - No one does James, it’s just not Texans.. Donated to his campaign even though in another state.
Professor, this is one of your best letters in the many years of documenting history. James Talarico's speech actually has me liking Texas, whereas before, I was of the mind to cut both Texas and Florida out of the union, due to their inhumane cooption by the MAGA GOP, harming its citizens and removing women's rights, killing people. I will never forget Uvalde. I remember Ted Cruz - not the name on his birth certificate(!) - heading for a vacation in Mexico while people froze to death. Talarico named "Willie, Selena, Beyonce'." That is America. Let the vision for the future we can become mount into a blue wave, and cleanse the swamp of the mango maniac and his sycophants. No Tyrants! No Kings!
Same here!! This speech reminded me of the first time I heard Obama speak at the Convention many years ago -- uplifting and positive -- articulate and smart!
If the people of Texas select Paxton over Talarico in November, that will say volumes about their values and commitment to the Texas Talarico envisions.
Trump always claims the biggest this or that, and yet his behavior is routinely, grotesquely, small. really small. I like that Talirico is thinking big, is behaving big. Not as a big bully, but a big hearted, broad minded, big picture frame of mind. Those who all spend all their life throwing their money and influence around have something important that has withered within.
"You can go to church and sing the hymn
Judge men by the color of their skin
You can live a lie until you die
One thing you can't hide, is when you're crippled inside."
Lol... I always used a version / spinoff of that aphorism in my career as a maintenance professional. I frequently had to deal with fresh - faced engineers full of book knowledge, asking them when they'd overstep if they knew the difference between cowboy boots and engineer boots.
didn't even know it was a john lennon, song, JL...thanks. i actually HAVE the album and haven't really listened to it...it's in my pad which is set to 'random'...with 10,000+ plus songs/tunes...so it just floated in that ether...i'm making a point to listen to it now, though. thanks again...
That is, IF the people are *allowed* to select someone who is not part of the “coup of the very wealthy”, THEN we will witness their values and commitment bring Texas to life!
James Talarico is the future, a rare communicator, born and bred to be one of the founders of a new nation, able and strong enough to overcome the tyranny we face now. He’s a gift to us for this moment.
It really helps that the loser he's running against is literally Scumbag, Inc. You couldn't find a more odious sack of malice and emptiness than Ken Paxton (and Republicans keep trying). Let's hope this year Talarico breaks the evil spell that has too many still convinced there's something tasty and nutritious at the bottom of that glass of purple MAGA Kool-Aid....
I’m 83 and am determined to to stay around long enough to see this solid young man well and truly launched on his path to helping repair the damage Trump and his cronies have inflicted on this country.
WHOOSH! There's my best to send you vitality, health and happiness to last many more wonderful years!
Thanks! Back atcha! (I’ll take all the help I can get!)
Now that’s a speech for the ages. How could anyone not support his candidacy.
Yes, that was a brilliant speech. Brilliant. It isn't Left vs. Right but rather Bottom vs. Top. It's a long, hard, tough slog, overcoming the propaganda and influence peddled by the wealthy through Fox, OAN and other outlets, but this kind of advocacy can make a difference.
This elections isn't about BEING a Democrat or a Republican. But it IS about voting for Democrats only and voting all Republicans out, because today, only Democrats still support the Constitution and are pro-democracy, while the GOP has become a neofascist party trying to destroy democracy both at home and abroad.
Right-wing media exploits male insecurity by reframing it: "Women are taking what's yours, t's the loss of unchallenged male dominance.
Young men grew up expecting automatic advantage. That disorientation is real. The manipulation is deliberate: RW media turns demographic change into a culture war and profits from male rage.
The insecurity is real. The scapegoating is weaponized.
It is a speech like that could launch a candidate toward the White House.
Me too! Now is NOT the time to die. I want to be around when the mortician's superglue those lips shut.
I want ‘Sweet Revenge’ for every Epstein victim of DJT: so that he can’t ‘lie in state’ for all the silly MAGAS to cry their 🐊tears over him… I want him superglued to his ‘Blow-up Barbie’!🤨
We can send him home to moscow.
Several years ago, I commented on the Washington Post that I would crap on the capital steps when Trump was laid in state. So they banned me for life and I ended my subscription. I think and hope my crapping moment is at hand. Wanna join me?
My banning was more mundane, I called. someone a troll. Oddly, I immediately received several likes, but it apparently like DeSantis some words should never be said or written, terrible words like, "climate change"
Apparently, his list of bad words was too long so he banned the dictionary from schools across Florida.
But, the RepubliCONS keep shouting, "FREEDOM".
Let me tell you of my business plans for a beer and roast asparagus stand next to the Mango Messiah's grave.
This looks like the beginning of a beautiful friendship...
Husband of Ruth writing:
Brilliant!
Oh ya.
And help Ilsa & Victor escape.
Oh goody, asparagus- count ME in too!
BK….wear that ban as a badge of honor.
I got banned from sunday school at 6yo for questioning a guy in the sky and angels..my proudest damn moment!!!
I will absolutely join you for the crapping moment my friend.
Oh no way… lol. In 7th grade at a catholic school, one of the few students with a Jewish last name to boot, 2 weeks before summer vacation in the Summer of Love, 1967, Father Emerling the principal told me to get a haircut like his (Butch) or else. I looked at him (I had already had it trimmed twice the last trimming I saved the hair as proof in a brown paper bag) and as I opened the bag and he looked in to see my hair trimming, that’s when I should have kicked him in the shins, he told be to return my home room and collect my stuff I was being expelled. This along with other catholic stories will be in my memoirs.
I grew up across the street from a Catholic school and church. I'm now 78, but one doesn't forget being called a "dirty Jew" when I was about 8 and on my way home for synagogue.
Brilliantly big badge of honor, BK
RIGHT ON ‼️‼️
Husband of Ruth writing:
Absolutely godsdamned right. I’m with you. I got banned from the Times of London just for calling prezzie Shitforbrains ‘Bonehead’.
That's the difference between British and American journalism - in the UK, you have to watch your language but they WILL call out anyone who's connected to Epstein.
In the US, you can swear all you like - but the Media will NOT call out a pedo-pal.
Didn't trump supporters already crap on the Capitol already - on Jan 6th?
Go for it, Bill - maybe that will put you on course for some of that $1.8 billion "compensation."
Maybe they're getting "compensated because there was no toilet roll laid on for them. Traumatic.
Really, I just want to be arrested so I can promote my book, “Donald’s Vanity Tantrums.”
I don't want Trump dead, I want him held accountable and imprisoned for his blatant crimes.
AMEN TO THAT!!! No orange makeup and no hairspray in court!
Bill, are you sure there aren't better things you could do on that occasion?
YES! Now,....about the Epstein Files!
Yes - or numerous judges hand down numerous ruinous opinions…
Whether he's alive or not, if we started a thread on the many different fantasies we each have for his physical demise it could end up being quite lengthy.
Sadly, he's already cray-cray and the Republicans and MSM have totally normalized it.
The current political iteration of “weekend at Bernie’s.”
lol ~ Ditto
I know right!!
😂🤣!
Now THAT was acceptance speech acceptance of Texas size duties while launching the Great Repair.
ooh. "the great repair" I like this. way better than "project 2028"
I actually like the Biden Admin's "Build Back Better." When we repair, it needs to not just be back to the status quo before the MAGA infestation.
The Great Repair!!! Yes!
Age 86; terminally ill (CHF); with you in shared wish to see Mr.Talarico "well and truly launched." But only if he -- or more appropriately his speech writers -- can broaden the already uniquely uplifting emotional appeal of his pitch to a truly national audience. Can he do that, he can resurrect the New Deal. The pivotal question, of course, is whether he'll at last fulfill the promise implied and broken by every White-Housed Democrat since President John Fitzgerald Kennedy.
If the voices of Talarico, Mamdani, Buttigieg, AOC, Ossoff, Bernie, Obama and others all join together we could have something on a national scale. I'm 75 and I'm hanging on until we are out of this mess (I hope).
79 here. I wake up each day and am stunned that this insanity and abuse is happening. But I'm also determined to see this through.
Another amazing voice to add to your list is the also young Senator John Ossoff of Georgia. His values are spot on and his speeches also hit it out of the park.
Our bench is deep with talent!
You are so right -- I just added him!
KOKO, girl (keep on keeping on) from a 90-year-old. I could never find it but I remember buying and receiving a deed for a two-inch patch of Texas when I was in high school . . . I've traveled a few miles since then.
And imagine the tales you could tell.....
Me too. 73 here and am heartbroken. We need more of or statespeople to speak up. I cant march or go out and protest but i can open my wallet to the new generation who will need our help to take back all of our rights. There is hope with them.
I'm 85 and I still share the same hope. Unity =strength.
KOKO, girl (keep on keeping on) from a 90-year-old. I could never find it but I remember buying and receiving a deed for a two-inch patch of Texas when I was in high school . . . I've traveled a few miles since then.
We shall see, although I suspect he may do a fair amount of his own speech-writing.
I certainly remember how I felt about JFK. (I also remember standing out in Lafayette Square watching the helicopters land on the White House Lawn after dark on that terrible day, and two funeral processions on Pennsylvania Avenue.) Are you saying a new New Deal was promised and that was the promise broken?
As for age and health, i look on the combination as a major irritation. I’ve been dealing with RA for 55 years, but CHF is much more serious. I wish you well
Kelly - Getting old does provide SOME laughs.
There used to be a comedy show on the BBC called " Goodness Gracious Me!" and one of its running sketches was two elderly Indian ladies competing about their sons. "My son the doctor v My son the Consultant"
Among my friends, this now seems to be about competing about your health problems. Every time we get together, we start off with an "Organ Recital." Someone having a hip replaced is outbid by a hip AND knee replacement. Someone with a UTI is slammed by a permanent catheter. Bronchitis beats flu - but is topped by pneumonia!
I just thought I'd let you know - I outbid you AND Loren - I have RA - AND CHF!
(If you come back and tell me you have diabetes, I'm out of the game. . .)
hi Lady...
i'm a retired nurse. when i was working on a post op ward of some sort, one of the things i would watch for that would tell me someone was recovering was a sense of humor...and when that goes, life just ain't funny anymore...
all 3 of you...your spirits do humanity honor.
What are the med terms for RA and CHF please?
rheumatoid arthritis and congestive heart failure, bill...and you are welcome ANY time...
Personally, Bill. my names for RA and CHF are "Bastard" and "Pain in the Bloody Arse."
Not sure if the Lancet would accept that, but believe me it only just covers it some days.
Retaining a sense of humor is a super-power.
And a sense of humor Lady E! I will not one up you! I do it the opposite when friends start reciting the list - I pretend I am 'fine'.
CHF is …?
I'm a nearly 73 y-o grandmother and my kids bought me a "Grantifa" t-shirt which I wear with pride. I'm proud to be old, activist, and pissed off!!
''A Republic Cannot Be Bought''
A nation can survive disagreement. It cannot survive ownership.
Americans have always argued about politics, faith, culture, and the proper role of government. Those arguments are not signs of national weakness. They are evidence that free people still believe their voices matter.
But today, those voices are being drowned out by money.
Billionaires finance the candidates. Corporations employ the lobbyists. Media owners influence what the public sees and hears. Political operatives redraw districts so elected officials can choose their voters instead of voters choosing their representatives.
This is how a republic is hollowed out. Not in secret, but in full public view. Not all at once, but law by law, election by election, institution by institution.
The people capable of stopping it are deliberately kept at war with one another. Rural Americans are told to fear the cities. Citizens are told to fear immigrants. White workers are turned against workers of color. Religion, race, gender, and party become weapons of distraction.
While Americans fight among themselves, the powerful walk away with the country.
We must refuse to let them.
Republicans, Democrats, and independents will continue to disagree. But no honest political belief requires surrendering our government to its wealthiest bidders. Fair elections are not partisan. Honest government is not partisan. A living wage, an affordable home, a good school, and access to healthcare are not partisan. They are part of the basic promise of American life.
Every expansion of American freedom began when ordinary people challenged those who claimed the right to rule them. Americans confronted monarchy. They confronted slavery. They confronted corporate monopolies, segregation, and the exploitation of workers. They did not prevail because power became generous. They prevailed because people became united.
Now the concentration of wealth is becoming a concentration of political power. Corrupt leaders enable it. Manufactured outrage conceals it. Public division protects it.
The powerful are betting that Americans will remain too angry at one another to recognize what is being taken from them.
Let us make them lose that bet.
Would you consider, "A DEMOCRACY can survive disagreement but it cannot survive ownership", instead?
I will be celebrating with you on that great day! I have a renewed sense of hope knowing that this young man is in the game pushing hard to restore our democracy!
We the ppl will take back OUR power. Peacefully 💜
Im a lot younger than you are Kelly, only 82 for one more month, and i'm as determined as you are!!!!😆 Thanks..
Me too, been a long slide. Time for a climb.
80, and with you every step of the way!
gezondheid, mevrouw...
I am 84, and I want to see Talarico succeed in the beginning of the end of the Trump era.
In this year of our nation's 250th anniversary of independence, we've come as close as we ever have to ending the democracy we've known—because a con man, a failed human, weaponized Americans' greatest fears and hatreds. He got elected twice by tapping into rage.
Now we work to rebuild. To reestablish our values. To stop the hatred of minorities—and to recognize that those minorities bring the culture and values that make America what it always has been, the great melting pot.
Cross-breeding of cultures makes us stronger. Diversity is our inoculation against mediocrity and decline.
We need to prove that love is stronger than hate. All humans have the same basic needs. Those who look different are not different—we are one species. We need to take care of one another.
Stop the hate. Choose love.
And, acknowledge that diversity is DIFFICULT! People cling, by nature, to their traditions, their language, their habits......and this makes it difficult to integrate. They always do assimilate however, but we need to be honest about the discomfort 'the other' causes many people DURING that time. We need help accepting others without feeling threatened or compromised and that threads a small needle. THIS is where the efforts need to go. One of the reasons people reject "the other" is because they feel threatened and that needs to be our target.
SOLIDARITY 👊 🇺🇲 👊 🇺🇲 👊
No
The future belongs to those who can unite people around a shared purpose, not a shared enemy.
It's about time a new generation of Democratic voices are finally being heard. John Ossoff, AOC, and Zoran Mamdani all can wind up a crowd, and that is what we need: a new vision of what America can be, policies, and a platform that are in the best interests of the American people while demanding accountability. from the regime.
We have to amplify these voices--the legacy media won't. Listen to the speeches. They gave me hope, and made me proud to be an American again for the first time in 2 years. Tell your neighbors what you heard, what made you hopeful, and which of your needs you heard addressed. What we all want, no, need, to believe is that there is an alternative to the current madness.
The timing couldn't be better as Trump is playing ringmaster to the empty circus that is Freedom 250. We have the perfect contrast of youth vs. age, narcissism vs. empathy, decency vs. corruption, set against a backdrop of complete incompetence.
Please let me add my "yes" to yours, Georgia.
I do so as one who loves, has long loved, so many American novels, memoirs, histories, biographies, films, music, and other arts. And they link to great international peers, as well.
But best, as you say, John Ossoff, AOC, Zoran Mamdani, and others radiate strength, positivity, healthy neighborliness and acceptance (all strikingly personal) -- qualities testing has otherwise helped keep out of our schools.
That is to say, inadequate standards of teaching?
Standards of teaching have zero to do with testing's priorities, Anne-Louise.
In Finland, as means to restore teachers to their central role, they let the teachers evict the testers. And from then on Finnish teachers had the respect of their communities and all parents.
And developed the best K-12 in the world.
Finland has no mandated, standardised tests until a pupil reaches the age of 18.
I don’t understand why testing is an insufficient method of showing educational progress.
Yes. A thousand fold yes. Not just America, but the world is longing for the voices and the leadership that will free us all from the misery, hate and divisiveness flowing out of the White House and MAGA. Our beloved country has been kidnapped by pirates and ghouls. It is way past time they pack their bags and left the world stage.
Amen, Merrill
I feel like I’m living in one of the Star Wars sagas with darth Vader and his evil bunch doing dastardly deeds and the rest of us scrambling to save our lives. Where are our princess leias and Luke skywalkers though? Oh yes that was just a movie. 😞
And here in Maine - FDR Democrat Graham Platner.
Graham Platner On Service, Messaging & the Future for Democrats | Jon Stewart
.https://youtu.be/-itNjgCJDxU?si=w8vsfkaci3HjZsin.
Graham Platner Primary Night Victory Remarks
.https://youtu.be/ThWd8_swWaw?si=-6hCcJFBH8tT9N_8.
Graham Platner | Democrat for U.S. Senate
.https://www.grahamforsenate.com/.
Thanks -lin.
Susan only shows her face in Kindergarten classrooms, fundraisers by very rich Republicans (Leonard Leo) and events with very friendly faces like Republican meetings while Graham is out there everyday meeting with hundreds of Mainers.
I think age has an important role to play, but each age comes with fortes and foibles, and the union makes us strong. Certainly I am yearning from some new blood in some of our ossified institutions. It seems to me that accountability is the other side of freedom in any societal sense. It seems to me that the American experiment/ideal is cooperation in encouraging and defending the broadest possible responsible (that's the responsibility part) social diversity of the pursuit of happiness. So yes, liberty and accountability are part and parcel of the same thing. Is that not what we teach our children, but often let it drift amid the slings and arrows of adulthood's fortunes?
JL, HCR and Joanne Freeman discussed accountability this weekend. So important.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G7VeldVFOHo
Exactly! Mamdani was in New York's Gay Pride parade -- and the day before he jumped in a NYC swimming pool in a full suit to signal the opening of pools in the city -- he (and the Knicks) have brought joy back to the city. You can feel it on the streets.
That poor suit......but what a great symbol of happiness and celebration!
Ro Khanna and Paul Krugman in conversation on June 27th, not crowd stirring but solidly prgmatic and principled, also leadership in action: https://paulkrugman.substack.com/p/catching-up-with-ro-khanna
Ironically, the only Republican voices we hear are those spoken to the MSM, like FOX.
Republican politicos only dare to speak or even show their faces at partisan events, white Christian churches or very small gatherings.
That's because reporters are lazy. Members of Congress walk the halls, eat in the Congressional dining rooms, travel via the airport, etc.
We should be sticking our cell phones in their faces continuously.
Ask every "Republican woman" officeholder whether they "submit" to a man, as the authors of Project 2025 contemplate.
They certainly seem to be winning a lot of elections.
https://theintercept.com/2026/06/25/democrats-socialist-left-midterms-centrists-new-york/?utm_medium=email&utm_source=The%20Intercept%20Newsletter
Maybe in NYC, but wiping dirty hands on the flag, advocating the abolishment of the police and prisons, calling other democrats hateful names may not play well in the rest of the country.
New York City...a large urban center located on an island surrounded by reality...
Maybe I am misinterpreting your comment but the description of New York City as being an island surrounded by reality is troubling to me. It brings to mind the pervasive cultural myth that rural Americans are superior or "more American" than city dwelling Americans. We need to embrace diversity and. not expect that every area in this large diverse country will "play well in the rest of the country."
Methinks you have it backwards. In "THE City" are those who see the rest of America as a conglomeration of unrefined, poorly educated, crass bumpkins.
The idea that socialism is a good idea may play there, but the bumpkins aren't buying it. A congressional candidate bragging about wiping her dirty hands on a flag, and advocating the abolishment of the police and prisons may work in "THE City", but most bumpkins are stuck in the unsophisticated "myth" that police serve a purpose, that America is at it's core a good place filled with good people.
Ever see this? This is what they think of the rest of America.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/View_of_the_World_from_9th_Avenue
And let's not forget NYC gave us Trump.
You Tube?
Georgia Fisanick,
Agree with AOC and Zoran Mamdani as candidates but NOT John Ossoff who is WAY too "in-love with himself". I cannot watch him speak to the crowd. He even pauses to encourage them to express their "praise".....makes my stomach turn!
Regarding "Trump and his family....and his followers"....WHAT IS THE ATTRACTION????
I have NO comprehension!!!!
The present belongs to those who united people by attacking Barack Obama and Joe Biden, trans kids and immigrants, espousing racist and misogynistic hate, empty promises, and that is willing to trash the entire Constitution to clench more money and power. I think defeating that very real threat to our representative democracy is a shared purpose.
That's a real keeper; though solidarity against a genuine common enemy has its proper place as well. That said, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.
HV, a great succinct comment.
Talarico is a good man and a great candidate. What a speech. Let’s take that message and that commitment to topple tyrants to every midterm and make this country decent and just again. Talarico reminds me of a biblical verse Thomas Jefferson liked: “Resistance to tyrants is obedience to God.”
Talarico is the real stuff, to paraphrase a remark once said about Ohioan John Glenn, first man to circle the earth. He deserves the long, eloquent quotes Heather accorded him this evening.
Texas is a quirky place. It sends up corrupt scumbags like Ken Paxton and total phonies like Cancun Cruz, but just as quickly replaces them with rare gems like Ann Richards. Once asked as Governor what she thought about an ACLU lawsuit against the Texas Legislature for displaying a crèche at the Capitol Rotunda in Austin, she paused, adding "look at it this way. It's gotta be the first time three wise men ever got this close to the Legislature. Why don't we just let it stay there a few more days, see if any of it rubs off?"
In 1980, two men by themselves decided to take on the Texas Democratic Party at another state convention to see if it would endorse a gay rights platform for Jimmy Carter to campaign on -- whether he wanted to or not. I was one of those two men, getting elected from Houston first as a local, then regional, then state-wide Kennedy delegate to the party’s quadrennial convention in Austin. Delegates had been informed that for the first time anywhere, a gay rights platform had been introduced, with about 20 minutes to debate the issue amongst ourselves first. My cohort from Dallas approached all this with a sense of the strategic I didn't have. 'You take care of East Texas, I’ll take care of the west,’ he said, as he hopped off to the part of the gymnasium filled with delegates from El Paso, Stockton, Pecos, Amarillo — all those empty spaces with more cattle than people, with 2 mesquite trees every 500 square miles or so. At that time, most of those cowboys, ranchers and cattlemen in the bleachers were still technically Democrats.
I went to the other side of the gym, filled with about 250-300 delegates from Houston, Galveston, Corpus Christi, Texarkana, Dallas, Ft. Worth — mostly Black, politically moderate, very socially conservative. I asked for the floor, hopped down and began to speak. I have no recollection about words, other than invoking Martin Luther King, Jr. At some point, I thought, I must be coming across as condescending. Not one person would even look me in the eye. For some reason, I wasn't deterred. You gave it the old college try, I remember thinking.
My partner tried a different track — humor. "If you support this platform,’ he told the cowboys, ‘I promise you sheep in West Texas will suffer less." They thought that was funny, slapped their thighs, laughing out loud -- sure it was kind of a joke you wanted to be in on. When voting time came — those cowboys raised their hands, stood up and 'came out' as closeted gay rights supporters. On the other side of the gym, I just stood on the floor looking up at the bleachers. Maybe a few souls will find bravery this day, I thought. To my astonishment, almost every person in my section stood up -- southern Baptists, ladies in flowered hats and all, raised their hands, and looked straight at me.
A few quiet seconds passed. "The amendment passes; the platform is adopted," the Parliamentarian announced. An enormous audible gasp filled the gym. I still have no idea if it came from astonished friends and supporters (clearly we had many), or from those convinced the Devil himself had just wandered into Austin, Texas. But the vote passed. And because of Texas’s size and influence, the national party platform in 1980 included its language: ”all groups must be protected from discrimination based on race, color, religion, national origin, language, age, sex or sexual orientation" -- the first time such language had ever been inserted into any national political party platform. It's been there ever since.
So that's Texas. More than time for a return to Big Picture politics, as befits a Big State!
Damn did I ever enjoy Ann Richards; One of a kind.
Molly close
great story. thanks...
and the short one around Ann Richards...i, not surprisingly, never heard that one before and it made me laugh out loud...thanks for ALL of that...and thanks for what you did. democracy has no meaning to me if it's not inclusive.
Wow. Just wow!
That's fantastic.
What a great collection of stories today! First HCR, then this young man from TEXAS whose words hit, each and every time, with the same familiar impact that a young senatorial candidate from Chicago who first addressed the 2004 Democratic presidential convention. It proved true nearly every time he approached the podium. What is it? Elemental truth, dignity, breadth of understanding, humanity? And now, this personal story from ”It’s All Come to This”. Great stories. Now, for some reason, my morning’s full of hope. Thankfully, not all of us have been infected with a kind of brain worm that seems prevalent in todays’s political arena …where words too often reflect bitter, resentful, small minded and petty visions. Thank you. Godspeed, Talarico. And gratitude for the pearls among these comments each day!
1980... and then Texas voted for Reagan 55% to 40% (for Carter), along with most of the other states.
I've been to Texas. It doesn't surprise me at all.
ICTT, I always appreciate your comments, but thanks especially for sharing your story. I admire your efforts.
Ann Richards...yeah, oh yeah.
Great story! Never heard it before and it deserves To be known!
ouch, said someone familiar with the Old Testament. but i don't want to ruin the healthy momentum of these posts...so i'm not going to elaborate.
Such a person is not only right for Texas. He is among the best for America.
Paxton is not only corrupt and self-centered. He is a pawn in the hands of the wealthy and special interests.
We need to believe in ourselves again. That starts in November.
It's already in play, but we need a November to remember.
There is also the Texas Governors race happening this year. Democratic nominee and state representative Gina Hinojosa is running against Greg Abbott, the Republican governor running for a 4th term.
Abbott is also corrupt(to state the obvious), signed off and began the mid decade redistricting efforts to gerrymander 5 more congressional seats for Republicans. He's been an acolyte and yes-man to Trump for both terms.
It would be great to see him gone in November too...Make Texas Big and Blue again...
So Abbott goes out for a run during a thunderstorm and a large branch falls on him. He is paralyzed for life, sues the home owner and wins $11 million. These are the kind of politicians Texas elects and votes into office time and again.
https://www.chron.com/politics/article/greg-abbott-tree-lawsuit-explained-19574621.php
GJ, I am not quite sure what you are implying. Homeowners are responsible for maintaining their property including their trees. If something happens because a tree branch hurts or kills someone when it breaks during a storm, the homeowner and their insurance policy is responsible, and that is true whether the person who is hurt is Democrat or Republican (or anything else). Abbott's settlement "win" was completely appropriate, he suffered a life-lasting injury of major proportions.
You couple that with your last statement as if his lawsuit win was some kind of nefarious plot. That is idiotic and mean spirited. I sincerely doubt you would say the same thing about a poor Democrat who was injured and won a similar settlement. Read the article you posted the link to and your implication is shown to be bogus and misleading. Shame on you.
If we play by those rules, it makes us worse than the GOP. What a terrible thing to say about Abbott's severe injury. I can't stand the man's politics but I have tremendous empathy for ANYONE who is seriously injured in an accident, especially one which might have been avoided. The homeowner and his insurance company ultimately paid the damages to avoid a trial. That's EXACTLY how things should be done.
And Texas needs to “relieve” itself of Paxton!
I'm not holding my breath. I tried that when Beto ran and almost died from lack of oxygen (just kidding, not really but it felt like it). I sure hope Talarico surprises us, but if I was placing a bet, I'd take the odds on Paxton. He fits into the Texas power structure like a hand in a glove.
It starts now!
Starts in November IF we can create the changes in personnel that we are working to create🌷
it STARted before any of us were born...it's up to all of us to keep the ideal alive.
I also remember Molly Ivens
Ivins, Mary. Her name was Molly Ivins.
And yes, a great one. Smart. Sassy. Ever delightful.
Isn’t Molly Ivins the one who nicknamed GW Bush “Shrub”? What a gem she was. And I miss Ann Richards so much too.
Yes, Susan -- that's our Molly.
Yes, too, to Ann Richards. She started out her public life as a teacher (as did an earlier Lyndon Baines J. of the Pedernales).
Shrub! That's fabulous!
Talirico is one of those, seemingly one of a few, thinking and speaking truth. We the People need these kind of people and one has to believe there are more just like this young man, willing, able and ready to do battle for our country. Go forth, Talirico, and succeed. For all of us.
And so he may, if enough of us join him.
A barnburner of a speech!
Another powerful speaker and candidate is Jon Ossoff of Georgia. It’s encouraging to hear these young, fiery candidates speaking out.
Ossoff’s recent remarks at Beulah Missionary didn’t mince words and heartened me. Every Democrat ought to be talking like this.
"Young" is the key word. And so many of them are running against old people that are living "on the dole" or enriching themselves with insider trading or other corrupt actions.
A most simple divide.
One public figure, Talarico, stands in what he terms the great Texas tradition of openness, welcoming, positive views of others.
The other, the criminal in the White House, obviously pushes poisons, divisions, hatreds. He abets and fawns on dictators, mass murderers. Thrills to ICE and CBP thugs torturing ordinary people across the land. It's not only ugly, but also now tiresome for most Americans, who do not at all share the criminal's penchant for protecting the venal wealthy, the corrupt, and the fellow rapists whom he still pointedly covers up.
While not a Texan and cannot vote for this young man, James Talarico. What an inspirational, articulate compassionate man who will do Texas proud. Have seen him on various programs and caught some of his speech in acceptance. When he said, “Texans don’t like tyrants” - No one does James, it’s just not Texans.. Donated to his campaign even though in another state.
"You know the kind of people I’m talking about. The kind who make themselves feel big by making everyone else feel small."
Exactly.
Professor, this is one of your best letters in the many years of documenting history. James Talarico's speech actually has me liking Texas, whereas before, I was of the mind to cut both Texas and Florida out of the union, due to their inhumane cooption by the MAGA GOP, harming its citizens and removing women's rights, killing people. I will never forget Uvalde. I remember Ted Cruz - not the name on his birth certificate(!) - heading for a vacation in Mexico while people froze to death. Talarico named "Willie, Selena, Beyonce'." That is America. Let the vision for the future we can become mount into a blue wave, and cleanse the swamp of the mango maniac and his sycophants. No Tyrants! No Kings!
Same here!! This speech reminded me of the first time I heard Obama speak at the Convention many years ago -- uplifting and positive -- articulate and smart!
Agree, Beverly!
WOW! I will send this letter to all my friends in Texas!
If the people of Texas select Paxton over Talarico in November, that will say volumes about their values and commitment to the Texas Talarico envisions.
Trump always claims the biggest this or that, and yet his behavior is routinely, grotesquely, small. really small. I like that Talirico is thinking big, is behaving big. Not as a big bully, but a big hearted, broad minded, big picture frame of mind. Those who all spend all their life throwing their money and influence around have something important that has withered within.
"You can go to church and sing the hymn
Judge men by the color of their skin
You can live a lie until you die
One thing you can't hide, is when you're crippled inside."
Ain't it the truth?
In Texas, it's the fake cowboys with the shit inside their boots -- as they say -- not outside, you have to worry about.
Ronnie Reagan, W, and the fakeist fake that ever faked, the Celebrated Mr. T.
Lol... I always used a version / spinoff of that aphorism in my career as a maintenance professional. I frequently had to deal with fresh - faced engineers full of book knowledge, asking them when they'd overstep if they knew the difference between cowboy boots and engineer boots.
Well, It's the brass buckle and strap. As Gary P. Nunn says in London Homesick Blues, I prefer the "manly footwear" myself.
Charley (Dunn) is pleased to see you walkin' with ease.
All hat, no cattle.
second time you made me laugh today, ICTT...thanks again...
didn't even know it was a john lennon, song, JL...thanks. i actually HAVE the album and haven't really listened to it...it's in my pad which is set to 'random'...with 10,000+ plus songs/tunes...so it just floated in that ether...i'm making a point to listen to it now, though. thanks again...
That is, IF the people are *allowed* to select someone who is not part of the “coup of the very wealthy”, THEN we will witness their values and commitment bring Texas to life!
It would be absolutely brilliant if Texas were the state to turn blue and lead other red states in that direction.
The billionaires are on the job already, money and dirty ricks on the ready
James Talarico is the future, a rare communicator, born and bred to be one of the founders of a new nation, able and strong enough to overcome the tyranny we face now. He’s a gift to us for this moment.
It really helps that the loser he's running against is literally Scumbag, Inc. You couldn't find a more odious sack of malice and emptiness than Ken Paxton (and Republicans keep trying). Let's hope this year Talarico breaks the evil spell that has too many still convinced there's something tasty and nutritious at the bottom of that glass of purple MAGA Kool-Aid....
Lauren Bouche,
I am cherishing the person, James Talarico, as a gift to this country and perhaps a sign of hope that America and its best are not all DEAD!
Woo Hoo! Thank you for a vision of integrity, dreams and big ideas, and the power of the people rather than the wealthy. Talarico made a great speech.
May he win in November.